Evening star., 1925-05-22
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES L. TRACEWELL.

what they have acquired at such
pains.
1t is all true. And yet such an OBJ
server would overlook the funda-
mental truth. that the other 800 ac.
tually were made happier by their
desire to better themselves.
| n X +
To sneer, even, covertly, at this
desire upon the part OF the people,
shows a lack Of understanding. as well
as the bad heart of the sneerer.
One of the poorest exhibitions
remember ever having seen along
this line occurred in a magazine apout
a year ago, in an article "pannlnS
the District Of Columbia.
After assiduously rapptng various
features Of life as 1t Is lived In this,
our city, the writer went out or MS
wa to sneer at the Government
clerks. giving, as an instance, the
following heinous facts:
That hundreds of Government
workers lived in small houses and
! had the temerity to study hard after
4:30 o'clock!
What was very much to the credit
Sf such workers, the writer of the
article referred to, held up for ridi-
cule.
BY just what mental slant he man
aged to do so, have forgotten, IL
| ever knew, for I am hopelessly OF
the opinion that the Government
workers deserve praise for living in
the best houses they can afford, and
ton to want to better themselves
Some years ago 1 heard a woman
Government worker, at a meeting
make the statement that the clerks
wanted larger salaries, not Just for
the sake of more money, but prin-
| cipally for the increased opportunities
! it would give them and their families
1t was and Is true. Up to a GER
| tain sum, money does enable one to
have more, TO actually be more. After
that, and over that sum, 1t is but
surplus. 1t Is only in this sense tha,
| the average person can heed the
| biblical injunction not to lay uI
treasure upon this earth.
|
Even in a rich country such as
ours 1t must never be forgotten that
| thousands upon thousands have no,
been born to the best.
Despite widespread schools an6
| other cultural influences, thousands
Of our countrymen live and die with
| out ever having known that such q
man as Julius Caesar ever lived.
Shakespeare. to them, is scarcely
more than a name; literature, art
| interior decoration, landSca ping, mu
| sic, only so many words. They know
| such things exist, just as most of Us
| have mental conceptions of subma
| rines. but they have not experienced
| them personally, any more than W,
have been aboard an undersea vessel
Most every man finds himself II
| this boat, at some time or other, NJ
| matter what his position in life. One
| may be familiar with the literature
! Of all the world, and recognize every
| melody Of every great master, yet moi
be physically perfect.
| Contrast these pictures: A horny
| handed son Of toll. perusing in a mag
azine an advertisement of a course II
| good English. II amt literate," he
| tells himself. reading. He pictures
himself standing on a platform. per
| feet words. perfectly said. flowing
from his mouth to please and astounc
| the multitude. A literary son
of-a- gun, reading an advertisement OF
course to turn q man of ordinary
physique into strong man." He
| dreams Of himself a year later, deliv
ering the Knockout blow to tough
! specimen of the genus homo sapiens.
| Each man, K he never sends off the
| coupon, is the better for his menta
| pictures, and, If he takes the course
he will get some good out of 1t. The
fact that he sees the lack, and wants
to improve, Is what counts.