Evening Star Newspaper, July 21, 1929, Page 28

THE WINS WORLD FAME AS EDITOR C. P. Scott, Dean of Britain’s Press, Retires After 57 Years as Head of Manchester Guardian —Noted for Liberalism and Independence. BY ARTHUR S. DRAPER. OW and then some newspaper ‘man beasts that he is a_reporter rather than a journalist. Some of us say, how democratic! Others cf us have a sneaking idea that perhaps the reporter is just a trifle top-lofty, rather self-satisfied, so important that he can afford to be democratic. All of which is intended as a preface to the statement that C. P. Scott, who is retiring as editor of the Manchester Guardian after 57 years, is a journalist. ‘There is a world of difference between the business of newspaper production and the profession of journalism. Mr. Scott is not only a striking illustration of this fact; he stands out as mi- nently as the monument in Trafalgar Square, or the Albert Memorial, except. that he does not stand out in any place where the sun shines brilliantly or the calcium lights play. Rather he is one of those figures which make all the rest of us feel that the game of life is well worth playing, that.the profession of journalism offers us opportunfiles that are a challenge to the very best that ‘we have to give. It does not matter a trifle whether a g]curnnl\s! agrees in every detail with is colleague. What s of profound im- portance is that one exponent of a point of view presents his case cleasly, is con- sistent, is logical, fair-minded, generous, tolerant. Mr. Scott meets every stand- | ard and therefore he enjoys not only the respect. but the affection, of all the journalists who have him person- ally, or have studied the newspaper which he has edited during more than half a century. The most that coun- tries can ack these days is respect—one for the other. Some of us wish that it | could grow to the point of affection, but | if we are wise we are satisfied with | mfiefl‘ Mr. Scott has always been held in high respect; in more instances than he can possibly appreciate he has been regarded with affection. Man of Strong Character. ‘Why? Here is the editor of a news- aper in an English provincial city. ere is a newspaper with a compara- tively small circulation. Here is a man who has been content to live in the same place for a long lifetime. Here is a man who has never been honored by his king. Here is a man who reached three score and 10 and a considerable bit and was satisfied. Here is a man who has found delight in his rose gar- | den and ridden a bicycle to his office | daily. And here is a man whose soul | has always been his own, who has| fought fight after fight, going down to | defeat, but always rising to fight again, | who has advised prime ministers, who | has told his countrymen the truth, as | he saw it; who has never lacked cour- age, who has the strength of character | to admit his errors, who has never for- gotten for a moment that he was a | spokesman, that he influenced public | opinion, that he was a contributor to | the development of his country and, as | such, that he carried a heavy responsi- | bility. True greatness walks hand and hand with modesty. By great good fortune I met Mr.| Scott early in the World War, There | was a meeting in Manchester of the | Labor party and I had gone there in the hope of getting an insight into a political organization which at the moment, wielded an influence much | greater than its parliamentary rep- resentation. In & room of a Man- chester hotel the executive committee of the Labor party met on the eve of the convention and I was privileged to sit in with leaders such as Jimmy Thomes, J. R. Clynes, Ramsay Mac- Donald, Arthur Henderson. the late | Willie Anderson, and a half dozen others, who now hold portfolios in Britian's second Labor government. As T recall, it was Mr. Thomas who suggested that I call at the Man- chester Guardian office and ask for | Mr. Scott. Any one who has played poker or bridge with Mr. Thomas never hesitates to accept his advice. I went | to the Guardian office and met Mr. Scott. ‘There was no formality. It was & Midwinter night. Mr. Scott had his back to the open fire. Previously Ii had met Lord Northcliffe on several occasions, rather _dumpy, smooth- shaven, smoking Turkish clnreflu.\ perfectly delightful, a most helpful friend of a young American corre- spondent, seeking news of the most | complicated situation civilization has faced in this generation. Welcome for Americans. Mr. Scott stood before his office fire- place in Manchester and one wondered what there was in this man which made him an opponent of so many things that the British populace had accepted as the proper thing to d Rather thin, a bushy gray beard, an academic manner, he was so different from Lord Northcliffe, another power- ful editor, that one was at a loss to explain one’s intrusion. Later one learned that no American ever intruded on Mr. Scott; the Guardian editor welcomed them all. We talked at great length, or at least Mr. Secott talked and I tried to answer his ques- tions. From the files I quote: “The President (Wilson) has shown himself a big man” said Mr. Scott. “He realizes how much the world has shrunk—that the ocean has become no wider than the Channel was for us before the war. We have become a Continental power, though from Pitt downward we have refused to under- take that role. “Wilson realizes that the United States must become a world power. Had Germany won the complete vic- tory she expected she would have chal- lenged seriously the Monroe Doctrine— perhaps successfully. If the Presi- dent’s plans are carried out the Mon- roe Doctrine will be supplanted by broad guaranties which will have strong legal support, going much further than the Monroe Doctrine, but still fulfilling all the latter's obligations. “I consider the President's condi- tions for America’s joining the peace league just, but hard to fulfill: not for us, but for the Central Powers, which will not concede them until they are beaten. 