Evening star. [volume], August 19, 1945, Page C-3, Image 34

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Reviewing
Can the Big Three Preserve World Peace
Or Will Their Nations Become Divided?
THE BIG THREE BV David. Dallin. (Yale Uni
versity Press; $2.75.)
By Mary-Carter Roberts
More and more, as the date of military victory recedes into the past
writers on world affairs are coming to view the future in terms of the
divided, rather than the United Nations.
There is obviously a general opinion that, as the powers became allies
by accident, they will find the state of alliance no subsequent binding tie.
Whereas, of course, the state of being powers is not a state similarly to be
shucked off.
The dream of a World in permanent peace has not disappeared, but
in the writings of students of affairs, it is growing dimmer. These men
are now looking into the crystal and guessing how, where and when the
present arrangements may lead to the next war.
They admit that they are guessing. But they are clear in admitting
that they do not think that a mere second world holocaust ushered in the
millennium. There will certainly be some more fighting, they hold, and,
since that is so, why not get ready by figuring where the new embroilment
may take place?
David Dallin, a native of Russia
Was one of the Tsar’s political exiles
who returned to participate in the
revolution of 1917. Within five years
he was an exile all over again, and
has remained one ever since. He
has written a number of books on
Russia which are distinguished by
their solid factual quality. In his
present volume he considers how
and where the Big Three may fall
out and sees in Russia the most
likely disturber of the future peace.
He warns his readers that the
Russian government has never
abandoned its pristine principle of
fomenting a Communistic revolution
on a world-wide scale. It has only
pretended to do so. Lenin laid down
the principle, he reminds us, in
words which might have come from
the late Hitler—"We have to use any
ruse, dodges, tricks, cunning, unlaw
ful method, concealment, veiling of
truth.” Proceeding on this dispensa
tion, the Soviets have until recently
pursued a seeming policy of live
and-let-live. But now, in Mr. Dal
lin's view, swollen with victory, they
propose to launch a program of tre
mendous expansion, a part of which
will be the virtual forcing of Com
munistic puppet governments on
weaker states. The world, of course,
has already seen this tendency, but
the popular view has been that it
would find no expression beyond
states contiguous to Russia's borders.
In Terms of Expansion
By no means, says Mr. Dallin.
Russia aims at the world—not rash
ly, not in terms of reckless military
venturing, but in terms of constant
ruthless expansion. Therein, in his
view, lies the germ of the next
world war. Like Hitler, Stalin or his
successors will take one step too
many and precipitate a conflict.
That will happen, he says, as soon
as the other powers begin to view
Russia with fear and consider her
immune to appeasement. In short,
the old program.
His book is occupied with tracing
In three critical zones of the world
the probable fortunes of the Big
Three W'ithin the predictable future.
The zones are Europe, the Middle
East and the Far East. In all of
them he sees Russia planning to
extend her present limitations in
opposition to Anglo-American inter
ests. He emphasizes that her
weapon will be the already familiar
political one; she will not occupy
territories but will be content w'ith
"friendly” native governments. The
friendly governments will receive
their orders from Moscow and will
last precisely as long as they obey.
If plebiscites are held they will be
distinguished by all the freedom
which now attends an election on
Russian soil.
So Russia May Move In
In Europe, in addition to her long
range drive for political domina
tion, Mr. Dallin believes that Russia
will strive for outlets to the ocean
by way of Greece, Yugoslavia or the
Kiel Canal to the end that she may
become a great naval power—an
indispensable, of course, in a war
against an Anglo-American com
bination. In the Middle East she
will resume the old struggle with
_ _
Twilight Bar
By Arthur Koestler. (Macmil
lan; $2.)
This new work by Arthur Koestler
Is a short play and seems to mark
the extreme progress of the erst
while leftist conscientiously recant
ing. In sum it
tells us that
humanity may
just as well give
up. Our species
is ridiculous be
yond hope, says
Mr. Koestler,
and anything it
attemps to do is
doomed to ridic
ulous failure.
