The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08

preachers, but whatever its motive there
is good. sound common sense in II. Mr..
Coler says:
The individual who holds that the Church has
| no place in politics would confne within narrow
and selfish bounds the greatest civiizing force in
the world. The Church must be broad enough to
work for humanity, to eivilize, TO educate. to
strive for better civic and material conditions to
save men as well as souls, else it falls short of
the proper exercise of its power for good Let
the churches begin at the bottom and work up.
They must get closer to the masses OF the reople
Wien they condemn social political cond:-
ten, they must be able to lead the way to
something better. Abuse and denuncation alone
will not improve the moral condition of a man
or community. Municipal government is what
the people OF a city make it. 1t cannot long re-
main better or worse than the majority that
created it, and city politics will be pure or cor
rupt according 10 the controlling influence.
Denunciation from the pulpit may expose to
the public gaze sore spot on the body polite,
but it will not eradicate the disease. A sermon
on politics reaches very few voters.
Mr.. Coler also has some rather start
ling statements to make regarding the pri-
vate charities which receive city money.
He ioes not believe in this system. He
says among other things:
One small society was found to have expended
prac5,ee,ly all OF the money received from the
city in the payment of the living expenses OF the
person who hsd the entire management bf ;he
organization The charitable work of a year con
sisted in the distribution OF small quantity
of cast-of clothing and few bushels Of potatoes.
One private institution. abolished.
boarded committed children and received 81 a
week from the city for each child. The children
were fed fish and potatoes at cost OF Al
cents each per week. After these facts dis
covered the city authorities could not remove the
children until the board OF health condemned
a..t closed the building under the provisions OF
the sanitary code.
These extracts will show the straightfor-
ward and forcible style in which the book
is written. 1t is worth reading, whether
enc agrees with the authors views or not;
and with many of his ideas no intelligent
person can fail to agree. (New York: D..
Appleton & Co. $1,000
Woman and Artist by Max O'Rell, is
one more instance of the risk which a
moderately clever man runs in stepping off
the beaten track on which he made his rep
utation. AS writer OF books of travel,
light, sparkling, and half-satirical in style,
Max O'Rell became a popular author. If
he had published nothing hut this novel
it is certain that he would never have been
heard of. In fact the novel itself would
probably never have seen the light of day
had it not been fioated on the buoy OF the
authors previous work.
1t might have been expected that,
whatever its shortcomings in the way OF
plot and character-drawing, any romance
by this author would be entertaining and
amusing in its conversational passages.
But it is nothing of the kind. 1t is as fat
as stale champagne. The sentiment re-
minds enc Of Laura Jean Libbey. and the
character drawing somewhat resembles
that of THE Duchess" or the unspeakable
Corelli. There are all kinds of badness
in no M II nd nd
therefore nothing can save it from obliv-
ion. People may read weak book for
the sake of its vicious sentiment, but they
will certainly not read a vicously written
book for the sake of its emotionaiism.
(New York: Harper G. Brothers. sI25.)