Great Falls tribune., 1921-06-13
THE SILENCE CURE.

bad times t11I PIeVAAASu ."
Israel in his day. Things went
bolshevik. Commerce languished
The people were disturbed. Popu'
1.t;on declined. "For thus saith
the Lord" thundered Amos, The
citv that went forth by a thousand
shall leave a hundred, and tina,
which went forth by a hundred
shall leave ten to the house OF
israeli Apparently the prophet
expected disastrous war to thin the
population Of Israel because OF ex'
cessive tax burdens because, ne
further adds, "For as much there
fore as your treading is upon the
poor. and ye take from him burdens
Of wheat, ye have houses OF hewn
stone, but ye shall not dwell III
them: ye have planted pleasant
vineyards, but ye shall not drink
,v;ne Of them" Here Amos plain
" predicts a nonpartisan league
uprising and a bone dry eonstitu-
%ional prohibition amendment Tor
Israel as following in great war.
Finally, he advises silence as the
best line of conduct for such evil
times. for he wound up his pessl-
,nistic forecast Of political and So
cial conditions in Israel by saying:
Therefore, the prudent shall keep
silence in that time, for 1t Is an
evil time
There are others that think that
more silence and less speechmaking
in these times would be a prudent
line of conduct, and James M.
Beck. late solicitor general Of the
United States, is one of them, as
we learn from the Savannah News,
which says:
"Among those who are suggest
ing cures for what ails us, James
M. Beck, solicitor general OF the
United States, takes first prize,
Said he, while talking at the annual
convention of the Pennsylvania
Bankers association:
"All admit that the world Is
very sick. If I were its doctor
I would prescribe one months
enforced silence. IF we could
all stop talking, stop reading
and stop writing for 80 days
think that the effect would
be greatly beneficial. There
has been too much talking and
too little working" .... ....-
"Very wisely he uses a lot Of
ifs What we need is not so
much talking about impossibilities.
This suggestor could have contrib
uted to his idea by abstaining from
using up talk in making the sugges-
ton. He ought to know that a
custom of silence could not be es-
tablished by trying it for 30 days.
At the end of that time there would
be so much talk bottled up that its
release would stop all work for the
next 60 days. A talk strike would
be followed by a period of talk
production that would break all
records"
The southern paper does not
appear to like the silence cure, but
we think that even that paper
would favor a little less speech
from our new diplomatic represen-
tatives in Great Britain. At least
another southern newspaper, the
Wilmington IN. CO. Star, is moved
to say:
1T has become fashionable for
American officials abroad to curry
favor with foreign audiences by
speaking disparagingly of America
and Americans. Admiral Sims is
not to be outdone by Ambassador
Harvey. The speech which the
admiral made in London the other
day reflected no credit upon his
dignity, his sense Of fitness or his
Americanism.
Admitting that there has been
some friction between British and
American sailors and soldiers dur
ing the war, the admiral explained
that it was due to the fact that
most Of our folks thought they
were the hottest stuff that ever
came down the pike while the
Britishcrs are the only men who
never talk about their country
The admiral also minimized the
part which the American navy
played in the war, and rounded out
his address by an indirect attack |
upon his country's prohibition
laws. In England, he said, he
would always feel sure of being
able to get a drink whenever he
wanted it; that, to quote a CORE
g.