New-York tribune., 1909-07-24
An American NOUeL Written from
the Inside of Life.


This is an old-fashioned story, a story more
or less in the mode that Mr. De Morgan brought
snto ,os7le again orIy two or three years ago
There are 10 be sure no surface resemblances
between "A Certain Rich Man" and Joseph
Vance" and in matters of style even more thaA
in matters of substance, Mr. White and hls
English contemporary are poles apart MI de
Morgan has a very personal touch ana tlere Is
a certain SAVIOR Of letters about his work. 2
sut-tle element as Of old artistic tradition
The author Of the present volume is just
straight forward narrator, and his least happy
rassages are those in which ne permits himself
to rnoralize Yet where the main point is con-
cerned he and the English novelist are at one
They both have the same purpose, TO take
srorp of plain folk in hand, TO reclte thelr HLe
histories without paying too much attention 10
mere plot and to make good story by giving
their due weight 10 both the big and the hltle
things Of life Both writer's, il may be added
give free play to sentiment, justifying them
selves by perfect sincerity. The comparison
breaks down abruptly enough as regards one
imrortant element. AIr De Morgan has charm
and that is the last virtue in the world TO he
ascribed to the author OF "A Certain Rich Man
Fortunately. however. Mr.. Whites book Is 50
good that il can dispense with this merit He
may not be a beguiling artist. but he has s1uaied
American life from the inside and has made a
novel out OF it possessing uncommon vitality
and interest
"A Certain Rich Man is not much a work
of literature as II is a cross section Of human
experience. kind Of representative record
Though RIr. White does rot suggest that He
has anv leaning toward craftsmanship Tor llS
own sake, any solicitude for beauty of 1orll' "e
s7iscloses at all events. an admirable sense OF
things in the broad planning of the scheme AS
ss indicated by the title Of the novel he has IN
5erested himself in one Of the outstanding de-
velopments Of American society. The cehu11
ffs7,re IS a man who works his way up the Iad-
der of fortune TO a dizzy height by rulHeS9
methods In some Of his aspects JoLn barciag
might have stepped out Of almost any OF d nun
dred novels published in these latter muck
ralzing" days a millionaire caring only ioI
money ard driven at last by the aetIon OF MS
own nature into q corner from which money
viii rrovide no escape But there IS no uiilA1I-
ness in revealing this much Of Mr. Nhlte
story. for the merit Of the latter resides NeiS
.7s7,sf1- in its long perspective. 1t Is not Johh
Barley alone who interests US On me con-
,rarv his environment IS equally absorbing
In relating the biography OF one man MI
White not only relates the biographies Of Others
,,,t anaivzes the character Of their town IN
deed Sycamore Ridge is painted for US from lis
earliest davs back in the early Sos, down al
most to the present moment. letter IN the
last chapter is dated March. 1909 In mlngIlhe
with the people in this book We seem 10 De
.,,,e,,re wifi, the men and women of Kansas
who have built up state and make US Wohue'
why they do not look like pioneers when we
brush against them in the street After all A
Certain Rich Man Is symbolical OF more than
the struggle between good and evil in John Bar
claws heart It gives US glimpses into the heaFt
Of 7,eople moulding its destiny in no academic
fashion but through the ups and downs OF the
everyday struggle for existence The soil Of the
-aass6dle West is in this book We see now tne
members of commonplace little settlement
sturdily ana cheerily maintained themselves III
their homes; how they met the shock OF war
how they turned resourcefully from the tragedy
and romance Of battle 10 the prosaic task await
N ing them in the farm or the shop. and how,
finally. they bore themselves in that moral con-
fiot which accompanies the fight for dollars and
rents in ou- modern business world. II is a
vivid pjcture that Mr. White paints-reaL eT-
citing svrnpathetic. often amusing and as often
touching.
The types in the story ring true. Philemon
Ward the idealist, with his kind heart, his
visionary hopes his industry and his unshak-
able faith in q divine Providence. and the eccen-
tric Watts McHurdie. the harnessInakeT with a
turn for poetry, are no less credible than are
the hard headed John Barclay or his corrupt
familiar. Iige Be1nis. We must pause moment
on PENIS for the sake Of 2 passage describing
him which givessa good illustration OF the au-
4horss method. Colonel Martin Culpepper, tax
;rg with General Philemon R Ward. observes
the scamp in question sauntering down the street
and calls him "a gaIlus-looking stink The
general is puzzled by the phrase. 50 his friend
addresses him a. follows:
Don't know what gellqs, looking sink IS 5a DO
Yankees and fight for your flag and die Tor your
ii8i-e5 and provincial knowledge Of the United
3-s1e v-irll tTs Harvard pickle dripping on your
tongue tTelleLe- .zz9'r-Is c45cers a tin Tc5e-.
--5 eheep-killing dog. all rolled into one man
And Is / before remarked. our beloved comraoe'
Idge Benis is certainly gailus-Iooking SINK
L Is Of sheer hornespun. this speech and while
Mr.. White is too clever by half TO endoW all his
characters with the same habit Of thought, OF
the same diction. he gives 10 them something OF
the same half humorous, half-dry and wholly
arfless directness which we find in the foregoing
fragment In short, all his people speak and act
fn character. and they are intensely American.
In the very movement of his story he is faithful
10 the natural gait and demeanor Of American
life That life goes wrong" doubt, in many
instances. because of the presence Of deliberate
workers Of downright evil It is tempting TO
the novelist who has a dramatic sequence Of .
events to unfold to concentrate himself upon
certain definite types and episodes, and thus he
often makes you feel that, for his purposes, the
dice have been loaded. the action has been de-
teTrnined not by the play Of character or circum-
stance but by the hand q the god in the ma
chine. Mr.. Whites aim Is &c show how the
peopIe IN a small community are interdependent
and how when a single exponent of bad ideas
once makes his Influence paramount. the whole
body is presently affected in the most curious