New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-22
Getting Back to
Fundamentals
Our Aim, !" SAYS
Mr.. How, the
President

Union men, be strong,
Side By side soe battle onwoyd 81
Victory will come.
Even in the interval Of wonder;r.
whether strong" and come" rhymeS
Mr.. Meaker was introduced, prepared Ia
talk on social economies; but first hs
also sang a song in a strong barytona
There was no doubt about it, Mr.. Meake,
knew how to sing:
Awake! As0oke! Put on thy strexctA
and loose thy bands;
Arise and shine! thy banners all un.
furled:
Go FORTH Go FORTH united sons Of monv
lands,
Proclaim the year of jubilee to al
the world.
The song finished, Mr.. Meeker
Strengthened up to his full six feet and
addressed the class. Tall and imposing
he looked, and as he spoke his words
were equally imposing.
Mr.. Meaker had addressed tho uni.
versity before, and this morning hs
desired to go through what might be
called preliminary examination
whereby he and the class might know
one another better, the better to gauge
their mutual capacity. Mr.. Meaker
would be glad to answer any question
on the social problem. He paused ex-
pectantly, but he only had to pause
for second. And then one Of the stu.
dents Of the hobo college spoke up.
els it true" he inquired in the pleas
antly argumentative voice of a man o.
learning, chat man is naturally ego
tistical? Is man a social being? Is
religion essential to him?
And thus, out Of a perfectly clear
sky and in one fell swoop, started the
automatic sprinkler Of the Pierian
Spring, which drowned out the sound
of the elevated and furnished refresh
ment for the next hour, an intellectual
cocktail to whet the appetite for the
lunch to come.
Hold on" expostulated Mr.. Meaker,
you are asking three questions in
stead of one," but Mr.. Meaker was not
to be daunted by any of the vagaries
blamed on man. Mr. Meaker holds the
title of the Hobo Philosopher and he
was ready to display it.
Mr.. Meaker called for a paper and
tack, and then equipping himself with a
fragment of brick, he endeavored to
nail the paper against the door, the
better to explain his point. 1t proved
to be an interesting struggle of mind
against matter, with matter we'll up in
first place. After hammering for a
time Mr.. Meaker discovered the door
was made of iron and likely to resist
the efforts of the tack. Undaunted by
the possible symbolism, he tried the
wall, and there the paper remained af-
fixed.
While the university watched him he
made a dot in the geometrical centre
of the circle.
"Let this dot" said the lecturer,
represent the human entity, since all
the philosophy of Descartes, Leibnitz
and the rest must come down to this
in the last analysis.
"And these other dots will represent
other human beings besides the ego,
and this circle represents human So
ciety, because there must be limit
to human society somewhere.
"And let this circle represent the
limit of the animal kingdom, and this
CIRCLE" and here he drew a very large
one indeed, "this circle represents ALL"
"Of course he acknowledged, "there
is infnity, which is commonly sup
posed to represent everything beyond
human comprehension, but we can i'm
clude everything, even the universe, In
the term ALL"
The Hobo University had not moved,
lad not shifted its position. 1t sat in
1uiet contemplation, staring at the
whole plan of things as it hung, SILVER
ng slightly from a draft from some
where out of the cosmos that tested
he hold Of the tack on the plaster.
There you have it," Mr.. Meaker con-
inued. There you have the ego which
las been brought forth by society. Con-
man, though egotistical, is
social, and man in turn has come from
he universe by the process Of evolu-
ion. He has come from the animals.
ust as the animals came from plants
md if man comes from the universe, il
We come from the universe, why the
Universe must at least be as alive and
cal as we are. Hence man is essen
tally religious and man must adjust
himself, both to society and to the uni
yerse."
Which all goes to prove that they
each philosophy at the Hobo Universe
y; real technical philosophy. AS the
resident says: "The laboring man has
listened and clapped and cheered the
entiments of people he cannot under
tand..
"He has done all this too long. Now