New-York tribune. [volume], September 19, 1920, Page 9, Image 73

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International Jury of Writers Votes to Acquit J?rgen
Vice Society Is Condemned
A Change in the Law Concerning Works of Art
To Be Demanded
I
--j-^HE effort of the New York
I Society for the Suppreasion of
Vice to bar James Branch
Cabell'a fantasy novel J?rgen
from the American reading pnbltc, on
the ground of obscenity, has stirred
op quite the liveliest discussion of the
-^r in literary circles. The final
Ie?aJ Judgment in the case of J?rgen
baa not yet been rendered, but the sale
?nd circulation of the book have been
?topped.
Shortly after the action of the so?
ciety became known an emergency
committee, consisting of Edward Hale,
Bierstadt, Sidney Howard and Barrett
H. Clark, was formed for the purpose
of protesting against the suppression
of J?rgen. The report of this com?
mittee, now published under tho title
o? J?rgen and the Censor, sums up the
main features of a controversy which
suggests the famous trial of Gustave
Flaubert for the publication of
Madame Bovary in the widespread in- |
terest it has aroused.
Mr. Cabell's Own Views
Mr. Cabeli's own views on tho sub- '.
j?ct of literary censorship are vigor?
ously expressed in the following pas- j
nges from a letter to the secretary of
the committee:
"A* to censorship of our reading mat?
ter I concede this may in theory be ad
viaabie. In practice, though, I can
imagine no persons or class of persona
qualified to perform this censorship. I
Pace the vie? society, there is cer
taioly a difference between pornog
raphy and fine literature, if but the I
difference that everybody enjoys the ;
first, when few caro one way or the
other about the second, and certainly
the two should be appraised by diverse
and appropriate standards. A work of
ert should, therefore, in theory, be
;udged entirely as a work of art, by
a jury of practitioners of the art con?
cerned.
"Yet, since every self-respecting
author at the bottom abominates his
competitors, despises his inferiors arid
is frankly irritated by the work of
tl.ose who differ from him in ?esthetic
canons, such an arrangement would,
in pract.ee, o:ily fling open more con?
spicuous fields wherein to flaunt the
mutual spite and miscomprehension
com m in to us creative writers. Besides,
it is not difficult to forecast what sort
of writer.- must, and would, be chosen
for the judiciary, as representing the
d.gr.:*.y of letters by the happiest com?
bination of mediocrity and senility.
No: in tho end an attempt to estab?
lish a purely 'Literary' tribunal would
result in setting over American art
a death watch of genial clergymen and
decre] ! college professors; and I de
apondeiitlj question if their decisions
would be 11 whit less imbecile than the
present arbitraments of the society's
hired spies
Art and Morality
"At all events you and I uro in the
negligible minority. I need hardly re?
mind you that the officers of the so?
ciety have embattled back of them all
the complacent muddleheadedness of
the average pew-renting American,
who from the first has rather fret?
fully resented any talk about 'art.'
Mr. Paul K. More, in or.e of the let
ters relative to tho J?rgen imbroglio,
baa nicely Bummed up this popular
point of '.lew: 'I am not at all in
aympathy with a group of writers
who would take any protest against
the society ?is u just ?''?cation of what
they are pleased to cull art. The harm
done by the society seems to bo very
slight, whereas the harm dene by the
?elf-styled ar7ist may be very great.'
"Mow that is really the popular and.
therefore, '"he expedient moral atti?
tude. The moral of a democracy is,
after all, a matter of elementary arith- '
metic: or:e counts the ballot (some?
times, it is said, quite honestly) -in
order to distinguish between right and
wron%fker;?"r the voice of the peo?
ple is notoriously the voice of God.
