Evening star., 1939-01-17
Rud as World Hero.

said Norvel. You'd be interested"
Rud as World Hero.
At the bottom of Ruds nature,
covered over and suppressed, there
had always been pn acute sense of
his physical inferiority He had
even an exaggerated sense of his
own ugliness and his bodily feeble
ness He had passionate impulse
| to exercise power but his primary
method of exercising power was to
destroy, and he consented only to
! the vast constructiveness his move
ment was developing, because that
alone guaranteed the complete dis
| appearance of the institutions, re-
stralnts and compulsions he hated
1t was at first with a definitely re-
luctant sketicism that he found
Thirp, with Norvel's connivance,
building up detailed legend of
pseudo-personality for him. Mod
esty with him at any rate was fear
OF failure. Maybe that is always
the essence of modesty. So that
when at length he realized that
Thlrp's propaganda might, indeed,
attain its end, his confidence in his
essential self blossomed.
1t would need vast volumes after
the manner of Tom Harrisons Mass
Observers to convey the hundreds
OF millions of individual reactions
to the intricate advertisement proc
ess by which the vaguely appre-
hended world director of the COM
nonsense revolution became a con-
, crete living personality in the hu-
man imagination. It followed upon
the best precedents. He was dis
played by word and picture, put
upon postage stamps and on public
buildings, written up, Systematically
alluded to; thousand anecdotes
were invented about him. Skillful
photographers arranged lighting
about him and contrived novel
angles of approach, and for every
picture of him that went into cir
culatlon scores were destroyed. His
scowl upon his ample brow became
an expression Of concentration upon
human destiny; his eyes caught an
| abstracted benevolence. He looked
less and less into his mirror and
more and more at those approved
photographs. He became more and
more interested in the press cuttings
expounding him that his secretaries
selected
Uses Modest "We".
He talked upon the air at chosen
intervals and millions of simple
homes to which the Revolution had
brought security, listened to his in
dignation at the disorders of the
past and to his promises for the
future. Never more would a bomb
descend upon house nor son
be taken off to war. He made a
practice of explaining in simple
language the developing merits of
the new order, using the modest
yet regal I'VE" and unobtrusively
annexing all the credit for the
bold constructive work of his multi
plying associates These men and
women were building now like bees,
but he figured as the bee-keeper.
To the simple mind everywhere in
the world, he became the Pro-
methean figure that brought the
light and heat of the power ad-
mlnistration into the social circle;
he also was production and his
name was Plenty; he was distri-
button and his name was Service;
he 1t was who now fed the world
variously. employed it Interestingly,
instructed it, released it for holi-
days and travel about the world.
He had slain soldering, slain it in
the person of Reedly. He had guided
the world through the terrific open
ing crisis of the age of adaptation
to their present universal hope and
freedom. Now one was free; now
one could learn to live.
Norvel in his private thoughts
decided that this was as good a
working embodiment of the scinetific
ordering of the world as mankind
could have for the time being,
and as good use as any for Rud
Personal Leadership the multitude
would still insist upon until his
schools made new generation.
Until the human crowd could res
pect itself it might just as well
concentrate it's respect upon Rud.
So, under Rud, acquiescing in and
sustaining Rud, he sat himself to
his essential work. Irwell, Bella
court. Roots. Darwin and all the
able new chiefs who were coming
into the comprehensive network of
Bodisham's scientific replanning of
human life on its new scale, worked
in much the same spirit, content
that Rud had cleared the way for
them, and Thirp was allowed to
fence off special department for
the organization, according to the
best precedents, of Rud's publicity.
his establishment in the human
imagination as the sole, unchal-
lengeable trustee of power.
Made All Arrangements.
Thirp did not do this work him.
self, but he made all the arrange
ments for its being done. His es-
sential quality was a feline curl
osity in the less obvious motives
of his fellow creatures. It was this
that had first attracted him to
criminology and prison reform. He
was interested in human errors and
misconceptions, his life as watcher
and shepherd of rebellious spirits,
was primarily one OF vicarious
anti-social activities. He had Rud's
fear and hatred of stark power,
but in q subtler, more penetrating
form. He had worked with energy,
he had become party man, because
he realized the trend of the old
order towards mosaic of military
and spasmodically moral tyrannies.
but he had no desire whatever to
establish a new order with possibly
even austerer disciplines of its own.
He was tied up now to the Revo-
luton, he did not dare turn against
it, but in the place of the new