Evening Star Newspaper, December 7, 1930, Page 104

THE MENACE OF OVERPRODUCTION. Edited by Scoville Hamlin. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ¢ 67 VHERE is no such thing as over- ~ production,” Mr. Ford said, not so 16ng ago. At least, I thought he said that, and that he went on to & 55 " tell of the inefficiency of dhtflhu; tion as the basic cause of every “hard times situation.” I must have bs:n mistaken, because here comhes the statement from many sources thét overproduction is a reality, is a present menace to the country as a whole. Monday, President Hoover made overproduction a pri- mary pronouncement to the newly convened Congress. The press daily enlarges upon the various aspects of the th:me and the radio reaffirms thes actuality of overproduc- Clearly, ‘I misunderstood Mr. Ford—to my, regret, since I could undersiand his theory and follow it, This diverse view is much more complex, but help is at hand in the way of this book, which offers a chance for delib- erate study -when its initial reading begins to . cuedle in' the mind as doubt and question and denial. lleetlnz here in a symposium of practical expetience is a group of producers—manufac- turers, managers, distribuiors, experts of one sort or another in some of the basic produc- tiohs of industry. They are in perfect agree- ment as to the reality of overproduction—in mining, the oil output, in agriculture, in all textile fabrications. In ju:t about every line of consumpticn there is manifest this menac- ing fact of excessive production. Each man talks from his own stendpoint of experience. And here lies the clear value of the symposium as & whole. In every case there is sincere reach for the first cause of this excess output, for ‘its immediate effect and its more remote menace. In each case th:re is first-hand record- of .the experiments madz us: of to correct the condition, varied devices these, each fitted to its own problem. Yet, in sum, these offer competent and pointed means of pause, ' for recovery. Allizd matters come in here for most illiminating ways of meeting the indi- vidual crisis. And thess are “illuminating” not only to the business man but to the intelligent man and woman whose business it is to know exactly their drift and their A chapter on “Balanced Prosperity” is well worth the while of th: average student of af- fairs. The growth of industrial and financial units takes on meaning here, other than the “greed and rapacity” of business. The organi- zation of busin:ss and its management are found, by way of this available and practical discussion, to have a distinct relation to over- production itself. To this substantial budget of evidence as to the dangers of overproduction is a chapter given over to constructive views and proposals bezaring upon the subject. The cause, the extent and the cure of overproduc- tion sums the purpose and the content of the volume in hand. Interesting to the business man, to be sure. Interesting also to the up- and-coming man and woman, bent upon know- ing as.much as possible about the generally vital and pressing questions of the common life. A good book todhrow into the school room, into the high school, for a stirring of the rea- son and insight of th:sz gloriously alive, and wise, young folks to sharpen their teeth upon. Why not? Of course, its use is other than this. Certainly. But, why not this, too? these facts, MEMORIES AND VAGARIES. By Axel Munthe, author of “The Story of San Michele,” etc. New York: E. P. Dutton & of such complete identity of the artist - and his work, here comes another book from the same source. - And again the two are one. A slighter story_than the other. from an open window, the overlook from a high tower, shining clouds, sweeping winds, soft airs, voices rising from the street, music floating from a casement. Something on the street—an organ-grinder with his little com- , & genius stepping out, stately, under dream of famie that never does come true, was M. Alfredo, that man who passed us - now with the great masterpiece, the mighty under his arm. It was the masterpiece tuned his step to a march of triuraph— M. Alfredo! - So one goes through this beautiful lane of adventure—“Memories and Vagariés”; through this maze of beauty, which is, in essence, but the beauty of the man’s own spirit. Without him as guide we would have stiimbled: over these very things, unseeing. But, happily, he is beside us at many a point of that miracie which is only human understand- ing, which here is only this man’s passion of kindness and a deep sense of the beauty of the world. At the last, in his own beloved way of speech, he says in place of a preface, “He who has written this little book is no author.” And then he goes on to tell why he is not; that his life has been spent with reality, with & dogtor’s reality. No doubt that is quite true. But he neglects to count himself as the amag- ing crucible into which the realities of human m once cast there become subject to the, of this man' wondrous spirit of in- tuition and sympathy, oi poetry and imagery, of a great gift which transmutes seemingly dull facts to something like a celestial irides- cence of beauty and promise. Oh, a lovely Book of . vast implications curled within its strict ties! N BY E By Rockwell Kent. New York: Brewer & Warren, UGGED stuff in print and pisture, Actual adventure of the Rockwell Kent pattern, Robust, therefore, and rarin’ to go. True, more- over. A voyage to Oreeland in much too ine adoquate & cIAL, o 50 it, scems to the lands- L e s e R e e R R o THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBER 7, 1930. REVIEW/ COF TE DA GILBER NEVW _MYER/ New Books Cover a Wide V. ariéty of Subjécts. - Axel Munthe Writes Again—Print and Pictures—New Novels. man sitting by and reading the story. Not far wrong either, that landlubber, for shipwreck was of the too prompt returns of this inex- pedient outfaring. Still, if Kent and his two companions could stand it, surely not for us, the immediate beneficiarics of the adventure, to decry the courage of these fellows. The drive and stress of the story will delight you, as the only mood and movement for this particular action. A minute, tense and demanding, stands out in a chapter, maybe not more than a short paragraph long. Just its measure. An hour or so of softer mood spreads to its longer labor of gathering up settlements and the people thereof going their ways—their novel and inter- esting ways. So throughout. Kent fits his pic- tures and words to the exacting periods of this adventure. Did you say “crazy adventure”? Possibly, but some measure of madness has throughout time been required to leaven the too stolid substance of the rest of us, the great average. So, if Rockweil Kent or another of his kind goes quite off his head in such pic- turesque and worthwhile fashion, he is to be encouraged, provided that, coming back home, he ftells us all about it in such a store of adventure, in such a bulk of solid and interest- ing information about places and people, in such a bold seafaring Viking spirit. “N By E” is a truly notable union of adventure and the me- dium of its delivery to readers. “There are many books on Green'and—on the country, its history, its government, its people—but above all of them are the stories told by the Green- landers themselves.” And here you have them, writ down by Knud Rasmussen. Captiously, you might call this an inglorious adventure. Take back that silly notion, for here comes your way, through the art of R. K. the terrible beauty of the North, the true essence of its inner demon, the accommodations effected be- tween this cruel region and the heroic people indwelling there. These are brought to you bodily though “N By E.” THE PURPLE SEA: More Splashes of Chinese Color. By Frank Owen, author of “The Wind That Tramps the World,” etc. New York: The Lantern Press, X A PICTURE book. Words the pigment into which Frank Owen dips his brush and with which he invites his canvas. Words— yellow and crimson and mauve; green in every measure of verdancy from its early Spring pallors to its late Autumn glooms. A silver mist of words, and shining golden scarves, - . And out from such chromatic wooing, warmly solicitous, figures emerge and take their places in Oriental patterns of thought and behavior. Myth and legend and veracious tale. Bach in its own measure a prismatic pageantry, con- tributes to the charm of this so different seizure of China, that mystery among the nations, that age-old civilization which almost day by day" reveals itself as the source of much which moderns count as marvels of modern science in its latest achievements. Here, however, are only tales, imaginative and beautiful, flowering out from some plain . incident of fact. Take “The Purple Sea.” Les Goona, tea .merchant of Canton, Tokio, the Formosan Islands. Traveling these parts, he is wrecked upon a rock-reef by the fierce typhoon. Here, unconscious, semi-con« scious and then wide awake, he comes under the spell of the -sea and the land and the futile conjecturings. Rather is it the moment fo sit in a sort poetic delight beside this Frank Owen makes believable and beautiful pictures China out of nothing more than Just sordid )y beauty and its full powers, hthnthereuabookolgre.tbmutylndos- tain lure, t. L ER HAMILTON'S PIONEER SON. - By Sylvan J. Muldoon, member of the Wis< consin Historical Society. Harrisburg, Pa.: The Aurand Press. A'r the south front of the United States - Treasury stands the beautiful bronze figure of Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury. Probably, no historic memorial in the Capital