The Topeka state journal., 1919-12-29
ON SECOND THOUGHT
BY JAY z. HOUSE.
(From Philadelphia Public Ledgef.J

I
The suggestion of a reader who
lives In Asbury. N. j., to the effect
that We have already drunk the "Oid
Crow" IL preposterous.- In these par
lous times. liquor is always good for a
paragraph. So long as we retain pos
session Of our short quart we shall
always have something to write about
We should be weak, indeed. did we
i sacrifice professional equipment to
the demands of appetite.
Intimation that a number. of resis-
nations from the presidents cabinet
shartly will be written indicates,
among other things, a painful lack OF
harmony in the monarchy as the time
/ for the return to Republican form
of government grows nearer.
We have referred to this as a dull
day. The distance we travelled for the
preceding paragraph and the incon-
seauential load with which we re-
turned prove 1t.
| Now that three or four months in
which to settle the question avail
| themselves. we'd like to know VINO
| originated the idea that emptying the
pan under the refrigerator is a mans
work.
/ Probably the most unreliable testi-
mony is that of the eyewitness. Fifty
thousand persons saw Braden take the
ball on Harvard's one-yard line. but
nobody knows whether he tried for i
play thru center or off tackle
The famous "boner" pulled by sIr.
Merkle, once of the Giants, came un-
der our direct observation. We saw it
as clearly as any one OF the 80 0ea
persons in the stands. But we had /, .
notion as to what had happened un 4
we got downtown and bought a paper.
Some years later we had the extreme
felicity of witnessing Mr.. Heine Zini-
mcrman's fatuous attempt to overtalle
Mr.. Edward Trowbridge Collins. Mr..
IZimmerman's alibi turned on Mr..
Bill" Rariden's failure to participate
in the play. After Mr. Collins had
scored, we took counsel with various
OF the spectators. Not one of them
had Mr. Rariden framed in hts men,
tai picture of the incident.
Not more than half eof that which
the average man knows is true He
would know even less were he COM
PEELED to depend uponshis own OBJ
lservation for Ais knowledge of affairs
There are those, doubtless, who be-
iieVe the courts-will declare national
prohibition unconstitutional But their
icredulity is not shared by any of those
who have engaged in the campaign to
save liquor in the dry" areas.
Frankness continues to animate the
presidential preliminaries General
Pershing's candidacy is described as
an attempt to check the Wood boom
and does not, as you may have mag
med. arise from the generals desire to
help the people.
1t has the appearance OF an open
campaign. 1t is not too much 70 e.
pect that some candidate finally will
admit he is running because he wants
the office.
1t is true the weather is a bit rn-
| comfortable, but you will remember
what you said the afternoon of Jul,
4, 1919.
The president having expressed in a
recent magazine article his adherence
OF governmental secrets, it Is believed
congress- and the people generally
, finally will be told what has been
going on during the four or five years
last past.
! There is, however. only one point
upon which we really are curious-we
should like to know exactly how he
managed to get rid of William Jen-
nings Bryan. That, at the beginning
of his first administration, seemed to
US to be his monumental task.
Proponents of liquor are no more
| skillful in argument than they were
i thirty years ago. They still are talk
ing about the tremendous amount of
money the government will lose as a
| result of prohibition.
There is only one thing less con-
vincing than the stock argument of
the proponents of liquor. That is the
stock argument of those who favor
| prohibition.
TT ~ TTsR