davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
A Shrinkage in Discomfort

what little headway the Socialist
party has ever made in the State of
New York was lost in Tuesdays
election. Although in an effort to
gain strength an alliance with the
Farmer-Labor party was effected
this year, not one of the candidates
of the combination was elected. Not
one got considerable vote save
Charles P. Steinmetz, and he was
voted for not because he was a So
cialist but because he was great
and distinguished electrical engi-
neer. So far as this state is con-
cerned, discomfort is not of sufi-
clent extent to be organized effec-
lively as political unit.
The only place where it registered
at all in the election was in the Mid
ole West, where the Farmer-L Labor
PARTY has capitalized the recurrent
dlscontent of the farmers that the
Greenbackers passed along to the
Populists and the Populists, before
they expired as a party, bequeathed
to the Nonpartisan League, their
heirs, successors and assigns. In
Iowa Brookhart, the Republican
candidate for Senator, whom the
Tarmer-Laborites indorsed, won by
big majority. But issues there
were largely local, and Iowa has
enough Republican votes to elect any
Republican candidate for anything.
The election showed pretty clearly
that radicalism Is gaining no ground
in the United States. The predictions
that it could be united and built into
a great and dangerous party have
produced no facts to support them.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
The "Movies" in Schools

Directors to the use of "movieg' as
method of instruction have raised
tho time-honored argument that to
dc so is to substitute entertainment
for work.
This point Of view is based on the
assumption that entertainment can
never be instructive and that work
can never be entertaining. This
idea, in turn, is based on the stub
hornness Of tradition. Until recent
educational experiments teachers as
we'll as pupils went on the principle
that the process Of learning was
necessarily painful. Some Of the
moderns, of course, went to the other
extreme in their endeavor to entice
children to learn by playing. But
they have not yet exerted extended
influence.
To harmonic the two apparent
cpposites of work and entertainment
is, however, by no means impossible.
Up to date no method seems to have
presented greater untested opportu-
mites Of so doing than the movies. {"
Recent experiments still leave much
to be desired. But the medium is
the very best, as the movies" make
an impression that no book can ever
equal. They speak to the eye, which
in nearly every individual is the
most retentive organ Of approach to
the brain. Through motion they
hold the attention and through
imagery they grip the fancy. Here
in lies the essence Of memory, and
memory plays a great part in all
education.
It remains, therefore, to overcome
the technical difficulties. Once this is
done the possibilities seem almost
limitless. If pictures are shown two
or three times and after each per-
formance detailed questions are
asked much information can be fixed
indelibly in children's minds with
simple thoroughness that has rarely
been equaled. The more alluring the
picture the better the lesson. If the
course Of compulsory dullness can
only be removed from most instruc-
ton the possibilities Of developing
child mentality will be unbounded.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
Cayuga Indians VS.. New York
State

There is strange echo of the for
gotten past in the suit for $4,000 900
brought by the British government
against the State Of New York and
the government of the United States
IN behalf of the Cayuga Indians.
This tribe was the fourth OF the
"Five Nations" which occupied the
western portion of New York State
and for SO many years offered fierce
opposition to the advancing colo
nists. In the Revolution, and again
in the war Of 1912, they were the
allies of the British, and it is out Of
this latter occurrence that the pres
ent claim arises.
The legal relation OF the Indian
tribes to the government has ALWAYS
been peculiar. We have made trea.
ties with them as if they were for.
eign nations, and yet we have
claimed special rights and privileges
under these treaties which no for.
eign nation could have granted. We
have considered that for foreign
nation to intervene in behalf Of a
tribe residing within the territorial
limits Of the United States would he
an unfrsendly act. Chief Justice
Marshall described the ctatus Of the
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09

Indians as that Of domestic de-
pendent nations And yet 1t has
been held In our courts that an In
dian treaty, when duly solemnized, is
as much law Of the land as is a
treaty with foreign power.
In 1906 the Cayugas ceded their
lands to New York State in return
for an annual payment in perpetuity
of $2,400. When in the War of 1912
these Indians joined the British we
considered that they forfeited the
right to the payments and so stopped
them. The Treaty of Ghent, how
ever, establishing peace between the
United States and Great Britain in
1914 expressly provided for cessation
Of hostilities with the Indians and
for the preservation Of their rights.
AS most Of the Cayugas are now
In Canada the British government is
acting in their behalf, apparently on
the ground that the War Of 1912 did
not abrogate the rights of the In
dians to the annuity guaranteed
them by the State Of New York. The
Cayugas claim the unpaid annuities
for the last 110 years, together with
compound interest. The case is to
be submitted to an arbitration COM
mission.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
stands the great unsclved problem

