Evening star., 1932-08-18
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

mentative men and women tend to
breathe fire about every subject they
| discuss
Talking with them becomes war, and
what is the use of war without some
reward, If one wins? And what Is
there to be won from such people?
1t is this utter lack Of reward of any
possible gain which holds back the
wis, man from entering into disputa-
ton with them.
He is not coward, and above all
he harbors no conceit as to his own
infallbility
H. knows, however, that this thing
of endlessly sticking out ones neck"
for another to whack, in the every day
life, is worse than futile, 1t Is silly
business.
The people who dispute the loudest
know the least, ordinarily. and their
scorn for the different doctrine Is heard
over the housetops.
They possess the most uncanny abil-
ity to probe sore spots in another, by
the simple eXpediens of being unfair.
Their physical vigor, and their
patiently unfair tactics, permit them to
put an utterly. false emphasis on the
dispute of the moment.
To listen to them roar, one might
think the very fate of nations depended
upon them, but the truth is that the
whole business IS merely dispute, one
of several million going On all over
the world at the same minute.
Anger IS mans first response, and
argument his next, because anger Is
an ingredient of oral battle, as of every
other sort of conflict.
the necessity for the card index Of
the minds of acquaintanCes is never
more apparent than during a campaign
year.
What is the point Of a civilized being
becoming red in the face over the
prospects Of any candidate for office?
He may suspect that the dear candi-
date is able to take care of himself,
and he may feel, too, if he is inclined
to be somewhat cynical, that no .candi-
date is worth red face, glarir1g eyes
and loud voice.
These are the monkey signs in us.
signs Of the jungle which civilization
has tried in vain to outlaw.
Any man with a good index of the
minds Of others, who nevertheless has
disposition to play with mental fire.
may test out the thinness of society's
veneer for himself any day in the week
by deliberately prodding the animals.
Here is old Hossfoot, who is temper
amentally unable to understand certain
social manifestations which have taken
place in the world in recent years.
All one has to do to get him to wave
the American flag is to dare to touch
upon the subject. The card index has
a warning sign at this topic. in con-
junction with HoSSfoot's name.
That is the way it is worked, a warn
tnr cir a nj Q
name.
Instantly the owner of the index
knows that he must avoid that topic
with that man, but If it becomes in
evitable, then he must smile pleasantly,
and become a yes-man for the nonce.
Why permit a hypocritical scollndrel
to get something on" one, as his in
elegant language phrases it, simply be-
cause the fellow refuses to use such
brains as God gave him, but insists on
dealing only with outword ideas in the
place of living ideas?
A great pother has been set up about
"yes-nien," but there are two sorts Of
yes-men. the good sort and the bad
sort. The yes-man who permits his
affirmative to tell a lie which Injuries
another, Is the bad sort; the yes-man
who sticks his tongue in his cheek and
refuses to incriminate himseH for the
benefit of a sort of unofficial agent
provocateur, is the good sort, and to
him all honors shall be given, especially
in a campaign year. when there Is
really no sense in the world In the
average man becoming excited, he has
so little to do with it, after all. A
young man, boiling with wrath over a
recent public happening. was silenced
by more experienced mate. who said,
What we really feel bad about is our
perfect inability to do anything about
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