The Washington herald., 1920-12-05

KeIIermann, under ordinary cir
= cumstances. would seem to bear
no shadow Of relation to the sill
vering locks Of the Rev. Wilbur
Fisk Crafts, but II half the talk
one hears nowadays be true a plan
is seething under the silverylocks
of the reverend doctor to make
Annette use her flowing tresses for
a purpose more conventional than
the partial concealment of her
physical charms the next time she
does water-stuff in the movies.
The reverend doctor. Of course, Is
the most recent bugbear of the
drama, the man commonly credited
with the authorship and instigation
of a new reform wave that osten-
sibly aims to give everyone a days
rest in seyen-whether he wants II
or not-but actually aimed at elimi-
Mating, for one day in the week at
least. such noisome obstacles 10
Christian progress and the cody
life as picture shows, stage shows,
side shows. peep shows, leg shows
and the like
There is a deal more in the rev.
doctors alleged program. For IN
stance, the patching up of goddess
divorce laws, the elimination Of the
Sunday morning newspaper menace,
the introduction of Bible reading
into the public schools, the closing
of f street to knee length skirt
trafic, and certain other similar
lines of resistance; but the hue ano
cry Is raised the loudest over the
effect of giving everybody one days
rest in seven, which, according 10
the Crafts formula, would be
vastly different business. because II
would force them all to take sun
day of, whereas the Jews and sew
enth Day Adventists prefer Satur-
day, while newspaper reporters and
buffers prefer Tuesday.
ESPITE the half-hearted dis
chalmers of the reverend doc
- tor, there Is enough evidence
at hand to justify the belief thar
a period of fresh activity by the
Puritan element is at hand. now
that a breathing spell has inter-
yened since the great prohibition
conquest, and since, once again, IL
becomes necessary for the profess
sIonaI reformer to Demonstrate the
great distance to Utopia and the
further need of his presumably
well-paid activities.
As far as the doctor himself is
concerned, his record speaks louder
than his soothing disclaimers. AT
hA hna u
preacher of the gospel, Christian
lobbyist and Puritan by birth. train
ing, inclination and profession-par-
ticularly the latter. Additionally,
he is regarded as the head and front
Of the prohibition conquest; he is
the founder of the Lords Day ALI
ance. organizer and executive head
of the International Reform Bureau
and easily the most hated and
feared specter that haunts the
dreams of the amusement fraternity
today.
1 suspect the doctor of a pardon
able pride in his accomplishments
and a pardonable glee over the
shiverings and vibrations that fol-
low the very mention of his name.
When a man has reached the doc
tors age, there are not many pleas
ing pastimes left in the world and
the pursuit of power-the power to
make men shiver and quake at the
mention of a name-is ever a pleas
ing pastime when the filly petite
and the flet mignon have long
since paIled in ones minds eye.
ND mulling over the mass OF
n data that an enterprising and
4 u assiduous Journalism, o I
metropolitan and small-town, has
adduced on the subject, there is not
only q volume Of reasons to believe
that the reverend doctor is about
to embark on a new crusade but that
he again leads to the fray against
the heathen the same venerable as
sembly of rich men who found the
prohibition scrap such vast fun for
the money invested that they're all
an-itch to try II again. Yes, it's
rather more than likely that the doc
tor and his reformers are as wen
heeled in their projected new cru
sade as they were in their last one
and IL money were the only ammuni-
tion in the doctors haversack, the
Ziegfslds. the Dillinghams, the
Loews. the zukors and even Wall
Street itself might, on occasion,
amass an amount that would make
the doctors pile look like the con-
tribution of the Eugene. Greg,
Sunday School to the latest foreign
missionary drive.
Money, however, is the mere lu-
bricating substance that oils the in
tricate co-ordinating machinery OF
the rural church element and the
city reform crowd Crafts and
his generation know only too well
the balance Of reform power that
lies resident In the remote country
districts where even picture shows
make a very great noise, indeed, and
to put an end to the abominably
pleasant Sunday diversion of the
luxurious city dweller, can always
ind an attentive ear from those
powerful and Independent forces
who. being forced to slop hogs and
milk cows on Sabbath evenings, are
always receptive to a suggestion to
improve the moral lot of the urban
gentry who. being hogless and cow
less. spend much valuable time gaz-
ing at shadows on silver-sheets or
perusing such nonsensical gush as
this, for instance, on the Sabbath
day.
ATOW, given the assurance that
IN the reform element has its
mind set on bringing about q
recrudescence Of those blue laws
which have made America the laugh
ing stock of the world. and assum-
ing that the wherewithal, both ma
terial and spiritual. Is at hand to
"A