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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Introducing the American Spirit - -Author: Edward A. Steiner - -Release Date: January 22, 2013 [EBook #41898] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - -INTRODUCING THE -AMERICAN SPIRIT - - BY EDWARD A. STEINER - - THE CONFESSION OF A HYPHENATED - AMERICAN - 12mo, boards net 50c. - - INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT - What it Means to a Citizen and How it Appears - to an Alien. 12mo, cloth net $1.00 - - FROM ALIEN TO CITIZEN - The Story of My Life in America. Illustrated, - 8vo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE BROKEN WALL - Stories of the Mingling Folk. Illustrated, - 12mo, cloth net $1.00 - - AGAINST THE CURRENT - Simple Chapters from a Complex Life. 12mo, - cloth net $1.25 - - THE IMMIGRANT TIDE--ITS EBB - AND FLOW - Illustrated, 8vo, cloth net $1.50 - - ON THE TRAIL OF THE IMMIGRANT - Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE MEDIATOR - A Tale of the Old World and the New. Illustrated, - 12mo, cloth net $1.25 - - TOLSTOY, THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE - A Biographical Interpretation. _Revised and - enlarged._ Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE PARABLE OF THE CHERRIES - Illustrated, 12mo, boards net 50c. - - THE CUP OF ELIJAH - Idyll Envelope Series. Decorated net 25c. - -[Illustration: THE AMERICAN SPIRIT - -_Courtesy of The Survey V. D. Brenner_] - - - - -_Introducing The -American Spirit - -By - -Edward A. Steiner - -Author of "From Alien to Citizen," "The -Immigrant Tide," etc._ - -[Illustration] - -_New York Chicago Toronto -Fleming H. Revell Company -London and Edinburgh_ - -Copyright, 1915, by -FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - -New York: 158 Fifth Avenue -Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave. -Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. -London: 21 Paternoster Square -Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street - -_To -Professor Richard Hochdoerfer, Ph. D. - -erudite scholar and most lovable -friend, this book is dedicated_ - - - - -_Introducing the Introduction_ - - -"_Das ist ganz Americanish_." Whenever a German says this, he means that -it is something which is practical, lavish, daringly reckless or -lawless. - -It means a short cut to achievement, a disregard of convention, an -absence of those qualities which have given to the older nations of the -world that fine, distinguishing flavor which is a fruit of the spirit. - -Many attempts have been made to enlighten the Old World upon that point; -but in spite of exchange-professorships and some notable, interpretative -books upon the subject, we are still only the "Land of the Dollar." - -We are not loved as a nation, largely because we are not understood, and -we are not understood because we do not understand ourselves, and we do -not understand ourselves because we have not studied ourselves in the -light of the spirit of other nations. - -Coming to this country a product of Germanic civilization, knowing -intimately the Slavic, Semitic, and Latin spirit, the writer was -compelled to compare and to choose. Yet he would never have dared write -upon this subject; not only because it was a difficult task, but because -he had been so completely weaned from the Old World spirit that he had -lost the proper perspective. Moreover, of formal books upon this subject -there was no dearth. - -During the last ten years, however, he has had the advantage of being -the _cicerone_ of distinguished Europeans who came to study various -phases of our institutional life, and they brought the opportunity of -fresh comparisons and also of new view-points in this realm of the -national spirit. - -These unconventional studies, most of which received their inspiration -through the visit of the Herr Director and his charming wife, are here -offered as an Introduction to the American Spirit, not only to the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin, but to those Americans who do not -realize that a nation, as well as man, "cannot live by bread alone;" -that its most precious asset, its greatest element of strength, is its -Spirit, and that the elements out of which the Spirit is made, are so -rare, so delicate, that when once wasted they cannot readily be -replaced. - -As the sin against the Holy Spirit is the one sin for which the Gospel -holds out no forgiveness for the individual, so there seems to be no -hope for the nation which transgresses against this most vital element -of its higher life. - -Inasmuch also as the Spirit is something which guides and cannot be -guided, these informal introductions appear in no geographic or historic -sequence, but are necessarily left to the leading of the spirit, of -which "no man knoweth whence it cometh or whither it goeth." - -E. A. S. - -_Grinnell, Iowa_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - I. THE HERR DIRECTOR MEETS THE - AMERICAN SPIRIT 15 - - II. OUR NATIONAL CREED 35 - - III. THE SPIRIT OUT-OF-DOORS 58 - - IV. THE SPIRIT AT LAKE MOHONK 74 - - V. LOBSTER AND MINCE PIE 92 - - VI. THE HERR DIRECTOR AND THE - "MISSOURY" SPIRIT 112 - - VII. THE HERR DIRECTOR AND THE COLLEGE - SPIRIT 129 - - VIII. THE RUSSIAN SOUL AND THE AMERICAN - SPIRIT 147 - - IX. CHICAGO 166 - - X. WHERE THE SPIRIT IS YOUNG 184 - - XI. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT AMONG THE - MORMONS 199 - - XII. THE CALIFORNIA CONFESSION OF - FAITH 216 - - XIII. THE GRINNELL SPIRIT 237 - - XIV. THE COMMENCEMENT AND THE END 249 - - XV. THE CHALLENGE OF THE AMERICAN - SPIRIT 262 - - - - -I - -_The Herr Director Meets the American Spirit_ - - -The Herr Director and I were sitting over our coffee in the _Café -Bauer_, _Unter den Linden_. In the midst of my account of some of the -men of America and the idealistic movements in which they are -interested, he rudely interrupted with: "You may tell that to some one -who has never been in the United States; but not to me who have -travelled through the length and breadth of it three times." He said it -in an ungenerous, impatient way, although his last visit was thirty -years ago and his journeys across this continent necessarily hurried. I -dared not say much more, for I am apt to lose my temper when any one -anywhere, criticizes my adopted country or questions my glowing accounts -of it. - -But I did say: "When you come over the next time, let me be your -guide." - -"Why should I want to go over again?" he replied. "It's a noisy, dirty, -hopelessly materialistic country. You have sky-scrapers, but no beauty; -money, but no ideals; garishness, but no comfort. You have despatch, but -no courtesy; you are ingenious, but not thorough; you have fine clothes, -but no style; churches, but no religion; universities, but no learning. -No, I have been there three times. That's enough. I know all about it. -_Fertig!"_ And with that he dismissed me without giving me a chance to -relieve my feelings, of which there were many; although he took -advantage of a minute that was left and told me that I was an -_Unausstehlicher Americaner_ whose judgment had been warped by my great -love for my adopted country. - -Evidently the Herr Director reversed his decision not to come to this -country; for the following spring I received a cablegram to meet him on -the arrival of his ship at the Hamburg-American dock, which of course I -promptly did. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin stepped onto the -soil of the United States with a predisposition to be martyrs, to -endure the sufferings entailed by travel with as little grace as -possible, and to suppress to the utmost all pleasurable emotion. - -On the other hand, I was determined to show off my United States from -its best side, to woo and win the Herr Director's and the Frau -Directorin's approval. In my laudable endeavor I seemed to be supported -by that divine providence which watches over the whole world in general, -but over the United States in particular. The weather was perfect, the -sky festooned in fleecy clouds, the air charged by a divine energy; and -when the sun shines upon the harbor of New York--well, even the most -taciturn European cannot resist it. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin greeted all the good Lord's -endeavor and mine, with an air of condescension as something due their -station. From force of habit they worried and fussed about their -baggage, although there was nothing to worry or fuss about, for it was -safe on its way to the hotel. They were shot under the river and the -busy streets of Manhattan and whirled up to the twenty-first story of -their thirty-two-storied hotel without having taken more than a dozen -steps to reach it. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin refused to be impressed by the -rooms assigned them, in which not a single comfort or luxury was -missing, and complained because they were not as big as barns and the -ceilings not as high as a cathedral. The Frau Directorin eyed the -bath-room almost in silence; but she did wonder why they put out a whole -month's supply of towels at once, instead of doing it in the provident -European way of one towel every other day. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, like all Europeans who can -afford to travel, are exceedingly æsthetic, and at the same time fond of -good food, and their first approving smile was won at the breakfast -table, when they were each face to face with half a grapefruit of vast -circumference, reposing upon a bed of crushed ice. Their smiles -broadened when they had introduced their palates to an American -breakfast food, a crispy bit of nut-flavored air bubble, floating upon -thick, rich cream; and, although they had made up their minds that -American coffee was vile and they must not taste it, they could not -resist its aroma, and drank it with a relish. - -When the Herr Director said: _"Der Kaffee ist gut,_" I knew that my -prayers were being answered, and that the good Lord still loves the -United States of America. - -Most of us have shown off something--a baby, school-children, a -schoolhouse, a town, an automobile, a cemetery. You know that feeling of -pride which thrills you, that fear lest pride have a fall if it or they -fail to "show up." But have you ever tried to show off a country--a -country which you love with a lover's passion; a country whose virtues -are so many, whose defects are so obvious; a country whose glory you -have gloried in before the whole world, but whose halo has so many rust -spots that you wish you might have had a chance to use Sapolio on it ere -you let it shine before your visitors? A country of one hundred million -inhabitants, of whom every fourth person smells of the steerage, when -you wish that they all smelled of the Mayflower; a country where more -people are ready to die for its freedom than anywhere, and more people -ought to be in the penitentiary for abusing that freedom; a country of -vast distances, bound together by huge railways and controlled by -unsavory politicians; a country with more homely virtues, more virtuous -homes, than anywhere else, yet where the divorce courts never cease -their grinding and alimonies have no end? - -Ah! to show off such a country, and to have to begin to do it in New -York, beats showing off babies, school-children, automobiles, and -cemeteries. - -The Herr Director was sure he would hate our sky-scrapers; he had seen -them from the ship, and the assaulted sky-line looked to him like the -huge mouth of an old woman with its isolated, protruding teeth. Frankly, -I myself am not interested in sky-scrapers; I prefer the elm trees which -shade the streets of the quiet town where I live. I thank God daily for -the men who had faith enough to plant trees upon those wind-swept -prairies. They were mighty spirits who came to the edges of civilization -and drove the wilderness farther and farther back by drawing furrows, -sowing wheat, and planting trees--those men whom heat and a relentless -desert could not separate from that other ocean with its Golden Gate to -the sunset and the oldest world. Determining to have and to hold it till -time is no more, they proceeded to unite the two oceans in holy wedlock. -A task which involved another nation in hopeless scandal and bankruptcy, -they completed with as little ceremony as that which prevails at a -wedding before a justice of the peace. Those were the men who went among -savages, yet did not become like them; who for homes dug holes in the -ground among rattlesnakes, prairie-dogs, and moles, and made of such -homes the beginnings of towns and cities. - -If I admire the sky-scrapers it is because they are an attempt on the -part of this same type of people to do pioneering among the clouds. -Public lands being exhausted, they proceed to annex the sky and people -it, now that the frontier is no more. - -What the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin would say to the -sky-scraper meant to me, not whether they would say it is beautiful or -ugly, but whether they would discover in it the Spirit of America, the -daring spirit of the pioneers who built Towers of Babel, though -reversing the process; for they began with a confusion of tongues which -outbabeled Babel, and finished on a day of Pentecost when men said: "We -do hear them all speaking our own tongue, the mighty works of God." - -We moved along Broadway, pressing through the crowds, the Herr Director -puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin doing likewise. The Flatiron -Building with its accentuated leanness lured them on until we came to -the open space of Madison Square and they were face to face with the -Metropolitan tower. - -The Herr Director said: "_Gott im Himmel!_" The Frau Directorin said: -"_Um Gottes Himmels Willen!_" And then they gazed their fill in -silence. - -I have never "done" Europe with a guide, nor have I ever had an American -city introduced to me through a megaphone, so I scarcely knew what to -say. - -I did not know the exact height of that tower, nor how many tons of -steel support it, nor the size of the clock dial which tells the time of -day up there "among the dizzy flocks of sky-scrapers"; but I did know -that the tower represented some big, daring thing, an expression of the -spirit which could not be defined nor easily interpreted to another. - -After his first outburst the Herr Director continued to say nothing--he -was stunned; so was the Frau Directorin. We walked on, looking up, -higher and higher still, until our eyes met another tower, the Woolworth -Building--a shrewd Yankee five-and-ten-cent enterprise, flowering into -purest Gothic. - -The cathedrals of Europe are wonderful, undoubtedly. Master minds drew -the plans and master hands built them, slowly, by an age-long process. -They turned religious ideals into stone lace and lilies, hideous -gargoyles and brave flying buttresses, aisles and naves and rose -windows. Yes, they are quite wonderful. But to turn spools of thread, -granite-ware, and dust-cloths into this glory of steel and stone is, to -me, more marvellous still. The spirit of the pioneer cleaving the sky -has become beautiful as it has ascended. - -We are worrying a great deal about our lack of sensitiveness to beauty -and form; we chide ourselves as being crude and unresponsive to art; we -rush madly into the study of æsthetics and buy Old Masters at the price -of a king's ransom; yet we are not truly fostering America's art sense. -It ought not to come in the Old World's way--by glorifying dogmas and -creeds, by petrifying religion into buttresses and incasing our dead in -tombs of beryl and onyx. It ought not to come with its mixture of -paganism and religion, its armless Venus and its headless Victory. It -should come first as it is coming--with the making of homes good to -live in, factories planned to work in, stores fit to do business in, -and schools built to teach in. It is coming--yes, it is coming. - -But when our strong boys shall make filagree silver ornaments, carve -pretty things on bits of ivory, or exhaust their energy in painting a -lock of hair--when that time comes, we shall be an old people ready for -our ornamented tombs. - -Next I took the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin through a portal -flanked by pillars worthy to crown any Athenian hill; I led them into a -Parthenon in which Athena herself might have joyed to be worshipped, and -we heard the echoing and reëchoing of a chant which lacked nothing but -incense and organ notes to make one think one's self in an Old World -cathedral. The chant was not a _Miserere_, but a call to entrust one's -self to the depths of the earth--to descend into tubes of steel, beneath -the river, and then travel to the fair cities of the living, throbbing, -thriving West. It was a railway terminal without choking smoke, blinding -dust, or deafening noise; also without that hideous mechanical ugliness -which Ruskin so hated. This was merely a place from which one started to -reach Oshkosh or Kokomo, Keokuk, Kalamazoo, or Kankakee. Yet more -beautiful portals never swung to mortals in their fairest dreams of -journeying to the abodes of bliss. The Spirit of America, at last -crowned by beauty. - -We reached our hotel fairly exhausted by our morning's walk; but, after -being properly refreshed, the Herr Director ventured to criticize. - -"Yes, you are a wonderfully resourceful people, keen and energetic, but -chaotic. You take an Italian _campanile_ and elongate it fifty times; or -a Gothic church, and attenuate it; or a Romanesque cathedral, and -support it by Ionic pillars; or a cigar box, and enlarge it a million -times. You put all these things side by side, and no one asks: Will they -harmonize, or will they clash? - -"Each man builds as he pleases, although he may blot out the other man's -work and waste colossal energy merely to express himself. The result is -confusion. You can feel that unrest, that discord, in the air. My -nerves fairly ache! No, we shall not go out this afternoon. We must rest -our nerves." - -The Herr Director always spoke for his wife as well as for himself, thus -expressing the collective spirit of the Old World. They both retired for -a long rest, while I was left wondering how to introduce New York to -them in the evening. - -At five o'clock in the afternoon they emerged from their apartments, -their wearied Old World nerves rested, and, after being stimulated by a -cup of coffee, were ready for further adventures. - -Broadway at that hour of the afternoon is bewildering. The shoppers have -almost deserted it, and it is crowded by the clerks who served them, the -cashiers who received their money, the girls who trimmed their hats, the -men who cut their garments, the bookkeepers and the floor-walkers. - -Whole towns seem to pour out of the department stores and lofts; the -makers and menders of garments flee from the heart of the city, from -this pulsing machine which has been going at a dangerous speed. They go -from it eagerly, with a brave show of courage, as if the ten hours' -labor had not broken their spirits or wearied their energy. To count the -ants of a busy hill would be easier than even to estimate the numbers of -that throng. - -They climb the steps of the elevated railway trains, and crowd them, and -cram the cars until they fairly bulge. - -They lay siege to the surface cars, which merely crawl through the busy -streets, so heavy are they and so closely does one car follow the other. - -They descend into the depths of the earth, and breathe the humid, human -air of those noisy catacombs. They walk by companies, regiments, and -great armies, dodging automobiles which infest the streets with their -speed and their stenches. - -They accomplish it all with so little friction to each other's spirit, -with such a silent good nature, with such a sense of self-reliance, and -with so little official machinery to control them, that even the Herr -Director said: - -"This is wonderful!" although he declared that he would suffocate in -that throng, and the Frau Directorin cried out every few minutes, "_Um -Gottes Himmels Willen!_" - -There was an absence of politeness, but we saw little rudeness; there -were accidents, but the crowd did not lose its head; there were -discomforts, but little display of ill nature; each for himself, and yet -no clashing. The American crowd is more wonderful than the American -sky-scrapers. - -At the Royal Opera in Vienna, the approach to the ticket office is -guarded by steel inclosures in which every prospective buyer is -separated from the other, and one has to zigzag between these pens until -he reaches the official's window. Crowding is rendered impossible, but, -to make the obviously impossible more actually impossible, there is the -usual number of uniformed guards. - -Watch the American crowd--this group of unlike, self-centered -individuals; in a moment it is organized, it obeys itself--or rather, it -obeys its spirit, the American spirit of self-direction, with its -genius for organization. - -To me, the American crowd is so wonderful because it shows this other -side of its spirit. It is heterogeneous, like the architecture of its -buildings, perhaps even more so--if that be possible. - -Here are Jews from Russia's crowded Pale, where they had to slink along -with shuffling gait and dared go so far and no farther--so fast and no -faster. - -There are the Slavic peasants, who on their native soil, prodded by the -goad, moved ox-like along an endless furrow, drawing the plow of -autocracy. - -Next is the Italian, volatile and yet static with his age-long burdens, -with his fiery nature cramped into his diminutive frame. - -Here is the Negro, the child-man, the shackles of whose slavery are -scarcely broken. - -The Asiatic, too, comes with hardly courage enough to lift his softly -treading feet; while leading them all is this strident, giant child of -the Anglo-Saxon race whose wind-swept cradle was rocked by freedom, and -who with dominant will has spanned the oceans and crossed the mountains. - -Of these myriads whom he leads, some will be a drag upon progress, and -detain the strong or perhaps retard the race; yet they are trying to -keep up, and by their efforts, by delving in the deep, by feeding with -their brute strength our huge enginery, may make the flowering of the -American spirit easier. - -Yes, the Anglo-Saxon is leading them; but will he continue to lead, now -that he no longer travels in the prairie schooner, but in the -automobile--now that he wields the golf club and tennis racket, rather -than the spade and plow on the prairie? - -Will he now lead them from the breakers of Newport as well as once he -led them from Plymouth Rock? - -Will he lead them from the exclusive club as once he led them into the -inclusive home? - -These were the doubts which filled my mind, but which I did not share -with my guests as I guided them; for we were to spend the evening -together, and one needs all one's faith in New York at night. - -We spent the early evening hours travelling around the world. We went to -Arabia, where dusky children from the desert play in the gutters of -Bleecker Street; to Greece, where Spartan and Athenian youth dream of -the golden days of Pericles; to China, with its joss-house, its faint -odors of sandalwood, and its stronger odors wafted from the Bowery. We -visited Russia, and saw its ghetto-dwellers more numerous than Abraham -ever thought his progeny would become; we spent some time in Hungary, -with its _Gulyas_ and _Czardas_. We went to Bohemia, with its _Narodni -Dom_; to Italy, south and north, with its strings of garlic, its -festoons of sausages, its hurdy-gurdy, and its rich harvest of children. -We had glimpses of France, of its _table d'hôte_ and painted women; -travelled through darkest Africa, touched upon India, and then were back -again upon Broadway. - -As in the sky above us the architectures of the world strive to blend -and fuse, making a mighty new impress; so below, these colonies to the -right and colonies to the left, like the huge limbs of some ill-shapen -monster, try to blend into America. - -What is it all to be when blended? - -Of course we went to the theater. We saw a German problem play made over -to please the American taste. The Herr Director knew the play almost by -heart, and he nearly jumped upon the stage in righteous indignation when -in the last act, where the author drops all his characters into a -bottomless pit and everything ends in confusion, the play ended in the -conventional "God-bless-you-my-children," "happy-ever-after" manner. - -We walked the streets of New York until past midnight, and finally -looked down upon it from the roof of our hostelry. We could see the moon -creeping out and shedding its mellow glow over the gayly lighted city. -The noises were almost musical up there--like sustained organ notes--and -we talked about the play with its happy ending. - -"You are right," I said; "that happy ending is foolish and childish. -Things do not always end happily; but this thing, this experiment in -making a nation out of torn fragments, this founding of cities in a day -out of second and third hand material, this experiment in man-making and -nation-building must end well; for, if it doesn't, God's great -experiment has failed. Shall I say, God's last experiment has failed? -You see we _mustn't_ fail--it _must_ end well." - -The streets were all but silent. From the great clock on the -Metropolitan tower hanging in mid-air, came the flashes that marked the -morning hour. Thick mists floated in from the sea and filled the narrow, -chasm-like streets with weird, fantastic shapes. - -The Herr Director said good-night. The Frau Directorin did likewise. -They said it very solemnly, as behooves those who have looked deep into -the heart of a great mystery who have felt the touch of a mighty spirit -striving, struggling, agonizing to shape a new nation out of the world's -refuse. - - - - -II - -_Our National Creed_ - - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin wished to go to church on -Sunday, and after eating a piously late breakfast I spread before them -New York City's religious bill of fare, bewildering in its variety and -puzzling in its terminology. - -I gave them a choice between four varieties of Catholics: Roman, Greek, -Old and Apostolic; more than twice that number of Lutherans, separated -one from the other by degrees of orthodoxy and nearness to or farness -from their historic confessions. - -There were Methodists who were free and those who were Episcopalian, -Episcopalians who were not Methodists but were reformed, and those who -made no such pretensions; all these invited us to worship with them. - -Many varieties of Baptists announced their sermons and services, -offering a choice between those who were free and those who were just -Baptists, and between those who were Baptists on the Seventh Day and -those who did not specify the day on which they were Baptists. - -We also had a chance to discriminate between Dutch Reformed, German -Reformed or Presbyterian Reformed, and United Presbyterians divided from -other Presbyterians (presumably unreformed) for reasons known to the -Fathers who died long since. - -If we had been radically inclined we might have browsed among -Unitarians, Ethical Culturists, and could even have worshipped among -those who make a religion out of not having any. - -The most interesting column to the Herr Director was that which -contained our exotic cults, those we have imported and those which prove -that we have not neglected our home industry. - -It was disconcerting to me, who was trying to introduce our national -spirit, to realize how varied its religious expression is, and the Herr -Director got no little amusement out of the story I told him of the -student in one of our colleges who, it is said, came to the librarian -and asked for a book on "Wild Religions I have Met." When the librarian -suggested it might be Seton Thompson's book on Wild Animals, he said it -was not in the department of Zoölogy, but in Philosophy in which the -assignment for the reading was given. The book was then quickly found. -It was Prof. William James' "The Varieties of Religious Experience." - -When we succeeded in rescuing the Frau Directorin out of the maze of -Sunday Supplements in which she was entangled, we started in pursuit of -a proper place of worship, in anything but a worshipful mood. I was bent -upon showing that which is vastly more difficult to interpret than -sky-scrapers, the Herr Director was doubtful that we had any religious -spirit at all, and the Frau Directorin mourned the fact that she had to -leave behind her so much paper which might have served such good -purposes if she had it at home. - -Fifth Avenue recovers something of its departed exclusiveness on Sunday -morning; for although the cheaper stores are crowding upon those which -never descend to bargain counters, this is not true of the churches. -They still are in good repute, and await the stated hour of service on -Sunday morning without excitement, having advertised nothing, offering -no ecclesiastical bargains; content to live as the birds of the air, -whom the "Heavenly Father feedeth." The street was almost deserted; here -and there a taxicab darted on its way to or from the railway station; -the hour of the limousines had not yet come, and the people who strolled -along were evidently, like ourselves, unfashionable sojourners seeking a -tabernacle in Gotham's wilderness. - -Sauntering along the street was less interesting than usual, for not -only were there no crowds, the shop-windows were all artistically -curtained and there was nothing to see. The Frau Directorin did not like -it at all, "for what good is it to walk along the shopping streets if -you can't look into the shops?" - -"You see, my dear," the Herr Director remarked, "that is to help you -obey one of the ten commandments which womankind is especially prone to -break, 'Thou shalt not covet.' Incidentally it proves that we are in a -country in which you are allowed to do as you please every day and do -nothing on Sunday." - -"No," I replied, "it merely proves that we are trying to save one day a -week from the contamination of our materialistic existence." - -"It merely proves," he echoed, "that you have inherited from your -Anglo-Saxon ancestors the worst thing they could leave you: their -hypocrisy. I stepped behind a curtained bar this morning and found it -running at full blast. You evidently do your drinking in private on -Sunday and your praying in public. You know we in Germany do the -opposite." - -"No, you do your praying and drinking both in public, and both seem to -be a part of your religion," I answered. "Very likely you are right. -There is about us this taint of hypocrisy; but that only shows that we -are a deeply religious people, conscious of the fact that our ideals -are upon a higher plane than our performance. We are not as eager as you -are to proclaim our frailties from the housetop. - -"The average American wants you to believe him to be a pretty decent -fellow till you find him out to be different; while you Germans make a -virtue of a certain kind of brutal frankness, which is worse than -hypocrisy, since you try to make it an excuse for all sorts of private -and national sins. The real criminal is never a hypocrite." - -I do not know what would have happened to me if at that moment we had -not reached St. Patrick's Cathedral. The full, rich organ notes seemed -to soothe the Herr Director's ruffled spirit, and our discussion ended -as we entered the welcoming portal. - -In a church which in all places and all ages remains the same, there was -nothing for my guests to see or hear to which they were not accustomed. -There was the priest, alone with the great mystery which he was -enacting, and by his side the diminutive ministrants. The crowd which -filled every available space in that huge interior was silent and -reverent. Now the tinkling of a bell, like a command from Heaven, bade -all kneel, and now the same bell bade them rise. The incense, the -stately chant, and then the hushed, expectant throng going forward to -partake from the priest's hand of the means of grace, which he alone -could offer in the name of the one Holy Catholic Church--all this could -not fail to impress us. - -Into the august and solemn atmosphere there came from a near-by church -the chimed notes of a hymn-tune such as the people once sang defiantly -when they proclaimed their religious freedom. It was a spiritual war -tune which soldiers could sing, and strangely enough it seemed to fit -into this atmosphere as if it were the one thing which the service -needed. It recalled the self-assertion of the people before their God, -their man God, who was born in a stable, who worshipped as He worked, -and worked as He worshipped, hurling His anathemas at those who blocked -the gates of the kingdom to them who would enter, yet did not enter -themselves. - -Evidently the Herr Director felt as I felt; for he whispered to me, "The -Reformation." When I nodded my approval, he said: "But see how unmoved -she is, this rock-founded church. It will take something more than -hymn-tunes to disturb her." - -We left the Cathedral while the hungry multitude was being fed with the -Sacrament of our Lord, and our spirits, too, had been fed, although we -were not of that fold. - -While the Roman Catholics were finishing their worship, the Protestants -were making ready to begin. The first bells had chimed appealingly, not -commandingly, and a thin stream of worshippers appeared on the Avenue, -growing thinner as it divided, entering one or the other of those -edifices where men were to worship according to the dictates of their -conscience, their taste, or their social position. - -Many strangers, like ourselves, were looking critically at the church -bulletins as yesterday we had looked into the show windows, and it was -the Frau Directorin who said she felt as if she were going shopping for -religion. - -The Herr Director said that he had no objection to our inventing or -importing as many religions as we pleased; but he did object to our -exporting any, for we were making the task of regulating and controlling -them very difficult. Moreover he did not see how we could develop any -kind of common, national ideals with such a confusion of religions. "You -have, or pretend to have, a democratic government, and your strongest -church is monarchic to the core." - -I had to admit that religiously we are a very chaotic people, and that -we are daily adding to that chaos; yet these facts might prove what I -had been trying to make clear to him: That this is fundamentally a -religious country, and that as a whole we are the most religious people -in the world. I supported this statement by quoting a good German -authority, the late Prof. Karl Lamprecht, who thinks we have a great -future as a people, because we are "capable of religious improvement." - -"Improvement!" The Herr Director sniffed derisively. "Wherever I look I -see improvements: churches turned into theaters, theaters into churches, -and residences which are still perfectly good turned into sky-scrapers. -Chaos is not an improvement upon order. Nothing is finished, nothing -complete, not even your religion." - -Just then we were compelled to pass along a wooden walk from which we -looked into a canyon blasted out of the rock, upon which still stood the -foundation of the house which was being turned into a sky-scraper. - -"You see, that is the way we improve; we go deeper each time," I -remarked. - -"But in religion," the Herr Director retorted, "you do not go deeper, -you go higher, and that is no improvement." - -For the second time the chimes were pealing, and we entered a sanctuary -of friendly yet dignified English Gothic. An usher, who looked very -American and well fed and out of place, guided us to a pew in the more -than half empty church, from which nothing was missing in the way of -ecclesiastical furnishings. One thing it lacked and that no architect -can build and no money can buy--Spirit. - -The organ was played by a master, the processional was splendidly -staged, the rector looked prosperously pious, prayers were read and -confessions uttered without any disquieting, spiritual agony, and the -anthems were correctly sung by the picturesque boys' choir. The curate -preached a sermon on manliness; a sermon so thin and emasculated that -even the Frau Directorin, whose English is limited, could understand it, -and said she would like to come again "for the good English." - -I left the church deeply disappointed, and to the Herr Director's taunts -about "improvements" I did not reply, realizing more than ever how -difficult and dangerous is this task of introducing the _Spirit_, -especially when one goes to church in the spirit of pride, rather than -in the spirit of meekness. - -No clergyman can spoil the whole of Sunday, for there is always the -dinner, and having found a _table d'hôte_ in harmony with the Herr -Director's national and religious ideals, we continued our discussion -somewhat fitfully, if, at times, rather vehemently. - -One of the things the Herr Director missed in the church where we tried -to worship was reverence. He missed it everywhere and thought it due to -the fact that we do not teach religion in the public schools. - -This was rather amusing to me, for just prior to that statement he had -told me of one of his nephews who, upon approaching his final -examinations, said: "If it were not for this accursed religion I could -get through without trouble;" and I called his attention to the fact -that although I had no difficulty with my "exams" in religion, -invariably having an "_Ausgezeichnet_" which is equivalent to an A, I -was always "_Schlecht_" in conduct. - -I had found religious instruction a very irreligious procedure, for the -man who taught it was irreligious enough to whip me so that I could not -lie upon my back for a week, the cause being that I would not say yes -to his credo. Moreover I told the Herr Director I thought all religious -instruction irreligious which did not teach the child its whole duty to -society, but taught religion from only the narrowing racial or sectarian -standpoint. - -Religion, I pointed out to him, can after all not be taught; it has to -be caught. It is a contagion which comes from a spiritual personality, -and our public schools are not religious or irreligious because certain -subjects are found or not found in their curricula, but because the -teachers have this spiritual personality or lack it. I am convinced that -this ethical quality predominates in our public schools, not only -because so many of our teachers are women, but because we are -fundamentally a religious people. - -At this point I became conscious that the attention of the Herr Director -and the Frau Directorin had flagged; for their response to my homily was -an eloquent tribute to the tenderness of the breast of a Long Island -duck, which they had been enjoying while I talked. As they were -consequently in a lenient mood towards the whole world and therefore -the United States, I renewed my laudable and difficult effort, and, as -is often best, through the medium of a story. - -At the time the elective system was introduced into Harvard University, -attendance upon chapel was made voluntary. "I understand," said a severe -critic of this procedure, "that you have made God elective in your -college." - -"No," replied the astute president, "I understand that God has made -Himself elective everywhere." - -The point of my story was lost upon both my guests. When I paused, the -Frau Directorin asked me how it was possible to serve so lavish a bill -of fare for so little money, and the Herr Director asked the waiter why -they called this a Long Island duck when the portions were so short. -Thus the conviction was forced upon me that our environment was not -conducive to the discussion of the American Spirit and that I must await -a more auspicious occasion. - -Late in the afternoon that occasion came; not on Fifth Avenue but on one -of those streets where churches are fewest and humanity thickest; where -Sunday brings liberation from toil, where cleanliness and godliness have -an equally difficult task in coming or abiding; where nations and races -must mingle and cannot easily blend, where the America which is to be is -in the making, and where the Spirit must manifest itself if we are to be -a nation with common ideals. - -I like to take my friends to the East Side of New York City. I glory in -its self-respect, its brave struggle against poverty and disease, its -bright children filling all the available space and asserting their -childhood by playing in the busy street, defying its noisy traffic. They -make of each hurdy-gurdy the center of a great festival, dancing as the -elves are said to dance, because it is their nature to. - -I like to point out the faces of Patriarchs, Prophets and -Madonnas--faces seamed by care and sorrow, yet lighted by a divine -radiance and as unconscious of it as were those upon whom it shone in -such fullness on that great East Side of the Universe which we now call -the Holy Land. - -I like to have my friends meet my East Side friends, the young working -girls, who dress in good taste, help support a family, and maintain an -unstained character in spite of small wages and the temptations of a -great city. I like them to meet the growing boys who are hungry for the -best the city holds, and who dream the dream of making the East Side in -particular, and New York in general, a better place in which to live. - -I am never ashamed to take my friends into the tenement houses, except -as I am ashamed that they exist at all, with their stenches and the -dearly bought space with twenty-four hours of darkness and no free -access of air. Of the people who live within I am never ashamed, for -they are the brave ones, to whom labor is prayer, and living a -sacrifice. I like best to show off the East Side of New York on Sunday, -for here it is most welcomed with its respite from labor, its chance at -clean clothes, its opportunity to visit and be again something more than -a machine. - -On Fifth Avenue the Sabbath is made for the few, on the East Side it is -made for the many; on Fifth Avenue God seems hard to find, on the East -Side He comes down upon the street. They are indeed worse than infidels -who do not feel His Spirit brooding over the crowd, and His guardian -angels watching over those children--else how could they survive? Best -of all I know where those Angels live, and it is there I took the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin; I was sure they would never leave the -place doubting that we are a religious people. Evidently the children -also knew where their Angels live for the place was in a state of siege. -It is not strange that they knew, for their ancestors had walked and -talked with angels, and they were not yet old enough to have lost the -faith of their fathers. Troops of children there were; mere children -carrying children, and where there was an only child, which is rare on -the East Side, it was brought by a grandfather and grandmother, children -themselves now, and old enough to again believe in angels. - -There were flowers in the room and they were for the children; bowers -of roses, red roses, wafting their incense and driving out the mouldy, -tenement house air which clung to the little ones. There was music, and -they sang--sang as I know God wanted them to sing--gay, happy songs, -which seem to be denied the children who sing in the churches. - -How I wished that the picturesque little choir boys on Fifth Avenue, who -sang sixteenth century music and Augustinian theology, might have had a -chance to sing as those East Side children sang--full throated, lustily, -joyously; songs which made them shiver from very joy, and which made the -Frau Directorin weep copiously. - -How I wished that the priest who chanted Psalms in Latin, and the other -priest who intoned them in English as dead as Latin, could have been -there and have heard those children recite the same Psalms, in East Side -English. Yes, I have often wished that David himself might hear them; I -am sure he would be proud that he had a share in writing them, even as -the priests might be ashamed that they had never known just what -precious reading they are. - -No one preached to the children although they heard the good tidings, -and no one told them to be good although they were given a chance to -know how good God is, when men give Him a chance. - -There was a sacrament, a holy one; roses were given the children, and -the Angels who gave them shed their blood, for the roses had thorns. The -next week the children were to be taken where the roses grew, and they -would see that - - "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! - Rose plot, - Fringed pool, - Fern'd grot-- - The veriest school - Of Peace:--" - -But they would not have to see the garden to know that God is. - -We broke bread with the Angels and looked into their joyously weary -faces, and then we talked about the very thing I wanted my guests to -know, namely: That underneath all our religious or rather credal chaos, -we have a national creed if not a national religion. - -The Herr Director suggested that the fundamental doctrine of our creed -is "in gold we trust," and then he began a dissertation upon our -national materialism. - -Perhaps so, I conceded; but I doubted that we are more materialistic -than the people of the older world, in fact I was inclined to believe -that we are less so; which of course the Herr Director stoutly denied, -and I as stoutly affirmed. In justice to myself I must say that when my -country's honor is not at stake I am less dogmatic. - -"Perhaps we are equally materialistic," I continued, "but we are -certainly more generous. We make money faster than the people of the Old -World, but we also give it away faster, and I believe that there is no -country in which there is such a contempt for the merely rich man." - -"I suppose the second article in your national creed," the Herr Director -interrupted, "is that you are the biggest country and the best people -under the Sun. - -"If I were suggesting a motto for a new coinage I would put on one side -of it 'In Gold We Trust,' and on the other 'The Biggest and The Best.'" - -Ignoring this somewhat merited slur I said: "The first and only doctrine -of our national creed which we have as yet formulated is that we have a -great national destiny." - -At that the Herr Director jumped excitedly from his seat, and said -somewhat sneeringly, "Oh, you mean you have a place under the Sun. All -nations have such a creed, but when we Germans try to realize it, you -call us a menace to civilization." - -It was a tense moment in my relationship to my guests, but I ventured to -say: "We have a better reason for the faith which is in us than most -other nations, for we are trying to realize it without killing off other -people. In fact we are trying to realize it at a greater hazard than -that of being conquered by an alien enemy. We are keeping open these -doors which have swung both ways freely, for nearly three hundred years, -and your Old World weary ones have been coming; bringing their -traditions, their ideals, their worn out faiths and their heaped up -wrath. We did not forbid them; they have come to our towns, our schools, -our homes, they are here for better for worse, and we cannot divorce -them, or drive them away. - -"Yes," I continued, much to the discomfiture of the Herr Director, "we -_have_ a meaning to the Old World, a larger meaning than you think. We -have a place under the Sun, not to satisfy national ambitions; but to -keep alive faith in humanity." - -The Angels around the table were disquieted by our vehemence, the Frau -Directorin urged that it was growing late, and we left that center of -quiet which we had so disturbed, to return to our hotel. We entered a -street car crowded beyond its capacity by burly Irishmen the worse for -liquor, good-natured Slavs none the better for it, aggressive looking -Russian Jews and sleek Chinamen. There were mothers with their crying -babies, and thoughtless boys and girls chewing gum most viciously. -After the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had been jostled -unmercifully, we left the uncomfortable car, and when we were again -breathing unpolluted air the Herr Director asked quizzically: - -"Do you still believe in humanity?" - -Boldly and bravely I answered: "Yes, I believe," and lifting my face to -the stars I whispered: "Lord, help my unbelief." - - - - -III - -_The Spirit Out-of-Doors_ - - -Much to my regret the Herr Director did not sleep well that second night -in the United States. His nerves had suffered from those first thronging -impressions, he looked pale and was decidedly irritable; "for how could -a man sleep or be expected to sleep in this business canyon, loud from -the thunder of the elevated, and bright from the flashing of illuminated -signs?" Together they had the effect of an electric storm upon him. - -When he did fall asleep he dreamed that the Metropolitan Tower, the -Woolworth Building and St. Patrick's Cathedral were dancing Tango upon -his chest. - -This nightmare may have been due to the fact that just before retiring -we witnessed an exhibition of this modern madness, which seemed to be -indulged in everywhere except in the churches and possibly the barber -shops. Partly also, perhaps, because the Herr Director insisted upon -eating lobster shortly before midnight, in spite of the fact that I -warned him against that indulgence. It was one of those generous, United -States lobsters, and not the diminutive shell-fish with which cultured -Europeans merely tickle their palates. - -The Herr Director had repeatedly pointed out our bad habit of leaving a -great deal of food on our plates, and to impress upon me his better -manners, he had eaten the entire lobster. - -I had not slept well that night either, in spite of the fact that I had -eaten sparingly. I think it was the Herr Director himself who had "got -on my nerves," and I was finding this task of "showing off" my beloved -United States difficult and exacting. - -That morning we were to leave New York and I would introduce my guests -to the great American out-of-doors, and the prospect added to my already -uncomfortable frame of mind. - -If only we might start from that marvellous Central Station in the heart -of the city; but in order to reach our destination, which was Lake -Mohonk, we had to cross the West Side where it is irredeemably tawdry -and ugly, and take one of the ferry-boats to Weehawken. This somewhat -inconvenient procedure made the Herr Director doubly critical. - -The Fates were against us, for it was a hot, humid day, the car was -crowded, and the start from Weehawken anything but auspicious. - -In Europe the Herr Director travels second class when he travels -officially (the first, as is well known, being reserved for Americans -and fools), and third when he travels _incognito_, for he is a thrifty -soul. Nevertheless, he did not like our cars, they were "obtrusively -decorated," and privacy was impossible. Why should he have to look at a -hundred or more human heads variously "_frisired_"? - -I suggested that we take seats in front, which we succeeded in doing, -and then he found that if he wished to take off his collar, he would -have to do it with two hundred or more human eyes fastened upon him, -when the hundred people possessing them had no business to see what he -was doing. - -I have already confessed how sensitive I am to criticism of anything -American, no matter how just the criticism may be. So sensitive am I, -that had he reflected upon the good looks of my wife, he could scarcely -have hurt me more than when he reflected upon the beauty and arrangement -of an American railway car. - -And yet I have often wondered why our American genius seems to have -exhausted itself when it evolved the present type of car, having done -nothing to it except adding or taking away some of its "gingerbread." -Nevertheless I lost my patience and told him that if he liked to travel -cooped in with seven other passengers, four of whom he must face and two -of whom might at any moment poke their elbows into his ribs; if he -preferred to breathe air polluted by seven other people, and have a -fresh supply of ozone only at periods and in quantities regulated by -law, I did not admire his taste. As far as I was concerned I preferred -to travel in this big room on wheels, rather than in a jail-like box to -which the conductor alone had the key. Anyway this represented American -democracy with its unpartitioned space; but if he really wanted it, I -could get him a stateroom in the Pullman, and he could ride in isolated -splendor and be aristocratically stuffy and uncomfortable. - -When the Frau Directorin in typical German phraseology complained about -the draft: "_Um Gottes Willen ein Zug!_" I decided to save the day, and -we retreated to the Pullman stateroom. - -There they rested themselves back and looked tolerably happy while I, -silently but fervently, prayed that this particular train would not -disgrace itself by "committing" an accident. - -The big, American out-of-doors, even where it is old and its waste -spaces are cultivated and hedged about, has something which is -characteristically American. Of course nature knows no political -boundary; the grass is green everywhere, the sky is blue, cattle and -sheep, like man, have a long and honorable ancestry. Yet there is a -difference which may not be due to what nature is, but to man's attitude -towards her and his treatment of her. - -I have noticed this in passing through Europe; how unerringly one knows -where Germanic boundaries end and those of the Slav begin. German fields -and forests are trim and orderly; Slavic territory so ill kept and ill -used that when one has a glimpse of a village even from the swift moving -train, the difference is obvious. - -Sometimes I am inclined to believe that this attitude of man affects his -environment as much as we know the environment affects him. I wonder -just how much of the American out-of-doors, with its generous but not -gentle aspect, its subdued but untamed spirit, is due to those valiant -men who came from across the sea, and in so doing restored a bit of -their long-lost courage, and made masters of men who so long had been -serfs and knaves. - -I had hoped that the sudden burst of the Hudson upon my guests' vision -would thrill them; but if they were thrilled, they were careful to -conceal it. When I suggested the likeness of the Hudson to the Rhine, -the Herr Director took it as a personal affront and said you might as -well compare St. Patrick's Cathedral and that of Cologne. They are both -churches and Gothic; the Hudson and the Rhine are two rivers, and both -are big. - -Nevertheless I insisted that there is an evident resemblance which would -be complete if the Hudson had a ruined castle here and there, or a -picturesquely cramped village huddling against the hillside. - -"Yes, and beside castles and picturesque villages," the Herr Director -replied tartly, "you need a thousand years of culture and the same -traditions which make the shores of the Rhine sacred to us; you also -need generations of patiently plodding peasants who have made a -sacrament of their toil. One glance at your rotting boats lying along -the shore, at the untilled, gaping spaces and glaring, inartistic -sign-boards which disfigure it, is sufficient to distinguish the two -rivers or perhaps even the two countries." - -Having thus forcefully delivered himself, he scornfully pointed out the -waste places and the unkempt-looking fields, asking me whether I still -dared compare anything in this out-of-doors with the fine economy and -splendid supervision of the natural resources of his own country. - -Shamefacedly I acknowledged my country's guilt, and the guilt which was -evident on the majestic shores of the Hudson. We are wasteful, -extravagant and reckless--great defects in our national spirit, and most -in evidence in our treatment of nature's beauty and wealth. We shall -have to remedy that, in fact we are just beginning to do it; if not from -any sense of guilt, from the same sheer necessity which makes the -nations of the Old World careful of their national wealth. - -"The Conservation of our National Resources" is a fine phrase; it -represents not only an economic, but a spiritual gain--this feeling of -responsibility for the next generation. It is a new and most valuable -asset of our national spirit; yet I must confess that I fear the coming -of a day when we, too, shall have to practice the sordid little -economies of the Old World and think with anxiety about the to-morrow. - -It has always seemed to me that here the miracle of the loaves and -fishes might be performed indefinitely, and that there always would be -left over the baskets full of fragments. Somehow, in common with the -rest of mankind, I have associated generous plenty with the American -spirit, and I trust we shall never have just our dole and no more. - -I recall walking one evening with the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin through the well-regulated, officially trimmed and "_Streng -Verboten_" forest which encircles his native city. My children were with -us--young, vigorous, American savages, who have a superabundance of the -American spirit although they have not a drop of American blood in their -veins. We passed a small mound of freshly mown hay and they promptly -jumped into it, tossing a few handfuls as an offering to their -aboriginal deity, the wind. If they had dashed into the plateglass -window of a jeweler's shop or had desecrated the most holy shrine, they -could not have caused greater consternation. - -"_Um Gottes Himmels Willen die Polizei!_" cried the Herr Director and -the Frau Directorin echoed: "_Die Polizei!_" - -Although this happened about ten years ago, my children have not -forgotten their fright. - -I suppose we still lack this virtue of economy, and yet I hope we may -not lose that certain largeness of nature and that generosity of spirit -which have characterized us. - -I love the generous spaces, the unfenced lawns, which make of the whole -village one common park; the grass and clover free to the touch of our -children's feet, the fragrant flowers wasting their bloom, and berries -and cherries enough for the wild things of the woods. May the future not -bring more high walls and narrow lanes, big game preserves for the rich, -and scant patches of soil for the poor; castles for capital and -tenements for labor. And may we never see written over every blade of -grass: "_Streng Verboten_." - -I realized that the Herr Director spoke truly when he said that what we -lack over here is a healthy class spirit, which the German farmer has. A -sort of pride in his calling which makes him care for the soil and -nourish it with a lover's passion. To him robbing the soil is as great a -crime as it would be to rob his children. It is not only the Emperor who -regards himself as a partner with God, and sometimes the senior partner; -the commonest, poorest peasant is apt to say as he drenches his field -with the accumulated compost: "_Ich und Gott_." - -Speaking of the farmer, the Herr Director admitted that in Germany as -elsewhere there is a trend to the city; but the tide is held back by the -pride of the German farmer, who glories in having his traditions, his -folksongs, and, above all, this sense of partnership with God. - -We scarcely have such a thing as a farmer class; we have merely -merchandizers in dirt who sell not only the products of the soil, but -unhesitatingly the soil itself. - -The land which we see from the car window, which the pioneers won from -this boundless space, these houses and sheltering groves, the homesteads -in which a great race was cradled, are all for sale, now that the soil -is robbed of its fertility and the robbers have moved on to repeat the -process elsewhere. We are doing something, he admitted, to stem the tide -to the cities; we are introducing agricultural training into our public -schools and are making the raising of corn and wheat a science, but not -as yet a sacrament. - -We stayed over night in one of the half-asleep towns on the shores of -the river, a town whose history is written upon the headstones in the -cemetery, in the center of which the stately meeting-house stands. We -met the descendants of those who sleep there, whose pride lies in the -fact that their forefathers were the pioneers who fought the Indians, -the fevers and each other. Their houses are full of old furniture -shipped from England and Holland, and we ate their food and drank their -tea from costly silver and exquisite china which they have inherited. - -We looked upon the portraits of their ancestors and were told of their -virtues and their fame; we saw fine memorials to the past in churches -and town halls and rode in their automobiles, to see the farms -bequeathed to them. One thing, alas! they have not and never will -have--descendants. - -On one of the farms we saw a swarthy Italian with a bright red rose -behind his ear. His wife and children were working with him in the -field, and they were doing this strange thing as they pulled weeds from -the onion beds--they were singing. The Herr Director said significantly, -"These are the heirs to all this," and I think he was a true prophet. - -It is a wonderful thing to invent agricultural machinery and to discover -new methods by which two blades of grass can be made to grow where but -one grew; yet if only some one could tune our dull American ears, so -that our farmers might catch the melody of the singing land and sing -with it; if our boys and girls would love wild roses well enough to wear -them--if, and that is a very big if--some one could teach us Americans -to be proud of having descendants, we might add a new note to the great -American out-of-doors, and keep it American. - -That night we sat upon a wide verandah, overlooking a valley through -which the Hudson rolled majestically; we saw populous cities, -picturesque villages and bounteous farms; we looked into the heart of -the out-of-doors and I was proud of it and of its free people, who ought -to be a grateful people. There was deep silence everywhere; no sound -except that of the birds, and they did not sing jubilantly as birds -ought to sing in so blessed a place and on so glorious an evening. No -one sang except the same Italian who was coming home with his wife and -numerous progeny. He still wore the rose behind his ear, although it had -faded. Those who sat with us had every luxury and more money than they -knew how to spend; but they could not sing, for they were old, children -there were none, and if there had been, they would not have been -singing--they would have had a victrola. - -After the Italian had eaten his frugal but pungent fare he came to the -big verandah to get his orders for the next day, and the Herr Director -spoke Italian to him and he replied in that language which in itself is -almost a song. His mistress asked him to bring his wife and children to -sing for us. His wife did not come but the children came. They would not -sing an Italian song, it is true--that was just for themselves, in the -fields where only God heard. They sang some sentimental thing they had -heard in the "movies"--chewing gum the while. I asked them to sing -something their teacher taught them but they knew nothing except "My -Country 'tis of Thee" and the "Star Spangled Banner," both of which they -sang joylessly and not understandingly. How and why should they -understand when the Americans did not? - -It was a day full of dismal failure in my attempt to impress upon my -guests the American spirit, and the failure of it was "rubbed" in by -the Herr Director, who, as he bade me good-night, quoted as a parting -shot this bit of German verse: - - "Und wo Man singt - Da las dich froelich nieder, - Denn boese Menchen haben keine Lieder." - -The rub was in his inference that we have no song because we have no -noble spirit. - - - - -IV - -_The Spirit at Lake Mohonk_ - - -Many years ago the Herr Director and I were tramping through the Hartz -Mountains in northern Germany. He had not yet achieved portliness and -fame; while to me, America was still the land of Indians and buffaloes, -and I had never dreamed of going there. We were climbing the Brocken, -and that which thrilled me more than its granite steeps and deeply -mysterious pines was, the hundreds of school-boys and girls we met, -singing as they climbed, and who, when they rested, listened to their -teachers who stimulated their imagination and their patriotism by -telling them the stories which had woven themselves around those -mountains. - -The Catskills are not unlike the Hartz, and I remarked upon it as the -Herr Director and I were climbing the Walkill Range. Our destination -was Lake Mohonk, the scene of the Conference for International -Arbitration, organized and supported by that noble Quaker, Albert K. -Smiley; and now after his death continued by his able and generous -brother Daniel Smiley, and his gracious wife. - -The Frau Directorin, with hundreds of other guests, had been met at the -railroad station by carriages, this being one of the few places left -upon earth where the automobile is excluded. - -The Herr Director was not climbing as easily as he climbed thirty years -ago, and neither was I, although I made a brave show and led the way, -frequently leaving him in the rear, much to his disgust. - -"Yes," he said, mopping his brow and looking about critically, "this is -somewhat like the Hartz," and my heart gave a joyous leap at his -admission; "but several things are missing: Good company, merry songs -and, above all, places of refreshment." - -Of course I could offer him no better company than I was, as there are -not many people in America who climb when they can ride for nothing; -and the only refreshment available was clear water from a shaded spring. -As we drank he recalled laughingly how, when we stopped at one of those -nature's fountains in the Hartz, a man who had watched us, came running -out of his house and warned us that we might catch cold in our stomachs, -at the same time politely offering to guide us to a place where we would -get something not so dangerously cold, and with tempting foam at the -top. - -I have long ago been weaned from the German custom of mixing -refreshments and scenery; but one does miss the boys and girls, the -merry, happy throngs, their sentimental songs and their fervent, poetic -patriotism. Involuntarily my mind reverted to a scene the Herr Director -and I witnessed after we had finally reached the summit of our mountain -in the Hartz. It was nearly evening, and we could look far and wide -above the forest into the happy and beautiful country. On the very -topmost peak stood a corpulent German, surrounded by his genial group. -He was reciting with fervor and genuine passion, in the broadest -Berlinese dialect, one of their treasured poems which begins with these -lines: - - "High upon the hilltops of thy mountains stand I, - Thou beautiful and mighty Fatherland." - -If this should happen over here, of which there is no danger, he would -be laughed at, if noticed at all; over there he was treated like a high -priest who called the faithful to prayer. - -As a people we lack not only poetic imagination, we lack also this -identification of our country with the best in nature. Our youth may be -to blame for that, or perhaps we have so much of nature and so much -which is beautiful that we have not been able to encompass it. Yet there -must be something very important lacking in such Americans as the one -whom I met very recently. He had just returned from a "Seeing America -First" tour, and had seen everything from Niagara to the Big Tree groves -of California. When I asked him what he thought of it all he said, -coolly, "Oh! it's a big country." Naturally I did not tell this nor the -following to the Herr Director. - -A few years ago I went with a group of Americans to see one of the -famous ice caves in the Alps. The accommodating guides had lighted -candles in the labyrinth and the sight was enchanting. One of my party, -a dry-goods dealer, said with genuine enthusiasm: "My! I wish I could -get such a shade of silk in New York." The other said: "Too bad; so much -perfectly good ice going to waste." He belonged to the much maligned -tribe of ice-men. The rest of the men said nothing, although one of them -did remark when we reached our hotel: "This only shows how slow they are -over here. In the good old United States we would light that show with -electricity." He belongs to the tribe whose name is legion. - -The Herr Director, as my readers have found, was very chary of his -praise, in fact thus far I had not heard a good word from him for my -United States; but that evening as we looked from the Mountain House -down upon the dark, deep lake, the rock gardens and the quaint bowers -on every promontory, granite walls broken and scattered, and the rich -valley between us and the Catskills, he did say: "This is the most -beautiful spot I have ever seen!" - -Of course his generous mood was partially gendered by the unequalled -hospitality of our host and hostess and by the sight of his fellow -guests, who represented not only the entire United States, but the -United States at its best. Moreover, he and his wife had received a more -than cordial welcome because they were representative foreigners and -spoke English with a "cute accent." - -I almost felt a slight touch of jealousy upon that point although I am -not of a jealous nature. But I have noticed this: to the degree that my -English has improved, to that degree I have become less interesting to -my American friends, so that I have sometimes been tempted to wish that -I too might speak English with a "cute accent." - -The happy day was almost spoiled for me by the discovery that our trunks -had not arrived. The Herr Director worked himself into a frenzy and the -Frau Directorin had dire forebodings of having to spend the three days -in the same shirt-waist. Telegrams were sent in all directions, while -the Herr Director called our much boasted of baggage system hard names; -my "best laid schemes" seemed about to "gang agley" when much to my -relief the trunks arrived, and I felt once more assured of the divine -favor in my most strenuous efforts to "boost" my United States. - -The Herr Director had come to this country to take part in the Mohonk -Conference, and being a prudent man, he submitted his address to me. It -was written with Teutonic thoroughness and as void of places of -refreshment as the Sahara Desert or the Walkill Range we had climbed. - -I suggested a thorough revision, the cutting out of many statistics and -resting his case, not upon pure business, but upon the higher plane of -pure justice. He insisted upon retaining his statistics and also his -appeal to the selfish and materialistic side of his audience; for he -knew "something about Americans" and still doubted their idealism. - -The next morning after breakfast we attended prayers, which is a part of -the daily program of this hostelry, and presided over by the host, who -usually reads the Scriptures, announces a hymn and then leads in prayer. -It is as impressive as it is simple and dignified, and the Herr Director -and his wife did their first singing in America when they joined in a -hymn whose tune is an old German folk-song. - -The program which followed the prayer service was dominated by -specialists in International Law and they were dry and concise enough to -suit even the Herr Director; while the dreamers and agitators, whom he -expected to hear, were almost altogether unrepresented. In fact they -have grown less in this assembly each year, largely because it is -thought that the whole subject has reached the point when it is a -practical question to be discussed by men of affairs. No one knew better -than the Herr Director how inevitable was the next great war and how far -we were from the practical Court of International Arbitration. - -The epilogue to that great world drama had been spoken in the Balkan, -and spoken with vehemence, passion and fierce cruelty, and he knew its -bearing upon the whole tense situation in Europe. Yet I am sure that -even he did not know how many nations would be involved, nor how costly -and deadly would be the conflict. He did foreshadow in his own -condemnation of England and of England's foreign policy the element of -hate between the two related nations, which was to play so important a -part in the present war. - -The afternoon is playtime at Lake Mohonk, and most generous are the -provisions for recreation; but the Herr Director did not ride or drive, -nor play golf or tennis. He stayed in his room rewriting his paper, -having sensed something of the Spirit of Lake Mohonk. - -It is a very dignified room in which the problem of International -Arbitration is discussed, and although it never loses its hospitable, -home-like air, one always has the feeling of being before a high -tribunal, where anything but the most serious mood seems out of place; -although a jest sometimes relieves the discussion. - -An audience of about four hundred people gathered that evening, men and -women in varied walks of life, coming from all the states in the Union -and from many foreign countries. - -There were captains of industry and of infantry, admirals of fleets and -presidents of colleges, statesmen and politicians, ministers, lawyers -and journalists. Their views ranged from those who believe that war is -an unavoidable event in human history, and that a little blood letting -now and then is necessary for the best of men, to those who teach that -war is a curse and that a certain warrior who compared it to the worst -place which human imagination can conceive, might be sued for libelling -his Satanic Majesty who presides over that place or state. On the whole, -they represented the men of action and men without illusions although -with high ideals. The Herr Director's paper, minus its statistics, and -keenly critical rather than laudatory, was received with applause, and -he stepped from the platform in the best humor in which I had seen him -since he reached the United States. - -The real joy of the Lake Mohonk Conference, and of all conferences, is -the human touch, and after the long evening session the Herr Director -became the center of an interesting group of men who, while smoking -their cigars, lost some of their American reserve and became -sufficiently animated to hear and tell stories; so it was long past -midnight when the informal session ended. - -Frequently the Herr Director asked questions about things which he could -not understand, and it was at such times that I sought to enlighten him, -or have him enlightened by others; for he had become sceptical as to my -own ability to inform him regarding anything American. - -He could not understand, for instance, that all this lavish -entertainment was free, and suggested that it must be a sort of gigantic -American advertising scheme, carefully concealed. When he was told that -to secure a room during the season one must apply long in advance, and -most likely have fair credentials before being accepted as a guest, he -merely shook his head and murmured something about these "inexplicable -Americans." - -He also did not see how an hotel could flourish in any civilized country -without permitting the accepted social diversions, such as card playing, -dancing, and drinking something stronger than the mild beverages served -at the soda fountain. - -He wanted to know how it was that three or four hundred Americans would -take three days of their time to discuss a theme which had little or -nothing to do with profits. All the Americans he had known about were -void of ideals, and had no time for anything but business or poker. In -fact he was astonished not to see poker chips littering the sidewalks. - -I told him that while it is true that the average American business man -is always in a hurry, and gives little time to wholesome recreation, it -is also true that in no country with which I am familiar do men of -business give their time so generously to the consideration of the -common welfare as here. They do this, not having the incentive -constantly held out to the European business man, namely: Recognition by -the state and the reward which sovereigns may bestow, in much coveted -titles and decorations. The average well-inclined American business man -is incredibly patient, sitting through tedious meetings, listening to -reports of various philanthropies, and earns a martyr's crown attending -those interminably long banquets with their assault upon his digestion -and their appeal to his sympathies. - -At Lake Mohonk the Herr Director met business men employing thousands of -clerks to whom they grant vacations and holidays without legal -compulsion, and for whom they have inaugurated welfare plans of -far-reaching importance. It was certainly a revelation to him that the -number of Americans who are something more than animated money bags is -growing larger every day. - -The still more difficult thing to explain to him was the frank and open -discussions of national policies and the evident international -view-point of those who took part in them. In all the discussions the -most striking note was: "The United States wants not territory, not -unfair advantage over other nations nor aggrandizement at the expense of -lesser peoples, nor war, certainly not for conquest." - -The Herr Director intimated that in the exalted mood induced by being -members of this conference, we could afford to be generous; but that at -a time of national excitement we are no better than other people, taking -what we can get and asking no questions. - -"Uncle Sam was not wholly disinterested in Cuba, was he? and as far as -Mexico is concerned, who fermented the trouble there but this same Uncle -Sam, that you might have an excuse to swallow as much of Mexico as you -wanted?" - -Instantly my mind travelled to the time of the Spanish-American war, -when I was in Europe, and the Herr Director was editing an influential -German newspaper. He wrote an editorial, accusing the United States of -beginning the war with Spain for the sole purpose of annexing the "Pearl -of the Antilles," and when I disputed his theory we nearly severed our -"diplomatic relations." - -I now again vigorously pressed my point, to the great amusement of my -friends and the chagrin of the Herr Director, who could not easily -refute my statements; for while I acknowledged being an -"_Unausstehlicher Americaner_," I happen to know the Old World policies -as well as he does. - -I mentioned Austria-Hungary, and its taking over of Bosnia and -Herzegovina, without so much as "by your leave"--and Germany which, to -salve its hurt, sent a fleet of warships to China and helped the German -eagle bury its beak in the Yellow Dragon's tail. I mentioned France in -Algeria, and England everywhere--"and Uncle Sam in the Philippines," he -interrupted. - -I took full advantage of that interruption to remind him that Uncle Sam -is the only power which ever paid for anything gained by that right -which in Europe seems to be the only right;--the right of might. - -It was a difficult task which I had undertaken, to convince the Herr -Director that the American Spirit is different from that of the Old -World, and in spite of me he insisted that we are not a bit better than -other people, but only so situated that we can afford to be generous. I -assured him that I preferred to boast of our fair dealing with lesser -peoples than of our victorious battles, and that I am never so loyally -and enthusiastically American as when I think of our being just, rather -than mighty. - -I have since been at Lake Mohonk at a time when national passions were -aroused, and when those who had prophesied the early passing of the -battle fever were discredited prophets. While there, a letter reached me -from the Herr Director, in which he sent greetings to his host and -hostess and the members of the conference, and in which he recalled his -former accusation that we are no better than other people; for "are you -not pro-Ally and filling your pockets with the proceeds from the sale of -war munitions? Where now is your boasted fairness?" - -My reply was that I in common with many others wish we could wash our -hands of this bloody business of selling ammunition, and that I still -firmly believe that the American people will retain their poise during -this dreadful upheaval. - -Yes, even to-day I can say with no less pride than usual that I believe -in the American Spirit, in its sense of fairness and its love of -justice, and while I trust that this country may be kept from so great a -catastrophe as war, and I be kept from so severe a trial of my loyalty -as having to choose on which side to fight, I know I would freely and -unhesitatingly be on the side of my country, the United States of -America. - -Three glorious days had passed at Lake Mohonk and when the guests left -that mountain top no one went more reluctantly than the Herr Director -and his wife, and all the way back to the great city they felicitated -upon their delightful experiences, while I rejoiced in my country and -its spirit. When the Herr Director wrote his book I found that he -acknowledged having discovered four things at Lake Mohonk. First, an -unparallelled hospitality. Secondly, that the leading men of America are -soberly practical, unemotional, somewhat self-centered; but, at the same -time, men of high ideals. Thirdly, that its military men attend -conferences for international arbitration, that they do not rattle their -sabers, and in appearance cannot be distinguished from mere civilians. -Finally, that the American man boasts most and loudest of his sense of -fairness; and while I write these lines, I am hoping and praying that -this may indeed be not an empty boast, but an integral part of the -American Spirit. - - - - -V - -_Lobster and Mince Pie_ - - -If I were gastronomically inclined I would study New York's cosmopolitan -population and its progress towards Americanization from the standpoint -of its restaurants; for the appetite is most loyally patriotic. A man -may cease to speak his mother tongue and have forsworn allegiance to -Kaiser and to King, but still cling to his ancestral bill of fare. - -If I were an absolute monarch and wished my alien people quickly -assimilated, I would permit them to speak their native tongue and cling -to the faith of their fathers; but I would close all foreign -restaurants, and as speedily as possible obliterate from their memory -the taste of viands "like mother used to make." - -I fear that it is neither Goethe nor Schiller, nor Bismarck nor Kaiser -Wilhelm who has kept the memory of the Fatherland alive in the minds and -hearts of many German people in America. Dare I say that possibly much -of their patriotism and loyalty is due to the taste of rye bread and -sweet butter, _Rindsbrust_ and _Pell Cartoffel_, not to mention a -certain frothy amber fluid? - -Be that as it may, when I discovered that the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin were homesick, I took them to a German restaurant to assuage -their pangs; just as if, did I detect the same symptoms in an American -whom I wished to make thoroughly at home in a foreign country, I would -take him where a meal could be properly concluded with apple pie and -cheese or ice-cream. - -The restaurant I selected lent itself particularly well to my purpose, -for everything was imported, from the Bavarian architecture to the -_Frankfurter_ sausages. The _menu_ card was adorned by illuminated, -medieval lettering, and on the smoked rafters were painted pious and -impious verses, which gave the room a literary atmosphere. - -It was as crowded and full of tobacco smoke and the odors of savory -meats as the most loyal German could desire, and my guests were -thoroughly at home. They ate their food happily, praised it -discriminatingly, and studied the familiar environment carefully. As -usual, certain things were lacking; for the Herr Director is a keen -critic and never accepts anything as perfect. - -I agreed with him that the orchestra was too noisy and on the whole -superfluous, and that the native American dining there could be easily -recognized by the indifference with which he ate. We heard no loud -complaining, and little or no quarrelling with the waiters. The food was -accepted in a humble sort of way whether it was satisfactory or not; -bills were paid, tips were given in the spirit of meekness, and accepted -in the opposite way, and the guests left without any ceremony except -that of paying their toll to the keepers of their hats and coats, a form -of extortion quite unparallelled abroad. - -In striking contrast to our mere eating was my guests' enjoyment of -every morsel of the food which they had selected, not simply because it -was food, but because it was a note fitting into the gastronomic -harmony. The head waiter and all his minions hovered about them with due -reverence, and woe to him who by pose or gesture disturbed the perfect -accord. - -A friend from Nebraska who was staying at our hotel had joined us at -dinner. When the waiter handed him the bewildering bill of fare, he -waved it aside saying: "Just bring me a big lobster stewed in milk, with -a dish of pickles and a mince pie." - -The waiter turned pale, the Herr Director gasped, almost strangling on -the salad he was eating, and the Frau Directorin looked at me -despairingly. The waiter was the first to recover his composure, and -cautiously suggested that the gentleman might like some Lobster à la -Newburgh. - -"Nix," said the Nebraskan, "I want lobster à la Milkburgh, and don't -forget the pickles." - -The waiter retreated and after a long conference with his superior, -informed the gentleman that he could have his lobster stewed in milk, -but that it would cost him one dollar and fifty cents. - -"Hustle it along," was the curt reply, and in about fifteen minutes he -was deep in his bowl of lobster stew, flanked on either side by pickles -and mince pie, while the rest of us were eating our way leisurely and -artistically through a _menu_ which began with _caviar_ and ended with -_Camambert_ and _demitasse_. - -After dinner, American men, manners and ideals became the subject of a -discussion into which my Western friend good-naturedly entered, although -he was made a horrible example of the fact that we are ill-mannered. The -Herr Director insisted that our nation is too young to have any except -bad manners, and while no doubt we had improved in the years since he -first made our acquaintance, the improvement had not yet permeated the -masses. - -That which I called the American Spirit was the spirit of the few -cultured, academic persons I knew, but the majority of the people was as -alien to it as was our Nebraska friend's lobster and mince pie to our -delicious and dietetically correct dinner. - -"I don't give a hang for your 'dietetically correct dinner.' I want what -I want, when I want it!" the Nebraskan said, smiting the table with his -fist, and evidently suppressing stronger language with an apologetic -glance at the ladies of our party. - -"That is exactly it; you want what you want, when you want it," the Herr -Director repeated, "whether or not it is on the bill of fare, or in the -statute book, or among the laws of the Universe. In that I suppose you -Americans all agree; that is your _American Spirit_." He uttered the -last phrase with special emphasis, and with no attempt to hide the -sneer. - -I admitted that my friend's demand for the thing he wanted, regardless -of the bill of fare and in defiance of a dietary law (of which he was -not as yet conscious), was a manifestation of our individualism, a -rather wide-spread characteristic. I was fain also to admit that our -individualism is not always as harmless to others as in the case under -discussion. It is an attitude of mind which has developed into a system -to which we are committed for better or worse, and is in striking -contrast to the German ideal of submission to an accepted order. - -"Yes," from the Herr Director with evident pride. "That which makes -Germany great and strong is our willing submission to authority; but -remember it must be intelligent authority, and at the same time it must -be efficient. To be sure," he acknowledged, "we are often chagrined by -the '_Streng Verboten_' to the right of us and the '_Nicht Erlaubt_' to -the left of us. We are much governed but we are well governed, and you, -too, will some day discover that the common weal has to be above the -individual's caprice. Your evident disrespect of laws and conventions -results from the lack of intelligence back of them, and you have no -respect for your lawmakers because they do not deserve it." - -At this point the Nebraskan astonished us by saying that he had recently -been in Europe on business, selling grindstones, that he knew something -about Germany, and he never was gladder to get back to God's country -than when he finally set foot upon his native soil. He had many -adventures, and as an example of what he had to suffer from one of -Germany's well enforced laws, he told a story which proved his sense of -humor, though the "laugh was on him." - -"When I was in Berlin I made out a small bill for some goods I had sold, -and the man told me that I must affix to it some revenue stamps. I -didn't want to bother with it, and told him so. The thing was too -trifling anyway. - -"I never thought of that bill again till I was forcibly reminded of it -in Hamburg as I was about to sail for home. I was haled before the -court, and the judge fined me fifty _marks_. Of course I knew I had to -pay it, so I handed him the money and told him in good English to take -it and go to the hot place with it. I didn't dream that he understood, -but he replied in as good English as I gave him: 'Officials of my rank -travel first-class. I must therefore have fifty _marks_ more.' That -little joke cost me a lot of money. I wouldn't want to live in a -country where I couldn't tell anybody I pleased what I felt like -telling him." - -The Herr Director doubted the accuracy of the story because "no German -official would show so little dignity." I, too, doubted it; but on the -ground that no German official would have so keen a sense of humor. - -There followed an animated argument between the Nebraskan and the Herr -Director as to which is of more importance, the individual or the state. -The Nebraskan insisted that the state being the creation of individuals, -they are of supreme importance, while the Herr Director persisted in his -theory that the state is supreme and that it is the business of the -individual to make it dominant and powerful, to which end the state must -make him effective. - -"An ineffective individual is a menace to the state, and a state which -cannot impress its will upon the individual and make him submissive and -effective will be vanquished in the great competitive struggle -constantly going on." - -"I suppose you're effective enough, but you're as slow as molasses in -January." - -"Oh, yes, we are slow, but we are thorough; we take our time to do a -thing well, while your hurry is as wearing as it is useless. When we -came down here this evening we were in a hurry. We were rushed to your -crowded subway to take a certain train, although the next one would have -done as well. In about three minutes we were pushed out of that train -into another, because it went faster, and we reached here breathless. We -saved time, but for what purpose? To see you eat your lobster and mince -pie?" And he looked contemptuously at the Nebraskan. - -"What are we going to do now with the two or three minutes we saved?" - -This was a question I could not answer, for I did not know why I had -hurried. Perhaps because of the excess of ozone in the air, or possibly -because every one else was hurrying. - -"You see," he continued, "we Germans never make the mistake of -confounding hurry with efficiency. We hurry, too, when we must, or when -we have a rational purpose. We know that great things cannot be -accomplished in a hurry. We lay our foundations not only patiently, but -thoroughly and cheerfully. - -"You work like slaves who are eager to finish the job, as you call it. -We cherish towards our job a sentiment of love and loyalty which we call -'_Pflichttreue_,' a word for which you have no equivalent, proving of -course that you have not the thing itself." - -I translated the word as loyalty to duty. - -"Yes, that may be correct, but it does not ring true. _Pflichttreue_ has -an ethical significance which your translation does not convey. - -"I have noticed that your conductors shed their uniforms the instant -they leave their trains, as if they were ashamed of their job. With us, -any uniform, whether a railroad conductor's or a general's, is gloried -in, and honored because of the work it represents." - -The Nebraskan thought us too democratic for uniforms, which is the -reason we do not value them more than we do. - -"It is not the uniform, it is our work in which we glory. A shoemaker -with us is as proud of his job as the Emperor is of his. He is Emperor -by the grace of God, because he believes it is a God-given task to which -he must be faithful, and we once had a shoemaker who called himself with -equal pride, 'Shoemaker by the grace of God.' - -"This pride spiritualizes the simplest and commonest work by making -every man a conscious part of the state, and he works for its glory and -power. It is a glory shared by his wife and family," and the Herr -Director pulled from his pocket a German newspaper. "Look at this -funeral notice. The widow signs herself not only as the widow of a -particular man, but as the widow of a man who did something of which she -is still proud. While she remains a widow she will sign herself _Amalia -Henrietta Schmidt Koenigliche Hof Opern Obo Spieler's Wittwe_." - -"How can we be proud of our jobs," queried the Nebraskan, after his -hearty laugh at _Amalia Henrietta Schmidt_, "when we never have a job -which we expect to hold permanently? I started out with school teaching, -then I got hold of a good thing in the way of Carborundum and made -grindstones. That's what took me to Europe. When that business went bad, -I bought out the livery stable in my town, and now I am in the moving -picture business. If I could sell out at a good price I'd do it and take -up any old thing as long as there is money in it." - -He was right. Our work is not sacred to us, for too often it is only the -means to an end, and frequently a very selfish end. Because Germany has -had centuries of carpenters and tinkers and shoemakers who planed boards -and mended pots and shoes "by the grace of God," and swung the hammer as -if it were a sword, they are now wielding the sword as if it were a -hammer. - -In some way we must get this spiritual appeal of the job, which means -not only that we shall have to dedicate ourselves to our task in a -manner worthy of its significance, but that the state must have this -spiritual attitude towards the worker, and treat him as though worthy of -his place in the economy of the nation. It is this wise provision for -the workers' efficient education, the state's recognition that the -well-being of the individual is its concern, which has given to Germany -the unfailing devotion of all her people. - -I was roused from these meditations by hearing the Nebraskan's voice. - -"You see I never had a chance to learn just one thing. I can do many -things tolerably well, for I had to do them. I can splice a rope, repair -a machine, shingle a house and if necessary build a barn. I can play -ragtime on the piano, throw a steer or ride a bucking broncho. I can -even make soda biscuits. I am the child of the pioneers, and in order to -survive, they had to be jacks of all trades. - -"I bought a tool in a department store the other day," and he drew it -from his pocket. "It can do sixteen things tolerably well, but it isn't -worth shucks for any one job, if you want to do it right. That's me." - -The Herr Director wanted to know what "shucks" meant, and after I -laboriously explained it to him and he had handled the patent tool he -said: - -"Your travelling men have come over to Germany and tried to sell us this -kind of thing, but they found no market. When we want a gimlet, or a -saw, or a coat-hanger we want that one thing and want it as good as it -can be made. We marvel at your adaptability, but we are too thorough to -be adaptable, and we do not need to be. You Americans will never be able -to compete with us until you learn to specialize and do one thing well." - -We sat long into the night comparing the German and the American Spirit, -but there was one phase of the former which the Herr Director clearly -demonstrated. There was a religious fervor in his patriotism which the -average American lacks. To him his country was not only above himself -but beyond everything else on Earth or in Heaven. There often seems -something sordid about our patriotism, something connected solely with -the individual's well-being. I glory in our sense of liberty, in the -opportunity to live unmolested, and in every man's chance to be himself; -but I fear we have as yet not learned to value our duty to this country -as much as we do our privilege. - -I am sure there will be no lack of fighters if the country is in danger; -but shall we be able to fight the long, exhausting battle which -presupposes discipline and subordination? - -The United States gives much to the individual, more, I think, than any -other country; but she has not given intelligently, she has nearly -pauperized us all by her beneficence, and has demanded nothing in -return, nor even taught us common gratitude. - -Our children are told that they must love their country, but what that -means beyond fighting when it is in danger they know not. That it means -to do their work thoroughly, that they must learn to do things well, and -exalt the nation by becoming efficient workmen that they may help win -their country's battles in the factory, or behind the counter, they do -not yet know; and what we have not learned, we cannot teach. - -This questioning mood of mine is never gendered as I contemplate the -mob, the many who are driven to revolt either by their unbridled -passions or by the unbearable conditions under which they have to -labor; my fear is strongest when I look into the schools and when I face -our youth which comes out of them, inefficient, but above all, -undisciplined. They do not lack physical courage, nor yet devotion to -the country, in a sort of abstract way; they do lack the submission to -intelligent authority. - -In this latter-day test of different ideals of the state, through the -cruel, undecisive test of war, we may learn from Germany to instill this -"_Pflichttreue_," this loyalty to the job. We may also learn the more -difficult lesson for us individualists--submission to authority which we -must make intelligent, as well as conscientious. - -Necessity will soon teach us to be thorough, and thoroughness -presupposes patience. Add these qualities and this discipline to the -enterprise, the love of fair play, the courage, the faith in God and -man, which we possess, and we too may ultimately develop a patriotism -which will stand the test of adversity, and emerge from it purified and -strengthened. - -When we stepped out of the restaurant and its German atmosphere into -the unmistakably American Broadway, my German guests felt that my -rampant Americanism had been thoroughly subdued. However they had -literally "reckoned without their host." My protracted silence had -misled them, but I could contain myself no longer. - -"We are now walking in the streets of the second largest city in the -world, its population thrown together and blown together from every -quarter of the globe, and the most of these people, if not the worst of -them, have come here in the last thirty-five years. They brought neither -love of their new country nor knowledge of its language and -institutions; they all came to make money, and to-morrow morning four -millions of people will begin again the competitive battle from which -they are resting to-night. - -"The laws which govern them are illy made, but they have made them, or -at least had a chance to select those who did make them. They have not -always chosen well; the officers who govern them are often not good men; -frequently they are only the most cunning politicians and one has but -scant respect for them. Yet in spite of it all, this is a fairly well -governed city and it is quite remarkable that these four million people -live together in comparative peace and order. Neither is there any ill -from which this great city or any group of its individuals suffers for -which there is not some help or healing or some attempt to heal. - -"If I were an absolute stranger without money, knowing neither the -language of the people nor their ways, I would rather be on the streets -of the city of New York than anywhere else." - -"How do you account for it?" the Frau Directorin ventured to ask, -although the Herr Director had been violently expressing his dissent. - -"We have several things to count on here, even when conditions seem -intolerable. Let me name them. - -"We are all human beings; some of us have inherited the Old Testament -righteousness and the passion for justice, and many of us have the New -Testament desire for service. These together make a very effective -combination, and go a great way towards the glorious results we shall -ultimately achieve." - -For once the Herr Director was silent, and as we had reached our hotel, -I think I might have slept peacefully that night had not the Nebraskan -triumphantly remarked as we were being shot up to the topmost floor: -"Say, I did get that lobster à la Milkburgh with pickles and mince pie, -didn't I? I always get what I want when I want it." - - - - -VI - -_The Herr Director and the "Missoury" Spirit_ - - -The anteroom of the editor's office was crowded when the Herr Director -and I arrived to meet the men of the staff at luncheon. - -The Herr Director is a publicist himself, and has edited one of the best -known German newspapers. Having called on him when he was trying to -mould an already moulded public opinion I made some interesting -comparisons which he did not approve. I could not forbear reminding him -how, when I once called on him in his office, I had to wait in a similar -anteroom over an hour, that I had to pass through a number of other -rooms with a longer or shorter period of waiting in each, and was -finally admitted to his august presence as if he were a king on his -throne. - -As editor in chief, he was a more or less cloistered mystery, and not -the man of affairs one is likely to be over here. Whatever comparisons I -made in spite of the Herr Director's protest, were not entirely fair; -for editors are scarcely a species anywhere, and the particular one upon -whom we were calling was an uncommon editor of an uncommon journal. -Neither he nor it has a counterpart in Germany if anywhere in the world; -they are both products of our Spirit and have had no small share in -shaping it and giving it expression. - -While I was explaining to the Herr Director the functions of this -journal and how intelligently it interprets current events, and was -extolling the virtues of its editors who, in spite of being persons of -national reputation and great importance, have retained their simple, -democratic ways, they emerged from the inner sanctum. - -After a vigorous hand-shake all around to which the Herr Director -visibly braced himself, the first contact was made, and we were taken to -a handsomely appointed dining-room in the same building, where luncheon -was served. - -Beneath all the outer simplicity and democratic demeanor of our host, -beneath his smoothly shaven, well groomed, correctly tailored exterior, -the Herr Director recognized a dignified reserve and consciousness of -power, which made him whisper to me, "His Majesty and suite," at the -same time soothing with his left hand his aching right hand, just -released from the vise-like grip of the editor. - -Although I assured him that to me they were all just the editors of my -favorite journal and after that plain, American citizens, I too am often -impressed by that sense of dominance and power emanating from these men -and others in similar positions. The feeling is not unrelated to that I -have experienced the few times I have been in the presence of royalty. - -In our public men of exalted position there may be lacking the mystical -element by which monarchs are surrounded; but the sovereign American has -more physical energy and force. - -Should the thrones of Europe suddenly become vacant, I know dozens of -our men who could occupy them, without their subjects becoming conscious -of much change; and as far as queens are concerned we could easily -furnish a surplus. - -The Herr Director and I had been chosen to sit in the places of honor, -and we (or at least I) forgot to eat, and spent my time studying these -superb types of Americans. - -The Herr Director, being more sophisticated, absorbed both the food and -the company, and in his lectures on "_Die Leitenden Maenner in Den -Vereinigten Staaten_," which he has delivered since returning to -Germany, there are evidences that he remembered the minutest details of -the _menu_, as well as every word which fell from the lips of the editor -in chief. - -Of course we spoke of many, if not all, the perplexing problems which -vex this problem-ridden age, and each of us had a proprietary interest -in one or more of them which we hoped to solve. The editor as a man of -affairs knew our particular problems as well as we knew them, and had -read all that any of us had written; so the conversation was animated -enough, and certainly illuminating. - -My specialty being immigration, and having just returned from the -Pacific coast where I had studied the problem as it concerns the -Oriental, the conversation was finally dominated by that interesting and -somewhat delicate theme. - -Can we assimilate all these varied elements which come to us? Can we -make of them one people, and eliminate all those ethnic, national and -religious inheritances which are frequently at variance with our own? - -The editor believed we can assimilate all or most of them with the -exception of the Oriental, "Who, having separated from the ethnic root -in the Pleistocene period, represents too varied a physical and mental -type to be assimilated by the Occidental." I think I am quoting him -correctly, although not word for word. - -As I did not quite agree with him, I expressed my views, and so did the -Herr Director. I said I thought I noticed among the Chinese and even -among the Japanese the influence of this new environment, and could -tell of conversations with groups of graduates of our colleges, in which -not only the influence of this country was noticeable, but the influence -of the particular institution from which they graduated. Anecdotes are -not easily accepted as scientific proof; but this being an informal -luncheon, I ventured a few of them which every one seemed to relish -except the Herr Director, and he is not to blame for that, as anecdotes -are rarely international. I do blame him, however, for telling me that -he had never heard stupider jokes in his life. One of these ethnic -anecdotes I told upon the authority of the Bishop of the Yangtsze -district. Perhaps like all anecdotes it may have grown in the telling. - -The Bishop had picked out an unusually bright Chinese lad to have -educated in the United States and then become his curate. When he -returned to China, after having attended both a college and a -theological seminary, he was assisting the Bishop. Evidently he had not -thoroughly mastered the ritual of the church; for this Oriental, who -had "separated himself from the ethnic root," moved close to the Bishop, -poked his elbow into the ecclesiastical ribs of his superior and asked: -"Say, Bishop, where do I butt in?" - -Our host wanted to know whether I was sure that he did not say: "Bish"; -I thought to reach the point of being able to express himself so briefly -and directly the Oriental would need at least another geologic period. - -One of the staff asked whether that anecdote was not my invention; to -which I took the liberty of replying that if I could invent such good -stories he might offer me an editorship. How imperfectly, after all, the -Oriental may absorb the spirit of our language, I told in the story -which is supposed to have its origin at the University of Michigan; -although like all such stories it may be claimed by innumerable -birthplaces. - -A Hindoo student, who had not quite finished his academic career and had -to return home on account of illness in his family, wrote back to his -faculty adviser, notifying him of the death of his mother-in-law, in -this characteristic, brief, Occidental way: "Alas! the hand which -rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket." - -The Herr Director thought this anecdote funny enough, but it proved the -opposite from that for which I was contending. "Who but an Oriental -could invent such highly picturesque figures of speech?" - -The conversation drifted into soberer channels when our host took up the -question as to what constitutes the American, who after all is hybrid -and frequently so mixed that he does not know just how he is ethnically -constituted. - -"For instance," he said, "I am part German, part revolutionary Yankee -stock" (it seemed to me that he put the emphasis upon the -revolutionary), "part French, part Scandinavian, part Irish." - -I have forgotten just how many racial strains he said were running in -his veins, but a variety large enough to be exceedingly useful to him in -claiming kinship with all sorts of folk, and in making political -speeches. That the ancestors of the average American belong to the -great fighting stocks of humanity may explain if not excuse his love for -physical combat. Each guest around the table followed the editor's -example and accounted for his ancestry, showing that all but two of the -Americans were mixtures, ranging from three to eight more or less -greatly differentiated races, using that term in its broadest sense. - -One of these unmixed Americans gave the outlines of his family tree, all -of it growing out of the rugged New England soil; but every one of his -daughters had married a man of foreign birth, or of foreign parentage. -His sons-in-law are German, Polish, French and Jewish. He added: "My -German and French sons-in-law are great chums." - -The other pure American was myself, although of course my ancestors did -not come over in the _Mayflower_, and I have never been in New England -long enough for my family tree to take root in its historic soil. - -After all, though, the best thing a nation or race has to bequeath to -its children is not always handed down upon the racial channel. I think -it is the Apostle Paul who discovered this long ago, and his missionary -propaganda among the Gentiles is based upon his belief that they are not -all Israelites who are of the circumcision. His converts became -Israelites through adoption, through their appreciation of the Jewish -Spirit which came to its full fruitage in Jesus of Nazareth. - -I once heard Max Nordeau say: "_Es gibt zweierlei Juden: auch Juden und -Bauch Juden;_" which freely translated means: "There are two kinds of -Jews: those of the spirit and those of the stomach." The taste for -_Kosher Wurst_ and _Gefülte Brust_ is inheritable to the tenth -generation; but one is not always born with the passion for -righteousness, the love of justice and the thirst for God. To these one -must rather be born again, and the same thing is true of the American. -There are Americans who have thrown overboard their spiritual -inheritance, who have expatriated themselves because they could not live -in the Puritan atmosphere of New England; but to whom a Sunday in the -_Riviera_ is not fully radiant, unless upon the rose-laden atmosphere -there comes wafted the fragrance of codfish balls. - -The Herr Director reminded the company of the fact that I was the most -"_Unausstehlicher Americaner_" he had ever met; to which the editor -responded that he knew one who was if anything worse than myself--a -newspaper man, Jacob Riis. - -"Can a nation feel secure, having to put the keeping of its Spirit into -the hands of aliens?" some one asked; and what would happen in case of a -conflict between the United States of America and the native country of -even such thorough Americans as Jacob Riis and myself? At that time the -answer was not as difficult as it is now, since there has been the -possibility of such a conflict, and slumbering love of native country -has been awakened by the roar of cannon and the noisier and deadlier war -carried on by the press. - -It has been a very trying time for those of us who have been called -"hyphenated Americans"; but I doubt that the German or Austrian hyphen -has been more in evidence than that which we are pleased to call -Anglo-Saxon. - -I can say that in spite of the fact that my native country precipitated -the conflict, I felt no thrill of patriotism when Austrian troops -invaded Serbia, and frequently wonder whether I have not suffered some -moral deterioration, because through all these stirring times I have -remained fairly rational. I have never condoned Austria's treatment of -the Slavs, nor Germany's invasion of Belgium; I have not gloried in -their victories, but I have suffered alike for all my fellow mortals who -are involved in this most disastrous conflict. I know myself always -human first, and a loyal American next. In fact, never before have I -loved my adopted country as much as now, never did I have for it so -profound a respect, nor a deeper realization of the blessing of our -democracy, imperfect as it is. - -The Herr Director insisted that we could not count on the loyalty of our -immigrated citizens in case of war with their respective countries, -especially as they are so frequently dealt with unjustly by our courts -and exploited by our industries. The editor thought that the danger to -the United States did not lie in the lack of loyalty in our new -citizens, but rather in the general smugness of the average American, -and in our unpreparedness for war. - -The conversation drifted into a discussion of militarism, a subject -which has become painfully familiar since, and he said that although the -American is a fighter he is not a militarist, nor in danger of becoming -one; and that personally, he, in common with all sane Americans, -believed that the country ought to be prepared to protect itself and -defend its national honor. - -"That's what we all say," the Herr Director remarked. When the whole -company laughed, he felt hurt, and it took me a long time to explain to -him that he had accidentally stumbled onto a bit of American slang, -which he had used most innocently, but aptly. - -I wanted to know just what the editor meant by preparedness for war and -just when a nation's honor was so damaged that nothing but war would -restore it. There seemed to be no time left to have this question -answered, and as there was some danger that we would separate with this -important subject upon our minds and perhaps interfering with our -digestion, I asked whether in conclusion I might tell another -ethnological anecdote, which would illustrate my need of light upon that -question of preparedness for war. To this they all assented if I could -vouch for its being as good as the others. I thought it was better -because I was sure it was true, and the joke was on me. Every one -settled down expectantly except the Herr Director who never relishes my -stories, having a fine collection of his own which he tells remarkably -well. - -I had to wait at a small station in the West for one of those -periodically late trains, and was reading the only fiction available, -the railroad time-table. A train which came from the opposite direction -brought a gang of working men who had been shovelling the snow which -had blocked the road. As they were all immigrants I had no further use -for my time-table and went among them, guessing at their nationality, -sorting them according to the shape of their heads, delighting my soul -by talking to them as much as I could of their native country, and -quizzing them about their experience in the United States. - -I had succeeded splendidly with all of them and there was but one man -left. As soon as I saw him I said to myself, "He is a Russian, not a -common Russian, but of the Velko Russ variety which is still rare or -comparatively rare among our immigrant population." I walked up to him -and saluted him with the pious greeting of his class. There wasn't the -slightest indication that he understood me, so I concluded that I was -mistaken; but knowing that he was a Slav, I tried a greeting in Polish, -and again the great, shaggy Slav seemed not to understand. When Bohemian -failed, I decided that my error was merely geographical and this was a -Southern, not a Northern Slav. I used all the Serbic I knew without -getting anything but a stare from my victim, and then decided that he -might be an Albanian. Knowing only two words of that language I tried -them with the same negative result. Finally, disgusted with myself I -resorted to English. Feeling sure that he would not understand, I -shouted at him, "Are you a Greek?" Then a ray of intelligence passed -over his stolid face. Deliberately taking his pipe out of his mouth, he -laconically replied: "No, I am from Missoury." - -A shout of laughter followed my story; but the Herr Director's face grew -darker and darker. When we were in our taxicab going back to the hotel, -he said: "One of the most remarkable things I have learned to-day about -the American people is that they are very young, almost childlike." - -"Why, how did you learn that?" I asked. - -"Oh," he answered, "who but a childlike, _naïve_ people would laugh over -such a stupid joke as yours? Anyway, how did you dare bring such a silly -story into so serious a conversation?" - -"Yes," I replied; "that is as you say a sign of our youth. The more -complex and seasoned jokes belong to the older civilizations, and the -love of a simple story and the ready response to it, even though it be a -poor story, are a sign of our youthful health; but you know," I added, -"that story I told was not so _mal apropos_ after all." And the rest of -the day I struggled mightily to convince the Herr Director that being -"from Missoury" is one of the most hopeful things about the American -Spirit. - - - - -VII - -_The Herr Director and the College Spirit_ - - -"Take us out of New York," the Herr Director said after a wearing day of -sightseeing, "or we will go home on the next steamer. My neck aches from -looking at the sky-scrapers, my nerves are all on edge, and," glancing -at the Frau Directorin who had hugely enjoyed every moment and showed no -sign of weariness, "we must have rest." - -I was reluctant to leave New York, because, after all, it holds those -great thrills with which we like to startle our foreign friends. I -feared the change from those daily surprises which thus far I had been -able to give them. Lake Mohonk, the only place outside of New York City -which we had visited, is unique in many ways and its experiences were -not likely to be duplicated; so it was somewhat heavy heartedly that I -started them on a new adventure, praying to Him who "holds the nations -in the hollow of His Hand" to aid me in my praiseworthy endeavors. - -I was not very sanguine that my prayer would be answered, for we were -beginning a tour of the Eastern educational institutions, than which -there is nothing more difficult to interpret. This, not only because -they have no counterpart anywhere in Europe, and the line between our -university and college is so indistinct, but because I hoped to reveal -their Spirit, which no mere outsider can comprehend, and which even the -man on the inside finds it difficult to understand. - -I drew into the conspiracy dear friends, _alumni_ of the different -institutions, who knew every blade of grass on each respective campus, -over which they walked proudly and reverently. To find one university -tucked away in a village, another defying the grime and noise of a -growing city which crowded upon it; one still retaining its air of -exclusive dignity in spite of its garish surroundings, while a fourth -was nearly swamped by the culture-hungry children of immigrants, yet -remained triumphantly American, was new enough and startling enough to -keep my guests on the heights. - -The pleasant walks, shaded by tall, graceful elms, and the presence of -distinguished Americans, acted soothingly upon the Herr Director; while -the gracious attention paid to the ladies convinced the Frau Directorin -that she had reached the feminine paradise. She could not understand, -however, why, when the ladies were permitted to go everywhere, and were -even allowed to gaze at American students in athletic undress, they were -barred from sharing with us the rare privilege of seeing a thousand or -more of them being fed in one of those Gothic dining halls. There, -surely, one might expect nothing worse than medieval piety tempering the -appetite. Probably this tradition of no ladies in the galleries is the -only thing beside the architecture which is left us from that hoary age. - -There are certain definite points which the enthusiastic _alumnus_ -always tries to impress upon visitors, and one of them is the past, in -which every college glories, and as youth seems to be unpardonable, -history begins when as yet it "was not." - -In most of the places we visited, no such historic license was -necessary, for many of them were respectably old, one of them being -contemporaneous with the history of our country, and others belonging to -that eminently respectable period, "before the Revolution." - -Some have important battles named after them, and several were -"Washington's headquarters," a distinction freely bestowed upon many -places by that ubiquitous and much beloved "Father of our Country." At -present the most important thing seems to be the buildings; dormitories, -laboratories, libraries and usually most prominent of all, the gymnasium -and the athletic field. - -The president of one of the lesser universities, having such a million -dollar plaything, became our _cicerone_, and while he took us hastily -through everything else, lingered fondly there, showing us in detail -the expensive apparatus. With classic pride he stood upon the athletic -field, looking as some Cæsar must have looked when he showed visitors to -Rome his arena, the "largest," and at that time the "costliest in the -world." - -It was interesting to find that the buildings which pleased the Herr -Director most were neither new nor Gothic, a fact easily explained by -his dislike for everything which is English. He marvelled that we had -chosen to imitate English college architecture, with its heaviness and -gloom, its hideous gargoyles, its useless, and here meaningless, -cloisters, rather than to continue our fine inheritance, with its -severely classic lines, its wide windows inviting the light, and its -generous, broad doors, so much in harmony with our educational ideals. - -Of course no one had an answer ready; yet personally while I do not -"_hasse_" England nor the things which are English, I vastly prefer, let -us say Nassau Hall at Princeton, to anything which that glorious campus -holds, not even excepting the graduate college with its massive and -impressive Cleveland Memorial Tower. - -The Herr Director shook his head many a time at the external glory of -our universities and even more at the comfort and luxuries of the -dormitories and fraternity houses. We were the guests of one fraternity -at dinner. About twenty young men were living under one roof, having -chosen each other by some mysterious, selective process, and I was -tempted to think that it was their negative rather than their positive -qualities which drew them together. We were shown the house from cellar -to garret, much to the dismay of the Herr Director who does not like -climbing stairs, but to the joy of the Frau Directorin who, woman-like, -not only loves to peep into closets, and see pretty rooms, but having -discovered the American standard for feminine grace, wanted to lose some -of her "meat" as she expressed it in her quaint English. - -Each of these young men occupied a suite of three rooms. The hangings -were heavy and not in the best taste, the chairs all invited to -leisure, and the most conspicuous piece of furniture was a smoking set -with a big brass tobacco bowl in the center; while innumerable pipes -hung from a gaudily painted rack. In keeping with the furniture were the -pictures which were decently vulgar, and of books there were no more -than necessary. - -The Herr Director was asked regarding student life in Germany, and he -contrasted their surroundings with his own cold, inhospitable -_Gymnasium_, the relentless examinations, and the freer but responsible -life in his university. He described the rooms of the present Emperor of -Germany when he was a student at the University of Bonn, remarking that -they looked like barracks in comparison with these. "How can you study -in such luxurious rooms?" he asked, and naïvely and frankly came the -answer: "We don't." - -On the whole, the Herr Director liked the looks of the boys he saw, and -the Frau Directorin quite fell in love with them. They were so frank, -so clean looking, and what above all amazed them most, so altruistic in -their outlook upon life; they looked so healthy and well groomed and -were so altogether wholesome. But that boys could graduate from colleges -and not have studied--that was beyond their comprehension. - -The German student's social standing and his future depend upon his -"exams." There is only one prime thing, and that is study. When the Herr -Director learned the multiplicity of our outside activities which divide -the attention of the students, he knew why they do not study. He was -aghast at the scant reverence paid members of the faculty. When walking -with the president of one of these universities, we met groups of -students who did not salute the head of their institution and barely -made way for him to pass, he grew quite wrathy, and it took the combined -efforts of the president and myself to keep him from telling the young -men what boors they were. I think he discovered later that it was mere -thoughtlessness, and that there is something really fine about the -average American student; that he is usually a gentleman at heart, but -that he has not yet learned to value the grace which comes from that -sacrament of the common life--lifting his hat to his superiors. - -When I told him that one of my students came to me one morning in haste, -with "Say, Prof, where is Prexy?" he did not laugh as I expected; but -when I remembered that I did not laugh either, when it happened, I -forgave him his lack of perception. - -It is of course true, that the average college professor would rather be -called Jimmy or Jack or some other pet name than to have his academic -degrees pronounced every time a student speaks to him; but there still -remains the fact that the ordinary American youth lacks this sense of -respect for personality, and that an education, even a college -education, does not remedy the defect. - -It is a very exciting moment in the life of the undergraduates of at -least one university when they try to discover if the preacher can make -himself heard above their coughs, which is their way of challenging his -message; but it does not help him to believe that he is in the presence -of men who know what reverence means. - -I do not deny that the undergraduate honors achievement, but even in -that he lacks proper discrimination. How much education can do to -instill this common and deplorable lack of reverence for personality I -do not know; for it lies far back, too far back to be reached by mere -academic training. - -During our tour, the Herr Director had a chance to see one university -come out of its incoherence and inexplicable confusion into unity. He -heard it roar like the "Bulls of Bashan," fling its flaring colors to -the wind, hoot its defiance to the enemy, dance, dervish-like, around -the battle flames; he saw ten thousands of young men suffering the war -fever, and an equal number of young women shrieking in wild delirium; he -saw embankments of automobiles struggling to reach the seat of the -conflict, armies of men trying to storm the ramparts, and newspaper -correspondents mad from haste; while in the center of it all, -twenty-two disguised men struggled for a chalk-line. Unfortunately, no -friendly guide was near us to explain it all, and as I am still an -un-Americanized alien to a football game, its meaning was lost to my -guests. - -When two men were carried from the field limp, and seemingly lifeless, -the Frau Directorin promptly fainted. The Herr Director was beside -himself, for there was no way to extricate ourselves from the maddened -mass of humanity; but while he was wildly and vainly calling for water, -she revived, and we stayed to the finish. I wished I had not brought -them, for to appreciate a football game one must be born in America, and -no explanation I offered could convince the Herr Director that we are -not more cruel than the Spaniards, whose opponents in their deadly games -are bulls, not men. The Frau Directorin still sheds tears at the -remembrance of how badly we use our "perfectly nice young men." - -The fierceness back of this conflict, the vast amount of money spent -upon properly playing the game, the primary place it occupies in the -imagination of the American youth, its deadening influence upon -scholarship, and all the multitudinous pros and cons, are over-shadowed -by the fact that, as far as the community at large is concerned, it -expects this Roman holiday, and a college or university is considered -good or poor, to the degree that it caters to this desire. One thing I -can say for it: it is thoroughly American, bringing into the lime-light -some of our virtues and most of our faults. - -"In Germany," again the Herr Director, "where things are not permitted -to grow merely because they grow elsewhere, it was found that for -military preparedness your sports are of little or no value, especially -if engaged in vicariously; and that teaching men to dig trenches and -serve cannon, to obey implicitly a command and carry it out effectively, -is of more use, not only to the individual's well-being, but also for -the great, collective purpose of national defense." - -It seems very strange to me that nearly all foreigners whom I have -helped introduce to our academic life have been so gratified by its -evident democracy, and that their satisfaction was greatest when their -own aristocratic lineage was highest. That a man's career in our -institutions of learning is not made impossible because he does manual -labor to help him through, and that he may do such femininely menial -tasks as waiting on table or washing dishes, while taxing their -credulity, is always unstintingly praised. - -I have, however, good reason to believe that while our foreign visitors -find the democracy of our colleges interesting and praiseworthy, we are -losing the thing itself to a large degree, and my conscience has not -always been at ease when I finished a panegyric on college democracy. In -fact what I fear is its defeat just there, where it is most needed, -where we are supposed to train the leaders who, whether they become -leaders or not, are the men who will give tone to our national life and -will control its expression. - -In travelling from one of the universities to the other, we came upon a -group of college men in the train. The Herr Director recognized them at -once, whether instinctively or because he had discovered the type, I do -not know. I knew them because of the fit of their garments, or the lack -of it, and by the fact that they smoked cigarettes incessantly. - -The Herr Director, as a distinguished foreigner, had no difficulty in -opening a conversation with them, and I think he got much illuminating -amusement out of them. They had just finished their semester "exams," -and one of them said that the question upon which he flunked was a -comparison between the two English authors, Dickens and DeQuincy. Though -he did not know the difference between these two, he showed his classic -training by differentiating between a Rameses II and an Egyptian Deity -cigarette merely by the color of the smoke. - -I was not drawn into the conversation until the Herr Director needed me -to interpret some campus English. One of the lads undertook to inform us -regarding the social life of his university and more especially the -fraternities, with particular emphasis upon his own, which excluded not -only certain well-defined races, but also put a ban upon certain -classes. "We don't admit anybody into our fraternity whose people are -not somebody in their communities." - -I asked him his name and he gave it to me with a French pronunciation. - -I thought he was Bohemian, and recognized the name as such, in spite of -its French disguise. I told him so, and pronounced it for him in the -hard, Slavic way, all gutturals and consonants. I also told him its -meaning: "A very common hoe such as the peasants use, and it means that -your ancestors in Bohemia earned their living honestly, which I am sorry -to say cannot always be said about 'people who are somebody' in our -communities." - -The Herr Director thought I was very hard upon the poor fellow, and -later I had a good talk with him. I tried to show him that his Bohemian, -peasant origin ought to be a source of pride to him. That the very fact -that he and his people had come out of the steerage, and by virtue of -our democratic institutions could rise to the point where they could -send him to college, should make him a guardian of the American Spirit -and not its foe. I do not know that he profited by what I said; for I -often find myself talking to the wind and the tide, and they are both -against me. - -I have only pity for the gilded youth who go to an American college with -its vast opportunities of human contact, yet fail to see any one outside -their own social boundaries. After all, the chief glory of our -educational institutions is that their best things are still democratic. -No man is kept from the Holy of Holies, from sound learning, from the -contact with scholarly minds, from good books, and enough of rich -fellowship to make going to college worth while. - -We heard one delightful story which is so typically American and so -reveals the American Spirit at its best, that the Herr Director embodied -it in his book. The president of a Quaker college told us that just as -he found there was some danger that the men who had to work their way -through, were losing caste, one of the upper classmen opened a boot and -shoe mending and cleaning shop. As he was a man of means, whose standing -in his group was unquestioned, his action took from common labor its -ever renewing curse. - -In many of the colleges we met groups of men so full of this spirit, so -concerned with fostering it, that all the snobberies of which we had -heard seemed even smaller than they were in their own right. We met -those who gave their leisure hours to that most difficult and worthy -task of Americanizing the immigrants who, in many instances, almost -encroached upon the campus. The students visited them in the box-cars -where they lived, or in the hovels where they reared children; they -taught them English and the elements of good citizenship, and every one -of them had some particular Antonio to whom he was devoted, and whom he -was trying to lift to his level. - -Although the general testimony was that the students had gained more -from the contact than the immigrants had, I know how immeasurably much -it means to these strangers to have leaning up against their own lonely -souls men of culture, and sweet, clean breath, and brotherly heart. - -It is this idealism in our college youth which is so precious an asset -that to lose it would mean bankruptcy to our educational institutions. - -Although the Herr Director did not tell me, I knew that this excursion -into the universities of the East had been a success; for thus far he -seemed to have enjoyed everything; at least he did not complain about -anything. He seemed in an especially happy mood when we were talking it -over in the home of one of the presidents, whose guests we had become. -"Yes, I like your colleges very much, and if I should want my boy to -have four years of more or less organized happiness, I would send him to -an American college. He would have a good time, I think his morals would -be safe," and he added with a smile, "his intellect would be safe -also." - - - - -VIII - -_The Russian Soul and the American Spirit_ - - -New York is geographically misplaced for such a purpose as mine. It -ought to lie somewhere west of Niagara Falls, so that one might be able -to take strangers to that wonderful cataract without their having -previously exhausted all the emotions which they are capable of -expressing. - -The day journey between New York and Buffalo is never commonplace, -especially when it furnishes such euphonious names as Susquehanna, -Wilkes Barre, Mauch Chunk, etc. From the hilltops we had glimpses of -great valleys below, valleys which are mined and furrowed and channelled -by a great industrial host whose crowded dwellings resemble the hives of -bees and are as monotonously alike. - -I could make these glimpses interesting enough, for I could tell by the -shape of the church steeples and by the style of cross which crowned -them, what faiths were there contending with each other. With equal -certainty, and by the same signs, I knew the nationality of the people -who worked there, and had faith enough to build steeples in the shadow -of mine shafts and coal breakers. It was an atmosphere tense from the -labor of seven unbroken days, and heavy from noxious gases in which -trees languish and die, fish perish in the murky rivers, birds fear to -nest, and man alone, immigrant man, lives and works and worships. - -The Herr Director, like all Germans, has a natural contempt for the -Slavs, and when I proposed that before we visited Niagara Falls we -should see some of the Slavic settlements, he demurred; but when the -Frau Directorin added her plea to mine, he reluctantly yielded. I was -able to promise them an interesting meeting with an idealistic, young -Russian priest, who had voluntarily taken a mission among these miners. -He was earnestly striving to guard their souls, and also that which -seems quite as precious to their church, their Russian nationality. - -The Greek Orthodox Church is the most nationalistic church in existence, -and where-ever those bulbous towers with their slanting crosspieces -dominate the sky, it is equivalent to the raising of the national flag. -The Slavic soul is thoroughly Christian in its quality of patient -endurance, in which it has had long and hard tutelage. At the same time -it is tenacious and unyielding of its particular dogma, having been -taught from its earliest consciousness that its salvation lies in strict -adherence to the national faith. - -The city where we tarried is one of the best in which to study the -Slavic Soul, and its relation to the American Spirit, being large enough -to express that Spirit in its varied manifestations; yet not so large -that the articles it manufactures hide or crush the articles of its -faith. - -I knew my guests would like the place, for while it is a busy town in -the very heart of Pennsylvania's industrial region, it has retained a -sort of homelike atmosphere. Situated midway between the large cities -and the small towns which we had thus far visited, it has all the usual -bustle, and is full of vigorous rivalry with other like cities in the -same valley. Whatever one city does, whether building ambitious -sky-scrapers or a commodious Y. M. C. A., promoting a revival, or -bringing in new industries, this little city endeavors to duplicate upon -a still larger scale. - -My guide for the day was the town's chief "hustler," the secretary of -the Y. M. C. A., who is an embodiment of the American Spirit, being both -body and spirit. He made a splendid foil to the Russian priest who is -all soul, Russian soul and as little at home in the United States as the -Czar's double eagle would be, floating from the city's court-house which -stood in typical court-house fashion in the center of the town square. - -The Y. M. C. A. secretary met us at the station, needless to say, in an -automobile, as there is nothing the average American would rather do -than "show off" his town. He gave his time unstintingly for that -purpose, beginning the process by taking us through his institution -which is American enough to have challenged the Herr Director's -attention. In great good humor he, with the rest of us, followed the -secretary from the bowling alley to the roof garden, looked into the -dormitories and class rooms, and protested only when our zealous guide -gave us long statistics as to how many people took baths, how many men -were converted, and how much of the mortgage had been paid off during -his incumbency. - -I had to explain to the Herr Director the meaning of mortgage and its -relation to our religious institutions; for the two seemed related in -some mysterious way. - -He was duly impressed; for this practical side of religion, this -combination of saving souls and giving baths was new to him. Newer and -more interesting still was the clerical machinery with its card indices, -its numerous secretaries, stenographers, and its clock-like regularity -and efficiency. - -The secretary is undoubtedly a religious man; but he is a business man -first, and his soul has had no small struggle in an atmosphere which -demands that he attract new members, raise a generous budget, pay off a -mortgage and at odd moments look after his own business; for besides -being secretary of this great institution, he dabbles in Western lands, -has an interest in a canning factory, and helps "boom" the town. - -I could assure the Herr Director that, nevertheless, his soul survives; -for the average American is remarkably adaptable, and while this -secretary may permit his religion to suffer before his business, I know -he does not "lose his own soul"; although in that respect as in -everything else he does run frightful risks. - -When we left the palatial lobby of the Y. M. C. A., having had bestowed -upon us its annual report, souvenir postal cards, and incidentally a -prospectus of the Western Land Co., the secretary insisted upon -accompanying us. As he put his automobile at our disposal, and the -Slavic settlements were out of reach by the ordinary means of -locomotion, we reluctantly accepted his kind offer, the Herr Director -having previously confided to me that he did not like the secretary's -"hustle," and that his "efficiency" made him nervous. - -There were two things which the Frau Directorin found everywhere and in -which her soul delighted: marked and courteous attention to the -ladies--and automobiles. We took just one street car ride in New York -City, having been fairly showered by offers of automobile rides, one -form of hospitality of which we have grown quite prodigal. - -It was well that we had both the secretary and the automobile; for -although I thought I knew where the Russian parish was located I did not -reckon with the fact that it was three years since I had last visited -it. During that interval the town had so altered that the landscape was -quite unrecognizable. - -It is the peculiarity of this and neighboring towns that they change -their topography over night. What was a hill becomes a hollow, and the -reverse process also takes place though more slowly, because of the -huge culm piles which accumulate. - -The mining of coal being carried on under the town has been so thorough -in later years that intervening coal props have been removed, and houses -and churches which formerly were above the level are now below it. - -We finally found the Russian church and its adjoining parsonage in as -uninviting an environment as I have ever seen. The three years since I -visited them had not only let them down from their eminence, but had -developed a stagnant pool on one side, while refuse from the mines had -encroached upon the other. All the glory of red and yellow paint had -departed, leaving only a drab dinginess, the prevailing tone of the -landscape. - -The priest received us in his study, which, besides the _Icons_ and a -_Samovar_ had no ornaments. The musty air was full of cigarette smoke, -and most diminutive stumps of these "_Papirosy_" were lying about, -adding to the general untidiness. A parish register lay upon the desk. -It contained the names of more than a thousand souls with the chronicle -of their coming into this world and their going out of it, and also that -most important item, when they had attended Holy Communion, the one -visible sign of their allegiance to the true faith. - -The Holy Father had a strange history. The son of a priest, he naturally -was destined for the same calling. Caught by the ever moving tide of -revolt he had "sown his wild oats," which consisted of disseminating -revolutionary literature. He was imprisoned, then like many good -Russians repented, and, as a penance, came to Pennsylvania. - -In desolation and distance from home his parish was not unlike Siberia. -It was even worse, for it was an exile from like-minded men, and his -suffering on that score was acute. I have watched the manifestation of -national or racial characteristics in individuals, and I feel certain -that the Russian reflects those characteristics most intensely, whether -he be peasant, priest or noble. - -Not without reason does he call his country "Mother Russia." He has for -her just that kind of affection, and it is as different from the violent -love of the Herr Director for his Fatherland as is the matter-of-fact -sentiment of the American for his. - -The Russian completely reflects his country, and as both her virtues and -her faults are feminine, there is in him something gentle and yielding -towards external authority, and yet something unconquerable and defiant. -There is a capacity for suffering and sacrifice of which no other people -seem to be capable. There is also a confidence in the goodness of -humanity, no matter how bad it may seem, which reminds me of the -confidence of the woman who is beaten by her drunken husband, yet knows -that in his sober moments he is not a bad man. - -The predominance of the spiritual quality may or may not be feminine, -but it certainly is Russian, and one may indeed speak of the soul of a -people in relation to the Slavs in general, and the Russians in -particular. - -The priest possessed all these characteristics; he was the Russian Soul, -and this soul quality became even more apparent in contrast with the -complex spirit of the American secretary, in whom Teuton and Celt were -blended, and with the Herr Director, whose soul had hardened under the -discipline which Germany had given him. - -He lost no time in beginning an argument with the priest as to the -relations of their respective countries, and when it threatened to -become acrimonious, the secretary, hoping to create a diversion, asked -the priest why he did not encourage his parishioners to come to the Y. -M. C. A. At that point I threw myself into the breach, and with -considerable difficulty directed the conversation into safer channels. - -I asked the priest to show us his mission, and he took us into the -church, much poorer than any I have ever seen in Russia, and then into -the schoolroom, where the children of the miners received their -religious instruction and as much of secular education as they craved. -The teacher was a lean youth who looked as if he had suffered moral, -spiritual and physical bankruptcy before coming to America. He and the -whole equipment seemed hopelessly inadequate and out of place. - -The secretary did not know that hundreds of children were growing up in -an American community, yet completely isolated from it, and the Herr -Director remarked that in Germany this would be regarded as treason to -the state. The priest declared that it was his mission in America not -only to keep his people and their children loyal to the national church, -but to inject into our Westernized materialism this true Slavic faith -and its leaven. - -He believed that in America we lack soul. We worship science and money -and business. The Russian alone lives in intimacy with God and regards -that relation of the supremest importance. "The American," he continued, -"believes in developing natural resources, the German develops the mind, -the Russian alone develops the soul." - -I have always had the greatest reverence for the Russian Soul. I have -learned something the Herr Director could not see, on account of the -natural, political antagonism between his own country and Russia; -something the secretary could not comprehend on account of his -provincialism, and the priest would not admit because of his official -position, namely: that neither the Russian State nor the Russian Church -represents the Russian Soul. Its common people, although nearly crushed -by the one and confused by the other, are still Christian souls and as -such have a mission to America; but I could not see how that mission -would be fulfilled by locking up a few hundred children in a filthy -schoolroom and teaching them their national catechism. - -The Spiritual Russia, as it is incorporated in its common people and as -it is interpreted by Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky, has reached us and taught -us the greatest lesson which we self-righteous Americans needed to -learn: the impossibility to judge our peers or to be judged by them. - -It was Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky who compelled some of us to see our own -guilt, and they, not the Russian Church, united our voices with those of -the Russian people in the chief note of their Mass, "Lord have mercy! O -Lord have mercy!" The Russian peasant always knew that men are stricken -by crime as by a disease; and when he passed those consigned to prison, -he cried out incessantly: "Lord have mercy! O Lord have mercy!" And for -the man who escaped, he never hunted with the bloodhound's passion, as -we do; he put a crust of bread upon the window, to help him on his way. - -It was news to the secretary that Judge Lindsay, the "Kid's Judge," as -he is affectionately called, received his inspiration from Tolstoy, and -that the tendency to change our prisons into Social Clinics was -originally suggested by Dostoyewsky, a name quite unfamiliar to him. - -The Herr Director spoke of the inadequacy of these same Russians when -they try to put their theories into practice, and what prosaic, -impossible preachers they make. To which I replied that their failures -are due to their preponderance of soul and their lack of the practical -spirit with which we are so super-abundantly endowed. - -The secretary could scarcely believe that his practical, matter-of-fact, -card-indexed, efficient-from-top-to-bottom, result-bringing, tabulated, -report-making, American Y. M. C. A. might be benefited by an infusion of -Russian Soul. He almost doubted that the delving miners whom we saw -coming home from the mines, sooty and begrimed, possessed that soul. Nor -did the Herr Director realize that all his Germanic searching and -classifying, all his minute, painstaking investigation into the -innermost of everything, left him where the Russian had long ago -preceded him: in the holy presence of the unknowable, unsearchable -wisdom of God. - -The American has great reverence for results, and it is hard for him to -be patient with failure. The German respects authority, and has scant -respect for the individual. The Russian respects man and knows what it -means to love him in his weakness, and to be humble in the presence of -another's failure. - -I had a long, intimate talk with my friend the priest, who has never -spent a happy day since he has been in America which he hates, or -rather, despises, and so hurts me more than he knows. - -Throwing open the well-thumbed, poorly kept register, in such striking -contrast to the Y. M. C. A. secretary's card index, he said: "Look how -many I have buried this month," and he counted them, and there were -eighteen, "all of them slain in that dreadful mine, and no one in the -Company or in the town cares how they were buried. These Americans have -no souls. They send an undertaker who wants to bury them like dogs, and -the quicker the thing is done the better. They sent me notice shortly -after I came here that the funerals lasted too long and kept the men -from work. Look how those men walk! My _mujiks_, who walked like -princes, now bend their backs before your dirty coal, and walk like -slaves." - -His complaint was not altogether unreasonable. In some things he was -right, in many things he was wrong; but to argue with a Russian is as -hopeless as to try to argue with Niagara Falls. I did tell him that -while the Russian here must bend his back over his work, he does not -have to bend it at every corner before the _icon_ or before every -policeman he meets; that here, by virtue of the American Spirit, his -soul may be freed from superstition and his mind from darkness. - -When in parting the priest embraced and kissed me, he said: "No, even -you don't understand the Russian Soul." - -The Herr Director suffered his embrace with good grace, but when the -secretary's turn came he fled. To be kissed by a man is a sentimentality -which the American cannot endure. - -"We don't understand the Russian Soul," I said to him, "neither you nor -I, but one thing I do know. When the coal has been dug out of these -hills and these cities shall have gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah, -and your churches and Y. M. C. A. may have vanished because it did not -pay to keep them going, this Russian Soul will endure; and the sooner we -learn to understand it the better for us and for them and for our -country." - -When we left the Russian church and its faithful priest, the Frau -Directorin told us that the children were incredibly filthy, and that -she had spent the time we wasted in argument cleaning them up, good -_hausfrau_ that she is. The secretary was thinking deeply, and when he -deposited us at the hotel, he thanked me for revealing something which, -although so near, he would never have discovered. The Herr Director kept -me up until midnight talking about the Slavic menace to Germany, and the -intellectual poison of its modern literature. - -We reached Niagara Falls the next afternoon, and, as I had feared, -neither of my guests showed any surprise nor felt any thrill. I could -understand the Herr Director's coolness towards our natural wonder, for -he had seen it thirty years before; but his wife's attitude was -inexplicable, until she told me what I had all along anticipated. Her -capacity for receiving impressions had been exhausted by the city of New -York, and after seeing the "high-scraps" nothing astonished her. - -As we stood at the bottom of the American Falls, watching the Maid of -the Mist making her journeys into their very spray and returning, only -to begin her journey again, I suggested that it was like the American -Spirit in its daring; but the Herr Director, with truer insight, said -that it was "like the Russian Soul, mystical, elusive, on the verge of -destruction always, but of little practical service." - -That same day we were in a power-house, which looked more like a temple -than the utilitarian thing it is, and peered into the depths of a shaft -which creates power enough to move the street railways of half a dozen -cities, and change the night of a million people into day. As we -listened to the engineer's account of almost miraculous achievement, I -said triumphantly, "_This is the American Spirit!_" and the Herr -Director replied deliberately, and without sarcasm, "This is the one -time when you are right." - - - - -IX - -_Chicago_ - - -What the foreigner thinks of the American Pullman, if he has to spend a -night in it, may be found in any volume of the extremely voluminous and -interesting literature upon the United States, written by visitors to -this country; but more interesting still would be what they have not -written about it, and that I have had frequent chances of hearing. The -most picturesque and exhaustive comments I ever heard were those made by -the Herr Director the evening we left Buffalo, and as he finally -determined not to retire at all, we spent the greater part of the night -in the smoking-room, much to the dismay of the porter who had no -prejudice against sleeping on a Pullman, and whom we cheated out of his -irregular but necessary naps. - -One of the chief diversions of travellers the world over is to complain -against the particular transportation company over whose road they have -the ill luck to be going; so it happened that the Herr Director had -plenty of company during part of his vigil, and an opportunity to come -in touch with one phase of the American Spirit, where it was closely -related to his own; for "one 'kicker' makes the whole world 'kick.'" - -The small room was so crowded that some of the men were sitting on the -wash-stands, and the rest were so close to each other as to make -conversation easy and general. This was an extra fare train supposed to -be unusually comfortable and speedy; although thus far it had been -losing time. It was natural under those conditions that the railroad -should come in for its share of blessings, couched in language such as -is often heard in smoking compartments of Pullman cars. Had all the -pious wishes expressed that night been fulfilled, that railroad and our -particular train would have travelled much more swiftly, but to a -destination not indicated in the time-tables. - -The question under discussion was, which is the worst railroad in the -United States, and as some of the men were stock-brokers they knew our -roads from their most vulnerable side. The tales they told of the -manipulation of stocks and the fleecing of the public, with their -consequent effect upon the service, were as startling as they were -humiliating; because, in the last analysis, the railroads reflect the -general business ethics of the country. - -I kept out of the discussion, for not only have I but a hazy notion of -economics; my mind was busy classifying the passengers' racial origin, a -very diverting exercise and one which always brings me in touch with -people on their really human side. - -It happened that two of the men were Polish Jews from Cleveland, who had -risen from poverty to where they could travel in Pullman cars, and who -confessed that they knew as little of railroad stocks as I, although -they were engaged in as risky a business as stocks, that of -manufacturing women's cloaks. They were not far removed from the Ghetto -either in speech or ideals, and so were of little interest to me. - -A third fellow traveller, who bore the hallmarks of the average -American, both in dress and behavior, told me his business without much -urging. "I am not selling stock, nor manufacturing women's cloaks, and I -am not a gambler. I have a sure thing; I am a bookie." Forced to confess -myself ignorant as to what "a bookie" is, he explained to me the -intricacies of his calling, the problems of evading the law, and if it -cannot be evaded, how it may be bought; incidentally showing what an -inveterate gambler and what an easy mark the average American is. - -The Herr Director was all attention, to my great consternation; for the -conversation was as different from that which he had heard at Lake -Mohonk, or in our rounds of the Eastern colleges, as one could conceive. -As one by one the passengers sought their berths, the Herr Director -thanked me for arranging this uncomfortable night journey, saying that -though he was sure he could not sleep, he was "so glad to have come in -contact with the American Spirit as it is," and not as I had tried to -make it appear. With that kindly thrust he too retired, and I was at -liberty to do likewise. - -It was not long before I had auricular evidence that the Herr Director -was asleep, so I was very much astonished to hear him say the next -morning that he had not slept a wink, and that the engineer must bear -him a grudge; for he tried to jerk the berth from under him, and "_Gott -sei dank_" that the most uncomfortable night of his life was over. I -certainly was as grateful as he. It was with no small satisfaction, -though, that upon reaching Chicago two hours late, I collected four -dollars from that much abused railroad, and handed the same to the Herr -Director, assuring him that even in a railroad office the American -Spirit of fairness is operative. - -In Chicago as everywhere else the friend who owned an automobile was at -my command, and on a glorious May day when wind and sun had cleared the -air, and a night's rain had washed the streets, we were taken from -South Shore to North Shore and away out where the American city is at -her best, and Chicago is striving to excel them all in her wonderful -suburbs. - -The Herr Director had seen Chicago over thirty-three years ago--a young, -thriving, daring, ambitious city in the making; he found her still -young, thriving, daring, and in the making. Unchastened by her great -disasters, undismayed by her vexing problems, defying the lake, she -reaches out into it and into neighboring states, leading and controlling -the whole Middle West. Babylon, Capernaum, Rome, her older sisters, her -ideal, and perchance her destiny. She is _par excellence_ the merchant -city, and the merchant princes rule her, although that rule is not -unchallenged. - -While the Herr Director saw the city changed in many respects, larger, -and in places beautiful, her dirt not so apparent, her wickedness -subdued, and her rough corners rubbed off, she is still Chicago, a -synonym for boastful bigness and ostentatious wealth. - -If it had not been for the Frau Directorin, I would not have taken them -where every man, woman and child is taken who visits Chicago, into the -largest department store in the world. - -She entered with the joyful anticipation of engaging in that most -exciting occupation--shopping--aided and abetted by my wife. The Herr -Director followed with the martyr's air common to husbands who go along -to pay the bill. - -That type of store is no longer a novelty to city dwellers anywhere, but -this one because of its size, the variety and quality of goods -displayed, the courtesy to customers and, above all, the provisions for -their comfort and convenience, were remarkable enough to call forth even -the Herr Director's commendation. The Frau Directorin was in the -seventeenth Heaven, the Biblical seventh not being an elevation high -enough to be used as a simile when she was shopping in a Chicago -department store. - -Obliging clerks showed her plates which cost three hundred dollars -apiece, cut and etched glass at more fabulous prices; she walked -through miles of costly gowns, coats and millinery, and having made a -few purchases to her entire satisfaction--we were about to leave the -store with flying colors, figuratively speaking, when pride had a fall. -Unluckily remembering that a certain small boy needed summer underwear, -my wife led our party to the basement. When we left the elevator a -polite floor man directed us to aisle 16, Wabash Building. As we were on -the State Street side the cavalcade moved past what seemed like miles of -commonplace merchandise and commonplace buyers to aisle 16, Wabash -Building. At last we had reached our "Mecca." - -"I should like to see boys' union suits," my wife said. - -"Certainly. How old?" - -"Twelve years." - -"We have nothing here over eight years. You will find your size on the -sixth floor, Washington Street side." - -I think it was the sixth floor; I know we walked (crestfallen) through -endless aisles and were shot up floor after floor. Landed finally, the -right counter was reached after numerous conflicting directions. - -The Herr Director was puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin radiant -and happy, for she enjoys exercise, and my wife, her faith in the -efficiency of her favorite store not yet shaken, though wavering, asking -for "union suits for a twelve-year-old boy." - -As the clerk reached for the desired article she asked: "Short sleeves -or long sleeves?" - -"Short sleeves." - -"Randolph Street side, second floor, for short sleeved union suits." - -The Herr Director and I did not accompany the ladies on their further -voyage of discovery; we went to the rest room to avoid nervous -prostration. - -My wife and the Frau Directorin, with the determination and endurance -which women alone possess, continued the chase to a victorious finish. - -Fortunately an altogether satisfying luncheon followed this strenuous -experience, after which, rested and refreshed, we repaired to the Art -Institute. - -The Chicago Art Institute, within a stone's throw of the most congested -business section, at the edge of its noise and rush, is by its very -being there a sort of triumph. - -The Herr Director approached it somewhat condescendingly, expecting to -find it and its contents big, bizarre and "_nouveau richessque_." As -soon as he entered the building he felt the dignity and good taste of -its arrangement, and his manner changed. After he had looked critically -at some of the pictures and approved them, I knew myself for once on the -way to success; for his praise was as genuine as his criticism. - -Knowing that money can buy both Old and New Masters, he expected to find -them; but he had not expected to see such discrimination as was shown in -choosing and hanging them. He was entirely unprepared for the excellent -work of our native artists, outside of that small but exalted sphere -occupied by Whistler, Sargent, Innes, etc. - -My joy was complete when we were taken into the Art School by the -Director, Dr. French, whose death not long ago must always be deplored. -The rooms of the Art School were crowded by boys and girls of all ages -and varied nationalities and races, learning to develop their God-given -talents under the guidance of competent and sympathetic teachers. The -picture they made delighted me more than those they drew or painted; for -it seemed so thoroughly, generously, democratically and artistically -American. - -I scored another victory for the American Spirit when I introduced my -guests to Lorado Taft, sculptor, and the guiding star in Chicago's -artistic firmament. In his rare personality, strength and purity, -idealism and practical good sense blend, and his art reflects the man. -He showed us some of his work and that of his pupils, and both elicited -unstinted praise from my guests. - -The climax of our visit came when we returned to the entrance hall which -we found crowded by public school children, all listening to an -orchestra composed of certain of their number, and led by a young girl -about fourteen years of age. It seemed to me a remarkable and beautiful -combination. The marbles and pictures, the music, and, best of all, the -children happily wandering about the place. When the program ended there -was ice-cream for everybody, served by the teachers who accompanied the -children. It was a real party, an American party, and we might have -travelled long and far before I could have found anything which would -have better reflected for my guests the American Spirit at its best. - -If I were an artist and a sculptor I should like to portray the spirit -of Chicago as one feels it in this museum. I would model a group, with -its central figure that same sculptor, the finely bred American, clean -and wholesome, who longs to create, not only the city beautiful, but the -city human. He should be surrounded by the children, happily looking at -pictures and listening to music as we saw them in the Art Institute that -day. - -But there must be another prominent figure in my group: the heartless, -ruthless, twentieth century American, with clean-shaven face, jaws -strong as a vise, and a chin like the base of an anvil. He is the man -who "makes a good husband," and partly obeys the Scriptural injunction: -because he provides for his own. He too should be surrounded by -children; not his, but the children who work in his factories and have -to live in his rickety tenements. The two men would struggle mightily -for supremacy in the city's life; and I would set up my sculptured group -in the busiest place, where all who passed it by might see, and seeing, -help him who was struggling for beauty and for happiness. - -Dr. French, the Herr Director and I had a long discussion about my -conception of the two natures contending within the city. The Herr -Director argued that the merchant spirit, so prevalent here, when -uncontrolled and uncurbed, is more dangerous to civilization and to our -democracy than the military spirit of Germany, and that it needs to be -overcome by a force greater and stronger than itself. The corrupting -element he said has always been this same merchant spirit, and where -ancient civilizations decayed, it was due to the fact that it debased -kings and enslaved them by luxuries. - -"Business should not control, but be controlled, because business is -based entirely upon selfishness." When the Herr Director stopped for -breath, Dr. French, who was an ardent Christian and knew his Bible, took -from his pocket a New Testament, and pointed out a remarkable chapter in -the Book of Revelation (a chapter I was compelled to confess I had not -read) that bore out the Herr Director's statement. - -"The kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the -merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.... And -the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth -their merchandise any more; merchandise of gold, and silver, and -precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and -scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every -vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; -and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, -and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and -merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men." - -We urged Dr. French to read the rest of the chapter, which he did. - -"And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, -saying: Woe, woe, the great city, wherein were made rich all that had -their ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is -she made desolate," and then the voice of the angel crying into the -thick of their lament, "Rejoice over her, thou Heaven and ye saints, and -ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her." -It seemed as though the prophet had written the epitaph of all cities in -which the merchant was master and not servant. - -When he had finished I knew the inscription for my sculptured group: the -twentieth verse of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation. - -Altogether it was a remarkable day to be experienced only in America, -perhaps only in Chicago. To shop in the largest store in the world, -visit a picture gallery well worth while, and see art students at work; -hear classical music played by a children's orchestra, and watch the -same children enjoying the party which followed; to meet one of the -leading sculptors of America who shared with us his plans and hopes, and -to have as our guide the Director of the Art Institute, was a colossal -experience worthy of the city in which it happened. - -The next day was given to the Juvenile Court, Public Play Grounds, the -University, and, finally, Hull House. The one great disappointment of -the Chicago visit for me and my guests was Miss Jane Addams' absence in -Europe. But the House was there--big, neighborly, homelike, -hospitable--and the residents were there, those who do the neighboring, -the healing and the helping, who are friends of the friendless, and know -no creed or race--except humanity. - -My faith in Chicago springs largely from my contact with Hull House, The -Commons and like places with their defiant spirit towards evil, their -broad-mindedness and their brave attempt at remedying the wrongs of our -commercialized civilization. - -After dinner I "toted" my guests all over the House, from the -reading-room on the first floor to the Boys' Club on the third, and back -again. I have done it frequently, and always with zest and pride, in -spite of the fact that I have had no active share in the work. - -In Bowen Hall we came upon a dancing party. Some one of the social clubs -had been gracious enough to invite its parents to come. We were -introduced to Mrs. Frankelstein from Roumania, and Mrs. Flynn from -Ireland, Mrs. Ragovsky from Russia, Mr. and Mrs. Feketey from Hungary, -Mr. and Mrs. Rocco from Italy, and many others whose picturesque names I -do not remember. - -We also met a young business man, the son of a millionaire, with sundry -other young men and women of the type one likes to meet and introduce, -whom one would be proud to know anywhere. They had charge of the -affair. