Open forum, vol. 2, no. 8 (February, 1925)

`THE OPEN FORUM

A Pacific World Around The Pacific Sea

Vola tr LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY 21, 1925

No. 8

The Boys of the World

The article which follows was written by Tracy

Strong, son of Dr. Sydney Strong and brother of

Anna Louise Strong, for the World's Work Number

of the Scottish Red Triangle News-Kdinburgh.

* % *

A year ago I stood before 200 young people at camp

near Moscow, Russia. This month I am in camp

with Swiss youth near Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland.

-The time between these two events has been spent

in continuous travel. I have been tossed for five

days on the waves of the Black Sea and landed in

Bulgaria; Sweltered in January under the dazzling

sun in 0x00A7 pore; stood entranced before the world's

most beautiful building, the Taj Mahal in India;

been frozen in the blizzards of Mukden, Northern

China; been feted by friends in Japan, China and

Korea; said farewell for a time to my boy and young

men friends at home in Seattle, U.S.A.; caught the

spirit of the hills of Galilee, camped on the Mount of

Olives, rode camel back around the Pyramids of

Egypt, and am now living surrounded by the Swiss

Alps in Geneva, Switzerland.

What has been the reason for these wanderings?

Pleasure? I have enjoyed them, but not sufficiently

to make pleasure the purpose. Sight-seeing? It's

the most tiresome of all sports. Wanderlust? I

prefer the quiet of the mountains. No, none of these

alone. The main answer can be found in what

happened last summer at Portschach, Austria, at

the second World's Conference of Workers with

Youth of the Young Men's Christian Association.

A group of 900, representing fifty different nations,

at Portschach, caught a vision of the youth of the

world, 160,000,000 of them. They recognized "that

the national and racial antagonisms in the world

today form an overwhelming menace to the future

welfare of Humanity and are a flagrant denial of

the will of God for the world; and that a supreme

need of the world is the cultivation, among all youth,

of the mind and spirit of world brotherhood." They

not only resolved, but established at Geneva, Switz-

erland, in connection with the World's Committee of

the Y.M.C.A., a group of men who are facing this

world problem.

It has been my privilege to represent this group,

and in my wanderings I have eagerly sought an

answer to this question. `"What's in the mind of

Youth?" "Are they preparing themselves to be world

citizens?" "What are some of the signs among

youth which indicate a desire for world brother-

hood?"

These questions have brought many answers.

In a short article like this, however, I can only

touch on three general impressions.

My first impression is this:

How terribly ignorant I am! Ignorant of the

life, the needs, the desires, the hopes, the ideals

which surge in the hearts of youth in the different

countries of the world.

af r * . 0x00B0

Yes! How terribly ignorant the boys of Asia

are! I talked to a sroup of 100 Chinese boys, twelve

to Seventeen years of age, about my homeland. I

asked them this question: "How many here have

ever heard of the United States of America?" Not

a boy held up his hand. `How many have ever

parse of Hurope?" Still no response. We can laugh

i nn ignorance, but the fact remains, over half

Ree as young men of the world know practi-

ee ; 8 of the United States or Europe. The

an ee when any one place can be called

ntre of the world.

Yes!

a How terribly ignorant the boys of America

ae heen I've lived with them for fifteen

aasnens ee e. AS hey have taught me some of life's

needa, Gnd oo ; hee auve made me sensitive to the

conndane ` mERICR: Of youth. They have given me

anne oo . youths ideals and longings, have in-

in me for World brotherhood and peace;

.

have helped me to know my Christ and have faith

in the ultimate triumph of His cause.

Yes! How ignorant you are! Do you know some-

thing of the young men in Szechuan? the Senandan

in Japan? the Konsomol in Russia? the ideals of the

Swiss boys? the sacrifice of the Sikhs in the Pun-

jab? the feelings of the young Hgyptians who have

gained a form of self-government for the first time

in 5000 years? the Fascisti in Italy? These are but

a few of the world's movements which are making

history and preparing the youth of different parts

of the world for life. You will meet these youths.

Are you seeking to understand them?

My second impression concerns youth itself:

The youth of the world is alive. Not all youth.

In all countries there are the loafers, the ``sports,"

the blustering, sensuous, quarrelling, bullying, bluff-

ing youth. They count in the population, but not as

the real nation builders. It's the youth who thinks

and acts, longs for a better world and tries to real-

ize it, that is worth while. This youth is not dead.

Its ideals are noble. Its purposes are heroic in the

highest sense of the word. It is studious, industri-

ous; it leaves bluff, intrigue, propaganda to the in-

capable and mediocre. These are the youth which

count. Let me tell you of some of these youth.

I walked through the ruins of Yokohama. It was

a junk pile. Houses flat, buildings changed to brick

piles, streets filled with holes, petrol tins flattened

and used for "shacks." Everything in ruins. Ma-

terially Yokohama was dead. The whole scene called

for one answer: Discouragement. The spirit of

the people and the youth told another story. There

was little comment about the earthquake, seldom

a complaint about their losses, but ceaseless activity

in reconstruction. Among the first stores rebuilt

were book-stalls. The latest books of all countries

filled the shelves. Youth hungry for knowledge

crowded these shacks. When they had no money to

buy books they stood in those temporary book stores

and read by the hour. The earthquake was an in-

convenience, but could not crush the desire for

knowledge of Japanese youth.