'Therefore we must beat them. “But I think that what he had in mind when he saild ‘peace without victory' was that there should be no dictated peace, with the exaction of extreme terms—of such terms as ex- tremists might demand. And he's right.” ‘Thue extracts are from an inter- view in January 12 years ago. Tha interview was the beginning of an ex- change of correspondence extendiny over several years and & number of visits to Manchester. Interested in U. S. Journalism. At luncheon one day after the war the subject of discussion turned to the preparations and qualifications of novices in journalism. Mr. Scott was deeply interested in the American schools of journalism, the training of the young men and women. One of his sons had been educated in Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Scott had been at great pains over a long period of years to keep himse! ted in the outstanding developments in American life and had never missed an opportunity of conversing with Americans. Naturally he was asked where he got his men for the Guardian staff. His reply was approximately: “Almost all my men come from either Oxford or Cambridge. Most of them have specialized in English, history and political economy. If they have com- ‘mand of one or two foreign languages they are even better fitted for the pro- fession.” ‘When he was asked the proportion of Oxford and Cambridge men he had drawn from the two universities, h “As well as T can remember. we have had two men from Cambridge—Mr. ——. whao was our dramatic critic for a number of years and later distin- guished himself as a foreign corre- spondent, and my son.” Mr. Scott came from Oxford fo be- come editor of the Guardian at the age of 25 years. He said that the over- whelming number of Oxford men on his staff was just a natural develop- ment. Guardian Militant Paper. The history of the Guardian is the lite of C. P. Scott. Through half a century it has been a fighter, a mili- tant paper, fighting political battles, social battles, sometimes winning, some- times losing, fearless, generous, tolerant, never vielding on a matter of principle. The Guardian attacked the policy of the British government in the Boer War; it attacked Mr. Lloyd George's methods during_the “Black and Tan” campaign in Ireland, although the Welsh prime minister counted himself as one of Mr. Scott’s warmest friends. The Guardian is the outstanding Liberal organ of Great Britain, but it has always been generous to the Labor party, its reports of Labor developments fair and accurate. The paper never at- | tempts to influence the views of its | readers by resorting to sensational phrases and words. The Guardian gives its readers facts in a bright and sprightly way. news entertainingly told and editorials which leave no doubt in the minds of the readers as to the posi- tion of the paper. i The last 25 years have seen a pro- | found change in British politics: a! revolution has taken place and is still | going on. _British liberalism. or rather | the British Liberal party, has dropped | from the crest of the wave deep into | the trough of a boisterous sea. The lib- | eralism of the Guardian is a wholly | different matter. It has fought on| steadily, consistently. Some British Lib- | eral journals have gone down in in-| fluence and power in proportion to the Science and (Continued from Third Page) | has upset so much of the popular sci- ence of our youth. It is enough to say that the new sclence which has disturbed the atom has certainly disturbed the anthropoid. | My meaning will be_ entirely missed if | it be supposed that I have any ethical or philosophical bias against the new science as such, any more than against | | the old as such. My moral and religious views are unaffected by old or new hypotheses about the processes of nature. 1 was not at all afraid of the large anthropold ape, and I am not likely to flee for my life pursued by the little lemur. Christianity was not affected by Da winism and is not affected by Mendel- janism. But Darwinism is affected by Mendelianism. And the poimt here is that on the plane of the purely scien- tific these scientific hypotheses are per- petually chasing each other. ‘The moral is not that there is no ethical or | practical permanence and reliability in | them, and that any ethical or practical support, must, be found elsewhere. It is the same, of course, with the new theories in astronomy, physics and mathematics. So far as I am con- cerned, the disciple of Einstein is quite | at liberty to prove that the world is; limited, or to proceed on the same progressive path and prove that the world is I do not object to space and all material being curved, so long1 as moral things remain straight. And | though the proposition that parallel | straight lines always meet may bv} something of a strain upon reason, it has no particular effect on religion. Different 50 Years Ago. There is only one contingency in | which such new hypotheses need bring | normal people into controversy. That is | when science ceases to be sclence and | becomes sociology. For soclology is not | a science, bad or good; but it is a| morality, and one that is mostly bad. If we are to rebuild our citles or re- | establish our citizons according to the curves of relativity or the pedigrees of | Mendelianism, then it does become | relevant to remind the scientists of | today that something totally different ‘was taught by the scientists of 50 years 8go, and something totally different will probably be taught by the scientists of 50 years hence. ‘Then, indeed, we have a right to xXplain to them that we decline to have new morality every 50 years. It is obvious that we cannot perpetually dig up the foundations of soclety to suit | the fashions of science. And it is equally obvious that most of these hypotheses are as fugitive as the fash- ions in hats or whiskers; that the furry lemur may last no longer than a pa ticular sort of furry muff; that the curve of space may vanish like the cut of xl cofi; n this connection I can mention a parable which was also a real event. me years ago, when hobble skirts were in fashion, it was gravely proposed in the newspapers that the platforms of certain railway stations should be re- butlt at a higher level, to make it easier for fashionable ladies to get out of first- lclm carriages. I do not say that the idea was caught up with the enthusiasm of a crusade, least of all by the railway companies. But it was suggested by lflzmebody who had not apparently re- hncwd on the strong probability that bble skirts would have vanished be- fore higher platforms were built. St. Pancras Station is not the most ‘l:clent or historic of our sacred build- gs. But its architecture is probably of 4 larger and more lasting description than the architecture of a lady's skirt. It is the very meaning of a station that it is a standing thing: and it is more than a flippancy to say of skirts, even when they are hobble skirts, that they manage to be walking skirts, Cannot Sacrifice Living. ‘The same is true of the stati status that we