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin caught the spirit of -the occasion and entered into it with zest. When the orchestra began to -play, he led the Grand March with Mrs. Rocco and she followed with the -young millionaire. At the close of the festivities, as we were leaving, -they vowed they had had the best time since they left home. - -Chicago, big, blundering, materialistic Chicago had a new meaning to the -Herr Director. He praised everything and everybody, and as we parted for -the night, he said: "'Almost thou persuadest me to' believe in the -'American Spirit.'" - - - - -X - -_Where the Spirit is Young_ - - -To the average European there are two things American which have not yet -lost their romantic quality: The prairies and the West. - -Anticipations of seeing both, filled the breast of the Frau Directorin -with mingled feelings of fear and pleasure, as she discussed with her -husband the fate of the children they had left behind them--in the event -of our being captured by the Indians. However, the probability of our -safe return and her consequent opportunity to tell envious friends her -experiences in the prairies and the West outweighed all fears. - -Among her friends were those who had braved the perils of the ocean and -gone as far as New York; some of them had even been in Chicago--but -beyond, still hidden in the romance woven about them by Bret Harte (her -favorite American author), were those two things she was about to see, -and of which they had only dreamed. - -The Herr Director, as he repeatedly reminded me, had crossed the plains -when I had known them only through Cooper's fascinating Indian stories, -and he was eager to throw off the leadership I had assumed, which, to a -dominant nature like his, proved exceedingly irksome. - -He soon discovered that he was travelling through territory entirely new -to him. The little towns he had known had grown into cities, and the -further west we travelled, the greater and more impressive were the -changes. - -Omaha and Kansas City he did not recognize at all. Not only was there -this new growth, "rank growth," he called it, of sky-scrapers, -post-offices and railroad stations with Doric pillars--the men and women -he met had a new outlook upon life. While they still boasted of this and -that thing in which their city was like Chicago or was unlike some -lesser city than their own, they were critical of themselves and eager -to learn; they had grown more masterful and at the same time were more -refined. - -The prairies were not at all what the Frau Directorin had imagined them -to be. She was chagrined to find nothing but farm lands and great -fields, not so well groomed as those we had seen in the East, but with -no Indians or buffaloes, no wild horses or wilder looking men. - -She saw no trace of the toil, the struggle and the brave resistance -through which these farms had been rescued from the prairies. She could -not know of the loneliness of women and the hardihood of men, of the -season's drought and famine, of bitter disappointment, the pangs of -bearing and rearing children in utter isolation, and the struggle for -education. - -No trace of all this was apparent in the sort of settled, middle class -prosperity which stretched out in the unvaried, thousand mile panorama -through which we journeyed. - -In a town of about four thousand inhabitants we stopped; the name of the -place is of no significance, for there are hundreds of just such towns -in the West. We were met by the superintendent of schools, himself a -product of the prairies. Having grown up among the cattle, he is -consequently shy of men. He drove his automobile as if it were a -broncho, and we all uttered a prayer of thanksgiving when he deposited -us, with no bones broken, at the hotel. In a short time we were ready to -go with him to his school, which was the objective point of our visit. - -It goes without saying that the superintendent boasted of the youth of -the town, even as under like circumstances in the East, he would have -boasted of its age. - -Ten years before it was nothing except a railroad station, miles of -sage-brush, rattlesnakes and prairie dogs. Now there are business -blocks, embryonic sky-scrapers, a pillared post-office, a -hundred-thousand-dollar hotel, a Grand Opera House, neither big enough -nor good enough to boast of, numerous churches and this schoolhouse. It -is not only a place in which boys and girls learn the "three R's," but -has a finely equipped gymnasium, a chemical laboratory and a Domestic -Science department. It is a center of education and recreation, not only -for that town, but for the surrounding country. - -I had never seen the Herr Director as enthusiastic over anything as he -was over this cowboy school superintendent, with his program of reaching -every man, woman and child in the county through his educational and -recreational program, his annual budget of some seventy-five thousand -dollars, and a faculty of men and women college bred, and citizens of -the town. They are not merely educated tramps, but are there to stay, -and they take pride in the town in which they make their home. - -The Herr Director was no less amused than I was when we were told by one -of the teachers that the superintendent, at one of the school board -meetings had pulled off his coat and threatened to thrash one of the -members who refused his vote on an important measure. As we looked at -this six foot three, erstwhile cowboy, his broad shoulders and strong -arms which seemed reluctantly confined in a coat, and as we saw his -square, determined jaw,--we knew that the unruly member voted _aye_. - -Both the Herr Director and I were asked to speak to the boys and girls. -As soon as they entered the room the air became electric with their high -school yell; they "rah rahed" us individually and collectively, and -"what's the matter withed" everybody, and indulged in all those academic -and classical performances which every high school now seems to consider -an essential part of preparation for college. - -The Herr Director told them that among all the things he had seen thus -far in America he liked their high school the best; which remark of -course elicited thunderous applause. This was most gratifying to him, -and all day he was in high spirits. He thought the most hopeful -characteristic of the American is this faith in education, the -practical, far-reaching methods employed, and the daring all sorts of -educational experiments. At the same time he severely criticized our -lack of unanimity, and the evident disadvantages of such communities as -have no cowboy superintendent to lick a conservative or stingy school -board member into conformity with his plans. - -We visited an agricultural college where we were told of farmers who -came to study soil fertility, and farmers' wives who studied kitchen -chemistry, farmers' children who tested seeds, and to whom these -prairies, to which they were being bound by an intelligent knowledge of -their environment, were beginning to speak a new language. - -We saw a teacher's college which one with the prophet's vision had -planted in the desert. The sage-brush ridden prairie had been -transformed into a glorious campus, and uncultured boys and girls into -enthusiastic teachers. More than twelve hundred of them come back each -year to get better equipment for their difficult task. - -The cities in which we stopped interested the Herr Director less than -the towns, and we did not tarry long except in one of them, where we had -to stay because of an engagement I had made to address a certain club. -I did this because it gave me a fine chance to introduce that particular -American institution, a combination of eating and speaking club, which -meets once a month and whose program is as ambitious as are most things -Western. - -We were met at the station by a committee of men and women in -automobiles of course, and found the finest rooms in the hotel reserved -for us. Big, high, generous rooms, in which the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin openly rejoiced. - -The committee awaited us in a private dining-room where luncheon was -served. There were three other guests who were to speak during the -evening. One of them, a most brilliant woman, a well-known social -worker. The second a United States Senator, and the third an explorer -who had just returned from a voyage into some less known parts of South -America. - -The luncheon was sufficiently elaborate and artistically served to -satisfy both the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, but he -protested when after the meal, without even a chance at a nap, we were -escorted to waiting motor cars, and a long cavalcade of us started on a -sight-seeing expedition. - -The city was worth seeing, with its boulevards, parks and playgrounds; -its schoolhouse, churches, and clubs. We heard much of its prospects, -always so great an asset in the life of our Western cities. - -Amusing and remarkable to the strangers was the evident pride of this -committee in the city, to which they had come from all parts of the -country if not of the world; yet they spoke of it with a lover's -affection. - -The one thing underneath all this civic pride, and finer than anything -visible to us, was the fight for decency, law and order, and the health -and happiness of children, which has been waged there and is not yet -won. It is as exciting as, and more valorous than, many a battle in -which men fight with powder and bullets. - -It was an exhilarating experience to shake the hand and look into the -face of a woman who had defied the monied interests of her state, who -had jeopardized her comforts and her position, even her life, to loosen -the hold of graft from the schools of the state. - -It was inspiring to hear from a mild mannered, unaggressive looking man -how he had helped wipe out brothels and evil dance halls, broken up the -connivance of the police with the criminal element and put through a -positive program of rational, clean amusements for the people. - -We visited a business plant, the architecture and equipment of which are -as unique as are its owner's business methods. We were told the story -(not by himself) of how a brave and good man, single handed, struggled -against bosses, political cliques and large financial interests in -league with them, and all but freed the city from its most dangerously -decent foes. - -We were shown hills which the citizens had faith enough to remove and -the hollows into which they had cast them; a raging river which they -meant to control, and ugly, sickening slums which were doomed to go, and -that none too soon; the old things which were to become new, and -crooked things which were to be made straight. - -Thirty-three years before the Herr Director had heard stories of -vanishing buffaloes and the last struggles with the Indians. He had met -scouts, hunters and soldiers. This was a new type of fighters, much less -picturesque, but fit successors to those valiant pioneers. I rescued my -guests from a visit to the stock-yards (why any one should care to show -off stock-yards I do not know), and the committee released its hold upon -us so that we might make our toilettes for the reception which preceded -the banquet. - -If there is anything more conducive to creating a barrier to real human -contact than a reception, I have not seen it, unless it be a reception -with orchestral accompaniment; this was such an one, and its chief -function seemed to be to drown conversation. - -The ladies of our party were happy because this was one of the few -occasions on our trip when they could wear evening gowns. - -The Frau Directorin was astonished beyond measure when she heard that -some of the women on the reception committee of this club were mothers -(to a limited degree, it is true), that they had, at the most, two -servants, and that some of them had none; that they were interested in -Literary Clubs and civic affairs, served on school boards and church -committees, and were doing various other things to help the Creator -manage His universe. - -The German woman, who has adhered to the program marked out for her by -the Emperor, the "three K's," "_Küche, Kirche und Kinder_" stands aghast -at the strenuous lives many of our women lead. The Frau Directorin, who -has servants for the kitchen and the children, upon whom the third K, -the Church, lays no burden in the way of missionary meetings, fairs and -suppers, who does not have to reduce her flesh to be in the fashion, and -whose social position is determined by her husband's station in life, -may well wear an unruffled smile and keep an unfurrowed brow. - -At the banquet, the waiters and the orchestra vied with each other in -noise making, and it was a relief when, with the bringing of the black -coffee, they all disappeared, and the toast-master rose and began -unbottling his stock of stories. Nowhere in the world is there such a -thirst for stories as in America, and a group of men after a banquet has -an unlimited capacity for absorbing and enjoying them. - -There were four scheduled speakers and a few who expected to be called -upon unexpectedly, among them the Herr Director; a Glee Club was to sing -before, between and after the speeches; so the toast-master did not stop -telling stories any too soon. - -The first speaker of the evening was a woman who well deserved the -cheers which greeted her appearance. Her address on Workmen's -Compensation was so clear, so aptly put, so well reasoned through and so -within the limit of time assigned her, that when she finished, the -enthusiastic Herr Director shouted: "Bravo! bravo!" loud enough to be -heard above the less euphonious sound of hand clapping, in which form of -applause the American audience indulges. - -The address was an eloquent but unemotional plea for fair play for the -working man, an arraignment of present practices, cruelly sickening in -detail, and frightful as a revelation of the attitude of large -industrial interests towards labor. It showed the fair-mindedness of the -men there, that they listened so approvingly, in spite of the fact that -a large number of them was in similar relationship to labor, and that -the proposed law for which she pleaded would be against their own -interests. - -After the lady's address, the Glee Club sang and then the United States -Senator was introduced. I have forgotten his subject, but that does not -matter, for it had no relation to what he said. It was the kind of -address which could be delivered with equal propriety at a Grangers' -picnic or a political meeting. - -There were two things which the senator did not know: First, that his -audience had outgrown that particular kind of address, and second, when -to stop. When his final finally was finally spoken, the Glee Club sang -again, after which the Herr Director was called upon to speak. He was -listened to most attentively as he told how German cities are built, -governed, provisioned and lighted. - -There were at least four speeches beside my own, and it was long past -midnight when the Glee Club sang its last glee, and the club adjourned -to meet again the next month, when it would receive other more or less -distinguished guests, eat a six course dinner and listen to half a dozen -speakers, each one of them eager to right the wrongs of this universe. - -When the Herr Director had said good-bye to the hundred or more people -who told him how much they enjoyed his address, he retired in a most -happy mood. I found him chuckling as he untied his cravat. - -"It was lovely, perfectly lovely," he said; "but what children they -are." - -"Yes," I replied, "they are children; and, like children, are eager to -learn." - - - - -XI - -_The American Spirit Among the Mormons_ - - -Both the Herr Director and his wife had a strange desire to see the -Mormons. They explained it by saying that besides the Indians whom they -had as yet not seen, and the Negroes whom they had seen everywhere, they -always thought of the Mormons as most American, that is most unlike -other people. - -The Rocky Mountains, as I had expected, did not impress them. From the -car window they seemed more like elevated plains, with here and there a -restless chain of hills in the distance. - -"As restless as the American people," quoth the Herr Director. "Your -plains and your mountains seem to be fighting with each other." - -I hoped that the plains would win the fight and pointed out another, -more visible struggle--that of man with the desert. I admitted that the -Rocky Mountains which he had thus far seen were uninteresting from the -scenic standpoint, especially as compared with the beauty of the Alps, -those snow-capped mountains with meadows to the timber line, their -picturesque villages and herders' huts all as trim and neat and finished -as the carving one buys in Interlaken or Luzerne. - -From the human standpoint, the Rockies are infinitely more interesting, -for there the elemental struggle is still going on. A giant race is -taming tumultuous rivers, and forcing their waters through flumes and -tunnels into mighty reservoirs on the mountainsides and in the valleys. -No indolent, unaspiring, uninventive, docile people could survive in the -Rockies. - -In common with many Americans, my guests believed that this matter of -irrigation is as easy as turning water from a faucet into a basin; and -that all a man has to do is to drop his seed into the ground and watch -it grow. I showed them farms, desolate and forbidding, which men had to -level or lift, ditch and plow and harrow; a back-breaking, often a -heart-breaking task. In such an environment they built shacks which only -accentuated the loneliness--where women lived and children were born, -where hopes were cherished and God was worshipped. - -It was an Old Testament environment, the wilderness. Compared with these -pioneers the Israelites had an easy task. They sent spies into the -Promised Land where they found and from which they brought back grapes -and pomegranates; but to stay in the wilderness, to drive back the -drought inch by inch, to kill coyotes and rattlesnakes one by one, to -contend with claim jumpers, real estate agents, water right privileges -and unscrupulous lawyers, and then raise grapes and pomegranates, -families, churches, schools and colleges--that seems to me the greater -and more heroic task. And it was done by men with the courage of -soldiers and the vision of prophets, who turned that land of drought, -alkali and sage-brush into one "flowing with milk and honey." Because in -a certain portion of that desert those who were the pioneers and -performed those tasks were Mormons, takes nothing from the glory of the -achievement. - -As we neared Salt Lake City the Frau Directorin looked into every house, -eager to detect the numerous wives whom she expected to see surrounding -one man; while the Herr Director marvelled at the beauty of the vast -Salt Lake valley which, with its poplars and mountains and its -intensively cultivated farms, reminded him of Lombardy, that beautiful -stretch of country along the railway from Milan to Boulogna. - -Salt Lake City is sufficiently different from other cities we had seen -to arouse interest; but as in Rome the Vatican overshadows everything -else, so here the Temple and the Tabernacle hold one's attention, and -work upon one's imagination. - -We had scarcely put ourselves to rights in our rooms at the Hotel Utah, -as pretentious and comfortable as any in the country, before we were -out on the streets, looking for Mormons. There is a fairly defined type -and I thought I knew it, for I have lectured before Mormon audiences; -but out upon the busy city streets it was quite impossible for me to -gratify the curiosity of the Frau Directorin by pointing them out to -her. I did tell her that a third of the population was non-Mormon and -she looked curiously at two out of every three persons we met without, -however, being able to say definitely that she had seen a real, live -specimen. - -Not wishing to join the crowd of tourists who were taken in relays -through the Tabernacle and other buildings open to the curious among the -Gentiles, we walked through the park, and stopping before the monument -to Joseph Smith I took the opportunity to enlighten my guests upon the -history of that singular personality, and the church of which he was the -founder. - -Evidently my remarks were overheard, and before I realized it I was in a -discussion of Mormon doctrines with a woman, a zealous defender of her -faith, whose religious zeal shone out of her face, which was homely -enough to need this adornment to save it from repulsive ugliness. - -Of course she believed implicitly in the Book of Mormon, the plates of -which were found, and translated from a language which the best informed -philologists have never known to exist; in a God who has body, parts and -passions, in spirits which fill Heaven, and clamor to be born onto the -Earth, in the baptism for the dead, and in that strange doctrine, that -no woman can be saved without being sealed to a man, upon which the -practice of polygamy rested. - -The Herr Director did not quite understand, and I had to explain each of -these dogmas as well as I could, and then the Frau Directorin, not -understanding anything, begged to be told about the one thing in which -she was primarily interested, their belief in regard to marriage. I -asked the lady to explain this doctrine of the Mormons, to which she -replied that they are not Mormons, but Latter Day Saints. She was indeed -a saint, for she was not offended by our curiosity, nor the lack of -seriousness with which we were discussing the subject. - -She addressed the Frau Directorin: "You are married to your husband." -The Frau Directorin understood and nodded comprehendingly; "but," the -saint continued, "you are married to him only for time." - -"No, no, not for a time, not for a time!" the Frau Directorin cried, -clinging to her husband, who had jokingly threatened that when they -reached Utah he would improve the occasion and double his blessings. - -"You could not be married to him any other way unless you are sealed -according to our rites; we alone marry for eternity." - -"Oh!" said the facetious Herr Director, "you believe in eternal -punishment." When I translated that to the Frau Directorin she slapped -him playfully. - -He asked our guide how many wives he could marry if he became a Latter -Day Saint and she said there would be no limit to the wives he could -have sealed to him; but according to the latest ruling of the church and -in conformity with the laws of the United States, only one to live with -here upon the earth; so he decided to "bear the ills he had," and not -"fly to others that he knew not of." - -The saint could not have expected her teaching to take root in soil so -shallow, but she determined to sow a few more seeds, and showed us the -interior of the Tabernacle with its "largest organ in the world and its -perfect acoustics." The Frau Directorin tried her charming voice and -sang, much to the delight of the saint, who confessed to three consuming -passions. She loved to sing better than to eat, next in order came -dancing, which seems to be a specialty among Mormons, and evidently does -not interfere with their piety, and third, that of saving feminine souls -from destruction, on account of their unmarried state. To satisfy this -last passion she has had ten thousand of her female ancestors married to -well-known Mormons. To accomplish this, she had her genealogical tree -traced back to prehistoric times, and had spent her fortune upon that -pious extravagance. She told us that she was a plural wife, and living -with her husband merely in the celestial relationship: but she believed -polygamy to be in harmony with the will of God, and that the women as a -whole favor it. - -As we returned to our hotel, the Frau Directorin amused herself by -asking each child she met: "How much brothers and sisters you are?" I -was profoundly thankful she did not stop the men to ask them about the -number of their wives. - -Having promised her that I would introduce her to a real, live Mormon -who as yet had only one wife, she could hardly wait until dinner, to -which I had invited my Mormon acquaintance. He proved to be a very -normal sort of man whose face betrayed his European peasant ancestry, -his father and mother having emigrated from Switzerland, lured across by -the promise of land, and an all but perfect Zion. They had passed -through every hardship of the early persecutions, and the march across -the plains and mountains. He himself had grown up in the martyrs' faith, -which remained unshaken until he was sent to college. - -Although his teachers were Mormons they could not explain away all the -inconsistencies of Mormon history and belief; doubts assailed him, and -when in due course he became a missionary and it fell to his lot to go -to Europe, instead of making converts, he became one. The six years -abroad were spent in the study of history, and, applying the methods to -his own church and its Book of Mormon, he began to doubt, and is a -doubter still. Yet so strong were the ties that bound him that he did -not formally sever his connection with the church, and unless he is -ejected from that communion he will doubtless remain within its fold. - -He belongs to an increasingly large group of young Mormons who, while -they themselves have lost faith in the church and its doctrines, believe -that they must remain loyal to those whose belief is still unshaken, -help them to discard the crudest elements of their doctrine and so -gradually democratize the whole institution. - -The growth of the church has been checked and the accession of foreign -converts has almost ceased, due to the prohibition of polygamy which -was a lure to the evil minded, and due also to the fact that immigration -is not being encouraged. - -Mormonism would have continued to grow in alarming proportions if the -missionaries were still offering a husband, or a part of one, to every -woman, and to every man as many wives as he cared to take unto himself. - -Within the church two forces are working towards its liberalization. The -influence of a strong, Gentile population, and the school; while neither -of them will destroy Mormonism, our informant believed that ultimately -it will prove no more formidable or dangerous to the nation than any -other religious denomination, whose government is strongly centralized. - -After dinner he took us to his own home, and either from a recently -acquired habit, or from renewed curiosity, the Frau Directorin asked the -little son of the house, "How much brothers and sisters you are?" and I -am not sure she was convinced that his wife whom he introduced to us -was the only wife he had. - -He was good enough to insist upon taking us into the country in his -machine to call on his father, his mother having died some years before; -which, however, according to Mormon usage of bygone days did not leave -the old man a widower. - -His gnarled, wrinkled face shone when we greeted him in his native -tongue, and it was as pleasant as it was instructive to hear him tell of -the emigration of his people from Switzerland to Missouri, of the stormy -days there, the struggles against infuriated mobs, the long, dangerous -journey across the desert, and the pioneer days in Utah where he had -acquired lands, sheep and oxen, wives and children, in true Old -Testament fashion. - -The Frau Directorin asked: "How much wives you are?" - -When he told her that he had gone beyond the apostolic twelve, although -he lived with only a few of the number, she exclaimed: "_Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!_" - -The Herr Director wanted to know how he managed so many of them when he -had difficulty in managing one. - -"_Ach!_ in those days," he said, "the wives were subject to their -husband, knowing that without him they could not live comfortably here, -nor safely hereafter. They were docile enough, and it did not cost so -much to keep them as it does now." - -With a shrewd smile playing around his almost toothless mouth he added: -"You know if polygamy had not been prohibited it would have died out -gradually, because these are different times. We couldn't afford it -now." - -The old man said he had known Joseph Smith and, of course, Brigham -Young. He spoke of them with reverence and awe, as men of God who -received revelations and could work wonders. There seemed to be little -or nothing of the mystic in his makeup; his religion was of a hard, -materialistic, matter-of-fact kind to which he clung most tenaciously. -There was an unmistakable coarseness about him which revealed itself in -his conversation. It may have been due to his peasant origin, but during -all the years, a really ethical religion would have refined him. In a -sense he still did not belong to the United States--he was a Mormon -first and last, and the government in Washington was to him as Pharaoh's -rule was to the Jews. - -His religion evidently had taught him submission. He paid his tithes -ungrudgingly, and had gone on a mission uncomplainingly. He was a cog in -a great wheel whose resistless force he did not question. - -From his farm we were taken to others, and to neighboring towns. The -whole system in all its minute details was explained to us, and the Herr -Director was quite fascinated by its efficiency, although I am sure he -would not care to be governed by it. Everywhere we found prosperous -conditions and outward contentment, but underneath, especially among the -young people, a brooding discontent and smouldering rebellion; yet at -the same time much stolid ignorance and fanaticism. - -Our final visit was to the University, built solidly against the rocks, -its great U in purest white marked upon the mountainside, its very -existence seeming a menace to the system which supports it. - -There was a fine group of students, both Mormons and Gentiles. The -library in which I spent some time astonished me. I wondered, as I -looked at some of the books, if the church authorities knew what was -between the covers. Dynamite under the Temple walls could not be as -dangerous as those volumes. - -Possibly the students are as ignorant of their contents as the leaders -are. There are books on Philosophy and Psychology which do not seem to -me so menacing as those on Economics and Sociology; for it is upon these -subjects that the questioning will come first, and also the discontent. - -After long and confidential conferences with some of the professors who -told me their views, and how they are struggling to maintain their -academic freedom, and after long talks with bright, energetic boys and -girls who expressed themselves freely, I could assure the Herr Director -that some problems, which have so long vexed the United States and have -threatened certain ideals of the American Spirit, are in process of -solution. - -They are being solved by virtue of the broad tolerance of that spirit, -than which nothing is so feared by the reactionary forces in the Mormon -Church. - -One thing which that institution desires more than anything else is -renewed persecution; not too much of it, but enough to rally the -children of the martyrs to face new martyrdom and so perpetuate the -waning power of the church. - -One must remember that Mormonism is not only a sect, but a strongly -knitted society, and that men who have long ago ceased to believe in its -doctrines still hold to it with a loyalty born of past suffering, which -will be fostered by any future injustice or persecution. - -When we left Salt Lake City and were safe in the Pullman on our way to -the Pacific Coast, the Frau Directorin put her stock question to the -colored porter when he came to make up the berths. - -"How much wives you are?" - -When I interpreted the question for him he smiled his broadest smile, -but looked puzzled. I told him that the lady thought him a Mormon. - -"_No, ma'am._ I's a Baptist. But I sho'd like to be one. I likes de -ladies poheful." - -He was not a Mormon, certainly not a saint, but he rendered us loyal -service on that long, dusty journey to the Coast. Perhaps because he -"likes de ladies poheful," or it may have been because I gave him half -of a generous tip in advance. - - - - -XII - -_The California Confession of Faith_ - - -Since landing in New York the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had -endured many a formal reception; she with angelic patience, and he with -the usual masculine aversion to formal social amenities. - -When I announced that a reception was to be tendered us in San -Francisco, he cried with uplifted hands, "_Um Gottes Willen!_" He did -not object to really meeting people; but to stand in line an hour or two -shaking hundreds of outstretched hands, not knowing nor caring much to -whom they belonged, seemed to him a profitless exercise; while our -wafers and tea, or our punch--without those ingredients which give the -"punch" to punch--were gastronomic delusions to one accustomed to the -abundant meat and drink attendant upon social occasions in Germany. - -This particular reception was to be given us by the Chinese, and a -committee of stately, solemn looking gentlemen called for us in -carriages; despite the Herr Director's reluctance, I am sure he was -delighted to have this chance of giving his jaded social appetite a new -sensation. - -Chinatown, with its gay coloring, its tempting shops, its stolid-looking -men, its quaint women and cunning babies, was made doubly fascinating to -us, entering it officially conducted and riding in state. - -I do not know to this day to just what facts or virtues or position in -life we owe the attentions we received; but it was all recorded upon -posters and handbills liberally distributed through Chinatown, -announcing our advent. Recorded upon them in those picturesque -characters with which the Chinese language puzzles its readers, were the -names and eulogies of certain members of our party. The character which -stood for the Herr Director looked like a top, a tree and a barrel, -while his nativity and manifold virtues were made known in other -artistic symbols. - -I suspect that the man to blame for it all was a certain young American -whose mixed ancestry has created a rare and most effective personality. -He has inherited all the grace of his French ancestors, the tenacity (a -virtue in which he excels) of his Dutch or double Dutch progenitors, and -I am sure he can claim kinship with the first man who "kissed the -Blarney stone." He could pull the latch-string to any foreign colony in -that great conglomerate of peoples, and always be greeted as one of -them. The Young Men's Christian Association, in whose name he served, -could not have had a more worthy exponent of its social creed, and -America could not have projected against these foreigners a better -representative than Charles W. Blanpied. - -The reception was held in the Chinese Presbyterian Church, and upon our -arrival we found it crowded by a solemn-looking company of Chinese. We -were conducted to the platform and introduced to his Excellency the -Consul-General, ministers of various denominations, and dignitaries of -Chinatown. - -This was the first reception we attended where introductions were not -followed by vigorous hand-shaking. I am inclined to believe that the -softness of the Oriental palm is due to the fact that it is not -vigorously pressed every time two men meet each other. - -The Herr Director was in ecstasy over the beautiful Chinese girls in the -choir. Doubtless he would have preferred sitting among them, rather than -where he was, between the Consul-General and the chairman of the -evening. - -The reception opened with prayer, as if it were a church service; then -the choir sang an anthem, followed by four speeches of welcome. The -first by his Excellency the Consul-General lasted an hour and seemed -much longer, because it was in Chinese and unintelligible to us. - -I was asked to respond, and, under the circumstances, my remarks were -brief. The clever interpreter made a good deal of them, judging by the -length of time it took him, and the tumultuous applause with which every -sentence was greeted. - -The Herr Director told me it was the poorest speech he ever heard; but I -am inclined to believe that he was a little jealous because he was not -asked to speak; or perhaps he was merely trying to keep me humble, a -course which he had consistently pursued from the day I met him in New -York. - -The reception closed with the benediction, and the dignitaries and -guests proceeded to a Chinese restaurant which was genuinely Oriental; -not one of those nondescript Chop Suey places which serve such varied -and often objectionable purposes. The entire establishment was reserved -for us. It was gayly decorated with the banners of the Youngest -Republic, an orchestra played vigorously and so unmelodiously that the -Herr Director was reminded of the ultra modern German compositions. - -The menu was the most mysterious thing of the evening, ranging from tea -to broiled seaweed, and eggs which looked their age and were not ashamed -of it. There was fowl which was made unrecognizable to both the eye and -the palate, something which tasted like glue flavored with onion, and -something else which to my perverted Occidental palate seemed like -stewed Turkish towels. There were sweetmeats before and after and -between courses. Beside the mystery, the variety and novelty of the -banquet, it had one other virtue; it was not followed by after dinner -speeches, that common American practice which is an assault upon one's -digestion, and, not infrequently, upon good taste. - -While there were no after dinner speeches, we had a chance to discuss -the problem of the Chinese in California, and their brave attempts to -become Americanized in thought and feeling, in spite of the unyielding -race prejudice they have had to meet; thus renewing our faith in our -common origin and destiny, regardless of our apparent differences. Never -before had I realized how gentle these Chinese are nor how altogether -likeable, and it was no surprise to find that some of the Californians -have made the same discovery, and are treating them accordingly. - -We visited the Immigrant Station at San Francisco and I wished we had -not; for our treatment of the incoming Orientals lacks all those -elements of which I had boasted. We are neither humane, nor fair, -neither wise, nor decent. We found young Chinese women who had been -detained for more than a year, and were left without occupation or -suitable companionship or even a hope of early release. There were -Chinese boys who were herded with hardened, vicious-looking men, and the -station, although ideally situated, was little better than a prison. -What was done or was allowed to be done to make the lot of these people -more bearable was accomplished by outsiders. Conditions may have changed -since that time, and if they have, it is a cause for profound gratitude. - -We also had an unusual opportunity to come in touch with the Japanese -all along the coast. In one city we met a young Japanese, a graduate of -my own college. He is now serving his countrymen there as a Buddhist -priest. He has brought to his sacred calling much of the practical -religion which he absorbed through his contact with the college Y. M. -C. A., and it is his ambition to make Buddhism efficient and -serviceable. He has put into the work all his patrimony and is eager to -build up an institution patterned after the Young Men's Christian -Association. - -We had many a confidential talk, and if the soul of the Oriental is not -altogether inscrutable I have had a glimpse of it; although I cannot say -that I have fathomed his soul any more than he has mine. He seemed to me -to typify his race in a remarkable degree. His is a strong, unyielding, -definite kind of ethnos, and while we liked each other and tried to -understand one another, there seemed to be a place just before we -reached our Holy of Holies where we stood before a barred gate. - -When he told me that the American soul is absolutely unemotional in -comparison with the Japanese, I knew he did not understand us; even as I -did not understand the Japanese when I told him that his people are cold -and unemotional in comparison with us. - -He took us to his temple in the basement of a shabby looking American -tenement. He showed us his Sunday-school room, picture cards with Golden -Texts, club and class rooms, and many devices borrowed from us, applied -and perhaps improved upon by his Japanese genius. The day we left the -city he brought us an invitation to luncheon at the home of the most -prominent Japanese merchant in the place. Our hostess was a delightful -woman educated in a Methodist school in her native country, and of -course spoke English. Her husband, a conservative Buddhist, although he -had been in this country for twenty years, was still Japanese to the -core and spoke little or no English. There were several notables -present, whose English was more or less Japanned. They were keen, well -educated, and had absorbed enough of American culture to be baseball -"fans." - -During luncheon, which in our honor was served à la Nippon, we discussed -the anti-Japanese legislation which at that time was menacing the -peaceful relationship of the two countries. - -All the Japanese agreed that they had no right to demand unrestricted -immigration; but they were urgent that no crass distinction should be -made between them and other races, and that they too should have the -right to obtain citizenship when they had proved themselves fitted for -it. - -During this discussion the Frau Directorin and our host were carrying on -a picturesque conversation; that is she did the talking and he smilingly -said "Yes" to everything she said. She felt highly flattered that he -understood her English, which was still about seventy-five per cent. -German, while his was ninety-nine per cent. Japanese. - -That night as we were leaving the city a delegation met us at the -station to complete their Oriental hospitality by presenting us with -beautiful and valuable souvenirs. - -After such brief and friendly relationships with these people it is easy -to come to very one-sided conclusions about the problem they present to -the people of California. The situation is serious, but not so serious -that, in order to try to meet it, we must cease to be gentlemanly in -our relation to them. - -It is the peculiarity of all people who face race problems, to face them -irrationally and to think that in order to maintain racial dignity one -must insult, demean, and humble other races; and the people of the -United States in general, and those of the Pacific Coast in particular, -have not yet learned a better and more rational way. - -Strong race prejudice is not necessarily a sign of race superiority, and -the people who constantly proclaim their superiority by humiliating and -persecuting others have a hard time proving it. - -If what I was frequently told is true, that California "wants no -immigrants unless they are something between a mule and a man," then I -can understand their animosity towards the Japanese; for they are -altogether human and want to be so treated. - -Beside the many racial varieties with which we came in contact on the -Pacific Coast, we found there all the types produced in the United -States, and while neither the Herr Director nor myself was able to -differentiate them by external variation, we discovered them by -different and contending ideals. From that standpoint they were even -more interesting than the Orientals. Every shade of political and -religious opinion, every kind of economic doctrine, every variety of -social standards we found, besides currents and cross currents not -easily discerned or classified. In spite of the difference in race, -class, religion and politics, we found three well defined ideas -expressed, upon which there is such an agreement that they might be -called the California Confession of Faith. - -First and foremost is the belief in the climate and the resources of the -state. There is no religious doctrine in existence unless it be the -monotheism of the Jews, which is so dogmatically held as this faith, -that California is unsurpassed in climate, productiveness, in all those -opportunities for a leisurely existence (provided you have worked hard -elsewhere to get the necessary money) as are offered by its mountains -and sea, its luxuriant homes and all other factors which contribute to -the health and happiness of mankind. The only possible rival to -California is Heaven itself, and just because in these unbelieving and -unregenerate days so many people are not sure that there is such a -place, or if there is, are in doubt that they will have a mansion -reserved for them, they are leaving the farms and towns of the more -mundane Middle West and prosperous East to get a taste of Heaven in -California before they go to that "bourne from which no" wanderer has -returned. - -The people of California forgive any heresy or unbelief except a doubt, -however faint, about its climate and resources. From the shadow of Mount -Shasta to the deepest depth of the Imperial Valley, whether we were so -cold in summer as to need furs, or were hot enough to melt, or were -choking from dust when we travelled through miles of unredeemed desert, -we found this faith in the climate and resources of California unshaken. - -The Herr Director asked why there were so many cemeteries in the midst -of the most crowded streets, and only a nearer look convinced him that -they were "for sale" signs of rival real estate agents, who flourish -equally with the sage-brush and cactus. - -The second idea upon which there is a common agreement is, that while -California in particular is perfect as to climate and resources, the -world in general is a dire place, and its wrongs need to be righted. - -In spite of the fact that the climate invites to leisure, it has not as -yet tamed the fighting spirit of this fine, manly race, which is never -so happy as when it has something to do and dare. This state has -admitted women to the duties of citizenship, that all may have an equal -share in the fight. The issues at stake are worth battling for, and -nowhere else is the struggle more intense and dramatic. Organized labor -and capital have crippled each other in the desperate conflict, fierce -always, and often brutal. Protestantism, unorganized and frequently -inefficient, faces the Roman Catholic hierarchy, defending, as it -believes, the public schools and democratic government itself: -awakening, purified democracy is in deadly conflict with the demagogue -entrenched by special privilege while the prohibitionists are engaged in -most desperate conflict with the vinous industry of the state. - -The third doctrine of the California Confession of Faith is, that here -on the Pacific Coast the white race has been providentially placed to -defend this country against the encroachment of the "Yellow Peril." It -was illuminating though painful to find that race prejudice is as -intense here as in the South, and as unreasoning, and that one is as -helpless against it as against a flood or fire. All one seems to be able -to do is to accept it as a fact, and treat it like a contagious disease. - -If there is any danger to the white race at the Pacific Coast, it is not -the presence of the Japanese or Chinese in limited numbers; it is the -attitude of mind which has been created among Americans there, and that -may bring its own vengeance. - -It was a great joy to introduce my guests to California, its orange -groves and vineyards, its marvellous cities and palatial homes. It is a -state to glory in; but strange to say I was somewhat depressed when I -left it. The Herr Director said he missed my "brag and bluster." - -Everything was beautiful and bountiful, even as the real estate agents -have advertised; yet there were some things I found and some things I -missed which took the "brag and bluster" out of me. - -Its pioneer spirit is weakened by the accession of a large, leisure -class, and how or where the next generation will find a grappling place -for vigor of body, mind and spirit, is still a great question. To eat -one's bread by the sweat of some ancestor's brow, to be challenged daily -by the luxury of a limousine rather than by the hardships of the prairie -schooner, to have as the end and aim of one's day the winning of a Polo -match, or the making of a golf score, must ultimately bring about a -decadence of spirit, even though one retains for a while litheness of -body and activity of mind. - -The boasted democracy of California is threatened, not only by the -presence of a large leisure class and the necessary serving if not -servant class, but also by a lack of faith in humanity, without which no -democracy is safe and enduring. To California has been transferred all -that unfaith gendered by the advent of the negro, and if there were ever -a chance to revive the institution of slavery, that state might offer -some hope for its revival. - -The Californians who fear for the white race because of the presence of -the Oriental, whom that fear has made vain, boastful, ungenerous and -reckless of the feelings of others, need to know that a greater danger -threatens the race--the decay of the democratic spirit, which languishes -and perishes unless it permits to all men free access to the best it -holds, regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." - -Because I had lost my "brag and bluster" and wished to recover them, I -took my guests, who were now homeward bound, to the one place which -might fitly crown their experiences--the Grand Canyon, where one is apt -to forget humanity and its fretting problems. - -I must confess that by this time I was quite worn out; for introducing -your country to a stranger is wearing business, especially when you are -dealing with _blasé_ globe-trotters, who have done all the big things, -from the Alps to the Dead Sea, and have had to crowd into a brief month -the best which lies between New York and California. To do this with a -lover's adulation, endeavoring more or less skillfully to hide defects -and make the bright spots brighter still, may well tax one's nerves. - -I acted as a sort of shock absorber, for I determined that the journey -should be a joltless one for my guests; but in that I partially failed; -for not only did I receive the shocks myself, I could not keep them from -receiving some. - -One of the worst of these jolts I suffered at the Grand Canyon of the -Colorado. I was very sure of the Canyon itself; I knew it would put a -thrill into the Herr Director, and force an expression of it out of -him. I never worried about the Frau Directorin. We reached the Canyon in -that happy mood gendered by a combination of Harvey meals and Pullman -berths, and the sight of the friendly inn at the brink of the big -surprise, and the cheer of the big log fire in the raftered room drew an -involuntary exclamation of pleasure from the Herr Director. He -registered, then asked the clerk for a room fronting the Canyon. - -"Yes siree!" said the obliging young man as he attached a number to the -Herr Director's long and illegible signature; "I'll give you a room so -near that you can spit right into it." - -Naturally I received the first shock; a minute later it communicated -itself to the Herr Director. It did not reach the Frau Directorin, for -her English fortunately was still limited; she kept on looking at the -bright Navajo rugs, while the clerk smiled at his own smartness. The -Herr Director commanded to have his bags taken to his room, and turning -from the desk said: "Young man, I am a German, and I want you to -understand that we do not spit in God's face." - -The next morning the great Canyon was full of mist, and only faint -outlines of its titanic architecture were visible. As we stood at the -edge of the wondrous chasm, watching the last cloud being driven from -the depths as the moisture was absorbed by the dry, desert air, the Frau -Directorin was shaken by emotion as she gasped at intervals: "_Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!_" The Herr Director, his feelings better controlled, -said nothing; but after a long silence, muttered under his breath: "I -should like to throw that clerk down this abyss as a penalty for his -desecrating thought." - -Every few minutes I heard him saying, as he shook his head: "Just think -of it! Just think of it!" - -I did not disturb him or ask him what he thought of it for I knew he -could not tell, nor can any one. I think he felt as I felt, that all the -cities he had seen were as nothing compared with this wonder of nature; -that all the pillared post-offices and libraries which our cunning -hands have scattered over this broad land are trifling toys compared -with this templed miracle; that all our dreams of what we might paint or -fashion or carve, or build, are child's play compared with this, and -that we ourselves are mere nothings in the presence of what God hath -wrought here in stone and clay, in color and form. - -Never before had I so wished that I could rearrange the geography of the -United States as when we turned eastward from the Grand Canyon. If I had -the power of Him who shaped this earth I would have put it within a mile -of the Atlantic Ocean and within a stone's throw of the Hoboken dock, -and having shown my guests the Canyon, I would have put them on board -their home-bound steamer, and as they sailed away I would have cried out -with ancient Simeon: "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!" - - - - -XIII - -_The Grinnell Spirit_ - - -Between the Grand Canyon and the ship there might be "many a slip," -especially as I was to conclude my guardianship of the travellers in my -own town, prosaically placed in the great Mississippi Valley, which -consists of two plains--one at the top and the other at the bottom, -filled with corn and hogs, and most prosperous and contented people. - -The place towards which we journeyed holds two things which are the -biggest, most beautiful, and best things in the world--my home and my -work, both of which my guests wished to see. I was anxious that they -should; for there, if anywhere, they could come close to that I gloried -in most, the American Spirit. - -After the barren plains, the monotonous miles of sage-brush, and the -long, straight stretches of railroad tracks, it was good to look upon -green meadows and commodious farmhouses sheltered by groves of maple and -elm, and surrounded by great fields of young corn just peeping above the -black, rich clods. - -During the last few hours of the trip the Herr Director thought every -station at which the train stopped was our destination, and began -gathering his various belongings. When finally we reached it he jumped -out almost before the train stopped, so eager was he to see the place -where he was to spend at least a fortnight, and really see the American -home from the inside. - -Again fortune favored me. It was early June. The air was soft from -recent rains, the grassy lawns were wonderfully green; peonies were -opening their buds, adding touches of color, snowballs hung thick upon -the bushes, and blooming roses filled the air with sweet odors. - -It seemed as if our neighbors had conspired to make the town ready for -my distinguished visitors, and I could see that they enjoyed the peace -of it, the friendliness of the park-like streets, the sight of well-kept -homes set in gardens, and the cordial greetings of the people we met. - -Their appreciation of all they saw before reaching the house, and their -evident delight in the rooms prepared for them, not to mention their -astonishment at finding their trunks awaiting them there, afforded me -not only pleasure, but a great sense of relief; I felt that the race was -won. I had faith to believe that they would be happy in our town of six -thousand inhabitants, which is not unlike other places of the same size. -It has its public park, two or three shopping streets, churches, -schoolhouses, a few factories large and small, clubs, lodges, and all -the things of which like towns may legitimately boast; yet it has a -background peculiarly its own. - -It was founded by an intrepid pioneer who brought a colony of New -Englanders from the hills of Massachusetts to this treeless prairie, and -with the imperious will of his race said: "Let there be a town!" And -lumber was carted over miles of deep mud, cabins were built and there -was a town. - -And again he said: "Let there be a railroad!" And he diverted the course -of a great railroad system miles out of its way, and there was a -railroad. - -And he said: "There must be no saloon in this place!" So more than half -a century before strong drink was acknowledged to be a social and -physical foe, he had seen its true nature and put prohibition into every -deed of real estate, thus making it impossible for liquor to gain a -foothold. - -Years passed and he said: "Let there be a college!" and he brought one -across the state, and there was a college; a young, infant thing just -started by Christian missionaries who had come from the East, each of -them to plant a church, all of them to plant a college. - -This infant educational institution was put into its rude cradle in the -midst of an unshaded campus, and when it had grown to generous size, -with buildings to house it and trees to shade it, a cyclone swept the -campus bare, and instead of a joyous Commencement, which was but a few -days distant, there were funerals and desolation, wreck and ruin. - -On a pile of débris sat the same pioneer with a determined smile playing -upon his face, and at once, while the tears upon the mourners' cheeks -were still wet, he and others like him began rebuilding the town and the -college. - -Those men now "rest from their labor" in that bit of rolling prairie -saved from the plowmen and the harvester, and consecrated to hold our -dead until the great day. - -The morning after our arrival in Grinnell, the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin, who, during our travels, had little opportunity to -indulge their fondness for exercise, walked out to the cemetery. It is a -beautiful, well-kept spot, but half spoiled by crowding headstones. From -it can be seen church steeples peeping through the elm trees which -shelter the town; the ugly stand-pipe and the tall chimney of our one -big factory. At our feet lay the little artificial lake where much -fishing is done, and sometimes fish are caught. As far as we could see -were prosperous farms with their comfortable homes, generous barns, -turreted silos, and wide meadows where calves and colts grazed. - -One of our virtues, the Herr Director thought, was that we do not boast -about our dead. Whatever boasting we do, and we do not boast too much, -it ceases when the earth covers us. He saw no fulsome eulogies carved -upon the headstones; often nothing but a name and the two dates of birth -and death. - -In the face of that great and last achievement we are very humble and -honest; although in our little cemetery lie buried men and women of whom -I should like to boast. They were the great, real Americans who worked -diligently, honestly and humbly, who left no huge fortunes to curse the -next generation; but built their modest homes, and before the roof tree -was lifted, had built a church and a schoolhouse. They put their tithes -into the Lord's treasury before they put money into a bank, and while -they were still wading through mud, anchored the college upon a rock, -making its growth and permanence their great extravagance. - -They believed in an austere Christ, but believed in Him implicitly, -followed Him consistently and left a legacy of simplicity, temperance -and frugality. - -Yes, I boasted of our dead to my guests. I boasted of that grim, -fighting man whose name the town bears, who was the personification of -the determined, American pioneer, the conqueror of mere circumstances. - -I boasted of that firm, unyielding, controversial Calvinist, George F. -Magoun, who ruled the college in his own stern way. He was the last, but -not the least of his kind, who built deep and strong and straight upon -the foundations of morality and religion; so that others could build -loftily and boldly. - -I led them to the grave where rests the body of his successor, the two -differing from one another in opinions and method at every point; for -the younger man was the forerunner of a new dispensation, its prophet, -disciple and martyr. Yet both men were made of the same stern, -unyielding stuff, and both rested their lives and the hope of life's -better things to come, upon the same foundation. - -When the names of those Americans who prophesied the day of the Kingdom, -who worked for it and suffered for it, shall be placed upon the honor -roll, the name of George A. Gates, now carved upon a modest monument, -will be found imperishably written there. - -Near by, under the shade of slender white birches, we saw the simple -shaft which marks the resting place of one of the Iowa Band, James J. -Hill, who holds his place in the annals of the college, not only because -he gave the first dollar to help found it, but because of the continued -loyalty of his sons. - -I wished my guests could have come to us before we buried the man whose -life spanned the old and the new--the white-haired, ever youthful, -eloquent teacher, Leonard F. Parker, who smiled benignly upon us all -until his eyes closed forever, and with their closing, a benediction was -gone. He was the type of missionary teacher who began his career in a -log cabin, who, whether he taught in a country school or in a great -State University, taught with a passion for men. The impress of his -personality remained with his pupils long after they had forgotten his -erudite lore. - -As great as these great Americans were their wives, and no one can ever -think of them as less than the equals of their husbands. - -If the American woman occupies a unique place in the world, it is not -only because the American man has been more generous than his European -brother, but because she has proved her equality. She has attained the -measure of rights and privileges still denied to most of her sisters -elsewhere because she earned and deserved them. - -We, the living, sons and daughters of these great teachers by birth and -by adoption, cannot hold in too high esteem the legacy they left us. We -do not know with as firm an assurance as we ought to know, how much we -owe to them, and that, if we waste our inheritance, we waste spiritual -forces which we cannot generate. - -They were all, in the true sense, provincial, narrow men. They thought -of America and of the world and of the world to come, in the terms of -their creed, their town and their college; while we who have circled the -globe and think in world terms first, and boast of wider vision and -larger faith, may be in danger of overlooking the fact that in our small -place and places like it may be decided the fate of America, and through -America, the fate of the world. - -The Herr Director was astonished and the Frau Directorin pained to find -that we lived in a servantless house and in practically a servantless -town; that we were our own cooks and housemaids, butlers and gardeners. -When the Herr Director saw me mowing my lawn in broad daylight he -wondered that I did not lose caste among my fellows. - -The Frau Directorin was remarkably adaptable. She delighted in wielding -the dustless mop (to reduce "the meat"), she dusted the bric-à-brac, and -out of the kindness of her heart and in spite of our protests, became -"first aid" to my wife. - -One morning, just as I was waking, I heard the rattle of a lawn-mower -under my window; not the quick, sharp, sustained noise which usually -arouses the neighborhood, but a slow, measured sound, by fits and -starts. In between I could hear puffing and panting, like that of a -small steam engine. When I looked out of the window I saw something -which my eyes could not believe. The Herr Director had begun mowing the -lawn, and I let him finish it. It pretty nearly finished him; but after -his bath and a generous American breakfast, he glowed from health and -happiness. - -"I never knew," he said, "the elevating power of physical labor. I think -I will take a lawn-mower home with me." - -The Frau Directorin put a damper upon his enthusiasm by reminding him -that he would have to take a lawn home with him too, and more than that, -the town itself; for in their environment he would not dare use the -lawn-mower even if he had one. - -I am quite sure now that the Herr Director would have liked to take my -little town home with him, with the lawn-mower and the lawn. If he -could have done so, he might have changed the course of empires. - -I urged him, if he really wished to annex us, to do it soon; for there -is no little danger that we, too, shall lose faith in the redemptive -power of labor, the sufficiency of little things, the grandeur of plain -living and high thinking, the exaltation of the humble, the inheritance -for the meek and the reward of the righteous. When we lose those, we -have lost that which, in our proud, provincial way, we call "The -Grinnell Spirit"--an integral part of the American--the World-spirit. - - - - -XIV - -_The Commencement and The End_ - - -There are some aspects of our American life which I tried to hide from -my guests. I kept as many of our national family skeletons as possible -in their closets, and made sure that the doors were securely locked. - -I was glad that the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin were to leave -this country before our insane Fourth of July, which we are endeavoring -to make sane. I did not care to have them here on Thanksgiving Day from -which, through the superabundance of turkey and cranberry sauce, the -element of Thanksgiving has been almost eliminated. I was profoundly -grateful that during their visit there was no election day with its -sordid partisanship, its ballot box, not yet sacred enough to make -beautiful or place nobly in some civic temple; but we did urge them to -remain over Commencement day, that most happy, sweetly solemn occasion, -unspoiled as yet by rich display. It is the great festival of our -democracy, shared by town and gown, when we open the gates to rich and -poor, to common opportunity and duty. - -We made no mistake in thus planning. The town wore its holiday air. From -farm and village, from many states, on every train, parents were -arriving, walking proudly beside their sons and daughters, in academic -garb. - -"Old Grads" were being welcomed back by _Alma Mater_, grateful to her -for having helped make life rich, and sweet, and worth living. They -hoped to place under her care their children and their children's -children, whom they had brought there to give them a foretaste of joys -to come. - -It was a wonderful experience for the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin to meet them. They were fêted and feasted; they wore class -and college colors, and entered into the spirit of it all as if they, -too, had been the children of Grinnell College. - -Among the graduates they met editors, lawyers and doctors who had come -back from the great cities; professors who had won academic renown, and -are serving the great universities; teachers who had carried into the -public schools the spirit of their college; preachers who have gained -prominence, and those who minister in humble places, faithful in their -obscurity and proud of their chance to serve. There were missionaries -who came back from the ends of the earth where they had started centers -of education, places of healing and temples of hope. - -They listened to stirring messages from pulpit and platform, to the -young dreams of minor poets who sang the lay of their class; to -historians who reviewed the four college years as a great epoch closed; -to prophets who predicted failure and success, and a golden day of -jubilee to the whole weary world, when this particular class got back of -it. - -On Commencement day they watched the dignified President conferring the -degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctor. - -At noon they attended the college banquet and suffered through the -after dinner speeches. - -That night on the crowded campus they enjoyed the Glee Club's joyful -songs, and then, worn to the last shred of their highly emotional -natures, walked home with us while the last strains of the Alumni Song -faded away into the night. - -The Herr Director talked until after midnight, telling of the many -things which pleased him. The religious dignity, the fine simplicity, -the natural, sweet, pure relationship between men and women; but above -all else, the democratic spirit from which these other things emanate. - -He had an apt way of singing snatches of German song of which he seemed -to command an unlimited supply; and as he mounted the stairs to his room -he sang: "_Ach, wenn es nur immer so bliebe._" (Oh, if it would only -remain so always.) Then followed the sad note which is the major one of -the German lyric: "_Es war zu schön gewesen, es hatt nich sollen sein._" -(It was too beautiful and therefore could not be.) - -I knew it might not remain so beautiful always; but if life is worth -while at all, it is worth while struggling to keep it so. - -I do not know what share one person may have in influencing the current -upon which a nation is drifting; but I believe in the power of the -individual, and I shall "fight the good fight"--and a hard one it -is--and "keep the faith"--although it is not easy to keep it--faith in -God and men and in the American Spirit. - -Four weeks after the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin left us I -received the following letter. I have had some difficulty in translating -the involved and rather lengthy epistle into straightforward English, -but have done so that I may share it with my readers. - -MY DEAR FRIEND: - -We arrived home in safety after a rather stormy and uneventful voyage. -On board the ship we met a number of Lake Mohonk acquaintances, and -therefore the atmosphere which you tried to create for me surrounded me -even in mid ocean, and consequently you ought to be happy and contented. - -When we reached Washington half-cooked, for even your excellent -provisions for our comfort were unavailing against your terrific summer -heat, your friend and his automobile were at the station; just such a -friend and such an automobile as met us dozens of times before. - -If anything, this friend was a little more persistent than the other -species, for we were taken up and down and in and out, to everything -within fifty miles of Washington. We shook hands with half your -congressmen some of them seem to be professional hand-shakers, and my -hand aches at the thought of it. - -State Secretary Bryan received me most affably and talked about his -peace treaties. He didn't give me much chance to do any talking myself. -He seems so genuinely American; by that I mean simple and childlike in -many things, and complex and difficult to understand in others. - -He is neither a humbug as some of your papers say, nor a prophet as he -thinks himself. His faith in humanity and in himself is pathetically -colossal. - -It is amusing to find that you Americans, and you are the most American -of them all--you Americans who have invented cash registers and time -clocks, those symbols of unfaith in humanity, are so full of faith in -your relation to big, national and international problems. - -Your optimism may, after all, be due to your ignorance, coupled with the -fact that you are living in a land vast and isolated, which has not -quite exhausted its resources and opportunities. The most materialistic -people on earth in your relationship to each other, you leap into -remarkable idealism in the sphere of politics and diplomacy. If it is -true that "God takes care of children and fools," then God is taking -wonderfully good care of you Americans, who seem to me to be both. - -In our country we would put a man of Mr. Bryan's type in charge of an -orphan asylum, and feel that the children would be safe with him at -least till their twelfth year; and yet I know that he has done vigorous -fighting, and I shall give him a chapter in my book about America, which -as you know I intend to write and have already begun. - -It was quite a change of atmosphere when I went from the Department of -State to the White House. The President's secretary seems to me a man of -large calibre, kind, yet firm. A man to like and yet to fear; just the -kind of person a great man needs as a buffer against his friends, and as -a guard against his enemies. The atmosphere of the White House is -dignified, yet not cold; democratic, yet reserved; you feel that it is a -place of power. - -Above everything else you have done for me I want to thank you for -making it possible for me to meet President Wilson. He is not at all the -type of man I expected to find. There is nothing pedantic about him and -I do not know a man in any of our universities like him. He is not as -easy to analyze as Mr. Bryan, he is by far the greater, more complex -and stronger nature. He has the firmness which rulers should possess, -and may be too unyielding when once he has made up his mind to anything. -He knows more than Mr. Bryan but is not as dogmatic, not nearly as -friendly, and yet I came nearer to that which I sought in him, and I -think I understood him better. He let me do all the talking, but asked -all manner of questions; yet he told me more that way than Mr. Bryan, -who did all the talking. - -If President Wilson is a politician, he is a new kind which I have never -met before. I think he has made many mistakes, which of course is -natural. There is only one of your presidents who never made mistakes, -and that was President Roosevelt. He made blunders, which he had the -pugnacity and the sheer physical courage to turn into political capital, -and then blundered again. - -President Wilson was in the midst of the Mexican muddle when I saw him, -yet he seemed to me very well poised, and bearing his many burdens, not -like a martyr or a saint, but as a really strong man ought to bear -them. - -Of course you do not believe that I took your eulogies of America "_fur -baare Muenze_" (at their face value). There are two Americas and you are -living in but one of them. Your America lies in the high altitudes of -Lake Mohonk, Hull House, and Grinnell College. The other America which -you tried to hide from me I saw, just because you tried to hide it. It -is sordid, base, selfish, and above all strong; but that you do not seem -to know. - -You have _modified_ my view of America, but you have not _changed_ it. -You are still a big experiment as a nation, and I am not sure that it -will be a successful one. You have nothing to teach us in government, -business or education. Just one thing I envy you--your faith in your -unfinished country and in yourself as a force in its making. - -As you know, I do not share your faith; especially do I not believe that -one individual or many individuals can change the course of empires. - -You think yourself citizen, king and priest; but you are merely an -atom, a conscious atom of course, and in that and that alone, in that -you are conscious, and know yourself a part of the whole and believe -yourself an effective part of it, lies happiness. I enjoyed hearing you -talk about the American Spirit; you talked about the soul of a country -as if you had seen it and felt it and loved it. - -My dear friend, you do not know your own soul, nor the stuff out of -which it is made, and yet in your American conceit you talk about the -soul of a country. It was an interesting psychological study to watch -you, and it gave me much amusement as well as something to think about. - -I enjoyed you most of all in your own little town, your college and your -hospitable, beautiful home. I feared you would burst from pride and -complacency as you interpreted the "American Spirit" from that little -place; a speck, and not even a well-defined speck, on the map of your -country. - -You, a world traveller, have at last become a really narrow provincial, -I should say a very happy one, as provincials always are. You wanted me -to see your country through the June atmosphere of your Commencement; a -democratic, peaceful, rose-laden America. I saw it through the smoke and -grime of Chicago, the crowded tenements of New York, the injustice of -your courts and the corruption of your politics. - -Yet I am glad I saw _your_ America, and I want to thank you for your -ardent endeavor to show it to me as you want it to be, and not as it is. - -My wife sends her thanks and greetings. She received more benefit out of -her visit than I. I have had to promise to remodel the house, and put in -another bathroom which is to be between our bedrooms. The new bathtub -must be porcelain and we are to have an instantaneous heater. She still -talks a good deal of the "_gute_ cornflecks" and "grep frut" which we -both enjoyed so much. Above all she remembers the courtesy of the men, -and if the servant did not place her chair for her at table, I fear I -should now have to do it. - -America certainly is a Paradise for women, but it is "_Die Hoelle_" for -men. - -Remember that when you and any of your family come to Berlin you are to -be our guests. I trust you will come soon, for conditions over here look -dubious, and the war, "_der grosse Krieg_," may come before we know it. - -_Herzliche Gruesse von Haus zu Haus._ - _Auf Wiedersehen._ - - - - -XV - -_The Challenge of the American Spirit_ - - -I am sure the Herr Director will not object if I have the last word; for -while he was with me that privilege was seldom mine and obtained only by -dint of strategy. - -Since his departure, the great war which he prophesied has moved over -Europe and hides every bit of fair and peaceful sky like a storm-cloud; -its thunder and destructive lightning fill the air, leaving scarcely a -place safe and undisturbed. - -Not a soul is unafraid, not a heart is without pain and sorrow, and the -Herr Director himself, although past middle age, has volunteered to -serve in the trenches, slippery from oozing blood and foul from the -spattered brains of men. The "fiddling, twiddling diplomats, the -haggling, calculating merchants of Babylon, the sleek lords with their -plumes and spurs" have had their way, and the poor, blind, ignorant -millions, made mad by hate, do their brutal bidding. - -We, on this safer side, who as yet have not loosed the dogs of war, have -calculated the loss to Europe in the fratricidal slaughter of its most -virile men, in the loss of its arts and trades, in the wreck and ruin to -houses and homes and in the age-long poverty which awaits. Much counting -has been done as to what we shall make out of this sure bankruptcy that -is to come to the nations which are our competitors for the world's -trade, and what glory shall be ours when New York, and not London shall -be the new Babylon, with power to make the "Epha small and the Shekel -great." - -With the incalculable loss to the European nations there has come to -some of them a gain in national unity upon which under no circumstances -we may count. - -It has been with no small sense of pride that I have demonstrated to the -Herr Director and to others the fact that, in spite of our youth as a -nation, and the varied national, linguistic and religious rootage of -our population even in the Colonial period, we have grown to be one -people. Even the constant inflow of new and more varied human material -has not weakened us but indeed the sense of national unity has grown -stronger. I have watched with joy the processes by which this alien -element was becoming one with us, the fading away of animosities and -inherited prejudices, and the making of a new people out of the world's -conglomerate. - -The war has brought about a retardation of this process, and we shall -have great cause for gratitude if no permanent damage is done to our -nation's spirit, a loss for which no possible gain in any direction -could compensate. The term "Hyphenated American," which has now come -into use, if it indicates anything more than the place of a man's -national or racial origin, and the very natural sympathies arising -therefrom, is an insult to the man to whom it is applied, and a -confession of divided allegiance, if voluntarily assumed. - -It may be interesting to note that it was His Majesty, the Emperor of -Germany, who repudiated the hyphen when a German-American delegation -called on him on the occasion of some royal anniversary. - -When the delegation was introduced in this hyphenated manner, he said: -"Germans I know, Americans I know, but German-Americans I do not know." - -Although the hyphen has always existed, it has assumed new meaning in -these troubled days and is applied as a term of opprobrium, largely to -Americans of German birth; people who have always been loyal to the -country of their adoption, and, I think, are no less loyal now. - -If there has been wavering in their devotion, if the process of yielding -themselves to the ideals and interests of this country has been -arrested, they are not altogether to blame, and we ourselves are not -altogether blameless. - -It was thoroughly in harmony with the American Spirit that our -sympathies should go out to brave little Belgium, and turn from the -ruthless conqueror who was much nearer to us culturally and in greater -harmony with us spiritually. It was also natural for the German people -in this country to challenge the evident bias of the press, and the -resultant prejudices arising in the minds of their friends and -neighbors. Being German they knew what a German soldier is capable of -doing, and of what atrocities he is guiltless; although in the attempt -to defend their people they in turn became as unfair as we, condoning -every act of the Germans and besmirching their enemies. - -How far this bias can carry one is illustrated by the German pastor in a -neighboring town, one of the gentlest souls I know, who, when told of -the destruction of the _Lusitania_, said: "Thanks be to God, let the -good work go on." He will not have to live very long to repent of this. - -To match him I may quote a most lovable Quaker lady nearly ninety years -of age, who, with a violence in striking contrast to the Quaker -character, expressed as her dearest wish that she might be permitted to -kill the Emperor of Germany, and I am almost sure she was not alone in -that pious desire, even among the members of her family. - -The German press and the German pulpit have fanned this reawakened -Germanic spirit, not always from lofty motives, and many an editor and -pastor have found this antagonism a source of revenue and a hope of -perpetuating their influence. - -If the American press both in its news and editorial columns has been -painful reading to any one who loves fair play, it did not help him to -turn to the German press, whose utterances were made more distressing by -the fact that not infrequently they contained expressions bordering on -treason. Had their editors lived in Germany and spoken of the Emperor in -the same words which they applied to their President, their terms of -imprisonment, if combined, would reach into eternity. - -Even after the war the attempt will be made to keep alive this -antagonism, and if possible to widen the breach. It will be a serious -challenge to our national spirit, for I doubt that we can maintain a -vital unity unless it represents one country, one people, and one -language. - -I know of no way in which to meet this danger effectively; but I do know -that it is not through reprisals or punishments. Perhaps it is best to -hope that at the close of the war we shall all recover our sanity. -Certain it is that the American people have in the Germans in this -country too valuable and powerful an element to alienate, and the German -people who have made this country their home have too great a sense of -the value of it and its institutions, to them and their children, to be -willing to jeopardize the American Spirit, because of that which must be -but a passing phase in the history of our poor, misguided, human race. - -Besides the threatened break in unity, the American Spirit is being -challenged by a call to arms, not merely to avert any momentary, -threatened danger, but to be permanently safeguarded, prepared against -its predatory neighbors all around the globe. Whether those who join in -this call know it or not, or wish it or not, it means militarism. When -just such arguments were used for Germany's preparedness, when that -gospel was being preached with all possible fervor, one of the wisest -Germans said: "_Wehrkraft wird immer Mehrkraft_" ("Defensive power -always becomes offensive power"), and I am sure that the average -American will say that, in the case of Germany, this has proved true. - -If I were arguing for military preparedness, I would not be so insistent -upon the building of new fortresses, or the accumulation of ammunition. -I would insist upon training our children in obedience and reverence. I -would give them schoolmasters who know what they teach and who would -demand strict application to the curriculum. I would oppose the growing -pedagogic idea that the schoolroom is a playground, and that knowledge -may be acquired without hard work. I would restore the rod and banish -the coddler. I would call in our high school boys from the side lines, -from their vicarious athletics and their slavish imitation of college -customs, and teach them how to dig trenches and serve cannon, which -seem to be the chief need in modern military operations. - -It is folly to believe that the _fiasco_ of the Russian armies was due -to the lack of ammunition or of sufficient fortresses; it was due to the -lack of good schools and to the lack of discipline among its educated -classes. - -With the decay of our pioneer spirit, which is inevitable, with the -growth of a leisure class, with groups of men and women who know no -other way to justify their existence than to play bridge or go to Tango -teas; with a large class of people less unfortunately situated, who have -to work for their living, but from whom the state asks nothing in the -way of service except the payment of taxes which are easily evaded, it -is a great question how to keep our virility and how to foster a -patriotism which may be counted upon in the time of national danger. I -am fairly sure that some other way than the militaristic way ought to be -found. I am not sure that we shall find it; because only those who seek -shall find. - -There are some things we may profitably learn from Germany, and one is -the maintenance of a state which by its very nature will compel -devotion. A state deeply concerned with the well-being of every -individual; a state which sees to it that impartial judgment shall be -meted out, and that the scales do not tip to those who weight them with -gold. - -A state which eliminates graft and is able to train an efficient army of -public servants is more likely to gain and keep the loyalty of its -citizens than one which, although technically free, is shackled by -corruption and graft, and which, while giving each man the power to -become a king, places the major emphasis upon property rather than upon -person. Yes, we have a great deal to do to be properly prepared, besides -authorizing congress to spend millions for "reeking tube and iron -shard." - -What I most fear for the American Spirit is the loss of that which makes -it really American and truly Spirit, the loss of its democracy. I am -confident that the form of our government is not endangered, and -whatever military success may come to monarchic governments we shall -not envy them their kings nor put ourselves in bondage to them. If this -republic is still an experiment then we shall see the experiment through -to the end as a republic. - -I am also sure that we shall work out the problem which confronts us in -the relationship between capital and labor, and that we shall create -here an industrial democracy. The dissatisfaction with the present -system is growing daily, even among the so-called privileged classes, -and many a man, well favored by circumstances, is crying out with Walt -Whitman, "By God! I will not have anything which others cannot have on -the same terms." - -What I most dread is, that we shall be increasingly unable to be -democratic in our spirit, in our relation to those who are in any marked -way differentiated from us racially. Our caste system is daily growing -in strength, the social taboos are increasing in number, the spirit is -barred from moving freely among all classes and races, and thus is bound -to perish. - -The social boycott practiced against the Jews, and which is even more -thorough here than it is in Russia, may be followed by an economic -boycott, and what has but recently happened in Georgia makes such -occurrences on a larger scale not impossible. The attitude of the -American people both South and North towards the Negro is not growing -better, and it will take more than all the brave optimism of Booker T. -Washington to convince me that this is not true. - -It is anything but the American Spirit which greets the Japanese and -Chinese at the Pacific Coast, and the decadence of that spirit is daily -creating for itself new victims for its prejudices and hates. - -It seems to be a growing conviction that in order to foster our racial -integrity and self-respect we need to have contempt for other people and -make of them a sort of mental cuspidore. - -I know the difficulty involved in this problem. I believe it is the most -serious challenge which the American Spirit has to meet, and here and -here alone I confess my doubt as to its ability to meet it. - -This is no time, though, to turn doubt into despair, nor is it the time -for the calling of conventions and the organization of societies. It is -a time, however, for the strengthening of our faith in one another, for -renewed allegiance to humanity no matter how it is encased, for a -patriotism based upon something bigger than identity of race. It is a -time for mutual forbearance, for the divine gift to see ourselves as -others see us; for a supreme loyalty to our country, and a determination -stronger than death to make this country capable of winning the loyalty -of all its citizens. - -It is a time to glory in being an American and to become desperately -sure we have something in which to glory. Now as never before should -there be serious self-examination to see whether we have not sinned -against the Spirit. - -This is the time to accept the Challenge of the American Spirit and -prove that we are loyal enough to follow its guidance. - -PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -he does now know=> he does not know {pg 119} - -the progam marked out for her by the Emperor=> the program marked out -for her by the Emperor {pg 195} - -had little opportuntiy=> had little opportunity {pg 241} - -It is sorbid=> It is sordid {pg 258} - -Unausstelicher=> Unausstehlicher {pg 88} - -Unaustehlicher=> Unausstehlicher {pg 122} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Introducing the American Spirit, by -Edward A. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/41898-8.zip b/41898-8.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7010944..0000000 --- a/41898-8.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/41898-h.zip b/41898-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 623f3f6..0000000 --- a/41898-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/41898.txt b/41898.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 082b378..0000000 --- a/41898.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5386 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Introducing the American Spirit, by Edward A. Steiner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Introducing the American Spirit - -Author: Edward A. Steiner - -Release Date: January 22, 2013 [EBook #41898] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - -INTRODUCING THE -AMERICAN SPIRIT - - BY EDWARD A. STEINER - - THE CONFESSION OF A HYPHENATED - AMERICAN - 12mo, boards net 50c. - - INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT - What it Means to a Citizen and How it Appears - to an Alien. 12mo, cloth net $1.00 - - FROM ALIEN TO CITIZEN - The Story of My Life in America. Illustrated, - 8vo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE BROKEN WALL - Stories of the Mingling Folk. Illustrated, - 12mo, cloth net $1.00 - - AGAINST THE CURRENT - Simple Chapters from a Complex Life. 12mo, - cloth net $1.25 - - THE IMMIGRANT TIDE--ITS EBB - AND FLOW - Illustrated, 8vo, cloth net $1.50 - - ON THE TRAIL OF THE IMMIGRANT - Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE MEDIATOR - A Tale of the Old World and the New. Illustrated, - 12mo, cloth net $1.25 - - TOLSTOY, THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE - A Biographical Interpretation. _Revised and - enlarged._ Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE PARABLE OF THE CHERRIES - Illustrated, 12mo, boards net 50c. - - THE CUP OF ELIJAH - Idyll Envelope Series. Decorated net 25c. - -[Illustration: THE AMERICAN SPIRIT - -_Courtesy of The Survey V. D. Brenner_] - - - - -_Introducing The -American Spirit - -By - -Edward A. Steiner - -Author of "From Alien to Citizen," "The -Immigrant Tide," etc._ - -[Illustration] - -_New York Chicago Toronto -Fleming H. Revell Company -London and Edinburgh_ - -Copyright, 1915, by -FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - -New York: 158 Fifth Avenue -Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave. -Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. -London: 21 Paternoster Square -Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street - -_To -Professor Richard Hochdoerfer, Ph. D. - -erudite scholar and most lovable -friend, this book is dedicated_ - - - - -_Introducing the Introduction_ - - -"_Das ist ganz Americanish_." Whenever a German says this, he means that -it is something which is practical, lavish, daringly reckless or -lawless. - -It means a short cut to achievement, a disregard of convention, an -absence of those qualities which have given to the older nations of the -world that fine, distinguishing flavor which is a fruit of the spirit. - -Many attempts have been made to enlighten the Old World upon that point; -but in spite of exchange-professorships and some notable, interpretative -books upon the subject, we are still only the "Land of the Dollar." - -We are not loved as a nation, largely because we are not understood, and -we are not understood because we do not understand ourselves, and we do -not understand ourselves because we have not studied ourselves in the -light of the spirit of other nations. - -Coming to this country a product of Germanic civilization, knowing -intimately the Slavic, Semitic, and Latin spirit, the writer was -compelled to compare and to choose. Yet he would never have dared write -upon this subject; not only because it was a difficult task, but because -he had been so completely weaned from the Old World spirit that he had -lost the proper perspective. Moreover, of formal books upon this subject -there was no dearth. - -During the last ten years, however, he has had the advantage of being -the _cicerone_ of distinguished Europeans who came to study various -phases of our institutional life, and they brought the opportunity of -fresh comparisons and also of new view-points in this realm of the -national spirit. - -These unconventional studies, most of which received their inspiration -through the visit of the Herr Director and his charming wife, are here -offered as an Introduction to the American Spirit, not only to the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin, but to those Americans who do not -realize that a nation, as well as man, "cannot live by bread alone;" -that its most precious asset, its greatest element of strength, is its -Spirit, and that the elements out of which the Spirit is made, are so -rare, so delicate, that when once wasted they cannot readily be -replaced. - -As the sin against the Holy Spirit is the one sin for which the Gospel -holds out no forgiveness for the individual, so there seems to be no -hope for the nation which transgresses against this most vital element -of its higher life. - -Inasmuch also as the Spirit is something which guides and cannot be -guided, these informal introductions appear in no geographic or historic -sequence, but are necessarily left to the leading of the spirit, of -which "no man knoweth whence it cometh or whither it goeth." - -E. A. S. - -_Grinnell, Iowa_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - I. THE HERR DIRECTOR MEETS THE - AMERICAN SPIRIT 15 - - II. OUR NATIONAL CREED 35 - - III. THE SPIRIT OUT-OF-DOORS 58 - - IV. THE SPIRIT AT LAKE MOHONK 74 - - V. LOBSTER AND MINCE PIE 92 - - VI. THE HERR DIRECTOR AND THE - "MISSOURY" SPIRIT 112 - - VII. THE HERR DIRECTOR AND THE COLLEGE - SPIRIT 129 - - VIII. THE RUSSIAN SOUL AND THE AMERICAN - SPIRIT 147 - - IX. CHICAGO 166 - - X. WHERE THE SPIRIT IS YOUNG 184 - - XI. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT AMONG THE - MORMONS 199 - - XII. THE CALIFORNIA CONFESSION OF - FAITH 216 - - XIII. THE GRINNELL SPIRIT 237 - - XIV. THE COMMENCEMENT AND THE END 249 - - XV. THE CHALLENGE OF THE AMERICAN - SPIRIT 262 - - - - -I - -_The Herr Director Meets the American Spirit_ - - -The Herr Director and I were sitting over our coffee in the _Cafe -Bauer_, _Unter den Linden_. In the midst of my account of some of the -men of America and the idealistic movements in which they are -interested, he rudely interrupted with: "You may tell that to some one -who has never been in the United States; but not to me who have -travelled through the length and breadth of it three times." He said it -in an ungenerous, impatient way, although his last visit was thirty -years ago and his journeys across this continent necessarily hurried. I -dared not say much more, for I am apt to lose my temper when any one -anywhere, criticizes my adopted country or questions my glowing accounts -of it. - -But I did say: "When you come over the next time, let me be your -guide." - -"Why should I want to go over again?" he replied. "It's a noisy, dirty, -hopelessly materialistic country. You have sky-scrapers, but no beauty; -money, but no ideals; garishness, but no comfort. You have despatch, but -no courtesy; you are ingenious, but not thorough; you have fine clothes, -but no style; churches, but no religion; universities, but no learning. -No, I have been there three times. That's enough. I know all about it. -_Fertig!"_ And with that he dismissed me without giving me a chance to -relieve my feelings, of which there were many; although he took -advantage of a minute that was left and told me that I was an -_Unausstehlicher Americaner_ whose judgment had been warped by my great -love for my adopted country. - -Evidently the Herr Director reversed his decision not to come to this -country; for the following spring I received a cablegram to meet him on -the arrival of his ship at the Hamburg-American dock, which of course I -promptly did. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin stepped onto the -soil of the United States with a predisposition to be martyrs, to -endure the sufferings entailed by travel with as little grace as -possible, and to suppress to the utmost all pleasurable emotion. - -On the other hand, I was determined to show off my United States from -its best side, to woo and win the Herr Director's and the Frau -Directorin's approval. In my laudable endeavor I seemed to be supported -by that divine providence which watches over the whole world in general, -but over the United States in particular. The weather was perfect, the -sky festooned in fleecy clouds, the air charged by a divine energy; and -when the sun shines upon the harbor of New York--well, even the most -taciturn European cannot resist it. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin greeted all the good Lord's -endeavor and mine, with an air of condescension as something due their -station. From force of habit they worried and fussed about their -baggage, although there was nothing to worry or fuss about, for it was -safe on its way to the hotel. They were shot under the river and the -busy streets of Manhattan and whirled up to the twenty-first story of -their thirty-two-storied hotel without having taken more than a dozen -steps to reach it. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin refused to be impressed by the -rooms assigned them, in which not a single comfort or luxury was -missing, and complained because they were not as big as barns and the -ceilings not as high as a cathedral. The Frau Directorin eyed the -bath-room almost in silence; but she did wonder why they put out a whole -month's supply of towels at once, instead of doing it in the provident -European way of one towel every other day. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, like all Europeans who can -afford to travel, are exceedingly aesthetic, and at the same time fond of -good food, and their first approving smile was won at the breakfast -table, when they were each face to face with half a grapefruit of vast -circumference, reposing upon a bed of crushed ice. Their smiles -broadened when they had introduced their palates to an American -breakfast food, a crispy bit of nut-flavored air bubble, floating upon -thick, rich cream; and, although they had made up their minds that -American coffee was vile and they must not taste it, they could not -resist its aroma, and drank it with a relish. - -When the Herr Director said: _"Der Kaffee ist gut,_" I knew that my -prayers were being answered, and that the good Lord still loves the -United States of America. - -Most of us have shown off something--a baby, school-children, a -schoolhouse, a town, an automobile, a cemetery. You know that feeling of -pride which thrills you, that fear lest pride have a fall if it or they -fail to "show up." But have you ever tried to show off a country--a -country which you love with a lover's passion; a country whose virtues -are so many, whose defects are so obvious; a country whose glory you -have gloried in before the whole world, but whose halo has so many rust -spots that you wish you might have had a chance to use Sapolio on it ere -you let it shine before your visitors? A country of one hundred million -inhabitants, of whom every fourth person smells of the steerage, when -you wish that they all smelled of the Mayflower; a country where more -people are ready to die for its freedom than anywhere, and more people -ought to be in the penitentiary for abusing that freedom; a country of -vast distances, bound together by huge railways and controlled by -unsavory politicians; a country with more homely virtues, more virtuous -homes, than anywhere else, yet where the divorce courts never cease -their grinding and alimonies have no end? - -Ah! to show off such a country, and to have to begin to do it in New -York, beats showing off babies, school-children, automobiles, and -cemeteries. - -The Herr Director was sure he would hate our sky-scrapers; he had seen -them from the ship, and the assaulted sky-line looked to him like the -huge mouth of an old woman with its isolated, protruding teeth. Frankly, -I myself am not interested in sky-scrapers; I prefer the elm trees which -shade the streets of the quiet town where I live. I thank God daily for -the men who had faith enough to plant trees upon those wind-swept -prairies. They were mighty spirits who came to the edges of civilization -and drove the wilderness farther and farther back by drawing furrows, -sowing wheat, and planting trees--those men whom heat and a relentless -desert could not separate from that other ocean with its Golden Gate to -the sunset and the oldest world. Determining to have and to hold it till -time is no more, they proceeded to unite the two oceans in holy wedlock. -A task which involved another nation in hopeless scandal and bankruptcy, -they completed with as little ceremony as that which prevails at a -wedding before a justice of the peace. Those were the men who went among -savages, yet did not become like them; who for homes dug holes in the -ground among rattlesnakes, prairie-dogs, and moles, and made of such -homes the beginnings of towns and cities. - -If I admire the sky-scrapers it is because they are an attempt on the -part of this same type of people to do pioneering among the clouds. -Public lands being exhausted, they proceed to annex the sky and people -it, now that the frontier is no more. - -What the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin would say to the -sky-scraper meant to me, not whether they would say it is beautiful or -ugly, but whether they would discover in it the Spirit of America, the -daring spirit of the pioneers who built Towers of Babel, though -reversing the process; for they began with a confusion of tongues which -outbabeled Babel, and finished on a day of Pentecost when men said: "We -do hear them all speaking our own tongue, the mighty works of God." - -We moved along Broadway, pressing through the crowds, the Herr Director -puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin doing likewise. The Flatiron -Building with its accentuated leanness lured them on until we came to -the open space of Madison Square and they were face to face with the -Metropolitan tower. - -The Herr Director said: "_Gott im Himmel!_" The Frau Directorin said: -"_Um Gottes Himmels Willen!_" And then they gazed their fill in -silence. - -I have never "done" Europe with a guide, nor have I ever had an American -city introduced to me through a megaphone, so I scarcely knew what to -say. - -I did not know the exact height of that tower, nor how many tons of -steel support it, nor the size of the clock dial which tells the time of -day up there "among the dizzy flocks of sky-scrapers"; but I did know -that the tower represented some big, daring thing, an expression of the -spirit which could not be defined nor easily interpreted to another. - -After his first outburst the Herr Director continued to say nothing--he -was stunned; so was the Frau Directorin. We walked on, looking up, -higher and higher still, until our eyes met another tower, the Woolworth -Building--a shrewd Yankee five-and-ten-cent enterprise, flowering into -purest Gothic. - -The cathedrals of Europe are wonderful, undoubtedly. Master minds drew -the plans and master hands built them, slowly, by an age-long process. -They turned religious ideals into stone lace and lilies, hideous -gargoyles and brave flying buttresses, aisles and naves and rose -windows. Yes, they are quite wonderful. But to turn spools of thread, -granite-ware, and dust-cloths into this glory of steel and stone is, to -me, more marvellous still. The spirit of the pioneer cleaving the sky -has become beautiful as it has ascended. - -We are worrying a great deal about our lack of sensitiveness to beauty -and form; we chide ourselves as being crude and unresponsive to art; we -rush madly into the study of aesthetics and buy Old Masters at the price -of a king's ransom; yet we are not truly fostering America's art sense. -It ought not to come in the Old World's way--by glorifying dogmas and -creeds, by petrifying religion into buttresses and incasing our dead in -tombs of beryl and onyx. It ought not to come with its mixture of -paganism and religion, its armless Venus and its headless Victory. It -should come first as it is coming--with the making of homes good to -live in, factories planned to work in, stores fit to do business in, -and schools built to teach in. It is coming--yes, it is coming. - -But when our strong boys shall make filagree silver ornaments, carve -pretty things on bits of ivory, or exhaust their energy in painting a -lock of hair--when that time comes, we shall be an old people ready for -our ornamented tombs. - -Next I took the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin through a portal -flanked by pillars worthy to crown any Athenian hill; I led them into a -Parthenon in which Athena herself might have joyed to be worshipped, and -we heard the echoing and reechoing of a chant which lacked nothing but -incense and organ notes to make one think one's self in an Old World -cathedral. The chant was not a _Miserere_, but a call to entrust one's -self to the depths of the earth--to descend into tubes of steel, beneath -the river, and then travel to the fair cities of the living, throbbing, -thriving West. It was a railway terminal without choking smoke, blinding -dust, or deafening noise; also without that hideous mechanical ugliness -which Ruskin so hated. This was merely a place from which one started to -reach Oshkosh or Kokomo, Keokuk, Kalamazoo, or Kankakee. Yet more -beautiful portals never swung to mortals in their fairest dreams of -journeying to the abodes of bliss. The Spirit of America, at last -crowned by beauty. - -We reached our hotel fairly exhausted by our morning's walk; but, after -being properly refreshed, the Herr Director ventured to criticize. - -"Yes, you are a wonderfully resourceful people, keen and energetic, but -chaotic. You take an Italian _campanile_ and elongate it fifty times; or -a Gothic church, and attenuate it; or a Romanesque cathedral, and -support it by Ionic pillars; or a cigar box, and enlarge it a million -times. You put all these things side by side, and no one asks: Will they -harmonize, or will they clash? - -"Each man builds as he pleases, although he may blot out the other man's -work and waste colossal energy merely to express himself. The result is -confusion. You can feel that unrest, that discord, in the air. My -nerves fairly ache! No, we shall not go out this afternoon. We must rest -our nerves." - -The Herr Director always spoke for his wife as well as for himself, thus -expressing the collective spirit of the Old World. They both retired for -a long rest, while I was left wondering how to introduce New York to -them in the evening. - -At five o'clock in the afternoon they emerged from their apartments, -their wearied Old World nerves rested, and, after being stimulated by a -cup of coffee, were ready for further adventures. - -Broadway at that hour of the afternoon is bewildering. The shoppers have -almost deserted it, and it is crowded by the clerks who served them, the -cashiers who received their money, the girls who trimmed their hats, the -men who cut their garments, the bookkeepers and the floor-walkers. - -Whole towns seem to pour out of the department stores and lofts; the -makers and menders of garments flee from the heart of the city, from -this pulsing machine which has been going at a dangerous speed. They go -from it eagerly, with a brave show of courage, as if the ten hours' -labor had not broken their spirits or wearied their energy. To count the -ants of a busy hill would be easier than even to estimate the numbers of -that throng. - -They climb the steps of the elevated railway trains, and crowd them, and -cram the cars until they fairly bulge. - -They lay siege to the surface cars, which merely crawl through the busy -streets, so heavy are they and so closely does one car follow the other. - -They descend into the depths of the earth, and breathe the humid, human -air of those noisy catacombs. They walk by companies, regiments, and -great armies, dodging automobiles which infest the streets with their -speed and their stenches. - -They accomplish it all with so little friction to each other's spirit, -with such a silent good nature, with such a sense of self-reliance, and -with so little official machinery to control them, that even the Herr -Director said: - -"This is wonderful!" although he declared that he would suffocate in -that throng, and the Frau Directorin cried out every few minutes, "_Um -Gottes Himmels Willen!_" - -There was an absence of politeness, but we saw little rudeness; there -were accidents, but the crowd did not lose its head; there were -discomforts, but little display of ill nature; each for himself, and yet -no clashing. The American crowd is more wonderful than the American -sky-scrapers. - -At the Royal Opera in Vienna, the approach to the ticket office is -guarded by steel inclosures in which every prospective buyer is -separated from the other, and one has to zigzag between these pens until -he reaches the official's window. Crowding is rendered impossible, but, -to make the obviously impossible more actually impossible, there is the -usual number of uniformed guards. - -Watch the American crowd--this group of unlike, self-centered -individuals; in a moment it is organized, it obeys itself--or rather, it -obeys its spirit, the American spirit of self-direction, with its -genius for organization. - -To me, the American crowd is so wonderful because it shows this other -side of its spirit. It is heterogeneous, like the architecture of its -buildings, perhaps even more so--if that be possible. - -Here are Jews from Russia's crowded Pale, where they had to slink along -with shuffling gait and dared go so far and no farther--so fast and no -faster. - -There are the Slavic peasants, who on their native soil, prodded by the -goad, moved ox-like along an endless furrow, drawing the plow of -autocracy. - -Next is the Italian, volatile and yet static with his age-long burdens, -with his fiery nature cramped into his diminutive frame. - -Here is the Negro, the child-man, the shackles of whose slavery are -scarcely broken. - -The Asiatic, too, comes with hardly courage enough to lift his softly -treading feet; while leading them all is this strident, giant child of -the Anglo-Saxon race whose wind-swept cradle was rocked by freedom, and -who with dominant will has spanned the oceans and crossed the mountains. - -Of these myriads whom he leads, some will be a drag upon progress, and -detain the strong or perhaps retard the race; yet they are trying to -keep up, and by their efforts, by delving in the deep, by feeding with -their brute strength our huge enginery, may make the flowering of the -American spirit easier. - -Yes, the Anglo-Saxon is leading them; but will he continue to lead, now -that he no longer travels in the prairie schooner, but in the -automobile--now that he wields the golf club and tennis racket, rather -than the spade and plow on the prairie? - -Will he now lead them from the breakers of Newport as well as once he -led them from Plymouth Rock? - -Will he lead them from the exclusive club as once he led them into the -inclusive home? - -These were the doubts which filled my mind, but which I did not share -with my guests as I guided them; for we were to spend the evening -together, and one needs all one's faith in New York at night. - -We spent the early evening hours travelling around the world. We went to -Arabia, where dusky children from the desert play in the gutters of -Bleecker Street; to Greece, where Spartan and Athenian youth dream of -the golden days of Pericles; to China, with its joss-house, its faint -odors of sandalwood, and its stronger odors wafted from the Bowery. We -visited Russia, and saw its ghetto-dwellers more numerous than Abraham -ever thought his progeny would become; we spent some time in Hungary, -with its _Gulyas_ and _Czardas_. We went to Bohemia, with its _Narodni -Dom_; to Italy, south and north, with its strings of garlic, its -festoons of sausages, its hurdy-gurdy, and its rich harvest of children. -We had glimpses of France, of its _table d'hote_ and painted women; -travelled through darkest Africa, touched upon India, and then were back -again upon Broadway. - -As in the sky above us the architectures of the world strive to blend -and fuse, making a mighty new impress; so below, these colonies to the -right and colonies to the left, like the huge limbs of some ill-shapen -monster, try to blend into America. - -What is it all to be when blended? - -Of course we went to the theater. We saw a German problem play made over -to please the American taste. The Herr Director knew the play almost by -heart, and he nearly jumped upon the stage in righteous indignation when -in the last act, where the author drops all his characters into a -bottomless pit and everything ends in confusion, the play ended in the -conventional "God-bless-you-my-children," "happy-ever-after" manner. - -We walked the streets of New York until past midnight, and finally -looked down upon it from the roof of our hostelry. We could see the moon -creeping out and shedding its mellow glow over the gayly lighted city. -The noises were almost musical up there--like sustained organ notes--and -we talked about the play with its happy ending. - -"You are right," I said; "that happy ending is foolish and childish. -Things do not always end happily; but this thing, this experiment in -making a nation out of torn fragments, this founding of cities in a day -out of second and third hand material, this experiment in man-making and -nation-building must end well; for, if it doesn't, God's great -experiment has failed. Shall I say, God's last experiment has failed? -You see we _mustn't_ fail--it _must_ end well." - -The streets were all but silent. From the great clock on the -Metropolitan tower hanging in mid-air, came the flashes that marked the -morning hour. Thick mists floated in from the sea and filled the narrow, -chasm-like streets with weird, fantastic shapes. - -The Herr Director said good-night. The Frau Directorin did likewise. -They said it very solemnly, as behooves those who have looked deep into -the heart of a great mystery who have felt the touch of a mighty spirit -striving, struggling, agonizing to shape a new nation out of the world's -refuse. - - - - -II - -_Our National Creed_ - - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin wished to go to church on -Sunday, and after eating a piously late breakfast I spread before them -New York City's religious bill of fare, bewildering in its variety and -puzzling in its terminology. - -I gave them a choice between four varieties of Catholics: Roman, Greek, -Old and Apostolic; more than twice that number of Lutherans, separated -one from the other by degrees of orthodoxy and nearness to or farness -from their historic confessions. - -There were Methodists who were free and those who were Episcopalian, -Episcopalians who were not Methodists but were reformed, and those who -made no such pretensions; all these invited us to worship with them. - -Many varieties of Baptists announced their sermons and services, -offering a choice between those who were free and those who were just -Baptists, and between those who were Baptists on the Seventh Day and -those who did not specify the day on which they were Baptists. - -We also had a chance to discriminate between Dutch Reformed, German -Reformed or Presbyterian Reformed, and United Presbyterians divided from -other Presbyterians (presumably unreformed) for reasons known to the -Fathers who died long since. - -If we had been radically inclined we might have browsed among -Unitarians, Ethical Culturists, and could even have worshipped among -those who make a religion out of not having any. - -The most interesting column to the Herr Director was that which -contained our exotic cults, those we have imported and those which prove -that we have not neglected our home industry. - -It was disconcerting to me, who was trying to introduce our national -spirit, to realize how varied its religious expression is, and the Herr -Director got no little amusement out of the story I told him of the -student in one of our colleges who, it is said, came to the librarian -and asked for a book on "Wild Religions I have Met." When the librarian -suggested it might be Seton Thompson's book on Wild Animals, he said it -was not in the department of Zoology, but in Philosophy in which the -assignment for the reading was given. The book was then quickly found. -It was Prof. William James' "The Varieties of Religious Experience." - -When we succeeded in rescuing the Frau Directorin out of the maze of -Sunday Supplements in which she was entangled, we started in pursuit of -a proper place of worship, in anything but a worshipful mood. I was bent -upon showing that which is vastly more difficult to interpret than -sky-scrapers, the Herr Director was doubtful that we had any religious -spirit at all, and the Frau Directorin mourned the fact that she had to -leave behind her so much paper which might have served such good -purposes if she had it at home. - -Fifth Avenue recovers something of its departed exclusiveness on Sunday -morning; for although the cheaper stores are crowding upon those which -never descend to bargain counters, this is not true of the churches. -They still are in good repute, and await the stated hour of service on -Sunday morning without excitement, having advertised nothing, offering -no ecclesiastical bargains; content to live as the birds of the air, -whom the "Heavenly Father feedeth." The street was almost deserted; here -and there a taxicab darted on its way to or from the railway station; -the hour of the limousines had not yet come, and the people who strolled -along were evidently, like ourselves, unfashionable sojourners seeking a -tabernacle in Gotham's wilderness. - -Sauntering along the street was less interesting than usual, for not -only were there no crowds, the shop-windows were all artistically -curtained and there was nothing to see. The Frau Directorin did not like -it at all, "for what good is it to walk along the shopping streets if -you can't look into the shops?" - -"You see, my dear," the Herr Director remarked, "that is to help you -obey one of the ten commandments which womankind is especially prone to -break, 'Thou shalt not covet.' Incidentally it proves that we are in a -country in which you are allowed to do as you please every day and do -nothing on Sunday." - -"No," I replied, "it merely proves that we are trying to save one day a -week from the contamination of our materialistic existence." - -"It merely proves," he echoed, "that you have inherited from your -Anglo-Saxon ancestors the worst thing they could leave you: their -hypocrisy. I stepped behind a curtained bar this morning and found it -running at full blast. You evidently do your drinking in private on -Sunday and your praying in public. You know we in Germany do the -opposite." - -"No, you do your praying and drinking both in public, and both seem to -be a part of your religion," I answered. "Very likely you are right. -There is about us this taint of hypocrisy; but that only shows that we -are a deeply religious people, conscious of the fact that our ideals -are upon a higher plane than our performance. We are not as eager as you -are to proclaim our frailties from the housetop. - -"The average American wants you to believe him to be a pretty decent -fellow till you find him out to be different; while you Germans make a -virtue of a certain kind of brutal frankness, which is worse than -hypocrisy, since you try to make it an excuse for all sorts of private -and national sins. The real criminal is never a hypocrite." - -I do not know what would have happened to me if at that moment we had -not reached St. Patrick's Cathedral. The full, rich organ notes seemed -to soothe the Herr Director's ruffled spirit, and our discussion ended -as we entered the welcoming portal. - -In a church which in all places and all ages remains the same, there was -nothing for my guests to see or hear to which they were not accustomed. -There was the priest, alone with the great mystery which he was -enacting, and by his side the diminutive ministrants. The crowd which -filled every available space in that huge interior was silent and -reverent. Now the tinkling of a bell, like a command from Heaven, bade -all kneel, and now the same bell bade them rise. The incense, the -stately chant, and then the hushed, expectant throng going forward to -partake from the priest's hand of the means of grace, which he alone -could offer in the name of the one Holy Catholic Church--all this could -not fail to impress us. - -Into the august and solemn atmosphere there came from a near-by church -the chimed notes of a hymn-tune such as the people once sang defiantly -when they proclaimed their religious freedom. It was a spiritual war -tune which soldiers could sing, and strangely enough it seemed to fit -into this atmosphere as if it were the one thing which the service -needed. It recalled the self-assertion of the people before their God, -their man God, who was born in a stable, who worshipped as He worked, -and worked as He worshipped, hurling His anathemas at those who blocked -the gates of the kingdom to them who would enter, yet did not enter -themselves. - -Evidently the Herr Director felt as I felt; for he whispered to me, "The -Reformation." When I nodded my approval, he said: "But see how unmoved -she is, this rock-founded church. It will take something more than -hymn-tunes to disturb her." - -We left the Cathedral while the hungry multitude was being fed with the -Sacrament of our Lord, and our spirits, too, had been fed, although we -were not of that fold. - -While the Roman Catholics were finishing their worship, the Protestants -were making ready to begin. The first bells had chimed appealingly, not -commandingly, and a thin stream of worshippers appeared on the Avenue, -growing thinner as it divided, entering one or the other of those -edifices where men were to worship according to the dictates of their -conscience, their taste, or their social position. - -Many strangers, like ourselves, were looking critically at the church -bulletins as yesterday we had looked into the show windows, and it was -the Frau Directorin who said she felt as if she were going shopping for -religion. - -The Herr Director said that he had no objection to our inventing or -importing as many religions as we pleased; but he did object to our -exporting any, for we were making the task of regulating and controlling -them very difficult. Moreover he did not see how we could develop any -kind of common, national ideals with such a confusion of religions. "You -have, or pretend to have, a democratic government, and your strongest -church is monarchic to the core." - -I had to admit that religiously we are a very chaotic people, and that -we are daily adding to that chaos; yet these facts might prove what I -had been trying to make clear to him: That this is fundamentally a -religious country, and that as a whole we are the most religious people -in the world. I supported this statement by quoting a good German -authority, the late Prof. Karl Lamprecht, who thinks we have a great -future as a people, because we are "capable of religious improvement." - -"Improvement!" The Herr Director sniffed derisively. "Wherever I look I -see improvements: churches turned into theaters, theaters into churches, -and residences which are still perfectly good turned into sky-scrapers. -Chaos is not an improvement upon order. Nothing is finished, nothing -complete, not even your religion." - -Just then we were compelled to pass along a wooden walk from which we -looked into a canyon blasted out of the rock, upon which still stood the -foundation of the house which was being turned into a sky-scraper. - -"You see, that is the way we improve; we go deeper each time," I -remarked. - -"But in religion," the Herr Director retorted, "you do not go deeper, -you go higher, and that is no improvement." - -For the second time the chimes were pealing, and we entered a sanctuary -of friendly yet dignified English Gothic. An usher, who looked very -American and well fed and out of place, guided us to a pew in the more -than half empty church, from which nothing was missing in the way of -ecclesiastical furnishings. One thing it lacked and that no architect -can build and no money can buy--Spirit. - -The organ was played by a master, the processional was splendidly -staged, the rector looked prosperously pious, prayers were read and -confessions uttered without any disquieting, spiritual agony, and the -anthems were correctly sung by the picturesque boys' choir. The curate -preached a sermon on manliness; a sermon so thin and emasculated that -even the Frau Directorin, whose English is limited, could understand it, -and said she would like to come again "for the good English." - -I left the church deeply disappointed, and to the Herr Director's taunts -about "improvements" I did not reply, realizing more than ever how -difficult and dangerous is this task of introducing the _Spirit_, -especially when one goes to church in the spirit of pride, rather than -in the spirit of meekness. - -No clergyman can spoil the whole of Sunday, for there is always the -dinner, and having found a _table d'hote_ in harmony with the Herr -Director's national and religious ideals, we continued our discussion -somewhat fitfully, if, at times, rather vehemently. - -One of the things the Herr Director missed in the church where we tried -to worship was reverence. He missed it everywhere and thought it due to -the fact that we do not teach religion in the public schools. - -This was rather amusing to me, for just prior to that statement he had -told me of one of his nephews who, upon approaching his final -examinations, said: "If it were not for this accursed religion I could -get through without trouble;" and I called his attention to the fact -that although I had no difficulty with my "exams" in religion, -invariably having an "_Ausgezeichnet_" which is equivalent to an A, I -was always "_Schlecht_" in conduct. - -I had found religious instruction a very irreligious procedure, for the -man who taught it was irreligious enough to whip me so that I could not -lie upon my back for a week, the cause being that I would not say yes -to his credo. Moreover I told the Herr Director I thought all religious -instruction irreligious which did not teach the child its whole duty to -society, but taught religion from only the narrowing racial or sectarian -standpoint. - -Religion, I pointed out to him, can after all not be taught; it has to -be caught. It is a contagion which comes from a spiritual personality, -and our public schools are not religious or irreligious because certain -subjects are found or not found in their curricula, but because the -teachers have this spiritual personality or lack it. I am convinced that -this ethical quality predominates in our public schools, not only -because so many of our teachers are women, but because we are -fundamentally a religious people. - -At this point I became conscious that the attention of the Herr Director -and the Frau Directorin had flagged; for their response to my homily was -an eloquent tribute to the tenderness of the breast of a Long Island -duck, which they had been enjoying while I talked. As they were -consequently in a lenient mood towards the whole world and therefore -the United States, I renewed my laudable and difficult effort, and, as -is often best, through the medium of a story. - -At the time the elective system was introduced into Harvard University, -attendance upon chapel was made voluntary. "I understand," said a severe -critic of this procedure, "that you have made God elective in your -college." - -"No," replied the astute president, "I understand that God has made -Himself elective everywhere." - -The point of my story was lost upon both my guests. When I paused, the -Frau Directorin asked me how it was possible to serve so lavish a bill -of fare for so little money, and the Herr Director asked the waiter why -they called this a Long Island duck when the portions were so short. -Thus the conviction was forced upon me that our environment was not -conducive to the discussion of the American Spirit and that I must await -a more auspicious occasion. - -Late in the afternoon that occasion came; not on Fifth Avenue but on one -of those streets where churches are fewest and humanity thickest; where -Sunday brings liberation from toil, where cleanliness and godliness have -an equally difficult task in coming or abiding; where nations and races -must mingle and cannot easily blend, where the America which is to be is -in the making, and where the Spirit must manifest itself if we are to be -a nation with common ideals. - -I like to take my friends to the East Side of New York City. I glory in -its self-respect, its brave struggle against poverty and disease, its -bright children filling all the available space and asserting their -childhood by playing in the busy street, defying its noisy traffic. They -make of each hurdy-gurdy the center of a great festival, dancing as the -elves are said to dance, because it is their nature to. - -I like to point out the faces of Patriarchs, Prophets and -Madonnas--faces seamed by care and sorrow, yet lighted by a divine -radiance and as unconscious of it as were those upon whom it shone in -such fullness on that great East Side of the Universe which we now call -the Holy Land. - -I like to have my friends meet my East Side friends, the young working -girls, who dress in good taste, help support a family, and maintain an -unstained character in spite of small wages and the temptations of a -great city. I like them to meet the growing boys who are hungry for the -best the city holds, and who dream the dream of making the East Side in -particular, and New York in general, a better place in which to live. - -I am never ashamed to take my friends into the tenement houses, except -as I am ashamed that they exist at all, with their stenches and the -dearly bought space with twenty-four hours of darkness and no free -access of air. Of the people who live within I am never ashamed, for -they are the brave ones, to whom labor is prayer, and living a -sacrifice. I like best to show off the East Side of New York on Sunday, -for here it is most welcomed with its respite from labor, its chance at -clean clothes, its opportunity to visit and be again something more than -a machine. - -On Fifth Avenue the Sabbath is made for the few, on the East Side it is -made for the many; on Fifth Avenue God seems hard to find, on the East -Side He comes down upon the street. They are indeed worse than infidels -who do not feel His Spirit brooding over the crowd, and His guardian -angels watching over those children--else how could they survive? Best -of all I know where those Angels live, and it is there I took the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin; I was sure they would never leave the -place doubting that we are a religious people. Evidently the children -also knew where their Angels live for the place was in a state of siege. -It is not strange that they knew, for their ancestors had walked and -talked with angels, and they were not yet old enough to have lost the -faith of their fathers. Troops of children there were; mere children -carrying children, and where there was an only child, which is rare on -the East Side, it was brought by a grandfather and grandmother, children -themselves now, and old enough to again believe in angels. - -There were flowers in the room and they were for the children; bowers -of roses, red roses, wafting their incense and driving out the mouldy, -tenement house air which clung to the little ones. There was music, and -they sang--sang as I know God wanted them to sing--gay, happy songs, -which seem to be denied the children who sing in the churches. - -How I wished that the picturesque little choir boys on Fifth Avenue, who -sang sixteenth century music and Augustinian theology, might have had a -chance to sing as those East Side children sang--full throated, lustily, -joyously; songs which made them shiver from very joy, and which made the -Frau Directorin weep copiously. - -How I wished that the priest who chanted Psalms in Latin, and the other -priest who intoned them in English as dead as Latin, could have been -there and have heard those children recite the same Psalms, in East Side -English. Yes, I have often wished that David himself might hear them; I -am sure he would be proud that he had a share in writing them, even as -the priests might be ashamed that they had never known just what -precious reading they are. - -No one preached to the children although they heard the good tidings, -and no one told them to be good although they were given a chance to -know how good God is, when men give Him a chance. - -There was a sacrament, a holy one; roses were given the children, and -the Angels who gave them shed their blood, for the roses had thorns. The -next week the children were to be taken where the roses grew, and they -would see that - - "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! - Rose plot, - Fringed pool, - Fern'd grot-- - The veriest school - Of Peace:--" - -But they would not have to see the garden to know that God is. - -We broke bread with the Angels and looked into their joyously weary -faces, and then we talked about the very thing I wanted my guests to -know, namely: That underneath all our religious or rather credal chaos, -we have a national creed if not a national religion. - -The Herr Director suggested that the fundamental doctrine of our creed -is "in gold we trust," and then he began a dissertation upon our -national materialism. - -Perhaps so, I conceded; but I doubted that we are more materialistic -than the people of the older world, in fact I was inclined to believe -that we are less so; which of course the Herr Director stoutly denied, -and I as stoutly affirmed. In justice to myself I must say that when my -country's honor is not at stake I am less dogmatic. - -"Perhaps we are equally materialistic," I continued, "but we are -certainly more generous. We make money faster than the people of the Old -World, but we also give it away faster, and I believe that there is no -country in which there is such a contempt for the merely rich man." - -"I suppose the second article in your national creed," the Herr Director -interrupted, "is that you are the biggest country and the best people -under the Sun. - -"If I were suggesting a motto for a new coinage I would put on one side -of it 'In Gold We Trust,' and on the other 'The Biggest and The Best.'" - -Ignoring this somewhat merited slur I said: "The first and only doctrine -of our national creed which we have as yet formulated is that we have a -great national destiny." - -At that the Herr Director jumped excitedly from his seat, and said -somewhat sneeringly, "Oh, you mean you have a place under the Sun. All -nations have such a creed, but when we Germans try to realize it, you -call us a menace to civilization." - -It was a tense moment in my relationship to my guests, but I ventured to -say: "We have a better reason for the faith which is in us than most -other nations, for we are trying to realize it without killing off other -people. In fact we are trying to realize it at a greater hazard than -that of being conquered by an alien enemy. We are keeping open these -doors which have swung both ways freely, for nearly three hundred years, -and your Old World weary ones have been coming; bringing their -traditions, their ideals, their worn out faiths and their heaped up -wrath. We did not forbid them; they have come to our towns, our schools, -our homes, they are here for better for worse, and we cannot divorce -them, or drive them away. - -"Yes," I continued, much to the discomfiture of the Herr Director, "we -_have_ a meaning to the Old World, a larger meaning than you think. We -have a place under the Sun, not to satisfy national ambitions; but to -keep alive faith in humanity." - -The Angels around the table were disquieted by our vehemence, the Frau -Directorin urged that it was growing late, and we left that center of -quiet which we had so disturbed, to return to our hotel. We entered a -street car crowded beyond its capacity by burly Irishmen the worse for -liquor, good-natured Slavs none the better for it, aggressive looking -Russian Jews and sleek Chinamen. There were mothers with their crying -babies, and thoughtless boys and girls chewing gum most viciously. -After the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had been jostled -unmercifully, we left the uncomfortable car, and when we were again -breathing unpolluted air the Herr Director asked quizzically: - -"Do you still believe in humanity?" - -Boldly and bravely I answered: "Yes, I believe," and lifting my face to -the stars I whispered: "Lord, help my unbelief." - - - - -III - -_The Spirit Out-of-Doors_ - - -Much to my regret the Herr Director did not sleep well that second night -in the United States. His nerves had suffered from those first thronging -impressions, he looked pale and was decidedly irritable; "for how could -a man sleep or be expected to sleep in this business canyon, loud from -the thunder of the elevated, and bright from the flashing of illuminated -signs?" Together they had the effect of an electric storm upon him. - -When he did fall asleep he dreamed that the Metropolitan Tower, the -Woolworth Building and St. Patrick's Cathedral were dancing Tango upon -his chest. - -This nightmare may have been due to the fact that just before retiring -we witnessed an exhibition of this modern madness, which seemed to be -indulged in everywhere except in the churches and possibly the barber -shops. Partly also, perhaps, because the Herr Director insisted upon -eating lobster shortly before midnight, in spite of the fact that I -warned him against that indulgence. It was one of those generous, United -States lobsters, and not the diminutive shell-fish with which cultured -Europeans merely tickle their palates. - -The Herr Director had repeatedly pointed out our bad habit of leaving a -great deal of food on our plates, and to impress upon me his better -manners, he had eaten the entire lobster. - -I had not slept well that night either, in spite of the fact that I had -eaten sparingly. I think it was the Herr Director himself who had "got -on my nerves," and I was finding this task of "showing off" my beloved -United States difficult and exacting. - -That morning we were to leave New York and I would introduce my guests -to the great American out-of-doors, and the prospect added to my already -uncomfortable frame of mind. - -If only we might start from that marvellous Central Station in the heart -of the city; but in order to reach our destination, which was Lake -Mohonk, we had to cross the West Side where it is irredeemably tawdry -and ugly, and take one of the ferry-boats to Weehawken. This somewhat -inconvenient procedure made the Herr Director doubly critical. - -The Fates were against us, for it was a hot, humid day, the car was -crowded, and the start from Weehawken anything but auspicious. - -In Europe the Herr Director travels second class when he travels -officially (the first, as is well known, being reserved for Americans -and fools), and third when he travels _incognito_, for he is a thrifty -soul. Nevertheless, he did not like our cars, they were "obtrusively -decorated," and privacy was impossible. Why should he have to look at a -hundred or more human heads variously "_frisired_"? - -I suggested that we take seats in front, which we succeeded in doing, -and then he found that if he wished to take off his collar, he would -have to do it with two hundred or more human eyes fastened upon him, -when the hundred people possessing them had no business to see what he -was doing. - -I have already confessed how sensitive I am to criticism of anything -American, no matter how just the criticism may be. So sensitive am I, -that had he reflected upon the good looks of my wife, he could scarcely -have hurt me more than when he reflected upon the beauty and arrangement -of an American railway car. - -And yet I have often wondered why our American genius seems to have -exhausted itself when it evolved the present type of car, having done -nothing to it except adding or taking away some of its "gingerbread." -Nevertheless I lost my patience and told him that if he liked to travel -cooped in with seven other passengers, four of whom he must face and two -of whom might at any moment poke their elbows into his ribs; if he -preferred to breathe air polluted by seven other people, and have a -fresh supply of ozone only at periods and in quantities regulated by -law, I did not admire his taste. As far as I was concerned I preferred -to travel in this big room on wheels, rather than in a jail-like box to -which the conductor alone had the key. Anyway this represented American -democracy with its unpartitioned space; but if he really wanted it, I -could get him a stateroom in the Pullman, and he could ride in isolated -splendor and be aristocratically stuffy and uncomfortable. - -When the Frau Directorin in typical German phraseology complained about -the draft: "_Um Gottes Willen ein Zug!_" I decided to save the day, and -we retreated to the Pullman stateroom. - -There they rested themselves back and looked tolerably happy while I, -silently but fervently, prayed that this particular train would not -disgrace itself by "committing" an accident. - -The big, American out-of-doors, even where it is old and its waste -spaces are cultivated and hedged about, has something which is -characteristically American. Of course nature knows no political -boundary; the grass is green everywhere, the sky is blue, cattle and -sheep, like man, have a long and honorable ancestry. Yet there is a -difference which may not be due to what nature is, but to man's attitude -towards her and his treatment of her. - -I have noticed this in passing through Europe; how unerringly one knows -where Germanic boundaries end and those of the Slav begin. German fields -and forests are trim and orderly; Slavic territory so ill kept and ill -used that when one has a glimpse of a village even from the swift moving -train, the difference is obvious. - -Sometimes I am inclined to believe that this attitude of man affects his -environment as much as we know the environment affects him. I wonder -just how much of the American out-of-doors, with its generous but not -gentle aspect, its subdued but untamed spirit, is due to those valiant -men who came from across the sea, and in so doing restored a bit of -their long-lost courage, and made masters of men who so long had been -serfs and knaves. - -I had hoped that the sudden burst of the Hudson upon my guests' vision -would thrill them; but if they were thrilled, they were careful to -conceal it. When I suggested the likeness of the Hudson to the Rhine, -the Herr Director took it as a personal affront and said you might as -well compare St. Patrick's Cathedral and that of Cologne. They are both -churches and Gothic; the Hudson and the Rhine are two rivers, and both -are big. - -Nevertheless I insisted that there is an evident resemblance which would -be complete if the Hudson had a ruined castle here and there, or a -picturesquely cramped village huddling against the hillside. - -"Yes, and beside castles and picturesque villages," the Herr Director -replied tartly, "you need a thousand years of culture and the same -traditions which make the shores of the Rhine sacred to us; you also -need generations of patiently plodding peasants who have made a -sacrament of their toil. One glance at your rotting boats lying along -the shore, at the untilled, gaping spaces and glaring, inartistic -sign-boards which disfigure it, is sufficient to distinguish the two -rivers or perhaps even the two countries." - -Having thus forcefully delivered himself, he scornfully pointed out the -waste places and the unkempt-looking fields, asking me whether I still -dared compare anything in this out-of-doors with the fine economy and -splendid supervision of the natural resources of his own country. - -Shamefacedly I acknowledged my country's guilt, and the guilt which was -evident on the majestic shores of the Hudson. We are wasteful, -extravagant and reckless--great defects in our national spirit, and most -in evidence in our treatment of nature's beauty and wealth. We shall -have to remedy that, in fact we are just beginning to do it; if not from -any sense of guilt, from the same sheer necessity which makes the -nations of the Old World careful of their national wealth. - -"The Conservation of our National Resources" is a fine phrase; it -represents not only an economic, but a spiritual gain--this feeling of -responsibility for the next generation. It is a new and most valuable -asset of our national spirit; yet I must confess that I fear the coming -of a day when we, too, shall have to practice the sordid little -economies of the Old World and think with anxiety about the to-morrow. - -It has always seemed to me that here the miracle of the loaves and -fishes might be performed indefinitely, and that there always would be -left over the baskets full of fragments. Somehow, in common with the -rest of mankind, I have associated generous plenty with the American -spirit, and I trust we shall never have just our dole and no more. - -I recall walking one evening with the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin through the well-regulated, officially trimmed and "_Streng -Verboten_" forest which encircles his native city. My children were with -us--young, vigorous, American savages, who have a superabundance of the -American spirit although they have not a drop of American blood in their -veins. We passed a small mound of freshly mown hay and they promptly -jumped into it, tossing a few handfuls as an offering to their -aboriginal deity, the wind. If they had dashed into the plateglass -window of a jeweler's shop or had desecrated the most holy shrine, they -could not have caused greater consternation. - -"_Um Gottes Himmels Willen die Polizei!_" cried the Herr Director and -the Frau Directorin echoed: "_Die Polizei!