Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-11-21
who's To Blame?"
Its Aftermath And Sequel
(Communicated.)
TO the Editor:

To the Editor:
What appears below is not intended
as an excuse for the drunken conduct
of those who, under the heading
Who's to Blame?p furnished mater
ial for editorial comment in a recent
issue of your paper. But it does sug-
gest that resentment at being dis
eliminated against. as we're those re-
ferred to in the lines quoted below,
has something to do with Jack some
times defying public opinion and liy-
ing up to what the snobs of society
have but too plainly shown they only
expect OF him.
"a heavy fine has been imposed on
Brooklyn theatre manager who
elected United States sailors from his
house. Read Admiral Usher, in urg-
ing severity of punishment for this
insult to the uniform, will have the
consensus of public opinion back of
him The traditions of the navy are
too fine, and the service is too i'm
portant to have a man, merely be-
cause he wears its honorable uni
form, considered unfit to mingle with
the general public baltimore Amer
ica~ And these were products of
your country, reared at home, in
school and church, as was reared your
own dear boys, the ones you love so
much They were not of the stamp
of the sailor of the old wooden ship,
who rarely returned to his ship, from
liberty, without his uniform being
stained with CRIME from the gutter,
and his face bruised and gashed by a
drunken comrades fist or a fall in the
street Many of these men were
lured to the naval service from mer-
chant ships by the better pay, better
food and treatment that they knew
they would receive. 1t was the vile
conduct of many of these men, while
on shore, that cast on the uniform
what makes its wearers to be looked
down upon by many who are not their
equals in intelligence, and who can
lay claim to but little that makes
many who wear the blue shirt their
superior Though he be sober, neat
ly attired and have the means to pay
his way, his uniform that should be
badge of honor and serve to attract
and not repel, makes him distasteful
to the Gotham snob.
For, If theatre he would visit, or
moving picture show,
He finds he isn't wanted where the
commonest can go;
Nor is his presence wanted where the
well-dressed congregate,
For there to block his entrance are the
bars of pride and hate.
If hotel he would visit in the upper
part of town,
He's met by sneering face that's
covered with frown;
BY pompous, lordly creature with an
impious and insolent way,
Who looks with scorn at sailor Jack
while he has this to say:
You've steered course, bluejacket,
that's led you far astray,
For the buoys you should tie to lie
down at the Bowery's quay,
Your uniform, that with the flag, has
been DER many seas,
Is most distasteful to the snobs that
it pays me we'll to please.
I'm in this business for the coin, big
money is what l seek,
So now you know how lays the land.
suppose you take sneak.
Then alongll come fop twirling
moustache and cane.
His manner proclaiming that he has
more pride than brain;
He'll pass with his mouth shut to keep
out the air,
So the breath that Jack exhales may
not enter there,
And from his strut and his airs you'd
think John d himself
Hadn't dollars in numbers to equal
his pelf
Who's to Blame?" Who's to blame
that no door would swing back to adj
NIT Jack but the one behind which
the dispenser of drinks stood, ready
to extend him the welcome that others
denied? Who's to blame that no hand
is outstretched to meet his but the one
that is thrust forth to receive payment
for what the law, in the past, permit
ted him TO buy? Who's to blame, in
your city, that no place was provided
where he could meet those whose
company would be a pleasure and
benefit him2 Less than five years must
pass when half century will have
elapsed since the writer Of these lines
first signed Uncle Sans shipping ar
ticles and donned the blue shirt, and
he knows that the uncharitable atti-
tude of the public towards the wear
ers Of it. has the effect OF making
many of them Indifferent as to what
others may think of them or their
actions.
JAMES J. FARRELL.
Eastport, Md