Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-06
BOOK REVIEWS.

RE. New York: Mitchell Kennerley.
n GREAT exposure. this. poig-
"a nant with personal suffering
"a and heavy with the common
Il misery of imprisoned GRIM
inals. This is a specific, hour
by-hour record of prison life. by a sin
gularly unembittered inmate. who pre-
sents not only his own dilemma. but
that OF those about him In a curious
dispassion Of statement and suggestion
Having exploded the old theory-a
rigid and wicked one-that anybody
can find work." this man reaches the
edge of things. 1t must be suicide OF
theft. In his pocket is a single nickel.
This useless nickel with hole in 1t was
thriftily passed to him by business It's
turn-head or tails to decide the I'M
mediate matter. He steals, ineptiy, ana
with evidence screaming against him.
This, by way Of opening. The rec0al
develops into a page-by-page story Oh
every detail of prison life. 1t Is PAIN
full reading. Something to be put down.
in restless protest. The troupie -
will not stay down. 1t walks ABOUT o
side one. 1t obtrudes upon pleasant o.
cupations. 1t solicits ones attenton anu
jmportunes his leisure. so, Wnelner ne
viii or not, one must finish this conn
dence. Another trouble-it refuses 10 oe
finished. Instead. it stays by, anu
hangs about the edges or one hiiiu
monstrous revelation obnoxious TO
housed, and fed. and clothed ana PRIV
tected folks. - r
investigations are most useful. They
open up many secret places OF ihei.s
and weak authority. However,
Thousand investigations all punched TO-
9e,her will pay homage to TINS reveia-
ton. They know their weakness. 1ney
do not house in the criminal skin ~
do not summer and winter under tne
nrisoner's roof And herein Is the World,
wide difference between their efforts anu
this
THE MEMOIRS OF FRANCISCO Girls
pr. Translated by Mary Prichard-
Aenetti from the documents col
lected and edited by Thomas Paia-
menghi-Crispi. New YORK: Hoooer
& Stoughton.
II is not at all difficult to gather. mere
and there, much interesting lnformatlon
about the picturesque personality OF the
modern Italian patriot-about Gartpaioi
and Mazzini. Cavour and Crispi. On the
other hand, less easy of access, al least
to the English reader, is an intimate yet
comprehensive view of the homogeneous
event inspired by these patriots. that is,
the revolution in behalf of a free and
united ITALY, These memoirs serve the
English reader substantially in presenting
a wide and authentic review OF this strug-
The "reminiscences separate into clean
parts-CD The Exile, ~ Garibaldfs Sfcf-
lian Campaign, CD The Triple Alliance
The first recounts the long political exile
Of Crispi, a period of extreme danger
filled with unntermittent plottings.
through which the writer's vision of the
revolution stands clear and complete.
Here. the basic economic unrest Of Italy
is described, the military sequences of an
uprising projected and its political eff
fects forecast. The second part shows
the revolution in action by way of Carl
baldi's invincible Thousand triumphant
in Sicily and marching upon Rome. The
last division of this volumtnoHs record Is
a statesmanly analysis Of 1talys foreign
policy. an analysis whose exactitude and
acumen are proved by the national atti-
tudes and events that, up to the present,
have followed the course set down here
by this president statesman. 1nnumera-
BILE intimacies concerning one and another
of these conspicuous heroes of Italy, In
Vulnerable revelations of hitherto nncov-
cred details of the struggle. light UP this
period from many new angles Of reiec-
ton. These important and absorbing
memoirs must supplement any serious
study either of modern Italy or of the
general progress of the world toward a
fuller democracy.
THE DAY OF THE SAXON. By Homer
Lea, author OF 1.-The valor of Igno-
rance New York: Harper &
Brothers.
.'Of the present decisions that are lead
ing mankind upon those blind trails that
lead nowhere, the two most Characters
tic are those of universal peace and
the delimitation Of national boundaries"
So much. for this authors opinion of
our Hague conferences and other peace
projects, of any notion We may have
that our national borders are set and
immovable.
Upon this basis of wrought-out convic
ton Homer Lea makes a notable an
alysis of the British empire. and analysis
pointing steadily upon its day Of doom.
and incidentally upon the doom of Saxon
power. Whether one agrees with this
argument or not whether or not he
cherishes altruistic dreams of a world
wide amity to dilute the argument. he
follows it fascinated by it's scientific
rigor its invincible logic. its mathemati-
cal exactitude. its force. its eioquence.
An enormous population of mixed races.
countless political units mixed in charac-
ter and intent a thin far flung geo.
graphic line betting the globe-weak, If
not actually open to the pressure of hos
tile convergencies of interest and ambi-
tion--this is the three fold menace that
broOds above the British empire. The
whole is a powerful argument for war.
No. not that at all. Rather an argument
for readiness. 1t defines in detail and with
A wealth of logic. military establish
ment, perfect in the unity of homogene-
ity. of adjustment. of response. This.
and this alone. to be the source from
which the Saxon may maintain. and
renew, and extend himself as the benef-
cent ruler Of the world. The whole is
a fine and provocative argument, even
though il be quite out of step with our
current pacific propaganda.
Interest in this work is intensified in
view of the fact that Homer Lea was one
of the two men who made the recent
Chinese revolution possible, his prepare
tory and advisory work with DIR. Sun Vat
Sen LAYING the foundations for the new
republic.
FESTIVALS AND Plays In Schools
and Elsewhere. BY Percival Chubb,
former director of festivals in the
ethical culture school. New York,
and his associates. illustrated from
photographs. New York: Harper
& Brothers.
This volume, fun. specific and sugxes-
tive, has a place already waiting for 1t.
Its clear mission is to substitute the re-
suits of intellectual experience-authority
for q merely energixed hand-to-mouth
activity: TO set coherent plan over
struggling and unarticulated impulses; to
offer unit of ordered sequences in place
of a general haphazardry.