The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-08-05
nwEI,IJyG HOUSES WANTED.
uGORKY. BEFORE AND AFTER.
At First He Thought We Were Great-NoW
He Despises Us.

Maxim Gorky Is the most accomplished
lightning change artist that has enlivened
our shores for quite a smart spell.
When the Russian arrived he was all
enthusiasm and exclamation points. he
loved us all. He could see the Declaration
Of Independence sticking out all over US.
We looked SO happy that he almost had
to cry over the contrast between joyous
America and solemn Russia.
what a marvellous country!' ohanted
Mr., Gorky. Il like to look at the faces
of PEOPLE ! meet in the streets. They look
40 happy, 80 conscious Of their rights. 1
hope we shall see faces like that in Russia
before long, but we don't see them now.
They look like a procession Of mourners,
the people you meet on the streets OF st.
Petersburg and Moscow in these days OF
sorrow and suffering.
Even the squirrels and the little gray
birds in the park seem to realize that they,
too, have a right under your Constitution
to life, liberty and the pursuit OF happi-
ness. In q Russian city almost every
other man n meets is either a soldier
or a policeman. haven't seen a sin gle
soldier all day and only two policemen.
Marvellous!
And your gigantic buildings OF stone
and iron, kissing the Il want to
know how they are made
This was the way we impressed the gentle
man before he took his little dose OF Ameri-
can notions OF morality. After taking it
MIR. Gorky sang a changed song. Here is
part Of it as it appears In Appieton's under
the title. 1.-The City Of Mammon."
From afar the city looks like a huge
law with black, uneven teeth. It belches
forth clouds of smoke into the sky and
shifts like a glutton suffering from over
oorpulency. When you enter 1t you feel
that you nave fallen into a stomach Of
brick and iron which swallows up millions
OF people and churns, grinds and digests
them.
They push hurriedly forward, all hastily
driven by the same force that enslaves
them. Their faces are calm, their
hearts do not feel the misfortune Of being
slaves: indeed, by a tragic se~lf-coneeit
they yet feel themselves its masters,
Independence, but they do not know 1t Is
but the sorry independence Of the axe in
the hands OF the woodman, Of the hammer
in the hands Of the blacksmith.
Everywhere we see around us the work
OF the mind which has made Of human
llIe II tOTI vi bCIls q CibCiVb LIllll
OF labor, but nowhere do we feel the beauty
OF free creation, the disinterested work Of
the spirit which beauties life with i'm
p~erishable flowers Of life giving cheer.
Far out on the shore silent and dark
'skysorapers' are outlined against the fog.
| Rectangular, with no desire to be beautiful,
these dull, heavy piles rise up into the sly.
stern, cheerless and morose.
I'm the windows Of these prisons there
are no flowers and no children are any
where seen. These structures elevate the
price Of land TO heights az lofty "a their
tops but debase the taste TO depths as low
as their foundations. It is always 80. In
great houses dwell small people,
Having a dollar in ones pocket, wearing
a frock coat, cleaning the teeth every
day and using soap-all this is still not
quite sufficient to make a cultured man.
Ideas are wanted also.
in America they only think Of how to
make money. Poor country, whose people
are occupied only with the thought Of how to
get richl
1T is the first time that I have seen such
q huge city monster; nowhere have the
people appeared to me 30 unfortunate,
90 thoroughly enslavod to Life, a. In New
York.