The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-23
Tired Business Man Is Latest
 Type Of Devil
Damn Him." Writes CorrespOn- dent, "Just See What He's
 Responsible For"


 to the roster of demonism. It is "The Tired Business Man." He is the ulti-
 mate consumer of putrescent piffle, for which he has an inordinate appe- tite and his unholy demands are met by demonolatrous publishers, play
 producers and writers of best sell
 ers.' He is responsible for George
 Barr McCutcheon, Robert W. Cham bers, George Conan, Klaw & Erlan- ger, the short story magazines and the comic supplement. His taste"
 governs the tone of the afternoon press and makes plutocrats of rag-time mu-
 sical composers. On the other hand he is responsible for the decay of learning, and the starvation of think
 CTS and scholars. Because of the
 tired business man" the prophets are dumb, and that has come to pass which David said he had never beheld; the righteous man begs bread.
 Now the tired business man is not by nature vicious, nor does he at all realize the evil he has wrought. He doesn't see that there is anything wrong with the nation. Indeed he thinks it a first class little nation in the words of Uncle Joe Cannon: "A hell of a successv'-and why shouldn't he, since it is fashioned largely by his hand and according to his ideals? But what ails the brute that he is satis- fled with things as they are, and doesn't know any better?
 The answer is that he is "a tired business man, and doesn't want to think!'
 And what makes him tired? Why being a business man, of course! It would make anybody tired. Being an artist, a poet, a politician or a labor CT does not entail the mental fatigue of which the business man complains. These craftsmen take joy in their
 work, and are eager to think" when ever they have the opportunity. They
 think at their tasks, of their tasks, and of every other thing at conven- tent times, for they want to cultivate and improve their minds. They ar dently desire to broaden their intel lectual scope and learn the truth about as many things as it Is possible for them to know. They take a keen de- light in intellectual exercise and come from it invigorated and happy
 But the tired business man. does not want to think. He wants relax ation-, amusement; the mental spo- rife rather than the mental stimu- lant. Pressed for reason for this strange attitude, the tired business man. will say that he thinks all day at his business, and that when his days work is done his mind" is weary, and he wants to give 1t a rest. He wants to permit his faculties to frolic. and having never learned to play with fancy himself he hires a buffoon-that Is, he reads a Potash and Pearlmutter book, or goes to see a Conan show. The antics of his buffoon take his mind off his cares by intoxicating 1t. He acquires an intellectual jag" that is without ap- parent painful reactions. He imag- ines that he is refreshed.
 He is quite sincere in his belief that he thinks at his work, and fondly clings to the delusion that the process of thinking is wearing and destruc- tive, whereas the people who really think, know that it is stimulating and constructive. The labors of the tired business man. are wearying to the mind. none can dispute, but they do not involve t1inking-only worrying.
 Business as conducted does not re- quire thought. It is done according to very simple formula that child can be taught in two easy lessons, and comes to be carried on by reflex ac- tion within a very short time. The formula is: Establish yourself as in, termediary between the producer and the consumer; be a convenience to both and charge all that the traffic herring to this formula anyone can become a successful (and tired) busi- ness man in\ a little time. Every little detail has its governing rule. It is the petty annoyances and worries incident upon catering to multiplic- ity of tastes. and the constant nag ging of the noyey getting habit. that tire the business man. But he thinks he thinks.
 And as long as he harbors this de- fusion he will never think. Active cogitation or ratiocination are to him fearful and untasted delights. He fears the imaginative quality, dor mant in his mind as species of lun- acy.
 Therefore he views with alarm any book, drama or picture that would seem to call into play any of his high CT mental powers. The people who pretend to enjoy these things haven't | any sense! If he should unhappily l acquire a similar taste it would "in- | terfere with business''-and that way madness lies!
 So "the tired business man, who | comprises about nine-tenths of the l continues to dominate the | public taste in "art," and to encour- age the ''cheap and nasty" The oth- 1 CTS? The cultured people, the arti- | sans. students "high- -browsg Oh, | well they constitute that submerged | tenth" that we hear so much about. | They are unimportant, inconsiderableI | This little old country exists for the of the "tired business man''-damn himLT. K. Hedrick.