The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1920-01-02
MEN, WOMEN
AND THINGS

The New Years Eve Rotary lunch
con was one of the snappiest ever
held by the Birmingham club for the
programme was varied one. and ev-
every moment of it was enjoyable.
The New Year resolutions. addressed
by Roy Cohen to select few of the
'Rotes," were in his happiest style. /
came in for one of his quatrains
which satirized my Jokes and called on
me to get some new ones or quit tell
ing any during 1920. Sol Caheen was
the only one TO score, for by the time
his name was called he had caught
on and. instead of reading Roy's, i'm
proyised one of his own
Col william Locke of Bluefield,
W. Va. large coal operator, Scotch
man with BLUR in his speech almost
as pronounced as that of Gen. George
McCleery, made rousing speech which
was received with loud applause. He
let one drop though which was most
symptomatic of the times and that is
tHdL tHe American PSOplS are SeltlHS
the bad habit of trying to settle every
problem by legislation.
l. was glad that DIR. ]. H. Phillips
gave status and dignity to the TAX
| ing of the census by asking for CON-
mittee to cooperate with George NJ
Cruikshank, census supervisor. Let
Birmingham register every person
within the city limits, not merely for
1.-THE landable desire to make a good
showing to the world, but as a means
of making it easy to insure accuracy
i'll order to get the local benefits which
will come from having the facts a mat
ter OF record.
I think all who We're present will
| bear me out in the statement that
Fres'd dent Bush was at his very bes
and that his rapid summary of tn,
| year 1919 was a mastery and just re-
sumo. Morris Bush possesses in a higl
degree the art of orderly statement
and .ias few equals when it comes t.
| the marshaling of facts to be pre-.
sented to a committee. He has made
good on so many important hearings
that il has given him a whole lot o.
wors tc do
The war taught us many things ii
the matter of public speech, and die
| much to rob the old-style spellbindel
OF his power, for it was seen that while
In the end it got us nowhere anc
that If we really wanted to go forward
we had better give attention to tn,
business men who had the facts with
out the oratorical trimming. 1t wa.
! a good school for the developing O.
| new talent in public addresses and fol
the correction of the over-florid il
speech.
have lived to see not only erea
| c1ange take place in sermonic deliv
cry but also in that of jury address
as wei as in forensic debate. 7 he
| lieve it was the late George w. Small
ley' for many years the London cor
respondent of the New York Tribune
| and for a few years before his dealt
the representative In America of tn,
Times, who, on hearing DR.. James 3
hawthorne, wrote that he had Jus
listened 10 the last Of the Websterial
| orators
| Born and reared in the south from
my boyhood up, / was fed on what I;
generally styled spread eagle" orator,
| of the most flamboyant variety. A few
men still in public life in Alabama ca,
| pull it on occasions, but while it il
still powerful in some sections. it /;
losing its force in other circles. Ii
the hands of the ante-bellum master
| It swept people off their feet and tn,
feats of Yancey and HilIiard and other
| VIII long linger as memories of grea
times and great men.
l do not mean to infer that orator,
in the highest sense will ever ceas
to sway mankind, for history is agains
| me- and l couldn't make out a cas-
even in the present, SO long as sucl
man as Lloyd George by the sbee
! magic of speech seems to be able t.
arouse, and hold the great mass of tn
British. l can only contrast with suc]
fiery and eloquent advocate the coo
ana sane tones of Clemenceau: blu
| the two men represent not only tn
two types of orators but the difference
of race.
But l fearI am going so far afiel
as to leave Morris Bush out of sigh
| and, as he. was in my mind before
began TO roam, I will bark back unit
aim. for I doubt If in ~ of the re
views, of 1913 that will appear in tn
| dailies, weeklies and monthlies. tina
any of them will be as clear and a
compact as the one ne gave us wit,
such power on Wednesday, 1t ma
| have been impromptu so far as its de
livery was concerned. but behind
were years Of study and happy assim
ilation.
His opening was not only prophec,
but statement of truths that is bein
realized. however unwillingly. even O
the other side of the Atlantic in spit
of all the pessimism which is floatin
around in the atmosphere of party poll
tics and specially privileged busines,