call society and ltnoyno:: trying to snatch at the flying skirts of science. Relativists may recently have narrowed the cosmos more with the hobble skirt of Einstein: but we have no proof that we shall not see again the cosmic crinoline of Tyndall. These sci- entific fashions have ‘their fair place as the new skirts and fringes of life; but we cannot continually sacrifice to them the whole solid structure of living. And there are many progressive sociologists now prepared, at intervals of a month or 0, to build what they would certain- ly describe as higher platforms, or pos- sibly as higher planes. And as the others would alter St. Pancras, these would certainly alter St. Paul's. A critic may indeed answer that none of the examples of the fickleness of sclence are especially connected with any fickleness in politios or ethics. He may point out that relativism is not very relative to the national railways or the municipal parks; that the curvature of space has nothing to do with open spaces or the electrons with electric light. And this is true, at any rate in the main, about sciences like astronomy or physics; but it is by no means true of sciences like psychology or hygiene. Nor is it by any means true even of all the examples I have given. It is by no means impossible that we may see legislation based on all the guesswork that is called eugenics. It may be disputed whether drunken parents hand on a love of drink to their children. But it is certain that par- ents hand on something to their chil- dren—some characteristics of some | leading newspapers of the world main- | is the Morning Post and the other is the Guardian. | trse papers are essential in analyzing | |given no racing tips and this in a fall in the fortunes of the Liberal party. but such is not the case with the! Guardian. Read Daily by Correspondents. Along Fleet street, where most of the tain corres lish journ: ndents, there are two Eng- | s which are read daily. One It is not because they are well written, well edited, but be- cause they present two viewpoints widely different, and present them with such vigor and consistency that corre- | spondents are never at a loss to judge | what the groups these journals repre- sent think about important issues. One may not share the political views ! of either the Guardian or the Post, but if one's profession is journalism British political opinion. Though we turn to the Guardian primarily be- cause of its handling of political news and views, the paper has experts in va- rious department—theater, music, books, art and even sports. It is 'almost unique in British journalism in that it has | country where even the chore-woman bets on the Derby, the Grand National and the other classic races. During the Great War lts military critic was out- standing. With few exceptions Mr. Scn'll developed all his critics and ex- perts. Its financial articles and special finan- cfal sections are regarded as medels. Its “London Notes.” under the editor- ship of James Bone, give distinction to a journal where quality is a prime requisite. Tts circulation is not one- tenth that of half a dozen London journals, but its influence on British affairs can hardly be exaggerated. It is & paper with character—the inde- finable thing which is respected re- gardless of })uml.u or position. Britons are proud of the Manchester Guardian: they like to think of it as representative of their country. C. P. Scott now has an opportunity to make his long-de- ferred visit to the United States. Civilization kind. It will naturally be said that the only wav of controlling all such characteristics is controlling all such parents. The idea is already being talked of everywhere, exactly as other coercive ideas were talked of before they became law. And it would be a fitting illus- tration of the clarity and consistency of these scientific fashions if the mod- ern movement which began by talking of free love should end by establishing forced marriage. Now, let us take this one example of heredity for the sake of argument. There are half a dozen totally incom- patible theoriea of heredity. anyi each in turn, or possibly all at once, would be the basis of the laws of eugenics. Some vears ago Mr. Blatchford conducted a propaganda of popular science based on the conjectures of Haeckel. There he- redity was simplified by the simile that the father was like a jar full of red beads and the mother a jar full of white beads and the children were little jars full of mingled red beads and white. This was something of an oversimplifi- cation, for a baby does not generally have papa and mamma scattered all over him in separate spots, like a sort of leopard. Even by this theory the qualities must surely be merged, and it would be truer to call the baby a jar full of pink beads. But there is another and later theory of heredity which denies that the colors are merged at all, or even that the beads are mixed at all. According to this theory, one of the little jars will have practically nothing but red beads, while another will have practically nothing but white. In other words, this newer hypothesis holds that a black cat and s white cat will produce some black kittens and some white kittens, and practically no gray kittens. Now, it is impossible to imagine any- thing more practical, anything less purely scientific and academic, than the difference between the first he- redity theory and the second heredity theory, or whatever may be the third heredity theory that will be propounded next. It is vividly obvious that it in- volves the whole question of what will be the .probable result of any doubtful or disputed marriage. It makes ail the difference in the world whether two differing partners will modify each other or merely reproduce each other. By the time we have the whole complex new society constructed and working on the first eugenics theory the whole scientific world will be full of the second eugenic theory and when all society has been scrapped and replaced both will be ex- ploded by the third theory. Always Entirely Wrong. How any human being can trust his reason to something that is at once always infallible and always found out, I cannot for the life of me imagine. By this view we are always entirely wrong when we are making anything and only relatively right when we unmake all that we have made. A Phillip who is eternally drunk is always vainly appeal- ing to & Philip who will never be sober. The conclusion of common sense is that whatever else it may be founded on, a civilization