draws more of general admiration for its .art and homage for the man himself than does this youthful Alexander Hamilton looking out upon that which he so ably helped to create for the people of this country. States man, financler, wise political prophet and, cer- tainly a most romantic figure, Alexander Ham= ilton is of perennial delight ana respect to Americans everywhere. . Other men have shared that sort of life an equal distinction of service. And whils is one of ‘clear value and interest, its call to wide attention is bound to come way of the tial for the swift-changing days of the younger Hamilton. Finally, among the first of the *49ers, the life of this adventurer ended, some- what mysteriously, on the Pacific Coast. This book stands as a full and authenticated account of the life of Col. William Hamilton, ol’thelfleott.heAmmcmpeopleofMpe- riod as well. The true office of this body of accumulated fact, it seems to me, is to serve as source of dependable information for more than one sort of outlook upon that carly day. While its personal treatment of young Hamil- ton is both useful and interesting, it is upon the whole too inclusive, too much a repository of fact, too little the re-creation of a man. Some time, a sense of biographic art will Lft this figuré from its overgrowth of historic inci- dent and fashion it to a thing of historic mo- ment, to a triumph of artistic achievement * such as is the young Alexander Hamilton, first - etary of Pinance, standing there at the SLANE'S LONG SHOTS. By E. Phillips Op- penheim, Boston: Little, Brown & Co. Bll!(stitnowlornomeumHoyesn of story tel . Maybe he ought to be & good hand at it. Ought or not, he most -certainly is. I know—there be those who lift weary lid over him now and then. That , they think it is over him, but it is not. of themselves, maybe, but not tired of ks chances here for the long bow of Sir J . Murder—well, mostly murder, though crimes of other pattern slip in now and then, just to remind one that sin parades in many roles and that no one of these is beyond the flight of Sir Jasper's Good tales, every one of them—ro- bust wickedness performing at its best. Tense situations crowding one another for the test- ing of this man. A suave engaging mode of action—the true Oppenheim stripe and for it much of delight and praise. The 53 ILL.— 8330 b0k on Albske T over saworrieen 0st beguiling way!" BY Mary Lee Davis ALASKA, TH : GDBEAT BEAR’S CUB icated to 5 tbert Hoover. Writ- ten for Boy .m?' (r!'lrlugooun and from 10 to 100 w! in substance, admirable as action and beautiful in spirit—here is history for the young folks. And right here one -will cavil at the projectors of thhmmul book. They ‘will say-that the theme is not of youth- ful patten and feeling. They will say thas history on its brutal side is for the elders, But—all history is brutal. Few chapters it are suited to the soft feelings of . youth, The world as it is must come into the young mind fairly soon. Here is supreme tragedy, its victim a young girl of heroic and self+ sacrificing dreams. . The full pity of it, the complete horror of it, lies r'ght here, So that one reads the last chapter, weeping and pro- testing, because the spirit of that last chapter is so poignantly -pitiful. An old story, but given here, it seems to me, in a finer sym- pathy and compassion ‘than one recalls in other readings of it. “What a beautiful book!” she said, lifting it from the table. And 80 it is, outside and inside. i Books Received FICTION. s TUNDRA; Romance and Adventure on Alaskan Trails. As told by former Deputy United States Marshal Hansen, to the Edingtons, New York: The Century Co. E THE WHITE DEVIL. By Luis de Oteyza, ~Translated from the Spanish by Frederio Taber Cooper. New York: Frederick A, Stokes Co, THE SILVER SWAN. By Bertrand Collins, aue thor of “Rome Express.” New York: Hare per & Bros, . THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON; And Other Stories. By George S. Glason. Denvers POOR" NIGGER. By Orio Vergani. Transe lated from the Italian by W. W. Hobson. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co, Best Seller RICHARD E. BYRD’S Own Story of His South Pole Adventure - Little America Superbly Illustrated $5.00 FRANCIS " "DANA A Puritan Diplomat at the Court of Catherine the Great By W. P. CRESSON Author of “Diplomatic Portraits” “Mr. Ci h it me, brourm u;"l:g: ln.:' vny"vgl'v’?( ‘f:nm.n & man who, as to most Amer was an obscure and little known figure. The book - is w&un entertainingly, = with anecdotes . which mgulnlu ge :w and portrays graphically & ul court of the great Catherine. I .con- 'ormat which yrou 1?3@ :'(‘vel';heo a ?:m which properly merits it."~—Claude- A 'nlunge contribution concerning a little knot chapt L Ame P Wi xl er o rican gb- Comtemporary orintee i8R, T B R WA S onx