Pueblo chieftain., 1921-08-18
BACK ON THE OLD SOAP BOX

regiment of soap-boxers in the <,,I,
whose feeblest haranSues draw wildly
snthusia sfic crowds. q .siJu is an
other subject W. his re Giving much
| In. speecn this summer Tne uucs-
t.If of WHO is to lie >re ',ex- mhyor rf
| New York is another T .en th~r. ar.
, many soap-hoNers whose :.u-.cse II Is
"ifitcult TO learn. They may be hcersI
taking long, loudly AM h-..te.lly about
s}methirs but no one can Grtcrmin"
what One OF the chief rollyi'.g places
II the open plaza at l37th street. Ham
ilton Place and Broadway wher. torch
light am wagon oratory attract large
crowds every night. Sometimes -four
be heal holding forth on difereut
topics at one time. In one corner n
sin Feiner may be heaping oppro-
brium upon tho British empire in an
ether tn, Eighteenth Amendment Is
receiving a terrific tongue ash!ng: ?
little further on an outraged tenant Is
ieviiing New York landlords. vhun
Just opposite is a; explosive lite man
who is spouting frenzied phrases IN
favor OF disarmament.
Whats the idea of all this rr,e
speech7" we asked n policeman at
l;7th Street DO you think 1t gets
any res suits"
sure. he rcpied 1T gives all
them nuts a chance to blow off steam
! Yes. he agreed. the city had b, en-
during the war but. ms for hir1, As
trought all precautions against su
spelling were unnecessary. All the re-
.reech them :; ts' gave away coLl
not harm anybody We believed.
He then eNlAined that no podice
PERMIT ts necessary for the soa., box
orator. So long as he does no. OBJ
Eiruct traffic nr otherwise make
nuisance OF himself he may haransiN
until he Is hoarse. de may shower
I
| .cas populace and attempt to convert
| them to lis cause, aud the police viii
merely pass him by with a tolerant
smile. There Is only one prohibition.
He can say wnat he likes about th!7
Eovernmt Mt and any other government
| but he must mini his P's and O. vh-n
q comes to rsliTion. Denouncins o.
IpokinS f.tn a. otner mems religious hn-
] efs IS strictly taboo.
A safety valve
Free speech Is once more takon
matter OF course IN New York rust ss
| ~ is in Londou's Hyse Park. As onN
official explains, Soap Box orato-y iT
recognized here. as It is there. as AZ
f"rding safet- valve for impaseion-
I'D dlscontent or contorted ce-ebra
ton" II his belief. the majority ot
Sew Yo-kers find II more Narnu,i7s
I'm London. HYDE Park I. popu-
lar institution. he says "Th. public
owes II Ottcr You find five or six
hundred people gathered there o, n
Sunday afternoon listening TO sp~c ,h'.
an everything from veSetariani~ri -
birth control In fact. in fashlonarls
London " - quite the smart thing :,
Promenade in HYDE Park Just before
tea time on a Sunday ard listen to III.
1dicals. No one takes them serituriy.
/ OF course"
| Yet outEIde Of New York. London
and other large cities, the soap box
orator Is often taken only too ~. .tous-
Is. Some Of our own western cities
/ have veTf little patience with rrops-
ganda arains. the government or
Iarainst itrEe families. and have an
impolite way Of running such propn-
sandistF cut OF town. And .hers - tho
ase OF one enternrisinE middle west
lern town which considered sos, IrN
oratory 20 important this, 4. estssIlr,-
/ Cd Soap Box University TO co nhs'
] socialism NRyhe some Of the many
auti-socialistic SOAP noNers In N.'v
York thiS summer are from thar uni
vcrsity They seem fairly ef. cisnt.
hut n What the city police says =
true, the soclalists needn't h, worried
either.