Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-01
BREAK DOWN THE BARS
The Giant Philadelphia, Now Growing Pro
digiously, Must Not Initiate the Gagged
ELEPHANT

of making Philadelphia elephantine. 1t
is rather in humility than boastfulness
that its citizens should take cognizance
of this indisputable fact. Mere size is but
snowy attribute. The placid pachy-
dcrms Of the zoo and circus accept con-
stricted cages in place of the vast reaches
| of tropical forests commensurably fitted
for their habitat. Phlegmatic and clumsy,
! they accept their fate. They eat hay and
little peanuts, and the spectacle is almost
ludicrous.
A single blow from giant hoof might
| dispense with any of their jailers and
| pave the way for independence and self
| determination" But the almost indiffer-
ent captive makes nothing of his vast
powers. He may not even know that he
possesses them.
If many Philadelphians are as yet una
ware of the prodigious development of
their city and of the elephantine perils
which stand in the way of the proper
course of it's destiny they are perhaps
not wholly to be blamed. 1t has all come
so fast that "sef realization" must under
go almost a daily shock of revision.
On the whole we have been a pros
porous and important metropolis for
many years. General contentment with
our lot has been ascrbed as the cause
of political corruption. Some of US have
| lamented that dark stain, but not enough
| to efface it. All of US have been inclined
| to cut our suit of civic clothes in too
niggardly a fashion.
In consequence, Philadelphia has been
called "a great, overgrown village" and
| there was much accuracy in the epithet.
| Our singular and amazing state today
is not so facilely described.
On the banks of the Delaware has
| arisen a dynamo of productive energy.
| Shipbuilding and manufactures on monu-
mental scales, great influxes of popula-
tion have come to US as result of ex-
ceptional natural advantages, and of an
industrial structure which permitted of
vast development.
1t is idle to speculate as to the hum
drum course we might have pursued had
| it not been for the war. The conflict and
it's needs have worked a revolution. The
War of 1912 set back the progress of
| Philadelphia fully half a century. The
Great War has, in certain respects, COM
PEELED us to jump decades ahead in
weeks.
Announcement was made yesterday
that $2OOOO,OO0 was to be spent by the
| o,} IN fha nf HI q
quartermaster's depot at Greenwich
Point; that new great piers are to be
built; that the Schuylkill River channel
is to be deepened to thirty-fve feet. In
the meantime the Delaware is outpacing
the Clyde in ship production, and Hog
Island is warming up to stride unprec-
1 edented since men first went down to the
sea in ships. Lesser but still ,tremen-
dously significant instances of growth in
many lines can be multiplied
| Mere boastfulness is awed before such
facts. Materially, Philadelphia is fairly
rushing into greatness Spiritually and
from the viewpoint of true civic distinc-
ton, the unparalleled situation warrants
immediate attention. The whole city in
its new circumstances requires new
garb measured to the new stature.
Peanut politics in a metropolis Of such
imperial proportions is criminally ab.
surd Cheese-paring, inadequate transit
service is an archaism. Narro,o streets
are q regrettable inheritance. "Can't be
changed" is a silly cry amid the aUondera
that surround us. Constructive under-
takings must be engineered by men OF
pision capable of realizing that Phila'
delphia is quite the largest "village
which the aUar has Uiped out.
Appreciation of this truth, recognition
of the veritable necromancy of the times
and the substitution of intelligence and
integrity for rottenness and pettifogging
in the administration of the new Phila-
delphia are the ways to make these Alad-
din-like changes lasting.
1t would be pitiful indeed should the
passage of these great days leave us a
mere numbering colossus, cramped in our
cage, docile and subjective, like the hay.
eating elephant. There must be stimu'
lus in our food. The dishes are waiting
to be filled.
Other cities of history have heaped
theirs high with life-giving fare and the
radiance of their names outshines even
that of States. Rome, Venice, Alexan.
dria are illustrious primarily as cities
Philadelphia, almost catapaulted into
eminence, has her opportunity. 1t re.
mains to be seen how each individual