Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-01

through conquest oppression and misery,
has miraculously preserved the pure spirit
of the race in it's pristine unworldliness and
faith, its belief in holiness and in the spir-
itual world: and that this spirit so pre-
served, and now dispersed through many
lands, is today one of the great treasures
of humanity
AT CLOSE RANGE. By F. Hopkinson
Smith. Illustrated New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons. Washington: Will
lam Ballantyne 4 Sons.
These nine little tales have been, in some
part already printed in the serials, but as
with all good short stories they are worthy
the assembling between covers Mr.. Smith
field of observation is unusually wide His
many forms of activity have brought him
in close contact with all sorts and condi-
lions of people AS engineer, as artist, as
lecturer he has studied. and as writer he
has set forth the results. He says in his
preface that on his writing table lies small
magnifying glass, through which ne oileI
examines at close range the mechan1sms OF
interesting things. 1t is a type OF MI
croscopic tendency of his mind to seek the
secret workings of other lives, to find the
dovetailing of parts and the play OF emo
tions Thus some of these stories are little
more than character sketches. drawn in the
course of his wanderings. But they are all
human and vital with the touch of master
of style and keen analyst.
THE PLUM TREE. By David Graham
Phillips. author of The Cost &c.
Illustrated by z. NJ Ashe. Indian
apolis: The Bobbs- Merrill Company.
There was perhaps never such a pontlcai
machine as that constructed by Harvey
Sayler never so complete one-man power
as his, never such absolute subservience as
his creatures yielded to him whenever ne
wished TO drive them before him. But IN pre-
senting a fiction embracing these elements
Mr.. Phillips has made use of actual condl-
tons in our politics and has drawn some
life-lke portraits. He has merely aceentu-
ated the high and low lights of the system
and has moreover told a tale which at no
time suggests improbability. The title IS
exceptionally happy 1t was the late Sena-
tor Quay who made the phrase famous, and
so apt was it that it caught the public mind
Immediately upon the publication of the
letter to one of his Pennsylvania hench-
men in which it was used Harvey Sayler
grows a plum tree of his own. He draws
a fine distinction in explaining the secret
of his power. II was not master because
I had the plum tree" he says, Il had the
plum tree because L was master
How he came to get into politics as the
miserable legislative tool of uncouth,
brutal city boss; how he revolted; how he
CHANGED into a position which gave him his
great opportunity; how he sacrificed his
best impulse for the sake of his ambition;
how he developed a daring scheme to pro-
tect the great moneyed interests that We're
being bled by rapacious bosses and grafters;
how the machine grew until 1t dominated
national affairs; how it became unwieldy
and had to be repaired from time to time;
how a President was made and unmade-
these are the factors of Mr.. Phillips alb
sorbingly interesting and actually instruc-
tive story. 1t is the stronger because 1t Is
not romantic There is a touch of senti-
ment at the beginning and the end, but the
love element is virtually eliminated. 1t
sparkles with quotable sentences, far too
many for repetition within the limits of this
analysis.
The author knows the true inwardness of
politics. He lays on his strokes with
broad brush, sweepingly. so that the reader
gains vivid conception of the wiles and
ways. of political masters. There is, of
course, some exaggeraton. That is al
most necessary to avoid leaving traces of
the identity of the lay figures used in the
composition. But the fundamental truth of
the story, as warning and an exposition,
cannot be questioned.
Mr.. Phillips permits himself at times in