Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-11-28
AS ONE WOMAN SEES 1T
The Importance OF Being In Earnest
a Poor Second to the Importance
of Being Just a Wee Bit
Consistent
BY SARAH ID. LOWRJE

By SAKAN ID. LOWRIE
AM always interested to view from the
snfr vantage point of the majority what
the minoritics are doing to pass the days
the minorities which lag behind and the
minoritcS which tug before. Or rather
tug is not the word for the enthusiasts
who shout the battle cry of freedom"
somewhere far in advance of the marching
pnpuIacc, Their delight Is not so much TO
tug rs (" shame others into filling the gays
between themselves and the multitude. Once
that space seems we'll Inhabited the minority
il of again on n new crusade shouting back.
'Nou be damned Il you do, you'll be
damned if you don't"'
Their vocabulary being the vocabulary Of
diSapproval for whatever is, and their
energies being such that they prefer 10
dcmolish rather than complete. and their
mission in life being to sell new lamps for
Old. it Is quite in keeping that they should
insure their enthusiasm being fresh by fresh
nhiccts. They are the Athcninns Of the
world, continually seeking new thing. and
nN >Hch they have their part to play. Even
II they arc mistaken in their decisions as to
what ihc world needs next, and arc on
tHn@rnt that leads nowhere IN their hurry 70
.o ahead, they make the horizon interesting
f." III" rest Of us plOdding oncss
Somo of them Urc n little like children
Is n nursery ovCrCrowdCd with new Christi
mas toys, picking M now this, now that,
Il" ding car! only t" let it drop and at the
to show that has really become theirs.
FniEliE Is n point 70 which lOvnblc
L person who is an enthusiast can carry
hl~ irt"nIS at I"aSt in sympathetic interest
hHt thcr" iS nothing; 81 dAmpinG 10 Svmpa.
th"ti" interest ~ to find the enthusiast Of
yesterday no longer enthusiastic on the same
subject. And tho Indifference of nm en-.
thuSast is moro dcadly than tho opposi.
ti"n Of normal seeker after truth by about
- to l.
am perfectly sure that the enthusiasts
WI" are AZ for intCrnHttOnuliSm this year
Will Il" As Indifferent to it next as they are
now Indifferent to the Sovicts.
! remember when the SOvictS wcrc "al
IN" GO and militant suffrage was dead
issue. and then when they were all for
being arrested for militnnry in suffrage or
pacitism in war; they tool; to both equally
ana at the same moment. Back of that there
was suffrage itself, while it was still hoOtcd
nt in the streets and therefore piQuant as
Caus" aud back Of that there were various
ru turr pHnaCCas for the masses other than
religion --Art in the form of lectures and
Perry pictures: music nt sight rather than
by sound: back of that there was cry for
c"rry woman knowing her own inSidcS and
woman doctors being the real saviors of
the race; back Of that was college education
III" only education for women ; and back of
that III" cry Ut "CvCry vital part in its plurG
and no C"rHCtH, aud still hacl, Of that was
Darwin>m aud the survival UC the fttcSt,
and II decided C"oncSa towards the church
rs Il has been.
MTlTlI each now discard there WAS loss
W of influence from old sNmpathiarrs and
Il gain of ""mrAdcshp from new sympn-
thtHcrS; each stag" was more transient and
comp"n>atinGIy violent, each new group Of
enthusiastic C"mIHIiouS moro impcrSOnal.
The penalty on" pays for being person Of
causes rather than dedicated to n cauN" is
thnt whit" I0u hHvC variety YOU lack sta
bilirN, and in the end the very fact that
You are known TO be an interchangeable new
enthusiast harms an enterprise more thau
II helps il.
The larger the community iq. the longer
j takes for such one to run the gamut
of his possible" influence for good. | have
seen II take tw" seasons in q village, and
twenty years in n city Of million. but the
incVilHhlr result is tn" same: the radical Is
discarded by the radicals as being too
versatile, the icOnorlast is stunned by the
very image breakers for getting them lin
wrong with nothing to show for it, Those
who wish t" max" n success Of their altruism
fear friends who never have stopped long
enough 10 make II success out Of their under
takings.
The trouble about these knights GRANT
who seek ioriorn hopes because they are
singular rather than because they must
eventually be popular if they succeed is that
they cannot shout for cause without shout
ing agaiAst n cause. They cannot enjoy
heaven without describing Il he'll.
! observe. tor instance. that the cuthu.
SiaHtS for intrrnati0naliSm wish to preach
against patriotism. 1t is rs though they
would insist that ones whole duty consisted
in being Il GOOD nrighbor and not also and
first good parent and n good man. II
am Iu lOV" AN Armenian lil;" Il brother, ]
haN" got tu know what it is to love II brother,
and il am to low" my brother must know