Communications
October 2, x929 T H E C O M M O N W E A L 56x COMMUNICATIONS THIS TALK ABOUT ART New York, N. Y. O the Editor :--Donald Attwater in his article, This Talk about Art, raises some very...
...And only a strange satanic aberration can plunge us into this struggle which must be terminated and which it is easy not to kindle again...
...To begin, let us proclaim the simple truth that fanaticism is combated with books, not with machine guns...
...One always spoke with dogmatic finality, another was a weather vane, borrowing opinions and knowledge from others...
...We are building churches which are to a great extent copies of the old churches, because our religious needs, the dogma and the services of today are much the same as they were in the thirteenth century...
...Some were pioneers, others were anchored to ideas hopelessly antiquated with matter and manner...
...He is quite right in assuming that it would have been absurd to ask a man in the thirteenth century to build a Byzantine church...
...Attwater's article that it hardly seems worth while quarreling about the maternity of art...
...Our automobiles are as much of a stile as the Gothic churches of the thirteenth century were of a style...
...There need be no fear that we shall fail to produce a good airplane or a beautiful one, for half of the world is working on, using or deeply interested in airplanes...
...A dear understanding between the parties is the first need...
...Even foundations for the relief of poverty and disease meet with more tangible success because they deal with ills that are in good part physical, whereas intellectual improvement demands coSperation and good-will...
...ESTIMATES OF MEXICO New York, N. Y. O the Editor :--Something can be done to bridge over the gulf between Church and state in Mexico and assistance from Catholics in the United States is practical I believe (I am referring to your editorial comment, Estimates of Mexico, appearing in your issue of September 4...
...There is a difference between slavishly copying what has been done and using the past as a ladder to the future...
...the Edltor:--Mr...
...To demand that we build churches in a new style, of concrete, steel and glass, would be asking us to do something quite unnatural...
...Unless obsolescence progress more rapidly in the larger of the two navies, how shall the mere lapse of time bring about equality of naval strength between England and the United States ? If we take, let us say, two columns exactly alike in every respect but height, we shall find but three methods of overcoming that difference : x. Destroy such excess...
...Nowadays almost everyone either owns, operates, makes or rides in an automobile, just as in the thirteenth century practically every person took an active part in the building or services of the Church...
...All of us are apt to become lazy and indifferent and to lose initiative if we are not given' an incentive to realize our ideals...
...For the degree was granted not so much for broad knowledge and balanced judgment as for patient industry in a limited section of a small subject and consistent presence at lectures...
...The same public interest which actuated styles of architecture is today creating styles in automobiles...
...HAROLD WILLIAM RAMBUSCH...
...Time is not a factor in choosing the method nor is it a considerable factor in carrying it out...
...He questions the propriety of calling the Church "the mother of the arts" on the ground that she made few, if any, rules on the subject...
...Lapidary phrases have again and again fallen from his lips and his words have found a responsive echo among all classes...
...It is indeed an encouraging sign that articles about art can be published and generally read in our modern publications...
...Although we are still inventing and discovering at a rapid rate, a revival of interest in art is evident...
...The continued investment of American capital in Europe is sought to be encouraged in America "X" Europe, and Mr...
...To design a large church an architect must have an organization and a corps of assistants, and whether this be a temporary arrangement which allows him socially to preserve his individuality, or whether it be a legitimate and legal partnership, cannot have any real bearing on the result...
...There were styles of architecture in the thirteenth, fifteenth and seventeenth centuries...
...Another obstacle to short-sighted scholars is the slow and rather indefinite reaction to their efforts...
...WHEN CATHOLICS TALK Nahant, Mass...
...In few did I find the desired combination of deep scholarship, inspiring teaching ability, fluent writing style and an ambition to influence others in the field of letters...
...Carter doses his article in these words: "The result of their co6peration will be neither the enslavement of Europe nor the subordination of America that the political mathematicians profess to fear, but the multiplication of each other's resources in the mysterious and fruitful manner symbolized by the letter ~X.' " The reply to such men as John Carter is made by the directors of the Pollak Foundation for Economic Research, thus: "They maintain that this country normally has an output October z, I929 THE COMMONWEAL 563 about I5 or 2o percent in excess of all it consumes of its own products and of those of other countries combined, and that its prosperity depends on permanently sending this surplus abroad as a money profit...
