American Popular Taste
David L. Cohn’s Amiable Study
Finds It Very Poor, Indeed
By Mary-Carter Roberts.
Love in America
By David L. Cohn. (Simon Schuster.)
That always agreeable writer, David L. Cohn, in this book, which
will be published Wednesday, deals a deceptively amiable-seeming slap
to what may be called contemporary American civilization. “Love in
America,” is his title, but that, like his amiability, is misleading. He
writes of a much broader field than the phrase indicates. He examines,
Indeed, the whole subject of American popular taste, and his verdict,
though given gently, is thoroughly damning. Could anything be W'orse?
inquires Mr. Cohn, in effect, and answers his query with the conclusion
that, if anything could, he cannot imagine it. The conclusion, moreover,
Is discouragingly supported by healthy evidence.
The reason for his toe limited title seems to be that, in the main, he
has conducted his examination of the national standards through the
controls whicn are exercised on those standards by women. Women in
America, he leminds us, are usually called bearers of culture's torch. So,
he continues, let us see what the ladies have been up to.
He looks at the women's magazines, the radio programs designed for
feminine consumption, the columns written for femimne readers, the
advertising copy directed toward feminine buyers. And w?hat, he in
quires, does he find? Nobody needs to be told the answer—shameful
drivel. But the speculations which Mr. Cohn makes on that answer
are wrell worth anybody’s time.
Sidesteps Hard Conclusion at
Expense of Logic.
He observes that what is blithely and blatantly called “sex appeal" is
the common ingredient ot all these media. He also observes that the
media have an overwhelming popularity. Millions of women, for example,
read the great women's monthlies; less than a quarter of a million read
Harper's and the Atlantic. But this "sex appeal." as it is thus popularly
exploited, is vulgar, cynical, stupid, offensive and thoroughly without
grace. It represents women as a degraded species. \Vhat, then, must
be argued about the feminine public which not only receives such atten
tions without protest, but gives them its hearty support?
Mr. Cohn is too kind to draw the hard conclusion. He sidesteps it at
the expense of logic. He puts the blame on the magazine editors, the
advertisers, the radio sponsors and so on. He suggests that American
women ought to give expression to the disgust which they must feel by
demanding better fare.
But this gambit in unreason will not deceive any reader. It is much
too common a part of the American mentality to know that editors, adver
tisers and sponsors strive only to please. They have no stake whatsoever
in insulting their subscribers and customers, and they have a great
stake in delivering the goods that the customers and subscribers want.
Mr. Cohn himself unquestionably knows that, too. Consequently, his
shift of the blame must just be put down to his southern gallantry. After
he has tracked the national vulgarities right to the ladies’ doors, he has
found himself unable to say, "Here they live." and suggests, instead, that
they are orphans malicously left on the step. But, as said, he w-ill not
fool anybody.
Sees American Marriages as
Hardly Marriages at All.
But, though he thus covers his face before certain of his own findings,
Mr. Cohn does not blench from pursuing the truth to its lair along an
other track. Is the sex life of these women w-ho are so all-exclusively
interested in sex correspondingly happy? he asks, and answers himself
that it is not. American marriages, on the average, he feels, are hardly
marriages at all. They consist of material sharing alone. No spirituality
goes into them. Emotionally, both husband and wife remain adolescent.
Neither gives the other that soul food required to bring about develop
ment. Treating his own sex with a direct severity which he withholds
from womankind. Mr. Cohn adds that this is mainly^ the fault of the men.
The Amereican male, he says, is not a lover. He wants to be indulged,
not- loved. The unkind reason Mr. Cohn gives for this state of affairs
is that the American male is too lazy. If his implied censure of the
women is injury, his verdict on the men is insult, and in the plainest terms.
The tone of most of the book is delightfully witty, and to read it is
to love it. In his final chapter, however. Mr. Cohn lays by his mocking
manner and assumes to admonish and advise. Let women stop listening
to radio dramas and reading lovesick serials, he says, and begin to instill
ir their children the true moral values which the republic needs. Let
them combat materialism by inculcating idealism in their homes.