stands the great unsclved problem
OF American government. First rate
theories and policies are all very
well, but they count for very little
IL they are worked out by third rate
human beings. Americans have de-
vised any number of ingenious Gus
toms to make public life distasteful
to able citizens. Our whole system
tends to make officeholding futile
career, enticing only to those too
lazy or inefficient to hold dowS real
jobs. This is all wrong, everybody
agrees it is all wrong, but nothing
is done to better conditions. If any
thing they are growing worse, and
the level cf ability is tending down
hill. Is there remedy? How can
we get our Steinmetzes into public
life?
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
The Raid ON the Bench

The fight against hoss-controlled
judiciary made by Surrogate Coha-
Ian is but just begun.
Mr.. Cohalan made q valiant bat
tie in the face Of what was almost
certain defeat. He was not fighting
for reelection. He was fighting
against bipartisan combination of
bosses effected for the purpose Of
controlling the bench.
His campaign has served to unite
right-minded citizens against the
presumption of the bosses and to
awaken indignation throughout the
country at this raid on the bench.
Mr.. Coleman, who permitted him
self to be entered as the Republican
candidate in the race against Mr..
Cohalan, has the dubious satisfaction
of knowing that he ably aided the
purposes of the Tammany boss.
Otherwise, he made his race for
nothing.
Mr.. Cohalan can be proud of hav-
ing made brave fight for a prin-
cip!e and of having awakened the
people Of New York City to the ne
cessity Of taking the judiciary out
of politics--by whatever means may
be necessary.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09

cropping in the nauseous and elemental
mire is without its lighter moment.
We don't believe that any socis
stratum is without its occasions
chickering's Of Joy and exaltation. ",
don't think that Hecht, Dell and til
Lewis of Main Street" are as realistl
realists as they think they are.
One of the most jovisl raen we sssl
knew WIS Jake Gould, who used II
clean cesspools and cart away Carriage
in Pompton Lakes, N. J.
H. G. Wells once disco 7ered that lie
was joke-not a dirty practesl joke
by the Creator, but a jsAt to Iaasa It
Recently he seems 20 nave forgotten
his discovery. "Babbitl" is no Kin Il
"Mr. Polly" but we rather belisri
that Mr.. Lewis is the American Well
Or Mr.. Wells the British Lewis
whichever way you please.
In "Babbitt" Mr.. Lewis has rs
tured current American life, not IS !
moralist or a realist, but like dsng
good reporter.
Whoever wrote the blarb On III
paper jacket of the book has thvfEa
US again in our search for q gusHa
ing house that press-ageGts It's pub
lications truthfully. The autta
the "Babbitt" blurb has pot ussd
single superlative.
Lots of books make seuipoHr
Pharisees out of people. Men rest
them and chuckle or sigh, according 9
the dispositions of the authors, and
closing them, are devoutly grassfa!
that they themselves ara not o. o'hes
men-such men, for instance, as tney
have been reading Of.
We haven't been abb, to do thss wiz
"Babbitt." We have finished II
are a little unhappy. We dons sne'
Sinclair Lewis. We've nevsr oeaa
the midwest. Still, we have . slaaA
ing, uneasy, embarrassed hsAt'a,'s
tion that we are George Fcllsnssss
Babbitt.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
Spare the Pfennig!

We have no love for the pfennig,
nor. indeed, for German things in
general. Not enough time has yet
elapsed since the Lusitania murders
and the World War. Yet we should
regard with much regret fulillment
OF the reported purpose Of the Ger
man government to abolish that
smallest of its monetary units.
The reason for that purpose is
plain. 1t is found in the deprecia-
tion of German paper currency. With
the mark fallen in value to a frac-
ton Of cent the pfennig has been
relegated to the domain of the in
flnitesimal. Its value is now about
three hundred and seventy-five-one
millionths of a cent, so that it would
take 2,666 pfennigs to equal one cent
OF American money. That is GER
tainly getting pretty close to moth
ingness.
But not quite. Modern science de-
lights to consider the infinitesimal
as well as the infinite. It tells us Of
lnterstellar distances Of quintillions
OF miles; and it also with equal con-
fidence tells us of electrons SO
small that there must be quintillions
OF them in an article so small that
IT can be held in the hand. And
these inconceivably tiny objects are
the most important of all material
things, since they are in the last
analysis the substance of all things
Let the deprecated pfennig, there
fore, be preserved. no matter how
much it may be deprecated. Indeed
the more it is deprecated the more
reason there is for preserving IL
VINO would abolish the electron. lust
because it isn't as big as an atom.
or the atom because it isn't as bip
as . brickbat? Let the pfennir be
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
Books and So Forth

