Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-10-28
PROPAGANDA, PROPERTY
AND PROPS

TF man has some scheme TO revolu'
Il tionize the world, whether II be single
tax. socialism or birth control. his behet
that he is the victim OF pot TO sup
press him grows in proportion to the un'
popularity OF his message. The news
papers somehow or'other won't hand over
to him their first pages. It's all 30 sim
pie TO him. Just look at itl Tax the land
and not the buildings, and. presto all
will be well. Give the Government the
railroads and the wheat fields, and there
you are. And while you're giving the
Government all possible power, why, Just
take away some of it's power to stop
speeches and tracts on little things like
birth control, melting to riot, etc.
There's the rub. The propagandists
haven't any teamwork. While they're
putting one big prop under the Govern
ment they're pulling out another. Yet
the whole mass of their emphatic pur-
poses is Jumped as Radicalism, whether
it's parts refute each other or not. on
the same shelf in the radical bookshop
you will find treatise proving that the
home the family and the children are
imperiled by property rights, and another
proving that the home, the family and
the children aren't good things to have,
and that divorce and all other decentral-
izing libertariansms should have fun
play. IL recalls the liberal.minded Duke
in Chesterton's play, Magic" who gave
his contribution to the movement to
close the saloons and the same amount
to the movement to keep the saloons
open.
All radicals do not want to let things
happen. Many Of them want thir IS
stopped. The radicals of various new
freedom twists talk as IL the good great
men of the world always fight to set
something free. But what most great
men have fought for is to stop some
thing. The first French Republic. very
clearly fought to stop the monarchy and
while it dethroned one god 1t pitilessly
| forced knees TO bend to another, Reason.
| What is II that Is TO be set free-dirt,
| dust, greed, smoke. disease. lawless de-
sires? They're free now. Some new
| teacher will worry because the youth
are not allowed to read her book on sex
and not mind bit that saloon gapes at
every corner to let the youth go as far
as they like.
About million men will vote for the
Socialist candidate next month.
Il Yet they talk as II they were being
suppressed by a conspiracy of silence on
the part of the newspapers. If a million
men all used one kind of razor, that
razor's sale would grow. Use is adver'
tisement. So is belief. The amazing
thing is that the Socialist vote has not
grown more rapidly, since Socialists are
so much more enthusiastic about their
party than the placid Democrats and Re
publicans are about theirs. The same is
true of those who wish to propagate
daring thoughts about sex because they
have not the gumption to propagate
families. The mere fact that they are
suppressed is the best advertisement they
could hope for The point is that people
and we have only the one kind of peo
Pile In the only world we know of--are moi
deeply Interested in these things. They
are even content TO let property moseS
along under the old rules,
What people are interested in is thu
props. Touch the acid of sudden chang,
TO the delicate skin of their private Lives
and they cry for laws-laws for decency
laws for justice. laws for religion. law
for their property. We are all miserable
bromides and fools, but we are the onl,
1--WE" there is.