And so on.
But the answer, if one does not forget what Mr. Cohn has just been
writing, is, "What women?" Will the radio drama addict become over
night, a serious-minded and intelligent creature, with a world view of her
responsibilities as a mother? Will the confirmed serial reader promptly
become a realist? Mr. Cohn has made his remedy unefficacious by his
own diagnosis. It will take something more than a blueprint of an ideal
home, to change that situation which he has so amusingly and so truth
fully portrayed.
Tucker's People
Bp Ira Wolfert. (Fischer.)
This is the first gangster novel which the reviewer has read in which
the author has departed from the Hollywood formula. It iSnot the tale of
the rise by slaughter and the fall by the FBI of a single ruthless thug
It is a painstaking and detailed picture of New York City's contemporary
underworld as it operates every day. It is a picture of the routine rackets
in their routine motion. Violence it has. but its emphasis is not on the
bloodthirsty nature of the underworld, as such. It stresses profit. It
reminds us that it is not, as Hollywood would have us think, solely for the
fun of being abie to rub out their enemies that gangsters live and have
their being, but for certain money stakes. The great part of the book is
given over to describing the setups by which these stakes are controlled
through all their many channels from the pockets of the suckers to
various grades of middlemen, to the police, to the big fellow eventually.
The reviewer can only say that she knows nothing about the subject
whatsoever, but that Ira Wolfert’s novel has a decided effect of accuracy
It deals particularly with the numbers racket as it is operated over a
period among the Harlem Negroes. We are shown first a comparatively
idyllic situation in which a number or "banks,” as thev are called, operate
side by side and get along without annoying one another or the well
rewarded police. Then Tucker, the big-time boy, muscles in and takes
over. The story follows the fate of one Leo Minch, who, until he reaches
the age of 50. is an honest business man with genuine abhorrence of even
technical law-breaking. Leo is first forced into the numbers business as
n.n independent operator, and then, with the advent of Tucker he is
obliged to become one of the entourage of that worthy. Just how the
conditions of the modern underworld can work to make a man adopt a
course that is diametrically opposed to everything he values is the main
psychological theme of Mr. Wolfert s book.
A11 Tucker's “People”
Are Dragged to Destruction.
Along with the wretched Leo are lesser fry whose lives likewise are
altered and ruined by the racket: A brilliant yoimg attorney, who becomes
Tucker's counsel and so breaks with his profession: a bookkeeper in Leo's
bank, who becomes unbalanced by fears; a young colored woman, who has
fought to get an education so that she may teach, but falls afoul of the
police by taking work in Leo's bank, since there are no teaching jobs for
hpr; Leo's brother, who finds in the rackets his only congenial atmosphere,
and so on. All these people are dragged into destruction by one device
or another as the result of Tucker's machinations. They are Tucker's
“people.”
Mr. Wolfert. however, does not depict his underworld as a primary
pause of human downfall. He proceeds, instead, by the method of giving
ft psychological analysis of each character and of showing how, psycho
logically, it was fated that that man or woman should be vulnerable to
rrime. This causes his book to be pretty crowded, for he likewise goes
Into immense and technical detail about the organization and working
of the underworld itself. The multiplicity of intricate personal themes
ftnd the volume of objective description together make a weight of ma
terial which Is disproportionate to what happens. The author's purpose
has evidently been to be scientific where the characters are concerned and
meticulously accurate as to the organization. It is an admirable aim, but,
fts it is brought off. it frequently makes for heavy going
An excellent, feature of the book is the language spoken by the char
acters New York City tenement dwellers of foreign backgrounds, for the
most part. Their speech resembled what we know as English only in that
it. uses English words. The sentence structures call almost for translation,
so utterly foreign are they to established English usage. This, too, unfor
tunately. slows the book, for a reader will have to puzzle many of the
meanings out. On the whole, it would appear that Mr. Wolfert's conscien
tious care for truth has done his work a sort of disfavor.
