THAT WORD "PRACTICAL."

White Ribbon, Volume 27, Issue 320, 18 February 1922, Page 8

THAT WORD "PRACTICAL."

At this moment, at any moment, several million men are saying to *ev« ml million other men: “You’r* a tbaortut." I have had It said to m< *o often that I'm beginning to wonder whether there aren't really four sexes in America men and w<>m«n, practical l»* rson.*> and theorist*. Thla, at Vaat, ia certain: There la one aure way to reveal your theoriam ask a pi act leal man what he mcana by the wont 'practical." He will b* Kin by looking at you with blank despair, a* If >ou had naked whether two and tw'o really make four. Il< will conalder your queatlon unneceaaary and tnaultlnic. and he will demonstrate Ha opinion. If a practical man defined “practical,** he would In that very moment beconv a theorist. For a theorist la not him; hut a man who triea to think aboo what he'* doinn: not satisfied with helm; on hla way. he wlahea to know when* he'a going Moreover, he'a not < ont< nt to ko any where at all or nowhere In particular. There la only one way to And out what "practical'' mean*-- watch what practical men do. That ia fairly almplc in America The great maaa of them govern thla country, ita induatriea. Ita life, and Ita labour. And In a world of practical men, thousand* of habica are badly horn, and thousand* die of atarvatlon. had air and Inatten. tlon. In a world of practical men. hundred* of thouaan<ta receive no education worth the mime There aren't even enough *< hool building* for chi Id ran. let alone tea<4»er*. bt alone competent teacher*. In a world of practical men. aeveral million children are prepared for their life work In sweatshops and factories. I will not insist here on the fantastic notion that every child should tie hnppy. In a world of practical m* n. hundreds of thousand.- of moth* r* devote themselves to the establishment of homes by working all day In factories and stores. Thla I* the practical way of promoting the efficiency of the next generation. There are also hundre<t* of thousand* of mothers who are enabled to tearh their children frugality and perseverance by turning the parlour Into a workshop In a world of practical men. thousands

die of overwork or starve for lack of work. In a world of practical men. there arc half a million people in lunatic asylums. In a world of practical men. the gaols are crowded. In a world of practical m« n, immense quantities of fpnd are poisoned. In a world of practical men, polit.c* la bought and sold. In a world of practical men the cos* of living la exorbitant. In n world of practical men. Infanta nnd idiots can inherit million* In a world of practical men, natural resources are wasted In a world of practical men, nation* go 1o war. In a world of practical men. there I* a panic about once every 10 y«ar*. In u world of practical neb, the strike and the lock out, the boy vtt and the black list are in use. In n world of practical men. thought ia hired, new* la manufactured. In 4i world of practical men, some are too poor, and some are too rich. And above all. In a world of practical non. no remedies are pro»*o<cd. That la the monopoly of theo»i*t*. If they might say a wont to the practical men It would, I think, he thla: “Gentlemen, as the rulers of a nation your success la not conspicuous. As we go among men, we find your pre.~ tige very much diminished, To Isquite frank, we don’t admire you enormously. We don't think your eyes and ear* are open wide enough to have learned the real feelings of this nation. We theorist* off *r you one hint, take It or have It: You are sitting on a pile of gunpowder, smoking a cigar." Walter l.tppmann, In •'Everybody’*."