Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-05-18

Those who find no Romance in
Washington are thinking only of the
old definition, which calls for some
manifestation or embodiment of pic
turesque unusualness characteristic OF
romances in the old, restricted sense.
There are unusual, picturesque
scenes here which would form the per
feet background for any Romano"
whatever. What more romantic place
than the Lincoln Memorial at night,
with the light of the moon bathing
what seems to the romantic as d
dream out of old Greece?
Romance turks in scores of our
parks; in our wide streets, set with
trees; at the Capitol at night, glisten-
ing under lamps reflected in wet
streets; in the bend of every road in
The outskirts; in the heart OF every
personi
Romance,
Washington is surcharged with 1t.
The great drama of National Govern
ment centers here. located in prosaic
office buildings, if you Will, but there,
nevertheless.
Ordinarily IL takes some national
crisis. such as a war, to make many
see the romance in government. A
Senator in frock coat Is not ordina-
rily regarded as a romantic figure, but
sometimes one does rise to that height.
Mr. Borah is romantic, II ever a
man was.
And capable Mr.. Hoover. presiding
over radio, becomes as romantic d
fellow as Romance eveINpictured.
our President, who certainly would
not ordinarily be accused of being ro-
mantle, takes on rose-tinted hues I'M
der our Magic Lamp. Just man, like
ourselves-and the leader of all of us.
Bow down. Romance, and admit that
there is no greater Romance than this,
that a man, without being born to it,
can become the chosen leader of a
great nation.
Yonder, in that Government depart
ment, lies the unwritten romance of
the Government worker who devotes
lifetime TO doing his work and being
decent. He stands in the Concourse
at Union Station, prosaic figure, his
heart beating like a triphammer as the
great train slips down it's track.
His wife is aboard that train. Oh,
where is the novelist who will arise to
write the Romance of ordinary, every.
day love, so quiet that affection is a
better name for it?
To him shall be given the joy of
writing one of the purest, best Ro-
mances the world of literature has
ever seen. 1t shall be, in the last
analysis, the great American novel
| they have all tried their hand at writ.
inS-and failed to achieve.
They have failed because they strove
too hard to find the romantic, or be
lieved too ardently in the IdealistiC
They sought Impressionism when they
should have looked for the young fell
low pressing his pants to go visit his
best girl.
They look for something to astound
and amaze-and go away branding US
as lacking in Romance But when the
Great Novelist appears he will present
us with Romance cut out of everyday
Cloth-and perhaps it will bear the
label. Made in Washington.
He will be the Great Novelist because
he will not peer and strain to find Ro.
nance. He will just find it. that is
all. And he will find it because he
finds the human heart. After all
what do they mean when they say
Romance" except the human heart?
Closer than breathing, nearer than
hands and feet lies the life that is
decent. brave and sweet. We are only
| miserable sinners" in our failure To
realize this. Some day we shall know
that the best Romance is that which is
nearest.