I chatted one evening with a group of Burmese

and Karren students. They had just beaten me at

tennis, and I had a wholesome respect for them.

They were Buddhists, Christians, and Hindus in the

group. As we talked together that evening they

asked the following questions: "The Buddhist

movement has been in Burmah for 1000 years. Dur-

ing that time no separate denomination or move-

ments like the Reformation have developed. Is that

due to the strength of Buddhism or the sluggishness

of the Burmese?" "Do you consider fasting a neces-

sary supplement to prayer in Christianity?" `What

is the difference between a Christian and a non-

Christian in the leading of an upright life?" "When

I feel lazy and sluggish about Christian things what

must I do to liven up?" I realized again how pro-

vincial we become if we live unto ourselves alone.

A few weeks later I visited the school of Rabin-

dranath Tagore in India. A young Indian of eighteen

was a visitor with me. Much of his life had been

spent in Afghanistan. He spoke reverently of two

men, Tagore and Gandhi. One represented to him

the spiritual, poetic longings of the race; the other

the political, idealistic aspirations. As I -watched

him worship Tagore from afar, I caught a glimnse of

the secret of the life of the Indian youth. I realized

why many religions had been started in India. There

was a reverence for a leader the like of which I

had never seen. This youth of eighteen years was

but one of millions of Indians who seem to welcome

imprisonment, torture, and death for the sake of an

ideal. He had little interest in machinery, speed,

organization, efficiency, and the system we often

worship. His life consisted in the beauty of thought,

spiritual ideals, longings for brotherhood, and those

ee ae oe % LR

Scott Nearing--Ahoy!

Every forward minded man and woman in South-

ern California, and as far as possible all up and down

the Pacific Coast owes it to himself or herself to hear

Scott Nearing on his present tour of the Pacific

Coast. He is to be in Seattle February 23, 24, 25;

in San Francisco and vicinity February 27, 28 and

March 1; in Los Angeles March 2, 3, 4. You can

hear him three evenings running in Los Angeles

and get a three months' trial subscription to The

Open Forum for yourself or some friend for the sum

of One Dollar.

You spend three times a day for your stomach.

Don't be chary about spending for an hour of such

opportunity for your head. Get your tickets in

advance. For sale here, at the Church of the New

Social Order, at the Sunday night Open Forum in

Music-Art Hall, and elswhere. Ask for them, or send

money here, 506 Tajo Building, Los Angeles.

oe SEE oe SR We SERS:

inner forces which we have turned too often into

steel, inventions and business. As I left him, and

as I left India, an unanswered question was in my

mind. `Who knows, in the long stretches of time,

which has found the true way of life?' Of one

thing I was certain. We need much that India

has to give, just as she needs much of what we can

offer.

Let me raise the curtain for an instant on Russia.

Never before has the world staged such a drama.

With its arts, its music, its dances, its scenes of

revolution, blood, famine, and rebuilding, Russia to-

day presents a story little understood, but a story

in which youth is having a tremendous part.

I visited one of their camps for boys and girls. A

few facts: No leaders over twenty years of age;

forty leaders sixteen to twenty years; 200 boys and

girls twelve to sixteen years of age from the homes

of workers; camp supported by trade unions and

factories; games, studies, pets, hikes, drawing, oc-

cupied the time. It was a good camp. Leaders were

keen, enthusiastic, determined; children were neat,

happy and healthy. My main criticism was their

training in anti-religion and a certain attitude on

the part of the leaders that they had discovered the

whole truth of life. I realized as I left Russia that

if the youth of the various nations who believed in

religion were to show the youth of Russia the false-

ness of their position of anti-religion, it was to be

done not by force, hate, aloofness, but by a spirit

of goodwill and enthusiasm and lives which demon-

strated their faith in the God of Jesus.

One other experiment from life. Down on the

shores of the Black Sea near Constantinople there

is a camp. Boys of many races have camped to-

gether. Fathers had killed one another; sons lived

together in peace, and after the experience sent this

testimony to the world.

"At a time when the whole world needs peace and

prosperity based upon international friendship and

goodwill, we, the campers of the Constantinople

Y.M.C.A. `Camp Perry' at Kilios-on-the-Black-Sea,

representing twelve different nationalities, desire to

join hands with young people everywhere in promot-

ing the growing -movement for peace among all

nations.

Let me close with an appeal from a youth of

seventeen to `the boys of the world."

"It is a trite remark to make when we Say that

the future of the world is in our hands, but never-

theless it is perfectly true. We have three alterna-

tive ways of spending our lives. In the order of

difficulty they are:-

(a) An attempt to gain money and a `position

in the world'-a life lived purely for ourselves.

