Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-02
CHESTERTON FEARS CRITICISM
OF u. S. is Misunderstood
Praise for Architectural Art
Found in D. c. Included
in Explanation.
Writer Says : tan Villages
Resist Beauty. but Succumb
to Trade Lures.
BY H. J. J. SARGENT.


LONDON, May 2 (N.A.N.A(.-Gn-
bert X Chesterton wants to make GER
tain that feelings Of his friends in the
United States were not hurt by certain
remarks he made here Wednesday at
q meeting of the Council for the
Preservation of Rural England
In his address he described American
villages as eyesores, and he referred to
excessive drinking. which he said pre-
vailed in the United States. And then,
naturally, the cables rushed his criti-
cisms across the Atlantic, where they
were promptly read by the very people
whose guest Mr.. Chesterton so recently
had been.
Wrong Impression Feared.
IT am afraid" he remarked today, in
simplifying and explaining statements
in his address, that the United States
has received q rather wrong impression
from what said.
I'm many ways I think family life
In the little frame house in the United
States Is a more healthy and satisfy
ing thing than many Families in Eng
land or on the Continent can show.
But a curious thing is that for some
reason or other England has got sort
of historic expression In its villages.
Il said a lot in my address about
the fact that American society reflect-
ed the best traditions of Europe.
meant the dignity of the citizen, in the
sense Of the real republican ideal tnat
ali men are brothers. And one was
startled when one found that there
was such a thing as the art OF private
architecture running through wnoIe
community.
ple left in the world who believed IN
democracy and can see the Republican
ideal"
Mr.. Chesterton expressed his admir-
alton OF Washington, and Of its people.
Washington Beauty Praised.
washington not only is very beau
tiful city" he observed, but Wnat Is
absolutely astounding in the modern
world is that its citizens have kept II
beautiful.
when one accuses the Americans
of mere connercialisnn one must always
remember that they are the only people
In the world who have built clean
white city in the classical manner, VINO
have kept It clean and who have delib-
crafty sacrificed individual ENTERPRISE
in doing so.
MY point really would be lost II 1t
were not understood that / sympathlze
more than most English people with the
sort Of dignity of the old republican
classical ideal"
And Mr.. Chesterton, passing TO let
his statement sink in, glanced media
lively out of the window. Then he
turned to discussion Of the English
village, and TO a contrast Of that with
the small towns he saw in the United
States.
What strikes me as odd" he said,
is that England rather especially has
created a kind Of village that looks
like a refuge, a home for human be-
ings, and / searched the United States
from one end TO the other and never
saw anything like that.
Says South Is Thinking.
"Of course. I did net traverse the
whole Of America in my recent visit. ]
began at Montreal. l visited South
Bend Ind, and altogether 1 was six
weeks in the Middle West Then / went
to New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Phila-
delphia and Boston. Baltimore, Phila-
delphia, Boston and New York I knew
Of old
AFTER That / struck south. Went
10 Nashville and visited st. Louis. My
wife became suddenly Ill with influenza
in Chattanooga, so I stayed there an
extra week or So. 1t is a regular, jolly
old town, and 1t shows how little even
factories can do TO destroy the great
ness of human history,
The people I talked with were full
of the regular old tradition Of the South.
Even TO family feuds. I discussed the
new agricultural theories Of the South
IN Chattanooga. and altogether I en-
toyed myself very mucn.
Il saw that they were thinking in
the South. which is what hardly any
body else is doing In the modern world.
thought they weren't doing what
think a good many other old agricul-
tural communities are likely to do just
now. and that Is stand by and jeer and
! say I told you Sc y
Baltimore Is Favorite.
Turning TO New York. Mr.. Chestertor
! said he feared that city must be thor
cughly sick Of him. considering how
often he had given interviews there.
J MY favorite city in the United States
! is Baltimore" he said 1T has great
| fascination for me You feel there
J somehow. that there we're great mer
at the end Of the eighteenth century
Mn~,.;;r Easy to Pay