real patriots know this.

In a democracy like ours a religion which is not occupied all day every
day in this year of our Lord 1920 in making democracy work, a religion
that loafs off into a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, a
religion that cannot be used to run steel mills so that men won't go to
hell in them and to run coal mines so that men won't be in hell already,
is not a religion at all. And a nation that sheds tears over three
hundred thousand disabled and crippled soldiers, who gave up their jobs
and sailed six thousand miles to die for them, and that has finally
managed to get new jobs for just two hundred and seventeen of the three
hundred thousand and taken nineteen months to do it, illustrates what it
means--in just one simple item--for a hundred million people, to try to
be good without a body.

But it is not only in behalf of its helplessness with the President I am
groping in these pages for a body for the Public.

The reason that the Public in dealing in its daily business with powerful
persons of any kind--whether good or bad, whether a President or anybody,
is taken advantage of and does not get what it wants, is that the Public
is a Ghost.

Theoretically all powerful persons, predatory Trusts, profiteering labor
unions and the wrong kind of politicians always speak respectfully to the
Public, but when they want something that belongs to the Public they find
the Public is an Abstraction and help themselves. They act when with the
Public, as if the Public was not there.

The only way this is ever going to be stopped is for us to make a
spontaneous voluntary popular start in this country toward having a body
for people in general, towards giving a hundred million people in dealing
with their politicians, their trusts and labor unions, less bodilessness.
We propose to give a hundred million people a face, a voice, a presence,
a backbone, a grip.

Then all the people we ask things of who think we can be whoofed away,
will pay attention to us.

V

THE GHOST RECEIVES AN INVITATION

Being allowed to live a week to-day means as much as being allowed to
live a whole life four years ago or perhaps four years from now.

We are being allowed to live in the splendid desperate moment of the
world.

International war ending to-night.

To-morrow morning a thousand civil wars breaking out in a thousand
nations--between classes--unless we all do our seeing and do our living
swiftly a