So let those fig
ures so con
venient to de
spairing revo
lutionaries —the
inhabitants Of Arthur Koestler.
other planets—take over. Since Mr.
Wells has pretty well put his patent
on the Martians, Mr. Koestler
plumps for the inhabitants of a
satellite of Aldebaran.
His play is a satirical farce, genu
inely humorous. Its action turns
on the arival by space ship of two
inhabitants of the Aldebaranian
planet, bent on discovering whether
there is enough happiness in our
species to justify our existence. The
immediate answer is no, but the
emissaries allow two days for the
earth-dwellers to step the quotient
up after which, in the event of
failure, humanity is to be destroyed.
The top-hatted government re
signs before such a crisis, begging
the radicals to take over. But the
radicals have no program except for
free dental care and hot tea at 11
for all factory workers. 3o a gossip
columnist steps into the breach
with a plan for free champagne,
merry-go-rounds and sex license.
The practical application of the idea
is taken over, while he makes
speeches, by a female tycoon who
knows how to organize things . She
brings in her company police, has
the champagne forcibly adminis
tered and orders the arrest of all
happiness-resisters.
The scheme catches on—the
Scotch protest in principle against
a happiness quotient of more than
214 per cent, the Rusisans simply
shoot every one who does not look
cheerful. But presently the word
goes round that the Aldebaranians
are imposters after all and the
grand global binge flattens out to
normalcy. The top-hats come back,
the radicals, greatly relieved, pick
up their agitating, the citizens settle
contentedly down to unhappiness.
That’s what we are, says Mr. Koest
ler. That's the best that we can
do, even under pressure to save our
mortal lives.
Only an erstwhile idealist could
be so completely damning.
Britain over Iran, which is now
complicated by British and Ameri
can need for Iran’s oil. Russia does
not share that need, but she will
nonetheless enter the arena, in
Mr. Dallin’s view. In the Far East
she has her weapon ready to hand
in China’s Communist army, which
she has nourished for the purpose
and which renders her devoted al
legiance. Using this weapon she
may well claim, as "spheres of in
fluence,” Outer Mongolia, Man
churia, Sinkiang and a good share
of North China. Korea may also
come within her claims, on the
ground that it was a Russian sphere
under the Tsar. Japan, in other
words, will be expelled from Asia
by American arms, in order that
Russia may move in, as Mr. Dallin
sees it.
Indeed, the only conclusion to be
drawn from Mr. Dallin’s book is
that the new aggressor is at hand.
Like the old one it is equipped with
an ideological fervor which, it holds,
justifies any and all violations of
international agreements, and the
destruction of any who, for reasons
of their own interest or integrity,
oppose it. His work is not alarmist
in tone. It is, instead, almost placid
ly factual. It draws no program of
its own, though as opposed, eventu
ally, to Moscow’s expanding world
DAVID DALLIN.
* * * There will certainly be
some more fighting”
rule, Mr. Damn sees the other mem
bers of the Big Three, with Britain
America’s junior partner, and he
considers that America’s past policy
in the Far East, which set a prece
dent in international idealism, may,
backed by the combined impressive
forces of the two, provide a con
structive plan for future guidance.
The Uncertain Journey
By Oscar Leivis. (Knopf; $2.50.)
The theme of this novel is one
which calls for serious literary
treatment. The treatment which the
author has accorded that theme,;
however, is
strictly on the
level of deft
commercial fic
tion. The result
is the well
known hiatus
between the two
schools. It ought
to be a better
book or a worse
one.
The theme
aforementioned
is that of the
a 11 - excluding
love which a
serious and Oscar Lewis,
moral man sometimes has for a
frivolous and unmoral woman. The
scene is San Francisco of the inter
war years, where Bruce Priest, a
young student of architecture, comes
under the fascination of Elaine
Barnes, a stenographer. In order to
be able to marry, Bruce abandons
his studies and takes a job. Elaine,
who is engaged to him, light-heart
edly marries some one else. This
gambit is subsequently repeated.
