Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-02

Princeton: Princeton University
Press
HE experiments in government
Of which Senator Elihu Roo.
here makes study are The Iniu-
alive The Compulsory Refer-
andum The Recall of officers.
The Popular Review of Judlciai bec.Sioh'
a class OF experiments relating 10 'ie
very structure of the governments iese
These political expedients. in erect IL no.
in fun intent serve finally TO take regis
lation away from representatives 'hoa
nv the people and to pace IL IN 'ne
hands Of the people themselves VIM -
fact make their own laws at the paiio'
box. Thus. the essential princlpie upon
which orr government is based. anu W
which it's growth has been fostereu' sies
way. and a new theory OF Cover
arises representative democracy
masses into a pure democracy. ~
disrarded in days infinitely simpler ina"
these as an impra cticable source o. en-
cient law. The present drift through
those expedients. then. is backward 10
ward an outworn type. or. II. as tue
idealists maintain. il Is a forward move,
ment then the mi.lenniai cay toWatu
which ii points-a day Wnen tue WIZ
electorate is a schooied. wise. lar-seeuis,
honest and unselfish body-is 80 1ar III
the future as to give II no pony IN t,e
present What one gets out OF the STUDY
is that through these experiments the
institutions of the government axe on
trial for their lives, "a * were. ma inns
too when the powers AID posSlplltles
Of these institutions 10 correct toe evils
that have grown out of tremendous eco
nonlic and industrial changes have not
been fairly and sufficiently tried. TO
abandon perfectly seauortny ship. IN
the storm. for dereiict craft salnns
some utopian mirage. is made 10 loon
like an act of infdelity TO the people
themselves. This is a plain. close, I'M
personal line of logic. Illuminated ny
very clear insight into the WORKINGS
of human nature. and supported by
knowledge and experience that are d.
rcctly calculated not only TO set out the
problem in unmistakable terms. but also
TO devise safe and sane adjustments OF
our political institutions to the contutlons
surrounding them. This is volume 10
study. There are hundreds of books
bent upon mere agitation. or seif-ex-
ploitation where there is one definitely
planned. like this one. to clear up the
facts of tho case and to give expert and
broad minded Judgment upon the Issue.
THE UNREST OF WOMEN. BY Ed
ward Sanford Martin. author of
THE Luxury of Children. etc. New
York: ID. Appleton co.
Good information. good sense, an imper-
turbabe good nature and an exceptional
sense of humor combine i'm this examina-
ton of the present distraught state OF
wcmankind MIR. Martins first conciu-
sion is. upon looking out over the world.
that the unrest of woman is not unique,
but instead only part OF everybody S
uneasiness. That 1t is identical With the
unrest of China and Japan. of every
country of Europe. of Mexico and the
little states around 1t. identical with the
unsettled condition of politics and indus
try. of art. medicine. religion. All "hu-
manity seems to have outgrown its old
collar and to insist on having one OF the
next larger size" This is the droll way
in which this writer depicts our straining
out of old notions into new ones.
At heart Mr. Martin is an old-fashioned
man. as Ellen Key is. in sense. an old
fashioned woman. not able to get far
away from the fact that woman has
glorious mission. a ssobly exclusive voca-
tion- For women to have splendid babies
and to rear them grandly looks to him
like an incomparably useful and beauti-
full job. But, he is fair man, recog-
niz.ng the patent fact that not every |
woman is elected to this calling and that
modern industry. besides. has played the !
mischief with old-tine housekeeping.
Since suffrage appears to be the nub of
the woman movement just now. Mr.. Mar
tin devotes himself to the task of ascer-
tanning the all-rOund views of certain
prominent suffragists. to get at, II may
be. what 1t is that they want. and how 1t
IS that suffrage is to help them in getting
this. Mrs Belmont. Miss Thomas of
Bryn Mawr, the admirable Miss
Adams and Miss Milholland serve him
as the oracles of this movement. Even
from these high sources he finds an Eek
traordinary confusion of argument, a
constant Offering of reasons that are per-
4,
would be political and general. and
constant citation reasons for the suf
frage. of facts and situations. which the
suffrage seems unlikely To affect" The
cause OF this disturbance he counts as
chiefly economic. Its cure is politics and
religion. There is great problem to be
solved in politics. but IL is not dispropor-
ionately a woman problem. and it will
women. The woman problem is part.
and especially symptom, of IL. The
woman's influence and thought will
greatly affect the solution of il they
got to be worked out by the ablest po-
litical minds our country can produce,
working continuously on II. and the
ablest and least distracted minds for such
matters are still the minds of Men But
the great agent in pacifying human life
and making peorle content to live II Is
religion. Satisfactions are rare except as
spiritual acquisition offsets material de-
feet
Whether one agrees or disagrees with
this writer. the book. budget of good
sense and fair-mindedness, is well worth
reading.
COURTIN' CHRISTINA. BY j. J. Bell,
author OF Wee Macgregor" etc
New York: George II. Doran Com
pany.
The Macgregors--"Wee' and jim
and Christina are old and pleasant ac-
ouaintances. brought forward again by
Mr.. Bell as a dependable source of good
Scotch humor and the best possible
medium for his own particular gift of
reaching the undercurrents OF human be-
havlor. Macgregor the hero of this tale
is no longer Wee" Macgregor. but young