ought not to be founded on science. It would be truer still to say that a civilization cannot be found- ed on science any more than a city can be founded on the sea. This is not to say that the sea is not, in its place, & bracing and beautiful and fascinating thing. The real fascination of science, as science, actually consists in this mu- tability which makes it sterile for the purpose of morality. ‘The abstract adventure of science, the purely intellectual passion of putting two and two together without knowing what will come next, for picking up clues, for splitting hairs, for finding the fine shades and seeing a suggestion grow and change with touch after touch of modification—all this is certainly a great B s ame. . In thi. senser in- and glorious game. , in- deed, science ought to have freedom: nay, science ought to have a sort of frivolity. Science, like art, is one of the noblest of the toys that preserve the ehildhood of the world. Science, like -art, can be perfect in its very uselessmess. But when we wish to build, we mu build upon much deeper and more enduring foundations, and yltimately upon invisi- ble foundations. And this is what they meant who said of old time that unless the Lord build their city their labor is but lost that bullt it: for their labor consists chiefly of pulling it down again. Berlin Opens Drive To Clean Qut Slumsl A task undertaken by the city fath- ers of Berlin with utmost vigor elimination of the slums, which, while not as extensive as London's, are just s amination of these quarters laf has disclosed extraordinary dilapidation of houses, both inside and out. Also, space was found utilized from the attics right down to the cellars, with as many as four persons often crowded into the tinjest room. 2 Most of these hovels have neither latrines nor even a water tap and three families often must do their washing together. Stairways and are stuffy and even tial and yards are 1l kept and cl with debris 'improvement was shown among SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, C. P HE HAS ADVISED CABINET MINIS D; C.,. JULY 21, Drawn for the Sunday Star by Eric Pape. S COTT. RS AND TOLD HIS COUNTRYMEN THE TRUTH. U. S. and Child Welfare (Gontinued From First Page) Since 1913 the bureau has conducted more than 200 investigations in 45 States, the District of Columbia and Porto Rico. Publishes Four Pamphlets, As important, perhaps, as the collec- tion of facts is their proper dissemina- tion. The bureau has done this through its publications, its exhibits and its correspondence. Four of the most ular pamphlets of the bureau, those dealing with prenatal care, infant care, child care and child management, have | reached a combined circulation of more than 8,000,000 copies. In the fiscal year 1928 the bureau distributed 1432858 publications. - “Infant Care” has taken the place of the “Care of the Horse” as the most popular government publi- cation. More than 400,000 copies of this publication were distributed in 1928. The bureau makes a wide use of visual methods in getting its infor- mation in the hands of the mothers of America. It has supervised the pro- duction of five child hygiene fiims. These are “Our Children,"” covering the essentials of child care; “Well Born,” showing the preparation a mother should make before the baby is born; “Posture.” illustrating good and bad posture and the beneficial results of posture training; “Sun Bables,” em- phasizing the value of sun baths and cod liver oil in preventing and curing rickets, and “Best Fed Mother,” show: ing mothers how they can best nurse their bables. . Ten years ago the bureau equipped a motor truck as a ‘“child welfare spe- cial” and sent it through the country to teach rural mothers who could not come to the city to attend child health conferences and clinics. The bureau answers 100,000 letters a year. A great deal of data is distributed in the re- plies to the letters of inquiry. Co-Operates With States. The bureau co-operates with the States. It keeps in touch with child welfare commissions and prepares much material for their use. Several years ago the North Dakota Children’s Code Commission asked for the co-op- eration of the bureau in a number of studies it was planning to make. Its help was given, with the result that the North Dakota Legislature passed a series of laws that have placed it among the foremost States in the legis- lative safeguards for the protection and care of dependent and neglected children. Other States in which the bureau has made studies are Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The bureau likewise has adminis- tered the maternity and infancy provi- sions under the Sheppard-Towner bill. Abeut 45 States and Hawail are working with the Government in promot- ing the welfare and hygiene of ma- ternity and infancy. More than $1.- X a year has been available under this act. Congress failed at the last session to extend the life of the act, with the result that the work was suspended in June. Congress may vote to extend the life of the act when it meets again. Aids Private Groups. Pinally, the bureau aims to accom- plish its ends through co-operation ‘with public and private organizations. In 1915 the first important plece of the campaign for birth registration, work of this kind was undertaken. The following year national baby week campaign was carried on. Every State participated, and more than 2,000 communities held local celebrations. PFrom time to time the bureau has co- operated in working out standards in various flelds of child welfare. In 1919 a group of experts met in Wash- ington to draw up a tentative draft of the “minimum standards of child wel- fare.” These cover standards for em- ployment, the protection of the health of mothers and children and standards for children in need of special care. One of the most promising recent studies is that on the control and cure of rickets. The study has been carried on at New Haven in co-operation with the Yale Medical School and the New Haven Hospital. Cod liver oil and sun- shine are known to be the most valu- able curative agencies, and the pres- ent study is expected to throw much light on the most effective ways of using these remedies to the control of the disease. Another rickets study has been made in Porto Rico. In Chelsea, Mass, a two-year study of posture was conducted. The analy- sis covered 1,708 children, of whom 961 received special training in pos- ture, Gives Posture Training. It was discovered that before any posture training was given nine