The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-03-07
CULT OF THE HALF-BAkEO

Why should the organizer of the
white goods strikers single out for
special condemnation a lady bountiful
who. acting with more zeal than
knowledge, did in the opinion of the
critic, more harm than good to the
working girls? What if she did not
take the organizer advice and care
fully prepare herself before making
public statement" Wasn't she in
good company?
A little knowledge may be a dan
gerous thing, but certainly is a most
voluble one. The noble company OF
the half-baked have established them
selves as our most active experts on
all matters of political and business
policy. or social and industrial re-
form and of moral and intellectual re-
generation. We are so used to see
ing any school girls happy thought
or any dyspeptic's disOrdered vision
held up to us as inspired truth which
it were an objectionable sin to doubt;
we are so used to seeing any ignora-
mus loudly acclaimed for cOcksure
judgments on intricate problems
whose solution has taxed the wisdom
of the ages, that we are shocked and
puzzled by this demand for ripe
knowledge as a precedent to the
preaching or reform. About the only
person we remember who seems to
have paid attention to that need be-
fore attempting to recast society is
Mr.. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., whose
determination to know the problem Of
social hygiene in the hope Of doing
some good in a lifetime was so re-
markable as to excite comment in all
quarters on his sanity, modesty and
patience.
A few days ago a high priestess Of
industrial revolution made an lex
pert" examination of canneries, and
told how speeding up in one fac
tory made girls pare 10000 apples a
day for rs cents. The manager in re-
ply says that the most a pairing ma
chine can be made to do is about 81
600, for which the pay is $50. She
described the shacks where the work
ers lived, but the manager says they
don't live in them at all, the "expert"
having charged to the factory some
neighboring sheds used as a camp by
a contractor on a state road. But
this expert" was no more half-baked
than many another. A statesman, be-
ing dissatisfied with the administra-
ton of justice, begins to talk about
the mistakes of the courts by care
lessly misstating the gist of the decis-
ions ne criticizes. Another statesman,
wishing to effect some spectacular
economies, pronounces a public officer
as useless as "a fifth leg to a dog,
without stopping to learn what the
officer really does. The task of MAX
ing moving picture theaters safe is
undertaken. when the happy
thought of making the movement
serve the purpose of a moral reform
injects a censorship provision into
the ordinance, and spoils the whole
thing
Thus it is in every avenue of pub
lie endeavor. At every hand we are
the victims of the cult of the half-bak-
ed. A fine enthusiasm, a noble aspira-
ton equipped with plenty of self-con-
fidence and an Indifference to facts
can do more to hinder reforms than
all their avowed enemies. Perhaps
that is the price we pay for large pop
ular interest in better things. But it
hardly seems a necessary price, I'M
less we are to accept sensationalism
as the normal method of reaching the
American intelligence. The interest
in social betterment has turned many
young men and women into the field
who use their emotions more THANH
their intellects. And unfortunately
they find opportunity for the publicity
OF their half-baked reports and preach
ments out Of all proportion to their
intrinsic value. They are making it
more and more difficult for those who
wish to inaugurate real and perma-
nent reforms.
To Kentucky belongs this-three of
the most distinguished surviving off