Bruce learns in time that Elaine is
faithless and mercenary, and he
also learns that he will always ldve
her. So the book ends with him
summoning her once more, know
ing that his success as a commercial
artist (achieved most improbably,
by the way) will attract her from
her other admirers, at least for a
while.
That is all there is to it. The
characters are the thinnest silhouf
ettes and the incidents are often
forced. Oscar Lewis has, however,
some sophistication of mind, and
his comments, if not his people, are
witty and to the point.
Best Sellers
(According to. Publishers’ Weekly.)
-NATION-WIDE
FICTION.
1st—A Lion in the Streets, Adria
• Locke Langley.
2d—Dragon Harvest. Upton Sinclair.
3d—Commodore Hornblower, C. S.
Forester.
4th—Captain From Castile, Samuel
Shellabarger.
5th—The World, the Flesh and Fath
er Smith, Bruce Marshall.
NONFICTION.
1st—Up Front. Bill Mauldin.
~d—Brave Men. Ernie Pyle.
3d—A. Woollcott. Samuel Hopkins
Adams.
4th—2,ack Boy. Richard Wright.
oth—Try and Stop Me, Bennett Cerf.
—IN WASHINGTON—
FICTION.
1st—A Lion in the Streets, Adria
Locke Langley.
2d—So Well Remembered, James
Hilton.
3d—The World, the Flesh and Fath
er Smith, Bruce Marshall.
4th—Commodore Hornblower, C. 8.
Forester.
6th—The Happy Time, Robert Fon
taine.
NONFICTION.
1st—The Pattern of Soviet Power,
„. _ Edgar Snow.
24—Brave Men. Ernie Pyle.
3d—A Star Daneed, Gertrude Law
. , rence.
4th—Battle Below. Robert J. Casey.
6th—A Book About the Bible, George
8timpson.
Bo
The “Big Three” of the Potsdam Conference: GENERALISSIMO JOSEF STALIN, PRESI
DENT HARRY S. TRUMAN and PRIME MINISTER CLEMENT R. ATTLEE.
Company
By Frank O'Rourke. (Simon &
Schuster; $2.)
The formula to which this short
novel conforms is by now a fairly
familiar one to readers of war books.
It is the formula which covers the
development of a casually assembled
group of men into a military com
pany worthy of the name. The story
begins with the formation of E Com
pany on December 17, 1941, at Camp
McIntosh in Alabama and carries on
through training and maneuvers
until, after a few days in battle in
Africa, the remnants of the group so
laboriously created are sent behind
the lines for “replacements.”
The author's care naturally has
been to present E Company as a
typical one, both in training and
personnel, so he moves his narrative
forward by means of incidents and
characters which by now have some
what the quality of stereotypes.
We have the fine young captain
who is like a father to his soldiers,
we have the outwardly tough but
inwardly kind old Army noncom,
the gold-brickers, the hot dice crao
shooters, the serious soldiers, the
idealists, the incidental women
They are all more or less routine
figures in books on Army life, both
fiction and nonfiction. But Frank
O'Rourke writes with a persuasive
sincerity and a good sense of narra
tive proportion. Though without
original quality, his book is a worthy
representative of its class.
As any reader will guess, he has
been in the Army himself. He went
in in the spring of 1941, received a
lieutenant’s commission and was in
valided out in 1943.
The Economic Basis
Of Politics
By Charles A. Beard. (Knopf;
$1.75.)
The first four chapters of this
little book consist of four lectures
which Dr. Beard first delivered in
1916 on the Clark Foundation at
Amherst College. Revised, the lec
tures were brought out in book form
in 1922. Since then there has been
a steady demand for the work.
Now, to the four as they were pub
lished in 1922, Dr. Beard adds a
fifth chapter designed to cover re
cent developments in the subject.
