The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-19
..The Iron Heel.o by Jaek London; Inc

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 "The Iron Heel" by Jack London; The 1 Macmillan Go.
 | Pretty nearly everything which MT. 1 London has written, with the possible ex- ception of that awful, no excuse, The 1 Game" is interesting. His latest book, | '"The Iron Heel" is a study or forecast
 of socialistic possibilities, through whica
 the world will have to go, he intimates, before it reaches the ideal state, or that
 one supposed to exist in a brotherhood of man. "rhe Iron Heel' is supposed to be a manuscript discovered in the year 26l2 A. D., or the year 419, Brotherhood of Man This manuscript, written in 1932 by Avis Everhard, tells of the revolution
 socially, which happened in the world
 from the years 1912 to 1892 Avis Ever
 hard's husband, Ernest Everhard, was
 one of the socialists leaders. Avis, a
 quietly reared young girl, daughter of
 professor at the University of California,
 at Berkerly falls in love with Everhard
 and marries him. This manuscript was
 left in an old tree, where it reposed for 700 years until discovered by scientists in
 about 2600 A. D., or the new era term,
 designated as 419 Brotherhood of Man. The book is really brief for the plaintiff
 namely the socialists of the world today
 All socialists seem to be of the mind that before the much desired Brotherhood of becomes olution of the working classes will take place against the oligarehy of wealth. with first the success on the side of the wealth-holding classes for many years. So it is in "The Iron Heel" "The Iron Heel' is the term given the oligarchy of wealth, describing the manner that the rich, non-working classes will in time, through their control of the government crush out and stamp the faces and bodies
 h 1oh i'm p1a of power and cruelty. Mir London is socialist. so that his books, like others Of that character, seem to the initiated as greatly exaggerated in many statements. It may be because the average reader has not studied the question. There IS no doubt that many of the statements made bv socialist writers are true to an extent, even if exaggerated. Again, too, it is very noticeable fact that many very many books are being written in these days on the subject of the alliance be- tween the church through the preachers and the ruling classes meaning that the church stands for things Christ never would, nor does the Bible authorize any such teaching or acts. That there is no doubt that if preachers would openly at tack in their pulpits the sins of the rich members of their churches, they would, in Mir Londons words, have to LOOK TOT another job" That we are sending mls- sionaries abroad to preach Christ cruci- fled. while millions of children are being crushed mentally and physically at home. That is the theme of most of these books, and it is startling the number of these books which are being published and read today. With all of what may appear to an unbiased reader as exaggerated state ments in such books, that reader, If he IS fair, can in his mind recall some occur renee in church or politics wherein the rich man through his money to the church is upheld in his shining not by direct pats on the back as MT. London puts it, but by the ministers not denouncing them The book, "The Iron Heel, IS soul-stirring production. Whether one agrees with the author or not in what he says will not interfere with the interest in the book The descriptions of the Chi cago Commune" in 1917 is a wonderful piece of work. As stated, whether the reader agrees with MT. London or not the former can get at least a splendid idea as to just what the socialists are driving at. Any association of men who, in 1888, had only a voting strength in the United States of 206S and have this year over 11OS, ,427, deserves great consideration. The book is so very interesting that while it is something of a semi-text book or ex- republication of socialist ideas, the reader will lose the idea of preaching in the