(b) A comparative withdrawal from both the

pleasures and the responsibilities of the world

-a life spent in an attempt to do no wrong.

(c) A consecraticn of ourselves to the needs of

others-a life where we not only strive to

do no wrong, but equally to do all good, not

for ourselves, but for others.

"When we look at the present state of the world,

none of us can feel very Satisfied with it. But still,

most of us have received something good from the

world, and so we have a double motive for trying

to give something in return. In the first place, there

is the desire to make it a better place for those whe

come after us, and in the second, we have a debt

to repay."

Youth makes the challenge. Youth must make

the choice.

PORT Sa hen SALTED ROSES REAR EE OT

Re See eee ous SANE. CRO TLE CENA TURP CO ONL

Man and His World

By Robert Whitaker

VI

HISTORY AND US

There is a SHTTING of history. There is a

PROCHSS of history. There are more or less

clearly marked EPOCHS, or stages of history. There

is a MOVEMENT of history. Briefly and broadly

the meaning of these aspects of history has been

set forth. But what have they to do with us, in

our daily lives today? And what have we to do

with the story of the past so far as present uses

and future determinations are concerned? That

is what we have in mind in speaking of HISTORY

AND US.

"Posterity! Posterity! What has posterity ever

done for me?" asked a foolish member of the

English House of Commons when appeal was made

to the interests of posterity on behalf of a certain

bill. There are some who would paraphrase it and

say, "History! History! What has history ever done

for me?"

Well, it has done a good deal to you, whether it

has done anything for you or not. Actual history is

but another name for social experience. Now every

man of sense will admit that he is very much the

sum of his own experiences. If he has more sense

he will admit even more readily that he is the sum

of social experience far beyond his own. The

WORLD SETTING, the WORLD PROCESS, the

WORLD EPOCHS, the WORLD MOVEMENT, have

all had a tremendous say as to where we are, as to

who we are, and to what effect we are. Our in-

dividual experience is to the total experience as

the drop of water to the sea.

But history, as it is told, and not only as it hap-

pened, is of utmost consequence to us all, because

we are affected not only by what has been, but

by what we believe has been. When Henry Ford

called history "bunk," he spoke superficially, even

though he meant nothing more than that learning

a lot of dates and names has very little value for

the practical man. Learning that sort of thing may

not be of much meaning to you, but that your teach-

ers spend their time in teaching that sort of thing

ought to mean something to you. Do you know why

there is so much "sawdust" in history teaching?

Because the "sawdust" keeps those who are sup-

posed to be scholars from looking into real things,

and telling the truth about them so that plain folks

can understand it. It is part of the propaganda of

suppression, even where it is not consciously direct-

ed as such. Schools must deal with husks, lest

the scholars get at the corn.

But the matter goes farther than this. The teach-

ing of history is, and always has been a form of prop-

erty. It is very valuable property just now. "Let

me write the songs of a people and I care not who

makes their laws," is an old saying. Not less force-

ful is the paraphrase of it, "Let me write the his-

tories of a people and I care not who you elect as

their rulers." The rulers will do what the drive of

popular tradition compels them to do. The early

Greek stories were propaganda stories, to stir up the

hearts of the young Greeks to belfeve in themselves

and their rulers and their institutions, to the end

that the vested interests might be continued in pow-

er. That is what history telling is yet. "All art is

propaganda," says Upton Sinclair. Certainly the

art of story telling is, either the propaganda of

diverted interest or of interest in supporting things

as they are.

The telling of history was never such a power-

fully organized, adroitly directed, and valuable men-

opoly as it is today. American history,. as it is told,

not as it happened, is more valuable to the American

plunderbund at this hour than was ever the Chinese

opium traffic to the British government. And the

traffic in historical "bunk" is more mischievous than

the traffic in drugs. There is no single item of world

`menace more ominous for world welfare today than

is the substitution of patriotic piffle and claptrap

for American history. Study that item honestly and

intelligently, and you will get an inkling as to what

history writing and history teaching has to do with

world affairs, and with your own affairs.

But what have you to do with the ownership

and control of this telling of history?

Well, you have first of all to recognize the fact.

It is something to be on your guard against national-

istic slush and braggadocio. National pride is built

mainly on lies, or an unreal handling of the truth.

War preparedness calls for a campaign of falsehood

as distinctly and emphatically as it calls for ships

and guns. No war can be put over unless the soil

has been mucked heavily in advance with "rot."

Hvery man who has intelligence and diligence and

courage enough to seek reality about world history

is weakening the insanity of local and national

egotisms on which war is built. "If the real story

of any man's life was written out on his forehead

he would pull his cap down over his eyes." `So

would any and every patriot, if his country's actual

story was told. Get the facts if you want to cure

conceit.

But do not imagine from this that scandal is

history. Making devils of great historic characters

is even more vain than making heroes of them.

It is studying them as men, and even more it is

studying them as items in the social mechanism that

is of real consequence. To prove Washington a hyp-

ocrite or Lincoln a fool would get us nowhere if any

such case could be made out against them. The

real issue is not concerned with either white-washing

them or black-washing them, but with understanding

them and their relation to the vast social forces

which worked in and through them. And that calls

for neither praise nor dispraise, but for something

much more difficult than either.

