The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-13
ON SECOND THOUGHT
By JAY E. HOUSE
(From Philadelphia Public Ledger)

ito say the President is afflicted with
a hostile congress, as Wilson was af-
| flicted." Dear me, yes. Much too
strongi Yes. indeed.
! It is also putting it much too strong
| ly to say that the worlds continued
nagging of the president-its persis-
tent repetition of the note that the
/ Administration has wrecked itself
upon the rock of impotence-is hav-
ing any effect upon President Hard
/ ing or the country at large. But it
does make the world ridiculous. Yes,
quite.
We do, however. see evidence that
/ the presidents popularity is waning.
Yesterday morning, as instance, we
found only one picture of the presi-
dent and Mrs. Harding in the roto-
gravure section. And that was on an
inside page.
| This Bird Is Winging.
The editor of the Public Ledger has
received the appended letter:
Sir-Many of my friends have been
telling me to read Jay Houses ION
Second Thought in the Public Ledger.
They tell me it is the best thing in
| your paper and that it is entertaining,
interesting. instructive, enlightening
and ennobAng. On the other hand,
many of my friends tell me his column
is punk. I therefore take the liberty
of asking you to advise me in your
valuable paper whether or not Mr..
Houses articles are worth reading. I
should also like to know whether Mr..
House is a first-class, high-salaried
writer and whether he had any repu-
tation before coming to the Public
Ledger. D. A. R.
Obviously, this is a matter which
cannot be discussed in the column. 1t
fic-r Oh, to- T3tYf n A II
will write and tell US why he wants
to know, inclosing a self-addressed and
stamped envelope, we'll make cate
gorical answer to his questions.
Upon one point raised in D. A. RS
QUESTIONABLE We are however. willing
Ito make frank and open confession.
We are, of a fact, anxious to do so
| because the incident to which we shall
refer taught us a great lesson. We had
a reputation. From Lenexa to Liberal
we were known as a Crouch" and so
described. From Galena to Smith
Center the word that we were bad"
man 1eaped from lip to lip and be-
came fixed in the consciousness of a
people. We were, it was said. hard and
cold; we were the consort of undesir-
liable citizens a prepayment of moral
obliquity. Thus the reputation which
we worked hard to establish over a
span of years and which we treasured
as we should treasure the decoration
of the Legion of Honor.
1t was an evil day on which we ae-
cepted an invitation to address a state
meeting of women's clubs. 1t was a
distressing lapse of judgment which
led US to arise before that gathering
and make a soft and sentimental
speech. All the women could say
labout it afterward was, HE isn't as
Hud Iah ~ - I,1.
did yen ever see better looking
morning coat, and wasn't his diction
elegant?" That speech ruined us. Our
reputation as a bad" man and
Crouch" crumbled to ashes. We real
lied that our influence in that COM
munity was gone forever. and almost
Immediately thereafter we came to
Philadelphia in the hope that we might
rebuild and rehabilitate it.
The people are cheering again, the
objective OF their huzzahs being the
mayor of Atlantic City. The mayor
has decided that rents are exorbitant
and has announced his intention of
doing something about it. If the coll
umn refrains for the moment from
joining in the shouts of acclaim, we
hope the mayor of Atlantic City will
not take it as a personal reflection. 1t
is merely that we have been a charter
member of so many cheering parties
that the novelty of the thing has worn
off. We are, SO to speak, blase and
ennui.
If we do not join the general hue
and cry against the landlord, it is be-
cause we doubt the efficiency of the
measures designed to circumvent him.
We are paying what we consider an
exorbitant rent for a Philadelphia
apartment. But the landlord can get
it. If we were to move into the street
tomorrow he would have not the
slightest difficulty in securing a new
tenant. So long as that condition con-
tinues we shall be compelled to pay
an cxorbitant rent When the worm
turns, if it ever does, we shall, in turn,
be able to dictate terms to the land
lord. And we shall take great pleas
ure in doing it; It won't matter to us
if the landlord fails to receive ade-
quate returns on his property. This
is Landlords day in this country.
When Tenants day comes the latter
may be depended upon to take advant-
age Of it.
That's all there is to the problem.
The medicine is disagreeable, but the
probability that new prescription
will be written is negligible.
1t is one of the quirks of fate that
the Davis Cup remains in country
which has nothing to put in it
We shall add by way of explanation
that we think very poorly of the fore
going joke. 1t is not in the, columns
best manner. We were forced to
travel a considerable distance for it
and returned with a very light load
But it is the sort of humor at which
patrons of the Literary Digest ''fiI-
lums'' laugh themselves sick. We've
/, Av-6 H.
to It's effect on readers of the column.