out of ten childreri had poor postures. The proportion of poor posture was slightly higher among girls than boys. Of those who received special training, 62 had improved in posture as com- pared with 10 per cent of those who had received no training. Better body mechanics led to improvement in scholarship and deportment. Posture training seems to lead to better health and attendance. Good nutrition was found to be a prerequisite of good pos- ture. It was found that the 'relfifl. children who were well nourished. In 1928 a study was made in Phila- P- | delphia of the relationship between child | Weltare and the employment of mothers | in that city. Information was sought on the effect of the mother's employ- | ment upon her efficiency as a mother and the health, schooling and conduct | of the children. A house-to-house can- | vass was made of 12,227 families. Whcn | completed this study will throw much | light on the extent to which mothers of children in a modern industrial com- munity are employed outside the hom the trends and causes of such employ- ment and the relationship between mothers’ employment and the occupa- tions of the fathers, with their earnings and contributions to the family income. Delinquency and Labor. Child delinquency bulks large in the | bureau's work, as does child labor. At | the request of the Maine department of public welfare & study has been under way in that State of the extent of juve- nile delinquency. _ Juvenile courts | throughout the country have been co- operating in the general program of the bureau for obtaining facts by send- ing to it statistics of delinquency in their areas. It has gathered gtatistics on child | 1abor in various States. with compara- | tive data on child labor legislation. The | bureau has made a study also of the | family court. As a result it has recom- | mended principles which should govern the establishment of new courts and | the reorganization of existing courts. | Dependent children constitute an- | other major problem. About 44 States | now have mothers’ aid legislation. and more than 200,000 children are now re- ceiving public aid. A survey in a re- lated field was made of the effect which the imprisonment of the fathers of 210 | Kentucky families had on the welfare | of their wives and children. Despite the fact that the mothers did everything in their power to earn a liv- ing for their dependents, it was found that only 33 of the families were com- pletely self-supporting. At the time this study was under way Kentucky had made no provision for aid to dependent | children nor for organized country agencies for case work with families in need. Miss Abbott Heads Bureau. The present driector of the Children's | Bureau is Miss Grace Abbott. There are six divisions. These are the ma- [ ternity and infant hygiene division, in | charge of the Federal administration of the Sheppard-Towner act; the child | hyglene ~division, which investigates problems of child health; the industrial division, which is primarily concerned with the problems of child workers; the soclal service division. which is con- cerned with the problems of the de- pendent children and all those who | need special care; the statistical divi- sion, which helps other divisions | through tabulation of the data collected and by suggesting lines of inquiry: the editorial division, which publishes the reports of surveys and popularizes this information tHrough charts, posters, motion pictures, leaflets and newspaper and magazine articles; the periodical summarizing of child welfare informa- tion and the correspondence section. In 1920 the bureau began a series of surveys of the employment of children in agriculture. The surveys covered about 13,500 children engaged in farm work in 14 States. It was found that farm work seriously interfered with schooling, especially in the case of boys of 12 years or older. Some Farm Boys Hampered. “Boys whose farm work cuts short their school days are not being given a fair chance in life,” the investigators declared, “for in farming, as in every other industry and business, education pays. The successful farmer of today needs at least a high school education: he must be prepared to understand and adopt improved business marketing methods and have an understanding of the economic and social questions in- volved in agriculture. His ranks must furnish the leaders to further his in- terests. Agriculture offers large oppor- tunities for Jeadership to those with the proper qualifications and training. “Staying away from school to work on the farm is sometimes defended on the ground that farm work provides valuable training. The social and moral value for growing boys and girls of al- most any work, providing it is not too hard or otherwise injurious, especially work that is done to assist parents, cannot be gainsaid. “Much of the farm work that chil- dren do is not educative in any sense. The kind that thousands do, especially in the one-crop sections, is not of a kind to train them to be better farmers than their parents.” The lengthening of the school term was suggested as one of the best and most effective ways of reducing exces- sive child labor. Workers on City Streets. Special studies also have been made of child workers on city streets. Six cities were taken—Atlanta, Columbus, Omaha, Wilkes-Barre, Newark and Paterson. Next year's conference will be made up of representatives of the voluntary assoclation, with Federal, State and municipal authorities interested in ques- tions of child welfare. “Its purpose will be to determine the facts as to our present progress and our future needs in this great field and to make recommendations for such meas- ures for more effective official and vol- und their co-ordination 2 1929— PART A Pageant of the Tudor Queens Passes in “Henry the Eighth”—Novels. and a New, Illustrated Edition of a Book by Mary E. Waller. IDA GILBERT MYERS. HENRY THE EIGHTH. Francis Hack- o Horace Liveright. i AVING read it. some declared | the book to be primarily a pageant of Tudor queens—two Katherines, three Annes and a Jane—all consorts in line of Henry VIII. One, however, said that in effect the study was no more than the opening out of a sultan’s harem. Another passed it off as but a peep through the half-swung door of Blue- beard’s chamber. *‘You are all wrong,” ventured a certain reader, “for instead there is encompassed here the spectacle | of a great dynast. These royal women but the procreative tools of fulfillment. | These princes of church and state, mere