More difficult yet is it to deal intelligently with

the story of nations, especially when those nations

are still very much alive. Yet worse than deifying

or devilizing a Washington or a Lincoln is it to

deify or devilize a whole people. National prejudice

is a reverse expression of self-conceit, and _ self-

conceit of a very ignorant and indolent sort. It is

easier to hold prejudices than it is to study causes

and get at facts in their world relations. But Eng-

land as she has been, and is, can only be under-

stood as the story of England is studied in relation

to the setting of physical circumstance in which she

is, and as a part of the world process, especially that

process as it has worked out during the last one

hundred and fifty years. Quite as true is this of

the United States of America. The difference be-

tween Americans now and Americans a hundred

years ago is not that we are merely ten times as

numerous. Neither is it a difference in thinking

power, or moral achievement. It is a difference in

our relations to the world setting, in the development

of the world process, in the stage of world history

to which we have come, in the momentum of world

affairs. And what is true concerning the British

Empire and the United States of America is true

of every people under the sun.

Bible faddisms and fanaticisms grow out of ignor-

ance of the historical approach to the Bible. Na-

tionalistic faddisms and fanaticisms , grow out of

ignorance of the historical approach to the world

story. But in neither case can history be separated

from the understanding of the industrial process, if

it is to be real history and not just academic stuff.

The geographical factors in history are being recog-

nized, and some American writers, as Ellen C. Sem-

ple, of Louisville, Kentucky, have done noble service

on this line. `The Frontier in American History,"

by Prof. Frederick C. Turner, of Harvard is another

piece of more than ordinary historical work. But

even these advanced interpreters of world experience

lack "the one thing needful" to the illumination of

our human story, and most emphatically to that

human story as it is working out today.

They lack that identification of themselves with

the new industrial order which is rising, and which

is sooner or later to capture the whole earth, by

which alone can the story of the past and the situa-

tions of the present be understood. It is next to im-

possible that we can have a real writing of world

history with any considerable success `until `we

have the new order here in sufficient strength to

have developed its own scholarship on a world scale.

I have but given some hints here of the lines which

such histories will follow. They will not be written

by the upper classes, nor read in any great measure

until upper classes have ceased to be. Neither will

our middle class of today produce them. `World re-

latious in their actualities can only be seen by those

to whom the vision of class relations has been

opened. All history has been an economic story.

All history has turned on the measure in which man

has produced a surplus above that which he con-

sumed, and upon what became of that surplus. All

history has been in fact the class struggle, the domi-

nance of the few over the many, whatever disguises

that dominance has assumed and does today assume,

and the play of life toward making such dominance

more difficult and impossible and more inevitable

that slowly rising solidarity of the workers of the

world through which alone can our social salvation

come.

BRISBUNK

There are few men who know the ministers an 0x00B0

better

than does John Haynes Holmes, who edits UNITY,

formerly published by Jenkin Lloyd Jones. This, as

too many people need to be told, is not the Ney -

Thought publication of the same name, sent forth

from Kansas City, but is an older and a bolder

publication, with a much wider range of thought,

Every now and then we are quoting from UNIRY

and we want it to be understood what paper it is,

the churches, and `nice people" generally,

and wish that more of our readers would take

occasion to get acquainted with it. We will send a

sample copy to any address for ten cents, or you can

get one from the office of publication at 700 Oak.

wood Blvd., Chicago, Ill. Francis Neilson is eo-editor

with Holmes, and the staff of contributing editorg is

large and very able.

The following quotation is from a recent issue of

UNITY, and if not chosen by Dr. Holmes `himself,

aS we think it was, voices we are sure his own

healthy reaction to the sort of peace talk that ig

running through the churches just now. The writer

from whom UNITY quotes is Havelock Hillis, one

of the foremost thinkers of the world today, and a

man who also knows those whom he dubs here as'

the "superior people" as well as does any man of.

our time. Whether he is as pronounced a pacifist

as Holmes I cannot say, but he is a careful, coura-

geous, and consistent opponent of war. This paper,

THE OPEN FORUM, is emphatically for peace and

against the whole military mood and machine. But

we are putting this quotation under the head of

BRISBUNK because we are most thoroughly con-

vinced that there is no more dangerous piece of

shamming in the world today than most of the peace

talk that the pious and the proper people are getting

off just now. Those who mean business in getting

rid of war will do well to take Havelock Ellis' words

to heart, and be on their guard against the "guff"

the mere peace-chatterers are giving us.

* * *

"When, as go often nowadays, I come upon the

lofty contemptuous horror of war professed by Su-

perior People. I fear I am overcome by nausea,

For where were these Superior People in 1914? They |

write in the very organs of public opinion which a

few years ago were the resonant mouthpieces of

War and Patriotism, the glorification of ourselves

and the vilification of our enemies, and the tone of

the voice, the turns of the phrasing,

of superiority, are all the same.

neither better nor worse than

the complacency

War today is

it has ever been,

merely a little more intensive because of our in-

creased skill and a little more extensive because of

the increased swarming of our much multiplied race.