...If we had merely a few brilliant minds working on the airplane problem, they would get nowhere...
...Does parity mean equality in naval strength...
...o John Carter, in his article, America "X" Europe, tosses the charge of "propaganda" against those who "fail to take into account the fact that Europe is our best customer...
...There were government-paid propagandists during the war period who told the people of the United States that they were deprived by German submarines of the sacred privilege of sending goods to England and France which were not paid for, which never can be paid for and which those in power must have known never would be permitted to be paid for...
...The "gang," despite the President's attitude, which this time is truly commendable, is using every means in its power to get Ortiz Rubio elected, although as a candidate he is disqualified, not having resided in Mexico one continuous year before the election, as provided by law...
...The last quarter-century has seen a remarkable improvement in architecture...
...3. Build up the shorter column...
...To judge from the numberless political clubs of students, workmen, women, in short, of people of all kinds and conditions, which have come out for him, from the enthusiastic receptions, not prearranged, accorded him wherever he has gone, one would infer that his election is assured...
...Attwater pleads for a modern style of church building...
...There must be an underlying need or condition that gives birth to a style...
...Mr...
...However, there is so much of interest in Mr...
...Certain more recent provisions, such as that which refers to the denial of' the right to teach, are perhaps explained as a reprisal of war following close upon the intervention of the clergy in favor of Victoriano Huerta, hut they cannot endure in a normal r~gime because they are contrary to justice and to the custom of civilized nations this without exception whatever, because not even in Russia, of all experiments, was the extreme reached in which we are now placed, an exaggeration which has led us to the spectacle of the privilege which, at the Catholic's expense, the Protestant has been gaining, whose institutions multiply as Catholic schools are closed and at the same time that thousands of Catholics emigrate or have to conceal their practices . . ." Sefior Vasconcelos's campaign has been eminently successful...
...Possibly five or six, without intent or knowledge, gave me helpful hints and genuine inspiration...
...Next and as a condition indispensable to discuss the question, we should recall and feel that the Catholics are our brothers and that it is treason to the fatherland to go on exterminating them...
...People have been too busy inventing and discovering...
...A Byzantine church in the thirteenth century would have been as out of date as a 1915 automobile is today...
...Many more could and would write if proper encouragement were given...
...A previous article by the same author, entitled Our Orphaned Investments, in The Commonweal for July xo, caused the writer to suspect that Mr...
...There can be no question that without the Church's patronage, art could not have flourished as it did prior to the Reformation...
...Style is the result of a collective impulse of a nation or an age...
...True, he has been guilty in the past of anti-clerlcal utterances, but not being a fool or a coward (or a good-wilier) he has outgrown his provincial prejudices and has been brought to realize the injustice of the Church-state controversy...
...He has gone about speaking directly, fearlessly, not only of politics but also of more important matter--moral values...
...As for the latter, if there is anything for which English Catholics are remarkable, it would seem to be their success in making converts, especially among the intellectual classes...
...One simply cannot ignore one's education or knowledge...
...Carter was not only a propagandist but a paid propagandist, and then noting that he is "associated with the State Department in Washington," it was easy to believe that he was a government-paid propagandist...
...Attwater pleads for the modern, but in maintaining that it be produced by individuals goes counter to the spirit of the age...
...Because of native talent and compelling circumstances, I have met success in my chosen field, but as I look back, I wonder if graduate work gave me much more than the degree...
...What does the "principle of parity" mean...
...it is simply an impulse of the time...
...AMERICA "X" EUROPE Providence, R. I. the Editor :--In The Commonweal for August 28 Mr...
...Let us consider also that the reform laws contain irrevocable principles, such as the separation of Church and state and the freedom of worship, but they also contain other precepts which are police power regulations, subject to change according to the time and the occasion...
...My hope and prayer is that graduate school regents and professors will see the possibilities at their doorsteps and ask themselves honestly whether they are doing their best to saturate American life with a sane, .sober and solid Catholic philosophy of life...
...The poor church architecture, a product of the last few centuries is largely duc to the lack of interest in religion and, therefore, in religious art...
...Bixel blames the English Catholic O authorities for asking certain questions of the candidates in the recent elections, on the ground that it would be looked on as a "political threat," and was bad salesmanship...