_" - -Although this happened about ten years ago, my children have not -forgotten their fright. - -I suppose we still lack this virtue of economy, and yet I hope we may -not lose that certain largeness of nature and that generosity of spirit -which have characterized us. - -I love the generous spaces, the unfenced lawns, which make of the whole -village one common park; the grass and clover free to the touch of our -children's feet, the fragrant flowers wasting their bloom, and berries -and cherries enough for the wild things of the woods. May the future not -bring more high walls and narrow lanes, big game preserves for the rich, -and scant patches of soil for the poor; castles for capital and -tenements for labor. And may we never see written over every blade of -grass: "_Streng Verboten_." - -I realized that the Herr Director spoke truly when he said that what we -lack over here is a healthy class spirit, which the German farmer has. A -sort of pride in his calling which makes him care for the soil and -nourish it with a lover's passion. To him robbing the soil is as great a -crime as it would be to rob his children. It is not only the Emperor who -regards himself as a partner with God, and sometimes the senior partner; -the commonest, poorest peasant is apt to say as he drenches his field -with the accumulated compost: "_Ich und Gott_." - -Speaking of the farmer, the Herr Director admitted that in Germany as -elsewhere there is a trend to the city; but the tide is held back by the -pride of the German farmer, who glories in having his traditions, his -folksongs, and, above all, this sense of partnership with God. - -We scarcely have such a thing as a farmer class; we have merely -merchandizers in dirt who sell not only the products of the soil, but -unhesitatingly the soil itself. - -The land which we see from the car window, which the pioneers won from -this boundless space, these houses and sheltering groves, the homesteads -in which a great race was cradled, are all for sale, now that the soil -is robbed of its fertility and the robbers have moved on to repeat the -process elsewhere. We are doing something, he admitted, to stem the tide -to the cities; we are introducing agricultural training into our public -schools and are making the raising of corn and wheat a science, but not -as yet a sacrament. - -We stayed over night in one of the half-asleep towns on the shores of -the river, a town whose history is written upon the headstones in the -cemetery, in the center of which the stately meeting-house stands. We -met the descendants of those who sleep there, whose pride lies in the -fact that their forefathers were the pioneers who fought the Indians, -the fevers and each other. Their houses are full of old furniture -shipped from England and Holland, and we ate their food and drank their -tea from costly silver and exquisite china which they have inherited. - -We looked upon the portraits of their ancestors and were told of their -virtues and their fame; we saw fine memorials to the past in churches -and town halls and rode in their automobiles, to see the farms -bequeathed to them. One thing, alas! they have not and never will -have--descendants. - -On one of the farms we saw a swarthy Italian with a bright red rose -behind his ear. His wife and children were working with him in the -field, and they were doing this strange thing as they pulled weeds from -the onion beds--they were singing. The Herr Director said significantly, -"These are the heirs to all this," and I think he was a true prophet. - -It is a wonderful thing to invent agricultural machinery and to discover -new methods by which two blades of grass can be made to grow where but -one grew; yet if only some one could tune our dull American ears, so -that our farmers might catch the melody of the singing land and sing -with it; if our boys and girls would love wild roses well enough to wear -them--if, and that is a very big if--some one could teach us Americans -to be proud of having descendants, we might add a new note to the great -American out-of-doors, and keep it American. - -That night we sat upon a wide verandah, overlooking a valley through -which the Hudson rolled majestically; we saw populous cities, -picturesque villages and bounteous farms; we looked into the heart of -the out-of-doors and I was proud of it and of its free people, who ought -to be a grateful people. There was deep silence everywhere; no sound -except that of the birds, and they did not sing jubilantly as birds -ought to sing in so blessed a place and on so glorious an evening. No -one sang except the same Italian who was coming home with his wife and -numerous progeny. He still wore the rose behind his ear, although it had -faded. Those who sat with us had every luxury and more money than they -knew how to spend; but they could not sing, for they were old, children -there were none, and if there had been, they would not have been -singing--they would have had a victrola. - -After the Italian had eaten his frugal but pungent fare he came to the -big verandah to get his orders for the next day, and the Herr Director -spoke Italian to him and he replied in that language which in itself is -almost a song. His mistress asked him to bring his wife and children to -sing for us. His wife did not come but the children came. They would not -sing an Italian song, it is true--that was just for themselves, in the -fields where only God heard. They sang some sentimental thing they had -heard in the "movies"--chewing gum the while. I asked them to sing -something their teacher taught them but they knew nothing except "My -Country 'tis of Thee" and the "Star Spangled Banner," both of which they -sang joylessly and not understandingly. How and why should they -understand when the Americans did not? - -It was a day full of dismal failure in my attempt to impress upon my -guests the American spirit, and the failure of it was "rubbed" in by -the Herr Director, who, as he bade me good-night, quoted as a parting -shot this bit of German verse: - - "Und wo Man singt - Da las dich froelich nieder, - Denn boese Menchen haben keine Lieder." - -The rub was in his inference that we have no song because we have no -noble spirit. - - - - -IV - -_The Spirit at Lake Mohonk_ - - -Many years ago the Herr Director and I were tramping through the Hartz -Mountains in northern Germany. He had not yet achieved portliness and -fame; while to me, America was still the land of Indians and buffaloes, -and I had never dreamed of going there. We were climbing the Brocken, -and that which thrilled me more than its granite steeps and deeply -mysterious pines was, the hundreds of school-boys and girls we met, -singing as they climbed, and who, when they rested, listened to their -teachers who stimulated their imagination and their patriotism by -telling them the stories which had woven themselves around those -mountains. - -The Catskills are not unlike the Hartz, and I remarked upon it as the -Herr Director and I were climbing the Walkill Range. Our destination -was Lake Mohonk, the scene of the Conference for International -Arbitration, organized and supported by that noble Quaker, Albert K. -Smiley; and now after his death continued by his able and generous -brother Daniel Smiley, and his gracious wife. - -The Frau Directorin, with hundreds of other guests, had been met at the -railroad station by carriages, this being one of the few places left -upon earth where the automobile is excluded. - -The Herr Director was not climbing as easily as he climbed thirty years -ago, and neither was I, although I made a brave show and led the way, -frequently leaving him in the rear, much to his disgust. - -"Yes," he said, mopping his brow and looking about critically, "this is -somewhat like the Hartz," and my heart gave a joyous leap at his -admission; "but several things are missing: Good company, merry songs -and, above all, places of refreshment." - -Of course I could offer him no better company than I was, as there are -not many people in America who climb when they can ride for nothing; -and the only refreshment available was clear water from a shaded spring. -As we drank he recalled laughingly how, when we stopped at one of those -nature's fountains in the Hartz, a man who had watched us, came running -out of his house and warned us that we might catch cold in our stomachs, -at the same time politely offering to guide us to a place where we would -get something not so dangerously cold, and with tempting foam at the -top. - -I have long ago been weaned from the German custom of mixing -refreshments and scenery; but one does miss the boys and girls, the -merry, happy throngs, their sentimental songs and their fervent, poetic -patriotism. Involuntarily my mind reverted to a scene the Herr Director -and I witnessed after we had finally reached the summit of our mountain -in the Hartz. It was nearly evening, and we could look far and wide -above the forest into the happy and beautiful country. On the very -topmost peak stood a corpulent German, surrounded by his genial group. -He was reciting with fervor and genuine passion, in the broadest -Berlinese dialect, one of their treasured poems which begins with these -lines: - - "High upon the hilltops of thy mountains stand I, - Thou beautiful and mighty Fatherland." - -If this should happen over here, of which there is no danger, he would -be laughed at, if noticed at all; over there he was treated like a high -priest who called the faithful to prayer. - -As a people we lack not only poetic imagination, we lack also this -identification of our country with the best in nature. Our youth may be -to blame for that, or perhaps we have so much of nature and so much -which is beautiful that we have not been able to encompass it. Yet there -must be something very important lacking in such Americans as the one -whom I met very recently. He had just returned from a "Seeing America -First" tour, and had seen everything from Niagara to the Big Tree groves -of California. When I asked him what he thought of it all he said, -coolly, "Oh! it's a big country." Naturally I did not tell this nor the -following to the Herr Director. - -A few years ago I went with a group of Americans to see one of the -famous ice caves in the Alps. The accommodating guides had lighted -candles in the labyrinth and the sight was enchanting. One of my party, -a dry-goods dealer, said with genuine enthusiasm: "My! I wish I could -get such a shade of silk in New York." The other said: "Too bad; so much -perfectly good ice going to waste." He belonged to the much maligned -tribe of ice-men. The rest of the men said nothing, although one of them -did remark when we reached our hotel: "This only shows how slow they are -over here. In the good old United States we would light that show with -electricity." He belongs to the tribe whose name is legion. - -The Herr Director, as my readers have found, was very chary of his -praise, in fact thus far I had not heard a good word from him for my -United States; but that evening as we looked from the Mountain House -down upon the dark, deep lake, the rock gardens and the quaint bowers -on every promontory, granite walls broken and scattered, and the rich -valley between us and the Catskills, he did say: "This is the most -beautiful spot I have ever seen!" - -Of course his generous mood was partially gendered by the unequalled -hospitality of our host and hostess and by the sight of his fellow -guests, who represented not only the entire United States, but the -United States at its best. Moreover, he and his wife had received a more -than cordial welcome because they were representative foreigners and -spoke English with a "cute accent." - -I almost felt a slight touch of jealousy upon that point although I am -not of a jealous nature. But I have noticed this: to the degree that my -English has improved, to that degree I have become less interesting to -my American friends, so that I have sometimes been tempted to wish that -I too might speak English with a "cute accent." - -The happy day was almost spoiled for me by the discovery that our trunks -had not arrived. The Herr Director worked himself into a frenzy and the -Frau Directorin had dire forebodings of having to spend the three days -in the same shirt-waist. Telegrams were sent in all directions, while -the Herr Director called our much boasted of baggage system hard names; -my "best laid schemes" seemed about to "gang agley" when much to my -relief the trunks arrived, and I felt once more assured of the divine -favor in my most strenuous efforts to "boost" my United States. - -The Herr Director had come to this country to take part in the Mohonk -Conference, and being a prudent man, he submitted his address to me. It -was written with Teutonic thoroughness and as void of places of -refreshment as the Sahara Desert or the Walkill Range we had climbed. - -I suggested a thorough revision, the cutting out of many statistics and -resting his case, not upon pure business, but upon the higher plane of -pure justice. He insisted upon retaining his statistics and also his -appeal to the selfish and materialistic side of his audience; for he -knew "something about Americans" and still doubted their idealism. - -The next morning after breakfast we attended prayers, which is a part of -the daily program of this hostelry, and presided over by the host, who -usually reads the Scriptures, announces a hymn and then leads in prayer. -It is as impressive as it is simple and dignified, and the Herr Director -and his wife did their first singing in America when they joined in a -hymn whose tune is an old German folk-song. - -The program which followed the prayer service was dominated by -specialists in International Law and they were dry and concise enough to -suit even the Herr Director; while the dreamers and agitators, whom he -expected to hear, were almost altogether unrepresented. In fact they -have grown less in this assembly each year, largely because it is -thought that the whole subject has reached the point when it is a -practical question to be discussed by men of affairs. No one knew better -than the Herr Director how inevitable was the next great war and how far -we were from the practical Court of International Arbitration. - -The epilogue to that great world drama had been spoken in the Balkan, -and spoken with vehemence, passion and fierce cruelty, and he knew its -bearing upon the whole tense situation in Europe. Yet I am sure that -even he did not know how many nations would be involved, nor how costly -and deadly would be the conflict. He did foreshadow in his own -condemnation of England and of England's foreign policy the element of -hate between the two related nations, which was to play so important a -part in the present war. - -The afternoon is playtime at Lake Mohonk, and most generous are the -provisions for recreation; but the Herr Director did not ride or drive, -nor play golf or tennis. He stayed in his room rewriting his paper, -having sensed something of the Spirit of Lake Mohonk. - -It is a very dignified room in which the problem of International -Arbitration is discussed, and although it never loses its hospitable, -home-like air, one always has the feeling of being before a high -tribunal, where anything but the most serious mood seems out of place; -although a jest sometimes relieves the discussion. - -An audience of about four hundred people gathered that evening, men and -women in varied walks of life, coming from all the states in the Union -and from many foreign countries. - -There were captains of industry and of infantry, admirals of fleets and -presidents of colleges, statesmen and politicians, ministers, lawyers -and journalists. Their views ranged from those who believe that war is -an unavoidable event in human history, and that a little blood letting -now and then is necessary for the best of men, to those who teach that -war is a curse and that a certain warrior who compared it to the worst -place which human imagination can conceive, might be sued for libelling -his Satanic Majesty who presides over that place or state. On the whole, -they represented the men of action and men without illusions although -with high ideals. The Herr Director's paper, minus its statistics, and -keenly critical rather than laudatory, was received with applause, and -he stepped from the platform in the best humor in which I had seen him -since he reached the United States. - -The real joy of the Lake Mohonk Conference, and of all conferences, is -the human touch, and after the long evening session the Herr Director -became the center of an interesting group of men who, while smoking -their cigars, lost some of their American reserve and became -sufficiently animated to hear and tell stories; so it was long past -midnight when the informal session ended. - -Frequently the Herr Director asked questions about things which he could -not understand, and it was at such times that I sought to enlighten him, -or have him enlightened by others; for he had become sceptical as to my -own ability to inform him regarding anything American. - -He could not understand, for instance, that all this lavish -entertainment was free, and suggested that it must be a sort of gigantic -American advertising scheme, carefully concealed. When he was told that -to secure a room during the season one must apply long in advance, and -most likely have fair credentials before being accepted as a guest, he -merely shook his head and murmured something about these "inexplicable -Americans." - -He also did not see how an hotel could flourish in any civilized country -without permitting the accepted social diversions, such as card playing, -dancing, and drinking something stronger than the mild beverages served -at the soda fountain. - -He wanted to know how it was that three or four hundred Americans would -take three days of their time to discuss a theme which had little or -nothing to do with profits. All the Americans he had known about were -void of ideals, and had no time for anything but business or poker. In -fact he was astonished not to see poker chips littering the sidewalks. - -I told him that while it is true that the average American business man -is always in a hurry, and gives little time to wholesome recreation, it -is also true that in no country with which I am familiar do men of -business give their time so generously to the consideration of the -common welfare as here. They do this, not having the incentive -constantly held out to the European business man, namely: Recognition by -the state and the reward which sovereigns may bestow, in much coveted -titles and decorations. The average well-inclined American business man -is incredibly patient, sitting through tedious meetings, listening to -reports of various philanthropies, and earns a martyr's crown attending -those interminably long banquets with their assault upon his digestion -and their appeal to his sympathies. - -At Lake Mohonk the Herr Director met business men employing thousands of -clerks to whom they grant vacations and holidays without legal -compulsion, and for whom they have inaugurated welfare plans of -far-reaching importance. It was certainly a revelation to him that the -number of Americans who are something more than animated money bags is -growing larger every day. - -The still more difficult thing to explain to him was the frank and open -discussions of national policies and the evident international -view-point of those who took part in them. In all the discussions the -most striking note was: "The United States wants not territory, not -unfair advantage over other nations nor aggrandizement at the expense of -lesser peoples, nor war, certainly not for conquest." - -The Herr Director intimated that in the exalted mood induced by being -members of this conference, we could afford to be generous; but that at -a time of national excitement we are no better than other people, taking -what we can get and asking no questions. - -"Uncle Sam was not wholly disinterested in Cuba, was he? and as far as -Mexico is concerned, who fermented the trouble there but this same Uncle -Sam, that you might have an excuse to swallow as much of Mexico as you -wanted?" - -Instantly my mind travelled to the time of the Spanish-American war, -when I was in Europe, and the Herr Director was editing an influential -German newspaper. He wrote an editorial, accusing the United States of -beginning the war with Spain for the sole purpose of annexing the "Pearl -of the Antilles," and when I disputed his theory we nearly severed our -"diplomatic relations." - -I now again vigorously pressed my point, to the great amusement of my -friends and the chagrin of the Herr Director, who could not easily -refute my statements; for while I acknowledged being an -"_Unausstehlicher Americaner_," I happen to know the Old World policies -as well as he does. - -I mentioned Austria-Hungary, and its taking over of Bosnia and -Herzegovina, without so much as "by your leave"--and Germany which, to -salve its hurt, sent a fleet of warships to China and helped the German -eagle bury its beak in the Yellow Dragon's tail. I mentioned France in -Algeria, and England everywhere--"and Uncle Sam in the Philippines," he -interrupted. - -I took full advantage of that interruption to remind him that Uncle Sam -is the only power which ever paid for anything gained by that right -which in Europe seems to be the only right;--the right of might. - -It was a difficult task which I had undertaken, to convince the Herr -Director that the American Spirit is different from that of the Old -World, and in spite of me he insisted that we are not a bit better than -other people, but only so situated that we can afford to be generous. I -assured him that I preferred to boast of our fair dealing with lesser -peoples than of our victorious battles, and that I am never so loyally -and enthusiastically American as when I think of our being just, rather -than mighty. - -I have since been at Lake Mohonk at a time when national passions were -aroused, and when those who had prophesied the early passing of the -battle fever were discredited prophets. While there, a letter reached me -from the Herr Director, in which he sent greetings to his host and -hostess and the members of the conference, and in which he recalled his -former accusation that we are no better than other people; for "are you -not pro-Ally and filling your pockets with the proceeds from the sale of -war munitions? Where now is your boasted fairness?" - -My reply was that I in common with many others wish we could wash our -hands of this bloody business of selling ammunition, and that I still -firmly believe that the American people will retain their poise during -this dreadful upheaval. - -Yes, even to-day I can say with no less pride than usual that I believe -in the American Spirit, in its sense of fairness and its love of -justice, and while I trust that this country may be kept from so great a -catastrophe as war, and I be kept from so severe a trial of my loyalty -as having to choose on which side to fight, I know I would freely and -unhesitatingly be on the side of my country, the United States of -America. - -Three glorious days had passed at Lake Mohonk and when the guests left -that mountain top no one went more reluctantly than the Herr Director -and his wife, and all the way back to the great city they felicitated -upon their delightful experiences, while I rejoiced in my country and -its spirit. When the Herr Director wrote his book I found that he -acknowledged having discovered four things at Lake Mohonk. First, an -unparallelled hospitality. Secondly, that the leading men of America are -soberly practical, unemotional, somewhat self-centered; but, at the same -time, men of high ideals. Thirdly, that its military men attend -conferences for international arbitration, that they do not rattle their -sabers, and in appearance cannot be distinguished from mere civilians. -Finally, that the American man boasts most and loudest of his sense of -fairness; and while I write these lines, I am hoping and praying that -this may indeed be not an empty boast, but an integral part of the -American Spirit. - - - - -V - -_Lobster and Mince Pie_ - - -If I were gastronomically inclined I would study New York's cosmopolitan -population and its progress towards Americanization from the standpoint -of its restaurants; for the appetite is most loyally patriotic. A man -may cease to speak his mother tongue and have forsworn allegiance to -Kaiser and to King, but still cling to his ancestral bill of fare. - -If I were an absolute monarch and wished my alien people quickly -assimilated, I would permit them to speak their native tongue and cling -to the faith of their fathers; but I would close all foreign -restaurants, and as speedily as possible obliterate from their memory -the taste of viands "like mother used to make." - -I fear that it is neither Goethe nor Schiller, nor Bismarck nor Kaiser -Wilhelm who has kept the memory of the Fatherland alive in the minds and -hearts of many German people in America. Dare I say that possibly much -of their patriotism and loyalty is due to the taste of rye bread and -sweet butter, _Rindsbrust_ and _Pell Cartoffel_, not to mention a -certain frothy amber fluid? - -Be that as it may, when I discovered that the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin were homesick, I took them to a German restaurant to assuage -their pangs; just as if, did I detect the same symptoms in an American -whom I wished to make thoroughly at home in a foreign country, I would -take him where a meal could be properly concluded with apple pie and -cheese or ice-cream. - -The restaurant I selected lent itself particularly well to my purpose, -for everything was imported, from the Bavarian architecture to the -_Frankfurter_ sausages. The _menu_ card was adorned by illuminated, -medieval lettering, and on the smoked rafters were painted pious and -impious verses, which gave the room a literary atmosphere. - -It was as crowded and full of tobacco smoke and the odors of savory -meats as the most loyal German could desire, and my guests were -thoroughly at home. They ate their food happily, praised it -discriminatingly, and studied the familiar environment carefully. As -usual, certain things were lacking; for the Herr Director is a keen -critic and never accepts anything as perfect. - -I agreed with him that the orchestra was too noisy and on the whole -superfluous, and that the native American dining there could be easily -recognized by the indifference with which he ate. We heard no loud -complaining, and little or no quarrelling with the waiters. The food was -accepted in a humble sort of way whether it was satisfactory or not; -bills were paid, tips were given in the spirit of meekness, and accepted -in the opposite way, and the guests left without any ceremony except -that of paying their toll to the keepers of their hats and coats, a form -of extortion quite unparallelled abroad. - -In striking contrast to our mere eating was my guests' enjoyment of -every morsel of the food which they had selected, not simply because it -was food, but because it was a note fitting into the gastronomic -harmony. The head waiter and all his minions hovered about them with due -reverence, and woe to him who by pose or gesture disturbed the perfect -accord. - -A friend from Nebraska who was staying at our hotel had joined us at -dinner. When the waiter handed him the bewildering bill of fare, he -waved it aside saying: "Just bring me a big lobster stewed in milk, with -a dish of pickles and a mince pie." - -The waiter turned pale, the Herr Director gasped, almost strangling on -the salad he was eating, and the Frau Directorin looked at me -despairingly. The waiter was the first to recover his composure, and -cautiously suggested that the gentleman might like some Lobster a la -Newburgh. - -"Nix," said the Nebraskan, "I want lobster a la Milkburgh, and don't -forget the pickles." - -The waiter retreated and after a long conference with his superior, -informed the gentleman that he could have his lobster stewed in milk, -but that it would cost him one dollar and fifty cents. - -"Hustle it along," was the curt reply, and in about fifteen minutes he -was deep in his bowl of lobster stew, flanked on either side by pickles -and mince pie, while the rest of us were eating our way leisurely and -artistically through a _menu_ which began with _caviar_ and ended with -_Camambert_ and _demitasse_. - -After dinner, American men, manners and ideals became the subject of a -discussion into which my Western friend good-naturedly entered, although -he was made a horrible example of the fact that we are ill-mannered. The -Herr Director insisted that our nation is too young to have any except -bad manners, and while no doubt we had improved in the years since he -first made our acquaintance, the improvement had not yet permeated the -masses. - -That which I called the American Spirit was the spirit of the few -cultured, academic persons I knew, but the majority of the people was as -alien to it as was our Nebraska friend's lobster and mince pie to our -delicious and dietetically correct dinner. - -"I don't give a hang for your 'dietetically correct dinner.' I want what -I want, when I want it!" the Nebraskan said, smiting the table with his -fist, and evidently suppressing stronger language with an apologetic -glance at the ladies of our party. - -"That is exactly it; you want what you want, when you want it," the Herr -Director repeated, "whether or not it is on the bill of fare, or in the -statute book, or among the laws of the Universe. In that I suppose you -Americans all agree; that is your _American Spirit_." He uttered the -last phrase with special emphasis, and with no attempt to hide the -sneer. - -I admitted that my friend's demand for the thing he wanted, regardless -of the bill of fare and in defiance of a dietary law (of which he was -not as yet conscious), was a manifestation of our individualism, a -rather wide-spread characteristic. I was fain also to admit that our -individualism is not always as harmless to others as in the case under -discussion. It is an attitude of mind which has developed into a system -to which we are committed for better or worse, and is in striking -contrast to the German ideal of submission to an accepted order. - -"Yes," from the Herr Director with evident pride. "That which makes -Germany great and strong is our willing submission to authority; but -remember it must be intelligent authority, and at the same time it must -be efficient. To be sure," he acknowledged, "we are often chagrined by -the '_Streng Verboten_' to the right of us and the '_Nicht Erlaubt_' to -the left of us. We are much governed but we are well governed, and you, -too, will some day discover that the common weal has to be above the -individual's caprice. Your evident disrespect of laws and conventions -results from the lack of intelligence back of them, and you have no -respect for your lawmakers because they do not deserve it." - -At this point the Nebraskan astonished us by saying that he had recently -been in Europe on business, selling grindstones, that he knew something -about Germany, and he never was gladder to get back to God's country -than when he finally set foot upon his native soil. He had many -adventures, and as an example of what he had to suffer from one of -Germany's well enforced laws, he told a story which proved his sense of -humor, though the "laugh was on him." - -"When I was in Berlin I made out a small bill for some goods I had sold, -and the man told me that I must affix to it some revenue stamps. I -didn't want to bother with it, and told him so. The thing was too -trifling anyway. - -"I never thought of that bill again till I was forcibly reminded of it -in Hamburg as I was about to sail for home. I was haled before the -court, and the judge fined me fifty _marks_. Of course I knew I had to -pay it, so I handed him the money and told him in good English to take -it and go to the hot place with it. I didn't dream that he understood, -but he replied in as good English as I gave him: 'Officials of my rank -travel first-class. I must therefore have fifty _marks_ more.' That -little joke cost me a lot of money. I wouldn't want to live in a -country where I couldn't tell anybody I pleased what I felt like -telling him." - -The Herr Director doubted the accuracy of the story because "no German -official would show so little dignity." I, too, doubted it; but on the -ground that no German official would have so keen a sense of humor. - -There followed an animated argument between the Nebraskan and the Herr -Director as to which is of more importance, the individual or the state. -The Nebraskan insisted that the state being the creation of individuals, -they are of supreme importance, while the Herr Director persisted in his -theory that the state is supreme and that it is the business of the -individual to make it dominant and powerful, to which end the state must -make him effective. - -"An ineffective individual is a menace to the state, and a state which -cannot impress its will upon the individual and make him submissive and -effective will be vanquished in the great competitive struggle -constantly going on." - -"I suppose you're effective enough, but you're as slow as molasses in -January." - -"Oh, yes, we are slow, but we are thorough; we take our time to do a -thing well, while your hurry is as wearing as it is useless. When we -came down here this evening we were in a hurry. We were rushed to your -crowded subway to take a certain train, although the next one would have -done as well. In about three minutes we were pushed out of that train -into another, because it went faster, and we reached here breathless. We -saved time, but for what purpose? To see you eat your lobster and mince -pie?" And he looked contemptuously at the Nebraskan. - -"What are we going to do now with the two or three minutes we saved?" - -This was a question I could not answer, for I did not know why I had -hurried. Perhaps because of the excess of ozone in the air, or possibly -because every one else was hurrying. - -"You see," he continued, "we Germans never make the mistake of -confounding hurry with efficiency. We hurry, too, when we must, or when -we have a rational purpose. We know that great things cannot be -accomplished in a hurry. We lay our foundations not only patiently, but -thoroughly and cheerfully. - -"You work like slaves who are eager to finish the job, as you call it. -We cherish towards our job a sentiment of love and loyalty which we call -'_Pflichttreue_,' a word for which you have no equivalent, proving of -course that you have not the thing itself." - -I translated the word as loyalty to duty. - -"Yes, that may be correct, but it does not ring true. _Pflichttreue_ has -an ethical significance which your translation does not convey. - -"I have noticed that your conductors shed their uniforms the instant -they leave their trains, as if they were ashamed of their job. With us, -any uniform, whether a railroad conductor's or a general's, is gloried -in, and honored because of the work it represents." - -The Nebraskan thought us too democratic for uniforms, which is the -reason we do not value them more than we do. - -"It is not the uniform, it is our work in which we glory. A shoemaker -with us is as proud of his job as the Emperor is of his. He is Emperor -by the grace of God, because he believes it is a God-given task to which -he must be faithful, and we once had a shoemaker who called himself with -equal pride, 'Shoemaker by the grace of God.' - -"This pride spiritualizes the simplest and commonest work by making -every man a conscious part of the state, and he works for its glory and -power. It is a glory shared by his wife and family," and the Herr -Director pulled from his pocket a German newspaper. "Look at this -funeral notice. The widow signs herself not only as the widow of a -particular man, but as the widow of a man who did something of which she -is still proud. While she remains a widow she will sign herself _Amalia -Henrietta Schmidt Koenigliche Hof Opern Obo Spieler's Wittwe_." - -"How can we be proud of our jobs," queried the Nebraskan, after his -hearty laugh at _Amalia Henrietta Schmidt_, "when we never have a job -which we expect to hold permanently? I started out with school teaching, -then I got hold of a good thing in the way of Carborundum and made -grindstones. That's what took me to Europe. When that business went bad, -I bought out the livery stable in my town, and now I am in the moving -picture business. If I could sell out at a good price I'd do it and take -up any old thing as long as there is money in it." - -He was right. Our work is not sacred to us, for too often it is only the -means to an end, and frequently a very selfish end. Because Germany has -had centuries of carpenters and tinkers and shoemakers who planed boards -and mended pots and shoes "by the grace of God," and swung the hammer as -if it were a sword, they are now wielding the sword as if it were a -hammer. - -In some way we must get this spiritual appeal of the job, which means -not only that we shall have to dedicate ourselves to our task in a -manner worthy of its significance, but that the state must have this -spiritual attitude towards the worker, and treat him as though worthy of -his place in the economy of the nation. It is this wise provision for -the workers' efficient education, the state's recognition that the -well-being of the individual is its concern, which has given to Germany -the unfailing devotion of all her people. - -I was roused from these meditations by hearing the Nebraskan's voice. - -"You see I never had a chance to learn just one thing. I can do many -things tolerably well, for I had to do them. I can splice a rope, repair -a machine, shingle a house and if necessary build a barn. I can play -ragtime on the piano, throw a steer or ride a bucking broncho. I can -even make soda biscuits. I am the child of the pioneers, and in order to -survive, they had to be jacks of all trades. - -"I bought a tool in a department store the other day," and he drew it -from his pocket. "It can do sixteen things tolerably well, but it isn't -worth shucks for any one job, if you want to do it right. That's me." - -The Herr Director wanted to know what "shucks" meant, and after I -laboriously explained it to him and he had handled the patent tool he -said: - -"Your travelling men have come over to Germany and tried to sell us this -kind of thing, but they found no market. When we want a gimlet, or a -saw, or a coat-hanger we want that one thing and want it as good as it -can be made. We marvel at your adaptability, but we are too thorough to -be adaptable, and we do not need to be. You Americans will never be able -to compete with us until you learn to specialize and do one thing well." - -We sat long into the night comparing the German and the American Spirit, -but there was one phase of the former which the Herr Director clearly -demonstrated. There was a religious fervor in his patriotism which the -average American lacks. To him his country was not only above himself -but beyond everything else on Earth or in Heaven. There often seems -something sordid about our patriotism, something connected solely with -the individual's well-being. I glory in our sense of liberty, in the -opportunity to live unmolested, and in every man's chance to be himself; -but I fear we have as yet not learned to value our duty to this country -as much as we do our privilege. - -I am sure there will be no lack of fighters if the country is in danger; -but shall we be able to fight the long, exhausting battle which -presupposes discipline and subordination? - -The United States gives much to the individual, more, I think, than any -other country; but she has not given intelligently, she has nearly -pauperized us all by her beneficence, and has demanded nothing in -return, nor even taught us common gratitude. - -Our children are told that they must love their country, but what that -means beyond fighting when it is in danger they know not. That it means -to do their work thoroughly, that they must learn to do things well, and -exalt the nation by becoming efficient workmen that they may help win -their country's battles in the factory, or behind the counter, they do -not yet know; and what we have not learned, we cannot teach. - -This questioning mood of mine is never gendered as I contemplate the -mob, the many who are driven to revolt either by their unbridled -passions or by the unbearable conditions under which they have to -labor; my fear is strongest when I look into the schools and when I face -our youth which comes out of them, inefficient, but above all, -undisciplined. They do not lack physical courage, nor yet devotion to -the country, in a sort of abstract way; they do lack the submission to -intelligent authority. - -In this latter-day test of different ideals of the state, through the -cruel, undecisive test of war, we may learn from Germany to instill this -"_Pflichttreue_," this loyalty to the job. We may also learn the more -difficult lesson for us individualists--submission to authority which we -must make intelligent, as well as conscientious. - -Necessity will soon teach us to be thorough, and thoroughness -presupposes patience. Add these qualities and this discipline to the -enterprise, the love of fair play, the courage, the faith in God and -man, which we possess, and we too may ultimately develop a patriotism -which will stand the test of adversity, and emerge from it purified and -strengthened. - -When we stepped out of the restaurant and its German atmosphere into -the unmistakably American Broadway, my German guests felt that my -rampant Americanism had been thoroughly subdued. However they had -literally "reckoned without their host." My protracted silence had -misled them, but I could contain myself no longer. - -"We are now walking in the streets of the second largest city in the -world, its population thrown together and blown together from every -quarter of the globe, and the most of these people, if not the worst of -them, have come here in the last thirty-five years. They brought neither -love of their new country nor knowledge of its language and -institutions; they all came to make money, and to-morrow morning four -millions of people will begin again the competitive battle from which -they are resting to-night. - -"The laws which govern them are illy made, but they have made them, or -at least had a chance to select those who did make them. They have not -always chosen well; the officers who govern them are often not good men; -frequently they are only the most cunning politicians and one has but -scant respect for them. Yet in spite of it all, this is a fairly well -governed city and it is quite remarkable that these four million people -live together in comparative peace and order. Neither is there any ill -from which this great city or any group of its individuals suffers for -which there is not some help or healing or some attempt to heal. - -"If I were an absolute stranger without money, knowing neither the -language of the people nor their ways, I would rather be on the streets -of the city of New York than anywhere else." - -"How do you account for it?" the Frau Directorin ventured to ask, -although the Herr Director had been violently expressing his dissent. - -"We have several things to count on here, even when conditions seem -intolerable. Let me name them. - -"We are all human beings; some of us have inherited the Old Testament -righteousness and the passion for justice, and many of us have the New -Testament desire for service. These together make a very effective -combination, and go a great way towards the glorious results we shall -ultimately achieve." - -For once the Herr Director was silent, and as we had reached our hotel, -I think I might have slept peacefully that night had not the Nebraskan -triumphantly remarked as we were being shot up to the topmost floor: -"Say, I did get that lobster a la Milkburgh with pickles and mince pie, -didn't I? I always get what I want when I want it." - - - - -VI - -_The Herr Director and the "Missoury" Spirit_ - - -The anteroom of the editor's office was crowded when the Herr Director -and I arrived to meet the men of the staff at luncheon. - -The Herr Director is a publicist himself, and has edited one of the best -known German newspapers. Having called on him when he was trying to -mould an already moulded public opinion I made some interesting -comparisons which he did not approve. I could not forbear reminding him -how, when I once called on him in his office, I had to wait in a similar -anteroom over an hour, that I had to pass through a number of other -rooms with a longer or shorter period of waiting in each, and was -finally admitted to his august presence as if he were a king on his -throne. - -As editor in chief, he was a more or less cloistered mystery, and not -the man of affairs one is likely to be over here. Whatever comparisons I -made in spite of the Herr Director's protest, were not entirely fair; -for editors are scarcely a species anywhere, and the particular one upon -whom we were calling was an uncommon editor of an uncommon journal. -Neither he nor it has a counterpart in Germany if anywhere in the world; -they are both products of our Spirit and have had no small share in -shaping it and giving it expression. - -While I was explaining to the Herr Director the functions of this -journal and how intelligently it interprets current events, and was -extolling the virtues of its editors who, in spite of being persons of -national reputation and great importance, have retained their simple, -democratic ways, they emerged from the inner sanctum. - -After a vigorous hand-shake all around to which the Herr Director -visibly braced himself, the first contact was made, and we were taken to -a handsomely appointed dining-room in the same building, where luncheon -was served. - -Beneath all the outer simplicity and democratic demeanor of our host, -beneath his smoothly shaven, well groomed, correctly tailored exterior, -the Herr Director recognized a dignified reserve and consciousness of -power, which made him whisper to me, "His Majesty and suite," at the -same time soothing with his left hand his aching right hand, just -released from the vise-like grip of the editor. - -Although I assured him that to me they were all just the editors of my -favorite journal and after that plain, American citizens, I too am often -impressed by that sense of dominance and power emanating from these men -and others in similar positions. The feeling is not unrelated to that I -have experienced the few times I have been in the presence of royalty. - -In our public men of exalted position there may be lacking the mystical -element by which monarchs are surrounded; but the sovereign American has -more physical energy and force. - -Should the thrones of Europe suddenly become vacant, I know dozens of -our men who could occupy them, without their subjects becoming conscious -of much change; and as far as queens are concerned we could easily -furnish a surplus. - -The Herr Director and I had been chosen to sit in the places of honor, -and we (or at least I) forgot to eat, and spent my time studying these -superb types of Americans. - -The Herr Director, being more sophisticated, absorbed both the food and -the company, and in his lectures on "_Die Leitenden Maenner in Den -Vereinigten Staaten_," which he has delivered since returning to -Germany, there are evidences that he remembered the minutest details of -the _menu_, as well as every word which fell from the lips of the editor -in chief. - -Of course we spoke of many, if not all, the perplexing problems which -vex this problem-ridden age, and each of us had a proprietary interest -in one or more of them which we hoped to solve. The editor as a man of -affairs knew our particular problems as well as we knew them, and had -read all that any of us had written; so the conversation was animated -enough, and certainly illuminating. - -My specialty being immigration, and having just returned from the -Pacific coast where I had studied the problem as it concerns the -Oriental, the conversation was finally dominated by that interesting and -somewhat delicate theme. - -Can we assimilate all these varied elements which come to us? Can we -make of them one people, and eliminate all those ethnic, national and -religious inheritances which are frequently at variance with our own? - -The editor believed we can assimilate all or most of them with the -exception of the Oriental, "Who, having separated from the ethnic root -in the Pleistocene period, represents too varied a physical and mental -type to be assimilated by the Occidental." I think I am quoting him -correctly, although not word for word. - -As I did not quite agree with him, I expressed my views, and so did the -Herr Director. I said I thought I noticed among the Chinese and even -among the Japanese the influence of this new environment, and could -tell of conversations with groups of graduates of our colleges, in which -not only the influence of this country was noticeable, but the influence -of the particular institution from which they graduated. Anecdotes are -not easily accepted as scientific proof; but this being an informal -luncheon, I ventured a few of them which every one seemed to relish -except the Herr Director, and he is not to blame for that, as anecdotes -are rarely international. I do blame him, however, for telling me that -he had never heard stupider jokes in his life. One of these ethnic -anecdotes I told upon the authority of the Bishop of the Yangtsze -district. Perhaps like all anecdotes it may have grown in the telling. - -The Bishop had picked out an unusually bright Chinese lad to have -educated in the United States and then become his curate. When he -returned to China, after having attended both a college and a -theological seminary, he was assisting the Bishop. Evidently he had not -thoroughly mastered the ritual of the church; for this Oriental, who -had "separated himself from the ethnic root," moved close to the Bishop, -poked his elbow into the ecclesiastical ribs of his superior and asked: -"Say, Bishop, where do I butt in?" - -Our host wanted to know whether I was sure that he did not say: "Bish"; -I thought to reach the point of being able to express himself so briefly -and directly the Oriental would need at least another geologic period. - -One of the staff asked whether that anecdote was not my invention; to -which I took the liberty of replying that if I could invent such good -stories he might offer me an editorship. How imperfectly, after all, the -Oriental may absorb the spirit of our language, I told in the story -which is supposed to have its origin at the University of Michigan; -although like all such stories it may be claimed by innumerable -birthplaces. - -A Hindoo student, who had not quite finished his academic career and had -to return home on account of illness in his family, wrote back to his -faculty adviser, notifying him of the death of his mother-in-law, in -this characteristic, brief, Occidental way: "Alas! the hand which -rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket." - -The Herr Director thought this anecdote funny enough, but it proved the -opposite from that for which I was contending. "Who but an Oriental -could invent such highly picturesque figures of speech?" - -The conversation drifted into soberer channels when our host took up the -question as to what constitutes the American, who after all is hybrid -and frequently so mixed that he does not know just how he is ethnically -constituted. - -"For instance," he said, "I am part German, part revolutionary Yankee -stock" (it seemed to me that he put the emphasis upon the -revolutionary), "part French, part Scandinavian, part Irish." - -I have forgotten just how many racial strains he said were running in -his veins, but a variety large enough to be exceedingly useful to him in -claiming kinship with all sorts of folk, and in making political -speeches. That the ancestors of the average American belong to the -great fighting stocks of humanity may explain if not excuse his love for -physical combat. Each guest around the table followed the editor's -example and accounted for his ancestry, showing that all but two of the -Americans were mixtures, ranging from three to eight more or less -greatly differentiated races, using that term in its broadest sense. - -One of these unmixed Americans gave the outlines of his family tree, all -of it growing out of the rugged New England soil; but every one of his -daughters had married a man of foreign birth, or of foreign parentage. -His sons-in-law are German, Polish, French and Jewish. He added: "My -German and French sons-in-law are great chums." - -The other pure American was myself, although of course my ancestors did -not come over in the _Mayflower_, and I have never been in New England -long enough for my family tree to take root in its historic soil. - -After all, though, the best thing a nation or race has to bequeath to -its children is not always handed down upon the racial channel. I think -it is the Apostle Paul who discovered this long ago, and his missionary -propaganda among the Gentiles is based upon his belief that they are not -all Israelites who are of the circumcision. His converts became -Israelites through adoption, through their appreciation of the Jewish -Spirit which came to its full fruitage in Jesus of Nazareth. - -I once heard Max Nordeau say: "_Es gibt zweierlei Juden: auch Juden und -Bauch Juden;_" which freely translated means: "There are two kinds of -Jews: those of the spirit and those of the stomach." The taste for -_Kosher Wurst_ and _Gefuelte Brust_ is inheritable to the tenth -generation; but one is not always born with the passion for -righteousness, the love of justice and the thirst for God. To these one -must rather be born again, and the same thing is true of the American. -There are Americans who have thrown overboard their spiritual -inheritance, who have expatriated themselves because they could not live -in the Puritan atmosphere of New England; but to whom a Sunday in the -_Riviera_ is not fully radiant, unless upon the rose-laden atmosphere -there comes wafted the fragrance of codfish balls. - -The Herr Director reminded the company of the fact that I was the most -"_Unausstehlicher Americaner_" he had ever met; to which the editor -responded that he knew one who was if anything worse than myself--a -newspaper man, Jacob Riis. - -"Can a nation feel secure, having to put the keeping of its Spirit into -the hands of aliens?" some one asked; and what would happen in case of a -conflict between the United States of America and the native country of -even such thorough Americans as Jacob Riis and myself? At that time the -answer was not as difficult as it is now, since there has been the -possibility of such a conflict, and slumbering love of native country -has been awakened by the roar of cannon and the noisier and deadlier war -carried on by the press. - -It has been a very trying time for those of us who have been called -"hyphenated Americans"; but I doubt that the German or Austrian hyphen -has been more in evidence than that which we are pleased to call -Anglo-Saxon. - -I can say that in spite of the fact that my native country precipitated -the conflict, I felt no thrill of patriotism when Austrian troops -invaded Serbia, and frequently wonder whether I have not suffered some -moral deterioration, because through all these stirring times I have -remained fairly rational. I have never condoned Austria's treatment of -the Slavs, nor Germany's invasion of Belgium; I have not gloried in -their victories, but I have suffered alike for all my fellow mortals who -are involved in this most disastrous conflict. I know myself always -human first, and a loyal American next. In fact, never before have I -loved my adopted country as much as now, never did I have for it so -profound a respect, nor a deeper realization of the blessing of our -democracy, imperfect as it is. - -The Herr Director insisted that we could not count on the loyalty of our -immigrated citizens in case of war with their respective countries, -especially as they are so frequently dealt with unjustly by our courts -and exploited by our industries. The editor thought that the danger to -the United States did not lie in the lack of loyalty in our new -citizens, but rather in the general smugness of the average American, -and in our unpreparedness for war. - -The conversation drifted into a discussion of militarism, a subject -which has become painfully familiar since, and he said that although the -American is a fighter he is not a militarist, nor in danger of becoming -one; and that personally, he, in common with all sane Americans, -believed that the country ought to be prepared to protect itself and -defend its national honor. - -"That's what we all say," the Herr Director remarked. When the whole -company laughed, he felt hurt, and it took me a long time to explain to -him that he had accidentally stumbled onto a bit of American slang, -which he had used most innocently, but aptly. - -I wanted to know just what the editor meant by preparedness for war and -just when a nation's honor was so damaged that nothing but war would -restore it. There seemed to be no time left to have this question -answered, and as there was some danger that we would separate with this -important subject upon our minds and perhaps interfering with our -digestion, I asked whether in conclusion I might tell another -ethnological anecdote, which would illustrate my need of light upon that -question of preparedness for war. To this they all assented if I could -vouch for its being as good as the others. I thought it was better -because I was sure it was true, and the joke was on me. Every one -settled down expectantly except the Herr Director who never relishes my -stories, having a fine collection of his own which he tells remarkably -well. - -I had to wait at a small station in the West for one of those -periodically late trains, and was reading the only fiction available, -the railroad time-table. A train which came from the opposite direction -brought a gang of working men who had been shovelling the snow which -had blocked the road. As they were all immigrants I had no further use -for my time-table and went among them, guessing at their nationality, -sorting them according to the shape of their heads, delighting my soul -by talking to them as much as I could of their native country, and -quizzing them about their experience in the United States. - -I had succeeded splendidly with all of them and there was but one man -left. As soon as I saw him I said to myself, "He is a Russian, not a -common Russian, but of the Velko Russ variety which is still rare or -comparatively rare among our immigrant population." I walked up to him -and saluted him with the pious greeting of his class. There wasn't the -slightest indication that he understood me, so I concluded that I was -mistaken; but knowing that he was a Slav, I tried a greeting in Polish, -and again the great, shaggy Slav seemed not to understand. When Bohemian -failed, I decided that my error was merely geographical and this was a -Southern, not a Northern Slav. I used all the Serbic I knew without -getting anything but a stare from my victim, and then decided that he -might be an Albanian. Knowing only two words of that language I tried -them with the same negative result. Finally, disgusted with myself I -resorted to English. Feeling sure that he would not understand, I -shouted at him, "Are you a Greek?" Then a ray of intelligence passed -over his stolid face. Deliberately taking his pipe out of his mouth, he -laconically replied: "No, I am from Missoury." - -A shout of laughter followed my story; but the Herr Director's face grew -darker and darker. When we were in our taxicab going back to the hotel, -he said: "One of the most remarkable things I have learned to-day about -the American people is that they are very young, almost childlike." - -"Why, how did you learn that?" I asked. - -"Oh," he answered, "who but a childlike, _naive_ people would laugh over -such a stupid joke as yours? Anyway, how did you dare bring such a silly -story into so serious a conversation?" - -"Yes," I replied; "that is as you say a sign of our youth. The more -complex and seasoned jokes belong to the older civilizations, and the -love of a simple story and the ready response to it, even though it be a -poor story, are a sign of our youthful health; but you know," I added, -"that story I told was not so _mal apropos_ after all." And the rest of -the day I struggled mightily to convince the Herr Director that being -"from Missoury" is one of the most hopeful things about the American -Spirit. - - - - -VII - -_The Herr Director and the College Spirit_ - - -"Take us out of New York," the Herr Director said after a wearing day of -sightseeing, "or we will go home on the next steamer. My neck aches from -looking at the sky-scrapers, my nerves are all on edge, and," glancing -at the Frau Directorin who had hugely enjoyed every moment and showed no -sign of weariness, "we must have rest." - -I was reluctant to leave New York, because, after all, it holds those -great thrills with which we like to startle our foreign friends. I -feared the change from those daily surprises which thus far I had been -able to give them. Lake Mohonk, the only place outside of New York City -which we had visited, is unique in many ways and its experiences were -not likely to be duplicated; so it was somewhat heavy heartedly that I -started them on a new adventure, praying to Him who "holds the nations -in the hollow of His Hand" to aid me in my praiseworthy endeavors. - -I was not very sanguine that my prayer would be answered, for we were -beginning a tour of the Eastern educational institutions, than which -there is nothing more difficult to interpret. This, not only because -they have no counterpart anywhere in Europe, and the line between our -university and college is so indistinct, but because I hoped to reveal -their Spirit, which no mere outsider can comprehend, and which even the -man on the inside finds it difficult to understand. - -I drew into the conspiracy dear friends, _alumni_ of the different -institutions, who knew every blade of grass on each respective campus, -over which they walked proudly and reverently. To find one university -tucked away in a village, another defying the grime and noise of a -growing city which crowded upon it; one still retaining its air of -exclusive dignity in spite of its garish surroundings, while a fourth -was nearly swamped by the culture-hungry children of immigrants, yet -remained triumphantly American, was new enough and startling enough to -keep my guests on the heights. - -The pleasant walks, shaded by tall, graceful elms, and the presence of -distinguished Americans, acted soothingly upon the Herr Director; while -the gracious attention paid to the ladies convinced the Frau Directorin -that she had reached the feminine paradise. She could not understand, -however, why, when the ladies were permitted to go everywhere, and were -even allowed to gaze at American students in athletic undress, they were -barred from sharing with us the rare privilege of seeing a thousand or -more of them being fed in one of those Gothic dining halls. There, -surely, one might expect nothing worse than medieval piety tempering the -appetite. Probably this tradition of no ladies in the galleries is the -only thing beside the architecture which is left us from that hoary age. - -There are certain definite points which the enthusiastic _alumnus_ -always tries to impress upon visitors, and one of them is the past, in -which every college glories, and as youth seems to be unpardonable, -history begins when as yet it "was not." - -In most of the places we visited, no such historic license was -necessary, for many of them were respectably old, one of them being -contemporaneous with the history of our country, and others belonging to -that eminently respectable period, "before the Revolution." - -Some have important battles named after them, and several were -"Washington's headquarters," a distinction freely bestowed upon many -places by that ubiquitous and much beloved "Father of our Country." At -present the most important thing seems to be the buildings; dormitories, -laboratories, libraries and usually most prominent of all, the gymnasium -and the athletic field. - -The president of one of the lesser universities, having such a million -dollar plaything, became our _cicerone_, and while he took us hastily -through everything else, lingered fondly there, showing us in detail -the expensive apparatus. With classic pride he stood upon the athletic -field, looking as some Caesar must have looked when he showed visitors to -Rome his arena, the "largest," and at that time the "costliest in the -world." - -It was interesting to find that the buildings which pleased the Herr -Director most were neither new nor Gothic, a fact easily explained by -his dislike for everything which is English. He marvelled that we had -chosen to imitate English college architecture, with its heaviness and -gloom, its hideous gargoyles, its useless, and here meaningless, -cloisters, rather than to continue our fine inheritance, with its -severely classic lines, its wide windows inviting the light, and its -generous, broad doors, so much in harmony with our educational ideals. - -Of course no one had an answer ready; yet personally while I do not -"_hasse_" England nor the things which are English, I vastly prefer, let -us say Nassau Hall at Princeton, to anything which that glorious campus -holds, not even excepting the graduate college with its massive and -impressive Cleveland Memorial Tower. - -The Herr Director shook his head many a time at the external glory of -our universities and even more at the comfort and luxuries of the -dormitories and fraternity houses. We were the guests of one fraternity -at dinner. About twenty young men were living under one roof, having -chosen each other by some mysterious, selective process, and I was -tempted to think that it was their negative rather than their positive -qualities which drew them together. We were shown the house from cellar -to garret, much to the dismay of the Herr Director who does not like -climbing stairs, but to the joy of the Frau Directorin who, woman-like, -not only loves to peep into closets, and see pretty rooms, but having -discovered the American standard for feminine grace, wanted to lose some -of her "meat" as she expressed it in her quaint English. - -Each of these young men occupied a suite of three rooms. The hangings -were heavy and not in the best taste, the chairs all invited to -leisure, and the most conspicuous piece of furniture was a smoking set -with a big brass tobacco bowl in the center; while innumerable pipes -hung from a gaudily painted rack. In keeping with the furniture were the -pictures which were decently vulgar, and of books there were no more -than necessary. - -The Herr Director was asked regarding student life in Germany, and he -contrasted their surroundings with his own cold, inhospitable -_Gymnasium_, the relentless examinations, and the freer but responsible -life in his university. He described the rooms of the present Emperor of -Germany when he was a student at the University of Bonn, remarking that -they looked like barracks in comparison with these. "How can you study -in such luxurious rooms?" he asked, and naively and frankly came the -answer: "We don't." - -On the whole, the Herr Director liked the looks of the boys he saw, and -the Frau Directorin quite fell in love with them. They were so frank, -so clean looking, and what above all amazed them most, so altruistic in -their outlook upon life; they looked so healthy and well groomed and -were so altogether wholesome. But that boys could graduate from colleges -and not have studied--that was beyond their comprehension. - -The German student's social standing and his future depend upon his -"exams." There is only one prime thing, and that is study. When the Herr -Director learned the multiplicity of our outside activities which divide -the attention of the students, he knew why they do not study. He was -aghast at the scant reverence paid members of the faculty. When walking -with the president of one of these universities, we met groups of -students who did not salute the head of their institution and barely -made way for him to pass, he grew quite wrathy, and it took the combined -efforts of the president and myself to keep him from telling the young -men what boors they were. I think he discovered later that it was mere -thoughtlessness, and that there is something really fine about the -average American student; that he is usually a gentleman at heart, but -that he has not yet learned to value the grace which comes from that -sacrament of the common life--lifting his hat to his superiors. - -When I told him that one of my students came to me one morning in haste, -with "Say, Prof, where is Prexy?" he did not laugh as I expected; but -when I remembered that I did not laugh either, when it happened, I -forgave him his lack of perception. - -It is of course true, that the average college professor would rather be -called Jimmy or Jack or some other pet name than to have his academic -degrees pronounced every time a student speaks to him; but there still -remains the fact that the ordinary American youth lacks this sense of -respect for personality, and that an education, even a college -education, does not remedy the defect. - -It is a very exciting moment in the life of the undergraduates of at -least one university when they try to discover if the preacher can make -himself heard above their coughs, which is their way of challenging his -message; but it does not help him to believe that he is in the presence -of men who know what reverence means. - -I do not deny that the undergraduate honors achievement, but even in -that he lacks proper discrimination. How much education can do to -instill this common and deplorable lack of reverence for personality I -do not know; for it lies far back, too far back to be reached by mere -academic training. - -During our tour, the Herr Director had a chance to see one university -come out of its incoherence and inexplicable confusion into unity. He -heard it roar like the "Bulls of Bashan," fling its flaring colors to -the wind, hoot its defiance to the enemy, dance, dervish-like, around -the battle flames; he saw ten thousands of young men suffering the war -fever, and an equal number of young women shrieking in wild delirium; he -saw embankments of automobiles struggling to reach the seat of the -conflict, armies of men trying to storm the ramparts, and newspaper -correspondents mad from haste; while in the center of it all, -twenty-two disguised men struggled for a chalk-line. Unfortunately, no -friendly guide was near us to explain it all, and as I am still an -un-Americanized alien to a football game, its meaning was lost to my -guests. - -When two men were carried from the field limp, and seemingly lifeless, -the Frau Directorin promptly fainted. The Herr Director was beside -himself, for there was no way to extricate ourselves from the maddened -mass of humanity; but while he was wildly and vainly calling for water, -she revived, and we stayed to the finish. I wished I had not brought -them, for to appreciate a football game one must be born in America, and -no explanation I offered could convince the Herr Director that we are -not more cruel than the Spaniards, whose opponents in their deadly games -are bulls, not men. The Frau Directorin still sheds tears at the -remembrance of how badly we use our "perfectly nice young men." - -The fierceness back of this conflict, the vast amount of money spent -upon properly playing the game, the primary place it occupies in the -imagination of the American youth, its deadening influence upon -scholarship, and all the multitudinous pros and cons, are over-shadowed -by the fact that, as far as the community at large is concerned, it -expects this Roman holiday, and a college or university is considered -good or poor, to the degree that it caters to this desire. One thing I -can say for it: it is thoroughly American, bringing into the lime-light -some of our virtues and most of our faults. - -"In Germany," again the Herr Director, "where things are not permitted -to grow merely because they grow elsewhere, it was found that for -military preparedness your sports are of little or no value, especially -if engaged in vicariously; and that teaching men to dig trenches and -serve cannon, to obey implicitly a command and carry it out effectively, -is of more use, not only to the individual's well-being, but also for -the great, collective purpose of national defense." - -It seems very strange to me that nearly all foreigners whom I have -helped introduce to our academic life have been so gratified by its -evident democracy, and that their satisfaction was greatest when their -own aristocratic lineage was highest. That a man's career in our -institutions of learning is not made impossible because he does manual -labor to help him through, and that he may do such femininely menial -tasks as waiting on table or washing dishes, while taxing their -credulity, is always unstintingly praised. - -I have, however, good reason to believe that while our foreign visitors -find the democracy of our colleges interesting and praiseworthy, we are -losing the thing itself to a large degree, and my conscience has not -always been at ease when I finished a panegyric on college democracy. In -fact what I fear is its defeat just there, where it is most needed, -where we are supposed to train the leaders who, whether they become -leaders or not, are the men who will give tone to our national life and -will control its expression. - -In travelling from one of the universities to the other, we came upon a -group of college men in the train. The Herr Director recognized them at -once, whether instinctively or because he had discovered the type, I do -not know. I knew them because of the fit of their garments, or the lack -of it, and by the fact that they smoked cigarettes incessantly. - -The Herr Director, as a distinguished foreigner, had no difficulty in -opening a conversation with them, and I think he got much illuminating -amusement out of them. They had just finished their semester "exams," -and one of them said that the question upon which he flunked was a -comparison between the two English authors, Dickens and DeQuincy. Though -he did not know the difference between these two, he showed his classic -training by differentiating between a Rameses II and an Egyptian Deity -cigarette merely by the color of the smoke. - -I was not drawn into the conversation until the Herr Director needed me -to interpret some campus English. One of the lads undertook to inform us -regarding the social life of his university and more especially the -fraternities, with particular emphasis upon his own, which excluded not -only certain well-defined races, but also put a ban upon certain -classes. "We don't admit anybody into our fraternity whose people are -not somebody in their communities." - -I asked him his name and he gave it to me with a French pronunciation. - -I thought he was Bohemian, and recognized the name as such, in spite of -its French disguise. I told him so, and pronounced it for him in the -hard, Slavic way, all gutturals and consonants. I also told him its -meaning: "A very common hoe such as the peasants use, and it means that -your ancestors in Bohemia earned their living honestly, which I am sorry -to say cannot always be said about 'people who are somebody' in our -communities." - -The Herr Director thought I was very hard upon the poor fellow, and -later I had a good talk with him. I tried to show him that his Bohemian, -peasant origin ought to be a source of pride to him. That the very fact -that he and his people had come out of the steerage, and by virtue of -our democratic institutions could rise to the point where they could -send him to college, should make him a guardian of the American Spirit -and not its foe. I do not know that he profited by what I said; for I -often find myself talking to the wind and the tide, and they are both -against me. - -I have only pity for the gilded youth who go to an American college with -its vast opportunities of human contact, yet fail to see any one outside -their own social boundaries. After all, the chief glory of our -educational institutions is that their best things are still democratic. -No man is kept from the Holy of Holies, from sound learning, from the -contact with scholarly minds, from good books, and enough of rich -fellowship to make going to college worth while. - -We heard one delightful story which is so typically American and so -reveals the American Spirit at its best, that the Herr Director embodied -it in his book. The president of a Quaker college told us that just as -he found there was some danger that the men who had to work their way -through, were losing caste, one of the upper classmen opened a boot and -shoe mending and cleaning shop. As he was a man of means, whose standing -in his group was unquestioned, his action took from common labor its -ever renewing curse. - -In many of the colleges we met groups of men so full of this spirit, so -concerned with fostering it, that all the snobberies of which we had -heard seemed even smaller than they were in their own right. We met -those who gave their leisure hours to that most difficult and worthy -task of Americanizing the immigrants who, in many instances, almost -encroached upon the campus. The students visited them in the box-cars -where they lived, or in the hovels where they reared children; they -taught them English and the elements of good citizenship, and every one -of them had some particular Antonio to whom he was devoted, and whom he -was trying to lift to his level. - -Although the general testimony was that the students had gained more -from the contact than the immigrants had, I know how immeasurably much -it means to these strangers to have leaning up against their own lonely -souls men of culture, and sweet, clean breath, and brotherly heart. - -It is this idealism in our college youth which is so precious an asset -that to lose it would mean bankruptcy to our educational institutions. - -Although the Herr Director did not tell me, I knew that this excursion -into the universities of the East had been a success; for thus far he -seemed to have enjoyed everything; at least he did not complain about -anything. He seemed in an especially happy mood when we were talking it -over in the home of one of the presidents, whose guests we had become. -"Yes, I like your colleges very much, and if I should want my boy to -have four years of more or less organized happiness, I would send him to -an American college. He would have a good time, I think his morals would -be safe," and he added with a smile, "his intellect would be safe -also." - - - - -VIII - -_The Russian Soul and the American Spirit_ - - -New York is geographically misplaced for such a purpose as mine. It -ought to lie somewhere west of Niagara Falls, so that one might be able -to take strangers to that wonderful cataract without their having -previously exhausted all the emotions which they are capable of -expressing. - -The day journey between New York and Buffalo is never commonplace, -especially when it furnishes such euphonious names as Susquehanna, -Wilkes Barre, Mauch Chunk, etc. From the hilltops we had glimpses of -great valleys below, valleys which are mined and furrowed and channelled -by a great industrial host whose crowded dwellings resemble the hives of -bees and are as monotonously alike. - -I could make these glimpses interesting enough, for I could tell by the -shape of the church steeples and by the style of cross which crowned -them, what faiths were there contending with each other. With equal -certainty, and by the same signs, I knew the nationality of the people -who worked there, and had faith enough to build steeples in the shadow -of mine shafts and coal breakers. It was an atmosphere tense from the -labor of seven unbroken days, and heavy from noxious gases in which -trees languish and die, fish perish in the murky rivers, birds fear to -nest, and man alone, immigrant man, lives and works and worships. - -The Herr Director, like all Germans, has a natural contempt for the -Slavs, and when I proposed that before we visited Niagara Falls we -should see some of the Slavic settlements, he demurred; but when the -Frau Directorin added her plea to mine, he reluctantly yielded. I was -able to promise them an interesting meeting with an idealistic, young -Russian priest, who had voluntarily taken a mission among these miners. -He was earnestly striving to guard their souls, and also that which -seems quite as precious to their church, their Russian nationality. - -The Greek Orthodox Church is the most nationalistic church in existence, -and where-ever those bulbous towers with their slanting crosspieces -dominate the sky, it is equivalent to the raising of the national flag. -The Slavic soul is thoroughly Christian in its quality of patient -endurance, in which it has had long and hard tutelage. At the same time -it is tenacious and unyielding of its particular dogma, having been -taught from its earliest consciousness that its salvation lies in strict -adherence to the national faith. - -The city where we tarried is one of the best in which to study the -Slavic Soul, and its relation to the American Spirit, being large enough -to express that Spirit in its varied manifestations; yet not so large -that the articles it manufactures hide or crush the articles of its -faith. - -I knew my guests would like the place, for while it is a busy town in -the very heart of Pennsylvania's industrial region, it has retained a -sort of homelike atmosphere. Situated midway between the large cities -and the small towns which we had thus far visited, it has all the usual -bustle, and is full of vigorous rivalry with other like cities in the -same valley. Whatever one city does, whether building ambitious -sky-scrapers or a commodious Y. M. C. A., promoting a revival, or -bringing in new industries, this little city endeavors to duplicate upon -a still larger scale. - -My guide for the day was the town's chief "hustler," the secretary of -the Y. M. C. A., who is an embodiment of the American Spirit, being both -body and spirit. He made a splendid foil to the Russian priest who is -all soul, Russian soul and as little at home in the United States as the -Czar's double eagle would be, floating from the city's court-house which -stood in typical court-house fashion in the center of the town square. - -The Y. M. C. A. secretary met us at the station, needless to say, in an -automobile, as there is nothing the average American would rather do -than "show off" his town. He gave his time unstintingly for that -purpose, beginning the process by taking us through his institution -which is American enough to have challenged the Herr Director's -attention. In great good humor he, with the rest of us, followed the -secretary from the bowling alley to the roof garden, looked into the -dormitories and class rooms, and protested only when our zealous guide -gave us long statistics as to how many people took baths, how many men -were converted, and how much of the mortgage had been paid off during -his incumbency. - -I had to explain to the Herr Director the meaning of mortgage and its -relation to our religious institutions; for the two seemed related in -some mysterious way. - -He was duly impressed; for this practical side of religion, this -combination of saving souls and giving baths was new to him. Newer and -more interesting still was the clerical machinery with its card indices, -its numerous secretaries, stenographers, and its clock-like regularity -and efficiency. - -The secretary is undoubtedly a religious man; but he is a business man -first, and his soul has had no small struggle in an atmosphere which -demands that he attract new members, raise a generous budget, pay off a -mortgage and at odd moments look after his own business; for besides -being secretary of this great institution, he dabbles in Western lands, -has an interest in a canning factory, and helps "boom" the town. - -I could assure the Herr Director that, nevertheless, his soul survives; -for the average American is remarkably adaptable, and while this -secretary may permit his religion to suffer before his business, I know -he does not "lose his own soul"; although in that respect as in -everything else he does run frightful risks. - -When we left the palatial lobby of the Y. M. C. A., having had bestowed -upon us its annual report, souvenir postal cards, and incidentally a -prospectus of the Western Land Co., the secretary insisted upon -accompanying us. As he put his automobile at our disposal, and the -Slavic settlements were out of reach by the ordinary means of -locomotion, we reluctantly accepted his kind offer, the Herr Director -having previously confided to me that he did not like the secretary's -"hustle," and that his "efficiency" made him nervous. - -There were two things which the Frau Directorin found everywhere and in -which her soul delighted: marked and courteous attention to the -ladies--and automobiles. We took just one street car ride in New York -City, having been fairly showered by offers of automobile rides, one -form of hospitality of which we have grown quite prodigal. - -It was well that we had both the secretary and the automobile; for -although I thought I knew where the Russian parish was located I did not -reckon with the fact that it was three years since I had last visited -it. During that interval the town had so altered that the landscape was -quite unrecognizable. - -It is the peculiarity of this and neighboring towns that they change -their topography over night. What was a hill becomes a hollow, and the -reverse process also takes place though more slowly, because of the -huge culm piles which accumulate. - -The mining of coal being carried on under the town has been so thorough -in later years that intervening coal props have been removed, and houses -and churches which formerly were above the level are now below it. - -We finally found the Russian church and its adjoining parsonage in as -uninviting an environment as I have ever seen. The three years since I -visited them had not only let them down from their eminence, but had -developed a stagnant pool on one side, while refuse from the mines had -encroached upon the other. All the glory of red and yellow paint had -departed, leaving only a drab dinginess, the prevailing tone of the -landscape. - -The priest received us in his study, which, besides the _Icons_ and a -_Samovar_ had no ornaments. The musty air was full of cigarette smoke, -and most diminutive stumps of these "_Papirosy_" were lying about, -adding to the general untidiness. A parish register lay upon the desk. -It contained the names of more than a thousand souls with the chronicle -of their coming into this world and their going out of it, and also that -most important item, when they had attended Holy Communion, the one -visible sign of their allegiance to the true faith. - -The Holy Father had a strange history. The son of a priest, he naturally -was destined for the same calling. Caught by the ever moving tide of -revolt he had "sown his wild oats," which consisted of disseminating -revolutionary literature. He was imprisoned, then like many good -Russians repented, and, as a penance, came to Pennsylvania. - -In desolation and distance from home his parish was not unlike Siberia. -It was even worse, for it was an exile from like-minded men, and his -suffering on that score was acute. I have watched the manifestation of -national or racial characteristics in individuals, and I feel certain -that the Russian reflects those characteristics most intensely, whether -he be peasant, priest or noble. - -Not without reason does he call his country "Mother Russia." He has for -her just that kind of affection, and it is as different from the violent -love of the Herr Director for his Fatherland as is the matter-of-fact -sentiment of the American for his. - -The Russian completely reflects his country, and as both her virtues and -her faults are feminine, there is in him something gentle and yielding -towards external authority, and yet something unconquerable and defiant. -There is a capacity for suffering and sacrifice of which no other people -seem to be capable. There is also a confidence in the goodness of -humanity, no matter how bad it may seem, which reminds me of the -confidence of the woman who is beaten by her drunken husband, yet knows -that in his sober moments he is not a bad man. - -The predominance of the spiritual quality may or may not be feminine, -but it certainly is Russian, and one may indeed speak of the soul of a -people in relation to the Slavs in general, and the Russians in -particular. - -The priest possessed all these characteristics; he was the Russian Soul, -and this soul quality became even more apparent in contrast with the -complex spirit of the American secretary, in whom Teuton and Celt were -blended, and with the Herr Director, whose soul had hardened under the -discipline which Germany had given him. - -He lost no time in beginning an argument with the priest as to the -relations of their respective countries, and when it threatened to -become acrimonious, the secretary, hoping to create a diversion, asked -the priest why he did not encourage his parishioners to come to the Y. -M. C. A. At that point I threw myself into the breach, and with -considerable difficulty directed the conversation into safer channels. - -I asked the priest to show us his mission, and he took us into the -church, much poorer than any I have ever seen in Russia, and then into -the schoolroom, where the children of the miners received their -religious instruction and as much of secular education as they craved. -The teacher was a lean youth who looked as if he had suffered moral, -spiritual and physical bankruptcy before coming to America. He and the -whole equipment seemed hopelessly inadequate and out of place. - -The secretary did not know that hundreds of children were growing up in -an American community, yet completely isolated from it, and the Herr -Director remarked that in Germany this would be regarded as treason to -the state. The priest declared that it was his mission in America not -only to keep his people and their children loyal to the national church, -but to inject into our Westernized materialism this true Slavic faith -and its leaven. - -He believed that in America we lack soul. We worship science and money -and business. The Russian alone lives in intimacy with God and regards -that relation of the supremest importance. "The American," he continued, -"believes in developing natural resources, the German develops the mind, -the Russian alone develops the soul." - -I have always had the greatest reverence for the Russian Soul. I have -learned something the Herr Director could not see, on account of the -natural, political antagonism between his own country and Russia; -something the secretary could not comprehend on account of his -provincialism, and the priest would not admit because of his official -position, namely: that neither the Russian State nor the Russian Church -represents the Russian Soul. Its common people, although nearly crushed -by the one and confused by the other, are still Christian souls and as -such have a mission to America; but I could not see how that mission -would be fulfilled by locking up a few hundred children in a filthy -schoolroom and teaching them their national catechism. - -The Spiritual Russia, as it is incorporated in its common people and as -it is interpreted by Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky, has reached us and taught -us the greatest lesson which we self-righteous Americans needed to -learn: the impossibility to judge our peers or to be judged by them. - -It was Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky who compelled some of us to see our own -guilt, and they, not the Russian Church, united our voices with those of -the Russian people in the chief note of their Mass, "Lord have mercy! O -Lord have mercy!" The Russian peasant always knew that men are stricken -by crime as by a disease; and when he passed those consigned to prison, -he cried out incessantly: "Lord have mercy! O Lord have mercy!" And for -the man who escaped, he never hunted with the bloodhound's passion, as -we do; he put a crust of bread upon the window, to help him on his way. - -It was news to the secretary that Judge Lindsay, the "Kid's Judge," as -he is affectionately called, received his inspiration from Tolstoy, and -that the tendency to change our prisons into Social Clinics was -originally suggested by Dostoyewsky, a name quite unfamiliar to him. - -The Herr Director spoke of the inadequacy of these same Russians when -they try to put their theories into practice, and what prosaic, -impossible preachers they make. To which I replied that their failures -are due to their preponderance of soul and their lack of the practical -spirit with which we are so super-abundantly endowed. - -The secretary could scarcely believe that his practical, matter-of-fact, -card-indexed, efficient-from-top-to-bottom, result-bringing, tabulated, -report-making, American Y. M. C. A. might be benefited by an infusion of -Russian Soul. He almost doubted that the delving miners whom we saw -coming home from the mines, sooty and begrimed, possessed that soul. Nor -did the Herr Director realize that all his Germanic searching and -classifying, all his minute, painstaking investigation into the -innermost of everything, left him where the Russian had long ago -preceded him: in the holy presence of the unknowable, unsearchable -wisdom of God. - -The American has great reverence for results, and it is hard for him to -be patient with failure. The German respects authority, and has scant -respect for the individual. The Russian respects man and knows what it -means to love him in his weakness, and to be humble in the presence of -another's failure. - -I had a long, intimate talk with my friend the priest, who has never -spent a happy day since he has been in America which he hates, or -rather, despises, and so hurts me more than he knows. - -Throwing open the well-thumbed, poorly kept register, in such striking -contrast to the Y. M. C. A. secretary's card index, he said: "Look how -many I have buried this month," and he counted them, and there were -eighteen, "all of them slain in that dreadful mine, and no one in the -Company or in the town cares how they were buried. These Americans have -no souls. They send an undertaker who wants to bury them like dogs, and -the quicker the thing is done the better. They sent me notice shortly -after I came here that the funerals lasted too long and kept the men -from work. Look how those men walk! My _mujiks_, who walked like -princes, now bend their backs before your dirty coal, and walk like -slaves." - -His complaint was not altogether unreasonable. In some things he was -right, in many things he was wrong; but to argue with a Russian is as -hopeless as to try to argue with Niagara Falls. I did tell him that -while the Russian here must bend his back over his work, he does not -have to bend it at every corner before the _icon_ or before every -policeman he meets; that here, by virtue of the American Spirit, his -soul may be freed from superstition and his mind from darkness. - -When in parting the priest embraced and kissed me, he said: "No, even -you don't understand the Russian Soul." - -The Herr Director suffered his embrace with good grace, but when the -secretary's turn came he fled. To be kissed by a man is a sentimentality -which the American cannot endure. - -"We don't understand the Russian Soul," I said to him, "neither you nor -I, but one thing I do know. When the coal has been dug out of these -hills and these cities shall have gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah, -and your churches and Y. M. C. A. may have vanished because it did not -pay to keep them going, this Russian Soul will endure; and the sooner we -learn to understand it the better for us and for them and for our -country." - -When we left the Russian church and its faithful priest, the Frau -Directorin told us that the children were incredibly filthy, and that -she had spent the time we wasted in argument cleaning them up, good -_hausfrau_ that she is. The secretary was thinking deeply, and when he -deposited us at the hotel, he thanked me for revealing something which, -although so near, he would never have discovered. The Herr Director kept -me up until midnight talking about the Slavic menace to Germany, and the -intellectual poison of its modern literature. - -We reached Niagara Falls the next afternoon, and, as I had feared, -neither of my guests showed any surprise nor felt any thrill. I could -understand the Herr Director's coolness towards our natural wonder, for -he had seen it thirty years before; but his wife's attitude was -inexplicable, until she told me what I had all along anticipated. Her -capacity for receiving impressions had been exhausted by the city of New -York, and after seeing the "high-scraps" nothing astonished her. - -As we stood at the bottom of the American Falls, watching the Maid of -the Mist making her journeys into their very spray and returning, only -to begin her journey again, I suggested that it was like the American -Spirit in its daring; but the Herr Director, with truer insight, said -that it was "like the Russian Soul, mystical, elusive, on the verge of -destruction always, but of little practical service." - -That same day we were in a power-house, which looked more like a temple -than the utilitarian thing it is, and peered into the depths of a shaft -which creates power enough to move the street railways of half a dozen -cities, and change the night of a million people into day. As we -listened to the engineer's account of almost miraculous achievement, I -said triumphantly, "_This is the American Spirit!_" and the Herr -Director replied deliberately, and without sarcasm, "This is the one -time when you are right." - - - - -IX - -_Chicago_ - - -What the foreigner thinks of the American Pullman, if he has to spend a -night in it, may be found in any volume of the extremely voluminous and -interesting literature upon the United States, written by visitors to -this country; but more interesting still would be what they have not -written about it, and that I have had frequent chances of hearing. The -most picturesque and exhaustive comments I ever heard were those made by -the Herr Director the evening we left Buffalo, and as he finally -determined not to retire at all, we spent the greater part of the night -in the smoking-room, much to the dismay of the porter who had no -prejudice against sleeping on a Pullman, and whom we cheated out of his -irregular but necessary naps. - -One of the chief diversions of travellers the world over is to complain -against the particular transportation company over whose road they have -the ill luck to be going; so it happened that the Herr Director had -plenty of company during part of his vigil, and an opportunity to come -in touch with one phase of the American Spirit, where it was closely -related to his own; for "one 'kicker' makes the whole world 'kick.'" - -The small room was so crowded that some of the men were sitting on the -wash-stands, and the rest were so close to each other as to make -conversation easy and general. This was an extra fare train supposed to -be unusually comfortable and speedy; although thus far it had been -losing time. It was natural under those conditions that the railroad -should come in for its share of blessings, couched in language such as -is often heard in smoking compartments of Pullman cars. Had all the -pious wishes expressed that night been fulfilled, that railroad and our -particular train would have travelled much more swiftly, but to a -destination not indicated in the time-tables. - -The question under discussion was, which is the worst railroad in the -United States, and as some of the men were stock-brokers they knew our -roads from their most vulnerable side. The tales they told of the -manipulation of stocks and the fleecing of the public, with their -consequent effect upon the service, were as startling as they were -humiliating; because, in the last analysis, the railroads reflect the -general business ethics of the country. - -I kept out of the discussion, for not only have I but a hazy notion of -economics; my mind was busy classifying the passengers' racial origin, a -very diverting exercise and one which always brings me in touch with -people on their really human side. - -It happened that two of the men were Polish Jews from Cleveland, who had -risen from poverty to where they could travel in Pullman cars, and who -confessed that they knew as little of railroad stocks as I, although -they were engaged in as risky a business as stocks, that of -manufacturing women's cloaks. They were not far removed from the Ghetto -either in speech or ideals, and so were of little interest to me. - -A third fellow traveller, who bore the hallmarks of the average -American, both in dress and behavior, told me his business without much -urging. "I am not selling stock, nor manufacturing women's cloaks, and I -am not a gambler. I have a sure thing; I am a bookie." Forced to confess -myself ignorant as to what "a bookie" is, he explained to me the -intricacies of his calling, the problems of evading the law, and if it -cannot be evaded, how it may be bought; incidentally showing what an -inveterate gambler and what an easy mark the average American is. - -The Herr Director was all attention, to my great consternation; for the -conversation was as different from that which he had heard at Lake -Mohonk, or in our rounds of the Eastern colleges, as one could conceive. -As one by one the passengers sought their berths, the Herr Director -thanked me for arranging this uncomfortable night journey, saying that -though he was sure he could not sleep, he was "so glad to have come in -contact with the American Spirit as it is," and not as I had tried to -make it appear. With that kindly thrust he too retired, and I was at -liberty to do likewise. - -It was not long before I had auricular evidence that the Herr Director -was asleep, so I was very much astonished to hear him say the next -morning that he had not slept a wink, and that the engineer must bear -him a grudge; for he tried to jerk the berth from under him, and "_Gott -sei dank_" that the most uncomfortable night of his life was over. I -certainly was as grateful as he. It was with no small satisfaction, -though, that upon reaching Chicago two hours late, I collected four -dollars from that much abused railroad, and handed the same to the Herr -Director, assuring him that even in a railroad office the American -Spirit of fairness is operative. - -In Chicago as everywhere else the friend who owned an automobile was at -my command, and on a glorious May day when wind and sun had cleared the -air, and a night's rain had washed the streets, we were taken from -South Shore to North Shore and away out where the American city is at -her best, and Chicago is striving to excel them all in her wonderful -suburbs. - -The Herr Director had seen Chicago over thirty-three years ago--a young, -thriving, daring, ambitious city in the making; he found her still -young, thriving, daring, and in the making. Unchastened by her great -disasters, undismayed by her vexing problems, defying the lake, she -reaches out into it and into neighboring states, leading and controlling -the whole Middle West. Babylon, Capernaum, Rome, her older sisters, her -ideal, and perchance her destiny. She is _par excellence_ the merchant -city, and the merchant princes rule her, although that rule is not -unchallenged. - -While the Herr Director saw the city changed in many respects, larger, -and in places beautiful, her dirt not so apparent, her wickedness -subdued, and her rough corners rubbed off, she is still Chicago, a -synonym for boastful bigness and ostentatious wealth. - -If it had not been for the Frau Directorin, I would not have taken them -where every man, woman and child is taken who visits Chicago, into the -largest department store in the world. - -She entered with the joyful anticipation of engaging in that most -exciting occupation--shopping--aided and abetted by my wife. The Herr -Director followed with the martyr's air common to husbands who go along -to pay the bill. - -That type of store is no longer a novelty to city dwellers anywhere, but -this one because of its size, the variety and quality of goods -displayed, the courtesy to customers and, above all, the provisions for -their comfort and convenience, were remarkable enough to call forth even -the Herr Director's commendation. The Frau Directorin was in the -seventeenth Heaven, the Biblical seventh not being an elevation high -enough to be used as a simile when she was shopping in a Chicago -department store. - -Obliging clerks showed her plates which cost three hundred dollars -apiece, cut and etched glass at more fabulous prices; she walked -through miles of costly gowns, coats and millinery, and having made a -few purchases to her entire satisfaction--we were about to leave the -store with flying colors, figuratively speaking, when pride had a fall. -Unluckily remembering that a certain small boy needed summer underwear, -my wife led our party to the basement. When we left the elevator a -polite floor man directed us to aisle 16, Wabash Building. As we were on -the State Street side the cavalcade moved past what seemed like miles of -commonplace merchandise and commonplace buyers to aisle 16, Wabash -Building. At last we had reached our "Mecca." - -"I should like to see boys' union suits," my wife said. - -"Certainly. How old?" - -"Twelve years." - -"We have nothing here over eight years. You will find your size on the -sixth floor, Washington Street side." - -I think it was the sixth floor; I know we walked (crestfallen) through -endless aisles and were shot up floor after floor. Landed finally, the -right counter was reached after numerous conflicting directions. - -The Herr Director was puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin radiant -and happy, for she enjoys exercise, and my wife, her faith in the -efficiency of her favorite store not yet shaken, though wavering, asking -for "union suits for a twelve-year-old boy." - -As the clerk reached for the desired article she asked: "Short sleeves -or long sleeves?" - -"Short sleeves." - -"Randolph Street side, second floor, for short sleeved union suits." - -The Herr Director and I did not accompany the ladies on their further -voyage of discovery; we went to the rest room to avoid nervous -prostration. - -My wife and the Frau Directorin, with the determination and endurance -which women alone possess, continued the chase to a victorious finish. - -Fortunately an altogether satisfying luncheon followed this strenuous -experience, after which, rested and refreshed, we repaired to the Art -Institute. - -The Chicago Art Institute, within a stone's throw of the most congested -business section, at the edge of its noise and rush, is by its very -being there a sort of triumph. - -The Herr Director approached it somewhat condescendingly, expecting to -find it and its contents big, bizarre and "_nouveau richessque_." As -soon as he entered the building he felt the dignity and good taste of -its arrangement, and his manner changed. After he had looked critically -at some of the pictures and approved them, I knew myself for once on the -way to success; for his praise was as genuine as his criticism. - -Knowing that money can buy both Old and New Masters, he expected to find -them; but he had not expected to see such discrimination as was shown in -choosing and hanging them. He was entirely unprepared for the excellent -work of our native artists, outside of that small but exalted sphere -occupied by Whistler, Sargent, Innes, etc. - -My joy was complete when we were taken into the Art School by the -Director, Dr. French, whose death not long ago must always be deplored. -The rooms of the Art School were crowded by boys and girls of all ages -and varied nationalities and races, learning to develop their God-given -talents under the guidance of competent and sympathetic teachers. The -picture they made delighted me more than those they drew or painted; for -it seemed so thoroughly, generously, democratically and artistically -American. - -I scored another victory for the American Spirit when I introduced my -guests to Lorado Taft, sculptor, and the guiding star in Chicago's -artistic firmament. In his rare personality, strength and purity, -idealism and practical good sense blend, and his art reflects the man. -He showed us some of his work and that of his pupils, and both elicited -unstinted praise from my guests. - -The climax of our visit came when we returned to the entrance hall which -we found crowded by public school children, all listening to an -orchestra composed of certain of their number, and led by a young girl -about fourteen years of age. It seemed to me a remarkable and beautiful -combination. The marbles and pictures, the music, and, best of all, the -children happily wandering about the place. When the program ended there -was ice-cream for everybody, served by the teachers who accompanied the -children. It was a real party, an American party, and we might have -travelled long and far before I could have found anything which would -have better reflected for my guests the American Spirit at its best. - -If I were an artist and a sculptor I should like to portray the spirit -of Chicago as one feels it in this museum. I would model a group, with -its central figure that same sculptor, the finely bred American, clean -and wholesome, who longs to create, not only the city beautiful, but the -city human. He should be surrounded by the children, happily looking at -pictures and listening to music as we saw them in the Art Institute that -day. - -But there must be another prominent figure in my group: the heartless, -ruthless, twentieth century American, with clean-shaven face, jaws -strong as a vise, and a chin like the base of an anvil. He is the man -who "makes a good husband," and partly obeys the Scriptural injunction: -because he provides for his own. He too should be surrounded by -children; not his, but the children who work in his factories and have -to live in his rickety tenements. The two men would struggle mightily -for supremacy in the city's life; and I would set up my sculptured group -in the busiest place, where all who passed it by might see, and seeing, -help him who was struggling for beauty and for happiness. - -Dr. French, the Herr Director and I had a long discussion about my -conception of the two natures contending within the city. The Herr -Director argued that the merchant spirit, so prevalent here, when -uncontrolled and uncurbed, is more dangerous to civilization and to our -democracy than the military spirit of Germany, and that it needs to be -overcome by a force greater and stronger than itself. The corrupting -element he said has always been this same merchant spirit, and where -ancient civilizations decayed, it was due to the fact that it debased -kings and enslaved them by luxuries. - -"Business should not control, but be controlled, because business is -based entirely upon selfishness." When the Herr Director stopped for -breath, Dr. French, who was an ardent Christian and knew his Bible, took -from his pocket a New Testament, and pointed out a remarkable chapter in -the Book of Revelation (a chapter I was compelled to confess I had not -read) that bore out the Herr Director's statement. - -"The kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the -merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.... And -the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth -their merchandise any more; merchandise of gold, and silver, and -precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and -scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every -vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; -and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, -and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and -merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men." - -We urged Dr. French to read the rest of the chapter, which he did. - -"And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, -saying: Woe, woe, the great city, wherein were made rich all that had -their ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is -she made desolate," and then the voice of the angel crying into the -thick of their lament, "Rejoice over her, thou Heaven and ye saints, and -ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her." -It seemed as though the prophet had written the epitaph of all cities in -which the merchant was master and not servant. - -When he had finished I knew the inscription for my sculptured group: the -twentieth verse of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation. - -Altogether it was a remarkable day to be experienced only in America, -perhaps only in Chicago. To shop in the largest store in the world, -visit a picture gallery well worth while, and see art students at work; -hear classical music played by a children's orchestra, and watch the -same children enjoying the party which followed; to meet one of the -leading sculptors of America who shared with us his plans and hopes, and -to have as our guide the Director of the Art Institute, was a colossal -experience worthy of the city in which it happened. - -The next day was given to the Juvenile Court, Public Play Grounds, the -University, and, finally, Hull House. The one great disappointment of -the Chicago visit for me and my guests was Miss Jane Addams' absence in -Europe. But the House was there--big, neighborly, homelike, -hospitable--and the residents were there, those who do the neighboring, -the healing and the helping, who are friends of the friendless, and know -no creed or race--except humanity. - -My faith in Chicago springs largely from my contact with Hull House, The -Commons and like places with their defiant spirit towards evil, their -broad-mindedness and their brave attempt at remedying the wrongs of our -commercialized civilization. - -After dinner I "toted" my guests all over the House, from the -reading-room on the first floor to the Boys' Club on the third, and back -again. I have done it frequently, and always with zest and pride, in -spite of the fact that I have had no active share in the work. - -In Bowen Hall we came upon a dancing party. Some one of the social clubs -had been gracious enough to invite its parents to come. We were -introduced to Mrs. Frankelstein from Roumania, and Mrs. Flynn from -Ireland, Mrs. Ragovsky from Russia, Mr. and Mrs. Feketey from Hungary, -Mr. and Mrs. Rocco from Italy, and many others whose picturesque names I -do not remember. - -We also met a young business man, the son of a millionaire, with sundry -other young men and women of the type one likes to meet and introduce, -whom one would be proud to know anywhere. They had charge of the -affair. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin caught the spirit of -the occasion and entered into it with zest. When the orchestra began to -play, he led the Grand March with Mrs. Rocco and she followed with the -young millionaire. At the close of the festivities, as we were leaving, -they vowed they had had the best time since they left home. - -Chicago, big, blundering, materialistic Chicago had a new meaning to the -Herr Director. He praised everything and everybody, and as we parted for -the night, he said: "'Almost thou persuadest me to' believe in the -'American Spirit.'" - - - - -X - -_Where the Spirit is Young_ - - -To the average European there are two things American which have not yet -lost their romantic quality: The prairies and the West. - -Anticipations of seeing both, filled the breast of the Frau Directorin -with mingled feelings of fear and pleasure, as she discussed with her -husband the fate of the children they had left behind them--in the event -of our being captured by the Indians. However, the probability of our -safe return and her consequent opportunity to tell envious friends her -experiences in the prairies and the West outweighed all fears. - -Among her friends were those who had braved the perils of the ocean and -gone as far as New York; some of them had even been in Chicago--but -beyond, still hidden in the romance woven about them by Bret Harte (her -favorite American author), were those two things she was about to see, -and of which they had only dreamed. - -The Herr Director, as he repeatedly reminded me, had crossed the plains -when I had known them only through Cooper's fascinating Indian stories, -and he was eager to throw off the leadership I had assumed, which, to a -dominant nature like his, proved exceedingly irksome. - -He soon discovered that he was travelling through territory entirely new -to him. The little towns he had known had grown into cities, and the -further west we travelled, the greater and more impressive were the -changes. - -Omaha and Kansas City he did not recognize at all. Not only was there -this new growth, "rank growth," he called it, of sky-scrapers, -post-offices and railroad stations with Doric pillars--the men and women -he met had a new outlook upon life. While they still boasted of this and -that thing in which their city was like Chicago or was unlike some -lesser city than their own, they were critical of themselves and eager -to learn; they had grown more masterful and at the same time were more -refined. - -The prairies were not at all what the Frau Directorin had imagined them -to be. She was chagrined to find nothing but farm lands and great -fields, not so well groomed as those we had seen in the East, but with -no Indians or buffaloes, no wild horses or wilder looking men. - -She saw no trace of the toil, the struggle and the brave resistance -through which these farms had been rescued from the prairies. She could -not know of the loneliness of women and the hardihood of men, of the -season's drought and famine, of bitter disappointment, the pangs of -bearing and rearing children in utter isolation, and the struggle for -education. - -No trace of all this was apparent in the sort of settled, middle class -prosperity which stretched out in the unvaried, thousand mile panorama -through which we journeyed. - -In a town of about four thousand inhabitants we stopped; the name of the -place is of no significance, for there are hundreds of just such towns -in the West. We were met by the superintendent of schools, himself a -product of the prairies. Having grown up among the cattle, he is -consequently shy of men. He drove his automobile as if it were a -broncho, and we all uttered a prayer of thanksgiving when he deposited -us, with no bones broken, at the hotel. In a short time we were ready to -go with him to his school, which was the objective point of our visit. - -It goes without saying that the superintendent boasted of the youth of -the town, even as under like circumstances in the East, he would have -boasted of its age. - -Ten years before it was nothing except a railroad station, miles of -sage-brush, rattlesnakes and prairie dogs. Now there are business -blocks, embryonic sky-scrapers, a pillared post-office, a -hundred-thousand-dollar hotel, a Grand Opera House, neither big enough -nor good enough to boast of, numerous churches and this schoolhouse. It -is not only a place in which boys and girls learn the "three R's," but -has a finely equipped gymnasium, a chemical laboratory and a Domestic -Science department. It is a center of education and recreation, not only -for that town, but for the surrounding country. - -I had never seen the Herr Director as enthusiastic over anything as he -was over this cowboy school superintendent, with his program of reaching -every man, woman and child in the county through his educational and -recreational program, his annual budget of some seventy-five thousand -dollars, and a faculty of men and women college bred, and citizens of -the town. They are not merely educated tramps, but are there to stay, -and they take pride in the town in which they make their home. - -The Herr Director was no less amused than I was when we were told by one -of the teachers that the superintendent, at one of the school board -meetings had pulled off his coat and threatened to thrash one of the -members who refused his vote on an important measure. As we looked at -this six foot three, erstwhile cowboy, his broad shoulders and strong -arms which seemed reluctantly confined in a coat, and as we saw his -square, determined jaw,--we knew that the unruly member voted _aye_. - -Both the Herr Director and I were asked to speak to the boys and girls. -As soon as they entered the room the air became electric with their high -school yell; they "rah rahed" us individually and collectively, and -"what's the matter withed" everybody, and indulged in all those academic -and classical performances which every high school now seems to consider -an essential part of preparation for college. - -The Herr Director told them that among all the things he had seen thus -far in America he liked their high school the best; which remark of -course elicited thunderous applause. This was most gratifying to him, -and all day he was in high spirits. He thought the most hopeful -characteristic of the American is this faith in education, the -practical, far-reaching methods employed, and the daring all sorts of -educational experiments. At the same time he severely criticized our -lack of unanimity, and the evident disadvantages of such communities as -have no cowboy superintendent to lick a conservative or stingy school -board member into conformity with his plans. - -We visited an agricultural college where we were told of farmers who -came to study soil fertility, and farmers' wives who studied kitchen -chemistry, farmers' children who tested seeds, and to whom these -prairies, to which they were being bound by an intelligent knowledge of -their environment, were beginning to speak a new language. - -We saw a teacher's college which one with the prophet's vision had -planted in the desert. The sage-brush ridden prairie had been -transformed into a glorious campus, and uncultured boys and girls into -enthusiastic teachers. More than twelve hundred of them come back each -year to get better equipment for their difficult task. - -The cities in which we stopped interested the Herr Director less than -the towns, and we did not tarry long except in one of them, where we had -to stay because of an engagement I had made to address a certain club. -I did this because it gave me a fine chance to introduce that particular -American institution, a combination of eating and speaking club, which -meets once a month and whose program is as ambitious as are most things -Western. - -We were met at the station by a committee of men and women in -automobiles of course, and found the finest rooms in the hotel reserved -for us. Big, high, generous rooms, in which the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin openly rejoiced. - -The committee awaited us in a private dining-room where luncheon was -served. There were three other guests who were to speak during the -evening. One of them, a most brilliant woman, a well-known social -worker. The second a United States Senator, and the third an explorer -who had just returned from a voyage into some less known parts of South -America. - -The luncheon was sufficiently elaborate and artistically served to -satisfy both the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, but he -protested when after the meal, without even a chance at a nap, we were -escorted to waiting motor cars, and a long cavalcade of us started on a -sight-seeing expedition. - -The city was worth seeing, with its boulevards, parks and playgrounds; -its schoolhouse, churches, and clubs. We heard much of its prospects, -always so great an asset in the life of our Western cities. - -Amusing and remarkable to the strangers was the evident pride of this -committee in the city, to which they had come from all parts of the -country if not of the world; yet they spoke of it with a lover's -affection. - -The one thing underneath all this civic pride, and finer than anything -visible to us, was the fight for decency, law and order, and the health -and happiness of children, which has been waged there and is not yet -won. It is as exciting as, and more valorous than, many a battle in -which men fight with powder and bullets. - -It was an exhilarating experience to shake the hand and look into the -face of a woman who had defied the monied interests of her state, who -had jeopardized her comforts and her position, even her life, to loosen -the hold of graft from the schools of the state. - -It was inspiring to hear from a mild mannered, unaggressive looking man -how he had helped wipe out brothels and evil dance halls, broken up the -connivance of the police with the criminal element and put through a -positive program of rational, clean amusements for the people. - -We visited a business plant, the architecture and equipment of which are -as unique as are its owner's business methods. We were told the story -(not by himself) of how a brave and good man, single handed, struggled -against bosses, political cliques and large financial interests in -league with them, and all but freed the city from its most dangerously -decent foes. - -We were shown hills which the citizens had faith enough to remove and -the hollows into which they had cast them; a raging river which they -meant to control, and ugly, sickening slums which were doomed to go, and -that none too soon; the old things which were to become new, and -crooked things which were to be made straight. - -Thirty-three years before the Herr Director had heard stories of -vanishing buffaloes and the last struggles with the Indians. He had met -scouts, hunters and soldiers. This was a new type of fighters, much less -picturesque, but fit successors to those valiant pioneers. I rescued my -guests from a visit to the stock-yards (why any one should care to show -off stock-yards I do not know), and the committee released its hold upon -us so that we might make our toilettes for the reception which preceded -the banquet. - -If there is anything more conducive to creating a barrier to real human -contact than a reception, I have not seen it, unless it be a reception -with orchestral accompaniment; this was such an one, and its chief -function seemed to be to drown conversation. - -The ladies of our party were happy because this was one of the few -occasions on our trip when they could wear evening gowns. - -The Frau Directorin was astonished beyond measure when she heard that -some of the women on the reception committee of this club were mothers -(to a limited degree, it is true), that they had, at the most, two -servants, and that some of them had none; that they were interested in -Literary Clubs and civic affairs, served on school boards and church -committees, and were doing various other things to help the Creator -manage His universe. - -The German woman, who has adhered to the program marked out for her by -the Emperor, the "three K's," "_Kueche, Kirche und Kinder_" stands aghast -at the strenuous lives many of our women lead. The Frau Directorin, who -has servants for the kitchen and the children, upon whom the third K, -the Church, lays no burden in the way of missionary meetings, fairs and -suppers, who does not have to reduce her flesh to be in the fashion, and -whose social position is determined by her husband's station in life, -may well wear an unruffled smile and keep an unfurrowed brow. - -At the banquet, the waiters and the orchestra vied with each other in -noise making, and it was a relief when, with the bringing of the black -coffee, they all disappeared, and the toast-master rose and began -unbottling his stock of stories. Nowhere in the world is there such a -thirst for stories as in America, and a group of men after a banquet has -an unlimited capacity for absorbing and enjoying them. - -There were four scheduled speakers and a few who expected to be called -upon unexpectedly, among them the Herr Director; a Glee Club was to sing -before, between and after the speeches; so the toast-master did not stop -telling stories any too soon. - -The first speaker of the evening was a woman who well deserved the -cheers which greeted her appearance. Her address on Workmen's -Compensation was so clear, so aptly put, so well reasoned through and so -within the limit of time assigned her, that when she finished, the -enthusiastic Herr Director shouted: "Bravo! bravo!" loud enough to be -heard above the less euphonious sound of hand clapping, in which form of -applause the American audience indulges. - -The address was an eloquent but unemotional plea for fair play for the -working man, an arraignment of present practices, cruelly sickening in -detail, and frightful as a revelation of the attitude of large -industrial interests towards labor. It showed the fair-mindedness of the -men there, that they listened so approvingly, in spite of the fact that -a large number of them was in similar relationship to labor, and that -the proposed law for which she pleaded would be against their own -interests. - -After the lady's address, the Glee Club sang and then the United States -Senator was introduced. I have forgotten his subject, but that does not -matter, for it had no relation to what he said. It was the kind of -address which could be delivered with equal propriety at a Grangers' -picnic or a political meeting. - -There were two things which the senator did not know: First, that his -audience had outgrown that particular kind of address, and second, when -to stop. When his final finally was finally spoken, the Glee Club sang -again, after which the Herr Director was called upon to speak. He was -listened to most attentively as he told how German cities are built, -governed, provisioned and lighted. - -There were at least four speeches beside my own, and it was long past -midnight when the Glee Club sang its last glee, and the club adjourned -to meet again the next month, when it would receive other more or less -distinguished guests, eat a six course dinner and listen to half a dozen -speakers, each one of them eager to right the wrongs of this universe. - -When the Herr Director had said good-bye to the hundred or more people -who told him how much they enjoyed his address, he retired in a most -happy mood. I found him chuckling as he untied his cravat. - -"It was lovely, perfectly lovely," he said; "but what children they -are." - -"Yes," I replied, "they are children; and, like children, are eager to -learn." - - - - -XI - -_The American Spirit Among the Mormons_ - - -Both the Herr Director and his wife had a strange desire to see the -Mormons. They explained it by saying that besides the Indians whom they -had as yet not seen, and the Negroes whom they had seen everywhere, they -always thought of the Mormons as most American, that is most unlike -other people. - -The Rocky Mountains, as I had expected, did not impress them. From the -car window they seemed more like elevated plains, with here and there a -restless chain of hills in the distance. - -"As restless as the American people," quoth the Herr Director. "Your -plains and your mountains seem to be fighting with each other." - -I hoped that the plains would win the fight and pointed out another, -more visible struggle--that of man with the desert. I admitted that the -Rocky Mountains which he had thus far seen were uninteresting from the -scenic standpoint, especially as compared with the beauty of the Alps, -those snow-capped mountains with meadows to the timber line, their -picturesque villages and herders' huts all as trim and neat and finished -as the carving one buys in Interlaken or Luzerne. - -From the human standpoint, the Rockies are infinitely more interesting, -for there the elemental struggle is still going on. A giant race is -taming tumultuous rivers, and forcing their waters through flumes and -tunnels into mighty reservoirs on the mountainsides and in the valleys. -No indolent, unaspiring, uninventive, docile people could survive in the -Rockies. - -In common with many Americans, my guests believed that this matter of -irrigation is as easy as turning water from a faucet into a basin; and -that all a man has to do is to drop his seed into the ground and watch -it grow. I showed them farms, desolate and forbidding, which men had to -level or lift, ditch and plow and harrow; a back-breaking, often a -heart-breaking task. In such an environment they built shacks which only -accentuated the loneliness--where women lived and children were born, -where hopes were cherished and God was worshipped. - -It was an Old Testament environment, the wilderness. Compared with these -pioneers the Israelites had an easy task. They sent spies into the -Promised Land where they found and from which they brought back grapes -and pomegranates; but to stay in the wilderness, to drive back the -drought inch by inch, to kill coyotes and rattlesnakes one by one, to -contend with claim jumpers, real estate agents, water right privileges -and unscrupulous lawyers, and then raise grapes and pomegranates, -families, churches, schools and colleges--that seems to me the greater -and more heroic task. And it was done by men with the courage of -soldiers and the vision of prophets, who turned that land of drought, -alkali and sage-brush into one "flowing with milk and honey." Because in -a certain portion of that desert those who were the pioneers and -performed those tasks were Mormons, takes nothing from the glory of the -achievement. - -As we neared Salt Lake City the Frau Directorin looked into every house, -eager to detect the numerous wives whom she expected to see surrounding -one man; while the Herr Director marvelled at the beauty of the vast -Salt Lake valley which, with its poplars and mountains and its -intensively cultivated farms, reminded him of Lombardy, that beautiful -stretch of country along the railway from Milan to Boulogna. - -Salt Lake City is sufficiently different from other cities we had seen -to arouse interest; but as in Rome the Vatican overshadows everything -else, so here the Temple and the Tabernacle hold one's attention, and -work upon one's imagination. - -We had scarcely put ourselves to rights in our rooms at the Hotel Utah, -as pretentious and comfortable as any in the country, before we were -out on the streets, looking for Mormons. There is a fairly defined type -and I thought I knew it, for I have lectured before Mormon audiences; -but out upon the busy city streets it was quite impossible for me to -gratify the curiosity of the Frau Directorin by pointing them out to -her. I did tell her that a third of the population was non-Mormon and -she looked curiously at two out of every three persons we met without, -however, being able to say definitely that she had seen a real, live -specimen. - -Not wishing to join the crowd of tourists who were taken in relays -through the Tabernacle and other buildings open to the curious among the -Gentiles, we walked through the park, and stopping before the monument -to Joseph Smith I took the opportunity to enlighten my guests upon the -history of that singular personality, and the church of which he was the -founder. - -Evidently my remarks were overheard, and before I realized it I was in a -discussion of Mormon doctrines with a woman, a zealous defender of her -faith, whose religious zeal shone out of her face, which was homely -enough to need this adornment to save it from repulsive ugliness. - -Of course she believed implicitly in the Book of Mormon, the plates of -which were found, and translated from a language which the best informed -philologists have never known to exist; in a God who has body, parts and -passions, in spirits which fill Heaven, and clamor to be born onto the -Earth, in the baptism for the dead, and in that strange doctrine, that -no woman can be saved without being sealed to a man, upon which the -practice of polygamy rested. - -The Herr Director did not quite understand, and I had to explain each of -these dogmas as well as I could, and then the Frau Directorin, not -understanding anything, begged to be told about the one thing in which -she was primarily interested, their belief in regard to marriage. I -asked the lady to explain this doctrine of the Mormons, to which she -replied that they are not Mormons, but Latter Day Saints. She was indeed -a saint, for she was not offended by our curiosity, nor the lack of -seriousness with which we were discussing the subject. - -She addressed the Frau Directorin: "You are married to your husband." -The Frau Directorin understood and nodded comprehendingly; "but," the -saint continued, "you are married to him only for time." - -"No, no, not for a time, not for a time!" the Frau Directorin cried, -clinging to her husband, who had jokingly threatened that when they -reached Utah he would improve the occasion and double his blessings. - -"You could not be married to him any other way unless you are sealed -according to our rites; we alone marry for eternity." - -"Oh!" said the facetious Herr Director, "you believe in eternal -punishment." When I translated that to the Frau Directorin she slapped -him playfully. - -He asked our guide how many wives he could marry if he became a Latter -Day Saint and she said there would be no limit to the wives he could -have sealed to him; but according to the latest ruling of the church and -in conformity with the laws of the United States, only one to live with -here upon the earth; so he decided to "bear the ills he had," and not -"fly to others that he knew not of." - -The saint could not have expected her teaching to take root in soil so -shallow, but she determined to sow a few more seeds, and showed us the -interior of the Tabernacle with its "largest organ in the world and its -perfect acoustics." The Frau Directorin tried her charming voice and -sang, much to the delight of the saint, who confessed to three consuming -passions. She loved to sing better than to eat, next in order came -dancing, which seems to be a specialty among Mormons, and evidently does -not interfere with their piety, and third, that of saving feminine souls -from destruction, on account of their unmarried state. To satisfy this -last passion she has had ten thousand of her female ancestors married to -well-known Mormons. To accomplish this, she had her genealogical tree -traced back to prehistoric times, and had spent her fortune upon that -pious extravagance. She told us that she was a plural wife, and living -with her husband merely in the celestial relationship: but she believed -polygamy to be in harmony with the will of God, and that the women as a -whole favor it. - -As we returned to our hotel, the Frau Directorin amused herself by -asking each child she met: "How much brothers and sisters you are?" I -was profoundly thankful she did not stop the men to ask them about the -number of their wives. - -Having promised her that I would introduce her to a real, live Mormon -who as yet had only one wife, she could hardly wait until dinner, to -which I had invited my Mormon acquaintance. He proved to be a very -normal sort of man whose face betrayed his European peasant ancestry, -his father and mother having emigrated from Switzerland, lured across by -the promise of land, and an all but perfect Zion. They had passed -through every hardship of the early persecutions, and the march across -the plains and mountains. He himself had grown up in the martyrs' faith, -which remained unshaken until he was sent to college. - -Although his teachers were Mormons they could not explain away all the -inconsistencies of Mormon history and belief; doubts assailed him, and -when in due course he became a missionary and it fell to his lot to go -to Europe, instead of making converts, he became one. The six years -abroad were spent in the study of history, and, applying the methods to -his own church and its Book of Mormon, he began to doubt, and is a -doubter still. Yet so strong were the ties that bound him that he did -not formally sever his connection with the church, and unless he is -ejected from that communion he will doubtless remain within its fold. - -He belongs to an increasingly large group of young Mormons who, while -they themselves have lost faith in the church and its doctrines, believe -that they must remain loyal to those whose belief is still unshaken, -help them to discard the crudest elements of their doctrine and so -gradually democratize the whole institution. - -The growth of the church has been checked and the accession of foreign -converts has almost ceased, due to the prohibition of polygamy which -was a lure to the evil minded, and due also to the fact that immigration -is not being encouraged. - -Mormonism would have continued to grow in alarming proportions if the -missionaries were still offering a husband, or a part of one, to every -woman, and to every man as many wives as he cared to take unto himself. - -Within the church two forces are working towards its liberalization. The -influence of a strong, Gentile population, and the school; while neither -of them will destroy Mormonism, our informant believed that ultimately -it will prove no more formidable or dangerous to the nation than any -other religious denomination, whose government is strongly centralized. - -After dinner he took us to his own home, and either from a recently -acquired habit, or from renewed curiosity, the Frau Directorin asked the -little son of the house, "How much brothers and sisters you are?" and I -am not sure she was convinced that his wife whom he introduced to us -was the only wife he had. - -He was good enough to insist upon taking us into the country in his -machine to call on his father, his mother having died some years before; -which, however, according to Mormon usage of bygone days did not leave -the old man a widower. - -His gnarled, wrinkled face shone when we greeted him in his native -tongue, and it was as pleasant as it was instructive to hear him tell of -the emigration of his people from Switzerland to Missouri, of the stormy -days there, the struggles against infuriated mobs, the long, dangerous -journey across the desert, and the pioneer days in Utah where he had -acquired lands, sheep and oxen, wives and children, in true Old -Testament fashion. - -The Frau Directorin asked: "How much wives you are?" - -When he told her that he had gone beyond the apostolic twelve, although -he lived with only a few of the number, she exclaimed: "_Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!_" - -The Herr Director wanted to know how he managed so many of them when he -had difficulty in managing one. - -"_Ach!_ in those days," he said, "the wives were subject to their -husband, knowing that without him they could not live comfortably here, -nor safely hereafter. They were docile enough, and it did not cost so -much to keep them as it does now." - -With a shrewd smile playing around his almost toothless mouth he added: -"You know if polygamy had not been prohibited it would have died out -gradually, because these are different times. We couldn't afford it -now." - -The old man said he had known Joseph Smith and, of course, Brigham -Young. He spoke of them with reverence and awe, as men of God who -received revelations and could work wonders. There seemed to be little -or nothing of the mystic in his makeup; his religion was of a hard, -materialistic, matter-of-fact kind to which he clung most tenaciously. -There was an unmistakable coarseness about him which revealed itself in -his conversation. It may have been due to his peasant origin, but during -all the years, a really ethical religion would have refined him. In a -sense he still did not belong to the United States--he was a Mormon -first and last, and the government in Washington was to him as Pharaoh's -rule was to the Jews. - -His religion evidently had taught him submission. He paid his tithes -ungrudgingly, and had gone on a mission uncomplainingly. He was a cog in -a great wheel whose resistless force he did not question. - -From his farm we were taken to others, and to neighboring towns. The -whole system in all its minute details was explained to us, and the Herr -Director was quite fascinated by its efficiency, although I am sure he -would not care to be governed by it. Everywhere we found prosperous -conditions and outward contentment, but underneath, especially among the -young people, a brooding discontent and smouldering rebellion; yet at -the same time much stolid ignorance and fanaticism. - -Our final visit was to the University, built solidly against the rocks, -its great U in purest white marked upon the mountainside, its very -existence seeming a menace to the system which supports it. - -There was a fine group of students, both Mormons and Gentiles. The -library in which I spent some time astonished me. I wondered, as I -looked at some of the books, if the church authorities knew what was -between the covers. Dynamite under the Temple walls could not be as -dangerous as those volumes. - -Possibly the students are as ignorant of their contents as the leaders -are. There are books on Philosophy and Psychology which do not seem to -me so menacing as those on Economics and Sociology; for it is upon these -subjects that the questioning will come first, and also the discontent. - -After long and confidential conferences with some of the professors who -told me their views, and how they are struggling to maintain their -academic freedom, and after long talks with bright, energetic boys and -girls who expressed themselves freely, I could assure the Herr Director -that some problems, which have so long vexed the United States and have -threatened certain ideals of the American Spirit, are in process of -solution. - -They are being solved by virtue of the broad tolerance of that spirit, -than which nothing is so feared by the reactionary forces in the Mormon -Church. - -One thing which that institution desires more than anything else is -renewed persecution; not too much of it, but enough to rally the -children of the martyrs to face new martyrdom and so perpetuate the -waning power of the church. - -One must remember that Mormonism is not only a sect, but a strongly -knitted society, and that men who have long ago ceased to believe in its -doctrines still hold to it with a loyalty born of past suffering, which -will be fostered by any future injustice or persecution. - -When we left Salt Lake City and were safe in the Pullman on our way to -the Pacific Coast, the Frau Directorin put her stock question to the -colored porter when he came to make up the berths. - -"How much wives you are?" - -When I interpreted the question for him he smiled his broadest smile, -but looked puzzled. I told him that the lady thought him a Mormon. - -"_No, ma'am._ I's a Baptist. But I sho'd like to be one. I likes de -ladies poheful." - -He was not a Mormon, certainly not a saint, but he rendered us loyal -service on that long, dusty journey to the Coast. Perhaps because he -"likes de ladies poheful," or it may have been because I gave him half -of a generous tip in advance. - - - - -XII - -_The California Confession of Faith_ - - -Since landing in New York the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had -endured many a formal reception; she with angelic patience, and he with -the usual masculine aversion to formal social amenities. - -When I announced that a reception was to be tendered us in San -Francisco, he cried with uplifted hands, "_Um Gottes Willen!_" He did -not object to really meeting people; but to stand in line an hour or two -shaking hundreds of outstretched hands, not knowing nor caring much to -whom they belonged, seemed to him a profitless exercise; while our -wafers and tea, or our punch--without those ingredients which give the -"punch" to punch--were gastronomic delusions to one accustomed to the -abundant meat and drink attendant upon social occasions in Germany. - -This particular reception was to be given us by the Chinese, and a -committee of stately, solemn looking gentlemen called for us in -carriages; despite the Herr Director's reluctance, I am sure he was -delighted to have this chance of giving his jaded social appetite a new -sensation. - -Chinatown, with its gay coloring, its tempting shops, its stolid-looking -men, its quaint women and cunning babies, was made doubly fascinating to -us, entering it officially conducted and riding in state. - -I do not know to this day to just what facts or virtues or position in -life we owe the attentions we received; but it was all recorded upon -posters and handbills liberally distributed through Chinatown, -announcing our advent. Recorded upon them in those picturesque -characters with which the Chinese language puzzles its readers, were the -names and eulogies of certain members of our party. The character which -stood for the Herr Director looked like a top, a tree and a barrel, -while his nativity and manifold virtues were made known in other -artistic symbols. - -I suspect that the man to blame for it all was a certain young American -whose mixed ancestry has created a rare and most effective personality. -He has inherited all the grace of his French ancestors, the tenacity (a -virtue in which he excels) of his Dutch or double Dutch progenitors, and -I am sure he can claim kinship with the first man who "kissed the -Blarney stone." He could pull the latch-string to any foreign colony in -that great conglomerate of peoples, and always be greeted as one of -them. The Young Men's Christian Association, in whose name he served, -could not have had a more worthy exponent of its social creed, and -America could not have projected against these foreigners a better -representative than Charles W. Blanpied. - -The reception was held in the Chinese Presbyterian Church, and upon our -arrival we found it crowded by a solemn-looking company of Chinese. We -were conducted to the platform and introduced to his Excellency the -Consul-General, ministers of various denominations, and dignitaries of -Chinatown. - -This was the first reception we attended where introductions were not -followed by vigorous hand-shaking. I am inclined to believe that the -softness of the Oriental palm is due to the fact that it is not -vigorously pressed every time two men meet each other. - -The Herr Director was in ecstasy over the beautiful Chinese girls in the -choir. Doubtless he would have preferred sitting among them, rather than -where he was, between the Consul-General and the chairman of the -evening. - -The reception opened with prayer, as if it were a church service; then -the choir sang an anthem, followed by four speeches of welcome. The -first by his Excellency the Consul-General lasted an hour and seemed -much longer, because it was in Chinese and unintelligible to us. - -I was asked to respond, and, under the circumstances, my remarks were -brief. The clever interpreter made a good deal of them, judging by the -length of time it took him, and the tumultuous applause with which every -sentence was greeted. - -The Herr Director told me it was the poorest speech he ever heard; but I -am inclined to believe that he was a little jealous because he was not -asked to speak; or perhaps he was merely trying to keep me humble, a -course which he had consistently pursued from the day I met him in New -York. - -The reception closed with the benediction, and the dignitaries and -guests proceeded to a Chinese restaurant which was genuinely Oriental; -not one of those nondescript Chop Suey places which serve such varied -and often objectionable purposes. The entire establishment was reserved -for us. It was gayly decorated with the banners of the Youngest -Republic, an orchestra played vigorously and so unmelodiously that the -Herr Director was reminded of the ultra modern German compositions. - -The menu was the most mysterious thing of the evening, ranging from tea -to broiled seaweed, and eggs which looked their age and were not ashamed -of it. There was fowl which was made unrecognizable to both the eye and -the palate, something which tasted like glue flavored with onion, and -something else which to my perverted Occidental palate seemed like -stewed Turkish towels. There were sweetmeats before and after and -between courses. Beside the mystery, the variety and novelty of the -banquet, it had one other virtue; it was not followed by after dinner -speeches, that common American practice which is an assault upon one's -digestion, and, not infrequently, upon good taste. - -While there were no after dinner speeches, we had a chance to discuss -the problem of the Chinese in California, and their brave attempts to -become Americanized in thought and feeling, in spite of the unyielding -race prejudice they have had to meet; thus renewing our faith in our -common origin and destiny, regardless of our apparent differences. Never -before had I realized how gentle these Chinese are nor how altogether -likeable, and it was no surprise to find that some of the Californians -have made the same discovery, and are treating them accordingly. - -We visited the Immigrant Station at San Francisco and I wished we had -not; for our treatment of the incoming Orientals lacks all those -elements of which I had boasted. We are neither humane, nor fair, -neither wise, nor decent. We found young Chinese women who had been -detained for more than a year, and were left without occupation or -suitable companionship or even a hope of early release. There were -Chinese boys who were herded with hardened, vicious-looking men, and the -station, although ideally situated, was little better than a prison. -What was done or was allowed to be done to make the lot of these people -more bearable was accomplished by outsiders. Conditions may have changed -since that time, and if they have, it is a cause for profound gratitude. - -We also had an unusual opportunity to come in touch with the Japanese -all along the coast. In one city we met a young Japanese, a graduate of -my own college. He is now serving his countrymen there as a Buddhist -priest. He has brought to his sacred calling much of the practical -religion which he absorbed through his contact with the college Y. M. -C. A., and it is his ambition to make Buddhism efficient and -serviceable. He has put into the work all his patrimony and is eager to -build up an institution patterned after the Young Men's Christian -Association. - -We had many a confidential talk, and if the soul of the Oriental is not -altogether inscrutable I have had a glimpse of it; although I cannot say -that I have fathomed his soul any more than he has mine. He seemed to me -to typify his race in a remarkable degree. His is a strong, unyielding, -definite kind of ethnos, and while we liked each other and tried to -understand one another, there seemed to be a place just before we -reached our Holy of Holies where we stood before a barred gate. - -When he told me that the American soul is absolutely unemotional in -comparison with the Japanese, I knew he did not understand us; even as I -did not understand the Japanese when I told him that his people are cold -and unemotional in comparison with us. - -He took us to his temple in the basement of a shabby looking American -tenement. He showed us his Sunday-school room, picture cards with Golden -Texts, club and class rooms, and many devices borrowed from us, applied -and perhaps improved upon by his Japanese genius. The day we left the -city he brought us an invitation to luncheon at the home of the most -prominent Japanese merchant in the place. Our hostess was a delightful -woman educated in a Methodist school in her native country, and of -course spoke English. Her husband, a conservative Buddhist, although he -had been in this country for twenty years, was still Japanese to the -core and spoke little or no English. There were several notables -present, whose English was more or less Japanned. They were keen, well -educated, and had absorbed enough of American culture to be baseball -"fans." - -During luncheon, which in our honor was served a la Nippon, we discussed -the anti-Japanese legislation which at that time was menacing the -peaceful relationship of the two countries. - -All the Japanese agreed that they had no right to demand unrestricted -immigration; but they were urgent that no crass distinction should be -made between them and other races, and that they too should have the -right to obtain citizenship when they had proved themselves fitted for -it. - -During this discussion the Frau Directorin and our host were carrying on -a picturesque conversation; that is she did the talking and he smilingly -said "Yes" to everything she said. She felt highly flattered that he -understood her English, which was still about seventy-five per cent. -German, while his was ninety-nine per cent. Japanese. - -That night as we were leaving the city a delegation met us at the -station to complete their Oriental hospitality by presenting us with -beautiful and valuable souvenirs. - -After such brief and friendly relationships with these people it is easy -to come to very one-sided conclusions about the problem they present to -the people of California. The situation is serious, but not so serious -that, in order to try to meet it, we must cease to be gentlemanly in -our relation to them. - -It is the peculiarity of all people who face race problems, to face them -irrationally and to think that in order to maintain racial dignity one -must insult, demean, and humble other races; and the people of the -United States in general, and those of the Pacific Coast in particular, -have not yet learned a better and more rational way. - -Strong race prejudice is not necessarily a sign of race superiority, and -the people who constantly proclaim their superiority by humiliating and -persecuting others have a hard time proving it. - -If what I was frequently told is true, that California "wants no -immigrants unless they are something between a mule and a man," then I -can understand their animosity towards the Japanese; for they are -altogether human and want to be so treated. - -Beside the many racial varieties with which we came in contact on the -Pacific Coast, we found there all the types produced in the United -States, and while neither the Herr Director nor myself was able to -differentiate them by external variation, we discovered them by -different and contending ideals. From that standpoint they were even -more interesting than the Orientals. Every shade of political and -religious opinion, every kind of economic doctrine, every variety of -social standards we found, besides currents and cross currents not -easily discerned or classified. In spite of the difference in race, -class, religion and politics, we found three well defined ideas -expressed, upon which there is such an agreement that they might be -called the California Confession of Faith. - -First and foremost is the belief in the climate and the resources of the -state. There is no religious doctrine in existence unless it be the -monotheism of the Jews, which is so dogmatically held as this faith, -that California is unsurpassed in climate, productiveness, in all those -opportunities for a leisurely existence (provided you have worked hard -elsewhere to get the necessary money) as are offered by its mountains -and sea, its luxuriant homes and all other factors which contribute to -the health and happiness of mankind. The only possible rival to -California is Heaven itself, and just because in these unbelieving and -unregenerate days so many people are not sure that there is such a -place, or if there is, are in doubt that they will have a mansion -reserved for them, they are leaving the farms and towns of the more -mundane Middle West and prosperous East to get a taste of Heaven in -California before they go to that "bourne from which no" wanderer has -returned. - -The people of California forgive any heresy or unbelief except a doubt, -however faint, about its climate and resources. From the shadow of Mount -Shasta to the deepest depth of the Imperial Valley, whether we were so -cold in summer as to need furs, or were hot enough to melt, or were -choking from dust when we travelled through miles of unredeemed desert, -we found this faith in the climate and resources of California unshaken. - -The Herr Director asked why there were so many cemeteries in the midst -of the most crowded streets, and only a nearer look convinced him that -they were "for sale" signs of rival real estate agents, who flourish -equally with the sage-brush and cactus. - -The second idea upon which there is a common agreement is, that while -California in particular is perfect as to climate and resources, the -world in general is a dire place, and its wrongs need to be righted. - -In spite of the fact that the climate invites to leisure, it has not as -yet tamed the fighting spirit of this fine, manly race, which is never -so happy as when it has something to do and dare. This state has -admitted women to the duties of citizenship, that all may have an equal -share in the fight. The issues at stake are worth battling for, and -nowhere else is the struggle more intense and dramatic. Organized labor -and capital have crippled each other in the desperate conflict, fierce -always, and often brutal. Protestantism, unorganized and frequently -inefficient, faces the Roman Catholic hierarchy, defending, as it -believes, the public schools and democratic government itself: -awakening, purified democracy is in deadly conflict with the demagogue -entrenched by special privilege while the prohibitionists are engaged in -most desperate conflict with the vinous industry of the state. - -The third doctrine of the California Confession of Faith is, that here -on the Pacific Coast the white race has been providentially placed to -defend this country against the encroachment of the "Yellow Peril." It -was illuminating though painful to find that race prejudice is as -intense here as in the South, and as unreasoning, and that one is as -helpless against it as against a flood or fire. All one seems to be able -to do is to accept it as a fact, and treat it like a contagious disease. - -If there is any danger to the white race at the Pacific Coast, it is not -the presence of the Japanese or Chinese in limited numbers; it is the -attitude of mind which has been created among Americans there, and that -may bring its own vengeance. - -It was a great joy to introduce my guests to California, its orange -groves and vineyards, its marvellous cities and palatial homes. It is a -state to glory in; but strange to say I was somewhat depressed when I -left it. The Herr Director said he missed my "brag and bluster." - -Everything was beautiful and bountiful, even as the real estate agents -have advertised; yet there were some things I found and some things I -missed which took the "brag and bluster" out of me. - -Its pioneer spirit is weakened by the accession of a large, leisure -class, and how or where the next generation will find a grappling place -for vigor of body, mind and spirit, is still a great question. To eat -one's bread by the sweat of some ancestor's brow, to be challenged daily -by the luxury of a limousine rather than by the hardships of the prairie -schooner, to have as the end and aim of one's day the winning of a Polo -match, or the making of a golf score, must ultimately bring about a -decadence of spirit, even though one retains for a while litheness of -body and activity of mind. - -The boasted democracy of California is threatened, not only by the -presence of a large leisure class and the necessary serving if not -servant class, but also by a lack of faith in humanity, without which no -democracy is safe and enduring. To California has been transferred all -that unfaith gendered by the advent of the negro, and if there were ever -a chance to revive the institution of slavery, that state might offer -some hope for its revival. - -The Californians who fear for the white race because of the presence of -the Oriental, whom that fear has made vain, boastful, ungenerous and -reckless of the feelings of others, need to know that a greater danger -threatens the race--the decay of the democratic spirit, which languishes -and perishes unless it permits to all men free access to the best it -holds, regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." - -Because I had lost my "brag and bluster" and wished to recover them, I -took my guests, who were now homeward bound, to the one place which -might fitly crown their experiences--the Grand Canyon, where one is apt -to forget humanity and its fretting problems. - -I must confess that by this time I was quite worn out; for introducing -your country to a stranger is wearing business, especially when you are -dealing with _blase_ globe-trotters, who have done all the big things, -from the Alps to the Dead Sea, and have had to crowd into a brief month -the best which lies between New York and California. To do this with a -lover's adulation, endeavoring more or less skillfully to hide defects -and make the bright spots brighter still, may well tax one's nerves. - -I acted as a sort of shock absorber, for I determined that the journey -should be a joltless one for my guests; but in that I partially failed; -for not only did I receive the shocks myself, I could not keep them from -receiving some. - -One of the worst of these jolts I suffered at the Grand Canyon of the -Colorado. I was very sure of the Canyon itself; I knew it would put a -thrill into the Herr Director, and force an expression of it out of -him. I never worried about the Frau Directorin. We reached the Canyon in -that happy mood gendered by a combination of Harvey meals and Pullman -berths, and the sight of the friendly inn at the brink of the big -surprise, and the cheer of the big log fire in the raftered room drew an -involuntary exclamation of pleasure from the Herr Director. He -registered, then asked the clerk for a room fronting the Canyon. - -"Yes siree!" said the obliging young man as he attached a number to the -Herr Director's long and illegible signature; "I'll give you a room so -near that you can spit right into it." - -Naturally I received the first shock; a minute later it communicated -itself to the Herr Director. It did not reach the Frau Directorin, for -her English fortunately was still limited; she kept on looking at the -bright Navajo rugs, while the clerk smiled at his own smartness. The -Herr Director commanded to have his bags taken to his room, and turning -from the desk said: "Young man, I am a German, and I want you to -understand that we do not spit in God's face." - -The next morning the great Canyon was full of mist, and only faint -outlines of its titanic architecture were visible. As we stood at the -edge of the wondrous chasm, watching the last cloud being driven from -the depths as the moisture was absorbed by the dry, desert air, the Frau -Directorin was shaken by emotion as she gasped at intervals: "_Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!