ot things at all but air-born unrealities! Words
are among the most powerful realities in the world. You vote the
Republican ticket. Why? Because you have studied the issues of the
campaign and reached a well-reasoned conclusion how the general interests
may be served? Possibly. But nine times in ten it will be because of that
_word_ Republican. You may believe that in a given instance the
Republican cause or candidate is inferior; you may have nothing personally
to lose through Republican defeat; yet you squirm and twist and seek
excuses for casting a Republican ballot. Such is the power--aye, sometimes
the tyranny--of a word. The word _Republican_ has not been selected
invidiously. _Democrat_ would have served as well. Or take religious
words--_Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist,
Lutheran,_ or what not. A man who belongs, in person or by proxy, to
one of the sects designated may be more indifferent to the institution
itself than to the word that represents it. Thus you may attack in his
presence the tenets of Presbyterianism, for example, but you must be wary
about calling the Presbyterian name. _Mother, the flag_--what sooner
than an insult coupled with these terms will rouse a man to fight? But
does that man kiss his mother, or salute the flag, or pay much heed to
either? Probably not. Words not realities? With what realities must we
more carefully reckon? Words are as dangerous as dynamite, as beneficent
as brotherhood. An unfortunate word may mean a plea rejected, an
enterprise baffled, half the world plunged into war. A fortunate word may
open a triple-barred door, avert a disaster, bring thousands of people
from jealousy and hatred into cooeperation and goodwill.

Nor is it solely on their emotional side that men may be affected by
words. Their thinking and their esthetic nature also--their hard sense and
their personal likes and dislikes--are subject to the same influence. You
interview a potential investor; does he accept your proposition or not? A
prospective customer walks into your store; does he buy the goods you show
him? You enter the drawing room of one of the elite; are you invited again
and again? Your words will largely decide--your words, or your verbal
abstinence. For be it remembered that words no more than dollars are to be
scattered broadcast for the sole reason that you have them. The right word
should be used at the right time--and at that time only. Silence is
oftentimes