The Washington times., 1923-12-07
DR.. FRANK CRANES
DAILY EDITORIAL
Jack Spratt and His wife.
BY DIR. FRANK CRANE.
Jack Spratt could eat no fat.
His wife could eat no lean,
And SO between them both, you see,


They licked the platter clean
WISH to call your attention to this this morning.
dearly beloved brethren and sistren for the
that it is commonly misunderstood, to souls
great harm and consequent stumbling
For the common lesson drawn from this passage is
that diversity of tastes is the for contention It
is the commonest kind Of bromiion say that such
and such married couple get along well together because
they have similar tastes and like interests
It is also igns fatuus chased by the entire theo
logical world the notion that the great body of believers
attain unity only by believing the same things.
There are likewise many who deal in politics who
think that all the people in State should express the
opinions and that those who indecent enough
to think otherwise from the majority should be banished
from the country.
The truth is directly to the contrary The fact is that
the best basis of unity among thinking beings is entire
freedom and diversity both of taste and opinions and
that the surest way to produce disorder schsm and
quarreing is to attempt to make all people like and
think the same thing.
Let us take the three instances we have cited
You will find that the married couple who recognize
and respect each others independence Of likes and dis
likes Of belief and opinion, rule get along the best
And you will find that when the husband for instance
attempts to make his wife want only what he wants. and
think only what he thinks, these is usually trouble
Many wife also has to grief by clngng to the
idiotc theory that if her husband does not share her
preferences and ideas he does not love her.
It is also needless to say that if there had been no
effort to unity of religious belief there would
never have been any heresy, and no Professionalism
would have appeared to the harmony Of the Catholic
world.
Likewise, if the agents of government had not busted
themselves to suppress all speakers and writer's who do
not think that the existing order is the best possible
there would have been few bloody revolutions and 4
deal OF socaed treason would have attracted any
attention
You will notice in the text that M Goose, the revered
founder of ORDER indicates that it precisely
because the male Sprat liked lean and the female Sprat
liked fat that they got along swimmngy together pro
ceeded to eat their meal with erment and jest and at
last sat back in contentment and repeton having licked
the platter clean.
In other words you do not get perfect unity Of effort
and the best efficiency except when there goodnaured
tolerance the part of everyone for the thoughts of
every other
People can love each other better and longer, can
efectuate more stable and permanent government and
can God and promote the interests of morality much
better when they allow another to think, talk and
like what they please provided they all cooperate each
in his own way, toward the desired end
What the great Jack Spratt and Mrs. Spratt were
after something to eat in other words, cleaning the
platter They did not sit down at table to impose their
egotsms upon each other but to satisfy their appetes
Therefore brethren and sstren let learn from their
admirable example that the fatuous notion of unity of
tastes and opinions but the bond of contention while
as t is written he unity of the spirit is the bond Of
peace" 80. :, =. ,,.o,. $500.