?t it precisely this discerning voice
which has proclaimed time and again
that the sturdy American peerage of
nature's noblemen does not want to
be bothered with any nonsense about
literature and art: for the reasons,
first, that such fripperies play no part
In honest poll tax payers' lives; and
second, that in very much the manner of
tHIa Mr. Moore, our reputable citizenry-? i
obscurely and inarticulately, but none:
tba less genuinely-- resents the impu
dance of 'self-styled artists' who pre-;
?unie to know more than their bet- 't
t*r? about 'what they are pleased to j
call art.' "
Functions of Vice Society
Joha S. Sumner, secretary of tho I
Society for the Suppression of Vice, ,
gives the following interpretation of j
the functions of his organization:
"This corporation was organized in
1813 to enforce the laws seeking to
?uppress traffic in obscene, lewd, lasci- :
^oua, indecent, filthy and disgusting
books or publications, and for other
purposes. This law does not make ex?
action as to the publications of any :
particular class. That Is, It does not |
distinguish between the writings of
John Doe, who has no reputation, or
Richard Roe, who is a distinguished
?utbor; nor have the courts, in inter- |
Prating this law, permitted tbe intent of
the author, expressed or implied, to in?
fluence them In their decisions. If the
knguage of a book Is lewd, or if it is
of suggeative lewdnesa, it is a violation
?a* tae law, regardless of the literary or
artistic character of the published mat?
ter. 8ome of the court decisions have
?aid that a writing of an obscene char
***W wae more dangerous when couched
*? fine langnage than when set forth in
?ude form, end this is undoubtedly
?ne.
"The society endeavors to perform its
tottea without favor to any claaa. If it
*?**?*? that the law, which it Is our
**** te ?afore*, has bets violated, w?
ara Juat asi prompt to proceed against
an established publisher or a known
author as against the street peddler
who seeks to excite impure thoughts in
the minds of boys by retailing question?
able pictures on the public street. Any
other course would lay us open to Just
criticism." j??s
Principle of Censorship
The principle of literary censorship
is sharply attacked by Mr. Clark in his
formal report and by Mr. Bierstadt
in a short essay entitled, "Morals, Not
Art or Literature."
"The executive committee came to
the conclusion that to carry on an
extended campaign, either on behalf
of J?rgen or of any other book, or
against any particular society, could
not improve the situation," says Mr.
Clark in his report in explanation of
why the original plun of the committee
to give wide publicity to the protest
and the list of signers was not car?
ried out.
A Change In Law
"So far as any definite conclusion
can be reached as to the most effec?
tive method of suppressing the sup?
pressors, it is this: That the law, as
written by Anthony Comstock and en?
forced by his successors, must be rad?
ically amended. That law not only has
permitted gross injustice to writers,
painters, sculptors and scientists?
without mentioning publishers. It has,
by reason of its skillfully worded
terms, permitted the establishment of
a mass of Judicial decisions and inter?
pretations the application of which is
contrary to tho first principles of
H
UGH WALPOLE calls
this ban on J?rgen lu?
dicrous
without mentioning publishers; it has,
liberty."
The emergency committee is now en?
gaged in drafting an amendment to the
laws affecting these persons Mr. Clark
montions?writers, painters, sculptors
and scientists. The efforts of the com?
mittee, he says, are directed toward
the passage of a law which would
permit a work of art, if its "morality"
be questioned, to be judged by those
qualified to pass judgment on it. The
"work of art" would embrace every
work that might be considered seri?
ous effort.
"It would bs patently absurd to ask
any jury to decide whether a book or
a picture was or was not an enduring
masterpiece," says Mr. Clark. "But the '
distinction between the book that treats
sex as a part of life and that which
treats pex primarily for tho purpose
of stimulating the sexual instinct is
easily drawn."
Mr. Clark's objection is not to the!
existence of a law permitting censor?
ship, but to the kind of censorship ?
permitted under the existing law and ,
to the personnel of the juries which j
may pass upon "works of art."
Mr. Bierstadt's objection is much j
like Mr. Clark's in principle, but t??ffers
decidedly in expression. Ho presents
his ideas in an essay on 'Morals, Not
Art or Literature, a heading borrowed
from a pamphlet circulated by the .So- j
ciety for the Suppression of Vice.
