The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1920-05-27
TOO MUCH JAZZ

Too much jazz and too little serious
work, the Saturday Evening Post de-
clares, is the trouble with our country
today. The Post, in recent long edi
torial, entitled. "Fiddling," urges
that citizens everywhere call halt on
extravaganza. The advice can be APP
piled locally in numerous instances.
Until it is applied by communities
throughout the nation, we are going to
continue our mad race toward a burst
ing of bubbles. The Post says
1t is not the extremes of blue denim
pants for the men and calico dresses
for the ladies' that will bring better
conditions: not meatless days, wheat
less days and sweetless days for every
body; not grand standing by million
aires who brag in the papers about
the patch on the seat of their trousers
and then limousine it home to be
waited on by corps OF able'bodied
buffers and footmen, but just the exer-
else of simple common sense, modera-
ton and the setting Of good example
to one person-yourself.
Too Much Mustard has become the
national anthem, and the Shimmy the
national dance. A period of Strauss
and the old-fashioned give her-room
waltz is about the prescription that we
need. There is something wrong
about the styles when a woman who
wears.aIl her clothes finds herself con-
spicuOus.
The world needs and should have a
moderate amount of the luxuries and
pleasures that make for real comfort
and true happiness, but every manu-
facturer who IS draining labor from the
country to meet an inordinate and un-
wholesome demand from the fiddlers
and the dancers is chasing profits into
the mouth of a pit that will finally
engulf him. Every man and woman
who is keeping unnecessary help. lux
ury and show servants, or letting able
bodied men fill the jobs that women
could hold is actually more blame
worthy than if he had done these |
things during the war. The need for |
every able man in useful, productive |
work is greater now than it was then.
Youth will be served, but if Age will |
be served by it, the time is coming |
when there will be blamed little to
serve. "a little service, please" is
the cry and the curse of this country
We do not need more service. We can
get along comfortably with a whole lot
less. The cafetria idea could be eX-
tended with advantage to many depart
ments of life.
(. 1t is not desirable for the country to
proceed TO extremes of selfdenial. |
But we can very we'll get along with |
simpler living, fewer luxuries and |
cheaper, more wholesome pleasures. |
Make the old car do make the old suit |
last. Buy new clothes when you real |
ly need them, but cut out extremes of |
style. Starvation and superf1uity are !
equally undesirable. Stay at home oc-
occasionally and read book as an al |
tentative to the theatre: take a walk |
between the trees once in a while in |
stead of chasing pleasures between the |
bright lights. In short, cut down ex'
cesses of consumption and speed up |
your production a little. A great deal
is not asked of anyone, but a little |
from everyone. Somewhere IN our |
work we all have a little slack that |
can be taken up. Hit better pace |
during working hours if you are one of |
those who make god of short hours |
add little to your working time if
YOU are one Of those who have discov- |
cred that the secret of happiness is a |
good deal of work and a little play. |
Get a job if you are loafer, rich or
poor, male or female. No great Civ |
ing up and no drastic speeding up by |
anyone is needed, but Just little from |
everyone. One man or woman to set |
an example in house. a hundred in a |
plant--the boss taking the lead-and |
a few thousand in every city, will |
start a movement that will quicken the |
willing to join and finally drag in the !
unwilling bv the scruH of the neck. |
Life is a game of follow the leader. |
If you can't be the leader, pick a good |
one to follow and keep him moving in
the right direction.
Again, we must have a revival Of /
home owning and home life. Farm
tenants and city renters are bad for
the country All other building should /
give way for the present to necessary |
business extensions and to houses. We /
can easily double up in the churches If |
necessary there is plenty of room in
them. Intensive cultivation and CO.
operation in the religious field would |
be a good thing for US. We can get
along for awhile without memorials
and theatres and ouija-board factories,
but we cannot do without home own
ers. 1t is a fine thing TO have an auto
mobile when one can afford il. but no
one can safford il until after he has
bought a house or a farm. A real es-
tate mortgage Is usually a mark of
thrift and progress. but chattel
mortgage never is. We might very
well slow down on all drives for !
awhile. especially the professionally
promoted ones, set the paid drivers
and publicity men TO work i'm other
fields, and put enormous and ofttimes
misdirected energy that is behind them
into a great campaign.of home build