The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-19
SHAW CALLS US "YAPS"
By George Bernard Shaw in December Everybody's.

Everybody's.
 American political naivete would be inexhaustibly amusing if the result of it were not so tragiea1ly serious. Like all villagers, the American believes everything he sees in the papers. and sums up all social peril under the heads of anarchism and free love. He feels that he must take steps to put down these two heresies. Accordingly, he asks everybody who wants to come to Amer lea the two jquestfons Are you an anarchist? Are you a polygamist? And the immigrants reply is. "Certainly not. sir. l assure you l would not think of such thing" whereupon America solemny says, Then you may come in." A European child of can see that the effect of this infantile precaution is,
 not to exclude anarchists and free lovers but to make sure that they shall be liars as well. You exclude Martin Luther, who defended polygamy on principle; and yoW exclude kropotkin. who professes anarchism, and is none the less valuable asset to England and a serious loss to iis~own country. You admit the profgate nobleman with his steam yacht carrying a cargo of half a dozen ladies; and you admit whole cargoes of Czolgoszes. Also. you manufacture free love at home on such scale that I can buy it in any American city as easily as l can buy a typewriter; whilst as for anarchism the American constitution as interpret ed by the supreme court and by popu- lar opinion is simply a a character of anarehism in it's worst form of indus trial Laissez Faire, or let it rip. If you point out these facts to an American
 he first puts you in the stocks for men tioping improper subjects, and then thanks heaven that America is puri- fled and protected from all such Old World filth by those two straight ques- tions to all corners: Are you an an archist? Are you polygamist9
 What are we Europeans to do with such people? How are we to govern them? How are we to establish the anti-Monroe doctrine. now clearly necessary to the worlds welfare, that all Americans must be entirely dis franchised and declared incapable of public employment or office, and their country taken over. regulated and gov erned by us? Such a measure would
 of course. not apply to the negroes
 who are reported a compara lively we'll hammered serviceable, reasonable race
 Probably the best plan would be some modification for the white American ofs the reservation system now applied to the red Indian. I have myself ob- served the Indian cheekbone reappear- ing in the American; and they tell me that party of Americans passing along the street instinctiveIy walk in single file. Also, they torture their enemies in the Philippines; but let me be just and admit that they do not scalp them-at least not yet
 But as Europe is not yet prepared i 0 take America in hand, hoping. per- haps, that Japan will save it the trou- ble, there is nothing to be done at pres ent but look on at the tragic comedy of the virtuous villager and the hold bad trust, and to try neither to de- spair of humanity nor to laugh.
 There is, fear, nothing to be done A nation of so million villagers which 1 is incapable of developing beyond the village stage, or even making as good | a job of that as a handful of Russians would with their Mir traditions; which has morbidly democratic constitu- tion because it mistrusts it's govern ment even more than it mistrusts it's people: which is too big to be con quered by European power; and
 which, when the atural law of eco
 homie rent begins to operate on huge scale, cannot form a government strong enough to socialze it. must fall help lessly into the hands of it's exploiters and bosses, and outface it's disgrace by talk as best it may
 No; things in America will have to get worse before they get better. So- cialism is the remedy; but socialism Is only possible where individualism is de- veloped to the point at which the indi- vidual can see beyond himself and works to perfect his city and his na . tion insted of to furnish his own house better than his neighbours. Short of that point individualism is not inii- yidualism, but idiocy Ca word which 1 idiots cannot understand, Aand idocy and nothing else Is just what is the l