Evening Star Newspaper, May 24, 1925, Page 40

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 24, 1925—PART "2 Notes of Art and Artists Portrait of the Late Calvin Coolidge, Jr., by Richard Merym;n. to Be Placed in Mercersbnrg Academy—T}xreu Notable Artists Working Here During the Past Week. PORTRAIT Richard Mery | most recent portrit of the Swedish man of .he late Calvin Cool- ' Minisier. will be shown in this city idge, ir. now temporarily on | before Count Sparre’s return to exnibition In the Corcoran | Sweden Gallery of Art This portrait | *'E & % s (o be permanently pluc:d =S a me. HE Metropolitan , Museum of Art norfal in the Mercersburz Academy, | has lately acquired one of M in which the President’s son was «| George Onkley Totten's porcelain student at the time of his death. It!gpituettes. The purchase was made is a three-quarter Jensth, and shows | hen a number of these charming lit- the lad seated In n high-back chair| (je works of art were on view In the with his hands on his lap and his face | Grand Ceniral Galleries. Mi<. Totten imost in_ profile. A “strong Ught | who hefore her marrfage was Vicken illumines the features and Sharply | Von Post, learned her art at her old outlines the face unst the back-| home in Sweden. und these delightful ground. It is a vivid, an intenselyijtile siatueties, done in an inimitable vital characterization. Mr. Meryman | ner all her own, were produced at has succeeded mot only in presentinz | " porcelain factory in Stockholm. | likeness but personzlity. This por | Sume time in the near future Maj trait has spiritun] quality. and it} pd Mrs. Tolten hope to establish a shows—and will show for ail tlme—it | porcelain kiln here in W+ bovish boy fine features make friends amonz who had insight nnd thought. unusuai mentulity Mr. Meryman has express portrait, which is good In modeled. finely rendered the message the portrait down to other students of hurg Academy. As hus been MacMonnies’ noble statue of Viale, this memorf 1 passerby to stop and think most excellent memorinl. nemorializes bhut his ideal char trait will be form unveiled at cises, early 1 ington of upstandi 1< figure ard | 15 hound to | et one | ability for | All this ed in his color, well And this is will hand | ca hoys on Mercers said of Nathun | The por presented and | v the commencement in June * CHREE notable birth have been during the exer * artists of foreign | vorking in Wash past week. Mes Railway tation This ate in receiving John B. Pleasant the Powell painted Mr. ican subject | the | valuable purpos which case n go on HE exhi lately view lib, br Grand Powell, picture There this marve ture so well or so sympathetically as nd. as « typleally n American painter, doubtless her bition hown has anch a Canyon are by will * of ho brary. heen as a gifi from Mrs. Henderson for its new Mount lirge pajating of | by _AZuclen few us * % railway the Economics in the Transpor Building has been to the Public I shington, in work in this medium posters Bureau of transferred where it is now * most fortu W have na who work of Amer. serve a HE Corcoran Gallery of Art for- mally announces its tenth exhibi trovic, the great Serbian sculptor, has | tion of cotemporary American oil heen modeling a portrait bust of Sec-| paintings, to be held April 4 to May retary Hoover: Waldemar Rannus. an | 16. 1926, Circulars and entry cards, American sculptor of Esthonian ex-| giving full information to those desir- traction. has been modeling portraits | ing to sulnit work. will be ready for the Isthonian Minister, Antonius | distribution on or about February 1 Piip. and Prof. Speek of the Library| The annual exhibition of the Cor- of Congress: Count ve of Stock- | coran School of Art will be held next holm has been palnting a portrait in| week. when the annual award of oils of the Swedish Minister | prizes will be made. Owing to the | fact that the semi-circular zallery. in < e | which this exhibition is usually shown, INCE the death of Rodin, Mestrovic | js being reroofed at this time. no defi- has been univers: sreatest of living Eu This is his first visit came last with his work. which was the Brooklyn Museum declared the »pean sculptors. to America. He | n_exhibition of shown first in attracting very | be nce as displayed, would be generally open to the public or restricted to the students and thelr announcement could be made in to the portion of the building in which the exhibition would or whether or not it wide attention. and then, divided into | friends. Full announcement will be o©wo collections. began to tour the|found in the news columns in due museums in this country, one section | course going as far as the Pacific Coast. He ¥ % oo is essentially what may be termed an G sel ériginal man. His work is unlike that | | HE Critcher :”” S ".