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Show . T A GRAVE RACIAL DEFECT (Boston Republic.) . .. i The Republic has frequently extolled what might be termed the essentially Celtic qualities alertness, keenness of insight, swift imaginative power. It is sad that thesj racial gifts are not more frequently applied. As it is they are allowed to languish. - The. most glaring evidence that we arc not making mak-ing the best use of our possibilities is supplied by a recent event which, though relatively unimportant, unimport-ant, is still signficant as indicating the degree of apathy that has fallen over our mental faculties. The Boston Post is a well-conducted journal. It seeks modern methods of increasing its circulation and of increasing the interest of those who are al-j al-j ready on its subscription books. One of the most I effective of these is the nroverb contest t.hn results of which were published on last Monday. They are interesting and jlluminating as to the Irish-American mental activity. Tho most microscopic investigation fails to disclose dis-close more than four names that would indicate an Irish origin. And yet the circulation of the Post lies in great measure .among those who are called Trish-American. They read it; they accept its views' of current problems; they see the drama of daily life through its columns. But when there is question ques-tion of exercising their minds they appear listlessly apathetic. - When voting contests inaugurated by the daily press are held there is another side to the shield. The welkin rings with the echo of Irish names. Rumor flits from lip to lip that names held sacred in Kerry and regarded with reverence in Cork arc high upon the rolls. As one's eye journeys down the roll of honor one finds in serried phalanx names that should repesent the fine achievement and the noble side of Irish inspiration. The essential difference between these forms of contest is that the mind is exercised in one and what is poularly labelled the "nerve" is exemplified in the other. Our callousness to the higher forms of mental activity is depressing. It means a loss of the right sort of influence. It' spells disaster to the aspirations aspira-tions that the best among us have cherished. It illustrates il-lustrates the contention made through some papers, repeated in conversations, hinted at in business circles . that the Irish; qualities arc not as efficient as their essential importance would seem to imply. If they are allowed to continue the Irish race in certain respects will seem to be the subject of, an empty boast when its eulogists claim that it seeks the best that its energy is based upon its intelligence. intelli-gence. It may be asked whether we are not attaching undue importance to what is, in- the last analysis, scarcely worth serious consideration. It might be said that' the mind of the Irish-American of Boston Bos-ton was stirring: along'othcr lines than the mere unraveling of a puzzle.. . We are not of the opinion that we accept, jthis indication of mental lassitude too seriously. It indicated in-dicated a drift in the current of our mental life that has not escaped the attention of discriminating observers. ob-servers. In fact, if the matter were clearly put it might be said that the Irish-American took little interest in a proverb contest because he was unfamiliar un-familiar with the proverbial wisdom that the good sense and the hard-won experience of generations have put into form. This wisdom dwells on the lips of the people. It expresses their humor, their philsophy of' life, their spiritual outlook. It is valuable because it is taken from the heart of life. It is not the result of closet-study, but represents the last word that a crisis has forced some perchance unlettered man to say. . ' And while it is of the people, yet it. is locked iu books. This is the chief reason, in the. view of, the Republic, that more Irish-American names are not found on the list of honor! We are not a book-lovir- people. We care little, for the life among books. The great names of literature lit-erature arc dim to our eyes. We do not realize that while the spiritual life must be fed by the sacraments sa-craments and prayer, there must be food for the memory, the imagination, the judgment. A bookless book-less house is a desert. Yet we ignore books. If it were not for the exalted thought, the great spiritual spirit-ual purposes which the confessional conserves we should be lagarards in the face. Fortunately the church with the sacraments, its appealing ritual, the vividness and efficacy of its ethical teaching supplies for us the place that books hold in. tho heart and mind of those not in the union of faith. We do not want to encourage a race of bloodless book dwellers, but there is great need that the young should have their minds stored with reasons for the faith. A well-chosen book is a solace and an inspiration. in-spiration. It is a perpetual and good friend. The Puritans understood this.. Your Puritan was rather, we fancy, a difficult person to get on with. He was rather grim and decidedly intolerant. intoler-ant. But there was a touch of iron in his blood and the realization in the background of his brain that a bookless race is an inferior race. .He set up his house and his barn and dug his ditches and prayed God's vengeance upon those who differed from him. But he also set up his printing press. And the printing press is the mighty mother of civilization. , His descendants created a multiform and high 'civilization that was based on Jxoks. Thcv made a history that is full of great deeds and noble names. They develoned a literature that embraces the classics clas-sics of this country.- Three centuries have passed." What are the results of the Puritan civilization of books? You have but. to look around you to see. Today this little corner of the'world that other nations na-tions would scarcely use as a goat pasture, boasts the greatest .colleges, the best-equipped etchnical schools, the most amply endowed libraries.: the most fruitful civic institutions in tho western' hemisphere. hemis-phere. ' - The Irish-American strain has energy. It .tingles .tin-gles with energy. But undirected' energy is nbt enough. We must have carefullv-formed intelligence intelli-gence directing it, frowning upon its, mistake, and : leading it to better objects of development!'' Too, much of our effort is directed to ignoble ends -or to ends that are useiess in the long run. If fraction of the interest that we manifest in sport." in the ! diversions of the field, the track, the diamond and j the gridiron were directed toward business and i technical education a different story would be told at the end of a decade. Whenever there is a civil service examination for inferior positions in the city departments you are sure to discover the lists kalsomined with Irish names. The same may be said of the sporting columns col-umns of the newspapers. Too much of the initiative, initia-tive, energy and glowing zeal of the Irish temperament tempera-ment is dissipated along these lines. There is not enough remaining to achieve permanent results results really worth while in the arts, the technological tech-nological science, the higher walks of journalism and the law. Without books we cannot hope to gain in efficiency. effi-ciency. And the lack of interest which Iri.-h-Amor-icans judging from the names that have been published pub-lished have displayed in the matter of the proverb contest indicates that we take little interest iu I books or bookish things. This is a condition which cannot too soon be effaced. |