Definition of Terms
"Personally I don't understand it at j
all," he says, in reference to the cap- j
tion. "It implies a relationship that
does not exist; it makes a distinction
between elements that cannot be com- |
pared; it states dramatically a revela-1
tion that has nothing to reveal."
Ho demands a definition of terms
and then proceeds to define the terms
of this heading as he understands
them. He says: "Morals. . . .
They are what we have made them,
und well we know that at best they are
only the poor approximation of what
we would have them. . . . Morals,
or to phrase it more normally, the mor?
alist would well know that if J?rgen
were true art it could no more be im?
moral than life itself, and he would
know likewise that if it were not true
art ... it would die from sheer
malnutrition and inertia."
Mr. Bierstadt goes vn with his
method of definition and gives a few
of his opinions upon standards of art
and the code, which may influence them
for a short time. He raises the ques?
tion as to the fitness of a professional
moralist to judge works of art.
"A moralist is no more capable of
judging a work of art than is a pure
food expert." Not content with this,
Mr. Bierstadt goes further and says:
"And, too, the question may be
raised. Are the members of the Society
for the Suppression of Vice moralists
Cat all? No, surely they are not. They
j are experts in immorality, that,1b all," '
Replies of tho Writers
i An appeal to protest against tho snp
| pression of J?rgen, addressed by the
committee to a number of well known
writers, elicited some interesting sx
| pressions of opinion. A decided ma
| Jority of these authors show marked
! sympathy with J?rgen and hostility
; to the Idea of book censorship, al
? though a few voicea are raised in de
! fense of the society, and some writers
| refuse to commit themselves without
? having read the book.
A typically strong outburst is that
of Sinclair Lewis:
"To stop the aale of such a hook,
? while permitting lewd plays to con?
tinue on Broadway, is practically like
?ondemnin? Rodin's 'The Thinker* while
[icrmlttuig cheap music and picture
?tores all over New York to exhibit
JAMES BRANCH CABELL, author of J?rgen, which has
\*J come under the ban of the Vice Society
the internal affairs of a country in
which he ia a visitor.
"In England, I should be with such
a protest and with as loud a voice as
possible, but I think that if I did so
in America ' I might be very justly
told to mind my own business, and
that no matter how wrong the people
who said it might be in other ways,
they would certainly have right on
their side in that."
St. John Ervine answered the mani?
festo heartily and without reserve.
"Yes, indeed, you may add my name
to the list of protesters' against the
banning of J?rgen. I consider myself
to be a very ordinary sort of person,
with a mind as sbockable as that of
either of the Rockefellers, but I could
not find anything in J?rgen that seemed
? to me likely to destroy or even disturb
? the morals of a strict and particular
! Baptist. . . .
"There are two kinds of war: the war
j waged by evil men on the body and the
I war waged by more evil men on the
mind. . . . Wherever one looks to-day
: one sees attempts being mado to cop
; trol opinion and to suppress thought.
Wo must fight with our backs to the
! wall in defense of freu minds."
A Wurd for the Society
Another view of the case is stated by
Brander Matthews in a brief note:
"No, I won't join you. The Society
pHEODORE DREISER, !
who backs up his protest
?with a $100 contribution to\
the defense fund
I and sell openly obscene photographs
. . . as they do. Tho only thing
they have bo far omitted is to ban
'The Thinker.'
"In lighting for J?rgen you are serv?
ing the highest cause. We have had
so few books of sheer magic beauty
in this country that the thought of
assailing J?rgen Is infuriating."
Mr. Mencken's Opinion
H. L. Mencken is equally outspoken:
"Tho raid on J?rgen is the crown?
ing absurdity. Tho book is not only
a sound and honest piece of work;
it is also an unquestionable work of
art, and perhaps the finest thing of
this sort ever done in America. In
any civilized country such a book
would bo received with enthusiasm
by every educated man; here it is
exposed forthwith to the stupid at?
tack of persons without either intelli?
gence or taste."
Theodorro Dreiser recommends an
authors' defense fund. He says:
"There should bo a cash defense
fund, such as for the last five years
I have advocated, which should be de?
voted to the hiring of competent law?
yers and the prosecution of these cat?
tle in every city in which they op?
erate? and they now operate every?
where."
