The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-11-02
Frederick Haskin's Letter
Special OF
Why Initiate Europe?
Especial Correspondence of III

I a tendency to tolerate a mora ,-;.
ical attitude toward its own -
but in general it has been the Arr
lean custom to proclaim Ams-S.'
a great improvement over Fare
in every way. ~
| Imitation is always a confessio,
of feeling of inferiority. If VIM
feel superior you initiate poho5,.
! Why, then, if We are really -
> proud of ourselves. do we ini,a,.
| those inferior European natioDs =
so many ways? The Ame-;.l u
doughboy often came hack fr r,,-
Europe sneering at the Frogs an
the ''limeys," all too evidently H. No.
ing failed in any genuine aDDreci,
ton of France and England ".
he gets back into citizens CLOTH.
that are limitations of English mo5
els. More than likely he reads Enc
Iisn books. or American books tbs,
are limitations of English books T.
he goes in for society he eucounters
! English accents and English mar
ners and goes to English teas
Among people who aspire to be cnp
sidered socially smart, the bipb
est recommendation you can givs
anything is to call il English n,
have bungalows in the English stvlo
and also estates and clubs In 0rr
cookery, on the other hand. we i'm
Itate the French. and any hotsl
which aSpiTeS to be considered first
class must print at least a part Of
its menu in a language which
scarcely any of its patrons can
read.
Architecture Imported.
Our architecture is d hOrritsa
| h0dge-podge of all European STYLES
Of all ages-Gothic, English manor
Greek classic and a dozen Others
Our furniture must be modelled aft
er that of Louis the Ounce OF some
other European monarch long dead
The nearest thing to an American
architecture so far at all widely
used is the so-calIed Colonial tyne.
and that is really Greek in its or
igin. The only indigenous type Of
furniture is the heavy tWo-by-four
stuff known as Mission, and it is
tor the most part ugly.
So our whole country, with its
blast of superiority, is in man
Ders, dress, customs, architecture.
furniture, food and TO a great ex-
tent in its art and its literature. q
poor imitation of a great many
European models. The only dis
tinctive thing about it in these re.
CARDS is the jumbled quality which
comes of prOmiScuOuS mitatiyeness.
hn -.
ture during the past 10 OF Is
years, and especially since the war,
the United States has made some
thing of a declaration of independ-
ence. A whole crew of nuveIists.
poets, and critics have sprung into
action, who write about American
life as they know it, and who are
not conspicuousIy indebted to for
eign models for anything in their
viewpoint or method
In architecture, a small but hardy
native tendency is gaining ground
in the southwest, and some really
attractive buildings have been built
on designs evolved from the pueb-
los of the Indians. American art
also now follows the American
scene more closely, deals less in
mythical subjects, runs less per
istently TO Europe for its educa-
ton and inspiration.
Why should we not, in our clothes
and manners and foods also dare
to be ourselves? It is not seemly
that the greatest nation on earth
should be a composite imitation
What have we, besides chewing gum
and candidates for office, that is
really 100 per cent American?