certain respect in their hearts that in no other way could have been attained. Let any serious trouble arise to-day in Chicago in which men of opposing views are pitted against each other, and a solution of such difficulty would be far easier now and in the future than could have been possible prior to the organization of the Sunset Club. * * * PRINCIPLES, NOT PERSONALITIES. Personalities are rarely indulged in at the Sunset Club gatherings. This was never better exemplified than at the meeting when the Red Flag was the subject of discussion. It was the best attended dinner the Club ever had, and when the discussion was opened an intense feeling was developed, the speakers on both sides showing by their earnestness how deeply they were stirred. And yet throughout the evening not a single personal invective was offered on either side. It was a question of principles, not persons, and the self-command exhibited by the speakers was most admirable. The effect of the dinner-table talk that precedes the discussions is seen in the broadening charity entertained by the members toward those of opposite faith. This amicable exchange of views is a great educator in many ways; it provides not only recreation and development but a platform that is absolutely unrestricted, save for personal invective. A vote is never taken among the members following a discussion. The sentiment may be as 99 to 1, and yet that solitary member is never made to feel how very lonesome he is in his opinions. If converts to a question are made the result is never publicly known. The germs of truth are sown and if they take root and flourish it is well; the opposition may never realize how badly it is worsted. * * * WHY THE LADIES ARE FRIENDLY TO IT. The Twilight Club of New York (after which the Sunset Club was largely modeled) restricts its speakers to five-minute talks, but the Sunset has improved on this plan by allowing each leader twenty minutes to present his views, after which a general discussion is invited, each speaker being limited to eight minutes. The dinner is usually over by 7:30; cigars are then lighted; the chairman announces the names of the leading speakers, and promptly at 9:30 the meeting adjourns. By closely adhering to this rule the gatherings never become tedious, nor do the ladies find any objections to a Club that brings its sessions to a close at an hour that permits the members to return home in time for family prayers. * * All sorts and all conditions of men belong to the Sunset Club. Anarchists, socialists, single-tax men, democrats, republicans, mugwumps, sons of America, Europe, Asia and Australia, agnostics, athetics, christians and free-thinkers are alike enrolled on its membership list. It is the only Club of the kind in Chicago where all meet on a level. At the dinner tables one may see a learned divine touching elbows with a fervid follower of the red flag, a railroad magnate hobnobbing with a labor agitator, a financial potentate side by side with the lowly clerk. Its discussions have the effect of making the radicals less radical and the conservatives more liberal in their views. It is the broadest organization in the world, and as its founder truthfully observes is "the only Club where men of the widest, opposite and most radical views meet on the same platform and discuss questions in which they take a vital interest without once displaying any bitterness or descending into personality." WORKING FOR THE GOOD OF THE MAJORITY. The Club never passes resolutions. It aims to discuss living subjects of vital interest to the people, and in this way really performs the work of a citizens' committee. There is no partisanship in the Club; the object is to arrive at what is best for the good of all and the discussions look solely to this end. 66 * 66 * * 99 66 "" 66 An idea of what has been discussed by the members of the Sunset Club since its inception may be gained by scanning the titles of a few of the subjects over which the Sunsetters have lovingly lingered. A dozen or so are selected and given here: "Speculation, Its Use and Abuses; 'Party Allegiance; "Socialism; Single Tax;" Anarchy; "The Sunday Question; "Our Public School System; 'Newspapers, Their Rights and Duties; Subsidies and the Tariff; "Strikes and Lockouts; • Pensions, Civil and Military; ""Ballot Reform;” “ Money and its Functions; "Our Jury System; How Can It Be Improved? Municipal Civil Service Reform;" Foreign Trade and Reciprocity," and many more of an equally interesting nature. It can be readily seen that not the same set of members are in attendance at each meeting. Different subjects call out different people, and in this way the interest is constantly changing, as the topic attracts or repels the hundreds of members. This is one of the secrets of the Club's success and of its constantly increasing membership. 66 66 As the founder of the Club so pertinently puts it, "No man can attend the meetings of the Club for one year without becoming a better citizen, more liberal in his views, a deeper thinker, more tolerant of the judgment of others and more alive to his own weaknesses and defects. It is a grand educator, where men of originality may freely air their views and be certain of a respectful hearing." And to belong to this Club there are no restrictions. In the humorous language of Secretary McCormick : Any genial man, If he chooses, can, EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN, the poet and critic, speaking of the Sunset Club in a letter to its Secretary, A. A. McCormick, says: "I am impressed by the thoughtful and really significant character of the discussions. The Club is plainly not only an educator in the matter of social intercourse and relaxation, but in the most vital questions and problems of the day." He closes the letter with the following quatrain as a suggestion for a motto for the Club: At set of sun one lone star rules the skies, Night spreads a feast the day's long toil has won: UNIVERSITY A CRITIQUE OF THE SUNSET CLUB. BY FREDERIC W. ROOT. That any one should have the hardihood to take to task the sayings or doings, or omissions, or anything else of a Club that has afforded us so many pleasant hours may seem impossible. But Emerson teaches us to show our friendship for an individual by a certain noble enmity toward him; so supported by that phase of philosophy, I shall venture to censure the Sunset Club with such severity as shall survive the struggle between my pride in the organization and a stern sense of duty toward it. This censure is not on account of lapses from strict fidelity to that palladium of our rights and immunities, that Magna Charta of our liberties and pleasures, that declaration of independence of dull care and daily routine, that official deliverance in inspired verse beginning: "No club house, no constitution, No debts, no contribution." No; Which assures us with poetic fervor that there shall be "no encores." I am not about to chide the club for setting at naught this more or less rhythmical and moderately rhymed instrument, in yielding to the encore of Natlonalism a-la Bellamy, demanded November 21st, and responded to two or three months later. Though the provocation is great, I shall also refrain from characterizing in scathing terms the behavior of the club in talking so loudly during dinner as to disturb the musicians. My forbearance will be appreciated by all who were present upon the evening of the newspaper discussion, when the insistance of the conversationalists was such, that at length the cornet man, who is usually able to drown any amount of conversation, put up his iustrument and went home, a broken and discouraged being. Neither were the talkers moved to greater considerateness by the feline wails of the clarionet which, deserted by its sonorous colleague, redoubled its efforts; unmoved they beheld the second artist, dispirited by defeat, also depart leaving two violins and a double bass, droning out an impotent protest against the wit and wisdom, which still arose in a genial roar from the dinner tables below. As I have said, it is not this which occasions these criticisms; I shall take far higher ground from which to launch them. My complaint is that woman has been both neglected and maligned at our meetings. That she has been excluded from them is doubtless for her good; for her lungs are wont to |