New-York tribune., 1921-03-20
England's GLOOMY Dean" Talks of the u. S.

ahattered. The parallel between the
Gecay Of our social order. the begin
ming of which / think we are now wit
Messing, and the economic ruin. of the
Roman Empire in the third, fourth
and fifth centuries seems now ever
closer. .Those who think this
forecast too unfavorable may be briefly
reminded (1) that we have mortgaged
cur economic future beyond possibility
Of redemption; (2) that fraudulent
bankruptcy is no remedy where the So
the conditions which made recovery
possible after 1s15-cheap labor,
thrifty administration and freedom
from foreign competition-afe con-
spicuously absent" At weeks notice
Europe had been turned into q "cb-
operative suicide club" Dean Inge had
written.
Pictures Protestant
Civilization as Ugly
What could he say Of a country
where Puritanism was lifting its head
in the agitation for "blue 1aws"? For
of Puritanism he had written: "Puri-
tanism was incapable Of intelligent
self-criticisnl, and in practice led to
a. vast accumulation of money and
commodities without any wisdom in
using them. Protestant civilization in
consequence has been ugly and taste
less, and all classes alike have been
weighed down by the supposed neces-
sity of satisfying wants which in
reality had no existence. In defect
Of any rational standard Of good a
merely quantitative valuation took its
place. The success of a nation was
measured by its statistics of trade and
population, the success OF man by
the number of pounds sterling he was
| worth Our Iitanies were tables of
figures: the word expansion stirred
in us luscious sense of pride. But
though the Puritan ethics were unin-
telligent they were not entirely out
of touch with the laws of nature like
some of the fetishes which we now
delight to honor. There has never
been time when the ruinous error that
we can revoke, the laws Of nature by
ignoring them has been more prevalent
than in modern social politics.
not the handmaid but the purgatory
Of religion and Of politics.
"A bad philosophy leaves us in such
the facts in the face. Z This is the
origin of sentimentalisnl, ultimately
the most rherciless Of all moods. The
dethronenaent Of these modern idols is
one of the greatest services which
sound philosophy can render to .hu-
manity."
Sentimentality, said to myself as
waited for the return Of the "rloomy
dean," was certainly not the least Of
our national vices.
Here was churchman who pro-
claimed himself over, and over again
the uncompromising enemy Of So
called Humanitarian legislation ..
even, going so far as to write: at Is
indeed Instructive to observe how
cupidity and sentiment, which with
pugnacity) are the only passions which
the practical politician needs 10 con-
slider, usually defeat their own ends.
Pafadise Impossible
Amid Dense Population
"1'he workingnan is lsawinc al the
branch on which he is seated. He may
benefit for time the minority OF his
own GLASS, but only by sealing the doom
OK the rest. A densely populated coun-
try which is unable to feed itself can
never be workingman's paradise, q
land Of short hours and high wages.
md the sentimentalist, kind onlw TO
be cruel, unWittingly promotes precise-
IL the results which he most deprecates.
though they arc often much more bene-
ficial than his own aims. The evil that
he would, he does not; ands the good