The Lights Around the Shore
By Jerome Weidman. (Simon & Schuster.)
a l'lone thosp novels in which a confusion of adult emotions is
described through the experience of an adolescent. The device is ordinarily
used senouslv for the purpose of expounding the intricacies of adolescent
phvchology Here, however, it is merely a fictional form; Mr. Weidman’s
n°j , a story and no more; he has obviously written solely to entertain
and. it is pleasant to be able to relate, he has succeeded very well.
His yarn deals with the adventures of a 15-year-o!d New York City
boy, the son of humble unmigrants, who. on the eve of World War II, finds
himself treated to a trip to Europe by his young aunt, with whom he is
unoonsciousl.v m love. The trip is a great mystery. Nobody knows whv
the aunt wants to go abroad at such a precarious time, and she will take
nobody into her confidence on the point. It appears that she has been
saving her money for the journey for six years and has finally accumulated
enough; the state of the world, compared to that fact, does not interest
her. She has been planning to go, and so she goes.
Arrived in England, her purpose becomes clear. She has a fiance of
whom she has told no one. Her rendezvous is for the purpose of marrying
him and bringing him to America. The boy sees at once that the swain
is a rascal, and the rest of the book deals with his emotions as he tries
to cope with the threat that hangs over his aunt's unsuspecting head.
Various characters are introduced to help and hinder him, and these
provide the real color of th£ story, a young American newspaper man.
a Harlem night club singer and a Seventh avenue dress designer on a
fashion pirating tour becomes his allies; by their picturesque character
isations, they make the slight story lively and surprisingly absorbing.
s portrait >s' indeed, a rabelaisian masterpiece.
a —tMr' T’eldman> ln his previous works, has always made use of some
device or turn of style that was unpleasant. In his "I Can Get It for You
Wholesale and “What’s in It for Me?,’’ he seems to be trying to reduce
A.Jr8 .Vangut*e t0 m°nosyliable flatness. In ‘Til Never Go There
he exchanged monotony of style for monotony of material
r^.,»Sl^heawilv 111 smut In his Present book, however, he has achieved
?!??Snance'i Por 11«ht entertaining reading, the thing seems i
to meet all possible requirements.
DAVID L. COHN,
“Love in America.”
COL. JOHN W. THOMASON, Jr.,
“* * * And a Few Marines.”
Best Sellers
FICTION.
The Robe, by Lloyd C. Doug
las. .
The Human Comedy, by Wil- i
liam Saroyan.
The Valley of Decision, by
Marcia Davenport.
The Forest and the Fort, by
Hervey Allen.
Gideon Planish, by Sinclair
Lewis.
NON-FICTION.
One World, by Wendell L.
Willkie.
Lee's Lieutenants, Vol. II, by
Douglas Southall Freeman.
Our Hearts Were Young and
Gay, by Cornelia Otis Skinner
and Emily Kimbrough.
Between the Thunder and
the Sun, by Vincent Sheean.
On Being a Real Person, by
Harry Emerson Fosdick.
Apple in the Attic
By Mildred Jordan. (Knopf.)
In these days of war books and
long, complicated novels, it is a
pleasure to find a simple story
such as Mildred Jordan tells in
“Apples in the Attic.” Finding it is
all the more remarkable, because
Miss Jordan's first novel was one
of the aforesaid long productions,
a historical novel called ‘‘One Red
Rose Forever.”
Miss Jordan lives in Reading,
Fa. This is the market center of
the Pennsylvania Dutch country’, I
and Miss Jordan is apparently j
marking out the Pennsylvania ;
Dutch as her property in a literary
sense. It is an excellent idea, for
she understands them, and she
can reproduce their complicated
speech in such a way that it can
be read painlessly by the uniniti
ated. This is more of an accom
plishment than it appears on the
surface.
“Apple in the Attic” is a short !
book based on a Pennsylvania
Dutch legend which tells of a man
who vowed he w’ould never speak j
to his wife again, and kept his j
word. How much Miss Jordan has j
changed the legend this reviewer |
does not know. Her version makes !
a nearly perfect little' story, and
that is enough.
