Pop!

The convictions of Misses Smith and Johnson gave us an impression somewhat of simulation. Their force was like that of a man in a sideshow paying threepence in order to see if he can burst a balloon. "Blow hard, George!" And it goes off with a mighty—pop. What is more, in these days there are so many digest- and fact-magazines spreading a thin fabric of information ail over the place, and so many free discussions in universities, that it takes a really clover and diligent speaker to take hold of a spade and dig up something from deep down. Because most intelligent people today are In possession of the superficial points of a wide range of subjects, they are no longer impressed with them, and hence no desirable motion is set up inside their heads, And then, practically no one would refute the statement that war has a disastrous effect on culture, or at any rate that war yields no artistic stimulus. So that in a discussion of this sort we think it a pity that so much time should be devoted to saying that it is so.

But anyone who can get up and talk coherently, having first of all assembled some matter, is definitely no object for derision. So while having to admit that by neither Miss' Smith nor Miss Johnson were we awakened from our age-old lethargy, we admire and respect them infinitely. Miss Smith's matter was the better of the two as Miss Johnson who followed her was inclined more to trivialities, and to our mind, missed the point rather, once or twice. It is not good for a speaker to miss seeing something which the listeners are bound to see, while she, or he, is gaily sailing on.