_" The Herr Director, his feelings better controlled, -said nothing; but after a long silence, muttered under his breath: "I -should like to throw that clerk down this abyss as a penalty for his -desecrating thought." - -Every few minutes I heard him saying, as he shook his head: "Just think -of it! Just think of it!" - -I did not disturb him or ask him what he thought of it for I knew he -could not tell, nor can any one. I think he felt as I felt, that all the -cities he had seen were as nothing compared with this wonder of nature; -that all the pillared post-offices and libraries which our cunning -hands have scattered over this broad land are trifling toys compared -with this templed miracle; that all our dreams of what we might paint or -fashion or carve, or build, are child's play compared with this, and -that we ourselves are mere nothings in the presence of what God hath -wrought here in stone and clay, in color and form. - -Never before had I so wished that I could rearrange the geography of the -United States as when we turned eastward from the Grand Canyon. If I had -the power of Him who shaped this earth I would have put it within a mile -of the Atlantic Ocean and within a stone's throw of the Hoboken dock, -and having shown my guests the Canyon, I would have put them on board -their home-bound steamer, and as they sailed away I would have cried out -with ancient Simeon: "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!" - - - - -XIII - -_The Grinnell Spirit_ - - -Between the Grand Canyon and the ship there might be "many a slip," -especially as I was to conclude my guardianship of the travellers in my -own town, prosaically placed in the great Mississippi Valley, which -consists of two plains--one at the top and the other at the bottom, -filled with corn and hogs, and most prosperous and contented people. - -The place towards which we journeyed holds two things which are the -biggest, most beautiful, and best things in the world--my home and my -work, both of which my guests wished to see. I was anxious that they -should; for there, if anywhere, they could come close to that I gloried -in most, the American Spirit. - -After the barren plains, the monotonous miles of sage-brush, and the -long, straight stretches of railroad tracks, it was good to look upon -green meadows and commodious farmhouses sheltered by groves of maple and -elm, and surrounded by great fields of young corn just peeping above the -black, rich clods. - -During the last few hours of the trip the Herr Director thought every -station at which the train stopped was our destination, and began -gathering his various belongings. When finally we reached it he jumped -out almost before the train stopped, so eager was he to see the place -where he was to spend at least a fortnight, and really see the American -home from the inside. - -Again fortune favored me. It was early June. The air was soft from -recent rains, the grassy lawns were wonderfully green; peonies were -opening their buds, adding touches of color, snowballs hung thick upon -the bushes, and blooming roses filled the air with sweet odors. - -It seemed as if our neighbors had conspired to make the town ready for -my distinguished visitors, and I could see that they enjoyed the peace -of it, the friendliness of the park-like streets, the sight of well-kept -homes set in gardens, and the cordial greetings of the people we met. - -Their appreciation of all they saw before reaching the house, and their -evident delight in the rooms prepared for them, not to mention their -astonishment at finding their trunks awaiting them there, afforded me -not only pleasure, but a great sense of relief; I felt that the race was -won. I had faith to believe that they would be happy in our town of six -thousand inhabitants, which is not unlike other places of the same size. -It has its public park, two or three shopping streets, churches, -schoolhouses, a few factories large and small, clubs, lodges, and all -the things of which like towns may legitimately boast; yet it has a -background peculiarly its own. - -It was founded by an intrepid pioneer who brought a colony of New -Englanders from the hills of Massachusetts to this treeless prairie, and -with the imperious will of his race said: "Let there be a town!" And -lumber was carted over miles of deep mud, cabins were built and there -was a town. - -And again he said: "Let there be a railroad!" And he diverted the course -of a great railroad system miles out of its way, and there was a -railroad. - -And he said: "There must be no saloon in this place!" So more than half -a century before strong drink was acknowledged to be a social and -physical foe, he had seen its true nature and put prohibition into every -deed of real estate, thus making it impossible for liquor to gain a -foothold. - -Years passed and he said: "Let there be a college!" and he brought one -across the state, and there was a college; a young, infant thing just -started by Christian missionaries who had come from the East, each of -them to plant a church, all of them to plant a college. - -This infant educational institution was put into its rude cradle in the -midst of an unshaded campus, and when it had grown to generous size, -with buildings to house it and trees to shade it, a cyclone swept the -campus bare, and instead of a joyous Commencement, which was but a few -days distant, there were funerals and desolation, wreck and ruin. - -On a pile of debris sat the same pioneer with a determined smile playing -upon his face, and at once, while the tears upon the mourners' cheeks -were still wet, he and others like him began rebuilding the town and the -college. - -Those men now "rest from their labor" in that bit of rolling prairie -saved from the plowmen and the harvester, and consecrated to hold our -dead until the great day. - -The morning after our arrival in Grinnell, the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin, who, during our travels, had little opportunity to -indulge their fondness for exercise, walked out to the cemetery. It is a -beautiful, well-kept spot, but half spoiled by crowding headstones. From -it can be seen church steeples peeping through the elm trees which -shelter the town; the ugly stand-pipe and the tall chimney of our one -big factory. At our feet lay the little artificial lake where much -fishing is done, and sometimes fish are caught. As far as we could see -were prosperous farms with their comfortable homes, generous barns, -turreted silos, and wide meadows where calves and colts grazed. - -One of our virtues, the Herr Director thought, was that we do not boast -about our dead. Whatever boasting we do, and we do not boast too much, -it ceases when the earth covers us. He saw no fulsome eulogies carved -upon the headstones; often nothing but a name and the two dates of birth -and death. - -In the face of that great and last achievement we are very humble and -honest; although in our little cemetery lie buried men and women of whom -I should like to boast. They were the great, real Americans who worked -diligently, honestly and humbly, who left no huge fortunes to curse the -next generation; but built their modest homes, and before the roof tree -was lifted, had built a church and a schoolhouse. They put their tithes -into the Lord's treasury before they put money into a bank, and while -they were still wading through mud, anchored the college upon a rock, -making its growth and permanence their great extravagance. - -They believed in an austere Christ, but believed in Him implicitly, -followed Him consistently and left a legacy of simplicity, temperance -and frugality. - -Yes, I boasted of our dead to my guests. I boasted of that grim, -fighting man whose name the town bears, who was the personification of -the determined, American pioneer, the conqueror of mere circumstances. - -I boasted of that firm, unyielding, controversial Calvinist, George F. -Magoun, who ruled the college in his own stern way. He was the last, but -not the least of his kind, who built deep and strong and straight upon -the foundations of morality and religion; so that others could build -loftily and boldly. - -I led them to the grave where rests the body of his successor, the two -differing from one another in opinions and method at every point; for -the younger man was the forerunner of a new dispensation, its prophet, -disciple and martyr. Yet both men were made of the same stern, -unyielding stuff, and both rested their lives and the hope of life's -better things to come, upon the same foundation. - -When the names of those Americans who prophesied the day of the Kingdom, -who worked for it and suffered for it, shall be placed upon the honor -roll, the name of George A. Gates, now carved upon a modest monument, -will be found imperishably written there. - -Near by, under the shade of slender white birches, we saw the simple -shaft which marks the resting place of one of the Iowa Band, James J. -Hill, who holds his place in the annals of the college, not only because -he gave the first dollar to help found it, but because of the continued -loyalty of his sons. - -I wished my guests could have come to us before we buried the man whose -life spanned the old and the new--the white-haired, ever youthful, -eloquent teacher, Leonard F. Parker, who smiled benignly upon us all -until his eyes closed forever, and with their closing, a benediction was -gone. He was the type of missionary teacher who began his career in a -log cabin, who, whether he taught in a country school or in a great -State University, taught with a passion for men. The impress of his -personality remained with his pupils long after they had forgotten his -erudite lore. - -As great as these great Americans were their wives, and no one can ever -think of them as less than the equals of their husbands. - -If the American woman occupies a unique place in the world, it is not -only because the American man has been more generous than his European -brother, but because she has proved her equality. She has attained the -measure of rights and privileges still denied to most of her sisters -elsewhere because she earned and deserved them. - -We, the living, sons and daughters of these great teachers by birth and -by adoption, cannot hold in too high esteem the legacy they left us. We -do not know with as firm an assurance as we ought to know, how much we -owe to them, and that, if we waste our inheritance, we waste spiritual -forces which we cannot generate. - -They were all, in the true sense, provincial, narrow men. They thought -of America and of the world and of the world to come, in the terms of -their creed, their town and their college; while we who have circled the -globe and think in world terms first, and boast of wider vision and -larger faith, may be in danger of overlooking the fact that in our small -place and places like it may be decided the fate of America, and through -America, the fate of the world. - -The Herr Director was astonished and the Frau Directorin pained to find -that we lived in a servantless house and in practically a servantless -town; that we were our own cooks and housemaids, butlers and gardeners. -When the Herr Director saw me mowing my lawn in broad daylight he -wondered that I did not lose caste among my fellows. - -The Frau Directorin was remarkably adaptable. She delighted in wielding -the dustless mop (to reduce "the meat"), she dusted the bric-a-brac, and -out of the kindness of her heart and in spite of our protests, became -"first aid" to my wife. - -One morning, just as I was waking, I heard the rattle of a lawn-mower -under my window; not the quick, sharp, sustained noise which usually -arouses the neighborhood, but a slow, measured sound, by fits and -starts. In between I could hear puffing and panting, like that of a -small steam engine. When I looked out of the window I saw something -which my eyes could not believe. The Herr Director had begun mowing the -lawn, and I let him finish it. It pretty nearly finished him; but after -his bath and a generous American breakfast, he glowed from health and -happiness. - -"I never knew," he said, "the elevating power of physical labor. I think -I will take a lawn-mower home with me." - -The Frau Directorin put a damper upon his enthusiasm by reminding him -that he would have to take a lawn home with him too, and more than that, -the town itself; for in their environment he would not dare use the -lawn-mower even if he had one. - -I am quite sure now that the Herr Director would have liked to take my -little town home with him, with the lawn-mower and the lawn. If he -could have done so, he might have changed the course of empires. - -I urged him, if he really wished to annex us, to do it soon; for there -is no little danger that we, too, shall lose faith in the redemptive -power of labor, the sufficiency of little things, the grandeur of plain -living and high thinking, the exaltation of the humble, the inheritance -for the meek and the reward of the righteous. When we lose those, we -have lost that which, in our proud, provincial way, we call "The -Grinnell Spirit"--an integral part of the American--the World-spirit. - - - - -XIV - -_The Commencement and The End_ - - -There are some aspects of our American life which I tried to hide from -my guests. I kept as many of our national family skeletons as possible -in their closets, and made sure that the doors were securely locked. - -I was glad that the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin were to leave -this country before our insane Fourth of July, which we are endeavoring -to make sane. I did not care to have them here on Thanksgiving Day from -which, through the superabundance of turkey and cranberry sauce, the -element of Thanksgiving has been almost eliminated. I was profoundly -grateful that during their visit there was no election day with its -sordid partisanship, its ballot box, not yet sacred enough to make -beautiful or place nobly in some civic temple; but we did urge them to -remain over Commencement day, that most happy, sweetly solemn occasion, -unspoiled as yet by rich display. It is the great festival of our -democracy, shared by town and gown, when we open the gates to rich and -poor, to common opportunity and duty. - -We made no mistake in thus planning. The town wore its holiday air. From -farm and village, from many states, on every train, parents were -arriving, walking proudly beside their sons and daughters, in academic -garb. - -"Old Grads" were being welcomed back by _Alma Mater_, grateful to her -for having helped make life rich, and sweet, and worth living. They -hoped to place under her care their children and their children's -children, whom they had brought there to give them a foretaste of joys -to come. - -It was a wonderful experience for the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin to meet them. They were feted and feasted; they wore class -and college colors, and entered into the spirit of it all as if they, -too, had been the children of Grinnell College. - -Among the graduates they met editors, lawyers and doctors who had come -back from the great cities; professors who had won academic renown, and -are serving the great universities; teachers who had carried into the -public schools the spirit of their college; preachers who have gained -prominence, and those who minister in humble places, faithful in their -obscurity and proud of their chance to serve. There were missionaries -who came back from the ends of the earth where they had started centers -of education, places of healing and temples of hope. - -They listened to stirring messages from pulpit and platform, to the -young dreams of minor poets who sang the lay of their class; to -historians who reviewed the four college years as a great epoch closed; -to prophets who predicted failure and success, and a golden day of -jubilee to the whole weary world, when this particular class got back of -it. - -On Commencement day they watched the dignified President conferring the -degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctor. - -At noon they attended the college banquet and suffered through the -after dinner speeches. - -That night on the crowded campus they enjoyed the Glee Club's joyful -songs, and then, worn to the last shred of their highly emotional -natures, walked home with us while the last strains of the Alumni Song -faded away into the night. - -The Herr Director talked until after midnight, telling of the many -things which pleased him. The religious dignity, the fine simplicity, -the natural, sweet, pure relationship between men and women; but above -all else, the democratic spirit from which these other things emanate. - -He had an apt way of singing snatches of German song of which he seemed -to command an unlimited supply; and as he mounted the stairs to his room -he sang: "_Ach, wenn es nur immer so bliebe._" (Oh, if it would only -remain so always.) Then followed the sad note which is the major one of -the German lyric: "_Es war zu schoen gewesen, es hatt nich sollen sein._" -(It was too beautiful and therefore could not be.) - -I knew it might not remain so beautiful always; but if life is worth -while at all, it is worth while struggling to keep it so. - -I do not know what share one person may have in influencing the current -upon which a nation is drifting; but I believe in the power of the -individual, and I shall "fight the good fight"--and a hard one it -is--and "keep the faith"--although it is not easy to keep it--faith in -God and men and in the American Spirit. - -Four weeks after the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin left us I -received the following letter. I have had some difficulty in translating -the involved and rather lengthy epistle into straightforward English, -but have done so that I may share it with my readers. - -MY DEAR FRIEND: - -We arrived home in safety after a rather stormy and uneventful voyage. -On board the ship we met a number of Lake Mohonk acquaintances, and -therefore the atmosphere which you tried to create for me surrounded me -even in mid ocean, and consequently you ought to be happy and contented. - -When we reached Washington half-cooked, for even your excellent -provisions for our comfort were unavailing against your terrific summer -heat, your friend and his automobile were at the station; just such a -friend and such an automobile as met us dozens of times before. - -If anything, this friend was a little more persistent than the other -species, for we were taken up and down and in and out, to everything -within fifty miles of Washington. We shook hands with half your -congressmen some of them seem to be professional hand-shakers, and my -hand aches at the thought of it. - -State Secretary Bryan received me most affably and talked about his -peace treaties. He didn't give me much chance to do any talking myself. -He seems so genuinely American; by that I mean simple and childlike in -many things, and complex and difficult to understand in others. - -He is neither a humbug as some of your papers say, nor a prophet as he -thinks himself. His faith in humanity and in himself is pathetically -colossal. - -It is amusing to find that you Americans, and you are the most American -of them all--you Americans who have invented cash registers and time -clocks, those symbols of unfaith in humanity, are so full of faith in -your relation to big, national and international problems. - -Your optimism may, after all, be due to your ignorance, coupled with the -fact that you are living in a land vast and isolated, which has not -quite exhausted its resources and opportunities. The most materialistic -people on earth in your relationship to each other, you leap into -remarkable idealism in the sphere of politics and diplomacy. If it is -true that "God takes care of children and fools," then God is taking -wonderfully good care of you Americans, who seem to me to be both. - -In our country we would put a man of Mr. Bryan's type in charge of an -orphan asylum, and feel that the children would be safe with him at -least till their twelfth year; and yet I know that he has done vigorous -fighting, and I shall give him a chapter in my book about America, which -as you know I intend to write and have already begun. - -It was quite a change of atmosphere when I went from the Department of -State to the White House. The President's secretary seems to me a man of -large calibre, kind, yet firm. A man to like and yet to fear; just the -kind of person a great man needs as a buffer against his friends, and as -a guard against his enemies. The atmosphere of the White House is -dignified, yet not cold; democratic, yet reserved; you feel that it is a -place of power. - -Above everything else you have done for me I want to thank you for -making it possible for me to meet President Wilson. He is not at all the -type of man I expected to find. There is nothing pedantic about him and -I do not know a man in any of our universities like him. He is not as -easy to analyze as Mr. Bryan, he is by far the greater, more complex -and stronger nature. He has the firmness which rulers should possess, -and may be too unyielding when once he has made up his mind to anything. -He knows more than Mr. Bryan but is not as dogmatic, not nearly as -friendly, and yet I came nearer to that which I sought in him, and I -think I understood him better. He let me do all the talking, but asked -all manner of questions; yet he told me more that way than Mr. Bryan, -who did all the talking. - -If President Wilson is a politician, he is a new kind which I have never -met before. I think he has made many mistakes, which of course is -natural. There is only one of your presidents who never made mistakes, -and that was President Roosevelt. He made blunders, which he had the -pugnacity and the sheer physical courage to turn into political capital, -and then blundered again. - -President Wilson was in the midst of the Mexican muddle when I saw him, -yet he seemed to me very well poised, and bearing his many burdens, not -like a martyr or a saint, but as a really strong man ought to bear -them. - -Of course you do not believe that I took your eulogies of America "_fur -baare Muenze_" (at their face value). There are two Americas and you are -living in but one of them. Your America lies in the high altitudes of -Lake Mohonk, Hull House, and Grinnell College. The other America which -you tried to hide from me I saw, just because you tried to hide it. It -is sordid, base, selfish, and above all strong; but that you do not seem -to know. - -You have _modified_ my view of America, but you have not _changed_ it. -You are still a big experiment as a nation, and I am not sure that it -will be a successful one. You have nothing to teach us in government, -business or education. Just one thing I envy you--your faith in your -unfinished country and in yourself as a force in its making. - -As you know, I do not share your faith; especially do I not believe that -one individual or many individuals can change the course of empires. - -You think yourself citizen, king and priest; but you are merely an -atom, a conscious atom of course, and in that and that alone, in that -you are conscious, and know yourself a part of the whole and believe -yourself an effective part of it, lies happiness. I enjoyed hearing you -talk about the American Spirit; you talked about the soul of a country -as if you had seen it and felt it and loved it. - -My dear friend, you do not know your own soul, nor the stuff out of -which it is made, and yet in your American conceit you talk about the -soul of a country. It was an interesting psychological study to watch -you, and it gave me much amusement as well as something to think about. - -I enjoyed you most of all in your own little town, your college and your -hospitable, beautiful home. I feared you would burst from pride and -complacency as you interpreted the "American Spirit" from that little -place; a speck, and not even a well-defined speck, on the map of your -country. - -You, a world traveller, have at last become a really narrow provincial, -I should say a very happy one, as provincials always are. You wanted me -to see your country through the June atmosphere of your Commencement; a -democratic, peaceful, rose-laden America. I saw it through the smoke and -grime of Chicago, the crowded tenements of New York, the injustice of -your courts and the corruption of your politics. - -Yet I am glad I saw _your_ America, and I want to thank you for your -ardent endeavor to show it to me as you want it to be, and not as it is. - -My wife sends her thanks and greetings. She received more benefit out of -her visit than I. I have had to promise to remodel the house, and put in -another bathroom which is to be between our bedrooms. The new bathtub -must be porcelain and we are to have an instantaneous heater. She still -talks a good deal of the "_gute_ cornflecks" and "grep frut" which we -both enjoyed so much. Above all she remembers the courtesy of the men, -and if the servant did not place her chair for her at table, I fear I -should now have to do it. - -America certainly is a Paradise for women, but it is "_Die Hoelle_" for -men. - -Remember that when you and any of your family come to Berlin you are to -be our guests. I trust you will come soon, for conditions over here look -dubious, and the war, "_der grosse Krieg_," may come before we know it. - -_Herzliche Gruesse von Haus zu Haus._ - _Auf Wiedersehen._ - - - - -XV - -_The Challenge of the American Spirit_ - - -I am sure the Herr Director will not object if I have the last word; for -while he was with me that privilege was seldom mine and obtained only by -dint of strategy. - -Since his departure, the great war which he prophesied has moved over -Europe and hides every bit of fair and peaceful sky like a storm-cloud; -its thunder and destructive lightning fill the air, leaving scarcely a -place safe and undisturbed. - -Not a soul is unafraid, not a heart is without pain and sorrow, and the -Herr Director himself, although past middle age, has volunteered to -serve in the trenches, slippery from oozing blood and foul from the -spattered brains of men. The "fiddling, twiddling diplomats, the -haggling, calculating merchants of Babylon, the sleek lords with their -plumes and spurs" have had their way, and the poor, blind, ignorant -millions, made mad by hate, do their brutal bidding. - -We, on this safer side, who as yet have not loosed the dogs of war, have -calculated the loss to Europe in the fratricidal slaughter of its most -virile men, in the loss of its arts and trades, in the wreck and ruin to -houses and homes and in the age-long poverty which awaits. Much counting -has been done as to what we shall make out of this sure bankruptcy that -is to come to the nations which are our competitors for the world's -trade, and what glory shall be ours when New York, and not London shall -be the new Babylon, with power to make the "Epha small and the Shekel -great." - -With the incalculable loss to the European nations there has come to -some of them a gain in national unity upon which under no circumstances -we may count. - -It has been with no small sense of pride that I have demonstrated to the -Herr Director and to others the fact that, in spite of our youth as a -nation, and the varied national, linguistic and religious rootage of -our population even in the Colonial period, we have grown to be one -people. Even the constant inflow of new and more varied human material -has not weakened us but indeed the sense of national unity has grown -stronger. I have watched with joy the processes by which this alien -element was becoming one with us, the fading away of animosities and -inherited prejudices, and the making of a new people out of the world's -conglomerate. - -The war has brought about a retardation of this process, and we shall -have great cause for gratitude if no permanent damage is done to our -nation's spirit, a loss for which no possible gain in any direction -could compensate. The term "Hyphenated American," which has now come -into use, if it indicates anything more than the place of a man's -national or racial origin, and the very natural sympathies arising -therefrom, is an insult to the man to whom it is applied, and a -confession of divided allegiance, if voluntarily assumed. - -It may be interesting to note that it was His Majesty, the Emperor of -Germany, who repudiated the hyphen when a German-American delegation -called on him on the occasion of some royal anniversary. - -When the delegation was introduced in this hyphenated manner, he said: -"Germans I know, Americans I know, but German-Americans I do not know." - -Although the hyphen has always existed, it has assumed new meaning in -these troubled days and is applied as a term of opprobrium, largely to -Americans of German birth; people who have always been loyal to the -country of their adoption, and, I think, are no less loyal now. - -If there has been wavering in their devotion, if the process of yielding -themselves to the ideals and interests of this country has been -arrested, they are not altogether to blame, and we ourselves are not -altogether blameless. - -It was thoroughly in harmony with the American Spirit that our -sympathies should go out to brave little Belgium, and turn from the -ruthless conqueror who was much nearer to us culturally and in greater -harmony with us spiritually. It was also natural for the German people -in this country to challenge the evident bias of the press, and the -resultant prejudices arising in the minds of their friends and -neighbors. Being German they knew what a German soldier is capable of -doing, and of what atrocities he is guiltless; although in the attempt -to defend their people they in turn became as unfair as we, condoning -every act of the Germans and besmirching their enemies. - -How far this bias can carry one is illustrated by the German pastor in a -neighboring town, one of the gentlest souls I know, who, when told of -the destruction of the _Lusitania_, said: "Thanks be to God, let the -good work go on." He will not have to live very long to repent of this. - -To match him I may quote a most lovable Quaker lady nearly ninety years -of age, who, with a violence in striking contrast to the Quaker -character, expressed as her dearest wish that she might be permitted to -kill the Emperor of Germany, and I am almost sure she was not alone in -that pious desire, even among the members of her family. - -The German press and the German pulpit have fanned this reawakened -Germanic spirit, not always from lofty motives, and many an editor and -pastor have found this antagonism a source of revenue and a hope of -perpetuating their influence. - -If the American press both in its news and editorial columns has been -painful reading to any one who loves fair play, it did not help him to -turn to the German press, whose utterances were made more distressing by -the fact that not infrequently they contained expressions bordering on -treason. Had their editors lived in Germany and spoken of the Emperor in -the same words which they applied to their President, their terms of -imprisonment, if combined, would reach into eternity. - -Even after the war the attempt will be made to keep alive this -antagonism, and if possible to widen the breach. It will be a serious -challenge to our national spirit, for I doubt that we can maintain a -vital unity unless it represents one country, one people, and one -language. - -I know of no way in which to meet this danger effectively; but I do know -that it is not through reprisals or punishments. Perhaps it is best to -hope that at the close of the war we shall all recover our sanity. -Certain it is that the American people have in the Germans in this -country too valuable and powerful an element to alienate, and the German -people who have made this country their home have too great a sense of -the value of it and its institutions, to them and their children, to be -willing to jeopardize the American Spirit, because of that which must be -but a passing phase in the history of our poor, misguided, human race. - -Besides the threatened break in unity, the American Spirit is being -challenged by a call to arms, not merely to avert any momentary, -threatened danger, but to be permanently safeguarded, prepared against -its predatory neighbors all around the globe. Whether those who join in -this call know it or not, or wish it or not, it means militarism. When -just such arguments were used for Germany's preparedness, when that -gospel was being preached with all possible fervor, one of the wisest -Germans said: "_Wehrkraft wird immer Mehrkraft_" ("Defensive power -always becomes offensive power"), and I am sure that the average -American will say that, in the case of Germany, this has proved true. - -If I were arguing for military preparedness, I would not be so insistent -upon the building of new fortresses, or the accumulation of ammunition. -I would insist upon training our children in obedience and reverence. I -would give them schoolmasters who know what they teach and who would -demand strict application to the curriculum. I would oppose the growing -pedagogic idea that the schoolroom is a playground, and that knowledge -may be acquired without hard work. I would restore the rod and banish -the coddler. I would call in our high school boys from the side lines, -from their vicarious athletics and their slavish imitation of college -customs, and teach them how to dig trenches and serve cannon, which -seem to be the chief need in modern military operations. - -It is folly to believe that the _fiasco_ of the Russian armies was due -to the lack of ammunition or of sufficient fortresses; it was due to the -lack of good schools and to the lack of discipline among its educated -classes. - -With the decay of our pioneer spirit, which is inevitable, with the -growth of a leisure class, with groups of men and women who know no -other way to justify their existence than to play bridge or go to Tango -teas; with a large class of people less unfortunately situated, who have -to work for their living, but from whom the state asks nothing in the -way of service except the payment of taxes which are easily evaded, it -is a great question how to keep our virility and how to foster a -patriotism which may be counted upon in the time of national danger. I -am fairly sure that some other way than the militaristic way ought to be -found. I am not sure that we shall find it; because only those who seek -shall find. - -There are some things we may profitably learn from Germany, and one is -the maintenance of a state which by its very nature will compel -devotion. A state deeply concerned with the well-being of every -individual; a state which sees to it that impartial judgment shall be -meted out, and that the scales do not tip to those who weight them with -gold. - -A state which eliminates graft and is able to train an efficient army of -public servants is more likely to gain and keep the loyalty of its -citizens than one which, although technically free, is shackled by -corruption and graft, and which, while giving each man the power to -become a king, places the major emphasis upon property rather than upon -person. Yes, we have a great deal to do to be properly prepared, besides -authorizing congress to spend millions for "reeking tube and iron -shard." - -What I most fear for the American Spirit is the loss of that which makes -it really American and truly Spirit, the loss of its democracy. I am -confident that the form of our government is not endangered, and -whatever military success may come to monarchic governments we shall -not envy them their kings nor put ourselves in bondage to them. If this -republic is still an experiment then we shall see the experiment through -to the end as a republic. - -I am also sure that we shall work out the problem which confronts us in -the relationship between capital and labor, and that we shall create -here an industrial democracy. The dissatisfaction with the present -system is growing daily, even among the so-called privileged classes, -and many a man, well favored by circumstances, is crying out with Walt -Whitman, "By God! I will not have anything which others cannot have on -the same terms." - -What I most dread is, that we shall be increasingly unable to be -democratic in our spirit, in our relation to those who are in any marked -way differentiated from us racially. Our caste system is daily growing -in strength, the social taboos are increasing in number, the spirit is -barred from moving freely among all classes and races, and thus is bound -to perish. - -The social boycott practiced against the Jews, and which is even more -thorough here than it is in Russia, may be followed by an economic -boycott, and what has but recently happened in Georgia makes such -occurrences on a larger scale not impossible. The attitude of the -American people both South and North towards the Negro is not growing -better, and it will take more than all the brave optimism of Booker T. -Washington to convince me that this is not true. - -It is anything but the American Spirit which greets the Japanese and -Chinese at the Pacific Coast, and the decadence of that spirit is daily -creating for itself new victims for its prejudices and hates. - -It seems to be a growing conviction that in order to foster our racial -integrity and self-respect we need to have contempt for other people and -make of them a sort of mental cuspidore. - -I know the difficulty involved in this problem. I believe it is the most -serious challenge which the American Spirit has to meet, and here and -here alone I confess my doubt as to its ability to meet it. - -This is no time, though, to turn doubt into despair, nor is it the time -for the calling of conventions and the organization of societies. It is -a time, however, for the strengthening of our faith in one another, for -renewed allegiance to humanity no matter how it is encased, for a -patriotism based upon something bigger than identity of race. It is a -time for mutual forbearance, for the divine gift to see ourselves as -others see us; for a supreme loyalty to our country, and a determination -stronger than death to make this country capable of winning the loyalty -of all its citizens. - -It is a time to glory in being an American and to become desperately -sure we have something in which to glory. Now as never before should -there be serious self-examination to see whether we have not sinned -against the Spirit. - -This is the time to accept the Challenge of the American Spirit and -prove that we are loyal enough to follow its guidance. - -PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -he does now know=> he does not know {pg 119} - -the progam marked out for her by the Emperor=> the program marked out -for her by the Emperor {pg 195} - -had little opportuntiy=> had little opportunity {pg 241} - -It is sorbid=> It is sordid {pg 258} - -Unausstelicher=> Unausstehlicher {pg 88} - -Unaustehlicher=> Unausstehlicher {pg 122} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Introducing the American Spirit, by -Edward A. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/41898.zip b/41898.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d706d64..0000000 --- a/41898.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/41898-8.txt b/old/41898-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4300f9c..0000000 --- a/old/41898-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5386 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Introducing the American Spirit, by Edward A. Steiner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Introducing the American Spirit - -Author: Edward A. Steiner - -Release Date: January 22, 2013 [EBook #41898] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - -INTRODUCING THE -AMERICAN SPIRIT - - BY EDWARD A. STEINER - - THE CONFESSION OF A HYPHENATED - AMERICAN - 12mo, boards net 50c. - - INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT - What it Means to a Citizen and How it Appears - to an Alien. 12mo, cloth net $1.00 - - FROM ALIEN TO CITIZEN - The Story of My Life in America. Illustrated, - 8vo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE BROKEN WALL - Stories of the Mingling Folk. Illustrated, - 12mo, cloth net $1.00 - - AGAINST THE CURRENT - Simple Chapters from a Complex Life. 12mo, - cloth net $1.25 - - THE IMMIGRANT TIDE--ITS EBB - AND FLOW - Illustrated, 8vo, cloth net $1.50 - - ON THE TRAIL OF THE IMMIGRANT - Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE MEDIATOR - A Tale of the Old World and the New. Illustrated, - 12mo, cloth net $1.25 - - TOLSTOY, THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE - A Biographical Interpretation. _Revised and - enlarged._ Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE PARABLE OF THE CHERRIES - Illustrated, 12mo, boards net 50c. - - THE CUP OF ELIJAH - Idyll Envelope Series. Decorated net 25c. - -[Illustration: THE AMERICAN SPIRIT - -_Courtesy of The Survey V. D. Brenner_] - - - - -_Introducing The -American Spirit - -By - -Edward A. Steiner - -Author of "From Alien to Citizen," "The -Immigrant Tide," etc._ - -[Illustration] - -_New York Chicago Toronto -Fleming H. Revell Company -London and Edinburgh_ - -Copyright, 1915, by -FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - -New York: 158 Fifth Avenue -Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave. -Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. -London: 21 Paternoster Square -Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street - -_To -Professor Richard Hochdoerfer, Ph. D. - -erudite scholar and most lovable -friend, this book is dedicated_ - - - - -_Introducing the Introduction_ - - -"_Das ist ganz Americanish_." Whenever a German says this, he means that -it is something which is practical, lavish, daringly reckless or -lawless. - -It means a short cut to achievement, a disregard of convention, an -absence of those qualities which have given to the older nations of the -world that fine, distinguishing flavor which is a fruit of the spirit. - -Many attempts have been made to enlighten the Old World upon that point; -but in spite of exchange-professorships and some notable, interpretative -books upon the subject, we are still only the "Land of the Dollar." - -We are not loved as a nation, largely because we are not understood, and -we are not understood because we do not understand ourselves, and we do -not understand ourselves because we have not studied ourselves in the -light of the spirit of other nations. - -Coming to this country a product of Germanic civilization, knowing -intimately the Slavic, Semitic, and Latin spirit, the writer was -compelled to compare and to choose. Yet he would never have dared write -upon this subject; not only because it was a difficult task, but because -he had been so completely weaned from the Old World spirit that he had -lost the proper perspective. Moreover, of formal books upon this subject -there was no dearth. - -During the last ten years, however, he has had the advantage of being -the _cicerone_ of distinguished Europeans who came to study various -phases of our institutional life, and they brought the opportunity of -fresh comparisons and also of new view-points in this realm of the -national spirit. - -These unconventional studies, most of which received their inspiration -through the visit of the Herr Director and his charming wife, are here -offered as an Introduction to the American Spirit, not only to the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin, but to those Americans who do not -realize that a nation, as well as man, "cannot live by bread alone;" -that its most precious asset, its greatest element of strength, is its -Spirit, and that the elements out of which the Spirit is made, are so -rare, so delicate, that when once wasted they cannot readily be -replaced. - -As the sin against the Holy Spirit is the one sin for which the Gospel -holds out no forgiveness for the individual, so there seems to be no -hope for the nation which transgresses against this most vital element -of its higher life. - -Inasmuch also as the Spirit is something which guides and cannot be -guided, these informal introductions appear in no geographic or historic -sequence, but are necessarily left to the leading of the spirit, of -which "no man knoweth whence it cometh or whither it goeth." - -E. A. S. - -_Grinnell, Iowa_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - I. THE HERR DIRECTOR MEETS THE - AMERICAN SPIRIT 15 - - II. OUR NATIONAL CREED 35 - - III. THE SPIRIT OUT-OF-DOORS 58 - - IV. THE SPIRIT AT LAKE MOHONK 74 - - V. LOBSTER AND MINCE PIE 92 - - VI. THE HERR DIRECTOR AND THE - "MISSOURY" SPIRIT 112 - - VII. THE HERR DIRECTOR AND THE COLLEGE - SPIRIT 129 - - VIII. THE RUSSIAN SOUL AND THE AMERICAN - SPIRIT 147 - - IX. CHICAGO 166 - - X. WHERE THE SPIRIT IS YOUNG 184 - - XI. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT AMONG THE - MORMONS 199 - - XII. THE CALIFORNIA CONFESSION OF - FAITH 216 - - XIII. THE GRINNELL SPIRIT 237 - - XIV. THE COMMENCEMENT AND THE END 249 - - XV. THE CHALLENGE OF THE AMERICAN - SPIRIT 262 - - - - -I - -_The Herr Director Meets the American Spirit_ - - -The Herr Director and I were sitting over our coffee in the _Café -Bauer_, _Unter den Linden_. In the midst of my account of some of the -men of America and the idealistic movements in which they are -interested, he rudely interrupted with: "You may tell that to some one -who has never been in the United States; but not to me who have -travelled through the length and breadth of it three times." He said it -in an ungenerous, impatient way, although his last visit was thirty -years ago and his journeys across this continent necessarily hurried. I -dared not say much more, for I am apt to lose my temper when any one -anywhere, criticizes my adopted country or questions my glowing accounts -of it. - -But I did say: "When you come over the next time, let me be your -guide." - -"Why should I want to go over again?" he replied. "It's a noisy, dirty, -hopelessly materialistic country. You have sky-scrapers, but no beauty; -money, but no ideals; garishness, but no comfort. You have despatch, but -no courtesy; you are ingenious, but not thorough; you have fine clothes, -but no style; churches, but no religion; universities, but no learning. -No, I have been there three times. That's enough. I know all about it. -_Fertig!"_ And with that he dismissed me without giving me a chance to -relieve my feelings, of which there were many; although he took -advantage of a minute that was left and told me that I was an -_Unausstehlicher Americaner_ whose judgment had been warped by my great -love for my adopted country. - -Evidently the Herr Director reversed his decision not to come to this -country; for the following spring I received a cablegram to meet him on -the arrival of his ship at the Hamburg-American dock, which of course I -promptly did. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin stepped onto the -soil of the United States with a predisposition to be martyrs, to -endure the sufferings entailed by travel with as little grace as -possible, and to suppress to the utmost all pleasurable emotion. - -On the other hand, I was determined to show off my United States from -its best side, to woo and win the Herr Director's and the Frau -Directorin's approval. In my laudable endeavor I seemed to be supported -by that divine providence which watches over the whole world in general, -but over the United States in particular. The weather was perfect, the -sky festooned in fleecy clouds, the air charged by a divine energy; and -when the sun shines upon the harbor of New York--well, even the most -taciturn European cannot resist it. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin greeted all the good Lord's -endeavor and mine, with an air of condescension as something due their -station. From force of habit they worried and fussed about their -baggage, although there was nothing to worry or fuss about, for it was -safe on its way to the hotel. They were shot under the river and the -busy streets of Manhattan and whirled up to the twenty-first story of -their thirty-two-storied hotel without having taken more than a dozen -steps to reach it. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin refused to be impressed by the -rooms assigned them, in which not a single comfort or luxury was -missing, and complained because they were not as big as barns and the -ceilings not as high as a cathedral. The Frau Directorin eyed the -bath-room almost in silence; but she did wonder why they put out a whole -month's supply of towels at once, instead of doing it in the provident -European way of one towel every other day. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, like all Europeans who can -afford to travel, are exceedingly æsthetic, and at the same time fond of -good food, and their first approving smile was won at the breakfast -table, when they were each face to face with half a grapefruit of vast -circumference, reposing upon a bed of crushed ice. Their smiles -broadened when they had introduced their palates to an American -breakfast food, a crispy bit of nut-flavored air bubble, floating upon -thick, rich cream; and, although they had made up their minds that -American coffee was vile and they must not taste it, they could not -resist its aroma, and drank it with a relish. - -When the Herr Director said: _"Der Kaffee ist gut,_" I knew that my -prayers were being answered, and that the good Lord still loves the -United States of America. - -Most of us have shown off something--a baby, school-children, a -schoolhouse, a town, an automobile, a cemetery. You know that feeling of -pride which thrills you, that fear lest pride have a fall if it or they -fail to "show up." But have you ever tried to show off a country--a -country which you love with a lover's passion; a country whose virtues -are so many, whose defects are so obvious; a country whose glory you -have gloried in before the whole world, but whose halo has so many rust -spots that you wish you might have had a chance to use Sapolio on it ere -you let it shine before your visitors? A country of one hundred million -inhabitants, of whom every fourth person smells of the steerage, when -you wish that they all smelled of the Mayflower; a country where more -people are ready to die for its freedom than anywhere, and more people -ought to be in the penitentiary for abusing that freedom; a country of -vast distances, bound together by huge railways and controlled by -unsavory politicians; a country with more homely virtues, more virtuous -homes, than anywhere else, yet where the divorce courts never cease -their grinding and alimonies have no end? - -Ah! to show off such a country, and to have to begin to do it in New -York, beats showing off babies, school-children, automobiles, and -cemeteries. - -The Herr Director was sure he would hate our sky-scrapers; he had seen -them from the ship, and the assaulted sky-line looked to him like the -huge mouth of an old woman with its isolated, protruding teeth. Frankly, -I myself am not interested in sky-scrapers; I prefer the elm trees which -shade the streets of the quiet town where I live. I thank God daily for -the men who had faith enough to plant trees upon those wind-swept -prairies. They were mighty spirits who came to the edges of civilization -and drove the wilderness farther and farther back by drawing furrows, -sowing wheat, and planting trees--those men whom heat and a relentless -desert could not separate from that other ocean with its Golden Gate to -the sunset and the oldest world. Determining to have and to hold it till -time is no more, they proceeded to unite the two oceans in holy wedlock. -A task which involved another nation in hopeless scandal and bankruptcy, -they completed with as little ceremony as that which prevails at a -wedding before a justice of the peace. Those were the men who went among -savages, yet did not become like them; who for homes dug holes in the -ground among rattlesnakes, prairie-dogs, and moles, and made of such -homes the beginnings of towns and cities. - -If I admire the sky-scrapers it is because they are an attempt on the -part of this same type of people to do pioneering among the clouds. -Public lands being exhausted, they proceed to annex the sky and people -it, now that the frontier is no more. - -What the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin would say to the -sky-scraper meant to me, not whether they would say it is beautiful or -ugly, but whether they would discover in it the Spirit of America, the -daring spirit of the pioneers who built Towers of Babel, though -reversing the process; for they began with a confusion of tongues which -outbabeled Babel, and finished on a day of Pentecost when men said: "We -do hear them all speaking our own tongue, the mighty works of God." - -We moved along Broadway, pressing through the crowds, the Herr Director -puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin doing likewise. The Flatiron -Building with its accentuated leanness lured them on until we came to -the open space of Madison Square and they were face to face with the -Metropolitan tower. - -The Herr Director said: "_Gott im Himmel!_" The Frau Directorin said: -"_Um Gottes Himmels Willen!_" And then they gazed their fill in -silence. - -I have never "done" Europe with a guide, nor have I ever had an American -city introduced to me through a megaphone, so I scarcely knew what to -say. - -I did not know the exact height of that tower, nor how many tons of -steel support it, nor the size of the clock dial which tells the time of -day up there "among the dizzy flocks of sky-scrapers"; but I did know -that the tower represented some big, daring thing, an expression of the -spirit which could not be defined nor easily interpreted to another. - -After his first outburst the Herr Director continued to say nothing--he -was stunned; so was the Frau Directorin. We walked on, looking up, -higher and higher still, until our eyes met another tower, the Woolworth -Building--a shrewd Yankee five-and-ten-cent enterprise, flowering into -purest Gothic. - -The cathedrals of Europe are wonderful, undoubtedly. Master minds drew -the plans and master hands built them, slowly, by an age-long process. -They turned religious ideals into stone lace and lilies, hideous -gargoyles and brave flying buttresses, aisles and naves and rose -windows. Yes, they are quite wonderful. But to turn spools of thread, -granite-ware, and dust-cloths into this glory of steel and stone is, to -me, more marvellous still. The spirit of the pioneer cleaving the sky -has become beautiful as it has ascended. - -We are worrying a great deal about our lack of sensitiveness to beauty -and form; we chide ourselves as being crude and unresponsive to art; we -rush madly into the study of æsthetics and buy Old Masters at the price -of a king's ransom; yet we are not truly fostering America's art sense. -It ought not to come in the Old World's way--by glorifying dogmas and -creeds, by petrifying religion into buttresses and incasing our dead in -tombs of beryl and onyx. It ought not to come with its mixture of -paganism and religion, its armless Venus and its headless Victory. It -should come first as it is coming--with the making of homes good to -live in, factories planned to work in, stores fit to do business in, -and schools built to teach in. It is coming--yes, it is coming. - -But when our strong boys shall make filagree silver ornaments, carve -pretty things on bits of ivory, or exhaust their energy in painting a -lock of hair--when that time comes, we shall be an old people ready for -our ornamented tombs. - -Next I took the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin through a portal -flanked by pillars worthy to crown any Athenian hill; I led them into a -Parthenon in which Athena herself might have joyed to be worshipped, and -we heard the echoing and reëchoing of a chant which lacked nothing but -incense and organ notes to make one think one's self in an Old World -cathedral. The chant was not a _Miserere_, but a call to entrust one's -self to the depths of the earth--to descend into tubes of steel, beneath -the river, and then travel to the fair cities of the living, throbbing, -thriving West. It was a railway terminal without choking smoke, blinding -dust, or deafening noise; also without that hideous mechanical ugliness -which Ruskin so hated. This was merely a place from which one started to -reach Oshkosh or Kokomo, Keokuk, Kalamazoo, or Kankakee. Yet more -beautiful portals never swung to mortals in their fairest dreams of -journeying to the abodes of bliss. The Spirit of America, at last -crowned by beauty. - -We reached our hotel fairly exhausted by our morning's walk; but, after -being properly refreshed, the Herr Director ventured to criticize. - -"Yes, you are a wonderfully resourceful people, keen and energetic, but -chaotic. You take an Italian _campanile_ and elongate it fifty times; or -a Gothic church, and attenuate it; or a Romanesque cathedral, and -support it by Ionic pillars; or a cigar box, and enlarge it a million -times. You put all these things side by side, and no one asks: Will they -harmonize, or will they clash? - -"Each man builds as he pleases, although he may blot out the other man's -work and waste colossal energy merely to express himself. The result is -confusion. You can feel that unrest, that discord, in the air. My -nerves fairly ache! No, we shall not go out this afternoon. We must rest -our nerves." - -The Herr Director always spoke for his wife as well as for himself, thus -expressing the collective spirit of the Old World. They both retired for -a long rest, while I was left wondering how to introduce New York to -them in the evening. - -At five o'clock in the afternoon they emerged from their apartments, -their wearied Old World nerves rested, and, after being stimulated by a -cup of coffee, were ready for further adventures. - -Broadway at that hour of the afternoon is bewildering. The shoppers have -almost deserted it, and it is crowded by the clerks who served them, the -cashiers who received their money, the girls who trimmed their hats, the -men who cut their garments, the bookkeepers and the floor-walkers. - -Whole towns seem to pour out of the department stores and lofts; the -makers and menders of garments flee from the heart of the city, from -this pulsing machine which has been going at a dangerous speed. They go -from it eagerly, with a brave show of courage, as if the ten hours' -labor had not broken their spirits or wearied their energy. To count the -ants of a busy hill would be easier than even to estimate the numbers of -that throng. - -They climb the steps of the elevated railway trains, and crowd them, and -cram the cars until they fairly bulge. - -They lay siege to the surface cars, which merely crawl through the busy -streets, so heavy are they and so closely does one car follow the other. - -They descend into the depths of the earth, and breathe the humid, human -air of those noisy catacombs. They walk by companies, regiments, and -great armies, dodging automobiles which infest the streets with their -speed and their stenches. - -They accomplish it all with so little friction to each other's spirit, -with such a silent good nature, with such a sense of self-reliance, and -with so little official machinery to control them, that even the Herr -Director said: - -"This is wonderful!" although he declared that he would suffocate in -that throng, and the Frau Directorin cried out every few minutes, "_Um -Gottes Himmels Willen!_" - -There was an absence of politeness, but we saw little rudeness; there -were accidents, but the crowd did not lose its head; there were -discomforts, but little display of ill nature; each for himself, and yet -no clashing. The American crowd is more wonderful than the American -sky-scrapers. - -At the Royal Opera in Vienna, the approach to the ticket office is -guarded by steel inclosures in which every prospective buyer is -separated from the other, and one has to zigzag between these pens until -he reaches the official's window. Crowding is rendered impossible, but, -to make the obviously impossible more actually impossible, there is the -usual number of uniformed guards. - -Watch the American crowd--this group of unlike, self-centered -individuals; in a moment it is organized, it obeys itself--or rather, it -obeys its spirit, the American spirit of self-direction, with its -genius for organization. - -To me, the American crowd is so wonderful because it shows this other -side of its spirit. It is heterogeneous, like the architecture of its -buildings, perhaps even more so--if that be possible. - -Here are Jews from Russia's crowded Pale, where they had to slink along -with shuffling gait and dared go so far and no farther--so fast and no -faster. - -There are the Slavic peasants, who on their native soil, prodded by the -goad, moved ox-like along an endless furrow, drawing the plow of -autocracy. - -Next is the Italian, volatile and yet static with his age-long burdens, -with his fiery nature cramped into his diminutive frame. - -Here is the Negro, the child-man, the shackles of whose slavery are -scarcely broken. - -The Asiatic, too, comes with hardly courage enough to lift his softly -treading feet; while leading them all is this strident, giant child of -the Anglo-Saxon race whose wind-swept cradle was rocked by freedom, and -who with dominant will has spanned the oceans and crossed the mountains. - -Of these myriads whom he leads, some will be a drag upon progress, and -detain the strong or perhaps retard the race; yet they are trying to -keep up, and by their efforts, by delving in the deep, by feeding with -their brute strength our huge enginery, may make the flowering of the -American spirit easier. - -Yes, the Anglo-Saxon is leading them; but will he continue to lead, now -that he no longer travels in the prairie schooner, but in the -automobile--now that he wields the golf club and tennis racket, rather -than the spade and plow on the prairie? - -Will he now lead them from the breakers of Newport as well as once he -led them from Plymouth Rock? - -Will he lead them from the exclusive club as once he led them into the -inclusive home? - -These were the doubts which filled my mind, but which I did not share -with my guests as I guided them; for we were to spend the evening -together, and one needs all one's faith in New York at night. - -We spent the early evening hours travelling around the world. We went to -Arabia, where dusky children from the desert play in the gutters of -Bleecker Street; to Greece, where Spartan and Athenian youth dream of -the golden days of Pericles; to China, with its joss-house, its faint -odors of sandalwood, and its stronger odors wafted from the Bowery. We -visited Russia, and saw its ghetto-dwellers more numerous than Abraham -ever thought his progeny would become; we spent some time in Hungary, -with its _Gulyas_ and _Czardas_. We went to Bohemia, with its _Narodni -Dom_; to Italy, south and north, with its strings of garlic, its -festoons of sausages, its hurdy-gurdy, and its rich harvest of children. -We had glimpses of France, of its _table d'hôte_ and painted women; -travelled through darkest Africa, touched upon India, and then were back -again upon Broadway. - -As in the sky above us the architectures of the world strive to blend -and fuse, making a mighty new impress; so below, these colonies to the -right and colonies to the left, like the huge limbs of some ill-shapen -monster, try to blend into America. - -What is it all to be when blended? - -Of course we went to the theater. We saw a German problem play made over -to please the American taste. The Herr Director knew the play almost by -heart, and he nearly jumped upon the stage in righteous indignation when -in the last act, where the author drops all his characters into a -bottomless pit and everything ends in confusion, the play ended in the -conventional "God-bless-you-my-children," "happy-ever-after" manner. - -We walked the streets of New York until past midnight, and finally -looked down upon it from the roof of our hostelry. We could see the moon -creeping out and shedding its mellow glow over the gayly lighted city. -The noises were almost musical up there--like sustained organ notes--and -we talked about the play with its happy ending. - -"You are right," I said; "that happy ending is foolish and childish. -Things do not always end happily; but this thing, this experiment in -making a nation out of torn fragments, this founding of cities in a day -out of second and third hand material, this experiment in man-making and -nation-building must end well; for, if it doesn't, God's great -experiment has failed. Shall I say, God's last experiment has failed? -You see we _mustn't_ fail--it _must_ end well." - -The streets were all but silent. From the great clock on the -Metropolitan tower hanging in mid-air, came the flashes that marked the -morning hour. Thick mists floated in from the sea and filled the narrow, -chasm-like streets with weird, fantastic shapes. - -The Herr Director said good-night. The Frau Directorin did likewise. -They said it very solemnly, as behooves those who have looked deep into -the heart of a great mystery who have felt the touch of a mighty spirit -striving, struggling, agonizing to shape a new nation out of the world's -refuse. - - - - -II - -_Our National Creed_ - - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin wished to go to church on -Sunday, and after eating a piously late breakfast I spread before them -New York City's religious bill of fare, bewildering in its variety and -puzzling in its terminology. - -I gave them a choice between four varieties of Catholics: Roman, Greek, -Old and Apostolic; more than twice that number of Lutherans, separated -one from the other by degrees of orthodoxy and nearness to or farness -from their historic confessions. - -There were Methodists who were free and those who were Episcopalian, -Episcopalians who were not Methodists but were reformed, and those who -made no such pretensions; all these invited us to worship with them. - -Many varieties of Baptists announced their sermons and services, -offering a choice between those who were free and those who were just -Baptists, and between those who were Baptists on the Seventh Day and -those who did not specify the day on which they were Baptists. - -We also had a chance to discriminate between Dutch Reformed, German -Reformed or Presbyterian Reformed, and United Presbyterians divided from -other Presbyterians (presumably unreformed) for reasons known to the -Fathers who died long since. - -If we had been radically inclined we might have browsed among -Unitarians, Ethical Culturists, and could even have worshipped among -those who make a religion out of not having any. - -The most interesting column to the Herr Director was that which -contained our exotic cults, those we have imported and those which prove -that we have not neglected our home industry. - -It was disconcerting to me, who was trying to introduce our national -spirit, to realize how varied its religious expression is, and the Herr -Director got no little amusement out of the story I told him of the -student in one of our colleges who, it is said, came to the librarian -and asked for a book on "Wild Religions I have Met." When the librarian -suggested it might be Seton Thompson's book on Wild Animals, he said it -was not in the department of Zoölogy, but in Philosophy in which the -assignment for the reading was given. The book was then quickly found. -It was Prof. William James' "The Varieties of Religious Experience." - -When we succeeded in rescuing the Frau Directorin out of the maze of -Sunday Supplements in which she was entangled, we started in pursuit of -a proper place of worship, in anything but a worshipful mood. I was bent -upon showing that which is vastly more difficult to interpret than -sky-scrapers, the Herr Director was doubtful that we had any religious -spirit at all, and the Frau Directorin mourned the fact that she had to -leave behind her so much paper which might have served such good -purposes if she had it at home. - -Fifth Avenue recovers something of its departed exclusiveness on Sunday -morning; for although the cheaper stores are crowding upon those which -never descend to bargain counters, this is not true of the churches. -They still are in good repute, and await the stated hour of service on -Sunday morning without excitement, having advertised nothing, offering -no ecclesiastical bargains; content to live as the birds of the air, -whom the "Heavenly Father feedeth." The street was almost deserted; here -and there a taxicab darted on its way to or from the railway station; -the hour of the limousines had not yet come, and the people who strolled -along were evidently, like ourselves, unfashionable sojourners seeking a -tabernacle in Gotham's wilderness. - -Sauntering along the street was less interesting than usual, for not -only were there no crowds, the shop-windows were all artistically -curtained and there was nothing to see. The Frau Directorin did not like -it at all, "for what good is it to walk along the shopping streets if -you can't look into the shops?" - -"You see, my dear," the Herr Director remarked, "that is to help you -obey one of the ten commandments which womankind is especially prone to -break, 'Thou shalt not covet.' Incidentally it proves that we are in a -country in which you are allowed to do as you please every day and do -nothing on Sunday." - -"No," I replied, "it merely proves that we are trying to save one day a -week from the contamination of our materialistic existence." - -"It merely proves," he echoed, "that you have inherited from your -Anglo-Saxon ancestors the worst thing they could leave you: their -hypocrisy. I stepped behind a curtained bar this morning and found it -running at full blast. You evidently do your drinking in private on -Sunday and your praying in public. You know we in Germany do the -opposite." - -"No, you do your praying and drinking both in public, and both seem to -be a part of your religion," I answered. "Very likely you are right. -There is about us this taint of hypocrisy; but that only shows that we -are a deeply religious people, conscious of the fact that our ideals -are upon a higher plane than our performance. We are not as eager as you -are to proclaim our frailties from the housetop. - -"The average American wants you to believe him to be a pretty decent -fellow till you find him out to be different; while you Germans make a -virtue of a certain kind of brutal frankness, which is worse than -hypocrisy, since you try to make it an excuse for all sorts of private -and national sins. The real criminal is never a hypocrite." - -I do not know what would have happened to me if at that moment we had -not reached St. Patrick's Cathedral. The full, rich organ notes seemed -to soothe the Herr Director's ruffled spirit, and our discussion ended -as we entered the welcoming portal. - -In a church which in all places and all ages remains the same, there was -nothing for my guests to see or hear to which they were not accustomed. -There was the priest, alone with the great mystery which he was -enacting, and by his side the diminutive ministrants. The crowd which -filled every available space in that huge interior was silent and -reverent. Now the tinkling of a bell, like a command from Heaven, bade -all kneel, and now the same bell bade them rise. The incense, the -stately chant, and then the hushed, expectant throng going forward to -partake from the priest's hand of the means of grace, which he alone -could offer in the name of the one Holy Catholic Church--all this could -not fail to impress us. - -Into the august and solemn atmosphere there came from a near-by church -the chimed notes of a hymn-tune such as the people once sang defiantly -when they proclaimed their religious freedom. It was a spiritual war -tune which soldiers could sing, and strangely enough it seemed to fit -into this atmosphere as if it were the one thing which the service -needed. It recalled the self-assertion of the people before their God, -their man God, who was born in a stable, who worshipped as He worked, -and worked as He worshipped, hurling His anathemas at those who blocked -the gates of the kingdom to them who would enter, yet did not enter -themselves. - -Evidently the Herr Director felt as I felt; for he whispered to me, "The -Reformation." When I nodded my approval, he said: "But see how unmoved -she is, this rock-founded church. It will take something more than -hymn-tunes to disturb her." - -We left the Cathedral while the hungry multitude was being fed with the -Sacrament of our Lord, and our spirits, too, had been fed, although we -were not of that fold. - -While the Roman Catholics were finishing their worship, the Protestants -were making ready to begin. The first bells had chimed appealingly, not -commandingly, and a thin stream of worshippers appeared on the Avenue, -growing thinner as it divided, entering one or the other of those -edifices where men were to worship according to the dictates of their -conscience, their taste, or their social position. - -Many strangers, like ourselves, were looking critically at the church -bulletins as yesterday we had looked into the show windows, and it was -the Frau Directorin who said she felt as if she were going shopping for -religion. - -The Herr Director said that he had no objection to our inventing or -importing as many religions as we pleased; but he did object to our -exporting any, for we were making the task of regulating and controlling -them very difficult. Moreover he did not see how we could develop any -kind of common, national ideals with such a confusion of religions. "You -have, or pretend to have, a democratic government, and your strongest -church is monarchic to the core." - -I had to admit that religiously we are a very chaotic people, and that -we are daily adding to that chaos; yet these facts might prove what I -had been trying to make clear to him: That this is fundamentally a -religious country, and that as a whole we are the most religious people -in the world. I supported this statement by quoting a good German -authority, the late Prof. Karl Lamprecht, who thinks we have a great -future as a people, because we are "capable of religious improvement." - -"Improvement!" The Herr Director sniffed derisively. "Wherever I look I -see improvements: churches turned into theaters, theaters into churches, -and residences which are still perfectly good turned into sky-scrapers. -Chaos is not an improvement upon order. Nothing is finished, nothing -complete, not even your religion." - -Just then we were compelled to pass along a wooden walk from which we -looked into a canyon blasted out of the rock, upon which still stood the -foundation of the house which was being turned into a sky-scraper. - -"You see, that is the way we improve; we go deeper each time," I -remarked. - -"But in religion," the Herr Director retorted, "you do not go deeper, -you go higher, and that is no improvement." - -For the second time the chimes were pealing, and we entered a sanctuary -of friendly yet dignified English Gothic. An usher, who looked very -American and well fed and out of place, guided us to a pew in the more -than half empty church, from which nothing was missing in the way of -ecclesiastical furnishings. One thing it lacked and that no architect -can build and no money can buy--Spirit. - -The organ was played by a master, the processional was splendidly -staged, the rector looked prosperously pious, prayers were read and -confessions uttered without any disquieting, spiritual agony, and the -anthems were correctly sung by the picturesque boys' choir. The curate -preached a sermon on manliness; a sermon so thin and emasculated that -even the Frau Directorin, whose English is limited, could understand it, -and said she would like to come again "for the good English." - -I left the church deeply disappointed, and to the Herr Director's taunts -about "improvements" I did not reply, realizing more than ever how -difficult and dangerous is this task of introducing the _Spirit_, -especially when one goes to church in the spirit of pride, rather than -in the spirit of meekness. - -No clergyman can spoil the whole of Sunday, for there is always the -dinner, and having found a _table d'hôte_ in harmony with the Herr -Director's national and religious ideals, we continued our discussion -somewhat fitfully, if, at times, rather vehemently. - -One of the things the Herr Director missed in the church where we tried -to worship was reverence. He missed it everywhere and thought it due to -the fact that we do not teach religion in the public schools. - -This was rather amusing to me, for just prior to that statement he had -told me of one of his nephews who, upon approaching his final -examinations, said: "If it were not for this accursed religion I could -get through without trouble;" and I called his attention to the fact -that although I had no difficulty with my "exams" in religion, -invariably having an "_Ausgezeichnet_" which is equivalent to an A, I -was always "_Schlecht_" in conduct. - -I had found religious instruction a very irreligious procedure, for the -man who taught it was irreligious enough to whip me so that I could not -lie upon my back for a week, the cause being that I would not say yes -to his credo. Moreover I told the Herr Director I thought all religious -instruction irreligious which did not teach the child its whole duty to -society, but taught religion from only the narrowing racial or sectarian -standpoint. - -Religion, I pointed out to him, can after all not be taught; it has to -be caught. It is a contagion which comes from a spiritual personality, -and our public schools are not religious or irreligious because certain -subjects are found or not found in their curricula, but because the -teachers have this spiritual personality or lack it. I am convinced that -this ethical quality predominates in our public schools, not only -because so many of our teachers are women, but because we are -fundamentally a religious people. - -At this point I became conscious that the attention of the Herr Director -and the Frau Directorin had flagged; for their response to my homily was -an eloquent tribute to the tenderness of the breast of a Long Island -duck, which they had been enjoying while I talked. As they were -consequently in a lenient mood towards the whole world and therefore -the United States, I renewed my laudable and difficult effort, and, as -is often best, through the medium of a story. - -At the time the elective system was introduced into Harvard University, -attendance upon chapel was made voluntary. "I understand," said a severe -critic of this procedure, "that you have made God elective in your -college." - -"No," replied the astute president, "I understand that God has made -Himself elective everywhere." - -The point of my story was lost upon both my guests. When I paused, the -Frau Directorin asked me how it was possible to serve so lavish a bill -of fare for so little money, and the Herr Director asked the waiter why -they called this a Long Island duck when the portions were so short. -Thus the conviction was forced upon me that our environment was not -conducive to the discussion of the American Spirit and that I must await -a more auspicious occasion. - -Late in the afternoon that occasion came; not on Fifth Avenue but on one -of those streets where churches are fewest and humanity thickest; where -Sunday brings liberation from toil, where cleanliness and godliness have -an equally difficult task in coming or abiding; where nations and races -must mingle and cannot easily blend, where the America which is to be is -in the making, and where the Spirit must manifest itself if we are to be -a nation with common ideals. - -I like to take my friends to the East Side of New York City. I glory in -its self-respect, its brave struggle against poverty and disease, its -bright children filling all the available space and asserting their -childhood by playing in the busy street, defying its noisy traffic. They -make of each hurdy-gurdy the center of a great festival, dancing as the -elves are said to dance, because it is their nature to. - -I like to point out the faces of Patriarchs, Prophets and -Madonnas--faces seamed by care and sorrow, yet lighted by a divine -radiance and as unconscious of it as were those upon whom it shone in -such fullness on that great East Side of the Universe which we now call -the Holy Land. - -I like to have my friends meet my East Side friends, the young working -girls, who dress in good taste, help support a family, and maintain an -unstained character in spite of small wages and the temptations of a -great city. I like them to meet the growing boys who are hungry for the -best the city holds, and who dream the dream of making the East Side in -particular, and New York in general, a better place in which to live. - -I am never ashamed to take my friends into the tenement houses, except -as I am ashamed that they exist at all, with their stenches and the -dearly bought space with twenty-four hours of darkness and no free -access of air. Of the people who live within I am never ashamed, for -they are the brave ones, to whom labor is prayer, and living a -sacrifice. I like best to show off the East Side of New York on Sunday, -for here it is most welcomed with its respite from labor, its chance at -clean clothes, its opportunity to visit and be again something more than -a machine. - -On Fifth Avenue the Sabbath is made for the few, on the East Side it is -made for the many; on Fifth Avenue God seems hard to find, on the East -Side He comes down upon the street. They are indeed worse than infidels -who do not feel His Spirit brooding over the crowd, and His guardian -angels watching over those children--else how could they survive? Best -of all I know where those Angels live, and it is there I took the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin; I was sure they would never leave the -place doubting that we are a religious people. Evidently the children -also knew where their Angels live for the place was in a state of siege. -It is not strange that they knew, for their ancestors had walked and -talked with angels, and they were not yet old enough to have lost the -faith of their fathers. Troops of children there were; mere children -carrying children, and where there was an only child, which is rare on -the East Side, it was brought by a grandfather and grandmother, children -themselves now, and old enough to again believe in angels. - -There were flowers in the room and they were for the children; bowers -of roses, red roses, wafting their incense and driving out the mouldy, -tenement house air which clung to the little ones. There was music, and -they sang--sang as I know God wanted them to sing--gay, happy songs, -which seem to be denied the children who sing in the churches. - -How I wished that the picturesque little choir boys on Fifth Avenue, who -sang sixteenth century music and Augustinian theology, might have had a -chance to sing as those East Side children sang--full throated, lustily, -joyously; songs which made them shiver from very joy, and which made the -Frau Directorin weep copiously. - -How I wished that the priest who chanted Psalms in Latin, and the other -priest who intoned them in English as dead as Latin, could have been -there and have heard those children recite the same Psalms, in East Side -English. Yes, I have often wished that David himself might hear them; I -am sure he would be proud that he had a share in writing them, even as -the priests might be ashamed that they had never known just what -precious reading they are. - -No one preached to the children although they heard the good tidings, -and no one told them to be good although they were given a chance to -know how good God is, when men give Him a chance. - -There was a sacrament, a holy one; roses were given the children, and -the Angels who gave them shed their blood, for the roses had thorns. The -next week the children were to be taken where the roses grew, and they -would see that - - "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! - Rose plot, - Fringed pool, - Fern'd grot-- - The veriest school - Of Peace:--" - -But they would not have to see the garden to know that God is. - -We broke bread with the Angels and looked into their joyously weary -faces, and then we talked about the very thing I wanted my guests to -know, namely: That underneath all our religious or rather credal chaos, -we have a national creed if not a national religion. - -The Herr Director suggested that the fundamental doctrine of our creed -is "in gold we trust," and then he began a dissertation upon our -national materialism. - -Perhaps so, I conceded; but I doubted that we are more materialistic -than the people of the older world, in fact I was inclined to believe -that we are less so; which of course the Herr Director stoutly denied, -and I as stoutly affirmed. In justice to myself I must say that when my -country's honor is not at stake I am less dogmatic. - -"Perhaps we are equally materialistic," I continued, "but we are -certainly more generous. We make money faster than the people of the Old -World, but we also give it away faster, and I believe that there is no -country in which there is such a contempt for the merely rich man." - -"I suppose the second article in your national creed," the Herr Director -interrupted, "is that you are the biggest country and the best people -under the Sun. - -"If I were suggesting a motto for a new coinage I would put on one side -of it 'In Gold We Trust,' and on the other 'The Biggest and The Best.'" - -Ignoring this somewhat merited slur I said: "The first and only doctrine -of our national creed which we have as yet formulated is that we have a -great national destiny." - -At that the Herr Director jumped excitedly from his seat, and said -somewhat sneeringly, "Oh, you mean you have a place under the Sun. All -nations have such a creed, but when we Germans try to realize it, you -call us a menace to civilization." - -It was a tense moment in my relationship to my guests, but I ventured to -say: "We have a better reason for the faith which is in us than most -other nations, for we are trying to realize it without killing off other -people. In fact we are trying to realize it at a greater hazard than -that of being conquered by an alien enemy. We are keeping open these -doors which have swung both ways freely, for nearly three hundred years, -and your Old World weary ones have been coming; bringing their -traditions, their ideals, their worn out faiths and their heaped up -wrath. We did not forbid them; they have come to our towns, our schools, -our homes, they are here for better for worse, and we cannot divorce -them, or drive them away. - -"Yes," I continued, much to the discomfiture of the Herr Director, "we -_have_ a meaning to the Old World, a larger meaning than you think. We -have a place under the Sun, not to satisfy national ambitions; but to -keep alive faith in humanity." - -The Angels around the table were disquieted by our vehemence, the Frau -Directorin urged that it was growing late, and we left that center of -quiet which we had so disturbed, to return to our hotel. We entered a -street car crowded beyond its capacity by burly Irishmen the worse for -liquor, good-natured Slavs none the better for it, aggressive looking -Russian Jews and sleek Chinamen. There were mothers with their crying -babies, and thoughtless boys and girls chewing gum most viciously. -After the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had been jostled -unmercifully, we left the uncomfortable car, and when we were again -breathing unpolluted air the Herr Director asked quizzically: - -"Do you still believe in humanity?" - -Boldly and bravely I answered: "Yes, I believe," and lifting my face to -the stars I whispered: "Lord, help my unbelief." - - - - -III - -_The Spirit Out-of-Doors_ - - -Much to my regret the Herr Director did not sleep well that second night -in the United States. His nerves had suffered from those first thronging -impressions, he looked pale and was decidedly irritable; "for how could -a man sleep or be expected to sleep in this business canyon, loud from -the thunder of the elevated, and bright from the flashing of illuminated -signs?" Together they had the effect of an electric storm upon him. - -When he did fall asleep he dreamed that the Metropolitan Tower, the -Woolworth Building and St. Patrick's Cathedral were dancing Tango upon -his chest. - -This nightmare may have been due to the fact that just before retiring -we witnessed an exhibition of this modern madness, which seemed to be -indulged in everywhere except in the churches and possibly the barber -shops. Partly also, perhaps, because the Herr Director insisted upon -eating lobster shortly before midnight, in spite of the fact that I -warned him against that indulgence. It was one of those generous, United -States lobsters, and not the diminutive shell-fish with which cultured -Europeans merely tickle their palates. - -The Herr Director had repeatedly pointed out our bad habit of leaving a -great deal of food on our plates, and to impress upon me his better -manners, he had eaten the entire lobster. - -I had not slept well that night either, in spite of the fact that I had -eaten sparingly. I think it was the Herr Director himself who had "got -on my nerves," and I was finding this task of "showing off" my beloved -United States difficult and exacting. - -That morning we were to leave New York and I would introduce my guests -to the great American out-of-doors, and the prospect added to my already -uncomfortable frame of mind. - -If only we might start from that marvellous Central Station in the heart -of the city; but in order to reach our destination, which was Lake -Mohonk, we had to cross the West Side where it is irredeemably tawdry -and ugly, and take one of the ferry-boats to Weehawken. This somewhat -inconvenient procedure made the Herr Director doubly critical. - -The Fates were against us, for it was a hot, humid day, the car was -crowded, and the start from Weehawken anything but auspicious. - -In Europe the Herr Director travels second class when he travels -officially (the first, as is well known, being reserved for Americans -and fools), and third when he travels _incognito_, for he is a thrifty -soul. Nevertheless, he did not like our cars, they were "obtrusively -decorated," and privacy was impossible. Why should he have to look at a -hundred or more human heads variously "_frisired_"? - -I suggested that we take seats in front, which we succeeded in doing, -and then he found that if he wished to take off his collar, he would -have to do it with two hundred or more human eyes fastened upon him, -when the hundred people possessing them had no business to see what he -was doing. - -I have already confessed how sensitive I am to criticism of anything -American, no matter how just the criticism may be. So sensitive am I, -that had he reflected upon the good looks of my wife, he could scarcely -have hurt me more than when he reflected upon the beauty and arrangement -of an American railway car. - -And yet I have often wondered why our American genius seems to have -exhausted itself when it evolved the present type of car, having done -nothing to it except adding or taking away some of its "gingerbread." -Nevertheless I lost my patience and told him that if he liked to travel -cooped in with seven other passengers, four of whom he must face and two -of whom might at any moment poke their elbows into his ribs; if he -preferred to breathe air polluted by seven other people, and have a -fresh supply of ozone only at periods and in quantities regulated by -law, I did not admire his taste. As far as I was concerned I preferred -to travel in this big room on wheels, rather than in a jail-like box to -which the conductor alone had the key. Anyway this represented American -democracy with its unpartitioned space; but if he really wanted it, I -could get him a stateroom in the Pullman, and he could ride in isolated -splendor and be aristocratically stuffy and uncomfortable. - -When the Frau Directorin in typical German phraseology complained about -the draft: "_Um Gottes Willen ein Zug!_" I decided to save the day, and -we retreated to the Pullman stateroom. - -There they rested themselves back and looked tolerably happy while I, -silently but fervently, prayed that this particular train would not -disgrace itself by "committing" an accident. - -The big, American out-of-doors, even where it is old and its waste -spaces are cultivated and hedged about, has something which is -characteristically American. Of course nature knows no political -boundary; the grass is green everywhere, the sky is blue, cattle and -sheep, like man, have a long and honorable ancestry. Yet there is a -difference which may not be due to what nature is, but to man's attitude -towards her and his treatment of her. - -I have noticed this in passing through Europe; how unerringly one knows -where Germanic boundaries end and those of the Slav begin. German fields -and forests are trim and orderly; Slavic territory so ill kept and ill -used that when one has a glimpse of a village even from the swift moving -train, the difference is obvious. - -Sometimes I am inclined to believe that this attitude of man affects his -environment as much as we know the environment affects him. I wonder -just how much of the American out-of-doors, with its generous but not -gentle aspect, its subdued but untamed spirit, is due to those valiant -men who came from across the sea, and in so doing restored a bit of -their long-lost courage, and made masters of men who so long had been -serfs and knaves. - -I had hoped that the sudden burst of the Hudson upon my guests' vision -would thrill them; but if they were thrilled, they were careful to -conceal it. When I suggested the likeness of the Hudson to the Rhine, -the Herr Director took it as a personal affront and said you might as -well compare St. Patrick's Cathedral and that of Cologne. They are both -churches and Gothic; the Hudson and the Rhine are two rivers, and both -are big. - -Nevertheless I insisted that there is an evident resemblance which would -be complete if the Hudson had a ruined castle here and there, or a -picturesquely cramped village huddling against the hillside. - -"Yes, and beside castles and picturesque villages," the Herr Director -replied tartly, "you need a thousand years of culture and the same -traditions which make the shores of the Rhine sacred to us; you also -need generations of patiently plodding peasants who have made a -sacrament of their toil. One glance at your rotting boats lying along -the shore, at the untilled, gaping spaces and glaring, inartistic -sign-boards which disfigure it, is sufficient to distinguish the two -rivers or perhaps even the two countries." - -Having thus forcefully delivered himself, he scornfully pointed out the -waste places and the unkempt-looking fields, asking me whether I still -dared compare anything in this out-of-doors with the fine economy and -splendid supervision of the natural resources of his own country. - -Shamefacedly I acknowledged my country's guilt, and the guilt which was -evident on the majestic shores of the Hudson. We are wasteful, -extravagant and reckless--great defects in our national spirit, and most -in evidence in our treatment of nature's beauty and wealth. We shall -have to remedy that, in fact we are just beginning to do it; if not from -any sense of guilt, from the same sheer necessity which makes the -nations of the Old World careful of their national wealth. - -"The Conservation of our National Resources" is a fine phrase; it -represents not only an economic, but a spiritual gain--this feeling of -responsibility for the next generation. It is a new and most valuable -asset of our national spirit; yet I must confess that I fear the coming -of a day when we, too, shall have to practice the sordid little -economies of the Old World and think with anxiety about the to-morrow. - -It has always seemed to me that here the miracle of the loaves and -fishes might be performed indefinitely, and that there always would be -left over the baskets full of fragments. Somehow, in common with the -rest of mankind, I have associated generous plenty with the American -spirit, and I trust we shall never have just our dole and no more. - -I recall walking one evening with the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin through the well-regulated, officially trimmed and "_Streng -Verboten_" forest which encircles his native city. My children were with -us--young, vigorous, American savages, who have a superabundance of the -American spirit although they have not a drop of American blood in their -veins. We passed a small mound of freshly mown hay and they promptly -jumped into it, tossing a few handfuls as an offering to their -aboriginal deity, the wind. If they had dashed into the plateglass -window of a jeweler's shop or had desecrated the most holy shrine, they -could not have caused greater consternation. - -"_Um Gottes Himmels Willen die Polizei!_" cried the Herr Director and -the Frau Directorin echoed: "_Die Polizei!_" - -Although this happened about ten years ago, my children have not -forgotten their fright. - -I suppose we still lack this virtue of economy, and yet I hope we may -not lose that certain largeness of nature and that generosity of spirit -which have characterized us. - -I love the generous spaces, the unfenced lawns, which make of the whole -village one common park; the grass and clover free to the touch of our -children's feet, the fragrant flowers wasting their bloom, and berries -and cherries enough for the wild things of the woods. May the future not -bring more high walls and narrow lanes, big game preserves for the rich, -and scant patches of soil for the poor; castles for capital and -tenements for labor. And may we never see written over every blade of -grass: "_Streng Verboten_." - -I realized that the Herr Director spoke truly when he said that what we -lack over here is a healthy class spirit, which the German farmer has. A -sort of pride in his calling which makes him care for the soil and -nourish it with a lover's passion. To him robbing the soil is as great a -crime as it would be to rob his children. It is not only the Emperor who -regards himself as a partner with God, and sometimes the senior partner; -the commonest, poorest peasant is apt to say as he drenches his field -with the accumulated compost: "_Ich und Gott_." - -Speaking of the farmer, the Herr Director admitted that in Germany as -elsewhere there is a trend to the city; but the tide is held back by the -pride of the German farmer, who glories in having his traditions, his -folksongs, and, above all, this sense of partnership with God. - -We scarcely have such a thing as a farmer class; we have merely -merchandizers in dirt who sell not only the products of the soil, but -unhesitatingly the soil itself. - -The land which we see from the car window, which the pioneers won from -this boundless space, these houses and sheltering groves, the homesteads -in which a great race was cradled, are all for sale, now that the soil -is robbed of its fertility and the robbers have moved on to repeat the -process elsewhere. We are doing something, he admitted, to stem the tide -to the cities; we are introducing agricultural training into our public -schools and are making the raising of corn and wheat a science, but not -as yet a sacrament. - -We stayed over night in one of the half-asleep towns on the shores of -the river, a town whose history is written upon the headstones in the -cemetery, in the center of which the stately meeting-house stands. We -met the descendants of those who sleep there, whose pride lies in the -fact that their forefathers were the pioneers who fought the Indians, -the fevers and each other. Their houses are full of old furniture -shipped from England and Holland, and we ate their food and drank their -tea from costly silver and exquisite china which they have inherited. - -We looked upon the portraits of their ancestors and were told of their -virtues and their fame; we saw fine memorials to the past in churches -and town halls and rode in their automobiles, to see the farms -bequeathed to them. One thing, alas! they have not and never will -have--descendants. - -On one of the farms we saw a swarthy Italian with a bright red rose -behind his ear. His wife and children were working with him in the -field, and they were doing this strange thing as they pulled weeds from -the onion beds--they were singing. The Herr Director said significantly, -"These are the heirs to all this," and I think he was a true prophet. - -It is a wonderful thing to invent agricultural machinery and to discover -new methods by which two blades of grass can be made to grow where but -one grew; yet if only some one could tune our dull American ears, so -that our farmers might catch the melody of the singing land and sing -with it; if our boys and girls would love wild roses well enough to wear -them--if, and that is a very big if--some one could teach us Americans -to be proud of having descendants, we might add a new note to the great -American out-of-doors, and keep it American. - -That night we sat upon a wide verandah, overlooking a valley through -which the Hudson rolled majestically; we saw populous cities, -picturesque villages and bounteous farms; we looked into the heart of -the out-of-doors and I was proud of it and of its free people, who ought -to be a grateful people. There was deep silence everywhere; no sound -except that of the birds, and they did not sing jubilantly as birds -ought to sing in so blessed a place and on so glorious an evening. No -one sang except the same Italian who was coming home with his wife and -numerous progeny. He still wore the rose behind his ear, although it had -faded. Those who sat with us had every luxury and more money than they -knew how to spend; but they could not sing, for they were old, children -there were none, and if there had been, they would not have been -singing--they would have had a victrola. - -After the Italian had eaten his frugal but pungent fare he came to the -big verandah to get his orders for the next day, and the Herr Director -spoke Italian to him and he replied in that language which in itself is -almost a song. His mistress asked him to bring his wife and children to -sing for us. His wife did not come but the children came. They would not -sing an Italian song, it is true--that was just for themselves, in the -fields where only God heard. They sang some sentimental thing they had -heard in the "movies"--chewing gum the while. I asked them to sing -something their teacher taught them but they knew nothing except "My -Country 'tis of Thee" and the "Star Spangled Banner," both of which they -sang joylessly and not understandingly. How and why should they -understand when the Americans did not? - -It was a day full of dismal failure in my attempt to impress upon my -guests the American spirit, and the failure of it was "rubbed" in by -the Herr Director, who, as he bade me good-night, quoted as a parting -shot this bit of German verse: - - "Und wo Man singt - Da las dich froelich nieder, - Denn boese Menchen haben keine Lieder." - -The rub was in his inference that we have no song because we have no -noble spirit. - - - - -IV - -_The Spirit at Lake Mohonk_ - - -Many years ago the Herr Director and I were tramping through the Hartz -Mountains in northern Germany. He had not yet achieved portliness and -fame; while to me, America was still the land of Indians and buffaloes, -and I had never dreamed of going there. We were climbing the Brocken, -and that which thrilled me more than its granite steeps and deeply -mysterious pines was, the hundreds of school-boys and girls we met, -singing as they climbed, and who, when they rested, listened to their -teachers who stimulated their imagination and their patriotism by -telling them the stories which had woven themselves around those -mountains. - -The Catskills are not unlike the Hartz, and I remarked upon it as the -Herr Director and I were climbing the Walkill Range. Our destination -was Lake Mohonk, the scene of the Conference for International -Arbitration, organized and supported by that noble Quaker, Albert K. -Smiley; and now after his death continued by his able and generous -brother Daniel Smiley, and his gracious wife. - -The Frau Directorin, with hundreds of other guests, had been met at the -railroad station by carriages, this being one of the few places left -upon earth where the automobile is excluded. - -The Herr Director was not climbing as easily as he climbed thirty years -ago, and neither was I, although I made a brave show and led the way, -frequently leaving him in the rear, much to his disgust. - -"Yes," he said, mopping his brow and looking about critically, "this is -somewhat like the Hartz," and my heart gave a joyous leap at his -admission; "but several things are missing: Good company, merry songs -and, above all, places of refreshment." - -Of course I could offer him no better company than I was, as there are -not many people in America who climb when they can ride for nothing; -and the only refreshment available was clear water from a shaded spring. -As we drank he recalled laughingly how, when we stopped at one of those -nature's fountains in the Hartz, a man who had watched us, came running -out of his house and warned us that we might catch cold in our stomachs, -at the same time politely offering to guide us to a place where we would -get something not so dangerously cold, and with tempting foam at the -top. - -I have long ago been weaned from the German custom of mixing -refreshments and scenery; but one does miss the boys and girls, the -merry, happy throngs, their sentimental songs and their fervent, poetic -patriotism. Involuntarily my mind reverted to a scene the Herr Director -and I witnessed after we had finally reached the summit of our mountain -in the Hartz. It was nearly evening, and we could look far and wide -above the forest into the happy and beautiful country. On the very -topmost peak stood a corpulent German, surrounded by his genial group. -He was reciting with fervor and genuine passion, in the broadest -Berlinese dialect, one of their treasured poems which begins with these -lines: - - "High upon the hilltops of thy mountains stand I, - Thou beautiful and mighty Fatherland." - -If this should happen over here, of which there is no danger, he would -be laughed at, if noticed at all; over there he was treated like a high -priest who called the faithful to prayer. - -As a people we lack not only poetic imagination, we lack also this -identification of our country with the best in nature. Our youth may be -to blame for that, or perhaps we have so much of nature and so much -which is beautiful that we have not been able to encompass it. Yet there -must be something very important lacking in such Americans as the one -whom I met very recently. He had just returned from a "Seeing America -First" tour, and had seen everything from Niagara to the Big Tree groves -of California. When I asked him what he thought of it all he said, -coolly, "Oh! it's a big country." Naturally I did not tell this nor the -following to the Herr Director. - -A few years ago I went with a group of Americans to see one of the -famous ice caves in the Alps. The accommodating guides had lighted -candles in the labyrinth and the sight was enchanting. One of my party, -a dry-goods dealer, said with genuine enthusiasm: "My! I wish I could -get such a shade of silk in New York." The other said: "Too bad; so much -perfectly good ice going to waste." He belonged to the much maligned -tribe of ice-men. The rest of the men said nothing, although one of them -did remark when we reached our hotel: "This only shows how slow they are -over here. In the good old United States we would light that show with -electricity." He belongs to the tribe whose name is legion. - -The Herr Director, as my readers have found, was very chary of his -praise, in fact thus far I had not heard a good word from him for my -United States; but that evening as we looked from the Mountain House -down upon the dark, deep lake, the rock gardens and the quaint bowers -on every promontory, granite walls broken and scattered, and the rich -valley between us and the Catskills, he did say: "This is the most -beautiful spot I have ever seen!" - -Of course his generous mood was partially gendered by the unequalled -hospitality of our host and hostess and by the sight of his fellow -guests, who represented not only the entire United States, but the -United States at its best. Moreover, he and his wife had received a more -than cordial welcome because they were representative foreigners and -spoke English with a "cute accent." - -I almost felt a slight touch of jealousy upon that point although I am -not of a jealous nature. But I have noticed this: to the degree that my -English has improved, to that degree I have become less interesting to -my American friends, so that I have sometimes been tempted to wish that -I too might speak English with a "cute accent." - -The happy day was almost spoiled for me by the discovery that our trunks -had not arrived. The Herr Director worked himself into a frenzy and the -Frau Directorin had dire forebodings of having to spend the three days -in the same shirt-waist. Telegrams were sent in all directions, while -the Herr Director called our much boasted of baggage system hard names; -my "best laid schemes" seemed about to "gang agley" when much to my -relief the trunks arrived, and I felt once more assured of the divine -favor in my most strenuous efforts to "boost" my United States. - -The Herr Director had come to this country to take part in the Mohonk -Conference, and being a prudent man, he submitted his address to me. It -was written with Teutonic thoroughness and as void of places of -refreshment as the Sahara Desert or the Walkill Range we had climbed. - -I suggested a thorough revision, the cutting out of many statistics and -resting his case, not upon pure business, but upon the higher plane of -pure justice. He insisted upon retaining his statistics and also his -appeal to the selfish and materialistic side of his audience; for he -knew "something about Americans" and still doubted their idealism. - -The next morning after breakfast we attended prayers, which is a part of -the daily program of this hostelry, and presided over by the host, who -usually reads the Scriptures, announces a hymn and then leads in prayer. -It is as impressive as it is simple and dignified, and the Herr Director -and his wife did their first singing in America when they joined in a -hymn whose tune is an old German folk-song. - -The program which followed the prayer service was dominated by -specialists in International Law and they were dry and concise enough to -suit even the Herr Director; while the dreamers and agitators, whom he -expected to hear, were almost altogether unrepresented. In fact they -have grown less in this assembly each year, largely because it is -thought that the whole subject has reached the point when it is a -practical question to be discussed by men of affairs. No one knew better -than the Herr Director how inevitable was the next great war and how far -we were from the practical Court of International Arbitration. - -The epilogue to that great world drama had been spoken in the Balkan, -and spoken with vehemence, passion and fierce cruelty, and he knew its -bearing upon the whole tense situation in Europe. Yet I am sure that -even he did not know how many nations would be involved, nor how costly -and deadly would be the conflict. He did foreshadow in his own -condemnation of England and of England's foreign policy the element of -hate between the two related nations, which was to play so important a -part in the present war. - -The afternoon is playtime at Lake Mohonk, and most generous are the -provisions for recreation; but the Herr Director did not ride or drive, -nor play golf or tennis. He stayed in his room rewriting his paper, -having sensed something of the Spirit of Lake Mohonk. - -It is a very dignified room in which the problem of International -Arbitration is discussed, and although it never loses its hospitable, -home-like air, one always has the feeling of being before a high -tribunal, where anything but the most serious mood seems out of place; -although a jest sometimes relieves the discussion. - -An audience of about four hundred people gathered that evening, men and -women in varied walks of life, coming from all the states in the Union -and from many foreign countries. - -There were captains of industry and of infantry, admirals of fleets and -presidents of colleges, statesmen and politicians, ministers, lawyers -and journalists. Their views ranged from those who believe that war is -an unavoidable event in human history, and that a little blood letting -now and then is necessary for the best of men, to those who teach that -war is a curse and that a certain warrior who compared it to the worst -place which human imagination can conceive, might be sued for libelling -his Satanic Majesty who presides over that place or state. On the whole, -they represented the men of action and men without illusions although -with high ideals. The Herr Director's paper, minus its statistics, and -keenly critical rather than laudatory, was received with applause, and -he stepped from the platform in the best humor in which I had seen him -since he reached the United States. - -The real joy of the Lake Mohonk Conference, and of all conferences, is -the human touch, and after the long evening session the Herr Director -became the center of an interesting group of men who, while smoking -their cigars, lost some of their American reserve and became -sufficiently animated to hear and tell stories; so it was long past -midnight when the informal session ended. - -Frequently the Herr Director asked questions about things which he could -not understand, and it was at such times that I sought to enlighten him, -or have him enlightened by others; for he had become sceptical as to my -own ability to inform him regarding anything American. - -He could not understand, for instance, that all this lavish -entertainment was free, and suggested that it must be a sort of gigantic -American advertising scheme, carefully concealed. When he was told that -to secure a room during the season one must apply long in advance, and -most likely have fair credentials before being accepted as a guest, he -merely shook his head and murmured something about these "inexplicable -Americans." - -He also did not see how an hotel could flourish in any civilized country -without permitting the accepted social diversions, such as card playing, -dancing, and drinking something stronger than the mild beverages served -at the soda fountain. - -He wanted to know how it was that three or four hundred Americans would -take three days of their time to discuss a theme which had little or -nothing to do with profits. All the Americans he had known about were -void of ideals, and had no time for anything but business or poker. In -fact he was astonished not to see poker chips littering the sidewalks. - -I told him that while it is true that the average American business man -is always in a hurry, and gives little time to wholesome recreation, it -is also true that in no country with which I am familiar do men of -business give their time so generously to the consideration of the -common welfare as here. They do this, not having the incentive -constantly held out to the European business man, namely: Recognition by -the state and the reward which sovereigns may bestow, in much coveted -titles and decorations. The average well-inclined American business man -is incredibly patient, sitting through tedious meetings, listening to -reports of various philanthropies, and earns a martyr's crown attending -those interminably long banquets with their assault upon his digestion -and their appeal to his sympathies. - -At Lake Mohonk the Herr Director met business men employing thousands of -clerks to whom they grant vacations and holidays without legal -compulsion, and for whom they have inaugurated welfare plans of -far-reaching importance. It was certainly a revelation to him that the -number of Americans who are something more than animated money bags is -growing larger every day. - -The still more difficult thing to explain to him was the frank and open -discussions of national policies and the evident international -view-point of those who took part in them. In all the discussions the -most striking note was: "The United States wants not territory, not -unfair advantage over other nations nor aggrandizement at the expense of -lesser peoples, nor war, certainly not for conquest." - -The Herr Director intimated that in the exalted mood induced by being -members of this conference, we could afford to be generous; but that at -a time of national excitement we are no better than other people, taking -what we can get and asking no questions. - -"Uncle Sam was not wholly disinterested in Cuba, was he? and as far as -Mexico is concerned, who fermented the trouble there but this same Uncle -Sam, that you might have an excuse to swallow as much of Mexico as you -wanted?" - -Instantly my mind travelled to the time of the Spanish-American war, -when I was in Europe, and the Herr Director was editing an influential -German newspaper. He wrote an editorial, accusing the United States of -beginning the war with Spain for the sole purpose of annexing the "Pearl -of the Antilles," and when I disputed his theory we nearly severed our -"diplomatic relations." - -I now again vigorously pressed my point, to the great amusement of my -friends and the chagrin of the Herr Director, who could not easily -refute my statements; for while I acknowledged being an -"_Unausstehlicher Americaner_," I happen to know the Old World policies -as well as he does. - -I mentioned Austria-Hungary, and its taking over of Bosnia and -Herzegovina, without so much as "by your leave"--and Germany which, to -salve its hurt, sent a fleet of warships to China and helped the German -eagle bury its beak in the Yellow Dragon's tail. I mentioned France in -Algeria, and England everywhere--"and Uncle Sam in the Philippines," he -interrupted. - -I took full advantage of that interruption to remind him that Uncle Sam -is the only power which ever paid for anything gained by that right -which in Europe seems to be the only right;--the right of might. - -It was a difficult task which I had undertaken, to convince the Herr -Director that the American Spirit is different from that of the Old -World, and in spite of me he insisted that we are not a bit better than -other people, but only so situated that we can afford to be generous. I -assured him that I preferred to boast of our fair dealing with lesser -peoples than of our victorious battles, and that I am never so loyally -and enthusiastically American as when I think of our being just, rather -than mighty. - -I have since been at Lake Mohonk at a time when national passions were -aroused, and when those who had prophesied the early passing of the -battle fever were discredited prophets. While there, a letter reached me -from the Herr Director, in which he sent greetings to his host and -hostess and the members of the conference, and in which he recalled his -former accusation that we are no better than other people; for "are you -not pro-Ally and filling your pockets with the proceeds from the sale of -war munitions? Where now is your boasted fairness?" - -My reply was that I in common with many others wish we could wash our -hands of this bloody business of selling ammunition, and that I still -firmly believe that the American people will retain their poise during -this dreadful upheaval. - -Yes, even to-day I can say with no less pride than usual that I believe -in the American Spirit, in its sense of fairness and its love of -justice, and while I trust that this country may be kept from so great a -catastrophe as war, and I be kept from so severe a trial of my loyalty -as having to choose on which side to fight, I know I would freely and -unhesitatingly be on the side of my country, the United States of -America. - -Three glorious days had passed at Lake Mohonk and when the guests left -that mountain top no one went more reluctantly than the Herr Director -and his wife, and all the way back to the great city they felicitated -upon their delightful experiences, while I rejoiced in my country and -its spirit. When the Herr Director wrote his book I found that he -acknowledged having discovered four things at Lake Mohonk. First, an -unparallelled hospitality. Secondly, that the leading men of America are -soberly practical, unemotional, somewhat self-centered; but, at the same -time, men of high ideals. Thirdly, that its military men attend -conferences for international arbitration, that they do not rattle their -sabers, and in appearance cannot be distinguished from mere civilians. -Finally, that the American man boasts most and loudest of his sense of -fairness; and while I write these lines, I am hoping and praying that -this may indeed be not an empty boast, but an integral part of the -American Spirit. - - - - -V - -_Lobster and Mince Pie_ - - -If I were gastronomically inclined I would study New York's cosmopolitan -population and its progress towards Americanization from the standpoint -of its restaurants; for the appetite is most loyally patriotic. A man -may cease to speak his mother tongue and have forsworn allegiance to -Kaiser and to King, but still cling to his ancestral bill of fare. - -If I were an absolute monarch and wished my alien people quickly -assimilated, I would permit them to speak their native tongue and cling -to the faith of their fathers; but I would close all foreign -restaurants, and as speedily as possible obliterate from their memory -the taste of viands "like mother used to make." - -I fear that it is neither Goethe nor Schiller, nor Bismarck nor Kaiser -Wilhelm who has kept the memory of the Fatherland alive in the minds and -hearts of many German people in America. Dare I say that possibly much -of their patriotism and loyalty is due to the taste of rye bread and -sweet butter, _Rindsbrust_ and _Pell Cartoffel_, not to mention a -certain frothy amber fluid? - -Be that as it may, when I discovered that the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin were homesick, I took them to a German restaurant to assuage -their pangs; just as if, did I detect the same symptoms in an American -whom I wished to make thoroughly at home in a foreign country, I would -take him where a meal could be properly concluded with apple pie and -cheese or ice-cream. - -The restaurant I selected lent itself particularly well to my purpose, -for everything was imported, from the Bavarian architecture to the -_Frankfurter_ sausages. The _menu_ card was adorned by illuminated, -medieval lettering, and on the smoked rafters were painted pious and -impious verses, which gave the room a literary atmosphere. - -It was as crowded and full of tobacco smoke and the odors of savory -meats as the most loyal German could desire, and my guests were -thoroughly at home. They ate their food happily, praised it -discriminatingly, and studied the familiar environment carefully. As -usual, certain things were lacking; for the Herr Director is a keen -critic and never accepts anything as perfect. - -I agreed with him that the orchestra was too noisy and on the whole -superfluous, and that the native American dining there could be easily -recognized by the indifference with which he ate. We heard no loud -complaining, and little or no quarrelling with the waiters. The food was -accepted in a humble sort of way whether it was satisfactory or not; -bills were paid, tips were given in the spirit of meekness, and accepted -in the opposite way, and the guests left without any ceremony except -that of paying their toll to the keepers of their hats and coats, a form -of extortion quite unparallelled abroad. - -In striking contrast to our mere eating was my guests' enjoyment of -every morsel of the food which they had selected, not simply because it -was food, but because it was a note fitting into the gastronomic -harmony. The head waiter and all his minions hovered about them with due -reverence, and woe to him who by pose or gesture disturbed the perfect -accord. - -A friend from Nebraska who was staying at our hotel had joined us at -dinner. When the waiter handed him the bewildering bill of fare, he -waved it aside saying: "Just bring me a big lobster stewed in milk, with -a dish of pickles and a mince pie." - -The waiter turned pale, the Herr Director gasped, almost strangling on -the salad he was eating, and the Frau Directorin looked at me -despairingly. The waiter was the first to recover his composure, and -cautiously suggested that the gentleman might like some Lobster à la -Newburgh. - -"Nix," said the Nebraskan, "I want lobster à la Milkburgh, and don't -forget the pickles." - -The waiter retreated and after a long conference with his superior, -informed the gentleman that he could have his lobster stewed in milk, -but that it would cost him one dollar and fifty cents. - -"Hustle it along," was the curt reply, and in about fifteen minutes he -was deep in his bowl of lobster stew, flanked on either side by pickles -and mince pie, while the rest of us were eating our way leisurely and -artistically through a _menu_ which began with _caviar_ and ended with -_Camambert_ and _demitasse_. - -After dinner, American men, manners and ideals became the subject of a -discussion into which my Western friend good-naturedly entered, although -he was made a horrible example of the fact that we are ill-mannered. The -Herr Director insisted that our nation is too young to have any except -bad manners, and while no doubt we had improved in the years since he -first made our acquaintance, the improvement had not yet permeated the -masses. - -That which I called the American Spirit was the spirit of the few -cultured, academic persons I knew, but the majority of the people was as -alien to it as was our Nebraska friend's lobster and mince pie to our -delicious and dietetically correct dinner. - -"I don't give a hang for your 'dietetically correct dinner.' I want what -I want, when I want it!" the Nebraskan said, smiting the table with his -fist, and evidently suppressing stronger language with an apologetic -glance at the ladies of our party. - -"That is exactly it; you want what you want, when you want it," the Herr -Director repeated, "whether or not it is on the bill of fare, or in the -statute book, or among the laws of the Universe. In that I suppose you -Americans all agree; that is your _American Spirit_." He uttered the -last phrase with special emphasis, and with no attempt to hide the -sneer. - -I admitted that my friend's demand for the thing he wanted, regardless -of the bill of fare and in defiance of a dietary law (of which he was -not as yet conscious), was a manifestation of our individualism, a -rather wide-spread characteristic. I was fain also to admit that our -individualism is not always as harmless to others as in the case under -discussion. It is an attitude of mind which has developed into a system -to which we are committed for better or worse, and is in striking -contrast to the German ideal of submission to an accepted order. - -"Yes," from the Herr Director with evident pride. "That which makes -Germany great and strong is our willing submission to authority; but -remember it must be intelligent authority, and at the same time it must -be efficient. To be sure," he acknowledged, "we are often chagrined by -the '_Streng Verboten_' to the right of us and the '_Nicht Erlaubt_' to -the left of us. We are much governed but we are well governed, and you, -too, will some day discover that the common weal has to be above the -individual's caprice. Your evident disrespect of laws and conventions -results from the lack of intelligence back of them, and you have no -respect for your lawmakers because they do not deserve it." - -At this point the Nebraskan astonished us by saying that he had recently -been in Europe on business, selling grindstones, that he knew something -about Germany, and he never was gladder to get back to God's country -than when he finally set foot upon his native soil. He had many -adventures, and as an example of what he had to suffer from one of -Germany's well enforced laws, he told a story which proved his sense of -humor, though the "laugh was on him." - -"When I was in Berlin I made out a small bill for some goods I had sold, -and the man told me that I must affix to it some revenue stamps. I -didn't want to bother with it, and told him so. The thing was too -trifling anyway. - -"I never thought of that bill again till I was forcibly reminded of it -in Hamburg as I was about to sail for home. I was haled before the -court, and the judge fined me fifty _marks_. Of course I knew I had to -pay it, so I handed him the money and told him in good English to take -it and go to the hot place with it. I didn't dream that he understood, -but he replied in as good English as I gave him: 'Officials of my rank -travel first-class. I must therefore have fifty _marks_ more.' That -little joke cost me a lot of money. I wouldn't want to live in a -country where I couldn't tell anybody I pleased what I felt like -telling him." - -The Herr Director doubted the accuracy of the story because "no German -official would show so little dignity." I, too, doubted it; but on the -ground that no German official would have so keen a sense of humor. - -There followed an animated argument between the Nebraskan and the Herr -Director as to which is of more importance, the individual or the state. -The Nebraskan insisted that the state being the creation of individuals, -they are of supreme importance, while the Herr Director persisted in his -theory that the state is supreme and that it is the business of the -individual to make it dominant and powerful, to which end the state must -make him effective. - -"An ineffective individual is a menace to the state, and a state which -cannot impress its will upon the individual and make him submissive and -effective will be vanquished in the great competitive struggle -constantly going on." - -"I suppose you're effective enough, but you're as slow as molasses in -January." - -"Oh, yes, we are slow, but we are thorough; we take our time to do a -thing well, while your hurry is as wearing as it is useless. When we -came down here this evening we were in a hurry. We were rushed to your -crowded subway to take a certain train, although the next one would have -done as well. In about three minutes we were pushed out of that train -into another, because it went faster, and we reached here breathless. We -saved time, but for what purpose? To see you eat your lobster and mince -pie?" And he looked contemptuously at the Nebraskan. - -"What are we going to do now with the two or three minutes we saved?" - -This was a question I could not answer, for I did not know why I had -hurried. Perhaps because of the excess of ozone in the air, or possibly -because every one else was hurrying. - -"You see," he continued, "we Germans never make the mistake of -confounding hurry with efficiency. We hurry, too, when we must, or when -we have a rational purpose. We know that great things cannot be -accomplished in a hurry. We lay our foundations not only patiently, but -thoroughly and cheerfully. - -"You work like slaves who are eager to finish the job, as you call it. -We cherish towards our job a sentiment of love and loyalty which we call -'_Pflichttreue_,' a word for which you have no equivalent, proving of -course that you have not the thing itself." - -I translated the word as loyalty to duty. - -"Yes, that may be correct, but it does not ring true. _Pflichttreue_ has -an ethical significance which your translation does not convey. - -"I have noticed that your conductors shed their uniforms the instant -they leave their trains, as if they were ashamed of their job. With us, -any uniform, whether a railroad conductor's or a general's, is gloried -in, and honored because of the work it represents." - -The Nebraskan thought us too democratic for uniforms, which is the -reason we do not value them more than we do. - -"It is not the uniform, it is our work in which we glory. A shoemaker -with us is as proud of his job as the Emperor is of his. He is Emperor -by the grace of God, because he believes it is a God-given task to which -he must be faithful, and we once had a shoemaker who called himself with -equal pride, 'Shoemaker by the grace of God.' - -"This pride spiritualizes the simplest and commonest work by making -every man a conscious part of the state, and he works for its glory and -power. It is a glory shared by his wife and family," and the Herr -Director pulled from his pocket a German newspaper. "Look at this -funeral notice. The widow signs herself not only as the widow of a -particular man, but as the widow of a man who did something of which she -is still proud. While she remains a widow she will sign herself _Amalia -Henrietta Schmidt Koenigliche Hof Opern Obo Spieler's Wittwe_." - -"How can we be proud of our jobs," queried the Nebraskan, after his -hearty laugh at _Amalia Henrietta Schmidt_, "when we never have a job -which we expect to hold permanently? I started out with school teaching, -then I got hold of a good thing in the way of Carborundum and made -grindstones. That's what took me to Europe. When that business went bad, -I bought out the livery stable in my town, and now I am in the moving -picture business. If I could sell out at a good price I'd do it and take -up any old thing as long as there is money in it." - -He was right. Our work is not sacred to us, for too often it is only the -means to an end, and frequently a very selfish end. Because Germany has -had centuries of carpenters and tinkers and shoemakers who planed boards -and mended pots and shoes "by the grace of God," and swung the hammer as -if it were a sword, they are now wielding the sword as if it were a -hammer. - -In some way we must get this spiritual appeal of the job, which means -not only that we shall have to dedicate ourselves to our task in a -manner worthy of its significance, but that the state must have this -spiritual attitude towards the worker, and treat him as though worthy of -his place in the economy of the nation. It is this wise provision for -the workers' efficient education, the state's recognition that the -well-being of the individual is its concern, which has given to Germany -the unfailing devotion of all her people. - -I was roused from these meditations by hearing the Nebraskan's voice. - -"You see I never had a chance to learn just one thing. I can do many -things tolerably well, for I had to do them. I can splice a rope, repair -a machine, shingle a house and if necessary build a barn. I can play -ragtime on the piano, throw a steer or ride a bucking broncho. I can -even make soda biscuits. I am the child of the pioneers, and in order to -survive, they had to be jacks of all trades. - -"I bought a tool in a department store the other day," and he drew it -from his pocket. "It can do sixteen things tolerably well, but it isn't -worth shucks for any one job, if you want to do it right. That's me." - -The Herr Director wanted to know what "shucks" meant, and after I -laboriously explained it to him and he had handled the patent tool he -said: - -"Your travelling men have come over to Germany and tried to sell us this -kind of thing, but they found no market. When we want a gimlet, or a -saw, or a coat-hanger we want that one thing and want it as good as it -can be made. We marvel at your adaptability, but we are too thorough to -be adaptable, and we do not need to be. You Americans will never be able -to compete with us until you learn to specialize and do one thing well." - -We sat long into the night comparing the German and the American Spirit, -but there was one phase of the former which the Herr Director clearly -demonstrated. There was a religious fervor in his patriotism which the -average American lacks. To him his country was not only above himself -but beyond everything else on Earth or in Heaven. There often seems -something sordid about our patriotism, something connected solely with -the individual's well-being. I glory in our sense of liberty, in the -opportunity to live unmolested, and in every man's chance to be himself; -but I fear we have as yet not learned to value our duty to this country -as much as we do our privilege. - -I am sure there will be no lack of fighters if the country is in danger; -but shall we be able to fight the long, exhausting battle which -presupposes discipline and subordination? - -The United States gives much to the individual, more, I think, than any -other country; but she has not given intelligently, she has nearly -pauperized us all by her beneficence, and has demanded nothing in -return, nor even taught us common gratitude. - -Our children are told that they must love their country, but what that -means beyond fighting when it is in danger they know not. That it means -to do their work thoroughly, that they must learn to do things well, and -exalt the nation by becoming efficient workmen that they may help win -their country's battles in the factory, or behind the counter, they do -not yet know; and what we have not learned, we cannot teach. - -This questioning mood of mine is never gendered as I contemplate the -mob, the many who are driven to revolt either by their unbridled -passions or by the unbearable conditions under which they have to -labor; my fear is strongest when I look into the schools and when I face -our youth which comes out of them, inefficient, but above all, -undisciplined. They do not lack physical courage, nor yet devotion to -the country, in a sort of abstract way; they do lack the submission to -intelligent authority. - -In this latter-day test of different ideals of the state, through the -cruel, undecisive test of war, we may learn from Germany to instill this -"_Pflichttreue_," this loyalty to the job. We may also learn the more -difficult lesson for us individualists--submission to authority which we -must make intelligent, as well as conscientious. - -Necessity will soon teach us to be thorough, and thoroughness -presupposes patience. Add these qualities and this discipline to the -enterprise, the love of fair play, the courage, the faith in God and -man, which we possess, and we too may ultimately develop a patriotism -which will stand the test of adversity, and emerge from it purified and -strengthened. - -When we stepped out of the restaurant and its German atmosphere into -the unmistakably American Broadway, my German guests felt that my -rampant Americanism had been thoroughly subdued. However they had -literally "reckoned without their host." My protracted silence had -misled them, but I could contain myself no longer. - -"We are now walking in the streets of the second largest city in the -world, its population thrown together and blown together from every -quarter of the globe, and the most of these people, if not the worst of -them, have come here in the last thirty-five years. They brought neither -love of their new country nor knowledge of its language and -institutions; they all came to make money, and to-morrow morning four -millions of people will begin again the competitive battle from which -they are resting to-night. - -"The laws which govern them are illy made, but they have made them, or -at least had a chance to select those who did make them. They have not -always chosen well; the officers who govern them are often not good men; -frequently they are only the most cunning politicians and one has but -scant respect for them. Yet in spite of it all, this is a fairly well -governed city and it is quite remarkable that these four million people -live together in comparative peace and order. Neither is there any ill -from which this great city or any group of its individuals suffers for -which there is not some help or healing or some attempt to heal. - -"If I were an absolute stranger without money, knowing neither the -language of the people nor their ways, I would rather be on the streets -of the city of New York than anywhere else." - -"How do you account for it?" the Frau Directorin ventured to ask, -although the Herr Director had been violently expressing his dissent. - -"We have several things to count on here, even when conditions seem -intolerable. Let me name them. - -"We are all human beings; some of us have inherited the Old Testament -righteousness and the passion for justice, and many of us have the New -Testament desire for service. These together make a very effective -combination, and go a great way towards the glorious results we shall -ultimately achieve." - -For once the Herr Director was silent, and as we had reached our hotel, -I think I might have slept peacefully that night had not the Nebraskan -triumphantly remarked as we were being shot up to the topmost floor: -"Say, I did get that lobster à la Milkburgh with pickles and mince pie, -didn't I? I always get what I want when I want it." - - - - -VI - -_The Herr Director and the "Missoury" Spirit_ - - -The anteroom of the editor's office was crowded when the Herr Director -and I arrived to meet the men of the staff at luncheon. - -The Herr Director is a publicist himself, and has edited one of the best -known German newspapers. Having called on him when he was trying to -mould an already moulded public opinion I made some interesting -comparisons which he did not approve. I could not forbear reminding him -how, when I once called on him in his office, I had to wait in a similar -anteroom over an hour, that I had to pass through a number of other -rooms with a longer or shorter period of waiting in each, and was -finally admitted to his august presence as if he were a king on his -throne. - -As editor in chief, he was a more or less cloistered mystery, and not -the man of affairs one is likely to be over here. Whatever comparisons I -made in spite of the Herr Director's protest, were not entirely fair; -for editors are scarcely a species anywhere, and the particular one upon -whom we were calling was an uncommon editor of an uncommon journal. -Neither he nor it has a counterpart in Germany if anywhere in the world; -they are both products of our Spirit and have had no small share in -shaping it and giving it expression. - -While I was explaining to the Herr Director the functions of this -journal and how intelligently it interprets current events, and was -extolling the virtues of its editors who, in spite of being persons of -national reputation and great importance, have retained their simple, -democratic ways, they emerged from the inner sanctum. - -After a vigorous hand-shake all around to which the Herr Director -visibly braced himself, the first contact was made, and we were taken to -a handsomely appointed dining-room in the same building, where luncheon -was served. - -Beneath all the outer simplicity and democratic demeanor of our host, -beneath his smoothly shaven, well groomed, correctly tailored exterior, -the Herr Director recognized a dignified reserve and consciousness of -power, which made him whisper to me, "His Majesty and suite," at the -same time soothing with his left hand his aching right hand, just -released from the vise-like grip of the editor. - -Although I assured him that to me they were all just the editors of my -favorite journal and after that plain, American citizens, I too am often -impressed by that sense of dominance and power emanating from these men -and others in similar positions. The feeling is not unrelated to that I -have experienced the few times I have been in the presence of royalty. - -In our public men of exalted position there may be lacking the mystical -element by which monarchs are surrounded; but the sovereign American has -more physical energy and force. - -Should the thrones of Europe suddenly become vacant, I know dozens of -our men who could occupy them, without their subjects becoming conscious -of much change; and as far as queens are concerned we could easily -furnish a surplus. - -The Herr Director and I had been chosen to sit in the places of honor, -and we (or at least I) forgot to eat, and spent my time studying these -superb types of Americans. - -The Herr Director, being more sophisticated, absorbed both the food and -the company, and in his lectures on "_Die Leitenden Maenner in Den -Vereinigten Staaten_," which he has delivered since returning to -Germany, there are evidences that he remembered the minutest details of -the _menu_, as well as every word which fell from the lips of the editor -in chief. - -Of course we spoke of many, if not all, the perplexing problems which -vex this problem-ridden age, and each of us had a proprietary interest -in one or more of them which we hoped to solve. The editor as a man of -affairs knew our particular problems as well as we knew them, and had -read all that any of us had written; so the conversation was animated -enough, and certainly illuminating. - -My specialty being immigration, and having just returned from the -Pacific coast where I had studied the problem as it concerns the -Oriental, the conversation was finally dominated by that interesting and -somewhat delicate theme. - -Can we assimilate all these varied elements which come to us? Can we -make of them one people, and eliminate all those ethnic, national and -religious inheritances which are frequently at variance with our own? - -The editor believed we can assimilate all or most of them with the -exception of the Oriental, "Who, having separated from the ethnic root -in the Pleistocene period, represents too varied a physical and mental -type to be assimilated by the Occidental." I think I am quoting him -correctly, although not word for word. - -As I did not quite agree with him, I expressed my views, and so did the -Herr Director. I said I thought I noticed among the Chinese and even -among the Japanese the influence of this new environment, and could -tell of conversations with groups of graduates of our colleges, in which -not only the influence of this country was noticeable, but the influence -of the particular institution from which they graduated. Anecdotes are -not easily accepted as scientific proof; but this being an informal -luncheon, I ventured a few of them which every one seemed to relish -except the Herr Director, and he is not to blame for that, as anecdotes -are rarely international. I do blame him, however, for telling me that -he had never heard stupider jokes in his life. One of these ethnic -anecdotes I told upon the authority of the Bishop of the Yangtsze -district. Perhaps like all anecdotes it may have grown in the telling. - -The Bishop had picked out an unusually bright Chinese lad to have -educated in the United States and then become his curate. When he -returned to China, after having attended both a college and a -theological seminary, he was assisting the Bishop. Evidently he had not -thoroughly mastered the ritual of the church; for this Oriental, who -had "separated himself from the ethnic root," moved close to the Bishop, -poked his elbow into the ecclesiastical ribs of his superior and asked: -"Say, Bishop, where do I butt in?" - -Our host wanted to know whether I was sure that he did not say: "Bish"; -I thought to reach the point of being able to express himself so briefly -and directly the Oriental would need at least another geologic period. - -One of the staff asked whether that anecdote was not my invention; to -which I took the liberty of replying that if I could invent such good -stories he might offer me an editorship. How imperfectly, after all, the -Oriental may absorb the spirit of our language, I told in the story -which is supposed to have its origin at the University of Michigan; -although like all such stories it may be claimed by innumerable -birthplaces. - -A Hindoo student, who had not quite finished his academic career and had -to return home on account of illness in his family, wrote back to his -faculty adviser, notifying him of the death of his mother-in-law, in -this characteristic, brief, Occidental way: "Alas! the hand which -rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket." - -The Herr Director thought this anecdote funny enough, but it proved the -opposite from that for which I was contending. "Who but an Oriental -could invent such highly picturesque figures of speech?" - -The conversation drifted into soberer channels when our host took up the -question as to what constitutes the American, who after all is hybrid -and frequently so mixed that he does not know just how he is ethnically -constituted. - -"For instance," he said, "I am part German, part revolutionary Yankee -stock" (it seemed to me that he put the emphasis upon the -revolutionary), "part French, part Scandinavian, part Irish." - -I have forgotten just how many racial strains he said were running in -his veins, but a variety large enough to be exceedingly useful to him in -claiming kinship with all sorts of folk, and in making political -speeches. That the ancestors of the average American belong to the -great fighting stocks of humanity may explain if not excuse his love for -physical combat. Each guest around the table followed the editor's -example and accounted for his ancestry, showing that all but two of the -Americans were mixtures, ranging from three to eight more or less -greatly differentiated races, using that term in its broadest sense. - -One of these unmixed Americans gave the outlines of his family tree, all -of it growing out of the rugged New England soil; but every one of his -daughters had married a man of foreign birth, or of foreign parentage. -His sons-in-law are German, Polish, French and Jewish. He added: "My -German and French sons-in-law are great chums." - -The other pure American was myself, although of course my ancestors did -not come over in the _Mayflower_, and I have never been in New England -long enough for my family tree to take root in its historic soil. - -After all, though, the best thing a nation or race has to bequeath to -its children is not always handed down upon the racial channel. I think -it is the Apostle Paul who discovered this long ago, and his missionary -propaganda among the Gentiles is based upon his belief that they are not -all Israelites who are of the circumcision. His converts became -Israelites through adoption, through their appreciation of the Jewish -Spirit which came to its full fruitage in Jesus of Nazareth. - -I once heard Max Nordeau say: "_Es gibt zweierlei Juden: auch Juden und -Bauch Juden;_" which freely translated means: "There are two kinds of -Jews: those of the spirit and those of the stomach." The taste for -_Kosher Wurst_ and _Gefülte Brust_ is inheritable to the tenth -generation; but one is not always born with the passion for -righteousness, the love of justice and the thirst for God. To these one -must rather be born again, and the same thing is true of the American. -There are Americans who have thrown overboard their spiritual -inheritance, who have expatriated themselves because they could not live -in the Puritan atmosphere of New England; but to whom a Sunday in the -_Riviera_ is not fully radiant, unless upon the rose-laden atmosphere -there comes wafted the fragrance of codfish balls. - -The Herr Director reminded the company of the fact that I was the most -"_Unausstehlicher Americaner_" he had ever met; to which the editor -responded that he knew one who was if anything worse than myself--a -newspaper man, Jacob Riis. - -"Can a nation feel secure, having to put the keeping of its Spirit into -the hands of aliens?" some one asked; and what would happen in case of a -conflict between the United States of America and the native country of -even such thorough Americans as Jacob Riis and myself? At that time the -answer was not as difficult as it is now, since there has been the -possibility of such a conflict, and slumbering love of native country -has been awakened by the roar of cannon and the noisier and deadlier war -carried on by the press. - -It has been a very trying time for those of us who have been called -"hyphenated Americans"; but I doubt that the German or Austrian hyphen -has been more in evidence than that which we are pleased to call -Anglo-Saxon. - -I can say that in spite of the fact that my native country precipitated -the conflict, I felt no thrill of patriotism when Austrian troops -invaded Serbia, and frequently wonder whether I have not suffered some -moral deterioration, because through all these stirring times I have -remained fairly rational. I have never condoned Austria's treatment of -the Slavs, nor Germany's invasion of Belgium; I have not gloried in -their victories, but I have suffered alike for all my fellow mortals who -are involved in this most disastrous conflict. I know myself always -human first, and a loyal American next. In fact, never before have I -loved my adopted country as much as now, never did I have for it so -profound a respect, nor a deeper realization of the blessing of our -democracy, imperfect as it is. - -The Herr Director insisted that we could not count on the loyalty of our -immigrated citizens in case of war with their respective countries, -especially as they are so frequently dealt with unjustly by our courts -and exploited by our industries. The editor thought that the danger to -the United States did not lie in the lack of loyalty in our new -citizens, but rather in the general smugness of the average American, -and in our unpreparedness for war. - -The conversation drifted into a discussion of militarism, a subject -which has become painfully familiar since, and he said that although the -American is a fighter he is not a militarist, nor in danger of becoming -one; and that personally, he, in common with all sane Americans, -believed that the country ought to be prepared to protect itself and -defend its national honor. - -"That's what we all say," the Herr Director remarked. When the whole -company laughed, he felt hurt, and it took me a long time to explain to -him that he had accidentally stumbled onto a bit of American slang, -which he had used most innocently, but aptly. - -I wanted to know just what the editor meant by preparedness for war and -just when a nation's honor was so damaged that nothing but war would -restore it. There seemed to be no time left to have this question -answered, and as there was some danger that we would separate with this -important subject upon our minds and perhaps interfering with our -digestion, I asked whether in conclusion I might tell another -ethnological anecdote, which would illustrate my need of light upon that -question of preparedness for war. To this they all assented if I could -vouch for its being as good as the others. I thought it was better -because I was sure it was true, and the joke was on me. Every one -settled down expectantly except the Herr Director who never relishes my -stories, having a fine collection of his own which he tells remarkably -well. - -I had to wait at a small station in the West for one of those -periodically late trains, and was reading the only fiction available, -the railroad time-table. A train which came from the opposite direction -brought a gang of working men who had been shovelling the snow which -had blocked the road. As they were all immigrants I had no further use -for my time-table and went among them, guessing at their nationality, -sorting them according to the shape of their heads, delighting my soul -by talking to them as much as I could of their native country, and -quizzing them about their experience in the United States. - -I had succeeded splendidly with all of them and there was but one man -left. As soon as I saw him I said to myself, "He is a Russian, not a -common Russian, but of the Velko Russ variety which is still rare or -comparatively rare among our immigrant population." I walked up to him -and saluted him with the pious greeting of his class. There wasn't the -slightest indication that he understood me, so I concluded that I was -mistaken; but knowing that he was a Slav, I tried a greeting in Polish, -and again the great, shaggy Slav seemed not to understand. When Bohemian -failed, I decided that my error was merely geographical and this was a -Southern, not a Northern Slav. I used all the Serbic I knew without -getting anything but a stare from my victim, and then decided that he -might be an Albanian. Knowing only two words of that language I tried -them with the same negative result. Finally, disgusted with myself I -resorted to English. Feeling sure that he would not understand, I -shouted at him, "Are you a Greek?" Then a ray of intelligence passed -over his stolid face. Deliberately taking his pipe out of his mouth, he -laconically replied: "No, I am from Missoury." - -A shout of laughter followed my story; but the Herr Director's face grew -darker and darker. When we were in our taxicab going back to the hotel, -he said: "One of the most remarkable things I have learned to-day about -the American people is that they are very young, almost childlike." - -"Why, how did you learn that?" I asked. - -"Oh," he answered, "who but a childlike, _naïve_ people would laugh over -such a stupid joke as yours? Anyway, how did you dare bring such a silly -story into so serious a conversation?" - -"Yes," I replied; "that is as you say a sign of our youth. The more -complex and seasoned jokes belong to the older civilizations, and the -love of a simple story and the ready response to it, even though it be a -poor story, are a sign of our youthful health; but you know," I added, -"that story I told was not so _mal apropos_ after all." And the rest of -the day I struggled mightily to convince the Herr Director that being -"from Missoury" is one of the most hopeful things about the American -Spirit. - - - - -VII - -_The Herr Director and the College Spirit_ - - -"Take us out of New York," the Herr Director said after a wearing day of -sightseeing, "or we will go home on the next steamer. My neck aches from -looking at the sky-scrapers, my nerves are all on edge, and," glancing -at the Frau Directorin who had hugely enjoyed every moment and showed no -sign of weariness, "we must have rest." - -I was reluctant to leave New York, because, after all, it holds those -great thrills with which we like to startle our foreign friends. I -feared the change from those daily surprises which thus far I had been -able to give them. Lake Mohonk, the only place outside of New York City -which we had visited, is unique in many ways and its experiences were -not likely to be duplicated; so it was somewhat heavy heartedly that I -started them on a new adventure, praying to Him who "holds the nations -in the hollow of His Hand" to aid me in my praiseworthy endeavors. - -I was not very sanguine that my prayer would be answered, for we were -beginning a tour of the Eastern educational institutions, than which -there is nothing more difficult to interpret. This, not only because -they have no counterpart anywhere in Europe, and the line between our -university and college is so indistinct, but because I hoped to reveal -their Spirit, which no mere outsider can comprehend, and which even the -man on the inside finds it difficult to understand. - -I drew into the conspiracy dear friends, _alumni_ of the different -institutions, who knew every blade of grass on each respective campus, -over which they walked proudly and reverently. To find one university -tucked away in a village, another defying the grime and noise of a -growing city which crowded upon it; one still retaining its air of -exclusive dignity in spite of its garish surroundings, while a fourth -was nearly swamped by the culture-hungry children of immigrants, yet -remained triumphantly American, was new enough and startling enough to -keep my guests on the heights. - -The pleasant walks, shaded by tall, graceful elms, and the presence of -distinguished Americans, acted soothingly upon the Herr Director; while -the gracious attention paid to the ladies convinced the Frau Directorin -that she had reached the feminine paradise. She could not understand, -however, why, when the ladies were permitted to go everywhere, and were -even allowed to gaze at American students in athletic undress, they were -barred from sharing with us the rare privilege of seeing a thousand or -more of them being fed in one of those Gothic dining halls. There, -surely, one might expect nothing worse than medieval piety tempering the -appetite. Probably this tradition of no ladies in the galleries is the -only thing beside the architecture which is left us from that hoary age. - -There are certain definite points which the enthusiastic _alumnus_ -always tries to impress upon visitors, and one of them is the past, in -which every college glories, and as youth seems to be unpardonable, -history begins when as yet it "was not." - -In most of the places we visited, no such historic license was -necessary, for many of them were respectably old, one of them being -contemporaneous with the history of our country, and others belonging to -that eminently respectable period, "before the Revolution." - -Some have important battles named after them, and several were -"Washington's headquarters," a distinction freely bestowed upon many -places by that ubiquitous and much beloved "Father of our Country." At -present the most important thing seems to be the buildings; dormitories, -laboratories, libraries and usually most prominent of all, the gymnasium -and the athletic field. - -The president of one of the lesser universities, having such a million -dollar plaything, became our _cicerone_, and while he took us hastily -through everything else, lingered fondly there, showing us in detail -the expensive apparatus. With classic pride he stood upon the athletic -field, looking as some Cæsar must have looked when he showed visitors to -Rome his arena, the "largest," and at that time the "costliest in the -world." - -It was interesting to find that the buildings which pleased the Herr -Director most were neither new nor Gothic, a fact easily explained by -his dislike for everything which is English. He marvelled that we had -chosen to imitate English college architecture, with its heaviness and -gloom, its hideous gargoyles, its useless, and here meaningless, -cloisters, rather than to continue our fine inheritance, with its -severely classic lines, its wide windows inviting the light, and its -generous, broad doors, so much in harmony with our educational ideals. - -Of course no one had an answer ready; yet personally while I do not -"_hasse_" England nor the things which are English, I vastly prefer, let -us say Nassau Hall at Princeton, to anything which that glorious campus -holds, not even excepting the graduate college with its massive and -impressive Cleveland Memorial Tower. - -The Herr Director shook his head many a time at the external glory of -our universities and even more at the comfort and luxuries of the -dormitories and fraternity houses. We were the guests of one fraternity -at dinner. About twenty young men were living under one roof, having -chosen each other by some mysterious, selective process, and I was -tempted to think that it was their negative rather than their positive -qualities which drew them together. We were shown the house from cellar -to garret, much to the dismay of the Herr Director who does not like -climbing stairs, but to the joy of the Frau Directorin who, woman-like, -not only loves to peep into closets, and see pretty rooms, but having -discovered the American standard for feminine grace, wanted to lose some -of her "meat" as she expressed it in her quaint English. - -Each of these young men occupied a suite of three rooms. The hangings -were heavy and not in the best taste, the chairs all invited to -leisure, and the most conspicuous piece of furniture was a smoking set -with a big brass tobacco bowl in the center; while innumerable pipes -hung from a gaudily painted rack. In keeping with the furniture were the -pictures which were decently vulgar, and of books there were no more -than necessary. - -The Herr Director was asked regarding student life in Germany, and he -contrasted their surroundings with his own cold, inhospitable -_Gymnasium_, the relentless examinations, and the freer but responsible -life in his university. He described the rooms of the present Emperor of -Germany when he was a student at the University of Bonn, remarking that -they looked like barracks in comparison with these. "How can you study -in such luxurious rooms?" he asked, and naïvely and frankly came the -answer: "We don't." - -On the whole, the Herr Director liked the looks of the boys he saw, and -the Frau Directorin quite fell in love with them. They were so frank, -so clean looking, and what above all amazed them most, so altruistic in -their outlook upon life; they looked so healthy and well groomed and -were so altogether wholesome. But that boys could graduate from colleges -and not have studied--that was beyond their comprehension. - -The German student's social standing and his future depend upon his -"exams." There is only one prime thing, and that is study. When the Herr -Director learned the multiplicity of our outside activities which divide -the attention of the students, he knew why they do not study. He was -aghast at the scant reverence paid members of the faculty. When walking -with the president of one of these universities, we met groups of -students who did not salute the head of their institution and barely -made way for him to pass, he grew quite wrathy, and it took the combined -efforts of the president and myself to keep him from telling the young -men what boors they were. I think he discovered later that it was mere -thoughtlessness, and that there is something really fine about the -average American student; that he is usually a gentleman at heart, but -that he has not yet learned to value the grace which comes from that -sacrament of the common life--lifting his hat to his superiors. - -When I told him that one of my students came to me one morning in haste, -with "Say, Prof, where is Prexy?" he did not laugh as I expected; but -when I remembered that I did not laugh either, when it happened, I -forgave him his lack of perception. - -It is of course true, that the average college professor would rather be -called Jimmy or Jack or some other pet name than to have his academic -degrees pronounced every time a student speaks to him; but there still -remains the fact that the ordinary American youth lacks this sense of -respect for personality, and that an education, even a college -education, does not remedy the defect. - -It is a very exciting moment in the life of the undergraduates of at -least one university when they try to discover if the preacher can make -himself heard above their coughs, which is their way of challenging his -message; but it does not help him to believe that he is in the presence -of men who know what reverence means. - -I do not deny that the undergraduate honors achievement, but even in -that he lacks proper discrimination. How much education can do to -instill this common and deplorable lack of reverence for personality I -do not know; for it lies far back, too far back to be reached by mere -academic training. - -During our tour, the Herr Director had a chance to see one university -come out of its incoherence and inexplicable confusion into unity. He -heard it roar like the "Bulls of Bashan," fling its flaring colors to -the wind, hoot its defiance to the enemy, dance, dervish-like, around -the battle flames; he saw ten thousands of young men suffering the war -fever, and an equal number of young women shrieking in wild delirium; he -saw embankments of automobiles struggling to reach the seat of the -conflict, armies of men trying to storm the ramparts, and newspaper -correspondents mad from haste; while in the center of it all, -twenty-two disguised men struggled for a chalk-line. Unfortunately, no -friendly guide was near us to explain it all, and as I am still an -un-Americanized alien to a football game, its meaning was lost to my -guests. - -When two men were carried from the field limp, and seemingly lifeless, -the Frau Directorin promptly fainted. The Herr Director was beside -himself, for there was no way to extricate ourselves from the maddened -mass of humanity; but while he was wildly and vainly calling for water, -she revived, and we stayed to the finish. I wished I had not brought -them, for to appreciate a football game one must be born in America, and -no explanation I offered could convince the Herr Director that we are -not more cruel than the Spaniards, whose opponents in their deadly games -are bulls, not men. The Frau Directorin still sheds tears at the -remembrance of how badly we use our "perfectly nice young men." - -The fierceness back of this conflict, the vast amount of money spent -upon properly playing the game, the primary place it occupies in the -imagination of the American youth, its deadening influence upon -scholarship, and all the multitudinous pros and cons, are over-shadowed -by the fact that, as far as the community at large is concerned, it -expects this Roman holiday, and a college or university is considered -good or poor, to the degree that it caters to this desire. One thing I -can say for it: it is thoroughly American, bringing into the lime-light -some of our virtues and most of our faults. - -"In Germany," again the Herr Director, "where things are not permitted -to grow merely because they grow elsewhere, it was found that for -military preparedness your sports are of little or no value, especially -if engaged in vicariously; and that teaching men to dig trenches and -serve cannon, to obey implicitly a command and carry it out effectively, -is of more use, not only to the individual's well-being, but also for -the great, collective purpose of national defense." - -It seems very strange to me that nearly all foreigners whom I have -helped introduce to our academic life have been so gratified by its -evident democracy, and that their satisfaction was greatest when their -own aristocratic lineage was highest. That a man's career in our -institutions of learning is not made impossible because he does manual -labor to help him through, and that he may do such femininely menial -tasks as waiting on table or washing dishes, while taxing their -credulity, is always unstintingly praised. - -I have, however, good reason to believe that while our foreign visitors -find the democracy of our colleges interesting and praiseworthy, we are -losing the thing itself to a large degree, and my conscience has not -always been at ease when I finished a panegyric on college democracy. In -fact what I fear is its defeat just there, where it is most needed, -where we are supposed to train the leaders who, whether they become -leaders or not, are the men who will give tone to our national life and -will control its expression. - -In travelling from one of the universities to the other, we came upon a -group of college men in the train. The Herr Director recognized them at -once, whether instinctively or because he had discovered the type, I do -not know. I knew them because of the fit of their garments, or the lack -of it, and by the fact that they smoked cigarettes incessantly. - -The Herr Director, as a distinguished foreigner, had no difficulty in -opening a conversation with them, and I think he got much illuminating -amusement out of them. They had just finished their semester "exams," -and one of them said that the question upon which he flunked was a -comparison between the two English authors, Dickens and DeQuincy. Though -he did not know the difference between these two, he showed his classic -training by differentiating between a Rameses II and an Egyptian Deity -cigarette merely by the color of the smoke. - -I was not drawn into the conversation until the Herr Director needed me -to interpret some campus English. One of the lads undertook to inform us -regarding the social life of his university and more especially the -fraternities, with particular emphasis upon his own, which excluded not -only certain well-defined races, but also put a ban upon certain -classes. "We don't admit anybody into our fraternity whose people are -not somebody in their communities." - -I asked him his name and he gave it to me with a French pronunciation. - -I thought he was Bohemian, and recognized the name as such, in spite of -its French disguise. I told him so, and pronounced it for him in the -hard, Slavic way, all gutturals and consonants. I also told him its -meaning: "A very common hoe such as the peasants use, and it means that -your ancestors in Bohemia earned their living honestly, which I am sorry -to say cannot always be said about 'people who are somebody' in our -communities." - -The Herr Director thought I was very hard upon the poor fellow, and -later I had a good talk with him. I tried to show him that his Bohemian, -peasant origin ought to be a source of pride to him. That the very fact -that he and his people had come out of the steerage, and by virtue of -our democratic institutions could rise to the point where they could -send him to college, should make him a guardian of the American Spirit -and not its foe. I do not know that he profited by what I said; for I -often find myself talking to the wind and the tide, and they are both -against me. - -I have only pity for the gilded youth who go to an American college with -its vast opportunities of human contact, yet fail to see any one outside -their own social boundaries. After all, the chief glory of our -educational institutions is that their best things are still democratic. -No man is kept from the Holy of Holies, from sound learning, from the -contact with scholarly minds, from good books, and enough of rich -fellowship to make going to college worth while. - -We heard one delightful story which is so typically American and so -reveals the American Spirit at its best, that the Herr Director embodied -it in his book. The president of a Quaker college told us that just as -he found there was some danger that the men who had to work their way -through, were losing caste, one of the upper classmen opened a boot and -shoe mending and cleaning shop. As he was a man of means, whose standing -in his group was unquestioned, his action took from common labor its -ever renewing curse. - -In many of the colleges we met groups of men so full of this spirit, so -concerned with fostering it, that all the snobberies of which we had -heard seemed even smaller than they were in their own right. We met -those who gave their leisure hours to that most difficult and worthy -task of Americanizing the immigrants who, in many instances, almost -encroached upon the campus. The students visited them in the box-cars -where they lived, or in the hovels where they reared children; they -taught them English and the elements of good citizenship, and every one -of them had some particular Antonio to whom he was devoted, and whom he -was trying to lift to his level. - -Although the general testimony was that the students had gained more -from the contact than the immigrants had, I know how immeasurably much -it means to these strangers to have leaning up against their own lonely -souls men of culture, and sweet, clean breath, and brotherly heart. - -It is this idealism in our college youth which is so precious an asset -that to lose it would mean bankruptcy to our educational institutions. - -Although the Herr Director did not tell me, I knew that this excursion -into the universities of the East had been a success; for thus far he -seemed to have enjoyed everything; at least he did not complain about -anything. He seemed in an especially happy mood when we were talking it -over in the home of one of the presidents, whose guests we had become. -"Yes, I like your colleges very much, and if I should want my boy to -have four years of more or less organized happiness, I would send him to -an American college. He would have a good time, I think his morals would -be safe," and he added with a smile, "his intellect would be safe -also." - - - - -VIII - -_The Russian Soul and the American Spirit_ - - -New York is geographically misplaced for such a purpose as mine. It -ought to lie somewhere west of Niagara Falls, so that one might be able -to take strangers to that wonderful cataract without their having -previously exhausted all the emotions which they are capable of -expressing. - -The day journey between New York and Buffalo is never commonplace, -especially when it furnishes such euphonious names as Susquehanna, -Wilkes Barre, Mauch Chunk, etc. From the hilltops we had glimpses of -great valleys below, valleys which are mined and furrowed and channelled -by a great industrial host whose crowded dwellings resemble the hives of -bees and are as monotonously alike. - -I could make these glimpses interesting enough, for I could tell by the -shape of the church steeples and by the style of cross which crowned -them, what faiths were there contending with each other. With equal -certainty, and by the same signs, I knew the nationality of the people -who worked there, and had faith enough to build steeples in the shadow -of mine shafts and coal breakers. It was an atmosphere tense from the -labor of seven unbroken days, and heavy from noxious gases in which -trees languish and die, fish perish in the murky rivers, birds fear to -nest, and man alone, immigrant man, lives and works and worships. - -The Herr Director, like all Germans, has a natural contempt for the -Slavs, and when I proposed that before we visited Niagara Falls we -should see some of the Slavic settlements, he demurred; but when the -Frau Directorin added her plea to mine, he reluctantly yielded. I was -able to promise them an interesting meeting with an idealistic, young -Russian priest, who had voluntarily taken a mission among these miners. -He was earnestly striving to guard their souls, and also that which -seems quite as precious to their church, their Russian nationality. - -The Greek Orthodox Church is the most nationalistic church in existence, -and where-ever those bulbous towers with their slanting crosspieces -dominate the sky, it is equivalent to the raising of the national flag. -The Slavic soul is thoroughly Christian in its quality of patient -endurance, in which it has had long and hard tutelage. At the same time -it is tenacious and unyielding of its particular dogma, having been -taught from its earliest consciousness that its salvation lies in strict -adherence to the national faith. - -The city where we tarried is one of the best in which to study the -Slavic Soul, and its relation to the American Spirit, being large enough -to express that Spirit in its varied manifestations; yet not so large -that the articles it manufactures hide or crush the articles of its -faith. - -I knew my guests would like the place, for while it is a busy town in -the very heart of Pennsylvania's industrial region, it has retained a -sort of homelike atmosphere. Situated midway between the large cities -and the small towns which we had thus far visited, it has all the usual -bustle, and is full of vigorous rivalry with other like cities in the -same valley. Whatever one city does, whether building ambitious -sky-scrapers or a commodious Y. M. C. A., promoting a revival, or -bringing in new industries, this little city endeavors to duplicate upon -a still larger scale. - -My guide for the day was the town's chief "hustler," the secretary of -the Y. M. C. A., who is an embodiment of the American Spirit, being both -body and spirit. He made a splendid foil to the Russian priest who is -all soul, Russian soul and as little at home in the United States as the -Czar's double eagle would be, floating from the city's court-house which -stood in typical court-house fashion in the center of the town square. - -The Y. M. C. A. secretary met us at the station, needless to say, in an -automobile, as there is nothing the average American would rather do -than "show off" his town. He gave his time unstintingly for that -purpose, beginning the process by taking us through his institution -which is American enough to have challenged the Herr Director's -attention. In great good humor he, with the rest of us, followed the -secretary from the bowling alley to the roof garden, looked into the -dormitories and class rooms, and protested only when our zealous guide -gave us long statistics as to how many people took baths, how many men -were converted, and how much of the mortgage had been paid off during -his incumbency. - -I had to explain to the Herr Director the meaning of mortgage and its -relation to our religious institutions; for the two seemed related in -some mysterious way. - -He was duly impressed; for this practical side of religion, this -combination of saving souls and giving baths was new to him. Newer and -more interesting still was the clerical machinery with its card indices, -its numerous secretaries, stenographers, and its clock-like regularity -and efficiency. - -The secretary is undoubtedly a religious man; but he is a business man -first, and his soul has had no small struggle in an atmosphere which -demands that he attract new members, raise a generous budget, pay off a -mortgage and at odd moments look after his own business; for besides -being secretary of this great institution, he dabbles in Western lands, -has an interest in a canning factory, and helps "boom" the town. - -I could assure the Herr Director that, nevertheless, his soul survives; -for the average American is remarkably adaptable, and while this -secretary may permit his religion to suffer before his business, I know -he does not "lose his own soul"; although in that respect as in -everything else he does run frightful risks. - -When we left the palatial lobby of the Y. M. C. A., having had bestowed -upon us its annual report, souvenir postal cards, and incidentally a -prospectus of the Western Land Co., the secretary insisted upon -accompanying us. As he put his automobile at our disposal, and the -Slavic settlements were out of reach by the ordinary means of -locomotion, we reluctantly accepted his kind offer, the Herr Director -having previously confided to me that he did not like the secretary's -"hustle," and that his "efficiency" made him nervous. - -There were two things which the Frau Directorin found everywhere and in -which her soul delighted: marked and courteous attention to the -ladies--and automobiles. We took just one street car ride in New York -City, having been fairly showered by offers of automobile rides, one -form of hospitality of which we have grown quite prodigal. - -It was well that we had both the secretary and the automobile; for -although I thought I knew where the Russian parish was located I did not -reckon with the fact that it was three years since I had last visited -it. During that interval the town had so altered that the landscape was -quite unrecognizable. - -It is the peculiarity of this and neighboring towns that they change -their topography over night. What was a hill becomes a hollow, and the -reverse process also takes place though more slowly, because of the -huge culm piles which accumulate. - -The mining of coal being carried on under the town has been so thorough -in later years that intervening coal props have been removed, and houses -and churches which formerly were above the level are now below it. - -We finally found the Russian church and its adjoining parsonage in as -uninviting an environment as I have ever seen. The three years since I -visited them had not only let them down from their eminence, but had -developed a stagnant pool on one side, while refuse from the mines had -encroached upon the other. All the glory of red and yellow paint had -departed, leaving only a drab dinginess, the prevailing tone of the -landscape. - -The priest received us in his study, which, besides the _Icons_ and a -_Samovar_ had no ornaments. The musty air was full of cigarette smoke, -and most diminutive stumps of these "_Papirosy_" were lying about, -adding to the general untidiness. A parish register lay upon the desk. -It contained the names of more than a thousand souls with the chronicle -of their coming into this world and their going out of it, and also that -most important item, when they had attended Holy Communion, the one -visible sign of their allegiance to the true faith. - -The Holy Father had a strange history. The son of a priest, he naturally -was destined for the same calling. Caught by the ever moving tide of -revolt he had "sown his wild oats," which consisted of disseminating -revolutionary literature. He was imprisoned, then like many good -Russians repented, and, as a penance, came to Pennsylvania. - -In desolation and distance from home his parish was not unlike Siberia. -It was even worse, for it was an exile from like-minded men, and his -suffering on that score was acute. I have watched the manifestation of -national or racial characteristics in individuals, and I feel certain -that the Russian reflects those characteristics most intensely, whether -he be peasant, priest or noble. - -Not without reason does he call his country "Mother Russia." He has for -her just that kind of affection, and it is as different from the violent -love of the Herr Director for his Fatherland as is the matter-of-fact -sentiment of the American for his. - -The Russian completely reflects his country, and as both her virtues and -her faults are feminine, there is in him something gentle and yielding -towards external authority, and yet something unconquerable and defiant. -There is a capacity for suffering and sacrifice of which no other people -seem to be capable. There is also a confidence in the goodness of -humanity, no matter how bad it may seem, which reminds me of the -confidence of the woman who is beaten by her drunken husband, yet knows -that in his sober moments he is not a bad man. - -The predominance of the spiritual quality may or may not be feminine, -but it certainly is Russian, and one may indeed speak of the soul of a -people in relation to the Slavs in general, and the Russians in -particular. - -The priest possessed all these characteristics; he was the Russian Soul, -and this soul quality became even more apparent in contrast with the -complex spirit of the American secretary, in whom Teuton and Celt were -blended, and with the Herr Director, whose soul had hardened under the -discipline which Germany had given him. - -He lost no time in beginning an argument with the priest as to the -relations of their respective countries, and when it threatened to -become acrimonious, the secretary, hoping to create a diversion, asked -the priest why he did not encourage his parishioners to come to the Y. -M. C. A. At that point I threw myself into the breach, and with -considerable difficulty directed the conversation into safer channels. - -I asked the priest to show us his mission, and he took us into the -church, much poorer than any I have ever seen in Russia, and then into -the schoolroom, where the children of the miners received their -religious instruction and as much of secular education as they craved. -The teacher was a lean youth who looked as if he had suffered moral, -spiritual and physical bankruptcy before coming to America. He and the -whole equipment seemed hopelessly inadequate and out of place. - -The secretary did not know that hundreds of children were growing up in -an American community, yet completely isolated from it, and the Herr -Director remarked that in Germany this would be regarded as treason to -the state. The priest declared that it was his mission in America not -only to keep his people and their children loyal to the national church, -but to inject into our Westernized materialism this true Slavic faith -and its leaven. - -He believed that in America we lack soul. We worship science and money -and business. The Russian alone lives in intimacy with God and regards -that relation of the supremest importance. "The American," he continued, -"believes in developing natural resources, the German develops the mind, -the Russian alone develops the soul." - -I have always had the greatest reverence for the Russian Soul. I have -learned something the Herr Director could not see, on account of the -natural, political antagonism between his own country and Russia; -something the secretary could not comprehend on account of his -provincialism, and the priest would not admit because of his official -position, namely: that neither the Russian State nor the Russian Church -represents the Russian Soul. Its common people, although nearly crushed -by the one and confused by the other, are still Christian souls and as -such have a mission to America; but I could not see how that mission -would be fulfilled by locking up a few hundred children in a filthy -schoolroom and teaching them their national catechism. - -The Spiritual Russia, as it is incorporated in its common people and as -it is interpreted by Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky, has reached us and taught -us the greatest lesson which we self-righteous Americans needed to -learn: the impossibility to judge our peers or to be judged by them. - -It was Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky who compelled some of us to see our own -guilt, and they, not the Russian Church, united our voices with those of -the Russian people in the chief note of their Mass, "Lord have mercy! O -Lord have mercy!" The Russian peasant always knew that men are stricken -by crime as by a disease; and when he passed those consigned to prison, -he cried out incessantly: "Lord have mercy! O Lord have mercy!" And for -the man who escaped, he never hunted with the bloodhound's passion, as -we do; he put a crust of bread upon the window, to help him on his way. - -It was news to the secretary that Judge Lindsay, the "Kid's Judge," as -he is affectionately called, received his inspiration from Tolstoy, and -that the tendency to change our prisons into Social Clinics was -originally suggested by Dostoyewsky, a name quite unfamiliar to him. - -The Herr Director spoke of the inadequacy of these same Russians when -they try to put their theories into practice, and what prosaic, -impossible preachers they make. To which I replied that their failures -are due to their preponderance of soul and their lack of the practical -spirit with which we are so super-abundantly endowed. - -The secretary could scarcely believe that his practical, matter-of-fact, -card-indexed, efficient-from-top-to-bottom, result-bringing, tabulated, -report-making, American Y. M. C. A. might be benefited by an infusion of -Russian Soul. He almost doubted that the delving miners whom we saw -coming home from the mines, sooty and begrimed, possessed that soul. Nor -did the Herr Director realize that all his Germanic searching and -classifying, all his minute, painstaking investigation into the -innermost of everything, left him where the Russian had long ago -preceded him: in the holy presence of the unknowable, unsearchable -wisdom of God. - -The American has great reverence for results, and it is hard for him to -be patient with failure. The German respects authority, and has scant -respect for the individual. The Russian respects man and knows what it -means to love him in his weakness, and to be humble in the presence of -another's failure. - -I had a long, intimate talk with my friend the priest, who has never -spent a happy day since he has been in America which he hates, or -rather, despises, and so hurts me more than he knows. - -Throwing open the well-thumbed, poorly kept register, in such striking -contrast to the Y. M. C. A. secretary's card index, he said: "Look how -many I have buried this month," and he counted them, and there were -eighteen, "all of them slain in that dreadful mine, and no one in the -Company or in the town cares how they were buried. These Americans have -no souls. They send an undertaker who wants to bury them like dogs, and -the quicker the thing is done the better. They sent me notice shortly -after I came here that the funerals lasted too long and kept the men -from work. Look how those men walk! My _mujiks_, who walked like -princes, now bend their backs before your dirty coal, and walk like -slaves." - -His complaint was not altogether unreasonable. In some things he was -right, in many things he was wrong; but to argue with a Russian is as -hopeless as to try to argue with Niagara Falls. I did tell him that -while the Russian here must bend his back over his work, he does not -have to bend it at every corner before the _icon_ or before every -policeman he meets; that here, by virtue of the American Spirit, his -soul may be freed from superstition and his mind from darkness. - -When in parting the priest embraced and kissed me, he said: "No, even -you don't understand the Russian Soul." - -The Herr Director suffered his embrace with good grace, but when the -secretary's turn came he fled. To be kissed by a man is a sentimentality -which the American cannot endure. - -"We don't understand the Russian Soul," I said to him, "neither you nor -I, but one thing I do know. When the coal has been dug out of these -hills and these cities shall have gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah, -and your churches and Y. M. C. A. may have vanished because it did not -pay to keep them going, this Russian Soul will endure; and the sooner we -learn to understand it the better for us and for them and for our -country." - -When we left the Russian church and its faithful priest, the Frau -Directorin told us that the children were incredibly filthy, and that -she had spent the time we wasted in argument cleaning them up, good -_hausfrau_ that she is. The secretary was thinking deeply, and when he -deposited us at the hotel, he thanked me for revealing something which, -although so near, he would never have discovered. The Herr Director kept -me up until midnight talking about the Slavic menace to Germany, and the -intellectual poison of its modern literature. - -We reached Niagara Falls the next afternoon, and, as I had feared, -neither of my guests showed any surprise nor felt any thrill. I could -understand the Herr Director's coolness towards our natural wonder, for -he had seen it thirty years before; but his wife's attitude was -inexplicable, until she told me what I had all along anticipated. Her -capacity for receiving impressions had been exhausted by the city of New -York, and after seeing the "high-scraps" nothing astonished her. - -As we stood at the bottom of the American Falls, watching the Maid of -the Mist making her journeys into their very spray and returning, only -to begin her journey again, I suggested that it was like the American -Spirit in its daring; but the Herr Director, with truer insight, said -that it was "like the Russian Soul, mystical, elusive, on the verge of -destruction always, but of little practical service." - -That same day we were in a power-house, which looked more like a temple -than the utilitarian thing it is, and peered into the depths of a shaft -which creates power enough to move the street railways of half a dozen -cities, and change the night of a million people into day. As we -listened to the engineer's account of almost miraculous achievement, I -said triumphantly, "_This is the American Spirit!