The conclusion reached in his
earlier coverage of economics in
politics is based, as he observes, on
all history up to the time of the
writing. Until Rousseau's influence
made itself felt, it was generally
recognized that government existed
to regulate, control and protect
property. Hence men stood before
their governments in relation to
CHARLES A. BEARD.
* * * The function demanded
of government * * * remains the
same.”
their possession of property and
governmental representation was
determined along tjie line of prop
ertied classes. Man, in short, was
“economic man.’’
With Rousseau there appeared,
however, the idea of political equali
tarianism; politically all men were
held to be equal, regardless of the
property they possessed. There was
obvious divergence between the two
ideas, but in actual practice eco
nomic classes continued to exist and
to get their interests represented
before their governments. This
happened even in Russia, where a
“classless society” was set up by de
cree. The economic basis of politics
therefore is established as the in
evitable one.
Considering in his new chapter
the developments of the last 20
years, Dr. Beard takes note of the
rise of pure dictatorships and the
increase of state power in the
democracies and comes to the con
clusion that the changing forms
have not changed the basic fact.
We have now a threatened conflict
between economic, political and
military man, but the function de
manded of government In any form
remains the same—that it maintain
an efficient economic basis.
The American Language
By H. L. Mencken. (Knopf;
$5.)
The fourth edition of H. L. Men
cken's “American Language’’ ap
peared in 1936, with its emphasis
on the dominance which, in Mr.
Mencken's view, American English
is gaining over British English.
H. L. MENCKEN.
A work of scholarship which
is also immensely entertaining."
Since that time the Sage has not
abandoned his researches but has
! gone on laboring strenuously in his
chosen vineyard. The result is the
present "Supplement I,” a volume
of over 700 pages and the promise
of "Supplement II” of about the
same dimensions to come forth
within a year.
The term “supplement." Mr.
Mencken warns, is to be taken lit
erally. The present volume consists
of new material altogether and is,
moreover, keyed to the fourth edi
tion by the use of the same head
ings as appeared in that work. It
covers only the first six chapters,
or about half, of the parent vol
ume, which will give the reader
! some idea of the voluminousness of
the additions. The latter half will
be covered in the promised "Sup
plement II.” The supplements, in
other words, will lengthen out the
fourth edition to about three times
its original length.
It is glad news. “The American
Language” is a work of scholarship
which is also immensely entertain
ing.
In “Supplement I” the added ma
terial, following, as noted, the form
of the fourth edition, traces various
influences which have caused the
separation of the two streams ol
English from the days when early
colonists had to add such words a;
“tomahawk” and “johnny cake” to
their vocabularies down to the pres
ent. Such concrete stimuli to word
making as the new country and the
mixture of varied nationalities are
given due attention but the great
reason for the linguistic schism, in
Mr. Mencken’s view, has been the
carrying on in America of the cre
ative Elizabethan habit of mind to
ward speech. The 18th century in
England was one of notorious Jor
malism and had a consequent dead
ening effect on the language. The
colonies escaped this arrestation
and, additionally stimulated by
their new surroundings, set out on
a word-making spree which still
continues. It has borne a lot of
unprofitable fruit, as Mr. Mencken
points out, such as the explosion
of “tall talk” which took place
in the midyears of the 19th cen
tury. But it stands as a demon
stration of pioneering attitude of
the American mind.
British and American English
Considering British and Ameri
can English at present, Mr. Men
cken still finds that the latter is
in the dominant position. The citi
zens of the United Kingdom whose
position in the world is indicated by
the gentle phrase, “lower orders,”
accept American amendments to
their common speech constantly
and with enthusiasm, whence, as he
sees it, the amendments move up
ward. Whereas British word im
ports to America catch on, if at all,
only among our upper crust, where
they stay. They remain somewhat
prissy affectations among us while
our own words and phrases tend
to become parts of regular British
speech.