Long before thig last war there were those who

knew and struggled with the problems of this evil

thing and used their little strength to try to mould

the world betimes that it might be eliminated. No

man marked. And now this empty chaff of Superior

People, that was blown along so gaily and irrespon-

sibly when the wind of war raged, is blown along

just as gaily and irresponsibly now when the wind is

changed, with never a glimmering sense of its own

imbecility. .. One cannot help feeling that it might be

better... it the Superior People . . .were HONEST

Fools. `We shout for peace today,' they might then

tell us, `we are all Pacifists just now. But wait a while.

The day will come. Once more we shall shout for

War as in 1914. Once more we shall joyfully send

our Heroes to glory and erect hideous memorials

to them afterwards. Once more we shall raise the

banner of the War-to-end-War. Once more we shall

cast the Poison-Gas of our hatred over the world.

That would be folly, but it would be honest folly.

It would be the true prophecy of men who knew

themselves."

-Havelock Ellis, in "Impressions and Comments.'

Quoted in UNITY, Chicago, III.

---__ ht

"To exalt patriotism without exalting war at the

Same time is like going out to swim without going

near the water."

2

Fanny Bixby Spencer.

Jak:

itor

S is

elf,

wn

Pag

iter

one

da

as"

Ou

fist

per, '

and

But

of

-On-

of

ace

ing

ing

rds

ft

*

the

Su-

ea, ,

ng

all

he

FROM

*K

The Spirit of

Patriotism

Fanny Bixby Spencer's strong protest against the

foolishness and viciousness of "The Star Spangled

Banner" as a song for school-children has of course

prought forth a chorus of condemnation from the

politicians and patro-maniacs. Most of the stuff is

only fit for a literary museum and as such is being

- preserved by Mrs. Spencer herself. But the follow-

ing letter, and Mrs. Spencer's fine reply is too good

to have unpublished, so we gladly pass it on.-Ed.

* * *

January 31st, 1925.

Miss Fanny Bixby Spencer:

_ After partly recovering from the shock following

the reading of that terrible insult you offer to our

country and to our flag, my first idea was to read

it again, to be convinced that my eyes had not de-

ceived me. They had not. Hvery word I read still

popped out before me in all its atrocious nakedness,

and the more I read the more I "blushed for shame"

but not for the song that was-and is-a tribute to

our flag. a

Tam still blushing, if the redness representing the

fire that has been raging within me for the last two

days, could be called blushing, I could "blush for

shame" to think-first-a woman, second-a Cali-

fornian (be it hyphenated or native born)-and third

-that anyone bearing the name of Spencer should

be so devoid of the feeling of love and reverence we

hold for that song to our flag.

Every child in his or her school will swell anew

with pride unknown before when he or she sings

that song and remembers that you tried to throw

an insult at it. I am a native born Californian and

again could "blush for shame" to think that this

grand State-of all the Union-could harbor, protect

and nourish a creature that would defile it in such

a vile manner.

CSigNCd) ees eos ce Spencer.

(First Name Withheld)

* * *

February 9, 1925.

My Dear Miss Spencer:

I thank you for your letter of January 31st which

seems quite earnest though somewhat hysterical.

Some people hold one thing sacred and some an-

other. To you the flag is sacred; to me it is not.

To me all human life is sacred; to you, evidently,

it is not. I had three forefathers in the American

Revolution. One of my grandfathers was in the War

of 1812, and the other in the Civil War. In spite of

this heritage (or because of it) I have repudiated

all war and have renounced nationality. "The world

is my country; to do good is my religion." The

people of all the world are my compatriots, regard-

less of nationality, race, creed or color.

Like you, I am a native Californian. My father

came to the gold mines in 1852. Later he was in

the sheep raising business near San Juan, and final-

ly settled in Los Angeles County on a twenty-seven

thousand acre sheep ranch, in pioneer days. I was

five years ago. So you see I am a part of California

born in an old Spanish adobe ranch house forty-

and California is a part of me.

In spite of my innate Californianism, I feel no

enmity toward Arizona, Kansas, or New York. In

the same way I am locally an Amercan, but I love

the English, the Germans and the Japanese equally

with the Americans. They are all my fellow country-

men in the great commonwealth of humanity. I

cannot uphold a song that expresses hatred for my

brothers anq exults over the shedding of their blood.

When you think these things over a little your

anger may cool down. I am sending you, under

Separate cover, a copy of my pamphlet "The Repudi-

ation of War." I hope that you will read it with an

Open mind. I am also enclosing some verses which

I wrote on "My Native Land is all the World."

Yours very sincerely,

Fanny Bixby Spencer

P.S.-You n

me. 4 1 need not

that [

: worry about being related to

bencer is my married name; Bixby the name

was born with.

VARIED

*

FORUM PUZZLES

No. 1

Why are our banks all housed in plain, modest

little shacks while the working class in the United

States all live in fine, splendidly furnished mansions?