Hugh Walpole is one of several for?
eign authors who enter the lists in
behalf of J?rgen. Mr. Walpole says:
"I can only say, in tho first place,
that I regard any censorship of art,
organized and directed by men who are
moved by political and moral feelings
apart from ?sthetic ones, as an im?
possible anachronism in any modern
civilized country, and that in any case
I cannot see that J?rgen can possibly
be held to offend against morality for
the simple reason that there is no in?
cident, detail or description, from one
end of the book to another, that is not
i there entirely for reasons of truth
' and beauty,"
John Drinkwater, In replying to the
appeal, says that he is heartily in
sympathy with it, but refuses to take
part in something which belongs to
[CT. JOHN ERVINE admits
.that he is conventional,, \
; ' but that he did not find Jur-\
gen shocking
I for the Suppression of Vice is probably
making a fool of itself?as It has done
on more than cne occasion. But I am
old enough to feel very grateful to It
for the cleansing of the newsstands of
New York from what they were fifty
years ago. I hold it to be a most use?
ful organization; and I don't believe
that there is really any danger hero in
the United States in the twentieth cen?
tury that any true work of art will be
suppressed."
-0
Love and a Feud
An Old Theme Is Handled
Attractively
IN The Wall Between Little,
Brown Company) Surah Ware
1 Baaaett writes simply and with a
? good deal of skill of New England
! character. The wall is the symbol for
: a neighborhood enmity, a family feud
j that has dragged itself on for so many
generations that the survivor scarcely
know how it started. But though the
wall itself crumbles, the feud flourishes.
The story itself is unpretentious
! enough. Indeed, the fresh ingenuous?
ness of the love story which concludes
| the enmity hardly seems native to
1 these bleak people, whose flinty hard
; ness is each generation sharpened
; afresh on the granite hills. But though
Miss Bassett is intent on making her
. story a romance, she does not for that
i reason ecTten or bedeck the sharp
[nativo outlines of her characters.
h-I
JOHN DRINKWATER \
** registers against censor?
ship, but hesitates to partici?
pate in an American con?
troversy
A Key to a Gate
Mary Heaton Vorse Opens
Door to Land of Children
BETWEEN the land of the Bollo
booka of our grandfathers and
that of the choice, but too limited,
! writings that, like Canton's Invisible
Playmate, picture a child world of al?
most ethereal beauty, there lies a king?
dom In literature seldom trod by authors,
A few novelists have essayed to wander
over this region, only to get lost in
their own tangles of sophisticated ver?
biage or through their inability to
chart out true paths. For the realm
of the young child is so misty in our
memories that we, laden with the pack
of our years, seldom, very seldom,
journey back to the gate and drop that
! pack at tho portal. Yet, if we would
I interpret the doings, the sayings, the
pure psychology of our children for
whom the teens are still ahead, we must
bo children ourselves.
Mary Heaton Vorse is wholly, sym?
pathetically, inside the gates, and she
comes to us at the latch and gives us
what we desire, what we need, the un?
deniable interpretation of the land of
young children, a republic so quaint in
its efforts to imitate maturity, deli?
cio u s ? y delightful in Its sheer spon?
taneity of humor. Her The Prestons
was a godsend, a book that made u;
fathers and mothers forget our sol
emnities and assume at least a fie
tional place as partners with our boy;
and girls. And now, in Growing Uf
(Boni & Liveright), she has gone i
jaunt further, with us in tow, into thi
heart of the mystical kingdom that lie:
about us in our own homes, yet s<
vaguely outlined to our mental visioi
that we don't seem to realize it. Thi
book is a much needed one. It shouh
be in every honestly American home
for it Is a sort of vade mecum fo
parents. And now for a glance into it
The family of the Marceys, Tom an
Alice for parents, and Robert, Sar
and Jamie for children, is typical. On
can go down any respectable street i
the United States and point out coun
terparts. The three children are of'th
group universal, but each is a distinc
little unit with passionately conceive
and defended whims and aspiration;
Robert, "elusive and vanishing," is th
man in microcosm. Sara, "howlin
Sara," is the "gregarious," doll lovin
and fostering little girl. And Jamb
delightful youngster, "performs hi
solemn games" of solitaire with ir
visiblo guests. These children hav
their unseen and adjacent countr
wherein dwells "Uncle Zotsby" and h
dog, the mystical canine, whose talii
manic name," "Pa Skelegg" is divulge
in a whisper at the close of the boo
after many days of vigorous questioi
ing by Sara. But the essence of Grov
'nff Cp, its comfortable guide fitr u
is to be found, not in the refreshing!