WE ARE the sort of person who
thinks that Sinclair Iewis's "Bab-
bitt" is worth eighteen Of "Main Street,
four of Galsworthy's "Forsyte Saga
and two of "If Winter Comes" Bet
ter and wiser critics have spoken of it
as a Satire" If "Babbitt" is a
satire, Dante wrote 1.-THE Divine
Comedy" for the Renaissance Bur-
lesque Circuit.
When an author suffering from bill
nervous dyspepsia turns out volume
filled with means and plastered with
woe and echoing with despair and pic
turing current existence as condition
crying long and feebly for bromo
seltzer and little aromatic spirits,
people read it and shake their heads
and murmur disconsolately, "How
true! Oh, how true!" They say this
aloud and then whisper to themselves:
"Still, I've been little more fortunate
than this poor cuss. But how he does
know Life!"
Then, they proceed to tell the
world that so and so has written a
book that is almost great-a little un-
couth, perhaps, little unsteady in it's
lighter passages, somewhat disappoint-
ing On the whole, but nevertheless a
novel of promise. The author, they
say, writes with authority and real
grasp of the actualities Of existence.
In year or so, if he heeds the faults
they point out SO kindly, he may
write the Great American Novel.
Whereupon, the author, if he is a
soul responsive to cheer, girds up his
loins, finds, as the royalty checks roll
in, that life isn't quite SO decompos-
ing and revolving matter as he
thought, and writes another one II
he happens to be Mr.. Lewis, he writes
great, true book--a painfully true
book; so true that most Of US, seeing
life spread through its pages dis
passionately and accurately, have to
detract from it little to keep from
feeling uncomfortable and little
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
More Truth Than Poetry
By James ]. Montague
A Word for the Defense


Our ancestors weren't such a
wonderful lot,
A Harvard professor declares,
Averring it's merely the veriest
rot
To think they were regular
bears.
They drank and raced horses and
stayed out at night
In the days of their rip-roaring
youth,
And did other things not exactly
just right,
No doubt-if the world knew
the truth.
He thinks, this professor, that
folks Of to-day
Do stunts with the modernized
brain
That the fellows who thought in
the old-fashioned way
Could have only attempted in
vain.
They couldn't build railroads or
telephone lines,
Or talk without wires through
the sky,
They'd have burned as witch
any man, he opines,
Who said human beings could
fly.
We grant that our grandfathers
didn't know much
Compared with such wisdom as
ours,
The wars that they carried on
never could touch
The war just run off by the
Powers.
They didn't know beans about
bucketshops then,
Or work get-rich-quick schemes
at all.
They didn't have fimf1am or con-
fidence men,
Or even Tammany Hall.
But they did pretty we'll at the
tasks they We're set,
Though their methods were an
clent and queer,
And somehow or other we cannot
forget
That we owe them the fact that
we're here.
And though great professors may
knock the old birds
And view their achievements
as slight,
We'll always be willing to say a
few words
To prove that they all were all
right!
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
What Readers Are Thinking

of mighty bitter pills, then licked the
hand that administered them. We
rode in filthy busses when the trolley
service was denied us. then we walked
when the court stopped the busses.
After nine months we were given a
trolley service totally inadequate,
The general public is docile animal
and quickly forgets abuses, as was
shown at the last election.
I would suggest that special dis
patch boats be provided at the next
demonstration to allow such passen-
gers as have dinners awaiting them to
go ashore. Dollars to doughnuts, the
crews Of the ferry boats would have
their hands full unloading in mid
stream. TAXPAYER.
New York, Nov. 6, 1899.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
By Frederic F. Tan de Wata
(F.F W