Why, indeed? Read this item for the reply.

* % * *

The net profit made by 25 national banks in New

York City from September 14, 1923, to October 10,

1924, according to the "Financial Age" in its issue

of last November 1, is equal to 33 per cent of the

capital stock. It amounted to $53,924,500, of which

$42,083,500 was paid in dividends to shareholders

and $11,841,000 added to surplus and undivided

profits.

No. 2

The big group of business men which is trying to

raise a million-dollar fund to counteract the propa-

ganda in the Hast that is reducing the flow of tour-

ists and dollars to Southern California to a notice-

able degree will receive neither dollars nor sympa-

thy from me. W already have many more people

here now than we can employ at proper wages, or

decently house at reasonable rents, and the question

of a reliable and plentiful water supply is becoming

a serious question. Among the leaders of this move-

ment is Ballard of the Edison Company, which is

doing more to prevent the obtaining of water and

power from the Coolrado River, our only remaining

source of supply, than any other of the enemies of

public ownership now holding up favorable action by

Congress. Why the merchants, bankers, and others

of the Big Business element who realize that Los

Angeles now is standing still and cannot progress

without the fruition of the Colorado River project

do not read the riot act to Ballard, Chandler, Fred-

ericks, and men of that type is past understanding.

P. D. Noel, in Labor Press.

* * *

We will give a psychic picture of General Otis

shaking hands with Saint Peter to anyone who can

furnish a real reply to this query and get it pub-

lished in The Los Angeles Times.

ir ---_-_-_-

Hear Scott Nearing, March 2, 3, 4 at Knights of

Columbus Hall, Los Angeles. Season ticket, with

three months' subscription to Open Forum, One Dol-

lar.

The Bissest

Cross-word Puzzle

Are you crazy over cross-word puzzles? Lots of

folks are nowadays. Untold hours are being devoted

to this new form of indoor sport. And upon the

whole I judge the diversion is a rather wholesome

one-certainly much. more worth while than end-

less gadding to parties, movies, and numerous other

places where the crowds surge to while away the

time that hangs so heavily upon their hands. To

become familiar with a good number of English

synonyms enlarges one's vocabularly and may per-

haps help to open new windows into the brain. So

I am rather pleased to note that the newest fad

has taken a semi-intellectual turn, and promises to

bestir the sluggish gray matter in many atrophied

craniums.

But has it not occurred to you that the devotees

of this popular pastime are passing up the biggest

cross word puzzle of them all? What do I mean?

This: that the cross-word puzzle as we meet it daily

in the press is simply a skilfully woven together

fabric of interlocking words, while all about us the

great cross-word puzzle of the world itself lies

spread before our vision, unstudied except by a few

and misunderstood by the great mass of our fel-

lows.

If only we could get folks to looking into the ele-

ments that go to make up the life of the world of

which we are a part-I. mean to really penetrate be

neath the surface of things and seek to understand

the mighty currents of history-what a fascinating

VIEWPOINTS

*K

Red Wit

THE INTELLIGENT AMERICAN

While engaged in a free speech argument the

other day I quoted Amendment 14 of the U. 8S. Con-

stitution, which reads: "No State shall make or en-

force any law which shall abridge the privileges or

immunities of citizens of the United States."

"But," said my opponent, ``that doesn't say any-

thing about cities-certainly cities have more power

than States have."-L.O'D.

A REGULAR OPTIMIST

"Ts your husband an optimist?"

"Well, he's an optimist in hoping for the best,

but he's a pessimist in working for it."

SPEEDING UP

A Washington road sign painter suggests the fol-

lowing signs for railroad crossings:

"Come ahead. You're unimportant."

"Try our engines. They satisfy."

"Don't stop. Nobody will miss you."

THE ATTRACTIVE COLOR

A wealthy girl from America was attending a

social function at a country house in England.

"You American girls have not such healthy com-

plexions as we have," said an English duchess to

the girl. "I always wonder why our noblemen take

such a fancy to your white faces."

"It isn't our white faces that attract them," re-

sponded the American girl; "it's our greenbacks."

HE KNEW HIS FLOCK

Pastor (addressing church fair): "My dear friends,

I will not call you `ladies and gentlemen,' since I

know you too well."

PRAYING WITH OPEN EYES

A visitor at the capitol was accompanied by his

small son. The little boy watched from the gallery

when the house came to order.

"Why did the minister pray for all those men,

papa?" he questioned,

"He didn't. He looked 'em over and prayed for

the country," was the answer.

BE GLAD THAT YOU LIVE IN LOUISIANA

San Francisco, Calif..-Two boys were drowned,

several persons were injured and citrus crop dam-

age estimated at $100,000 was reported from Southern

California today as the result of cold weather which

forced the thermometer below zero at points in Cali-

fornia, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.

-Llano Colonist

A DAY LATE

Two Scotsmen decided to become teetotallers, but

McGregor thought it would be best if they had one

bottle of whisky to put in the cupboard in case of

illness.

