The Washington herald., 1920-11-28
ExplorerNoMore;
Ndnsen in Politics
Hall of Fame Still Taboos
Whitman ViUiani
Eloquent

z tAmundsen days giant blond from Nor
way Dr. Fridtjof Nansen held the atten-
ton OF the world as Polar explorer He
visited the United States and capitalized his /
iame, but we begrudgcd not the ,iucre we
paid him He looked like a Viking; we
had no reason then or afterward to suspect
tnat he, was fakir; and he told. his story
with verve If you read the proceedings Of
the league of nations assembly now sitting
IN Geneva you find his name Frequently re-
curing The years have diverted him from
seience to statecraft. During the war he
tried to humanize the awful conflict >as
much as possible. Since the armistice he
mas been the servant, of the nations in
;anevisanng the horrors of the prison camps
n which thousands of men still Ianguisb
! NOW he shares in the deliberations ~ the
nist parliament of man and reports to his
associates Just what the terrible facts are
nations that he has visited. He used. no :
pc interested in problems of Nature espe-
elany tnose OF frigid zones. Now he is in
t tee9 IN Man who has just emerged
Whitman ,Still Tabooed.
Inc recent poll of the electors who
Ghoose the persons who are to enter the
Hall of Fame showed them averse to the
Siams OF Walt Whitman. Like Edgar Az
IAN roe, his period of probation Is likely
TO be extended. Europe, as with Poe.
may rank him among the great, but his own
country will not. In this tribunal as in SO
many others, the Personal EQUATIONS of
the judges count and the. resultant effect
OF the composite decree is only partly Oh
lective and to a considerable extent sub
Jectfve, due to the racial, religious, occupa-
tional and ethical traditions and Standards
OF the appraisers. II favorable action ON
whitman is delayed by the Jury of the
laii OF. fame, with its large proportion
or lurists, educators and clergymen. the
Whittnanites may take consolation in tbc
fact that were poll to be taken of the
members of the National Academy and
the National Institute of Arts and Letters
the verdict would be different Meantime
discussion of Whitman goes on, with the
reanst intent on getting at the bottom Of
an his amours and the idealist equally in
sistent on stressing his universal and ideal
istic aspirations. 50
Who Is Washington's Present-Day Gail
Hamilton1
Professor Beers of Yale University has
recently drawn an analogy between the
work of Agnes Rcpplier and "GaiI Ham,
iiton He wonders whether any twen-~
heth century reader viii understand the
comparison. Which query suggests lanoth-s
"hy II 10 "dS01nRtOn TO-
day has no group of women correspon-
dents writing for the press at all conipar-
able IN wit, brilliancy of style and pun
gency of thought with that shown by the
group of which Abigail Dodge ("Gail
Hamilton') was the star. Professor Beers
recalls her work in the Cos. 1t continued
long after that well down to the close of
the last century; and she had the entree
OF the best Periodicals Of her time. Her
friendships with the polictical leaders of
her day, especially with Mr. Blaine gave
her invaluable aid. She had fare for
politics when it was not so much. mixed
with economics finance and those other
isms" that journalists have to comment
upon today who cover Capital doings She
dipped her pen in ink with solution of
vitriol in it if she felt like it; and she
thought her own thoughts
The Eloquence of Viviani
Since French is the language usually
spoken and best understood at the Cen
eva Assembly of the League of Nations
the French government is fortunate in
having such fascinating orator as Vivi-
ami to argue her case and the causes which
France has at heart. We Americans had
chance to hear him early in the war
when he came with Joffre and with Bal
tour to spellbind us into action that we
might not otherwise have taken. l saw an
audience of 1000 men, of whom less than
100 understood what he said, come under
his spell one Sunday at hastily sum-
moned meeting of business men; and they
stood entranced for an hour as he told
his story with rapid, musically toned
speech, and with the gestures of his body
and the scintillations of his eyes. 1t was
tn consummate lwizardry of eloquence.
Now at Geneva, Lord Cecil, Brantling, the
Swedish socialist premier, Barnes, the Brit
ish spokesman of labor and other Liberals
are at a disadvantage when they compete
for the favor of men so many of whom
know and love all the nuances of French