Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-12

NJ. p. Philadelphia: The North
American.
VERY newspaper reader is faced
almost daily by live illusions to
the Irish question These al
lusions. ample in implication,
are of necessity but partial in
exposition of the successive uppermost
aspects of this protean subject. To give
these current facts a fair value as infor-
nation. their correlation is required. to
place them in the chain of events that
make up the substance and spirit of the
Irish problem. Mr.. Sutherland in
series of letters has brilliantly accom-
plished this task Of simplifying and cor
relating the main features of the ques-
tion. The series separates into three
parts. the first OF which, written in 1902,
under the heading. THE Problem of the
Land, projects view OF political and
economic Ireland upon a general back
ground of eco years, with a focused
light on the period since the act of union
in 1900 With Ireland in effect wholly
agricultural the land in its tenure. use
and conveyance is the only asset. Upon
This fundamental fact the author traces
the effects of centuries of land seizures
OF landlordism. The supreme function
OF this institution is extortion, whose
failure is unvaryingly followed by evic-
ton. This system, persistently employed,
complete :. Q physical and political deg
radiation of Ireland and threatens final
depopulation. Not until 1870 is there any
substantial measure of amelioration.
Then the initiative of Mr.. Gladstone es-
1ablished the principle that the tenant
acquires a proprietary interest in land
whose value has been enhanced by his
own industry. The government followed
this act by various other remedial meas
ures. The second series of letters, writ
ten in 1909 under the heading. The
Land Problem Solved is a bright ac-
count of the reforms wrought in one
short Sabbatc span. through government
initiative coupled with the native resili-
encc OF the Irish people. Fair rent,
the way for improved methods of agri-
culture and allied industries. for educa-
tional and social reform, and lift the
people into hopeful energy The last
division of the series Celebrates THE
Demand for Home Rule by defining both
the rule and the strength of the de
mand" This section discusses the penal
code and describes the futility and gen
eral disagreement OF dublin castle
1t closes with a good account of the
workings of home rule in local matters,
citing this as proof of its efficiency in
wider field.
Statistics. dramatic incidents. pictures,
panegyrics on the golden age" of an
cient Ireland, sentiments of Irish patriots
eulogies Irish martyrs, are scattered
throughout these letters. All the modern
arts of arrest. appeal persuasion glow
ing with Celtic heat and color, thrill
through these pages. An obviously SIN
cere effort but an effort nevertheless. to-
ward unbiased statement reaches up to
the truth. The feeling. however. the
color the sweep of the whole is pa
triotically partisan. not viciously so. One
feels the excuse under this partisanshlp,
in the ardor to give the 1rishman's point
of view in his propaganda for lndepend-
ence.
This volume is published in the inter-
est of the Irish home-rVe movement, all
proceeds from it's sales going to the ad-
vancement of that cause.
EACH FOR ALL AND ALL FOR EACH:
The Individual in His Relation to
the Social System. By John Parsons.
New York: Sturgis & Walton Com
pany.
To enforce and illustrate the impor-
lance of the individual in the social
order to demonstrate that social prog
ress is not hostile to individualism, is
the motive underlying this clear, con-
crete sociological discussion. Society and
the individual are, herein, checked off
against each. other in mutual benefits.
The one for protection, economy, COM
partnership and guidance; the other for
initiative, leadership, ideals. In its struc-
basis for the individuals action, with
influence SO definite and far reaching
that history is able to trace all social
progress to individual initiative. Society
enters into what the individual discovers,
invents. creates. When there is no vision
on the part of the leaders the people
perish. or at best wander in the wilder
ness, unable to reach the promised land.
Even democracy is fast learning this
lesson, as appears in the growing tend
70 m
sibility in a few hands, and often in
single individual. I" Carlyle may
have overdone his worship of the great
man, but it is certain that some Moses
out of Egypt" The substance of the
discussion describes and illustrates the
various ways in which the individual
sends his influence abroad through the
social system These methods or dis
Semination, each buttressed by abundant
illustrations out of history and current
life. are grouped into half dozen
classes. each one measured by its nature
and mode of action. by it's precision as
an instrument Of leayen in the special
line of its operation. A striking char
acterstic of this admirably clear discus
sion is its well-nigh complete objectivity.
Opinions and theories, advanced as SUCH
Immediately crystalline into fact under
the pressure of historic and current cir
cumStance to which they are subjected.
The entire exposition of this subject,
whose obviously aitruiStic ultimate aim
by sentiment inclines toward light. moves
along close to the solid earth. giving out
promises examples, methodS, for the
better definition aud realization of ideals
through which the WHOLE is to be lifted.
This view places the Individual sauarely
as a factor in social progress, putting up
To him the powers and responsibilities of
his position. At the same time, out of
the treasury of the past, contributing
logically to the present and the future,
it inspires the individual with confidence
to achieve for the future even more than
has been gloriously accomplished for
the past. Here is a virile, fruitful con-
Sideration of the individual in his rela-
ton TO life
THE MARKET FOR SOULS BY Eliza
beth Goodnow. New York: Mitchell
kennerley.
Only the veritahle spirit of Ben Adhem
could have gone into the secret places of
the human heart, gathering there that
which makes up the substance of these
ira gedies of the street These stories
about the girl of the streets are not lit
erature. They human documents,
drawn by the author In an outreach for
social succor through the initial agency
III puhlicity AS a document of this class
ii : logically confined to the use of those
cn-ared in social service; as a book
form it is less diffusve than the daily
press which II is evidently designed to
complement in the present public agi-
raton and investigation of this particular
phase of social danger. The writer offers
no SPECIFIC. Her mission, to her mind, is
TO draw the picture. Having done this.