The supplement, like the parent
work, is no lexicon. It explores the
influences which have been at work
on our language and merely gives
examples. Some of these are ex
cellent reading, as Mr. Mencken’s
modest account of the way he
brought about (Miss Gypsy Rose
Lee dissenting) the substitution of
the chaste term “ecdysiast” for
“stripteaser.” Also, as in the par
ent work, there are some apparent
errors. The phrase “fed up,” for in
stance, Mr. Mencken lists as a Brit
icism impossible to Americans, but
I have been using it for 20 years
without even knowing that it was
not native, and I do not think that
Are Men Equal?
By Henry Alonzo Myers. (Put
nam; $2.50.)
Reviewed by W. H. HARRISON.
The Declaration of Independence
proclaims that “all men are created
equal.” The idea is central and in
dispensable to our democratic way of
i life, but far too many Americans
seem to regard it as mere rhetoric
over which nobody need lose any
sleep. Mr. Myers’ book is addressed
to them. In effect, it tells them that
to deny or neglect the concept of
equality is to take a long step back
ward toward forging the chains of
their own enslavement.
Men are not equal mentally, of
course. Nor are they equal physi
cally or morally. But Mr. Myers
makes clear in felicitous and care
fully reasoned prose that the true
measure of a human being is not the
deficiencies or excellencies of that
being's mind or body, but his own
sense of his own significance in
relation to the society around him.
“In what matters most to men, this
world has the same import to all; it
teaches each the lesson of his own
infinite worth. And so men who are
equal to the same thing are equal to
each other.’’
A brief review cannot do justice to
the arguments Mr. Myers sets forth
to support ihis thesis. A man of not
a little distinction in the field of
formal philosophy and a teacher of
English at Cornell he combines
weighty logic with an understanding
; of literature to favor us with a book
; that has a ring of genuine authority
| in it. Not everything he says—such
as that poetry may be accepted as
; the "science” of human values—is
i unassailable, but on the whole he
j constructs an airtight case in behalf
Iof the "germinal principle” of de
mocracy.
Mr. Myers' book is as important
and timely as his warning that
“unless we prove to the satisfaction
of all that true justice is based on
the equality of men, Hitlerism will
i rule the world in spite of Hitler’s
j downfall." By his fine thinking and
j writing he does much to guard
! against that evil possibility.
Silversides
By Robert Trumbull (Holt;
$2.50).
U. S. S. Seawolf
By Gerold Frank and James
D. Horan, with J. M. Eckberg
(Putnam; $2.75).
The Navy has decided all of a
sudden to let us know the facts of
life about submarines. Following
Robert J. Casey’s general story, “Bat
tle Below,” there come across this
desk the exciting tales of two par
LT. COMDR. C. BURLINGAME
Captain of the Silversides.
ticular submersibles, Silversides and
Seawolf, among the early and most
deadly raiders to carry war to the
Japanese.
Doolittle got credit for being
among the first to take a look at
the enemy’s home island, but many
I could be the only American so
deluded. There are also a rather
large number of obvious typo
graphical mistakes for a work of
such importance.
Among
the Authors
By Carolyn Coggins
At a party the other day a gen
tleman drifted up to us and in
quired, “Did you ever read ‘Anna
and the King of Slam’?”
"Of course,” we answered brightly.
"Margaret Landon wrote it. It’s
one of our favorite books.”
Seems this gentleman knew
nothing about our work but simply
wanted to get something off his
chest—that he had been in love as
a young man with the Anna who
is a granddaughter of the Anna in
the book. According to him the
present Anna is just as gifted as her
grandmother ever was. She was a
pianist whose concerts were lauded
by the critics with the most extrav
agant praise they could dream up
and Anna has cut across the face
of the world, like a brilliant comet,
delighting those around her wher
ever she went. She returned to this
continent only a few years ago,
after many years in Germany.
“Where is she now?” we asked
him.
"Oh, in the South somewhere or
in the Bahamas,” said he. So we
thought we would tell this story to
see what more we could learn. It
was a timely incident, for only last
week “Anna and the King of Siam”
went into a reprint edition at about
half its original price.