\,‘"“ of'imy other. and It 1+ strongly marked | | Announces & Summer session, with by the individuality of his race. His|Miss Anne Abbott, registrar of the earlier works possessed primitive sim. | Corcoran School of Art. in charge plicity and his later the same tradition &ophisticated works follow in but are more Much has been written | training, and ha | past vear work of profs Miss Abbott has herseif had excellent exhibited during the ional stand about him. and few have ever in their [ IN& and merit. She is, therefore, well own day received so much attention | €duibped to take on this new respon- oF so great a claim. The portraft|SiDility. Miss Hill is going to New Vhich he 18 doing of Mr. Hoaver is | York about the first of June to exe- done mot as a commission but as a | Cute some commissions, and will later tiibute to the splendid service which | }isit friends in the Berkshire Hills Mr “Hoover rendered o foretgn na. | Miss Critcher will spend the Summer tlons during the great war—a distin- guished compliment not only to Mr Hoover but to America. Mr. Mestro. | Painters. vic has been occupying during his #tay in Washington Mr. Bush-Brown’s RS. H. studio, which was generously at his disposal by the sculptor. placed ik o HE Esthonlan sculptor. Woldemar Rannus. has been in this country for 15 years. His art studles were begun in Petrograd and briefly con- tinued in Paris. Prof. Speek puts 4. Mr. Rannus is a fine sculptor de- veloped out of a workman—a stone- cutter. He is still a member of the Stone Cutters’ Union in New York, and he makes the major part of his living at this trade, but he has had excellent artistic training and pos- sesses unusual talent. When he w: a student in the National Academy of Design he won an award and high commendation by his instructors. He is a_member of the Soclety of Inde- pendent Artists, and his work has not a little of the characteristics which set the work of Mestrovic apart. His portrait of the Esthonian Minister is strongly and simply modeled. It was done in the Esthonian Legation while the Minister was at work. Mr. Rannus carves his own works in marble, stone and wood. His wooden sculp- tures are unique and particularly in- teresting. He is now to do a portrait bust of the president of the American Federation of Labor, William Green. * x o % OUNT SPARRE was an associate and close friend of Anders Zorn, the great Swedish artist, whose etch- ings are of supreme interest and an exhibition of whose paintings was lately held here. He has come to this country chiefly fo secure at this time accurate data for an elaborate catalogue of Zorn's works, which, at the request of Mme. Zorn, he is pre paring for publication. But he is him self a painter of no little attainment. By special invitation, 2 group of his Tecent paintings was shown this Win- ter in the Brooklyn Museum of Art #nd highly commended by the director of the museum and other discriminat- ing critics. It is greatly to be hoped that this same group, including his M M P. to a Mr: in WAS RECENTLY COMPLETED IN gone will Ly tation by -1 Oriental Mrs. painted_deco! Birc * K * | again at Taos, N. Mex woman member of the Society of Taos She is the one * BUSH-BROWN, after attending as a delegate the six to St paint dia merly on exhi conta by M Wilke: w her atson There are beautiful Paul, a * % x ELICIE WALDO HOWELL, for- of this city Summer painting class, to be held for the eighth season at East Gloucester, Mass., beginning July ing through August 26 number Bush-Brown daughter, who has made quite a repu decorated textiles, now traveling abroad and expects to spend the greater part mer in Alexandrina, In Syria. her * * ox ok x bition ar ining Mrs N and ian Lan; Frank Smith. Jessie Stella screens teenth annual convention of the Amer- ican Federation of Arts, held in Cleve- land, Ohio. the week before last, has Minn.. where she portralts, talented of is of the Sum announces a and continu FJHE Washington Arts Club has now interesting n of handierafts by local crafts Most interesting. perhaps, is a beautifully col bound Mrs, Charles Divine. by Maj. D. Glassford, one in particular with st vie. made trees, eroded, of the elements—clever Belloi wooden design Frank . wrought | scarts by H. L. Nyman, woven fabrics by Emmy Sommer. Attrac tive bags and other weavings are ex- hibited by Hayes and Mrs. Whitman. Alberta Montgomery lovely silverware, and Mary Endicott and Mollie B. Weyman, rings, simple in design and well are examples of Norwegian weaving t tion: box Smith. iron. Mrs. B. WASHINGTON. Copyiight o e shows Ruth attractively baskets; a peacock decoration and another with a floral decoration. both essentially in William Partridge shows several interesting carvings, or “‘statuettes,” branches of down by the river and roots and brought long exposed adaptations. bowl with M. Tanner, carved: Roy There are dved ok McCue, Mrs. shows some executed. There BUST OF HERBERT HOOVER, SECRETARY OF COMMERCE, AND THE SCULPTOR, IVAN MESTROVIC OF SERBIA. THE WORK | by €. P. Crawford: batik panels of | decorative and unique character, one | in ular of under-the-sea subjects, | | by Lydia Bush-Brown | The showing as a whole is very at tractive. Al of the exhibitors are | members of the Washington Handi- craft Guild. There must, however. he | many others In this city who are pro- | | ducing craft work of this type who | might well he represented in a more | general exhibition. % % the front room on the first floor of the Arts Club an exhibition of | etehings by Emile Zoir of Sweden, selected from n_larger collection by the Minister of Sweden, is now to be seen. These are all forceful works nd interesting characterizations., A | &roup in color, which has been hung over the muntel, is partieularly attrac- tive. X v x % AYLEY LEVER. whose painting of the Mayflower, the President’s vacht, wus presented to the President wWith fitting ceremony last Wednesday, was born in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1576, He