instruments for the carving out | and settling into permanency . the Tudor dynasty of that earlier England.” - Most readers will, I'm sure, go along with this “certain reader” in such sum- mary of the purpose and development and’ effect of “Henry the Eighth” by its clearly triumphant author, Francis Hackett. ~ More than this, they will go along also in complete and enthusi- astic acceptance of Mr. Hackett's pro- | Jection of Henry VIII as an incurable | adolescent. For his whole life long this | Tudor king was held captive to that | youthful stage of human development. Arrested up to death itself was Henry | ‘Tudor in the self-exaltation of luolea-‘ cence, with its gusty passions, its lust | of power and supremacy and the familiar heady misuse of these at this sensitive span of life. Here, 100, | throughout is the deep emotional fervor | that passes for plety. And accompany- | ing it in his case is the power to| declare right things wrong. wrong things right. An absolute era when | the voce of the king was the voice of | Not a monster, this Henry. A produet of his nature and his times instead. A full-blooded male animal, set in a place of unlimited power. Imbedded within the situation, within the man. was the passion for posterity—for sons and more sons to carry on in the Tudor line. So, when delinquent queens fasled to deliver sons according to royal specifications, they were beheaded or divorced in the summary fashion of the | day. Two beheaded for defection from | duty among these, two divorced for the | same cause. The last one, Katherine | Parr, childless sort of a female, sat trembling in her chair at the specter | of either one or the other of these marks of sovereign displeasure that so surely was nearing her. Happily—that is, happily for Katherine Parr—King Henry died. And the Tudor line? Oh, a somber and unpromising line to consider. Left behind this great Henry, despite his | beheading and divorcing and polit- | ically righteous amours without num- ber, there are left but three spindling and pathetic children. Mary, daughter of Katherine of Spain, a wooden figure of Romish pattern. Elizabeth, a silent | child of grave demeanor. Edward, a sickly lad, rheumy-eved, with falling hair, and nalls dropping from toes and fingers. That sums the Tudor | legacy left to England by Henry VTII. Murders, treacheries to the people and | the crown itself, the mighty abased, the unworthy exalted, insincerities abroad, ruthlessness at home—and three spindling and diseased children to show for the tremendous business. Two of these, daughters—worthless dynastic material. ‘The book is chaptered by this graup of Tudor queens—the two Katheringa, three Annes and a Jane. It is by way of such potent medium that the male animel, the haughty autocrat, Henry | VIIL. steps out into these present years, as animate, as _impressive, as vivid as he could have been in his own day of ploneering for a dynasty. And what, in the court of actual history, did this Tudor achieve? Just two things— Elizabeth and the Church of England. born at the same moment, as Francis Hackett puts it. An_amazing re-creation stands here in the body of Francis Hackett's “Henry the Eighth.” Every intelligent reader has many a time gone over this period of history. But not before has he had the history take on personality as it does here, become alive with each | —————— | as will further develop their care and protection of children.” Mr. Hoover 5 “The conference will not be assembled for another nine months or a year in order that there may be time for com- plete and exhaustive advance study of the facts and forces in progress, of the experience with the different measures | and the work of the organizations both | in voluntary and official flelds. The sub- Jects to be covered embrace problems of dependent children, regular medical ex- amination. school or public clinies for children, hospitalization, adequate milk supplies, community nurses, maternity instruction and nurses. teaching of health in the schools, facilities for play- grounds and recreation, voluntary or- ganization of children, child labor and scores of allied subjects. Last Gathering in 1909, “This will be the first national con- ference held in review of the subject since a conference was called by Presi- dent Roosevelt in 1909. This conference resulted in a great impulse toward so- cial and protective activities in behalf of children. It is proposed to include in the interested groups the educational associations so far as education bears | upon the health and protection of child life. 1t is not the purpose of such ef- forts to invade or relieve the responsi- bilities of parents, but to advance those activities in care and protection of chil- dren which are beyond the control of the individual parent. . “I have communicated with & number of the larger voluntary bodies and pub- lic officials throughout the eountry and find they are unanimous in the belief that such a national review is urgently needed in order to establish a new plat- form for further advance, and they are in agreement with me in the necessity of exhaustive examination of the whole situation and the preparation of mate- rial before such a conference is called if we are to secure effective results from the conference. We as 8 nation are fundamentally concerned with the rein- forcement of the equality of opportunity to every child, and the first necessity for equal opportunity is health and protection.” Private sources have placed the sum 3! ?00,000 at the disposal of the Presi- ent. ‘The conference will be under the general direction of Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, Secretary of the Interior, with the co-operation of James J. Davis, Sec- retary of Labor. The Children’s Bureau is one of the agencies of the Depari- ment of Labor. The executive secretary of the conference will be Dr. Harry E. l!l;']nard, State health commissioner of ndia; Advance in four directions at least is needed, as experts of the Children’s Bu- reau see the problems after 17 years' study. The first is a lowering of in- fant and maternal mortality rates. Though the infant mortality rate is im- proving, there are still four countries with better records than the United States. Second, the improvement of the health of our children. There are still many evidences of malnutrition, of un- corrected physical defects, of faulty hyglene Rakor poor mental habits. Third, we need to give more adequate Promuon to working children. Better legislative standards and a more