The Washington herald., 1921-06-05

,sn1HE ave or nix things in which 1 have
i shown the most progress in my life,
Commissioner Murdock told me, were all
more or less repugnant to me. would
never have chosen one Of them as a thing
which I wanted to do. Each Of them was
q task for which / believed / had little
talent. There was always something else
that I wanted to do with all my heart,
which / thought / could do remarkably
well. 1 have never done this thing of my
heart-probably never will, Men waste
much energy in freetins against the tasks
that come to hand-in imagining them
selves square pegs IN round holes. The in
dusrious man need not worry about this
nisft bogJ. He should attack the job no
matter what It is"
i blinked somewhat dasedfy for q moment
as my mind picked up the realization that
here was q man getting down TO fuDda-
mentals- Victor Murdock was beginning to
spill something. A man Of ripe experience
vas m the act Of dispeIling a popular il
inxion-
He was Q responsive government ofciai,
one Of those i've federal trade commissioners
whose duty it Is to see that no obstacles are
from the producer to the consumer. But
back of his present experience were those
years in the spotlight when Victor Murdeck,
the red headed representative from Kansas,
led, in Congress, the revolt Of progressryes
against old time Republicanism. And yet
back of that were two decades as reporter
and publisher in the Middle West. The
man had had experiences. After three years
Of the cloistered quiet of administrative
work, what did he have to say?
None of the major things 1 have busted
myself with were tasks that especially ap-
pealed to me-" be was saying. To get at
the idea 1 want to make clear let me lay
bit of a foundation. Ny father was the edi-
tor of a newspaper in Kansas and / grew
up in the atmosphere of Journalism. So 1t
came about that one Of my first serious
stndies was thar of the use Of the English
LANGUAGE for purposes Of writing. / was
much interested In those different fields Of
erpression-logic, narrative, drama, humor.
ct HAVE always held that logic is more
J. interesting to the human mind than any
other form of expressed thought. The in
eeIlisence would rather be led from cause
to conclusion IN the unfolding Of an idea
than to 20 on any ether journey. The mar
rative. the setting down Of events as they
have happened, gratifes the desire Of the
human mind to know the facts, wholly,
trnhfnlly- Hunor d the spice that seasons
the dish Husor Is Of little merit when 1t
stands alsoe- One would not care to give
IN evening to an unbroken series of funny
stories. Finally there is drama, which Is
the structure Of the artist upon which he
builds the super narrative. 1t is creative,
inspirstionl
AT the age Of eighteen found myself
working for my father Is 4 reporter at a
salary of 50 q week. Having grown up in
the business Was quite experienced. / was
no cub. / came to the conclusion that 50
q week was not enough money. / went to
my father and told him 50. cited the fact
that the bookkeeper was getting so. Surely
deserved ss muoS as q bookkeeper.
L could replace you with another re-
porter at So my father said. I would
have a hard time getting another bookkeeper
as good for so What you can buy it for
in the market Is the true measure of q serv-
ice
81 talked 10 my mother about it and she
advised me to break away, to strike cot for