THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SUNDAY; MARCH 11, 192,3'- --:
,, , .
MEMOIRS OF r _
WALTER PAGE r
(Continued from Page Seven)
Lien, the objection arose that such a
yvsit would not be neutral.- -
"The President's address to the ;.D E A EL S
Senate, which was received today I E -
(January 16th), shows that he thinks
he can pioy peace-maker. He doesErhv
not at all understand, (or, if he does Every man worthy of the name has an ideal. It may be service to
sn muchstoc worse fo h) B society, material success, or merely a larger automobile that he is working
Entente Powers, especially Great Brit -
hand FVance, cannot make peace or, butjust so long as 1e bends his energies to a higher end he possesses an
without victory". If they do, they will'
become vassals of Germany. In a =eal
word, the President does not know the ideal.
Germans; and he is, unconsciously, -
under their influence in his thought. =nstitutions, too, have ideas; and like idividuals the highertey a
His speech plays into their hands. . t
"This address will give great offense the farther they will go. Emerson had this rined when he advisedh Hitch
in England, since it puts each side ii your agon to a star," a thi advice is as now as on day it was
the war on the same moral level".p
To his son Arthur in a letter dated written.
March 25, 1917, Mr. Page wrote fromI
London:
The irs bcThe ideal of this bank is to secure for its depositors every banking service
The impression becomes stronger t
here every day that we shall go into that good business and professional ethics dictate. It is entirely possible
the war "with both feet" -that thego e
people have 1ushed the President over that we can help you achieve your ideal at the same time we are striving toward
in spite of his vision of the Great Ad
Peacemaker, and that, being pushed E our own. Ask any depositor
over, his idea now will be to show how
he led them into a glorious war in
defense of democracy".
On April 1st, 1917, the day before -
President Wilson appeared before 1 =
Congress to request a d'eclaration of rruA . s - ,, D~-.
war, Page sumed up in a memoran- The Ann Arbor Savings Bank
dum his final judgment of President 2
Wilson's Foreign policy for the pre- ,The 7i ko ~' Skee"
ceding two and a half years. Te- f.rien4y eN
"In these last days, before the Unit- =
ed States in forced into war-by the Reso;xces 5,8OOO00 Two Offices
people's insistance - the preceding 1
. course of events becomes even clearer i
than it was before; and it has been -
as clear all the time as the nose on a
man's face.
The 'President began by refusing 9 111111|1lllllilliHtlli
to understand the meaning of the war.
To him it seemed a quarrel to settle
economic rivalries between Germany'
and England. He said to me last
September that there were many
causes why Germany went to war.
He showed a great degree of toleration
for Germany; and he was, during the I
whole morning that I talked with him,
cimplaining of England. The con-
troversies we had with England were
of course, mere by-products of the-
conflict. But to him they seemed as
important as the controversy we had
with Germany. In the beginning he
had made-as far as it was possible--
neutrality a positive quality of mind.
I-e would not move from that posi-
tion.
"That was the first error of judg-
r:ent. And by insisting on this re-
soothed the people-sat them down in
comfortable chairs and said, Now I,
stay there'. He really suppressed a.
speech and thought. L
"The second error he made was in
thinking that he could play a great
part as peacemaker-come and give
a blessing to these erring children. Makers of smart but conservative clothes for men who know and appreciate
This was strong in, his hopes and
ambitions. There was a condescen-1
sion in this attitude that was offensive. You get your money s worth wether you buy your Spring suit now
"He shut himself up with these two
ideas and engaged in what lie called or later.
'thought'. The air currents of the
world never ventilated his mind. Bu who buys first naturally buys best choice.
"This inactive position he has keptt
as long as public sentiment permitted.
He seems no longer to regard himself
nor to speak as a leader-only as the
mouthpiece of public opinion after SPRING SUITS AND NORFOLKS
opinion has run over him.
"He has not breathed a spirit into, SPRING TOP COATS
the people: he has encouraged them
to supineness. He is not a leader, SPRIN GHATS AND CAPS
but rather a stubborn phrasemaker.
"And now events and the aroused SPRING FURNISHINGS
people iseem to have brought theI
President to the necessary point of
action; and even now he may act
timidly".
THE BREVIARY OF DECADENCE:
(Continued from Page Two)
as a whole. As should be cxpected7
from Ellis, this is a very clear and
sympathetic study of both Huysmansj
and the movement of which he was a
leader. IL gives to the edition a cer-
tain air of authenticity and a sufficient
dignity for its consideration as a
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
ANN ARBOR, MICHIG AN, SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 1923
INDIVIDUALITY IN NEGRO MUSIC
A feature of the modern vaudeville
is very often :a gleeful negro -"rat-
tling' the bones" or going through the
contortions of some sort of pantom-
mime. What is more satisfying than
a negro jazz orchestra among whose
NORMAND LOCKWOOD It has been said
music of America li
in the old n'egro s
songs was he able to impart the con- rail workers should adopt their own weste msc Th.
