Evening star., 1934-02-05
BY RALPH w. PAGE.

LEU us suppose YOU SOG d lcItcT IIoiu
some earnest student Of the history
of the evolution of mankind. Assume
him to be a man of great faith and
sympathy and power. The kind Of
man the world recognizes as belong
ing to the group that has led it from
ignorance, selfishneSS, superstition,
oppression and misery to whatever
knowledge, frendliness, capacity and
freedom it now has compared with
the time and ideas Of Nero, the In
QUESTION, peonage and witches. Some
man who believes in and hence helps
to increase the dignity and character
of every other man, and who begins
his utterances with malice toward
none, with charity for all
Let us suppose this letter said there
was some great movement afoot in
the United States and that the people
were stirred as in the days Of the
renaissance to question all things and
to try new ways in a spirit Of curios-
ity and high adventure. And would
you write him, please, and tell him
exactly what the situation was, the
issues, the leaders, what the people
were thinking? And mainly, explain
what notifications of the capitalist
system were abroad and what forces
were for them and what against
them. What would you write him?
What Are People Thinking?
What are l2OOOO,OOO people think
ing?
What are 10000 900 debtors doing?
What do the lumberjack and the
coWpuncher, the garage man and the
farmer expect of the new deal?
What has happened in Idaho and
Texas since the ides of march?
BY actual count the vast majority
of the capitalists of America are the
operators of small factories, distribut-
ing houses, stores and banks, and
farmers, miners and stockmen in a
vast and varied kingdom between the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland and
the Golden Gate. BY the Great
Plains, the mountains and rivers,
thousands of miles from Washington
or State street, hard by the trails
blazed by their pioneer fathers, before
their firesides-they listen to the
President over the radio, and make up
their minds.
Are the descendants Of Andrew
Jackson and Sam Houston, Marcus
Whitman and Kit Carson. the forty
miners and the Oregon Trailers, the
Mormons and the cattle kings afraid?
Are they afraid of sharing their ef-
forts with their workmen? Are they
afraid of imitation? Do they resent
Government regulation? Like 1t or
not, do they carry on?
Teachers and Professors.
And what of the school teachers
and the professors and the students
in our colleges and universities?
They work and live with musi-
clans. writer's, philosophers. engineers,
preachers, social. workers. parent
teacher and Women's societies, artists,
cranks, Socialists. idealists and
humanitarians. Enemies of material
ism and the mathematical life-what
influence are they having? Is there
a spirit OF high adventure abroad in
Kansas or any other motif besides
profits discernible in Arkansas?
With plenty to consider. what are
12o 900 900 Americans thinking?
The only way to find out is to go
and see. So I left Aberdeen, N c.,
and hit out across the Blue Ridge
toward Puget Sound. Long weeks
later ! arrived in Boston, by way of
Dallas, Tex. On the way. during the
weeks of that wide sweep of the
country, I asked questions Of every
body met and I met everybody I
could.