_" and the Herr -Director replied deliberately, and without sarcasm, "This is the one -time when you are right." - - - - -IX - -_Chicago_ - - -What the foreigner thinks of the American Pullman, if he has to spend a -night in it, may be found in any volume of the extremely voluminous and -interesting literature upon the United States, written by visitors to -this country; but more interesting still would be what they have not -written about it, and that I have had frequent chances of hearing. The -most picturesque and exhaustive comments I ever heard were those made by -the Herr Director the evening we left Buffalo, and as he finally -determined not to retire at all, we spent the greater part of the night -in the smoking-room, much to the dismay of the porter who had no -prejudice against sleeping on a Pullman, and whom we cheated out of his -irregular but necessary naps. - -One of the chief diversions of travellers the world over is to complain -against the particular transportation company over whose road they have -the ill luck to be going; so it happened that the Herr Director had -plenty of company during part of his vigil, and an opportunity to come -in touch with one phase of the American Spirit, where it was closely -related to his own; for "one 'kicker' makes the whole world 'kick.'" - -The small room was so crowded that some of the men were sitting on the -wash-stands, and the rest were so close to each other as to make -conversation easy and general. This was an extra fare train supposed to -be unusually comfortable and speedy; although thus far it had been -losing time. It was natural under those conditions that the railroad -should come in for its share of blessings, couched in language such as -is often heard in smoking compartments of Pullman cars. Had all the -pious wishes expressed that night been fulfilled, that railroad and our -particular train would have travelled much more swiftly, but to a -destination not indicated in the time-tables. - -The question under discussion was, which is the worst railroad in the -United States, and as some of the men were stock-brokers they knew our -roads from their most vulnerable side. The tales they told of the -manipulation of stocks and the fleecing of the public, with their -consequent effect upon the service, were as startling as they were -humiliating; because, in the last analysis, the railroads reflect the -general business ethics of the country. - -I kept out of the discussion, for not only have I but a hazy notion of -economics; my mind was busy classifying the passengers' racial origin, a -very diverting exercise and one which always brings me in touch with -people on their really human side. - -It happened that two of the men were Polish Jews from Cleveland, who had -risen from poverty to where they could travel in Pullman cars, and who -confessed that they knew as little of railroad stocks as I, although -they were engaged in as risky a business as stocks, that of -manufacturing women's cloaks. They were not far removed from the Ghetto -either in speech or ideals, and so were of little interest to me. - -A third fellow traveller, who bore the hallmarks of the average -American, both in dress and behavior, told me his business without much -urging. "I am not selling stock, nor manufacturing women's cloaks, and I -am not a gambler. I have a sure thing; I am a bookie." Forced to confess -myself ignorant as to what "a bookie" is, he explained to me the -intricacies of his calling, the problems of evading the law, and if it -cannot be evaded, how it may be bought; incidentally showing what an -inveterate gambler and what an easy mark the average American is. - -The Herr Director was all attention, to my great consternation; for the -conversation was as different from that which he had heard at Lake -Mohonk, or in our rounds of the Eastern colleges, as one could conceive. -As one by one the passengers sought their berths, the Herr Director -thanked me for arranging this uncomfortable night journey, saying that -though he was sure he could not sleep, he was "so glad to have come in -contact with the American Spirit as it is," and not as I had tried to -make it appear. With that kindly thrust he too retired, and I was at -liberty to do likewise. - -It was not long before I had auricular evidence that the Herr Director -was asleep, so I was very much astonished to hear him say the next -morning that he had not slept a wink, and that the engineer must bear -him a grudge; for he tried to jerk the berth from under him, and "_Gott -sei dank_" that the most uncomfortable night of his life was over. I -certainly was as grateful as he. It was with no small satisfaction, -though, that upon reaching Chicago two hours late, I collected four -dollars from that much abused railroad, and handed the same to the Herr -Director, assuring him that even in a railroad office the American -Spirit of fairness is operative. - -In Chicago as everywhere else the friend who owned an automobile was at -my command, and on a glorious May day when wind and sun had cleared the -air, and a night's rain had washed the streets, we were taken from -South Shore to North Shore and away out where the American city is at -her best, and Chicago is striving to excel them all in her wonderful -suburbs. - -The Herr Director had seen Chicago over thirty-three years ago--a young, -thriving, daring, ambitious city in the making; he found her still -young, thriving, daring, and in the making. Unchastened by her great -disasters, undismayed by her vexing problems, defying the lake, she -reaches out into it and into neighboring states, leading and controlling -the whole Middle West. Babylon, Capernaum, Rome, her older sisters, her -ideal, and perchance her destiny. She is _par excellence_ the merchant -city, and the merchant princes rule her, although that rule is not -unchallenged. - -While the Herr Director saw the city changed in many respects, larger, -and in places beautiful, her dirt not so apparent, her wickedness -subdued, and her rough corners rubbed off, she is still Chicago, a -synonym for boastful bigness and ostentatious wealth. - -If it had not been for the Frau Directorin, I would not have taken them -where every man, woman and child is taken who visits Chicago, into the -largest department store in the world. - -She entered with the joyful anticipation of engaging in that most -exciting occupation--shopping--aided and abetted by my wife. The Herr -Director followed with the martyr's air common to husbands who go along -to pay the bill. - -That type of store is no longer a novelty to city dwellers anywhere, but -this one because of its size, the variety and quality of goods -displayed, the courtesy to customers and, above all, the provisions for -their comfort and convenience, were remarkable enough to call forth even -the Herr Director's commendation. The Frau Directorin was in the -seventeenth Heaven, the Biblical seventh not being an elevation high -enough to be used as a simile when she was shopping in a Chicago -department store. - -Obliging clerks showed her plates which cost three hundred dollars -apiece, cut and etched glass at more fabulous prices; she walked -through miles of costly gowns, coats and millinery, and having made a -few purchases to her entire satisfaction--we were about to leave the -store with flying colors, figuratively speaking, when pride had a fall. -Unluckily remembering that a certain small boy needed summer underwear, -my wife led our party to the basement. When we left the elevator a -polite floor man directed us to aisle 16, Wabash Building. As we were on -the State Street side the cavalcade moved past what seemed like miles of -commonplace merchandise and commonplace buyers to aisle 16, Wabash -Building. At last we had reached our "Mecca." - -"I should like to see boys' union suits," my wife said. - -"Certainly. How old?" - -"Twelve years." - -"We have nothing here over eight years. You will find your size on the -sixth floor, Washington Street side." - -I think it was the sixth floor; I know we walked (crestfallen) through -endless aisles and were shot up floor after floor. Landed finally, the -right counter was reached after numerous conflicting directions. - -The Herr Director was puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin radiant -and happy, for she enjoys exercise, and my wife, her faith in the -efficiency of her favorite store not yet shaken, though wavering, asking -for "union suits for a twelve-year-old boy." - -As the clerk reached for the desired article she asked: "Short sleeves -or long sleeves?" - -"Short sleeves." - -"Randolph Street side, second floor, for short sleeved union suits." - -The Herr Director and I did not accompany the ladies on their further -voyage of discovery; we went to the rest room to avoid nervous -prostration. - -My wife and the Frau Directorin, with the determination and endurance -which women alone possess, continued the chase to a victorious finish. - -Fortunately an altogether satisfying luncheon followed this strenuous -experience, after which, rested and refreshed, we repaired to the Art -Institute. - -The Chicago Art Institute, within a stone's throw of the most congested -business section, at the edge of its noise and rush, is by its very -being there a sort of triumph. - -The Herr Director approached it somewhat condescendingly, expecting to -find it and its contents big, bizarre and "_nouveau richessque_." As -soon as he entered the building he felt the dignity and good taste of -its arrangement, and his manner changed. After he had looked critically -at some of the pictures and approved them, I knew myself for once on the -way to success; for his praise was as genuine as his criticism. - -Knowing that money can buy both Old and New Masters, he expected to find -them; but he had not expected to see such discrimination as was shown in -choosing and hanging them. He was entirely unprepared for the excellent -work of our native artists, outside of that small but exalted sphere -occupied by Whistler, Sargent, Innes, etc. - -My joy was complete when we were taken into the Art School by the -Director, Dr. French, whose death not long ago must always be deplored. -The rooms of the Art School were crowded by boys and girls of all ages -and varied nationalities and races, learning to develop their God-given -talents under the guidance of competent and sympathetic teachers. The -picture they made delighted me more than those they drew or painted; for -it seemed so thoroughly, generously, democratically and artistically -American. - -I scored another victory for the American Spirit when I introduced my -guests to Lorado Taft, sculptor, and the guiding star in Chicago's -artistic firmament. In his rare personality, strength and purity, -idealism and practical good sense blend, and his art reflects the man. -He showed us some of his work and that of his pupils, and both elicited -unstinted praise from my guests. - -The climax of our visit came when we returned to the entrance hall which -we found crowded by public school children, all listening to an -orchestra composed of certain of their number, and led by a young girl -about fourteen years of age. It seemed to me a remarkable and beautiful -combination. The marbles and pictures, the music, and, best of all, the -children happily wandering about the place. When the program ended there -was ice-cream for everybody, served by the teachers who accompanied the -children. It was a real party, an American party, and we might have -travelled long and far before I could have found anything which would -have better reflected for my guests the American Spirit at its best. - -If I were an artist and a sculptor I should like to portray the spirit -of Chicago as one feels it in this museum. I would model a group, with -its central figure that same sculptor, the finely bred American, clean -and wholesome, who longs to create, not only the city beautiful, but the -city human. He should be surrounded by the children, happily looking at -pictures and listening to music as we saw them in the Art Institute that -day. - -But there must be another prominent figure in my group: the heartless, -ruthless, twentieth century American, with clean-shaven face, jaws -strong as a vise, and a chin like the base of an anvil. He is the man -who "makes a good husband," and partly obeys the Scriptural injunction: -because he provides for his own. He too should be surrounded by -children; not his, but the children who work in his factories and have -to live in his rickety tenements. The two men would struggle mightily -for supremacy in the city's life; and I would set up my sculptured group -in the busiest place, where all who passed it by might see, and seeing, -help him who was struggling for beauty and for happiness. - -Dr. French, the Herr Director and I had a long discussion about my -conception of the two natures contending within the city. The Herr -Director argued that the merchant spirit, so prevalent here, when -uncontrolled and uncurbed, is more dangerous to civilization and to our -democracy than the military spirit of Germany, and that it needs to be -overcome by a force greater and stronger than itself. The corrupting -element he said has always been this same merchant spirit, and where -ancient civilizations decayed, it was due to the fact that it debased -kings and enslaved them by luxuries. - -"Business should not control, but be controlled, because business is -based entirely upon selfishness." When the Herr Director stopped for -breath, Dr. French, who was an ardent Christian and knew his Bible, took -from his pocket a New Testament, and pointed out a remarkable chapter in -the Book of Revelation (a chapter I was compelled to confess I had not -read) that bore out the Herr Director's statement. - -"The kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the -merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.... And -the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth -their merchandise any more; merchandise of gold, and silver, and -precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and -scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every -vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; -and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, -and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and -merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men." - -We urged Dr. French to read the rest of the chapter, which he did. - -"And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, -saying: Woe, woe, the great city, wherein were made rich all that had -their ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is -she made desolate," and then the voice of the angel crying into the -thick of their lament, "Rejoice over her, thou Heaven and ye saints, and -ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her." -It seemed as though the prophet had written the epitaph of all cities in -which the merchant was master and not servant. - -When he had finished I knew the inscription for my sculptured group: the -twentieth verse of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation. - -Altogether it was a remarkable day to be experienced only in America, -perhaps only in Chicago. To shop in the largest store in the world, -visit a picture gallery well worth while, and see art students at work; -hear classical music played by a children's orchestra, and watch the -same children enjoying the party which followed; to meet one of the -leading sculptors of America who shared with us his plans and hopes, and -to have as our guide the Director of the Art Institute, was a colossal -experience worthy of the city in which it happened. - -The next day was given to the Juvenile Court, Public Play Grounds, the -University, and, finally, Hull House. The one great disappointment of -the Chicago visit for me and my guests was Miss Jane Addams' absence in -Europe. But the House was there--big, neighborly, homelike, -hospitable--and the residents were there, those who do the neighboring, -the healing and the helping, who are friends of the friendless, and know -no creed or race--except humanity. - -My faith in Chicago springs largely from my contact with Hull House, The -Commons and like places with their defiant spirit towards evil, their -broad-mindedness and their brave attempt at remedying the wrongs of our -commercialized civilization. - -After dinner I "toted" my guests all over the House, from the -reading-room on the first floor to the Boys' Club on the third, and back -again. I have done it frequently, and always with zest and pride, in -spite of the fact that I have had no active share in the work. - -In Bowen Hall we came upon a dancing party. Some one of the social clubs -had been gracious enough to invite its parents to come. We were -introduced to Mrs. Frankelstein from Roumania, and Mrs. Flynn from -Ireland, Mrs. Ragovsky from Russia, Mr. and Mrs. Feketey from Hungary, -Mr. and Mrs. Rocco from Italy, and many others whose picturesque names I -do not remember. - -We also met a young business man, the son of a millionaire, with sundry -other young men and women of the type one likes to meet and introduce, -whom one would be proud to know anywhere. They had charge of the -affair. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin caught the spirit of -the occasion and entered into it with zest. When the orchestra began to -play, he led the Grand March with Mrs. Rocco and she followed with the -young millionaire. At the close of the festivities, as we were leaving, -they vowed they had had the best time since they left home. - -Chicago, big, blundering, materialistic Chicago had a new meaning to the -Herr Director. He praised everything and everybody, and as we parted for -the night, he said: "'Almost thou persuadest me to' believe in the -'American Spirit.'" - - - - -X - -_Where the Spirit is Young_ - - -To the average European there are two things American which have not yet -lost their romantic quality: The prairies and the West. - -Anticipations of seeing both, filled the breast of the Frau Directorin -with mingled feelings of fear and pleasure, as she discussed with her -husband the fate of the children they had left behind them--in the event -of our being captured by the Indians. However, the probability of our -safe return and her consequent opportunity to tell envious friends her -experiences in the prairies and the West outweighed all fears. - -Among her friends were those who had braved the perils of the ocean and -gone as far as New York; some of them had even been in Chicago--but -beyond, still hidden in the romance woven about them by Bret Harte (her -favorite American author), were those two things she was about to see, -and of which they had only dreamed. - -The Herr Director, as he repeatedly reminded me, had crossed the plains -when I had known them only through Cooper's fascinating Indian stories, -and he was eager to throw off the leadership I had assumed, which, to a -dominant nature like his, proved exceedingly irksome. - -He soon discovered that he was travelling through territory entirely new -to him. The little towns he had known had grown into cities, and the -further west we travelled, the greater and more impressive were the -changes. - -Omaha and Kansas City he did not recognize at all. Not only was there -this new growth, "rank growth," he called it, of sky-scrapers, -post-offices and railroad stations with Doric pillars--the men and women -he met had a new outlook upon life. While they still boasted of this and -that thing in which their city was like Chicago or was unlike some -lesser city than their own, they were critical of themselves and eager -to learn; they had grown more masterful and at the same time were more -refined. - -The prairies were not at all what the Frau Directorin had imagined them -to be. She was chagrined to find nothing but farm lands and great -fields, not so well groomed as those we had seen in the East, but with -no Indians or buffaloes, no wild horses or wilder looking men. - -She saw no trace of the toil, the struggle and the brave resistance -through which these farms had been rescued from the prairies. She could -not know of the loneliness of women and the hardihood of men, of the -season's drought and famine, of bitter disappointment, the pangs of -bearing and rearing children in utter isolation, and the struggle for -education. - -No trace of all this was apparent in the sort of settled, middle class -prosperity which stretched out in the unvaried, thousand mile panorama -through which we journeyed. - -In a town of about four thousand inhabitants we stopped; the name of the -place is of no significance, for there are hundreds of just such towns -in the West. We were met by the superintendent of schools, himself a -product of the prairies. Having grown up among the cattle, he is -consequently shy of men. He drove his automobile as if it were a -broncho, and we all uttered a prayer of thanksgiving when he deposited -us, with no bones broken, at the hotel. In a short time we were ready to -go with him to his school, which was the objective point of our visit. - -It goes without saying that the superintendent boasted of the youth of -the town, even as under like circumstances in the East, he would have -boasted of its age. - -Ten years before it was nothing except a railroad station, miles of -sage-brush, rattlesnakes and prairie dogs. Now there are business -blocks, embryonic sky-scrapers, a pillared post-office, a -hundred-thousand-dollar hotel, a Grand Opera House, neither big enough -nor good enough to boast of, numerous churches and this schoolhouse. It -is not only a place in which boys and girls learn the "three R's," but -has a finely equipped gymnasium, a chemical laboratory and a Domestic -Science department. It is a center of education and recreation, not only -for that town, but for the surrounding country. - -I had never seen the Herr Director as enthusiastic over anything as he -was over this cowboy school superintendent, with his program of reaching -every man, woman and child in the county through his educational and -recreational program, his annual budget of some seventy-five thousand -dollars, and a faculty of men and women college bred, and citizens of -the town. They are not merely educated tramps, but are there to stay, -and they take pride in the town in which they make their home. - -The Herr Director was no less amused than I was when we were told by one -of the teachers that the superintendent, at one of the school board -meetings had pulled off his coat and threatened to thrash one of the -members who refused his vote on an important measure. As we looked at -this six foot three, erstwhile cowboy, his broad shoulders and strong -arms which seemed reluctantly confined in a coat, and as we saw his -square, determined jaw,--we knew that the unruly member voted _aye_. - -Both the Herr Director and I were asked to speak to the boys and girls. -As soon as they entered the room the air became electric with their high -school yell; they "rah rahed" us individually and collectively, and -"what's the matter withed" everybody, and indulged in all those academic -and classical performances which every high school now seems to consider -an essential part of preparation for college. - -The Herr Director told them that among all the things he had seen thus -far in America he liked their high school the best; which remark of -course elicited thunderous applause. This was most gratifying to him, -and all day he was in high spirits. He thought the most hopeful -characteristic of the American is this faith in education, the -practical, far-reaching methods employed, and the daring all sorts of -educational experiments. At the same time he severely criticized our -lack of unanimity, and the evident disadvantages of such communities as -have no cowboy superintendent to lick a conservative or stingy school -board member into conformity with his plans. - -We visited an agricultural college where we were told of farmers who -came to study soil fertility, and farmers' wives who studied kitchen -chemistry, farmers' children who tested seeds, and to whom these -prairies, to which they were being bound by an intelligent knowledge of -their environment, were beginning to speak a new language. - -We saw a teacher's college which one with the prophet's vision had -planted in the desert. The sage-brush ridden prairie had been -transformed into a glorious campus, and uncultured boys and girls into -enthusiastic teachers. More than twelve hundred of them come back each -year to get better equipment for their difficult task. - -The cities in which we stopped interested the Herr Director less than -the towns, and we did not tarry long except in one of them, where we had -to stay because of an engagement I had made to address a certain club. -I did this because it gave me a fine chance to introduce that particular -American institution, a combination of eating and speaking club, which -meets once a month and whose program is as ambitious as are most things -Western. - -We were met at the station by a committee of men and women in -automobiles of course, and found the finest rooms in the hotel reserved -for us. Big, high, generous rooms, in which the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin openly rejoiced. - -The committee awaited us in a private dining-room where luncheon was -served. There were three other guests who were to speak during the -evening. One of them, a most brilliant woman, a well-known social -worker. The second a United States Senator, and the third an explorer -who had just returned from a voyage into some less known parts of South -America. - -The luncheon was sufficiently elaborate and artistically served to -satisfy both the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, but he -protested when after the meal, without even a chance at a nap, we were -escorted to waiting motor cars, and a long cavalcade of us started on a -sight-seeing expedition. - -The city was worth seeing, with its boulevards, parks and playgrounds; -its schoolhouse, churches, and clubs. We heard much of its prospects, -always so great an asset in the life of our Western cities. - -Amusing and remarkable to the strangers was the evident pride of this -committee in the city, to which they had come from all parts of the -country if not of the world; yet they spoke of it with a lover's -affection. - -The one thing underneath all this civic pride, and finer than anything -visible to us, was the fight for decency, law and order, and the health -and happiness of children, which has been waged there and is not yet -won. It is as exciting as, and more valorous than, many a battle in -which men fight with powder and bullets. - -It was an exhilarating experience to shake the hand and look into the -face of a woman who had defied the monied interests of her state, who -had jeopardized her comforts and her position, even her life, to loosen -the hold of graft from the schools of the state. - -It was inspiring to hear from a mild mannered, unaggressive looking man -how he had helped wipe out brothels and evil dance halls, broken up the -connivance of the police with the criminal element and put through a -positive program of rational, clean amusements for the people. - -We visited a business plant, the architecture and equipment of which are -as unique as are its owner's business methods. We were told the story -(not by himself) of how a brave and good man, single handed, struggled -against bosses, political cliques and large financial interests in -league with them, and all but freed the city from its most dangerously -decent foes. - -We were shown hills which the citizens had faith enough to remove and -the hollows into which they had cast them; a raging river which they -meant to control, and ugly, sickening slums which were doomed to go, and -that none too soon; the old things which were to become new, and -crooked things which were to be made straight. - -Thirty-three years before the Herr Director had heard stories of -vanishing buffaloes and the last struggles with the Indians. He had met -scouts, hunters and soldiers. This was a new type of fighters, much less -picturesque, but fit successors to those valiant pioneers. I rescued my -guests from a visit to the stock-yards (why any one should care to show -off stock-yards I do not know), and the committee released its hold upon -us so that we might make our toilettes for the reception which preceded -the banquet. - -If there is anything more conducive to creating a barrier to real human -contact than a reception, I have not seen it, unless it be a reception -with orchestral accompaniment; this was such an one, and its chief -function seemed to be to drown conversation. - -The ladies of our party were happy because this was one of the few -occasions on our trip when they could wear evening gowns. - -The Frau Directorin was astonished beyond measure when she heard that -some of the women on the reception committee of this club were mothers -(to a limited degree, it is true), that they had, at the most, two -servants, and that some of them had none; that they were interested in -Literary Clubs and civic affairs, served on school boards and church -committees, and were doing various other things to help the Creator -manage His universe. - -The German woman, who has adhered to the program marked out for her by -the Emperor, the "three K's," "_Küche, Kirche und Kinder_" stands aghast -at the strenuous lives many of our women lead. The Frau Directorin, who -has servants for the kitchen and the children, upon whom the third K, -the Church, lays no burden in the way of missionary meetings, fairs and -suppers, who does not have to reduce her flesh to be in the fashion, and -whose social position is determined by her husband's station in life, -may well wear an unruffled smile and keep an unfurrowed brow. - -At the banquet, the waiters and the orchestra vied with each other in -noise making, and it was a relief when, with the bringing of the black -coffee, they all disappeared, and the toast-master rose and began -unbottling his stock of stories. Nowhere in the world is there such a -thirst for stories as in America, and a group of men after a banquet has -an unlimited capacity for absorbing and enjoying them. - -There were four scheduled speakers and a few who expected to be called -upon unexpectedly, among them the Herr Director; a Glee Club was to sing -before, between and after the speeches; so the toast-master did not stop -telling stories any too soon. - -The first speaker of the evening was a woman who well deserved the -cheers which greeted her appearance. Her address on Workmen's -Compensation was so clear, so aptly put, so well reasoned through and so -within the limit of time assigned her, that when she finished, the -enthusiastic Herr Director shouted: "Bravo! bravo!" loud enough to be -heard above the less euphonious sound of hand clapping, in which form of -applause the American audience indulges. - -The address was an eloquent but unemotional plea for fair play for the -working man, an arraignment of present practices, cruelly sickening in -detail, and frightful as a revelation of the attitude of large -industrial interests towards labor. It showed the fair-mindedness of the -men there, that they listened so approvingly, in spite of the fact that -a large number of them was in similar relationship to labor, and that -the proposed law for which she pleaded would be against their own -interests. - -After the lady's address, the Glee Club sang and then the United States -Senator was introduced. I have forgotten his subject, but that does not -matter, for it had no relation to what he said. It was the kind of -address which could be delivered with equal propriety at a Grangers' -picnic or a political meeting. - -There were two things which the senator did not know: First, that his -audience had outgrown that particular kind of address, and second, when -to stop. When his final finally was finally spoken, the Glee Club sang -again, after which the Herr Director was called upon to speak. He was -listened to most attentively as he told how German cities are built, -governed, provisioned and lighted. - -There were at least four speeches beside my own, and it was long past -midnight when the Glee Club sang its last glee, and the club adjourned -to meet again the next month, when it would receive other more or less -distinguished guests, eat a six course dinner and listen to half a dozen -speakers, each one of them eager to right the wrongs of this universe. - -When the Herr Director had said good-bye to the hundred or more people -who told him how much they enjoyed his address, he retired in a most -happy mood. I found him chuckling as he untied his cravat. - -"It was lovely, perfectly lovely," he said; "but what children they -are." - -"Yes," I replied, "they are children; and, like children, are eager to -learn." - - - - -XI - -_The American Spirit Among the Mormons_ - - -Both the Herr Director and his wife had a strange desire to see the -Mormons. They explained it by saying that besides the Indians whom they -had as yet not seen, and the Negroes whom they had seen everywhere, they -always thought of the Mormons as most American, that is most unlike -other people. - -The Rocky Mountains, as I had expected, did not impress them. From the -car window they seemed more like elevated plains, with here and there a -restless chain of hills in the distance. - -"As restless as the American people," quoth the Herr Director. "Your -plains and your mountains seem to be fighting with each other." - -I hoped that the plains would win the fight and pointed out another, -more visible struggle--that of man with the desert. I admitted that the -Rocky Mountains which he had thus far seen were uninteresting from the -scenic standpoint, especially as compared with the beauty of the Alps, -those snow-capped mountains with meadows to the timber line, their -picturesque villages and herders' huts all as trim and neat and finished -as the carving one buys in Interlaken or Luzerne. - -From the human standpoint, the Rockies are infinitely more interesting, -for there the elemental struggle is still going on. A giant race is -taming tumultuous rivers, and forcing their waters through flumes and -tunnels into mighty reservoirs on the mountainsides and in the valleys. -No indolent, unaspiring, uninventive, docile people could survive in the -Rockies. - -In common with many Americans, my guests believed that this matter of -irrigation is as easy as turning water from a faucet into a basin; and -that all a man has to do is to drop his seed into the ground and watch -it grow. I showed them farms, desolate and forbidding, which men had to -level or lift, ditch and plow and harrow; a back-breaking, often a -heart-breaking task. In such an environment they built shacks which only -accentuated the loneliness--where women lived and children were born, -where hopes were cherished and God was worshipped. - -It was an Old Testament environment, the wilderness. Compared with these -pioneers the Israelites had an easy task. They sent spies into the -Promised Land where they found and from which they brought back grapes -and pomegranates; but to stay in the wilderness, to drive back the -drought inch by inch, to kill coyotes and rattlesnakes one by one, to -contend with claim jumpers, real estate agents, water right privileges -and unscrupulous lawyers, and then raise grapes and pomegranates, -families, churches, schools and colleges--that seems to me the greater -and more heroic task. And it was done by men with the courage of -soldiers and the vision of prophets, who turned that land of drought, -alkali and sage-brush into one "flowing with milk and honey." Because in -a certain portion of that desert those who were the pioneers and -performed those tasks were Mormons, takes nothing from the glory of the -achievement. - -As we neared Salt Lake City the Frau Directorin looked into every house, -eager to detect the numerous wives whom she expected to see surrounding -one man; while the Herr Director marvelled at the beauty of the vast -Salt Lake valley which, with its poplars and mountains and its -intensively cultivated farms, reminded him of Lombardy, that beautiful -stretch of country along the railway from Milan to Boulogna. - -Salt Lake City is sufficiently different from other cities we had seen -to arouse interest; but as in Rome the Vatican overshadows everything -else, so here the Temple and the Tabernacle hold one's attention, and -work upon one's imagination. - -We had scarcely put ourselves to rights in our rooms at the Hotel Utah, -as pretentious and comfortable as any in the country, before we were -out on the streets, looking for Mormons. There is a fairly defined type -and I thought I knew it, for I have lectured before Mormon audiences; -but out upon the busy city streets it was quite impossible for me to -gratify the curiosity of the Frau Directorin by pointing them out to -her. I did tell her that a third of the population was non-Mormon and -she looked curiously at two out of every three persons we met without, -however, being able to say definitely that she had seen a real, live -specimen. - -Not wishing to join the crowd of tourists who were taken in relays -through the Tabernacle and other buildings open to the curious among the -Gentiles, we walked through the park, and stopping before the monument -to Joseph Smith I took the opportunity to enlighten my guests upon the -history of that singular personality, and the church of which he was the -founder. - -Evidently my remarks were overheard, and before I realized it I was in a -discussion of Mormon doctrines with a woman, a zealous defender of her -faith, whose religious zeal shone out of her face, which was homely -enough to need this adornment to save it from repulsive ugliness. - -Of course she believed implicitly in the Book of Mormon, the plates of -which were found, and translated from a language which the best informed -philologists have never known to exist; in a God who has body, parts and -passions, in spirits which fill Heaven, and clamor to be born onto the -Earth, in the baptism for the dead, and in that strange doctrine, that -no woman can be saved without being sealed to a man, upon which the -practice of polygamy rested. - -The Herr Director did not quite understand, and I had to explain each of -these dogmas as well as I could, and then the Frau Directorin, not -understanding anything, begged to be told about the one thing in which -she was primarily interested, their belief in regard to marriage. I -asked the lady to explain this doctrine of the Mormons, to which she -replied that they are not Mormons, but Latter Day Saints. She was indeed -a saint, for she was not offended by our curiosity, nor the lack of -seriousness with which we were discussing the subject. - -She addressed the Frau Directorin: "You are married to your husband." -The Frau Directorin understood and nodded comprehendingly; "but," the -saint continued, "you are married to him only for time." - -"No, no, not for a time, not for a time!" the Frau Directorin cried, -clinging to her husband, who had jokingly threatened that when they -reached Utah he would improve the occasion and double his blessings. - -"You could not be married to him any other way unless you are sealed -according to our rites; we alone marry for eternity." - -"Oh!" said the facetious Herr Director, "you believe in eternal -punishment." When I translated that to the Frau Directorin she slapped -him playfully. - -He asked our guide how many wives he could marry if he became a Latter -Day Saint and she said there would be no limit to the wives he could -have sealed to him; but according to the latest ruling of the church and -in conformity with the laws of the United States, only one to live with -here upon the earth; so he decided to "bear the ills he had," and not -"fly to others that he knew not of." - -The saint could not have expected her teaching to take root in soil so -shallow, but she determined to sow a few more seeds, and showed us the -interior of the Tabernacle with its "largest organ in the world and its -perfect acoustics." The Frau Directorin tried her charming voice and -sang, much to the delight of the saint, who confessed to three consuming -passions. She loved to sing better than to eat, next in order came -dancing, which seems to be a specialty among Mormons, and evidently does -not interfere with their piety, and third, that of saving feminine souls -from destruction, on account of their unmarried state. To satisfy this -last passion she has had ten thousand of her female ancestors married to -well-known Mormons. To accomplish this, she had her genealogical tree -traced back to prehistoric times, and had spent her fortune upon that -pious extravagance. She told us that she was a plural wife, and living -with her husband merely in the celestial relationship: but she believed -polygamy to be in harmony with the will of God, and that the women as a -whole favor it. - -As we returned to our hotel, the Frau Directorin amused herself by -asking each child she met: "How much brothers and sisters you are?" I -was profoundly thankful she did not stop the men to ask them about the -number of their wives. - -Having promised her that I would introduce her to a real, live Mormon -who as yet had only one wife, she could hardly wait until dinner, to -which I had invited my Mormon acquaintance. He proved to be a very -normal sort of man whose face betrayed his European peasant ancestry, -his father and mother having emigrated from Switzerland, lured across by -the promise of land, and an all but perfect Zion. They had passed -through every hardship of the early persecutions, and the march across -the plains and mountains. He himself had grown up in the martyrs' faith, -which remained unshaken until he was sent to college. - -Although his teachers were Mormons they could not explain away all the -inconsistencies of Mormon history and belief; doubts assailed him, and -when in due course he became a missionary and it fell to his lot to go -to Europe, instead of making converts, he became one. The six years -abroad were spent in the study of history, and, applying the methods to -his own church and its Book of Mormon, he began to doubt, and is a -doubter still. Yet so strong were the ties that bound him that he did -not formally sever his connection with the church, and unless he is -ejected from that communion he will doubtless remain within its fold. - -He belongs to an increasingly large group of young Mormons who, while -they themselves have lost faith in the church and its doctrines, believe -that they must remain loyal to those whose belief is still unshaken, -help them to discard the crudest elements of their doctrine and so -gradually democratize the whole institution. - -The growth of the church has been checked and the accession of foreign -converts has almost ceased, due to the prohibition of polygamy which -was a lure to the evil minded, and due also to the fact that immigration -is not being encouraged. - -Mormonism would have continued to grow in alarming proportions if the -missionaries were still offering a husband, or a part of one, to every -woman, and to every man as many wives as he cared to take unto himself. - -Within the church two forces are working towards its liberalization. The -influence of a strong, Gentile population, and the school; while neither -of them will destroy Mormonism, our informant believed that ultimately -it will prove no more formidable or dangerous to the nation than any -other religious denomination, whose government is strongly centralized. - -After dinner he took us to his own home, and either from a recently -acquired habit, or from renewed curiosity, the Frau Directorin asked the -little son of the house, "How much brothers and sisters you are?" and I -am not sure she was convinced that his wife whom he introduced to us -was the only wife he had. - -He was good enough to insist upon taking us into the country in his -machine to call on his father, his mother having died some years before; -which, however, according to Mormon usage of bygone days did not leave -the old man a widower. - -His gnarled, wrinkled face shone when we greeted him in his native -tongue, and it was as pleasant as it was instructive to hear him tell of -the emigration of his people from Switzerland to Missouri, of the stormy -days there, the struggles against infuriated mobs, the long, dangerous -journey across the desert, and the pioneer days in Utah where he had -acquired lands, sheep and oxen, wives and children, in true Old -Testament fashion. - -The Frau Directorin asked: "How much wives you are?" - -When he told her that he had gone beyond the apostolic twelve, although -he lived with only a few of the number, she exclaimed: "_Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!_" - -The Herr Director wanted to know how he managed so many of them when he -had difficulty in managing one. - -"_Ach!_ in those days," he said, "the wives were subject to their -husband, knowing that without him they could not live comfortably here, -nor safely hereafter. They were docile enough, and it did not cost so -much to keep them as it does now." - -With a shrewd smile playing around his almost toothless mouth he added: -"You know if polygamy had not been prohibited it would have died out -gradually, because these are different times. We couldn't afford it -now." - -The old man said he had known Joseph Smith and, of course, Brigham -Young. He spoke of them with reverence and awe, as men of God who -received revelations and could work wonders. There seemed to be little -or nothing of the mystic in his makeup; his religion was of a hard, -materialistic, matter-of-fact kind to which he clung most tenaciously. -There was an unmistakable coarseness about him which revealed itself in -his conversation. It may have been due to his peasant origin, but during -all the years, a really ethical religion would have refined him. In a -sense he still did not belong to the United States--he was a Mormon -first and last, and the government in Washington was to him as Pharaoh's -rule was to the Jews. - -His religion evidently had taught him submission. He paid his tithes -ungrudgingly, and had gone on a mission uncomplainingly. He was a cog in -a great wheel whose resistless force he did not question. - -From his farm we were taken to others, and to neighboring towns. The -whole system in all its minute details was explained to us, and the Herr -Director was quite fascinated by its efficiency, although I am sure he -would not care to be governed by it. Everywhere we found prosperous -conditions and outward contentment, but underneath, especially among the -young people, a brooding discontent and smouldering rebellion; yet at -the same time much stolid ignorance and fanaticism. - -Our final visit was to the University, built solidly against the rocks, -its great U in purest white marked upon the mountainside, its very -existence seeming a menace to the system which supports it. - -There was a fine group of students, both Mormons and Gentiles. The -library in which I spent some time astonished me. I wondered, as I -looked at some of the books, if the church authorities knew what was -between the covers. Dynamite under the Temple walls could not be as -dangerous as those volumes. - -Possibly the students are as ignorant of their contents as the leaders -are. There are books on Philosophy and Psychology which do not seem to -me so menacing as those on Economics and Sociology; for it is upon these -subjects that the questioning will come first, and also the discontent. - -After long and confidential conferences with some of the professors who -told me their views, and how they are struggling to maintain their -academic freedom, and after long talks with bright, energetic boys and -girls who expressed themselves freely, I could assure the Herr Director -that some problems, which have so long vexed the United States and have -threatened certain ideals of the American Spirit, are in process of -solution. - -They are being solved by virtue of the broad tolerance of that spirit, -than which nothing is so feared by the reactionary forces in the Mormon -Church. - -One thing which that institution desires more than anything else is -renewed persecution; not too much of it, but enough to rally the -children of the martyrs to face new martyrdom and so perpetuate the -waning power of the church. - -One must remember that Mormonism is not only a sect, but a strongly -knitted society, and that men who have long ago ceased to believe in its -doctrines still hold to it with a loyalty born of past suffering, which -will be fostered by any future injustice or persecution. - -When we left Salt Lake City and were safe in the Pullman on our way to -the Pacific Coast, the Frau Directorin put her stock question to the -colored porter when he came to make up the berths. - -"How much wives you are?" - -When I interpreted the question for him he smiled his broadest smile, -but looked puzzled. I told him that the lady thought him a Mormon. - -"_No, ma'am._ I's a Baptist. But I sho'd like to be one. I likes de -ladies poheful." - -He was not a Mormon, certainly not a saint, but he rendered us loyal -service on that long, dusty journey to the Coast. Perhaps because he -"likes de ladies poheful," or it may have been because I gave him half -of a generous tip in advance. - - - - -XII - -_The California Confession of Faith_ - - -Since landing in New York the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had -endured many a formal reception; she with angelic patience, and he with -the usual masculine aversion to formal social amenities. - -When I announced that a reception was to be tendered us in San -Francisco, he cried with uplifted hands, "_Um Gottes Willen!_" He did -not object to really meeting people; but to stand in line an hour or two -shaking hundreds of outstretched hands, not knowing nor caring much to -whom they belonged, seemed to him a profitless exercise; while our -wafers and tea, or our punch--without those ingredients which give the -"punch" to punch--were gastronomic delusions to one accustomed to the -abundant meat and drink attendant upon social occasions in Germany. - -This particular reception was to be given us by the Chinese, and a -committee of stately, solemn looking gentlemen called for us in -carriages; despite the Herr Director's reluctance, I am sure he was -delighted to have this chance of giving his jaded social appetite a new -sensation. - -Chinatown, with its gay coloring, its tempting shops, its stolid-looking -men, its quaint women and cunning babies, was made doubly fascinating to -us, entering it officially conducted and riding in state. - -I do not know to this day to just what facts or virtues or position in -life we owe the attentions we received; but it was all recorded upon -posters and handbills liberally distributed through Chinatown, -announcing our advent. Recorded upon them in those picturesque -characters with which the Chinese language puzzles its readers, were the -names and eulogies of certain members of our party. The character which -stood for the Herr Director looked like a top, a tree and a barrel, -while his nativity and manifold virtues were made known in other -artistic symbols. - -I suspect that the man to blame for it all was a certain young American -whose mixed ancestry has created a rare and most effective personality. -He has inherited all the grace of his French ancestors, the tenacity (a -virtue in which he excels) of his Dutch or double Dutch progenitors, and -I am sure he can claim kinship with the first man who "kissed the -Blarney stone." He could pull the latch-string to any foreign colony in -that great conglomerate of peoples, and always be greeted as one of -them. The Young Men's Christian Association, in whose name he served, -could not have had a more worthy exponent of its social creed, and -America could not have projected against these foreigners a better -representative than Charles W. Blanpied. - -The reception was held in the Chinese Presbyterian Church, and upon our -arrival we found it crowded by a solemn-looking company of Chinese. We -were conducted to the platform and introduced to his Excellency the -Consul-General, ministers of various denominations, and dignitaries of -Chinatown. - -This was the first reception we attended where introductions were not -followed by vigorous hand-shaking. I am inclined to believe that the -softness of the Oriental palm is due to the fact that it is not -vigorously pressed every time two men meet each other. - -The Herr Director was in ecstasy over the beautiful Chinese girls in the -choir. Doubtless he would have preferred sitting among them, rather than -where he was, between the Consul-General and the chairman of the -evening. - -The reception opened with prayer, as if it were a church service; then -the choir sang an anthem, followed by four speeches of welcome. The -first by his Excellency the Consul-General lasted an hour and seemed -much longer, because it was in Chinese and unintelligible to us. - -I was asked to respond, and, under the circumstances, my remarks were -brief. The clever interpreter made a good deal of them, judging by the -length of time it took him, and the tumultuous applause with which every -sentence was greeted. - -The Herr Director told me it was the poorest speech he ever heard; but I -am inclined to believe that he was a little jealous because he was not -asked to speak; or perhaps he was merely trying to keep me humble, a -course which he had consistently pursued from the day I met him in New -York. - -The reception closed with the benediction, and the dignitaries and -guests proceeded to a Chinese restaurant which was genuinely Oriental; -not one of those nondescript Chop Suey places which serve such varied -and often objectionable purposes. The entire establishment was reserved -for us. It was gayly decorated with the banners of the Youngest -Republic, an orchestra played vigorously and so unmelodiously that the -Herr Director was reminded of the ultra modern German compositions. - -The menu was the most mysterious thing of the evening, ranging from tea -to broiled seaweed, and eggs which looked their age and were not ashamed -of it. There was fowl which was made unrecognizable to both the eye and -the palate, something which tasted like glue flavored with onion, and -something else which to my perverted Occidental palate seemed like -stewed Turkish towels. There were sweetmeats before and after and -between courses. Beside the mystery, the variety and novelty of the -banquet, it had one other virtue; it was not followed by after dinner -speeches, that common American practice which is an assault upon one's -digestion, and, not infrequently, upon good taste. - -While there were no after dinner speeches, we had a chance to discuss -the problem of the Chinese in California, and their brave attempts to -become Americanized in thought and feeling, in spite of the unyielding -race prejudice they have had to meet; thus renewing our faith in our -common origin and destiny, regardless of our apparent differences. Never -before had I realized how gentle these Chinese are nor how altogether -likeable, and it was no surprise to find that some of the Californians -have made the same discovery, and are treating them accordingly. - -We visited the Immigrant Station at San Francisco and I wished we had -not; for our treatment of the incoming Orientals lacks all those -elements of which I had boasted. We are neither humane, nor fair, -neither wise, nor decent. We found young Chinese women who had been -detained for more than a year, and were left without occupation or -suitable companionship or even a hope of early release. There were -Chinese boys who were herded with hardened, vicious-looking men, and the -station, although ideally situated, was little better than a prison. -What was done or was allowed to be done to make the lot of these people -more bearable was accomplished by outsiders. Conditions may have changed -since that time, and if they have, it is a cause for profound gratitude. - -We also had an unusual opportunity to come in touch with the Japanese -all along the coast. In one city we met a young Japanese, a graduate of -my own college. He is now serving his countrymen there as a Buddhist -priest. He has brought to his sacred calling much of the practical -religion which he absorbed through his contact with the college Y. M. -C. A., and it is his ambition to make Buddhism efficient and -serviceable. He has put into the work all his patrimony and is eager to -build up an institution patterned after the Young Men's Christian -Association. - -We had many a confidential talk, and if the soul of the Oriental is not -altogether inscrutable I have had a glimpse of it; although I cannot say -that I have fathomed his soul any more than he has mine. He seemed to me -to typify his race in a remarkable degree. His is a strong, unyielding, -definite kind of ethnos, and while we liked each other and tried to -understand one another, there seemed to be a place just before we -reached our Holy of Holies where we stood before a barred gate. - -When he told me that the American soul is absolutely unemotional in -comparison with the Japanese, I knew he did not understand us; even as I -did not understand the Japanese when I told him that his people are cold -and unemotional in comparison with us. - -He took us to his temple in the basement of a shabby looking American -tenement. He showed us his Sunday-school room, picture cards with Golden -Texts, club and class rooms, and many devices borrowed from us, applied -and perhaps improved upon by his Japanese genius. The day we left the -city he brought us an invitation to luncheon at the home of the most -prominent Japanese merchant in the place. Our hostess was a delightful -woman educated in a Methodist school in her native country, and of -course spoke English. Her husband, a conservative Buddhist, although he -had been in this country for twenty years, was still Japanese to the -core and spoke little or no English. There were several notables -present, whose English was more or less Japanned. They were keen, well -educated, and had absorbed enough of American culture to be baseball -"fans." - -During luncheon, which in our honor was served à la Nippon, we discussed -the anti-Japanese legislation which at that time was menacing the -peaceful relationship of the two countries. - -All the Japanese agreed that they had no right to demand unrestricted -immigration; but they were urgent that no crass distinction should be -made between them and other races, and that they too should have the -right to obtain citizenship when they had proved themselves fitted for -it. - -During this discussion the Frau Directorin and our host were carrying on -a picturesque conversation; that is she did the talking and he smilingly -said "Yes" to everything she said. She felt highly flattered that he -understood her English, which was still about seventy-five per cent. -German, while his was ninety-nine per cent. Japanese. - -That night as we were leaving the city a delegation met us at the -station to complete their Oriental hospitality by presenting us with -beautiful and valuable souvenirs. - -After such brief and friendly relationships with these people it is easy -to come to very one-sided conclusions about the problem they present to -the people of California. The situation is serious, but not so serious -that, in order to try to meet it, we must cease to be gentlemanly in -our relation to them. - -It is the peculiarity of all people who face race problems, to face them -irrationally and to think that in order to maintain racial dignity one -must insult, demean, and humble other races; and the people of the -United States in general, and those of the Pacific Coast in particular, -have not yet learned a better and more rational way. - -Strong race prejudice is not necessarily a sign of race superiority, and -the people who constantly proclaim their superiority by humiliating and -persecuting others have a hard time proving it. - -If what I was frequently told is true, that California "wants no -immigrants unless they are something between a mule and a man," then I -can understand their animosity towards the Japanese; for they are -altogether human and want to be so treated. - -Beside the many racial varieties with which we came in contact on the -Pacific Coast, we found there all the types produced in the United -States, and while neither the Herr Director nor myself was able to -differentiate them by external variation, we discovered them by -different and contending ideals. From that standpoint they were even -more interesting than the Orientals. Every shade of political and -religious opinion, every kind of economic doctrine, every variety of -social standards we found, besides currents and cross currents not -easily discerned or classified. In spite of the difference in race, -class, religion and politics, we found three well defined ideas -expressed, upon which there is such an agreement that they might be -called the California Confession of Faith. - -First and foremost is the belief in the climate and the resources of the -state. There is no religious doctrine in existence unless it be the -monotheism of the Jews, which is so dogmatically held as this faith, -that California is unsurpassed in climate, productiveness, in all those -opportunities for a leisurely existence (provided you have worked hard -elsewhere to get the necessary money) as are offered by its mountains -and sea, its luxuriant homes and all other factors which contribute to -the health and happiness of mankind. The only possible rival to -California is Heaven itself, and just because in these unbelieving and -unregenerate days so many people are not sure that there is such a -place, or if there is, are in doubt that they will have a mansion -reserved for them, they are leaving the farms and towns of the more -mundane Middle West and prosperous East to get a taste of Heaven in -California before they go to that "bourne from which no" wanderer has -returned. - -The people of California forgive any heresy or unbelief except a doubt, -however faint, about its climate and resources. From the shadow of Mount -Shasta to the deepest depth of the Imperial Valley, whether we were so -cold in summer as to need furs, or were hot enough to melt, or were -choking from dust when we travelled through miles of unredeemed desert, -we found this faith in the climate and resources of California unshaken. - -The Herr Director asked why there were so many cemeteries in the midst -of the most crowded streets, and only a nearer look convinced him that -they were "for sale" signs of rival real estate agents, who flourish -equally with the sage-brush and cactus. - -The second idea upon which there is a common agreement is, that while -California in particular is perfect as to climate and resources, the -world in general is a dire place, and its wrongs need to be righted. - -In spite of the fact that the climate invites to leisure, it has not as -yet tamed the fighting spirit of this fine, manly race, which is never -so happy as when it has something to do and dare. This state has -admitted women to the duties of citizenship, that all may have an equal -share in the fight. The issues at stake are worth battling for, and -nowhere else is the struggle more intense and dramatic. Organized labor -and capital have crippled each other in the desperate conflict, fierce -always, and often brutal. Protestantism, unorganized and frequently -inefficient, faces the Roman Catholic hierarchy, defending, as it -believes, the public schools and democratic government itself: -awakening, purified democracy is in deadly conflict with the demagogue -entrenched by special privilege while the prohibitionists are engaged in -most desperate conflict with the vinous industry of the state. - -The third doctrine of the California Confession of Faith is, that here -on the Pacific Coast the white race has been providentially placed to -defend this country against the encroachment of the "Yellow Peril." It -was illuminating though painful to find that race prejudice is as -intense here as in the South, and as unreasoning, and that one is as -helpless against it as against a flood or fire. All one seems to be able -to do is to accept it as a fact, and treat it like a contagious disease. - -If there is any danger to the white race at the Pacific Coast, it is not -the presence of the Japanese or Chinese in limited numbers; it is the -attitude of mind which has been created among Americans there, and that -may bring its own vengeance. - -It was a great joy to introduce my guests to California, its orange -groves and vineyards, its marvellous cities and palatial homes. It is a -state to glory in; but strange to say I was somewhat depressed when I -left it. The Herr Director said he missed my "brag and bluster." - -Everything was beautiful and bountiful, even as the real estate agents -have advertised; yet there were some things I found and some things I -missed which took the "brag and bluster" out of me. - -Its pioneer spirit is weakened by the accession of a large, leisure -class, and how or where the next generation will find a grappling place -for vigor of body, mind and spirit, is still a great question. To eat -one's bread by the sweat of some ancestor's brow, to be challenged daily -by the luxury of a limousine rather than by the hardships of the prairie -schooner, to have as the end and aim of one's day the winning of a Polo -match, or the making of a golf score, must ultimately bring about a -decadence of spirit, even though one retains for a while litheness of -body and activity of mind. - -The boasted democracy of California is threatened, not only by the -presence of a large leisure class and the necessary serving if not -servant class, but also by a lack of faith in humanity, without which no -democracy is safe and enduring. To California has been transferred all -that unfaith gendered by the advent of the negro, and if there were ever -a chance to revive the institution of slavery, that state might offer -some hope for its revival. - -The Californians who fear for the white race because of the presence of -the Oriental, whom that fear has made vain, boastful, ungenerous and -reckless of the feelings of others, need to know that a greater danger -threatens the race--the decay of the democratic spirit, which languishes -and perishes unless it permits to all men free access to the best it -holds, regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." - -Because I had lost my "brag and bluster" and wished to recover them, I -took my guests, who were now homeward bound, to the one place which -might fitly crown their experiences--the Grand Canyon, where one is apt -to forget humanity and its fretting problems. - -I must confess that by this time I was quite worn out; for introducing -your country to a stranger is wearing business, especially when you are -dealing with _blasé_ globe-trotters, who have done all the big things, -from the Alps to the Dead Sea, and have had to crowd into a brief month -the best which lies between New York and California. To do this with a -lover's adulation, endeavoring more or less skillfully to hide defects -and make the bright spots brighter still, may well tax one's nerves. - -I acted as a sort of shock absorber, for I determined that the journey -should be a joltless one for my guests; but in that I partially failed; -for not only did I receive the shocks myself, I could not keep them from -receiving some. - -One of the worst of these jolts I suffered at the Grand Canyon of the -Colorado. I was very sure of the Canyon itself; I knew it would put a -thrill into the Herr Director, and force an expression of it out of -him. I never worried about the Frau Directorin. We reached the Canyon in -that happy mood gendered by a combination of Harvey meals and Pullman -berths, and the sight of the friendly inn at the brink of the big -surprise, and the cheer of the big log fire in the raftered room drew an -involuntary exclamation of pleasure from the Herr Director. He -registered, then asked the clerk for a room fronting the Canyon. - -"Yes siree!" said the obliging young man as he attached a number to the -Herr Director's long and illegible signature; "I'll give you a room so -near that you can spit right into it." - -Naturally I received the first shock; a minute later it communicated -itself to the Herr Director. It did not reach the Frau Directorin, for -her English fortunately was still limited; she kept on looking at the -bright Navajo rugs, while the clerk smiled at his own smartness. The -Herr Director commanded to have his bags taken to his room, and turning -from the desk said: "Young man, I am a German, and I want you to -understand that we do not spit in God's face." - -The next morning the great Canyon was full of mist, and only faint -outlines of its titanic architecture were visible. As we stood at the -edge of the wondrous chasm, watching the last cloud being driven from -the depths as the moisture was absorbed by the dry, desert air, the Frau -Directorin was shaken by emotion as she gasped at intervals: "_Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!_" The Herr Director, his feelings better controlled, -said nothing; but after a long silence, muttered under his breath: "I -should like to throw that clerk down this abyss as a penalty for his -desecrating thought." - -Every few minutes I heard him saying, as he shook his head: "Just think -of it! Just think of it!" - -I did not disturb him or ask him what he thought of it for I knew he -could not tell, nor can any one. I think he felt as I felt, that all the -cities he had seen were as nothing compared with this wonder of nature; -that all the pillared post-offices and libraries which our cunning -hands have scattered over this broad land are trifling toys compared -with this templed miracle; that all our dreams of what we might paint or -fashion or carve, or build, are child's play compared with this, and -that we ourselves are mere nothings in the presence of what God hath -wrought here in stone and clay, in color and form. - -Never before had I so wished that I could rearrange the geography of the -United States as when we turned eastward from the Grand Canyon. If I had -the power of Him who shaped this earth I would have put it within a mile -of the Atlantic Ocean and within a stone's throw of the Hoboken dock, -and having shown my guests the Canyon, I would have put them on board -their home-bound steamer, and as they sailed away I would have cried out -with ancient Simeon: "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!" - - - - -XIII - -_The Grinnell Spirit_ - - -Between the Grand Canyon and the ship there might be "many a slip," -especially as I was to conclude my guardianship of the travellers in my -own town, prosaically placed in the great Mississippi Valley, which -consists of two plains--one at the top and the other at the bottom, -filled with corn and hogs, and most prosperous and contented people. - -The place towards which we journeyed holds two things which are the -biggest, most beautiful, and best things in the world--my home and my -work, both of which my guests wished to see. I was anxious that they -should; for there, if anywhere, they could come close to that I gloried -in most, the American Spirit. - -After the barren plains, the monotonous miles of sage-brush, and the -long, straight stretches of railroad tracks, it was good to look upon -green meadows and commodious farmhouses sheltered by groves of maple and -elm, and surrounded by great fields of young corn just peeping above the -black, rich clods. - -During the last few hours of the trip the Herr Director thought every -station at which the train stopped was our destination, and began -gathering his various belongings. When finally we reached it he jumped -out almost before the train stopped, so eager was he to see the place -where he was to spend at least a fortnight, and really see the American -home from the inside. - -Again fortune favored me. It was early June. The air was soft from -recent rains, the grassy lawns were wonderfully green; peonies were -opening their buds, adding touches of color, snowballs hung thick upon -the bushes, and blooming roses filled the air with sweet odors. - -It seemed as if our neighbors had conspired to make the town ready for -my distinguished visitors, and I could see that they enjoyed the peace -of it, the friendliness of the park-like streets, the sight of well-kept -homes set in gardens, and the cordial greetings of the people we met. - -Their appreciation of all they saw before reaching the house, and their -evident delight in the rooms prepared for them, not to mention their -astonishment at finding their trunks awaiting them there, afforded me -not only pleasure, but a great sense of relief; I felt that the race was -won. I had faith to believe that they would be happy in our town of six -thousand inhabitants, which is not unlike other places of the same size. -It has its public park, two or three shopping streets, churches, -schoolhouses, a few factories large and small, clubs, lodges, and all -the things of which like towns may legitimately boast; yet it has a -background peculiarly its own. - -It was founded by an intrepid pioneer who brought a colony of New -Englanders from the hills of Massachusetts to this treeless prairie, and -with the imperious will of his race said: "Let there be a town!" And -lumber was carted over miles of deep mud, cabins were built and there -was a town. - -And again he said: "Let there be a railroad!" And he diverted the course -of a great railroad system miles out of its way, and there was a -railroad. - -And he said: "There must be no saloon in this place!" So more than half -a century before strong drink was acknowledged to be a social and -physical foe, he had seen its true nature and put prohibition into every -deed of real estate, thus making it impossible for liquor to gain a -foothold. - -Years passed and he said: "Let there be a college!" and he brought one -across the state, and there was a college; a young, infant thing just -started by Christian missionaries who had come from the East, each of -them to plant a church, all of them to plant a college. - -This infant educational institution was put into its rude cradle in the -midst of an unshaded campus, and when it had grown to generous size, -with buildings to house it and trees to shade it, a cyclone swept the -campus bare, and instead of a joyous Commencement, which was but a few -days distant, there were funerals and desolation, wreck and ruin. - -On a pile of débris sat the same pioneer with a determined smile playing -upon his face, and at once, while the tears upon the mourners' cheeks -were still wet, he and others like him began rebuilding the town and the -college. - -Those men now "rest from their labor" in that bit of rolling prairie -saved from the plowmen and the harvester, and consecrated to hold our -dead until the great day. - -The morning after our arrival in Grinnell, the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin, who, during our travels, had little opportunity to -indulge their fondness for exercise, walked out to the cemetery. It is a -beautiful, well-kept spot, but half spoiled by crowding headstones. From -it can be seen church steeples peeping through the elm trees which -shelter the town; the ugly stand-pipe and the tall chimney of our one -big factory. At our feet lay the little artificial lake where much -fishing is done, and sometimes fish are caught. As far as we could see -were prosperous farms with their comfortable homes, generous barns, -turreted silos, and wide meadows where calves and colts grazed. - -One of our virtues, the Herr Director thought, was that we do not boast -about our dead. Whatever boasting we do, and we do not boast too much, -it ceases when the earth covers us. He saw no fulsome eulogies carved -upon the headstones; often nothing but a name and the two dates of birth -and death. - -In the face of that great and last achievement we are very humble and -honest; although in our little cemetery lie buried men and women of whom -I should like to boast. They were the great, real Americans who worked -diligently, honestly and humbly, who left no huge fortunes to curse the -next generation; but built their modest homes, and before the roof tree -was lifted, had built a church and a schoolhouse. They put their tithes -into the Lord's treasury before they put money into a bank, and while -they were still wading through mud, anchored the college upon a rock, -making its growth and permanence their great extravagance. - -They believed in an austere Christ, but believed in Him implicitly, -followed Him consistently and left a legacy of simplicity, temperance -and frugality. - -Yes, I boasted of our dead to my guests. I boasted of that grim, -fighting man whose name the town bears, who was the personification of -the determined, American pioneer, the conqueror of mere circumstances. - -I boasted of that firm, unyielding, controversial Calvinist, George F. -Magoun, who ruled the college in his own stern way. He was the last, but -not the least of his kind, who built deep and strong and straight upon -the foundations of morality and religion; so that others could build -loftily and boldly. - -I led them to the grave where rests the body of his successor, the two -differing from one another in opinions and method at every point; for -the younger man was the forerunner of a new dispensation, its prophet, -disciple and martyr. Yet both men were made of the same stern, -unyielding stuff, and both rested their lives and the hope of life's -better things to come, upon the same foundation. - -When the names of those Americans who prophesied the day of the Kingdom, -who worked for it and suffered for it, shall be placed upon the honor -roll, the name of George A. Gates, now carved upon a modest monument, -will be found imperishably written there. - -Near by, under the shade of slender white birches, we saw the simple -shaft which marks the resting place of one of the Iowa Band, James J. -Hill, who holds his place in the annals of the college, not only because -he gave the first dollar to help found it, but because of the continued -loyalty of his sons. - -I wished my guests could have come to us before we buried the man whose -life spanned the old and the new--the white-haired, ever youthful, -eloquent teacher, Leonard F. Parker, who smiled benignly upon us all -until his eyes closed forever, and with their closing, a benediction was -gone. He was the type of missionary teacher who began his career in a -log cabin, who, whether he taught in a country school or in a great -State University, taught with a passion for men. The impress of his -personality remained with his pupils long after they had forgotten his -erudite lore. - -As great as these great Americans were their wives, and no one can ever -think of them as less than the equals of their husbands. - -If the American woman occupies a unique place in the world, it is not -only because the American man has been more generous than his European -brother, but because she has proved her equality. She has attained the -measure of rights and privileges still denied to most of her sisters -elsewhere because she earned and deserved them. - -We, the living, sons and daughters of these great teachers by birth and -by adoption, cannot hold in too high esteem the legacy they left us. We -do not know with as firm an assurance as we ought to know, how much we -owe to them, and that, if we waste our inheritance, we waste spiritual -forces which we cannot generate. - -They were all, in the true sense, provincial, narrow men. They thought -of America and of the world and of the world to come, in the terms of -their creed, their town and their college; while we who have circled the -globe and think in world terms first, and boast of wider vision and -larger faith, may be in danger of overlooking the fact that in our small -place and places like it may be decided the fate of America, and through -America, the fate of the world. - -The Herr Director was astonished and the Frau Directorin pained to find -that we lived in a servantless house and in practically a servantless -town; that we were our own cooks and housemaids, butlers and gardeners. -When the Herr Director saw me mowing my lawn in broad daylight he -wondered that I did not lose caste among my fellows. - -The Frau Directorin was remarkably adaptable. She delighted in wielding -the dustless mop (to reduce "the meat"), she dusted the bric-à-brac, and -out of the kindness of her heart and in spite of our protests, became -"first aid" to my wife. - -One morning, just as I was waking, I heard the rattle of a lawn-mower -under my window; not the quick, sharp, sustained noise which usually -arouses the neighborhood, but a slow, measured sound, by fits and -starts. In between I could hear puffing and panting, like that of a -small steam engine. When I looked out of the window I saw something -which my eyes could not believe. The Herr Director had begun mowing the -lawn, and I let him finish it. It pretty nearly finished him; but after -his bath and a generous American breakfast, he glowed from health and -happiness. - -"I never knew," he said, "the elevating power of physical labor. I think -I will take a lawn-mower home with me." - -The Frau Directorin put a damper upon his enthusiasm by reminding him -that he would have to take a lawn home with him too, and more than that, -the town itself; for in their environment he would not dare use the -lawn-mower even if he had one. - -I am quite sure now that the Herr Director would have liked to take my -little town home with him, with the lawn-mower and the lawn. If he -could have done so, he might have changed the course of empires. - -I urged him, if he really wished to annex us, to do it soon; for there -is no little danger that we, too, shall lose faith in the redemptive -power of labor, the sufficiency of little things, the grandeur of plain -living and high thinking, the exaltation of the humble, the inheritance -for the meek and the reward of the righteous. When we lose those, we -have lost that which, in our proud, provincial way, we call "The -Grinnell Spirit"--an integral part of the American--the World-spirit. - - - - -XIV - -_The Commencement and The End_ - - -There are some aspects of our American life which I tried to hide from -my guests. I kept as many of our national family skeletons as possible -in their closets, and made sure that the doors were securely locked. - -I was glad that the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin were to leave -this country before our insane Fourth of July, which we are endeavoring -to make sane. I did not care to have them here on Thanksgiving Day from -which, through the superabundance of turkey and cranberry sauce, the -element of Thanksgiving has been almost eliminated. I was profoundly -grateful that during their visit there was no election day with its -sordid partisanship, its ballot box, not yet sacred enough to make -beautiful or place nobly in some civic temple; but we did urge them to -remain over Commencement day, that most happy, sweetly solemn occasion, -unspoiled as yet by rich display. It is the great festival of our -democracy, shared by town and gown, when we open the gates to rich and -poor, to common opportunity and duty. - -We made no mistake in thus planning. The town wore its holiday air. From -farm and village, from many states, on every train, parents were -arriving, walking proudly beside their sons and daughters, in academic -garb. - -"Old Grads" were being welcomed back by _Alma Mater_, grateful to her -for having helped make life rich, and sweet, and worth living. They -hoped to place under her care their children and their children's -children, whom they had brought there to give them a foretaste of joys -to come. - -It was a wonderful experience for the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin to meet them. They were fêted and feasted; they wore class -and college colors, and entered into the spirit of it all as if they, -too, had been the children of Grinnell College. - -Among the graduates they met editors, lawyers and doctors who had come -back from the great cities; professors who had won academic renown, and -are serving the great universities; teachers who had carried into the -public schools the spirit of their college; preachers who have gained -prominence, and those who minister in humble places, faithful in their -obscurity and proud of their chance to serve. There were missionaries -who came back from the ends of the earth where they had started centers -of education, places of healing and temples of hope. - -They listened to stirring messages from pulpit and platform, to the -young dreams of minor poets who sang the lay of their class; to -historians who reviewed the four college years as a great epoch closed; -to prophets who predicted failure and success, and a golden day of -jubilee to the whole weary world, when this particular class got back of -it. - -On Commencement day they watched the dignified President conferring the -degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctor. - -At noon they attended the college banquet and suffered through the -after dinner speeches. - -That night on the crowded campus they enjoyed the Glee Club's joyful -songs, and then, worn to the last shred of their highly emotional -natures, walked home with us while the last strains of the Alumni Song -faded away into the night. - -The Herr Director talked until after midnight, telling of the many -things which pleased him. The religious dignity, the fine simplicity, -the natural, sweet, pure relationship between men and women; but above -all else, the democratic spirit from which these other things emanate. - -He had an apt way of singing snatches of German song of which he seemed -to command an unlimited supply; and as he mounted the stairs to his room -he sang: "_Ach, wenn es nur immer so bliebe._" (Oh, if it would only -remain so always.) Then followed the sad note which is the major one of -the German lyric: "_Es war zu schön gewesen, es hatt nich sollen sein._" -(It was too beautiful and therefore could not be.) - -I knew it might not remain so beautiful always; but if life is worth -while at all, it is worth while struggling to keep it so. - -I do not know what share one person may have in influencing the current -upon which a nation is drifting; but I believe in the power of the -individual, and I shall "fight the good fight"--and a hard one it -is--and "keep the faith"--although it is not easy to keep it--faith in -God and men and in the American Spirit. - -Four weeks after the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin left us I -received the following letter. I have had some difficulty in translating -the involved and rather lengthy epistle into straightforward English, -but have done so that I may share it with my readers. - -MY DEAR FRIEND: - -We arrived home in safety after a rather stormy and uneventful voyage. -On board the ship we met a number of Lake Mohonk acquaintances, and -therefore the atmosphere which you tried to create for me surrounded me -even in mid ocean, and consequently you ought to be happy and contented. - -When we reached Washington half-cooked, for even your excellent -provisions for our comfort were unavailing against your terrific summer -heat, your friend and his automobile were at the station; just such a -friend and such an automobile as met us dozens of times before. - -If anything, this friend was a little more persistent than the other -species, for we were taken up and down and in and out, to everything -within fifty miles of Washington. We shook hands with half your -congressmen some of them seem to be professional hand-shakers, and my -hand aches at the thought of it. - -State Secretary Bryan received me most affably and talked about his -peace treaties. He didn't give me much chance to do any talking myself. -He seems so genuinely American; by that I mean simple and childlike in -many things, and complex and difficult to understand in others. - -He is neither a humbug as some of your papers say, nor a prophet as he -thinks himself. His faith in humanity and in himself is pathetically -colossal. - -It is amusing to find that you Americans, and you are the most American -of them all--you Americans who have invented cash registers and time -clocks, those symbols of unfaith in humanity, are so full of faith in -your relation to big, national and international problems. - -Your optimism may, after all, be due to your ignorance, coupled with the -fact that you are living in a land vast and isolated, which has not -quite exhausted its resources and opportunities. The most materialistic -people on earth in your relationship to each other, you leap into -remarkable idealism in the sphere of politics and diplomacy. If it is -true that "God takes care of children and fools," then God is taking -wonderfully good care of you Americans, who seem to me to be both. - -In our country we would put a man of Mr. Bryan's type in charge of an -orphan asylum, and feel that the children would be safe with him at -least till their twelfth year; and yet I know that he has done vigorous -fighting, and I shall give him a chapter in my book about America, which -as you know I intend to write and have already begun. - -It was quite a change of atmosphere when I went from the Department of -State to the White House. The President's secretary seems to me a man of -large calibre, kind, yet firm. A man to like and yet to fear; just the -kind of person a great man needs as a buffer against his friends, and as -a guard against his enemies. The atmosphere of the White House is -dignified, yet not cold; democratic, yet reserved; you feel that it is a -place of power. - -Above everything else you have done for me I want to thank you for -making it possible for me to meet President Wilson. He is not at all the -type of man I expected to find. There is nothing pedantic about him and -I do not know a man in any of our universities like him. He is not as -easy to analyze as Mr. Bryan, he is by far the greater, more complex -and stronger nature. He has the firmness which rulers should possess, -and may be too unyielding when once he has made up his mind to anything. -He knows more than Mr. Bryan but is not as dogmatic, not nearly as -friendly, and yet I came nearer to that which I sought in him, and I -think I understood him better. He let me do all the talking, but asked -all manner of questions; yet he told me more that way than Mr. Bryan, -who did all the talking. - -If President Wilson is a politician, he is a new kind which I have never -met before. I think he has made many mistakes, which of course is -natural. There is only one of your presidents who never made mistakes, -and that was President Roosevelt. He made blunders, which he had the -pugnacity and the sheer physical courage to turn into political capital, -and then blundered again. - -President Wilson was in the midst of the Mexican muddle when I saw him, -yet he seemed to me very well poised, and bearing his many burdens, not -like a martyr or a saint, but as a really strong man ought to bear -them. - -Of course you do not believe that I took your eulogies of America "_fur -baare Muenze_" (at their face value). There are two Americas and you are -living in but one of them. Your America lies in the high altitudes of -Lake Mohonk, Hull House, and Grinnell College. The other America which -you tried to hide from me I saw, just because you tried to hide it. It -is sordid, base, selfish, and above all strong; but that you do not seem -to know. - -You have _modified_ my view of America, but you have not _changed_ it. -You are still a big experiment as a nation, and I am not sure that it -will be a successful one. You have nothing to teach us in government, -business or education. Just one thing I envy you--your faith in your -unfinished country and in yourself as a force in its making. - -As you know, I do not share your faith; especially do I not believe that -one individual or many individuals can change the course of empires. - -You think yourself citizen, king and priest; but you are merely an -atom, a conscious atom of course, and in that and that alone, in that -you are conscious, and know yourself a part of the whole and believe -yourself an effective part of it, lies happiness. I enjoyed hearing you -talk about the American Spirit; you talked about the soul of a country -as if you had seen it and felt it and loved it. - -My dear friend, you do not know your own soul, nor the stuff out of -which it is made, and yet in your American conceit you talk about the -soul of a country. It was an interesting psychological study to watch -you, and it gave me much amusement as well as something to think about. - -I enjoyed you most of all in your own little town, your college and your -hospitable, beautiful home. I feared you would burst from pride and -complacency as you interpreted the "American Spirit" from that little -place; a speck, and not even a well-defined speck, on the map of your -country. - -You, a world traveller, have at last become a really narrow provincial, -I should say a very happy one, as provincials always are. You wanted me -to see your country through the June atmosphere of your Commencement; a -democratic, peaceful, rose-laden America. I saw it through the smoke and -grime of Chicago, the crowded tenements of New York, the injustice of -your courts and the corruption of your politics. - -Yet I am glad I saw _your_ America, and I want to thank you for your -ardent endeavor to show it to me as you want it to be, and not as it is. - -My wife sends her thanks and greetings. She received more benefit out of -her visit than I. I have had to promise to remodel the house, and put in -another bathroom which is to be between our bedrooms. The new bathtub -must be porcelain and we are to have an instantaneous heater. She still -talks a good deal of the "_gute_ cornflecks" and "grep frut" which we -both enjoyed so much. Above all she remembers the courtesy of the men, -and if the servant did not place her chair for her at table, I fear I -should now have to do it. - -America certainly is a Paradise for women, but it is "_Die Hoelle_" for -men. - -Remember that when you and any of your family come to Berlin you are to -be our guests. I trust you will come soon, for conditions over here look -dubious, and the war, "_der grosse Krieg_," may come before we know it. - -_Herzliche Gruesse von Haus zu Haus._ - _Auf Wiedersehen._ - - - - -XV - -_The Challenge of the American Spirit_ - - -I am sure the Herr Director will not object if I have the last word; for -while he was with me that privilege was seldom mine and obtained only by -dint of strategy. - -Since his departure, the great war which he prophesied has moved over -Europe and hides every bit of fair and peaceful sky like a storm-cloud; -its thunder and destructive lightning fill the air, leaving scarcely a -place safe and undisturbed. - -Not a soul is unafraid, not a heart is without pain and sorrow, and the -Herr Director himself, although past middle age, has volunteered to -serve in the trenches, slippery from oozing blood and foul from the -spattered brains of men. The "fiddling, twiddling diplomats, the -haggling, calculating merchants of Babylon, the sleek lords with their -plumes and spurs" have had their way, and the poor, blind, ignorant -millions, made mad by hate, do their brutal bidding. - -We, on this safer side, who as yet have not loosed the dogs of war, have -calculated the loss to Europe in the fratricidal slaughter of its most -virile men, in the loss of its arts and trades, in the wreck and ruin to -houses and homes and in the age-long poverty which awaits. Much counting -has been done as to what we shall make out of this sure bankruptcy that -is to come to the nations which are our competitors for the world's -trade, and what glory shall be ours when New York, and not London shall -be the new Babylon, with power to make the "Epha small and the Shekel -great." - -With the incalculable loss to the European nations there has come to -some of them a gain in national unity upon which under no circumstances -we may count. - -It has been with no small sense of pride that I have demonstrated to the -Herr Director and to others the fact that, in spite of our youth as a -nation, and the varied national, linguistic and religious rootage of -our population even in the Colonial period, we have grown to be one -people. Even the constant inflow of new and more varied human material -has not weakened us but indeed the sense of national unity has grown -stronger. I have watched with joy the processes by which this alien -element was becoming one with us, the fading away of animosities and -inherited prejudices, and the making of a new people out of the world's -conglomerate. - -The war has brought about a retardation of this process, and we shall -have great cause for gratitude if no permanent damage is done to our -nation's spirit, a loss for which no possible gain in any direction -could compensate. The term "Hyphenated American," which has now come -into use, if it indicates anything more than the place of a man's -national or racial origin, and the very natural sympathies arising -therefrom, is an insult to the man to whom it is applied, and a -confession of divided allegiance, if voluntarily assumed. - -It may be interesting to note that it was His Majesty, the Emperor of -Germany, who repudiated the hyphen when a German-American delegation -called on him on the occasion of some royal anniversary. - -When the delegation was introduced in this hyphenated manner, he said: -"Germans I know, Americans I know, but German-Americans I do not know." - -Although the hyphen has always existed, it has assumed new meaning in -these troubled days and is applied as a term of opprobrium, largely to -Americans of German birth; people who have always been loyal to the -country of their adoption, and, I think, are no less loyal now. - -If there has been wavering in their devotion, if the process of yielding -themselves to the ideals and interests of this country has been -arrested, they are not altogether to blame, and we ourselves are not -altogether blameless. - -It was thoroughly in harmony with the American Spirit that our -sympathies should go out to brave little Belgium, and turn from the -ruthless conqueror who was much nearer to us culturally and in greater -harmony with us spiritually. It was also natural for the German people -in this country to challenge the evident bias of the press, and the -resultant prejudices arising in the minds of their friends and -neighbors. Being German they knew what a German soldier is capable of -doing, and of what atrocities he is guiltless; although in the attempt -to defend their people they in turn became as unfair as we, condoning -every act of the Germans and besmirching their enemies. - -How far this bias can carry one is illustrated by the German pastor in a -neighboring town, one of the gentlest souls I know, who, when told of -the destruction of the _Lusitania_, said: "Thanks be to God, let the -good work go on." He will not have to live very long to repent of this. - -To match him I may quote a most lovable Quaker lady nearly ninety years -of age, who, with a violence in striking contrast to the Quaker -character, expressed as her dearest wish that she might be permitted to -kill the Emperor of Germany, and I am almost sure she was not alone in -that pious desire, even among the members of her family. - -The German press and the German pulpit have fanned this reawakened -Germanic spirit, not always from lofty motives, and many an editor and -pastor have found this antagonism a source of revenue and a hope of -perpetuating their influence. - -If the American press both in its news and editorial columns has been -painful reading to any one who loves fair play, it did not help him to -turn to the German press, whose utterances were made more distressing by -the fact that not infrequently they contained expressions bordering on -treason. Had their editors lived in Germany and spoken of the Emperor in -the same words which they applied to their President, their terms of -imprisonment, if combined, would reach into eternity. - -Even after the war the attempt will be made to keep alive this -antagonism, and if possible to widen the breach. It will be a serious -challenge to our national spirit, for I doubt that we can maintain a -vital unity unless it represents one country, one people, and one -language. - -I know of no way in which to meet this danger effectively; but I do know -that it is not through reprisals or punishments. Perhaps it is best to -hope that at the close of the war we shall all recover our sanity. -Certain it is that the American people have in the Germans in this -country too valuable and powerful an element to alienate, and the German -people who have made this country their home have too great a sense of -the value of it and its institutions, to them and their children, to be -willing to jeopardize the American Spirit, because of that which must be -but a passing phase in the history of our poor, misguided, human race. - -Besides the threatened break in unity, the American Spirit is being -challenged by a call to arms, not merely to avert any momentary, -threatened danger, but to be permanently safeguarded, prepared against -its predatory neighbors all around the globe. Whether those who join in -this call know it or not, or wish it or not, it means militarism. When -just such arguments were used for Germany's preparedness, when that -gospel was being preached with all possible fervor, one of the wisest -Germans said: "_Wehrkraft wird immer Mehrkraft_" ("Defensive power -always becomes offensive power"), and I am sure that the average -American will say that, in the case of Germany, this has proved true. - -If I were arguing for military preparedness, I would not be so insistent -upon the building of new fortresses, or the accumulation of ammunition. -I would insist upon training our children in obedience and reverence. I -would give them schoolmasters who know what they teach and who would -demand strict application to the curriculum. I would oppose the growing -pedagogic idea that the schoolroom is a playground, and that knowledge -may be acquired without hard work. I would restore the rod and banish -the coddler. I would call in our high school boys from the side lines, -from their vicarious athletics and their slavish imitation of college -customs, and teach them how to dig trenches and serve cannon, which -seem to be the chief need in modern military operations. - -It is folly to believe that the _fiasco_ of the Russian armies was due -to the lack of ammunition or of sufficient fortresses; it was due to the -lack of good schools and to the lack of discipline among its educated -classes. - -With the decay of our pioneer spirit, which is inevitable, with the -growth of a leisure class, with groups of men and women who know no -other way to justify their existence than to play bridge or go to Tango -teas; with a large class of people less unfortunately situated, who have -to work for their living, but from whom the state asks nothing in the -way of service except the payment of taxes which are easily evaded, it -is a great question how to keep our virility and how to foster a -patriotism which may be counted upon in the time of national danger. I -am fairly sure that some other way than the militaristic way ought to be -found. I am not sure that we shall find it; because only those who seek -shall find. - -There are some things we may profitably learn from Germany, and one is -the maintenance of a state which by its very nature will compel -devotion. A state deeply concerned with the well-being of every -individual; a state which sees to it that impartial judgment shall be -meted out, and that the scales do not tip to those who weight them with -gold. - -A state which eliminates graft and is able to train an efficient army of -public servants is more likely to gain and keep the loyalty of its -citizens than one which, although technically free, is shackled by -corruption and graft, and which, while giving each man the power to -become a king, places the major emphasis upon property rather than upon -person. Yes, we have a great deal to do to be properly prepared, besides -authorizing congress to spend millions for "reeking tube and iron -shard." - -What I most fear for the American Spirit is the loss of that which makes -it really American and truly Spirit, the loss of its democracy. I am -confident that the form of our government is not endangered, and -whatever military success may come to monarchic governments we shall -not envy them their kings nor put ourselves in bondage to them. If this -republic is still an experiment then we shall see the experiment through -to the end as a republic. - -I am also sure that we shall work out the problem which confronts us in -the relationship between capital and labor, and that we shall create -here an industrial democracy. The dissatisfaction with the present -system is growing daily, even among the so-called privileged classes, -and many a man, well favored by circumstances, is crying out with Walt -Whitman, "By God! I will not have anything which others cannot have on -the same terms." - -What I most dread is, that we shall be increasingly unable to be -democratic in our spirit, in our relation to those who are in any marked -way differentiated from us racially. Our caste system is daily growing -in strength, the social taboos are increasing in number, the spirit is -barred from moving freely among all classes and races, and thus is bound -to perish. - -The social boycott practiced against the Jews, and which is even more -thorough here than it is in Russia, may be followed by an economic -boycott, and what has but recently happened in Georgia makes such -occurrences on a larger scale not impossible. The attitude of the -American people both South and North towards the Negro is not growing -better, and it will take more than all the brave optimism of Booker T. -Washington to convince me that this is not true. - -It is anything but the American Spirit which greets the Japanese and -Chinese at the Pacific Coast, and the decadence of that spirit is daily -creating for itself new victims for its prejudices and hates. - -It seems to be a growing conviction that in order to foster our racial -integrity and self-respect we need to have contempt for other people and -make of them a sort of mental cuspidore. - -I know the difficulty involved in this problem. I believe it is the most -serious challenge which the American Spirit has to meet, and here and -here alone I confess my doubt as to its ability to meet it. - -This is no time, though, to turn doubt into despair, nor is it the time -for the calling of conventions and the organization of societies. It is -a time, however, for the strengthening of our faith in one another, for -renewed allegiance to humanity no matter how it is encased, for a -patriotism based upon something bigger than identity of race. It is a -time for mutual forbearance, for the divine gift to see ourselves as -others see us; for a supreme loyalty to our country, and a determination -stronger than death to make this country capable of winning the loyalty -of all its citizens. - -It is a time to glory in being an American and to become desperately -sure we have something in which to glory. Now as never before should -there be serious self-examination to see whether we have not sinned -against the Spirit. - -This is the time to accept the Challenge of the American Spirit and -prove that we are loyal enough to follow its guidance. - -PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -he does now know=> he does not know {pg 119} - -the progam marked out for her by the Emperor=> the program marked out -for her by the Emperor {pg 195} - -had little opportuntiy=> had little opportunity {pg 241} - -It is sorbid=> It is sordid {pg 258} - -Unausstelicher=> Unausstehlicher {pg 88} - -Unaustehlicher=> Unausstehlicher {pg 122} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Introducing the American Spirit, by -Edward A. 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Steiner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Introducing the American Spirit - -Author: Edward A. Steiner - -Release Date: January 22, 2013 [EBook #41898] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/cover_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="338" height="550" alt="bookcover" title="bookcover" /></a> -</p> - -<p class="cb"><i>INTRODUCING THE<br /> -AMERICAN SPIRIT</i></p> - -<div class="bbox"> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><big><span class="smcap">By</span> EDWARD A. STEINER</big></td></tr> -<tr><td> </td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Confession of a Hyphenated American</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>12mo, boards</td><td align="right">net 50c.</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Introducing the American Spirit</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>What it Means to a Citizen and How it Appears to an Alien. 12mo, cloth</td><td align="right">net $1.00</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">From Alien to Citizen</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>The Story of My Life in America. Illustrated, 8vo, cloth</td><td align="right">net $1.50</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Broken Wall</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Stories of the Mingling Folk. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth</td><td align="right">net $1.00</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Against the Current</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Simple Chapters from a Complex Life. 12mo, cloth</td><td align="right">net $1.25</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Immigrant Tide—Its Ebb and Flow</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Illustrated, 8vo, cloth</td><td align="right">net $1.50</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">On the Trail of The Immigrant</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Illustrated, 12mo, cloth</td><td align="right">net $1.50</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Mediator</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>A Tale of the Old World and the New. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth</td><td align="right">net $1.25</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Tolstoy, the Man and His Message</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>A Biographical Interpretation. <i>Revised and enlarged.</i> Illustrated, 12mo, cloth </td><td align="right">net $1.50</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Parable of the Cherries</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Illustrated, 12mo, boards</td><td align="right">net 50c.</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Cup of Elijah</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Idyll Envelope Series. Decorated</td><td align="right">net 25c. </td></tr> -</table> -</div> - -<p><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a></p> - -<p><a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a></p> - -<p><a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a></p> - -<p><a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a></p> - -<p><a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a></p> - -<p class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/frontispiece_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="400" height="550" alt="THE AMERICAN SPIRIT" title="THE AMERICAN SPIRIT" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption"><small>Courtesy of The Survey</small> -<span style="margin-left: 20%;"><small>V. D. Brenner</small></span></span><br /> -<b>THE AMERICAN SPIRIT</b></p> - -<div class="bboxxx"> -<div class="bboxx"> -<h1><i>Introducing The<br /> -American Spirit</i></h1> -</div> - -<div class="bboxx"> -<p class="cb"><i>By<br /> -Edward A. Steiner<br /> -Author of “From Alien to Citizen,†“The<br /> -Immigrant Tide,†etc.</i><br /> -<br /><br /><br /> -<img src="images/colophon.png" width="55" height="80" alt="colophon" title="colophon" /><br /> -<br /><br /> <br /> </p> -</div> - -<div class="bboxx"> -<p class="c"><i><span class="smcap">New York Chicago Toronto</span><br /> -Fleming H. Revell Company<br /> -<span class="smcap">London and Edinburgh</span></i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a></p> - -<p> </p> - -<p class="c"> -Copyright, 1910, by<br /> -FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY<br /> -<br /><br /><br /> -New York: 158 Fifth Avenue<br /> -Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue<br /> -Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W.<br /> -London: 21 Paternoster Square<br /> -Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street</p> - -<p><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a></p> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<p class="cb"> -<i>To<br /> -Professor Richard Hochdoerfer, Ph. D.<br /> -<br /> -erudite scholar and most lovable<br /> -friend, this book is dedicated</i><br /> -</p> - -<p><a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a> </p> - -<p><a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a> </p> - -<h2><i>Introducing the Introduction</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><i><span class="letra">“D</span>as ist ganz Americanish</i>.†Whenever a German says this, he means that -it is something which is practical, lavish, daringly reckless or -lawless.</p> - -<p>It means a short cut to achievement, a disregard of convention, an -absence of those qualities which have given to the older nations of the -world that fine, distinguishing flavor which is a fruit of the spirit.</p> - -<p>Many attempts have been made to enlighten the Old World upon that point; -but in spite of exchange-professorships and some notable, interpretative -books upon the subject, we are still only the “Land of the Dollar.â€</p> - -<p>We are not loved as a nation, largely because we are not understood, and -we are not understood because we do not understand ourselves, and we do -not understand ourselves because we have not studied ourselves in the -light of the spirit of other nations.<a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a></p> - -<p>Coming to this country a product of Germanic civilization, knowing -intimately the Slavic, Semitic, and Latin spirit, the writer was -compelled to compare and to choose. Yet he would never have dared write -upon this subject; not only because it was a difficult task, but because -he had been so completely weaned from the Old World spirit that he had -lost the proper perspective. Moreover, of formal books upon this subject -there was no dearth.</p> - -<p>During the last ten years, however, he has had the advantage of being -the <i>cicerone</i> of distinguished Europeans who came to study various -phases of our institutional life, and they brought the opportunity of -fresh comparisons and also of new view-points in this realm of the -national spirit.</p> - -<p>These unconventional studies, most of which received their inspiration -through the visit of the Herr Director and his charming wife, are here -offered as an Introduction to the American Spirit, not only to the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin, but to those Americans who do not -realize that a<a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a> nation, as well as man, “cannot live by bread alone;†-that its most precious asset, its greatest element of strength, is its -Spirit, and that the elements out of which the Spirit is made, are so -rare, so delicate, that when once wasted they cannot readily be -replaced.</p> - -<p>As the sin against the Holy Spirit is the one sin for which the Gospel -holds out no forgiveness for the individual, so there seems to be no -hope for the nation which transgresses against this most vital element -of its higher life.</p> - -<p>Inasmuch also as the Spirit is something which guides and cannot be -guided, these informal introductions appear in no geographic or historic -sequence, but are necessarily left to the leading of the spirit, of -which “no man knoweth whence it cometh or whither it goeth.â€</p> - -<p class="r"> -E. A. S.<br /> -</p> - -<p><i>Grinnell, Iowa</i>.</p> - -<p><a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a></p> - -<p><a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#I">I</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Herr Director Meets The American Spirit</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_015">15</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II">II</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Our National Creed</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_035">35</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#III">III</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Spirit Out-of-Doors</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_058">58</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#IV">IV</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Spirit at Lake Mohonk</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_074">74</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#V">V</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Lobster and Mince Pie</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_092">92</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VI">VI</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Herr Director and The “Missoury†Spirit</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_112">112</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VII">VII</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Herr Director and the College Spirit</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_129">129</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VIII">VIII</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Russian Soul and the American Spirit</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_147">147</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#IX">IX</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Chicago</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_166">166</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#X">X</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Where the Spirit is Young</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_184">184</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XI">XI</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The American Spirit Among The Mormons</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_199">199</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XII">XII</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The California Confession Of Faith</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_216">216</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XIII">XIII</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Grinnell Spirit</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_237">237</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XIV">XIV</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Commencement and The End</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_249">249</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XV">XV</a>.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Challenge of the American Spirit</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_262">262</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a></p> - -<p><a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I<br /><br /> -<i>The Herr Director Meets the American Spirit</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE Herr Director and I were sitting over our coffee in the <i>Café -Bauer</i>, <i>Unter den Linden</i>. In the midst of my account of some of the -men of America and the idealistic movements in which they are -interested, he rudely interrupted with: “You may tell that to some one -who has never been in the United States; but not to me who have -travelled through the length and breadth of it three times.†He said it -in an ungenerous, impatient way, although his last visit was thirty -years ago and his journeys across this continent necessarily hurried. I -dared not say much more, for I am apt to lose my temper when any one -anywhere, criticizes my adopted country or questions my glowing accounts -of it.</p> - -<p>But I did say: “When you come over the next time, let me be your -guide.<a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Why should I want to go over again?†he replied. “It’s a noisy, dirty, -hopelessly materialistic country. You have sky-scrapers, but no beauty; -money, but no ideals; garishness, but no comfort. You have despatch, but -no courtesy; you are ingenious, but not thorough; you have fine clothes, -but no style; churches, but no religion; universities, but no learning. -No, I have been there three times. That’s enough. I know all about it. -<i>Fertig!</i>†And with that he dismissed me without giving me a chance to -relieve my feelings, of which there were many; although he took -advantage of a minute that was left and told me that I was an -<i>Unausstehlicher Americaner</i> whose judgment had been warped by my great -love for my adopted country.</p> - -<p>Evidently the Herr Director reversed his decision not to come to this -country; for the following spring I received a cablegram to meet him on -the arrival of his ship at the Hamburg-American dock, which of course I -promptly did. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin stepped onto the -soil of the United<a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a> States with a predisposition to be martyrs, to -endure the sufferings entailed by travel with as little grace as -possible, and to suppress to the utmost all pleasurable emotion.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, I was determined to show off my United States from -its best side, to woo and win the Herr Director’s and the Frau -Directorin’s approval. In my laudable endeavor I seemed to be supported -by that divine providence which watches over the whole world in general, -but over the United States in particular. The weather was perfect, the -sky festooned in fleecy clouds, the air charged by a divine energy; and -when the sun shines upon the harbor of New York—well, even the most -taciturn European cannot resist it.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin greeted all the good Lord’s -endeavor and mine, with an air of condescension as something due their -station. From force of habit they worried and fussed about their -baggage, although there was nothing to worry or fuss about, for it was -safe on its way to the hotel. They were shot under the river and the -busy<a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a> streets of Manhattan and whirled up to the twenty-first story of -their thirty-two-storied hotel without having taken more than a dozen -steps to reach it.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin refused to be impressed by the -rooms assigned them, in which not a single comfort or luxury was -missing, and complained because they were not as big as barns and the -ceilings not as high as a cathedral. The Frau Directorin eyed the -bath-room almost in silence; but she did wonder why they put out a whole -month’s supply of towels at once, instead of doing it in the provident -European way of one towel every other day.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, like all Europeans who can -afford to travel, are exceedingly æsthetic, and at the same time fond of -good food, and their first approving smile was won at the breakfast -table, when they were each face to face with half a grapefruit of vast -circumference, reposing upon a bed of crushed ice. Their smiles -broadened when they had introduced their palates to an American -breakfast food, a<a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a> crispy bit of nut-flavored air bubble, floating upon -thick, rich cream; and, although they had made up their minds that -American coffee was vile and they must not taste it, they could not -resist its aroma, and drank it with a relish.</p> - -<p>When the Herr Director said: <i>“Der Kaffee ist gut,</i>†I knew that my -prayers were being answered, and that the good Lord still loves the -United States of America.</p> - -<p>Most of us have shown off something—a baby, school-children, a -schoolhouse, a town, an automobile, a cemetery. You know that feeling of -pride which thrills you, that fear lest pride have a fall if it or they -fail to “show up.†But have you ever tried to show off a country—a -country which you love with a lover’s passion; a country whose virtues -are so many, whose defects are so obvious; a country whose glory you -have gloried in before the whole world, but whose halo has so many rust -spots that you wish you might have had a chance to use Sapolio on it ere -you let it shine before your visitors? A country of one hundred million -inhabitants,<a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a> of whom every fourth person smells of the steerage, when -you wish that they all smelled of the Mayflower; a country where more -people are ready to die for its freedom than anywhere, and more people -ought to be in the penitentiary for abusing that freedom; a country of -vast distances, bound together by huge railways and controlled by -unsavory politicians; a country with more homely virtues, more virtuous -homes, than anywhere else, yet where the divorce courts never cease -their grinding and alimonies have no end?</p> - -<p>Ah! to show off such a country, and to have to begin to do it in New -York, beats showing off babies, school-children, automobiles, and -cemeteries.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director was sure he would hate our sky-scrapers; he had seen -them from the ship, and the assaulted sky-line looked to him like the -huge mouth of an old woman with its isolated, protruding teeth. Frankly, -I myself am not interested in sky-scrapers; I prefer the elm trees which -shade the streets of the quiet town where I<a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a> live. I thank God daily for -the men who had faith enough to plant trees upon those wind-swept -prairies. They were mighty spirits who came to the edges of civilization -and drove the wilderness farther and farther back by drawing furrows, -sowing wheat, and planting trees—those men whom heat and a relentless -desert could not separate from that other ocean with its Golden Gate to -the sunset and the oldest world. Determining to have and to hold it till -time is no more, they proceeded to unite the two oceans in holy wedlock. -A task which involved another nation in hopeless scandal and bankruptcy, -they completed with as little ceremony as that which prevails at a -wedding before a justice of the peace. Those were the men who went among -savages, yet did not become like them; who for homes dug holes in the -ground among rattlesnakes, prairie-dogs, and moles, and made of such -homes the beginnings of towns and cities.</p> - -<p>If I admire the sky-scrapers it is because they are an attempt on the -part of this same type of people to do pioneering among the<a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a> clouds. -Public lands being exhausted, they proceed to annex the sky and people -it, now that the frontier is no more.</p> - -<p>What the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin would say to the -sky-scraper meant to me, not whether they would say it is beautiful or -ugly, but whether they would discover in it the Spirit of America, the -daring spirit of the pioneers who built Towers of Babel, though -reversing the process; for they began with a confusion of tongues which -outbabeled Babel, and finished on a day of Pentecost when men said: “We -do hear them all speaking our own tongue, the mighty works of God.â€</p> - -<p>We moved along Broadway, pressing through the crowds, the Herr Director -puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin doing likewise. The Flatiron -Building with its accentuated leanness lured them on until we came to -the open space of Madison Square and they were face to face with the -Metropolitan tower.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director said: “<i>Gott im Himmel!</i>†The Frau Directorin said: -“<i>Um<a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a> Gottes Himmels Willen!</i>†And then they gazed their fill in -silence.</p> - -<p>I have never “done†Europe with a guide, nor have I ever had an American -city introduced to me through a megaphone, so I scarcely knew what to -say.</p> - -<p>I did not know the exact height of that tower, nor how many tons of -steel support it, nor the size of the clock dial which tells the time of -day up there “among the dizzy flocks of sky-scrapersâ€; but I did know -that the tower represented some big, daring thing, an expression of the -spirit which could not be defined nor easily interpreted to another.</p> - -<p>After his first outburst the Herr Director continued to say nothing—he -was stunned; so was the Frau Directorin. We walked on, looking up, -higher and higher still, until our eyes met another tower, the Woolworth -Building—a shrewd Yankee five-and-ten-cent enterprise, flowering into -purest Gothic.</p> - -<p>The cathedrals of Europe are wonderful, undoubtedly. Master minds drew -the plans and master hands built them, slowly, by an<a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a> age-long process. -They turned religious ideals into stone lace and lilies, hideous -gargoyles and brave flying buttresses, aisles and naves and rose -windows. Yes, they are quite wonderful. But to turn spools of thread, -granite-ware, and dust-cloths into this glory of steel and stone is, to -me, more marvellous still. The spirit of the pioneer cleaving the sky -has become beautiful as it has ascended.</p> - -<p>We are worrying a great deal about our lack of sensitiveness to beauty -and form; we chide ourselves as being crude and unresponsive to art; we -rush madly into the study of æsthetics and buy Old Masters at the price -of a king’s ransom; yet we are not truly fostering America’s art sense. -It ought not to come in the Old World’s way—by glorifying dogmas and -creeds, by petrifying religion into buttresses and incasing our dead in -tombs of beryl and onyx. It ought not to come with its mixture of -paganism and religion, its armless Venus and its headless Victory. It -should come first as it is coming—with the making of homes good to -live<a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a> in, factories planned to work in, stores fit to do business in, -and schools built to teach in. It is coming—yes, it is coming.</p> - -<p>But when our strong boys shall make filagree silver ornaments, carve -pretty things on bits of ivory, or exhaust their energy in painting a -lock of hair—when that time comes, we shall be an old people ready for -our ornamented tombs.</p> - -<p>Next I took the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin through a portal -flanked by pillars worthy to crown any Athenian hill; I led them into a -Parthenon in which Athena herself might have joyed to be worshipped, and -we heard the echoing and reëchoing of a chant which lacked nothing but -incense and organ notes to make one think one’s self in an Old World -cathedral. The chant was not a <i>Miserere</i>, but a call to entrust one’s -self to the depths of the earth—to descend into tubes of steel, beneath -the river, and then travel to the fair cities of the living, throbbing, -thriving West. It was a railway terminal without choking smoke, blinding -dust, or deafening noise; also without that<a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a> hideous mechanical ugliness -which Ruskin so hated. This was merely a place from which one started to -reach Oshkosh or Kokomo, Keokuk, Kalamazoo, or Kankakee. Yet more -beautiful portals never swung to mortals in their fairest dreams of -journeying to the abodes of bliss. The Spirit of America, at last -crowned by beauty.</p> - -<p>We reached our hotel fairly exhausted by our morning’s walk; but, after -being properly refreshed, the Herr Director ventured to criticize.</p> - -<p>“Yes, you are a wonderfully resourceful people, keen and energetic, but -chaotic. You take an Italian <i>campanile</i> and elongate it fifty times; or -a Gothic church, and attenuate it; or a Romanesque cathedral, and -support it by Ionic pillars; or a cigar box, and enlarge it a million -times. You put all these things side by side, and no one asks: Will they -harmonize, or will they clash?</p> - -<p>“Each man builds as he pleases, although he may blot out the other man’s -work and waste colossal energy merely to express himself. The result is -confusion. You can feel<a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a> that unrest, that discord, in the air. My -nerves fairly ache! No, we shall not go out this afternoon. We must rest -our nerves.â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director always spoke for his wife as well as for himself, thus -expressing the collective spirit of the Old World. They both retired for -a long rest, while I was left wondering how to introduce New York to -them in the evening.</p> - -<p>At five o’clock in the afternoon they emerged from their apartments, -their wearied Old World nerves rested, and, after being stimulated by a -cup of coffee, were ready for further adventures.</p> - -<p>Broadway at that hour of the afternoon is bewildering. The shoppers have -almost deserted it, and it is crowded by the clerks who served them, the -cashiers who received their money, the girls who trimmed their hats, the -men who cut their garments, the bookkeepers and the floor-walkers.</p> - -<p>Whole towns seem to pour out of the department stores and lofts; the -makers and menders of garments flee from the heart of the city, from -this pulsing machine which has<a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a> been going at a dangerous speed. They go -from it eagerly, with a brave show of courage, as if the ten hours’ -labor had not broken their spirits or wearied their energy. To count the -ants of a busy hill would be easier than even to estimate the numbers of -that throng.</p> - -<p>They climb the steps of the elevated railway trains, and crowd them, and -cram the cars until they fairly bulge.</p> - -<p>They lay siege to the surface cars, which merely crawl through the busy -streets, so heavy are they and so closely does one car follow the other.</p> - -<p>They descend into the depths of the earth, and breathe the humid, human -air of those noisy catacombs. They walk by companies, regiments, and -great armies, dodging automobiles which infest the streets with their -speed and their stenches.</p> - -<p>They accomplish it all with so little friction to each other’s spirit, -with such a silent good nature, with such a sense of self-reliance, and -with so little official machinery to control them, that even the Herr -Director said:<a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a></p> - -<p>“This is wonderful!†although he declared that he would suffocate in -that throng, and the Frau Directorin cried out every few minutes, “<i>Um -Gottes Himmels Willen!</i>â€</p> - -<p>There was an absence of politeness, but we saw little rudeness; there -were accidents, but the crowd did not lose its head; there were -discomforts, but little display of ill nature; each for himself, and yet -no clashing. The American crowd is more wonderful than the American -sky-scrapers.</p> - -<p>At the Royal Opera in Vienna, the approach to the ticket office is -guarded by steel inclosures in which every prospective buyer is -separated from the other, and one has to zigzag between these pens until -he reaches the official’s window. Crowding is rendered impossible, but, -to make the obviously impossible more actually impossible, there is the -usual number of uniformed guards.</p> - -<p>Watch the American crowd—this group of unlike, self-centered -individuals; in a moment it is organized, it obeys itself—or rather, it -obeys its spirit, the American spirit<a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a> of self-direction, with its -genius for organization.</p> - -<p>To me, the American crowd is so wonderful because it shows this other -side of its spirit. It is heterogeneous, like the architecture of its -buildings, perhaps even more so—if that be possible.</p> - -<p>Here are Jews from Russia’s crowded Pale, where they had to slink along -with shuffling gait and dared go so far and no farther—so fast and no -faster.</p> - -<p>There are the Slavic peasants, who on their native soil, prodded by the -goad, moved ox-like along an endless furrow, drawing the plow of -autocracy.</p> - -<p>Next is the Italian, volatile and yet static with his age-long burdens, -with his fiery nature cramped into his diminutive frame.</p> - -<p>Here is the Negro, the child-man, the shackles of whose slavery are -scarcely broken.</p> - -<p>The Asiatic, too, comes with hardly courage enough to lift his softly -treading feet; while leading them all is this strident, giant child of -the Anglo-Saxon race whose wind-swept<a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a> cradle was rocked by freedom, and -who with dominant will has spanned the oceans and crossed the mountains.</p> - -<p>Of these myriads whom he leads, some will be a drag upon progress, and -detain the strong or perhaps retard the race; yet they are trying to -keep up, and by their efforts, by delving in the deep, by feeding with -their brute strength our huge enginery, may make the flowering of the -American spirit easier.</p> - -<p>Yes, the Anglo-Saxon is leading them; but will he continue to lead, now -that he no longer travels in the prairie schooner, but in the -automobile—now that he wields the golf club and tennis racket, rather -than the spade and plow on the prairie?</p> - -<p>Will he now lead them from the breakers of Newport as well as once he -led them from Plymouth Rock?</p> - -<p>Will he lead them from the exclusive club as once he led them into the -inclusive home?</p> - -<p>These were the doubts which filled my mind, but which I did not share -with my guests as I guided them; for we were to<a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a> spend the evening -together, and one needs all one’s faith in New York at night.</p> - -<p>We spent the early evening hours travelling around the world. We went to -Arabia, where dusky children from the desert play in the gutters of -Bleecker Street; to Greece, where Spartan and Athenian youth dream of -the golden days of Pericles; to China, with its joss-house, its faint -odors of sandalwood, and its stronger odors wafted from the Bowery. We -visited Russia, and saw its ghetto-dwellers more numerous than Abraham -ever thought his progeny would become; we spent some time in Hungary, -with its <i>Gulyas</i> and <i>Czardas</i>. We went to Bohemia, with its <i>Narodni -Dom</i>; to Italy, south and north, with its strings of garlic, its -festoons of sausages, its hurdy-gurdy, and its rich harvest of children. -We had glimpses of France, of its <i>table d’hôte</i> and painted women; -travelled through darkest Africa, touched upon India, and then were back -again upon Broadway.</p> - -<p>As in the sky above us the architectures of the world strive to blend -and fuse, making<a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a> a mighty new impress; so below, these colonies to the -right and colonies to the left, like the huge limbs of some ill-shapen -monster, try to blend into America.</p> - -<p>What is it all to be when blended?</p> - -<p>Of course we went to the theater. We saw a German problem play made over -to please the American taste. The Herr Director knew the play almost by -heart, and he nearly jumped upon the stage in righteous indignation when -in the last act, where the author drops all his characters into a -bottomless pit and everything ends in confusion, the play ended in the -conventional “God-bless-you-my-children,†“happy-ever-after†manner.</p> - -<p>We walked the streets of New York until past midnight, and finally -looked down upon it from the roof of our hostelry. We could see the moon -creeping out and shedding its mellow glow over the gayly lighted city. -The noises were almost musical up there—like sustained organ notes—and -we talked about the play with its happy ending.</p> - -<p>“You are right,†I said; “that happy ending<a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a> is foolish and childish. -Things do not always end happily; but this thing, this experiment in -making a nation out of torn fragments, this founding of cities in a day -out of second and third hand material, this experiment in man-making and -nation-building must end well; for, if it doesn’t, God’s great -experiment has failed. Shall I say, God’s last experiment has failed? -You see we <i>mustn’t</i> fail—it <i>must</i> end well.â€</p> - -<p>The streets were all but silent. From the great clock on the -Metropolitan tower hanging in mid-air, came the flashes that marked the -morning hour. Thick mists floated in from the sea and filled the narrow, -chasm-like streets with weird, fantastic shapes.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director said good-night. The Frau Directorin did likewise. -They said it very solemnly, as behooves those who have looked deep into -the heart of a great mystery who have felt the touch of a mighty spirit -striving, struggling, agonizing to shape a new nation out of the world’s -refuse.<a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II<br /><br /> -<i>Our National Creed</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE Herr Director and the Frau Directorin wished to go to church on -Sunday, and after eating a piously late breakfast I spread before them -New York City’s religious bill of fare, bewildering in its variety and -puzzling in its terminology.</p> - -<p>I gave them a choice between four varieties of Catholics: Roman, Greek, -Old and Apostolic; more than twice that number of Lutherans, separated -one from the other by degrees of orthodoxy and nearness to or farness -from their historic confessions.</p> - -<p>There were Methodists who were free and those who were Episcopalian, -Episcopalians who were not Methodists but were reformed, and those who -made no such pretensions; all these invited us to worship with them.</p> - -<p>Many varieties of Baptists announced their sermons and services, -offering a choice between those who were free and those who<a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a> were just -Baptists, and between those who were Baptists on the Seventh Day and -those who did not specify the day on which they were Baptists.</p> - -<p>We also had a chance to discriminate between Dutch Reformed, German -Reformed or Presbyterian Reformed, and United Presbyterians divided from -other Presbyterians (presumably unreformed) for reasons known to the -Fathers who died long since.</p> - -<p>If we had been radically inclined we might have browsed among -Unitarians, Ethical Culturists, and could even have worshipped among -those who make a religion out of not having any.</p> - -<p>The most interesting column to the Herr Director was that which -contained our exotic cults, those we have imported and those which prove -that we have not neglected our home industry.</p> - -<p>It was disconcerting to me, who was trying to introduce our national -spirit, to realize how varied its religious expression is, and the Herr -Director got no little amusement out of the story I told him of the -student in<a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a> one of our colleges who, it is said, came to the librarian -and asked for a book on “Wild Religions I have Met.†When the librarian -suggested it might be Seton Thompson’s book on Wild Animals, he said it -was not in the department of Zoölogy, but in Philosophy in which the -assignment for the reading was given. The book was then quickly found. -It was Prof. William James’ “The Varieties of Religious Experience.â€</p> - -<p>When we succeeded in rescuing the Frau Directorin out of the maze of -Sunday Supplements in which she was entangled, we started in pursuit of -a proper place of worship, in anything but a worshipful mood. I was bent -upon showing that which is vastly more difficult to interpret than -sky-scrapers, the Herr Director was doubtful that we had any religious -spirit at all, and the Frau Directorin mourned the fact that she had to -leave behind her so much paper which might have served such good -purposes if she had it at home.</p> - -<p>Fifth Avenue recovers something of its departed exclusiveness on Sunday -morning; for<a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a> although the cheaper stores are crowding upon those which -never descend to bargain counters, this is not true of the churches. -They still are in good repute, and await the stated hour of service on -Sunday morning without excitement, having advertised nothing, offering -no ecclesiastical bargains; content to live as the birds of the air, -whom the “Heavenly Father feedeth.†The street was almost deserted; here -and there a taxicab darted on its way to or from the railway station; -the hour of the limousines had not yet come, and the people who strolled -along were evidently, like ourselves, unfashionable sojourners seeking a -tabernacle in Gotham’s wilderness.</p> - -<p>Sauntering along the street was less interesting than usual, for not -only were there no crowds, the shop-windows were all artistically -curtained and there was nothing to see. The Frau Directorin did not like -it at all, “for what good is it to walk along the shopping streets if -you can’t look into the shops?â€</p> - -<p>“You see, my dear,†the Herr Director remarked, “that is to help you -obey one of<a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a> the ten commandments which womankind is especially prone to -break, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’ Incidentally it proves that we are in a -country in which you are allowed to do as you please every day and do -nothing on Sunday.â€</p> - -<p>“No,†I replied, “it merely proves that we are trying to save one day a -week from the contamination of our materialistic existence.â€</p> - -<p>“It merely proves,†he echoed, “that you have inherited from your -Anglo-Saxon ancestors the worst thing they could leave you: their -hypocrisy. I stepped behind a curtained bar this morning and found it -running at full blast. You evidently do your drinking in private on -Sunday and your praying in public. You know we in Germany do the -opposite.â€</p> - -<p>“No, you do your praying and drinking both in public, and both seem to -be a part of your religion,†I answered. “Very likely you are right. -There is about us this taint of hypocrisy; but that only shows that we -are a deeply religious people, conscious of<a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a> the fact that our ideals -are upon a higher plane than our performance. We are not as eager as you -are to proclaim our frailties from the housetop.</p> - -<p>“The average American wants you to believe him to be a pretty decent -fellow till you find him out to be different; while you Germans make a -virtue of a certain kind of brutal frankness, which is worse than -hypocrisy, since you try to make it an excuse for all sorts of private -and national sins. The real criminal is never a hypocrite.â€</p> - -<p>I do not know what would have happened to me if at that moment we had -not reached St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The full, rich organ notes seemed -to soothe the Herr Director’s ruffled spirit, and our discussion ended -as we entered the welcoming portal.</p> - -<p>In a church which in all places and all ages remains the same, there was -nothing for my guests to see or hear to which they were not accustomed. -There was the priest, alone with the great mystery which he was -enacting, and by his side the diminutive<a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a> ministrants. The crowd which -filled every available space in that huge interior was silent and -reverent. Now the tinkling of a bell, like a command from Heaven, bade -all kneel, and now the same bell bade them rise. The incense, the -stately chant, and then the hushed, expectant throng going forward to -partake from the priest’s hand of the means of grace, which he alone -could offer in the name of the one Holy Catholic Church—all this could -not fail to impress us.</p> - -<p>Into the august and solemn atmosphere there came from a near-by church -the chimed notes of a hymn-tune such as the people once sang defiantly -when they proclaimed their religious freedom. It was a spiritual war -tune which soldiers could sing, and strangely enough it seemed to fit -into this atmosphere as if it were the one thing which the service -needed. It recalled the self-assertion of the people before their God, -their man God, who was born in a stable, who worshipped as He worked, -and worked as He worshipped, hurling His anathemas at those who blocked -the gates of the kingdom to<a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a> them who would enter, yet did not enter -themselves.</p> - -<p>Evidently the Herr Director felt as I felt; for he whispered to me, “The -Reformation.†When I nodded my approval, he said: “But see how unmoved -she is, this rock-founded church. It will take something more than -hymn-tunes to disturb her.â€</p> - -<p>We left the Cathedral while the hungry multitude was being fed with the -Sacrament of our Lord, and our spirits, too, had been fed, although we -were not of that fold.</p> - -<p>While the Roman Catholics were finishing their worship, the Protestants -were making ready to begin. The first bells had chimed appealingly, not -commandingly, and a thin stream of worshippers appeared on the Avenue, -growing thinner as it divided, entering one or the other of those -edifices where men were to worship according to the dictates of their -conscience, their taste, or their social position.</p> - -<p>Many strangers, like ourselves, were looking critically at the church -bulletins as yesterday we had looked into the show<a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a> windows, and it was -the Frau Directorin who said she felt as if she were going shopping for -religion.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director said that he had no objection to our inventing or -importing as many religions as we pleased; but he did object to our -exporting any, for we were making the task of regulating and controlling -them very difficult. Moreover he did not see how we could develop any -kind of common, national ideals with such a confusion of religions. “You -have, or pretend to have, a democratic government, and your strongest -church is monarchic to the core.â€</p> - -<p>I had to admit that religiously we are a very chaotic people, and that -we are daily adding to that chaos; yet these facts might prove what I -had been trying to make clear to him: That this is fundamentally a -religious country, and that as a whole we are the most religious people -in the world. I supported this statement by quoting a good German -authority, the late Prof. Karl Lamprecht, who thinks we have a great -future as a<a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a> people, because we are “capable of religious improvement.â€</p> - -<p>“Improvement!†The Herr Director sniffed derisively. “Wherever I look I -see improvements: churches turned into theaters, theaters into churches, -and residences which are still perfectly good turned into sky-scrapers. -Chaos is not an improvement upon order. Nothing is finished, nothing -complete, not even your religion.â€</p> - -<p>Just then we were compelled to pass along a wooden walk from which we -looked into a canyon blasted out of the rock, upon which still stood the -foundation of the house which was being turned into a sky-scraper.</p> - -<p>“You see, that is the way we improve; we go deeper each time,†I -remarked.</p> - -<p>“But in religion,†the Herr Director retorted, “you do not go deeper, -you go higher, and that is no improvement.â€</p> - -<p>For the second time the chimes were pealing, and we entered a sanctuary -of friendly yet dignified English Gothic. An usher, who looked very -American and well fed and out of place, guided us to a pew<a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a> in the more -than half empty church, from which nothing was missing in the way of -ecclesiastical furnishings. One thing it lacked and that no architect -can build and no money can buy—Spirit.</p> - -<p>The organ was played by a master, the processional was splendidly -staged, the rector looked prosperously pious, prayers were read and -confessions uttered without any disquieting, spiritual agony, and the -anthems were correctly sung by the picturesque boys’ choir. The curate -preached a sermon on manliness; a sermon so thin and emasculated that -even the Frau Directorin, whose English is limited, could understand it, -and said she would like to come again “for the good English.â€</p> - -<p>I left the church deeply disappointed, and to the Herr Director’s taunts -about “improvements†I did not reply, realizing more than ever how -difficult and dangerous is this task of introducing the <i>Spirit</i>, -especially when one goes to church in the spirit of pride, rather than -in the spirit of meekness.</p> - -<p>No clergyman can spoil the whole of Sunday,<a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a> for there is always the -dinner, and having found a <i>table d’hôte</i> in harmony with the Herr -Director’s national and religious ideals, we continued our discussion -somewhat fitfully, if, at times, rather vehemently.</p> - -<p>One of the things the Herr Director missed in the church where we tried -to worship was reverence. He missed it everywhere and thought it due to -the fact that we do not teach religion in the public schools.</p> - -<p>This was rather amusing to me, for just prior to that statement he had -told me of one of his nephews who, upon approaching his final -examinations, said: “If it were not for this accursed religion I could -get through without trouble;†and I called his attention to the fact -that although I had no difficulty with my “exams†in religion, -invariably having an “<i>Ausgezeichnet</i>†which is equivalent to an A, I -was always “<i>Schlecht</i>†in conduct.</p> - -<p>I had found religious instruction a very irreligious procedure, for the -man who taught it was irreligious enough to whip me so that I could not -lie upon my back for a week, the cause being that I would not say yes -to<a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a> his credo. Moreover I told the Herr Director I thought all religious -instruction irreligious which did not teach the child its whole duty to -society, but taught religion from only the narrowing racial or sectarian -standpoint.</p> - -<p>Religion, I pointed out to him, can after all not be taught; it has to -be caught. It is a contagion which comes from a spiritual personality, -and our public schools are not religious or irreligious because certain -subjects are found or not found in their curricula, but because the -teachers have this spiritual personality or lack it. I am convinced that -this ethical quality predominates in our public schools, not only -because so many of our teachers are women, but because we are -fundamentally a religious people.</p> - -<p>At this point I became conscious that the attention of the Herr Director -and the Frau Directorin had flagged; for their response to my homily was -an eloquent tribute to the tenderness of the breast of a Long Island -duck, which they had been enjoying while I talked. As they were -consequently in a lenient mood towards the whole world and<a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a> therefore -the United States, I renewed my laudable and difficult effort, and, as -is often best, through the medium of a story.</p> - -<p>At the time the elective system was introduced into Harvard University, -attendance upon chapel was made voluntary. “I understand,†said a severe -critic of this procedure, “that you have made God elective in your -college.â€</p> - -<p>“No,†replied the astute president, “I understand that God has made -Himself elective everywhere.â€</p> - -<p>The point of my story was lost upon both my guests. When I paused, the -Frau Directorin asked me how it was possible to serve so lavish a bill -of fare for so little money, and the Herr Director asked the waiter why -they called this a Long Island duck when the portions were so short. -Thus the conviction was forced upon me that our environment was not -conducive to the discussion of the American Spirit and that I must await -a more auspicious occasion.</p> - -<p>Late in the afternoon that occasion came; not on Fifth Avenue but on one -of those<a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a> streets where churches are fewest and humanity thickest; where -Sunday brings liberation from toil, where cleanliness and godliness have -an equally difficult task in coming or abiding; where nations and races -must mingle and cannot easily blend, where the America which is to be is -in the making, and where the Spirit must manifest itself if we are to be -a nation with common ideals.</p> - -<p>I like to take my friends to the East Side of New York City. I glory in -its self-respect, its brave struggle against poverty and disease, its -bright children filling all the available space and asserting their -childhood by playing in the busy street, defying its noisy traffic. They -make of each hurdy-gurdy the center of a great festival, dancing as the -elves are said to dance, because it is their nature to.</p> - -<p>I like to point out the faces of Patriarchs, Prophets and -Madonnas—faces seamed by care and sorrow, yet lighted by a divine -radiance and as unconscious of it as were those upon whom it shone in -such fullness on that great East Side of the Universe which we now call -the Holy Land.<a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a></p> - -<p>I like to have my friends meet my East Side friends, the young working -girls, who dress in good taste, help support a family, and maintain an -unstained character in spite of small wages and the temptations of a -great city. I like them to meet the growing boys who are hungry for the -best the city holds, and who dream the dream of making the East Side in -particular, and New York in general, a better place in which to live.</p> - -<p>I am never ashamed to take my friends into the tenement houses, except -as I am ashamed that they exist at all, with their stenches and the -dearly bought space with twenty-four hours of darkness and no free -access of air. Of the people who live within I am never ashamed, for -they are the brave ones, to whom labor is prayer, and living a -sacrifice. I like best to show off the East Side of New York on Sunday, -for here it is most welcomed with its respite from labor, its chance at -clean clothes, its opportunity to visit and be again something more than -a machine.