humorous exploits and visionings i
the children, but in the study of t?
three by their splendid mother, Alie
She learns, through the days and tl
weeks and the months, that the key
their hearts is sympathy, that what :
often may appear to be insubordinate
and wanton freakishness is mere
the natural, rational, to be expecti
when understood, expressions of a li
tie mind that sees and interprets
tiny world in a small way.
Alice contrives to be at one wi
Robert, Sara and Jamie. She gets in
a holy place that practical father Tc
can never enter. Her story, so pure
a record of what has happened and w
happen again and again, in the cas
of mothers who can be as childr
with their little ones, is a marvel
fidelity to the isms and the actualiti
of childhood. Don't lay Growing i
aside with a smile of parental buj
riority. Read it, laugh with it, forj
your years, and take your little Si
or Jamie on your lap or your knee w
a sense of new and loving acqua
tance.
All-Wool' Morriso:
ATWO-FISTLD mayor of a We
ern city, who fights the gra
ers with one hand and the B
shevists with the other?that is I
hero of All-Wool Morrison, by H
man Day (Harper & Bros.). Morrii
is of the idealized type of yoi
American business men who can
be bullied and who cannot be seduc
He is an impregnable fortress of ,
tue against every temptation?e
when the father of the girl he lo
proves to be the leader of the i
which is trying to ?teal the wa
i power of the state he does not swe
fron the path of rectitud?.
BemstorfPs Own Story
Former German Ambassador Tells How He
Worked for Peace
By William L, McPherson
IN AN article in The Tribune Sun?
day Magazine section for July 10
I showed how completely Count
von Bernstorff's book, "My Three
Years In America" (Charles Scribner's
Sons), demolishes a legend created by
some of President Wilson's admirers
and contributed to by the President
himself in the celebrated McCumber
colloquy. That legend was to the effect
that in his diplomatic dealings with
Germany prior to January 31, 1917, Mr.
Wilson was deliberately preparing the
country?at least? morally?for war.
Some other aspects of this important
and absorbingly interesting book de?
serve .to be noted. It may be said in
passing that the title of the transla?
tion is a misnomer. Bernstorff was
the Kaiser's ambassador here for eight
years, instead of three. The title of
the German edition is more appropriate,
"Germany and America: Reminiscences
of the Five Years' War."
Bernstorff is the most successful of
the German apologists who have so far
broken into literature. It must be
admitted that he makes out a case for
himself from his own diplomatic dis?
patches. He was wiser than his gov?
ernment?wiser than either Bcthmann
Hollweg or Ludendorff. He says that
ho was convinced after the Battle of
the Marne that Germany couldn't im?
pose a peace of conquest on Europe.
Ha believed that her only hope lay in
a peace of conciliation?based, in a
general way, on the status quo ante.
He wanted to encourage mediation by
the United States and to keep the
United States out of the war at any
cost.
That was too rational a program for
most Germans. Bernstorff played the
diplomatic game here with great
ability. There seems to be no ques?
tion that he would have kept America
neutral had his policy not been con?
stantly thwarted by gross blunders in
Berlin. He read the situation better
than Ludendorff did. The latter grossly
deceived himself in the question of the
efficacy of the U-boat warfare, which
Bernstorff was clear-sighted enough to
wish to discard. The former ambassa?
dor recounts this interview with Luden?
dorff at grand headquarters in 1917:
"Ludendorff?In America you -wanted
to make peace. You evidently thought
we were at the end of our tether.
