The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-09-15

The Decline Of Oratory.
eon1Il1l Quill1lul q = Asesal,

ct Ofatory.
lows to gibe and litter n III, -.
there 10 evidence of . chs
The public attitude toward ~.
cal oratory to which ia ~.
dailies are slayishly cateri,,
Many minor evidences al y.
same change In public sest,.... 4
might be Cited. Orations a. y.
draw the crowds they oncs -.
nor the tears. nor yet the 49,
There u . growing tendene, =
audiences to show signs Of M "a
vailing unrest when the 49,.
draws = fresh breath, and -
Nov, ladies and gentlemen ~
one more point to offer for ~.
confederation"
This piece Is q lament :. .
lhould be. Americas creates -
most indisputably indisepous n.
is threatened. We do not pfoas.s
- good writer's Is other ciyiIi.s:
, Countries. nor rs good paints,.
In scientific discovery the ~.
great nations outrank 10. ~.
diplomats politely take away ~
ours Whatever We may have ~,
they want But In orator. M,
great nation can compare I'M
America? Where can you di,es.s.
the counterpart Of william Ies.
nings Bryan and Billy Sun6a,,
And what our orators may M !,
quality they make up in numhars
1t is . fact Of statistical stan1is,
that no other countries on eanst
produce more orators per thasrsI
Of population except Mexico. ~
Liberia.
Not Altogether Sad.
And yet 1t may be that this tint.
~ threatened decline of . MT
national art and pastime n ~
without its compensations. rm.
biologists tell us that as 4 methca
Of considering important question:
public speaking to large crovds
has a fundamental weakness. Thu
weakness is that the orator haa
an overwhelming tendency to az.
not what he thinks, but what the
crowd wants to hear. In the soil.
tude Of his study he may be 4 OH.
cere and intelligent man, but when
he gets on the platform he IL POI.
sessed by the single desire to III
a hand" He will say anything 10
that end and purpose. His thinh.
ing all goes for naught. And, A. l
coroNary Of this proposition, tn
man who does not think ON
makes a better orator than the ons
who does. II a man really laS
anything to impart he can write 4
a great deal better than he can
say it.
1t is true that the world has pro.
duced great orators, from Moses
and Cicero on down. But \ you
will examine into the Grating q
these gifted ancients. you viii
learn that they spoke. not to great
mobs Of people. but to small. &C.
lect and critical audiences Of their
peers. Thus Cicero's careful and
precisely logical discourses weir
delivered before the Roman senate
IA small and highly sophisticated
body. It is the audience that make
the Grafton. And when the audi
ence is q great body of men. mos
of whom feel but do not think, and
who are welded into q mob, tht
GRAFTON becomes q mere telling d
funny stories, a making Of reso.
nant noises, a shouting OF tribal
shibbofeths. A typical American
political speech is a lineal descend.
ant of the war whoop and . koot
I brother Of the college yell. It b.
no more affinities with logic mi
common sense than q popular sons
For proof Of this, listen to . few o
them.
Nor have the really great %,
constructive Americans ever bed
orators. Our great orators with
out exception have talked then
selves into oblivion without athiev
ing any position of high and lat
ing power. Witness HeAry Clsy
Daniel Webster, Roscoe Conklnl
They all wanted to be presidsa
and talked themselves out OF u
Job. George Washington vas D
orator. When he had to make
speech he wrote it out carefull
and briefly and often he BE-
someone else write it for hin
showing that he assessed speed
making at its true value. Lincoh
was not really a great speale
either. When he campatgned 20
the presidency many Of his speech
es made . poor impression. Al 9
his so-called great speeches q
brief and highly finished litsraI
productions-the product OF s0l
tude. The Gettysburg address J
only q few hundred words .
length, was written and srevtss
!. many times, and when deltvefs
before . crowd produced no>s3se
whatever. Long afterward. Hhs
, discriminating people read 1t ovs
it was discovered to be a CLASSIC.