After three days Sandy could bear it no longer,

and he said, `McGregor I am ill."

"Too late," said McGregor, "I was

yesterday!"'

ill all day

at

Hear Scott Nearing, March 2, 3, 4 at Knights of

Columbus Hall, Los Angeles. Season ticket, with

three months' subscription to Open Forum, One Dol-

lar.

and useful pastime it would prove to be. We

might discover by such a process the underlying

reasons for'racial antipathy, the cause of poverty

in a world that is fabulously rich in all material

things, the fundamental forces that have operated

to produce wars, and many other obscure phenom-

ena that are baffling us at the present time.

Social understanding is the crying need of our

time. To be able intelligently to trace the forces

that have shaped the history of the human race and

have brought us to the present conditions is more

desirable than to possess lore of any other kind.

This is the true education that must be stressed

more and more if we are to be saved from the

abyss. Man must first understand his world before

he can properly align himself with the constructive

forces that are operating in it. Let us then give

ourselves to this task-to the solving of the mighty

cross-word puzzle of the world itself.

Creda

THE OPEN FORUM

Published every Saturday at 506 Tajo Building,

Los Angeles, California, by The Southern California

Branch of The American Civil Liberties Union.

Phone: TUcker 6836.

MANAGING EDITORS

Robert Whitaker Clinton J. Taft

LITERARY EDITOR

Esther Yarnell

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

J H. Ryckman

Doremus Scudder

Ethelwyn Mills

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

Fanny Bixby Spencer

Leo Gallagher

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year, Five Cents

per Copy. In bundles of ten or more to one address,

Two Cents Each.

Advertising Rates on Request.

Entered as second-class matter Dec. 13, 1924, at

the post office at Los Angeles, California, under the

Act of VMareh. 73," 13819:

SATURDAY, FEB. 21, 1925

COMING EVENTS

RR CE OS KEK OK IK

Hear Scott Nearing, March 2, 3, 4 at Knights of

Columbus Hall, Los Angeles. Season ticket, with

three months' subscription to Open Forum, One Dol-

lar.

ee

is

Los Angeles Open Forum, Music-Art Hall, 233

South Broadway, Sunday evening at 7-30 o'clock,

SY

gn

I. B. W. A. FORUM

At the Brotherhood Hall, 515 San Julian St.

Sunday Afternoon Meeting 2:30 P.M.

All are Invited to Attend

Geo. McCarthy and J. Hads How, Committee

Se ee ee,

OPEN FORUM every Saturday evening at 8:00 P.M.

I:W.W. HALL, 224 S. Spring Street, Room 218. In-

teresting Speakers-Interesting Subjects.

Se eNO is es

L

PROLETARIAN FORUM

Every Sunday at 8 P. M.

ODD FELLOWS HALL

22014 South Main Street

Questions and Discussion Freely Invited

Admission Free

Ui

Hear Scott Nearing, March 2, 3, 4 at Knights of

Columbus Hall, Los Angeles. Season ticket, with

three months' subscription to Open Forum, One Dol-

lar.

see ee

EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT-OPEN DISCUSSION

At Eight O'clock

A Free Education is Offered at

EDUCATIONAL CENTER

By Industrial Workers of the World

Program for February, 1925

THE REVOLUTION NON-RESISTANT, Fanny

Bixby Spencer February 28

HEALTH TALKS: The entire field of health, all

isms, fads, cures, and common sense of health

matters are being covered in a series of Lectures,

being delivered every Tuesday night. No Admis-

sion Fee. 0x00B0 ;

Program for Ensuing Month Announced Soon

INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD

224 South Spring Street, Room 218

----_-_-__ie--

FREE WORKER'S FORUM

420 N. Soto St., Los Angeles, Cal.

(One block north of Brooklyn Avenue)

Program for February

Feb. 23-`"`Gleanings from the Fields of Boaz."

by Fred Rivers.

None of us know about Mr. Boaz nor where his

properties are situated, but we know that Comrade

Rivers has made himself a well-known man in San

Francisco and are sure that he will soon be well

known here.

O `al

/WE HAVE BOOKS

FOR SALE

Our readers can render themselves and us f

a great service by buying their books through

us, and buying especially the books which give

in particular the information which we are in-

terested in getting to the public. We mention

the following, but can give other titles and

prices if a more extended list is wanted:

MAMMONART

By Upton Sinclair. Cloth $2.00; Paper $1.00.

Mr. Sinclair's latest book. No more important

book is before the public this year, as it deals

in a quite unique way with that which as

yet has been hardly dealt with by authors

| at all, the subjection of art of every kind to

the dominant economic power. A most reveal-

ing book, which every educator in particular

should have.

THE NEXT STEP

By Scott Nearing. Cloth $.50; Paper $.25.

This book, by one who is perhaps the fore-

most economist in America today in the under-

standing and presentation of the industrial

point of view, appeals especially to all who are

asking, "But what are we going to do?" Mr.

Nearing here discusses what the line of ap-

proach is to the coming social order.

