Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-04
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

encoura ged to appear in public un.
yelled. AS many Turkish women now
expose their faces as civilized women
their knees.
Now Renal Pasha decides to visit
Europe and stay awhile in Constants.
nople, in place Of the new capital,
Angora. His cabinet opposed his do
ing so. but his party, the Republican
party" has made him absolute die
tator to the extent of giving him
power to name all candidates for the
Assembly. He has planned to dis
miss $50 members of the Assembly
and replace them with his own pup
pets. Eight years ago kemal fed as
occupies the royal palace. Turkeys
bluff as republic is ended. Renal Is
absolute dictator Such dictatorship
IS the reaction from ultra-democracy.
X X r X
1t has been a favorite pastime Of
orators in recent years to point to the
lettering OF thrones. All the world,
they say, has become democratic"
been Cancelled. But what about the
eternal vigilance" which will protect
liberty and the safety of democracy?
In our Republic 'of the people. by
the people" ETC.. it is interesting to
note that 1.-The people" appear to be
forgetting their responsibilities and
opportunities to rule, according to the
organization known as the National
Get-Out-the-Vote Club. In fact. Amer.
leans are the most Indifferent mem.
bers of democracy among all the re-
publics of civilization.
In the five elections for President
from 1880 to 1896 we polled 80 per
cent Of the possible votes of the cleo
torate, but since then our interest in
our right to govern ourselves seems
to have waned. In the very first
presidential election following the
great war to make the world safe
for democracy" less than half the ell
gible voters cast any ballot. In the
election of President Coolidge only SO
per cent of the qualified voters went
to the trouble to vote.
Great Britain is not supposed to he
a free republic; it is a kingdom with
royal ruler, yet in 1922 SO per cent
of the qualified voters cast their bal
lots for candidates for Parliament.
Germany has had less than a dec
ade of experience as a republic. fol-
lowing her Kaiser's fight to down
world democracy, but in the election
of 1929, with population of $685..
254-about half that of the United
States-she polled 25,S29,947 votes.
while even in our greatest presiden.
tial balloting we recorded only 90
900. 900 ballots. Germany casts IS
per cent Of the possible votes; we SO
per cent.
Will some "deep thinker" explain
the lowering of American interest In
the ideals Of patriotism and govern
ment and the ideals of religion-the
latter loss being indicated by the con-
fession Of the Council of Federated
(ProtestanD Churches that church
is losing half a million
members annually? The influence OF
the war does not account for either
loss of patriotism or religious ideals.
for wars tragedies and sacrifices APP
pealed to deeper feeling and more
purified and exalted ideals-not to
nor to indifference.
Prot. Lothrop Stoddard. AM, Phi. D.,
of Harvard, has written book en-
titled 1.-THE Revolt Against Civiliza-
ton" in which he says, in the preface:
THE revolutionary unrest which to-
day affiicts the entire world goes far
deeper than is generally supposed. It's
root cause is not Russian bolsheVik
nor the late war, nor the
French Revolution, but a process OF
racial impoverishment. which de-
stroyed the great civilizations Of the
past and which threatens to destroy
our own
The author further says. on page
264:
For the past half century the demo-
cratic idea has gained an unparalleled
ascendancy in the world. while the
aristocratic idea has been correspond
ngly discredited. This Is
In unhealthy state of affairs, because
he democratic idea is not perfect, but
s mixture of truth with errors like
natural equality which modern sci
ence has proved to be clearly un-
sound"
So he advocates a recognition Of a
inconsistency" of fitness, rather
han general equality. and he bases
lis argument on modern biology. The
socialistic followers OF Nietsche also
lain inconsistency, but they predi'
ate eligibility to that class upon the
strength to grab what belongs to
,thers. Stoddard bases It upon real
of intellect and character.
Neither extreme has q good word for
ndolent slackerism Of the vote dodger.
tcopyrisht 1897. by Paul Y. collinAD