New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-11-22
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
A REFORM LESSON.


uyps yIERNDON's INCOME. Novel. BY HELEN
CAMPBELL. l6mo. PIP. 534. Roberts BrotherA
Mrs Campbelps book belongs to the class of liter
.ture which is sometimes called the humanitarian
novel but, unlike most works in that prsiseworthy
category, it has very strong claims TO attention
apart from the excellence Of its purpose III SHOWS
,napv touches of dramatic power the most striking
.;tua,ions are presented with vigOr; and the dla-
lopue-that of one or two somewhat prosy person
COOS cxcepted-is singulary realistic and elective
Much of 1t indeed is so strong that we ma our
s.Ivcs wandering where Mrs Campbell got her
annie experience of life. It's variety is not less
remarkable than its truthfulness lhe characters
range from the Fourth Ward barkeeper ana the
ramnant anarchist to the woman of society the
fashionable ultra liberal preacher, and the New
ENGLAND old maid and the author has been sue
cessful with them all. In fact, she has IaNlsnco
,non this story materials which IN the handS ol d
calculating book maker, would have been n'ado 10
,erve for two or three sa able volumes and we are
not sure but that the novel would have beeh
If she had been a little more parsimonious 1or ~
xood. comrrossion and directness The reader Will
be carried along however by interest IN the MARIA
@ive and delight in the humOI. This last git inc
author nossesses in a rare degree. Cousin Ermln''
and Miss Amanda Biggs are among inc oIoiio''
studies of eccentric character when any woman
has presented TO us in recent years ana LII oot 'n1
finn ia fnl of fresh surprises and distinctly oriehal
tnrns. The sketch of the Reverend Mr.. Feather-
atone. whose preaching is subl'mated aeSthetic
.gnosticism disguised as progressive 1ree-UhonghU'
might have been comedy in the WORK Oh d less
earnest writer; but MIS- OdhPD0iA AA ~
ting and traglcal satire
In saving a moment ago that the book needed
comrression and directiness were thinking still
,nnre Of its topics than of is characters SOCIALISM,
strikes tenement house reform, the organization ol
charity. the treatment of the fallen, the duty Oh
the rich toward tho poor the Water Street MlsS'on
and the theory of wages, are tie principal themes
which the story attempts to compass ana IL Is
obvious that it attempts too much. Inc port'onS
devoted to the meetings and debates OF soclals'c
club, and the conduct of its leading mehoeIS' arc
nronjrent. apl have doubtless received a liberal
allowance of Mrs Campbclls care. She draws
highly elective contrast between the destructive
and nnreasoning agitator, Joshua Slocum and the
osntIc self-sacriicng Leasing, whose socialism Is
founded on a true feeling of brotherhood LeSslng
more radical friend, the austere ana Silent HeA-
brun, is i troduced as a picturesque IL not a
dramatic figure. Yet it cannot be SAID that IN IRIS
mart OF her work Mrs Campbell Is quite successful
The principles Of all the club except Socum are 700
Carue and the lesson which she means 10 enforce
nv their aid is far from clear Neither IS II quIte
cle,r how she would solve the larger problems Of
charitable
Constitutional charity" in general with We
bemence which her Slocum might admire. There IS
one great lesson, nevertheless, which she teaches
with admirable force That +, the individual duty
nj each one OF rs in remedyl1g evils within our
individual reach. Mrs. HemdOu's Income carries
happiness far and wide because she applies herseI
TO the personal relief of the cases that IAN under
bor own eyes Easy-goDg Mr. Lon-shore becomes
almost before he knows il, the savior of hundreds
because he tries to improve the condition Of tene
ment which has come into his hands. Confronted
by strike the same practical relOmer investigates
fine purchasing power of wages instead OF asking
fine market price of labor. and, satisfied that the
hands arc not earning enough to live on he raises
their paw above the prevailing rates, holding that in
hard times the capitalist ought TO suffer as well as
the workman A factory village, of which Mr..
IpnrshDre becomes the virtual founder, Is started
upon the principle that the wOrkinsnan should
have proper encouragement to become seltreHant
and independent to own decent house ana TO
share directly in the profits of his labor. Inc
scheme succeeds because the policy OF tue capitalist
il TO be lust and consdeTate, and then leave the
men TO themselves; and In this prosperous htto
community the cry of the agitatOr for division
of property" arouses no echo. All the characters
in the story from Mrs HerndOn and Longshore.
who control large fortunes down to Amanda Blggs,
who holds herself always ready for minor emergen-
cies-s There's got to be folks for the unexpected,
an longs Amandas alive SHE'S that kind all the
characters who take up honestly the work which
lies at their own hands, insensibly become the
agents of an extensive reform. This, then, Is the
lesson of Mrs Campbelrs book-that the way to do
good is to think more of our individual duty,
and preach less about the duty OF society