Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-12


e-HESE studies in law are a tri1e
stiff for the unframed reader TO
grasp Still, by drawing upon
his general reading, by gather
ing probable meanings out OF
special terms. and by studying the VOL
anne in the light of a certain agitation
going on about him, he is able to gain a
good hold on this authoritative and In
forming discussion. The effort is emil
,ently worth while. The questions eN-
imined here are fundamental ones OPP
.rating in current events. As body the
study fronts upon the present conflict be-
:ween progress on the one hand and
precedent on the other; between the
demand for concrete justice at the law
and the effort to make general rules
.over all cases. This subject is just now
completely in the open. a matter of street
agitation. of press comment. of partisan
political controversy Therefore, broad In
itruetion of a dependable character, such
As this volume offers, is an immediate
md urgent need. Taking his stand with
The Constitution, Mr.. Coudert examines
The somewhat general challenge to this
Instrument. He then sets out to demon
,trate that the defects so loudly deplored
he neither in the Constitution nor in our
system of laws In pursuit of this pur-
pose he studies the growth OF our laws
snder the Constitution by way of certain
fundamental features of the law-the de-
relopment of trial by jury from funda-
mental right TO mere method OF pro-
.edure, the long strides away from the
nqufsitOrial system of criminal procedure.
he possibilities of the law III respect TO
sur new peoples and possessions toward
aliens. toward our expanding industrial
-l.rf tl1..rn
faults Mr. Coudert does not deny. What
De does maintain is that these are not
Inherent in our system OF laws. Rather do
.hey trace back to a double source. one
the slow adjustment of the law 10 the
tremendous economic and social changes
hat have taken place within the last gen
GRAFTON. Individually, We are a pro-
gressive people. Collectively, are con-
servative. And in this collective capacity
the lawmakers have been dilatory in fit
ing law to conditions. The other source
IF the laws defects is the incompetency
Of both bar and bench The bench is.
n the main, a political reward. where 1t
should be the simple logic of the highest
professional and civil service The bar is
ourdened with mediocre and rapacious
lncumbents, lacking the necessary tenn
permanent general education. experience.
technical skill. The remedy for these two
ines of defect and failure is close at
hand. and has nothing to do with our
system of laws itself Every one having
4 voting say i'll public affairs should
make a study of this book and others of
rs own high quality and practical bear
ing.
OF Mary Up at Gaffries." etc. New
York: The Macmillan Company.
What Eliot and Hardy and Phillpotts
have already done and are still doing for
other parts of England, Miss Nethersoe
is doing for the shire of Kent-that is.
lifting IL bodily out of its narrow retreat
and setting II down for everybodys be-
holding. perfect in form and feature, cpm-
piete in spirit and meaning. A mere
pace-land, with houses upon it. and in
these people dweiiing-does acquire per-
sonality all its own. one that sets it off
from every other place. Now and then,
under the right kind of artistry, this per-
sonality of place can be transferred to
print on paper without loss to its SUBJ
stance. without blur upon its bloom. And
this is exactly what Miss Nethersole has
done Ell, IN .Wilsam; As a story. this Is
and wreck TO this English corner of Kent,
where she finds home and friends, later
husband and a baby, sorrow and some
OF its compensations Around this sim
pie thread of events the pattern of the
whole of Kent is woven in amazingly life
like pattern and color Upon the whole.
ii is story of what Mr.. Maeterlinck
calls the tragical in daily life" A gray
story-eventless. moss-grown. dull, rude
but nevertheless a pungent, bitter-sweet
tale that fingers on the tongue long, long
past Its reading. remarkable story
That makes one reach forward for the
next one. and backward. too, for any of
Miss Nethersole's earlier novels that he
may not Yet have read.
THE son OF a SERVANT. BY August
Strindberg, author of The Inferno"
etc. Translated by Claud Field. In
PRODUCTION by Henry Sacher-Burch.
New York. e. Il. Putnams Sons. 4
The son of Servant is a part of the
autobiography of August Strindberg, an
amazingly open record of his boyhood
and early youth. 1t is hard 10 imagine
a more communicable page than Strind-
berg spreads. one where a reader stands
closer 10 the feelings and thoughts of
writer. Beneath this gift OF clear and
telling expression, animating and direct
Ing ii, broods vast self-pity, born of a
passion for self-contemplation. So COM
i!etsly has the man yielded TO this pre-
possession. so fully does he himself fill
the sky from horizon 10 zenith. that for
purposes of study and illustration pathOl-
OSy and abnormal psychology have come
10 lay an almost exclusive claim to this
surprising egotisL And yet, as one
reads this wholly frank and intimate
story Of Strindberg's childhood he is
tot so much imp ssed that this IL an
abnormal person as that il is self
absorbed and talkative one. The free
noIn and extent OF this self disclosure is
Its astonishing characteristic. The feel
ings themselves set down here in such
hdeiIty are part of the common prop
erty OF all childhood. This is what gives
the son OF a Servant a general value in
addition TO Its special bearing upon
strindberg himself. Other children. as
well a. this child. have lived, and do
I've. in strange and uncongenial homes,
with Indifferent or MISUNDERSTANDING par
ents Other children have been, and still
are, subject to ill-consdered tuition and
hE unsymr athetic attitude in the schools.
On TINS account Strindbergs story of
himself reaches out 10 a large application,
I'M ,.vv1.