guilty. So we hail it as an amusing
satire" Perhaps we add that after
"Main Street" it is little disappoint-
ing.
To US "Babbitt" doesn't seem dis.
appointing. 1t is little humiIisting.
The National Security League-if
there still is National Security
League-might employ it in it's
crusade for Americanization. If a
man can read "Babbitt" without un-
comfortable twitchings and reminis-
cent chilly shiverings up and down his
spine, he is not ready for absorption
into the Greatest and Most Enlight-
ened of Nations.
Mr.. Lewis is not so immensely en-
gagged with life in "Babbitt" as he was
in "Main Street" He stands little
way off from it, and while he does not
hold his sides In merriment, he does
permit himself to smile at it now and
again. There is so much less Of pains
taking realism in "Babbitt" that the
book seems to us infinitely more
realistic.
American authors who dabble. and
sometimes wallow and snort, in realism
had made, we had almost become con-
vinced, tacit agreement that nothing
so false as laughter should ever creep
into their work.
To them the lighter and happier
phases Of existence have seemed to be
immoral and unmentionable-thou
Allah knows they have had no such
scruples about many other things.
From "Moon Calf" to "Gargoyles"
the whole gloom dripping clan has held
to the belief that faithful depletion of
life could be achieved only through in
tense solemnity. Humor TO any OF
them in their working hours seems
to have been considered as shocking
and blasphemous as a doghght in
church.
We don't much believe that even
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
First Rate Men in Politics

Plenty of good Republicans and
Democrats must have voted for DR.,
Steinmetz for State Engineer on the
Socialist ticket to roll up his more
than 100000 votes in New York
City alone. Their action was natural
enough, and their point of view is
one that most Americans share, II
only We could get our great men
into the public service! What a diff
ferent thing politics and government
would be If they were run by our
distinguished engineers and bankers
and great business executives--our
experts generality That DR.. Stein
metz preached socialism made little
difference from this angle of ap-
proach. The point was that in the
practice of his profession he ranked
among the most distinguished scien-
fists Of America.
Unfortunately, DIR. Steinmetz was
not elected. The cynics will suspect
that he might not have run il elec.
tion had been a possibility. AT any
rate his nomination was freak, and
the government Of our cities and
states, and to a considerable extent
our nation, continues to remain out
of the hands of our first rate men.
During the war it was constantly
remarked that for the first time In
our history our great men were
serving the government. Enthusi-
astic builders Of Utopia drafted
plans and hopes based upon keep
ing such men in charge. But with
the end of the war the great men
dropped out as swiftly as they had
come. The stirring motive for
aItruistic service was gone, and
naturally the service ended.
Right here, it may well be said,
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
No Return of Wisconsin

Whatever other Interpretation
may be put on Tuesdays Democratic
victorier, they cannot we'll be her.
aided as a return to wisconsin. The
great reaction Of 1920 was one
against the Wilson Administration
and all its works. The lesser reac-
tion of Tuesday was against many
things-some of them even legacies
from the Wilson era-the prohibi-
tion amendment and the Volstead
act, for example. But the issue
which MIR. Wilson insisted on maxi
ing paramount in 1920 created no
rumbling echoes in this years cam
pa.gn. 1t had disappeared into what
Hans Breitmann called the "ewig-
ksit."
The figures brought to the front by
democratic successes East and West
are in no way associated with the
wilson regime. Mr.. Smith and DR..
copeland belong to the anti Wilson,
Sati-McAdoo wing of the Democratic
sarty in this state. Governor Ed
wards was an anti-McAdoo candi-
date for President at San Francisco
In 1920. Nothing counts in his po-
litical cogitations but "wetness." Ex-
Governor Ralston, who defeated ex-
Senator Beveridge in Indiana, told
his audiences that the League of Ma
tions controversy was thing of the
past.
Senator "Jim' Reed, the most ir-
reconciiable Democratic opponent of
the Wilson Administration and the
Versailles Treaty, excluded for that
reason from the last Democratic Ma
tional Convention, was reelected in
Missouri, in spite of the many letters
in which Mr.. Wilson has denounced
him. Senator Hitchcock, chosen to
lead the Wilson fight for uncondi-
tional ratification of the treaty, went
down to defeat in NebraN.a. Henry
Cabot Lodge only squeezed through
in Massachusetts,, but the man who
came so near to beating him was an
anti Wilson, anti-league Democrat,
So it goes. The Democratic voters
were not thinking on Tuesday of
fighting the 1920 battle over again.
They had other ideas in their heads.
Possibly they had no notion what
ever of forecasting an alignment or
uncovering candidate for 1924.
But whatever they accomplished in
that line cannot be linked up with
wisconsin.
Tuesdays results brought to the
fore as new possibilities for party
honors and leadership no close fol-
lowers Of the last Administration.
There is no Wilson stamp on these
outstanding 1922 Democrats: Al
fred E. Smith, Edward /. Edwards.
James A. Reed, Woodbridge N.
Ferris and Samuel M. Ralston.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
Long-Sufering Staten islanders
To tha Editor oP y'ba Tr;huna

