Life — July 29, 1926 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

JULY 29, 1926 VOL, 88. 2282 “While there is Life there’s Hope” Published by : LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY 598 Madison Avenue, New York Crartes Dana Gipson, President R. E, Suerwoon, Editor F. D. Casey, Art Editor T was ridiculous to have a subway strike, It appears that the men who struck were underpaid according to present standards of the cost of livin this city. Mr. Hed- ley and officers of the Interborough may argue about that and they do deny it, but the main reason they give for not raising wages is not that wages do not need to be raised but that their company is on the edge of bankruptey and cannot afford to raise them. The reason apparently that they cannot afford to raise them is that they are tied up to a five-cent fare and, of course, on their long hauls of ten to fifteen miles they lose money on the five-cent fare. What riders on the subway get in the rush hours is awful, but such as it is they do not pay for it. The chief beneficiaries of compulsory five-cent fare would seem to be the real estate speculators who put up buildings far up beyond the Harlem River and tall towers in the con- gested parts of Manhattan, and have their tenants hauled back and forth at the cost of the tax-payers. Of conrse real-estate development brings taxes into the city treasury, but if the development is worth enough to the city to be en- couraged by part-free transporta- tion, the city ought to come to the front and see that the persons who furnish the transportation are ade- quately paid. It is ridiculous that an enormously rich city like New York, in which all manner of people have been cleaning up all manner of money on the rise of real estate, Cram Maxwett, Vice-President Laxonorxe Grison, Secretary and Treasurer should stoop to skin transportation companies out of reasonable dues and thereby induce strikes of em- ployees who are not reasonably paid. The strikers are not primarily to blame for the strike. It is just an advertisement of their wants. Much of the real blame belongs to the protracted incompetency of the Hy- lan administration, which kept un- done things that should have been done and _ settlements that should have been made. But the main dis- ease New York is now suffering from is overproduction of tall towers and buildings which are rapidly produc- ing unmanageable congestion in the business centres and imparting an intolerable nervous tension to life. GROUP of Bishops and other leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States have issued a letter to the members of their com- munion suggesting an Evangelistic campaign next spring, to be called the Bishops’ Crusade. These gen- tlemen say their Church i ‘ idle as a painted picture.” It is not increasing in membership as much as it should, not doing the business that it is entitled to do. Something is wrong with their Church, they say. “The trouble lies deep, has little to do with material resources, organ- ization or membership, but rather with the spirit.” A church campaign _herctofore has meant a big drive for more money. This Bishops’ Crusade promises to be something different in being out not for money but for spirit. When the Church of Eng- land was pretty dead in the Eigh. teenth Century Wesley and White. field started out on a crusade of that sort and made a wonderful record, Something of the kind is now due and is pretty sure to come. A high officer of a New England college, be- ing asked the other day if he was pursuing some line of knowledge that had concerned him, said No, not at present, for the reason that he was busy day and night reading re- ligion and philosophy so as to answer questions of the college boys who came to him for information. The demand for religion is brisk but the people that are out for it cannot be put off with old stuff. If they want the news they will get it. There is plenty of it; enough to go around, thought—what will happen if Al Smith is nominated for President? is a good man, very popular, very 2 man with a good spirit and a pious Roman Cathol If he is nominated and runs, will there be an intelligent inquiry into the Roman Catholic Church, its claims, _ its aims, its habits, its history and its present management? Or will there be mer wild yells, defamation, misstatements and general calumny from the anti-Smith and anti-Cath- olic competitors? Undoubtedly the Catholic Church seares people who are not in it. If a more intelligent knowledge of it should allay that fear it might be worth a presidential campaign to clear it up. If, on the other hand, that fear should be proved to have a reasonable political basis, it would give to the Catholic Church a motive for careful inspec- tion of its constitution and by-laws and possibly bring about some re- vision of them. The last campaign was dull. No- body seemed to care about the issues. If Alfred Smith is put up the cam- paign will not be dull. Even the Wet end of it will be alive. It might be very instructive, a great educa- tional campaign. E. S. Martin. comicbooks.com