New-York tribune., 1922-10-16
Mol, Thinking
.Corrodes u. s..
Says Rabbi ise
Accuses Country o. Being
fntolerant, Democratic i'm
Theory Only; Charges
Matt onal SeIfsIaness
New York Is His Target
Declares a.i.,at,an is Mas
siyeIy Sick and 3D. Glass
Imitation of Eurone

Among the ills from which the United
States is now suffering are:
1t is intolerant.
It is addicted to passion for sub.
stitutes.4
It is burdened by penchant for
trlylalities and n lack of high serio,,sl
ness. 40
1t is democratic only in theory. tbopyh
obssessed by a mob thinking which Cor.
rodes 1T and kills originaIity.o
New York City. having
1his, at least, was a diagnosis given
yesterday by Rabbi Stephen 8. wise i,
q sermon on What Is the Matter With
American delivered at the Manbattar, n
free Synagogue, in Carnegie Hall.
Df; wise opened his observations bv
an attack on what he termed thn self.
ishness of this country. asserting tbat
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge .qed the
armies OF Mustapha Kemal Pasha back
INTO Europe by refusing to let former
PRESIDENT Wilson accept mandate for
America over Armenia"
Attacks Near East Policy
"And now he said, "the same Son.
ator Lodge wants the United States IN
intervene to save the Christians. when
this country could have prevented The
Smyrna disaster.
During the World War the United
States refrained from declaring war on
Turkey in order to protect a few mil
mons OF investments in the Near East
After the war, when this country sh ouId
/ have been helping to avert Near Fast
hostiiities, it devoted its time to won
derlng when France, Belgium and the
Others were going to pay the millions
they owe.
Americas whole attitude toward
Europe has been one of: We did our
leb, and now we're through, and viii
nave nothing further to do with Euro
pean affairs Through a group of
United States Senator'S the American
people have been misled into believing
Europe's ills are incurable. With Eu-
rope left to itself this is true, but
America could successfully perform
the task"
Declaring this country is Suffering
from sense of triviality," DR.. Wise
| continued:
America takes neither tragic view
OF the universe nor q comic view; it
takes no view 1T alt This is manifest
led in its conception of democracy,
which it considers as a political divcr-
to high end. Occasionally Americans
| have spasms of interest in political
campaigns, but at other times democ-
racy exists chiefly as only theory for
most people. The result: Political
| bosses"
Intolerance Defined
"Irt some ways Dr. Wise went on,
| "this is the most intolerant country in
the world.
"This," he said, ais true, despite our
much vaunted melting pot It's pres
ent intolerance is the result of post
war hysteria which has given sanction
and canonization to tendencies in the
American character which otherwise
would not dare show themselves.
"Luskism is one illustration of this
| intolerance. Luskism is Ku-Klux Klan-
ism embodied into legislative enact
ment, the very negation of democracy"
Speaking Of Americas passion for
substitutes DR.. Wise asserted that
while Americans will not accept
substitute for brand of tooth pow
der, they willingly accept every cure
all suggested. self-hypnotizing them
selves with the words of Coue, the
French psychologist, that 4 am well;
am better; in fact, | am perfectly
lovely"
William Allen Whites charge that
Kansas cares only for Kansas is ap-
plicable to the rest OF the country, he
said, and particularly to New York
City, which he regarded as ''massively
sick"
an Kansas and the West the ills of
America are more diffused," she de-
clared, "but in New York City they
are so concentrated that this commu-
nifty has become a poor, third class
imitation Of Europe"