“BALLY HOO OPTIMISM”

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19377, 15 July 1937, Page 11

“BALLY HOO OPTIMISM”

THREAT TO DEMOCRACY PROFESSOR’S WARNING DANGER OF RACKETEERING (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, last night. A grave warning against the intrusion of “racketeering” into the channels of New Zealand administration, and criticism of what he termed a “ballyhoo optimism" of indifference and an indictment of civic complacency, were, uttered by Dr. F. W. Hart, professor of education at the University of California, in public addreses in the Town Hall under the auspices of the New Education Fellowship., He declared that the price of civic complacency was economic ruin, social disaster, and the death of democracy.

“Since the end of that tragic war we fought to make the world safe for democracy, we have seen democracies fall like frosted leaves in autumn rain,” Dr. Hart stated. “To-day democracy is on trial for its life, and unless we as citizens take the witness stand and testify that we are capable of governing ourselves wisely and intelligently, democracy will be banished from the face of the earth. I do not enjoy the role of an alarmist, but geese that cackled under the walls of Rome are credited with having rendered greater service than all the sleeping optimists within. Historically speaking, I would have preferred to have been one of the geese.”

Civic Complacency

Despite its wide practice, “ballyhoo optimism" had not turned the tide of depression in the United States of America, and it had taken millions of dollars to put men back into work. Moreover, it would take millions more to keep them there.

Dr. Hart outlined the desperate plight in which 4,000,000 people or the city of Chicago had been placed as the sole result of civic complacency. In 1932, Chicago was morally and financially bankrupt, the Board of Education alone being in debt for current expenses to the extent of £27,000,000, and the whole of the administration being in the hands of gangsters.

“I want to warn New Zealanders never to allow the ‘racketeer’ to gain a foothold in their community,” Dr. Hart continued. “Like a snowball, once started, he develops into an avalanche which is almost impossible to stop.”

To combat complacency, Dr. Hart urged greater individual and small group study of political, social and economic problems, in order that democratic responsibilities might be taken seriously. He advocated the formation of fireside forums and suggested that schools might be opened for public discussions. In the public schools themselves, he commended the inclusion in the curriculum of an intensive study of problems of current life in order that children might be educated to enjoy the full privileges of democracy.