Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-02
With Other Editors
A New Chapter in an Old Story.
CChicago Journal).


About the year 421, B. c., there was a truce
in the Pelopennesian war which tore ancient
Greece to fragments, and the cities came to-
gether again for their Olympic games Athens
had been hard hit in the struggle, much Of her
territory had been raEaged, thousands Of her
citizens impoverished But Alcibiades deter
mined to show the Grecian world that he, at
least. was rich. 1t was a strain on ths> wealth
of those simple times for q man to enter even
one four-horse team for the chariot race AL
cibiades entered seven teams, won the olive
crown twice, and atterWard entertained the 9TH
eF contestants at a banquet SO extraVagant
that it became the talk of all Greece-
He dazzled the unthinking in this manner.
but the effect on most Of his countrymen is
described by the historian as follows:
All the unfaYorable impressions sug-
eested to prudent Athenians by his pre-
vious life were aggravated by such
stupendous display this reck-
less expenditure which he would be com
PEELED TO try to ovettake by peculation
or violence at the public cost
This ancient tale comes to mind when
reading the accounts of the extravagances Of
some of our war millionaires. The great strug-
gle which impoverished many nations and bur
dened all with debt was a source OF personal
profit to some thousands of clever traders, and
they are spending their new wealth In extrav-
agance that would make AIciblades green with
envy The most costly furs, bullt-to-order
of an Indian princes treasure house-these
are some of the playthtngs of the new rich.
AS to the last item, the editor or a 1eWeler S
journal says:
II has been one continuous Christmas
season all summer. Nobody in the bust
ness has ever seen anything like 1t be-
fore. 1t is nothing short OF hysterla, the
way everybody is buying jewelry. And
it is not cheap jewelry, either. It is
the real kind, that enables one to carry
fortune in ones hand.
Yet even this does not provide sufficiently
quic'- way of getting rid of newly gained
wealth and gambling is hOUrishing it has
not done for a generation. 1t is estimated that
more than 100000 were wagered on the races
at Saratoga alone in a single day. II should
be noted, too, that the fever has spread to
hundreds of thousands of people who, though
not wealthy are enjoying greater prosperity
than ever before. Laborers in rolling mills
have been numbered among the buyers OF ex-
pensive motor cars in the last year or two.
Extravaganza of this sort produces the same
reaction now that it did in the days of Alci-
blades The public feels instinctively that such
lavish spending means unjust repleniShing-
and broadly speaking. the public is right
Someone must produce the wealth which vast
ers spend. Someone must quit useful industry
to make the baubleS which MASTERS demand
and the people pay. Alcibiades recouped his
outlay by direct plumber from the state In
our day the process is trif1e more involved,
and works through profteering and kindred
devices; but the connection between extrava-
gance on the one hand and hardship and loss
on the other remains unbroken.
Only one thing is new, the specter OF rev
olution evoked by such reckless wasting. This
orgy of extravaganza comes at a time when
millions Of people, among them the brain work
ers without whom civilization cannot exist,
are scarcely able by the most rigid economy.
to make both ends meet. While munitions
millionaires are ordering motor cars in half
dozen lots, wives of college professors are
working and planning day and night to save
5oI1a -Inf Q cont q
cost of meat. While people who once aspired
to rhinestones buying diamonds, hard
working father in the stockyards district of
Chicago keeps his children out of school be-
cause he cannot buy them shoes.
Bolshevism can never gain the upper hand
in the United States. But it make lot
of trouble and every vulgar "splurge" of sud
denly acquired wealth increases its power for
mischief. In times like these, extravaganza
is as great an offense against patriotism
against good taste.