ease. They are perhaps unconscious of the subtle temptation. They are
not sufficiently direct and specific in their charges. I have been
reading Walt Whitman's 'Song of Joys.' The subject does not attract me,
but I like the way in which it is treated. There is no beating around
the bush. The poet is perfectly fearless, and will not let any guilty
man escape.

"'O the farmer's joys!
Ohioans, Illinoisans, Wisconsonese, Kanadians,
Iowans, Kansans, Oregonese joys.'

"That is the way one should write if he expects
to get results. He should point to each individual
and say, 'Thou art the man.'

"I am no poet,--though I am painfully conscious
that I ought to be one,--but I have written
what I call, 'The Song of Obligations.' I
think it may arouse the public. In such matters
we ought to unite as good citizens. You might
perhaps drop a postal card, just to show where
you stand."

THE SONG OF OBLIGATIONS

"O the citizen's obligations.
The obligation of every American citizen to see that
every other American citizen does his duty, and
to be quick about it.
The janitor's duties, the Board of Health's duties, the
milkman's duties, resting upon each one of us individually
with the accumulated weight of every
cubic foot of vitiated air, and multiplied by the
number of bacteria in every cubic centimeter of
milk.
The motorman's duties, and the duty of every spry citizen
not to allow himself to be run over by the motorman.
The obligation of teachers in the public schools to supply
their pupils with all the aptitudes and graces
formerly supposed to be the result of heredity and
environment.
The duty of each teacher to consult daily a card catalogue
of duties, beginning with Apperception and
Adenoids and going on to Vaccination, Ventilation,
and the various vivacious variations on the
three R's.
The obligation resting upon the well-to-do citizen not
to leave for his country place, but to remain in the
city in order to give the force of his example, in
his own ward, to a safe and sane Fourth of July.
The obligation resting upon every citizen to write to
his Congressman.
The obligation to speak to one's neighbor who may
think he is living a moral life, and who yet
has never written to his Congressman.
The obligation to attend hearings at the State House.
The obligation to pr