Jacob Dreibelbis is the man in
question. He is a strong and hand
some man, a good farmer, a good
bargainer and tighter than the
bark on a tree. Nobody’ could under
stand how he happened to marry
his timid wife Emma, and there i
were times when Jacob himself
wondered, especially after 20 years
went by and she had given him no
child. They managed, and in spite !
of his temper and his disappoint
ment, Jacob never had struck
Emma. Sometimes, Emma wished
he would strike her instead of keep
ing silence for days on end when he
was displeased.
Then one day the Dreibelbises
went to Reading to “stand market,”
as usual. And Emma forgot to bring
apple schnitz for Mrs. Krischner,
who was one of Jacob's best custo
mers. Jacob was very angry. The
veins rose hard and round on his
purple forehead, and he vowed,
hand on Bible, never to speak to
such a wastrel again. This was
naturally the beginning of an un
natural situation—what the Drei
belbis menage did about it must
be left for Miss Jordan to say.
J.‘ S.
Forever Young *
By Blanche Colton Williams
< Putnams j
A new biography of John Keats
Dr. Williams’ book is distinctive in
that its scope. includes only the last
four years of the young poet's life.
This is made feasible by the fact
that Keats’ literary career is em
bodied in that brief period, cut short
by his untimely death. Important
biographical background is pain
lessly presented in dialogue and as
reflections of the man himself.
In striving to draw a true portrait
of Keats as he actually must have
been, the author has relied upon
letters written by the poet and his
contemporaries, frequently quoting
parts of these as thoughts running
through his mind. While this pro
cedure promotes authenticity, the
reader may find- it a slight impedi
ment to easy reading until he be
comes used to the idea.
There are clear-cut accounts of
Keats’ love for Fanny Brawne, his
devotion to his sister and brothers,
his friendships and, finally, his lin
gering illness and death. Through
out the book, the poet’s personality
stands out vividly against & skill
fully-drawn background of English
countryside and frequent quotations
from his works.
A contribution to the celebration
of the aesquicentennial of Keats’
birth to be held in 1945. the book
will be especially enjoyed by biog
raphy lovers and students of Keats.
HARRIETT GRIFFITHS.
JEROME WE I DM AN,
"The Lights Around the Shore.”
—Richard Carver Wood Photo.
{•-—-—— ----<
The People of America
By Evelyn P. Bennett,
Readers' Adviser, Petworth Branch, Public Library.
Many Americans are now anxiously considering our place in the world,
our capacities to survive the processes of disintegration all around us, and
the traditions that have given us our particular pattern of life. Americans
are too paradoxical for any compact description, but we can be measured
in terms of our major achievement—the integration within our boundaries
of a single unified Nation, made up of the infinite variety of racial, cultural, ;
economic ana geoprapmc eompon-'
ents of the United States scene.
President Roosevelt expressed the
idea when he stated, "We are all
immigrants here." Or, as Ben Ames
Williams wrote in "Time of Peace.”
"Don't ever forget that you’re
more than a New- Englander. Out
of your eight great-great-grand
mothers, two went from Massachu
setts to Ohio, two went from Georgia
to Mississippi, one lived in Cali
fornia, one in Oregon, one in Min
nesota, one—your mother's great
great - grandmother — came from
Germany. Two of your great
grandparents came from Wales;
your grandparents came from Mis
sissippi and Ohio and Michigan and
Minnesota. You've all three blood
strains in you. Tony. You're not a
Westerner, nor a Southerner, nor a
New' Englander. You’re an Amer
ican.”
For Better Understanding.
Son on this day when we proudly
acclaim, "I am an American," we
might consider certain books which
contribute to a better understanding
of what and w’ho Americans really
are.
For general background reading,
James T. Adams’ "The Epic of
America” gives a spirited recreation
of American history, and shows
wdiat elements and qualities of char
acter have gone into its making,
emphasizing the Aemriran ideal of
a richer, happier life for every one.