* * * *
Ellin Berlin, who is Mrs. Irving
Berlin, wrote a book about a year
ago called “Land I Have Chosen.”
It created quite a stir because it was
much better than people expected
from a woman w-ho already had
everything. In fact, it is still pros
pering and now Bette Davis and
Joan Crawford will star in a movie
version of it.
* * * *
After 2,286,000 copies of "The
Boston Cooking School Cook Book,”
by Fannie Merritt Farmer, have
been secured by would-be cooks it
also is going into reprint edition
this month.
Home Fires Burning
By Robert Henriques. (Viking
Press; $2.50.)
Lt. Col. Robert Henriques, in a
novel which he wrote while the war
was in progress, "The Voice of the
Trumpet,” permitted himself to ex
press a doublt
as to efficacy of
idealistic war
aims to atone to
dead soldiers for
their lives. In
the present nov
el, he again
! voices a pessi
mism. He writes
of the returning
English soldier
and his failure
to find a place
In civilian so
ciety. The dis
appointed vet- Robert Brnrigoei.
erans, he says by
way of his story, may well seek to
set up a soldier government of their
own—or, to be blunt, fascism. He
sees the specter in the air and gets
quite shaky over it. In his novel he
lets it far outweigh any of his human
characters in interest or importance.
His plot deals with the return of
a girl soldier to find that her fiance
has been corrupted by the fascist
idea and is planning to put himself
at the head of a soldier party. She
rejects the notion—and the fiance,
too, of course. So do the worthier
veterans. But the possibility re
mains, as Lt. Col. Henrique is at
pains to point out. In effect,
his book amounts to a grave, "Be
ware.”
It is preciously written, frequently
to the point of near-unintelligibility.
| Public Library |
THE ATOM
By John Lord,
Technology Division. Washington Public
Library.
"Why Smash Atoms.” by Arthur
K. Solomon, published in 1940. gives
a simple and concise account of the
interior of the atom and describes
three methods of attack by which to
break it up and identify its constit
uents.
Three years later Rogers D. Rusk s
popularly written “Forward With
Science” was published, with atten
tion paid to uranium fission on
which the atomic bomb apparently
is based. The chapter “Harnessing
Atomic Energy” discusses the split
ting of uranium 235 and speculation
on its possibilities as of 1943.
History of discoveries relating to
the atom is given in “Energy and
Matter,” by Charles B. Bazzoni, pub
lished in 1932, but does not include
the more recent information on ura
nium. For “the physicist and the
reader of somewhat less technical
training” the dean of Americar
physicists. Robert A. Millikan, wrote
in 1935 "Electrons ('+ and —'i Pre
tons, Photons, Neutrons and Cosmic
Rays.” It is a basic work on the
atom but needs to be supplemented
by later books.
unsung subs must have taken many
daring periscope peeks.
Seawolf is sister ship to the tragic
Squalus. Under “Fearless Freddy”
Warder, lieutenant commander, she
visited Manila, slowed the foe’s ad
vance south of Java, fought through
the Dutch East Indies. Warder
joins the almost interminable list
of officers telling his crew, when
the Navy Cross is pinned on him.
that it’s "as much yours as it is
mine, boys.”
Trumbull seems the most evoca
tive of the writers. He has a knack
of mating you understand exactly
what it’s like to “fire one, fire two”;
to cower far below the surface and
feel the depth charges shivering
your timbers.
It was aboard the Silversides that
Pharmacist’s Mate Thomas Moore
performed, with the aid of some
regulation instruments, plus an
ironing board and spoons, the
famous appendectomy on George
Platter.
Both books are illustrated with
photographs. W. G. R.
* r
Book Reviews in Brief >
AMERICAN SCENE AND
RESOURCES.
Buried Treasure, by Marion B.
Cothern. (Coward-McCann.) The
story of America’s coal.
Your Forests, by Martha Bensley
Bruere. (Lippincott.) The story
of America’s timber.
The Golden Hoof, by Winifred
Kupper. (Knopf.) History of sheep
raising in the Southwest.