"Bernstorff?No, I did not think that;
but I wanted to make peace before we
came to the end of our tether.
"Ludendorff?We, however, didn't
want to."
Bernstorff's book re?mphasizes the
fact that Germany's war strategy was
never clarified or stable. His diplo?
matic instructions varied according to
the exigencies of the struggle in Ber?
lin between the civilian and military
factions. Bethmann-Hollweg had to
fight Tirpitz and Falkenhayn, and the
empire's foreign policy was in the bal?
ance during those squabbles. When
Ludendorff came into power Bethmann
Hollweg's sun had set, and the Foreign
Office became only an attachment to
General Staff headquarters.
Bernstorff felt that he could look
for support to von J?gow. But all the
others in Berlin were more absorbed
in the rivalries of domestic politics
than in winning the war by clear think?
ing and adroit action. The boasted
Prussian Constitution was supposed to
insure absolute unity of control?the
prime requisite in war. But it insured
only disunity, because the Kaiser was
incompetent to command and the vari?
ous political and military factions
fought and intrigued to exercise com?
mand in his stead.
Germany lost the war because of
Ludendorff's fatal mi9judgment in Jan?
uary, 1917. On this point Bernstorff
makes the shrewd observation: "It
seems to have been our destiny that all
our most important decisions of the
war were the outcome of military and
not of political considerations. On the
Entente side the converse was always
true, and that is why, though it Buf?
fered many military reverses, the En?
tente won the war."
Bernstorff's account of his relation
to German sabotage and offensive Ger?
man propaganda in this country must
be taken with more than a grain of
suspicion. But his personal desire to
keep Germany and America at peace
cannot be doubted. His book shows
that ho was a keen student of Ameri?
can politics and a well informed one
He has Bcored a news beat on every
correspondent in Washington by telling
the world that if President Wilson had
been defeated for reelection in Novem?
ber, 1916, he would immediately have
made Charles E. Hughes Secretary ol
State and then resigned, turning ovei
the Presidency to the Republicans.
What Englishmen Are Reading
An English Wife in Berlin, by Princess Blucher,
Much Commented On
By Frank Getty
LONDON, Sept. 15.
NO BOOK has brought home
so clearly to English men
and women the "other side
of the war" as that of Evelyn,
Princess Bl?cher, an English girl mar?
ried to a German prince, who spent
the period of hostilities in Berlin. In
An English Wife in Berlin she has
given this country a sharp pen pic?
ture of the feelings that actuated the
enemy leader's and common people dur?
ing the war. She knew the Kaiser,
Roger Casement and other figures
about whom,the world has yet to barn
the full truth. She ate kangaroo
thankfully during the food shortage in
the German capital, and, with a re?
markably clear judgment fostered by
her divided sympathies, weighed enemy
and Allied propaganda at its proper
valuation.
The book is a diary. Early in Au?
gust, 1914, Princesa Bl?cher whote:
"Exactly what was the real cause
of the war no one seem:; to under?
stand. It. id said in England that
Germany provoked the war, but here
they emphatically deny it. Cine
thing grows clearer to me every day:
neither people here nor there de?
sired the war, but here they are
carried off their legs at seeing so
many enemies on every side."
From the princess we learn that
German propaganda for internal con?
sumption was as unscrupulous ir: its
misrepresentations for the sake of
fostering "patriotism" as we now know
that of any other country to have
been. Regiments of convicts, the Ger?
man people were told, formed the
mainstay of the British army; sap?
pers' knives, made with a special scoop
to twist out the eyes of German pris?
oners, had been provided; Belgian
women and children had been guilty
of terrible atrocities.
Kaiser a "Pathetic Figure"
Then there is the ex-Kaiser, *
pathetic figure even in those days, ac
cording to the princess, who remainec
his loyal friend. At a court ball ir
Berlin the former Emperor asked hei
to christen his new cruiser Bl?cher.
