davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
His Standard of Labor

The labor that he did for himself was,
in sense, the hardest of all. That is
to say, Weir's painting was not by any
means the fruit of swift, facile crafts
manship, but the outcome of a peculiar
ly strenuous devotion. In an old letter
to the present writer there is a passage
eloquent Of his point Of view. at may
be indiscreet," he says, ito admit that
have never drawn or painted a cam
vas but that it has fallen discouraging-
ly short of what tried for" There is
nothing indiscreet, and l have no COM
junction in citing here so noble an ad-
mission. 1t points to the very heart Of
Weir's character as an artist, the posi-
lively sacred zeal with which he sought
after perfection, the loftiness and in
flexibility of his standard. 1t is odd to
reflect that when he went as young
man to Paris he received his training
at the Ecole under the guidance of &C.
rome. But he foregathered in the ate
lier of that bleak disciplinarian with
such men as Bastien-Lepage, Helleu
and Dagnan- Bouveret. Like them, he
had the power to deviate from the for
mul@ of his master. He did not dew-
ate so far as to make himself unaccept
| able to the Salon. In the "Idle Hours,''
which was presented by Several gen.
'lemen" to the Metropolitan in 1889, the
7ear In which It was painted. we per-
ceive clearly enough that for . consid-
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
The Common Screen
, the Editor Of The Tribune

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: l was amused In reading the
editorial of November % under the
heading of Shaw's latest-"Heartbrea
House." When men of intelligence in
innate in 80 many words that they pre-
fer prating parlor idealism of the
cheapest variety to expression of the
truth, whether it be ugly and stinging
truth or not, it indeed makes US wonder
how long we still must wait for the
era Of enlightenment.
Shaw, being two or three hundred
years ahead of his time, cannot expect
to win to his side the cropping multi
tudes whose small mental capacities
prefer being led by clap-trap phrases
and brass bands rather than truth and
reason; but when men of the so-called
intellectual class call for this form of
literary deception, it must be a blow
indeed to a writer of Shaw's ability.
Not until humanity as whole begins
to realize that national motives are
and always will be selfish motives (by
the very implication of the meaning
of the term) will the world be purged
Of that gross and intolerant attitude
Of self-love, class love and national
love. with the concomitant hatred
against everything foreign.
II our Savior urged US to be our
"brother's keeper" he did not mean the
term in the sense of jailer, nor did
specifically He limit the term "broth-
er" to the Anglo-Saxon race.
Whereas Bernard Shaw is very
human-perhaps too much so to be
fully understood by the average run of
subtle humanity-he is, nevertheless, q
thinker and prophet who realizes
that internationalism in spirit at least
will constitute the final salvation OF
real Christianity.
II internationalism represents "the
common screen of dead souls" il
might be we'll to devise some universal
soul-slaying process to accomplish thai
goal. E.. L. FERGUSON JR.
New York, Nov. 90, 1919.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
Is East West?

Ia1e folly of the doctrinaries who
figure out their problems in a kind
of political vacuum is castigated by
Professor Ramsay Muir, of the Uni
versity of Manchester, in a lucid and
deep-cutting article in The Ney
Europe.
Referring to the demand for a
form of self-government for India,
partly met by the so-called Montagu-
Chelmsford plan, now under consid-
GRAFTON, Professor Muir declares that
the question of how the political sys-
tenn and methods of the West can be
made applicable to the needs Of India
is not merely one of political ma
chinery. He suggests that an an
swer can be proposed only after It
has been determined how far the
dominant political concepts Of the
West, the basic ideas underlying
mere external procedure and mech
anism, are Gin accord with the
deep-rooted convictions and habits of
thought in India"
These dominant conceptions of the
West, Professor Muir proceeds, have
been four. The first is "the idea of
individuality as something supreme
ly valuable, something possessing
such an inherent sanctity and such
inalienable rights that all formal re-
straints upon it's self-expression not
necessary for the safeguarding of
other individualities must be jeal-
ously regarded" The second basic
idea of the West is the conception
of the laws which hold society to-
gether not as something imposed by
external authority, but as represent
ing the will and conscience of the
community and therefore changeable
by common consent. The third DOM
mating conception is that of the ma
tion as the surest foundation of state
organization.
The fourth idea is q resultant of
the former three. 1t is the system
of national self government through
representative assemblies.
This system absolutely presup-
poses the presence of the three pre-
ceding ideas; it would be degraded
into mere fiction in a society which
does not recognize as the real unit
the individual with his vote as the
/ foundation of the whole structure,
which does not believe in law as the
elastic expression cf common will,
and which is not united as a nation,
"since only body of men funda-
mentally homogeneous can be effec-
lively represented"
Applying now these tests to India,
Professor Muir finds that "individu-
ality does not command, and has
never commanded, such respect in
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09


