The Indianapolis times., 1934-01-01
1t
Seems
to
Me
By Haywood Broun

OF year WIN very At" A154 w.
The one TO come always has
seemed TO offer such great improve
ment in the fortunes Of the world,
and in my own personal concerns, OF
which I am not wholly unmlndtul.
But for 1888 some good things
must be said 1t started most lnau-
spioiously, and. though it stopped
many parasangs short Of the Prom
ised Land, it was a year which
climbed some distance up the cAfIS.
Yes. 1888 was a game fish and swan
upstream. leaping rapids and some
of the minor waterfalls
Surely not all Of us have forgot
ten the distance travelled since the
morning Of March 4. The situation
of the nation was then 50 perllous
and gloomy that one might suppose
everybody would remember the
measure Of improvement which has
since ensued
I think that Americans are prob
ably the greatest fOrgetters in the
world. The motion picture star Of
six months ago now may be drug
on the market. We do not support
the actor through thick and thin as
a loyal London public is wont to do.
The author of yesterdays prize
novel as like as not is now set down
as a mere pot-boiler.
And as for panics and depres-
sions and major economic crises, the
mere lighting of match is often
hailed as the authentic coming OF
the dawn. Many who hOWled the
loudest for help from the govern
ment in those early days of March
now are shouting once again shat
they are rugged individuals and all
they desire is to be let alone.
EAR from buying silver watch
Il for the lifeguard who took
them from the surf, they are in
clined to gaze at him resentfuly
and exclaim Fellow, take your hands
off mel
Possibly there is some merit IN our
native practice Of considering pub
lie figures upon the past per-
Torrance Of twelve hours or twenty
four rather than taking into &C
count a more extended record. AT
least two personal heroes of mine
dropped out OF the parade within
the year and sat beside the road to
rest because of broken arches. l
doubt that either one Of them will
ever catch up again.
I am thinking of Al Smith and
Henry l.. Mencken. Both have SAID
and done things which entitle them
to the warmest regard Of all Amer
leans. and yet. to my mind, 1t Is
palpable that their contribution has
ended. The best that one can do is
, to voice the farewell speech in
\ sorrow, not in anger No, we have
NO right to be angry at Al or henry
Just terribly hurt.
Did they change and turn about,
or was it simply that the course OF
events swept past them? 1t may
~be that they still are moving ahead,
but the present pace is too much for
them.
I can remember the day when the
Baltimore strong boy wore a white
plume in his hat and was stirring
l!p the youth of America into keen
revolt against the BabhittS and the
burgomasters. It is quite true that
MIR. Mencken's interests lay rather
in the social than the economic
field Still. he was one Of the
archers against the cause of Herbert
Hoover.
It is surprising, then. to find him
writing a piece on Down with the
Rich!" in which he voices the
familiar theory that if Cne citizen
has $1,000 in the bank he is an in
dustriouS and socially useful person,
while if he has nothing at all that
fate must be the result of Incidence
and reckless expenditure.
TN fact, if Mr. Mencken's name
i were not signed distinctly to the
essay I would have assumed that
here was a piece by James M. Beck
or Senator Watson.
Surely We have gone through
wears in which it must be evident
that some of the most thrifty were
swept into abject poverty precisely
as if they had been lifted up by the
hand of a hurricane. Individual
caution has proved to be the slender
est kind of reed against the sale OF
economic forces.
AL Smith, as well. has lost the
conception which he once had OF
the rights Of the disinherited. He,
too, has spoken as if the fact OF
property holding constituted some
exceptional sort of virtue.
The vexed problem of distribution
of wealth was hardly solved in 1888,
but at least a start has been made.
What lies before us in the next year
no man knows. I think it may well
be a heartening twelve months. And
if it is a period dotted with high
achievement I think that at some
time or other 1884 should make a
low bow and pay a tribute TO its
father, 1888, which certainly pro-
vided some excellent parting in
structions before it shuffled off.
AS 4Ol lily SSlAs q AA4llAAAON IL NA-N
mighty current, intend to make no
set resolutions whatsoever. We are
living. and will continue to do so, in
a world of f1ux and change. II
can get off enough weight to bend
over comfortably am going to keep
my ear to the ground.
But, in any case, 1 certainly am
never going to lose sight Of the fact
that Hoover is gone and Republican
prosperity is gone and rugged in
dividualiSm is in retreat.
Let the dead years bury not only
their dead, but their defeatists. If
1884 is to be worth its salt it must
be something else again. The new
deal demands q new year.
Copyright, 1888. by The Tines
The Romans noted the folly OF
growing the same crops on the sans
land for several consecutive years