...During five years of graduate work, I came in contact with a score of professors whom I studied as I studied my books...
...but, in like terms, substituting "Mars" for "x," we have it that America and Europe must both prosper by "the multiplication of each other's resources in the mysterious and fruitful manner symbolized by a line to Mars I" M. P. CONNERY...
...The best proof of their presence among us is the publication of two text-books in the recent past...
...It is only when many people and a great deal of talent unite in one big effort that we can hope to produce a style or perfect an invention...
...I may add that I can vouch for the authenticity of the text although this portion was not printed in the Mexican papers...
...We are today producing better ecclesiastical architecture, but we are doing it by climbing upon the shoulders of those who have gone before us...
...Carter said regarding the war debts: "So far not even the most farsighted of foreign observers has suggested the very simple and obvious conclusion that we do not want these investments repaid, either in goods or in cash," and the writer asked "Why doesn't John Carter, as one associated with the State Department in Washington, make the direct statement that we do not want these investments repaid ?" And that gentleman has disdained to answer...
...PZTER S. CREED...
...Equally outspoken was the opening speech of his campaign, delivered at Nogales, Sonora, on November xo of last year, before the makeshift settlement with the Church, from which I quote in part...
...A radical new style of architecture will not be developed until there are radical changes in our services or in our religious needs, or an outburst of religious fervor...
...For the former, when matters of importance affecting the Church are in question, Catholics have both the right and the duty to take them into consideration when voting...
...Aesthetic impulses seem to be controlled by some unknown force...
...Unquestionably the Church gave not only work but opportunity for development and encouragement as well, to the artists with whose work she sympathized...
...the other, on history, was written by a younger man whose pen, I hope, will remain active for many a day to come...
...Let us hope that out of the present use of Romanesque, Byzantine and particularly Gothic there will develop a second renaissance, better suited to ecclesiastical architecture than the first because its prototypes are Christian rather than pagan...
...Pressure has been brought to bear on the press, forcing Seflor Vasconcelos to discontinue his contributions to E1 Universal (which were the most important J source of his income...
...We are living in an age when large corporations and combinations of talent are producing results...
...The most important task in securing action through education is the choice of the personnel of a committee to select, supervise and encourage graduate teachers...
...Although he is confident of the votes of a large majority, however, he is not equally confident of the ballots...
...It is not because we have brighter men or greater artists that we are building better buildings and therefore better churches...
...October 2, x929 T H E C O M M O N W E A L 56x COMMUNICATIONS THIS TALK ABOUT ART New York, N. Y. O the Editor :--Donald Attwater in his article, This Talk about Art, raises some very timely questions...
...There is a chance, we believe, to accomplish something, and we should llke to enlist especially the aid of Catholics...
...Mr...
...ACTION THROUGH EDUCATION New York, N. Y. o the Edltor:--Dean Fitzpatrick's paper made me look backward, not forward...
...And only by breaking away from this circle of hatred, only by initiating ourselves into a new dispensation of concord, shall we be able to broach painful situations like the religious, which for years has been tearing the entrails of the country...
...CHRISTOPHER I. FITZGERALD...
...Possibly the weight of international public opinion could be brought to bear at this juncture, interesting the American people by an impartial, objective presentation of the coming election and of its significance...
...By comparison, rude tabloid editors, unscrupulous cinema producers, pagan novelists, zeitgeist writers on science and philosophy and clever advertising men seem to make a deeper, even if less permanent, impression on the mind and manner of the masses...
...An active, well-directed publicity campaign (and by publicity I do not mean propaganda) in this country may be 'the deciding factor in the issue...
...Today, instead of styles of architecture, we have styles of automobiles, of airplanes and steamships...
...People knew little beyond their neighborhood, their country and their own time...
...There are men and women devoted to their subject, endowed with creative genius, dynamic energy and contagious enthusiasm and above all generous with their knowledge, who can galvanize into action the young minds of kindred spirits, on whom the continuance of the movement will depend...
...One set standards sluggishly low, another stifled constructive effort by standards impossibly high...
...For us who have history to draw upon, both in books and in museums, it is difficult to remain uninfluenced by that which has been...
