Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-11-05
WELLS VISION
Continued from Pace One)

OF her which he believes in with cXalt-
cd ardor. He has also body of
readers which Composcs following
proba bly, larger than is possessed by
any other English or American writ
or. obviously, what MI. Wells is go
ing tn do is to use the conference as
a pulpit from which to preach ties"
, ideas. In this role the presence Of
!. II. G. Wells outside the conference
/ door is fully as important an event as
the presence of any one statesman
who is going TO be inside. Mr.. Wells
is very great man. To say that h.
is the greatest of living writer's q
English is, perhaps, loose and in
doient way of describing him; but it
is description With which those who
agree far outnumbcr those who dis
agree. To say that Mr.. Wells is in
Washington tn report what is going
TO he said and done by. let us say,
Arthur Balfour, would reflect 4 con-
spicious defect in the sense of rela-
tive values. A more accurate pic
ture Of the true proportion Of things
would he to have Mr., Balfour acting
as stenOgraphev TO Mr. Wells.
Comparisons Are Difficult
It is, Of course. difficult to compare
Mr. Wells, who comes chiefly from
the world of literature. with the
members of the conference. who come
from the world Of craftsmanship. it
= 10
with Lord Coke. considerable figure
in Shakespeare's day, but is not now
as much heard OF as is Shakespeare
If there were any common yardstick
by which to do the measuring it
would he safe 70 say that Mr.. Wells
IS a bigger man than ninetenths of
the members of the conference COM
buy a basket Of wisdom he would
probably go TO Mr.. Wells shop before
he would go to the shop CT any one of
tho delegates. or, perhaps. Of all Of
them combined. If You wanted TO be
told what sort Of world this is going
to be, let US say in the year 1000, you
would take Mr.. Wells prophetic Vi
sion as far more dependable than
that Of Mr.. Harding or Mr.. Hughes,
or Mr.. Root, or all the American del
ega ton combined. This Is meant lit
orally and not hguratively. ANY per
son familiar with what Mr.. Wells
has done at various times in the las.
twenty-five years will understand
what Is meant, and will support the
comparison.
Now it happens that Mr.. Wells has
perfectly definite vision of what the
world ultimately ought to be and is
going to be. He not only pictures it
as a prophet, but he works to bring it
about with zeal as great as that Of
any evangelist. and with an effective
ness far beyond that of most evangel-
lists. The thing that aim to do here
is TO point out what Mr.. Wells vision
is. and also just how much of that
vision he expects to see accom- plished
at the coming conference. Having
pointed that out, then want to state
just what Mr.. Hughes and Mr.. Root
expect to do at the coming confer
ence, and to show what miles and
leagues and worlds of distance there
are between what Mr.. Wells and the :
others expect. /
Mr.. Wells vision Is that of a uni :
he'd world devoted to spiritual pur- |
poses instead Of selfish purposes. He |
believes in this vision with passion
ate earnestness and appealing aspira-
ion. In one of his recent books,
The Undying Fire." he makes one
IT his characters describe this future
World IN words AZ ex,lted "a +ha he.+s