Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-30
BOOK REVIEWS.
BANZAI! BY "Parabellum." Leipsig:
Theodor Weicher. New YORK: Ihc
Baker & TAYLOR Company.

bit of political forecasting Will prob
ably exclaim in distaste and lay the
volume aside, impatient at a Ger
man Indictment of this country's common
sense. Then curiosity will get the upper
hand-and the book will be read through.
Is il prophecy or is it the shrewd work
of A writer who is seeking the pronts
which the large sales reported from Ger
many must be yielding? Or. again. Is
il a we'll written political document de-
signed to set this country on guard
against the yellow peril" about which
the German press has had much to say
in recent years? No one can confidently
answer. The anonymous author has a
certain intimacy of acquaintance with
the maps and with political conditions.
He has worked out an undeniably clever
plan of campaign for the surprising Jap
anese ships and soldiers. The capture OF
the western coast of the United STATES
seems to be absurdly easy. Some tens
of thousands of Japanese coolies and
clerks and farmers. slipped over the
Mexican border despite the apparently
friendly agreement on the part OF the
Toxic government to keep the people
home; a series of innocent-appearing Inn
portations of machinery" in boxes and
building materials" and such like-and
10. a thoroughly drilled. armed ana
equipped fighting force is here. In San
Francisco, in Seattle, in Los Angeles, in
Portland, capturing garrisCns, taking pos
session of railroads, OF telegraphs, OF
newspapers. everything! 1t is so easy, so
admirably simple!
Then the navy is tricked into some
sea maneuverS and sent to the bottom III
"A couple of engagements that go all one
way, because our gunners are unproVlded
with good ammunition-even the bad
shells. furnished by rascally contractors.
10 OF hot IN, n "a
use, because somebody has locked the
door of the magazine and the key Is nos
10 be found! Provoking!
WE'LL it IS sad, sad story that Para
Delum'' tells. Our land forces are no
better than our navy. 1t takes months
and months to hammer our composite
army of regulars and militiamen and raw
volunteers into practicable shape. and
then in a battle fought In the hills &C. OF
Idaho everything goes well until it is dis
covered too late that somebody has neg
lected to guard against fanking move
nent-and all is lost save honor. Again,
provoking,
1t is noteworthy that every time any
one does anything sensible or brave on
the American side. anything approaching
human intelligence. his name has a
strongly Teutonic appearance. Clever
..Parabellum." writing for a wide circula-
tion in Germany.
Yet when all is working well again.
with the tide of war turned in favor of
the Stars and Stripes. and Washington
of astonishing geography is resounding
with the cheers of policeman-awakened
populace. the thought occurs to the
amused, nettled patriot who reaches the
final page that maybe this German
humorist has given us some more or less
useful hints as to what might occur if
certain conditions CHANGED to be so and so
and certain people happened to do such
and such things. 1t is, at all events, an
interesting speculation.
$40 OR FIGHT. BY Emerson Hough.
author Of 1.-The Mississippi Bubble"
etc. illustrated by Arthur I. Keller.
Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrlll
Company.
Washington is the scene Of an intricate
complexity of intrigues. Texas has set
up an independent government and sent a
representative to the federal capital. Eng
land has her eyes on the Oregon country
and eagerly watches the trend of events
IN the southwest, where the new republic
is negotiating for admission to the Union
and Mexico is striving to prevent. There
are dealings In secret between England
and Texas and between England and
Mexico. Helena, Baroness Won Ritz is
regarded by official Washington as Eng
lands paid spy. a fascinating woman.
whose charms have already set half of
Europe by the ears. John Calhoun rates
her at her full worth, as a woman who
can help as well as hurt, and sends his
faithful servitor, Nicholas Trist, to sum-
mon her to a midnight conference. Thus
begins a tale of adventure, politics, love
and sacrifice that holds the attention from
the first sentence.
It was a bold venture for Mr.. Hough to
make the aged Calhoun the central figure
of a romance He is not rated as a patriot
of great breadth. In the eyes of Nicholas
Trist and In his own estimate, as ex-
pressed In vigorous style in these pages.
Calhoun Is an empire builder, who puts
the welfare Of America far ahead of the
interests OF the slavery institution. The
portrait is rugged and interesting, If not
altogether convincing. But Mr.. Hough is
not writing history or biography. He is
telling a story about how Oregon was
saved to the Union while Texas was an
nexed and Mexico was whipped In war.
He utilities to the end of these diverse
achievements the vagarfeS of the woman
of intrigue. Baroness Won Ritz, whose
Grant heart Is won. unwittingly, by stall
wart, handsome Nicholas despite the fact,
early set frankly before her, that he is
pledged to another woman. That other
woman pales into an absurd insignificance
beside the vivid. capriciouS baroness.
Nicholas is not especially entertaining in
his uoelity. although doubtless Mr.. Hough
feels that much is due to convention.
COMRADES, Story Of Social Adven-
ture in California BY Thomas
liams. New York: Doubleday, Page
& Co. Washington: Woodward &
Lothrop
Norman Worth. the son Of a millionaire,
develops a sudden. earnest faith in social
ism His father, to cure him by ex-
perience. enables him to buy a vast island
I'm the Pacific, where the young man
plants a colony under the red flag and
Pounds the Brotherhood of Man. Having
created this world of fancy, Mr. Dixon
gives to its proceedings the realism OF a
newspaper report. AS the pioneer COM
rades touch land in this enchanted para
disc each rejoices that 1.-The old world,
with Its sin and shame. it's crime and
misery. its hunger and cold, its greed
and lust. it's cruelty and insanity had
passed away. and 10, all things were new.
The first few days are idyllic, except for
the trifling fact that each comrade wants
the best room in the hotel but thing
really mars the edenlike serenity of the
new state of Ventura until Norman, as
chef comrade, calls for volunteers to do
the manual work of upbuilding their
kingdom and keeping IL clean. Each
colonist is asked to select the vocation
In which he can render to his brothers
the highest service of which he is ca
pable" and best advance the cause of hu-
manity ballot shows that each man
wants to hunt or fish. or preach or act,
and almost the entire population of wom-
en- decides to go on the stage, with a pref
erence for light opera. There isn't la
borer or scrubwoman In the crowd. The
comrades could do such drudgery in the
old world. They had come into the new