ditions of his plight. It is my belief songs, for nothing so inspired them to western music. Th
that through the emancipation act, wield the pick as the constant syn- bebecause the Spa
- - elieent enters so
members is a grinning, negro trap Abraham Linlcoln brought a halt to copation of a song. In these "railroad m tees
drummer who flings his drum sticks the development of negro music - in selections" the negro likened thenmusiftewnstl
in mid-air and maintains for the or- other words, America's national mus- Christian to a traveler on a trainj the not usti ue r,it
chestrs a rhythm such as only a ne- ic, though the idea of such a cat-- Lord was the conductor and the serv-
chsrI htmsc sol e tional cause nor an
gro dummer could succeed in doing? trophe probably never entered his ants of Christianity were the brake- our story save
Had we, in the sixteenth century been mind, so it will be well not to bear men. Stops were made at the gospel of emigration, tho
members of some mission or crusade against Lincoln any grudge because stations either to take on waiting not convincing leca
sent out to Africa to spread the teach- of this serious over-sight. converts or to replenish the enginen coninlybbecn
ings of Christ, we would undoubtedly The sole mean.s of the negro's rec- boiler with the water of life. cotheand the
have beheld the savagely grinning onciliation with his apparently eter- In Louisana the negro music took
haeheedw esterniers and the
countenance of Bert Williams' great, nal misery appeared to be through a; on a special colour owing to the in- close.
great grandfather, sitting astride a constant faith in a kingdom come, and fluence'of the Creole masters. This is
hollow loo, beating wildly on the end this is shown in the lyrics of many of noticeable not only in the French and It may be true ti,
of it, over which had been stretched his songs which plead more or less Spanish dialects of his songs but in Cln did check the n
an animal -skin; or perhaps Wilbur for an eventual land of Canaan. De- the character of both the music of the tional music, bt ne
Sweatman's great, great granduncle,. spite his oppressions he seems not to' songs and dances. In this section of, not destroy the mus
before an audience of naked natives, have discarded the thythms acquired the South songs were almost invaria- oped up to the tim
rattling with all dexterity a pair of from his African ancestors, for the bly accompanied by dancing. The pation of the slave
"bones" and going through the writh- syncopation ceaselessly employed in singer was chosen for his skill in im- continued, the musi
ings of a savage dance, which con- our beloved jazz found its source in provisation as well as for qualities of !would undoubtedly
stitutes his voodooistic ceremonies the negro melodies. The oldest of the the voice; his words were inspired by of a hold upon the
Such is the virtue of the modern ne- slave songs to survive are the "Sor- the grace and beauty of a danseuse or ,but with the elinz
gro; but it is neither fitting nor fair row Songs". These, though pervaded by the bravado of some plantation; cause, it is no wonde
to stop at such a point as this. There with a strain of sadness, frequently hero. The dancers themselves did not teristic music of th
is in negro music and its development burst forth in a tone of triumph, as sing, but danced to the music of voices preciated and at p
since early African stages a sound though the Savious had arrived to and crude instruments afforded by the However, several ci
value, which enables us to recognize distribute among the righteous a set audience itself. The early Creole ne--have recognized ani
it as the only music in America that of keyp to the gates of heaven. The groes often sang of animal life. Just ton Dvorak's "New
can be candidly called our national negro has a highly imaginative mind why, I cannot say. Perhaps they still and his "American
music. which is apparent in his "Railroad remembered the wilderness of their exceptional worth.
Songs" When the railwav first ame;native Africa, ma be the stole the novelty to hear the
. v Y 11 1G l y Fti G(dL iL ,il1 ; Yl y U .1y .ilVl Lg
Among the undeveloped races, the into use, scores of negroes were em- idea from the. Indians, for it is found
African negro seems to have been the ployed in laying the tracks; and as that their legends deal largely with
most gifted musically. He possessed they worked year after year on the animal life rather than with theirj
not merely crude rhythm, but also a railroad, it was only natural that the own.
melodic sense. Like many uncultur-
ed peoples, his melodies, though very
crass, were based upon the pentatonic
scale, in which the fourth and sev-
enthi tones are omitted. In Thomas B o k sfp
Jefferson's Notes on Virginia he men- -
tions the negro as being naturally _
musical, and adds: "The instrument
proper to them is the banjar, which, SAMUEL MOORE, JR.
they brought hither - from Africa."
