Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-18

LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF EDWIN NJ.
STANTON. BY George c. GoTham. In Two
Volumes. With Portraits. Maps and Facsimiles
Of Important Letters Boston: H"ught"n
Miliin 4 Company. Washington: William Bal
lantyne Sons.
Mr.. Stanton undoubtedly, next to his
great chief the most striking figure Of the
war administration. His opportunities and
his embarraSslnents fitted his remarkable
qualities and brought him into conflict and
agreement with the leaders of thought and
action at a period when events and dan
gers served to develop men 10 their utmost.
His career was uninterruptedly one of hard
work for the Union, and his services is
cabinet officer before, during and after the
war were so arduous that his death in De-
cember, 1869, Immediately after his long
coveted appointment as associate justice of
the Supreme Court, was unQuestolably
to be traced to his unremitting llbOrs in
behalf Of his country. Mr.. Gorham has de-
scribed this remarkable man in biography
which presents many new features and
general flow Of interesting description. His
acquaintance with the man and with the
circumstances under which he strove justi-
fies the effort to write the life of the
war secretary. He proclaims at the outset
that such q work must of necessity be per-
formed with fun sympathy tor the cause
which Mr.. Stanton represented in his great
task Justice" he says, can be done to
the subject, when dealing with his public
career, only by assuming the right Of this
nation to preserve its life by all necessary
measures, and by refusing 10 admit 20 the
field of controversy any claims in any man
ner tending 10 justify the Rebellion He
presents picture OF the real Stanton, the
man Of great mental endowmcnts, q warm,
emotional nature, varying moods. and. like
all other men, possessed of qualities which
often warred one with another" In the
following paragraph OF his description Mr..
(Iorham Mr. STaDfnO'S
qualities, which, he says, were developed
in the War Department.:
These were intellectual power. self reIi-
ance, an Iron WILL unbending integrity, de-
voted patriotism, immense capacity for
long-sustained work. adaptability to new du-
ties and an intense enthusiasm for what
ever cause he espoused. His faults were
chiefly those Of temperament. Rapidly of
discussion and action. made necessary by
the VastnesS of the work before him, some
times led him to injustice, which was the
harder TO bear because of the abruptnesS
of manner with which it was often accom-
panied. He WAS too busy to be cercmoni-
Gus when many would have construed it
into an invitation TO occupy the time which
he could not give to them. He was the man
who said no for the government when it
had TO be said, no matter how distasteful or
offensive il might be to those to whom it
was addressed
Necessarily the biography often carries
the reader into controversial ground. The
wars conundrums have not all been solved
yet by time. Mr.. Stanton figured promi-
nenuy in many of them The very vigor of
his personality caused him to precipitatc
many issues which live yet in memory and
literature. Mr.. Gorham states the case of
the war secretary with earnestness and
writes the record of one of the most nota-
BILE men ever produced by the nation.
AUsTWALASIAN DEMOCRACY Ry Henry De r.
Walker London: T. Fisher Irwin. Washing
ton: Woodward & Iothrop.
The western world has doubtless appre-
ciated too feebly the growth of the great
British colony OF Australia and the sur
rounding colonies Of greater less I'M
portance Here is a vertable world in it
self although the smallest of the continents,
plucked from savagery by British enter
prise and capacity for organization and
made to bloom and to establish a civilization
of its own despite almost insuperable obsta-
cles. Australia has had to work out for it
self problems which in their proportion are
greater than some of those which have been
solved by the older communities of the
world. 1t is so remote in time and space
and in some characteristics so different in
kind that it is a particular study. This book
is devoted to a survey of the political con-
ditions which prevail there, and il proves
an intricate study indeed The local affairs
have given rise 10 issues which have no
parallel in Europe or even in America and
now that the far east and its adjacent ter
ritories have come into the range of world
activities 1t is important that the older por-
tons of the world should grow in touch
with the varying circumstances which sur
round the men of affairs in this newly de-
veloped corner. The advent of the United
States into the great archipelago gives I'M
usual Importance to a study of political af-
fairs in that general area, and conseq ucntly
the value Of such work cannot well be
Cver-estimat ted.
OUR ISLAND EMPIRE; Hand Book Of Cuba,
Porto Rico Hawaii and the Philippine Islands.
Navy" The War With Spain. Historical
co COMBS william RRPnG9t
Sons.
Grouping, for the better purposes Of col
lective consideration, Cuba with the islands
annexed or acquired by the United States
a result of the war with Spain. he au-
thor presents a valuable compendium of in
formation about what he So apty terms
Our Island Empire" He assumes that the
possession of these islands brings with it
conditions of great delicacy and complexity,
involving governmental problems the like of
which have never before been met by the
United States. The solution of these prob
lens does not lie alone with the specified
governmental agencies, but With the people
whose Intelligent Judgment must eventually
be the test of the nations policies. Hence
he believes that comprehensive and accu-
rate knowledge of the various insular pos
sessions suddenly acquired Is an essen
tial to the exercise of some of the most i'm
portant functions of citizenship ever thrust
upon the American people. His book aims
to supply the facts and views concerning
the islands which he deems to be required
by. the people in the performance of this
duty. His work is compactly done, with
excellent division into subtopics and an
entire freedom from prejudice being alto
gether descriptive and explanatory.
LIVE QUESTIONS, BY John P. Altgeld; Com
prising his Papers, Speeches and Interviews
also his Messeges to the Legislature of Illinois