A Child of the Century by Ben Hecht

Author:Ben Hecht
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2020-03-19T16:00:00+00:00

THE KING HAS NO CLOTHES

OF MY OWN ACTIVITIES as a fund-raiser, I remember two chores. One was the “Life of Christ” contest which I arranged. I persuaded the Baptist synod employing us to offer a prize of five thousand dollars for the best biography of the Savior sent in to a jury of leading Baptists.

Hundreds of threadbare clergymen, missionaries and theological students sent in manuscripts. Lured by the princely prize, I also submitted an entry. In order to have a “fair” chance with the Baptist jury, I signed the name of a needy Baptist pastor to whom I promised a fourth of the prize money if I won it. It came to pass that my gaudy tale of Christ was selected by the Baptist jury as the winner. A million copies of this “Life” were printed and distributed, bringing fame to the parson whose name I had signed to it.

The other chore was the affair of Dr. Sze, Chinese Minister to Washington.

Dr. Sze arrived in Chicago accompanied by a score of Chinese and American statesmen. He was to speak in the evening in Orchestra Hall on the aims and ideals of the great new Democrat of China, President Sun Yat-sen.

Our firm was entrusted by Thomas Lamont of the House of Morgan with the job of making Minister Sze’s visit to Chicago a triumph.

The Morgans were angling at the time for vital trade concessions from the new China. The Famine Fund publicity we were peddling to the U.S.A. was a grandiose sales campaign for this purpose.

And Dr. Sze was important to our employers. His friendship and gratitude would help greatly the acquiring of financial toe holds in China.

We had printed and given away enough tickets to fill Orchestra Hall several times over. Nevertheless, we were full of alarm when we met the great Chinese diplomat at the train. It was raining, lightning and thundering. A gale was blowing. At five o’clock we knew that we and Minister Sze were facing a debacle. The rain had become almost a cloudburst. The streets were flooded. The wind screamed around the skyscrapers. The prospects of an audience arriving in Orchestra Hall to listen to an itinerant Celestial talk politics were horridly thin.

John J. Abbott, who was a Chicago bank president and related in some fashion to the House of Morgan, appeared at our offices in a rubber coat and cod-fisherman’s hat. He was winded and full of panic. His bank had been telephoning friendly depositors all day long and managed only to extract a few unreliable promises of attendance.

“What’s more, we can’t postpone it,” panted Mr. Abbott. “Dr. Sze has to start back to Washington tomorrow morning.”

“Does he have to speak at all, suh?” Grady asked.

“He does,” affirmed Mr. Abbott. “I have sounded him out. He insists on making his address. He calls it one of the most important moments in modern Chinese history.”

At seven o’clock Mr. Abbott and his staff of vice-presidents were still in our offices. Grady had had liquor and food brought up.

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