MRS ASQUITH ON AMERICAN MEN.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3132, 28 August 1922, Page 2

MRS ASQUITH ON AMERICAN MEN.

Uncultured and money mad, but preeminently moral is the way. that Mrs Asquith, wife of the British ex-Pre-mier, describes American husbands in an article, "What I Think of American Men," in the July number of McCall's Magazine. Of uncertain temperament, he seldom enjoys art, music or fine books. He is happier, Mrs Asquith thinks, when about to go to work than to quit and likes to paint fences for relaxation. She continues:—"They seem to me to know the worth of many things in dollars and cents —a milliondollar residence, a two-niillion-dollar library, and so forth —but most of fliem devote their lives to making money and have not learned the value of it. "Arnold Bennett expressed himself well ui)on American men. He said that the happiest moment of the English business man is when ho puts his coat on to leave his office in the evening, and the happiest moment of the American business man is when ho takes it off at his office in the morning. "Leisure, to the American man means loss. He seldom enjoys art, he rarely enjoys music, he has no time to read, and leaves the things that go by the name of culture to his women—'culture chasers' they are called'; J understand 'culture,' but why 'chasers?' "The following story J heard in Washington. Two rich business men were discussing the opera. One said: 'Last night I took my wife to see Tristan.' " 'Was it good?' asked the other. " 'Medium. It makes you laugh,' was the answer. "The American man takes his wile to the opera because he likes to provide all the entertainment for her that money can buy; but for himself to entertain is the saddest of duties. He docs not do it well because he rarely enjoys himself. "Pre-eminently mora! by training audi conviction, ii is difficult to say how much temperament the American man lias; but though we pray not lo lie led into temptation the Lord's Prayer docs not forbid it. The Englishman is lively because his training in games makes for physical development. He is always out of doors, riding, bunting, sliooting. fishing and playing cricket or football. This gives him a good circulation and circulation is life. "The Americans are a prosperous, generous people, but they strike an outsider as spending too much of their time upon business. It is a kind of pleasure, but accumulation, whether of money, pictures or any other thing, is not really inspiring. It is apt to centre people upon themselves and this is a disadvantage. ', "I have been accused of saying the American man treats his wife as an expensive doll, but this is pure invention. I never know it' he thinks her his equal in spite of being both generous and polite to her. Husbands and wives do not appear to share their work with one another, which is not peculiar to this country, but partnership is not only necessary for the home but vital to every problem in life. "In spite of authors of distinction, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emerson. Lowell, Oliver Wendell Homes, Walt Whitman, and Henry and William James, the average American man that I know is not cultured. He sees things in what we call firm colors —blue, red, or yellow. He has no half tones and he does not give himself time to study 'the drab heroes of life.' "Not knowing the value of money or of leisure, he works too hard, and either refuses to exercise his intellect or is unable to enjoy other people's. There ns a great difference between intelligence and intellect. Mental agility is inclined to discourage intellect. It excites the brain; intellect develops it. and exhaustion of mind is as destructive as gin. "I am told that in the: middle West prosperous lawyers and business men, when they return from their offices, paint their fences by way of relaxation. This cannot be amusing for their wives, and while automatic pianos, movies and newspapers may divert the mind, they can never encourage the soul. "The Americans are not a nervous race; they are hurried, hectic and excitable, but they have not a nerve in their composition. They do not endure noise, they adore it. 1 cannot conceive a more devastating way of expressing high spirits. They have little or no apprehension and do not visualise danger. "America is more violent than free, and takes constant interference with cowliko obedience. Pavlowa must dance in long dresses; nor is it only women who are. forbidden to smoke in trains or hotels; in certain States the ruling applies'to men also. The other day i heard that the* manager of a bank in Newark prescribed a uniform for bis female employees, ft was to be of a dingy brown, the sleeves so long, neck :-o high and petticoats so many inches above the ground. This ridiculous request was met with unanimous obedience. Too many people over here make it their business to know what their neighbor is doing. "Details of private life are regulated by the State, or by some society that claims—and is tacitly accorded—police powers. If you do anything that you appear to enjoy, you may be quite sure some one will form a society to prevent you from going on with it. "This is a drilled and regimented nation, where everything is standardised. The worst of it is that the machinery which should bo resented kills tlio capacity for resentment."