Evening star., 1922-01-29
Wants a Court to Examine
MO1ders of Public Opinion

mass Of affairs that confront the
American people, there is no public
opinion. Far and away there is
more public prejudice than there
Judice is unavoidable. I try to
keep myself fairly well informed
about current events, but try as
l may, should be lost in a will
derness of doubt If 1 endeavored
TO hnd my way through all that
Is published about the Washington
conference to definite and fixed
knowledge of what has there
transpired.
am myself a man of leisure
for that the American peoplel are
to blame. They put me in the one
constitutional office erected to
leisure and dedicated to laziness
They were not content to let me
escape, but kept me there second
term and at its conclusion l could
think Of no parallel in life other
than the Hindu religionist who
watches. his finger nails grow
longer year after year in the hope
of eventually attaining unto
Nirvana. What senseless task as
that for a man when he could in
comfort attain unto the same
sphere as the presiding officer OF
the United States Senate.
If with my leisure and my SIN
cere desire that out of the CONFER
ence there should come peace Ior
the world 1 am unable to obtain d
fixed opinion about this, mat OF
the other question under conslu-
Grafton in Washington, how may
the busy man of affairs, who must
gulp his coffee. run to eaten ms
train and spend his whole day IN
an endeavor to meet the problems
arising in his life, hope 10 FORM
any opinion worth mentioning All
of us, from the most thoughtiui 10
the most Indifferent, have ACQUIRED
the headline habit. We PIN our
confidence to a certain ne"spapel'
we assume it's headlines speak the
truth We glance over them and
straightWay we become part OF
what we call public opinion ol
America.
However. all of us in lowly walks
of life possess something IN con-
nection with the conference "hich
may be neither public opinion nor
public prejudice For lack OF better
DESIGNATION l call it public senti-
ment. Our sentiment right aiohs
has been in favor of giving tSe
conference every opportunity ~
advance the cause for which II was
called. Our sentiment has led US 10
he patient. The deliberations may
he drawn out longer than We
would like, but in the light OF our
sentiment we are willing to wait
In the hone that that for when we
long will dawn upon vans
world. Public sentiment IN AIie
ca bows at no human knee, sHs
neither place nor applause. II aShs
only for simple justice, 1ustice oe
tween men, between employer anu
emnloye. between the state anu ~
citizens the nation and the "oflu.
II were asked why l have SO
little faith in history ana less IN
biography. which is but an item
in the bill of particulars OF ms
tory, l should give as my reason
the fact that the men VINO VIII. III
it, were not under oath. nor suo
iect 10 cross-examination ANA
now for nv invention, which l. as
a self starter. propose; thouSh l
do not even dream that II ever VIII
come to pass in human ahalrs,
really wish, that there couiu De
established a court OF pubilc oplh-
ion, into which might be sum
moned the witnesses VINO moid .he
sentiments, prejudices and op1n-
ions of the American people, there
70 he nut under their solemn oaths
and TO be examined and cross
examined. 1 should not want this
c6Nrt to render DEGREES that would
be binding upon the judgment
conscience and conduct of my fel-
lowmen. but l should like TO have
it go to the extent of furnishing
judicial opinions as to what all
the evidence fairly disclosed
f.. am writing no screed against
the newspapers. Men who COM
. plain about the things which ap-
pear in the newspapers are the
men who read those things. If
!. they would stop reading them
they would cease to appear. News
I papers are not evangelists, yet it
must be admitted that there never
has arisen a crisis in the history
of the republic. nor has a great
moral question ever come up for
solution that the newspaper fra
. ternity has not forgotten its count
ing room in it's accountability to
mankind l am only saying that
we shall have to travel along with
our prejudices mellowed with our
sentiments and call them public
opinion, unless there shall be some
way devised to cross-examine the
witnesses who tell the tale as it
was told to them.