effec- tive administration of child labor laws are needed if children are not to be de- prived of the ugpemmlt_v for education and normal physical development by too early labor or by labor under un- favorable conditions. Finally we need to put forth greater efforts to prevent Yo good i teller of that particular kind of story character comporting itself in its own! set of circumstances as it does here, exactly as we do today in our own cur- rent medium of existence. The facts have been sifted to_their illuminating essentials, the new knowledge of mind in its workings has been applied, an artist's imagination has worked in' this case, and a craftsman’s skill has molded the- whole into a reality of human existence at a highly = pic- turesque and momentous point. A compelling book, exacting. too, since it sets upon the reader the pleasurable and_exciting business of not missing a single one of sentences, since every one is packed with both picture and history and true human stuff. * ¥ * x THE WOOD-CARVER OF 'LYMPUS. By Mary E. Waller. Wood cuts by Walter Buehr. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. HIS new issue of Mary Waller's novel—25 years after—stands as a silver anniversary between this novel- | ist and the great public that. within | the period, has found happiness in “The Wood-Carver of 'Lympus.” One assumes that not many books, not many novels, could stand up under the strain | of so long a life. Yet, as one reads here the story is as current and imme- diate in its contact and effect as if it had just made its initial bow to read- ers. “Here is a hero—and everybody likes & hero. This one proves his tem- | per under a blow that might come to any one. An accident, especially in these days of tumult and run, might come upon you or me, bringing with | it years of immobility. What to do | with these years? Well, suppose we | read what this young Vermonter did | when a falling log took the life out of | his legs and seated him for the rest of | his days. No, this is not a Sunday | school story, as these commonly run. | It is, instead. a story of good pluck, | of taking hold at some seizable point | in the new order so suddenly imposed. | It is a story of readjustment in a| generally fine spirit of courage. with only odd moments of dismay and dis- | couragement. It is a story, besides, of the whole countryside roundabout, of the neighbors in this region, each one distinct in his own character and idio- syncrasy. It is & wide picture, more- over, of mountain and valley, of Win- ter and Summer, in the Green Moun- tain State. Within this setting, so | faithtully and feelingly set out here, is | the growth of this boy in a hand-craft that in the course of no very long time | brought touches of the world outside | to his chair in recognition of both him and the thing that he had taught him- self to do, to be “The Wood-Carver of "Lympus,” the New England mountain beside which he lived. It is such in- | coming of the outside world that| broadens the story of heroism and high heart to receive people who bring mem- | ories of other places, far places, for the | pleasuring of the cripple. for our own pleasuring. too. It seems to me that | nothing short of direct and hearty thanksgiving should go to Little, Brown & Co. for the re-issue of this novel of | true optimism, this story of splendid human courage. * * * PROCESSION OF LOVERS. By Lloyd | Morris, author of “Rebellious Puri- . 'New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. (GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO set the | fashion. The fashion of grouping | friends around him to listen to the ! amazing tales he had to tell. In-| numerable narrators have followed the | santly easy and unconventional | way of this prince of romancers who left the legacy of a certain literary art-form to all the years that have come | after him. Here, seated among friends, | Lloyd Morris, like his celebrated model, | tells of stories of love—just at Boccaccio | did. For of a truth there is no story | to tell, in any time or place, but that | surpassing story of love. | From Sappho's loves on the island | of Lesbos in that far day of her ex- | istence on up to the seemiingly recent passion of Kit Marlowe, the tales of | devotion and of certain tragedy run. | Turn and turn about, according to Mr. | Morris' plan, members of the company | contribute to the romantic ceremonial. | Below the spot where they are gathered lies the little French village to which lono long ago. so tradition savs, came | g, | Lazarus and Mary and Martha, driven | there by their persecutors and the sea | tides of the Mediterranean. And here | follows a very beautiful story, that of | the love of Magdalene for Jesus. Some one tells of the fierce loves of the Bor- | gias and another goes back for the | well-beloved tale of Heloise and Abelard. And others bring forward other great lovers—a fascinating theme that seems to lose nothing of interest even though | pierced by the skeptic smile of crass unbelievers. Something about the man- ner of this Lloyd Morris—a romantic man, open to the subtle surroundings that are assumed to rouse the tender | sentiment. sympathetic to the' signs nd wonders of the grand malady. soft and poetical with the words that carry the passion onward, and outward. A | story_teller, in a word. A good and specially happy in his choice of | this procession of the love-stricken, or | the love-lost. Just a novel devicée made use of by a truly fascinating writer, by a most companionable man to those. certainly, who feel the charm of these old lovers, * ok ok % UNDINE. By Olive Schreiner, author of “The Story of an African Farm,” etc. New York: Harper & Bros. N an introduction to “Undine” 8. C. Cronwright-Schreiner gives the cir- | cumstances under which the story has been produced, somewhat belated] ‘The material of the novel and the nove! itself are both Olive Schreiner. the budget of papers from which a biography of the writer was to be drawn there came to light the manu- script of “Undine.” Not entirely com- plete, but added to later through fresh | discoveries in the way of missing chap- | ters. So. all in all, there was assembled | the matter that stands here as the story of the childhood of Olive Schreiner in South Africa. Her latest work, even | though it deals with her earlier years. | The vividness of “The Story of an African Farm" is here. So is the rich | external detail that builds this region |~ anew in _the consciousness of the | reader. The keen insight. the subtle | intuitions, the