studied in Parfs, London | and New York. He is a member of several of the leading British art asso- ciations, and has lately been elected to membership in the National Acad- emy of Design. For some years he has made his home in this country und has become a citizen of the United States. For a number of Summers he had a studio ai East Gloucester. Last Summer he was located nt Marble- head, where he proposes to spend the next’ few months. He has made w specialty of boats and boat pictures, but he has not before attempted boat portraiture. Mr. Lever has been painting the picture of the Mavflower, which now is to hang in the Presi. dent’s library at the White House, for more than year. The preliminar studies were made just a vear ago. when Mr. Hayley Lever visited Wash. ington and made sketches of the yacht in ‘many positions. at anchor and un- der way. He has been charmed by the sheer beauty of the boat. and has found much pleasure in interpreting it pictorially. The picture shows the Mayflower prominently in the fore- | i | | | | inued from First Page.) Here is a formal statement of the | avowed leaders of the Soviet govern- | ment (not merely members of the Communist party) proclaiming offic- | fally that the Soviet system, begun in | Russia, is to spread to the entire| | world. They direct all their efforts | their entire external policy, to that| purpose. Nothing is clearer than this | world-wide program. Tt is fr {avowed by Tchitcherine. people’s | commissar for foreign affairs. the of-| | ficial exponent of the foreign polic |of the union, and confirmed by | Trotsky. later ego of Nikolai Lenin, | in a notable address at the Moscow Military Academ: “Our Ambassa- dor,” said Trotsky, “consuls. military | attaches and so on must supply | machinery for new material.’ 1 In the field of applied diplomacy | Krassin, Bolshevik Ambassador to France. one of the most capable of all Soviet leaders, leaves no doubt as to the cardinal principle of Soviet foreign policy. During the twelfth congress of the Communist party in April, 1923, he explained that: “The basic tasks of the foreizn policy of the Soviet power are, first, to make it easy for the world revolution in securing the maximum conditions guaranteeing peace (for ue) {. e, recognition de jure and economic aid, loans, credits, etc. The world revolu- tion follows a laborious path: we have | | no miraculous means of making | things easy for us. The most ef-| ficacious way to smooth the path of | the world revolution and aid it is to| strengthen the Soviet state.” | Opposed to U. S. Constitution. What the United States Govern | ment_is asked to recognize, with all | | the implications and obligations of | | recognition is not Russia. but an idea @ new political science, 4 new theory | of government. which. because of its | unique character and potential uni- versality, is diametrically and mili tantly opposed to the Constitution of the United States. Even if assurance is given, and the promise fulfilled, that no subversive propaganda will be conducted on American territory, there still remain those very practical problems which confronted us in the distribution of huge quantities of relief supplies in Russia. As the Honorable Secretary of State has more than once explain- ed no government can forget or re- nounce its obligations to its own n: tionals resident on foreign territory. The American government has cor- rectly pointed out that recognition means intercourse, and business inter- course with Russians on Russian ter- ritory must be conducted in accord- ance with Soviet laws. Ten Civic Disabilities. Americans will go into Russia and it is reasonable to expect that they will be required to live under the Sovlet laws. This means these 10 civic dis- abilities: 1. No foreigner, or national, for that matter, can become an enfranchised citizen if his busines requires him to have a few men working for him. He is disenfranchised and becomes a po- litical pariah 2. If he owned property he finds it confiscated on his return, without the slightest process of law, or thought of compensation. 3, He finds that he cannot acquire property in fee simple, even if it is necessary for his business. Certain modifications have been made in that in the case of small house- but I know of some who were invited ‘back by the Soviets to take over their property and repair it, but when that was done and it was put in firstclass repair, they were in- vited to leave again. State Must Be Partner. 4. In the development of such busi- ness enterprises as he may be permit- ted to undertake, he must admit the State as a partner, who, as we know from the concession' laws, will take about 50 per cent of the profits, if, when and as issued, and who retains the right to cancel the business on .24 ‘hours’ notice, if it so pleases a small group of men, practically unknown to the investor. I saw more than one man &0 out of Russia broken, discouraged and practically ruined. The list of those who went in under these condi- tions and came out disillusioned and resentful is long and depressing. 5. hould a dispute arise in the courts, the word of a non-Communist avalls practically nothing against the word of a Communist. 1 have heard judges ask a witness: ‘““What party? “Communist party. 'Proceed.” 