"I expect you'll get into trouble wit!
your English relations if you launc!
my battleships, now, won't you?"
In 1915 Princess Bl?cher wrote: "H'
is too terribly misjudged and misunder
stood."
She wishes England could know ho^
the Emperor had forbidden air raid
over London, had opposed von TirpitV
submarine warfare and had tried t
stop, and bitterly regretted, the execu
tion of Edith Cavel!. The militar
party, she writes, overrode all his wea
objections.
"He complained most bitterly that
he was deceived and lied to from the
outset of his reign, and especially
throughout the war; . . . that ha
was treated as a nonenity by the
General Staff; that they made ?
point of contradicting every order oi
command . he gave; that he was
turned out of the room whenever th?
t?l?phona rang at headquarters, sc
aa not ta hear the commands ?n<?
1 real facts. . . . He was hustled
; backward and forward from the East?
ern to the Western headquarters, so
as to keep him 'out of the way,' when
generals were especially occupied."
This ?3 indeed, for English readers
at least, a new picture of the ex-Kaiser.
Now deserted, execrated and despised,
in a Holland asylum, he is thought of
only with affection by the author.
There was another figure of tragedy
and pathos, well known to the princess
and her husband, whose story she tells.
Sir Roger Casement appeared in Berlin
in December, 1914. Contrary to popular
belief here, ho was not popular, de?
spite his pronounced anti-English sym?
pathies. He was regarded with no lit?
tle distrust, as a likely English spy
masquerading as a rebel.
Germans Suspected Casement
In April, 1916, Princess Evelyn saw
Casement for the last time and wrote:
"The poor man come into the
room like one demented, talking in
a husky whisper, rushing round ex?
amining all the doors and then said:
T have something to say to you; are
you sure that no one is listening?'
"For one moment I was frightened.
I felt I swas in the presence of a
madman, and worked my way round
to the telephone, so a? to be able
to call for help. Then ho began:
'You were right a year ago when
you told me 1 had put my head in
a noose when coming here. I did
not tell you when you kept on urg?
ing me to get out of the country
what a terrine mistake I had made.
And also I did not want to tell
you that in reality I was a prisoner
here. I could not get away. They
will not let me out of the country.
The German Foreign Office have had
me shadowed, believing I was a spy
in the pay of England, and England
has had men spying on me all the
time as well. Now tho German Ad?
miralty has asked me to go on an
errand which all my being revolts
again = t, and I am going mad at the
thought of it, for it will make me
appear a traitor to the Irish cause.'
"At these words be sat down and
sobbed like a child. I saw the man
was beside himself with terror and
grief. . . . All he would say was
'They are holding a pistol to my
head here if I refuse, and they have
a hangman's rope ready for me in
England.' . . As he went out
of the door he said: 'Tell them I
was loyal to Ireland, though it will
not appear so.' ?
After the abdication of the ex
Kaiser she wrote:
"There could hardly have been a
greater air of rejoicing had Ger?
many gained a great victory. People
came hurrying by, thousands of them
densely racked together but walking
for the most part quietly?men,
women, soldiers, sailors, and a never
ending fringe of children playing on
the edge of this dangerous mael?
strom. ... I noticed the pale
gold of young girls' uncovered heads
... and in between the dense
masses of the marching throng,
great military motor lorries, packed
J with soldiers and sailors waving red
i flags and cheering and shouting ve?
I hemently."
Against the Treaty *?
Of the Treaty of Versailles Princess
Bl?cher says:
"I fear that England has misse?
the right moment for restoring
touch with the German people and
: laying the foundation for a lasting
peace in Europe, After the revoli?
tion, in the great wave of the reac?
tion against the war, the Entente
could have done anything with the
German people had they made th?
slightest overture toward a w?wa?
ciliation. People here were ready
to make reparation for the wrong
done by their leaders. But now they
say that Wilson has broken his word,
and an undying hatred will be
smoldering in the heart of every
German. Over and over again I hear
the same refrain. 'We shall bate
our conquerors with a hatred that
?will only cease when the day of re?
venge comes again.' "
Love and Air Lines
Struggle Against Big Odds
Enlivens American Novel
THE recent establishment of an
ocean-to-ocean aerial mail service
has emphasized the value of aero?
plane and dirigible as savers of time
in transportation. We naturally ex?
pect a new school or department of
fiction to come into being, one that
will give in atory form the adventure,
the romance and the business pbaaen
o? this fascinating product of the
tlmea. Holworthy Hall is to be con?
gratulated.
