Evening star., 1936-11-05
A Puzzled Visitor.
If messenger from Mars were to ha


looked in upon America Tuesday night
he would have been greatly puzzled.
He would see dense crowds Of people
standing in the streets. looking at large
white surfaces on which strange char
acters appeared, seemingly announce
ments, with figures and names of places
and of people. He would hear the
crowds cheer from time to time. On
the white surfaces would come also
portraits Of men whose features would
arouse the onlookers to q frenzy of
approval or disapproval. Other phe-
nomena would further intrigue the
stranger. Loud noises would come from
tunnels, words and figures. and often
strains Of harmonious sounds. And pic
lures would flash as well upon the white
surfaces, animated representations of
human life. 1t would all be very odd,
especially the reactions of the closely
crowded people in the streets.
If he could gain access to houses, the
man from Mars would see family groups
sitting before little boxes from which
poured forth announcements, names,
figures, geographical terms. The hearers
would be aroused now and again to
enthusiasm, or depressed in despair, as
these sounds came forth from the little
boxes.
What would all this mean to the
visitor from afar? Probably nothing
whatever. except as q manifestation of
the singular temperaments of the Earth
dwellers. Possibly, If gifted with In
telligible speech, he might ask the mean.
ing. And If he understood the speech
he would learn that the multitudes, in
the streets and in the homes, were
listening to the returns from an election.
He would doubtless ask the meaning
Of an election, and he would get q pos
sibly confusing reply. He would be told
that an election was the decision Of
the people between two aspirants for
the post Of ruler. Far from the Marian
concept Of social life such . phrase
would be.
If especially curious he would ask how
an election was conducted. He would
be told that on certain day set apart
by the law for such . performance the
people gathered at appointed places and
dropped pieces Of paper into boxes to
indicate their choice, or manipulated
machines that recorded and counted
their preferences. Again he would be
confused. Why 60 to all that trouble?
Perhaps the mechanism Of an election
and Of the announcement Of results
seems strange even to some Earth dwell.
ers. Certainly 1t Is complex enough.
And yet 1t Is simplicity itself compared
to earlier methods. The Marian would
ask how many people were going through
this process. and he would be told that
something like forty-n million were
voting. Maybe that would be . very
small number compared with the Mar
tians qualified to express themselves
on the subject Of their rulers.
But the man from Mars would leave
the scene with doubt Is to the effective
ness Of this method. The din Of the
announcements would seem to him to
be needless. the clamor Of the crowds
would seem to him to be inexcusable.
The fervor Of the reactions to the ap-
pearance Of few figures on the screens
and to the sounds from the mouths Of
machines would seem disproportionate
He would not know the quality known Is
partisanship. He would not understand
the intensity Of the fears of the losers
or the rejoicinss Of the winners. Nor
in fact do some Earthlings. Yet the elec-
tion habit Is fixed and strong, and it ts
part Of the life of these peculiar millions
that inhabit this planet.
But the Marian would better under
stand other and more direct and more
effective means Of naming rulers, means
that take the name Of the force that
Is Indicated by the name Of the red
planet. The Earthlinss. ana especially
those Of this portion Of the planet where
these peculiar phenomena 90 astonished
tina visitor from the outer spaces Of
the universe, prefer the peaceful mode
Of rule and their martial spirit loses
itself In the din Of voices. which ID q
better way than the sound Of guns.