intellectual vigor of this | writer are all here. toned and keyed | to the years of childish observannns; and thoughts with which the book deals. Above all, here again is the wide | African landscape—unlovely land—"red sand, great mounds of round iron stones, and bushes never very beautiful to look at now almost burned into the ground by the blazing Summer’s sun. An old Dutch farmhouse, the brightest | red brick, to match the ground and stones; an old stone wall broken here and there as if to allow a passage for hundreds of goats whose delight is to regale themselves on the deformed peach trees and leafless cabbage stalks™ —and so the dreary country spreads out far and away from this particular point of record and picture. Clean-cut are the pictures of folks—of the men and women come out to that strange land of assumed promises and possi- bilities. Strong, vigorous—man-like in its grasp and grip—the pictures and sketches of life in lower Africa come to the surface here in a full seizure of the relentless habit of the land in its contacts with life of every sort—animal, plant, man. * x x BUGLE: A Dog of the Rockies. By ‘Thomas C. Hinkle, author of “Tawny,” etc. New York: William Morrow & Co. O other kind of story goes ahead of the good dog story, Here is L] ;one, Thomas Hinkle must be pretty much the right sort to have won the friendship so generally of | dogs. He knows them. So he does | ot feel the strain of trying to do them over into print. Instead. he lets them take the lead, lets them perform as they see fit in a variety of situations | and places. All he haz to do is to | ook on, or take a personal hand now | and then, setting the thing dowm on | paper as it came to pass. The storv | of Bugle is adventure. For Bugle is in a wild country where the grisslv |is not unknown and where v | animals made flerce by hunger are likely to dispute a hunting ground witi this Irish wolf hound. It is in a fight with a grizzly that Bugle rises to his supreme height of personal courage here, to his supreme devotion to the | girl who stands as the goddess of his dearest dog dreams. A good story, onc of whose best points is that Mr. Hinkle has not felt any urge to produce sob | stuff by letting absolute calamity be- {fall Bugle. That urge to the tragic end will spoil the best dog story ever written. A writer should shape his purpose and the course of events to avoid it. It is an unnecessary climax and a most depressing one. It is un- fair to the human, reading. It leaves him unhappy, instead of leaving him lifted end elate. Privately speaking and personally, I myself turn to the back of the book when a dog story is in hand and if there is disaster to the dog there, why, I close that book and reach for a better one. Foolish? All right—but that’s what I do. HE PUBLIC LIBRARY Recent accessions at the Publie Li- brary and lists of recommended reading will appear in thiz eolumn each Sunday, Biography. De Castro, A. D. Portrait of Ambrose Bierce. E-B478d. Gluck, Elsie. John Mitchell, Miner. E-M6977g. Howe, M. A. D. W. Memoirs of the Harvard Dead in the War Against Germany. 5v. 1920-24. E-9HB83: Howe, E. W. Plain People. E-H83! Laylander, O. J. The Chronicles of & Contented Man. E-L457. Loth, D. G. The Brownings. E-BS82 1 Lutz, Alma. Emma Willard, Daughter of Democracy. E-W66 lu. Matthiessen, F. O. Sarah Orne Jewett, E-J55Tm. Maurice, Sir F. B. Soldier, Artis Sportsman; the Life of General Lore Rawlinson of Trent. E-R198m. Maximilian, Prince of Baden. Memoire, 2 v. E-M4498.E. Rheinbaben, R. A. K.. Freiherr von. Stresemann, _the Man and the Statesman. E-St837r.E. Scherr, Marje. Charlotte Corday and Certain Men of the Revolutionary Torment. E-C8132s. Musicians. Draper. Mrs. M. G. S. Music at Mid- night: Reminiscences, Literary and ~Musical. VW10-D796. Nicotra, ‘Tobla. Arturo VW10-T638n.E. Riesemann. Oskar von. VW10-MO76r E ‘Turner, W.J. Beethoven. VW10-B393tu. Furniture. Cescinsky. Herbert, and Hunter. G. L. English and American Purniture. WW-Cage. Holloway, E. S. American Furniture and Decoration. WW-H126. Holloway. E. S. The Practical Book of Learning Decoration and Furniture. 1926. WW-H726p. Johnson, A. P.. and Sironen. M. K, Comps. Manual of the Furniture Arts and Crafts. TLS-J63m. Maillard, Elisa. Old French Purniture and Its Surroundings. 1925. WW- M28E. Millis _ Advertising Co., Indianapolis. Why People Don't Buy Furniture. HKA-M62. Todd, Dorothy, and Mortimer. Ray- mond. _The New Interior Decora- tion. WSH-T56. Philosophy. Jacks, L. P. My Neighbor the Universe. BM-J137m. Keyserling, H. A, Graf von. Creative Understanding. BE47-K527c. Keyserling. H. A.. Graf von. The Re- covery of Truth. BE47-K527w.E. Lippmann, Walter. A Preface to Mor= als. BM-L66. Mid-West Conference on Parent Educa~ tlon. Building Character. BP-M58b. Richardson, J. E. Self-Unfoldment, BK-R396s. Taylor, H. O. Human Values and Veri~ ties. BGX-T21. Turnbull, G. H. Tongues of Pire: Bible of Sacred Scriptures of ti Pagan World. BT-T84. Fiction. Babeock, Mrs. Bernie. Spirit of Lincoln. ‘Toscanini. Mboussorgsky. Booth and the | Beers, L. D. A Humble Lear. Kelly, Mre. E. M. The Book of Bette. Norris, Kathleen. My Best Girl. Scott, Evelyn. The Wave. Stilson. C. B. The Ace of Blades. Walcott, E. A. The Apple of Discord. Williamson, Henry. The Pathway. Increasing Height Of Japanese Noted Japanese as a race are increasing im height at the rate of 1.2 inches every 40 years, according to Prof. Thomas Lebianc of the Rockefeller Institute, who was sent here by the Rockefeller Poundation several months ago {0 carry on a series of investigations on popula- tion problems. The adoption of modern ways of living may have a great deal to | do ‘with the fact that the Japanese are becoming taller,he said, but it is un- doubtedly true that there has been this increase and that it will probably con- tinue. Prof. Leblanc has also been gathering a large amount of data on the relation of population to industrial conditions and to the different kinds of food eaten in various sections of the country. After his work here the pro- fessor went to Java for the Pacific scientific_conference. BOOKS at a weekly rental fee Of course you want to read the new books, yet you may not wish to own them. A " Womrath membership fills this need of booklovers. You enjoy the privilege of starting and stopping when vou choose and you rent all the latest fiction and none fiction—if new and popular, WOMRATH'S iS85 1319 F Sereet, 3046 14th Street, N. W, (Open Evenings Till 9 P. ARTLETT. 1603 Connecticnt Ave. Bargains in Used Books.