Evening star., 1932-05-30

perfectly able to recognize hocum when
1t is offered to him.
Lack Of experience Is the one dis
tinguishing difference between the boy
and the man. One may hesitate to
believe that there is any particular
years, but only an increase due to
wider mental and physical experience.
Only In recent years has the role OF
mental experience been given its due
place The sciences Of psychology and
psychiatry offer Q yardstick which, aS
faulty Is 1t II, Is better than none
at al.
They show that the real experience
Of mankind comes in thinking, and
that many q man, and boy too, ad-
ventures more surely and far at home
than many another man, or boy. does
by going down to the sea in ships.
The long and laborious mental effort
which Is known As education Is, after
all nothing more than experience. Each
young man might conceivably find out
teachers place before him, but, Of
course, he does not, and scarcely could.
such is the bulk of all that Is to be
known, and 50 short the years in which
one may discover facts and fancies.
We have too high an opinion of the
mentality Of the average 13-year-old
boy-or girl, either. for that matter
to believe that he Tor she) Is any more
impressed with the excess Of radio
talk than we are, IS an individual
listener.
Helpless In the face Of the great
gush, We are reduced to turning OF the
set, while wondering just why the
human voice Is assuming the chief place
in the hYQa AteQxf 4nArtr1In1
Somehow we are reminded Of the old
man on horseback" the hero Of past
days, the mighty military leader who
carried his country's armed forces into
victorious conflict, and was rewarded
with q fine equestrian statue Of him
self
What will future generations do about
this? When new statues Of generals
are put up in the parks, will the images
be placed in symbolic motor cars. or will
custom mount them on steeds they
never rode except in parades?
The human voice Is now in the radio
saddle, and while the comparison is by
no means exact, 1t is fair to say that
it appears to be hogging the show.
Infrequent listening brings this home
to an erstwhile fan" The steady
listener has grown used to the change
He does not notice the increasingly
large part which the voice, either in
speech or song, plays In the broadcasts
Only the man who bemoans the trend
OF the day is in position to realize
just how frequently the voice of man
or woman cuts in on music This pre-
sup 7oses. Of course, that he wants music
mc.e than he wants speech. It is
understood by him that there are many
radio listeners who feel exactly the
other way about it.
He presumes that the radio geniuses
would say that all the talking and sing
ing is in response to the constant
urging Of listeners, who fairly clamor
for it all
He reserves the right to wonder, how
ever. II it does not in part arise from
the old love of humanity for the sound
Of its own voice.
That is q powerful urge, brethren
one known to man since the earliest
days. In the shadows OF mountains
Moses hurled his powerful orations,
which gave sanitation, law and light to
his followers.
Centuries later the great Napoleon
acclaimed In Egypt. Soldiers. 40 CEN
turies look down upon you" At Gettys-
burgh the sublime Lincoln pronounced
few simple words whose sonorous
glory shall sound on forever
The place Of speech in human activity
Is assured All that one radio listen
doubts is that radio broadcasting should
add to the heady overflow A re-
ceiving set ought to be, he believes,
primarily and mainly musical instru-
ment, not talking machine.