Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-01-03
NATION OF VILLAGERS


When Mr.. Shaw labels anything a
bowling farce an unaccountable shudder
goes through ones make up. You
must get over it.
This is an age of controversy, and the
year just ended might rightly be called
Debating Class Year" Our President,
MIR. Roosevelt, keeps throwing out new
subjects at the first sign of staleness in
the old. Pens, silent under ordinary
conditions, now rush madly over fools
cap. The fever is so generally rampant
that those not able to write argue the
subject from the door stoop. Our
butcher shops and saloons are turned
into temples of Grafton. The President
and Mr.. G. Bernard Shaw are past
masters in the art of words and it is
not surprising that we should hear from
the latter on subject he was not asked
to write about.
He says we are nation of village
children! We are, and we glory in it;
still we are not of that tender age when
II asked to describe what boy was our
answer would give the definition of a
cow. Mr.. Bernard Shaw was asked to
give his idea on "What isa Good Man. :"
Using the rights of the age l take
the liberty of making an unasbed reply
and freely criticise his Nation of
Villagers.
In writing his monologue it would
have almost seemed better had he per-
mitted the editors to introduce few
lines of blue-pencil Encouragement.
From literary standpoint many of the
sentences are unreasonably complicated.
The chosen discourse was in no sense
an answer to the good man-it bears
an earmark of splenic thought long
cogitated. It was to be satisfied for
once and for all times that these yellow
feelings were ''off his chest" that he no
doubt stipulated no alteration should
mar his manuscript. accept the
gauntlet of these sinister thoughts and
will try to meet him few rounds in
'Cashel Byron's" fashion.
He is right; We are simple minded
village children. But there are good
children and bad children. Perhaps
Mr.. Shaw in his wanderings over the
new Continent has not met with many
of the pleasant class. Very possibly
not, as most of his time was taken up
with theatrical managers, publishers
and reviewing daily journals which we
do not believe in as much as he. Pleas
ant and nice little boys over here do not
take much enjoyment out of this class.
We can not get offended with his
ideas as he mayhap might wish. Being
children we are perfectly satisfied with
our choice if we have Theodore Roose-
velt surplanted by Anthony Comstock.
They are both hipped in their own lines.
One would probably make as good
president as the other. Over here we
never consider our neighbors anything
but hipped. To our mind the normal
individual is good deal like the perfect
woman-a child of creation, imaginary.
We have very infantile but well nour-
ished idea that unity of popular opinion
moulds our destiny. That no man can
rule where there are SO many hipped
individualities taking part in govern
ment affairs. For the moment it may
seem to the eyes of Europe that the
Executive is holding the reins of this
country. Their judgement is fallacious.
Mr.. Roosevelt is an excrescence in
American history, temporary wart
that will shrivel up or a beautiful
creation from the land of flora that
fades and withers to death on it's stem:
both metaphors have their followers.
Mr.. Comstock comes under the same
class; Mr. G. Bernard Shaw would also
fall under the standard if he were an
American and, seriously, he has all the
qualifications to become citizen of the
Nation of Villagers. There are many
of us on this side that are unconsciously
humorous. But one requisite-ac acknow-
ledge your neighbor hipped-and you
are received into the brotherhood.
AS Mr.. Shaw points out, there is moth
ing more screemingly funny than the
two leading questions that are asked the
newly landed immigrant-"Are you an
Anarchist? Are you polygamist?"-
but Mr.. Shaw does not grasp the true
humor in its entirety. We take the
foreigner in and Judge him solely on
the merit of his work, not by the
answers he has given the American
Custom House of Morality. If he is
good he joins hand in hand with self
concentrated band of humanity who by
their concentration in their life's worl
prove a unity, unity in the stronges
sense of the word. Ii the immigran
finds that he can not cope with the re
quirements of the new life requisite t,
live amongst us, he returns to hi