House, though 1t has never been
charged that he is a fanatic for
publicity.
Except in the pure circles where 1t
is considered blasphemous to hold a
President can err, some sympathy
will go out to Colonel House. He has
given the impression that he was a
man another could get along with if
this other could get along with any
one. Quiet, sagacious, modest, a
gifted listener and devoted friend,
it is hard to think there is justice
in the decree Of elimination against
him.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09

India as It does in the West" for the
highest Indian ideal is self-suppres-
sion, as contrasted to Western self
expression. The doctrine of the fun
damental equality Of every indi-
vidual, he points out, runs contrary
to the very basis Of Hindu society
and religion, to the system of caste.
Next, law in India is not consid-
cred as the expression of the COM
mon will; instead, it is externally
superimposed by divine authority.
In the case Of Mahometans it cannot
be changed at all; in the case OF
Hindus it is a little more elastic,
certain latitude being allowed for In
depreciation. Third, the idea Of the
nation or nationality in the Western
sense is altogether unknown in
India; the unity which India pos
sesses is Of wholly different kind;
the system Of caste and the cleavage
between Mahometanism and Hindu
ism make the capitalization OF
common national consciousness in
the Western sense impossible.
In support Of his thesis that the
premises of national government by
representative assembly are absent
in India Professor Muir quotes the
greatest of contemporary Indian au-
thors, Sir Rabindranath Tagore, who
protests against the attempt "to
force the ancient and slowly chang
ing society Of India" into procrus-
team Western molds," and doubts
the universal validity Of conceptions
which are the outcome of purely
Western conditions. And yet there
are idealists in both England and
India who think that constitution
on the British model is the one thing
needful for the three hundred mil
lions Of the Indian people.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
By
Royal Cortissoz

lector was indebted for one or both of
the two Manets which he gave to the
same museum, the BOY With a Sword"
and the woman With Parrot" 1t
all happened thirty years ago and more
the Davis gifts were made in 1889
but there stays in the mind delectable
anecdote of Weir suddenly invading
Manet's studio, of his pouncing upon
the pictures, and of the Frenchman's
grateful astonishment. Possibly it is
apocryphal. 1t does not matter. The
tale is thoroughly in keeping with
Weirs faculty for wise, disinterested
transactions.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
An ln,peccable Taste

There is another story of his buying
at Agnew's the magnificent PORTRAIT
OF Man," by Rembrandt (the portrait
of young sitter, in high hat and
large fiat collar), which is in the Mar
quand collection at the Metropolitan.
Weir was going abroad, and, so the
story runs, Mr.. MarQuand asked him
to keep his eyes open for anything
that struck him as superlatively good
tie saw the Rembrandt in London and
though 1T cost something like $4,000
he bought it on the spot, cabling the
news over. While he was waiting for
reply the dealers surprised him by
offering to buy the picture back at an
advance of $4,000. Weir smiled his
enchanting smile and brought the Rem
brandt home. Doubtless there are
other incidents of a similar order
which might be chronicled There
must have been numerous amateurs
among his friends only too glad to
lean upon his taste. For his taste was
impeccable. That was what made him
tower of strength for his fellow
artists. When the Society Of American
Artists came into being in the late
'70s Weir was one Of the found
ers as matter of course. Equally was
it matter of course that he should
serve for year or two, not so very
long ago, as president Of the National
Academy Of Design; that he should
have been a member of the Federal
Commission Of Fine Arts; that he
should, in word, have played his part
in all important matters Of artistic
organization. Was he not generous.
helpful, an artist who labored for the
good of his period as we'll as for him
self?
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09