G. W. Seldes’ “Mainland" interprets
our modern era. while "The Rise of
American Civilization,” a four
volume work, interprets and reflects
the quality of America as revealed
in her politics, economics, manners,
morals, religions and philosophy.
But it is in the biographies of those
who came as immigrants that is
found the answer to the question.
"What, is an American?” An im
portant book is "The Making of an
American.” by Jacob Riis, a Dane by
birth. Theodore Roosevelt said:
"Jacob Riis was one of those men
who, by his writings, contributed
most to raising the standard of un
selfishness. of disinterestedness, of
sane and kindly good citizenship In
this country. * * * If I were asked
to name a fellow man who came
nearest to being the ideal American
citizen, I should name Jacob Riis.”
Lives and Problems.
The story of another real Ameri
can is told in E. G. Stern's "My
Mother and I.” Brought to this
country when still a child, this Rus
sian-Polish girl molded her native
culture into American life. Read in
Johan Bojer's novel, "The Emi
grants.” of the struggles and success
of a group of Norwegian pioneers
who migrated to North Dakota, i
where they rooted themselves deep
in the soil to established a sturdy
community. In "My Antonia.” or
"O Pioneers,” Willa Cather tells a
similar tale of the Bohemian and
Swedish immigrants on the Ne
braska prairie. "Father and Glori- j
ous Descendant,” by George Lowe, 1
just published, tells the life of a
successful Chinese-American in Cal
ifornia, and "My America," by Louis ;
Adamic, shows the development of
the Slovene immigrant into the
American citizen, the fusing of a
peasant culture with a complex civ- |
ilization. His later book. “From
Many Lands.” sketches the lives and
problems of some of our fellow
Americans, both native and foreign
born.
And who, then, are these typical
Americans? They are the people in
William Saroyan's book. "The Human
Comedy,” compassionate, yet full of
the curiosity and naivete of child
hood. and of ageless wisdom that is
America itself. They are those who
sing in the "Ballad for Amerians":
"Am I an American? I'm just an
Irish, Negro, Jewish. Italian. French
and English. Spanish, Russian, Chi
nese. Polish. Scotch, Hungarian,
Litvak, Swedish. Finnish, Canadian,
Greek and Turk, and Czech and !
double Czech American!”
The above-mentioned books are
available at the Central Public Li
brary, Eighth and K streets N.W.,
or through its 13 branches.
There's Something in the Air
By Flying Officer X (H. E. Bates). (Knopf.)
... And a Few Marines
By John W. Thomason, Jr. (Scribners.)
Here are two books of short stories, each about a famous military
outfit.
Flying Officer X is the name under which the well-known English
short-story writer, H. E. Bates, was commissioned. He was not commis
sioned to fly. however; he was to go and live among the men of the RAF
and write about them. “There's Something in the Air" is his resulting
volume. &
John W. Thomason, jr.. has a commission of somewhat longer stand
ing, and a literary reputation, too. He has been in the United States
Marine Corps continuously since 1917 and is now a colonel. His books
a i e well know’n to most American readers. Now that the marines have
been reaffirming their long reputation as a fighting unit without peer,
ne has come forth with a volume of stories devoted to marine exploits,
individual and collective, personal and military. Some of the selections
nave previously appeared, but in books which are now out of print.
iTthV,0! them are new'. Not the least important, they are illustrated
with Col. Thomason's own excellent and lively drawings. Col. Thomason
himself is now on active duty.
. fwT'1„ele„ are great dissimilarities in the volumes. “There's Something
™ ttla ^lr, ls only 169 pages long; “* * * And a Few Marines” is over 600.