Lake Ontario, by Arthur Pound.
(Bobbs-Merrill.) The latest addi
tion to this publisher’s Lake Series.
OLD MASTERS.
The Scandal, by Pedro Antonio
Alarcon, translated from the Span
ish by Philip H. Riley and Hubert
James Tunney. (Knopf.)
The Civilization of Renaissance
Italy, by Jacob Burkhardt. (Oxford
University Press.)
Adventures and Escapes
Of Gustavus Vasa
By Henrik Willem Van Loon.
(Dodd, Mead; $2.50.)
This, the last book written by the
late Hendrik Willem Van Loon, is
the story of a hero practically un
known to American readers, Gus
tavus Vasa, who,
in the early 16th
century, set his
country, Swed
en, free of Dan
ish domination.
It is written in
the plain popu
lar style which
Mr. Van Loon
mastered so
well and, save
that its text in
eludes some
pretty grim ac
tion, could be
read by children Henedrik wiiiem
as well as by v»n Loon,
adults. It is a hero story, pure and
simple,Gustavus being much of his
time either a hostage or a refugee
with a high price on his head, but
indefatigably laboring for his coun
try's freedom no matter what went
on. A stirring tale and. in this
edition, colorfully illustrated.
SPORTS.
Retriever Gun Dogs, by William
F.t Brown. (Barnes.) A work on
the different retrieving breeds with
rules for training from puppyhood
on. Illustrated with photographs.
Very good.
Bass, by Harold C. Hollis. (Barnes.)
The different kinds of bass and the
equipment and tactics required to
catch each. Illustrated with photo
graphs.
Tennis Made Easy, by Lloyd
Budge. (Barnes.) A comprehen
sive covering of the game and how
to play it.
Best Sports Stories of 1944, edited
by Irving T. Marsh and Edward
Ehre. (Dutton.) Collected articles
on sports subjects, all well done.
NOVELS.
The Rim, by Prances M. Sedg
wick. (Coward-McCann.) Novel
about matrimonial tangle. Heavy.
Mrs. Heriot's House, by Barbara
Webster. (Scribner’s.) Story of a
woman retreating to the country to
find solitude and then becoming en
grossed in the life of her servant.
Well done.
ORIENT.
China's Crisis, by Lawrence K.
Rosinger. (Knopf.) A study of
China in relation to the postwar
world. The author is a research as
sociate of the Foreign Policy Asso
ciation.
POETRY.
Silent Fame and Other Poems, by
Loyd Haberly. (Macmillan.) Meas
ured and accomplished verses.
Choir and Tempest, by Esther Fre
mont. (Great-Concord.) Long tur
gid poem about war and peace intro
duced as a "preface to a new poetry’*
but reading like much else that has
been written since the heyday of
Walt Whitman.
PLAYS.
The Best One-act Plays of 1944,
edited by Margaret Mayorga. (Dodd
Mead.) The eighth edition of th«
annual collection.
Seven Plays by Maxim Gorki.
Translated from the Russian by
Alexander Bakshy. (Yale Uni
versity Press.) Plays well known In
Russia put into English by a con
temporary dramatic critic.
Labor
<Continued From Pa§e C-l.)
: of a competitive economy both on
domestic and international planes.
It also demanded, as a result of
wartime experience, drastic meas
ures of social reconstruction.
These did not come. The Con
servative party was in office, with
great majorities, for all the inter
war years save for two brief periods
when the Labor party itself was a
minority government jockeyed out
■ of office each time by carefully
organized stunts and scares.
In 20 years of Conservative rule,
what became increasingly clear not
only to Labor supporters but also
to the great masses of unattached
voters was that the forces behind
; conservatism had no interest in
doing more than safeguarding their
power. They never seriously at
tempted to tackle the grim problem
of unemployment; they even treated
the unemployed as though they were
enemies of the nation. They showed
clearly their fear of educational
change. They were timid about
large-scale housing plans. They
supported the reactionary mine
owners. Their remedy for a decay
ing agriculture was subsidies to the
landowner and farmer. They
watched cotton, shipping, iron and
j steel drift into incompetence and
I inefficiency. They saw science and
1 technology either not used or frus
| trated.