thing "Prussian" is still highly OBJ
noxious. But, as The Journal re-
marks, it is not the German system
but the French system which ought
to serve as the model for any mod
ern democratic army.
France originated the ideas Of
universal service, Of the army be-
hind the army, Of the nation as a
military unit, which have been vim
dicated in the World War. Modi-
fed to accord with American condi-
tions, the French system is the one
which comes nearest to answering
our military needs. Its basis is
universal liability. It's spirit is
democratic and patriotic. Its per-
manent corps Of officers and in
structors is finely trained and
remarkably efficient.
The Army and Navy Journal
pays this tribute to French "mili-
tarism":
"As we learned the lesson from
France in 19171918 that. was crystal
Gzed in the phrase the army behind
the army so we might we'll learn
the lesson of how admirable is her
military system. Army officers and
men who were free from national
prejudice saw beneath the surface
conditions of French army life and
discipline during the period of hos
tilities when they worked. or fought
in France and came to realize more
profoundly than ever how superb
was the genius of it's commanders,
the discipline of its troops, the
technical perfection of it's best
weapons. 1t is time we took another
lesson from the French as a nation
and learned to realize that universal
military service is national bless
ing as it is developed in France.
That is the only way in which the
plans for universal military service
in this country can ever hope to
escape from the blight of the 'Prus-
sian system
There are two kinds Of "mili-
tarism." There is nothing for US
to be afraid of in the French sort. 1t
comports with our notions of patri-
otic. duty and equality of obligation.
1t will solve without offense to
democratic ideals the problem of
making the nation and the army
one.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
The Colonel Also Unworthy

Cataloguing the offenses for
which Colonel House has been
denied the delights of the Presence,
Louis Seibold, of The World, lists
four things.
The excellent colonel consented
to holding the peace conference at
Paris, close to the battlefields, where
the atmosphere is not exactly pro-
German.
Next, the colonel, when the mat
ter of using the fourteen points
as basis for peace negotiations
was up, agreed to the British
Preservation" of freedom Of action
with respect to the freedom of the
seas" When the President finally
returned, the official explanation
was given that the Presidents in
sistence on the point was a joke
or himself and the fruit Of
blunder; that freedom of the seas
related to the rights of neutrals
in war time; that in the next war
there would be no neutrals and that
the Presidents underlying policy
was that there should not be.
Then the colonel inclined to the
side of Italy rather than that Of
Jugo-Slavia in the Fiume matter.
He was apparently mad enough to
think Italy had just ground for
complaint if an Italian city was put
under an alien dominion, and gave
some weight to the fact that the
Italians fought with the Allies,
while the Jugo-Slavs Of the old
Austria-Hungary fought against
them.
Finally the colonel, in the nego-
tiations carried on after the Presi-
dents return, is accused of not being
as slavish as he might have been
and as disposed to recognize the
merit of arguments made to him.
So Colonel House is in disfavor; !;
not that there has been any open
quarrel. "The President" explains
Mr.. Seibold, in a manner worthy Of
courtier of the Grand Monarch,
"never seeks an open quarrel with
persons who have lost his con-
fidence, and has even restored one
or two to favor. Ever since he en-
tered public life it has been his Gus
: tom quietly to eliminate such persons
: from his future plans and permit
his critics to speculate as to the
cause or causes" A motion picture
of the mind Of Colonel Harvey as he
reads these words would have ele-
ments of interest.
But Mr.. Seibold is not complete in
his recital of why Colonel House now
shivers in outer darkness. In an
other matter he was unorthodox.
According to the more or less official
minstrelization of the Grail Quest
J by Ray Stannard Baker, one of the
: Presidents chief press agents, the
President, when he arrived at Paris
? the second time, found an agreement
practically reached to separate peace
{ treaty and covenant The President
l who had boasted he would so inter
J weave the two documents that they
: could not be dissected apart, was
naturally furious and threatened to
come home. For this condition of
) affairs, it would seem, Colonel
, House was held responsible.
The abandonment of the doctrine
of open covenants of peace openly
, arrived at is not laid at the door OF
| Colonel House. This, it is to be
: gathered, was the Presidents own
, contribution. The bad little girl who
scratched and bit a companion was
asked if the devil had told her to dc
, as she had done. "He told me-" she
replied, "to scratch, but the biting
was an idea Of my own" So the
secrecy Of Paris is not due to Colonel
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09

