The Washington herald., 1921-10-09
Radicals
Classified.
RADICALS by walter

ID hADICALS 0y walter
WeyL (B. W. Huebsch, Inc)
One who knew Walter weyI long
and Intimately has written the "un-
derneath he was. in the essence of
the word. radical" Unquestion-
ably Mr.. Wyel was acutely aware
or the evils of the social and eco
nomic systems under which we live,
but unlike many who are to the
same degree conscious OF these evils,
ne had the intellectual energy. the
clarity OF vision to recognize and
respect the point of view Of those
who held different views. This quail
lty or open mindedness is no where
better illustrated than in the essay
from which this volume takes its
name. For example, this paragraph:
There are two large, but not sharp
ly dehned groups of radicals; radi-
Gals by environment and radicals
by temperament. The first are usual
ly the slower and surer-footed be-
cause their course is controlled by
the rut in which they live; the latter
are quicker. more violent, more un-
compromising, less realistic, because
their radicalism springs from within.
They would be rebels in Paradise
and reformers in. the Garden Of
Eden. They do not depend on en-
vtronment for their passion, but on
their own psychological diseuual-
ibrium. their unsatisfied emotions.
their agonizing perceptions of the
gulf between their ideals and q
world that is always out of Joint.
These men hate all dogmas and con-
ventions that press down on them
and they possess the gift of rebel
lion. But many of them are Ill
grounded in their beliefs, for they
rave chosen a philosophy to suit
their nerves, as one chooses a WALL
paper. Give them a war or some
other excitement and their emotion
Is detected, and their radical ideas
cease upon the midnight without
pain Or this: Adolescence Is
the true day for revolt, the day when
OBSCURE forces, as mysterious as
growth, push us, trembling, out Of
our narrow lives into the wide
throbbing life beyond self. But one
cannot forever remain adolescent
and long before a mans arteries be-
gin to harden, he sees things more
as his father and grandfather saw
them Once he becomes an ancestor
he imbibes respect for ancestors and
for what they thought. As young
radicals grow older they marry
pleasant wives, beget interesting
children, and begin to build homes
In the country, and their zeal cools,
Life, they now think, is more than
reform or revolution. There are
lilies Of the field. as sweet to radi-
Gals as to conservatives, and as
softly beautiful as in tba 5ay. -
Solomon's glory. Life is old and
tenaciously conservative, and so Is
neture-the stars, the sea, the noun
tains-and so is society; and what
We arc trying to 70 is only what
rotted also tried to do What is the
use Of these endless efforts to nudge
the immovable earth What use
even to look ahead? You wished TO
know the secrets of the futurer So
Sylvestre Bonnard apostrophizes the
perverse beauty. Leuconoe, dead
these nineteen hundred years. That
future Is now the past, and we know
IL well. OF truth you were foolish
to VERY yourself about SO small a
matter"
Another quality of Walter weyrs
work Is its picturesqueness. He
was himself an economist and a
student Of politics, but he was also
an artist. He was able because of
this rare combination to reach and
interest and influence those who
are neither economists nor stu
dents of politics. And he was able
to do this without resort to the
familiar expedtents Of the popular