6. He is obliged under the labor code to agree that his business shall, to all intents and purposes, be con- trolled by the labor unions. The labor unions work In close co-operation with government, and all those who [} LIKENESS OF WOLDEMAR RANNUS COMPLET! MINISTER TO WASHINGTON, ANTONIUS WELL KNOWN DIPLOMAT ING A BUST OF THE ESTHONIAN PIIP. derwood & Underwood Copyright by Us ground. The city makes the back ground and to the right appears the dome of the Capitol given of the cherry trees in flower. It is a large canvas, 25 by 30 inches fn dimension, and in it the painter him self feels that he has put his best effort. Mr. Lever is represented in the permanent collections of many of the leading art museums in this coun try and abroad. among them the Cor coran Gallery and the Phillips Memo- rial Gallery of this city False Soviet Theories Balk Recognition by America have conducted relief ope Russia know that if we did not have special written agreements, even re. lief operations would have been prac tically impossible in view of the de mands of the labor unions under the ions in labor code. The result has been what Mr. Hoover has so aptly called an economic vacuum.” I remember a very plcturesque - proverb, once cur rent among Russians. but it seems to have been lost sight of entirely when it came to industry and the orzaniza- tion of their economic life. With seven nurses the child is blind Children Property of State. 7. Children are considered the prop erty of the state, and the only reason why the Soviet government has not taken all the children and gathered them into orphan asylums is simply because they have not as yet been able to furnish buildings enough to hold them. But the principle of prac tical state ownership of the child wa: Judicially affirmed in the organ of the department fustice on September 15. 1923. 1In other words. the whole tendency of modern democracy, which is to enhance and protect the rights of the individuals, here receive absolute veto. The child In Russia is considered to be prirearily an instru mentality for the aggrandizement of the state. In American jurisprudence and in Christian philosophy the state is bound to protect the interests of the individual having been created by the collective will of the individual members of civil society. That is re. versed in Soviet Russia. There the Communist state is the be-all and the end-all of the entire system of juris prudence. and the individual is im portant only as a means to an eco- nomic end.” That is the direct anti- thesis of our individualistic concept of free democracy 8. He shall not provide for his children any education except that provided and prepared by the literary guides of Soviet Russia. Death for Religious Teaching. Sho; 1d he attempt to give his ildren ‘religious instruction he may be shot. I did not expect in this day and generation to witness in the city of Moscow scenes that might have been staged in the arena under | Trajan, or Nero, or Diocletian, or any one of the Caesars. The al- leged political activity of certain ec clesiastics Is but a revamping of the old device adopted by the pagan per- secutors. There is a law in Russia— the only place I know of in the civ= {lized world with such a law—to the effect that to teach religion to any- body under 18 vears of age is pun- {shable with death. I saw men go to their death, surrounded by Bol- shevik bayonets, because they re- fused to give up teaching the Chris- tian religion. 1 heard the chief prosecuting at- torney of the Soviet government ask 14 men: “Will you stop teaching the Christian religion?” May we not feel a just gratification to know that every one of those men replied: I will ‘not, because it is the law of God" And the answer came back in my hearing: “That divine law which you quote does not exist in Soviet territory. You must choose between the divine law, so called by you, and the Soviet law.” They chose. Some of them are rotting there in prison cells at this moment. One in particular they singled out as their answer to the universal pro- test of the civilized world and blew ;n;s:brflins out on Good Friday night, 23. Counter Revolutionary Acts. 10. A man is also liable to be shot in Soviet Russia if he contributes any help to his own country. I am not speaking of time of war. That would constitute a legitimate cause for punishment for treason. If you should go to Moscow. tomorrow and send back to the United States even a harmless report on the crop, or a report on economic condltions, if it displeases the central executive com- mittee you can be shot for it. Other- what does article 57 of the penal eode mean when it say: ‘Any support given to those sections of the International bourgeoise which do not allow equal rights to the Communist system of ownership * * * are likewise to be considered counter revolutionary acts. Any help consequently given to a govern- ment whicn does not recognize the communist system of confiscating ivate property is a ccunter revo- lutionary act under the criminal code and you can be shot for it. They justify it as “economic espion- ag There has developed an ex- tension. to that which I am still puz- zling over. A man could also be in- dicted for “unconscious econom}c es- A glint also is | | pionage.” Just what that is I leave |10 your imagination In a word. a man living in Soviet | Russia today must realize that his life, as well as his property, is to all |intents and purposes at the disposal {of the central executive