Evening star., 1933-04-12
SHAW SEES HOPE
INLAND OF BOOBS
irish Critic Says America
May Take Lead to Save
Civilization.
~ the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, April 12-America, long
accustomed to hear George Bernard
Shaw call it land of boobs, was a bit
astonished today to find large shavian
bouquet in its lap.
Lecturing an American audience face
to face for the first time, the Irish
author said last night that the United
States may possibly take the lead in
saving civilization from tottering into
the abyss as did Babylon, Rome and
other civilizations Of the past.
A rain of verbal cabbages accom-
panied the complimentary roses. Shaw
said that Americans are ruled by finan-
ciers who are "95 per cent lunatics";
that they worship "monstrous idol"
called the Statue Of Liberty and that
they live under constitution which Is
nothing but charter of anarchy
But he celebrated the passing of the
ridiculous 100 per cent American"
and had nothing to say" and he dwelt
on "a curious public instinct, social
feeling" which may turn out to be
volcanic political genius"
Has Some Hope.
Therefore, I have some hope" he
said. "I really do entertain hope-1
think I am the only person in the
world who entertains it so far. After
my preaching tonight some of you may
begin to entertain it, but do begin to
think that it is possible that America,
in spite of all the follies of the past, IN
spite Of your ridiculous Uncle Jonathan,
in spite of your ridiculous 100 per cent
American. you are really coming to the
point in which America may take the
lead and possibly help to save the
world"
Speaking to an audience that filled
the Metropolitan Opera HouSe-there
were many bankers who smiled to hear
themselves called lunatics-Shaw pro-
posed that the United States scrap its
Constitution, build new one on Amer.
tcan needs; nationalize the banks and
Destroy the power of the flnanciers.
De told Americans that in an attempt
% obtain liberty they built state in
which every ward boss was dictator,
And in which every f1nancier was in
his way a dictator, and every man who
represented big business was a dictator
and they had no responsibility.
He said Hollywood was the center OF
"an abominably immoral propaganda"
not sex immortality, but the immortality
of heroes who, when they are annoyed,
give some one "sock on the jaw"
Praises Roosevelt.
"When will we see film from Holly
wood" he demanded, Gin which the
hero, instead of socking the gentleman
in the jaw, does the civilized thing and
calls the policeman"
As an example of the better type Of
American succeeding the 100 per center,
he named "Mr. President Roosevelt
and William Randolph Hearst, both OF
whom, he said, are very violently
against the Constitution" If Mr..
Roosevelt, he declared "has to go on
under the Constitution. with the usual
rotten Congress and all the rest OF 1t,
he will inevitably be as great dis
appointment as Mr.. Hoover"
"Of course" he said, your existing
situation is not very promising one.
Your proletariat is unemployed. That
means the breakdown of the capitalist
system. 4" Your farmers are enslaved,
they are bankrupt, and they are in
armed revolt The employer of
today belongs to the proletariat. He is
an employed manager"
The financiers, he said, are lunatics,
s'living In a world of absolute illusion"
and 'yet it is in the hands Of these
lunatics that you leave the whole fate Of
your country, and you also give them
amazing power, which exists in all large
and rich societies"
American efficiency engineers and
American machinery, he said, saved
frightful friction of competition" is
now one of the biggest industrial
powers of the world" He advised, how
ever, that Americans, in setting up their
new constitution" make it an Amer
lean constitution.
Recalls Earlier American.
Don't bother so much about Karl
Marx" he said.
Shaw said he could remember "the
sort Of person that an American was,
say, in the year 1860" and that "the
American of that day was quite unlike
They were not really Americans at
ALL" he explained. ''They we're emf
grants, they were provincials, they were
people bringing the habits Of an old
country and an old civilization, all the
bad habits as well as the good ones.
They were dragging them to this
country and they were setting up as
nation with a very uneasy Self-con-
sciousness which made them ridiculous
~ sensitive to any remark that was
made by foreigner about the Ameri-
can Nation.
"Now that American, as say, doesn't
exist today. AS the Nation went on de-
veloping, it was still for a long time
trying to do the things that Europe
was doing and doing them very badly,
] may remark, although generally very
expensively."
There came change, Shaw went on,
and described the American who
emerged like this:
He was q colossal person; he was
an extremely dignifled person; he was
q person that when you met him, you
felt here was man OF great impor-
tance, or even of commanding impor-
tance; a man who had something in
something out Of him.
Never Said Anything.
HE was a tremendous talker, a man
OF magnificent periods and splendid
perorations, an orator who shouted at
meetings and especially at dinner
tables at great length, but he never
said anything. .
But he was an abominating sort OF
man, If I may use the expression" Shaw
continued He was monumental. but
he was so empty in the point OF get
ting new or definite that you simply
were staggered when we looked at him
in Europe.
He was in the air. consequently you
got nothing out of him but wind, and
YOU got a tremendous amount of that.
This man, however, emerged, and at last
he began to get name and became
known as the 100 per cent American.
"And there was this about him. that
he was the unique phenomenon-there
was nothing else in the world at all