</p> - -<p>On Fifth Avenue the Sabbath is made for<a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a> the few, on the East Side it is -made for the many; on Fifth Avenue God seems hard to find, on the East -Side He comes down upon the street. They are indeed worse than infidels -who do not feel His Spirit brooding over the crowd, and His guardian -angels watching over those children—else how could they survive? Best -of all I know where those Angels live, and it is there I took the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin; I was sure they would never leave the -place doubting that we are a religious people. Evidently the children -also knew where their Angels live for the place was in a state of siege. -It is not strange that they knew, for their ancestors had walked and -talked with angels, and they were not yet old enough to have lost the -faith of their fathers. Troops of children there were; mere children -carrying children, and where there was an only child, which is rare on -the East Side, it was brought by a grandfather and grandmother, children -themselves now, and old enough to again believe in angels.</p> - -<p>There were flowers in the room and they<a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a> were for the children; bowers -of roses, red roses, wafting their incense and driving out the mouldy, -tenement house air which clung to the little ones. There was music, and -they sang—sang as I know God wanted them to sing—gay, happy songs, -which seem to be denied the children who sing in the churches.</p> - -<p>How I wished that the picturesque little choir boys on Fifth Avenue, who -sang sixteenth century music and Augustinian theology, might have had a -chance to sing as those East Side children sang—full throated, lustily, -joyously; songs which made them shiver from very joy, and which made the -Frau Directorin weep copiously.</p> - -<p>How I wished that the priest who chanted Psalms in Latin, and the other -priest who intoned them in English as dead as Latin, could have been -there and have heard those children recite the same Psalms, in East Side -English. Yes, I have often wished that David himself might hear them; I -am sure he would be proud that he had a share in writing them, even as -the priests might be ashamed that<a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a> they had never known just what -precious reading they are.</p> - -<p>No one preached to the children although they heard the good tidings, -and no one told them to be good although they were given a chance to -know how good God is, when men give Him a chance.</p> - -<p>There was a sacrament, a holy one; roses were given the children, and -the Angels who gave them shed their blood, for the roses had thorns. The -next week the children were to be taken where the roses grew, and they -would see that</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Rose plot,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Fringed pool,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Fern’d grot—<br /></span> -<span class="i1">The veriest school<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Of Peace:—â€<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="nind">But they would not have to see the garden to know that God is.</p> - -<p>We broke bread with the Angels and looked into their joyously weary -faces, and then we talked about the very thing I wanted my guests to -know, namely: That underneath all our religious or rather credal chaos, -we<a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a> have a national creed if not a national religion.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director suggested that the fundamental doctrine of our creed -is “in gold we trust,†and then he began a dissertation upon our -national materialism.</p> - -<p>Perhaps so, I conceded; but I doubted that we are more materialistic -than the people of the older world, in fact I was inclined to believe -that we are less so; which of course the Herr Director stoutly denied, -and I as stoutly affirmed. In justice to myself I must say that when my -country’s honor is not at stake I am less dogmatic.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps we are equally materialistic,†I continued, “but we are -certainly more generous. We make money faster than the people of the Old -World, but we also give it away faster, and I believe that there is no -country in which there is such a contempt for the merely rich man.â€</p> - -<p>“I suppose the second article in your national creed,†the Herr Director -interrupted, “is that you are the biggest country and the best people -under the Sun.<a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a></p> - -<p>“If I were suggesting a motto for a new coinage I would put on one side -of it ‘In Gold We Trust,’ and on the other ‘The Biggest and The Best.’â€</p> - -<p>Ignoring this somewhat merited slur I said: “The first and only doctrine -of our national creed which we have as yet formulated is that we have a -great national destiny.â€</p> - -<p>At that the Herr Director jumped excitedly from his seat, and said -somewhat sneeringly, “Oh, you mean you have a place under the Sun. All -nations have such a creed, but when we Germans try to realize it, you -call us a menace to civilization.â€</p> - -<p>It was a tense moment in my relationship to my guests, but I ventured to -say: “We have a better reason for the faith which is in us than most -other nations, for we are trying to realize it without killing off other -people. In fact we are trying to realize it at a greater hazard than -that of being conquered by an alien enemy. We are keeping open these -doors which have swung both ways freely, for nearly three hundred years, -and your<a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a> Old World weary ones have been coming; bringing their -traditions, their ideals, their worn out faiths and their heaped up -wrath. We did not forbid them; they have come to our towns, our schools, -our homes, they are here for better for worse, and we cannot divorce -them, or drive them away.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†I continued, much to the discomfiture of the Herr Director, “we -<i>have</i> a meaning to the Old World, a larger meaning than you think. We -have a place under the Sun, not to satisfy national ambitions; but to -keep alive faith in humanity.â€</p> - -<p>The Angels around the table were disquieted by our vehemence, the Frau -Directorin urged that it was growing late, and we left that center of -quiet which we had so disturbed, to return to our hotel. We entered a -street car crowded beyond its capacity by burly Irishmen the worse for -liquor, good-natured Slavs none the better for it, aggressive looking -Russian Jews and sleek Chinamen. There were mothers with their crying -babies, and thoughtless boys and girls chewing gum most viciously. -After<a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a> the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had been jostled -unmercifully, we left the uncomfortable car, and when we were again -breathing unpolluted air the Herr Director asked quizzically:</p> - -<p>“Do you still believe in humanity?â€</p> - -<p>Boldly and bravely I answered: “Yes, I believe,†and lifting my face to -the stars I whispered: “Lord, help my unbelief.<a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III<br /><br /> -<i>The Spirit Out-of-Doors</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">M</span>UCH to my regret the Herr Director did not sleep well that second night -in the United States. His nerves had suffered from those first thronging -impressions, he looked pale and was decidedly irritable; “for how could -a man sleep or be expected to sleep in this business canyon, loud from -the thunder of the elevated, and bright from the flashing of illuminated -signs?†Together they had the effect of an electric storm upon him.</p> - -<p>When he did fall asleep he dreamed that the Metropolitan Tower, the -Woolworth Building and St. Patrick’s Cathedral were dancing Tango upon -his chest.</p> - -<p>This nightmare may have been due to the fact that just before retiring -we witnessed an exhibition of this modern madness, which seemed to be -indulged in everywhere except<a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a> in the churches and possibly the barber -shops. Partly also, perhaps, because the Herr Director insisted upon -eating lobster shortly before midnight, in spite of the fact that I -warned him against that indulgence. It was one of those generous, United -States lobsters, and not the diminutive shell-fish with which cultured -Europeans merely tickle their palates.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director had repeatedly pointed out our bad habit of leaving a -great deal of food on our plates, and to impress upon me his better -manners, he had eaten the entire lobster.</p> - -<p>I had not slept well that night either, in spite of the fact that I had -eaten sparingly. I think it was the Herr Director himself who had “got -on my nerves,†and I was finding this task of “showing off†my beloved -United States difficult and exacting.</p> - -<p>That morning we were to leave New York and I would introduce my guests -to the great American out-of-doors, and the prospect added to my already -uncomfortable frame of mind.<a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a></p> - -<p>If only we might start from that marvellous Central Station in the heart -of the city; but in order to reach our destination, which was Lake -Mohonk, we had to cross the West Side where it is irredeemably tawdry -and ugly, and take one of the ferry-boats to Weehawken. This somewhat -inconvenient procedure made the Herr Director doubly critical.</p> - -<p>The Fates were against us, for it was a hot, humid day, the car was -crowded, and the start from Weehawken anything but auspicious.</p> - -<p>In Europe the Herr Director travels second class when he travels -officially (the first, as is well known, being reserved for Americans -and fools), and third when he travels <i>incognito</i>, for he is a thrifty -soul. Nevertheless, he did not like our cars, they were “obtrusively -decorated,†and privacy was impossible. Why should he have to look at a -hundred or more human heads variously “<i>frisired</i>â€?</p> - -<p>I suggested that we take seats in front, which we succeeded in doing, -and then he found that if he wished to take off his collar, he would -have to do it with two hundred or<a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a> more human eyes fastened upon him, -when the hundred people possessing them had no business to see what he -was doing.</p> - -<p>I have already confessed how sensitive I am to criticism of anything -American, no matter how just the criticism may be. So sensitive am I, -that had he reflected upon the good looks of my wife, he could scarcely -have hurt me more than when he reflected upon the beauty and arrangement -of an American railway car.</p> - -<p>And yet I have often wondered why our American genius seems to have -exhausted itself when it evolved the present type of car, having done -nothing to it except adding or taking away some of its “gingerbread.†-Nevertheless I lost my patience and told him that if he liked to travel -cooped in with seven other passengers, four of whom he must face and two -of whom might at any moment poke their elbows into his ribs; if he -preferred to breathe air polluted by seven other people, and have a -fresh supply of ozone only at periods and in quantities regulated by -law, I did not admire his taste. As far as I was<a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a> concerned I preferred -to travel in this big room on wheels, rather than in a jail-like box to -which the conductor alone had the key. Anyway this represented American -democracy with its unpartitioned space; but if he really wanted it, I -could get him a stateroom in the Pullman, and he could ride in isolated -splendor and be aristocratically stuffy and uncomfortable.</p> - -<p>When the Frau Directorin in typical German phraseology complained about -the draft: “<i>Um Gottes Willen ein Zug!</i>†I decided to save the day, and -we retreated to the Pullman stateroom.</p> - -<p>There they rested themselves back and looked tolerably happy while I, -silently but fervently, prayed that this particular train would not -disgrace itself by “committing†an accident.</p> - -<p>The big, American out-of-doors, even where it is old and its waste -spaces are cultivated and hedged about, has something which is -characteristically American. Of course nature knows no political -boundary; the grass is green everywhere, the<a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a> sky is blue, cattle and -sheep, like man, have a long and honorable ancestry. Yet there is a -difference which may not be due to what nature is, but to man’s attitude -towards her and his treatment of her.</p> - -<p>I have noticed this in passing through Europe; how unerringly one knows -where Germanic boundaries end and those of the Slav begin. German fields -and forests are trim and orderly; Slavic territory so ill kept and ill -used that when one has a glimpse of a village even from the swift moving -train, the difference is obvious.</p> - -<p>Sometimes I am inclined to believe that this attitude of man affects his -environment as much as we know the environment affects him. I wonder -just how much of the American out-of-doors, with its generous but not -gentle aspect, its subdued but untamed spirit, is due to those valiant -men who came from across the sea, and in so doing restored a bit of -their long-lost courage, and made masters of men who so long had been -serfs and knaves.</p> - -<p>I had hoped that the sudden burst of the<a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a> Hudson upon my guests’ vision -would thrill them; but if they were thrilled, they were careful to -conceal it. When I suggested the likeness of the Hudson to the Rhine, -the Herr Director took it as a personal affront and said you might as -well compare St. Patrick’s Cathedral and that of Cologne. They are both -churches and Gothic; the Hudson and the Rhine are two rivers, and both -are big.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless I insisted that there is an evident resemblance which would -be complete if the Hudson had a ruined castle here and there, or a -picturesquely cramped village huddling against the hillside.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and beside castles and picturesque villages,†the Herr Director -replied tartly, “you need a thousand years of culture and the same -traditions which make the shores of the Rhine sacred to us; you also -need generations of patiently plodding peasants who have made a -sacrament of their toil. One glance at your rotting boats lying along -the shore, at the untilled, gaping spaces and glaring, inartistic -sign-boards<a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a> which disfigure it, is sufficient to distinguish the two -rivers or perhaps even the two countries.â€</p> - -<p>Having thus forcefully delivered himself, he scornfully pointed out the -waste places and the unkempt-looking fields, asking me whether I still -dared compare anything in this out-of-doors with the fine economy and -splendid supervision of the natural resources of his own country.</p> - -<p>Shamefacedly I acknowledged my country’s guilt, and the guilt which was -evident on the majestic shores of the Hudson. We are wasteful, -extravagant and reckless—great defects in our national spirit, and most -in evidence in our treatment of nature’s beauty and wealth. We shall -have to remedy that, in fact we are just beginning to do it; if not from -any sense of guilt, from the same sheer necessity which makes the -nations of the Old World careful of their national wealth.</p> - -<p>“The Conservation of our National Resources†is a fine phrase; it -represents not only an economic, but a spiritual gain—this feeling of -responsibility for the next generation.<a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a> It is a new and most valuable -asset of our national spirit; yet I must confess that I fear the coming -of a day when we, too, shall have to practice the sordid little -economies of the Old World and think with anxiety about the to-morrow.</p> - -<p>It has always seemed to me that here the miracle of the loaves and -fishes might be performed indefinitely, and that there always would be -left over the baskets full of fragments. Somehow, in common with the -rest of mankind, I have associated generous plenty with the American -spirit, and I trust we shall never have just our dole and no more.</p> - -<p>I recall walking one evening with the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin through the well-regulated, officially trimmed and “<i>Streng -Verboten</i>†forest which encircles his native city. My children were with -us—young, vigorous, American savages, who have a superabundance of the -American spirit although they have not a drop of American blood in their -veins. We passed a small mound of freshly mown hay and they promptly -jumped into it, tossing a few handfuls<a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a> as an offering to their -aboriginal deity, the wind. If they had dashed into the plateglass -window of a jeweler’s shop or had desecrated the most holy shrine, they -could not have caused greater consternation.</p> - -<p>“<i>Um Gottes Himmels Willen die Polizei!</i>†cried the Herr Director and -the Frau Directorin echoed: “<i>Die Polizei!</i>â€</p> - -<p>Although this happened about ten years ago, my children have not -forgotten their fright.</p> - -<p>I suppose we still lack this virtue of economy, and yet I hope we may -not lose that certain largeness of nature and that generosity of spirit -which have characterized us.</p> - -<p>I love the generous spaces, the unfenced lawns, which make of the whole -village one common park; the grass and clover free to the touch of our -children’s feet, the fragrant flowers wasting their bloom, and berries -and cherries enough for the wild things of the woods. May the future not -bring more high walls and narrow lanes, big game preserves for the rich, -and scant patches of soil for the poor; castles for capital and -tenements<a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a> for labor. And may we never see written over every blade of -grass: “<i>Streng Verboten</i>.â€</p> - -<p>I realized that the Herr Director spoke truly when he said that what we -lack over here is a healthy class spirit, which the German farmer has. A -sort of pride in his calling which makes him care for the soil and -nourish it with a lover’s passion. To him robbing the soil is as great a -crime as it would be to rob his children. It is not only the Emperor who -regards himself as a partner with God, and sometimes the senior partner; -the commonest, poorest peasant is apt to say as he drenches his field -with the accumulated compost: “<i>Ich und Gott</i>.â€</p> - -<p>Speaking of the farmer, the Herr Director admitted that in Germany as -elsewhere there is a trend to the city; but the tide is held back by the -pride of the German farmer, who glories in having his traditions, his -folksongs, and, above all, this sense of partnership with God.</p> - -<p>We scarcely have such a thing as a farmer class; we have merely -merchandizers in dirt<a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a> who sell not only the products of the soil, but -unhesitatingly the soil itself.</p> - -<p>The land which we see from the car window, which the pioneers won from -this boundless space, these houses and sheltering groves, the homesteads -in which a great race was cradled, are all for sale, now that the soil -is robbed of its fertility and the robbers have moved on to repeat the -process elsewhere. We are doing something, he admitted, to stem the tide -to the cities; we are introducing agricultural training into our public -schools and are making the raising of corn and wheat a science, but not -as yet a sacrament.</p> - -<p>We stayed over night in one of the half-asleep towns on the shores of -the river, a town whose history is written upon the headstones in the -cemetery, in the center of which the stately meeting-house stands. We -met the descendants of those who sleep there, whose pride lies in the -fact that their forefathers were the pioneers who fought the Indians, -the fevers and each other. Their houses are full of old furniture -shipped from<a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a> England and Holland, and we ate their food and drank their -tea from costly silver and exquisite china which they have inherited.</p> - -<p>We looked upon the portraits of their ancestors and were told of their -virtues and their fame; we saw fine memorials to the past in churches -and town halls and rode in their automobiles, to see the farms -bequeathed to them. One thing, alas! they have not and never will -have—descendants.</p> - -<p>On one of the farms we saw a swarthy Italian with a bright red rose -behind his ear. His wife and children were working with him in the -field, and they were doing this strange thing as they pulled weeds from -the onion beds—they were singing. The Herr Director said significantly, -“These are the heirs to all this,†and I think he was a true prophet.</p> - -<p>It is a wonderful thing to invent agricultural machinery and to discover -new methods by which two blades of grass can be made to grow where but -one grew; yet if only some one could tune our dull American ears, so -that our farmers might catch the melody<a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a> of the singing land and sing -with it; if our boys and girls would love wild roses well enough to wear -them—if, and that is a very big if—some one could teach us Americans -to be proud of having descendants, we might add a new note to the great -American out-of-doors, and keep it American.</p> - -<p>That night we sat upon a wide verandah, overlooking a valley through -which the Hudson rolled majestically; we saw populous cities, -picturesque villages and bounteous farms; we looked into the heart of -the out-of-doors and I was proud of it and of its free people, who ought -to be a grateful people. There was deep silence everywhere; no sound -except that of the birds, and they did not sing jubilantly as birds -ought to sing in so blessed a place and on so glorious an evening. No -one sang except the same Italian who was coming home with his wife and -numerous progeny. He still wore the rose behind his ear, although it had -faded. Those who sat with us had every luxury and more money than they -knew how to spend; but they could not sing, for they were old,<a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a> children -there were none, and if there had been, they would not have been -singing—they would have had a victrola.</p> - -<p>After the Italian had eaten his frugal but pungent fare he came to the -big verandah to get his orders for the next day, and the Herr Director -spoke Italian to him and he replied in that language which in itself is -almost a song. His mistress asked him to bring his wife and children to -sing for us. His wife did not come but the children came. They would not -sing an Italian song, it is true—that was just for themselves, in the -fields where only God heard. They sang some sentimental thing they had -heard in the “movies‗chewing gum the while. I asked them to sing -something their teacher taught them but they knew nothing except “My -Country ’tis of Thee†and the “Star Spangled Banner,†both of which they -sang joylessly and not understandingly. How and why should they -understand when the Americans did not?</p> - -<p>It was a day full of dismal failure in my attempt to impress upon my -guests the<a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a> American spirit, and the failure of it was “rubbed†in by -the Herr Director, who, as he bade me good-night, quoted as a parting -shot this bit of German verse:</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Und wo Man singt<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Da las dich froelich nieder,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Denn boese Menchen haben keine Lieder.â€<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="nind">The rub was in his inference that we have no song because we have no -noble spirit.<a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV<br /><br /> -<i>The Spirit at Lake Mohonk</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">M</span>ANY years ago the Herr Director and I were tramping through the Hartz -Mountains in northern Germany. He had not yet achieved portliness and -fame; while to me, America was still the land of Indians and buffaloes, -and I had never dreamed of going there. We were climbing the Brocken, -and that which thrilled me more than its granite steeps and deeply -mysterious pines was, the hundreds of school-boys and girls we met, -singing as they climbed, and who, when they rested, listened to their -teachers who stimulated their imagination and their patriotism by -telling them the stories which had woven themselves around those -mountains.</p> - -<p>The Catskills are not unlike the Hartz, and I remarked upon it as the -Herr Director <a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a>and I were climbing the Walkill Range. Our destination -was Lake Mohonk, the scene of the Conference for International -Arbitration, organized and supported by that noble Quaker, Albert K. -Smiley; and now after his death continued by his able and generous -brother Daniel Smiley, and his gracious wife.</p> - -<p>The Frau Directorin, with hundreds of other guests, had been met at the -railroad station by carriages, this being one of the few places left -upon earth where the automobile is excluded.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director was not climbing as easily as he climbed thirty years -ago, and neither was I, although I made a brave show and led the way, -frequently leaving him in the rear, much to his disgust.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†he said, mopping his brow and looking about critically, “this is -somewhat like the Hartz,†and my heart gave a joyous leap at his -admission; “but several things are missing: Good company, merry songs -and, above all, places of refreshment.â€</p> - -<p>Of course I could offer him no better company than I was, as there are -not many people in America who climb when they can<a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a> ride for nothing; -and the only refreshment available was clear water from a shaded spring. -As we drank he recalled laughingly how, when we stopped at one of those -nature’s fountains in the Hartz, a man who had watched us, came running -out of his house and warned us that we might catch cold in our stomachs, -at the same time politely offering to guide us to a place where we would -get something not so dangerously cold, and with tempting foam at the -top.</p> - -<p>I have long ago been weaned from the German custom of mixing -refreshments and scenery; but one does miss the boys and girls, the -merry, happy throngs, their sentimental songs and their fervent, poetic -patriotism. Involuntarily my mind reverted to a scene the Herr Director -and I witnessed after we had finally reached the summit of our mountain -in the Hartz. It was nearly evening, and we could look far and wide -above the forest into the happy and beautiful country. On the very -topmost peak stood a corpulent German, surrounded by his genial group. -He was reciting with fervor and<a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a> genuine passion, in the broadest -Berlinese dialect, one of their treasured poems which begins with these -lines:</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“High upon the hilltops of thy mountains stand I,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Thou beautiful and mighty Fatherland.â€<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="nind">If this should happen over here, of which there is no danger, he would -be laughed at, if noticed at all; over there he was treated like a high -priest who called the faithful to prayer.</p> - -<p>As a people we lack not only poetic imagination, we lack also this -identification of our country with the best in nature. Our youth may be -to blame for that, or perhaps we have so much of nature and so much -which is beautiful that we have not been able to encompass it. Yet there -must be something very important lacking in such Americans as the one -whom I met very recently. He had just returned from a “Seeing America -First†tour, and had seen everything from Niagara to the Big Tree groves -of California. When I asked him what he thought of it all he said, -coolly, “Oh! it’s a big country.<a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a>†Naturally I did not tell this nor the -following to the Herr Director.</p> - -<p>A few years ago I went with a group of Americans to see one of the -famous ice caves in the Alps. The accommodating guides had lighted -candles in the labyrinth and the sight was enchanting. One of my party, -a dry-goods dealer, said with genuine enthusiasm: “My! I wish I could -get such a shade of silk in New York.†The other said: “Too bad; so much -perfectly good ice going to waste.†He belonged to the much maligned -tribe of ice-men. The rest of the men said nothing, although one of them -did remark when we reached our hotel: “This only shows how slow they are -over here. In the good old United States we would light that show with -electricity.†He belongs to the tribe whose name is legion.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director, as my readers have found, was very chary of his -praise, in fact thus far I had not heard a good word from him for my -United States; but that evening as we looked from the Mountain House -down upon the dark, deep lake, the rock gardens<a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a> and the quaint bowers -on every promontory, granite walls broken and scattered, and the rich -valley between us and the Catskills, he did say: “This is the most -beautiful spot I have ever seen!â€</p> - -<p>Of course his generous mood was partially gendered by the unequalled -hospitality of our host and hostess and by the sight of his fellow -guests, who represented not only the entire United States, but the -United States at its best. Moreover, he and his wife had received a more -than cordial welcome because they were representative foreigners and -spoke English with a “cute accent.â€</p> - -<p>I almost felt a slight touch of jealousy upon that point although I am -not of a jealous nature. But I have noticed this: to the degree that my -English has improved, to that degree I have become less interesting to -my American friends, so that I have sometimes been tempted to wish that -I too might speak English with a “cute accent.â€</p> - -<p>The happy day was almost spoiled for me by the discovery that our trunks -had not<a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a> arrived. The Herr Director worked himself into a frenzy and the -Frau Directorin had dire forebodings of having to spend the three days -in the same shirt-waist. Telegrams were sent in all directions, while -the Herr Director called our much boasted of baggage system hard names; -my “best laid schemes†seemed about to “gang agley†when much to my -relief the trunks arrived, and I felt once more assured of the divine -favor in my most strenuous efforts to “boost†my United States.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director had come to this country to take part in the Mohonk -Conference, and being a prudent man, he submitted his address to me. It -was written with Teutonic thoroughness and as void of places of -refreshment as the Sahara Desert or the Walkill Range we had climbed.</p> - -<p>I suggested a thorough revision, the cutting out of many statistics and -resting his case, not upon pure business, but upon the higher plane of -pure justice. He insisted upon retaining his statistics and also his -appeal to the selfish and materialistic side of his<a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a> audience; for he -knew “something about Americans†and still doubted their idealism.</p> - -<p>The next morning after breakfast we attended prayers, which is a part of -the daily program of this hostelry, and presided over by the host, who -usually reads the Scriptures, announces a hymn and then leads in prayer. -It is as impressive as it is simple and dignified, and the Herr Director -and his wife did their first singing in America when they joined in a -hymn whose tune is an old German folk-song.</p> - -<p>The program which followed the prayer service was dominated by -specialists in International Law and they were dry and concise enough to -suit even the Herr Director; while the dreamers and agitators, whom he -expected to hear, were almost altogether unrepresented. In fact they -have grown less in this assembly each year, largely because it is -thought that the whole subject has reached the point when it is a -practical question to be discussed by men of affairs. No one knew better -than the Herr Director how inevitable was the next great war and how far -we were<a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a> from the practical Court of International Arbitration.</p> - -<p>The epilogue to that great world drama had been spoken in the Balkan, -and spoken with vehemence, passion and fierce cruelty, and he knew its -bearing upon the whole tense situation in Europe. Yet I am sure that -even he did not know how many nations would be involved, nor how costly -and deadly would be the conflict. He did foreshadow in his own -condemnation of England and of England’s foreign policy the element of -hate between the two related nations, which was to play so important a -part in the present war.</p> - -<p>The afternoon is playtime at Lake Mohonk, and most generous are the -provisions for recreation; but the Herr Director did not ride or drive, -nor play golf or tennis. He stayed in his room rewriting his paper, -having sensed something of the Spirit of Lake Mohonk.</p> - -<p>It is a very dignified room in which the problem of International -Arbitration is discussed, and although it never loses its hospitable, -home-like air, one always has the<a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a> feeling of being before a high -tribunal, where anything but the most serious mood seems out of place; -although a jest sometimes relieves the discussion.</p> - -<p>An audience of about four hundred people gathered that evening, men and -women in varied walks of life, coming from all the states in the Union -and from many foreign countries.</p> - -<p>There were captains of industry and of infantry, admirals of fleets and -presidents of colleges, statesmen and politicians, ministers, lawyers -and journalists. Their views ranged from those who believe that war is -an unavoidable event in human history, and that a little blood letting -now and then is necessary for the best of men, to those who teach that -war is a curse and that a certain warrior who compared it to the worst -place which human imagination can conceive, might be sued for libelling -his Satanic Majesty who presides over that place or state. On the whole, -they represented the men of action and men without illusions although -with high ideals. The Herr Director’s paper, minus its<a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a> statistics, and -keenly critical rather than laudatory, was received with applause, and -he stepped from the platform in the best humor in which I had seen him -since he reached the United States.</p> - -<p>The real joy of the Lake Mohonk Conference, and of all conferences, is -the human touch, and after the long evening session the Herr Director -became the center of an interesting group of men who, while smoking -their cigars, lost some of their American reserve and became -sufficiently animated to hear and tell stories; so it was long past -midnight when the informal session ended.</p> - -<p>Frequently the Herr Director asked questions about things which he could -not understand, and it was at such times that I sought to enlighten him, -or have him enlightened by others; for he had become sceptical as to my -own ability to inform him regarding anything American.</p> - -<p>He could not understand, for instance, that all this lavish -entertainment was free, and suggested that it must be a sort of gigantic -American advertising scheme, carefully concealed.<a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a> When he was told that -to secure a room during the season one must apply long in advance, and -most likely have fair credentials before being accepted as a guest, he -merely shook his head and murmured something about these “inexplicable -Americans.â€</p> - -<p>He also did not see how an hotel could flourish in any civilized country -without permitting the accepted social diversions, such as card playing, -dancing, and drinking something stronger than the mild beverages served -at the soda fountain.</p> - -<p>He wanted to know how it was that three or four hundred Americans would -take three days of their time to discuss a theme which had little or -nothing to do with profits. All the Americans he had known about were -void of ideals, and had no time for anything but business or poker. In -fact he was astonished not to see poker chips littering the sidewalks.</p> - -<p>I told him that while it is true that the average American business man -is always in a hurry, and gives little time to wholesome recreation, it -is also true that in no country with<a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a> which I am familiar do men of -business give their time so generously to the consideration of the -common welfare as here. They do this, not having the incentive -constantly held out to the European business man, namely: Recognition by -the state and the reward which sovereigns may bestow, in much coveted -titles and decorations. The average well-inclined American business man -is incredibly patient, sitting through tedious meetings, listening to -reports of various philanthropies, and earns a martyr’s crown attending -those interminably long banquets with their assault upon his digestion -and their appeal to his sympathies.</p> - -<p>At Lake Mohonk the Herr Director met business men employing thousands of -clerks to whom they grant vacations and holidays without legal -compulsion, and for whom they have inaugurated welfare plans of -far-reaching importance. It was certainly a revelation to him that the -number of Americans who are something more than animated money bags is -growing larger every day.</p> - -<p>The still more difficult thing to explain to<a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a> him was the frank and open -discussions of national policies and the evident international -view-point of those who took part in them. In all the discussions the -most striking note was: “The United States wants not territory, not -unfair advantage over other nations nor aggrandizement at the expense of -lesser peoples, nor war, certainly not for conquest.â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director intimated that in the exalted mood induced by being -members of this conference, we could afford to be generous; but that at -a time of national excitement we are no better than other people, taking -what we can get and asking no questions.</p> - -<p>“Uncle Sam was not wholly disinterested in Cuba, was he? and as far as -Mexico is concerned, who fermented the trouble there but this same Uncle -Sam, that you might have an excuse to swallow as much of Mexico as you -wanted?â€</p> - -<p>Instantly my mind travelled to the time of the Spanish-American war, -when I was in Europe, and the Herr Director was editing an influential -German newspaper. He wrote an editorial, accusing the United States of<a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a> -beginning the war with Spain for the sole purpose of annexing the “Pearl -of the Antilles,†and when I disputed his theory we nearly severed our -“diplomatic relations.â€</p> - -<p>I now again vigorously pressed my point, to the great amusement of my -friends and the chagrin of the Herr Director, who could not easily -refute my statements; for while I acknowledged being an -“<i>Unausstehlicher Americaner</i>,†I happen to know the Old World policies -as well as he does.</p> - -<p>I mentioned Austria-Hungary, and its taking over of Bosnia and -Herzegovina, without so much as “by your leave‗and Germany which, to -salve its hurt, sent a fleet of warships to China and helped the German -eagle bury its beak in the Yellow Dragon’s tail. I mentioned France in -Algeria, and England everywhere—“and Uncle Sam in the Philippines,†he -interrupted.</p> - -<p>I took full advantage of that interruption to remind him that Uncle Sam -is the only power which ever paid for anything gained by that right -which in Europe seems to be the only right;—the right of might.<a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a></p> - -<p>It was a difficult task which I had undertaken, to convince the Herr -Director that the American Spirit is different from that of the Old -World, and in spite of me he insisted that we are not a bit better than -other people, but only so situated that we can afford to be generous. I -assured him that I preferred to boast of our fair dealing with lesser -peoples than of our victorious battles, and that I am never so loyally -and enthusiastically American as when I think of our being just, rather -than mighty.</p> - -<p>I have since been at Lake Mohonk at a time when national passions were -aroused, and when those who had prophesied the early passing of the -battle fever were discredited prophets. While there, a letter reached me -from the Herr Director, in which he sent greetings to his host and -hostess and the members of the conference, and in which he recalled his -former accusation that we are no better than other people; for “are you -not pro-Ally and filling your pockets with the proceeds from the sale of -war munitions? Where now is your boasted fairness?<a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a>â€</p> - -<p>My reply was that I in common with many others wish we could wash our -hands of this bloody business of selling ammunition, and that I still -firmly believe that the American people will retain their poise during -this dreadful upheaval.</p> - -<p>Yes, even to-day I can say with no less pride than usual that I believe -in the American Spirit, in its sense of fairness and its love of -justice, and while I trust that this country may be kept from so great a -catastrophe as war, and I be kept from so severe a trial of my loyalty -as having to choose on which side to fight, I know I would freely and -unhesitatingly be on the side of my country, the United States of -America.</p> - -<p>Three glorious days had passed at Lake Mohonk and when the guests left -that mountain top no one went more reluctantly than the Herr Director -and his wife, and all the way back to the great city they felicitated -upon their delightful experiences, while I rejoiced in my country and -its spirit. When the Herr Director wrote his book I found that he -acknowledged having discovered<a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a> four things at Lake Mohonk. First, an -unparallelled hospitality. Secondly, that the leading men of America are -soberly practical, unemotional, somewhat self-centered; but, at the same -time, men of high ideals. Thirdly, that its military men attend -conferences for international arbitration, that they do not rattle their -sabers, and in appearance cannot be distinguished from mere civilians. -Finally, that the American man boasts most and loudest of his sense of -fairness; and while I write these lines, I am hoping and praying that -this may indeed be not an empty boast, but an integral part of the -American Spirit.<a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V<br /><br /> -<i>Lobster and Mince Pie</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">I</span>F I were gastronomically inclined I would study New York’s cosmopolitan -population and its progress towards Americanization from the standpoint -of its restaurants; for the appetite is most loyally patriotic. A man -may cease to speak his mother tongue and have forsworn allegiance to -Kaiser and to King, but still cling to his ancestral bill of fare.</p> - -<p>If I were an absolute monarch and wished my alien people quickly -assimilated, I would permit them to speak their native tongue and cling -to the faith of their fathers; but I would close all foreign -restaurants, and as speedily as possible obliterate from their memory -the taste of viands “like mother used to make.â€</p> - -<p>I fear that it is neither Goethe nor Schiller, nor Bismarck nor Kaiser -Wilhelm who has kept the memory of the Fatherland alive in the minds and -hearts of many German people<a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a> in America. Dare I say that possibly much -of their patriotism and loyalty is due to the taste of rye bread and -sweet butter, <i>Rindsbrust</i> and <i>Pell Cartoffel</i>, not to mention a -certain frothy amber fluid?</p> - -<p>Be that as it may, when I discovered that the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin were homesick, I took them to a German restaurant to assuage -their pangs; just as if, did I detect the same symptoms in an American -whom I wished to make thoroughly at home in a foreign country, I would -take him where a meal could be properly concluded with apple pie and -cheese or ice-cream.</p> - -<p>The restaurant I selected lent itself particularly well to my purpose, -for everything was imported, from the Bavarian architecture to the -<i>Frankfurter</i> sausages. The <i>menu</i> card was adorned by illuminated, -medieval lettering, and on the smoked rafters were painted pious and -impious verses, which gave the room a literary atmosphere.</p> - -<p>It was as crowded and full of tobacco smoke and the odors of savory -meats as the most loyal German could desire, and my<a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a> guests were -thoroughly at home. They ate their food happily, praised it -discriminatingly, and studied the familiar environment carefully. As -usual, certain things were lacking; for the Herr Director is a keen -critic and never accepts anything as perfect.</p> - -<p>I agreed with him that the orchestra was too noisy and on the whole -superfluous, and that the native American dining there could be easily -recognized by the indifference with which he ate. We heard no loud -complaining, and little or no quarrelling with the waiters. The food was -accepted in a humble sort of way whether it was satisfactory or not; -bills were paid, tips were given in the spirit of meekness, and accepted -in the opposite way, and the guests left without any ceremony except -that of paying their toll to the keepers of their hats and coats, a form -of extortion quite unparallelled abroad.</p> - -<p>In striking contrast to our mere eating was my guests’ enjoyment of -every morsel of the food which they had selected, not simply because it -was food, but because it was a note fitting into the gastronomic<a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a> -harmony. The head waiter and all his minions hovered about them with due -reverence, and woe to him who by pose or gesture disturbed the perfect -accord.</p> - -<p>A friend from Nebraska who was staying at our hotel had joined us at -dinner. When the waiter handed him the bewildering bill of fare, he -waved it aside saying: “Just bring me a big lobster stewed in milk, with -a dish of pickles and a mince pie.â€</p> - -<p>The waiter turned pale, the Herr Director gasped, almost strangling on -the salad he was eating, and the Frau Directorin looked at me -despairingly. The waiter was the first to recover his composure, and -cautiously suggested that the gentleman might like some Lobster à la -Newburgh.</p> - -<p>“Nix,†said the Nebraskan, “I want lobster à la Milkburgh, and don’t -forget the pickles.â€</p> - -<p>The waiter retreated and after a long conference with his superior, -informed the gentleman that he could have his lobster stewed in milk, -but that it would cost him one dollar and fifty cents.<a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a></p> - -<p>“Hustle it along,†was the curt reply, and in about fifteen minutes he -was deep in his bowl of lobster stew, flanked on either side by pickles -and mince pie, while the rest of us were eating our way leisurely and -artistically through a <i>menu</i> which began with <i>caviar</i> and ended with -<i>Camambert</i> and <i>demitasse</i>.</p> - -<p>After dinner, American men, manners and ideals became the subject of a -discussion into which my Western friend good-naturedly entered, although -he was made a horrible example of the fact that we are ill-mannered. The -Herr Director insisted that our nation is too young to have any except -bad manners, and while no doubt we had improved in the years since he -first made our acquaintance, the improvement had not yet permeated the -masses.</p> - -<p>That which I called the American Spirit was the spirit of the few -cultured, academic persons I knew, but the majority of the people was as -alien to it as was our Nebraska friend’s lobster and mince pie to our -delicious and dietetically correct dinner.<a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a></p> - -<p>“I don’t give a hang for your ‘dietetically correct dinner.’ I want what -I want, when I want it!†the Nebraskan said, smiting the table with his -fist, and evidently suppressing stronger language with an apologetic -glance at the ladies of our party.</p> - -<p>“That is exactly it; you want what you want, when you want it,†the Herr -Director repeated, “whether or not it is on the bill of fare, or in the -statute book, or among the laws of the Universe. In that I suppose you -Americans all agree; that is your <i>American Spirit</i>.†He uttered the -last phrase with special emphasis, and with no attempt to hide the -sneer.</p> - -<p>I admitted that my friend’s demand for the thing he wanted, regardless -of the bill of fare and in defiance of a dietary law (of which he was -not as yet conscious), was a manifestation of our individualism, a -rather wide-spread characteristic. I was fain also to admit that our -individualism is not always as harmless to others as in the case under -discussion. It is an attitude of mind which has developed into a system -to which we<a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a> are committed for better or worse, and is in striking -contrast to the German ideal of submission to an accepted order.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†from the Herr Director with evident pride. “That which makes -Germany great and strong is our willing submission to authority; but -remember it must be intelligent authority, and at the same time it must -be efficient. To be sure,†he acknowledged, “we are often chagrined by -the ‘<i>Streng Verboten</i>’ to the right of us and the ‘<i>Nicht Erlaubt</i>’ to -the left of us. We are much governed but we are well governed, and you, -too, will some day discover that the common weal has to be above the -individual’s caprice. Your evident disrespect of laws and conventions -results from the lack of intelligence back of them, and you have no -respect for your lawmakers because they do not deserve it.â€</p> - -<p>At this point the Nebraskan astonished us by saying that he had recently -been in Europe on business, selling grindstones, that he knew something -about Germany, and he never was gladder to get back to God<a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a>’s country -than when he finally set foot upon his native soil. He had many -adventures, and as an example of what he had to suffer from one of -Germany’s well enforced laws, he told a story which proved his sense of -humor, though the “laugh was on him.â€</p> - -<p>“When I was in Berlin I made out a small bill for some goods I had sold, -and the man told me that I must affix to it some revenue stamps. I -didn’t want to bother with it, and told him so. The thing was too -trifling anyway.</p> - -<p>“I never thought of that bill again till I was forcibly reminded of it -in Hamburg as I was about to sail for home. I was haled before the -court, and the judge fined me fifty <i>marks</i>. Of course I knew I had to -pay it, so I handed him the money and told him in good English to take -it and go to the hot place with it. I didn’t dream that he understood, -but he replied in as good English as I gave him: ‘Officials of my rank -travel first-class. I must therefore have fifty <i>marks</i> more.’ That -little joke cost me a lot of money. I wouldn’t want to live in a -country<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a> where I couldn’t tell anybody I pleased what I felt like -telling him.â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director doubted the accuracy of the story because “no German -official would show so little dignity.†I, too, doubted it; but on the -ground that no German official would have so keen a sense of humor.</p> - -<p>There followed an animated argument between the Nebraskan and the Herr -Director as to which is of more importance, the individual or the state. -The Nebraskan insisted that the state being the creation of individuals, -they are of supreme importance, while the Herr Director persisted in his -theory that the state is supreme and that it is the business of the -individual to make it dominant and powerful, to which end the state must -make him effective.</p> - -<p>“An ineffective individual is a menace to the state, and a state which -cannot impress its will upon the individual and make him submissive and -effective will be vanquished in the great competitive struggle -constantly going on.â€</p> - -<p>“I suppose you’re effective enough, but you’re as slow as molasses in -January.<a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, we are slow, but we are thorough; we take our time to do a -thing well, while your hurry is as wearing as it is useless. When we -came down here this evening we were in a hurry. We were rushed to your -crowded subway to take a certain train, although the next one would have -done as well. In about three minutes we were pushed out of that train -into another, because it went faster, and we reached here breathless. We -saved time, but for what purpose? To see you eat your lobster and mince -pie?†And he looked contemptuously at the Nebraskan.</p> - -<p>“What are we going to do now with the two or three minutes we saved?â€</p> - -<p>This was a question I could not answer, for I did not know why I had -hurried. Perhaps because of the excess of ozone in the air, or possibly -because every one else was hurrying.</p> - -<p>“You see,†he continued, “we Germans never make the mistake of -confounding hurry with efficiency. We hurry, too, when we must, or when -we have a rational purpose. We know that great things cannot<a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a> be -accomplished in a hurry. We lay our foundations not only patiently, but -thoroughly and cheerfully.</p> - -<p>“You work like slaves who are eager to finish the job, as you call it. -We cherish towards our job a sentiment of love and loyalty which we call -‘<i>Pflichttreue</i>,’ a word for which you have no equivalent, proving of -course that you have not the thing itself.â€</p> - -<p>I translated the word as loyalty to duty.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that may be correct, but it does not ring true. <i>Pflichttreue</i> has -an ethical significance which your translation does not convey.</p> - -<p>“I have noticed that your conductors shed their uniforms the instant -they leave their trains, as if they were ashamed of their job. With us, -any uniform, whether a railroad conductor’s or a general’s, is gloried -in, and honored because of the work it represents.â€</p> - -<p>The Nebraskan thought us too democratic for uniforms, which is the -reason we do not value them more than we do.</p> - -<p>“It is not the uniform, it is our work in which we glory. A shoemaker -with us is as<a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a> proud of his job as the Emperor is of his. He is Emperor -by the grace of God, because he believes it is a God-given task to which -he must be faithful, and we once had a shoemaker who called himself with -equal pride, ‘Shoemaker by the grace of God.’</p> - -<p>“This pride spiritualizes the simplest and commonest work by making -every man a conscious part of the state, and he works for its glory and -power. It is a glory shared by his wife and family,†and the Herr -Director pulled from his pocket a German newspaper. “Look at this -funeral notice. The widow signs herself not only as the widow of a -particular man, but as the widow of a man who did something of which she -is still proud. While she remains a widow she will sign herself <i>Amalia -Henrietta Schmidt Koenigliche Hof Opern Obo Spieler’s Wittwe</i>.â€</p> - -<p>“How can we be proud of our jobs,†queried the Nebraskan, after his -hearty laugh at <i>Amalia Henrietta Schmidt</i>, “when we never have a job -which we expect to hold permanently? I started out with school teaching, -then I got hold of a good thing in<a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a> the way of Carborundum and made -grindstones. That’s what took me to Europe. When that business went bad, -I bought out the livery stable in my town, and now I am in the moving -picture business. If I could sell out at a good price I’d do it and take -up any old thing as long as there is money in it.â€</p> - -<p>He was right. Our work is not sacred to us, for too often it is only the -means to an end, and frequently a very selfish end. Because Germany has -had centuries of carpenters and tinkers and shoemakers who planed boards -and mended pots and shoes “by the grace of God,†and swung the hammer as -if it were a sword, they are now wielding the sword as if it were a -hammer.</p> - -<p>In some way we must get this spiritual appeal of the job, which means -not only that we shall have to dedicate ourselves to our task in a -manner worthy of its significance, but that the state must have this -spiritual attitude towards the worker, and treat him as though worthy of -his place in the economy of the nation. It is this wise provision for -the workers’ efficient education, the state’s recognition<a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a> that the -well-being of the individual is its concern, which has given to Germany -the unfailing devotion of all her people.</p> - -<p>I was roused from these meditations by hearing the Nebraskan’s voice.</p> - -<p>“You see I never had a chance to learn just one thing. I can do many -things tolerably well, for I had to do them. I can splice a rope, repair -a machine, shingle a house and if necessary build a barn. I can play -ragtime on the piano, throw a steer or ride a bucking broncho. I can -even make soda biscuits. I am the child of the pioneers, and in order to -survive, they had to be jacks of all trades.</p> - -<p>“I bought a tool in a department store the other day,†and he drew it -from his pocket. “It can do sixteen things tolerably well, but it isn’t -worth shucks for any one job, if you want to do it right. That’s me.â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director wanted to know what “shucks†meant, and after I -laboriously explained it to him and he had handled the patent tool he -said:</p> - -<p>“Your travelling men have come over to Germany and tried to sell us this -kind of<a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a> thing, but they found no market. When we want a gimlet, or a -saw, or a coat-hanger we want that one thing and want it as good as it -can be made. We marvel at your adaptability, but we are too thorough to -be adaptable, and we do not need to be. You Americans will never be able -to compete with us until you learn to specialize and do one thing well.â€</p> - -<p>We sat long into the night comparing the German and the American Spirit, -but there was one phase of the former which the Herr Director clearly -demonstrated. There was a religious fervor in his patriotism which the -average American lacks. To him his country was not only above himself -but beyond everything else on Earth or in Heaven. There often seems -something sordid about our patriotism, something connected solely with -the individual’s well-being. I glory in our sense of liberty, in the -opportunity to live unmolested, and in every man’s chance to be himself; -but I fear we have as yet not learned to value our duty to this country -as much as we do our privilege.<a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a></p> - -<p>I am sure there will be no lack of fighters if the country is in danger; -but shall we be able to fight the long, exhausting battle which -presupposes discipline and subordination?</p> - -<p>The United States gives much to the individual, more, I think, than any -other country; but she has not given intelligently, she has nearly -pauperized us all by her beneficence, and has demanded nothing in -return, nor even taught us common gratitude.</p> - -<p>Our children are told that they must love their country, but what that -means beyond fighting when it is in danger they know not. That it means -to do their work thoroughly, that they must learn to do things well, and -exalt the nation by becoming efficient workmen that they may help win -their country’s battles in the factory, or behind the counter, they do -not yet know; and what we have not learned, we cannot teach.</p> - -<p>This questioning mood of mine is never gendered as I contemplate the -mob, the many who are driven to revolt either by their unbridled -passions or by the unbearable<a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a> conditions under which they have to -labor; my fear is strongest when I look into the schools and when I face -our youth which comes out of them, inefficient, but above all, -undisciplined. They do not lack physical courage, nor yet devotion to -the country, in a sort of abstract way; they do lack the submission to -intelligent authority.</p> - -<p>In this latter-day test of different ideals of the state, through the -cruel, undecisive test of war, we may learn from Germany to instill this -“<i>Pflichttreue</i>,†this loyalty to the job. We may also learn the more -difficult lesson for us individualists—submission to authority which we -must make intelligent, as well as conscientious.</p> - -<p>Necessity will soon teach us to be thorough, and thoroughness -presupposes patience. Add these qualities and this discipline to the -enterprise, the love of fair play, the courage, the faith in God and -man, which we possess, and we too may ultimately develop a patriotism -which will stand the test of adversity, and emerge from it purified and -strengthened.</p> - -<p>When we stepped out of the restaurant<a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a> and its German atmosphere into -the unmistakably American Broadway, my German guests felt that my -rampant Americanism had been thoroughly subdued. However they had -literally “reckoned without their host.†My protracted silence had -misled them, but I could contain myself no longer.</p> - -<p>“We are now walking in the streets of the second largest city in the -world, its population thrown together and blown together from every -quarter of the globe, and the most of these people, if not the worst of -them, have come here in the last thirty-five years. They brought neither -love of their new country nor knowledge of its language and -institutions; they all came to make money, and to-morrow morning four -millions of people will begin again the competitive battle from which -they are resting to-night.</p> - -<p>“The laws which govern them are illy made, but they have made them, or -at least had a chance to select those who did make them. They have not -always chosen well; the officers who govern them are often not good men; -frequently they are only the most<a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a> cunning politicians and one has but -scant respect for them. Yet in spite of it all, this is a fairly well -governed city and it is quite remarkable that these four million people -live together in comparative peace and order. Neither is there any ill -from which this great city or any group of its individuals suffers for -which there is not some help or healing or some attempt to heal.</p> - -<p>“If I were an absolute stranger without money, knowing neither the -language of the people nor their ways, I would rather be on the streets -of the city of New York than anywhere else.â€</p> - -<p>“How do you account for it?†the Frau Directorin ventured to ask, -although the Herr Director had been violently expressing his dissent.</p> - -<p>“We have several things to count on here, even when conditions seem -intolerable. Let me name them.</p> - -<p>“We are all human beings; some of us have inherited the Old Testament -righteousness and the passion for justice, and many of us have the New -Testament desire for<a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a> service. These together make a very effective -combination, and go a great way towards the glorious results we shall -ultimately achieve.â€</p> - -<p>For once the Herr Director was silent, and as we had reached our hotel, -I think I might have slept peacefully that night had not the Nebraskan -triumphantly remarked as we were being shot up to the topmost floor: -“Say, I did get that lobster à la Milkburgh with pickles and mince pie, -didn’t I? I always get what I want when I want it.<a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI<br /><br /> -<i>The Herr Director and the “Missoury†Spirit</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE anteroom of the editor’s office was crowded when the Herr Director -and I arrived to meet the men of the staff at luncheon.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director is a publicist himself, and has edited one of the best -known German newspapers. Having called on him when he was trying to -mould an already moulded public opinion I made some interesting -comparisons which he did not approve. I could not forbear reminding him -how, when I once called on him in his office, I had to wait in a similar -anteroom over an hour, that I had to pass through a number of other -rooms with a longer or shorter period of waiting in each, and was -finally admitted to his august presence as if he were a king on his -throne.</p> - -<p>As editor in chief, he was a more or less<a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a> cloistered mystery, and not -the man of affairs one is likely to be over here. Whatever comparisons I -made in spite of the Herr Director’s protest, were not entirely fair; -for editors are scarcely a species anywhere, and the particular one upon -whom we were calling was an uncommon editor of an uncommon journal. -Neither he nor it has a counterpart in Germany if anywhere in the world; -they are both products of our Spirit and have had no small share in -shaping it and giving it expression.</p> - -<p>While I was explaining to the Herr Director the functions of this -journal and how intelligently it interprets current events, and was -extolling the virtues of its editors who, in spite of being persons of -national reputation and great importance, have retained their simple, -democratic ways, they emerged from the inner sanctum.</p> - -<p>After a vigorous hand-shake all around to which the Herr Director -visibly braced himself, the first contact was made, and we were taken to -a handsomely appointed dining-room in the same building, where luncheon -was served.<a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a></p> - -<p>Beneath all the outer simplicity and democratic demeanor of our host, -beneath his smoothly shaven, well groomed, correctly tailored exterior, -the Herr Director recognized a dignified reserve and consciousness of -power, which made him whisper to me, “His Majesty and suite,†at the -same time soothing with his left hand his aching right hand, just -released from the vise-like grip of the editor.</p> - -<p>Although I assured him that to me they were all just the editors of my -favorite journal and after that plain, American citizens, I too am often -impressed by that sense of dominance and power emanating from these men -and others in similar positions. The feeling is not unrelated to that I -have experienced the few times I have been in the presence of royalty.</p> - -<p>In our public men of exalted position there may be lacking the mystical -element by which monarchs are surrounded; but the sovereign American has -more physical energy and force.</p> - -<p>Should the thrones of Europe suddenly<a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a> become vacant, I know dozens of -our men who could occupy them, without their subjects becoming conscious -of much change; and as far as queens are concerned we could easily -furnish a surplus.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director and I had been chosen to sit in the places of honor, -and we (or at least I) forgot to eat, and spent my time studying these -superb types of Americans.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director, being more sophisticated, absorbed both the food and -the company, and in his lectures on “<i>Die Leitenden Maenner in Den -Vereinigten Staaten</i>,†which he has delivered since returning to -Germany, there are evidences that he remembered the minutest details of -the <i>menu</i>, as well as every word which fell from the lips of the editor -in chief.</p> - -<p>Of course we spoke of many, if not all, the perplexing problems which -vex this problem-ridden age, and each of us had a proprietary interest -in one or more of them which we hoped to solve. The editor as a man of -affairs knew our particular problems as well as we knew them, and had -read all that any<a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a> of us had written; so the conversation was animated -enough, and certainly illuminating.</p> - -<p>My specialty being immigration, and having just returned from the -Pacific coast where I had studied the problem as it concerns the -Oriental, the conversation was finally dominated by that interesting and -somewhat delicate theme.</p> - -<p>Can we assimilate all these varied elements which come to us? Can we -make of them one people, and eliminate all those ethnic, national and -religious inheritances which are frequently at variance with our own?</p> - -<p>The editor believed we can assimilate all or most of them with the -exception of the Oriental, “Who, having separated from the ethnic root -in the Pleistocene period, represents too varied a physical and mental -type to be assimilated by the Occidental.†I think I am quoting him -correctly, although not word for word.</p> - -<p>As I did not quite agree with him, I expressed my views, and so did the -Herr Director. I said I thought I noticed among the Chinese and even -among the Japanese<a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a> the influence of this new environment, and could -tell of conversations with groups of graduates of our colleges, in which -not only the influence of this country was noticeable, but the influence -of the particular institution from which they graduated. Anecdotes are -not easily accepted as scientific proof; but this being an informal -luncheon, I ventured a few of them which every one seemed to relish -except the Herr Director, and he is not to blame for that, as anecdotes -are rarely international. I do blame him, however, for telling me that -he had never heard stupider jokes in his life. One of these ethnic -anecdotes I told upon the authority of the Bishop of the Yangtsze -district. Perhaps like all anecdotes it may have grown in the telling.</p> - -<p>The Bishop had picked out an unusually bright Chinese lad to have -educated in the United States and then become his curate. When he -returned to China, after having attended both a college and a -theological seminary, he was assisting the Bishop. Evidently he had not -thoroughly mastered the ritual of the church; for this Oriental, who<a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a> -had “separated himself from the ethnic root,†moved close to the Bishop, -poked his elbow into the ecclesiastical ribs of his superior and asked: -“Say, Bishop, where do I butt in?â€</p> - -<p>Our host wanted to know whether I was sure that he did not say: “Bishâ€; -I thought to reach the point of being able to express himself so briefly -and directly the Oriental would need at least another geologic period.</p> - -<p>One of the staff asked whether that anecdote was not my invention; to -which I took the liberty of replying that if I could invent such good -stories he might offer me an editorship. How imperfectly, after all, the -Oriental may absorb the spirit of our language, I told in the story -which is supposed to have its origin at the University of Michigan; -although like all such stories it may be claimed by innumerable -birthplaces.</p> - -<p>A Hindoo student, who had not quite finished his academic career and had -to return home on account of illness in his family, wrote back to his -faculty adviser, notifying him of the death of his mother-in-law, in -this characteristic,<a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a> brief, Occidental way: “Alas! the hand which -rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket.â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director thought this anecdote funny enough, but it proved the -opposite from that for which I was contending. “Who but an Oriental -could invent such highly picturesque figures of speech?â€</p> - -<p>The conversation drifted into soberer channels when our host took up the -question as to what constitutes the American, who after all is hybrid -and frequently so mixed that he does not know just how he is ethnically -constituted.</p> - -<p>“For instance,†he said, “I am part German, part revolutionary Yankee -stock†(it seemed to me that he put the emphasis upon the -revolutionary), “part French, part Scandinavian, part Irish.â€</p> - -<p>I have forgotten just how many racial strains he said were running in -his veins, but a variety large enough to be exceedingly useful to him in -claiming kinship with all sorts of folk, and in making political -speeches. That the ancestors of the average American<a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a> belong to the -great fighting stocks of humanity may explain if not excuse his love for -physical combat. Each guest around the table followed the editor’s -example and accounted for his ancestry, showing that all but two of the -Americans were mixtures, ranging from three to eight more or less -greatly differentiated races, using that term in its broadest sense.</p> - -<p>One of these unmixed Americans gave the outlines of his family tree, all -of it growing out of the rugged New England soil; but every one of his -daughters had married a man of foreign birth, or of foreign parentage. -His sons-in-law are German, Polish, French and Jewish. He added: “My -German and French sons-in-law are great chums.â€</p> - -<p>The other pure American was myself, although of course my ancestors did -not come over in the <i>Mayflower</i>, and I have never been in New England -long enough for my family tree to take root in its historic soil.</p> - -<p>After all, though, the best thing a nation or race has to bequeath to -its children is not always handed down upon the racial channel.<a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a> I think -it is the Apostle Paul who discovered this long ago, and his missionary -propaganda among the Gentiles is based upon his belief that they are not -all Israelites who are of the circumcision. His converts became -Israelites through adoption, through their appreciation of the Jewish -Spirit which came to its full fruitage in Jesus of Nazareth.</p> - -<p>I once heard Max Nordeau say: “<i>Es gibt zweierlei Juden: auch Juden und -Bauch Juden;</i>†which freely translated means: “There are two kinds of -Jews: those of the spirit and those of the stomach.†The taste for -<i>Kosher Wurst</i> and <i>Gefülte Brust</i> is inheritable to the tenth -generation; but one is not always born with the passion for -righteousness, the love of justice and the thirst for God. To these one -must rather be born again, and the same thing is true of the American. -There are Americans who have thrown overboard their spiritual -inheritance, who have expatriated themselves because they could not live -in the Puritan atmosphere of New England; but to whom a Sunday in the -<i>Riviera</i> is not fully radiant, unless<a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a> upon the rose-laden atmosphere -there comes wafted the fragrance of codfish balls.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director reminded the company of the fact that I was the most -“<i>Unausstehlicher Americaner</i>†he had ever met; to which the editor -responded that he knew one who was if anything worse than myself—a -newspaper man, Jacob Riis.</p> - -<p>“Can a nation feel secure, having to put the keeping of its Spirit into -the hands of aliens?†some one asked; and what would happen in case of a -conflict between the United States of America and the native country of -even such thorough Americans as Jacob Riis and myself? At that time the -answer was not as difficult as it is now, since there has been the -possibility of such a conflict, and slumbering love of native country -has been awakened by the roar of cannon and the noisier and deadlier war -carried on by the press.</p> - -<p>It has been a very trying time for those of us who have been called -“hyphenated Americansâ€; but I doubt that the German or Austrian hyphen -has been more in evidence<a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a> than that which we are pleased to call -Anglo-Saxon.</p> - -<p>I can say that in spite of the fact that my native country precipitated -the conflict, I felt no thrill of patriotism when Austrian troops -invaded Serbia, and frequently wonder whether I have not suffered some -moral deterioration, because through all these stirring times I have -remained fairly rational. I have never condoned Austria’s treatment of -the Slavs, nor Germany’s invasion of Belgium; I have not gloried in -their victories, but I have suffered alike for all my fellow mortals who -are involved in this most disastrous conflict. I know myself always -human first, and a loyal American next. In fact, never before have I -loved my adopted country as much as now, never did I have for it so -profound a respect, nor a deeper realization of the blessing of our -democracy, imperfect as it is.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director insisted that we could not count on the loyalty of our -immigrated citizens in case of war with their respective countries, -especially as they are so frequently<a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a> dealt with unjustly by our courts -and exploited by our industries. The editor thought that the danger to -the United States did not lie in the lack of loyalty in our new -citizens, but rather in the general smugness of the average American, -and in our unpreparedness for war.</p> - -<p>The conversation drifted into a discussion of militarism, a subject -which has become painfully familiar since, and he said that although the -American is a fighter he is not a militarist, nor in danger of becoming -one; and that personally, he, in common with all sane Americans, -believed that the country ought to be prepared to protect itself and -defend its national honor.</p> - -<p>“That’s what we all say,†the Herr Director remarked. When the whole -company laughed, he felt hurt, and it took me a long time to explain to -him that he had accidentally stumbled onto a bit of American slang, -which he had used most innocently, but aptly.</p> - -<p>I wanted to know just what the editor meant by preparedness for war and -just<a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a> when a nation’s honor was so damaged that nothing but war would -restore it. There seemed to be no time left to have this question -answered, and as there was some danger that we would separate with this -important subject upon our minds and perhaps interfering with our -digestion, I asked whether in conclusion I might tell another -ethnological anecdote, which would illustrate my need of light upon that -question of preparedness for war. To this they all assented if I could -vouch for its being as good as the others. I thought it was better -because I was sure it was true, and the joke was on me. Every one -settled down expectantly except the Herr Director who never relishes my -stories, having a fine collection of his own which he tells remarkably -well.</p> - -<p>I had to wait at a small station in the West for one of those -periodically late trains, and was reading the only fiction available, -the railroad time-table. A train which came from the opposite direction -brought a gang of working men who had been shovelling the<a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a> snow which -had blocked the road. As they were all immigrants I had no further use -for my time-table and went among them, guessing at their nationality, -sorting them according to the shape of their heads, delighting my soul -by talking to them as much as I could of their native country, and -quizzing them about their experience in the United States.</p> - -<p>I had succeeded splendidly with all of them and there was but one man -left. As soon as I saw him I said to myself, “He is a Russian, not a -common Russian, but of the Velko Russ variety which is still rare or -comparatively rare among our immigrant population.†I walked up to him -and saluted him with the pious greeting of his class. There wasn’t the -slightest indication that he understood me, so I concluded that I was -mistaken; but knowing that he was a Slav, I tried a greeting in Polish, -and again the great, shaggy Slav seemed not to understand. When Bohemian -failed, I decided that my error was merely geographical and this was a -Southern, not a Northern Slav. I used all the Serbic I knew without<a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a> -getting anything but a stare from my victim, and then decided that he -might be an Albanian. Knowing only two words of that language I tried -them with the same negative result. Finally, disgusted with myself I -resorted to English. Feeling sure that he would not understand, I -shouted at him, “Are you a Greek?†Then a ray of intelligence passed -over his stolid face. Deliberately taking his pipe out of his mouth, he -laconically replied: “No, I am from Missoury.â€</p> - -<p>A shout of laughter followed my story; but the Herr Director’s face grew -darker and darker. When we were in our taxicab going back to the hotel, -he said: “One of the most remarkable things I have learned to-day about -the American people is that they are very young, almost childlike.â€</p> - -<p>“Why, how did you learn that?†I asked.</p> - -<p>“Oh,†he answered, “who but a childlike, <i>naïve</i> people would laugh over -such a stupid joke as yours? Anyway, how did you dare bring such a silly -story into so serious a conversation?<a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†I replied; “that is as you say a sign of our youth. The more -complex and seasoned jokes belong to the older civilizations, and the -love of a simple story and the ready response to it, even though it be a -poor story, are a sign of our youthful health; but you know,†I added, -“that story I told was not so <i>mal apropos</i> after all.†And the rest of -the day I struggled mightily to convince the Herr Director that being -“from Missoury†is one of the most hopeful things about the American -Spirit.<a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII<br /><br /> -<i>The Herr Director and the College Spirit</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">“T</span>AKE us out of New York,†the Herr Director said after a wearing day of -sightseeing, “or we will go home on the next steamer. My neck aches from -looking at the sky-scrapers, my nerves are all on edge, and,†glancing -at the Frau Directorin who had hugely enjoyed every moment and showed no -sign of weariness, “we must have rest.â€</p> - -<p>I was reluctant to leave New York, because, after all, it holds those -great thrills with which we like to startle our foreign friends. I -feared the change from those daily surprises which thus far I had been -able to give them. Lake Mohonk, the only place outside of New York City -which we had visited, is unique in many ways and its experiences were -not likely to be duplicated;<a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a> so it was somewhat heavy heartedly that I -started them on a new adventure, praying to Him who “holds the nations -in the hollow of His Hand†to aid me in my praiseworthy endeavors.</p> - -<p>I was not very sanguine that my prayer would be answered, for we were -beginning a tour of the Eastern educational institutions, than which -there is nothing more difficult to interpret. This, not only because -they have no counterpart anywhere in Europe, and the line between our -university and college is so indistinct, but because I hoped to reveal -their Spirit, which no mere outsider can comprehend, and which even the -man on the inside finds it difficult to understand.</p> - -<p>I drew into the conspiracy dear friends, <i>alumni</i> of the different -institutions, who knew every blade of grass on each respective campus, -over which they walked proudly and reverently. To find one university -tucked away in a village, another defying the grime and noise of a -growing city which crowded upon it; one still retaining its air of -exclusive dignity in spite of its garish surroundings,<a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a> while a fourth -was nearly swamped by the culture-hungry children of immigrants, yet -remained triumphantly American, was new enough and startling enough to -keep my guests on the heights.</p> - -<p>The pleasant walks, shaded by tall, graceful elms, and the presence of -distinguished Americans, acted soothingly upon the Herr Director; while -the gracious attention paid to the ladies convinced the Frau Directorin -that she had reached the feminine paradise. She could not understand, -however, why, when the ladies were permitted to go everywhere, and were -even allowed to gaze at American students in athletic undress, they were -barred from sharing with us the rare privilege of seeing a thousand or -more of them being fed in one of those Gothic dining halls. There, -surely, one might expect nothing worse than medieval piety tempering the -appetite. Probably this tradition of no ladies in the galleries is the -only thing beside the architecture which is left us from that hoary age.</p> - -<p>There are certain definite points which the<a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a> enthusiastic <i>alumnus</i> -always tries to impress upon visitors, and one of them is the past, in -which every college glories, and as youth seems to be unpardonable, -history begins when as yet it “was not.â€</p> - -<p>In most of the places we visited, no such historic license was -necessary, for many of them were respectably old, one of them being -contemporaneous with the history of our country, and others belonging to -that eminently respectable period, “before the Revolution.â€</p> - -<p>Some have important battles named after them, and several were -“Washington’s headquarters,†a distinction freely bestowed upon many -places by that ubiquitous and much beloved “Father of our Country.†At -present the most important thing seems to be the buildings; dormitories, -laboratories, libraries and usually most prominent of all, the gymnasium -and the athletic field.</p> - -<p>The president of one of the lesser universities, having such a million -dollar plaything, became our <i>cicerone</i>, and while he took us hastily -through everything else, lingered<a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a> fondly there, showing us in detail -the expensive apparatus. With classic pride he stood upon the athletic -field, looking as some Cæsar must have looked when he showed visitors to -Rome his arena, the “largest,†and at that time the “costliest in the -world.â€</p> - -<p>It was interesting to find that the buildings which pleased the Herr -Director most were neither new nor Gothic, a fact easily explained by -his dislike for everything which is English. He marvelled that we had -chosen to imitate English college architecture, with its heaviness and -gloom, its hideous gargoyles, its useless, and here meaningless, -cloisters, rather than to continue our fine inheritance, with its -severely classic lines, its wide windows inviting the light, and its -generous, broad doors, so much in harmony with our educational ideals.</p> - -<p>Of course no one had an answer ready; yet personally while I do not -“<i>hasse</i>†England nor the things which are English, I vastly prefer, let -us say Nassau Hall at Princeton, to anything which that glorious<a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a> campus -holds, not even excepting the graduate college with its massive and -impressive Cleveland Memorial Tower.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director shook his head many a time at the external glory of -our universities and even more at the comfort and luxuries of the -dormitories and fraternity houses. We were the guests of one fraternity -at dinner. About twenty young men were living under one roof, having -chosen each other by some mysterious, selective process, and I was -tempted to think that it was their negative rather than their positive -qualities which drew them together. We were shown the house from cellar -to garret, much to the dismay of the Herr Director who does not like -climbing stairs, but to the joy of the Frau Directorin who, woman-like, -not only loves to peep into closets, and see pretty rooms, but having -discovered the American standard for feminine grace, wanted to lose some -of her “meat†as she expressed it in her quaint English.</p> - -<p>Each of these young men occupied a suite of three rooms. The hangings -were heavy<a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a> and not in the best taste, the chairs all invited to -leisure, and the most conspicuous piece of furniture was a smoking set -with a big brass tobacco bowl in the center; while innumerable pipes -hung from a gaudily painted rack. In keeping with the furniture were the -pictures which were decently vulgar, and of books there were no more -than necessary.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director was asked regarding student life in Germany, and he -contrasted their surroundings with his own cold, inhospitable -<i>Gymnasium</i>, the relentless examinations, and the freer but responsible -life in his university. He described the rooms of the present Emperor of -Germany when he was a student at the University of Bonn, remarking that -they looked like barracks in comparison with these. “How can you study -in such luxurious rooms?†he asked, and naïvely and frankly came the -answer: “We don’t.â€</p> - -<p>On the whole, the Herr Director liked the looks of the boys he saw, and -the Frau Directorin quite fell in love with them. They<a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a> were so frank, -so clean looking, and what above all amazed them most, so altruistic in -their outlook upon life; they looked so healthy and well groomed and -were so altogether wholesome. But that boys could graduate from colleges -and not have studied—that was beyond their comprehension.</p> - -<p>The German student’s social standing and his future depend upon his -“exams.†There is only one prime thing, and that is study. When the Herr -Director learned the multiplicity of our outside activities which divide -the attention of the students, he knew why they do not study. He was -aghast at the scant reverence paid members of the faculty. When walking -with the president of one of these universities, we met groups of -students who did not salute the head of their institution and barely -made way for him to pass, he grew quite wrathy, and it took the combined -efforts of the president and myself to keep him from telling the young -men what boors they were. I think he discovered later that it was mere -thoughtlessness, and that there is something really<a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a> fine about the -average American student; that he is usually a gentleman at heart, but -that he has not yet learned to value the grace which comes from that -sacrament of the common life—lifting his hat to his superiors.</p> - -<p>When I told him that one of my students came to me one morning in haste, -with “Say, Prof, where is Prexy?†he did not laugh as I expected; but -when I remembered that I did not laugh either, when it happened, I -forgave him his lack of perception.</p> - -<p>It is of course true, that the average college professor would rather be -called Jimmy or Jack or some other pet name than to have his academic -degrees pronounced every time a student speaks to him; but there still -remains the fact that the ordinary American youth lacks this sense of -respect for personality, and that an education, even a college -education, does not remedy the defect.</p> - -<p>It is a very exciting moment in the life of the undergraduates of at -least one university when they try to discover if the preacher can make -himself heard above their coughs, which<a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a> is their way of challenging his -message; but it does not help him to believe that he is in the presence -of men who know what reverence means.</p> - -<p>I do not deny that the undergraduate honors achievement, but even in -that he lacks proper discrimination. How much education can do to -instill this common and deplorable lack of reverence for personality I -do not know; for it lies far back, too far back to be reached by mere -academic training.</p> - -<p>During our tour, the Herr Director had a chance to see one university -come out of its incoherence and inexplicable confusion into unity. He -heard it roar like the “Bulls of Bashan,†fling its flaring colors to -the wind, hoot its defiance to the enemy, dance, dervish-like, around -the battle flames; he saw ten thousands of young men suffering the war -fever, and an equal number of young women shrieking in wild delirium; he -saw embankments of automobiles struggling to reach the seat of the -conflict, armies of men trying to storm the ramparts, and newspaper -correspondents<a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a> mad from haste; while in the center of it all, -twenty-two disguised men struggled for a chalk-line. Unfortunately, no -friendly guide was near us to explain it all, and as I am still an -un-Americanized alien to a football game, its meaning was lost to my -guests.</p> - -<p>When two men were carried from the field limp, and seemingly lifeless, -the Frau Directorin promptly fainted. The Herr Director was beside -himself, for there was no way to extricate ourselves from the maddened -mass of humanity; but while he was wildly and vainly calling for water, -she revived, and we stayed to the finish. I wished I had not brought -them, for to appreciate a football game one must be born in America, and -no explanation I offered could convince the Herr Director that we are -not more cruel than the Spaniards, whose opponents in their deadly games -are bulls, not men. The Frau Directorin still sheds tears at the -remembrance of how badly we use our “perfectly nice young men.â€</p> - -<p>The fierceness back of this conflict, the vast<a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a> amount of money spent -upon properly playing the game, the primary place it occupies in the -imagination of the American youth, its deadening influence upon -scholarship, and all the multitudinous pros and cons, are over-shadowed -by the fact that, as far as the community at large is concerned, it -expects this Roman holiday, and a college or university is considered -good or poor, to the degree that it caters to this desire. One thing I -can say for it: it is thoroughly American, bringing into the lime-light -some of our virtues and most of our faults.</p> - -<p>“In Germany,†again the Herr Director, “where things are not permitted -to grow merely because they grow elsewhere, it was found that for -military preparedness your sports are of little or no value, especially -if engaged in vicariously; and that teaching men to dig trenches and -serve cannon, to obey implicitly a command and carry it out effectively, -is of more use, not only to the individual’s well-being, but also for -the great, collective purpose of national defense.â€</p> - -<p>It seems very strange to me that nearly all<a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a> foreigners whom I have -helped introduce to our academic life have been so gratified by its -evident democracy, and that their satisfaction was greatest when their -own aristocratic lineage was highest. That a man’s career in our -institutions of learning is not made impossible because he does manual -labor to help him through, and that he may do such femininely menial -tasks as waiting on table or washing dishes, while taxing their -credulity, is always unstintingly praised.</p> - -<p>I have, however, good reason to believe that while our foreign visitors -find the democracy of our colleges interesting and praiseworthy, we are -losing the thing itself to a large degree, and my conscience has not -always been at ease when I finished a panegyric on college democracy. In -fact what I fear is its defeat just there, where it is most needed, -where we are supposed to train the leaders who, whether they become -leaders or not, are the men who will give tone to our national life and -will control its expression.</p> - -<p>In travelling from one of the universities to the other, we came upon a -group of college<a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a> men in the train. The Herr Director recognized them at -once, whether instinctively or because he had discovered the type, I do -not know. I knew them because of the fit of their garments, or the lack -of it, and by the fact that they smoked cigarettes incessantly.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director, as a distinguished foreigner, had no difficulty in -opening a conversation with them, and I think he got much illuminating -amusement out of them. They had just finished their semester “exams,†-and one of them said that the question upon which he flunked was a -comparison between the two English authors, Dickens and DeQuincy. Though -he did not know the difference between these two, he showed his classic -training by differentiating between a Rameses II and an Egyptian Deity -cigarette merely by the color of the smoke.</p> - -<p>I was not drawn into the conversation until the Herr Director needed me -to interpret some campus English. One of the lads undertook to inform us -regarding the social life of his university and more especially the -fraternities, with particular emphasis upon his own,<a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a> which excluded not -only certain well-defined races, but also put a ban upon certain -classes. “We don’t admit anybody into our fraternity whose people are -not somebody in their communities.â€</p> - -<p>I asked him his name and he gave it to me with a French pronunciation.</p> - -<p>I thought he was Bohemian, and recognized the name as such, in spite of -its French disguise. I told him so, and pronounced it for him in the -hard, Slavic way, all gutturals and consonants. I also told him its -meaning: “A very common hoe such as the peasants use, and it means that -your ancestors in Bohemia earned their living honestly, which I am sorry -to say cannot always be said about ‘people who are somebody’ in our -communities.â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director thought I was very hard upon the poor fellow, and -later I had a good talk with him. I tried to show him that his Bohemian, -peasant origin ought to be a source of pride to him. That the very fact -that he and his people had come out of the steerage, and by virtue of -our democratic institutions<a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a> could rise to the point where they could -send him to college, should make him a guardian of the American Spirit -and not its foe. I do not know that he profited by what I said; for I -often find myself talking to the wind and the tide, and they are both -against me.</p> - -<p>I have only pity for the gilded youth who go to an American college with -its vast opportunities of human contact, yet fail to see any one outside -their own social boundaries. After all, the chief glory of our -educational institutions is that their best things are still democratic. -No man is kept from the Holy of Holies, from sound learning, from the -contact with scholarly minds, from good books, and enough of rich -fellowship to make going to college worth while.</p> - -<p>We heard one delightful story which is so typically American and so -reveals the American Spirit at its best, that the Herr Director embodied -it in his book. The president of a Quaker college told us that just as -he found there was some danger that the men who had to work their way -through, were losing caste,<a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a> one of the upper classmen opened a boot and -shoe mending and cleaning shop. As he was a man of means, whose standing -in his group was unquestioned, his action took from common labor its -ever renewing curse.</p> - -<p>In many of the colleges we met groups of men so full of this spirit, so -concerned with fostering it, that all the snobberies of which we had -heard seemed even smaller than they were in their own right. We met -those who gave their leisure hours to that most difficult and worthy -task of Americanizing the immigrants who, in many instances, almost -encroached upon the campus. The students visited them in the box-cars -where they lived, or in the hovels where they reared children; they -taught them English and the elements of good citizenship, and every one -of them had some particular Antonio to whom he was devoted, and whom he -was trying to lift to his level.</p> - -<p>Although the general testimony was that the students had gained more -from the contact than the immigrants had, I know how immeasurably much -it means to these strangers<a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a> to have leaning up against their own lonely -souls men of culture, and sweet, clean breath, and brotherly heart.</p> - -<p>It is this idealism in our college youth which is so precious an asset -that to lose it would mean bankruptcy to our educational institutions.</p> - -<p>Although the Herr Director did not tell me, I knew that this excursion -into the universities of the East had been a success; for thus far he -seemed to have enjoyed everything; at least he did not complain about -anything. He seemed in an especially happy mood when we were talking it -over in the home of one of the presidents, whose guests we had become. -“Yes, I like your colleges very much, and if I should want my boy to -have four years of more or less organized happiness, I would send him to -an American college. He would have a good time, I think his morals would -be safe,†and he added with a smile, “his intellect would be safe -also.<a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII<br /><br /> -<i>The Russian Soul and the American Spirit</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">N</span>EW YORK is geographically misplaced for such a purpose as mine. It -ought to lie somewhere west of Niagara Falls, so that one might be able -to take strangers to that wonderful cataract without their having -previously exhausted all the emotions which they are capable of -expressing.</p> - -<p>The day journey between New York and Buffalo is never commonplace, -especially when it furnishes such euphonious names as Susquehanna, -Wilkes Barre, Mauch Chunk, etc. From the hilltops we had glimpses of -great valleys below, valleys which are mined and furrowed and channelled -by a great industrial host whose crowded dwellings resemble the hives of -bees and are as monotonously alike.</p> - -<p>I could make these glimpses interesting<a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a> enough, for I could tell by the -shape of the church steeples and by the style of cross which crowned -them, what faiths were there contending with each other. With equal -certainty, and by the same signs, I knew the nationality of the people -who worked there, and had faith enough to build steeples in the shadow -of mine shafts and coal breakers. It was an atmosphere tense from the -labor of seven unbroken days, and heavy from noxious gases in which -trees languish and die, fish perish in the murky rivers, birds fear to -nest, and man alone, immigrant man, lives and works and worships.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director, like all Germans, has a natural contempt for the -Slavs, and when I proposed that before we visited Niagara Falls we -should see some of the Slavic settlements, he demurred; but when the -Frau Directorin added her plea to mine, he reluctantly yielded. I was -able to promise them an interesting meeting with an idealistic, young -Russian priest, who had voluntarily taken a mission among these miners. -He was earnestly striving to guard their souls,<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a> and also that which -seems quite as precious to their church, their Russian nationality.</p> - -<p>The Greek Orthodox Church is the most nationalistic church in existence, -and where-ever those bulbous towers with their slanting crosspieces -dominate the sky, it is equivalent to the raising of the national flag. -The Slavic soul is thoroughly Christian in its quality of patient -endurance, in which it has had long and hard tutelage. At the same time -it is tenacious and unyielding of its particular dogma, having been -taught from its earliest consciousness that its salvation lies in strict -adherence to the national faith.</p> - -<p>The city where we tarried is one of the best in which to study the -Slavic Soul, and its relation to the American Spirit, being large enough -to express that Spirit in its varied manifestations; yet not so large -that the articles it manufactures hide or crush the articles of its -faith.</p> - -<p>I knew my guests would like the place, for while it is a busy town in -the very heart of Pennsylvania’s industrial region, it has retained a -sort of homelike atmosphere.<a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a> Situated midway between the large cities -and the small towns which we had thus far visited, it has all the usual -bustle, and is full of vigorous rivalry with other like cities in the -same valley. Whatever one city does, whether building ambitious -sky-scrapers or a commodious Y. M. C. A., promoting a revival, or -bringing in new industries, this little city endeavors to duplicate upon -a still larger scale.</p> - -<p>My guide for the day was the town’s chief “hustler,†the secretary of -the Y. M. C. A., who is an embodiment of the American Spirit, being both -body and spirit. He made a splendid foil to the Russian priest who is -all soul, Russian soul and as little at home in the United States as the -Czar’s double eagle would be, floating from the city’s court-house which -stood in typical court-house fashion in the center of the town square.</p> - -<p>The Y. M. C. A. secretary met us at the station, needless to say, in an -automobile, as there is nothing the average American would rather do -than “show off†his town. He<a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a> gave his time unstintingly for that -purpose, beginning the process by taking us through his institution -which is American enough to have challenged the Herr Director’s -attention. In great good humor he, with the rest of us, followed the -secretary from the bowling alley to the roof garden, looked into the -dormitories and class rooms, and protested only when our zealous guide -gave us long statistics as to how many people took baths, how many men -were converted, and how much of the mortgage had been paid off during -his incumbency.</p> - -<p>I had to explain to the Herr Director the meaning of mortgage and its -relation to our religious institutions; for the two seemed related in -some mysterious way.</p> - -<p>He was duly impressed; for this practical side of religion, this -combination of saving souls and giving baths was new to him. Newer and -more interesting still was the clerical machinery with its card indices, -its numerous secretaries, stenographers, and its clock-like regularity -and efficiency.</p> - -<p>The secretary is undoubtedly a religious<a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a> man; but he is a business man -first, and his soul has had no small struggle in an atmosphere which -demands that he attract new members, raise a generous budget, pay off a -mortgage and at odd moments look after his own business; for besides -being secretary of this great institution, he dabbles in Western lands, -has an interest in a canning factory, and helps “boom†the town.</p> - -<p>I could assure the Herr Director that, nevertheless, his soul survives; -for the average American is remarkably adaptable, and while this -secretary may permit his religion to suffer before his business, I know -he does not “lose his own soulâ€; although in that respect as in -everything else he does run frightful risks.</p> - -<p>When we left the palatial lobby of the Y. M. C. A., having had bestowed -upon us its annual report, souvenir postal cards, and incidentally a -prospectus of the Western Land Co., the secretary insisted upon -accompanying us. As he put his automobile at our disposal, and the -Slavic settlements were out of reach by the ordinary means of -locomotion,<a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a> we reluctantly accepted his kind offer, the Herr Director -having previously confided to me that he did not like the secretary’s -“hustle,†and that his “efficiency†made him nervous.</p> - -<p>There were two things which the Frau Directorin found everywhere and in -which her soul delighted: marked and courteous attention to the -ladies—and automobiles. We took just one street car ride in New York -City, having been fairly showered by offers of automobile rides, one -form of hospitality of which we have grown quite prodigal.</p> - -<p>It was well that we had both the secretary and the automobile; for -although I thought I knew where the Russian parish was located I did not -reckon with the fact that it was three years since I had last visited -it. During that interval the town had so altered that the landscape was -quite unrecognizable.</p> - -<p>It is the peculiarity of this and neighboring towns that they change -their topography over night. What was a hill becomes a hollow, and the -reverse process also takes place<a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a> though more slowly, because of the -huge culm piles which accumulate.</p> - -<p>The mining of coal being carried on under the town has been so thorough -in later years that intervening coal props have been removed, and houses -and churches which formerly were above the level are now below it.</p> - -<p>We finally found the Russian church and its adjoining parsonage in as -uninviting an environment as I have ever seen. The three years since I -visited them had not only let them down from their eminence, but had -developed a stagnant pool on one side, while refuse from the mines had -encroached upon the other. All the glory of red and yellow paint had -departed, leaving only a drab dinginess, the prevailing tone of the -landscape.</p> - -<p>The priest received us in his study, which, besides the <i>Icons</i> and a -<i>Samovar</i> had no ornaments. The musty air was full of cigarette smoke, -and most diminutive stumps of these “<i>Papirosy</i>†were lying about, -adding to the general untidiness. A parish register lay<a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a> upon the desk. -It contained the names of more than a thousand souls with the chronicle -of their coming into this world and their going out of it, and also that -most important item, when they had attended Holy Communion, the one -visible sign of their allegiance to the true faith.</p> - -<p>The Holy Father had a strange history. The son of a priest, he naturally -was destined for the same calling. Caught by the ever moving tide of -revolt he had “sown his wild oats,†which consisted of disseminating -revolutionary literature. He was imprisoned, then like many good -Russians repented, and, as a penance, came to Pennsylvania.</p> - -<p>In desolation and distance from home his parish was not unlike Siberia. -It was even worse, for it was an exile from like-minded men, and his -suffering on that score was acute. I have watched the manifestation of -national or racial characteristics in individuals, and I feel certain -that the Russian reflects those characteristics most intensely, whether -he be peasant, priest or noble.</p> - -<p>Not without reason does he call his country<a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a> “Mother Russia.†He has for -her just that kind of affection, and it is as different from the violent -love of the Herr Director for his Fatherland as is the matter-of-fact -sentiment of the American for his.</p> - -<p>The Russian completely reflects his country, and as both her virtues and -her faults are feminine, there is in him something gentle and yielding -towards external authority, and yet something unconquerable and defiant. -There is a capacity for suffering and sacrifice of which no other people -seem to be capable. There is also a confidence in the goodness of -humanity, no matter how bad it may seem, which reminds me of the -confidence of the woman who is beaten by her drunken husband, yet knows -that in his sober moments he is not a bad man.</p> - -<p>The predominance of the spiritual quality may or may not be feminine, -but it certainly is Russian, and one may indeed speak of the soul of a -people in relation to the Slavs in general, and the Russians in -particular.</p> - -<p>The priest possessed all these characteristics; he was the Russian Soul, -and this<a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a> soul quality became even more apparent in contrast with the -complex spirit of the American secretary, in whom Teuton and Celt were -blended, and with the Herr Director, whose soul had hardened under the -discipline which Germany had given him.</p> - -<p>He lost no time in beginning an argument with the priest as to the -relations of their respective countries, and when it threatened to -become acrimonious, the secretary, hoping to create a diversion, asked -the priest why he did not encourage his parishioners to come to the Y. -M. C. A. At that point I threw myself into the breach, and with -considerable difficulty directed the conversation into safer channels.</p> - -<p>I asked the priest to show us his mission, and he took us into the -church, much poorer than any I have ever seen in Russia, and then into -the schoolroom, where the children of the miners received their -religious instruction and as much of secular education as they craved. -The teacher was a lean youth who looked as if he had suffered moral, -spiritual and physical bankruptcy before coming to America.<a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a> He and the -whole equipment seemed hopelessly inadequate and out of place.</p> - -<p>The secretary did not know that hundreds of children were growing up in -an American community, yet completely isolated from it, and the Herr -Director remarked that in Germany this would be regarded as treason to -the state. The priest declared that it was his mission in America not -only to keep his people and their children loyal to the national church, -but to inject into our Westernized materialism this true Slavic faith -and its leaven.</p> - -<p>He believed that in America we lack soul. We worship science and money -and business. The Russian alone lives in intimacy with God and regards -that relation of the supremest importance. “The American,†he continued, -“believes in developing natural resources, the German develops the mind, -the Russian alone develops the soul.â€</p> - -<p>I have always had the greatest reverence for the Russian Soul. I have -learned something the Herr Director could not see, on account of the -natural, political antagonism<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a> between his own country and Russia; -something the secretary could not comprehend on account of his -provincialism, and the priest would not admit because of his official -position, namely: that neither the Russian State nor the Russian Church -represents the Russian Soul. Its common people, although nearly crushed -by the one and confused by the other, are still Christian souls and as -such have a mission to America; but I could not see how that mission -would be fulfilled by locking up a few hundred children in a filthy -schoolroom and teaching them their national catechism.</p> - -<p>The Spiritual Russia, as it is incorporated in its common people and as -it is interpreted by Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky, has reached us and taught -us the greatest lesson which we self-righteous Americans needed to -learn: the impossibility to judge our peers or to be judged by them.</p> - -<p>It was Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky who compelled some of us to see our own -guilt, and they, not the Russian Church, united our voices with those of -the Russian people in the<a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a> chief note of their Mass, “Lord have mercy! O -Lord have mercy!†The Russian peasant always knew that men are stricken -by crime as by a disease; and when he passed those consigned to prison, -he cried out incessantly: “Lord have mercy! O Lord have mercy!†And for -the man who escaped, he never hunted with the bloodhound’s passion, as -we do; he put a crust of bread upon the window, to help him on his way.</p> - -<p>It was news to the secretary that Judge Lindsay, the “Kid’s Judge,†as -he is affectionately called, received his inspiration from Tolstoy, and -that the tendency to change our prisons into Social Clinics was -originally suggested by Dostoyewsky, a name quite unfamiliar to him.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director spoke of the inadequacy of these same Russians when -they try to put their theories into practice, and what prosaic, -impossible preachers they make. To which I replied that their failures -are due to their preponderance of soul and their lack of the practical -spirit with which we are so super-abundantly endowed.<a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a></p> - -<p>The secretary could scarcely believe that his practical, matter-of-fact, -card-indexed, efficient-from-top-to-bottom, result-bringing, tabulated, -report-making, American Y. M. C. A. might be benefited by an infusion of -Russian Soul. He almost doubted that the delving miners whom we saw -coming home from the mines, sooty and begrimed, possessed that soul. Nor -did the Herr Director realize that all his Germanic searching and -classifying, all his minute, painstaking investigation into the -innermost of everything, left him where the Russian had long ago -preceded him: in the holy presence of the unknowable, unsearchable -wisdom of God.</p> - -<p>The American has great reverence for results, and it is hard for him to -be patient with failure. The German respects authority, and has scant -respect for the individual. The Russian respects man and knows what it -means to love him in his weakness, and to be humble in the presence of -another’s failure.</p> - -<p>I had a long, intimate talk with my friend the priest, who has never -spent a happy day since he has been in America which he hates,<a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a> or -rather, despises, and so hurts me more than he knows.</p> - -<p>Throwing open the well-thumbed, poorly kept register, in such striking -contrast to the Y. M. C. A. secretary’s card index, he said: “Look how -many I have buried this month,†and he counted them, and there were -eighteen, “all of them slain in that dreadful mine, and no one in the -Company or in the town cares how they were buried. These Americans have -no souls. They send an undertaker who wants to bury them like dogs, and -the quicker the thing is done the better. They sent me notice shortly -after I came here that the funerals lasted too long and kept the men -from work. Look how those men walk! My <i>mujiks</i>, who walked like -princes, now bend their backs before your dirty coal, and walk like -slaves.â€</p> - -<p>His complaint was not altogether unreasonable. In some things he was -right, in many things he was wrong; but to argue with a Russian is as -hopeless as to try to argue with Niagara Falls. I did tell him that -while the Russian here must bend his<a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a> back over his work, he does not -have to bend it at every corner before the <i>icon</i> or before every -policeman he meets; that here, by virtue of the American Spirit, his -soul may be freed from superstition and his mind from darkness.</p> - -<p>When in parting the priest embraced and kissed me, he said: “No, even -you don’t understand the Russian Soul.â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director suffered his embrace with good grace, but when the -secretary’s turn came he fled. To be kissed by a man is a sentimentality -which the American cannot endure.</p> - -<p>“We don’t understand the Russian Soul,†I said to him, “neither you nor -I, but one thing I do know. When the coal has been dug out of these -hills and these cities shall have gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah, -and your churches and Y. M. C. A. may have vanished because it did not -pay to keep them going, this Russian Soul will endure; and the sooner we -learn to understand it the better for us and for them and for our -country.<a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a>â€</p> - -<p>When we left the Russian church and its faithful priest, the Frau -Directorin told us that the children were incredibly filthy, and that -she had spent the time we wasted in argument cleaning them up, good -<i>hausfrau</i> that she is. The secretary was thinking deeply, and when he -deposited us at the hotel, he thanked me for revealing something which, -although so near, he would never have discovered. The Herr Director kept -me up until midnight talking about the Slavic menace to Germany, and the -intellectual poison of its modern literature.</p> - -<p>We reached Niagara Falls the next afternoon, and, as I had feared, -neither of my guests showed any surprise nor felt any thrill. I could -understand the Herr Director’s coolness towards our natural wonder, for -he had seen it thirty years before; but his wife’s attitude was -inexplicable, until she told me what I had all along anticipated. Her -capacity for receiving impressions had been exhausted by the city of New -York, and after seeing the “high-scraps†nothing astonished her.<a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a></p> - -<p>As we stood at the bottom of the American Falls, watching the Maid of -the Mist making her journeys into their very spray and returning, only -to begin her journey again, I suggested that it was like the American -Spirit in its daring; but the Herr Director, with truer insight, said -that it was “like the Russian Soul, mystical, elusive, on the verge of -destruction always, but of little practical service.â€</p> - -<p>That same day we were in a power-house, which looked more like a temple -than the utilitarian thing it is, and peered into the depths of a shaft -which creates power enough to move the street railways of half a dozen -cities, and change the night of a million people into day. As we -listened to the engineer’s account of almost miraculous achievement, I -said triumphantly, “<i>This is the American Spirit!</i>†and the Herr -Director replied deliberately, and without sarcasm, “This is the one -time when you are right.<a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX<br /><br /> -<i>Chicago</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">W</span>HAT the foreigner thinks of the American Pullman, if he has to spend a -night in it, may be found in any volume of the extremely voluminous and -interesting literature upon the United States, written by visitors to -this country; but more interesting still would be what they have not -written about it, and that I have had frequent chances of hearing. The -most picturesque and exhaustive comments I ever heard were those made by -the Herr Director the evening we left Buffalo, and as he finally -determined not to retire at all, we spent the greater part of the night -in the smoking-room, much to the dismay of the porter who had no -prejudice against sleeping on a Pullman, and whom we cheated out of his -irregular but necessary naps.</p> - -<p>One of the chief diversions of travellers the<a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a> world over is to complain -against the particular transportation company over whose road they have -the ill luck to be going; so it happened that the Herr Director had -plenty of company during part of his vigil, and an opportunity to come -in touch with one phase of the American Spirit, where it was closely -related to his own; for “one ‘kicker’ makes the whole world ‘kick.’â€</p> - -<p>The small room was so crowded that some of the men were sitting on the -wash-stands, and the rest were so close to each other as to make -conversation easy and general. This was an extra fare train supposed to -be unusually comfortable and speedy; although thus far it had been -losing time. It was natural under those conditions that the railroad -should come in for its share of blessings, couched in language such as -is often heard in smoking compartments of Pullman cars. Had all the -pious wishes expressed that night been fulfilled, that railroad and our -particular train would have travelled much more swiftly, but to a -destination not indicated in the time-tables.<a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a></p> - -<p>The question under discussion was, which is the worst railroad in the -United States, and as some of the men were stock-brokers they knew our -roads from their most vulnerable side. The tales they told of the -manipulation of stocks and the fleecing of the public, with their -consequent effect upon the service, were as startling as they were -humiliating; because, in the last analysis, the railroads reflect the -general business ethics of the country.</p> - -<p>I kept out of the discussion, for not only have I but a hazy notion of -economics; my mind was busy classifying the passengers’ racial origin, a -very diverting exercise and one which always brings me in touch with -people on their really human side.</p> - -<p>It happened that two of the men were Polish Jews from Cleveland, who had -risen from poverty to where they could travel in Pullman cars, and who -confessed that they knew as little of railroad stocks as I, although -they were engaged in as risky a business as stocks, that of -manufacturing women’s cloaks. They were not far removed from the Ghetto<a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a> -either in speech or ideals, and so were of little interest to me.</p> - -<p>A third fellow traveller, who bore the hallmarks of the average -American, both in dress and behavior, told me his business without much -urging. “I am not selling stock, nor manufacturing women’s cloaks, and I -am not a gambler. I have a sure thing; I am a bookie.†Forced to confess -myself ignorant as to what “a bookie†is, he explained to me the -intricacies of his calling, the problems of evading the law, and if it -cannot be evaded, how it may be bought; incidentally showing what an -inveterate gambler and what an easy mark the average American is.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director was all attention, to my great consternation; for the -conversation was as different from that which he had heard at Lake -Mohonk, or in our rounds of the Eastern colleges, as one could conceive. -As one by one the passengers sought their berths, the Herr Director -thanked me for arranging this uncomfortable night journey, saying that -though he was sure he could not sleep, he was “so glad to have come in -contact with<a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a> the American Spirit as it is,†and not as I had tried to -make it appear. With that kindly thrust he too retired, and I was at -liberty to do likewise.</p> - -<p>It was not long before I had auricular evidence that the Herr Director -was asleep, so I was very much astonished to hear him say the next -morning that he had not slept a wink, and that the engineer must bear -him a grudge; for he tried to jerk the berth from under him, and “<i>Gott -sei dank</i>†that the most uncomfortable night of his life was over. I -certainly was as grateful as he. It was with no small satisfaction, -though, that upon reaching Chicago two hours late, I collected four -dollars from that much abused railroad, and handed the same to the Herr -Director, assuring him that even in a railroad office the American -Spirit of fairness is operative.</p> - -<p>In Chicago as everywhere else the friend who owned an automobile was at -my command, and on a glorious May day when wind and sun had cleared the -air, and a night’s rain had washed the streets, we were taken<a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a> from -South Shore to North Shore and away out where the American city is at -her best, and Chicago is striving to excel them all in her wonderful -suburbs.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director had seen Chicago over thirty-three years ago—a young, -thriving, daring, ambitious city in the making; he found her still -young, thriving, daring, and in the making. Unchastened by her great -disasters, undismayed by her vexing problems, defying the lake, she -reaches out into it and into neighboring states, leading and controlling -the whole Middle West. Babylon, Capernaum, Rome, her older sisters, her -ideal, and perchance her destiny. She is <i>par excellence</i> the merchant -city, and the merchant princes rule her, although that rule is not -unchallenged.</p> - -<p>While the Herr Director saw the city changed in many respects, larger, -and in places beautiful, her dirt not so apparent, her wickedness -subdued, and her rough corners rubbed off, she is still Chicago, a -synonym for boastful bigness and ostentatious wealth.<a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a></p> - -<p>If it had not been for the Frau Directorin, I would not have taken them -where every man, woman and child is taken who visits Chicago, into the -largest department store in the world.</p> - -<p>She entered with the joyful anticipation of engaging in that most -exciting occupation—shopping—aided and abetted by my wife. The Herr -Director followed with the martyr’s air common to husbands who go along -to pay the bill.</p> - -<p>That type of store is no longer a novelty to city dwellers anywhere, but -this one because of its size, the variety and quality of goods -displayed, the courtesy to customers and, above all, the provisions for -their comfort and convenience, were remarkable enough to call forth even -the Herr Director’s commendation. The Frau Directorin was in the -seventeenth Heaven, the Biblical seventh not being an elevation high -enough to be used as a simile when she was shopping in a Chicago -department store.</p> - -<p>Obliging clerks showed her plates which cost three hundred dollars -apiece, cut and<a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a> etched glass at more fabulous prices; she walked -through miles of costly gowns, coats and millinery, and having made a -few purchases to her entire satisfaction—we were about to leave the -store with flying colors, figuratively speaking, when pride had a fall. -Unluckily remembering that a certain small boy needed summer underwear, -my wife led our party to the basement. When we left the elevator a -polite floor man directed us to aisle 16, Wabash Building. As we were on -the State Street side the cavalcade moved past what seemed like miles of -commonplace merchandise and commonplace buyers to aisle 16, Wabash -Building. At last we had reached our “Mecca.â€</p> - -<p>“I should like to see boys’ union suits,†my wife said.</p> - -<p>“Certainly. How old?â€</p> - -<p>“Twelve years.â€</p> - -<p>“We have nothing here over eight years. You will find your size on the -sixth floor, Washington Street side.â€</p> - -<p>I think it was the sixth floor; I know we walked (crestfallen) through -endless aisles<a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a> and were shot up floor after floor. Landed finally, the -right counter was reached after numerous conflicting directions.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director was puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin radiant -and happy, for she enjoys exercise, and my wife, her faith in the -efficiency of her favorite store not yet shaken, though wavering, asking -for “union suits for a twelve-year-old boy.â€</p> - -<p>As the clerk reached for the desired article she asked: “Short sleeves -or long sleeves?â€</p> - -<p>“Short sleeves.â€</p> - -<p>“Randolph Street side, second floor, for short sleeved union suits.â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director and I did not accompany the ladies on their further -voyage of discovery; we went to the rest room to avoid nervous -prostration.</p> - -<p>My wife and the Frau Directorin, with the determination and endurance -which women alone possess, continued the chase to a victorious finish.</p> - -<p>Fortunately an altogether satisfying luncheon followed this strenuous -experience, after<a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a> which, rested and refreshed, we repaired to the Art -Institute.</p> - -<p>The Chicago Art Institute, within a stone’s throw of the most congested -business section, at the edge of its noise and rush, is by its very -being there a sort of triumph.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director approached it somewhat condescendingly, expecting to -find it and its contents big, bizarre and “<i>nouveau richessque</i>.†As -soon as he entered the building he felt the dignity and good taste of -its arrangement, and his manner changed. After he had looked critically -at some of the pictures and approved them, I knew myself for once on the -way to success; for his praise was as genuine as his criticism.</p> - -<p>Knowing that money can buy both Old and New Masters, he expected to find -them; but he had not expected to see such discrimination as was shown in -choosing and hanging them. He was entirely unprepared for the excellent -work of our native artists, outside of that small but exalted sphere -occupied by Whistler, Sargent, Innes, etc.</p> - -<p>My joy was complete when we were taken<a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a> into the Art School by the -Director, Dr. French, whose death not long ago must always be deplored. -The rooms of the Art School were crowded by boys and girls of all ages -and varied nationalities and races, learning to develop their God-given -talents under the guidance of competent and sympathetic teachers. The -picture they made delighted me more than those they drew or painted; for -it seemed so thoroughly, generously, democratically and artistically -American.</p> - -<p>I scored another victory for the American Spirit when I introduced my -guests to Lorado Taft, sculptor, and the guiding star in Chicago’s -artistic firmament. In his rare personality, strength and purity, -idealism and practical good sense blend, and his art reflects the man. -He showed us some of his work and that of his pupils, and both elicited -unstinted praise from my guests.</p> - -<p>The climax of our visit came when we returned to the entrance hall which -we found crowded by public school children, all listening to an -orchestra composed of certain of<a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a> their number, and led by a young girl -about fourteen years of age. It seemed to me a remarkable and beautiful -combination. The marbles and pictures, the music, and, best of all, the -children happily wandering about the place. When the program ended there -was ice-cream for everybody, served by the teachers who accompanied the -children. It was a real party, an American party, and we might have -travelled long and far before I could have found anything which would -have better reflected for my guests the American Spirit at its best.</p> - -<p>If I were an artist and a sculptor I should like to portray the spirit -of Chicago as one feels it in this museum. I would model a group, with -its central figure that same sculptor, the finely bred American, clean -and wholesome, who longs to create, not only the city beautiful, but the -city human. He should be surrounded by the children, happily looking at -pictures and listening to music as we saw them in the Art Institute that -day.</p> - -<p>But there must be another prominent figure in my group: the heartless, -ruthless,<a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a> twentieth century American, with clean-shaven face, jaws -strong as a vise, and a chin like the base of an anvil. He is the man -who “makes a good husband,†and partly obeys the Scriptural injunction: -because he provides for his own. He too should be surrounded by -children; not his, but the children who work in his factories and have -to live in his rickety tenements. The two men would struggle mightily -for supremacy in the city’s life; and I would set up my sculptured group -in the busiest place, where all who passed it by might see, and seeing, -help him who was struggling for beauty and for happiness.</p> - -<p>Dr. French, the Herr Director and I had a long discussion about my -conception of the two natures contending within the city. The Herr -Director argued that the merchant spirit, so prevalent here, when -uncontrolled and uncurbed, is more dangerous to civilization and to our -democracy than the military spirit of Germany, and that it needs to be -overcome by a force greater and stronger than itself. The corrupting -element he said<a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a> has always been this same merchant spirit, and where -ancient civilizations decayed, it was due to the fact that it debased -kings and enslaved them by luxuries.</p> - -<p>“Business should not control, but be controlled, because business is -based entirely upon selfishness.†When the Herr Director stopped for -breath, Dr. French, who was an ardent Christian and knew his Bible, took -from his pocket a New Testament, and pointed out a remarkable chapter in -the Book of Revelation (a chapter I was compelled to confess I had not -read) that bore out the Herr Director’s statement.</p> - -<p>“The kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the -merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.... And -the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth -their merchandise any more; merchandise of gold, and silver, and -precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and -scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every -vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron,<a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a> and marble; -and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, -and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and -merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men.â€</p> - -<p>We urged Dr. French to read the rest of the chapter, which he did.</p> - -<p>“And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, -saying: Woe, woe, the great city, wherein were made rich all that had -their ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is -she made desolate,†and then the voice of the angel crying into the -thick of their lament, “Rejoice over her, thou Heaven and ye saints, and -ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.†-It seemed as though the prophet had written the epitaph of all cities in -which the merchant was master and not servant.</p> - -<p>When he had finished I knew the inscription for my sculptured group: the -twentieth verse of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation.</p> - -<p>Altogether it was a remarkable day to be<a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a> experienced only in America, -perhaps only in Chicago. To shop in the largest store in the world, -visit a picture gallery well worth while, and see art students at work; -hear classical music played by a children’s orchestra, and watch the -same children enjoying the party which followed; to meet one of the -leading sculptors of America who shared with us his plans and hopes, and -to have as our guide the Director of the Art Institute, was a colossal -experience worthy of the city in which it happened.</p> - -<p>The next day was given to the Juvenile Court, Public Play Grounds, the -University, and, finally, Hull House. The one great disappointment of -the Chicago visit for me and my guests was Miss Jane Addams’ absence in -Europe. But the House was there—big, neighborly, homelike, -hospitable—and the residents were there, those who do the neighboring, -the healing and the helping, who are friends of the friendless, and know -no creed or race—except humanity.</p> - -<p>My faith in Chicago springs largely from my contact with Hull House, The -Commons<a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a> and like places with their defiant spirit towards evil, their -broad-mindedness and their brave attempt at remedying the wrongs of our -commercialized civilization.</p> - -<p>After dinner I “toted†my guests all over the House, from the -reading-room on the first floor to the Boys’ Club on the third, and back -again. I have done it frequently, and always with zest and pride, in -spite of the fact that I have had no active share in the work.</p> - -<p>In Bowen Hall we came upon a dancing party. Some one of the social clubs -had been gracious enough to invite its parents to come. We were -introduced to Mrs. Frankelstein from Roumania, and Mrs. Flynn from -Ireland, Mrs. Ragovsky from Russia, Mr. and Mrs. Feketey from Hungary, -Mr. and Mrs. Rocco from Italy, and many others whose picturesque names I -do not remember.</p> - -<p>We also met a young business man, the son of a millionaire, with sundry -other young men and women of the type one likes to meet and introduce, -whom one would be proud to know anywhere. They had charge<a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a> of the -affair. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin caught the spirit of -the occasion and entered into it with zest. When the orchestra began to -play, he led the Grand March with Mrs. Rocco and she followed with the -young millionaire. At the close of the festivities, as we were leaving, -they vowed they had had the best time since they left home.</p> - -<p>Chicago, big, blundering, materialistic Chicago had a new meaning to the -Herr Director. He praised everything and everybody, and as we parted for -the night, he said: “‘Almost thou persuadest me to’ believe in the -‘American Spirit.’<a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X<br /><br /> -<i>Where the Spirit is Young</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>O the average European there are two things American which have not yet -lost their romantic quality: The prairies and the West.</p> - -<p>Anticipations of seeing both, filled the breast of the Frau Directorin -with mingled feelings of fear and pleasure, as she discussed with her -husband the fate of the children they had left behind them—in the event -of our being captured by the Indians. However, the probability of our -safe return and her consequent opportunity to tell envious friends her -experiences in the prairies and the West outweighed all fears.</p> - -<p>Among her friends were those who had braved the perils of the ocean and -gone as far as New York; some of them had even been in Chicago—but -beyond, still hidden in the romance woven about them by Bret<a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a> Harte (her -favorite American author), were those two things she was about to see, -and of which they had only dreamed.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director, as he repeatedly reminded me, had crossed the plains -when I had known them only through Cooper’s fascinating Indian stories, -and he was eager to throw off the leadership I had assumed, which, to a -dominant nature like his, proved exceedingly irksome.</p> - -<p>He soon discovered that he was travelling through territory entirely new -to him. The little towns he had known had grown into cities, and the -further west we travelled, the greater and more impressive were the -changes.</p> - -<p>Omaha and Kansas City he did not recognize at all. Not only was there -this new growth, “rank growth,†he called it, of sky-scrapers, -post-offices and railroad stations with Doric pillars—the men and women -he met had a new outlook upon life. While they still boasted of this and -that thing in which their city was like Chicago or was unlike some -lesser city than their own, they<a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a> were critical of themselves and eager -to learn; they had grown more masterful and at the same time were more -refined.</p> - -<p>The prairies were not at all what the Frau Directorin had imagined them -to be. She was chagrined to find nothing but farm lands and great -fields, not so well groomed as those we had seen in the East, but with -no Indians or buffaloes, no wild horses or wilder looking men.</p> - -<p>She saw no trace of the toil, the struggle and the brave resistance -through which these farms had been rescued from the prairies. She could -not know of the loneliness of women and the hardihood of men, of the -season’s drought and famine, of bitter disappointment, the pangs of -bearing and rearing children in utter isolation, and the struggle for -education.</p> - -<p>No trace of all this was apparent in the sort of settled, middle class -prosperity which stretched out in the unvaried, thousand mile panorama -through which we journeyed.</p> - -<p>In a town of about four thousand inhabitants we stopped; the name of the -place is<a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a> of no significance, for there are hundreds of just such towns -in the West. We were met by the superintendent of schools, himself a -product of the prairies. Having grown up among the cattle, he is -consequently shy of men. He drove his automobile as if it were a -broncho, and we all uttered a prayer of thanksgiving when he deposited -us, with no bones broken, at the hotel. In a short time we were ready to -go with him to his school, which was the objective point of our visit.</p> - -<p>It goes without saying that the superintendent boasted of the youth of -the town, even as under like circumstances in the East, he would have -boasted of its age.</p> - -<p>Ten years before it was nothing except a railroad station, miles of -sage-brush, rattlesnakes and prairie dogs. Now there are business -blocks, embryonic sky-scrapers, a pillared post-office, a -hundred-thousand-dollar hotel, a Grand Opera House, neither big enough -nor good enough to boast of, numerous churches and this schoolhouse. It -is not only a place in which boys and girls learn the “three R’s,†but -has a finely<a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a> equipped gymnasium, a chemical laboratory and a Domestic -Science department. It is a center of education and recreation, not only -for that town, but for the surrounding country.</p> - -<p>I had never seen the Herr Director as enthusiastic over anything as he -was over this cowboy school superintendent, with his program of reaching -every man, woman and child in the county through his educational and -recreational program, his annual budget of some seventy-five thousand -dollars, and a faculty of men and women college bred, and citizens of -the town. They are not merely educated tramps, but are there to stay, -and they take pride in the town in which they make their home.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director was no less amused than I was when we were told by one -of the teachers that the superintendent, at one of the school board -meetings had pulled off his coat and threatened to thrash one of the -members who refused his vote on an important measure. As we looked at -this six foot three, erstwhile cowboy, his broad shoulders<a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a> and strong -arms which seemed reluctantly confined in a coat, and as we saw his -square, determined jaw,—we knew that the unruly member voted <i>aye</i>.</p> - -<p>Both the Herr Director and I were asked to speak to the boys and girls. -As soon as they entered the room the air became electric with their high -school yell; they “rah rahed†us individually and collectively, and -“what’s the matter withed†everybody, and indulged in all those academic -and classical performances which every high school now seems to consider -an essential part of preparation for college.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director told them that among all the things he had seen thus -far in America he liked their high school the best; which remark of -course elicited thunderous applause. This was most gratifying to him, -and all day he was in high spirits. He thought the most hopeful -characteristic of the American is this faith in education, the -practical, far-reaching methods employed, and the daring all sorts of -educational experiments. At the same time he severely criticized<a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a> our -lack of unanimity, and the evident disadvantages of such communities as -have no cowboy superintendent to lick a conservative or stingy school -board member into conformity with his plans.</p> - -<p>We visited an agricultural college where we were told of farmers who -came to study soil fertility, and farmers’ wives who studied kitchen -chemistry, farmers’ children who tested seeds, and to whom these -prairies, to which they were being bound by an intelligent knowledge of -their environment, were beginning to speak a new language.</p> - -<p>We saw a teacher’s college which one with the prophet’s vision had -planted in the desert. The sage-brush ridden prairie had been -transformed into a glorious campus, and uncultured boys and girls into -enthusiastic teachers. More than twelve hundred of them come back each -year to get better equipment for their difficult task.</p> - -<p>The cities in which we stopped interested the Herr Director less than -the towns, and we did not tarry long except in one of them, where we had -to stay because of an engagement<a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a> I had made to address a certain club. -I did this because it gave me a fine chance to introduce that particular -American institution, a combination of eating and speaking club, which -meets once a month and whose program is as ambitious as are most things -Western.</p> - -<p>We were met at the station by a committee of men and women in -automobiles of course, and found the finest rooms in the hotel reserved -for us. Big, high, generous rooms, in which the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin openly rejoiced.</p> - -<p>The committee awaited us in a private dining-room where luncheon was -served. There were three other guests who were to speak during the -evening. One of them, a most brilliant woman, a well-known social -worker. The second a United States Senator, and the third an explorer -who had just returned from a voyage into some less known parts of South -America.</p> - -<p>The luncheon was sufficiently elaborate and artistically served to -satisfy both the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, but<a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a> he -protested when after the meal, without even a chance at a nap, we were -escorted to waiting motor cars, and a long cavalcade of us started on a -sight-seeing expedition.</p> - -<p>The city was worth seeing, with its boulevards, parks and playgrounds; -its schoolhouse, churches, and clubs. We heard much of its prospects, -always so great an asset in the life of our Western cities.</p> - -<p>Amusing and remarkable to the strangers was the evident pride of this -committee in the city, to which they had come from all parts of the -country if not of the world; yet they spoke of it with a lover’s -affection.</p> - -<p>The one thing underneath all this civic pride, and finer than anything -visible to us, was the fight for decency, law and order, and the health -and happiness of children, which has been waged there and is not yet -won. It is as exciting as, and more valorous than, many a battle in -which men fight with powder and bullets.</p> - -<p>It was an exhilarating experience to shake the hand and look into the -face of a woman who had defied the monied interests of her<a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a> state, who -had jeopardized her comforts and her position, even her life, to loosen -the hold of graft from the schools of the state.</p> - -<p>It was inspiring to hear from a mild mannered, unaggressive looking man -how he had helped wipe out brothels and evil dance halls, broken up the -connivance of the police with the criminal element and put through a -positive program of rational, clean amusements for the people.</p> - -<p>We visited a business plant, the architecture and equipment of which are -as unique as are its owner’s business methods. We were told the story -(not by himself) of how a brave and good man, single handed, struggled -against bosses, political cliques and large financial interests in -league with them, and all but freed the city from its most dangerously -decent foes.</p> - -<p>We were shown hills which the citizens had faith enough to remove and -the hollows into which they had cast them; a raging river which they -meant to control, and ugly, sickening slums which were doomed to go, and -that none too soon; the old things<a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a> which were to become new, and -crooked things which were to be made straight.</p> - -<p>Thirty-three years before the Herr Director had heard stories of -vanishing buffaloes and the last struggles with the Indians. He had met -scouts, hunters and soldiers. This was a new type of fighters, much less -picturesque, but fit successors to those valiant pioneers. I rescued my -guests from a visit to the stock-yards (why any one should care to show -off stock-yards I do not know), and the committee released its hold upon -us so that we might make our toilettes for the reception which preceded -the banquet.</p> - -<p>If there is anything more conducive to creating a barrier to real human -contact than a reception, I have not seen it, unless it be a reception -with orchestral accompaniment; this was such an one, and its chief -function seemed to be to drown conversation.</p> - -<p>The ladies of our party were happy because this was one of the few -occasions on our trip when they could wear evening gowns.</p> - -<p>The Frau Directorin was astonished beyond measure when she heard that -some of<a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a> the women on the reception committee of this club were mothers -(to a limited degree, it is true), that they had, at the most, two -servants, and that some of them had none; that they were interested in -Literary Clubs and civic affairs, served on school boards and church -committees, and were doing various other things to help the Creator -manage His universe.</p> - -<p>The German woman, who has adhered to the program marked out for her by -the Emperor, the “three K’s,†“<i>Küche, Kirche und Kinder</i>†stands aghast -at the strenuous lives many of our women lead. The Frau Directorin, who -has servants for the kitchen and the children, upon whom the third K, -the Church, lays no burden in the way of missionary meetings, fairs and -suppers, who does not have to reduce her flesh to be in the fashion, and -whose social position is determined by her husband’s station in life, -may well wear an unruffled smile and keep an unfurrowed brow.</p> - -<p>At the banquet, the waiters and the orchestra vied with each other in -noise making,<a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a> and it was a relief when, with the bringing of the black -coffee, they all disappeared, and the toast-master rose and began -unbottling his stock of stories. Nowhere in the world is there such a -thirst for stories as in America, and a group of men after a banquet has -an unlimited capacity for absorbing and enjoying them.</p> - -<p>There were four scheduled speakers and a few who expected to be called -upon unexpectedly, among them the Herr Director; a Glee Club was to sing -before, between and after the speeches; so the toast-master did not stop -telling stories any too soon.</p> - -<p>The first speaker of the evening was a woman who well deserved the -cheers which greeted her appearance. Her address on Workmen’s -Compensation was so clear, so aptly put, so well reasoned through and so -within the limit of time assigned her, that when she finished, the -enthusiastic Herr Director shouted: “Bravo! bravo!†loud enough to be -heard above the less euphonious sound of hand clapping, in which form of -applause the American audience indulges.<a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a></p> - -<p>The address was an eloquent but unemotional plea for fair play for the -working man, an arraignment of present practices, cruelly sickening in -detail, and frightful as a revelation of the attitude of large -industrial interests towards labor. It showed the fair-mindedness of the -men there, that they listened so approvingly, in spite of the fact that -a large number of them was in similar relationship to labor, and that -the proposed law for which she pleaded would be against their own -interests.</p> - -<p>After the lady’s address, the Glee Club sang and then the United States -Senator was introduced. I have forgotten his subject, but that does not -matter, for it had no relation to what he said. It was the kind of -address which could be delivered with equal propriety at a Grangers’ -picnic or a political meeting.</p> - -<p>There were two things which the senator did not know: First, that his -audience had outgrown that particular kind of address, and second, when -to stop. When his final finally was finally spoken, the Glee Club<a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a> sang -again, after which the Herr Director was called upon to speak. He was -listened to most attentively as he told how German cities are built, -governed, provisioned and lighted.</p> - -<p>There were at least four speeches beside my own, and it was long past -midnight when the Glee Club sang its last glee, and the club adjourned -to meet again the next month, when it would receive other more or less -distinguished guests, eat a six course dinner and listen to half a dozen -speakers, each one of them eager to right the wrongs of this universe.</p> - -<p>When the Herr Director had said good-bye to the hundred or more people -who told him how much they enjoyed his address, he retired in a most -happy mood. I found him chuckling as he untied his cravat.</p> - -<p>“It was lovely, perfectly lovely,†he said; “but what children they -are.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†I replied, “they are children; and, like children, are eager to -learn.<a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI<br /><br /> -<i>The American Spirit Among the Mormons</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">B</span>OTH the Herr Director and his wife had a strange desire to see the -Mormons. They explained it by saying that besides the Indians whom they -had as yet not seen, and the Negroes whom they had seen everywhere, they -always thought of the Mormons as most American, that is most unlike -other people.</p> - -<p>The Rocky Mountains, as I had expected, did not impress them. From the -car window they seemed more like elevated plains, with here and there a -restless chain of hills in the distance.</p> - -<p>“As restless as the American people,†quoth the Herr Director. “Your -plains and your mountains seem to be fighting with each other.<a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a>â€</p> - -<p>I hoped that the plains would win the fight and pointed out another, -more visible struggle—that of man with the desert. I admitted that the -Rocky Mountains which he had thus far seen were uninteresting from the -scenic standpoint, especially as compared with the beauty of the Alps, -those snow-capped mountains with meadows to the timber line, their -picturesque villages and herders’ huts all as trim and neat and finished -as the carving one buys in Interlaken or Luzerne.</p> - -<p>From the human standpoint, the Rockies are infinitely more interesting, -for there the elemental struggle is still going on. A giant race is -taming tumultuous rivers, and forcing their waters through flumes and -tunnels into mighty reservoirs on the mountainsides and in the valleys. -No indolent, unaspiring, uninventive, docile people could survive in the -Rockies.</p> - -<p>In common with many Americans, my guests believed that this matter of -irrigation is as easy as turning water from a faucet into a basin; and -that all a man has to do is to<a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a> drop his seed into the ground and watch -it grow. I showed them farms, desolate and forbidding, which men had to -level or lift, ditch and plow and harrow; a back-breaking, often a -heart-breaking task. In such an environment they built shacks which only -accentuated the loneliness—where women lived and children were born, -where hopes were cherished and God was worshipped.</p> - -<p>It was an Old Testament environment, the wilderness. Compared with these -pioneers the Israelites had an easy task. They sent spies into the -Promised Land where they found and from which they brought back grapes -and pomegranates; but to stay in the wilderness, to drive back the -drought inch by inch, to kill coyotes and rattlesnakes one by one, to -contend with claim jumpers, real estate agents, water right privileges -and unscrupulous lawyers, and then raise grapes and pomegranates, -families, churches, schools and colleges—that seems to me the greater -and more heroic task. And it was done by men with the courage of -soldiers and the vision of prophets, who turned that land<a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a> of drought, -alkali and sage-brush into one “flowing with milk and honey.†Because in -a certain portion of that desert those who were the pioneers and -performed those tasks were Mormons, takes nothing from the glory of the -achievement.</p> - -<p>As we neared Salt Lake City the Frau Directorin looked into every house, -eager to detect the numerous wives whom she expected to see surrounding -one man; while the Herr Director marvelled at the beauty of the vast -Salt Lake valley which, with its poplars and mountains and its -intensively cultivated farms, reminded him of Lombardy, that beautiful -stretch of country along the railway from Milan to Boulogna.</p> - -<p>Salt Lake City is sufficiently different from other cities we had seen -to arouse interest; but as in Rome the Vatican overshadows everything -else, so here the Temple and the Tabernacle hold one’s attention, and -work upon one’s imagination.</p> - -<p>We had scarcely put ourselves to rights in our rooms at the Hotel Utah, -as pretentious and comfortable as any in the country, before<a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a> we were -out on the streets, looking for Mormons. There is a fairly defined type -and I thought I knew it, for I have lectured before Mormon audiences; -but out upon the busy city streets it was quite impossible for me to -gratify the curiosity of the Frau Directorin by pointing them out to -her. I did tell her that a third of the population was non-Mormon and -she looked curiously at two out of every three persons we met without, -however, being able to say definitely that she had seen a real, live -specimen.</p> - -<p>Not wishing to join the crowd of tourists who were taken in relays -through the Tabernacle and other buildings open to the curious among the -Gentiles, we walked through the park, and stopping before the monument -to Joseph Smith I took the opportunity to enlighten my guests upon the -history of that singular personality, and the church of which he was the -founder.</p> - -<p>Evidently my remarks were overheard, and before I realized it I was in a -discussion of Mormon doctrines with a woman, a zealous defender of her -faith, whose religious zeal<a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a> shone out of her face, which was homely -enough to need this adornment to save it from repulsive ugliness.</p> - -<p>Of course she believed implicitly in the Book of Mormon, the plates of -which were found, and translated from a language which the best informed -philologists have never known to exist; in a God who has body, parts and -passions, in spirits which fill Heaven, and clamor to be born onto the -Earth, in the baptism for the dead, and in that strange doctrine, that -no woman can be saved without being sealed to a man, upon which the -practice of polygamy rested.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director did not quite understand, and I had to explain each of -these dogmas as well as I could, and then the Frau Directorin, not -understanding anything, begged to be told about the one thing in which -she was primarily interested, their belief in regard to marriage. I -asked the lady to explain this doctrine of the Mormons, to which she -replied that they are not Mormons, but Latter Day Saints. She was indeed -a saint, for she was not offended by our<a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a> curiosity, nor the lack of -seriousness with which we were discussing the subject.</p> - -<p>She addressed the Frau Directorin: “You are married to your husband.†-The Frau Directorin understood and nodded comprehendingly; “but,†the -saint continued, “you are married to him only for time.â€</p> - -<p>“No, no, not for a time, not for a time!†the Frau Directorin cried, -clinging to her husband, who had jokingly threatened that when they -reached Utah he would improve the occasion and double his blessings.</p> - -<p>“You could not be married to him any other way unless you are sealed -according to our rites; we alone marry for eternity.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh!†said the facetious Herr Director, “you believe in eternal -punishment.†When I translated that to the Frau Directorin she slapped -him playfully.</p> - -<p>He asked our guide how many wives he could marry if he became a Latter -Day Saint and she said there would be no limit to the wives he could -have sealed to him; but according to the latest ruling of the church and -in conformity with the laws of the United<a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a> States, only one to live with -here upon the earth; so he decided to “bear the ills he had,†and not -“fly to others that he knew not of.â€</p> - -<p>The saint could not have expected her teaching to take root in soil so -shallow, but she determined to sow a few more seeds, and showed us the -interior of the Tabernacle with its “largest organ in the world and its -perfect acoustics.†The Frau Directorin tried her charming voice and -sang, much to the delight of the saint, who confessed to three consuming -passions. She loved to sing better than to eat, next in order came -dancing, which seems to be a specialty among Mormons, and evidently does -not interfere with their piety, and third, that of saving feminine souls -from destruction, on account of their unmarried state. To satisfy this -last passion she has had ten thousand of her female ancestors married to -well-known Mormons. To accomplish this, she had her genealogical tree -traced back to prehistoric times, and had spent her fortune upon that -pious extravagance. She told us that she was a plural wife, and living -with<a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a> her husband merely in the celestial relationship: but she believed -polygamy to be in harmony with the will of God, and that the women as a -whole favor it.