Eve will be asked to return by the
workers to aid in the establishment of
Soviet America" said Miss Emma Cold
man. Some such thought coursed through
our mind every time we were canned
from newspaper job; and at 1884 last
night none of the editors who foolishly
fired US had asked US to return. And
so will give Miss Goldman tremendous
odds-one Star Spangled Banner against
a red fag-that the workers won't ask
her to return for any such purpose.
If, as they say in the army, any.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
The Coming 7ower
The Basfening on tho Republic

We've been earning higher wages than
we've ever earned before,
We have benefited largely BY the late
lamented war.
Our intentions just at present are to
benefit some more
And to run this here, now, landl
Glory, glory to the Unionl
Glory, glory to the Unionl
Glory, glory to the Unionl
And tell with the U. S. AL
In the past we've been down-trodden; i;
our employers tried US sore.
Now we've got Ford n everything,
and still we want some more.
We're honest sweating laborcrs--and
we'll say we won the warl
And we'll run this here, now, land
Glory, glory, etc. EXILE.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
Weir
In exhibition catalogues, biogra phica

In exhibition catalogues, biographical
dictionaries and other works of
reference he was always recorded as
]. Alden Weir. His closest intimates
called him Julian. To freQuenters of
the world of art at lalge he was known
simply as Weir. The brevity of the
designation implied not familiarity but
respect. His status, fixed long ago,
was that of an artist who by superior
commanding gifts is naturally de-
profession-the status of La Fargo
or a Whistler, an Inness or a Sargent.
But in Weir's case Che significance of
the tribute paid him by his contem-
porarles requires a rather special in
depreciation. That file status of his,
fixed indeed long ago, was based on
none of the traits which ordinarily
give salience to painter. He was not
q great colorist and designer like La
Fargo. He never rivalled Whistler in
originality. Sargent's self-confident
virtuosity was thing of which he
knew nothing. He had disciples, but
he did not even dream of forming q
school. In the whole range Of his
work, and he was a fairly prolific
artist, having a certain versatility into
the bargain, it is doubtful if there
could be found a single great" picture
On the other hand, he produced many
beautiful pictures. 1t was through
them that he won his high repute
through them and the personality be-
hind them.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
France viii Accept


Hitchcock on November 19 that the
Senate reservations would nullify
the peace treaty. In what way could
they nullify it? Certainly not by
withholding the assent of the United
States, which can beAconstitutionally
given with or without reservation.
The only possibility of notification
was through the creation of dead
lock with the major powers required
by Reservation l to subscribe to the
American provisos. The letter to Mr..
Hitchcock, therefore, emphasized the
fiction, popularized by the Admins
tration Senators, that the reserva-
tions were of such a nature that
they could not be consented to by the
major Allied powers.
This fiction has now been pune
tured by the frank admissions of LIE
Temps, a leading French newspaper
which is in close touch with the
French Foreign Office. 1t doesn't
find the Senate reservations unac-
ceptable. On the contrary, it argues
that France and the other major
Allies may accept them and ought to
accept them If France is ready to
take this step there is little reason
to doubt that Great Britain and Italy
will also take it.
LIE Temps says that European ad-
hesion to the reservations raises two
questions-one of form and one of
principle. Can the Allies afford to
allow a ratification with reserva-
tions? They ~efused to permit China
to sign the German treaty with
reservations as to Shantung. They
held out for months against per-
mitting Rumania and Jugo-Slavia to
sign the Austrian treaty with racial
minority reservations. But LIE Temps
reports that the Supreme Council has
just yielded to Jugo- Slavia on the
reservation issue. thus setting a
precedent for conditional ratifica-
tions by powers which insist on safe
guarding their own interests.
On the question of principle, In
volving the material effect on the
treaty of the American reservations,
the French newspaper holds that the
changes made in the Senate are on
the whole beneficial. 1t does not
object to the Shantung declaration.
1t justifes the reservation on Article
X. By a careful analysis of the
Senate's stipulations it refutes the
charge made by Administration
partisans here that the treaty modi-
fications dissociate America from
Europe. This, it declares, is a
"manifest falsehood." The Senate
reservations, it concludes, contain
certain interpretations which are
very wise, and which it would be to
our CFrance's] interest to sanction" ."
Evidently, up to now, the Lodge
MCOuIuUcT AcIlIOOC 4coCA VdClOllo
have not been carefully studied
abroad. They are not hostile to the
league or to the treaty. They repre-
sent a legitimate Americanization of
the document signed at Versailles.
The President and his followers are
alone responsible for the theory that
the changes have "cut out the heart
Of the covenant" They merely snip
off some of its Objectionable ex-
crescences. The European powers
are in a position to accept revised
document with good grace. 1t will
still contain the provisions for world
peace and international cooperation
which were in the original treaty.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09

