Evening star., 1914-04-25
BOOK REVIEWS.
WHERE AND WHY PUBLIC OWNER
SHIP HAS FAILED. By Yves Guyot,

WHERE AND WHY PUBLIC OWNER
SHIP HAS FAILED. By Yves Guyot,
former vice president of the munici-
pal council of Paris. deputy 70 'ns nf
French parliament and minister OF
public works. New YORK. Inc MAJ
milan Company.
rT is wel-nigh impossible to pin So
cialism to any supported statement
of fact or to any showing whatever
III OF a definite program for practical
action. Socialism revels in promises
aud large gestures suggestive OF an all
around pIenitude Only take over under
nuhlic control this and that and that OF
nrivate enterprise-the telephone. the teie-
graph. street railways. continental rail-
roads. and so on. and so on-and all VIII
be well Then corruption Will cease
everybody will then get something for
ahout nothing, money will be plenty Tor
all and every days work Of the entire
Garth will be done up by Q o the morn
ing with fifteen remaining hours OF wax
ing for the wide world TO SIT on tne grass
in summer and by the fire In winter Ioa.-
ing both winter and summer anu hhSit-
ing its soul To be sure. there are many
qualifications and adaptations OF th1s
vision but all of them are eauaiy ioose
and elusive In sharp contrast 10 thls
general hazlness of view and statement
is the study of applied socialism made
here by NJ Yves Guyot under the tltie
of this volume NJ. Guyot is student
n writer II political and social economist
g statesman Of substance ana hlsh raiik. IN,
Moreover he is a true Frenchman in the
trained qualities of his mind-log1cai IN
thought thorough in method. terse ana
clear in statement. In view OF tnis hiSh
equipment VI. Guyots treatise on the SUP
ie,.t of public ownership has an extraor-
dinary value to the student of tins SUD
fect Among the topics discussed mere
IN so great a familiarity with thelf unoer-
living conditions. with the facts ana ne
,res of their results, are the various I'M
portant municipal activities OF Great
Britain. Germany. Russia. France. itaiy,
Australia Hungary. Denmark. S"ltzerianu
Belgium Holland. Sweden and the Unit
cd States. The author discusses also
state operation of railroads. state ana
municipal bookkeeping and finance nous
ing OF the working classes, government
monopoIies. private against puouc initla-
tive. state and municipai ehpioyneht'
graft and corruption. This broadiy com
parative view of definite method and act
nal results. the finely analytlcal CHAR
acter of the study. its logical movement
and unbiased temner make II an essen
tial part of ones study of the much ae1-
tated question of public ownership
WHEN GHOST MEETS GHOST. BY
William De Morgan. author OF Jo-
seph Vance" etc. New York: Henry
Holt Il Co
Trickling out from Sapps Court, Lon
don, Mr. De Morgan's new story me-
anders. in an elaborate maze Of rich
detail. over the city and the country
roundabout across seas to Australia and
back again to England. This vagrant,
far-faring invention sets out to bring
together in its own good time two sisters
who. separated for fifty years, finally
n,eet-ghosts from the graves of their
sirIhood cropping backward through the
long-forgotten years for memories 20
animate their shadowy vreunion- That Is
to say this is the motive of the story
if it may be said to nave anyIh1ns so
definite as motive and aim- But one
does not know his man if he thinks that
Mr.. De Morgan is going to conf1ne him
self to the fortunes of any two persons,
no matter how compelling the destlnles
of these two may be- People-nnen, wom-
en- and children of both high and low
degree-hoek here until well-nigh half
hundred claim fair consideration from
this hospitable writer Scenes ana 1pcl-
dents leap multitudinously from his open
hand. And the whole moves in and out
and roundabout, in most De Morganish
fashion. for about 900 pages of sheer de-
light To completely enjoy this nove-
or any other Of Mr.. De Morgan's BOOKS
one must be. in sense. an overiord OF
time. For the story will not submit to
hurrying. 1t is peculiarly book OF ma
vors and fragrances, a thing for cpl
curean hastings and enjoyments or It's
page-by-page charm.
Mr. De Morgan is a good deal Of
rebel despite his mild and disarming
manner. With no more to-do than one
makes in slipping Off an old shoe, he sets
aside the carefully formulated laws OF
literary construction. Then he builds his
novels to fit the way in which we see
Hfe-as cross-sections of an infinitely
large design. as truncated parts of in
conceivably great movements, as some
thing very splendid II only We could
seize 1t out of the flying sections Of its
slittering paseantry-and not at an as @
lawful literature. And how one loves this
iawless writer man.
OUR MR. wRENN. The Romantic Ad-
ventures Of q Gentle Man. BY SIN
clair Lewis. New York: Harper q
Bros.
one is so inclined to ascribe romantic
adventure to the young and beautiful and
brave alone. that he is likely to forget
pr overlook the fact that romance and
fancy may. and often do. dwell cheer
rgly in the hearts of those who. no
onger young and perhaps never comely.
We ploddingiy, in only the fnconspfcu-
IS but trying heroism Of the days
ork "Our Mr.. Wrenn' is a case in
Jint OF this commonly overlooked and
gotten fact. A thin, drab. quiet little
n was our Mr.. Wrenn, one who from
D. outside appeared to want nothing bet
than to sit on high STOOL year In
"a year out. adding and balancing col
ms Of figures in triumphant proof of
~ steadily increasing profits Of the va
'aty and souvenir shop Of which he was
essential but subordinate part. But
Jr Wrenn had hidden visions and Sc
ret dreams. wherein far countries lay
cpen to his waywise feet and strange peo-
les came and went before his delightful
YES. His little ballroom was furnished
hiehy with seductive folders of travel
nd his happiest hours were spent at the
vharves watching the big ships and the
Vusy river tugs. and thinking that when
his own particular ship came In he would
sail away. And then our Mr.. Wrenn had
almost a thousand dollars left to him.
SO he took a cattle ship for England.
And We. going along in a gale of pleas
'ire- shared his adventures on the ship,
and in the Bloomsbury boarding house.
and went sightseeing and never left
Mr.. Wrenn a minute till we landed to-
gether in good old New York" And
We went with him back to the store and
into the new and smarter boarding house