Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-17

Hons were 1t not for the fact that Chill
cote is married and has forfeited the love
OF his wife by his indulgence in drugs,
whereas I.oder Is a bachelor. That sem
timentaI problem should be created is log
teal and even inevitable. The wife's love
for her husband is revived by his apparent
restoration to his normal self, whereas the
ina squerader' loses his heart to her. The
author works her readers interest up to an
acute pitch by her powerful descriptions.
The moral perplexity is solved in way
that will appeal to the sentimental APP
prevail of many people. But it involves a
struggle a surrender of something that
most men and women hold dear The story
is a veritable octopus in that when once 1t
fastens its hold upon one 1t never let's go
until the last word is reached.
THE WOMEN OF AMERICA. By Elizabeth Nc
Cracken New York The Macmillan Company.
Washington Brentanos.
The papers comprising this volume were
prepared for serial publication In the Out
look, and in preparation of the work the
author travelled for six months throughout
the United States in search Of informat ton.
statistics and Impressions She found the
time too short for the real inquiry, which
lay beyond the formal covering OF the
ground, Just az she found her well-flled
notebooks of little use when on her return
she began to write her impressions. Her
own recollections of the women she had
met, the iudefnable influences from per-
sonal contact with them in their various
activities gave her better material than the
facts and figures she had totted down for
reference. She has considered the Amer
lean woman geographically. industrially,
professionally and socially. as teacher.
clerk. lawyer, physician, mother, wife,
farmer. pioneer. organizer and philanthro-
pist. Her judgment is that the new ten
dency toward the wider employment Of
women has been in no wise harmful, but
has rather broadened the sphere of their
greatest usefulness. She says: THE keen
sense of personal responsibility for the gen.
eral good which is almost invariably to be
found In women of the present day In
America, not only In cities, but also to an
increasing extent. in small towns and VII
lagos. is, in itself. one of the most salient
marks of distinction between the women of
today in our countries and the women OF
yesterday. And great though its effect
has been upon the civic ideals of the Amer
lean people. larger still has been the in
fluence upon their social ideals
THE HISTORY OF THE STANDARD OIL COM
PANY. BY Ida NJ TarbeH author of THE
portraits, Sc. In two volumes New York: Me-
clure Phillips Co. Washington; Woodward
& LothrOp.
Miss Tarbells story of the Standard OIL
Company, which has been serlaIly printed
:
sensational interest than certain other Pc
riodical publications dealing with that
trust and it's auxiliary corporations, but
the fact does not argue against its greater
value as a document or it's suggestive
force as an illustration of the methods en-
ployed today by the agents of high
finance" Her investigation was begun in
1901. She went directly to the officers of
the company and asked them for their aid.
She states now that she has received cour-
teous and helpful treatment from them.
and that she has discussed more or less
fully with them every important episode in
the history OF the company. This co-opera-
ton has not checked her from expressing
her views vigorously or from shaping them
in the form of a strong indictment of the
corporation and its methods. She notes
that the Standard is the best possible sub
ject for such an inquiry. for it has been
the most frequently of all the great trusts
before the public as the object of inves-
tigation by state and federal committees.
and has been often in court Consequently
there are great volumes of records. from
which 1t is possible to trace the history OF
the concern from It's inception to it's pres
ent greatness. Furthermore. the Standard
OIL Company was the first of the great in
dustrial and trade combinations. 1t may
be correctly styled the father of the trusts
Miss Tarbelfs conclusion is that while
the Standard is a remarkable example of
the good that may he gained by organiza-
ton, II is at the same time a warning OF
the harm that may be done. She cites the
methods of the trust In detail to show how
competition is crushed, how the trade OF
rival concerns Is watched and limited how
the activities of oil producers and refners
and others are harnessed to the purposes
of the Standard. and how that corporation
influences the transportation lines. Thers
are two chief specifications in her indict-
ment. That the Standard has gained too
much power in the land for the good ot
the people. and that It's methods have de-
pauched the business morality OF thou
sands of young men, whose activities have
been cOrruptly employed, directly or indi-
rectly, by the Standard. on this point she
has to say in conclusion.
And what are we going to do about IT.