committee, | which claims such power under article 1 of the civil code, from article 33 and 7 of the criminal code, and in virtue of the “specia regulations for the judi siary™ proposed by Acting Commissar of Justice Krilenko and accepted by the central executive committee on Oc. tober 23, 1922. Among these regula- | tions vou will find the following sig | nificant words: “If a ser. nce does {not correspond with the spi 1 Bol- shevik legislation it can alway an celed.” (This means canceled L. he central executive committee.) This dictatorial power of life and death through party control of the ju diciary was later afirmed and formally incorporated in articles 20 and 43 of the new constitution of December, | 19. And as the central executive committee is hound by section 1 of the constitution, as well as by the gene: ideaology of Bolshevism, to render de cisions, not in accordance with the ob- Jective merits of a given case, but in sympathy with the social, economic and political purposes of Bolshevism which need definition here—I be lieve it to be a valid conelusion that Soviet jurisprudence, under which a national of the United States would have to live in Russia at present, is a complete barrier to rormal interna- tional relations. Not Negotiable Issue. D) Nay, more—these rights which viet legislation denies to large groups of its own citizens, and a fortiori to foreigners, we hold to be inalienable flowing from nature itself, consequent on our physiological structure and the and achieving both supernatural legislature, our destiny. no executive Americ: no adminis- ation which has taken oath to sup- n port the Constitution and perpetuate the princinles of the Declaration of In. dependence can consider them as fall- ing within the zone of negotiable is sues. We inherit them, as does the Russian people, with our common hu man nature. Sovereignty ultimately resides in the people as a whole, and {it is the sovereign people which desig- | nates a given government to exerc j@ limited and delegated power. It | cont to all right reason, contrar. | to mature, as well as to the fundamen- |tal concept of government. that the | {instrumentality created by the people should in turn attack the inherent {rights of the people and thus nullify | the very purpose of its creation. It was in defense of these rights that | our own Declaration of Independence itten and vindicated. In the cause of clearer definition the bill of rights was included in the Constitu- ion. {was w 1 Would Extend Sy T have proposed thes {not in cri em. disabilities, | ticlsm of the internal gov. ernment of Russia. A nation may set up on its own territory any forn government and administer its domes- tic“affairs as it sees fit, and we would have no right to dictate to them. But |please remember two things: The & viet government, according to its con- stitution and the pronouncement of its responsible spokesmen, intends to extend that system to the United States. 1 know that it is a grotesque idea, but when it is embodied In the organic law of the land, you cannot dismiss it. Secondly, following recog- nition, Americans going into Russia would have to live under those condi- tions and submit to the extravagant whims of the Communist dictator. We have considered some of the dis- abilities weighing on the American citizen resident on Soviet territory. Let us consider for a moment the legal status of the Russian citizen who emigrates to the United States and begins life under American institu- tions. If I interpret the genius of our laws aright, he falls heir to a rich heritage of human, liberties, a legacy sealed and consecrated by for- rents of patriotic blood that flowed freely in their defense from Bunker Hill to Chateau Thierry and St. Mi- hiel. He may in due time acquire citizenship with its rights and pro- tections; he may acquire property which will not be confiscated without due process and just compensation; his person is protected by habeas corpus; in courts of justice full cre- dence is given to his testimony, irre- spective of party affillations; he may conduct his business without undue interference from the state; his family life and his children are sacredly re- spected by a Government which rev- erences the natural law and acknowl- edges the inherent right of parents to educate their children. The clear conceptions and unequivo- cal expression of the limitations of government enunciated in the Declara- tion of Independence and our Federal Constitution are but other ways of affirming that before the state made us citizens God made us men. To pro- tect that manhood and secure its in- herent rights, governments are in- stituted among men, men are not in- stituted by governments, and these inherent rights cannot be ‘“extin- guished” by any flat of civil society. Finally, the Russian immigrant, in common with all law-abiding citizens of the land, is accorded full religious Tiberty, with. its necessary corollaries, freedom of speech, of the press and of assembly and petition. And all this while his competitor, the American merchant in Russia, s 2 capacity of our intellectual facilities or ulterior development, and consti-| tuting, as they do, the means for fultilling our soc form of | IDA GILBERT MYERS. BEYOND THE UTMOST PURPLE RIM. By E. Alexander Powell, au thor of “The Last Frontfer,” etc. Niustrated. New York: The Cen tury Company. R. POWELL'S “beyond the ut- most” turns out to be Abyssinia. Not much more, to the average, than one of the hard names of the old ge- ography lessons, this Abyesinia—a vague color-run on the map of Africa, conjuring up fearsome pictures of sav- age black men who dined off one an other, smacking their lips, meanwhile, for the savory taste of some rare bit of good white-man meat. The adventure in hand changes all Out of it we/come with a full budget of fresh facts, surprising and interesting facts whose only relation 10 our original scant stock is that Abyssinia still stands a subdivision of | Africa. Going along with Mr. Powell | we find, not negroes of heathen rite and practice, but a branch of the Cau- casian race instead, rooted in the old | Hebrale system of laws and social cus- tom, a people of the Christian faith and acceptances. Guarded agains outer contacts not only by natu barriers but by the racfal instinct of exclusion as well, here is a civilization that moves us back into a clear paral lelism of that which historians desig- nate as the dark ages. Here we do not find the Caucasian race moving for- ward at the front of progress as this race elsewhere has moved. Instead, here is a brood of Caucasians, so to speak, marooned in this African fast ness and held there, the static and suspended example of a_civilization inspired by the court of Solomon, its royal line claiming descent from the Queen of Sheba herself. Strange ad- ventures crowd one another. Pictu esque scenes register as fast as the eye can adjust ftself to the shifting pano- rama. ~Curfous ways of life suggest the far origins of this offshoot of an ancient stock. Passing episodes em- | thts. broider upon this basic fabric rich and exotic patterns of old, old vears. Per. sonalities, in effect, straight out of fable, play strange parts from a fo gotten past. Yet. all this is definitel linked with the present, for Abyssinia is @ member of the League of Nations. A long jump for us—from Abyssinia of the early map lessons to Abyssinia of the League of Nations. A jump not posstble to make but for this in tervening adventure in the company Alexander Powell. A waywise trav eler, this one, who combines within bimself practical man of affairs, ad | Venturer, story-teller and poet. As the man of business he looks ahead over every crook and turn of the plain m: of getting about from one corner of the earth to another. As the adventurer he welcomes the unusual, the sudden demand, the ready accep tance of change or even of danger. As @ poet, his every day is bathed in the glamour of imagination. As story- teller, he weaves the whole Into a tale whose truth reads like a performance by old Haroun himself, while at the same time it is clearly and indubitably a record of fact, a chronicle of per- sonal experience {lluminated by his- tory and the. play of -imagination. Ab; ia. Somaliland, Kenya Colon: Zanzibar, the Comoros, Madagascar all figure here and each with the good treatment, if not possessed of the in- herent charm. of the first and greatest of these—Abyssinia * ALIAS BEN ALIBI. By Irvin Cobb, author of “Old Judge Priest," etc. New York: George H. Doran Company. RVIN COBB long ago passed from the stage of critical analysis into that of a general and happy accept- ance. To be sure. even now, some reguiar grouser here or there declares him to be quite too long drawn out for the matter in hand—but such an one is promptly overridden by con- tempt and contumely. There is noth- ing left to say about Irvin Cobb, but it will take long talks to do justice to Ben All Crisp_come, finally to be city editor of a New York. paper at the moment when huge streaks of yvellow struck the bulk of the American press. 3en Ali is about the most lovable and tter H | | { & % engaging person that yvou will come upon in many a year of men and books. A perfect man. or even near- perfect? It has already been stated that he is a city editor. A real one, bent heart aud soul to the business of his paper’s success. Sitting back -be- hind the “boys,” sent out to get the stuff, like some big and unwieldy fate from whom a thousand feelers reach certainly and insatiably off into the city life for clues and trails that the youngsters cannot scent. The story of Ben Ali turns out to be a series of tales that are likely to make for deep discouragement to the usual writer of crime detection. It is much more than that besides, for it i{s a story of the genius of the newspaper, of its intent, of the spirit behind it, of its difficul- ties made to yield triumph and suc: cess, of its place in the community. This, all given in the day's work of Ben Ali. A story compound of gen- uine interest and delight. Then—at the last—let's not talk about that. Tremendous at the close—and, maybe, there was no other way—Ben Ali being Ben All. ok ok ok UNDER THE LEVEE. By E. Earl Sparling. