Evening star., 1917-11-04
OUT OF THEIR OWN MOUTHS. New
York: D. Appleton & Co.

OUT OF THEIR OWN MOUTHS. New
York: D. Appleton & Co.
-pHIS is a book Of evidence. gath
cred straight out Of the
mouths Of German leaders of
thought, German makers of
public opinion. The witnesses
here are kings and emperors, ministers
and chancellors. philosophers, his
torians, poets and scientists, publicists,
journalists and men Of letters, captains
of industry, party leaders. military
writer's and commanders in the field.
The burden and point Of this evidence.
drawn directly from these 1rst-hand
sources, is that the war now waging Is
the outcome of plans that. for the past
twenty-five years, have been headed
designedly upon this event. The evi-
dence itself Is of q character to show
that the unspeakable hideousness OF
this war is rooted In the nature Of the
Prussian, who. for a hundred years. has
stoutly maintained that war is the nor
NAL state of nations. shamelessly, even
gloatingly, this body of self-disclosure
people just the cruelty, the treachery,
the mendacity that have SO revoltingly
characterized the Prussian conduct OF
the present war.
Those who are not with US are
against U.S." William Roscoe Thayer
opens an introduction to the volume in
hand with this sentence. If any Ameri-
can citizen nnds himself possessed Of
doubt. or hesitancy. or reluctance OF
the blood to repudiate the Prussian.
a good antidote for such doubt, such
hesitancy, such reluctance OF the blood.
Unless he is hopelessly un-Amertcan he
will gladly indorse this statement OF
Mr.. Thayer, and he will, moreover, ami
mate his word with whole-hearted ac-
tion.
POLITICAL IDEALS. BY Bertrand
Russell, author Of why Men Fight,
ETC. New York: Century Company.
The heart of Mr.. Russe1rs political
ideal Is the well-being Of the individ-
ual. There can be no collective hap
piness apart from this individual
source From this standpoint the au-
thor passes to a discussion Of the two
sorts OF goods that the world contains
and the two sorts Of impulses to which
these give rise in human life. There
are the goods to which individual pos
session is possible, and. on the other
hand. goods in which all may share
alike. The former class gives rise to
the posSeSslVe Impulse, Inc property
impulse. The latter. gives rise to the
creative and constructive impulse.
whose center is the Intellectual the
mental and spiritual achievements OF
the world. That which holds the pres
ent period away from this ideal is the
predominance OF the first class of i'm
pulses over the second. 1t is to re-
proportioning of these two lines Of de-
velopment that the author devotes the
larger part of this discussion. In ad-
M in hn
light Of this outlined political ideal.
the subjects of Capitalism and the
Wage System" Individual Liberty
and Public Control" National Inde-
Pitfalls in Socialism" In this con-
sideration of political progress, through
the welfare of the individual, the writ
er stands clearly above any party
creed. any personal motive. or any OBJ
ject save that of setting human values
in the aeld of their truest advantage.
In intellectual appreciation and in po-
litical insight the book is a fair sue
cessor to that other distinguished work
by this author. why Men Fight"
FAITH. WAR AND POLICY. BY Gill
bert Murray. Boston: Houghton
Mid1in Company.
Mr.. Murray speaks Of himself here as
"a fairly representative English liberal.
standing just outside the circle Of official
politics. It is from this standpoint that
he submits these addresses and essays
on the subject Of the war The essays sum
to a carefully considered estimate Of the
common state of mind possessed by the
English upon entering the conflict
against Prussianism. Beside this. they
gather into clear statement some Of the
most important problems that the war
has set-has set, primarily for England
itself, and beyond that for the world at
and no conclusive victory foreseen. the
writer discusses, in a vein Of broad-mind-
ed statesmanship, the time when. all
things considered, the fighting should
cease. In part historical In treatment, In