Arizona republican., 1910-07-24

1 to put an end to prize fighting Tn the United States. He reached this con- clusion because of the crookedness that now marks the sport" Alto gether it was such an article as would have the ready approval of the average person of normal mind and balance.
 1 The Outlook could not circulate in the Kansas city, however, because of an ordinance which prohibits the cir
 culation of publications which discuss prize fighting.
 l While the joke is on Colonel Roose- welt, and he and his friends can af
 ford to laugh at it. there is really serious side to the proposition. The ordinance in question marks one of the extremes to which 'reformers" of the present day are going. It is a | demonstration of the fact that the spirit of the dark ages. which man. ifested itself in the burning at the stake of people who did not agree with the zealots of that day, is a spirit which still exists in this sup posedly free country of ours. In every community we have fanatics today who would gladly send to prison the people who are so benighted as to disagree with them All they need is a free hand. In the wake of the fla natics follow the scoundrels and time serving politicians. the fellows who are quick to put on the cloak of morality and religion for a personal benefit Occasionally the combination becomes sufficiently strong to make a whole community ridiculous. as in the case of the Kansas town.
 Some of the college professors are
 insisting that neurasthenia is becom-
 ing such universal disease in Am
 erica that within two centuries our whole population will be insane. It is true, unquestionably, that the craze for reform which exhibits itself everywhere just now is a manifesto tion of neurasthenia and of a ten- dency to insanity. Diseased nerves form a greater menace for our pop ulation than the average person sus- tpects Among the familiar forms in which neurasthenia manifests itself is an intolerance for differences of opinion, a cock-sure belief in your own infallibility. desire to make the other mans habits and beliefs con- form to your own, and efforts to Ire form" everybody and everything, On signs of sound nerves and that of i sound mental balance which goes with Ihealthy nerves, is a spirit of broad toleration for other peoples beliefs and codes of conduct; recognition of the fact that ali the laws that may be enacted and printed will not
 make any person a whit better at heart; a faith that the world is not going to the devil. and that 1t Is
 
 every day and save" it; 8 belief that the world is growing better. all the time. but slowly and through the steady processes of evolution-and that one of the most certain ways to hamper the progress of civilization lis to place unreasonable restrictions
 upon the liberty of the individual.
 We cannot agree with the college professors who believe that Americans are becoming so neurasthenic that our
 whole population is threatened with Insanity. Outbursts of fanaticism have been frequent throughout mans civilized ages; they come and go. Colonel Roosevelt himself is responsi- ble in & large measure for the pres ent prominence of the fanatic in every community. Himself one of the sanest of men, he started wave Of genuine and wholesome reform rom the white house His ideas were cutched by the minds of the masses, and as in the case of every reform wave the frothy and unbalanced be- ings were excited and brought to the surface. Every bedlamite thinks he is inspired to lead the people. And, as already said, in the train of the bedlamites we see demagogues and demagogue newspapers and time
 serving politicians who think they
 see a chance to ride into some posi- ton of advantage on wave or re- form. If the fanatics could have their way, the Kansas city of unevia-
 ble fame would soon have many inn itators: we should have ordinances and laws seeking to set forth just what things a newspaper might or might not publish; ordinances and laws prescribing rules of conduct for everybody. telling everybody how and \ where he must worship. stating his hours of liberty on the street. and telling him what to eat and drink. But it will all pass.