...The local authorities, the representatives and senators, have come out solidly against Vasconcelm and, since the first will watch over the elections and Congress will have to declare officially the results, one knows what to expect...
...One, on literature, came from a scholar on the Pacific coast, whose writings have always impressed and inspired me...
...Not one ever tried to measure my mental equipment or to show me how to sharpen my intellect or increase my knowledge, by personal, direct interest...
...If grade and high school teachers have to pass difficult tests in content and method, why should college and graduate teachers be chosen solely on their scholastic record without proven ability to impart knowledge and inspire study...
...If this argument is valid, it follows that the only way that all the nations of the earth can be prosperous at the same time is by disposing of the world's surplus over an air line to Mars, or to some other planet that must be forced to bear the burden of this world's superabundance...
...To do this, it is obviously necessary to know where the candidates stand...
...They, of all groups in the United States, seem to have shown the greatest sympathy for, and understanding of, Mexico...
...In a communication in The Commonweal of August 7, the writer referred to the article of July xo in which Mr...
...Style is an epidemic...
...They lived in an age when culture centered on religion, and that is why they created religious styles...
...Let us also proclaim the truth that it is the duty of the state to act as mediator in conflicts of all fanaticisms rather than to embrace any one of them...
...while to those with whom she was not satlstied she gave little or no work, thereby eliminating them...
...Now I am not Achilles nor Icarus nor Sisyphus...
...The presidential opposition candidate, Sefior Vasconcelos, has promised to settle the controversy in question and I believe that if he is given the chance, he is more likely to do something than any man I know of, because the best elements of Mexico, according to the best of my knowledge, are solidly with him...
...Some of my preceptors were broad and some were narrow, some were deep and some were shallow...
...At a meeting at International House which I attended, held some THE COMMONWEAL October z, x929 time in January of last year, he made the statement publicly that he could see no constitutional foundation for the so-called religious laws of Mexico...
...JOSEPH DWlOHT...
...2. Transfer one-half the excess from one to the other column...
...However, the same objections cannot be applied to this age working in the historical styles...
...While the historical styles have been used, they have been developed rather than slavishly copied...
...Moreover, there is, at this time, I think, a good opportunity to do something...
...it is now the obstacle-thought has come to a standstill, the vehicle has become overloaded with incongruous meanings and is broken down--a man now uses such overloaded words when he does not know his own mind or when he is striving to conceal his meaning...
...NAVAL PARITY Allston, Mass...
...She certainly was the patron of art, as he carefully explains, and whether she be called the patron or mother makes little difference...
...It is only a national upheaval, a tremendous demonstration of the people's power that is likely to intimidate the "gang" into allowing a fair election...
...There is no telling how much can be done, but unless my knowledge of Mexico stands me in poor stead, there is a fair chance that results will exceed our expectations...
...It provoked me to introspection and retrospection...
...an age of co6peration in which big results are necessary--certainly this is not an age of individualism...
...Her selective buying was tantamount to making laws...
...Time was, ere these degenerate days had been" when a word was the vehicle of an idea...
...To infer that she was a poor mother because no definite rules or regulations for art were laid down by her does not seem at all conclusive...
...Of course, some Catholics will take little stock in such a pledge, believing that Sefior Vasconcclos is as much of an anti-clerlcal as some past statements of his would lead one to believe...
...Figures don't die," so America "X" Europe is written in terms of mathematics...
...To feel hatred for a question of supernatural creeds or to impose laws which provoke rebellions for reasons of worship is something so unheard of, so barren and unsocial, that nowadays none of the civilized peoples of the earth--nor even the uncivilized--carry to sanguinary extremes questions which transcend human reason itself...
...O the Editor :--The practice of parity is more to the point than its principle...
...Perhaps this explains in part, why doctorate dissertations are frequently swan songs and why there is so little action through education...
...They did not lack time or talent, they seemed to lack inclination or initiative or incentive...
...E. R. PINEDA, Chairman, Non-Partizan Mexican Election Committee...
...It is useless to demand that we now create a new style of architecture or a new style of church building...
...There must be a meeting of the minds...
...and there is no reason to believe that government-paid propaganda must be restricted to war periods...
...In the thirteenth century the world's vision had not yet lengthened...
Vol. 10 • October 1929 • No. 22