The timelineee of his latest now!
Egan (Dodd, Mead A Co.) must give
it a welcome beyond that accorded the
average piece of Action, for It? plot
centers in the struggle of a youa^
American officer returned from the wmj
to apply his knowledge, gained In the
air roads over France, to modern busi?
ness demands in the United States.
Bronson Egan, son of "old mats
Egan," of Plainfield, Ohio, has all hla
father's qualities of stubborn self
reliance and grit. The elder Egnn had
built up a big manufacturing plant In
Plainfield through his own efforts and,
desiring to give his son benefits he had
not enjoyed, sent the boy to college,
where he won famo as an athlete and
an easy grip on the admiration of hi?
fellows. From college Bronson goes
to France and becomes a famous flyer
over the Hun lines. The novel opcni
with the young man returning from the
war and nearing Plainfield in a Pull
man. He overhears. In a eonversatlor
on the train, details of his father'!
death and the smashing of the Egan in
dustrial plant by competitors.
From the hour of that overheari
talk dates Bronson's determination t<
wring from his father's enemies a ful
measure of reparation. But the younf
fellow, aggressive, too sura of his abill
ties, unwilling to take generous advice
plunges ahead, practically without capi?
tal, n an effort to form a corporation
to build aeroplanes and conduct an ex?
press business over air routes. The girl
he has loved for years is the daughter
of the man who has plotted to ruin hia
father's business, though he does not
know this at first. His absence In
France has thrown him wholly out ol
touch with the politics and trade rival
ries of Plainfield, and he is baffled an<
beaten until ho Is glad to accept a posi
tion as foreman of a gang of laboren
on a highway. Another girl comes int.
his life, a shrewd and companionabh
young woman, and the drift of th'
novel goes down a new road- that open
up fresh vistas, possibilities and sue
cess.
Of course, all comes out happily i:
the end. Egan is not a novel of th.
first rank. It Is as local as the trane
Alleghany stories of Booth Tarkingto
and Meredith Nicholson, which it re
sembles, and it is rich in the drive an
the color of our modern America tha
has won a vision of magnificent cor
quest andi Is on the march. It hold
up a mirroT to a restricted communit
life, catching the movement of bi
business and the fleeting figures of
little but engrossing love motif I
a peculiarly human and America
manner.
?
A Detective Stor]
Mystery Does Not Hoi
Out to the End
DETECTIVE stories are usuall
the basis for a battle of wi'
between the author and tr
reader, and be a mystery tale never i
engrossing, the reader will be a trii
disappointed if he can identify tl
guilty person before the author r
veals the secret. Therefore, No Clu
by James Hay jr. (Dodd, Mead), w
disappoint any experienced reader
detective stories who can lay dov
the book long enough to puzzle out ti
situation.
No Clue is compounded of fam
iar ingredients, but it Is a well kn
well written story which emphasiz
an inquiry into motives rather than
series of melodramatic tlevelopmen
Nevertheless, the present reviewer w
able to name the murderer of Mildr
Brace long before Jefferson Hastin
detective, tossed his cards on the tab
Mr. Hay, in his anxiety to mask t
criminal, declined to permit lui^cj
to fall on the guilty perlen, who.
the circumstance* of the story, mij
reasonably have been considered u
murderous possibility. The reader,
a process of elimination, will be a
to spot the assassin, although tho r
thes remain undisclosed until Jeff
son Hastinga reveals them.
However, the fact that some read
will be able to solve the mystery wi
out the assistance of Jefferson H,
Ings shoulil not be considered a
serious charge against the story