</p> - -<p>As we returned to our hotel, the Frau Directorin amused herself by -asking each child she met: “How much brothers and sisters you are?†I -was profoundly thankful she did not stop the men to ask them about the -number of their wives.</p> - -<p>Having promised her that I would introduce her to a real, live Mormon -who as yet had only one wife, she could hardly wait until dinner, to -which I had invited my Mormon acquaintance. He proved to be a very -normal sort of man whose face betrayed his European peasant ancestry, -his father and mother having emigrated from Switzerland, lured across by -the promise of land, and an all but perfect Zion. They had passed -through every hardship of the early persecutions, and the march across -the plains and mountains. He himself had grown up in the martyrs’ faith, -which remained unshaken until he was sent to college.<a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a></p> - -<p>Although his teachers were Mormons they could not explain away all the -inconsistencies of Mormon history and belief; doubts assailed him, and -when in due course he became a missionary and it fell to his lot to go -to Europe, instead of making converts, he became one. The six years -abroad were spent in the study of history, and, applying the methods to -his own church and its Book of Mormon, he began to doubt, and is a -doubter still. Yet so strong were the ties that bound him that he did -not formally sever his connection with the church, and unless he is -ejected from that communion he will doubtless remain within its fold.</p> - -<p>He belongs to an increasingly large group of young Mormons who, while -they themselves have lost faith in the church and its doctrines, believe -that they must remain loyal to those whose belief is still unshaken, -help them to discard the crudest elements of their doctrine and so -gradually democratize the whole institution.</p> - -<p>The growth of the church has been checked and the accession of foreign -converts has<a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a> almost ceased, due to the prohibition of polygamy which -was a lure to the evil minded, and due also to the fact that immigration -is not being encouraged.</p> - -<p>Mormonism would have continued to grow in alarming proportions if the -missionaries were still offering a husband, or a part of one, to every -woman, and to every man as many wives as he cared to take unto himself.</p> - -<p>Within the church two forces are working towards its liberalization. The -influence of a strong, Gentile population, and the school; while neither -of them will destroy Mormonism, our informant believed that ultimately -it will prove no more formidable or dangerous to the nation than any -other religious denomination, whose government is strongly centralized.</p> - -<p>After dinner he took us to his own home, and either from a recently -acquired habit, or from renewed curiosity, the Frau Directorin asked the -little son of the house, “How much brothers and sisters you are?†and I -am not sure she was convinced that his wife whom<a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a> he introduced to us -was the only wife he had.</p> - -<p>He was good enough to insist upon taking us into the country in his -machine to call on his father, his mother having died some years before; -which, however, according to Mormon usage of bygone days did not leave -the old man a widower.</p> - -<p>His gnarled, wrinkled face shone when we greeted him in his native -tongue, and it was as pleasant as it was instructive to hear him tell of -the emigration of his people from Switzerland to Missouri, of the stormy -days there, the struggles against infuriated mobs, the long, dangerous -journey across the desert, and the pioneer days in Utah where he had -acquired lands, sheep and oxen, wives and children, in true Old -Testament fashion.</p> - -<p>The Frau Directorin asked: “How much wives you are?â€</p> - -<p>When he told her that he had gone beyond the apostolic twelve, although -he lived with only a few of the number, she exclaimed: “<i>Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!</i><a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a>â€</p> - -<p>The Herr Director wanted to know how he managed so many of them when he -had difficulty in managing one.</p> - -<p>“<i>Ach!</i> in those days,†he said, “the wives were subject to their -husband, knowing that without him they could not live comfortably here, -nor safely hereafter. They were docile enough, and it did not cost so -much to keep them as it does now.â€</p> - -<p>With a shrewd smile playing around his almost toothless mouth he added: -“You know if polygamy had not been prohibited it would have died out -gradually, because these are different times. We couldn’t afford it -now.â€</p> - -<p>The old man said he had known Joseph Smith and, of course, Brigham -Young. He spoke of them with reverence and awe, as men of God who -received revelations and could work wonders. There seemed to be little -or nothing of the mystic in his makeup; his religion was of a hard, -materialistic, matter-of-fact kind to which he clung most tenaciously. -There was an unmistakable coarseness about him which revealed itself<a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a> in -his conversation. It may have been due to his peasant origin, but during -all the years, a really ethical religion would have refined him. In a -sense he still did not belong to the United States—he was a Mormon -first and last, and the government in Washington was to him as Pharaoh’s -rule was to the Jews.</p> - -<p>His religion evidently had taught him submission. He paid his tithes -ungrudgingly, and had gone on a mission uncomplainingly. He was a cog in -a great wheel whose resistless force he did not question.</p> - -<p>From his farm we were taken to others, and to neighboring towns. The -whole system in all its minute details was explained to us, and the Herr -Director was quite fascinated by its efficiency, although I am sure he -would not care to be governed by it. Everywhere we found prosperous -conditions and outward contentment, but underneath, especially among the -young people, a brooding discontent and smouldering rebellion; yet at -the same time much stolid ignorance and fanaticism.<a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a></p> - -<p>Our final visit was to the University, built solidly against the rocks, -its great U in purest white marked upon the mountainside, its very -existence seeming a menace to the system which supports it.</p> - -<p>There was a fine group of students, both Mormons and Gentiles. The -library in which I spent some time astonished me. I wondered, as I -looked at some of the books, if the church authorities knew what was -between the covers. Dynamite under the Temple walls could not be as -dangerous as those volumes.</p> - -<p>Possibly the students are as ignorant of their contents as the leaders -are. There are books on Philosophy and Psychology which do not seem to -me so menacing as those on Economics and Sociology; for it is upon these -subjects that the questioning will come first, and also the discontent.</p> - -<p>After long and confidential conferences with some of the professors who -told me their views, and how they are struggling to maintain their -academic freedom, and after long talks with bright, energetic boys and<a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a> -girls who expressed themselves freely, I could assure the Herr Director -that some problems, which have so long vexed the United States and have -threatened certain ideals of the American Spirit, are in process of -solution.</p> - -<p>They are being solved by virtue of the broad tolerance of that spirit, -than which nothing is so feared by the reactionary forces in the Mormon -Church.</p> - -<p>One thing which that institution desires more than anything else is -renewed persecution; not too much of it, but enough to rally the -children of the martyrs to face new martyrdom and so perpetuate the -waning power of the church.</p> - -<p>One must remember that Mormonism is not only a sect, but a strongly -knitted society, and that men who have long ago ceased to believe in its -doctrines still hold to it with a loyalty born of past suffering, which -will be fostered by any future injustice or persecution.</p> - -<p>When we left Salt Lake City and were safe in the Pullman on our way to -the Pacific<a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a> Coast, the Frau Directorin put her stock question to the -colored porter when he came to make up the berths.</p> - -<p>“How much wives you are?â€</p> - -<p>When I interpreted the question for him he smiled his broadest smile, -but looked puzzled. I told him that the lady thought him a Mormon.</p> - -<p>“<i>No, ma’am.</i> I’s a Baptist. But I sho’d like to be one. I likes de -ladies poheful.â€</p> - -<p>He was not a Mormon, certainly not a saint, but he rendered us loyal -service on that long, dusty journey to the Coast. Perhaps because he -“likes de ladies poheful,†or it may have been because I gave him half -of a generous tip in advance.<a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII<br /><br /> -<i>The California Confession of Faith</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">S</span>INCE landing in New York the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had -endured many a formal reception; she with angelic patience, and he with -the usual masculine aversion to formal social amenities.</p> - -<p>When I announced that a reception was to be tendered us in San -Francisco, he cried with uplifted hands, “<i>Um Gottes Willen!</i>†He did -not object to really meeting people; but to stand in line an hour or two -shaking hundreds of outstretched hands, not knowing nor caring much to -whom they belonged, seemed to him a profitless exercise; while our -wafers and tea, or our punch—without those ingredients which give the -“punch†to punch—were gastronomic delusions to one accustomed to the -abundant meat and drink attendant upon social occasions in Germany.</p> - -<p>This particular reception was to be given<a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a> us by the Chinese, and a -committee of stately, solemn looking gentlemen called for us in -carriages; despite the Herr Director’s reluctance, I am sure he was -delighted to have this chance of giving his jaded social appetite a new -sensation.</p> - -<p>Chinatown, with its gay coloring, its tempting shops, its stolid-looking -men, its quaint women and cunning babies, was made doubly fascinating to -us, entering it officially conducted and riding in state.</p> - -<p>I do not know to this day to just what facts or virtues or position in -life we owe the attentions we received; but it was all recorded upon -posters and handbills liberally distributed through Chinatown, -announcing our advent. Recorded upon them in those picturesque -characters with which the Chinese language puzzles its readers, were the -names and eulogies of certain members of our party. The character which -stood for the Herr Director looked like a top, a tree and a barrel, -while his nativity and manifold virtues were made known in other -artistic symbols.<a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a></p> - -<p>I suspect that the man to blame for it all was a certain young American -whose mixed ancestry has created a rare and most effective personality. -He has inherited all the grace of his French ancestors, the tenacity (a -virtue in which he excels) of his Dutch or double Dutch progenitors, and -I am sure he can claim kinship with the first man who “kissed the -Blarney stone.†He could pull the latch-string to any foreign colony in -that great conglomerate of peoples, and always be greeted as one of -them. The Young Men’s Christian Association, in whose name he served, -could not have had a more worthy exponent of its social creed, and -America could not have projected against these foreigners a better -representative than Charles W. Blanpied.</p> - -<p>The reception was held in the Chinese Presbyterian Church, and upon our -arrival we found it crowded by a solemn-looking company of Chinese. We -were conducted to the platform and introduced to his Excellency the -Consul-General, ministers of various denominations, and dignitaries of -Chinatown.<a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a></p> - -<p>This was the first reception we attended where introductions were not -followed by vigorous hand-shaking. I am inclined to believe that the -softness of the Oriental palm is due to the fact that it is not -vigorously pressed every time two men meet each other.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director was in ecstasy over the beautiful Chinese girls in the -choir. Doubtless he would have preferred sitting among them, rather than -where he was, between the Consul-General and the chairman of the -evening.</p> - -<p>The reception opened with prayer, as if it were a church service; then -the choir sang an anthem, followed by four speeches of welcome. The -first by his Excellency the Consul-General lasted an hour and seemed -much longer, because it was in Chinese and unintelligible to us.</p> - -<p>I was asked to respond, and, under the circumstances, my remarks were -brief. The clever interpreter made a good deal of them, judging by the -length of time it took him, and the tumultuous applause with which every -sentence was greeted.<a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a></p> - -<p>The Herr Director told me it was the poorest speech he ever heard; but I -am inclined to believe that he was a little jealous because he was not -asked to speak; or perhaps he was merely trying to keep me humble, a -course which he had consistently pursued from the day I met him in New -York.</p> - -<p>The reception closed with the benediction, and the dignitaries and -guests proceeded to a Chinese restaurant which was genuinely Oriental; -not one of those nondescript Chop Suey places which serve such varied -and often objectionable purposes. The entire establishment was reserved -for us. It was gayly decorated with the banners of the Youngest -Republic, an orchestra played vigorously and so unmelodiously that the -Herr Director was reminded of the ultra modern German compositions.</p> - -<p>The menu was the most mysterious thing of the evening, ranging from tea -to broiled seaweed, and eggs which looked their age and were not ashamed -of it. There was fowl which was made unrecognizable to both<a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a> the eye and -the palate, something which tasted like glue flavored with onion, and -something else which to my perverted Occidental palate seemed like -stewed Turkish towels. There were sweetmeats before and after and -between courses. Beside the mystery, the variety and novelty of the -banquet, it had one other virtue; it was not followed by after dinner -speeches, that common American practice which is an assault upon one’s -digestion, and, not infrequently, upon good taste.</p> - -<p>While there were no after dinner speeches, we had a chance to discuss -the problem of the Chinese in California, and their brave attempts to -become Americanized in thought and feeling, in spite of the unyielding -race prejudice they have had to meet; thus renewing our faith in our -common origin and destiny, regardless of our apparent differences. Never -before had I realized how gentle these Chinese are nor how altogether -likeable, and it was no surprise to find that some of the Californians -have made the same discovery, and are treating them accordingly.</p> - -<p>We visited the Immigrant Station at San<a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a> Francisco and I wished we had -not; for our treatment of the incoming Orientals lacks all those -elements of which I had boasted. We are neither humane, nor fair, -neither wise, nor decent. We found young Chinese women who had been -detained for more than a year, and were left without occupation or -suitable companionship or even a hope of early release. There were -Chinese boys who were herded with hardened, vicious-looking men, and the -station, although ideally situated, was little better than a prison. -What was done or was allowed to be done to make the lot of these people -more bearable was accomplished by outsiders. Conditions may have changed -since that time, and if they have, it is a cause for profound gratitude.</p> - -<p>We also had an unusual opportunity to come in touch with the Japanese -all along the coast. In one city we met a young Japanese, a graduate of -my own college. He is now serving his countrymen there as a Buddhist -priest. He has brought to his sacred calling much of the practical -religion which he absorbed through his contact with<a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a> the college Y. M. -C. A., and it is his ambition to make Buddhism efficient and -serviceable. He has put into the work all his patrimony and is eager to -build up an institution patterned after the Young Men’s Christian -Association.</p> - -<p>We had many a confidential talk, and if the soul of the Oriental is not -altogether inscrutable I have had a glimpse of it; although I cannot say -that I have fathomed his soul any more than he has mine. He seemed to me -to typify his race in a remarkable degree. His is a strong, unyielding, -definite kind of ethnos, and while we liked each other and tried to -understand one another, there seemed to be a place just before we -reached our Holy of Holies where we stood before a barred gate.</p> - -<p>When he told me that the American soul is absolutely unemotional in -comparison with the Japanese, I knew he did not understand us; even as I -did not understand the Japanese when I told him that his people are cold -and unemotional in comparison with us.</p> - -<p>He took us to his temple in the basement<a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a> of a shabby looking American -tenement. He showed us his Sunday-school room, picture cards with Golden -Texts, club and class rooms, and many devices borrowed from us, applied -and perhaps improved upon by his Japanese genius. The day we left the -city he brought us an invitation to luncheon at the home of the most -prominent Japanese merchant in the place. Our hostess was a delightful -woman educated in a Methodist school in her native country, and of -course spoke English. Her husband, a conservative Buddhist, although he -had been in this country for twenty years, was still Japanese to the -core and spoke little or no English. There were several notables -present, whose English was more or less Japanned. They were keen, well -educated, and had absorbed enough of American culture to be baseball -“fans.â€</p> - -<p>During luncheon, which in our honor was served à la Nippon, we discussed -the anti-Japanese legislation which at that time was menacing the -peaceful relationship of the two countries.<a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a></p> - -<p>All the Japanese agreed that they had no right to demand unrestricted -immigration; but they were urgent that no crass distinction should be -made between them and other races, and that they too should have the -right to obtain citizenship when they had proved themselves fitted for -it.</p> - -<p>During this discussion the Frau Directorin and our host were carrying on -a picturesque conversation; that is she did the talking and he smilingly -said “Yes†to everything she said. She felt highly flattered that he -understood her English, which was still about seventy-five per cent. -German, while his was ninety-nine per cent. Japanese.</p> - -<p>That night as we were leaving the city a delegation met us at the -station to complete their Oriental hospitality by presenting us with -beautiful and valuable souvenirs.</p> - -<p>After such brief and friendly relationships with these people it is easy -to come to very one-sided conclusions about the problem they present to -the people of California. The situation is serious, but not so serious -that, in<a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a> order to try to meet it, we must cease to be gentlemanly in -our relation to them.</p> - -<p>It is the peculiarity of all people who face race problems, to face them -irrationally and to think that in order to maintain racial dignity one -must insult, demean, and humble other races; and the people of the -United States in general, and those of the Pacific Coast in particular, -have not yet learned a better and more rational way.</p> - -<p>Strong race prejudice is not necessarily a sign of race superiority, and -the people who constantly proclaim their superiority by humiliating and -persecuting others have a hard time proving it.</p> - -<p>If what I was frequently told is true, that California “wants no -immigrants unless they are something between a mule and a man,†then I -can understand their animosity towards the Japanese; for they are -altogether human and want to be so treated.</p> - -<p>Beside the many racial varieties with which we came in contact on the -Pacific Coast, we found there all the types produced in the United -States, and while neither the<a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a> Herr Director nor myself was able to -differentiate them by external variation, we discovered them by -different and contending ideals. From that standpoint they were even -more interesting than the Orientals. Every shade of political and -religious opinion, every kind of economic doctrine, every variety of -social standards we found, besides currents and cross currents not -easily discerned or classified. In spite of the difference in race, -class, religion and politics, we found three well defined ideas -expressed, upon which there is such an agreement that they might be -called the California Confession of Faith.</p> - -<p>First and foremost is the belief in the climate and the resources of the -state. There is no religious doctrine in existence unless it be the -monotheism of the Jews, which is so dogmatically held as this faith, -that California is unsurpassed in climate, productiveness, in all those -opportunities for a leisurely existence (provided you have worked hard -elsewhere to get the necessary money) as are offered by its mountains -and<a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a> sea, its luxuriant homes and all other factors which contribute to -the health and happiness of mankind. The only possible rival to -California is Heaven itself, and just because in these unbelieving and -unregenerate days so many people are not sure that there is such a -place, or if there is, are in doubt that they will have a mansion -reserved for them, they are leaving the farms and towns of the more -mundane Middle West and prosperous East to get a taste of Heaven in -California before they go to that “bourne from which no†wanderer has -returned.</p> - -<p>The people of California forgive any heresy or unbelief except a doubt, -however faint, about its climate and resources. From the shadow of Mount -Shasta to the deepest depth of the Imperial Valley, whether we were so -cold in summer as to need furs, or were hot enough to melt, or were -choking from dust when we travelled through miles of unredeemed desert, -we found this faith in the climate and resources of California unshaken.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director asked why there were<a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a> so many cemeteries in the midst -of the most crowded streets, and only a nearer look convinced him that -they were “for sale†signs of rival real estate agents, who flourish -equally with the sage-brush and cactus.</p> - -<p>The second idea upon which there is a common agreement is, that while -California in particular is perfect as to climate and resources, the -world in general is a dire place, and its wrongs need to be righted.</p> - -<p>In spite of the fact that the climate invites to leisure, it has not as -yet tamed the fighting spirit of this fine, manly race, which is never -so happy as when it has something to do and dare. This state has -admitted women to the duties of citizenship, that all may have an equal -share in the fight. The issues at stake are worth battling for, and -nowhere else is the struggle more intense and dramatic. Organized labor -and capital have crippled each other in the desperate conflict, fierce -always, and often brutal. Protestantism, unorganized and frequently -inefficient, faces the Roman Catholic hierarchy, defending, as it -believes, the public<a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a> schools and democratic government itself: -awakening, purified democracy is in deadly conflict with the demagogue -entrenched by special privilege while the prohibitionists are engaged in -most desperate conflict with the vinous industry of the state.</p> - -<p>The third doctrine of the California Confession of Faith is, that here -on the Pacific Coast the white race has been providentially placed to -defend this country against the encroachment of the “Yellow Peril.†It -was illuminating though painful to find that race prejudice is as -intense here as in the South, and as unreasoning, and that one is as -helpless against it as against a flood or fire. All one seems to be able -to do is to accept it as a fact, and treat it like a contagious disease.</p> - -<p>If there is any danger to the white race at the Pacific Coast, it is not -the presence of the Japanese or Chinese in limited numbers; it is the -attitude of mind which has been created among Americans there, and that -may bring its own vengeance.</p> - -<p>It was a great joy to introduce my guests<a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a> to California, its orange -groves and vineyards, its marvellous cities and palatial homes. It is a -state to glory in; but strange to say I was somewhat depressed when I -left it. The Herr Director said he missed my “brag and bluster.â€</p> - -<p>Everything was beautiful and bountiful, even as the real estate agents -have advertised; yet there were some things I found and some things I -missed which took the “brag and bluster†out of me.</p> - -<p>Its pioneer spirit is weakened by the accession of a large, leisure -class, and how or where the next generation will find a grappling place -for vigor of body, mind and spirit, is still a great question. To eat -one’s bread by the sweat of some ancestor’s brow, to be challenged daily -by the luxury of a limousine rather than by the hardships of the prairie -schooner, to have as the end and aim of one’s day the winning of a Polo -match, or the making of a golf score, must ultimately bring about a -decadence of spirit, even though one retains for a while litheness of -body and activity of mind.<a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a></p> - -<p>The boasted democracy of California is threatened, not only by the -presence of a large leisure class and the necessary serving if not -servant class, but also by a lack of faith in humanity, without which no -democracy is safe and enduring. To California has been transferred all -that unfaith gendered by the advent of the negro, and if there were ever -a chance to revive the institution of slavery, that state might offer -some hope for its revival.</p> - -<p>The Californians who fear for the white race because of the presence of -the Oriental, whom that fear has made vain, boastful, ungenerous and -reckless of the feelings of others, need to know that a greater danger -threatens the race—the decay of the democratic spirit, which languishes -and perishes unless it permits to all men free access to the best it -holds, regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.â€</p> - -<p>Because I had lost my “brag and bluster†and wished to recover them, I -took my guests, who were now homeward bound, to the one place which -might fitly crown their<a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a> experiences—the Grand Canyon, where one is apt -to forget humanity and its fretting problems.</p> - -<p>I must confess that by this time I was quite worn out; for introducing -your country to a stranger is wearing business, especially when you are -dealing with <i>blasé</i> globe-trotters, who have done all the big things, -from the Alps to the Dead Sea, and have had to crowd into a brief month -the best which lies between New York and California. To do this with a -lover’s adulation, endeavoring more or less skillfully to hide defects -and make the bright spots brighter still, may well tax one’s nerves.</p> - -<p>I acted as a sort of shock absorber, for I determined that the journey -should be a joltless one for my guests; but in that I partially failed; -for not only did I receive the shocks myself, I could not keep them from -receiving some.</p> - -<p>One of the worst of these jolts I suffered at the Grand Canyon of the -Colorado. I was very sure of the Canyon itself; I knew it would put a -thrill into the Herr Director, and<a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a> force an expression of it out of -him. I never worried about the Frau Directorin. We reached the Canyon in -that happy mood gendered by a combination of Harvey meals and Pullman -berths, and the sight of the friendly inn at the brink of the big -surprise, and the cheer of the big log fire in the raftered room drew an -involuntary exclamation of pleasure from the Herr Director. He -registered, then asked the clerk for a room fronting the Canyon.</p> - -<p>“Yes siree!†said the obliging young man as he attached a number to the -Herr Director’s long and illegible signature; “I’ll give you a room so -near that you can spit right into it.â€</p> - -<p>Naturally I received the first shock; a minute later it communicated -itself to the Herr Director. It did not reach the Frau Directorin, for -her English fortunately was still limited; she kept on looking at the -bright Navajo rugs, while the clerk smiled at his own smartness. The -Herr Director commanded to have his bags taken to his room, and turning -from the desk said: “Young<a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a> man, I am a German, and I want you to -understand that we do not spit in God’s face.â€</p> - -<p>The next morning the great Canyon was full of mist, and only faint -outlines of its titanic architecture were visible. As we stood at the -edge of the wondrous chasm, watching the last cloud being driven from -the depths as the moisture was absorbed by the dry, desert air, the Frau -Directorin was shaken by emotion as she gasped at intervals: “<i>Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!</i>†The Herr Director, his feelings better controlled, -said nothing; but after a long silence, muttered under his breath: “I -should like to throw that clerk down this abyss as a penalty for his -desecrating thought.â€</p> - -<p>Every few minutes I heard him saying, as he shook his head: “Just think -of it! Just think of it!â€</p> - -<p>I did not disturb him or ask him what he thought of it for I knew he -could not tell, nor can any one. I think he felt as I felt, that all the -cities he had seen were as nothing compared with this wonder of nature; -that all the pillared post-offices and libraries<a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a> which our cunning -hands have scattered over this broad land are trifling toys compared -with this templed miracle; that all our dreams of what we might paint or -fashion or carve, or build, are child’s play compared with this, and -that we ourselves are mere nothings in the presence of what God hath -wrought here in stone and clay, in color and form.</p> - -<p>Never before had I so wished that I could rearrange the geography of the -United States as when we turned eastward from the Grand Canyon. If I had -the power of Him who shaped this earth I would have put it within a mile -of the Atlantic Ocean and within a stone’s throw of the Hoboken dock, -and having shown my guests the Canyon, I would have put them on board -their home-bound steamer, and as they sailed away I would have cried out -with ancient Simeon: “Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!<a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII<br /><br /> -<i>The Grinnell Spirit</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">B</span>ETWEEN the Grand Canyon and the ship there might be “many a slip,†-especially as I was to conclude my guardianship of the travellers in my -own town, prosaically placed in the great Mississippi Valley, which -consists of two plains—one at the top and the other at the bottom, -filled with corn and hogs, and most prosperous and contented people.</p> - -<p>The place towards which we journeyed holds two things which are the -biggest, most beautiful, and best things in the world—my home and my -work, both of which my guests wished to see. I was anxious that they -should; for there, if anywhere, they could come close to that I gloried -in most, the American Spirit.</p> - -<p>After the barren plains, the monotonous<a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a> miles of sage-brush, and the -long, straight stretches of railroad tracks, it was good to look upon -green meadows and commodious farmhouses sheltered by groves of maple and -elm, and surrounded by great fields of young corn just peeping above the -black, rich clods.</p> - -<p>During the last few hours of the trip the Herr Director thought every -station at which the train stopped was our destination, and began -gathering his various belongings. When finally we reached it he jumped -out almost before the train stopped, so eager was he to see the place -where he was to spend at least a fortnight, and really see the American -home from the inside.</p> - -<p>Again fortune favored me. It was early June. The air was soft from -recent rains, the grassy lawns were wonderfully green; peonies were -opening their buds, adding touches of color, snowballs hung thick upon -the bushes, and blooming roses filled the air with sweet odors.</p> - -<p>It seemed as if our neighbors had conspired to make the town ready for -my distinguished<a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a> visitors, and I could see that they enjoyed the peace -of it, the friendliness of the park-like streets, the sight of well-kept -homes set in gardens, and the cordial greetings of the people we met.</p> - -<p>Their appreciation of all they saw before reaching the house, and their -evident delight in the rooms prepared for them, not to mention their -astonishment at finding their trunks awaiting them there, afforded me -not only pleasure, but a great sense of relief; I felt that the race was -won. I had faith to believe that they would be happy in our town of six -thousand inhabitants, which is not unlike other places of the same size. -It has its public park, two or three shopping streets, churches, -schoolhouses, a few factories large and small, clubs, lodges, and all -the things of which like towns may legitimately boast; yet it has a -background peculiarly its own.</p> - -<p>It was founded by an intrepid pioneer who brought a colony of New -Englanders from the hills of Massachusetts to this treeless prairie, and -with the imperious will of his race said: “Let there be a town!†And<a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a> -lumber was carted over miles of deep mud, cabins were built and there -was a town.</p> - -<p>And again he said: “Let there be a railroad!†And he diverted the course -of a great railroad system miles out of its way, and there was a -railroad.</p> - -<p>And he said: “There must be no saloon in this place!†So more than half -a century before strong drink was acknowledged to be a social and -physical foe, he had seen its true nature and put prohibition into every -deed of real estate, thus making it impossible for liquor to gain a -foothold.</p> - -<p>Years passed and he said: “Let there be a college!†and he brought one -across the state, and there was a college; a young, infant thing just -started by Christian missionaries who had come from the East, each of -them to plant a church, all of them to plant a college.</p> - -<p>This infant educational institution was put into its rude cradle in the -midst of an unshaded campus, and when it had grown to generous size, -with buildings to house it and trees to shade it, a cyclone swept the -campus<a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a> bare, and instead of a joyous Commencement, which was but a few -days distant, there were funerals and desolation, wreck and ruin.</p> - -<p>On a pile of débris sat the same pioneer with a determined smile playing -upon his face, and at once, while the tears upon the mourners’ cheeks -were still wet, he and others like him began rebuilding the town and the -college.</p> - -<p>Those men now “rest from their labor†in that bit of rolling prairie -saved from the plowmen and the harvester, and consecrated to hold our -dead until the great day.</p> - -<p>The morning after our arrival in Grinnell, the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin, who, during our travels, had little opportunity to -indulge their fondness for exercise, walked out to the cemetery. It is a -beautiful, well-kept spot, but half spoiled by crowding headstones. From -it can be seen church steeples peeping through the elm trees which -shelter the town; the ugly stand-pipe and the tall chimney of our one -big factory. At our feet lay the little artificial lake where much -fishing<a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a> is done, and sometimes fish are caught. As far as we could see -were prosperous farms with their comfortable homes, generous barns, -turreted silos, and wide meadows where calves and colts grazed.</p> - -<p>One of our virtues, the Herr Director thought, was that we do not boast -about our dead. Whatever boasting we do, and we do not boast too much, -it ceases when the earth covers us. He saw no fulsome eulogies carved -upon the headstones; often nothing but a name and the two dates of birth -and death.</p> - -<p>In the face of that great and last achievement we are very humble and -honest; although in our little cemetery lie buried men and women of whom -I should like to boast. They were the great, real Americans who worked -diligently, honestly and humbly, who left no huge fortunes to curse the -next generation; but built their modest homes, and before the roof tree -was lifted, had built a church and a schoolhouse. They put their tithes -into the Lord’s treasury before they put money into a bank, and while -they<a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a> were still wading through mud, anchored the college upon a rock, -making its growth and permanence their great extravagance.</p> - -<p>They believed in an austere Christ, but believed in Him implicitly, -followed Him consistently and left a legacy of simplicity, temperance -and frugality.</p> - -<p>Yes, I boasted of our dead to my guests. I boasted of that grim, -fighting man whose name the town bears, who was the personification of -the determined, American pioneer, the conqueror of mere circumstances.</p> - -<p>I boasted of that firm, unyielding, controversial Calvinist, George F. -Magoun, who ruled the college in his own stern way. He was the last, but -not the least of his kind, who built deep and strong and straight upon -the foundations of morality and religion; so that others could build -loftily and boldly.</p> - -<p>I led them to the grave where rests the body of his successor, the two -differing from one another in opinions and method at every point; for -the younger man was the forerunner of a new dispensation, its prophet, -disciple and martyr. Yet both men were made<a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a> of the same stern, -unyielding stuff, and both rested their lives and the hope of life’s -better things to come, upon the same foundation.</p> - -<p>When the names of those Americans who prophesied the day of the Kingdom, -who worked for it and suffered for it, shall be placed upon the honor -roll, the name of George A. Gates, now carved upon a modest monument, -will be found imperishably written there.</p> - -<p>Near by, under the shade of slender white birches, we saw the simple -shaft which marks the resting place of one of the Iowa Band, James J. -Hill, who holds his place in the annals of the college, not only because -he gave the first dollar to help found it, but because of the continued -loyalty of his sons.</p> - -<p>I wished my guests could have come to us before we buried the man whose -life spanned the old and the new—the white-haired, ever youthful, -eloquent teacher, Leonard F. Parker, who smiled benignly upon us all -until his eyes closed forever, and with their closing, a benediction was -gone. He was the type of missionary teacher who began his career in a<a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a> -log cabin, who, whether he taught in a country school or in a great -State University, taught with a passion for men. The impress of his -personality remained with his pupils long after they had forgotten his -erudite lore.</p> - -<p>As great as these great Americans were their wives, and no one can ever -think of them as less than the equals of their husbands.</p> - -<p>If the American woman occupies a unique place in the world, it is not -only because the American man has been more generous than his European -brother, but because she has proved her equality. She has attained the -measure of rights and privileges still denied to most of her sisters -elsewhere because she earned and deserved them.</p> - -<p>We, the living, sons and daughters of these great teachers by birth and -by adoption, cannot hold in too high esteem the legacy they left us. We -do not know with as firm an assurance as we ought to know, how much we -owe to them, and that, if we waste our inheritance, we waste spiritual -forces which we cannot generate.<a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a></p> - -<p>They were all, in the true sense, provincial, narrow men. They thought -of America and of the world and of the world to come, in the terms of -their creed, their town and their college; while we who have circled the -globe and think in world terms first, and boast of wider vision and -larger faith, may be in danger of overlooking the fact that in our small -place and places like it may be decided the fate of America, and through -America, the fate of the world.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director was astonished and the Frau Directorin pained to find -that we lived in a servantless house and in practically a servantless -town; that we were our own cooks and housemaids, butlers and gardeners. -When the Herr Director saw me mowing my lawn in broad daylight he -wondered that I did not lose caste among my fellows.</p> - -<p>The Frau Directorin was remarkably adaptable. She delighted in wielding -the dustless mop (to reduce “the meatâ€), she dusted the bric-à -brac, and -out of the kindness of her heart and in spite of our protests, became -“first aid†to my wife.<a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a></p> - -<p>One morning, just as I was waking, I heard the rattle of a lawn-mower -under my window; not the quick, sharp, sustained noise which usually -arouses the neighborhood, but a slow, measured sound, by fits and -starts. In between I could hear puffing and panting, like that of a -small steam engine. When I looked out of the window I saw something -which my eyes could not believe. The Herr Director had begun mowing the -lawn, and I let him finish it. It pretty nearly finished him; but after -his bath and a generous American breakfast, he glowed from health and -happiness.</p> - -<p>“I never knew,†he said, “the elevating power of physical labor. I think -I will take a lawn-mower home with me.â€</p> - -<p>The Frau Directorin put a damper upon his enthusiasm by reminding him -that he would have to take a lawn home with him too, and more than that, -the town itself; for in their environment he would not dare use the -lawn-mower even if he had one.</p> - -<p>I am quite sure now that the Herr Director would have liked to take my -little town home<a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a> with him, with the lawn-mower and the lawn. If he -could have done so, he might have changed the course of empires.</p> - -<p>I urged him, if he really wished to annex us, to do it soon; for there -is no little danger that we, too, shall lose faith in the redemptive -power of labor, the sufficiency of little things, the grandeur of plain -living and high thinking, the exaltation of the humble, the inheritance -for the meek and the reward of the righteous. When we lose those, we -have lost that which, in our proud, provincial way, we call “The -Grinnell Spirit‗an integral part of the American—the World-spirit.<a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV<br /><br /> -<i>The Commencement and The End</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HERE are some aspects of our American life which I tried to hide from -my guests. I kept as many of our national family skeletons as possible -in their closets, and made sure that the doors were securely locked.</p> - -<p>I was glad that the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin were to leave -this country before our insane Fourth of July, which we are endeavoring -to make sane. I did not care to have them here on Thanksgiving Day from -which, through the superabundance of turkey and cranberry sauce, the -element of Thanksgiving has been almost eliminated. I was profoundly -grateful that during their visit there was no election day with its -sordid partisanship, its ballot box, not yet sacred enough to make -beautiful or place nobly in some civic temple; but we did urge them to -remain over Commencement day, that most<a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a> happy, sweetly solemn occasion, -unspoiled as yet by rich display. It is the great festival of our -democracy, shared by town and gown, when we open the gates to rich and -poor, to common opportunity and duty.</p> - -<p>We made no mistake in thus planning. The town wore its holiday air. From -farm and village, from many states, on every train, parents were -arriving, walking proudly beside their sons and daughters, in academic -garb.</p> - -<p>“Old Grads†were being welcomed back by <i>Alma Mater</i>, grateful to her -for having helped make life rich, and sweet, and worth living. They -hoped to place under her care their children and their children’s -children, whom they had brought there to give them a foretaste of joys -to come.</p> - -<p>It was a wonderful experience for the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin to meet them. They were fêted and feasted; they wore class -and college colors, and entered into the spirit of it all as if they, -too, had been the children of Grinnell College.</p> - -<p>Among the graduates they met editors, lawyers and doctors who had come -back<a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a> from the great cities; professors who had won academic renown, and -are serving the great universities; teachers who had carried into the -public schools the spirit of their college; preachers who have gained -prominence, and those who minister in humble places, faithful in their -obscurity and proud of their chance to serve. There were missionaries -who came back from the ends of the earth where they had started centers -of education, places of healing and temples of hope.</p> - -<p>They listened to stirring messages from pulpit and platform, to the -young dreams of minor poets who sang the lay of their class; to -historians who reviewed the four college years as a great epoch closed; -to prophets who predicted failure and success, and a golden day of -jubilee to the whole weary world, when this particular class got back of -it.</p> - -<p>On Commencement day they watched the dignified President conferring the -degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctor.</p> - -<p>At noon they attended the college banquet<a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a> and suffered through the -after dinner speeches.</p> - -<p>That night on the crowded campus they enjoyed the Glee Club’s joyful -songs, and then, worn to the last shred of their highly emotional -natures, walked home with us while the last strains of the Alumni Song -faded away into the night.</p> - -<p>The Herr Director talked until after midnight, telling of the many -things which pleased him. The religious dignity, the fine simplicity, -the natural, sweet, pure relationship between men and women; but above -all else, the democratic spirit from which these other things emanate.</p> - -<p>He had an apt way of singing snatches of German song of which he seemed -to command an unlimited supply; and as he mounted the stairs to his room -he sang: “<i>Ach, wenn es nur immer so bliebe.</i>†(Oh, if it would only -remain so always.) Then followed the sad note which is the major one of -the German lyric: “<i>Es war zu schön gewesen, es hatt nich sollen sein.</i>†-(It was too beautiful and therefore could not be.)<a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a></p> - -<p>I knew it might not remain so beautiful always; but if life is worth -while at all, it is worth while struggling to keep it so.</p> - -<p>I do not know what share one person may have in influencing the current -upon which a nation is drifting; but I believe in the power of the -individual, and I shall “fight the good fight‗and a hard one it -is—and “keep the faith‗although it is not easy to keep it—faith in -God and men and in the American Spirit.</p> - -<p>Four weeks after the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin left us I -received the following letter. I have had some difficulty in translating -the involved and rather lengthy epistle into straightforward English, -but have done so that I may share it with my readers.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Friend</span>:</p> - -<p>We arrived home in safety after a rather stormy and uneventful voyage. -On board the ship we met a number of Lake Mohonk acquaintances, and -therefore the atmosphere which you tried to create for<a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a> me surrounded me -even in mid ocean, and consequently you ought to be happy and contented.</p> - -<p>When we reached Washington half-cooked, for even your excellent -provisions for our comfort were unavailing against your terrific summer -heat, your friend and his automobile were at the station; just such a -friend and such an automobile as met us dozens of times before.</p> - -<p>If anything, this friend was a little more persistent than the other -species, for we were taken up and down and in and out, to everything -within fifty miles of Washington. We shook hands with half your -congressmen some of them seem to be professional hand-shakers, and my -hand aches at the thought of it.</p> - -<p>State Secretary Bryan received me most affably and talked about his -peace treaties. He didn’t give me much chance to do any talking myself. -He seems so genuinely American; by that I mean simple and childlike in -many things, and complex and difficult to understand in others.<a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a></p> - -<p>He is neither a humbug as some of your papers say, nor a prophet as he -thinks himself. His faith in humanity and in himself is pathetically -colossal.</p> - -<p>It is amusing to find that you Americans, and you are the most American -of them all—you Americans who have invented cash registers and time -clocks, those symbols of unfaith in humanity, are so full of faith in -your relation to big, national and international problems.</p> - -<p>Your optimism may, after all, be due to your ignorance, coupled with the -fact that you are living in a land vast and isolated, which has not -quite exhausted its resources and opportunities. The most materialistic -people on earth in your relationship to each other, you leap into -remarkable idealism in the sphere of politics and diplomacy. If it is -true that “God takes care of children and fools,†then God is taking -wonderfully good care of you Americans, who seem to me to be both.</p> - -<p>In our country we would put a man of Mr. Bryan’s type in charge of an -orphan<a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a> asylum, and feel that the children would be safe with him at -least till their twelfth year; and yet I know that he has done vigorous -fighting, and I shall give him a chapter in my book about America, which -as you know I intend to write and have already begun.</p> - -<p>It was quite a change of atmosphere when I went from the Department of -State to the White House. The President’s secretary seems to me a man of -large calibre, kind, yet firm. A man to like and yet to fear; just the -kind of person a great man needs as a buffer against his friends, and as -a guard against his enemies. The atmosphere of the White House is -dignified, yet not cold; democratic, yet reserved; you feel that it is a -place of power.</p> - -<p>Above everything else you have done for me I want to thank you for -making it possible for me to meet President Wilson. He is not at all the -type of man I expected to find. There is nothing pedantic about him and -I do not know a man in any of our universities like him. He is not as -easy to analyze as Mr. Bryan, he is by far the<a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a> greater, more complex -and stronger nature. He has the firmness which rulers should possess, -and may be too unyielding when once he has made up his mind to anything. -He knows more than Mr. Bryan but is not as dogmatic, not nearly as -friendly, and yet I came nearer to that which I sought in him, and I -think I understood him better. He let me do all the talking, but asked -all manner of questions; yet he told me more that way than Mr. Bryan, -who did all the talking.</p> - -<p>If President Wilson is a politician, he is a new kind which I have never -met before. I think he has made many mistakes, which of course is -natural. There is only one of your presidents who never made mistakes, -and that was President Roosevelt. He made blunders, which he had the -pugnacity and the sheer physical courage to turn into political capital, -and then blundered again.</p> - -<p>President Wilson was in the midst of the Mexican muddle when I saw him, -yet he seemed to me very well poised, and bearing his many burdens, not -like a martyr or a<a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a> saint, but as a really strong man ought to bear -them.</p> - -<p>Of course you do not believe that I took your eulogies of America “<i>fur -baare Muenze</i>†(at their face value). There are two Americas and you are -living in but one of them. Your America lies in the high altitudes of -Lake Mohonk, Hull House, and Grinnell College. The other America which -you tried to hide from me I saw, just because you tried to hide it. It -is sordid, base, selfish, and above all strong; but that you do not seem -to know.</p> - -<p>You have <i>modified</i> my view of America, but you have not <i>changed</i> it. -You are still a big experiment as a nation, and I am not sure that it -will be a successful one. You have nothing to teach us in government, -business or education. Just one thing I envy you—your faith in your -unfinished country and in yourself as a force in its making.</p> - -<p>As you know, I do not share your faith; especially do I not believe that -one individual or many individuals can change the course of empires.</p> - -<p>You think yourself citizen, king and<a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a> priest; but you are merely an -atom, a conscious atom of course, and in that and that alone, in that -you are conscious, and know yourself a part of the whole and believe -yourself an effective part of it, lies happiness. I enjoyed hearing you -talk about the American Spirit; you talked about the soul of a country -as if you had seen it and felt it and loved it.</p> - -<p>My dear friend, you do not know your own soul, nor the stuff out of -which it is made, and yet in your American conceit you talk about the -soul of a country. It was an interesting psychological study to watch -you, and it gave me much amusement as well as something to think about.</p> - -<p>I enjoyed you most of all in your own little town, your college and your -hospitable, beautiful home. I feared you would burst from pride and -complacency as you interpreted the “American Spirit†from that little -place; a speck, and not even a well-defined speck, on the map of your -country.</p> - -<p>You, a world traveller, have at last become a really narrow provincial, -I should say a<a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a> very happy one, as provincials always are. You wanted me -to see your country through the June atmosphere of your Commencement; a -democratic, peaceful, rose-laden America. I saw it through the smoke and -grime of Chicago, the crowded tenements of New York, the injustice of -your courts and the corruption of your politics.</p> - -<p>Yet I am glad I saw <i>your</i> America, and I want to thank you for your -ardent endeavor to show it to me as you want it to be, and not as it is.</p> - -<p>My wife sends her thanks and greetings. She received more benefit out of -her visit than I. I have had to promise to remodel the house, and put in -another bathroom which is to be between our bedrooms. The new bathtub -must be porcelain and we are to have an instantaneous heater. She still -talks a good deal of the “<i>gute</i> cornflecks†and “grep frut†which we -both enjoyed so much. Above all she remembers the courtesy of the men, -and if the servant did not place her chair for her at table, I fear I -should now have to do it.<a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a></p> - -<p>America certainly is a Paradise for women, but it is “<i>Die Hoelle</i>†for -men.</p> - -<p>Remember that when you and any of your family come to Berlin you are to -be our guests. I trust you will come soon, for conditions over here look -dubious, and the war, “<i>der grosse Krieg</i>,†may come before we know it.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<i>Herzliche Gruesse von Haus zu Haus.</i><br /> -<span style="margin-right: 3em;"><i>Auf Wiedersehen.</i></span><br /> -</p> - -<p><a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV<br /><br /> -<i>The Challenge of the American Spirit</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">I</span> AM sure the Herr Director will not object if I have the last word; for -while he was with me that privilege was seldom mine and obtained only by -dint of strategy.</p> - -<p>Since his departure, the great war which he prophesied has moved over -Europe and hides every bit of fair and peaceful sky like a storm-cloud; -its thunder and destructive lightning fill the air, leaving scarcely a -place safe and undisturbed.</p> - -<p>Not a soul is unafraid, not a heart is without pain and sorrow, and the -Herr Director himself, although past middle age, has volunteered to -serve in the trenches, slippery from oozing blood and foul from the -spattered brains of men. The “fiddling, twiddling diplomats, the -haggling, calculating merchants of Babylon, the sleek lords with their<a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a> -plumes and spurs†have had their way, and the poor, blind, ignorant -millions, made mad by hate, do their brutal bidding.</p> - -<p>We, on this safer side, who as yet have not loosed the dogs of war, have -calculated the loss to Europe in the fratricidal slaughter of its most -virile men, in the loss of its arts and trades, in the wreck and ruin to -houses and homes and in the age-long poverty which awaits. Much counting -has been done as to what we shall make out of this sure bankruptcy that -is to come to the nations which are our competitors for the world’s -trade, and what glory shall be ours when New York, and not London shall -be the new Babylon, with power to make the “Epha small and the Shekel -great.â€</p> - -<p>With the incalculable loss to the European nations there has come to -some of them a gain in national unity upon which under no circumstances -we may count.</p> - -<p>It has been with no small sense of pride that I have demonstrated to the -Herr Director and to others the fact that, in spite of our youth as a -nation, and the varied national,<a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a> linguistic and religious rootage of -our population even in the Colonial period, we have grown to be one -people. Even the constant inflow of new and more varied human material -has not weakened us but indeed the sense of national unity has grown -stronger. I have watched with joy the processes by which this alien -element was becoming one with us, the fading away of animosities and -inherited prejudices, and the making of a new people out of the world’s -conglomerate.</p> - -<p>The war has brought about a retardation of this process, and we shall -have great cause for gratitude if no permanent damage is done to our -nation’s spirit, a loss for which no possible gain in any direction -could compensate. The term “Hyphenated American,†which has now come -into use, if it indicates anything more than the place of a man’s -national or racial origin, and the very natural sympathies arising -therefrom, is an insult to the man to whom it is applied, and a -confession of divided allegiance, if voluntarily assumed.</p> - -<p>It may be interesting to note that it was<a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a> His Majesty, the Emperor of -Germany, who repudiated the hyphen when a German-American delegation -called on him on the occasion of some royal anniversary.</p> - -<p>When the delegation was introduced in this hyphenated manner, he said: -“Germans I know, Americans I know, but German-Americans I do not know.â€</p> - -<p>Although the hyphen has always existed, it has assumed new meaning in -these troubled days and is applied as a term of opprobrium, largely to -Americans of German birth; people who have always been loyal to the -country of their adoption, and, I think, are no less loyal now.</p> - -<p>If there has been wavering in their devotion, if the process of yielding -themselves to the ideals and interests of this country has been -arrested, they are not altogether to blame, and we ourselves are not -altogether blameless.</p> - -<p>It was thoroughly in harmony with the American Spirit that our -sympathies should go out to brave little Belgium, and turn from the -ruthless conqueror who was much nearer<a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a> to us culturally and in greater -harmony with us spiritually. It was also natural for the German people -in this country to challenge the evident bias of the press, and the -resultant prejudices arising in the minds of their friends and -neighbors. Being German they knew what a German soldier is capable of -doing, and of what atrocities he is guiltless; although in the attempt -to defend their people they in turn became as unfair as we, condoning -every act of the Germans and besmirching their enemies.</p> - -<p>How far this bias can carry one is illustrated by the German pastor in a -neighboring town, one of the gentlest souls I know, who, when told of -the destruction of the <i>Lusitania</i>, said: “Thanks be to God, let the -good work go on.†He will not have to live very long to repent of this.</p> - -<p>To match him I may quote a most lovable Quaker lady nearly ninety years -of age, who, with a violence in striking contrast to the Quaker -character, expressed as her dearest wish that she might be permitted to -kill the Emperor of Germany, and I am almost<a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a> sure she was not alone in -that pious desire, even among the members of her family.</p> - -<p>The German press and the German pulpit have fanned this reawakened -Germanic spirit, not always from lofty motives, and many an editor and -pastor have found this antagonism a source of revenue and a hope of -perpetuating their influence.</p> - -<p>If the American press both in its news and editorial columns has been -painful reading to any one who loves fair play, it did not help him to -turn to the German press, whose utterances were made more distressing by -the fact that not infrequently they contained expressions bordering on -treason. Had their editors lived in Germany and spoken of the Emperor in -the same words which they applied to their President, their terms of -imprisonment, if combined, would reach into eternity.</p> - -<p>Even after the war the attempt will be made to keep alive this -antagonism, and if possible to widen the breach. It will be a serious -challenge to our national spirit, for I doubt that we can maintain a -vital unity unless<a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a> it represents one country, one people, and one -language.</p> - -<p>I know of no way in which to meet this danger effectively; but I do know -that it is not through reprisals or punishments. Perhaps it is best to -hope that at the close of the war we shall all recover our sanity. -Certain it is that the American people have in the Germans in this -country too valuable and powerful an element to alienate, and the German -people who have made this country their home have too great a sense of -the value of it and its institutions, to them and their children, to be -willing to jeopardize the American Spirit, because of that which must be -but a passing phase in the history of our poor, misguided, human race.</p> - -<p>Besides the threatened break in unity, the American Spirit is being -challenged by a call to arms, not merely to avert any momentary, -threatened danger, but to be permanently safeguarded, prepared against -its predatory neighbors all around the globe. Whether those who join in -this call know it or not, or wish it or not, it means militarism. When -just<a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a> such arguments were used for Germany’s preparedness, when that -gospel was being preached with all possible fervor, one of the wisest -Germans said: “<i>Wehrkraft wird immer Mehrkraft</i>†(“Defensive power -always becomes offensive powerâ€), and I am sure that the average -American will say that, in the case of Germany, this has proved true.</p> - -<p>If I were arguing for military preparedness, I would not be so insistent -upon the building of new fortresses, or the accumulation of ammunition. -I would insist upon training our children in obedience and reverence. I -would give them schoolmasters who know what they teach and who would -demand strict application to the curriculum. I would oppose the growing -pedagogic idea that the schoolroom is a playground, and that knowledge -may be acquired without hard work. I would restore the rod and banish -the coddler. I would call in our high school boys from the side lines, -from their vicarious athletics and their slavish imitation of college -customs, and teach them how to dig trenches and serve<a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a> cannon, which -seem to be the chief need in modern military operations.</p> - -<p>It is folly to believe that the <i>fiasco</i> of the Russian armies was due -to the lack of ammunition or of sufficient fortresses; it was due to the -lack of good schools and to the lack of discipline among its educated -classes.</p> - -<p>With the decay of our pioneer spirit, which is inevitable, with the -growth of a leisure class, with groups of men and women who know no -other way to justify their existence than to play bridge or go to Tango -teas; with a large class of people less unfortunately situated, who have -to work for their living, but from whom the state asks nothing in the -way of service except the payment of taxes which are easily evaded, it -is a great question how to keep our virility and how to foster a -patriotism which may be counted upon in the time of national danger. I -am fairly sure that some other way than the militaristic way ought to be -found. I am not sure that we shall find it; because only those who seek -shall find.</p> - -<p>There are some things we may profitably<a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a> learn from Germany, and one is -the maintenance of a state which by its very nature will compel -devotion. A state deeply concerned with the well-being of every -individual; a state which sees to it that impartial judgment shall be -meted out, and that the scales do not tip to those who weight them with -gold.</p> - -<p>A state which eliminates graft and is able to train an efficient army of -public servants is more likely to gain and keep the loyalty of its -citizens than one which, although technically free, is shackled by -corruption and graft, and which, while giving each man the power to -become a king, places the major emphasis upon property rather than upon -person. Yes, we have a great deal to do to be properly prepared, besides -authorizing congress to spend millions for “reeking tube and iron -shard.â€</p> - -<p>What I most fear for the American Spirit is the loss of that which makes -it really American and truly Spirit, the loss of its democracy. I am -confident that the form of our government is not endangered, and -whatever military success may come to monarchic<a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a> governments we shall -not envy them their kings nor put ourselves in bondage to them. If this -republic is still an experiment then we shall see the experiment through -to the end as a republic.</p> - -<p>I am also sure that we shall work out the problem which confronts us in -the relationship between capital and labor, and that we shall create -here an industrial democracy. The dissatisfaction with the present -system is growing daily, even among the so-called privileged classes, -and many a man, well favored by circumstances, is crying out with Walt -Whitman, “By God! I will not have anything which others cannot have on -the same terms.â€</p> - -<p>What I most dread is, that we shall be increasingly unable to be -democratic in our spirit, in our relation to those who are in any marked -way differentiated from us racially. Our caste system is daily growing -in strength, the social taboos are increasing in number, the spirit is -barred from moving freely among all classes and races, and thus is bound -to perish.</p> - -<p>The social boycott practiced against the<a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a> Jews, and which is even more -thorough here than it is in Russia, may be followed by an economic -boycott, and what has but recently happened in Georgia makes such -occurrences on a larger scale not impossible. The attitude of the -American people both South and North towards the Negro is not growing -better, and it will take more than all the brave optimism of Booker T. -Washington to convince me that this is not true.</p> - -<p>It is anything but the American Spirit which greets the Japanese and -Chinese at the Pacific Coast, and the decadence of that spirit is daily -creating for itself new victims for its prejudices and hates.</p> - -<p>It seems to be a growing conviction that in order to foster our racial -integrity and self-respect we need to have contempt for other people and -make of them a sort of mental cuspidore.</p> - -<p>I know the difficulty involved in this problem. I believe it is the most -serious challenge which the American Spirit has to meet, and here and -here alone I confess my doubt as to its ability to meet it.<a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a></p> - -<p>This is no time, though, to turn doubt into despair, nor is it the time -for the calling of conventions and the organization of societies. It is -a time, however, for the strengthening of our faith in one another, for -renewed allegiance to humanity no matter how it is encased, for a -patriotism based upon something bigger than identity of race. It is a -time for mutual forbearance, for the divine gift to see ourselves as -others see us; for a supreme loyalty to our country, and a determination -stronger than death to make this country capable of winning the loyalty -of all its citizens.</p> - -<p>It is a time to glory in being an American and to become desperately -sure we have something in which to glory. Now as never before should -there be serious self-examination to see whether we have not sinned -against the Spirit.</p> - -<p>This is the time to accept the Challenge of the American Spirit and -prove that we are loyal enough to follow its guidance.</p> - -<p>PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="padding:2%;border:3px dotted gray;"> -<tr><th align="center">Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:</th></tr> -<tr><td align="center">he does <span class="errata">now</span> know=> he does not know {pg 119}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">the <span class="errata">progam</span> marked out for her by the Emperor=> the program marked out for her by the Emperor {pg 195}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">had little <span class="errata">opportuntiy</span>=> had little opportunity {pg 241}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">It is sorbid=> It is sordid {pg 258}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center"><span class="errata">Unausstelicher</span>=> Unausstehlicher {pg 88}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center"><span class="errata">Unaustehlicher</span>=> Unausstehlicher {pg 122}</td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Introducing the American Spirit, by -Edward A. 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Steiner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Introducing the American Spirit - -Author: Edward A. Steiner - -Release Date: January 22, 2013 [EBook #41898] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - -INTRODUCING THE -AMERICAN SPIRIT - - BY EDWARD A. STEINER - - THE CONFESSION OF A HYPHENATED - AMERICAN - 12mo, boards net 50c. - - INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT - What it Means to a Citizen and How it Appears - to an Alien. 12mo, cloth net $1.00 - - FROM ALIEN TO CITIZEN - The Story of My Life in America. Illustrated, - 8vo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE BROKEN WALL - Stories of the Mingling Folk. Illustrated, - 12mo, cloth net $1.00 - - AGAINST THE CURRENT - Simple Chapters from a Complex Life. 12mo, - cloth net $1.25 - - THE IMMIGRANT TIDE--ITS EBB - AND FLOW - Illustrated, 8vo, cloth net $1.50 - - ON THE TRAIL OF THE IMMIGRANT - Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE MEDIATOR - A Tale of the Old World and the New. Illustrated, - 12mo, cloth net $1.25 - - TOLSTOY, THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE - A Biographical Interpretation. _Revised and - enlarged._ Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50 - - THE PARABLE OF THE CHERRIES - Illustrated, 12mo, boards net 50c. - - THE CUP OF ELIJAH - Idyll Envelope Series. Decorated net 25c. - -[Illustration: THE AMERICAN SPIRIT - -_Courtesy of The Survey V. D. Brenner_] - - - - -_Introducing The -American Spirit - -By - -Edward A. Steiner - -Author of "From Alien to Citizen," "The -Immigrant Tide," etc._ - -[Illustration] - -_New York Chicago Toronto -Fleming H. Revell Company -London and Edinburgh_ - -Copyright, 1915, by -FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - -New York: 158 Fifth Avenue -Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave. -Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. -London: 21 Paternoster Square -Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street - -_To -Professor Richard Hochdoerfer, Ph. D. - -erudite scholar and most lovable -friend, this book is dedicated_ - - - - -_Introducing the Introduction_ - - -"_Das ist ganz Americanish_." Whenever a German says this, he means that -it is something which is practical, lavish, daringly reckless or -lawless. - -It means a short cut to achievement, a disregard of convention, an -absence of those qualities which have given to the older nations of the -world that fine, distinguishing flavor which is a fruit of the spirit. - -Many attempts have been made to enlighten the Old World upon that point; -but in spite of exchange-professorships and some notable, interpretative -books upon the subject, we are still only the "Land of the Dollar." - -We are not loved as a nation, largely because we are not understood, and -we are not understood because we do not understand ourselves, and we do -not understand ourselves because we have not studied ourselves in the -light of the spirit of other nations. - -Coming to this country a product of Germanic civilization, knowing -intimately the Slavic, Semitic, and Latin spirit, the writer was -compelled to compare and to choose. Yet he would never have dared write -upon this subject; not only because it was a difficult task, but because -he had been so completely weaned from the Old World spirit that he had -lost the proper perspective. Moreover, of formal books upon this subject -there was no dearth. - -During the last ten years, however, he has had the advantage of being -the _cicerone_ of distinguished Europeans who came to study various -phases of our institutional life, and they brought the opportunity of -fresh comparisons and also of new view-points in this realm of the -national spirit. - -These unconventional studies, most of which received their inspiration -through the visit of the Herr Director and his charming wife, are here -offered as an Introduction to the American Spirit, not only to the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin, but to those Americans who do not -realize that a nation, as well as man, "cannot live by bread alone;" -that its most precious asset, its greatest element of strength, is its -Spirit, and that the elements out of which the Spirit is made, are so -rare, so delicate, that when once wasted they cannot readily be -replaced. - -As the sin against the Holy Spirit is the one sin for which the Gospel -holds out no forgiveness for the individual, so there seems to be no -hope for the nation which transgresses against this most vital element -of its higher life. - -Inasmuch also as the Spirit is something which guides and cannot be -guided, these informal introductions appear in no geographic or historic -sequence, but are necessarily left to the leading of the spirit, of -which "no man knoweth whence it cometh or whither it goeth." - -E. A. S. - -_Grinnell, Iowa_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - I. THE HERR DIRECTOR MEETS THE - AMERICAN SPIRIT 15 - - II. OUR NATIONAL CREED 35 - - III. THE SPIRIT OUT-OF-DOORS 58 - - IV. THE SPIRIT AT LAKE MOHONK 74 - - V. LOBSTER AND MINCE PIE 92 - - VI. THE HERR DIRECTOR AND THE - "MISSOURY" SPIRIT 112 - - VII. THE HERR DIRECTOR AND THE COLLEGE - SPIRIT 129 - - VIII. THE RUSSIAN SOUL AND THE AMERICAN - SPIRIT 147 - - IX. CHICAGO 166 - - X. WHERE THE SPIRIT IS YOUNG 184 - - XI. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT AMONG THE - MORMONS 199 - - XII. THE CALIFORNIA CONFESSION OF - FAITH 216 - - XIII. THE GRINNELL SPIRIT 237 - - XIV. THE COMMENCEMENT AND THE END 249 - - XV. THE CHALLENGE OF THE AMERICAN - SPIRIT 262 - - - - -I - -_The Herr Director Meets the American Spirit_ - - -The Herr Director and I were sitting over our coffee in the _Cafe -Bauer_, _Unter den Linden_. In the midst of my account of some of the -men of America and the idealistic movements in which they are -interested, he rudely interrupted with: "You may tell that to some one -who has never been in the United States; but not to me who have -travelled through the length and breadth of it three times." He said it -in an ungenerous, impatient way, although his last visit was thirty -years ago and his journeys across this continent necessarily hurried. I -dared not say much more, for I am apt to lose my temper when any one -anywhere, criticizes my adopted country or questions my glowing accounts -of it. - -But I did say: "When you come over the next time, let me be your -guide." - -"Why should I want to go over again?" he replied. "It's a noisy, dirty, -hopelessly materialistic country. You have sky-scrapers, but no beauty; -money, but no ideals; garishness, but no comfort. You have despatch, but -no courtesy; you are ingenious, but not thorough; you have fine clothes, -but no style; churches, but no religion; universities, but no learning. -No, I have been there three times. That's enough. I know all about it. -_Fertig!"_ And with that he dismissed me without giving me a chance to -relieve my feelings, of which there were many; although he took -advantage of a minute that was left and told me that I was an -_Unausstehlicher Americaner_ whose judgment had been warped by my great -love for my adopted country. - -Evidently the Herr Director reversed his decision not to come to this -country; for the following spring I received a cablegram to meet him on -the arrival of his ship at the Hamburg-American dock, which of course I -promptly did. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin stepped onto the -soil of the United States with a predisposition to be martyrs, to -endure the sufferings entailed by travel with as little grace as -possible, and to suppress to the utmost all pleasurable emotion. - -On the other hand, I was determined to show off my United States from -its best side, to woo and win the Herr Director's and the Frau -Directorin's approval. In my laudable endeavor I seemed to be supported -by that divine providence which watches over the whole world in general, -but over the United States in particular. The weather was perfect, the -sky festooned in fleecy clouds, the air charged by a divine energy; and -when the sun shines upon the harbor of New York--well, even the most -taciturn European cannot resist it. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin greeted all the good Lord's -endeavor and mine, with an air of condescension as something due their -station. From force of habit they worried and fussed about their -baggage, although there was nothing to worry or fuss about, for it was -safe on its way to the hotel. They were shot under the river and the -busy streets of Manhattan and whirled up to the twenty-first story of -their thirty-two-storied hotel without having taken more than a dozen -steps to reach it. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin refused to be impressed by the -rooms assigned them, in which not a single comfort or luxury was -missing, and complained because they were not as big as barns and the -ceilings not as high as a cathedral. The Frau Directorin eyed the -bath-room almost in silence; but she did wonder why they put out a whole -month's supply of towels at once, instead of doing it in the provident -European way of one towel every other day. - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, like all Europeans who can -afford to travel, are exceedingly aesthetic, and at the same time fond of -good food, and their first approving smile was won at the breakfast -table, when they were each face to face with half a grapefruit of vast -circumference, reposing upon a bed of crushed ice. Their smiles -broadened when they had introduced their palates to an American -breakfast food, a crispy bit of nut-flavored air bubble, floating upon -thick, rich cream; and, although they had made up their minds that -American coffee was vile and they must not taste it, they could not -resist its aroma, and drank it with a relish. - -When the Herr Director said: _"Der Kaffee ist gut,_" I knew that my -prayers were being answered, and that the good Lord still loves the -United States of America. - -Most of us have shown off something--a baby, school-children, a -schoolhouse, a town, an automobile, a cemetery. You know that feeling of -pride which thrills you, that fear lest pride have a fall if it or they -fail to "show up." But have you ever tried to show off a country--a -country which you love with a lover's passion; a country whose virtues -are so many, whose defects are so obvious; a country whose glory you -have gloried in before the whole world, but whose halo has so many rust -spots that you wish you might have had a chance to use Sapolio on it ere -you let it shine before your visitors? A country of one hundred million -inhabitants, of whom every fourth person smells of the steerage, when -you wish that they all smelled of the Mayflower; a country where more -people are ready to die for its freedom than anywhere, and more people -ought to be in the penitentiary for abusing that freedom; a country of -vast distances, bound together by huge railways and controlled by -unsavory politicians; a country with more homely virtues, more virtuous -homes, than anywhere else, yet where the divorce courts never cease -their grinding and alimonies have no end? - -Ah! to show off such a country, and to have to begin to do it in New -York, beats showing off babies, school-children, automobiles, and -cemeteries. - -The Herr Director was sure he would hate our sky-scrapers; he had seen -them from the ship, and the assaulted sky-line looked to him like the -huge mouth of an old woman with its isolated, protruding teeth. Frankly, -I myself am not interested in sky-scrapers; I prefer the elm trees which -shade the streets of the quiet town where I live. I thank God daily for -the men who had faith enough to plant trees upon those wind-swept -prairies. They were mighty spirits who came to the edges of civilization -and drove the wilderness farther and farther back by drawing furrows, -sowing wheat, and planting trees--those men whom heat and a relentless -desert could not separate from that other ocean with its Golden Gate to -the sunset and the oldest world. Determining to have and to hold it till -time is no more, they proceeded to unite the two oceans in holy wedlock. -A task which involved another nation in hopeless scandal and bankruptcy, -they completed with as little ceremony as that which prevails at a -wedding before a justice of the peace. Those were the men who went among -savages, yet did not become like them; who for homes dug holes in the -ground among rattlesnakes, prairie-dogs, and moles, and made of such -homes the beginnings of towns and cities. - -If I admire the sky-scrapers it is because they are an attempt on the -part of this same type of people to do pioneering among the clouds. -Public lands being exhausted, they proceed to annex the sky and people -it, now that the frontier is no more. - -What the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin would say to the -sky-scraper meant to me, not whether they would say it is beautiful or -ugly, but whether they would discover in it the Spirit of America, the -daring spirit of the pioneers who built Towers of Babel, though -reversing the process; for they began with a confusion of tongues which -outbabeled Babel, and finished on a day of Pentecost when men said: "We -do hear them all speaking our own tongue, the mighty works of God." - -We moved along Broadway, pressing through the crowds, the Herr Director -puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin doing likewise. The Flatiron -Building with its accentuated leanness lured them on until we came to -the open space of Madison Square and they were face to face with the -Metropolitan tower. - -The Herr Director said: "_Gott im Himmel!_" The Frau Directorin said: -"_Um Gottes Himmels Willen!_" And then they gazed their fill in -silence. - -I have never "done" Europe with a guide, nor have I ever had an American -city introduced to me through a megaphone, so I scarcely knew what to -say. - -I did not know the exact height of that tower, nor how many tons of -steel support it, nor the size of the clock dial which tells the time of -day up there "among the dizzy flocks of sky-scrapers"; but I did know -that the tower represented some big, daring thing, an expression of the -spirit which could not be defined nor easily interpreted to another. - -After his first outburst the Herr Director continued to say nothing--he -was stunned; so was the Frau Directorin. We walked on, looking up, -higher and higher still, until our eyes met another tower, the Woolworth -Building--a shrewd Yankee five-and-ten-cent enterprise, flowering into -purest Gothic. - -The cathedrals of Europe are wonderful, undoubtedly. Master minds drew -the plans and master hands built them, slowly, by an age-long process. -They turned religious ideals into stone lace and lilies, hideous -gargoyles and brave flying buttresses, aisles and naves and rose -windows. Yes, they are quite wonderful. But to turn spools of thread, -granite-ware, and dust-cloths into this glory of steel and stone is, to -me, more marvellous still. The spirit of the pioneer cleaving the sky -has become beautiful as it has ascended. - -We are worrying a great deal about our lack of sensitiveness to beauty -and form; we chide ourselves as being crude and unresponsive to art; we -rush madly into the study of aesthetics and buy Old Masters at the price -of a king's ransom; yet we are not truly fostering America's art sense. -It ought not to come in the Old World's way--by glorifying dogmas and -creeds, by petrifying religion into buttresses and incasing our dead in -tombs of beryl and onyx. It ought not to come with its mixture of -paganism and religion, its armless Venus and its headless Victory. It -should come first as it is coming--with the making of homes good to -live in, factories planned to work in, stores fit to do business in, -and schools built to teach in. It is coming--yes, it is coming. - -But when our strong boys shall make filagree silver ornaments, carve -pretty things on bits of ivory, or exhaust their energy in painting a -lock of hair--when that time comes, we shall be an old people ready for -our ornamented tombs. - -Next I took the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin through a portal -flanked by pillars worthy to crown any Athenian hill; I led them into a -Parthenon in which Athena herself might have joyed to be worshipped, and -we heard the echoing and reechoing of a chant which lacked nothing but -incense and organ notes to make one think one's self in an Old World -cathedral. The chant was not a _Miserere_, but a call to entrust one's -self to the depths of the earth--to descend into tubes of steel, beneath -the river, and then travel to the fair cities of the living, throbbing, -thriving West. It was a railway terminal without choking smoke, blinding -dust, or deafening noise; also without that hideous mechanical ugliness -which Ruskin so hated. This was merely a place from which one started to -reach Oshkosh or Kokomo, Keokuk, Kalamazoo, or Kankakee. Yet more -beautiful portals never swung to mortals in their fairest dreams of -journeying to the abodes of bliss. The Spirit of America, at last -crowned by beauty. - -We reached our hotel fairly exhausted by our morning's walk; but, after -being properly refreshed, the Herr Director ventured to criticize. - -"Yes, you are a wonderfully resourceful people, keen and energetic, but -chaotic. You take an Italian _campanile_ and elongate it fifty times; or -a Gothic church, and attenuate it; or a Romanesque cathedral, and -support it by Ionic pillars; or a cigar box, and enlarge it a million -times. You put all these things side by side, and no one asks: Will they -harmonize, or will they clash? - -"Each man builds as he pleases, although he may blot out the other man's -work and waste colossal energy merely to express himself. The result is -confusion. You can feel that unrest, that discord, in the air. My -nerves fairly ache! No, we shall not go out this afternoon. We must rest -our nerves." - -The Herr Director always spoke for his wife as well as for himself, thus -expressing the collective spirit of the Old World. They both retired for -a long rest, while I was left wondering how to introduce New York to -them in the evening. - -At five o'clock in the afternoon they emerged from their apartments, -their wearied Old World nerves rested, and, after being stimulated by a -cup of coffee, were ready for further adventures. - -Broadway at that hour of the afternoon is bewildering. The shoppers have -almost deserted it, and it is crowded by the clerks who served them, the -cashiers who received their money, the girls who trimmed their hats, the -men who cut their garments, the bookkeepers and the floor-walkers. - -Whole towns seem to pour out of the department stores and lofts; the -makers and menders of garments flee from the heart of the city, from -this pulsing machine which has been going at a dangerous speed. They go -from it eagerly, with a brave show of courage, as if the ten hours' -labor had not broken their spirits or wearied their energy. To count the -ants of a busy hill would be easier than even to estimate the numbers of -that throng. - -They climb the steps of the elevated railway trains, and crowd them, and -cram the cars until they fairly bulge. - -They lay siege to the surface cars, which merely crawl through the busy -streets, so heavy are they and so closely does one car follow the other. - -They descend into the depths of the earth, and breathe the humid, human -air of those noisy catacombs. They walk by companies, regiments, and -great armies, dodging automobiles which infest the streets with their -speed and their stenches. - -They accomplish it all with so little friction to each other's spirit, -with such a silent good nature, with such a sense of self-reliance, and -with so little official machinery to control them, that even the Herr -Director said: - -"This is wonderful!" although he declared that he would suffocate in -that throng, and the Frau Directorin cried out every few minutes, "_Um -Gottes Himmels Willen!_" - -There was an absence of politeness, but we saw little rudeness; there -were accidents, but the crowd did not lose its head; there were -discomforts, but little display of ill nature; each for himself, and yet -no clashing. The American crowd is more wonderful than the American -sky-scrapers. - -At the Royal Opera in Vienna, the approach to the ticket office is -guarded by steel inclosures in which every prospective buyer is -separated from the other, and one has to zigzag between these pens until -he reaches the official's window. Crowding is rendered impossible, but, -to make the obviously impossible more actually impossible, there is the -usual number of uniformed guards. - -Watch the American crowd--this group of unlike, self-centered -individuals; in a moment it is organized, it obeys itself--or rather, it -obeys its spirit, the American spirit of self-direction, with its -genius for organization. - -To me, the American crowd is so wonderful because it shows this other -side of its spirit. It is heterogeneous, like the architecture of its -buildings, perhaps even more so--if that be possible. - -Here are Jews from Russia's crowded Pale, where they had to slink along -with shuffling gait and dared go so far and no farther--so fast and no -faster. - -There are the Slavic peasants, who on their native soil, prodded by the -goad, moved ox-like along an endless furrow, drawing the plow of -autocracy. - -Next is the Italian, volatile and yet static with his age-long burdens, -with his fiery nature cramped into his diminutive frame. - -Here is the Negro, the child-man, the shackles of whose slavery are -scarcely broken. - -The Asiatic, too, comes with hardly courage enough to lift his softly -treading feet; while leading them all is this strident, giant child of -the Anglo-Saxon race whose wind-swept cradle was rocked by freedom, and -who with dominant will has spanned the oceans and crossed the mountains. - -Of these myriads whom he leads, some will be a drag upon progress, and -detain the strong or perhaps retard the race; yet they are trying to -keep up, and by their efforts, by delving in the deep, by feeding with -their brute strength our huge enginery, may make the flowering of the -American spirit easier. - -Yes, the Anglo-Saxon is leading them; but will he continue to lead, now -that he no longer travels in the prairie schooner, but in the -automobile--now that he wields the golf club and tennis racket, rather -than the spade and plow on the prairie? - -Will he now lead them from the breakers of Newport as well as once he -led them from Plymouth Rock? - -Will he lead them from the exclusive club as once he led them into the -inclusive home? - -These were the doubts which filled my mind, but which I did not share -with my guests as I guided them; for we were to spend the evening -together, and one needs all one's faith in New York at night. - -We spent the early evening hours travelling around the world. We went to -Arabia, where dusky children from the desert play in the gutters of -Bleecker Street; to Greece, where Spartan and Athenian youth dream of -the golden days of Pericles; to China, with its joss-house, its faint -odors of sandalwood, and its stronger odors wafted from the Bowery. We -visited Russia, and saw its ghetto-dwellers more numerous than Abraham -ever thought his progeny would become; we spent some time in Hungary, -with its _Gulyas_ and _Czardas_. We went to Bohemia, with its _Narodni -Dom_; to Italy, south and north, with its strings of garlic, its -festoons of sausages, its hurdy-gurdy, and its rich harvest of children. -We had glimpses of France, of its _table d'hote_ and painted women; -travelled through darkest Africa, touched upon India, and then were back -again upon Broadway. - -As in the sky above us the architectures of the world strive to blend -and fuse, making a mighty new impress; so below, these colonies to the -right and colonies to the left, like the huge limbs of some ill-shapen -monster, try to blend into America. - -What is it all to be when blended? - -Of course we went to the theater. We saw a German problem play made over -to please the American taste. The Herr Director knew the play almost by -heart, and he nearly jumped upon the stage in righteous indignation when -in the last act, where the author drops all his characters into a -bottomless pit and everything ends in confusion, the play ended in the -conventional "God-bless-you-my-children," "happy-ever-after" manner. - -We walked the streets of New York until past midnight, and finally -looked down upon it from the roof of our hostelry. We could see the moon -creeping out and shedding its mellow glow over the gayly lighted city. -The noises were almost musical up there--like sustained organ notes--and -we talked about the play with its happy ending. - -"You are right," I said; "that happy ending is foolish and childish. -Things do not always end happily; but this thing, this experiment in -making a nation out of torn fragments, this founding of cities in a day -out of second and third hand material, this experiment in man-making and -nation-building must end well; for, if it doesn't, God's great -experiment has failed. Shall I say, God's last experiment has failed? -You see we _mustn't_ fail--it _must_ end well." - -The streets were all but silent. From the great clock on the -Metropolitan tower hanging in mid-air, came the flashes that marked the -morning hour. Thick mists floated in from the sea and filled the narrow, -chasm-like streets with weird, fantastic shapes. - -The Herr Director said good-night. The Frau Directorin did likewise. -They said it very solemnly, as behooves those who have looked deep into -the heart of a great mystery who have felt the touch of a mighty spirit -striving, struggling, agonizing to shape a new nation out of the world's -refuse. - - - - -II - -_Our National Creed_ - - -The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin wished to go to church on -Sunday, and after eating a piously late breakfast I spread before them -New York City's religious bill of fare, bewildering in its variety and -puzzling in its terminology. - -I gave them a choice between four varieties of Catholics: Roman, Greek, -Old and Apostolic; more than twice that number of Lutherans, separated -one from the other by degrees of orthodoxy and nearness to or farness -from their historic confessions. - -There were Methodists who were free and those who were Episcopalian, -Episcopalians who were not Methodists but were reformed, and those who -made no such pretensions; all these invited us to worship with them. - -Many varieties of Baptists announced their sermons and services, -offering a choice between those who were free and those who were just -Baptists, and between those who were Baptists on the Seventh Day and -those who did not specify the day on which they were Baptists. - -We also had a chance to discriminate between Dutch Reformed, German -Reformed or Presbyterian Reformed, and United Presbyterians divided from -other Presbyterians (presumably unreformed) for reasons known to the -Fathers who died long since. - -If we had been radically inclined we might have browsed among -Unitarians, Ethical Culturists, and could even have worshipped among -those who make a religion out of not having any. - -The most interesting column to the Herr Director was that which -contained our exotic cults, those we have imported and those which prove -that we have not neglected our home industry. - -It was disconcerting to me, who was trying to introduce our national -spirit, to realize how varied its religious expression is, and the Herr -Director got no little amusement out of the story I told him of the -student in one of our colleges who, it is said, came to the librarian -and asked for a book on "Wild Religions I have Met." When the librarian -suggested it might be Seton Thompson's book on Wild Animals, he said it -was not in the department of Zoology, but in Philosophy in which the -assignment for the reading was given. The book was then quickly found. -It was Prof. William James' "The Varieties of Religious Experience." - -When we succeeded in rescuing the Frau Directorin out of the maze of -Sunday Supplements in which she was entangled, we started in pursuit of -a proper place of worship, in anything but a worshipful mood. I was bent -upon showing that which is vastly more difficult to interpret than -sky-scrapers, the Herr Director was doubtful that we had any religious -spirit at all, and the Frau Directorin mourned the fact that she had to -leave behind her so much paper which might have served such good -purposes if she had it at home. - -Fifth Avenue recovers something of its departed exclusiveness on Sunday -morning; for although the cheaper stores are crowding upon those which -never descend to bargain counters, this is not true of the churches. -They still are in good repute, and await the stated hour of service on -Sunday morning without excitement, having advertised nothing, offering -no ecclesiastical bargains; content to live as the birds of the air, -whom the "Heavenly Father feedeth." The street was almost deserted; here -and there a taxicab darted on its way to or from the railway station; -the hour of the limousines had not yet come, and the people who strolled -along were evidently, like ourselves, unfashionable sojourners seeking a -tabernacle in Gotham's wilderness. - -Sauntering along the street was less interesting than usual, for not -only were there no crowds, the shop-windows were all artistically -curtained and there was nothing to see. The Frau Directorin did not like -it at all, "for what good is it to walk along the shopping streets if -you can't look into the shops?" - -"You see, my dear," the Herr Director remarked, "that is to help you -obey one of the ten commandments which womankind is especially prone to -break, 'Thou shalt not covet.' Incidentally it proves that we are in a -country in which you are allowed to do as you please every day and do -nothing on Sunday." - -"No," I replied, "it merely proves that we are trying to save one day a -week from the contamination of our materialistic existence." - -"It merely proves," he echoed, "that you have inherited from your -Anglo-Saxon ancestors the worst thing they could leave you: their -hypocrisy. I stepped behind a curtained bar this morning and found it -running at full blast. You evidently do your drinking in private on -Sunday and your praying in public. You know we in Germany do the -opposite." - -"No, you do your praying and drinking both in public, and both seem to -be a part of your religion," I answered. "Very likely you are right. -There is about us this taint of hypocrisy; but that only shows that we -are a deeply religious people, conscious of the fact that our ideals -are upon a higher plane than our performance. We are not as eager as you -are to proclaim our frailties from the housetop. - -"The average American wants you to believe him to be a pretty decent -fellow till you find him out to be different; while you Germans make a -virtue of a certain kind of brutal frankness, which is worse than -hypocrisy, since you try to make it an excuse for all sorts of private -and national sins. The real criminal is never a hypocrite." - -I do not know what would have happened to me if at that moment we had -not reached St. Patrick's Cathedral. The full, rich organ notes seemed -to soothe the Herr Director's ruffled spirit, and our discussion ended -as we entered the welcoming portal. - -In a church which in all places and all ages remains the same, there was -nothing for my guests to see or hear to which they were not accustomed. -There was the priest, alone with the great mystery which he was -enacting, and by his side the diminutive ministrants. The crowd which -filled every available space in that huge interior was silent and -reverent. Now the tinkling of a bell, like a command from Heaven, bade -all kneel, and now the same bell bade them rise. The incense, the -stately chant, and then the hushed, expectant throng going forward to -partake from the priest's hand of the means of grace, which he alone -could offer in the name of the one Holy Catholic Church--all this could -not fail to impress us. - -Into the august and solemn atmosphere there came from a near-by church -the chimed notes of a hymn-tune such as the people once sang defiantly -when they proclaimed their religious freedom. It was a spiritual war -tune which soldiers could sing, and strangely enough it seemed to fit -into this atmosphere as if it were the one thing which the service -needed. It recalled the self-assertion of the people before their God, -their man God, who was born in a stable, who worshipped as He worked, -and worked as He worshipped, hurling His anathemas at those who blocked -the gates of the kingdom to them who would enter, yet did not enter -themselves. - -Evidently the Herr Director felt as I felt; for he whispered to me, "The -Reformation." When I nodded my approval, he said: "But see how unmoved -she is, this rock-founded church. It will take something more than -hymn-tunes to disturb her." - -We left the Cathedral while the hungry multitude was being fed with the -Sacrament of our Lord, and our spirits, too, had been fed, although we -were not of that fold. - -While the Roman Catholics were finishing their worship, the Protestants -were making ready to begin. The first bells had chimed appealingly, not -commandingly, and a thin stream of worshippers appeared on the Avenue, -growing thinner as it divided, entering one or the other of those -edifices where men were to worship according to the dictates of their -conscience, their taste, or their social position. - -Many strangers, like ourselves, were looking critically at the church -bulletins as yesterday we had looked into the show windows, and it was -the Frau Directorin who said she felt as if she were going shopping for -religion. - -The Herr Director said that he had no objection to our inventing or -importing as many religions as we pleased; but he did object to our -exporting any, for we were making the task of regulating and controlling -them very difficult. Moreover he did not see how we could develop any -kind of common, national ideals with such a confusion of religions. "You -have, or pretend to have, a democratic government, and your strongest -church is monarchic to the core." - -I had to admit that religiously we are a very chaotic people, and that -we are daily adding to that chaos; yet these facts might prove what I -had been trying to make clear to him: That this is fundamentally a -religious country, and that as a whole we are the most religious people -in the world. I supported this statement by quoting a good German -authority, the late Prof. Karl Lamprecht, who thinks we have a great -future as a people, because we are "capable of religious improvement." - -"Improvement!" The Herr Director sniffed derisively. "Wherever I look I -see improvements: churches turned into theaters, theaters into churches, -and residences which are still perfectly good turned into sky-scrapers. -Chaos is not an improvement upon order. Nothing is finished, nothing -complete, not even your religion." - -Just then we were compelled to pass along a wooden walk from which we -looked into a canyon blasted out of the rock, upon which still stood the -foundation of the house which was being turned into a sky-scraper. - -"You see, that is the way we improve; we go deeper each time," I -remarked. - -"But in religion," the Herr Director retorted, "you do not go deeper, -you go higher, and that is no improvement." - -For the second time the chimes were pealing, and we entered a sanctuary -of friendly yet dignified English Gothic. An usher, who looked very -American and well fed and out of place, guided us to a pew in the more -than half empty church, from which nothing was missing in the way of -ecclesiastical furnishings. One thing it lacked and that no architect -can build and no money can buy--Spirit. - -The organ was played by a master, the processional was splendidly -staged, the rector looked prosperously pious, prayers were read and -confessions uttered without any disquieting, spiritual agony, and the -anthems were correctly sung by the picturesque boys' choir. The curate -preached a sermon on manliness; a sermon so thin and emasculated that -even the Frau Directorin, whose English is limited, could understand it, -and said she would like to come again "for the good English." - -I left the church deeply disappointed, and to the Herr Director's taunts -about "improvements" I did not reply, realizing more than ever how -difficult and dangerous is this task of introducing the _Spirit_, -especially when one goes to church in the spirit of pride, rather than -in the spirit of meekness. - -No clergyman can spoil the whole of Sunday, for there is always the -dinner, and having found a _table d'hote_ in harmony with the Herr -Director's national and religious ideals, we continued our discussion -somewhat fitfully, if, at times, rather vehemently. - -One of the things the Herr Director missed in the church where we tried -to worship was reverence. He missed it everywhere and thought it due to -the fact that we do not teach religion in the public schools. - -This was rather amusing to me, for just prior to that statement he had -told me of one of his nephews who, upon approaching his final -examinations, said: "If it were not for this accursed religion I could -get through without trouble;" and I called his attention to the fact -that although I had no difficulty with my "exams" in religion, -invariably having an "_Ausgezeichnet_" which is equivalent to an A, I -was always "_Schlecht_" in conduct. - -I had found religious instruction a very irreligious procedure, for the -man who taught it was irreligious enough to whip me so that I could not -lie upon my back for a week, the cause being that I would not say yes -to his credo. Moreover I told the Herr Director I thought all religious -instruction irreligious which did not teach the child its whole duty to -society, but taught religion from only the narrowing racial or sectarian -standpoint. - -Religion, I pointed out to him, can after all not be taught; it has to -be caught. It is a contagion which comes from a spiritual personality, -and our public schools are not religious or irreligious because certain -subjects are found or not found in their curricula, but because the -teachers have this spiritual personality or lack it. I am convinced that -this ethical quality predominates in our public schools, not only -because so many of our teachers are women, but because we are -fundamentally a religious people. - -At this point I became conscious that the attention of the Herr Director -and the Frau Directorin had flagged; for their response to my homily was -an eloquent tribute to the tenderness of the breast of a Long Island -duck, which they had been enjoying while I talked. As they were -consequently in a lenient mood towards the whole world and therefore -the United States, I renewed my laudable and difficult effort, and, as -is often best, through the medium of a story. - -At the time the elective system was introduced into Harvard University, -attendance upon chapel was made voluntary. "I understand," said a severe -critic of this procedure, "that you have made God elective in your -college." - -"No," replied the astute president, "I understand that God has made -Himself elective everywhere." - -The point of my story was lost upon both my guests. When I paused, the -Frau Directorin asked me how it was possible to serve so lavish a bill -of fare for so little money, and the Herr Director asked the waiter why -they called this a Long Island duck when the portions were so short. -Thus the conviction was forced upon me that our environment was not -conducive to the discussion of the American Spirit and that I must await -a more auspicious occasion. - -Late in the afternoon that occasion came; not on Fifth Avenue but on one -of those streets where churches are fewest and humanity thickest; where -Sunday brings liberation from toil, where cleanliness and godliness have -an equally difficult task in coming or abiding; where nations and races -must mingle and cannot easily blend, where the America which is to be is -in the making, and where the Spirit must manifest itself if we are to be -a nation with common ideals. - -I like to take my friends to the East Side of New York City. I glory in -its self-respect, its brave struggle against poverty and disease, its -bright children filling all the available space and asserting their -childhood by playing in the busy street, defying its noisy traffic. They -make of each hurdy-gurdy the center of a great festival, dancing as the -elves are said to dance, because it is their nature to. - -I like to point out the faces of Patriarchs, Prophets and -Madonnas--faces seamed by care and sorrow, yet lighted by a divine -radiance and as unconscious of it as were those upon whom it shone in -such fullness on that great East Side of the Universe which we now call -the Holy Land. - -I like to have my friends meet my East Side friends, the young working -girls, who dress in good taste, help support a family, and maintain an -unstained character in spite of small wages and the temptations of a -great city. I like them to meet the growing boys who are hungry for the -best the city holds, and who dream the dream of making the East Side in -particular, and New York in general, a better place in which to live. - -I am never ashamed to take my friends into the tenement houses, except -as I am ashamed that they exist at all, with their stenches and the -dearly bought space with twenty-four hours of darkness and no free -access of air. Of the people who live within I am never ashamed, for -they are the brave ones, to whom labor is prayer, and living a -sacrifice. I like best to show off the East Side of New York on Sunday, -for here it is most welcomed with its respite from labor, its chance at -clean clothes, its opportunity to visit and be again something more than -a machine. - -On Fifth Avenue the Sabbath is made for the few, on the East Side it is -made for the many; on Fifth Avenue God seems hard to find, on the East -Side He comes down upon the street. They are indeed worse than infidels -who do not feel His Spirit brooding over the crowd, and His guardian -angels watching over those children--else how could they survive? Best -of all I know where those Angels live, and it is there I took the Herr -Director and the Frau Directorin; I was sure they would never leave the -place doubting that we are a religious people. Evidently the children -also knew where their Angels live for the place was in a state of siege. -It is not strange that they knew, for their ancestors had walked and -talked with angels, and they were not yet old enough to have lost the -faith of their fathers. Troops of children there were; mere children -carrying children, and where there was an only child, which is rare on -the East Side, it was brought by a grandfather and grandmother, children -themselves now, and old enough to again believe in angels. - -There were flowers in the room and they were for the children; bowers -of roses, red roses, wafting their incense and driving out the mouldy, -tenement house air which clung to the little ones. There was music, and -they sang--sang as I know God wanted them to sing--gay, happy songs, -which seem to be denied the children who sing in the churches. - -How I wished that the picturesque little choir boys on Fifth Avenue, who -sang sixteenth century music and Augustinian theology, might have had a -chance to sing as those East Side children sang--full throated, lustily, -joyously; songs which made them shiver from very joy, and which made the -Frau Directorin weep copiously. - -How I wished that the priest who chanted Psalms in Latin, and the other -priest who intoned them in English as dead as Latin, could have been -there and have heard those children recite the same Psalms, in East Side -English. Yes, I have often wished that David himself might hear them; I -am sure he would be proud that he had a share in writing them, even as -the priests might be ashamed that they had never known just what -precious reading they are. - -No one preached to the children although they heard the good tidings, -and no one told them to be good although they were given a chance to -know how good God is, when men give Him a chance. - -There was a sacrament, a holy one; roses were given the children, and -the Angels who gave them shed their blood, for the roses had thorns. The -next week the children were to be taken where the roses grew, and they -would see that - - "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! - Rose plot, - Fringed pool, - Fern'd grot-- - The veriest school - Of Peace:--" - -But they would not have to see the garden to know that God is. - -We broke bread with the Angels and looked into their joyously weary -faces, and then we talked about the very thing I wanted my guests to -know, namely: That underneath all our religious or rather credal chaos, -we have a national creed if not a national religion. - -The Herr Director suggested that the fundamental doctrine of our creed -is "in gold we trust," and then he began a dissertation upon our -national materialism. - -Perhaps so, I conceded; but I doubted that we are more materialistic -than the people of the older world, in fact I was inclined to believe -that we are less so; which of course the Herr Director stoutly denied, -and I as stoutly affirmed. In justice to myself I must say that when my -country's honor is not at stake I am less dogmatic. - -"Perhaps we are equally materialistic," I continued, "but we are -certainly more generous. We make money faster than the people of the Old -World, but we also give it away faster, and I believe that there is no -country in which there is such a contempt for the merely rich man." - -"I suppose the second article in your national creed," the Herr Director -interrupted, "is that you are the biggest country and the best people -under the Sun. - -"If I were suggesting a motto for a new coinage I would put on one side -of it 'In Gold We Trust,' and on the other 'The Biggest and The Best.'" - -Ignoring this somewhat merited slur I said: "The first and only doctrine -of our national creed which we have as yet formulated is that we have a -great national destiny." - -At that the Herr Director jumped excitedly from his seat, and said -somewhat sneeringly, "Oh, you mean you have a place under the Sun. All -nations have such a creed, but when we Germans try to realize it, you -call us a menace to civilization." - -It was a tense moment in my relationship to my guests, but I ventured to -say: "We have a better reason for the faith which is in us than most -other nations, for we are trying to realize it without killing off other -people. In fact we are trying to realize it at a greater hazard than -that of being conquered by an alien enemy. We are keeping open these -doors which have swung both ways freely, for nearly three hundred years, -and your Old World weary ones have been coming; bringing their -traditions, their ideals, their worn out faiths and their heaped up -wrath. We did not forbid them; they have come to our towns, our schools, -our homes, they are here for better for worse, and we cannot divorce -them, or drive them away. - -"Yes," I continued, much to the discomfiture of the Herr Director, "we -_have_ a meaning to the Old World, a larger meaning than you think. We -have a place under the Sun, not to satisfy national ambitions; but to -keep alive faith in humanity." - -The Angels around the table were disquieted by our vehemence, the Frau -Directorin urged that it was growing late, and we left that center of -quiet which we had so disturbed, to return to our hotel. We entered a -street car crowded beyond its capacity by burly Irishmen the worse for -liquor, good-natured Slavs none the better for it, aggressive looking -Russian Jews and sleek Chinamen. There were mothers with their crying -babies, and thoughtless boys and girls chewing gum most viciously. -After the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had been jostled -unmercifully, we left the uncomfortable car, and when we were again -breathing unpolluted air the Herr Director asked quizzically: - -"Do you still believe in humanity?" - -Boldly and bravely I answered: "Yes, I believe," and lifting my face to -the stars I whispered: "Lord, help my unbelief." - - - - -III - -_The Spirit Out-of-Doors_ - - -Much to my regret the Herr Director did not sleep well that second night -in the United States. His nerves had suffered from those first thronging -impressions, he looked pale and was decidedly irritable; "for how could -a man sleep or be expected to sleep in this business canyon, loud from -the thunder of the elevated, and bright from the flashing of illuminated -signs?" Together they had the effect of an electric storm upon him. - -When he did fall asleep he dreamed that the Metropolitan Tower, the -Woolworth Building and St. Patrick's Cathedral were dancing Tango upon -his chest. - -This nightmare may have been due to the fact that just before retiring -we witnessed an exhibition of this modern madness, which seemed to be -indulged in everywhere except in the churches and possibly the barber -shops. Partly also, perhaps, because the Herr Director insisted upon -eating lobster shortly before midnight, in spite of the fact that I -warned him against that indulgence. It was one of those generous, United -States lobsters, and not the diminutive shell-fish with which cultured -Europeans merely tickle their palates. - -The Herr Director had repeatedly pointed out our bad habit of leaving a -great deal of food on our plates, and to impress upon me his better -manners, he had eaten the entire lobster. - -I had not slept well that night either, in spite of the fact that I had -eaten sparingly. I think it was the Herr Director himself who had "got -on my nerves," and I was finding this task of "showing off" my beloved -United States difficult and exacting. - -That morning we were to leave New York and I would introduce my guests -to the great American out-of-doors, and the prospect added to my already -uncomfortable frame of mind. - -If only we might start from that marvellous Central Station in the heart -of the city; but in order to reach our destination, which was Lake -Mohonk, we had to cross the West Side where it is irredeemably tawdry -and ugly, and take one of the ferry-boats to Weehawken. This somewhat -inconvenient procedure made the Herr Director doubly critical. - -The Fates were against us, for it was a hot, humid day, the car was -crowded, and the start from Weehawken anything but auspicious. - -In Europe the Herr Director travels second class when he travels -officially (the first, as is well known, being reserved for Americans -and fools), and third when he travels _incognito_, for he is a thrifty -soul. Nevertheless, he did not like our cars, they were "obtrusively -decorated," and privacy was impossible. Why should he have to look at a -hundred or more human heads variously "_frisired_"? - -I suggested that we take seats in front, which we succeeded in doing, -and then he found that if he wished to take off his collar, he would -have to do it with two hundred or more human eyes fastened upon him, -when the hundred people possessing them had no business to see what he -was doing. - -I have already confessed how sensitive I am to criticism of anything -American, no matter how just the criticism may be. So sensitive am I, -that had he reflected upon the good looks of my wife, he could scarcely -have hurt me more than when he reflected upon the beauty and arrangement -of an American railway car. - -And yet I have often wondered why our American genius seems to have -exhausted itself when it evolved the present type of car, having done -nothing to it except adding or taking away some of its "gingerbread." -Nevertheless I lost my patience and told him that if he liked to travel -cooped in with seven other passengers, four of whom he must face and two -of whom might at any moment poke their elbows into his ribs; if he -preferred to breathe air polluted by seven other people, and have a -fresh supply of ozone only at periods and in quantities regulated by -law, I did not admire his taste. As far as I was concerned I preferred -to travel in this big room on wheels, rather than in a jail-like box to -which the conductor alone had the key. Anyway this represented American -democracy with its unpartitioned space; but if he really wanted it, I -could get him a stateroom in the Pullman, and he could ride in isolated -splendor and be aristocratically stuffy and uncomfortable. - -When the Frau Directorin in typical German phraseology complained about -the draft: "_Um Gottes Willen ein Zug!_" I decided to save the day, and -we retreated to the Pullman stateroom. - -There they rested themselves back and looked tolerably happy while I, -silently but fervently, prayed that this particular train would not -disgrace itself by "committing" an accident. - -The big, American out-of-doors, even where it is old and its waste -spaces are cultivated and hedged about, has something which is -characteristically American. Of course nature knows no political -boundary; the grass is green everywhere, the sky is blue, cattle and -sheep, like man, have a long and honorable ancestry. Yet there is a -difference which may not be due to what nature is, but to man's attitude -towards her and his treatment of her. - -I have noticed this in passing through Europe; how unerringly one knows -where Germanic boundaries end and those of the Slav begin. German fields -and forests are trim and orderly; Slavic territory so ill kept and ill -used that when one has a glimpse of a village even from the swift moving -train, the difference is obvious. - -Sometimes I am inclined to believe that this attitude of man affects his -environment as much as we know the environment affects him. I wonder -just how much of the American out-of-doors, with its generous but not -gentle aspect, its subdued but untamed spirit, is due to those valiant -men who came from across the sea, and in so doing restored a bit of -their long-lost courage, and made masters of men who so long had been -serfs and knaves. - -I had hoped that the sudden burst of the Hudson upon my guests' vision -would thrill them; but if they were thrilled, they were careful to -conceal it. When I suggested the likeness of the Hudson to the Rhine, -the Herr Director took it as a personal affront and said you might as -well compare St. Patrick's Cathedral and that of Cologne. They are both -churches and Gothic; the Hudson and the Rhine are two rivers, and both -are big. - -Nevertheless I insisted that there is an evident resemblance which would -be complete if the Hudson had a ruined castle here and there, or a -picturesquely cramped village huddling against the hillside. - -"Yes, and beside castles and picturesque villages," the Herr Director -replied tartly, "you need a thousand years of culture and the same -traditions which make the shores of the Rhine sacred to us; you also -need generations of patiently plodding peasants who have made a -sacrament of their toil. One glance at your rotting boats lying along -the shore, at the untilled, gaping spaces and glaring, inartistic -sign-boards which disfigure it, is sufficient to distinguish the two -rivers or perhaps even the two countries." - -Having thus forcefully delivered himself, he scornfully pointed out the -waste places and the unkempt-looking fields, asking me whether I still -dared compare anything in this out-of-doors with the fine economy and -splendid supervision of the natural resources of his own country. - -Shamefacedly I acknowledged my country's guilt, and the guilt which was -evident on the majestic shores of the Hudson. We are wasteful, -extravagant and reckless--great defects in our national spirit, and most -in evidence in our treatment of nature's beauty and wealth. We shall -have to remedy that, in fact we are just beginning to do it; if not from -any sense of guilt, from the same sheer necessity which makes the -nations of the Old World careful of their national wealth. - -"The Conservation of our National Resources" is a fine phrase; it -represents not only an economic, but a spiritual gain--this feeling of -responsibility for the next generation. It is a new and most valuable -asset of our national spirit; yet I must confess that I fear the coming -of a day when we, too, shall have to practice the sordid little -economies of the Old World and think with anxiety about the to-morrow. - -It has always seemed to me that here the miracle of the loaves and -fishes might be performed indefinitely, and that there always would be -left over the baskets full of fragments. Somehow, in common with the -rest of mankind, I have associated generous plenty with the American -spirit, and I trust we shall never have just our dole and no more. - -I recall walking one evening with the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin through the well-regulated, officially trimmed and "_Streng -Verboten_" forest which encircles his native city. My children were with -us--young, vigorous, American savages, who have a superabundance of the -American spirit although they have not a drop of American blood in their -veins. We passed a small mound of freshly mown hay and they promptly -jumped into it, tossing a few handfuls as an offering to their -aboriginal deity, the wind. If they had dashed into the plateglass -window of a jeweler's shop or had desecrated the most holy shrine, they -could not have caused greater consternation. - -"_Um Gottes Himmels Willen die Polizei!_" cried the Herr Director and -the Frau Directorin echoed: "_Die Polizei!_" - -Although this happened about ten years ago, my children have not -forgotten their fright. - -I suppose we still lack this virtue of economy, and yet I hope we may -not lose that certain largeness of nature and that generosity of spirit -which have characterized us. - -I love the generous spaces, the unfenced lawns, which make of the whole -village one common park; the grass and clover free to the touch of our -children's feet, the fragrant flowers wasting their bloom, and berries -and cherries enough for the wild things of the woods. May the future not -bring more high walls and narrow lanes, big game preserves for the rich, -and scant patches of soil for the poor; castles for capital and -tenements for labor. And may we never see written over every blade of -grass: "_Streng Verboten_." - -I realized that the Herr Director spoke truly when he said that what we -lack over here is a healthy class spirit, which the German farmer has. A -sort of pride in his calling which makes him care for the soil and -nourish it with a lover's passion. To him robbing the soil is as great a -crime as it would be to rob his children. It is not only the Emperor who -regards himself as a partner with God, and sometimes the senior partner; -the commonest, poorest peasant is apt to say as he drenches his field -with the accumulated compost: "_Ich und Gott_." - -Speaking of the farmer, the Herr Director admitted that in Germany as -elsewhere there is a trend to the city; but the tide is held back by the -pride of the German farmer, who glories in having his traditions, his -folksongs, and, above all, this sense of partnership with God. - -We scarcely have such a thing as a farmer class; we have merely -merchandizers in dirt who sell not only the products of the soil, but -unhesitatingly the soil itself. - -The land which we see from the car window, which the pioneers won from -this boundless space, these houses and sheltering groves, the homesteads -in which a great race was cradled, are all for sale, now that the soil -is robbed of its fertility and the robbers have moved on to repeat the -process elsewhere. We are doing something, he admitted, to stem the tide -to the cities; we are introducing agricultural training into our public -schools and are making the raising of corn and wheat a science, but not -as yet a sacrament. - -We stayed over night in one of the half-asleep towns on the shores of -the river, a town whose history is written upon the headstones in the -cemetery, in the center of which the stately meeting-house stands. We -met the descendants of those who sleep there, whose pride lies in the -fact that their forefathers were the pioneers who fought the Indians, -the fevers and each other. Their houses are full of old furniture -shipped from England and Holland, and we ate their food and drank their -tea from costly silver and exquisite china which they have inherited. - -We looked upon the portraits of their ancestors and were told of their -virtues and their fame; we saw fine memorials to the past in churches -and town halls and rode in their automobiles, to see the farms -bequeathed to them. One thing, alas! they have not and never will -have--descendants. - -On one of the farms we saw a swarthy Italian with a bright red rose -behind his ear. His wife and children were working with him in the -field, and they were doing this strange thing as they pulled weeds from -the onion beds--they were singing. The Herr Director said significantly, -"These are the heirs to all this," and I think he was a true prophet. - -It is a wonderful thing to invent agricultural machinery and to discover -new methods by which two blades of grass can be made to grow where but -one grew; yet if only some one could tune our dull American ears, so -that our farmers might catch the melody of the singing land and sing -with it; if our boys and girls would love wild roses well enough to wear -them--if, and that is a very big if--some one could teach us Americans -to be proud of having descendants, we might add a new note to the great -American out-of-doors, and keep it American. - -That night we sat upon a wide verandah, overlooking a valley through -which the Hudson rolled majestically; we saw populous cities, -picturesque villages and bounteous farms; we looked into the heart of -the out-of-doors and I was proud of it and of its free people, who ought -to be a grateful people. There was deep silence everywhere; no sound -except that of the birds, and they did not sing jubilantly as birds -ought to sing in so blessed a place and on so glorious an evening. No -one sang except the same Italian who was coming home with his wife and -numerous progeny. He still wore the rose behind his ear, although it had -faded. Those who sat with us had every luxury and more money than they -knew how to spend; but they could not sing, for they were old, children -there were none, and if there had been, they would not have been -singing--they would have had a victrola. - -After the Italian had eaten his frugal but pungent fare he came to the -big verandah to get his orders for the next day, and the Herr Director -spoke Italian to him and he replied in that language which in itself is -almost a song. His mistress asked him to bring his wife and children to -sing for us. His wife did not come but the children came. They would not -sing an Italian song, it is true--that was just for themselves, in the -fields where only God heard. They sang some sentimental thing they had -heard in the "movies"--chewing gum the while. I asked them to sing -something their teacher taught them but they knew nothing except "My -Country 'tis of Thee" and the "Star Spangled Banner," both of which they -sang joylessly and not understandingly. How and why should they -understand when the Americans did not? - -It was a day full of dismal failure in my attempt to impress upon my -guests the American spirit, and the failure of it was "rubbed" in by -the Herr Director, who, as he bade me good-night, quoted as a parting -shot this bit of German verse: - - "Und wo Man singt - Da las dich froelich nieder, - Denn boese Menchen haben keine Lieder." - -The rub was in his inference that we have no song because we have no -noble spirit. - - - - -IV - -_The Spirit at Lake Mohonk_ - - -Many years ago the Herr Director and I were tramping through the Hartz -Mountains in northern Germany. He had not yet achieved portliness and -fame; while to me, America was still the land of Indians and buffaloes, -and I had never dreamed of going there. We were climbing the Brocken, -and that which thrilled me more than its granite steeps and deeply -mysterious pines was, the hundreds of school-boys and girls we met, -singing as they climbed, and who, when they rested, listened to their -teachers who stimulated their imagination and their patriotism by -telling them the stories which had woven themselves around those -mountains. - -The Catskills are not unlike the Hartz, and I remarked upon it as the -Herr Director and I were climbing the Walkill Range. Our destination -was Lake Mohonk, the scene of the Conference for International -Arbitration, organized and supported by that noble Quaker, Albert K. -Smiley; and now after his death continued by his able and generous -brother Daniel Smiley, and his gracious wife. - -The Frau Directorin, with hundreds of other guests, had been met at the -railroad station by carriages, this being one of the few places left -upon earth where the automobile is excluded. - -The Herr Director was not climbing as easily as he climbed thirty years -ago, and neither was I, although I made a brave show and led the way, -frequently leaving him in the rear, much to his disgust. - -"Yes," he said, mopping his brow and looking about critically, "this is -somewhat like the Hartz," and my heart gave a joyous leap at his -admission; "but several things are missing: Good company, merry songs -and, above all, places of refreshment." - -Of course I could offer him no better company than I was, as there are -not many people in America who climb when they can ride for nothing; -and the only refreshment available was clear water from a shaded spring. -As we drank he recalled laughingly how, when we stopped at one of those -nature's fountains in the Hartz, a man who had watched us, came running -out of his house and warned us that we might catch cold in our stomachs, -at the same time politely offering to guide us to a place where we would -get something not so dangerously cold, and with tempting foam at the -top. - -I have long ago been weaned from the German custom of mixing -refreshments and scenery; but one does miss the boys and girls, the -merry, happy throngs, their sentimental songs and their fervent, poetic -patriotism. Involuntarily my mind reverted to a scene the Herr Director -and I witnessed after we had finally reached the summit of our mountain -in the Hartz. It was nearly evening, and we could look far and wide -above the forest into the happy and beautiful country. On the very -topmost peak stood a corpulent German, surrounded by his genial group. -He was reciting with fervor and genuine passion, in the broadest -Berlinese dialect, one of their treasured poems which begins with these -lines: - - "High upon the hilltops of thy mountains stand I, - Thou beautiful and mighty Fatherland." - -If this should happen over here, of which there is no danger, he would -be laughed at, if noticed at all; over there he was treated like a high -priest who called the faithful to prayer. - -As a people we lack not only poetic imagination, we lack also this -identification of our country with the best in nature. Our youth may be -to blame for that, or perhaps we have so much of nature and so much -which is beautiful that we have not been able to encompass it. Yet there -must be something very important lacking in such Americans as the one -whom I met very recently. He had just returned from a "Seeing America -First" tour, and had seen everything from Niagara to the Big Tree groves -of California. When I asked him what he thought of it all he said, -coolly, "Oh! it's a big country." Naturally I did not tell this nor the -following to the Herr Director. - -A few years ago I went with a group of Americans to see one of the -famous ice caves in the Alps. The accommodating guides had lighted -candles in the labyrinth and the sight was enchanting. One of my party, -a dry-goods dealer, said with genuine enthusiasm: "My! I wish I could -get such a shade of silk in New York." The other said: "Too bad; so much -perfectly good ice going to waste." He belonged to the much maligned -tribe of ice-men. The rest of the men said nothing, although one of them -did remark when we reached our hotel: "This only shows how slow they are -over here. In the good old United States we would light that show with -electricity." He belongs to the tribe whose name is legion. - -The Herr Director, as my readers have found, was very chary of his -praise, in fact thus far I had not heard a good word from him for my -United States; but that evening as we looked from the Mountain House -down upon the dark, deep lake, the rock gardens and the quaint bowers -on every promontory, granite walls broken and scattered, and the rich -valley between us and the Catskills, he did say: "This is the most -beautiful spot I have ever seen!" - -Of course his generous mood was partially gendered by the unequalled -hospitality of our host and hostess and by the sight of his fellow -guests, who represented not only the entire United States, but the -United States at its best. Moreover, he and his wife had received a more -than cordial welcome because they were representative foreigners and -spoke English with a "cute accent." - -I almost felt a slight touch of jealousy upon that point although I am -not of a jealous nature. But I have noticed this: to the degree that my -English has improved, to that degree I have become less interesting to -my American friends, so that I have sometimes been tempted to wish that -I too might speak English with a "cute accent." - -The happy day was almost spoiled for me by the discovery that our trunks -had not arrived. The Herr Director worked himself into a frenzy and the -Frau Directorin had dire forebodings of having to spend the three days -in the same shirt-waist. Telegrams were sent in all directions, while -the Herr Director called our much boasted of baggage system hard names; -my "best laid schemes" seemed about to "gang agley" when much to my -relief the trunks arrived, and I felt once more assured of the divine -favor in my most strenuous efforts to "boost" my United States. - -The Herr Director had come to this country to take part in the Mohonk -Conference, and being a prudent man, he submitted his address to me. It -was written with Teutonic thoroughness and as void of places of -refreshment as the Sahara Desert or the Walkill Range we had climbed. - -I suggested a thorough revision, the cutting out of many statistics and -resting his case, not upon pure business, but upon the higher plane of -pure justice. He insisted upon retaining his statistics and also his -appeal to the selfish and materialistic side of his audience; for he -knew "something about Americans" and still doubted their idealism. - -The next morning after breakfast we attended prayers, which is a part of -the daily program of this hostelry, and presided over by the host, who -usually reads the Scriptures, announces a hymn and then leads in prayer. -It is as impressive as it is simple and dignified, and the Herr Director -and his wife did their first singing in America when they joined in a -hymn whose tune is an old German folk-song. - -The program which followed the prayer service was dominated by -specialists in International Law and they were dry and concise enough to -suit even the Herr Director; while the dreamers and agitators, whom he -expected to hear, were almost altogether unrepresented. In fact they -have grown less in this assembly each year, largely because it is -thought that the whole subject has reached the point when it is a -practical question to be discussed by men of affairs. No one knew better -than the Herr Director how inevitable was the next great war and how far -we were from the practical Court of International Arbitration. - -The epilogue to that great world drama had been spoken in the Balkan, -and spoken with vehemence, passion and fierce cruelty, and he knew its -bearing upon the whole tense situation in Europe. Yet I am sure that -even he did not know how many nations would be involved, nor how costly -and deadly would be the conflict. He did foreshadow in his own -condemnation of England and of England's foreign policy the element of -hate between the two related nations, which was to play so important a -part in the present war. - -The afternoon is playtime at Lake Mohonk, and most generous are the -provisions for recreation; but the Herr Director did not ride or drive, -nor play golf or tennis. He stayed in his room rewriting his paper, -having sensed something of the Spirit of Lake Mohonk. - -It is a very dignified room in which the problem of International -Arbitration is discussed, and although it never loses its hospitable, -home-like air, one always has the feeling of being before a high -tribunal, where anything but the most serious mood seems out of place; -although a jest sometimes relieves the discussion. - -An audience of about four hundred people gathered that evening, men and -women in varied walks of life, coming from all the states in the Union -and from many foreign countries. - -There were captains of industry and of infantry, admirals of fleets and -presidents of colleges, statesmen and politicians, ministers, lawyers -and journalists. Their views ranged from those who believe that war is -an unavoidable event in human history, and that a little blood letting -now and then is necessary for the best of men, to those who teach that -war is a curse and that a certain warrior who compared it to the worst -place which human imagination can conceive, might be sued for libelling -his Satanic Majesty who presides over that place or state. On the whole, -they represented the men of action and men without illusions although -with high ideals. The Herr Director's paper, minus its statistics, and -keenly critical rather than laudatory, was received with applause, and -he stepped from the platform in the best humor in which I had seen him -since he reached the United States. - -The real joy of the Lake Mohonk Conference, and of all conferences, is -the human touch, and after the long evening session the Herr Director -became the center of an interesting group of men who, while smoking -their cigars, lost some of their American reserve and became -sufficiently animated to hear and tell stories; so it was long past -midnight when the informal session ended. - -Frequently the Herr Director asked questions about things which he could -not understand, and it was at such times that I sought to enlighten him, -or have him enlightened by others; for he had become sceptical as to my -own ability to inform him regarding anything American. - -He could not understand, for instance, that all this lavish -entertainment was free, and suggested that it must be a sort of gigantic -American advertising scheme, carefully concealed. When he was told that -to secure a room during the season one must apply long in advance, and -most likely have fair credentials before being accepted as a guest, he -merely shook his head and murmured something about these "inexplicable -Americans." - -He also did not see how an hotel could flourish in any civilized country -without permitting the accepted social diversions, such as card playing, -dancing, and drinking something stronger than the mild beverages served -at the soda fountain. - -He wanted to know how it was that three or four hundred Americans would -take three days of their time to discuss a theme which had little or -nothing to do with profits. All the Americans he had known about were -void of ideals, and had no time for anything but business or poker. In -fact he was astonished not to see poker chips littering the sidewalks. - -I told him that while it is true that the average American business man -is always in a hurry, and gives little time to wholesome recreation, it -is also true that in no country with which I am familiar do men of -business give their time so generously to the consideration of the -common welfare as here. They do this, not having the incentive -constantly held out to the European business man, namely: Recognition by -the state and the reward which sovereigns may bestow, in much coveted -titles and decorations. The average well-inclined American business man -is incredibly patient, sitting through tedious meetings, listening to -reports of various philanthropies, and earns a martyr's crown attending -those interminably long banquets with their assault upon his digestion -and their appeal to his sympathies. - -At Lake Mohonk the Herr Director met business men employing thousands of -clerks to whom they grant vacations and holidays without legal -compulsion, and for whom they have inaugurated welfare plans of -far-reaching importance. It was certainly a revelation to him that the -number of Americans who are something more than animated money bags is -growing larger every day. - -The still more difficult thing to explain to him was the frank and open -discussions of national policies and the evident international -view-point of those who took part in them. In all the discussions the -most striking note was: "The United States wants not territory, not -unfair advantage over other nations nor aggrandizement at the expense of -lesser peoples, nor war, certainly not for conquest." - -The Herr Director intimated that in the exalted mood induced by being -members of this conference, we could afford to be generous; but that at -a time of national excitement we are no better than other people, taking -what we can get and asking no questions. - -"Uncle Sam was not wholly disinterested in Cuba, was he? and as far as -Mexico is concerned, who fermented the trouble there but this same Uncle -Sam, that you might have an excuse to swallow as much of Mexico as you -wanted?" - -Instantly my mind travelled to the time of the Spanish-American war, -when I was in Europe, and the Herr Director was editing an influential -German newspaper. He wrote an editorial, accusing the United States of -beginning the war with Spain for the sole purpose of annexing the "Pearl -of the Antilles," and when I disputed his theory we nearly severed our -"diplomatic relations." - -I now again vigorously pressed my point, to the great amusement of my -friends and the chagrin of the Herr Director, who could not easily -refute my statements; for while I acknowledged being an -"_Unausstehlicher Americaner_," I happen to know the Old World policies -as well as he does. - -I mentioned Austria-Hungary, and its taking over of Bosnia and -Herzegovina, without so much as "by your leave"--and Germany which, to -salve its hurt, sent a fleet of warships to China and helped the German -eagle bury its beak in the Yellow Dragon's tail. I mentioned France in -Algeria, and England everywhere--"and Uncle Sam in the Philippines," he -interrupted. - -I took full advantage of that interruption to remind him that Uncle Sam -is the only power which ever paid for anything gained by that right -which in Europe seems to be the only right;--the right of might. - -It was a difficult task which I had undertaken, to convince the Herr -Director that the American Spirit is different from that of the Old -World, and in spite of me he insisted that we are not a bit better than -other people, but only so situated that we can afford to be generous. I -assured him that I preferred to boast of our fair dealing with lesser -peoples than of our victorious battles, and that I am never so loyally -and enthusiastically American as when I think of our being just, rather -than mighty. - -I have since been at Lake Mohonk at a time when national passions were -aroused, and when those who had prophesied the early passing of the -battle fever were discredited prophets. While there, a letter reached me -from the Herr Director, in which he sent greetings to his host and -hostess and the members of the conference, and in which he recalled his -former accusation that we are no better than other people; for "are you -not pro-Ally and filling your pockets with the proceeds from the sale of -war munitions? Where now is your boasted fairness?" - -My reply was that I in common with many others wish we could wash our -hands of this bloody business of selling ammunition, and that I still -firmly believe that the American people will retain their poise during -this dreadful upheaval. - -Yes, even to-day I can say with no less pride than usual that I believe -in the American Spirit, in its sense of fairness and its love of -justice, and while I trust that this country may be kept from so great a -catastrophe as war, and I be kept from so severe a trial of my loyalty -as having to choose on which side to fight, I know I would freely and -unhesitatingly be on the side of my country, the United States of -America. - -Three glorious days had passed at Lake Mohonk and when the guests left -that mountain top no one went more reluctantly than the Herr Director -and his wife, and all the way back to the great city they felicitated -upon their delightful experiences, while I rejoiced in my country and -its spirit. When the Herr Director wrote his book I found that he -acknowledged having discovered four things at Lake Mohonk. First, an -unparallelled hospitality. Secondly, that the leading men of America are -soberly practical, unemotional, somewhat self-centered; but, at the same -time, men of high ideals. Thirdly, that its military men attend -conferences for international arbitration, that they do not rattle their -sabers, and in appearance cannot be distinguished from mere civilians. -Finally, that the American man boasts most and loudest of his sense of -fairness; and while I write these lines, I am hoping and praying that -this may indeed be not an empty boast, but an integral part of the -American Spirit. - - - - -V - -_Lobster and Mince Pie_ - - -If I were gastronomically inclined I would study New York's cosmopolitan -population and its progress towards Americanization from the standpoint -of its restaurants; for the appetite is most loyally patriotic. A man -may cease to speak his mother tongue and have forsworn allegiance to -Kaiser and to King, but still cling to his ancestral bill of fare. - -If I were an absolute monarch and wished my alien people quickly -assimilated, I would permit them to speak their native tongue and cling -to the faith of their fathers; but I would close all foreign -restaurants, and as speedily as possible obliterate from their memory -the taste of viands "like mother used to make." - -I fear that it is neither Goethe nor Schiller, nor Bismarck nor Kaiser -Wilhelm who has kept the memory of the Fatherland alive in the minds and -hearts of many German people in America. Dare I say that possibly much -of their patriotism and loyalty is due to the taste of rye bread and -sweet butter, _Rindsbrust_ and _Pell Cartoffel_, not to mention a -certain frothy amber fluid? - -Be that as it may, when I discovered that the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin were homesick, I took them to a German restaurant to assuage -their pangs; just as if, did I detect the same symptoms in an American -whom I wished to make thoroughly at home in a foreign country, I would -take him where a meal could be properly concluded with apple pie and -cheese or ice-cream. - -The restaurant I selected lent itself particularly well to my purpose, -for everything was imported, from the Bavarian architecture to the -_Frankfurter_ sausages. The _menu_ card was adorned by illuminated, -medieval lettering, and on the smoked rafters were painted pious and -impious verses, which gave the room a literary atmosphere. - -It was as crowded and full of tobacco smoke and the odors of savory -meats as the most loyal German could desire, and my guests were -thoroughly at home. They ate their food happily, praised it -discriminatingly, and studied the familiar environment carefully. As -usual, certain things were lacking; for the Herr Director is a keen -critic and never accepts anything as perfect. - -I agreed with him that the orchestra was too noisy and on the whole -superfluous, and that the native American dining there could be easily -recognized by the indifference with which he ate. We heard no loud -complaining, and little or no quarrelling with the waiters. The food was -accepted in a humble sort of way whether it was satisfactory or not; -bills were paid, tips were given in the spirit of meekness, and accepted -in the opposite way, and the guests left without any ceremony except -that of paying their toll to the keepers of their hats and coats, a form -of extortion quite unparallelled abroad. - -In striking contrast to our mere eating was my guests' enjoyment of -every morsel of the food which they had selected, not simply because it -was food, but because it was a note fitting into the gastronomic -harmony. The head waiter and all his minions hovered about them with due -reverence, and woe to him who by pose or gesture disturbed the perfect -accord. - -A friend from Nebraska who was staying at our hotel had joined us at -dinner. When the waiter handed him the bewildering bill of fare, he -waved it aside saying: "Just bring me a big lobster stewed in milk, with -a dish of pickles and a mince pie." - -The waiter turned pale, the Herr Director gasped, almost strangling on -the salad he was eating, and the Frau Directorin looked at me -despairingly. The waiter was the first to recover his composure, and -cautiously suggested that the gentleman might like some Lobster a la -Newburgh. - -"Nix," said the Nebraskan, "I want lobster a la Milkburgh, and don't -forget the pickles." - -The waiter retreated and after a long conference with his superior, -informed the gentleman that he could have his lobster stewed in milk, -but that it would cost him one dollar and fifty cents. - -"Hustle it along," was the curt reply, and in about fifteen minutes he -was deep in his bowl of lobster stew, flanked on either side by pickles -and mince pie, while the rest of us were eating our way leisurely and -artistically through a _menu_ which began with _caviar_ and ended with -_Camambert_ and _demitasse_. - -After dinner, American men, manners and ideals became the subject of a -discussion into which my Western friend good-naturedly entered, although -he was made a horrible example of the fact that we are ill-mannered. The -Herr Director insisted that our nation is too young to have any except -bad manners, and while no doubt we had improved in the years since he -first made our acquaintance, the improvement had not yet permeated the -masses. - -That which I called the American Spirit was the spirit of the few -cultured, academic persons I knew, but the majority of the people was as -alien to it as was our Nebraska friend's lobster and mince pie to our -delicious and dietetically correct dinner. - -"I don't give a hang for your 'dietetically correct dinner.' I want what -I want, when I want it!" the Nebraskan said, smiting the table with his -fist, and evidently suppressing stronger language with an apologetic -glance at the ladies of our party. - -"That is exactly it; you want what you want, when you want it," the Herr -Director repeated, "whether or not it is on the bill of fare, or in the -statute book, or among the laws of the Universe. In that I suppose you -Americans all agree; that is your _American Spirit_." He uttered the -last phrase with special emphasis, and with no attempt to hide the -sneer. - -I admitted that my friend's demand for the thing he wanted, regardless -of the bill of fare and in defiance of a dietary law (of which he was -not as yet conscious), was a manifestation of our individualism, a -rather wide-spread characteristic. I was fain also to admit that our -individualism is not always as harmless to others as in the case under -discussion. It is an attitude of mind which has developed into a system -to which we are committed for better or worse, and is in striking -contrast to the German ideal of submission to an accepted order. - -"Yes," from the Herr Director with evident pride. "That which makes -Germany great and strong is our willing submission to authority; but -remember it must be intelligent authority, and at the same time it must -be efficient. To be sure," he acknowledged, "we are often chagrined by -the '_Streng Verboten_' to the right of us and the '_Nicht Erlaubt_' to -the left of us. We are much governed but we are well governed, and you, -too, will some day discover that the common weal has to be above the -individual's caprice. Your evident disrespect of laws and conventions -results from the lack of intelligence back of them, and you have no -respect for your lawmakers because they do not deserve it." - -At this point the Nebraskan astonished us by saying that he had recently -been in Europe on business, selling grindstones, that he knew something -about Germany, and he never was gladder to get back to God's country -than when he finally set foot upon his native soil. He had many -adventures, and as an example of what he had to suffer from one of -Germany's well enforced laws, he told a story which proved his sense of -humor, though the "laugh was on him." - -"When I was in Berlin I made out a small bill for some goods I had sold, -and the man told me that I must affix to it some revenue stamps. I -didn't want to bother with it, and told him so. The thing was too -trifling anyway. - -"I never thought of that bill again till I was forcibly reminded of it -in Hamburg as I was about to sail for home. I was haled before the -court, and the judge fined me fifty _marks_. Of course I knew I had to -pay it, so I handed him the money and told him in good English to take -it and go to the hot place with it. I didn't dream that he understood, -but he replied in as good English as I gave him: 'Officials of my rank -travel first-class. I must therefore have fifty _marks_ more.' That -little joke cost me a lot of money. I wouldn't want to live in a -country where I couldn't tell anybody I pleased what I felt like -telling him." - -The Herr Director doubted the accuracy of the story because "no German -official would show so little dignity." I, too, doubted it; but on the -ground that no German official would have so keen a sense of humor. - -There followed an animated argument between the Nebraskan and the Herr -Director as to which is of more importance, the individual or the state. -The Nebraskan insisted that the state being the creation of individuals, -they are of supreme importance, while the Herr Director persisted in his -theory that the state is supreme and that it is the business of the -individual to make it dominant and powerful, to which end the state must -make him effective. - -"An ineffective individual is a menace to the state, and a state which -cannot impress its will upon the individual and make him submissive and -effective will be vanquished in the great competitive struggle -constantly going on." - -"I suppose you're effective enough, but you're as slow as molasses in -January." - -"Oh, yes, we are slow, but we are thorough; we take our time to do a -thing well, while your hurry is as wearing as it is useless. When we -came down here this evening we were in a hurry. We were rushed to your -crowded subway to take a certain train, although the next one would have -done as well. In about three minutes we were pushed out of that train -into another, because it went faster, and we reached here breathless. We -saved time, but for what purpose? To see you eat your lobster and mince -pie?" And he looked contemptuously at the Nebraskan. - -"What are we going to do now with the two or three minutes we saved?" - -This was a question I could not answer, for I did not know why I had -hurried. Perhaps because of the excess of ozone in the air, or possibly -because every one else was hurrying. - -"You see," he continued, "we Germans never make the mistake of -confounding hurry with efficiency. We hurry, too, when we must, or when -we have a rational purpose. We know that great things cannot be -accomplished in a hurry. We lay our foundations not only patiently, but -thoroughly and cheerfully. - -"You work like slaves who are eager to finish the job, as you call it. -We cherish towards our job a sentiment of love and loyalty which we call -'_Pflichttreue_,' a word for which you have no equivalent, proving of -course that you have not the thing itself." - -I translated the word as loyalty to duty. - -"Yes, that may be correct, but it does not ring true. _Pflichttreue_ has -an ethical significance which your translation does not convey. - -"I have noticed that your conductors shed their uniforms the instant -they leave their trains, as if they were ashamed of their job. With us, -any uniform, whether a railroad conductor's or a general's, is gloried -in, and honored because of the work it represents." - -The Nebraskan thought us too democratic for uniforms, which is the -reason we do not value them more than we do. - -"It is not the uniform, it is our work in which we glory. A shoemaker -with us is as proud of his job as the Emperor is of his. He is Emperor -by the grace of God, because he believes it is a God-given task to which -he must be faithful, and we once had a shoemaker who called himself with -equal pride, 'Shoemaker by the grace of God.' - -"This pride spiritualizes the simplest and commonest work by making -every man a conscious part of the state, and he works for its glory and -power. It is a glory shared by his wife and family," and the Herr -Director pulled from his pocket a German newspaper. "Look at this -funeral notice. The widow signs herself not only as the widow of a -particular man, but as the widow of a man who did something of which she -is still proud. While she remains a widow she will sign herself _Amalia -Henrietta Schmidt Koenigliche Hof Opern Obo Spieler's Wittwe_." - -"How can we be proud of our jobs," queried the Nebraskan, after his -hearty laugh at _Amalia Henrietta Schmidt_, "when we never have a job -which we expect to hold permanently? I started out with school teaching, -then I got hold of a good thing in the way of Carborundum and made -grindstones. That's what took me to Europe. When that business went bad, -I bought out the livery stable in my town, and now I am in the moving -picture business. If I could sell out at a good price I'd do it and take -up any old thing as long as there is money in it." - -He was right. Our work is not sacred to us, for too often it is only the -means to an end, and frequently a very selfish end. Because Germany has -had centuries of carpenters and tinkers and shoemakers who planed boards -and mended pots and shoes "by the grace of God," and swung the hammer as -if it were a sword, they are now wielding the sword as if it were a -hammer. - -In some way we must get this spiritual appeal of the job, which means -not only that we shall have to dedicate ourselves to our task in a -manner worthy of its significance, but that the state must have this -spiritual attitude towards the worker, and treat him as though worthy of -his place in the economy of the nation. It is this wise provision for -the workers' efficient education, the state's recognition that the -well-being of the individual is its concern, which