Long-Sufering Staten islanders
To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: On November d q new track
less trolley line was opened to the
public on Staten Island with all the
pomp and glory of royal wedding.
His honor, being cognizant, perhaps,
of the fact that a large percentage OF
the residents wouldn't give continen-
tai to see one of his demonstrations,
contrived very cleverly to have them
see one.
AS part of his program, two Are
boats steamed around the Bay with all
streams set, looking more like
fountains than boats. To add to the
"hilarity," two ferry boats in the
slips and two waiting to get in opened
UP their whistles and blew. This
spasm lasted fifteen minutes, then for
ten more tedious minutes the boats
drifted around waiting for s chance to
dock.
Ono doesn't mind floating around
the Bay under favorable conditions
and voluntarily, but when he Ia held a
prisoner and has an important busi-
ness engagement, the joyous sensa-
tions depart. If any one can give me
q logical reason for blocking traffic
for half an hour to satisfy the foolish
whims of a vainglorious official, ]
will gladly throw my hat in the air
and yell with the crowd.
1t is my opinion that the people Of
Richmond like to be humbugged, for
in the few years that have resided
there they have swallowed couple
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
A Despondent Dairymall

To the Editor OF The Triounss ii
Sir: Within six months tes - 3.
ing price of high grade dairy es..s W.
has dropped from an average o. ~ !,
which was maintained for Ten yss'~ e,
about s1s7. the price current s
frightful condition is not only s'.s
gering loss to the vast dairy 'asss.; .
but it is positive menace 20 sns
supply of the world.
will give daughter of king ~ !,
Sylvia Opaelia. a maternai 0fssss. 81
Carnation King Sylvia. busi sla' a,s
for s10s, ,oo8,, out of granaaaass..s "a
of Colantha Johanna Lsd, the siss'
living bull, to any feeding expM
or out of the service Of any oss !.
ment of national or state goss,. 4,
or on the staff of any coiiess w g,
devise a feeding ration that wl'l !. /
a heifer alive TO calve at the ~
thirty months at cost OF onls ,,a
Specifically ] purpose sao" .l,,ss
high-grade dairy cattle are nov 'T 50
for less than the cost Of feed, NJ .ssS
is the greatest of all the worlds nss EN-
tries brought 10 the point q s9..su !. j
disaster. Farmers get from s ~
cents for milk which sells 1or M 10
80 cents the quart. Milk wagon s I'm
are paid $ioo a week for os',,s IN
milk in philadelphia. while s.s a, {
must keep about seventy-sise. I. ,sA
cattle to produce enough ra''k Y
him si0o a week gross areop'e ..slss
The world knows no gressat g s..ssss
than American agricultpre NM NM
to-day. CLEMENT Il. tAs sss
Dcylastcwn, Pa, Nov. y
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
The Golden Rule in Business

TO the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: Permit me TO thank The Tribune
for printing the article headed "Busi-
ness Under Golden Rule. Purpose of
New Federation" There is great
deal printed to-day, especially in ad-
vsrtising. about Service" but the best
definition Of real service have ever
read Is that given in the outline OF the
principles adopted by the Christian
business Mems Federation, namely:
Lowing service rather than personal
gain shall be the keynote of our COM
mercial ambition" This should be
most encouraging to sil who are striv-
ing to do business according to Chris
tian ideals. s. c. DUNNE,
New York. Nov. 2. iaa2.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09

preserved az an example and an IL
lustration Of how small a monetary
unit may be. Besides, we may need
it. Now that he has completed his
memoirs. somebody may want to CAL
culate the pecuniary worth Of Will
liam Hohenzollern's soul. And what
then would they do without the
pfennip?
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
New Orleans Boast

fFrons The FeiD orleans Tiraes- -Pioop.4ne,
The New York Transit Commission.
says Gotham, now offers "the longest
ride In the world for nickel" We
know where you can get the roughest
ride for seven cents,
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
Strangely Retiring

Mr.. Arthur Brisbane says that a
gorilla could easily defeat Messrs.
Dempsey. Carpenter and Sikh. But
rs yet no gorilla has challenged any
Of the three.
New-York tribune., 1922-11-09
Ought To Be Easy

IL is unfortunate that the inventor
OF the adding machine died before he
had time to invent a typewriter that
could spell correctly.
Copyright by James J. Montague,