THE NEW EVANGELISM

By Robert Whitaker. Twenty-five Cents. Pub-

lished originally in UNITY, Chicago, Illinois,

these five papers have been gathered into a

very neat and attractive book. There is no

discussion like it anywhere else today, a study

of the reconciliation between religion and

materialism.

MAN AND HiS WORLD

By Robert Whitaker. Twenty-five Cents. The

most compact, comprehensive, and concise out-

line of history that has yet been set forth for

the common man. A book not to be merely

read, but to be studied, and committed to

heart. If you will put in five hours real study

upon it and will then maintain that it is not

worth five times the price to you the cost of

it will be refunded.

THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY

By Anna Louise Strong. $2.00. A most re-

markable book on the most interesting country

in the world today. No better study has been

written of what Russia is trying to do.

AN OUTLINE OF THE BRITISH LABOR

MOVEMENT

By Paul Blanchard. Special price by us $1.25.

A fine study by one of the best writers on social

subjects. If you want to understand the British

labor movement get this book.

THE PARLOR PROVOCATEUR

By Kate Crane Gartz. Twenty-five Cents.

The letters of Kate Crane Gartz, with an intro-

duction by Mary Craig Sinclair. An extraor-

dinary collection of letters, worthy to be reck-

2 oned with the notable epistolary literature of

, the past.

SONNETS

By Mary Craig Sinclair. Twenty-five Cents.

These sonnets, recently reviewed in THE

OPEN FORUM ought to be in the hands of all

lovers of fine verse that has soul as well as

form. Both readers and writers of poetry will

do well to study this little volume.

All book prices above include postage. Ad-

dress all orders to The Open Forum, 506 Tajo

Bidg., Los Angeles, Calif.

Hear Scott Nearing, March 2, 3, 4 at Knights of

Columbus Hall, Los Angeles. Season ticket, with

three months' subscription to Open Forum, One Dol-

lar.

Hear Scott Nearing, March 2, 3, 4 at Knights

Columbus Hall, Los Angeles. Season ticket, wit;

three months' subscription to Open Forum, One Do.

iar.

Los Angeles

OPEN FORUM

MUSIC ART HALL

233 South Broadway

SUNDAY NIGHTS, 7-30 O0x00B0CLOCK

February 22-`CAN WE CHANGE HUMAN Na.

TURE?" by ATTY. ARTHUR EH. BRIGGS, Dean of

the Los Angeles College of Law. This is an ol

subject and a much-debated one, but Prof. Briggs

who has read widely and thought profoundly on it,

will doubtless have some new light concerning it,

The music for the evening will be furnished by MR 0x00B0

CARL ROSSNER, 'cellist, accompanied on the piano

by his mother, MRS. ROSSNER. (Maynard Shipley

of San Francisco, who was originally scheduled to

appear on this date, has found it necessary to

postpone his trip to the Southland until later. We

hope to have him in March or April.)

SZ

aS

Ghiureh of the New Social Order is

Symphony Hall, 232 So. Hill St.

Sunday Morning Service: 10:45 o'clock

Feb. 22. WAS THE SPIRIT OF JESUS MILD OR

REVOLUTIONARY? 0x00B0 :

4 -__

The Pasadena Open Forum

Robert Whitaker will speak before the Pasadena -

Open Forum, Tuesday evening, February 24. The

meeting will be held in Carpenters' Hall, corner Fair

Oaks and Walnut Street, at 8 P. M. Mr. Whitaker's "

subject will be, "AMERICAN IGNORANCE OF

AMERICA." The meeting is free to everyone.

Se Ga

Hear Scott Nearing, March 2, 3, 4 at Knights of

Columbus Hall, Los Angeles. Season ticket, with

three months' subscription to Open Forum, One Dol:

lar.

WILSHIRE UNDERTAKING

and Ambulance Company

Atlantic 1698 --Phones-- Atlantic 3709

717 West Washington St., Los Angeles

Walter C. Blue Ella L. Purcell Blue

Our Sympathetic Understanding of the needs of the Work .

ing People Enables Us to Give You the Best Service.

FREE VIOLIN LESSONS

To Talented Children of Parents who

are unable to pay

MAX AMSTERDAM

Prominent Violin Teacher and Soloist

2406 Temple St. - - = - - = DRexel 9068

Reasonable Rates to Beginners

Hear Scott Nearing, March 2, 3, 4 at Knights of

Columbus Hall, Los Angeles. Season ticket, with |

three months' subscription to Open Forum, One Dol

lar.

IF IT'S INSURANCE |

Confer with Ke

BESS E. GALERSTEIN

716 Delta Building

Tel. No. TUcker 2240

Hind shene witht qe as Payment for. ..... 2m

{ Yearly

{4 Six Month

| Three Month

subscriptions to THE OPEN FORUM.

IN UII OF eas ate Sone wn oe eae ee Re cn es Oe

TA CLOTS cot nitets ta a he eie 0h nr art GEN nc ESCs ea

Daterge fab Merc eae

Linotyping and press work done in Union

Shops. The make-up is our own.