New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-08-15
THE WORLD AS CROWDS
A Vociferous Prophet and a
Prolific Idea.

racy BY Gerald Stanley Lee. Emo,
PIP. X, SOL. Doubleday, Page x Co
You have, perhaps, paused some
times on a street corner beside
crowd gathered about a speaker stand
ing elevated in its midst, one wild of
mien, gesticulatihg madly, pouring
forth torrent, lurid with emphasis,
of chaotic utterance. Strange and
startling has been the rushing confu-
sion of his metaphor. Bizarre. and fas-
chatting his amazing tumble OF allu-
sions, in support OF his whirling argu-
ment, to everything on the earth's sur
| face. and in the heavens above and the
his rolling clouds Of pronouns In reck'
! less confusion, one with another. Then
perhaps. as you have stood, held some
how as by n spell by this picturesque
phenomenon, analogous, as it were, TO
some volcanic eruption Of nature. You
| have felt the struggling movement of
a real idea in this vociferous flood. And
then the gentleman's roar for a mo-
ment has beat upon YOU unheeded
while you have contemplated as In a
quiet place the substance of his
thought. Very much such an expert
ence as this has been ours with tbs
strange book This writer, writing con-
tinually at the top Of his voice, indeed
in a regular yell has yet got hold here
Of an alluring idea, an idea capable or
! endless, curious, striking and philoso-
phic application. The idea OF "Sar'or
Resartus," the world seen as cloths,
is hardly a more spectacular and spa
cious vehicle for the Interpretation by
the imagination of the universe than
this idea OF the world seen as crowds.
The typical modern man, our author
SAYS. or rather shouts, has a crowd
SOUL: I'VE cannot think without
chairman. Literature is a club.
Philosophy is society.
our culture is a summer school
Charity is an organization" News
papers are crowd thinkers. and heroes
are crowd spyglasses." This enter
tanning and stimulating. albeit disor-
derry work. is divided into five books:
Crowds and Machines" Letting the
Crowd Be Good" Letting the Crowd
Be Beautiful" Crowds and Heroes
Good News and Hard Work Some
Of the chapter headings are: Ma hines,
Crowds and Artists" Mr.. Carnesis
Tries to Make People Read" The
Crowd and Pierpont Morgan" THE
Crowd and the Hero" THE Technique
Of Courage" Men Who Want Things,
MEN Who Get Things" Goodness rs
a Crowd Process" New Kinds and
New Sizes Of Men" The author dis
cusses, or harangues, concerning
"The Crowd Scare" THE Imagination
Of Crowds" Tho Strike-An Invention
for Making Crowds Think" and The
Crowd Man-An Invention for Making
Crowds See" He inquiries, again and
again. where are we going? And what
do we want?
AS I have conceived il, the one bust
ness OF the world to-day is TO find out
what we are for and To md out what men
on the whole-really want. When men
know what they want they, will get II;
| have attempted 20 find out, ana
mt down what might seem at first sight
lat least II did to mel the answer TO
very small and unimportant question;
| "Where Is IL that | really want TO go
MYSELF" What kind OF world Is H.
ali the facts about me being duly consid-
cred, I really want TO be in?'
Then our prophet, so some call him.
attempts to clear the way for real
programme Of idealism-"idealism, as
one advertisement says, that a bust
ness man can sea programme Tor
the only kind OF idealism that Is
broad enough to be efficient" And II
he does not exactly get to where you
had possibly hoped he might-remem-
Der some fine prophets fall short In
that-at least he gives you, so to put
IL, a good and exhilarating run for
your money.