Life — February 17, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

FEBRUARY 17, 1927 VOL, 89, 2311 “While there is Life there’s Hope” Published by LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY 598 Madison Avenue, New York Crantes Dana Ginson, Pre: Cram Maxwett, Vice-President Lanouonne Ginson, Secretary and Treasurer It. E. Sueawoon, Editor F. D. Casey, Art Editor NE of China’s manifest des- s is to unite Europe, at least Western Europe, and perhaps in- duce co-operation between that part of the world and the United States. It is plain enough that China is going to get what she wants in the way of new treaties and home rule for her ports. True, there are two Chinas just now, but that is only temporary and whereas “temporary” might lately have meant in China anything up to a thousand years, now it means more likely five or ten. For China really does move nowads North and South of her will get to- gether presently, and when that hap- pens and she begins to develop the enormous riches with which her vast territory is stocked, it will be noticed that there is a new power in the world that ‘affects the security and prosperity of every other power. The development of China into a power- ful State will be an enormous factor in world politics, and that develop- ment has started, and is moving at twenticth-century speed, or some- where near it. No one is anxious to teach China any more lessons. Consider the dif- ference between the attitude of the international mind now and what it was at the time of the Boxer Rebel- lion, when the ser gave his gen- cral that famous instruction to make himself remembered in China as At- tila and his Huns had been in Eu- rope. Nobody is telling any West- ern soldiers to show off like Attila in China. That is over. nt An editorial in a New York news- paper said that if it came to fighting, America would stand in with the English. No doubt, but in the dis- cussion over Shanghai our country had the best position, or rather a bet- ter one than England, and the unanimity of sentiment here against fighting in China seemed to strength- en the peace element in the British Cabinet. At this writing, the United States being strong for pacific meas- ures, England ns disposed to beat her to them. But foreign troops are being sent to China more for purposes of protection than for purposes of politics, and if need for protection should break out sud- denly, our men would surely be in with the others. ] R. McADOO'S speech in Ohio revived political discussion of Prohibition. Current gin is bad; current spirits of all kinds incline to be more or less indigestible. As far as that goes the Drys are getting on pretty well, but the poison in the alcohol is not popular at all. The results in the mortuary figures annoy the voters. The spy system and the Government bootlegging are not favorably regarded either. They are forms of law-breaking. The trouble about Prohibition methods, a trouble that Mr. McAdoo did not dis- cuss, is that you cannot enforce Pro- hibition without running amuck through the rest of the Constitution, the Ten Commandments and_ vital areas of the New Testament. It is that that makes so much trouble. If our two main parties should split on Wet or Dry in the next elec. tion that would be interesting, but if the Drys should win, it would settle nothing. It scems unlikely that the two parties will split quite so clean as that, but the Wet and Dry issue is strong enough to muddle all the other issues in the Presidential elec- tion, and to split the Democratic party in two and excite the Repub- lican party to vigorous self-examina- tion, Meanwhile a political inquest on Mr. McAdoo is earnestly proceed- ing to determine what political prop- erty, if any, is subject to his will, UCH interesting times! Every- where a struggle going on be- tween the representatives of prop- erty and the representatives of human freedom. A good deal of the time and in all places the representa- tives of property compare favorably with the pursuers of freedom. The contest is valuable. It is not desir- able to have freedom without prop- erty nor yet to have property with- out freedom. ‘This present admii tration is pretty strong for property, but it certainly cannot be said that such a government of the United States as Mr. McAdoo seems to have in his mind would be favorable to freedom. Perhaps the middle-of-the- road people who like to go where they are going as much unmolested as possible will find an advantage in the competitions of their brethren of the right and left. IDENT with current polit- uncertainty comes marked disturbance in ordinary life: suicides, especially of play-girls, college boys and young people gencrally ; extraor- dinary crimes in extraordinary num- ber; plays that shock; newspaper space in the best papers devoted lav- ishly and conspicuously to stories about the “‘sex adventures” of people of no consequence. Advertisement seems to be accomplishing its perfect work in dumping the garbage can on the parlor table. What has hap- pened to us? Why should we be so smothered with offal? Can it be that the sun-spot theory has some basis and that our world is over jazzed? E. S. Martin. comicbooks.com