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. ITS of human refuse, these—odd- ments of color and fabric snipped off and tossed aside in the monstrously wasteful business of man .making. Weatherbeaten beyond belief, these odds and orts of humanity—these men and women down on the water-front and in the red-light zone of old New Orleans. French and “spic’ and cre- ole, Cajen and “Mex" and plain white man, all milled about together in the endless water-wash under the levee. Here along with Earl Sparling we follow dark and narrow streets on the trail of love and hate and revenge, the three woven into a weird blend of hu- man passions. We peer into low, dim- lit, ill.smelling rooms, ,where hard- women pursue the supreme business of life. Then in sudden rush down to the sinister waterfront upon some er- rand of special risk and secrecy. A dozen short stories—literally bound hand and foot by a network of discriminatory legistation. Political wisdom may be “exercised in two ways: (1) By foresight; (2) by “hindsight.” Recent cable dispatches throw much light on the advisability of entering into diplomatic relations at this time. It will be remembered that Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan and Italy have already recognized the Soveit Union, whereas 'the United States of America has been reproached as being the only great power which has not shown the same wisdom. “Paris, April 28.—~Foreigri Minister Briand_summoned the Soviet Ambas- ‘sador, M. Krassin, to the Qual d'Orsay today for his first formal interview since taking office, and took the op: portunity to say some very definite things about bolshevist &mpmnu in France. * *'* Mr. Miflerand’s state- ment (last week) was that by recogni- tion of the Soviet government the recent government of France had ‘in- " (Continued on Seventeenth Page) handed men and franKly solicitous Ishort. A few heavy lines, a few strokes of color, a-sudden climatic turn of situation—and there they are, that mongrel citizenry of the old waterfront. It is more than likely that Mr. Sparling’s newspaper training has made him an economist in words, selecting and combining with prect sion and skill, so that individuality stamps these men and women, each in his own colors of passionate desire and | stormy pursuit. This quick gathering of raw material, this sudden turn upon the sharp corner of surprising climax, thig abrupt shut-off at the top notch of interest—these, broadly speaking, sum the manner of this dynamic and dramatic story teller. A dozen short stories, -these nevertheless have the | effect of a single long story, wherein | the actual background of place be- comes the foreground over which these glimmering low lights of personality and crude behaviors play merely to emphasize the deep dyes and strange atmospheres of the old city itself. ok ok % THE GOD OF MIGHT. By Elias To- benkin. author of “The House of Conrad,” etc. New York: Minton, Balch & Co. 'HE story of Samuel Waterman, young Jewish immigrant come out from a Russian ghetto to partake of of the freedom and prosperity the The Public Library Recent accessions the Public Library and lists of recommended reading will appear in this column each Sunday at English and American Literature. Addison. Joseph. The Tatler and the Guardian. 1876. Y-AdZt. Baring, Maurice. Punch and Judy. Y-B233p. Barrington, E., pseud. The Gallants. Y-B27ig. Benson, E. F. The Book of Months. 1903. Y-B4473 Boccaccio, Glovanni. Stories of Boc- cacclo (The Decameron). Ref. Y-B632d Ef. Brisbane, Arthur. Today and the Future Day. Y-B77 Burrill, E. W." Literary Vespers. v. 1 Y -B944l. Cabell. J. B. Straws and Praver Books. Y-C113s Coolidge, Calvin, President of the United States. A Collation and| Co-ordination of His Mental Proc- esses. V-Ci77c. Copy, 1924; Stories, Plays, etc., se- | lected from published works of | students, University _Extension, Columbia University. Y-9C798. Cumberland, Gerald. Written Friendship. Y-C814w. Herself and the House- Y-D177h, Dogherty, M. A. Literature in the Schools. Y-1D67 | Ellis, Havelock. Impressions and Comments, third series, 1920-23. Y-El 547ib. i The Forum. Forum Papers, first series. Y-F779. Grandgent, H. Getting a Laugh. Y-GT64g. Kelly. F. C. The Wisdom of Laziness. Y-K285w. | Lowell, J. R.- Democracy and Other Papel 1919. Y-L95da. Lynd. Robert. The Blue Lion Y-L9892. Machen, Arthur. The London Ad- venture. Y-M1821. Masefield, John. The Taking of Helen. Y-M373t. Mencken, H. L. Prejudices, fourth series. Y-M3523pc. Montague, C. E. The Right Place C. D. Religio Journalistici Y-)M8224re. Murray, J. M. Wrap Me Up in My Aubusson Carpet. Y-M366w Phelps, W. L. As I Like It. (second serfes.) Y-P5lia Poe, E. A. Poe—Man, Poet Creative Thinker. Y-P753ac. Poems and and Tales. Priestley, J. B. Repplier, Y-R2u. Ruskin, John T For One. Agnes. Under Y-P933i. Dispute. Crown of Wild Olives. | 1919. Y-RSfcra. Samuel, A. M. The Mancroft E My Dear Cornelia. Points of View. Y-Shi7p. Stephen, Sir Leslie. Some Early Im- Dressfons. Y-Stidss. 3 ‘Waugh, Alec. Myself When Young. Y-W359m. ‘Whitman, Walt. Uncollected Poetry and Prose. 1821. 2v. Y-W3i%6al. Wright, R. L. A Smail House and | Large Garden. Y-W3936s. The Writers' and Artists’ Year Book. Ref. Y-5W33. Yeats, W. B. Essays. Y-Y328. Forelgn Literature. Acremant, Germaine. La Hutte d’Acajou. Y39F-Ac77h. Adler, Jacob. Lider. 2v. Yiddish text. Y61P-Ad551. Alvarez Quintero, Serafin and Joaquin. Les de Cain. Y40D-Al 881. Baroja y Nessi, Plo. Divagaciones Apasionadas. Y40-B266d. Benavente y Martinez, Jacinto. Plays. Fourth series. Y40D-B432bakE. Beowulf. Beowulf, tr, by J. R. C. Hall. 1914. Y451P-B45hb. Beranger, P. J. de. Poems. 1889. Y39P-B4sazE. Beraud, Henrl. Lazare. Y39F-Bd52l Cherau, Gaston. ~La Maison de Patrice Perrier. Y39F-C425m. Dante Alighieri. ~ Divine Comedy. 1893. " ¥35-D23DBpa. Dumas, Alexandre, fils. Le Fils Natural. Y38D-D81f. