Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-27
|Life'sProblems
Are Discussed
BY MRS. WILSON WOODROW

In these days of upheaval and tu-
multi, when the old order changes
while you wait, and the accustomed
standards slip away from us, like
telegraph poles racing past an ex-
press train, it is hard to know Just
what to expect
Autocracy seems to be doomed,
although l heard a contrary-minded
and pessimistic man predicting the
other day that this present war
would only result in bringing forth
some new and more powerful form
of it.
1T has always been the case" he
insisted. mo group of human be-
ings-whether they numbered three
persons or three hundred millions
ever existed without subjecting them
selves to the government of an auto
crat. Rome had its Caesar. Eng
land beheaded Charles Stuart, only
to install the iron rule of a Cromwell
France famed with the cry of Lib
erte, Egalite, Fraternite,' and ther
promptly produced a Robespierre
Every race and period in history
tells the same story.
And as 1T is with nations, so it is
with the lesser divisions of man.
kind" he went on. Every state
and province, and canton, and city
and village, and settlement upon the
face of the globe has its head man OF
boss Every lodge, and church, and
party, and organization that pos
sess any force at all. is under a sim
gle, dominating hand. Every rowing
tribe has it's chief, every town its
leading citizen, every family its rul-
ing member.
And this does not necessarily
mean the official head" he contin-
ued. There have been Senators
and Congressman who exercised
more power than the President; con-
stables of greater influence that the
mayor, and in the home circle
father in spite of his legal status
as head of the house, usually has
much less to say than one of his
sons or daughters.
Nor does this especial son or
daughter generally arrive at this
distinction through any qualities oil
eminence." Gle is himself a mem
ber of a large family and spoke with
considerable feeling.) Neither ca
pability for leadership nor sound
judgment is requisite to its attain
ment. More often than not these ele-
ments are lacking. The things re-
quired are only caustic tongue and
a show of overbearing superiority
for most people are so ready to suo-
nit to dictation that they regard
these as symbols of authority, a sort
of figurative crown and sceptre.'
I recalled this cynical outburs
and especially that part of it ''touch.
ing on and appertaining to" the tam.
lily, when / ran across the following
letter in my mail the other day:
Dear Mrs. Woodrow:
"I am, in general, of a gay, ami
mated disposition; yet at times
when the mood is on me, car
also be very quiet, and even I'm
derneath all my lightness there il
a sensible vein which my relatives
and intimate friends respect. Still
only joke At least I think sc
although ] have never heard any.
one outside the family say wha
they thought of me. except one
woman, who declared that IL she
had the blues she wouldn't wan
anything better than me to cheer
her up.
"I gu SIS, on the whole. am more
temperamental than practical, anC
| am Il great lover of music and an
always singing and dancing around
the house.
MY sister is of a very differen
although really three years younger
she is always considered older. What
she says goes too. She is very
critical and aggressive toward me
and never hesitates to take me tC
task or excite laughter at my eX-
pense when there is a crowd around
Now all this has set me to won
dering. l often tell my mother
must change my nature. But SHE
replies Never change your disposi
tion for anyone. Be your natura
self and then she will add that my
disposition is the best part about me
and people like me for it,
But the trouble with this advice
is that / can't be sure just which /:
my real self-the jolly, vivaciou:
character which 1 usually present, OF
the more sober, sedate one / occa
sionally assume. l have heard 1t saiC
that unless girl is naturally viva
cious it i'll becomes her to attemp
being so, and I often wonder If tha'
is the case with me.
Sometimes / try to be very quie
and restrained when there are peo
pie around, but 1t always proves 6
failure, and the first thing / know
am back to my chatter and non
sense. So that leads me to believ'
that my silly side is the natura
one. / realize, too, that I can always
entertain a crowd, and that when
! tell q joke have the knack of max
ing every one laugh, whereas tn,
same thing told by my sister woulC
merely sound uninteresting and com