Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-08-26

Now and again would be preacher
is refused q permit. Not long ago q
wild looking chap from somewhere IN
the west applied to Mr.. Pearson for
permit and by way Of establishing his
fitness he displayed little four leaf
newspaper which he had published
somewhere in the west. This organ
proved that he was q prophet, who had
foretold the European war, the Johns
town flood and many other great cal
share in the management and staging
OF these. But he could not get any
references. He told the commissioner
that he didn't need permit from the
New York police, that he had one from
the Ruler of the Universe. 81 am
afraid the police won't recognize 1t,
said the commissioner. "You had bet
ter go and hunt up some references"
i The prophet replied that he would
speak without permit, and that II he
was annoyed, terrible disaster would
be visited upon New York. Neither
the prophet nor the disaster has been
heard from 80 far.
Under this fair and liberal admins
tration, the street corner orators have
waxed numerous. There are now 228
religious permits in force. About
nifty Of these are held by speakers for
the National Bible institute and the
Volunteers of America. The Salvation
Army has the free use OF the streets
without a permit The rest Of them
are free lances. They vary all the way
from such intelligent and interesting
speakers as DR.. Pierce, who holds
forth in the noon hour at the corner
OF Wall and Broad and delights his
audience with crayon illustrations. of
his remarks, to wild eyed foreigners
who can scarcely make themselves in
telligible. A number of the speakers
are colored. Not long ago four colored
men were given permits for four cor.
ners at Amsterdam avenue and Sixty
sixth street. They all got going at
once, and they did not seem to agree
as to doctrine. Each, however, con.
WINGED his own little knot that he was
right, and that the others we're all
wrong. 1t looked as though four cor
nered battle royal would be the only
way to settle the argument. Seeing
the imminence Of trouble, the neigh
boring merchants, who had lot of
plate glass exposed to the arena ap-
pealed to the police. One speaker,
who seemed to be the chief trouble
maker, had his permit revoked, and
two OF the others were moved.
Besides the religious speakers, the
varieties are too numerous to classify.
There are good many women. Most
OF these are suffragists. The most pre-
valent type among all the orators is
the fervid young foreigner. He is al
ways well supplied with hair and lam
guage and sometimes has brains. Here
on Madison Square, for example, is a
young atheist, sarcastically annihilat-
ing contentious auditor who argues
that the bible is inspired. Not hun
dred feet away an, excited little Next
can 10 pleading the cause of Pancho
Villa. He tells them Of the wonder.
full army that the poor peon raised.
he says that Pancho Villa carried an
Ice factory on every military train, and
supplied his soldiers with ice water
while the Carranza army was dying of
thirst In the desert. He says that villa
had nothing to do with the Columbus
raid, that he was in Brazil when 1t
happened.
This young orator has wonderful
audience Of patriotic Americans-all
that can get within earshot-includipg
Jews, Poles, Italians, Greeks, Germans
and others harder to classify. They
are all intensely interested. They ask
him questions. He answers them, elo.
quently. vehemently. He offers to stop
says maybe they are tired of him.
They urge him to go on. From the
general air Of Importance and self
satisfaction, you might think this was
high commission appointed to settle
the Mexican trouble once and for all.
and from the prevailing Indifference to
the passage of time, you would deduce
that each commissioner was getting
hundred dollars a week and ex-
penses. s
There is, of course, a great deal of
rot and foolishness in this perennial
and ever growing stream Of street cor.
ner oratory. There is also a lot of
sound sense and logical argument, and
not little information worth having.
Above all, 1t Is free expression of the
freest, unhampered by any interest,
These collarless, sweating orators and
their unruly, back talking audiences,
are learning to try out their ideas and
form, their opinions. These foreigners,
only half masters of English, are hear.
ing about national questions And all
OF them are learning to think for them
selves-and for America.