G. BERNARD SHAW

Hokitika Guardian, 28 March 1933, Page 8

G. BERNARD SHAW

HIS FIRST VISIT TO AMERICA.

‘‘SHAVIANISMS” AND CRITICISM.”

SAN FRANCISCO, March 24

Mr George Bernard 'Shaw arrived on the United - States mainland to-day .for the first time, with tile abrupt an•nouncem'ent 't,h t lie knew mor e of America than it§ inhabitants. He told a mass of interviewers and cameramen that Americans elected their, public officials because the candidates had -their pictures taken with a baby in their arms'. During, a discussion of th e Tom Mooney cas<k (Mooney was convicted for participation in' the Preparedness Day parade bombing at San Francisco in 1916) Mi" Shaw stated thitt the Americans were' romanticists in their treatment of the whole criminal system. ; ‘‘l -hestitate to express an opinion re-g.-i’ding Mo'dney,” he said. “Generally I would say that to bury a man alive in a vault fo r seventeen years is extremely .foolish;” * The United States, said Mr S*»'w, was a drinking nation, because it was n V j unhapfiy’ nation. “I sh:k' man -n* given chloroform for an operation, hut jn your crowded cities, when a man gets sick 'from excessive hours of labour he -takes alcohol.” ‘•I don't know how Hitler will turn out,”, he said in reply t 0 a question f'The whole of th e German people are in a state of suspense and chaos. They are trying - out Hitler like yon ai e try.ng out Roosevelt. In four year* I will he able t 0 tell you about them.”

I Mr Shaw accused the Americ-n people of* giving no thought to the qualification,? of their officials. “Why, lie said, “it was Roosevelt’s baby that got him elected.” “But lloosesevet had no baby,” an interviewer said.

1 ; “Well, that’s serious. Then whose baby was it that Roosevelt was photographed with?”

Other Shavianisms were:— Leniil was the greatest man since Geore Washington. Six'.or seven civilisations have progressed to our plane, and then collapsed to grass.

Man as a political animal is not capable of solving the problems created by himself. Periodically we have brilliant attempts at suicide, such as we started in 1914, but I am not greatly excited about another war immediately. I first 1 read about technocracy fifty years ago. I am hardly up-to-date enough on it now to talk. Mr Shaw proceeded to San Simeon as the guest of Mr William Randolph Hearst before joining the ship at SanPedra to continue a. round-the-worid cruise. He came here from Honolulu.