_ ’ . ^ stories are a11 short, some of them being only a couple of
JwriLk* are, vlRnettes' mostly, designed to catch a character or
toi«nbHu tyPlcal moment in air combat. Col. Thomason’s are full-length
vi »« p’otf ’ for the mast part. His book contains 37 stories, Mr. Bates’
traeedv To1 ^ 811 t™tpr: CoL Thomason's run the gamut from
£?gaby. br°3^ comedy. But both books have the flavor of exact
Knowledge and bo h are made up of fighting stories of fighting men.
material so vaSs reV16Wer the j°b °f trying dasc*ba
M.-C. R,
Following Abraham Lincoln: 1809-1865
By Bernhardt Wall. (Wise-Parslow.)
the lSiSoflarninrTr1e V™me iS a collection of etchings of many scenes in
formative k accompanying text, while interesting and in
worir whiku ■ le^atlve^ uninmportant; the important thing is the art
scenes are deluded6 °f Mr‘ Wal1 at his best’ Several Washmgton
____ P. H. L.
BLANCHE COLTON WILLIAMS,
"Former Young."
—Pearl Freeman Photo.
a
BENJAMIN SUBERCASEAVX,
"Chile.”
—Star Staff Photo.
IRA WOLFERT,
“Tucker’s People
COL. CHARLES SWEENY,
“Moment of Truth.”
Brief Reviews
COLLECTIONS, ANTHOLOGIES,
ETC.
Liberty — Equality — Fraternity,
by Nicholas Murray Butler (Scrib
ner's*—Twenty essays and addresses
by the president of Columbia Uni
versity on the general subject,
“Problems of Today and Tomor
row” An excellent companion to
his The American as He Is, a col
lection of his lectures at the Uni
versity of Copenhagen, also pub
lished by Scribner's.
Jackpot, by Erskine Caldwell (Sun
Dial Press*—75 of the author's
stories.
The Fireside Book of Dog Stories,
edited by Jack Goodman (Simon &
Schuster*—A large volume of dog
stories, all very good, indeed.
The Moonlight Traveler, selected
by Philip Van Doren 'Doubleda.v,
Doran*—A collection of tales of fan
tasy and imagination.
itetween the Hark and the Hay
light. by Nancy Hale (Scribners) —
21 stories by the author.
Digests of Ten Famous French
Novels, prepared under the editor
ship of Cameron Hyde (Halcyon
House i—Well-known French works
of fiction, indefensibly streamlined.
Great Short Novels, edited by Ed
ward Weeks (Garden Cityi—A very
fine collection of novelettes, from
Lawrence Sterne to the present.
health.
Heart Disease Is Curable, bv Peter
J. Steincrohn. M. D. (Doubleday.
Doran)—Prevention, checking and
cure of heart ailments.
AGRICULTURE.
A Practical Guide to Successful
Farming, edited by Wallace S. More
land (Halcyon House)—Instruction
in modern farming, arranged in
encyclopedia form
RADIO.
Mikes Don’t Bite, by Helen Sious
sat (Fischer)—A well-planned guide
to speaking over the radio, by one
of the top woman executives in
broadcasting. Helpful.
SPORTS.
Famous American Athletes Today,
by Harold Kaese (L. C. Page)—The
eighth series. Covers contempor
ary sports scene.
BUSINESS HISTORY.
The House of Goodyear, by Hugh
Allen—The story of the growth of
the great rubber manufacturers,
with emphasis on the part played
by rubber in war.
BIOGRAPHY.
Living Biographies of Famous
Women, by Henry Thomas and Dana
Lee Thomas (Garden City)—Brief
biographies of 20 famous women
from Cleopatra to Mme. Chiang
Kai-shek.
Chile
By Benjamin Subercaseaux.
(Macmillan.)
This colorful, rambling book
conveys the impression that Chile
is a strange, and, in laces, delightful
land, but that it would be a much
better place to live if some things
were different. The volume is a
geographical, sociological, political
hodge - podge superimposed on
strong personal feelings by a man
described by the publisher as "prob
ably the best-known writer of the
younger school in Chile.”