"At the end Of the conference the
President told us couple of funny
stories. The President said the discus
sion of the Mexican problem had re-
minded him of Hennessy. who, upon
being asked whether he thought the
United States should intervene and take
Mexico, replied: Mexico is so conta-
gious to us that I'm thinkin' we'll have
to take it," Thus Senator Hitchcock
after last Fridays talk. or, in diplo-
matte and business slang, conference" }"
with the President. What we want to
know is the other funny story.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
The Bohemia Of Oliver Onions

Sir: Oliver Onions had. to my certain
knowledge, one look at Bohemia How long
it lasted or how much he saw 1 do not
know. In 1899 he drifted into studio in
Paris either in tow of or towing Gelett Bur-
CESS. The party vociferous. and the
concierge up with tears in his eyes.
do not know whether or not he took notes
i saw him take something else number
of times. helped Hugh Mccullough home
afterward Hugh was six feet three and full
of Scotch. both vocally and internally. Man..
it was gr-r-rand and anything but "Gray
Youth" RoLLo
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
Friend and Con,rude

Where he was concerned admiration
for the artist was accompanied by af
lection for the man. 1t is inconceivable
that he could ever have had any
enemies. The jeaousies which some
times follow upon such success as his
must have died Of their own meanness
in the atmosphere of his presence. He
|was generous in the appreciation of
others, helpful to his juniors, a stanch
TREND. He had an endearing laugh.
Perhaps, too, there was something in
the sheer beauty Of his physiognomy
which helped to make him so winning.
Tho phrase Is rarely applicable to a
man, but If the reader will look at the
bronze bust of him by Olin Warner,
which is preserved in the METROPOLITAN
Museum, he will see that it is just. In
his prime, when that bust was modelled
Weir had the radiant aspect which
legend associates with She younp
Athenian athletes Of antiquity. His
profile was like that which is some
times encountered on a Greek coin,
only there was nothing austere about
1t. Weir was one Of the sunniest, most
human of creatures, jolly figure in the
old days of the Tile Club, an ardent
nsherman, altogether type Of warm
ana friendly ways, an ingenious lover
OF nature and his fellow men. If he
was fastidious chooser of comrades
1t was also characteristic of him to
give his heart with both hands when
he gave it at all.
But what is it that, making his death
grief to those who knew him. must
also bring to every one interested in
American art poignant sense Of loss
1t is the thing that led early in his
career to his being called just "Weir"-
his ardor for beauty, his lofty stand
ard, his energy in the quest for what.
ever was fine in art. Weir recognized
by instinct the perfect work of art
There are some delightful stories OF
his European experiences, those of 8
modest artist placed by collectors who
were his friends in position to rut
Aladdin's lamp when he peered into 6
likely corner. He it was who bought
for Erwin Davis the "Joan Of Arc" b,
Bastien-Lepage which Mr.. Davis gave t.
the Metropolitan. and If am not mis-
taken it was to him that the same col
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09

The loyal Virginians to whom
Nancy Astor, M. P, is toast of
course seldom stress the point that
in her home town she could not even
vote
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
The Chief Difficulty
(Ekotn Thn Daf-n.k

(From The Detroit Necs)
We are all asked to save coal. All
we need in answer to this ringing ap-
peal of DR.. Garfield 10 some to save.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09

And I. E. suggests that "A 2b Of 9Th
Paste" would be a good title for Johns
first play.
New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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use for republication OF all dispatches credited
TO 1t or not otherwise credited in this paper. and
heretu.
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herein also reserved.