The Washington herald., 1915-10-30
The Radicals.
BY JOHN ID. HARRY,

By JOHN ID. BARRY.
There are radicals who say that as a result O
economic injustice they must feel hate. If the,
didn't they would be inhuman 1t is not merel,
that they themselves have suffered. They hav,
seen others suffer, perhaps far worse 1t mus
be admitted that this kind of argument has :
strong appeal But it is essentially founded on !
narrow conception of life. Injustice is not ere
alton OF today, OF one man, or of one class, sci
apart from the other classes. II is a growth
through the ages. 1t results from forces that run
deep in the life of the social body and Of the
individual Those who blame one class ought to
remember that this class is not definite and I'M
changeable. On the contrary it is changing all
the time, both in extent and in personnel Some
OF the very people who advocating radical
principles may be drawn out of the ranks and
| turned into prosperous conservatives, What re-
mains fundamentally true is that both conserya-
tives and radicals are human with the virtues and
the weaknesses of their human kind. To hear
radicals speak of millionaires, one might fancy
that there were at least two distinct kinds of hu-
man beings. But if the radicals were millionaires
themselves they would act millionaires
Then there is the waste that goes with hate,
and the folly and the futiity that inevitably lead
to anger, which is, as we all know, an expression
from the world OF sport where anger is given
true valuation When Jeffries and Johnson were
fighting. Corbctt. the friend Of Jeffries, tried
his best to make Johnson angry. He stood at the
ropes and called out insulting remarks. Johnson
merely smiled. He knew just what Corbett was
trying to do. He didn't propose to give his OPP
ponent an advantage by falling into the stupidity
of anger.
There are so many evils in the world that BY
concentrating any OF them we can easily
make ourselves miserable. And the more mser-
able the less controlled we become the
more crippled. Under present conditions even
radicals ought realize that for themselves there
is the possibility of happiness. We develop no
real virtue by allowing our own happiness to be
destroyed simply because others are unhappy. But
there is virtue in using our happiness and all the
good resulting from it in ways that will help
those others to escape from their plight
Through absorption in cause which ought to
be beautiful and which is allowed to be ugly, the
radicals limit and mpoverish themselves To-
hear some of them talk might fancy that the
only subject in the world worth thinking about
was radicalism. They are like those French
writer's of earlier generation, who used to take
pride in caring only for those things associated
with literature. As if literature were the only in
terest in life! Darwin, though he found his scien-
tihc work absorbing. nevertheless remained suf-
hciently free in his mind to see that, though los
ing his taste for poetry and music, his life had
become far less rich.
Where it seems to me the radicals make their
great mistake is in thinking that, without hate,
they cannot achieve class consciousness They
a.
The habit of hating They become good haters /
So it is easy for them to hate any one They
wen hate one another And yet they admit that
heir hope lies in caring for one another enough |
o give up their individual differences of opin-
ons and to cooperate. Will cooperation ever be |
possible TO such unphosophcal haters2 Only the |
'ther day heard young radical the son OF one |
If the Chicago martyrs the enthusiasts that went
o death because they insisted upon publicly ex-
PRESSING hate and the violent attitude OF mind re-
ultng from hate, frankly say that while those
men were in their cells, waiting to go to the scat
old they quarreled about differences of opinion
nd would not speak to one another In the very
hadow Of DEATH from causes merely intellectual
hey yielded to the spirit OF hate. 1t is hard to
onceive OF an attitude of mind under such cir
umstanccs. grotesque And yet we constantly
&C similar expressions all about us in our every
ay life. A Russian radical once told me about be-
ng thrown into cell with a group OF radicals
Tho differed in opinion. Among them there were
everal who would not speak to one another One
them, deprived OF tobacco, paced nervously up
nd down the cell, unable to sleep Another who
appened to have cigarettes and who perceived
he cause of the trouble wished to offer cigar
tie; but as the two were not on speaking terms
e didn't dare. Finally he took cigarette out of
is pocket and threw it on the floor The other
ian picked it up, and. with grunt OF thanks,
roceeded to smoke.
Such illustrations are perhaps more amusing
IAN serious And yet, in their consequences, they
lay be mischievious. What they show is, Of
purse weakness OF spirit. Important as ideas are
ley are not nearly so important the force be-
ind ideas. If we all felt right We should not !
low our ideas TO keep in turmoil. The radicals
link that they fee! right now. But they do not
,el the large humanity that is going to make $
umanity whole IL
What Roosevelt Did to HadIey.
Here is bit OF unpublished political history
HIGH shows how Herbert S. Hadley of Missouri
Sscd he