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. The Younger Edda. Y49-Ed3Ea. Geraldinf, Antonio. The Eclogues. Y36-Gie. Gilbert de Voisins, A. Le Jour Nais- ant. 1923.. Y39F-G313) Gomulicki, Wiktor. Car Widmo. 1011, Y55F-Gb8e. Goodman, Pincus. In Gespan.' Yid- dish text. Y61P-G62i. Hemon, ~ Louis. Colin-Maillard. Y39F-H3T6c. Henrfot, Philippe. La Tunique de Nessus. 1928. Y39F-H397t. Henry, Ruth. Piececitas Espanolas Faclles. Y40D-9H397p. Horace. Life, Friendship and Phi- losophy. 1904. Y36-H5Ec. Livy. Livy, Book 1. Y36-L5a3. Martinez de la Rosa, Francisco. Dora Isabel de Solis. 1845. Y40F-M3v2d. Metaxa, Nikilaou. Geographia Physi- ki Kai Politiki. 1910. Y34-M568. Montesquieu, C. de S., Baron. The Persian Letters. = 1897. Y39- M764leE. The Moscow Art Theater Series of ~ Russian Play Second series. 1923. Y54D-9M85aE. Panzini, Alfredo. Io Cerco Moglie. ' Y35F-P1961. Pinsky, David. King David and His ‘Wives. Y81D-P657kE. Roger, Noelle, - pseud. Ie Nouvel Adam. Y39F-R633na. Sakellaropoulou, M. K. Anagnos- - matarion. 1908. Y34-Sa28. Sardou, Victorien. La Rerle Noir. - Y39D-Sa736pe. - Scheinfeld, S. 1. Ziyunim Be-Derech - Ha-Hayyim. 1922. Y61-Sch24z. Schwob, Marcel.' Imaginary Lives. Y39-SchivE. % | must seek other causes ths | | why Reviews of Spring Books Adventure, Facts and Surprises in E. Alexander Powell's New Book—Irvin S. Cobb Writes Again of the Newspaper Work- ers—Short Stories and Novels Fresh From the Presses. New World. In effect the narratior is & mimeographic copy of the day .} day existence of Samuel Waterman America. In so far, therefore, as the externals of event are able 10 proje the truth of a situation, this novel of purely realistic quality. FExtern: re, however, half ‘or less half the truth of any the generally gray and de: of this story, for its ultimate recessi into disappointment and desp, a signed by the author failure of America to live up of refuge and support. The sour the gloom is, as a rule, the immiz: himself. He invariably embodies dis content, That is why he is an in grant. A child, in immaturity if in years, he looks for th tion of the child’s dream Aggrieved at delay, he be more unready to aceept ti the new life along wit His reaction is unfailing new lfe, the new coun general attitude works out curious manner ith like this Samuel Waterr jures up all manner of against himself, and 4 the exclusions that from eve tion seem to be operating agair quick realiza its i ry Now the very soul of Jewish life is ¢ clusion. Exclusion with the Jew institution, the basis of his existence the source of his r: lidarity, the essence of his racial permanence. the bulwark of his his ligion. his p gospe Yet the burden c he of its inner content. is 1 against racial discrimination. S with many other writers on this su ject. Excellent writers, many of ther Yet the sum of their serves chiefly to give point to t 1ome saying that vou can't e ar cake and have it, WILD MARRIAGE. By B . i Brothers [F this romance have an excu be sufficient e of ed and interesting s is. if carry some definit: that y pose can be notk that our institut ing need to be ja wooden conservatism a regular scandal tc A university studen interest here. Ar who does many hings none of which inc d A few companions of surround him. A vague 1d that by rights ed “a set ting eng elf chiefly with the resuits tmmediate and more remote < young man allowing himself 5 fallen in e with by T ¥ woman. Chivalry fair many emotions save that self—lead t youth W B wild marr suggested by title the Resc comes, t fr the guardians ¢ se eat instit b from the boy’s m row revolt against marriage appears to be the only one who has any valid thins to offer in this case of pe sonal danger to the bo v rable story drawn e—one a college pre a novel wherein the 1 all—the wisest a shot be self transgressed spectability in which the lived and moved and had its being DUCDAME. By John Cowper Powys author of “Mandragora,” e New York: Doubleday, Page and Con pany. € YTIS a Greek inv fools into a circle dame.” John Cowper swings the circle around fools whose measure of f 1o every point of ¢ ce The “cirele” is that c o Ashover, now petered « ) 4 co of sons whose blood has thinne its original bravery t expending itself in general self-gratification. Tk of this romance is a loitering Rather does it advance by wz atmosphere of doom. by the i tive presence of the dead hand « solute ancestors pressing down u this pair of sons. As a whole the novel objectifies vividly by way of the sustained tension of its drama the fact of individual helplessness in the face of its inherited blood, on the one hand, and on the other chance, or mischance. the seen the world in its bearing upon human life. A book of sustained gloom. Not anywhere along its course is there a sinsle bright or hopeful spot. The write projects in these two brothers wha purports to be the fate of all men who “go where they are pushed, fol low where they are led, like a whirling wind, like a feather tossed about, like a revolving grindstone.” 30th THOUSAND A Nation-Wide *“Best Seller” SOUNDINGS ByA. HAMILTONGIBBS “Word of mouth” advertising has carried this fine novel into nation- wide popularity— from fifth place on the March list of best sellers to third place on the April list of best sellers. Discriminating readers every- where are telling their friends that “Soundings” is a novel they must read. $2.00 wherever books are sold LITTLE. BROWN & | €0.. Publishers, Boston