The Washington times., 1921-05-22

has written the overture and inter-
ludes, and the choral music was con-
posed by George Harris. jr., of New
York. A symphony orchestra OF
thirty-five pieces has been engaged.
tened, II suddenly came home to mo
that a new age had dawned for Can
| ada. She was publicly and officially
acknowledging that her authors were
| q body Of men and women to be reck-
oned with. to be listened to, and per-
haps some day even to be legislated
for.
TT came as a shock. of course, for
old traditions die hard 1t was not
easy to Lei.eve that Sir Arthur Cur
rie could solemnly face that battal-
ion OF mere authors recruited from
the obscure hinterlands OF our Do
minion and say he was honored to
welcome them to Montreal and to the
sneltering wing of McGHl University.
s.nce they were destined to be not
OILY the fusing power of two races,
hut also the interpreters and GUS
todians of all the nobler traditions OF
these races. 1t seemed so different
to the old days, the old days when
kobe rt Barr complained that Canada
spent more money on her whtskey
then on her authors. and the attic
OF the city was considered the one
and only highway to the Attica of
the soul, and a man who broke into
song anywhere along the back con-
cessions was avoided by the circum-
! spect and condoned by the rural con-
sta sbulary. Even Lombroso, you may
remember. was once asked to define
the difference between the man of
genius and the lunatic. and that great
psychiatrist. you may also remember.
curtly replied: The latter In assured
OF his board and keep
But all that, / venture to repeat,
seems to have changed. One of the
vaguely deciphered lessons the Great
War brought sharply home to us was
the national and economic value of
the man of letters. He was the mill
itary band at the head of the march
ing column. He was more than that.
just as he was more than the mere
propagandist waiting to be crowded
into the Khaki of his country's serv-
ice. He was, speaking in prose to-
day and In poetry tomorrow, the soul
of his country seeking to express it
self"
The officers of the union elected in
open meeting were as follows:
President. John Murray Gibbon.
| Montreal; secretary, b. X. Sandwich.
Montreal; treasurer, w. S. Wallace,
Toronto; the vice presidents are Basil
King. Boston: Archibald Mac
| Mechan- Halifax; II. A Cody, st. John,
N. B.; Hon. Thomas Chapais, Quebec;
Stephen Leacock. Montreal; Robert ].
c. Stead, Ottawa; Pelham Edgar, To-
ronto; w. T. Allison, Winnipeg; Nellie
McClung, Edmonton, and Isabel Eccle-
stone Mackay, Vancouver.
Among the members of the council
are Arthur Stringer, Bliss Carman,
Ralph Connor, Marjorie Pickthall,
Duncan Campbell Scott, Frank l..
Packard. l.. M. Montgomery, Robert
Service. Agnes c. Laut. and Theodore
Roberta
A BORN BIGAMIsT.
Horace Annesley vachell, success
full dramatist has written de-
lightful stage story in The Fourth
Dim ension- (Doran). This is no stage
story in the ordinary sense of the
word, but a most human story Of
love and marriage in which the lure
of the theater creates a problem. He
has brought to bear upon the story
his intimate knowledge of the stage
and stage folk. Mr.. Vachell is a
dramatist of note in England, where
he had three plays running success
fully and simultaneously during the
war, but he is true to his FIRST
love, fiction, and has in this case
achieved happy harmony between
the old love and the new.
RECEIVES GOLDEN PALMS.
George Wharton Edwards. whose
beautifully illustrated books Of the
architectural grandeur of France and
Belgium t''vanished Halls and Ca
thedrals Of France Vanished Tow
ers and Chimes OF Flanders" BEL
gium. Old and New and "Alsace-
Lorraine"-The Penn Publishing
Company won so much admiration
here and abroad. was decorated but a
short time ago by Albert, King Of the
Belgians.
Now France has honored this art
ist-author, and he has received tho
golden palm of officer of public in
struction, At the dinner of the Al
satan Society, NJ. Rene Viviani,
former French premier. conferred the
decoration on behalf OF the French
government las reward for your
great works of art and patriotism -
The Golden Palms Order is the
highest decoration given by the
French Academy Cnstitute Of
France).