Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-09
BEFORE ADAM. BY Jack London. au-

BEFORE ADAM. BY Jack London. au-
thor of The Call of the Wild" etc.
With illustrations by Charles Living
ston Bull. New York: The Macmillan
Company. Washington: Woodward q
Lothrop.
Those who have grown weary OF the JACK
London school of literature have occasion
to be grateful to that author for producing
Before Adam" for he has in that per-
Torrance gone a good distance toward his
own destruction as an idol. He has pro-
duced something that defies classification.
1t is not good fiction, for the human in
terest" is decidedly anthropoid. 1t is not
scientific, for it transgresses the accepted
principles of science in so many instances
that it We're weariSOme to enumerate them.
The love story of pair of evolving apes!
Does Mr.. London seriously expect any one
to accept his work in that guise? The psy-
chology of an inherited memory of an
arboreal existence ages back? What in
stitution of learning has supplied the fun
damentals of the authors research?
1t is true that there is a certain meretri-
cious interest of small incident in spots in
this narrative but it cannot pass muster
In any measurement of the whole work
which seeks an answer TO the inevitable
"Wherefore?" The prank of Lop Ear and
the lusts and furies of Red Eye-such are
some of the delectable designations of the
actors in this drama of the midpleistocene
period-cannot completely satisfy the de-
mands of 4 truly intelligent public for read
ing matter that stands somewhere. goes
somewhere and means something.
Yet the text is not without its points of
significance. For example. Mr. London adj
vances a unique, il not altogether convinc
Ing, theory to account for the familiar
phenomenon of the falling dream. He
attributes it to the molecular memory of
the falls of simian ancestors from their
tree perches, and he adds:
There is nothing strange in this. any
more than there Is anything strange in an
instinct An instinct is merely habit
that Is stamped into the stuff of our hered-
ity: that is all. 1t will be noted, in passing,
that in this falling dream, which is SO IA
miliar to you and me and all of us, we
never strike bottom. To strike bottom
would be destruction Those of our arboreal
ancestors who struck bottom died forth
with. True. the STOCK of their fall was
communicated to their cerebral cells, but
they died Immediately, before they could
have progeny. You and | are descended
from those that did not strike bottom: that
Is why you and l in our dreams never
strike bottom"
Truly a valuable addition to the worlds
Information regarding the descent of man.
ERSHiP. BY Robert Z. Porter, d.
rector of eleventh United States CEN
sus. author of Industrial Cuba" etc.
New York: The Century Company.
Mr.. Porter's volume sheds bright light
upon the-to many-mysterious question of
municipal ownership in Great Britain which
has been a subject of sharp controversy
for years and is just now of acute inter-
est. owing to the anti-ownership verdict
rendered at the poles by the people of Lon
don on the u instant. Indeed upon read
ing this work there can be no question in
an unprejudicei mind as to the wisdom and
of. h lot how
the citizens of the English metropolis. Mr..
Porter puts his book forward frankly as an
argument against municipal ownership. He
regards that scheme inimical to the pub
lie welfare. as destructive of the individual
initiative in business. as unsound in eco
Monies and as dangerous in politics. He
compares conditions in England and the
United States to show how the tendency
here has been-despite a certain effort of
late--away from this form of state social
ism while England has for years been rap
idly developing and overdeveloping the idea.
IL is difficult to reproduce his arguments,
which are largely dependent for their point
of effect upon statistics, but there is no
avoidance OF the conclusion that, assuming
his figures to be accurate, Mr.. Porter's
demonstration of the municipal ownership
fallaCy is complete.
The whole system is based upon the de-
sire of the non-tax paying class, it would
appear, to obtain cheaper service and
flluminants than from corporations. If
this could be accomplished in a business
like way. by business methods, all would
be we'll But, as Mr.. Porter points out, the
management of affairs by municipal au-
thorities has never thus far been as eco
nomical or efficient as the private manage
ment. The result is that the cost of pro-
duction or maintenance Increases and with
a decreasing revenue-due to reduction of
rates, otherwise why any change of sys-
tem?-the consequence quickly is deficit.
This falls back to the taxpayer for assump-
ton. either in the form of a direct assess
ment or in the way of new loans to support
the municipal ownership operations. Thus,
the great ma iority of English cities are
suffering today from excessive and rapidly
increasing taxes, while their Indebtedness
Is at an appalling figure. with present
hope of liquidation. Indeed, when MIR. Por-
ter completed his volume, in January, in
advance of the London election. with its
sign of sharp reaction away from social
ism, he could see nothing ahead but bank
ruptcy for a large number of English mu-
inequalities.
every student of latter-day affairs. as it
presents the negative side of a question
which may in short time form the subject
OF a national debate on this side of the
water.
IN Ny LADY'S GARDEN; Pages from
the Diary of Sir John Elwynne, BY
Katrina Trask. author of Night and
Morning New York: John Lane Com
pany
This charming short story of English
country life is reprinted from its original
appearance in the Atlantic Monthly. 1t is
worthy OF the dainty volume in which it
now appears, being an idyllic love tale that
will delight every reader who takes pleas
ure in hoWeTs and delicately unfolded ro-
nance
FRIDAY. THE THIRTEENTH; a Novel.
By Thomas W. Lawson. Frontispiece
in color by Sigismond de Ivanowslxi.
New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.
Mr.. Lawson slips from frenzied finance to
frenzied fiction as easily as he transforms
himself in the stock market from bull to
bear. There is no essential difference
between his two performances as revealer
of the Systems secrets save that his long
and supposedly veracious history of the
financial deals Of the past few years had
much more human interest than his novel
Indeed, the sooner Mr.. Lawson realizes
that fiction is poor medium for a propa-
gandist fully charged with the cleo
tricity of revenge the better he will sue
coed. But perhaps he feels that The public