THROUGH ITALIAN EYES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1949, 5 January 1914, Page 6

THROUGH ITALIAN EYES

bii i'rirni ; ofalje; ; :;Pa)l;iia'l|/Ga>Gtppf:vjJi||;S;; -" ' 'Dobs>heoiid a tJioJAiiierira lGast^ s Hp^dmit3B;jiiat:i:f'Amqrio^ ; 'i3. '.er/Jo\y3J;;itT : :but%it3;jinUabitaii.ta( sire .'not pr'coccui)iedg'ohly'i?:in.,L : making's money; schools' is:'suffipiont , .'.J;b'refutb'.';this'accusa-„ •■■:. " ' where ovLTrthii!g'':is : , taiiKht : ,' , v receive,not a.'farthing! from Everywhere towns, 1 museums,'/Jjbrarjcs^and^.sclibols-'iof^all Sohools Firtl^f^Amdricans;^ '-' ■'• Americansvj'maKoy'grea't'S efforts .;'■; to beautify.;tlieir' ,: couutry!%All the 1 schools of architecture:.; nr.-Eii'rbpe,-'particularly of Paris,:.aFoj'i'ull.pftjAniericans ; wprki!iK '' ,'ln you ■iwill -find ; - :r aH the. areiu^c«tures r in'.thb.'streets, all lit— terature's > libraries; 'all. religions in the churches,'every kind of music in the theatre, 1 - every; species'; of. decorative art.in.tho■.houses.'.^/New.'.;York symbolises this.spirit ofuniversal conciliation, somewhat confused ■ and superficial, but living and''sincere,*, which; characterises contemporary; America..!,/,:. There ..aro rich ignorant I 'people 'iir-- : America' 'as elsewhere, but tho typical figure of the barbarian laden with gold, is a legend. . "The invention of the steam ougino has brought-.about'tho modern conception of progress.---If progress'is'real, asks.Sjgnor Ferrero,-.how is, it that wo talk of decadence?,!.;-*ls-it;,only an illusion, this p-ogrcss:to : which' we'sacrifice our repose,- '' our tranquility, and often aro life?.wThoro.is, 'for- instance, -the crisis in classical studies.'..: ■■ .. "Why do men study Homer and Cicero less'than in .'the. past? .' Because these_ models have lost' much. of their 'prestigo on account of the rise in other literature.. You cannot imagine- a candidate for tho Presidency of tho United States, having to deliver ten or fifteen speeches a day,- modelling .himself on Cicero or Quhitillian.';:.>;is. :*}<?.<'■■ ''Then there is the crisis in arts! How. is it America spends so much and receives so _little?" Because, she demands speed. You cannot build Notre Darrie or St. Mark's in eighteen months, even if you spend a hundred million dollars. France would not have' been able to create, in the eighteenth century, its grand decorative styles if public taste had been as mobile as it .is to-day.; .. The Pace that KNlsj-Art. [. "'>. . "What is progress? lib' reiterates, and refers to the struggle botweon the '.trusts and the middle class; This controversy docs not mean that ono side is blind and the other clairvoyant, but that there aro two standards for measuring same thing. Thero is economic development, and thero is the ideal of moral perfection; thero is quality and there is quantity (of riches).

"America is the country where this latter principle has won its greatest triumph. It is not true that sha is indifferent to the superior activities of the mind; but the effort she oxpouds in arts and sciences is subordinated to that other superior ideal—rapid and intensive exploitation .of the ■ Continent by machinery

"Europe also; declares Sign-or Ferrero, has entered upon the 'quantitative' phase, and wishes to live better. But this enterprise is much more difficult in Europe than in America,':