Life — April 25, 1918 — page 19: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“COME INStU stalled by his predecessors in office in New York. His efforts are vexatious, but not vital. There is a limit to his powers and to the harm he can do, and of course our city government was not perfect when he was dropped into it, and of course we should not expect, nor even hope, that a mayor incurred as he was should fail to demonstrate the inexpediency of his clection. He is our misfortune, and we might as well take him philosophically, fighting him where it is necessary and pos- sible, and otherwise leaving him to work ont according to his nature, aims If he interferes enough with the Health Department to run the death rate up for babies, maybe the parents of the babies will take notice at the next election. He has and capacits less to fear from giving us an inferior superintendent of schools, because to a considerable part of the electorate schooling is still a necessary evil, and abatement or derangement of it would not be taken hard. Moreover, the ex- perts in education seldom agree in their desires, and teacher politicians are more concerned about promotion and salaries than about the ni struction, Hylan can do damage and make trouble, and probably will, but he won't have a clean sweep, and he won't get in the way of the w That is the vital matter—the war! No reasonable per- son expects much comfort in life till we have won it. Minor plagues and sorrows must be borne till then, and as long after as is necessary. Preoceu- pation with the war is largely account- able for Hylan's promotion, and, any- ties of in- 679 way, he is incomparably preferable to Hillquit. Hillquit would have been a danger. Hylan is only a trial. ca. EORGE CR s frowned upon for declaring that he should be proud to his dying day “that there was no rush of preparation in this country prior to the day the President went before Congress.” It has not proved a popular deliverance. Most of the newspapers have berated him, and Congress has made him a subject of thought and oral discours David Lawrence of the Evening Post doubts if George ever said so, but the Times cites stenographic evidence that he did. It is sad but amusing. George is in a position to sympathize with writers and speakers who say what they shouldn't, as from time to time all of them do, not even excepting the President. 'OLONE ploits is heing published on the installment plan in the Evening Post, and the Colonel is an object of much mpathy. The natural inference is Life-and-Ex- that he must be preparing to run for President to succeed Mr. Wilson, but that is believed to be entirely un- founded. The better opinion is that the “Life” is heing published because there is no law against the publication of biographies of citizens unless the; are libelous. Cole raphy is not libelous at all, but compli- nel House's biog. mentary in a painfully high degree. “Faithful are wounds of a friend, says the Bible, but it docs not apply to this publication by the Erening Post, But nothing written can » a public man a serious injury unless he writes it himself, and this current disclosure, as will be noticed and should he re- membered, is not an autobiography, but merely a “Life” by a self-appointed scribe. comicbooks.com