has given to Germany -the unfailing devotion of all her people. - -I was roused from these meditations by hearing the Nebraskan's voice. - -"You see I never had a chance to learn just one thing. I can do many -things tolerably well, for I had to do them. I can splice a rope, repair -a machine, shingle a house and if necessary build a barn. I can play -ragtime on the piano, throw a steer or ride a bucking broncho. I can -even make soda biscuits. I am the child of the pioneers, and in order to -survive, they had to be jacks of all trades. - -"I bought a tool in a department store the other day," and he drew it -from his pocket. "It can do sixteen things tolerably well, but it isn't -worth shucks for any one job, if you want to do it right. That's me." - -The Herr Director wanted to know what "shucks" meant, and after I -laboriously explained it to him and he had handled the patent tool he -said: - -"Your travelling men have come over to Germany and tried to sell us this -kind of thing, but they found no market. When we want a gimlet, or a -saw, or a coat-hanger we want that one thing and want it as good as it -can be made. We marvel at your adaptability, but we are too thorough to -be adaptable, and we do not need to be. You Americans will never be able -to compete with us until you learn to specialize and do one thing well." - -We sat long into the night comparing the German and the American Spirit, -but there was one phase of the former which the Herr Director clearly -demonstrated. There was a religious fervor in his patriotism which the -average American lacks. To him his country was not only above himself -but beyond everything else on Earth or in Heaven. There often seems -something sordid about our patriotism, something connected solely with -the individual's well-being. I glory in our sense of liberty, in the -opportunity to live unmolested, and in every man's chance to be himself; -but I fear we have as yet not learned to value our duty to this country -as much as we do our privilege. - -I am sure there will be no lack of fighters if the country is in danger; -but shall we be able to fight the long, exhausting battle which -presupposes discipline and subordination? - -The United States gives much to the individual, more, I think, than any -other country; but she has not given intelligently, she has nearly -pauperized us all by her beneficence, and has demanded nothing in -return, nor even taught us common gratitude. - -Our children are told that they must love their country, but what that -means beyond fighting when it is in danger they know not. That it means -to do their work thoroughly, that they must learn to do things well, and -exalt the nation by becoming efficient workmen that they may help win -their country's battles in the factory, or behind the counter, they do -not yet know; and what we have not learned, we cannot teach. - -This questioning mood of mine is never gendered as I contemplate the -mob, the many who are driven to revolt either by their unbridled -passions or by the unbearable conditions under which they have to -labor; my fear is strongest when I look into the schools and when I face -our youth which comes out of them, inefficient, but above all, -undisciplined. They do not lack physical courage, nor yet devotion to -the country, in a sort of abstract way; they do lack the submission to -intelligent authority. - -In this latter-day test of different ideals of the state, through the -cruel, undecisive test of war, we may learn from Germany to instill this -"_Pflichttreue_," this loyalty to the job. We may also learn the more -difficult lesson for us individualists--submission to authority which we -must make intelligent, as well as conscientious. - -Necessity will soon teach us to be thorough, and thoroughness -presupposes patience. Add these qualities and this discipline to the -enterprise, the love of fair play, the courage, the faith in God and -man, which we possess, and we too may ultimately develop a patriotism -which will stand the test of adversity, and emerge from it purified and -strengthened. - -When we stepped out of the restaurant and its German atmosphere into -the unmistakably American Broadway, my German guests felt that my -rampant Americanism had been thoroughly subdued. However they had -literally "reckoned without their host." My protracted silence had -misled them, but I could contain myself no longer. - -"We are now walking in the streets of the second largest city in the -world, its population thrown together and blown together from every -quarter of the globe, and the most of these people, if not the worst of -them, have come here in the last thirty-five years. They brought neither -love of their new country nor knowledge of its language and -institutions; they all came to make money, and to-morrow morning four -millions of people will begin again the competitive battle from which -they are resting to-night. - -"The laws which govern them are illy made, but they have made them, or -at least had a chance to select those who did make them. They have not -always chosen well; the officers who govern them are often not good men; -frequently they are only the most cunning politicians and one has but -scant respect for them. Yet in spite of it all, this is a fairly well -governed city and it is quite remarkable that these four million people -live together in comparative peace and order. Neither is there any ill -from which this great city or any group of its individuals suffers for -which there is not some help or healing or some attempt to heal. - -"If I were an absolute stranger without money, knowing neither the -language of the people nor their ways, I would rather be on the streets -of the city of New York than anywhere else." - -"How do you account for it?" the Frau Directorin ventured to ask, -although the Herr Director had been violently expressing his dissent. - -"We have several things to count on here, even when conditions seem -intolerable. Let me name them. - -"We are all human beings; some of us have inherited the Old Testament -righteousness and the passion for justice, and many of us have the New -Testament desire for service. These together make a very effective -combination, and go a great way towards the glorious results we shall -ultimately achieve." - -For once the Herr Director was silent, and as we had reached our hotel, -I think I might have slept peacefully that night had not the Nebraskan -triumphantly remarked as we were being shot up to the topmost floor: -"Say, I did get that lobster a la Milkburgh with pickles and mince pie, -didn't I? I always get what I want when I want it." - - - - -VI - -_The Herr Director and the "Missoury" Spirit_ - - -The anteroom of the editor's office was crowded when the Herr Director -and I arrived to meet the men of the staff at luncheon. - -The Herr Director is a publicist himself, and has edited one of the best -known German newspapers. Having called on him when he was trying to -mould an already moulded public opinion I made some interesting -comparisons which he did not approve. I could not forbear reminding him -how, when I once called on him in his office, I had to wait in a similar -anteroom over an hour, that I had to pass through a number of other -rooms with a longer or shorter period of waiting in each, and was -finally admitted to his august presence as if he were a king on his -throne. - -As editor in chief, he was a more or less cloistered mystery, and not -the man of affairs one is likely to be over here. Whatever comparisons I -made in spite of the Herr Director's protest, were not entirely fair; -for editors are scarcely a species anywhere, and the particular one upon -whom we were calling was an uncommon editor of an uncommon journal. -Neither he nor it has a counterpart in Germany if anywhere in the world; -they are both products of our Spirit and have had no small share in -shaping it and giving it expression. - -While I was explaining to the Herr Director the functions of this -journal and how intelligently it interprets current events, and was -extolling the virtues of its editors who, in spite of being persons of -national reputation and great importance, have retained their simple, -democratic ways, they emerged from the inner sanctum. - -After a vigorous hand-shake all around to which the Herr Director -visibly braced himself, the first contact was made, and we were taken to -a handsomely appointed dining-room in the same building, where luncheon -was served. - -Beneath all the outer simplicity and democratic demeanor of our host, -beneath his smoothly shaven, well groomed, correctly tailored exterior, -the Herr Director recognized a dignified reserve and consciousness of -power, which made him whisper to me, "His Majesty and suite," at the -same time soothing with his left hand his aching right hand, just -released from the vise-like grip of the editor. - -Although I assured him that to me they were all just the editors of my -favorite journal and after that plain, American citizens, I too am often -impressed by that sense of dominance and power emanating from these men -and others in similar positions. The feeling is not unrelated to that I -have experienced the few times I have been in the presence of royalty. - -In our public men of exalted position there may be lacking the mystical -element by which monarchs are surrounded; but the sovereign American has -more physical energy and force. - -Should the thrones of Europe suddenly become vacant, I know dozens of -our men who could occupy them, without their subjects becoming conscious -of much change; and as far as queens are concerned we could easily -furnish a surplus. - -The Herr Director and I had been chosen to sit in the places of honor, -and we (or at least I) forgot to eat, and spent my time studying these -superb types of Americans. - -The Herr Director, being more sophisticated, absorbed both the food and -the company, and in his lectures on "_Die Leitenden Maenner in Den -Vereinigten Staaten_," which he has delivered since returning to -Germany, there are evidences that he remembered the minutest details of -the _menu_, as well as every word which fell from the lips of the editor -in chief. - -Of course we spoke of many, if not all, the perplexing problems which -vex this problem-ridden age, and each of us had a proprietary interest -in one or more of them which we hoped to solve. The editor as a man of -affairs knew our particular problems as well as we knew them, and had -read all that any of us had written; so the conversation was animated -enough, and certainly illuminating. - -My specialty being immigration, and having just returned from the -Pacific coast where I had studied the problem as it concerns the -Oriental, the conversation was finally dominated by that interesting and -somewhat delicate theme. - -Can we assimilate all these varied elements which come to us? Can we -make of them one people, and eliminate all those ethnic, national and -religious inheritances which are frequently at variance with our own? - -The editor believed we can assimilate all or most of them with the -exception of the Oriental, "Who, having separated from the ethnic root -in the Pleistocene period, represents too varied a physical and mental -type to be assimilated by the Occidental." I think I am quoting him -correctly, although not word for word. - -As I did not quite agree with him, I expressed my views, and so did the -Herr Director. I said I thought I noticed among the Chinese and even -among the Japanese the influence of this new environment, and could -tell of conversations with groups of graduates of our colleges, in which -not only the influence of this country was noticeable, but the influence -of the particular institution from which they graduated. Anecdotes are -not easily accepted as scientific proof; but this being an informal -luncheon, I ventured a few of them which every one seemed to relish -except the Herr Director, and he is not to blame for that, as anecdotes -are rarely international. I do blame him, however, for telling me that -he had never heard stupider jokes in his life. One of these ethnic -anecdotes I told upon the authority of the Bishop of the Yangtsze -district. Perhaps like all anecdotes it may have grown in the telling. - -The Bishop had picked out an unusually bright Chinese lad to have -educated in the United States and then become his curate. When he -returned to China, after having attended both a college and a -theological seminary, he was assisting the Bishop. Evidently he had not -thoroughly mastered the ritual of the church; for this Oriental, who -had "separated himself from the ethnic root," moved close to the Bishop, -poked his elbow into the ecclesiastical ribs of his superior and asked: -"Say, Bishop, where do I butt in?" - -Our host wanted to know whether I was sure that he did not say: "Bish"; -I thought to reach the point of being able to express himself so briefly -and directly the Oriental would need at least another geologic period. - -One of the staff asked whether that anecdote was not my invention; to -which I took the liberty of replying that if I could invent such good -stories he might offer me an editorship. How imperfectly, after all, the -Oriental may absorb the spirit of our language, I told in the story -which is supposed to have its origin at the University of Michigan; -although like all such stories it may be claimed by innumerable -birthplaces. - -A Hindoo student, who had not quite finished his academic career and had -to return home on account of illness in his family, wrote back to his -faculty adviser, notifying him of the death of his mother-in-law, in -this characteristic, brief, Occidental way: "Alas! the hand which -rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket." - -The Herr Director thought this anecdote funny enough, but it proved the -opposite from that for which I was contending. "Who but an Oriental -could invent such highly picturesque figures of speech?" - -The conversation drifted into soberer channels when our host took up the -question as to what constitutes the American, who after all is hybrid -and frequently so mixed that he does not know just how he is ethnically -constituted. - -"For instance," he said, "I am part German, part revolutionary Yankee -stock" (it seemed to me that he put the emphasis upon the -revolutionary), "part French, part Scandinavian, part Irish." - -I have forgotten just how many racial strains he said were running in -his veins, but a variety large enough to be exceedingly useful to him in -claiming kinship with all sorts of folk, and in making political -speeches. That the ancestors of the average American belong to the -great fighting stocks of humanity may explain if not excuse his love for -physical combat. Each guest around the table followed the editor's -example and accounted for his ancestry, showing that all but two of the -Americans were mixtures, ranging from three to eight more or less -greatly differentiated races, using that term in its broadest sense. - -One of these unmixed Americans gave the outlines of his family tree, all -of it growing out of the rugged New England soil; but every one of his -daughters had married a man of foreign birth, or of foreign parentage. -His sons-in-law are German, Polish, French and Jewish. He added: "My -German and French sons-in-law are great chums." - -The other pure American was myself, although of course my ancestors did -not come over in the _Mayflower_, and I have never been in New England -long enough for my family tree to take root in its historic soil. - -After all, though, the best thing a nation or race has to bequeath to -its children is not always handed down upon the racial channel. I think -it is the Apostle Paul who discovered this long ago, and his missionary -propaganda among the Gentiles is based upon his belief that they are not -all Israelites who are of the circumcision. His converts became -Israelites through adoption, through their appreciation of the Jewish -Spirit which came to its full fruitage in Jesus of Nazareth. - -I once heard Max Nordeau say: "_Es gibt zweierlei Juden: auch Juden und -Bauch Juden;_" which freely translated means: "There are two kinds of -Jews: those of the spirit and those of the stomach." The taste for -_Kosher Wurst_ and _Gefuelte Brust_ is inheritable to the tenth -generation; but one is not always born with the passion for -righteousness, the love of justice and the thirst for God. To these one -must rather be born again, and the same thing is true of the American. -There are Americans who have thrown overboard their spiritual -inheritance, who have expatriated themselves because they could not live -in the Puritan atmosphere of New England; but to whom a Sunday in the -_Riviera_ is not fully radiant, unless upon the rose-laden atmosphere -there comes wafted the fragrance of codfish balls. - -The Herr Director reminded the company of the fact that I was the most -"_Unausstehlicher Americaner_" he had ever met; to which the editor -responded that he knew one who was if anything worse than myself--a -newspaper man, Jacob Riis. - -"Can a nation feel secure, having to put the keeping of its Spirit into -the hands of aliens?" some one asked; and what would happen in case of a -conflict between the United States of America and the native country of -even such thorough Americans as Jacob Riis and myself? At that time the -answer was not as difficult as it is now, since there has been the -possibility of such a conflict, and slumbering love of native country -has been awakened by the roar of cannon and the noisier and deadlier war -carried on by the press. - -It has been a very trying time for those of us who have been called -"hyphenated Americans"; but I doubt that the German or Austrian hyphen -has been more in evidence than that which we are pleased to call -Anglo-Saxon. - -I can say that in spite of the fact that my native country precipitated -the conflict, I felt no thrill of patriotism when Austrian troops -invaded Serbia, and frequently wonder whether I have not suffered some -moral deterioration, because through all these stirring times I have -remained fairly rational. I have never condoned Austria's treatment of -the Slavs, nor Germany's invasion of Belgium; I have not gloried in -their victories, but I have suffered alike for all my fellow mortals who -are involved in this most disastrous conflict. I know myself always -human first, and a loyal American next. In fact, never before have I -loved my adopted country as much as now, never did I have for it so -profound a respect, nor a deeper realization of the blessing of our -democracy, imperfect as it is. - -The Herr Director insisted that we could not count on the loyalty of our -immigrated citizens in case of war with their respective countries, -especially as they are so frequently dealt with unjustly by our courts -and exploited by our industries. The editor thought that the danger to -the United States did not lie in the lack of loyalty in our new -citizens, but rather in the general smugness of the average American, -and in our unpreparedness for war. - -The conversation drifted into a discussion of militarism, a subject -which has become painfully familiar since, and he said that although the -American is a fighter he is not a militarist, nor in danger of becoming -one; and that personally, he, in common with all sane Americans, -believed that the country ought to be prepared to protect itself and -defend its national honor. - -"That's what we all say," the Herr Director remarked. When the whole -company laughed, he felt hurt, and it took me a long time to explain to -him that he had accidentally stumbled onto a bit of American slang, -which he had used most innocently, but aptly. - -I wanted to know just what the editor meant by preparedness for war and -just when a nation's honor was so damaged that nothing but war would -restore it. There seemed to be no time left to have this question -answered, and as there was some danger that we would separate with this -important subject upon our minds and perhaps interfering with our -digestion, I asked whether in conclusion I might tell another -ethnological anecdote, which would illustrate my need of light upon that -question of preparedness for war. To this they all assented if I could -vouch for its being as good as the others. I thought it was better -because I was sure it was true, and the joke was on me. Every one -settled down expectantly except the Herr Director who never relishes my -stories, having a fine collection of his own which he tells remarkably -well. - -I had to wait at a small station in the West for one of those -periodically late trains, and was reading the only fiction available, -the railroad time-table. A train which came from the opposite direction -brought a gang of working men who had been shovelling the snow which -had blocked the road. As they were all immigrants I had no further use -for my time-table and went among them, guessing at their nationality, -sorting them according to the shape of their heads, delighting my soul -by talking to them as much as I could of their native country, and -quizzing them about their experience in the United States. - -I had succeeded splendidly with all of them and there was but one man -left. As soon as I saw him I said to myself, "He is a Russian, not a -common Russian, but of the Velko Russ variety which is still rare or -comparatively rare among our immigrant population." I walked up to him -and saluted him with the pious greeting of his class. There wasn't the -slightest indication that he understood me, so I concluded that I was -mistaken; but knowing that he was a Slav, I tried a greeting in Polish, -and again the great, shaggy Slav seemed not to understand. When Bohemian -failed, I decided that my error was merely geographical and this was a -Southern, not a Northern Slav. I used all the Serbic I knew without -getting anything but a stare from my victim, and then decided that he -might be an Albanian. Knowing only two words of that language I tried -them with the same negative result. Finally, disgusted with myself I -resorted to English. Feeling sure that he would not understand, I -shouted at him, "Are you a Greek?" Then a ray of intelligence passed -over his stolid face. Deliberately taking his pipe out of his mouth, he -laconically replied: "No, I am from Missoury." - -A shout of laughter followed my story; but the Herr Director's face grew -darker and darker. When we were in our taxicab going back to the hotel, -he said: "One of the most remarkable things I have learned to-day about -the American people is that they are very young, almost childlike." - -"Why, how did you learn that?" I asked. - -"Oh," he answered, "who but a childlike, _naive_ people would laugh over -such a stupid joke as yours? Anyway, how did you dare bring such a silly -story into so serious a conversation?" - -"Yes," I replied; "that is as you say a sign of our youth. The more -complex and seasoned jokes belong to the older civilizations, and the -love of a simple story and the ready response to it, even though it be a -poor story, are a sign of our youthful health; but you know," I added, -"that story I told was not so _mal apropos_ after all." And the rest of -the day I struggled mightily to convince the Herr Director that being -"from Missoury" is one of the most hopeful things about the American -Spirit. - - - - -VII - -_The Herr Director and the College Spirit_ - - -"Take us out of New York," the Herr Director said after a wearing day of -sightseeing, "or we will go home on the next steamer. My neck aches from -looking at the sky-scrapers, my nerves are all on edge, and," glancing -at the Frau Directorin who had hugely enjoyed every moment and showed no -sign of weariness, "we must have rest." - -I was reluctant to leave New York, because, after all, it holds those -great thrills with which we like to startle our foreign friends. I -feared the change from those daily surprises which thus far I had been -able to give them. Lake Mohonk, the only place outside of New York City -which we had visited, is unique in many ways and its experiences were -not likely to be duplicated; so it was somewhat heavy heartedly that I -started them on a new adventure, praying to Him who "holds the nations -in the hollow of His Hand" to aid me in my praiseworthy endeavors. - -I was not very sanguine that my prayer would be answered, for we were -beginning a tour of the Eastern educational institutions, than which -there is nothing more difficult to interpret. This, not only because -they have no counterpart anywhere in Europe, and the line between our -university and college is so indistinct, but because I hoped to reveal -their Spirit, which no mere outsider can comprehend, and which even the -man on the inside finds it difficult to understand. - -I drew into the conspiracy dear friends, _alumni_ of the different -institutions, who knew every blade of grass on each respective campus, -over which they walked proudly and reverently. To find one university -tucked away in a village, another defying the grime and noise of a -growing city which crowded upon it; one still retaining its air of -exclusive dignity in spite of its garish surroundings, while a fourth -was nearly swamped by the culture-hungry children of immigrants, yet -remained triumphantly American, was new enough and startling enough to -keep my guests on the heights. - -The pleasant walks, shaded by tall, graceful elms, and the presence of -distinguished Americans, acted soothingly upon the Herr Director; while -the gracious attention paid to the ladies convinced the Frau Directorin -that she had reached the feminine paradise. She could not understand, -however, why, when the ladies were permitted to go everywhere, and were -even allowed to gaze at American students in athletic undress, they were -barred from sharing with us the rare privilege of seeing a thousand or -more of them being fed in one of those Gothic dining halls. There, -surely, one might expect nothing worse than medieval piety tempering the -appetite. Probably this tradition of no ladies in the galleries is the -only thing beside the architecture which is left us from that hoary age. - -There are certain definite points which the enthusiastic _alumnus_ -always tries to impress upon visitors, and one of them is the past, in -which every college glories, and as youth seems to be unpardonable, -history begins when as yet it "was not." - -In most of the places we visited, no such historic license was -necessary, for many of them were respectably old, one of them being -contemporaneous with the history of our country, and others belonging to -that eminently respectable period, "before the Revolution." - -Some have important battles named after them, and several were -"Washington's headquarters," a distinction freely bestowed upon many -places by that ubiquitous and much beloved "Father of our Country." At -present the most important thing seems to be the buildings; dormitories, -laboratories, libraries and usually most prominent of all, the gymnasium -and the athletic field. - -The president of one of the lesser universities, having such a million -dollar plaything, became our _cicerone_, and while he took us hastily -through everything else, lingered fondly there, showing us in detail -the expensive apparatus. With classic pride he stood upon the athletic -field, looking as some Caesar must have looked when he showed visitors to -Rome his arena, the "largest," and at that time the "costliest in the -world." - -It was interesting to find that the buildings which pleased the Herr -Director most were neither new nor Gothic, a fact easily explained by -his dislike for everything which is English. He marvelled that we had -chosen to imitate English college architecture, with its heaviness and -gloom, its hideous gargoyles, its useless, and here meaningless, -cloisters, rather than to continue our fine inheritance, with its -severely classic lines, its wide windows inviting the light, and its -generous, broad doors, so much in harmony with our educational ideals. - -Of course no one had an answer ready; yet personally while I do not -"_hasse_" England nor the things which are English, I vastly prefer, let -us say Nassau Hall at Princeton, to anything which that glorious campus -holds, not even excepting the graduate college with its massive and -impressive Cleveland Memorial Tower. - -The Herr Director shook his head many a time at the external glory of -our universities and even more at the comfort and luxuries of the -dormitories and fraternity houses. We were the guests of one fraternity -at dinner. About twenty young men were living under one roof, having -chosen each other by some mysterious, selective process, and I was -tempted to think that it was their negative rather than their positive -qualities which drew them together. We were shown the house from cellar -to garret, much to the dismay of the Herr Director who does not like -climbing stairs, but to the joy of the Frau Directorin who, woman-like, -not only loves to peep into closets, and see pretty rooms, but having -discovered the American standard for feminine grace, wanted to lose some -of her "meat" as she expressed it in her quaint English. - -Each of these young men occupied a suite of three rooms. The hangings -were heavy and not in the best taste, the chairs all invited to -leisure, and the most conspicuous piece of furniture was a smoking set -with a big brass tobacco bowl in the center; while innumerable pipes -hung from a gaudily painted rack. In keeping with the furniture were the -pictures which were decently vulgar, and of books there were no more -than necessary. - -The Herr Director was asked regarding student life in Germany, and he -contrasted their surroundings with his own cold, inhospitable -_Gymnasium_, the relentless examinations, and the freer but responsible -life in his university. He described the rooms of the present Emperor of -Germany when he was a student at the University of Bonn, remarking that -they looked like barracks in comparison with these. "How can you study -in such luxurious rooms?" he asked, and naively and frankly came the -answer: "We don't." - -On the whole, the Herr Director liked the looks of the boys he saw, and -the Frau Directorin quite fell in love with them. They were so frank, -so clean looking, and what above all amazed them most, so altruistic in -their outlook upon life; they looked so healthy and well groomed and -were so altogether wholesome. But that boys could graduate from colleges -and not have studied--that was beyond their comprehension. - -The German student's social standing and his future depend upon his -"exams." There is only one prime thing, and that is study. When the Herr -Director learned the multiplicity of our outside activities which divide -the attention of the students, he knew why they do not study. He was -aghast at the scant reverence paid members of the faculty. When walking -with the president of one of these universities, we met groups of -students who did not salute the head of their institution and barely -made way for him to pass, he grew quite wrathy, and it took the combined -efforts of the president and myself to keep him from telling the young -men what boors they were. I think he discovered later that it was mere -thoughtlessness, and that there is something really fine about the -average American student; that he is usually a gentleman at heart, but -that he has not yet learned to value the grace which comes from that -sacrament of the common life--lifting his hat to his superiors. - -When I told him that one of my students came to me one morning in haste, -with "Say, Prof, where is Prexy?" he did not laugh as I expected; but -when I remembered that I did not laugh either, when it happened, I -forgave him his lack of perception. - -It is of course true, that the average college professor would rather be -called Jimmy or Jack or some other pet name than to have his academic -degrees pronounced every time a student speaks to him; but there still -remains the fact that the ordinary American youth lacks this sense of -respect for personality, and that an education, even a college -education, does not remedy the defect. - -It is a very exciting moment in the life of the undergraduates of at -least one university when they try to discover if the preacher can make -himself heard above their coughs, which is their way of challenging his -message; but it does not help him to believe that he is in the presence -of men who know what reverence means. - -I do not deny that the undergraduate honors achievement, but even in -that he lacks proper discrimination. How much education can do to -instill this common and deplorable lack of reverence for personality I -do not know; for it lies far back, too far back to be reached by mere -academic training. - -During our tour, the Herr Director had a chance to see one university -come out of its incoherence and inexplicable confusion into unity. He -heard it roar like the "Bulls of Bashan," fling its flaring colors to -the wind, hoot its defiance to the enemy, dance, dervish-like, around -the battle flames; he saw ten thousands of young men suffering the war -fever, and an equal number of young women shrieking in wild delirium; he -saw embankments of automobiles struggling to reach the seat of the -conflict, armies of men trying to storm the ramparts, and newspaper -correspondents mad from haste; while in the center of it all, -twenty-two disguised men struggled for a chalk-line. Unfortunately, no -friendly guide was near us to explain it all, and as I am still an -un-Americanized alien to a football game, its meaning was lost to my -guests. - -When two men were carried from the field limp, and seemingly lifeless, -the Frau Directorin promptly fainted. The Herr Director was beside -himself, for there was no way to extricate ourselves from the maddened -mass of humanity; but while he was wildly and vainly calling for water, -she revived, and we stayed to the finish. I wished I had not brought -them, for to appreciate a football game one must be born in America, and -no explanation I offered could convince the Herr Director that we are -not more cruel than the Spaniards, whose opponents in their deadly games -are bulls, not men. The Frau Directorin still sheds tears at the -remembrance of how badly we use our "perfectly nice young men." - -The fierceness back of this conflict, the vast amount of money spent -upon properly playing the game, the primary place it occupies in the -imagination of the American youth, its deadening influence upon -scholarship, and all the multitudinous pros and cons, are over-shadowed -by the fact that, as far as the community at large is concerned, it -expects this Roman holiday, and a college or university is considered -good or poor, to the degree that it caters to this desire. One thing I -can say for it: it is thoroughly American, bringing into the lime-light -some of our virtues and most of our faults. - -"In Germany," again the Herr Director, "where things are not permitted -to grow merely because they grow elsewhere, it was found that for -military preparedness your sports are of little or no value, especially -if engaged in vicariously; and that teaching men to dig trenches and -serve cannon, to obey implicitly a command and carry it out effectively, -is of more use, not only to the individual's well-being, but also for -the great, collective purpose of national defense." - -It seems very strange to me that nearly all foreigners whom I have -helped introduce to our academic life have been so gratified by its -evident democracy, and that their satisfaction was greatest when their -own aristocratic lineage was highest. That a man's career in our -institutions of learning is not made impossible because he does manual -labor to help him through, and that he may do such femininely menial -tasks as waiting on table or washing dishes, while taxing their -credulity, is always unstintingly praised. - -I have, however, good reason to believe that while our foreign visitors -find the democracy of our colleges interesting and praiseworthy, we are -losing the thing itself to a large degree, and my conscience has not -always been at ease when I finished a panegyric on college democracy. In -fact what I fear is its defeat just there, where it is most needed, -where we are supposed to train the leaders who, whether they become -leaders or not, are the men who will give tone to our national life and -will control its expression. - -In travelling from one of the universities to the other, we came upon a -group of college men in the train. The Herr Director recognized them at -once, whether instinctively or because he had discovered the type, I do -not know. I knew them because of the fit of their garments, or the lack -of it, and by the fact that they smoked cigarettes incessantly. - -The Herr Director, as a distinguished foreigner, had no difficulty in -opening a conversation with them, and I think he got much illuminating -amusement out of them. They had just finished their semester "exams," -and one of them said that the question upon which he flunked was a -comparison between the two English authors, Dickens and DeQuincy. Though -he did not know the difference between these two, he showed his classic -training by differentiating between a Rameses II and an Egyptian Deity -cigarette merely by the color of the smoke. - -I was not drawn into the conversation until the Herr Director needed me -to interpret some campus English. One of the lads undertook to inform us -regarding the social life of his university and more especially the -fraternities, with particular emphasis upon his own, which excluded not -only certain well-defined races, but also put a ban upon certain -classes. "We don't admit anybody into our fraternity whose people are -not somebody in their communities." - -I asked him his name and he gave it to me with a French pronunciation. - -I thought he was Bohemian, and recognized the name as such, in spite of -its French disguise. I told him so, and pronounced it for him in the -hard, Slavic way, all gutturals and consonants. I also told him its -meaning: "A very common hoe such as the peasants use, and it means that -your ancestors in Bohemia earned their living honestly, which I am sorry -to say cannot always be said about 'people who are somebody' in our -communities." - -The Herr Director thought I was very hard upon the poor fellow, and -later I had a good talk with him. I tried to show him that his Bohemian, -peasant origin ought to be a source of pride to him. That the very fact -that he and his people had come out of the steerage, and by virtue of -our democratic institutions could rise to the point where they could -send him to college, should make him a guardian of the American Spirit -and not its foe. I do not know that he profited by what I said; for I -often find myself talking to the wind and the tide, and they are both -against me. - -I have only pity for the gilded youth who go to an American college with -its vast opportunities of human contact, yet fail to see any one outside -their own social boundaries. After all, the chief glory of our -educational institutions is that their best things are still democratic. -No man is kept from the Holy of Holies, from sound learning, from the -contact with scholarly minds, from good books, and enough of rich -fellowship to make going to college worth while. - -We heard one delightful story which is so typically American and so -reveals the American Spirit at its best, that the Herr Director embodied -it in his book. The president of a Quaker college told us that just as -he found there was some danger that the men who had to work their way -through, were losing caste, one of the upper classmen opened a boot and -shoe mending and cleaning shop. As he was a man of means, whose standing -in his group was unquestioned, his action took from common labor its -ever renewing curse. - -In many of the colleges we met groups of men so full of this spirit, so -concerned with fostering it, that all the snobberies of which we had -heard seemed even smaller than they were in their own right. We met -those who gave their leisure hours to that most difficult and worthy -task of Americanizing the immigrants who, in many instances, almost -encroached upon the campus. The students visited them in the box-cars -where they lived, or in the hovels where they reared children; they -taught them English and the elements of good citizenship, and every one -of them had some particular Antonio to whom he was devoted, and whom he -was trying to lift to his level. - -Although the general testimony was that the students had gained more -from the contact than the immigrants had, I know how immeasurably much -it means to these strangers to have leaning up against their own lonely -souls men of culture, and sweet, clean breath, and brotherly heart. - -It is this idealism in our college youth which is so precious an asset -that to lose it would mean bankruptcy to our educational institutions. - -Although the Herr Director did not tell me, I knew that this excursion -into the universities of the East had been a success; for thus far he -seemed to have enjoyed everything; at least he did not complain about -anything. He seemed in an especially happy mood when we were talking it -over in the home of one of the presidents, whose guests we had become. -"Yes, I like your colleges very much, and if I should want my boy to -have four years of more or less organized happiness, I would send him to -an American college. He would have a good time, I think his morals would -be safe," and he added with a smile, "his intellect would be safe -also." - - - - -VIII - -_The Russian Soul and the American Spirit_ - - -New York is geographically misplaced for such a purpose as mine. It -ought to lie somewhere west of Niagara Falls, so that one might be able -to take strangers to that wonderful cataract without their having -previously exhausted all the emotions which they are capable of -expressing. - -The day journey between New York and Buffalo is never commonplace, -especially when it furnishes such euphonious names as Susquehanna, -Wilkes Barre, Mauch Chunk, etc. From the hilltops we had glimpses of -great valleys below, valleys which are mined and furrowed and channelled -by a great industrial host whose crowded dwellings resemble the hives of -bees and are as monotonously alike. - -I could make these glimpses interesting enough, for I could tell by the -shape of the church steeples and by the style of cross which crowned -them, what faiths were there contending with each other. With equal -certainty, and by the same signs, I knew the nationality of the people -who worked there, and had faith enough to build steeples in the shadow -of mine shafts and coal breakers. It was an atmosphere tense from the -labor of seven unbroken days, and heavy from noxious gases in which -trees languish and die, fish perish in the murky rivers, birds fear to -nest, and man alone, immigrant man, lives and works and worships. - -The Herr Director, like all Germans, has a natural contempt for the -Slavs, and when I proposed that before we visited Niagara Falls we -should see some of the Slavic settlements, he demurred; but when the -Frau Directorin added her plea to mine, he reluctantly yielded. I was -able to promise them an interesting meeting with an idealistic, young -Russian priest, who had voluntarily taken a mission among these miners. -He was earnestly striving to guard their souls, and also that which -seems quite as precious to their church, their Russian nationality. - -The Greek Orthodox Church is the most nationalistic church in existence, -and where-ever those bulbous towers with their slanting crosspieces -dominate the sky, it is equivalent to the raising of the national flag. -The Slavic soul is thoroughly Christian in its quality of patient -endurance, in which it has had long and hard tutelage. At the same time -it is tenacious and unyielding of its particular dogma, having been -taught from its earliest consciousness that its salvation lies in strict -adherence to the national faith. - -The city where we tarried is one of the best in which to study the -Slavic Soul, and its relation to the American Spirit, being large enough -to express that Spirit in its varied manifestations; yet not so large -that the articles it manufactures hide or crush the articles of its -faith. - -I knew my guests would like the place, for while it is a busy town in -the very heart of Pennsylvania's industrial region, it has retained a -sort of homelike atmosphere. Situated midway between the large cities -and the small towns which we had thus far visited, it has all the usual -bustle, and is full of vigorous rivalry with other like cities in the -same valley. Whatever one city does, whether building ambitious -sky-scrapers or a commodious Y. M. C. A., promoting a revival, or -bringing in new industries, this little city endeavors to duplicate upon -a still larger scale. - -My guide for the day was the town's chief "hustler," the secretary of -the Y. M. C. A., who is an embodiment of the American Spirit, being both -body and spirit. He made a splendid foil to the Russian priest who is -all soul, Russian soul and as little at home in the United States as the -Czar's double eagle would be, floating from the city's court-house which -stood in typical court-house fashion in the center of the town square. - -The Y. M. C. A. secretary met us at the station, needless to say, in an -automobile, as there is nothing the average American would rather do -than "show off" his town. He gave his time unstintingly for that -purpose, beginning the process by taking us through his institution -which is American enough to have challenged the Herr Director's -attention. In great good humor he, with the rest of us, followed the -secretary from the bowling alley to the roof garden, looked into the -dormitories and class rooms, and protested only when our zealous guide -gave us long statistics as to how many people took baths, how many men -were converted, and how much of the mortgage had been paid off during -his incumbency. - -I had to explain to the Herr Director the meaning of mortgage and its -relation to our religious institutions; for the two seemed related in -some mysterious way. - -He was duly impressed; for this practical side of religion, this -combination of saving souls and giving baths was new to him. Newer and -more interesting still was the clerical machinery with its card indices, -its numerous secretaries, stenographers, and its clock-like regularity -and efficiency. - -The secretary is undoubtedly a religious man; but he is a business man -first, and his soul has had no small struggle in an atmosphere which -demands that he attract new members, raise a generous budget, pay off a -mortgage and at odd moments look after his own business; for besides -being secretary of this great institution, he dabbles in Western lands, -has an interest in a canning factory, and helps "boom" the town. - -I could assure the Herr Director that, nevertheless, his soul survives; -for the average American is remarkably adaptable, and while this -secretary may permit his religion to suffer before his business, I know -he does not "lose his own soul"; although in that respect as in -everything else he does run frightful risks. - -When we left the palatial lobby of the Y. M. C. A., having had bestowed -upon us its annual report, souvenir postal cards, and incidentally a -prospectus of the Western Land Co., the secretary insisted upon -accompanying us. As he put his automobile at our disposal, and the -Slavic settlements were out of reach by the ordinary means of -locomotion, we reluctantly accepted his kind offer, the Herr Director -having previously confided to me that he did not like the secretary's -"hustle," and that his "efficiency" made him nervous. - -There were two things which the Frau Directorin found everywhere and in -which her soul delighted: marked and courteous attention to the -ladies--and automobiles. We took just one street car ride in New York -City, having been fairly showered by offers of automobile rides, one -form of hospitality of which we have grown quite prodigal. - -It was well that we had both the secretary and the automobile; for -although I thought I knew where the Russian parish was located I did not -reckon with the fact that it was three years since I had last visited -it. During that interval the town had so altered that the landscape was -quite unrecognizable. - -It is the peculiarity of this and neighboring towns that they change -their topography over night. What was a hill becomes a hollow, and the -reverse process also takes place though more slowly, because of the -huge culm piles which accumulate. - -The mining of coal being carried on under the town has been so thorough -in later years that intervening coal props have been removed, and houses -and churches which formerly were above the level are now below it. - -We finally found the Russian church and its adjoining parsonage in as -uninviting an environment as I have ever seen. The three years since I -visited them had not only let them down from their eminence, but had -developed a stagnant pool on one side, while refuse from the mines had -encroached upon the other. All the glory of red and yellow paint had -departed, leaving only a drab dinginess, the prevailing tone of the -landscape. - -The priest received us in his study, which, besides the _Icons_ and a -_Samovar_ had no ornaments. The musty air was full of cigarette smoke, -and most diminutive stumps of these "_Papirosy_" were lying about, -adding to the general untidiness. A parish register lay upon the desk. -It contained the names of more than a thousand souls with the chronicle -of their coming into this world and their going out of it, and also that -most important item, when they had attended Holy Communion, the one -visible sign of their allegiance to the true faith. - -The Holy Father had a strange history. The son of a priest, he naturally -was destined for the same calling. Caught by the ever moving tide of -revolt he had "sown his wild oats," which consisted of disseminating -revolutionary literature. He was imprisoned, then like many good -Russians repented, and, as a penance, came to Pennsylvania. - -In desolation and distance from home his parish was not unlike Siberia. -It was even worse, for it was an exile from like-minded men, and his -suffering on that score was acute. I have watched the manifestation of -national or racial characteristics in individuals, and I feel certain -that the Russian reflects those characteristics most intensely, whether -he be peasant, priest or noble. - -Not without reason does he call his country "Mother Russia." He has for -her just that kind of affection, and it is as different from the violent -love of the Herr Director for his Fatherland as is the matter-of-fact -sentiment of the American for his. - -The Russian completely reflects his country, and as both her virtues and -her faults are feminine, there is in him something gentle and yielding -towards external authority, and yet something unconquerable and defiant. -There is a capacity for suffering and sacrifice of which no other people -seem to be capable. There is also a confidence in the goodness of -humanity, no matter how bad it may seem, which reminds me of the -confidence of the woman who is beaten by her drunken husband, yet knows -that in his sober moments he is not a bad man. - -The predominance of the spiritual quality may or may not be feminine, -but it certainly is Russian, and one may indeed speak of the soul of a -people in relation to the Slavs in general, and the Russians in -particular. - -The priest possessed all these characteristics; he was the Russian Soul, -and this soul quality became even more apparent in contrast with the -complex spirit of the American secretary, in whom Teuton and Celt were -blended, and with the Herr Director, whose soul had hardened under the -discipline which Germany had given him. - -He lost no time in beginning an argument with the priest as to the -relations of their respective countries, and when it threatened to -become acrimonious, the secretary, hoping to create a diversion, asked -the priest why he did not encourage his parishioners to come to the Y. -M. C. A. At that point I threw myself into the breach, and with -considerable difficulty directed the conversation into safer channels. - -I asked the priest to show us his mission, and he took us into the -church, much poorer than any I have ever seen in Russia, and then into -the schoolroom, where the children of the miners received their -religious instruction and as much of secular education as they craved. -The teacher was a lean youth who looked as if he had suffered moral, -spiritual and physical bankruptcy before coming to America. He and the -whole equipment seemed hopelessly inadequate and out of place. - -The secretary did not know that hundreds of children were growing up in -an American community, yet completely isolated from it, and the Herr -Director remarked that in Germany this would be regarded as treason to -the state. The priest declared that it was his mission in America not -only to keep his people and their children loyal to the national church, -but to inject into our Westernized materialism this true Slavic faith -and its leaven. - -He believed that in America we lack soul. We worship science and money -and business. The Russian alone lives in intimacy with God and regards -that relation of the supremest importance. "The American," he continued, -"believes in developing natural resources, the German develops the mind, -the Russian alone develops the soul." - -I have always had the greatest reverence for the Russian Soul. I have -learned something the Herr Director could not see, on account of the -natural, political antagonism between his own country and Russia; -something the secretary could not comprehend on account of his -provincialism, and the priest would not admit because of his official -position, namely: that neither the Russian State nor the Russian Church -represents the Russian Soul. Its common people, although nearly crushed -by the one and confused by the other, are still Christian souls and as -such have a mission to America; but I could not see how that mission -would be fulfilled by locking up a few hundred children in a filthy -schoolroom and teaching them their national catechism. - -The Spiritual Russia, as it is incorporated in its common people and as -it is interpreted by Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky, has reached us and taught -us the greatest lesson which we self-righteous Americans needed to -learn: the impossibility to judge our peers or to be judged by them. - -It was Tolstoy and Dostoyewsky who compelled some of us to see our own -guilt, and they, not the Russian Church, united our voices with those of -the Russian people in the chief note of their Mass, "Lord have mercy! O -Lord have mercy!" The Russian peasant always knew that men are stricken -by crime as by a disease; and when he passed those consigned to prison, -he cried out incessantly: "Lord have mercy! O Lord have mercy!" And for -the man who escaped, he never hunted with the bloodhound's passion, as -we do; he put a crust of bread upon the window, to help him on his way. - -It was news to the secretary that Judge Lindsay, the "Kid's Judge," as -he is affectionately called, received his inspiration from Tolstoy, and -that the tendency to change our prisons into Social Clinics was -originally suggested by Dostoyewsky, a name quite unfamiliar to him. - -The Herr Director spoke of the inadequacy of these same Russians when -they try to put their theories into practice, and what prosaic, -impossible preachers they make. To which I replied that their failures -are due to their preponderance of soul and their lack of the practical -spirit with which we are so super-abundantly endowed. - -The secretary could scarcely believe that his practical, matter-of-fact, -card-indexed, efficient-from-top-to-bottom, result-bringing, tabulated, -report-making, American Y. M. C. A. might be benefited by an infusion of -Russian Soul. He almost doubted that the delving miners whom we saw -coming home from the mines, sooty and begrimed, possessed that soul. Nor -did the Herr Director realize that all his Germanic searching and -classifying, all his minute, painstaking investigation into the -innermost of everything, left him where the Russian had long ago -preceded him: in the holy presence of the unknowable, unsearchable -wisdom of God. - -The American has great reverence for results, and it is hard for him to -be patient with failure. The German respects authority, and has scant -respect for the individual. The Russian respects man and knows what it -means to love him in his weakness, and to be humble in the presence of -another's failure. - -I had a long, intimate talk with my friend the priest, who has never -spent a happy day since he has been in America which he hates, or -rather, despises, and so hurts me more than he knows. - -Throwing open the well-thumbed, poorly kept register, in such striking -contrast to the Y. M. C. A. secretary's card index, he said: "Look how -many I have buried this month," and he counted them, and there were -eighteen, "all of them slain in that dreadful mine, and no one in the -Company or in the town cares how they were buried. These Americans have -no souls. They send an undertaker who wants to bury them like dogs, and -the quicker the thing is done the better. They sent me notice shortly -after I came here that the funerals lasted too long and kept the men -from work. Look how those men walk! My _mujiks_, who walked like -princes, now bend their backs before your dirty coal, and walk like -slaves." - -His complaint was not altogether unreasonable. In some things he was -right, in many things he was wrong; but to argue with a Russian is as -hopeless as to try to argue with Niagara Falls. I did tell him that -while the Russian here must bend his back over his work, he does not -have to bend it at every corner before the _icon_ or before every -policeman he meets; that here, by virtue of the American Spirit, his -soul may be freed from superstition and his mind from darkness. - -When in parting the priest embraced and kissed me, he said: "No, even -you don't understand the Russian Soul." - -The Herr Director suffered his embrace with good grace, but when the -secretary's turn came he fled. To be kissed by a man is a sentimentality -which the American cannot endure. - -"We don't understand the Russian Soul," I said to him, "neither you nor -I, but one thing I do know. When the coal has been dug out of these -hills and these cities shall have gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah, -and your churches and Y. M. C. A. may have vanished because it did not -pay to keep them going, this Russian Soul will endure; and the sooner we -learn to understand it the better for us and for them and for our -country." - -When we left the Russian church and its faithful priest, the Frau -Directorin told us that the children were incredibly filthy, and that -she had spent the time we wasted in argument cleaning them up, good -_hausfrau_ that she is. The secretary was thinking deeply, and when he -deposited us at the hotel, he thanked me for revealing something which, -although so near, he would never have discovered. The Herr Director kept -me up until midnight talking about the Slavic menace to Germany, and the -intellectual poison of its modern literature. - -We reached Niagara Falls the next afternoon, and, as I had feared, -neither of my guests showed any surprise nor felt any thrill. I could -understand the Herr Director's coolness towards our natural wonder, for -he had seen it thirty years before; but his wife's attitude was -inexplicable, until she told me what I had all along anticipated. Her -capacity for receiving impressions had been exhausted by the city of New -York, and after seeing the "high-scraps" nothing astonished her. - -As we stood at the bottom of the American Falls, watching the Maid of -the Mist making her journeys into their very spray and returning, only -to begin her journey again, I suggested that it was like the American -Spirit in its daring; but the Herr Director, with truer insight, said -that it was "like the Russian Soul, mystical, elusive, on the verge of -destruction always, but of little practical service." - -That same day we were in a power-house, which looked more like a temple -than the utilitarian thing it is, and peered into the depths of a shaft -which creates power enough to move the street railways of half a dozen -cities, and change the night of a million people into day. As we -listened to the engineer's account of almost miraculous achievement, I -said triumphantly, "_This is the American Spirit!_" and the Herr -Director replied deliberately, and without sarcasm, "This is the one -time when you are right." - - - - -IX - -_Chicago_ - - -What the foreigner thinks of the American Pullman, if he has to spend a -night in it, may be found in any volume of the extremely voluminous and -interesting literature upon the United States, written by visitors to -this country; but more interesting still would be what they have not -written about it, and that I have had frequent chances of hearing. The -most picturesque and exhaustive comments I ever heard were those made by -the Herr Director the evening we left Buffalo, and as he finally -determined not to retire at all, we spent the greater part of the night -in the smoking-room, much to the dismay of the porter who had no -prejudice against sleeping on a Pullman, and whom we cheated out of his -irregular but necessary naps. - -One of the chief diversions of travellers the world over is to complain -against the particular transportation company over whose road they have -the ill luck to be going; so it happened that the Herr Director had -plenty of company during part of his vigil, and an opportunity to come -in touch with one phase of the American Spirit, where it was closely -related to his own; for "one 'kicker' makes the whole world 'kick.'" - -The small room was so crowded that some of the men were sitting on the -wash-stands, and the rest were so close to each other as to make -conversation easy and general. This was an extra fare train supposed to -be unusually comfortable and speedy; although thus far it had been -losing time. It was natural under those conditions that the railroad -should come in for its share of blessings, couched in language such as -is often heard in smoking compartments of Pullman cars. Had all the -pious wishes expressed that night been fulfilled, that railroad and our -particular train would have travelled much more swiftly, but to a -destination not indicated in the time-tables. - -The question under discussion was, which is the worst railroad in the -United States, and as some of the men were stock-brokers they knew our -roads from their most vulnerable side. The tales they told of the -manipulation of stocks and the fleecing of the public, with their -consequent effect upon the service, were as startling as they were -humiliating; because, in the last analysis, the railroads reflect the -general business ethics of the country. - -I kept out of the discussion, for not only have I but a hazy notion of -economics; my mind was busy classifying the passengers' racial origin, a -very diverting exercise and one which always brings me in touch with -people on their really human side. - -It happened that two of the men were Polish Jews from Cleveland, who had -risen from poverty to where they could travel in Pullman cars, and who -confessed that they knew as little of railroad stocks as I, although -they were engaged in as risky a business as stocks, that of -manufacturing women's cloaks. They were not far removed from the Ghetto -either in speech or ideals, and so were of little interest to me. - -A third fellow traveller, who bore the hallmarks of the average -American, both in dress and behavior, told me his business without much -urging. "I am not selling stock, nor manufacturing women's cloaks, and I -am not a gambler. I have a sure thing; I am a bookie." Forced to confess -myself ignorant as to what "a bookie" is, he explained to me the -intricacies of his calling, the problems of evading the law, and if it -cannot be evaded, how it may be bought; incidentally showing what an -inveterate gambler and what an easy mark the average American is. - -The Herr Director was all attention, to my great consternation; for the -conversation was as different from that which he had heard at Lake -Mohonk, or in our rounds of the Eastern colleges, as one could conceive. -As one by one the passengers sought their berths, the Herr Director -thanked me for arranging this uncomfortable night journey, saying that -though he was sure he could not sleep, he was "so glad to have come in -contact with the American Spirit as it is," and not as I had tried to -make it appear. With that kindly thrust he too retired, and I was at -liberty to do likewise. - -It was not long before I had auricular evidence that the Herr Director -was asleep, so I was very much astonished to hear him say the next -morning that he had not slept a wink, and that the engineer must bear -him a grudge; for he tried to jerk the berth from under him, and "_Gott -sei dank_" that the most uncomfortable night of his life was over. I -certainly was as grateful as he. It was with no small satisfaction, -though, that upon reaching Chicago two hours late, I collected four -dollars from that much abused railroad, and handed the same to the Herr -Director, assuring him that even in a railroad office the American -Spirit of fairness is operative. - -In Chicago as everywhere else the friend who owned an automobile was at -my command, and on a glorious May day when wind and sun had cleared the -air, and a night's rain had washed the streets, we were taken from -South Shore to North Shore and away out where the American city is at -her best, and Chicago is striving to excel them all in her wonderful -suburbs. - -The Herr Director had seen Chicago over thirty-three years ago--a young, -thriving, daring, ambitious city in the making; he found her still -young, thriving, daring, and in the making. Unchastened by her great -disasters, undismayed by her vexing problems, defying the lake, she -reaches out into it and into neighboring states, leading and controlling -the whole Middle West. Babylon, Capernaum, Rome, her older sisters, her -ideal, and perchance her destiny. She is _par excellence_ the merchant -city, and the merchant princes rule her, although that rule is not -unchallenged. - -While the Herr Director saw the city changed in many respects, larger, -and in places beautiful, her dirt not so apparent, her wickedness -subdued, and her rough corners rubbed off, she is still Chicago, a -synonym for boastful bigness and ostentatious wealth. - -If it had not been for the Frau Directorin, I would not have taken them -where every man, woman and child is taken who visits Chicago, into the -largest department store in the world. - -She entered with the joyful anticipation of engaging in that most -exciting occupation--shopping--aided and abetted by my wife. The Herr -Director followed with the martyr's air common to husbands who go along -to pay the bill. - -That type of store is no longer a novelty to city dwellers anywhere, but -this one because of its size, the variety and quality of goods -displayed, the courtesy to customers and, above all, the provisions for -their comfort and convenience, were remarkable enough to call forth even -the Herr Director's commendation. The Frau Directorin was in the -seventeenth Heaven, the Biblical seventh not being an elevation high -enough to be used as a simile when she was shopping in a Chicago -department store. - -Obliging clerks showed her plates which cost three hundred dollars -apiece, cut and etched glass at more fabulous prices; she walked -through miles of costly gowns, coats and millinery, and having made a -few purchases to her entire satisfaction--we were about to leave the -store with flying colors, figuratively speaking, when pride had a fall. -Unluckily remembering that a certain small boy needed summer underwear, -my wife led our party to the basement. When we left the elevator a -polite floor man directed us to aisle 16, Wabash Building. As we were on -the State Street side the cavalcade moved past what seemed like miles of -commonplace merchandise and commonplace buyers to aisle 16, Wabash -Building. At last we had reached our "Mecca." - -"I should like to see boys' union suits," my wife said. - -"Certainly. How old?" - -"Twelve years." - -"We have nothing here over eight years. You will find your size on the -sixth floor, Washington Street side." - -I think it was the sixth floor; I know we walked (crestfallen) through -endless aisles and were shot up floor after floor. Landed finally, the -right counter was reached after numerous conflicting directions. - -The Herr Director was puffing and panting, the Frau Directorin radiant -and happy, for she enjoys exercise, and my wife, her faith in the -efficiency of her favorite store not yet shaken, though wavering, asking -for "union suits for a twelve-year-old boy." - -As the clerk reached for the desired article she asked: "Short sleeves -or long sleeves?" - -"Short sleeves." - -"Randolph Street side, second floor, for short sleeved union suits." - -The Herr Director and I did not accompany the ladies on their further -voyage of discovery; we went to the rest room to avoid nervous -prostration. - -My wife and the Frau Directorin, with the determination and endurance -which women alone possess, continued the chase to a victorious finish. - -Fortunately an altogether satisfying luncheon followed this strenuous -experience, after which, rested and refreshed, we repaired to the Art -Institute. - -The Chicago Art Institute, within a stone's throw of the most congested -business section, at the edge of its noise and rush, is by its very -being there a sort of triumph. - -The Herr Director approached it somewhat condescendingly, expecting to -find it and its contents big, bizarre and "_nouveau richessque_." As -soon as he entered the building he felt the dignity and good taste of -its arrangement, and his manner changed. After he had looked critically -at some of the pictures and approved them, I knew myself for once on the -way to success; for his praise was as genuine as his criticism. - -Knowing that money can buy both Old and New Masters, he expected to find -them; but he had not expected to see such discrimination as was shown in -choosing and hanging them. He was entirely unprepared for the excellent -work of our native artists, outside of that small but exalted sphere -occupied by Whistler, Sargent, Innes, etc. - -My joy was complete when we were taken into the Art School by the -Director, Dr. French, whose death not long ago must always be deplored. -The rooms of the Art School were crowded by boys and girls of all ages -and varied nationalities and races, learning to develop their God-given -talents under the guidance of competent and sympathetic teachers. The -picture they made delighted me more than those they drew or painted; for -it seemed so thoroughly, generously, democratically and artistically -American. - -I scored another victory for the American Spirit when I introduced my -guests to Lorado Taft, sculptor, and the guiding star in Chicago's -artistic firmament. In his rare personality, strength and purity, -idealism and practical good sense blend, and his art reflects the man. -He showed us some of his work and that of his pupils, and both elicited -unstinted praise from my guests. - -The climax of our visit came when we returned to the entrance hall which -we found crowded by public school children, all listening to an -orchestra composed of certain of their number, and led by a young girl -about fourteen years of age. It seemed to me a remarkable and beautiful -combination. The marbles and pictures, the music, and, best of all, the -children happily wandering about the place. When the program ended there -was ice-cream for everybody, served by the teachers who accompanied the -children. It was a real party, an American party, and we might have -travelled long and far before I could have found anything which would -have better reflected for my guests the American Spirit at its best. - -If I were an artist and a sculptor I should like to portray the spirit -of Chicago as one feels it in this museum. I would model a group, with -its central figure that same sculptor, the finely bred American, clean -and wholesome, who longs to create, not only the city beautiful, but the -city human. He should be surrounded by the children, happily looking at -pictures and listening to music as we saw them in the Art Institute that -day. - -But there must be another prominent figure in my group: the heartless, -ruthless, twentieth century American, with clean-shaven face, jaws -strong as a vise, and a chin like the base of an anvil. He is the man -who "makes a good husband," and partly obeys the Scriptural injunction: -because he provides for his own. He too should be surrounded by -children; not his, but the children who work in his factories and have -to live in his rickety tenements. The two men would struggle mightily -for supremacy in the city's life; and I would set up my sculptured group -in the busiest place, where all who passed it by might see, and seeing, -help him who was struggling for beauty and for happiness. - -Dr. French, the Herr Director and I had a long discussion about my -conception of the two natures contending within the city. The Herr -Director argued that the merchant spirit, so prevalent here, when -uncontrolled and uncurbed, is more dangerous to civilization and to our -democracy than the military spirit of Germany, and that it needs to be -overcome by a force greater and stronger than itself. The corrupting -element he said has always been this same merchant spirit, and where -ancient civilizations decayed, it was due to the fact that it debased -kings and enslaved them by luxuries. - -"Business should not control, but be controlled, because business is -based entirely upon selfishness." When the Herr Director stopped for -breath, Dr. French, who was an ardent Christian and knew his Bible, took -from his pocket a New Testament, and pointed out a remarkable chapter in -the Book of Revelation (a chapter I was compelled to confess I had not -read) that bore out the Herr Director's statement. - -"The kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the -merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.... And -the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth -their merchandise any more; merchandise of gold, and silver, and -precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and -scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every -vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; -and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, -and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and -merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men." - -We urged Dr. French to read the rest of the chapter, which he did. - -"And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, -saying: Woe, woe, the great city, wherein were made rich all that had -their ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is -she made desolate," and then the voice of the angel crying into the -thick of their lament, "Rejoice over her, thou Heaven and ye saints, and -ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her." -It seemed as though the prophet had written the epitaph of all cities in -which the merchant was master and not servant. - -When he had finished I knew the inscription for my sculptured group: the -twentieth verse of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation. - -Altogether it was a remarkable day to be experienced only in America, -perhaps only in Chicago. To shop in the largest store in the world, -visit a picture gallery well worth while, and see art students at work; -hear classical music played by a children's orchestra, and watch the -same children enjoying the party which followed; to meet one of the -leading sculptors of America who shared with us his plans and hopes, and -to have as our guide the Director of the Art Institute, was a colossal -experience worthy of the city in which it happened. - -The next day was given to the Juvenile Court, Public Play Grounds, the -University, and, finally, Hull House. The one great disappointment of -the Chicago visit for me and my guests was Miss Jane Addams' absence in -Europe. But the House was there--big, neighborly, homelike, -hospitable--and the residents were there, those who do the neighboring, -the healing and the helping, who are friends of the friendless, and know -no creed or race--except humanity. - -My faith in Chicago springs largely from my contact with Hull House, The -Commons and like places with their defiant spirit towards evil, their -broad-mindedness and their brave attempt at remedying the wrongs of our -commercialized civilization. - -After dinner I "toted" my guests all over the House, from the -reading-room on the first floor to the Boys' Club on the third, and back -again. I have done it frequently, and always with zest and pride, in -spite of the fact that I have had no active share in the work. - -In Bowen Hall we came upon a dancing party. Some one of the social clubs -had been gracious enough to invite its parents to come. We were -introduced to Mrs. Frankelstein from Roumania, and Mrs. Flynn from -Ireland, Mrs. Ragovsky from Russia, Mr. and Mrs. Feketey from Hungary, -Mr. and Mrs. Rocco from Italy, and many others whose picturesque names I -do not remember. - -We also met a young business man, the son of a millionaire, with sundry -other young men and women of the type one likes to meet and introduce, -whom one would be proud to know anywhere. They had charge of the -affair. The Herr Director and the Frau Directorin caught the spirit of -the occasion and entered into it with zest. When the orchestra began to -play, he led the Grand March with Mrs. Rocco and she followed with the -young millionaire. At the close of the festivities, as we were leaving, -they vowed they had had the best time since they left home. - -Chicago, big, blundering, materialistic Chicago had a new meaning to the -Herr Director. He praised everything and everybody, and as we parted for -the night, he said: "'Almost thou persuadest me to' believe in the -'American Spirit.'" - - - - -X - -_Where the Spirit is Young_ - - -To the average European there are two things American which have not yet -lost their romantic quality: The prairies and the West. - -Anticipations of seeing both, filled the breast of the Frau Directorin -with mingled feelings of fear and pleasure, as she discussed with her -husband the fate of the children they had left behind them--in the event -of our being captured by the Indians. However, the probability of our -safe return and her consequent opportunity to tell envious friends her -experiences in the prairies and the West outweighed all fears. - -Among her friends were those who had braved the perils of the ocean and -gone as far as New York; some of them had even been in Chicago--but -beyond, still hidden in the romance woven about them by Bret Harte (her -favorite American author), were those two things she was about to see, -and of which they had only dreamed. - -The Herr Director, as he repeatedly reminded me, had crossed the plains -when I had known them only through Cooper's fascinating Indian stories, -and he was eager to throw off the leadership I had assumed, which, to a -dominant nature like his, proved exceedingly irksome. - -He soon discovered that he was travelling through territory entirely new -to him. The little towns he had known had grown into cities, and the -further west we travelled, the greater and more impressive were the -changes. - -Omaha and Kansas City he did not recognize at all. Not only was there -this new growth, "rank growth," he called it, of sky-scrapers, -post-offices and railroad stations with Doric pillars--the men and women -he met had a new outlook upon life. While they still boasted of this and -that thing in which their city was like Chicago or was unlike some -lesser city than their own, they were critical of themselves and eager -to learn; they had grown more masterful and at the same time were more -refined. - -The prairies were not at all what the Frau Directorin had imagined them -to be. She was chagrined to find nothing but farm lands and great -fields, not so well groomed as those we had seen in the East, but with -no Indians or buffaloes, no wild horses or wilder looking men. - -She saw no trace of the toil, the struggle and the brave resistance -through which these farms had been rescued from the prairies. She could -not know of the loneliness of women and the hardihood of men, of the -season's drought and famine, of bitter disappointment, the pangs of -bearing and rearing children in utter isolation, and the struggle for -education. - -No trace of all this was apparent in the sort of settled, middle class -prosperity which stretched out in the unvaried, thousand mile panorama -through which we journeyed. - -In a town of about four thousand inhabitants we stopped; the name of the -place is of no significance, for there are hundreds of just such towns -in the West. We were met by the superintendent of schools, himself a -product of the prairies. Having grown up among the cattle, he is -consequently shy of men. He drove his automobile as if it were a -broncho, and we all uttered a prayer of thanksgiving when he deposited -us, with no bones broken, at the hotel. In a short time we were ready to -go with him to his school, which was the objective point of our visit. - -It goes without saying that the superintendent boasted of the youth of -the town, even as under like circumstances in the East, he would have -boasted of its age. - -Ten years before it was nothing except a railroad station, miles of -sage-brush, rattlesnakes and prairie dogs. Now there are business -blocks, embryonic sky-scrapers, a pillared post-office, a -hundred-thousand-dollar hotel, a Grand Opera House, neither big enough -nor good enough to boast of, numerous churches and this schoolhouse. It -is not only a place in which boys and girls learn the "three R's," but -has a finely equipped gymnasium, a chemical laboratory and a Domestic -Science department. It is a center of education and recreation, not only -for that town, but for the surrounding country. - -I had never seen the Herr Director as enthusiastic over anything as he -was over this cowboy school superintendent, with his program of reaching -every man, woman and child in the county through his educational and -recreational program, his annual budget of some seventy-five thousand -dollars, and a faculty of men and women college bred, and citizens of -the town. They are not merely educated tramps, but are there to stay, -and they take pride in the town in which they make their home. - -The Herr Director was no less amused than I was when we were told by one -of the teachers that the superintendent, at one of the school board -meetings had pulled off his coat and threatened to thrash one of the -members who refused his vote on an important measure. As we looked at -this six foot three, erstwhile cowboy, his broad shoulders and strong -arms which seemed reluctantly confined in a coat, and as we saw his -square, determined jaw,--we knew that the unruly member voted _aye_. - -Both the Herr Director and I were asked to speak to the boys and girls. -As soon as they entered the room the air became electric with their high -school yell; they "rah rahed" us individually and collectively, and -"what's the matter withed" everybody, and indulged in all those academic -and classical performances which every high school now seems to consider -an essential part of preparation for college. - -The Herr Director told them that among all the things he had seen thus -far in America he liked their high school the best; which remark of -course elicited thunderous applause. This was most gratifying to him, -and all day he was in high spirits. He thought the most hopeful -characteristic of the American is this faith in education, the -practical, far-reaching methods employed, and the daring all sorts of -educational experiments. At the same time he severely criticized our -lack of unanimity, and the evident disadvantages of such communities as -have no cowboy superintendent to lick a conservative or stingy school -board member into conformity with his plans. - -We visited an agricultural college where we were told of farmers who -came to study soil fertility, and farmers' wives who studied kitchen -chemistry, farmers' children who tested seeds, and to whom these -prairies, to which they were being bound by an intelligent knowledge of -their environment, were beginning to speak a new language. - -We saw a teacher's college which one with the prophet's vision had -planted in the desert. The sage-brush ridden prairie had been -transformed into a glorious campus, and uncultured boys and girls into -enthusiastic teachers. More than twelve hundred of them come back each -year to get better equipment for their difficult task. - -The cities in which we stopped interested the Herr Director less than -the towns, and we did not tarry long except in one of them, where we had -to stay because of an engagement I had made to address a certain club. -I did this because it gave me a fine chance to introduce that particular -American institution, a combination of eating and speaking club, which -meets once a month and whose program is as ambitious as are most things -Western. - -We were met at the station by a committee of men and women in -automobiles of course, and found the finest rooms in the hotel reserved -for us. Big, high, generous rooms, in which the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin openly rejoiced. - -The committee awaited us in a private dining-room where luncheon was -served. There were three other guests who were to speak during the -evening. One of them, a most brilliant woman, a well-known social -worker. The second a United States Senator, and the third an explorer -who had just returned from a voyage into some less known parts of South -America. - -The luncheon was sufficiently elaborate and artistically served to -satisfy both the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin, but he -protested when after the meal, without even a chance at a nap, we were -escorted to waiting motor cars, and a long cavalcade of us started on a -sight-seeing expedition. - -The city was worth seeing, with its boulevards, parks and playgrounds; -its schoolhouse, churches, and clubs. We heard much of its prospects, -always so great an asset in the life of our Western cities. - -Amusing and remarkable to the strangers was the evident pride of this -committee in the city, to which they had come from all parts of the -country if not of the world; yet they spoke of it with a lover's -affection. - -The one thing underneath all this civic pride, and finer than anything -visible to us, was the fight for decency, law and order, and the health -and happiness of children, which has been waged there and is not yet -won. It is as exciting as, and more valorous than, many a battle in -which men fight with powder and bullets. - -It was an exhilarating experience to shake the hand and look into the -face of a woman who had defied the monied interests of her state, who -had jeopardized her comforts and her position, even her life, to loosen -the hold of graft from the schools of the state. - -It was inspiring to hear from a mild mannered, unaggressive looking man -how he had helped wipe out brothels and evil dance halls, broken up the -connivance of the police with the criminal element and put through a -positive program of rational, clean amusements for the people. - -We visited a business plant, the architecture and equipment of which are -as unique as are its owner's business methods. We were told the story -(not by himself) of how a brave and good man, single handed, struggled -against bosses, political cliques and large financial interests in -league with them, and all but freed the city from its most dangerously -decent foes. - -We were shown hills which the citizens had faith enough to remove and -the hollows into which they had cast them; a raging river which they -meant to control, and ugly, sickening slums which were doomed to go, and -that none too soon; the old things which were to become new, and -crooked things which were to be made straight. - -Thirty-three years before the Herr Director had heard stories of -vanishing buffaloes and the last struggles with the Indians. He had met -scouts, hunters and soldiers. This was a new type of fighters, much less -picturesque, but fit successors to those valiant pioneers. I rescued my -guests from a visit to the stock-yards (why any one should care to show -off stock-yards I do not know), and the committee released its hold upon -us so that we might make our toilettes for the reception which preceded -the banquet. - -If there is anything more conducive to creating a barrier to real human -contact than a reception, I have not seen it, unless it be a reception -with orchestral accompaniment; this was such an one, and its chief -function seemed to be to drown conversation. - -The ladies of our party were happy because this was one of the few -occasions on our trip when they could wear evening gowns. - -The Frau Directorin was astonished beyond measure when she heard that -some of the women on the reception committee of this club were mothers -(to a limited degree, it is true), that they had, at the most, two -servants, and that some of them had none; that they were interested in -Literary Clubs and civic affairs, served on school boards and church -committees, and were doing various other things to help the Creator -manage His universe. - -The German woman, who has adhered to the program marked out for her by -the Emperor, the "three K's," "_Kueche, Kirche und Kinder_" stands aghast -at the strenuous lives many of our women lead. The Frau Directorin, who -has servants for the kitchen and the children, upon whom the third K, -the Church, lays no burden in the way of missionary meetings, fairs and -suppers, who does not have to reduce her flesh to be in the fashion, and -whose social position is determined by her husband's station in life, -may well wear an unruffled smile and keep an unfurrowed brow. - -At the banquet, the waiters and the orchestra vied with each other in -noise making, and it was a relief when, with the bringing of the black -coffee, they all disappeared, and the toast-master rose and began -unbottling his stock of stories. Nowhere in the world is there such a -thirst for stories as in America, and a group of men after a banquet has -an unlimited capacity for absorbing and enjoying them. - -There were four scheduled speakers and a few who expected to be called -upon unexpectedly, among them the Herr Director; a Glee Club was to sing -before, between and after the speeches; so the toast-master did not stop -telling stories any too soon. - -The first speaker of the evening was a woman who well deserved the -cheers which greeted her appearance. Her address on Workmen's -Compensation was so clear, so aptly put, so well reasoned through and so -within the limit of time assigned her, that when she finished, the -enthusiastic Herr Director shouted: "Bravo! bravo!" loud enough to be -heard above the less euphonious sound of hand clapping, in which form of -applause the American audience indulges. - -The address was an eloquent but unemotional plea for fair play for the -working man, an arraignment of present practices, cruelly sickening in -detail, and frightful as a revelation of the attitude of large -industrial interests towards labor. It showed the fair-mindedness of the -men there, that they listened so approvingly, in spite of the fact that -a large number of them was in similar relationship to labor, and that -the proposed law for which she pleaded would be against their own -interests. - -After the lady's address, the Glee Club sang and then the United States -Senator was introduced. I have forgotten his subject, but that does not -matter, for it had no relation to what he said. It was the kind of -address which could be delivered with equal propriety at a Grangers' -picnic or a political meeting. - -There were two things which the senator did not know: First, that his -audience had outgrown that particular kind of address, and second, when -to stop. When his final finally was finally spoken, the Glee Club sang -again, after which the Herr Director was called upon to speak. He was -listened to most attentively as he told how German cities are built, -governed, provisioned and lighted. - -There were at least four speeches beside my own, and it was long past -midnight when the Glee Club sang its last glee, and the club adjourned -to meet again the next month, when it would receive other more or less -distinguished guests, eat a six course dinner and listen to half a dozen -speakers, each one of them eager to right the wrongs of this universe. - -When the Herr Director had said good-bye to the hundred or more people -who told him how much they enjoyed his address, he retired in a most -happy mood. I found him chuckling as he untied his cravat. - -"It was lovely, perfectly lovely," he said; "but what children they -are." - -"Yes," I replied, "they are children; and, like children, are eager to -learn." - - - - -XI - -_The American Spirit Among the Mormons_ - - -Both the Herr Director and his wife had a strange desire to see the -Mormons. They explained it by saying that besides the Indians whom they -had as yet not seen, and the Negroes whom they had seen everywhere, they -always thought of the Mormons as most American, that is most unlike -other people. - -The Rocky Mountains, as I had expected, did not impress them. From the -car window they seemed more like elevated plains, with here and there a -restless chain of hills in the distance. - -"As restless as the American people," quoth the Herr Director. "Your -plains and your mountains seem to be fighting with each other." - -I hoped that the plains would win the fight and pointed out another, -more visible struggle--that of man with the desert. I admitted that the -Rocky Mountains which he had thus far seen were uninteresting from the -scenic standpoint, especially as compared with the beauty of the Alps, -those snow-capped mountains with meadows to the timber line, their -picturesque villages and herders' huts all as trim and neat and finished -as the carving one buys in Interlaken or Luzerne. - -From the human standpoint, the Rockies are infinitely more interesting, -for there the elemental struggle is still going on. A giant race is -taming tumultuous rivers, and forcing their waters through flumes and -tunnels into mighty reservoirs on the mountainsides and in the valleys. -No indolent, unaspiring, uninventive, docile people could survive in the -Rockies. - -In common with many Americans, my guests believed that this matter of -irrigation is as easy as turning water from a faucet into a basin; and -that all a man has to do is to drop his seed into the ground and watch -it grow. I showed them farms, desolate and forbidding, which men had to -level or lift, ditch and plow and harrow; a back-breaking, often a -heart-breaking task. In such an environment they built shacks which only -accentuated the loneliness--where women lived and children were born, -where hopes were cherished and God was worshipped. - -It was an Old Testament environment, the wilderness. Compared with these -pioneers the Israelites had an easy task. They sent spies into the -Promised Land where they found and from which they brought back grapes -and pomegranates; but to stay in the wilderness, to drive back the -drought inch by inch, to kill coyotes and rattlesnakes one by one, to -contend with claim jumpers, real estate agents, water right privileges -and unscrupulous lawyers, and then raise grapes and pomegranates, -families, churches, schools and colleges--that seems to me the greater -and more heroic task. And it was done by men with the courage of -soldiers and the vision of prophets, who turned that land of drought, -alkali and sage-brush into one "flowing with milk and honey." Because in -a certain portion of that desert those who were the pioneers and -performed those tasks were Mormons, takes nothing from the glory of the -achievement. - -As we neared Salt Lake City the Frau Directorin looked into every house, -eager to detect the numerous wives whom she expected to see surrounding -one man; while the Herr Director marvelled at the beauty of the vast -Salt Lake valley which, with its poplars and mountains and its -intensively cultivated farms, reminded him of Lombardy, that beautiful -stretch of country along the railway from Milan to Boulogna. - -Salt Lake City is sufficiently different from other cities we had seen -to arouse interest; but as in Rome the Vatican overshadows everything -else, so here the Temple and the Tabernacle hold one's attention, and -work upon one's imagination. - -We had scarcely put ourselves to rights in our rooms at the Hotel Utah, -as pretentious and comfortable as any in the country, before we were -out on the streets, looking for Mormons. There is a fairly defined type -and I thought I knew it, for I have lectured before Mormon audiences; -but out upon the busy city streets it was quite impossible for me to -gratify the curiosity of the Frau Directorin by pointing them out to -her. I did tell her that a third of the population was non-Mormon and -she looked curiously at two out of every three persons we met without, -however, being able to say definitely that she had seen a real, live -specimen. - -Not wishing to join the crowd of tourists who were taken in relays -through the Tabernacle and other buildings open to the curious among the -Gentiles, we walked through the park, and stopping before the monument -to Joseph Smith I took the opportunity to enlighten my guests upon the -history of that singular personality, and the church of which he was the -founder. - -Evidently my remarks were overheard, and before I realized it I was in a -discussion of Mormon doctrines with a woman, a zealous defender of her -faith, whose religious zeal shone out of her face, which was homely -enough to need this adornment to save it from repulsive ugliness. - -Of course she believed implicitly in the Book of Mormon, the plates of -which were found, and translated from a language which the best informed -philologists have never known to exist; in a God who has body, parts and -passions, in spirits which fill Heaven, and clamor to be born onto the -Earth, in the baptism for the dead, and in that strange doctrine, that -no woman can be saved without being sealed to a man, upon which the -practice of polygamy rested. - -The Herr Director did not quite understand, and I had to explain each of -these dogmas as well as I could, and then the Frau Directorin, not -understanding anything, begged to be told about the one thing in which -she was primarily interested, their belief in regard to marriage. I -asked the lady to explain this doctrine of the Mormons, to which she -replied that they are not Mormons, but Latter Day Saints. She was indeed -a saint, for she was not offended by our curiosity, nor the lack of -seriousness with which we were discussing the subject. - -She addressed the Frau Directorin: "You are married to your husband." -The Frau Directorin understood and nodded comprehendingly; "but," the -saint continued, "you are married to him only for time." - -"No, no, not for a time, not for a time!" the Frau Directorin cried, -clinging to her husband, who had jokingly threatened that when they -reached Utah he would improve the occasion and double his blessings. - -"You could not be married to him any other way unless you are sealed -according to our rites; we alone marry for eternity." - -"Oh!" said the facetious Herr Director, "you believe in eternal -punishment." When I translated that to the Frau Directorin she slapped -him playfully. - -He asked our guide how many wives he could marry if he became a Latter -Day Saint and she said there would be no limit to the wives he could -have sealed to him; but according to the latest ruling of the church and -in conformity with the laws of the United States, only one to live with -here upon the earth; so he decided to "bear the ills he had," and not -"fly to others that he knew not of." - -The saint could not have expected her teaching to take root in soil so -shallow, but she determined to sow a few more seeds, and showed us the -interior of the Tabernacle with its "largest organ in the world and its -perfect acoustics." The Frau Directorin tried her charming voice and -sang, much to the delight of the saint, who confessed to three consuming -passions. She loved to sing better than to eat, next in order came -dancing, which seems to be a specialty among Mormons, and evidently does -not interfere with their piety, and third, that of saving feminine souls -from destruction, on account of their unmarried state. To satisfy this -last passion she has had ten thousand of her female ancestors married to -well-known Mormons. To accomplish this, she had her genealogical tree -traced back to prehistoric times, and had spent her fortune upon that -pious extravagance. She told us that she was a plural wife, and living -with her husband merely in the celestial relationship: but she believed -polygamy to be in harmony with the will of God, and that the women as a -whole favor it. - -As we returned to our hotel, the Frau Directorin amused herself by -asking each child she met: "How much brothers and sisters you are?" I -was profoundly thankful she did not stop the men to ask them about the -number of their wives. - -Having promised her that I would introduce her to a real, live Mormon -who as yet had only one wife, she could hardly wait until dinner, to -which I had invited my Mormon acquaintance. He proved to be a very -normal sort of man whose face betrayed his European peasant ancestry, -his father and mother having emigrated from Switzerland, lured across by -the promise of land, and an all but perfect Zion. They had passed -through every hardship of the early persecutions, and the march across -the plains and mountains. He himself had grown up in the martyrs' faith, -which remained unshaken until he was sent to college. - -Although his teachers were Mormons they could not explain away all the -inconsistencies of Mormon history and belief; doubts assailed him, and -when in due course he became a missionary and it fell to his lot to go -to Europe, instead of making converts, he became one. The six years -abroad were spent in the study of history, and, applying the methods to -his own church and its Book of Mormon, he began to doubt, and is a -doubter still. Yet so strong were the ties that bound him that he did -not formally sever his connection with the church, and unless he is -ejected from that communion he will doubtless remain within its fold. - -He belongs to an increasingly large group of young Mormons who, while -they themselves have lost faith in the church and its doctrines, believe -that they must remain loyal to those whose belief is still unshaken, -help them to discard the crudest elements of their doctrine and so -gradually democratize the whole institution. - -The growth of the church has been checked and the accession of foreign -converts has almost ceased, due to the prohibition of polygamy which -was a lure to the evil minded, and due also to the fact that immigration -is not being encouraged. - -Mormonism would have continued to grow in alarming proportions if the -missionaries were still offering a husband, or a part of one, to every -woman, and to every man as many wives as he cared to take unto himself. - -Within the church two forces are working towards its liberalization. The -influence of a strong, Gentile population, and the school; while neither -of them will destroy Mormonism, our informant believed that ultimately -it will prove no more formidable or dangerous to the nation than any -other religious denomination, whose government is strongly centralized. - -After dinner he took us to his own home, and either from a recently -acquired habit, or from renewed curiosity, the Frau Directorin asked the -little son of the house, "How much brothers and sisters you are?" and I -am not sure she was convinced that his wife whom he introduced to us -was the only wife he had. - -He was good enough to insist upon taking us into the country in his -machine to call on his father, his mother having died some years before; -which, however, according to Mormon usage of bygone days did not leave -the old man a widower. - -His gnarled, wrinkled face shone when we greeted him in his native -tongue, and it was as pleasant as it was instructive to hear him tell of -the emigration of his people from Switzerland to Missouri, of the stormy -days there, the struggles against infuriated mobs, the long, dangerous -journey across the desert, and the pioneer days in Utah where he had -acquired lands, sheep and oxen, wives and children, in true Old -Testament fashion. - -The Frau Directorin asked: "How much wives you are?" - -When he told her that he had gone beyond the apostolic twelve, although -he lived with only a few of the number, she exclaimed: "_Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!_" - -The Herr Director wanted to know how he managed so many of them when he -had difficulty in managing one. - -"_Ach!_ in those days," he said, "the wives were subject to their -husband, knowing that without him they could not live comfortably here, -nor safely hereafter. They were docile enough, and it did not cost so -much to keep them as it does now." - -With a shrewd smile playing around his almost toothless mouth he added: -"You know if polygamy had not been prohibited it would have died out -gradually, because these are different times. We couldn't afford it -now." - -The old man said he had known Joseph Smith and, of course, Brigham -Young. He spoke of them with reverence and awe, as men of God who -received revelations and could work wonders. There seemed to be little -or nothing of the mystic in his makeup; his religion was of a hard, -materialistic, matter-of-fact kind to which he clung most tenaciously. -There was an unmistakable coarseness about him which revealed itself in -his conversation. It may have been due to his peasant origin, but during -all the years, a really ethical religion would have refined him. In a -sense he still did not belong to the United States--he was a Mormon -first and last, and the government in Washington was to him as Pharaoh's -rule was to the Jews. - -His religion evidently had taught him submission. He paid his tithes -ungrudgingly, and had gone on a mission uncomplainingly. He was a cog in -a great wheel whose resistless force he did not question. - -From his farm we were taken to others, and to neighboring towns. The -whole system in all its minute details was explained to us, and the Herr -Director was quite fascinated by its efficiency, although I am sure he -would not care to be governed by it. Everywhere we found prosperous -conditions and outward contentment, but underneath, especially among the -young people, a brooding discontent and smouldering rebellion; yet at -the same time much stolid ignorance and fanaticism. - -Our final visit was to the University, built solidly against the rocks, -its great U in purest white marked upon the mountainside, its very -existence seeming a menace to the system which supports it. - -There was a fine group of students, both Mormons and Gentiles. The -library in which I spent some time astonished me. I wondered, as I -looked at some of the books, if the church authorities knew what was -between the covers. Dynamite under the Temple walls could not be as -dangerous as those volumes. - -Possibly the students are as ignorant of their contents as the leaders -are. There are books on Philosophy and Psychology which do not seem to -me so menacing as those on Economics and Sociology; for it is upon these -subjects that the questioning will come first, and also the discontent. - -After long and confidential conferences with some of the professors who -told me their views, and how they are struggling to maintain their -academic freedom, and after long talks with bright, energetic boys and -girls who expressed themselves freely, I could assure the Herr Director -that some problems, which have so long vexed the United States and have -threatened certain ideals of the American Spirit, are in process of -solution. - -They are being solved by virtue of the broad tolerance of that spirit, -than which nothing is so feared by the reactionary forces in the Mormon -Church. - -One thing which that institution desires more than anything else is -renewed persecution; not too much of it, but enough to rally the -children of the martyrs to face new martyrdom and so perpetuate the -waning power of the church. - -One must remember that Mormonism is not only a sect, but a strongly -knitted society, and that men who have long ago ceased to believe in its -doctrines still hold to it with a loyalty born of past suffering, which -will be fostered by any future injustice or persecution. - -When we left Salt Lake City and were safe in the Pullman on our way to -the Pacific Coast, the Frau Directorin put her stock question to the -colored porter when he came to make up the berths. - -"How much wives you are?" - -When I interpreted the question for him he smiled his broadest smile, -but looked puzzled. I told him that the lady thought him a Mormon. - -"_No, ma'am._ I's a Baptist. But I sho'd like to be one. I likes de -ladies poheful." - -He was not a Mormon, certainly not a saint, but he rendered us loyal -service on that long, dusty journey to the Coast. Perhaps because he -"likes de ladies poheful," or it may have been because I gave him half -of a generous tip in advance. - - - - -XII - -_The California Confession of Faith_ - - -Since landing in New York the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin had -endured many a formal reception; she with angelic patience, and he with -the usual masculine aversion to formal social amenities. - -When I announced that a reception was to be tendered us in San -Francisco, he cried with uplifted hands, "_Um Gottes Willen!_" He did -not object to really meeting people; but to stand in line an hour or two -shaking hundreds of outstretched hands, not knowing nor caring much to -whom they belonged, seemed to him a profitless exercise; while our -wafers and tea, or our punch--without those ingredients which give the -"punch" to punch--were gastronomic delusions to one accustomed to the -abundant meat and drink attendant upon social occasions in Germany. - -This particular reception was to be given us by the Chinese, and a -committee of stately, solemn looking gentlemen called for us in -carriages; despite the Herr Director's reluctance, I am sure he was -delighted to have this chance of giving his jaded social appetite a new -sensation. - -Chinatown, with its gay coloring, its tempting shops, its stolid-looking -men, its quaint women and cunning babies, was made doubly fascinating to -us, entering it officially conducted and riding in state. - -I do not know to this day to just what facts or virtues or position in -life we owe the attentions we received; but it was all recorded upon -posters and handbills liberally distributed through Chinatown, -announcing our advent. Recorded upon them in those picturesque -characters with which the Chinese language puzzles its readers, were the -names and eulogies of certain members of our party. The character which -stood for the Herr Director looked like a top, a tree and a barrel, -while his nativity and manifold virtues were made known in other -artistic symbols. - -I suspect that the man to blame for it all was a certain young American -whose mixed ancestry has created a rare and most effective personality. -He has inherited all the grace of his French ancestors, the tenacity (a -virtue in which he excels) of his Dutch or double Dutch progenitors, and -I am sure he can claim kinship with the first man who "kissed the -Blarney stone." He could pull the latch-string to any foreign colony in -that great conglomerate of peoples, and always be greeted as one of -them. The Young Men's Christian Association, in whose name he served, -could not have had a more worthy exponent of its social creed, and -America could not have projected against these foreigners a better -representative than Charles W. Blanpied. - -The reception was held in the Chinese Presbyterian Church, and upon our -arrival we found it crowded by a solemn-looking company of Chinese. We -were conducted to the platform and introduced to his Excellency the -Consul-General, ministers of various denominations, and dignitaries of -Chinatown. - -This was the first reception we attended where introductions were not -followed by vigorous hand-shaking. I am inclined to believe that the -softness of the Oriental palm is due to the fact that it is not -vigorously pressed every time two men meet each other. - -The Herr Director was in ecstasy over the beautiful Chinese girls in the -choir. Doubtless he would have preferred sitting among them, rather than -where he was, between the Consul-General and the chairman of the -evening. - -The reception opened with prayer, as if it were a church service; then -the choir sang an anthem, followed by four speeches of welcome. The -first by his Excellency the Consul-General lasted an hour and seemed -much longer, because it was in Chinese and unintelligible to us. - -I was asked to respond, and, under the circumstances, my remarks were -brief. The clever interpreter made a good deal of them, judging by the -length of time it took him, and the tumultuous applause with which every -sentence was greeted. - -The Herr Director told me it was the poorest speech he ever heard; but I -am inclined to believe that he was a little jealous because he was not -asked to speak; or perhaps he was merely trying to keep me humble, a -course which he had consistently pursued from the day I met him in New -York. - -The reception closed with the benediction, and the dignitaries and -guests proceeded to a Chinese restaurant which was genuinely Oriental; -not one of those nondescript Chop Suey places which serve such varied -and often objectionable purposes. The entire establishment was reserved -for us. It was gayly decorated with the banners of the Youngest -Republic, an orchestra played vigorously and so unmelodiously that the -Herr Director was reminded of the ultra modern German compositions. - -The menu was the most mysterious thing of the evening, ranging from tea -to broiled seaweed, and eggs which looked their age and were not ashamed -of it. There was fowl which was made unrecognizable to both the eye and -the palate, something which tasted like glue flavored with onion, and -something else which to my perverted Occidental palate seemed like -stewed Turkish towels. There were sweetmeats before and after and -between courses. Beside the mystery, the variety and novelty of the -banquet, it had one other virtue; it was not followed by after dinner -speeches, that common American practice which is an assault upon one's -digestion, and, not infrequently, upon good taste. - -While there were no after dinner speeches, we had a chance to discuss -the problem of the Chinese in California, and their brave attempts to -become Americanized in thought and feeling, in spite of the unyielding -race prejudice they have had to meet; thus renewing our faith in our -common origin and destiny, regardless of our apparent differences. Never -before had I realized how gentle these Chinese are nor how altogether -likeable, and it was no surprise to find that some of the Californians -have made the same discovery, and are treating them accordingly. - -We visited the Immigrant Station at San Francisco and I wished we had -not; for our treatment of the incoming Orientals lacks all those -elements of which I had boasted. We are neither humane, nor fair, -neither wise, nor decent. We found young Chinese women who had been -detained for more than a year, and were left without occupation or -suitable companionship or even a hope of early release. There were -Chinese boys who were herded with hardened, vicious-looking men, and the -station, although ideally situated, was little better than a prison. -What was done or was allowed to be done to make the lot of these people -more bearable was accomplished by outsiders. Conditions may have changed -since that time, and if they have, it is a cause for profound gratitude. - -We also had an unusual opportunity to come in touch with the Japanese -all along the coast. In one city we met a young Japanese, a graduate of -my own college. He is now serving his countrymen there as a Buddhist -priest. He has brought to his sacred calling much of the practical -religion which he absorbed through his contact with the college Y. M. -C. A., and it is his ambition to make Buddhism efficient and -serviceable. He has put into the work all his patrimony and is eager to -build up an institution patterned after the Young Men's Christian -Association. - -We had many a confidential talk, and if the soul of the Oriental is not -altogether inscrutable I have had a glimpse of it; although I cannot say -that I have fathomed his soul any more than he has mine. He seemed to me -to typify his race in a remarkable degree. His is a strong, unyielding, -definite kind of ethnos, and while we liked each other and tried to -understand one another, there seemed to be a place just before we -reached our Holy of Holies where we stood before a barred gate. - -When he told me that the American soul is absolutely unemotional in -comparison with the Japanese, I knew he did not understand us; even as I -did not understand the Japanese when I told him that his people are cold -and unemotional in comparison with us. - -He took us to his temple in the basement of a shabby looking American -tenement. He showed us his Sunday-school room, picture cards with Golden -Texts, club and class rooms, and many devices borrowed from us, applied -and perhaps improved upon by his Japanese genius. The day we left the -city he brought us an invitation to luncheon at the home of the most -prominent Japanese merchant in the place. Our hostess was a delightful -woman educated in a Methodist school in her native country, and of -course spoke English. Her husband, a conservative Buddhist, although he -had been in this country for twenty years, was still Japanese to the -core and spoke little or no English. There were several notables -present, whose English was more or less Japanned. They were keen, well -educated, and had absorbed enough of American culture to be baseball -"fans." - -During luncheon, which in our honor was served a la Nippon, we discussed -the anti-Japanese legislation which at that time was menacing the -peaceful relationship of the two countries. - -All the Japanese agreed that they had no right to demand unrestricted -immigration; but they were urgent that no crass distinction should be -made between them and other races, and that they too should have the -right to obtain citizenship when they had proved themselves fitted for -it. - -During this discussion the Frau Directorin and our host were carrying on -a picturesque conversation; that is she did the talking and he smilingly -said "Yes" to everything she said. She felt highly flattered that he -understood her English, which was still about seventy-five per cent. -German, while his was ninety-nine per cent. Japanese. - -That night as we were leaving the city a delegation met us at the -station to complete their Oriental hospitality by presenting us with -beautiful and valuable souvenirs. - -After such brief and friendly relationships with these people it is easy -to come to very one-sided conclusions about the problem they present to -the people of California. The situation is serious, but not so serious -that, in order to try to meet it, we must cease to be gentlemanly in -our relation to them. - -It is the peculiarity of all people who face race problems, to face them -irrationally and to think that in order to maintain racial dignity one -must insult, demean, and humble other races; and the people of the -United States in general, and those of the Pacific Coast in particular, -have not yet learned a better and more rational way. - -Strong race prejudice is not necessarily a sign of race superiority, and -the people who constantly proclaim their superiority by humiliating and -persecuting others have a hard time proving it. - -If what I was frequently told is true, that California "wants no -immigrants unless they are something between a mule and a man," then I -can understand their animosity towards the Japanese; for they are -altogether human and want to be so treated. - -Beside the many racial varieties with which we came in contact on the -Pacific Coast, we found there all the types produced in the United -States, and while neither the Herr Director nor myself was able to -differentiate them by external variation, we discovered them by -different and contending ideals. From that standpoint they were even -more interesting than the Orientals. Every shade of political and -religious opinion, every kind of economic doctrine, every variety of -social standards we found, besides currents and cross currents not -easily discerned or classified. In spite of the difference in race, -class, religion and politics, we found three well defined ideas -expressed, upon which there is such an agreement that they might be -called the California Confession of Faith. - -First and foremost is the belief in the climate and the resources of the -state. There is no religious doctrine in existence unless it be the -monotheism of the Jews, which is so dogmatically held as this faith, -that California is unsurpassed in climate, productiveness, in all those -opportunities for a leisurely existence (provided you have worked hard -elsewhere to get the necessary money) as are offered by its mountains -and sea, its luxuriant homes and all other factors which contribute to -the health and happiness of mankind. The only possible rival to -California is Heaven itself, and just because in these unbelieving and -unregenerate days so many people are not sure that there is such a -place, or if there is, are in doubt that they will have a mansion -reserved for them, they are leaving the farms and towns of the more -mundane Middle West and prosperous East to get a taste of Heaven in -California before they go to that "bourne from which no" wanderer has -returned. - -The people of California forgive any heresy or unbelief except a doubt, -however faint, about its climate and resources. From the shadow of Mount -Shasta to the deepest depth of the Imperial Valley, whether we were so -cold in summer as to need furs, or were hot enough to melt, or were -choking from dust when we travelled through miles of unredeemed desert, -we found this faith in the climate and resources of California unshaken. - -The Herr Director asked why there were so many cemeteries in the midst -of the most crowded streets, and only a nearer look convinced him that -they were "for sale" signs of rival real estate agents, who flourish -equally with the sage-brush and cactus. - -The second idea upon which there is a common agreement is, that while -California in particular is perfect as to climate and resources, the -world in general is a dire place, and its wrongs need to be righted. - -In spite of the fact that the climate invites to leisure, it has not as -yet tamed the fighting spirit of this fine, manly race, which is never -so happy as when it has something to do and dare. This state has -admitted women to the duties of citizenship, that all may have an equal -share in the fight. The issues at stake are worth battling for, and -nowhere else is the struggle more intense and dramatic. Organized labor -and capital have crippled each other in the desperate conflict, fierce -always, and often brutal. Protestantism, unorganized and frequently -inefficient, faces the Roman Catholic hierarchy, defending, as it -believes, the public schools and democratic government itself: -awakening, purified democracy is in deadly conflict with the demagogue -entrenched by special privilege while the prohibitionists are engaged in -most desperate conflict with the vinous industry of the state. - -The third doctrine of the California Confession of Faith is, that here -on the Pacific Coast the white race has been providentially placed to -defend this country against the encroachment of the "Yellow Peril." It -was illuminating though painful to find that race prejudice is as -intense here as in the South, and as unreasoning, and that one is as -helpless against it as against a flood or fire. All one seems to be able -to do is to accept it as a fact, and treat it like a contagious disease. - -If there is any danger to the white race at the Pacific Coast, it is not -the presence of the Japanese or Chinese in limited numbers; it is the -attitude of mind which has been created among Americans there, and that -may bring its own vengeance. - -It was a great joy to introduce my guests to California, its orange -groves and vineyards, its marvellous cities and palatial homes. It is a -state to glory in; but strange to say I was somewhat depressed when I -left it. The Herr Director said he missed my "brag and bluster." - -Everything was beautiful and bountiful, even as the real estate agents -have advertised; yet there were some things I found and some things I -missed which took the "brag and bluster" out of me. - -Its pioneer spirit is weakened by the accession of a large, leisure -class, and how or where the next generation will find a grappling place -for vigor of body, mind and spirit, is still a great question. To eat -one's bread by the sweat of some ancestor's brow, to be challenged daily -by the luxury of a limousine rather than by the hardships of the prairie -schooner, to have as the end and aim of one's day the winning of a Polo -match, or the making of a golf score, must ultimately bring about a -decadence of spirit, even though one retains for a while litheness of -body and activity of mind. - -The boasted democracy of California is threatened, not only by the -presence of a large leisure class and the necessary serving if not -servant class, but also by a lack of faith in humanity, without which no -democracy is safe and enduring. To California has been transferred all -that unfaith gendered by the advent of the negro, and if there were ever -a chance to revive the institution of slavery, that state might offer -some hope for its revival. - -The Californians who fear for the white race because of the presence of -the Oriental, whom that fear has made vain, boastful, ungenerous and -reckless of the feelings of others, need to know that a greater danger -threatens the race--the decay of the democratic spirit, which languishes -and perishes unless it permits to all men free access to the best it -holds, regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." - -Because I had lost my "brag and bluster" and wished to recover them, I -took my guests, who were now homeward bound, to the one place which -might fitly crown their experiences--the Grand Canyon, where one is apt -to forget humanity and its fretting problems. - -I must confess that by this time I was quite worn out; for introducing -your country to a stranger is wearing business, especially when you are -dealing with _blase_ globe-trotters, who have done all the big things, -from the Alps to the Dead Sea, and have had to crowd into a brief month -the best which lies between New York and California. To do this with a -lover's adulation, endeavoring more or less skillfully to hide defects -and make the bright spots brighter still, may well tax one's nerves. - -I acted as a sort of shock absorber, for I determined that the journey -should be a joltless one for my guests; but in that I partially failed; -for not only did I receive the shocks myself, I could not keep them from -receiving some. - -One of the worst of these jolts I suffered at the Grand Canyon of the -Colorado. I was very sure of the Canyon itself; I knew it would put a -thrill into the Herr Director, and force an expression of it out of -him. I never worried about the Frau Directorin. We reached the Canyon in -that happy mood gendered by a combination of Harvey meals and Pullman -berths, and the sight of the friendly inn at the brink of the big -surprise, and the cheer of the big log fire in the raftered room drew an -involuntary exclamation of pleasure from the Herr Director. He -registered, then asked the clerk for a room fronting the Canyon. - -"Yes siree!" said the obliging young man as he attached a number to the -Herr Director's long and illegible signature; "I'll give you a room so -near that you can spit right into it." - -Naturally I received the first shock; a minute later it communicated -itself to the Herr Director. It did not reach the Frau Directorin, for -her English fortunately was still limited; she kept on looking at the -bright Navajo rugs, while the clerk smiled at his own smartness. The -Herr Director commanded to have his bags taken to his room, and turning -from the desk said: "Young man, I am a German, and I want you to -understand that we do not spit in God's face." - -The next morning the great Canyon was full of mist, and only faint -outlines of its titanic architecture were visible. As we stood at the -edge of the wondrous chasm, watching the last cloud being driven from -the depths as the moisture was absorbed by the dry, desert air, the Frau -Directorin was shaken by emotion as she gasped at intervals: "_Um Gottes -Himmels Willen!_" The Herr Director, his feelings better controlled, -said nothing; but after a long silence, muttered under his breath: "I -should like to throw that clerk down this abyss as a penalty for his -desecrating thought." - -Every few minutes I heard him saying, as he shook his head: "Just think -of it! Just think of it!" - -I did not disturb him or ask him what he thought of it for I knew he -could not tell, nor can any one. I think he felt as I felt, that all the -cities he had seen were as nothing compared with this wonder of nature; -that all the pillared post-offices and libraries which our cunning -hands have scattered over this broad land are trifling toys compared -with this templed miracle; that all our dreams of what we might paint or -fashion or carve, or build, are child's play compared with this, and -that we ourselves are mere nothings in the presence of what God hath -wrought here in stone and clay, in color and form. - -Never before had I so wished that I could rearrange the geography of the -United States as when we turned eastward from the Grand Canyon. If I had -the power of Him who shaped this earth I would have put it within a mile -of the Atlantic Ocean and within a stone's throw of the Hoboken dock, -and having shown my guests the Canyon, I would have put them on board -their home-bound steamer, and as they sailed away I would have cried out -with ancient Simeon: "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!" - - - - -XIII - -_The Grinnell Spirit_ - - -Between the Grand Canyon and the ship there might be "many a slip," -especially as I was to conclude my guardianship of the travellers in my -own town, prosaically placed in the great Mississippi Valley, which -consists of two plains--one at the top and the other at the bottom, -filled with corn and hogs, and most prosperous and contented people. - -The place towards which we journeyed holds two things which are the -biggest, most beautiful, and best things in the world--my home and my -work, both of which my guests wished to see. I was anxious that they -should; for there, if anywhere, they could come close to that I gloried -in most, the American Spirit. - -After the barren plains, the monotonous miles of sage-brush, and the -long, straight stretches of railroad tracks, it was good to look upon -green meadows and commodious farmhouses sheltered by groves of maple and -elm, and surrounded by great fields of young corn just peeping above the -black, rich clods. - -During the last few hours of the trip the Herr Director thought every -station at which the train stopped was our destination, and began -gathering his various belongings. When finally we reached it he jumped -out almost before the train stopped, so eager was he to see the place -where he was to spend at least a fortnight, and really see the American -home from the inside. - -Again fortune favored me. It was early June. The air was soft from -recent rains, the grassy lawns were wonderfully green; peonies were -opening their buds, adding touches of color, snowballs hung thick upon -the bushes, and blooming roses filled the air with sweet odors. - -It seemed as if our neighbors had conspired to make the town ready for -my distinguished visitors, and I could see that they enjoyed the peace -of it, the friendliness of the park-like streets, the sight of well-kept -homes set in gardens, and the cordial greetings of the people we met. - -Their appreciation of all they saw before reaching the house, and their -evident delight in the rooms prepared for them, not to mention their -astonishment at finding their trunks awaiting them there, afforded me -not only pleasure, but a great sense of relief; I felt that the race was -won. I had faith to believe that they would be happy in our town of six -thousand inhabitants, which is not unlike other places of the same size. -It has its public park, two or three shopping streets, churches, -schoolhouses, a few factories large and small, clubs, lodges, and all -the things of which like towns may legitimately boast; yet it has a -background peculiarly its own. - -It was founded by an intrepid pioneer who brought a colony of New -Englanders from the hills of Massachusetts to this treeless prairie, and -with the imperious will of his race said: "Let there be a town!" And -lumber was carted over miles of deep mud, cabins were built and there -was a town. - -And again he said: "Let there be a railroad!" And he diverted the course -of a great railroad system miles out of its way, and there was a -railroad. - -And he said: "There must be no saloon in this place!" So more than half -a century before strong drink was acknowledged to be a social and -physical foe, he had seen its true nature and put prohibition into every -deed of real estate, thus making it impossible for liquor to gain a -foothold. - -Years passed and he said: "Let there be a college!" and he brought one -across the state, and there was a college; a young, infant thing just -started by Christian missionaries who had come from the East, each of -them to plant a church, all of them to plant a college. - -This infant educational institution was put into its rude cradle in the -midst of an unshaded campus, and when it had grown to generous size, -with buildings to house it and trees to shade it, a cyclone swept the -campus bare, and instead of a joyous Commencement, which was but a few -days distant, there were funerals and desolation, wreck and ruin. - -On a pile of debris sat the same pioneer with a determined smile playing -upon his face, and at once, while the tears upon the mourners' cheeks -were still wet, he and others like him began rebuilding the town and the -college. - -Those men now "rest from their labor" in that bit of rolling prairie -saved from the plowmen and the harvester, and consecrated to hold our -dead until the great day. - -The morning after our arrival in Grinnell, the Herr Director and the -Frau Directorin, who, during our travels, had little opportunity to -indulge their fondness for exercise, walked out to the cemetery. It is a -beautiful, well-kept spot, but half spoiled by crowding headstones. From -it can be seen church steeples peeping through the elm trees which -shelter the town; the ugly stand-pipe and the tall chimney of our one -big factory. At our feet lay the little artificial lake where much -fishing is done, and sometimes fish are caught. As far as we could see -were prosperous farms with their comfortable homes, generous barns, -turreted silos, and wide meadows where calves and colts grazed. - -One of our virtues, the Herr Director thought, was that we do not boast -about our dead. Whatever boasting we do, and we do not boast too much, -it ceases when the earth covers us. He saw no fulsome eulogies carved -upon the headstones; often nothing but a name and the two dates of birth -and death. - -In the face of that great and last achievement we are very humble and -honest; although in our little cemetery lie buried men and women of whom -I should like to boast. They were the great, real Americans who worked -diligently, honestly and humbly, who left no huge fortunes to curse the -next generation; but built their modest homes, and before the roof tree -was lifted, had built a church and a schoolhouse. They put their tithes -into the Lord's treasury before they put money into a bank, and while -they were still wading through mud, anchored the college upon a rock, -making its growth and permanence their great extravagance. - -They believed in an austere Christ, but believed in Him implicitly, -followed Him consistently and left a legacy of simplicity, temperance -and frugality. - -Yes, I boasted of our dead to my guests. I boasted of that grim, -fighting man whose name the town bears, who was the personification of -the determined, American pioneer, the conqueror of mere circumstances. - -I boasted of that firm, unyielding, controversial Calvinist, George F. -Magoun, who ruled the college in his own stern way. He was the last, but -not the least of his kind, who built deep and strong and straight upon -the foundations of morality and religion; so that others could build -loftily and boldly. - -I led them to the grave where rests the body of his successor, the two -differing from one another in opinions and method at every point; for -the younger man was the forerunner of a new dispensation, its prophet, -disciple and martyr. Yet both men were made of the same stern, -unyielding stuff, and both rested their lives and the hope of life's -better things to come, upon the same foundation. - -When the names of those Americans who prophesied the day of the Kingdom, -who worked for it and suffered for it, shall be placed upon the honor -roll, the name of George A. Gates, now carved upon a modest monument, -will be found imperishably written there. - -Near by, under the shade of slender white birches, we saw the simple -shaft which marks the resting place of one of the Iowa Band, James J. -Hill, who holds his place in the annals of the college, not only because -he gave the first dollar to help found it, but because of the continued -loyalty of his sons. - -I wished my guests could have come to us before we buried the man whose -life spanned the old and the new--the white-haired, ever youthful, -eloquent teacher, Leonard F. Parker, who smiled benignly upon us all -until his eyes closed forever, and with their closing, a benediction was -gone. He was the type of missionary teacher who began his career in a -log cabin, who, whether he taught in a country school or in a great -State University, taught with a passion for men. The impress of his -personality remained with his pupils long after they had forgotten his -erudite lore. - -As great as these great Americans were their wives, and no one can ever -think of them as less than the equals of their husbands. - -If the American woman occupies a unique place in the world, it is not -only because the American man has been more generous than his European -brother, but because she has proved her equality. She has attained the -measure of rights and privileges still denied to most of her sisters -elsewhere because she earned and deserved them. - -We, the living, sons and daughters of these great teachers by birth and -by adoption, cannot hold in too high esteem the legacy they left us. We -do not know with as firm an assurance as we ought to know, how much we -owe to them, and that, if we waste our inheritance, we waste spiritual -forces which we cannot generate. - -They were all, in the true sense, provincial, narrow men. They thought -of America and of the world and of the world to come, in the terms of -their creed, their town and their college; while we who have circled the -globe and think in world terms first, and boast of wider vision and -larger faith, may be in danger of overlooking the fact that in our small -place and places like it may be decided the fate of America, and through -America, the fate of the world. - -The Herr Director was astonished and the Frau Directorin pained to find -that we lived in a servantless house and in practically a servantless -town; that we were our own cooks and housemaids, butlers and gardeners. -When the Herr Director saw me mowing my lawn in broad daylight he -wondered that I did not lose caste among my fellows. - -The Frau Directorin was remarkably adaptable. She delighted in wielding -the dustless mop (to reduce "the meat"), she dusted the bric-a-brac, and -out of the kindness of her heart and in spite of our protests, became -"first aid" to my wife. - -One morning, just as I was waking, I heard the rattle of a lawn-mower -under my window; not the quick, sharp, sustained noise which usually -arouses the neighborhood, but a slow, measured sound, by fits and -starts. In between I could hear puffing and panting, like that of a -small steam engine. When I looked out of the window I saw something -which my eyes could not believe. The Herr Director had begun mowing the -lawn, and I let him finish it. It pretty nearly finished him; but after -his bath and a generous American breakfast, he glowed from health and -happiness. - -"I never knew," he said, "the elevating power of physical labor. I think -I will take a lawn-mower home with me." - -The Frau Directorin put a damper upon his enthusiasm by reminding him -that he would have to take a lawn home with him too, and more than that, -the town itself; for in their environment he would not dare use the -lawn-mower even if he had one. - -I am quite sure now that the Herr Director would have liked to take my -little town home with him, with the lawn-mower and the lawn. If he -could have done so, he might have changed the course of empires. - -I urged him, if he really wished to annex us, to do it soon; for there -is no little danger that we, too, shall lose faith in the redemptive -power of labor, the sufficiency of little things, the grandeur of plain -living and high thinking, the exaltation of the humble, the inheritance -for the meek and the reward of the righteous. When we lose those, we -have lost that which, in our proud, provincial way, we call "The -Grinnell Spirit"--an integral part of the American--the World-spirit. - - - - -XIV - -_The Commencement and The End_ - - -There are some aspects of our American life which I tried to hide from -my guests. I kept as many of our national family skeletons as possible -in their closets, and made sure that the doors were securely locked. - -I was glad that the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin were to leave -this country before our insane Fourth of July, which we are endeavoring -to make sane. I did not care to have them here on Thanksgiving Day from -which, through the superabundance of turkey and cranberry sauce, the -element of Thanksgiving has been almost eliminated. I was profoundly -grateful that during their visit there was no election day with its -sordid partisanship, its ballot box, not yet sacred enough to make -beautiful or place nobly in some civic temple; but we did urge them to -remain over Commencement day, that most happy, sweetly solemn occasion, -unspoiled as yet by rich display. It is the great festival of our -democracy, shared by town and gown, when we open the gates to rich and -poor, to common opportunity and duty. - -We made no mistake in thus planning. The town wore its holiday air. From -farm and village, from many states, on every train, parents were -arriving, walking proudly beside their sons and daughters, in academic -garb. - -"Old Grads" were being welcomed back by _Alma Mater_, grateful to her -for having helped make life rich, and sweet, and worth living. They -hoped to place under her care their children and their children's -children, whom they had brought there to give them a foretaste of joys -to come. - -It was a wonderful experience for the Herr Director and the Frau -Directorin to meet them. They were feted and feasted; they wore class -and college colors, and entered into the spirit of it all as if they, -too, had been the children of Grinnell College. - -Among the graduates they met editors, lawyers and doctors who had come -back from the great cities; professors who had won academic renown, and -are serving the great universities; teachers who had carried into the -public schools the spirit of their college; preachers who have gained -prominence, and those who minister in humble places, faithful in their -obscurity and proud of their chance to serve. There were missionaries -who came back from the ends of the earth where they had started centers -of education, places of healing and temples of hope. - -They listened to stirring messages from pulpit and platform, to the -young dreams of minor poets who sang the lay of their class; to -historians who reviewed the four college years as a great epoch closed; -to prophets who predicted failure and success, and a golden day of -jubilee to the whole weary world, when this particular class got back of -it. - -On Commencement day they watched the dignified President conferring the -degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctor. - -At noon they attended the college banquet and suffered through the -after dinner speeches. - -That night on the crowded campus they enjoyed the Glee Club's joyful -songs, and then, worn to the last shred of their highly emotional -natures, walked home with us while the last strains of the Alumni Song -faded away into the night. - -The Herr Director talked until after midnight, telling of the many -things which pleased him. The religious dignity, the fine simplicity, -the natural, sweet, pure relationship between men and women; but above -all else, the democratic spirit from which these other things emanate. - -He had an apt way of singing snatches of German song of which he seemed -to command an unlimited supply; and as he mounted the stairs to his room -he sang: "_Ach, wenn es nur immer so bliebe._" (Oh, if it would only -remain so always.) Then followed the sad note which is the major one of -the German lyric: "_Es war zu schoen gewesen, es hatt nich sollen sein._" -(It was too beautiful and therefore could not be.) - -I knew it might not remain so beautiful always; but if life is worth -while at all, it is worth while struggling to keep it so. - -I do not know what share one person may have in influencing the current -upon which a nation is drifting; but I believe in the power of the -individual, and I shall "fight the good fight"--and a hard one it -is--and "keep the faith"--although it is not easy to keep it--faith in -God and men and in the American Spirit. - -Four weeks after the Herr Director and the Frau Directorin left us I -received the following letter. I have had some difficulty in translating -the involved and rather lengthy epistle into straightforward English, -but have done so that I may share it with my readers. - -MY DEAR FRIEND: - -We arrived home in safety after a rather stormy and uneventful voyage. -On board the ship we met a number of Lake Mohonk acquaintances, and -therefore the atmosphere which you tried to create for me surrounded me -even in mid ocean, and consequently you ought to be happy and contented. - -When we reached Washington half-cooked, for even your excellent -provisions for our comfort were unavailing against your terrific summer -heat, your friend and his automobile were at the station; just such a -friend and such an automobile as met us dozens of times before. - -If anything, this friend was a little more persistent than the other -species, for we were taken up and down and in and out, to everything -within fifty miles of Washington. We shook hands with half your -congressmen some of them seem to be professional hand-shakers, and my -hand aches at the thought of it. - -State Secretary Bryan received me most affably and talked about his -peace treaties. He didn't give me much chance to do any talking myself. -He seems so genuinely American; by that I mean simple and childlike in -many things, and complex and difficult to understand in others. - -He is neither a humbug as some of your papers say, nor a prophet as he -thinks himself. His faith in humanity and in himself is pathetically -colossal. - -It is amusing to find that you Americans, and you are the most American -of them all--you Americans who have invented cash registers and time -clocks, those symbols of unfaith in humanity, are so full of faith in -your relation to big, national and international problems. - -Your optimism may, after all, be due to your ignorance, coupled with the -fact that you are living in a land vast and isolated, which has not -quite exhausted its resources and opportunities. The most materialistic -people on earth in your relationship to each other, you leap into -remarkable idealism in the sphere of politics and diplomacy. If it is -true that "God takes care of children and fools," then God is taking -wonderfully good care of you Americans, who seem to me to be both. - -In our country we would put a man of Mr. Bryan's type in charge of an -orphan asylum, and feel that the children would be safe with him at -least till their twelfth year; and yet I know that he has done vigorous -fighting, and I shall give him a chapter in my book about America, which -as you know I intend to write and have already begun. - -It was quite a change of atmosphere when I went from the Department of -State to the White House. The President's secretary seems to me a man of -large calibre, kind, yet firm. A man to like and yet to fear; just the -kind of person a great man needs as a buffer against his friends, and as -a guard against his enemies. The atmosphere of the White House is -dignified, yet not cold; democratic, yet reserved; you feel that it is a -place of power. - -Above everything else you have done for me I want to thank you for -making it possible for me to meet President Wilson. He is not at all the -type of man I expected to find. There is nothing pedantic about him and -I do not know a man in any of our universities like him. He is not as -easy to analyze as Mr. Bryan, he is by far the greater, more complex -and stronger nature. He has the firmness which rulers should possess, -and may be too unyielding when once he has made up his mind to anything. -He knows more than Mr. Bryan but is not as dogmatic, not nearly as -friendly, and yet I came nearer to that which I sought in him, and I -think I understood him better. He let me do all the talking, but asked -all manner of questions; yet he told me more that way than Mr. Bryan, -who did all the talking. - -If President Wilson is a politician, he is a new kind which I have never -met before. I think he has made many mistakes, which of course is -natural. There is only one of your presidents who never made mistakes, -and that was President Roosevelt. He made blunders, which he had the -pugnacity and the sheer physical courage to turn into political capital, -and then blundered again. - -President Wilson was in the midst of the Mexican muddle when I saw him, -yet he seemed to me very well poised, and bearing his many burdens, not -like a martyr or a saint, but as a really strong man ought to bear -them. - -Of course you do not believe that I took your eulogies of America "_fur -baare Muenze_" (at their face value). There are two Americas and you are -living in but one of them. Your America lies in the high altitudes of -Lake Mohonk, Hull House, and Grinnell College. The other America which -you tried to hide from me I saw, just because you tried to hide it. It -is sordid, base, selfish, and above all strong; but that you do not seem -to know. - -You have _modified_ my view of America, but you have not _changed_ it. -You are still a big experiment as a nation, and I am not sure that it -will be a successful one. You have nothing to teach us in government, -business or education. Just one thing I envy you--your faith in your -unfinished country and in yourself as a force in its making. - -As you know, I do not share your faith; especially do I not believe that -one individual or many individuals can change the course of empires. - -You think yourself citizen, king and priest; but you are merely an -atom, a conscious atom of course, and in that and that alone, in that -you are conscious, and know yourself a part of the whole and believe -yourself an effective part of it, lies happiness. I enjoyed hearing you -talk about the American Spirit; you talked about the soul of a country -as if you had seen it and felt it and loved it. - -My dear friend, you do not know your own soul, nor the stuff out of -which it is made, and yet in your American conceit you talk about the -soul of a country. It was an interesting psychological study to watch -you, and it gave me much amusement as well as something to think about. - -I enjoyed you most of all in your own little town, your college and your -hospitable, beautiful home. I feared you would burst from pride and -complacency as you interpreted the "American Spirit" from that little -place; a speck, and not even a well-defined speck, on the map of your -country. - -You, a world traveller, have at last become a really narrow provincial, -I should say a very happy one, as provincials always are. You wanted me -to see your country through the June atmosphere of your Commencement; a -democratic, peaceful, rose-laden America. I saw it through the smoke and -grime of Chicago, the crowded tenements of New York, the injustice of -your courts and the corruption of your politics. - -Yet I am glad I saw _your_ America, and I want to thank you for your -ardent endeavor to show it to me as you want it to be, and not as it is. - -My wife sends her thanks and greetings. She received more benefit out of -her visit than I. I have had to promise to remodel the house, and put in -another bathroom which is to be between our bedrooms. The new bathtub -must be porcelain and we are to have an instantaneous heater. She still -talks a good deal of the "_gute_ cornflecks" and "grep frut" which we -both enjoyed so much. Above all she remembers the courtesy of the men, -and if the servant did not place her chair for her at table, I fear I -should now have to do it. - -America certainly is a Paradise for women, but it is "_Die Hoelle_" for -men. - -Remember that when you and any of your family come to Berlin you are to -be our guests. I trust you will come soon, for conditions over here look -dubious, and the war, "_der grosse Krieg_," may come before we know it. - -_Herzliche Gruesse von Haus zu Haus._ - _Auf Wiedersehen._ - - - - -XV - -_The Challenge of the American Spirit_ - - -I am sure the Herr Director will not object if I have the last word; for -while he was with me that privilege was seldom mine and obtained only by -dint of strategy. - -Since his departure, the great war which he prophesied has moved over -Europe and hides every bit of fair and peaceful sky like a storm-cloud; -its thunder and destructive lightning fill the air, leaving scarcely a -place safe and undisturbed. - -Not a soul is unafraid, not a heart is without pain and sorrow, and the -Herr Director himself, although past middle age, has volunteered to -serve in the trenches, slippery from oozing blood and foul from the -spattered brains of men. The "fiddling, twiddling diplomats, the -haggling, calculating merchants of Babylon, the sleek lords with their -plumes and spurs" have had their way, and the poor, blind, ignorant -millions, made mad by hate, do their brutal bidding. - -We, on this safer side, who as yet have not loosed the dogs of war, have -calculated the loss to Europe in the fratricidal slaughter of its most -virile men, in the loss of its arts and trades, in the wreck and ruin to -houses and homes and in the age-long poverty which awaits. Much counting -has been done as to what we shall make out of this sure bankruptcy that -is to come to the nations which are our competitors for the world's -trade, and what glory shall be ours when New York, and not London shall -be the new Babylon, with power to make the "Epha small and the Shekel -great." - -With the incalculable loss to the European nations there has come to -some of them a gain in national unity upon which under no circumstances -we may count. - -It has been with no small sense of pride that I have demonstrated to the -Herr Director and to others the fact that, in spite of our youth as a -nation, and the varied national, linguistic and religious rootage of -our population even in the Colonial period, we have grown to be one -people. Even the constant inflow of new and more varied human material -has not weakened us but indeed the sense of national unity has grown -stronger. I have watched with joy the processes by which this alien -element was becoming one with us, the fading away of animosities and -inherited prejudices, and the making of a new people out of the world's -conglomerate. - -The war has brought about a retardation of this process, and we shall -have great cause for gratitude if no permanent damage is done to our -nation's spirit, a loss for which no possible gain in any direction -could compensate. The term "Hyphenated American," which has now come -into use, if it indicates anything more than the place of a man's -national or racial origin, and the very natural sympathies arising -therefrom, is an insult to the man to whom it is applied, and a -confession of divided allegiance, if voluntarily assumed. - -It may be interesting to note that it was His Majesty, the Emperor of -Germany, who repudiated the hyphen when a German-American delegation -called on him on the occasion of some royal anniversary. - -When the delegation was introduced in this hyphenated manner, he said: -"Germans I know, Americans I know, but German-Americans I do not know." - -Although the hyphen has always existed, it has assumed new meaning in -these troubled days and is applied as a term of opprobrium, largely to -Americans of German birth; people who have always been loyal to the -country of their adoption, and, I think, are no less loyal now. - -If there has been wavering in their devotion, if the process of yielding -themselves to the ideals and interests of this country has been -arrested, they are not altogether to blame, and we ourselves are not -altogether blameless. - -It was thoroughly in harmony with the American Spirit that our -sympathies should go out to brave little Belgium, and turn from the -ruthless conqueror who was much nearer to us culturally and in greater -harmony with us spiritually. It was also natural for the German people -in this country to challenge the evident bias of the press, and the -resultant prejudices arising in the minds of their friends and -neighbors. Being German they knew what a German soldier is capable of -doing, and of what atrocities he is guiltless; although in the attempt -to defend their people they in turn became as unfair as we, condoning -every act of the Germans and besmirching their enemies. - -How far this bias can carry one is illustrated by the German pastor in a -neighboring town, one of the gentlest souls I know, who, when told of -the destruction of the _Lusitania_, said: "Thanks be to God, let the -good work go on." He will not have to live very long to repent of this. - -To match him I may quote a most lovable Quaker lady nearly ninety years -of age, who, with a violence in striking contrast to the Quaker -character, expressed as her dearest wish that she might be permitted to -kill the Emperor of Germany, and I am almost sure she was not alone in -that pious desire, even among the members of her family. - -The German press and the German pulpit have fanned this reawakened -Germanic spirit, not always from lofty motives, and many an editor and -pastor have found this antagonism a source of revenue and a hope of -perpetuating their influence. - -If the American press both in its news and editorial columns has been -painful reading to any one who loves fair play, it did not help him to -turn to the German press, whose utterances were made more distressing by -the fact that not infrequently they contained expressions bordering on -treason. Had their editors lived in Germany and spoken of the Emperor in -the same words which they applied to their President, their terms of -imprisonment, if combined, would reach into eternity. - -Even after the war the attempt will be made to keep alive this -antagonism, and if possible to widen the breach. It will be a serious -challenge to our national spirit, for I doubt that we can maintain a -vital unity unless it represents one country, one people, and one -language. - -I know of no way in which to meet this danger effectively; but I do know -that it is not through reprisals or punishments. Perhaps it is best to -hope that at the close of the war we shall all recover our sanity. -Certain it is that the American people have in the Germans in this -country too valuable and powerful an element to alienate, and the German -people who have made this country their home have too great a sense of -the value of it and its institutions, to them and their children, to be -willing to jeopardize the American Spirit, because of that which must be -but a passing phase in the history of our poor, misguided, human race. - -Besides the threatened break in unity, the American Spirit is being -challenged by a call to arms, not merely to avert any momentary, -threatened danger, but to be permanently safeguarded, prepared against -its predatory neighbors all around the globe. Whether those who join in -this call know it or not, or wish it or not, it means militarism. When -just such arguments were used for Germany's preparedness, when that -gospel was being preached with all possible fervor, one of the wisest -Germans said: "_Wehrkraft wird immer Mehrkraft_" ("Defensive power -always becomes offensive power"), and I am sure that the average -American will say that, in the case of Germany, this has proved true. - -If I were arguing for military preparedness, I would not be so insistent -upon the building of new fortresses, or the accumulation of ammunition. -I would insist upon training our children in obedience and reverence. I -would give them schoolmasters who know what they teach and who would -demand strict application to the curriculum. I would oppose the growing -pedagogic idea that the schoolroom is a playground, and that knowledge -may be acquired without hard work. I would restore the rod and banish -the coddler. I would call in our high school boys from the side lines, -from their vicarious athletics and their slavish imitation of college -customs, and teach them how to dig trenches and serve cannon, which -seem to be the chief need in modern military operations. - -It is folly to believe that the _fiasco_ of the Russian armies was due -to the lack of ammunition or of sufficient fortresses; it was due to the -lack of good schools and to the lack of discipline among its educated -classes. - -With the decay of our pioneer spirit, which is inevitable, with the -growth of a leisure class, with groups of men and women who know no -other way to justify their existence than to play bridge or go to Tango -teas; with a large class of people less unfortunately situated, who have -to work for their living, but from whom the state asks nothing in the -way of service except the payment of taxes which are easily evaded, it -is a great question how to keep our virility and how to foster a -patriotism which may be counted upon in the time of national danger. I -am fairly sure that some other way than the militaristic way ought to be -found. I am not sure that we shall find it; because only those who seek -shall find. - -There are some things we may profitably learn from Germany, and one is -the maintenance of a state which by its very nature will compel -devotion. A state deeply concerned with the well-being of every -individual; a state which sees to it that impartial judgment shall be -meted out, and that the scales do not tip to those who weight them with -gold. - -A state which eliminates graft and is able to train an efficient army of -public servants is more likely to gain and keep the loyalty of its -citizens than one which, although technically free, is shackled by -corruption and graft, and which, while giving each man the power to -become a king, places the major emphasis upon property rather than upon -person. Yes, we have a great deal to do to be properly prepared, besides -authorizing congress to spend millions for "reeking tube and iron -shard." - -What I most fear for the American Spirit is the loss of that which makes -it really American and truly Spirit, the loss of its democracy. I am -confident that the form of our government is not endangered, and -whatever military success may come to monarchic governments we shall -not envy them their kings nor put ourselves in bondage to them. If this -republic is still an experiment then we shall see the experiment through -to the end as a republic. - -I am also sure that we shall work out the problem which confronts us in -the relationship between capital and labor, and that we shall create -here an industrial democracy. The dissatisfaction with the present -system is growing daily, even among the so-called privileged classes, -and many a man, well favored by circumstances, is crying out with Walt -Whitman, "By God! I will not have anything which others cannot have on -the same terms." - -What I most dread is, that we shall be increasingly unable to be -democratic in our spirit, in our relation to those who are in any marked -way differentiated from us racially. Our caste system is daily growing -in strength, the social taboos are increasing in number, the spirit is -barred from moving freely among all classes and races, and thus is bound -to perish. - -The social boycott practiced against the Jews, and which is even more -thorough here than it is in Russia, may be followed by an economic -boycott, and what has but recently happened in Georgia makes such -occurrences on a larger scale not impossible. The attitude of the -American people both South and North towards the Negro is not growing -better, and it will take more than all the brave optimism of Booker T. -Washington to convince me that this is not true. - -It is anything but the American Spirit which greets the Japanese and -Chinese at the Pacific Coast, and the decadence of that spirit is daily -creating for itself new victims for its prejudices and hates. - -It seems to be a growing conviction that in order to foster our racial -integrity and self-respect we need to have contempt for other people and -make of them a sort of mental cuspidore. - -I know the difficulty involved in this problem. I believe it is the most -serious challenge which the American Spirit has to meet, and here and -here alone I confess my doubt as to its ability to meet it. - -This is no time, though, to turn doubt into despair, nor is it the time -for the calling of conventions and the organization of societies. It is -a time, however, for the strengthening of our faith in one another, for -renewed allegiance to humanity no matter how it is encased, for a -patriotism based upon something bigger than identity of race. It is a -time for mutual forbearance, for the divine gift to see ourselves as -others see us; for a supreme loyalty to our country, and a determination -stronger than death to make this country capable of winning the loyalty -of all its citizens. - -It is a time to glory in being an American and to become desperately -sure we have something in which to glory. Now as never before should -there be serious self-examination to see whether we have not sinned -against the Spirit. - -This is the time to accept the Challenge of the American Spirit and -prove that we are loyal enough to follow its guidance. - -PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -he does now know=> he does not know {pg 119} - -the progam marked out for her by the Emperor=> the program marked out -for her by the Emperor {pg 195} - -had little opportuntiy=> had little opportunity {pg 241} - -It is sorbid=> It is sordid {pg 258} - -Unausstelicher=> Unausstehlicher {pg 88} - -Unaustehlicher=> Unausstehlicher {pg 122} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Introducing the American Spirit, by -Edward A. 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