This "banjar" or banjo, as it is called The bookshop movement has reach- The owners, or as the followers of the
today, i not unlike the instrument; ed Ann Arbor. A shop on East Uni- Morley prefer to style them, "book-
used at present by the Chinese. 'At first versity avenue has had built a sort of' sellers" usually conceal their shops
it had two strings, and later two more side room off the main store, which is on some secluded side-street where
were added. The drum head was oft- to be equipped with lounges and there is little
en made of rattle-snake skin. how- books, and will be open to bibliophiles man hustling in for a Lefax notebook
ever, some authorities declare that at any time of the day. All manner of
the banjo was not originated by the books will be stored in this little al- or some carbon paper. Nor do these
negro because his efforts were essen- cove, but most of them will be the booksellers hang out a blatant shingle
tially melodic, while the banjo of to- work of contemporary authors; new proclaiming to the world at large that,
daym is commonly employed as a har- books, in short. George Wahr has had Christopher Batik is the proprietor'
strueof t.he notwa advie -something of this sort for a great of this bookstore and that they have
mnytof theandgqullasiardtocaany years. I refer to the bench in stationery at $1.89 today only, and that
made of cane and quills similar to a the front of his State street store, they will stamp your name in gold
Pan's pipe, but its existence does not where one can sit and read the maga- free of charge if you buy a leather
seem to have persisted. When the ne- zines and books without charge. This notebook. No, that sort of thing is all
gro had become thoroughly familiar is not such an obvious effort at hos- right for the owner of a bookstore,
with e the music of the whites, the viO- nitality, however, and the majority of but fdr a bookseller to make that;
Scame to be the most e ershave never observed Mr. sort of an announcement would dis-
truhwhich he was achic to exrrecswudi-
his emotions. vWahr's provision for them. Perhaps grace him with his entire clientele.
it is I cause he is so much in advance!Money's "Roge Mifflin'' of the
The negro is naturaily a care- 'ee, of tr bookshop movement, which Morley's "oger n" ofrasue
happy, cheerful individual, but n it'.sid s nyno1entatn Haunted Bookshop". and "Parnassus
happ, ceerul ndiidui, ut otaas I1h: ,,e said, is only now penetrating; on Wheels" been the prototype of the
and .laughter' find little chance for eY-t h7 n he bbe tepottpro h
pei i agt n of haneole so Arn Arbor. bookseller; and his bookshop has also.
pression in tie song of, a people so The bookshoP movement originated been the model bookshop. "Where the
long depressed with thoughto of exile a few years ago in England, and quick- corncob smoke is thickest you'll find
and no apparc ut. promise of allevia- ly crossed to this country, where, un- ,me" s the watchword of this hustling
ti" .I thd case of Poland, Chopiner the tender ministrations of Chris- business man. And then the horrible
(i his Mazurkas) is a perfect refire-topher Morley and other persons who get-to-gethers of Mifflin and his con-
sentative of, the people. Poland, so ra e ogtes fMflnadhscn
long picked o by the great o read.in bed and smoke corncob pipes, I freres over the jolly old cider and
upon ytpowrs it has thriven exceedingly. New York gingerbread, where they discussed
of Europe, entered inito a stage of de. is no'w packed with little bookshops, literature and the art of running a
pression, and Chopin's 1gzurkas are.' where before there were only relative- bokshop.....An read Dickens'
an extraordinary picturizatiorf of the ly few boobstores. These little shops "Christmas Stories." Mifflin attract-
spirit of the race. They are allre being run by all kinds of people,! ed me rather in spite ,of his charming
beautiul andnearlyalre.b thegacrn-n
beautiful and nearly all of them con- varying from eccentric millionaires eccentricities than because of them.
tain raceful and joyous passages, but !who want to get in touch with the lit- The bookshop epidemic has indubit-
veiling these strains .of joy is a pre- erati and book-lovers of the city, to ably spread throughout the land. In
dominant atmosphere of .sa4nes. The nice impecunious old ladies who are Cambridge there is a little place that
combination of. these two extremespoets, give readings for their custom- nobody in town but the elect know
cannot be truly expressed in words, ers at a dollar a reading. There are about. It is on a side street.. in a
let usfcar it contentedness".Such old dealers in rare books who grouch private house, with no sign. The
was also the spirit of-theAmerican whenever a prospective patron comes proprietor sells rare books, which are
negro before his liberation. Hehad in, such a trial it is for them to give scattered all over the house, and chats
no representatives to inform the world' up their .wares. with his customers-although I sup-
through music of his sufferings, but' This last is one of the most striking pose he has some other name for their
through a general charac ter in hii feture; of the so called bookshop. (Continued o4 Page Three)
airs manipulated in
as to form such ser
as thes. Coleridge
lish negro, has also
tunes for his compos
Chadwick owes the I
ond symphony to t
gro. Dvorak's compo
ffinest in every sense,
the fact that he pos
ordinary gift of put
the spirit of a ren
Shortly after the
tempt was being n
a Fisk university at
for the education of
gro choir or rather
nine mixed voices w
it travelled far an
funds for the unive
countries of Europe
realize the fact tha
vocalists sang a folk
and entirely their o
had sprung into exis
torical conditions-a
turies had dwelled o
civilization and cul
not participated in t
In Holland, there b
lums of sufficient siz
the curious crowds,
'were opened to the m
Hague the singersv
the queen and the no
the Domkirche, the
the emperor and hi
ed, was placed at
Throughout its Journ
admiration and favou
criticism. A critic
Musik-Zeitung clos
thus: "Not only hav
musical treat but o
have also received
we feel that somethi
ed of these negro si
consent to break thy
and customs of lon
would undoLbtedly
should negro orgap
Lbroad again. It is
to say that many
oable composers of th
been introduced to
music, and like Dve
orobably respond to
nusic, and construct
he negro melodies;
er's temperament d
type of music or t
(Cratnged on F
+4