Evening star., 1935-02-17
U. San Empire by Chance

English neighborS, who patiently pay
an income tax that makes our own
look like mild little gratuity? What
about India, where hundreds of mil
lions of men, women and children
have for thousands of years lived on
the absolute borderline of starvation?
How about the millions in the Afri-
can interior, who dig for shrubs and
eat grasshopper larvae to keep body
and soul together? How about the
people on the roof Of the world in
Tibet? And in China, where they
will sell you their children for a
couple Of dollars? Or in Japan where
there are 440 people to square mile
as compared to our own percentage
of only Al square mile?
U. S. At Top in Prosperity.
I hope that 1 have brought up
enough evidence to convince you that
in spite of our famous depression
we are still at the top of the list
when it comes to prosperity and COM
fort. And we shall continue to be
there If the rest of the world doubles
its population every 100 years while
we are keeping our own practically
stationary.
Now, do you begin to understand
why We shall have need of all of our
intelligence if we want to deal sue
cessfully with that empire which
fate dropped into our laps and then
left to our care, whether we wanted
1t or not?
In our good-natured optimism We
shall probably continue to make all
sorts Of amiable promises about the
near future which We shall never be
able to keep, not because we our
selves wanted to go back upon our
given word, but because circum-
stances over which we had no con-
troll had intervened to make such a
step equivalent to national suicide.
That same spirit Of everybody in
this world, after all. is a pretty fine
fellow" unless curbed by intelligence,
will make us wake up some fine morn
ing with the brutal discovery that
fine fellows" under the stress of
hunger and need may do very strange
things Man, when all is said and
done, is still pre-eminently a preda-
tory animal, and will probably re-
main so until the end of time. You
can call me skeptic for drawing your
unwilling attention to such an un-
pleasant fact, but that will not in
any way affect the truth of the state
ment.
People have called Napoleon skep-
tic for saying that the Lord is always
on the side of the biggest battalions,
but every war has been there to prove
it. Therefore, If 1t makes you feel
more comfortable to call me few
names as an iconociast trying to de-
stroy our lovely image about a world
full Of peace and good will 60 ahead
and do so.
Children's Future Considered.
Then, having relieved your mind
upon the subject, sit ye down and
think for while about the future of
your children. They live in a world
Of rivalry and competition. They live
in a world in which the strong defeat
the weak. They live in country de-
Tended by the far-flung system Of CO.
| 1Ol1ldl UulWdl no WlllOl1 4A1 UlAC OOllil1lOAA
parlance Of the day are known as an
empire.
That empire is a historical curl
osity in so far as 1t had to develop
without the backing of an emperor.
It exists, nevertheless, and will con-
tinue to exist in spite of everything
we may try to do. because 1t was an
unavoidable part of our national his
torical development and because His
tory, my friends is not interested in
our own personal likes or dislikes, but
does exactly as she pleases. And that
Is all there really is to say upon the
subject.
We are the owners Of vast en-
pire that was wished upon us-that
was left upon our doorstep-that was
thrown into our lap when we were
looking the other way. We therefore
are partners in an imperial venture
entirely against our own wishes and
desires. And yet the complicated ma
ture Of our political and economic
world makes it impossible for us to
let 60 without causing terrible dis
aster, not only to ourselves, but
among all our neighbors.
There therefore Is but one way out
Of the dificulty-to accept our task
with the utmost intelligence; to see
conditions as they are and to decide
upon a sensible and reasonable future
policy without an appeal to formula
or routine, but with the clear under
standing that we cannot change un-
welcome facts by the simple process
Of giving them a different and more
agreeable name.
This Is . hard world for most Of
us.
i. But Isl don't blame me- tdidn'' make