Page:Upbuilders by Lincoln Steffens.djvu/328

 were invited to work. U'Ren volunteered. He offered his services with the enthusiasm of youth and the fervour of that secret inspiration of Moses. And the leaders welcomed the boy. They put him to work. They directed him to aid in colonizing voters in a doubtful ward!

U'Ren was stunned. He did not know such things were done. He was horrified, but fascinated. He said nothing; he didn't do the work, but he hung about watching it done. The dreamer was allowed to see the inside. There were antiChinese riots in the town. The mob marched through the streets crying "The Chinese must go!" and threatening to kill them. U'Ren became excited. Here was oppression of the weak. At his request, he was appointed a deputy to "protect the poor Chinamen," and he served in all earnestness till an insider explained to him that the mob was organized and the riots were faked—to get the good citizens out to the polls to vote for "law and order and the Republican party."

The elders forget how young people feel when they first discover that the world isn't what schools and grown-ups have taught them. It would be better to teach the truth; then the new citizens would be prepared for the fray. As it is, the sudden shock carries away not only the