The New York herald., 1922-03-19
Many Prophets of Woe
Paint SOrdid Pictures
- of What Future Holds


beside tnls prophet Of woe In order to
discover the reason of his portentous
utterance, and he obliged me by pro-
found analysis of American civiliza-
ton, punctuated at periods by that
awful conclusion:
"The United Statesl is doomed!
Nothing can save us!"
His argument filed two hours and
I must give the gist of it in but few
sentences. Briefly, then, the cause of
his melancholic conviction was as fol-
lows:
In the first place the United States,
he said. is losing the old dominant
strain which built up it's greatness and
gave it national cohesion-the Nordic
race of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic stock.
That stock, he agreed, is being sub
merged by an incursion of alien races
who do not amalgamate with the Nor
die stock, but keep apart and marry
apart, and whose inherited tendencies
OF thought, whose very racial instincts
are in direct conflict with the mind
structure, philosophy and ideals of the
old American stock. He cited an i'm
mense influx of invading peoples and
spoke of them, passionately and intol-
erently, as "the scum of the EARTH"
But that was only part of his indict-
ment and foreboding.
People HopeIessly Localized.
He elaborated a complicated argu-
ment in which he took for his thesis
the statement that the American peo.
pie are so hopelessly divided and 10.
calized in their interests, that they
are building house divided against
itself: and so ignorant of the dangers
menacing the white race as a whole
the decay of the older civilizations OF
Europe, the downfall of the world
markets, the rising tide of color In
the East, the collapse of economic Sc
curity-that they will not join in any
partnership with friendly nations in
Europe for the reconstruction Of our
common interests.
"The West" (of the United States),
he said, "is divided utterly from the
East. There is a terrific political con-
fiict in preparation between Western
agriculture and Eastern industries. 1t
is a conflict which will drag us down
to ruin. The United States Is
doomed" so on to the end of his
distressing sentence, interrupted at
last by an outburst of song from a
party of delightful ladies determined
to break this devastating monologue.
This newfound friend of mine spoke
in an exaggerated way. The immen-
sity of his gloom has not been
equalled in my experience. but he
only said with Hamletlike melancholy
what I have heard suggested more
mildly by other peoples in various
parts of the United States. These de-
spondent critics are distressed by the
solid blocks of foreign folk in their
midst, but not as yet merged by the
Melting Pot
The New Englanders, fairly proud
Of their historical share, their steady
ing influence, their moral quality. in
the making of the New World, con-
fess sadly that their stock is not be-
ing maintained in numbers.
Americans Crowded Out.
The Real Americans" as others
like to call themselves, of English,
Scotch, Irish and Dutch descent, find
themselves being crowded out in
many cities by Slavs and Italians and
Firms and others, and it hurts them
and gives Them uneasy forebodings
because they seem to find foreign
ideas. foreign philosophy of life,
strong and dangerous and even crimi-
nal tendencies of thought in these
alien, unassimilated populations.
also find new and growing
source of conflict between prairies and
the cities, the agriculturists and the
industrialists, the men of the farms
and the men of the factories. The
Western farmers think they have
been victimized by the "clever polite
ians" of the East, and that while they
produce the real source of wealth
they are robbed of first rewards.