Norwich bulletin., 1921-03-05
THE MAN WHO TALKS


 We are passing through period of in- 1ustrial relapse not collapse. The pe- riod of the war was period of general Imitation in the price of labor and i'd. the cost of living. For certain l kinds of work the call was imperative, l and then the infection naturally spread, 1 first, to closely related forms of labor, | and at last, to all kinds. We know how salaries were raised, and how wages | scared We were all of us hoated along 1 on a big wave little thinking of the dis- 1 tant shore on which the wave would in | due time break. The poorest lawyer in sort of a doctor had office calls. A, teach- CT with little learning found q a-school. But in time the whole industrial world began to contract, and then began wedding process. The outlook was serious for the light weight and the old bum. Ability, decency, and worth came in from the 1eld and took their inning. Sooser or later the testing time comes. There is always q money value in being seaWorthy.
 This leads us to remark that a finan- cial depression is not an mmitigated evil. Nobody Is very anxious to feel the grip of hard times, but none the less 1t may have 8 salutary effect upon us both as indi- viduals and as nation. Most of us would rather have doctor rub us over with olive oil than to cut out gall stones But the knife cannot always be avoided, neither can the period of business stag nation. It is quite possible that our sing and follfes have brought in the use of the knife; 1t is also quite possible that the insults we have offered to thrift and economy have led us to the bread line. In many respects we have been rioting in luxury, and in some things there has been an ~of wastefulness. To keep the balance up sooner or later all this has to be paid for, and we are paying up the back bills, which comes rather hard For extravaganza the individual has taken his cue from the nation hence taxation that makes us squirm from the least unto the greatest. When we get over this money spree perhaps we shall be wiser.
 Two years ago the president of we'll known New England college remarked to the writer: "The rules of our college are supposed to. help us in our work if we find one that is an obstacle rather than a help, we don't hesitate to smash it; we are greater than the rules we make. This was a, level-headed man who refused to be. bound by little conventions. He pro- posed to have a free hand in doing his work and not move around in the pint cup of conformity. I wish all public of
 icials had as much common sense. Un- fortunately they are ~hedged about with more legal technicalities than the ancient Pharisees whom they very much resem- ble. Some time ago clergyman in Ok lahoma was going from one city to an- other. At the station an acquaintance asked him to take dress suit case to a certain party where the clergyman was going Out of kindness / did so. That frai raj lad nd tba full ,P liquor. He was arrested and heavily fined. The mans character and the cir cumstances had no effect on the judge. He was a pennyweight bound hand and foot by rules that strangled him.
 justice. Perhaps it is nearer to our, own front door than we are willing to admit. It is very easy for us, the great and holy American people, to pick flaws in the characteristics of foreigners, but let us not forget the fragility of our own glass house. There seems to be growing ten dency in this country, if the newspapers are a good judge to go by, to harshly and very unjustly criticize the ex-soldier. Probably he is not saint, at least he does not pose as one If he was when he went into the service, there was noth- ing. in the war that tended to promote saiht'iness. But. why accuse him of crimes he is innocent of? A daring and sk!ilful burglary was committed in New | York by unknown parties. A leading jour- nal stated that the police surmised it was done by ex-soldiers. Now the ex-soldieI ss not a ptof ' ional crook. It was COW. at'lly for the police to cover up their no- torious incompetency by blaming the un. fortunate eX-soldier.
 l l politics is asked more frequently thar thisi Has the United States a sound req
 son for keeping aloof from the league o1 nations?" Some, of our critics abroad dc not hesitate 10 accuse us>of cowarlice others think we are mercenary; and stil others think, we are stuck" on the srlen i dor of our isolation. Philip Gibbs, th, greatest of the World war correspondents with keen insight, has this to say on thu point. '"Their hostility to the peace terms and to cer rtain claus.a in the league of nations was due to- a deep-seated dis trust in the entangiements with foreig7 troubles, jealousies and rivalries, and tht
 spirit of the United States so far iron desiring mandates over great popula l tions outside the frontiers of it's own peo
 )le, harked back to the old faith in Z splendid isolation free from imperial re
 sponsibilities. Thus, in nutshell, doe
 Mr. Gibbs express the attitude of our peo
 pie in this matter.
 No intelligent person will deny th place the midWeek service has occupied
 in the development of religion. For som
 reason or other in most churches thi
 weekly meeting has become the weak, meeting. Is it wise to rattle an old forn after its life is gone? Is 1t not a grea deal wiser to discover some new mod
 for the expression of religion that is nor
 in keeping with the spirit of today? Be cause the nid-wee1 service fitted so afl
 mirably the simpler needs ot yesterday i no reason that fl is best adapted for tn more complicated life of today. A phsy
 EiologiA is able to make a lifeless fro
 wtggle after it's own capacity to wiggl
 has gone, and it is pathetic to see hoy many pastors are trying to do the sam
 thing with the ,defunctJ prayer meeting
 Let us remember that religion is more vi rile than any mode of its manifestation Personally l would much rather hear tn
 chatter of live sewing machine tha
 the monotonous drawl Of a dead prayer If we have any new wine-and shame b \ to us if we haven't-why be afraid to pu l it into new wine skins?
 It is very doubtful whether the ran
 and file of the veterans of the World wa
 are very insistent on bonuses--certainl ) not the more intelligent and far sighted I those who are abundantiy able to ear
 their own living. But there are son
 things that our government, out of con , mon decency ought to do, and if not dor immediately will be positively disgra c, X ful, and that is that the maimed and di.
 abled in saving rich America from as. 4
 sination be cared for as becomes q GrI. s fpeople. Have we already forgotten tt n Argonne forest and other battles whel