“I tell the good and the bad,”
he frankly writes, admitting he
does not boost his country, and this
is certainly true of his accounts of
Chilean nationals, as well as mi
norities from foreign lands. For
example, he calls the beauty of
Chilean women "a myth,” and de
scribes the well-to-do youth as
"hairy, with a weak neck and
humped shoulders.” He doesn’t
like the “guaso,” the “bourgeois of
the masses,” and has absolutely no
use for the “hacendados,” of whom
he writes, “his affability is exag
gerated and is, in reality, so much
bullying.”
The reader can't help wondering
at times if there really is anything
at all about Chile that Mr. Suber
caseaux likes. But there are cer
tain passages out of which seep—
like the scent of a delicate perfume
—a warmth and depth of feeling
that attests to his sincerity.
Nothing escapes the keen, critical
eye of the author. He touches on
everything from fish to the “Beagle
Affair,” the latter more of a dis
agreement than a dispute over a
boundary. He takes each section
of the country, each class of peo
ple, all its natural resources, and
cracks them open like a small boy
operating on a walnut. He does
not exhaust his topics, but suc
ceeds in piquing the reader's curi
osity, although his book is not
likely to make one drop everything
and dash off on a tour of Chile.
LEWIS F. ATCHISON.
Are We Really Winning?
Col. Charles Sweeny Believes
We Are Not, and Tells Why
Moment of Truth
By Col. Charles Sweeny. (ScribnersJ
Despite headline-making victories on many far-flung battle-fronts, we
are not winning the war. And we are not likely to win it unless we
change both our strategy and our tactics.
That is the gist of the provocative message set forth in this book,
which is subtitled “A Realistic Examination of Our War Situation.” And
whether one agrees with its author or not, one must concede that he
advances his arguments with unusual cogence.
The trouble with our strategy, as Col. Sweeny sees it, is that it was
conceived by political leaders rather than by experienced and competent
fighting men. As a result, he says, our tactics have been those of dispersal,
of scattering our forces over too many fronts, instead of concentrating
them according to the proved "Principles of War" laid down by Carl von
Clauzewitz.
Even the successful invasion of North Africa is seen as something
of a blunder by Col. Sweeny, who declares: “We are engaged in an opera
tion in which we have little to gain, but which could cost us the war. And
while we are occupying ourselves in North Africa, the war is being won—
or lost—in Russia.”
Sees Siberia As Ideal Base for
Attack on Both Nazis and Japs
me vast Soviet Union is the key to the war, in Col. Sweeny’* view.
"We must, sooner or later, realize that Russia is our principal ally,” ha
says. "That with Russia we can win the war, that without her our chance*
are practically not worth considering. Russia must also understand that
we are her only hope.”
And if the Russians were made to understand that, Col. Sweeny
believes, they would join us in making Siberia the base from which the
two of us, with some help from China, could smash both the Germans and
the Japanese. "Instead of measuring our arms against Germany at once,’’
he argues, "it would seem much wiser to concentrate all our forces, Russian,
American and Chinese, against Japan. • • • The combined * * • forces
should bring Japan to her knees in not more than three campaigns. Then
the Pacific would be open and secure. • • • The Japanese munitions in
dustry would be forced to work for us. We would also have to create a
similar or larger industry in Manchukuo and Northern China. With all
these going full blast, we would turn on Germany with an immensa
superiority in men and aims on our side."
But before this strategy can be put into effect, Col. Sweenv suggests,
certain preliminary steps must be taken. For one thing, he declares,
President Roosevelt must appoint an "Organizer of Victory” to take over
the direction of the war. "Mr. Roosevelt is an Inspired leader,” the
colonel concedes. "We need his enthusiasm, his vision of great things, nis
idealism, his poetry. Let him continue to lead. But it is time that he
imitate Stalin and delegate his powers to some one capable of running this
war as a war, to some hard-headed professional who knows how wars are
waged and won. Then let him cease to interfere. Politics should be forced
to take a back seat for the duration. The situation is too serious for further
amateurish handling.”
