Evening star., 1932-10-11
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

The leaders looked at life. end were
not afraid.
They did not underestimate the
enemy to be overcome.
One of the bravest facings in the
history of mankind was the long battle
with the devil. That gentleman had a
large role cut out for him. in human
thought. and no doubt the trappings
imbued him with the force essential
At any rate, few who spoke or wrote
about him. in the old days. under
estimated him.
The necessity for opposition Is not
always understood. Many writer's and
speakers want their arguments to be
their own part to understand why the
waves roll and toss them.
The French have a saying, This is
very wicked animal; when attacked,
it defends itself"
Opposition In words Is sort of crea-
ton, an effort of creative force to man.
ifest itself, and show forth the ultimate
reality. the divine truth.
Truth is mankind's dearest ideal.
Truth, with love. Is one Of lfe's great
simplicities.
Some people demand complexity, and
therefore shrink from considering truth
and love In their essences. Often, when
these are placed before readers. and
listeners, these essential groups draw
back. There is not enough sound and
fury. not enough trappings. to suit
them. They want something snowy
more in keeping with an unsound
imagination and an unscientific ap-
proach.
The world often Is too much In thrall
to words. Words are but representations
Of qualities and things. In this sense
1t Is not true, as has been said, that
words are things" Words are only
representative of things. Men ought
not to be afraid of words, as II they
possessed any real power in themselves
He who understands the real qualities
behind words will never be afraid Of the
popular bugaboo words Of the days.
Radical" is always good. but never
more so than at present. But radical
after all, is not such q terrible fellow
To listen to many use 1t, however, and
to comprehend the way in which 1t Is
received, is to see q curious aspect OF
terror come over an otherwise harmless
word.
The adjective radical comes from
the Latin radicals" "radix." q root,
and means proceeding directly from the
root, hence, of or pertaining to the
root, or origin Nothing very frtghtful
about that Anything radical Is original,
fundamental.
Our noun radical" means just that
a root, something fundamental. In
politics, according to Webster, radical
is "one who advocates radical and
sweeping changes in laws and methods
of government with the least delay
especially changes deemed to equalize or
to remedy evils arising from social con-
diticns"
There Is scarcely anything there to
warrant that one froth at the mouth,
or refuse to grant the attributes OF
common sense and decency Of purpose
to another whose ideas he brands as
radical"
most radical men who ever lived. He
and his brave compatriots had such
radical ideas about government that
they set up an entirely new one, OF q
sort unknown before. They achieved
it with the least delay consistent with
their high purpose.
Abraham Lincoln must have been q
radical. too, for he engineered changes
deemed to equalize or remedy evils
arising from social conditions. The en-
tire intent and purpose CT our great
Civil War Is there in a sentence.
The real handicap, therefore, of the
articulate man. as opposed to the in
articulate. lies in the very instruments
of his profession, the words he uses
With them he may range the entire
gamut Of human understanding, or &C
only part way, or only a little way
With them he may attempt to be en-
lightened, or he may try to deceive
Often he deceives himself into believing
he is trying to enlighten when he Is
merely attempting to deceive
The inarticulate man. happily for
him, knows little Of this eternal strug-
gle Of the powers Of light and darkness
which goes on in the mind and heart
Of the articulate man. Let him be
satisfied with his emotions. They are
shall we say it-more radical than
thought.