The Washington herald., 1921-08-28

Puritan. anti-repression. proper
He indulges in the freest OF
free speech. who will
cast the first stone?" asks someone
From Baltimore comes the shout
'Mencken will!" and Mencken does
II he hasn't already. He has sale
things in his column in the Even.
ing Sun and in The Smart Set thar
else ever got away with
wicked adjective he slings, afraiG
Of the position he has won for him.
self, afraid of his fearlessness. Ht
is far from helpless. and he know.
just how far he can go.
Mencken attacks the most sacred
things in American public life: Tn,
Presidency. the war policy, the
Congress. grave societies
flag waving. wealth, popular he
roes, popular authors, popular gov
ernment.
His Strategy.
II have found" he said the othel
day, that the mob is always will
the aggressor. The higher the per
son attacked, the more he was rev,
vered yesterday, the more pleasur,
the boobs take in seeing hin
dragged down.
And another thing: II yousat,
tack ten men four OF them will
come around behind the barn dool
and want to sell out to you. I hav,
had proof of that again and again.
MenCken once tackled the Meth
odist Church in Baltimore, and wor
out! In Baltimore that church 1.
strong. He went 81
far as to say that all the Methods
ministers were disreputable men
and when the shocked and reprov
ing hoYl came to this he wired hi
clipping bureau to send him all tn,
stories of Methodist ministers ac
cused of crime. There came a fiooC
Of clippings. and he printed then
all in his column. Finally his op
ponents subsided.
A Severe Trial Coming. ,
Mencken believes that America 1.
Tar from being a coherent nation
that Z severe test of itsEnationa
unity and particularly of its gov,
ernment is not far away, that ou,
representative form will fall.
Have you in mind a substitute
Tor this mediocracy?" the Youn.
Visiter asked.
No" said Mencken.
He is against stupidity, the glori.
ication of the inferior idea. He is a
orofessed follower Of Nietzsche. a
'houter for the superman. He com.
plains bitterly in his writings
against the absence of a real aris.
tocracy discarding as false the aris-
-"cracy of the self-confessed in.
-ellectuals and the aristocracy OF
The tradesman-rich. His own fam.
.ly has had many university degree.
and has included thinkers who
stood on their own feet. OF thi:
Mencken shows himself somewhat
proud.
A Cure for Abuses.
Mencken believes that oppression
cannot be stopped by the mere pas.
sage of laws. The fear of physical
he says, is the only thine
hat will cure il.
when it becomes popular to muir.
der bankers" he said, "and when 4,
becomes customary for juries &c
lc"uit such murderers and for mob,
to liberate them from Jail, then we
will have an end to usury, but moi
before.
But my interests are all on tn,
side Of the capitalists" he contin,
He is forever doing battle in 6
verbal way against some sort Of
popular enemy and then catching
with the reminder that he
isn't a democrat, that he doesn''
Sive a whoop about the people.
In spite of himself his critics have
'ften convicted him Of being an up.
litter. a reformer and a patriot
terms which greatly annoy him.
In His Own Words.
He once wrote to Burton Rascoe a
etter setting forth a number of his
beliefs. An extract follows:
II am against all theologians
professors, editorial-writers, right
thinkers and reformers. I an
against patriotism because 1t de.
nands the acceptance of PROPOSE.
ions that are obviously imbecile
:. g., that an American Prespyre.
-fan is the equal of Anatole France
Brahms or Ludendorff I am against
democracy for the same reason: 4,
$ indf~tineuishable from lunacy
70 me- democracy seems to be found.
hA D..
'nvy Of his superior-of the mar
who Is having a better time. Thai
s also the origin of Puritanism. ]
iAtest all such things. acknowI.
dee that many men are my supe.
'iors. and always defer to them. Ir
'uch country as the Tinted States
II course. few Of that sort are tc
1e encountered. Hence my appar.
mt foreiRnness: most Of the men ]
'espect are foreiRners. But this IL
rot my fault. I'd he glad to respect
mericans II they were respectable
George Washington was. I admire
lin greatly.
II detest men who meanly ad-
nire mean things. e. g.. fellows who
hink that Roosevelt was a great
man, I also detest poltroons-that
s. men who seek unfair advantages
n combat In my, gladiatorial days
n the Baltimore Sun I never at
acked single man who was with
ut means of hitting back. I con-
rolled space that was dedicated to
nyone who wanted to attack me.
70 man was ever refused this space.
fy objection to Americans is that
hey like TO fight with the enemy
trapped to the board. Hence the
ersecution of Germans during the
Tar, the robbery OF helpless alien
usiness men, the American Legion,
he American Protective League, the
tack on Spain. the wars with
-ina "a n.na Santa nnraino - nL.-