Wants Army and Navy •
Placed in Charge of Production
Donald M. Nelson's handling of production also has been amateurish,
in the opinion of Col. Sweeny, who proposes: "Enough of Mr. Nelson and
his War Production Board. • • * Abolish the WPB. Allow all the ‘dollar
a-year’ men to return to their knitting. * • • Put the quartermaster gen
eral at the head of a military WPB. Put all procurement divisions of the
Army under his control. * * * Give his opposite number in the Navy the
same power * * * at the head of a naval WPB. The two of them will con
| stitute a board to iron out all difficulties between them. In case they
, fail to agree, a final decision would be taken by the 'organizer of victory’
; without whom the war is lost. Industry would, at long last, begin to
furnish to the services what they need and desire, not what industry wants
to sell. Tliis is the system that obtained in France in World War I, but,
[ unfortunately, was abandoned in World War II.”
Col. Sweeny's analysis of our situation has the effect of a plunge into
■ an ic-V shower on the hottest day of the year, and the reader, naturally,
will want to know something of his background. Well, he attended West
Point for two years, fought in the Mexican Revolution of 1910-11, rose from
private to captain in the French Army in the First World War and then
transferred to the American Army as a major. In 1925, he organized and
commanded the American Flying Squadron which helped the French to
fight Abd-el-Krim in Morocco, and in 1928-9 he served as assistant chief
of a mission to study the organization of North Africa as a base of
operations in case of a European war. After France fell to the Nazis, he
was designated commander of the first foreign division to be formed with
regiments of th° Foreign Legion, and in 1940 he organized and commanded
the first Eagle Squadron in England.
This reviewer does not pretend to be qualified to pass judgment on
Col. Sweeny’s views. He can only say that, if the colonel is right, we are
in a sad plight, indeed. And that, if the colonel is wrong—as all of us must
hope he is—the happy fact should not be long in becoming apparent.
PHILIP H. LOVE.
The Old Fellow
By Herrymon Maurer. (John Day.)
j This book is an attempt to interpret to the Western mind the Chinese
Taoist philosophy, which. 2.500 years ago. had its origin in the writing of
Lao-tze. the “Old Fellow,” such being the way in which the name emerges
in translation. The author s view is that Taoism has been the source of
that unchanging strengh of China which is rooted in the people, as
contrasted with the strength of the various governments which the country
has had since Lao-tze's day. and in the present time, when China is giving
the world a lesson in the technique of resistance, he feels that so effective
a system of philsophy deserves an exposition.
His method has been to take the little that is known of Lao-tze's
life and expand it into a sort of novel. Lao-tze himself left only one book
behind him. a work of 5,000 characters. No historian wrote of him until
—as near as scholars can agree on it—about 400 years after his death.
Then Sze-ma Ch'ien, in his chronicle of the country, did mention him,
but gave only a brief account. He said that Lao-tze was the archivist of
the empire of Chou, and that, “foreseeing the decay of the state," he
went into voluntary exile. When he reached the frontier of Chou, the
officer of the guard requested him to write a book for him. and Lao-tze
complied, setting down the 5.000 characters which contain his philosophy.
He then went on into his self-imposed retreat, and Sze-ma Ch'ien con
cludes his little sketch by saying simply, “No one knows where he died.”
It can be added that no one knows, either, what his name was, or
his titles or origin, for he is supposed to have suppressed his information
and conferred on himself simply the name, “the Old Fellow.” Herrymon
Maurer's interpretation of his conduct is that it derived from a deep
disgust with the aggressive militarism of the government of Chou, the
greed and conceit of the official class, the regimentation of life under the
Confucian system of thought, and the suffering which all these factors
imposed on the farmers and workmen. He pretends, for the sake of a
story, that Lao-tze lingered some days on the frontier and expounded his
doctrines under a tree to passers-by who cared to listen, instructing
them in the wisdom of “not-fussing," and of living in harmony with Tao,
or "The Way.” That is all there is to the book.
It adds up to something fairly ephemeral, but, at least, it will serve as
a painless introduction to a more serious study. M.-C. R.
For the Mystery Fans
Brief Reviews of Current
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Crime grows out of long-lost gold
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