Evening star., 1938-11-27
By MIC. r.

Cleo by the appearance OF Thanks
giving decorations In the markets
when she bought tho December
Commentator and found herself
confronted by Z Christmas editorial.
Time flies. 1t reminded the reviewer
of that crack In Caesar and Cleo
patra" (she has been reviewing for
The Star three years now and has
never yet quoted Shaw, 50 let 1t
pass, where Caesar remarks that
the crowd on the Appian Way is
always the same age, but he Is every
year year older. That is tough and
one can be sorry for the greatest
Julius. But it is quite as lonely
making to remain the same age
while tho crowd moves on.
The reviewer knows. She Is q
case Of arrested intellectual devel-
opment;; there is no doubt about 1t.
The crowd settles down to bridge
at 4. The crowd gets to discussing
the selection Of the proper school for
offspring. The crowd is aware of
its vitamins, its calories, its opera
tions, its social conscience and its
duty toward the community. And
all that. And the reviewer goes
tramping OF miles up the shore
by herself and takes happy nap
on the top Of the highest dune she
can find. And eats with perpetu-
ally raging appetite and complete
ignorance Of vitamins and does not
seem to have what anybody recog-
nizes as a social conscience at all.
The crowd probably deplores her,
but she, for her part, cannot re-
member to deplore the crowd. After
all, Cervantes wrote Don Quixote"
and Anatole France wrote Penguin
Island" You can answer q good
many crowds with that.
But this social conscience thing,
OF course, should not be shrugged
lightly away. 1t is the most serious
charge made against such people
as the reviewer-those of us who
can be happy without justifying it,
or. for that matter, even noticing It..
It Is said Of us that we disguise
selfishness under the cloak of in
dividualism. To the reviewer that
just sounds like a good trick If you
can do it, but she knows that many
and many a serious little portion
Of the crowd takes it very earnest
ly. So she was pleased to find that
Commentators Christmas piece
strikes blow for her own feckless
kind in the great name Of Chris
tianity itself and defends the use
Of such individuality as God has
seen fit to give his creatures, and
objects to the notion that crowds
are better than people. She was
even more pleased to see that this
piece was written by that old mas
ter, Booth Harrington. But let Mr..
Harrington speak for himself.
1T is of the essence Of Chris
tianity." he says, that a man look
into his own soul and that, guided
by his conscience, he shall be COM
pletely responsible for his own be-
havior, even though he render unto
Caesar what is Caesars. When he
relinquishes control OF his conduct
in any one matter to an organiza-
ton, it is the same as If he sur
rendered his conscience in that mat
ter and therefore became to that
degree the less of a Christian and
the more a conscienceless person.
On the other hand, 1t Is also Of the
essence Of Christianity that a man
should be Fundamentally mindful
Of the welfare of his fellows.
christmas, indeed, is the very fes-
tival Of altruism, and Christmas
1888, seemingly exhibits almost
everywhere an increase in this Chris
tian virtue. That is, men everywhere
are making sacrif1ces-or being
forced to make sacriflces-'for the
good Of the whole Nations every
where are becoming totalitarian
which is the same as authoritarian
and the authorities in command are
inspiring or compelling more ano
more altruism. so to speak, from the
multitude. Why, then, do all forms
of totaItarianism fail to gladden.
Christians? Why do Christians fee
within themselves no joyful willing
ness to substitute Merry Totali-
tarianism' for Merry Christmas
We applaud altruism, so why should
we not be glad to see it in wide
spread, active operation In the worlo
even at the cost of our mere per-
sonal and possibly selfish con.
sciences?"
All, that is asking them, Mr.. Tar.
kington! How few people today
seem to see the truth which he pro.
pounds-that. just as you cannot
have a community without indi.
viduals, so you can have no socia
conscience without private con.
sciences. Since people are not per.
feet, these organizers might reason
ably say that the appearance Of the