“Man of the Past.’’
Above all. the real minds of the
forces which supported Toryism
were revealed in their passionate
j hostility to trade unionism in the
! general strike of 1926 and the con
New Books
Peter s Silver Dollar. $7. August 21
Florestan. $3.75, August 21
Flight From China. $2.50. August ° 1
Broad Margin. $2.50. August 22.
Out of Control. $2. August 22
The Economic Basis of Politics, $1 75
August 20. '
Brazil. $2. August 20.
o^The Uncertain Journey. $2.50, August
The Free State. $2. August 20.
„ Th* American Language. Supplement
One, $5. August 20.
Twilight Bar, $2. August 21.
Home Fires Burning. $2.50. August °0
Government Jobs and How to Get Them!
$2.95. August 22.
Heartwood. $2.50, August 22
Interval in Carolina. $2, August 24
Slow Train to Yesterday. $3. August ”1
Stuffy. $1.50, August 22.
Beneath the Stone. $2.50. August 21
No Shortage of Men. $2.50. August 20
Napoleon and Uncle Elby. $2. August 24
Stop or I'll Scream. $2. August 24.
The Black Rose, $3, August 2.3.
Selected Speeches and Statements of
Gen. George C. Marshall. August 24
The Western Island. $2.50. August 23
trast up to and beyond the out
break of the war in 1939, between
their hatred for Russia and their
desire to appease the Fascist coun
tries even at the cost of destroying
the democracies of the European
continent. The utter inability of
the Conservative party to recon
struct and renovate was made plain,
in a blinding flash, by the disaster
of Dunkerque and the year we stood
alone.
That is why the British electors
decided to give Socialism an oppor
tunity through the Labor party;
that is why, also, once Churchill de
cided to throw his whole strength
behind the “traditional” Britain, not
even their recogntion of his great
war services could conceal the con
viction that he was a man of the
past. They wanted new ideas, new
experiments. They were passionately
democratic; but they saw no reason
to suppose that democracy must re
main a subordinate appendage of
capitalism. They were schooled by
70 years of eager debate to the con
viction that parliamentary successes
could, stage by stage of what Webb
called "the inevitability of grad
ualness.” transform capitalist de
mocracy to Socialist democrarcy.
They believed this could be done by
consent and without violence. They
believed that they would be freer,
as the transformation developed,
than they were in all their previous
history'. Above all they believed
j that to make the public a political
power and master of private eco
nomic power by democratic methods
would be an immense contribution
to the art of civilized living.
That, at least, is the background
of the decisions made by this elec
] tion of the British people. It has
taken 70 years to make it. Nothing
in it is surprising save the fact that
so vast a part of the world could not
see that it was the logical outcome
of long years of timidity among con
; servative statesmen and defense of
j vested interests by businessmen.
The people of a democracy may be
slow gathering their forces, but
when they have made up their
minds, like Fabius Cunctator, they
strike swiftly and hard, fQuintus
Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, Roman
leader, who died in 203 B.C.. was
surnamed Cunctator, or the delayer,
because of his military strategy
which was to wear down the enemy
—Hannibal—through harassing op
erations while avoiding decisive con
flicts.
(Copyright, 1945. Overseas News Agency,
Inc.)
—1 i -w* m wmmmmm. * <
i
i
|
<
Behind the headlines of your* times is the
tastic story of intrigue and murddr, of personal
rivalries and international plotting, which jg|
% Upton Sinclair has told. ' Loaded with gossip . JS
I and color, decorated with mistresses and luxury
'f ~hut it has art* ultimate factual accuracy.” '■'jRBR
! - lE« K GANNETT, N. Y. Herald Tribune M
1; the VIKINO PRESS ■ mm
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