Life — December 27, 1923 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

spiritual sanction for either of them. They belong to Cxsar, not to God. Ii you violate them it is with Cesar, not with the Almighty, that you get into trouble. The Constitution is not a holy thing, a revelation of eternal truth that has come to us from the Great Spirit. It is a plan of government devised by wit of man, and supported and enforced by the will of the people. Persons whose behavior runs counter to it may lawfully be sent to jail, but they are not necessarily infamous char- acters, and will not necessarily go to hell, though possibly they may. The Eighteenth Amendment and especially the Volstead law were devised by folks who believe that the only way to get rid of the alcoholic fleas is to kill the dog. The opposition to those instru- ments stands for the opinion that the fleas can be handled by methods less drastic. Quite a lot of people like the dog and regret to part with him, though they are quite willing to part with the fleas. In a training camp near Kansas City in 1917 a Kansas woman said to an of- ficer: “I would rather the Germans should win than that my boy should learn to smoke cigarettes in the army.” That is the spirit that William Allen White reflects when he lays down the law in New York to New York. When Kansas talks Prohibition it loses all sense of proportion. 'HE British election seems to have had a good effect on France. Mr. Baldwin represented the disposition in England to stick to the Entente at all odds. His defeat with such unexpected emphasis appears to have operated to develop cosmic consciousness in M. Poincaré. With the Labor and Lib- eral votes increasing so fast in England, France has need to be cautious, so one reads that the French Government, hav- ing concluded a bargain with Herr Stinnes, is showing real concern about German finances and currency, and wants help to stabilize them, and has put the soft pedal on the occupation of the Ruhr. Here at home Mr. Coolidge is still going pretty strong. People like what he says. They may not all be pleased with his policies, but they are all LIFE pleased to know what his policie: He seems to have the will to help Europe, but at present no power and no plan. The World is right when it says: His party is divided within itself, and that will produce a crop of troubles. He cannot safely espouse a constructive foreign policy, and the situation in Europe may reach a crisis which will destroy the Admin- istration which dares not handle it vigorously. This possibility of a crisis in Europe is something to reckon with in consid- ering present politics in these States. If there is a crisis of sufficient violence over there, some sparks will fly in this country, and if Mr. Coolidge thinks that there is something this country ought to do and proposes to do it, the result may be a new political line-up. But at present the practical service < 15 we may undertake is a provision of food, or money to buy it, for twenty million Germans who are in danger of starvation. Presently, when Congress is able to think of something besides itself and its organization, something is likely to be done about that. N New York it begins to look like better local government. Mayor Hylan, though happily restored to some degree of health, is still far from being well enough to take up his old job, and with Mr. Hulbert as Acting Mayor, there is less noise in the City Hall and more done. There is even a prospect of a new subway, S. Martin, Little Willy: you'p BETTER HURRY, DAD, OR THAT BAVARIAN A 7 WILL GET AHEAD oF US! comicbooks.com