New-York tribune., 1905-01-22
THE LIES WE TELL.
Ibsen's Social Plays Point Out Folly of Them,
Saws Mr.. Brooks

ITO make US stop telling the old romantic lies
about religion politics. conventions and
morals-ths. 1 should say. is the lesson Of Ibsens
social plays said John Graham Brooks, in begin
ming his lecture The Social Plays of Ibsen' at
the League for Political Education, yesterday
"All our lives go on repeating these lies. The
Roman Catholics do it in declaring their Pope in
fallible, Yet celebrated Englishman said of Plus
TX that he had never met a man who could make
many mistakes of facts in an hours conversa-
ton
I'VE Protestants tell the same sort Of romantic
lie in making the Bible infalIble. We are now
discovering that the Bible is collection of lltera-
ture OF different authors and periods and that it is
as far from being infallible as any Pope
Personally. I prefer to take my history without
the romance. like Washington better as he was
than Dastered over with all the virtues 1t is in
the person of the poor Czar that we see the last
remnant Of one Of these romantic hes-the divine
right Of kings. Once all civilized men believed in
it; now ths Car alone Of modern rulers has anv
vestige of divinity imputed to him.
In the same way set up idol of democ-
racy, calling it by all sorts of romantic names and
'tying that the voice of the people is the voice
OF God and all that-worshippirg in our turn the
divinity of majorities just truly as our ances-
tors worshpped the divinity of their kings"
One of the worst things about these ideals of
ours is according to Mr. Brooks that do not
stop with calling them by romantic names but we
make the further blunder of thrusting them on
other people,
This said the speaker, "is what many mis-
sionares do, yet not an enemy to mission
aries See how tried to thrust our ideas Of
education the negro thirty years ago. assuming
him sto be simply white man who happened to
have black skin 1t took us twenty-five wears
to- find out our mistake in trying to educate the
negro by white methods and trying to make him
all over
Now, to my delight we are at last learning
the same lesson with regard to the Indian! We
have been taking the Indians off to Carlisle and
Hampton. separating them from all the means Of
natural growth and self-control and then we would
plump them back among their kindred and into the
old racial life, and most of what we had been
doing for them would speedily get undone
Now there is bill before Congress to appropri
ate money for the establishing of schools
among the Indians where We can learn from
them, as Well as they learn from US: where they
will not be severed from the root of life where
we can obey the economic and other laws of their
racial life, instead of going counter to them.
L was once on a comm ttee TO get restaurant
with pretty things ana good food but only few
OF the Laundry girls could be persuaded to come to
It took us a long time to find out the reason. At
chief reason why the girls stayed away that
they couldn't very well change TO come TO the res
taurant' and they wouldn't come unless they couldl
Now, that one fact was worth more than all the
directors knowledge Of the chemical properties OF
sderation He wants us to ask ourselves if certain
things valuable. how valuable are thev
now? We must re-eXamine ideals. We must
revaue our values. We must analyze our relations
TO society.
Apply this touchstone to immigration and IL
becomes clear that We must examine and reValue
the whole question. What was true of the immi-
grant or twenty years ago does not hold of modern
Migrants, coming as many do from southern
Europe, with ITS debaSed economic conditions. For
ourselves We have organized immigration CONNER
restless imagination of the European PEOPLES.
when we begin TO apply this point OF view TO
lynching, we nnd that this problem is not confined
to the South. Wherever section in a Northern
city fills up With negroes, that problem upon us
We began to look into child labor We thought II
right here. Gambltng-there is class free from
the mad hunger for il. Graft-it is not confined
TO the tenements. but its Shiny length clear
through society," from the bottom TO the tou-or
rather from the top to the bottom" -
In concluding, Mr.. Brooks said II the Renius
sonal responsibility for all this.
when l in London" he said II saw ,
slot in the wall and above 1t this notice. place -
penny in the slot and you Will support the I,Ondon
Hospital for second
Why, how delightful! thought. Fancy being
able support that vast and noble institution ali
by ones self for seconds!
And, OF course, put in my penny. There was n
man behind me- and he, too, stopped, read the sign
and dropped his penny In the slot charmed with
the idea of bearing the support OF that great hos
ptal on his shoulders for second. They make a
lot of money.
so Ibsen places the responsibility of society n,
the shoulders OF each of US he holds up the mir
ror OF reflection that you that the slime
and ooze and hideous creeping things are your own
But more, he also shows YOU the star geam
and the tar perspective OF blue sky"