Evening star., 1919-08-17

Two Wilhelms Between the Revo-
| lutfons Of 1S4S and 1915. By
! Poultney Bigelow, NJ. A., F. r. G.
| s., author of THE German Strug-
gle for Liberty" etc. New York:
royal runaways, both fee
ing from possible personal
] danger. furnish the founda-
| ton here of Mr.. Poultney
Bigelow's concrete study Of the es-
sence of militarism. Prussians both
l-Wilhelms I and II. The one, as
crown prince is flying from the revo-
lutionary menace of 184S. The other,
| in 1918-full war lords speeding
| ignominiously away to Amerongen
for refuge against the wrath Of an
outraged world. Between these two
sketches seventy years of Prussian-
| ism. Within this period he presents.
clear to the eye, that series of high
Points-that ascending scale Of pure
russianism-which. out of the po-
litical motley of multitude of Ger
! man states. achieved a German en-
pire. Each of these high points
stands out like vivid personality
as in truth it is. For each Is. in ef-
feet, the physical projection into sur
to-power. embodied in some man. or
In group of men-Wilhelm l. Bis
marck. Moltke, Room. Wilhelm II:
Sidelights from autocratic Russia and
liberal Italy and France on the other.
reaffirm the true content Of German
advance toward empire and re-
emphasize the special nature of Its
progress. In writing habit drama
tist. Mr. Bigelow, is. at bottom. a his
and effects. In this capacity he.
therefore. gathers this series of
events into unit for the sake of
showing that the period under con-
long militaristic thinkings and plan
nings and doings, just as 1T is also
the equally logical forerunner Of the
great war. This is a brilliant and
communicable study of the intimate
personal side Of the German political
ideal. The pacifist side Of this dis
cussion is Notwithstanding more.
in substance. than a partial roll call
OF political dreamers from Gibbon to
woodrow Wilson, philosophers all,
Vandal goes on from a thousand years
to another thousand years in an un-
abated ferocity of murder and out
rage.
PARKWAY STORIES. BY William
J: Locke. author Of The Beloved
Vagabond." etc. New York: John
Lane Company.
How good it is to have William J.
Locke nowadays! Everything-that
is. everything except William j.
Locke-is so calculated, at the mo-
ment, to make one low in his mind.
The war has passed out of it's uplift-
ing days into the depressing messi-
ness OF cleaning up. with fierce ac
cusations and denials as the main
instrument of this process. H. c. L.
is keeping folks awake of nights.
Workers and employers are quarrel
ing most unpatriotically. The boil
sheviki are going to catch US II We
Swithin has been particularly mean
this year. Any one able to make
one forget. even for a little while.
this amazing bog of depression is
along COMES the beloved Locke to en-
tiee one away from the common well
ter of hard-luck literature into a land
of kindly things. into the realm of
genial and poetic adventure. In a
dozen different moods does he act as
familiar Locke-land of simple hap
penings and most delightful oiti-
zenry. Though these separate moods
lead one through varying scenes
week, as 1t were-they are, as a
whole, of the familiar pattern, woven
Of human kindliness touched OF with
the whimsical turns that this author
sees in life and rescuee from 1t for
our well being. In a friendly pre-
| fatory note Mr.. Locke dedicates to
the reader the two stories OF this
! volume that he loves the best. We
kAI he fvurr nHt
be satisfied until you have done the
same. Then you will not rest till
you have verified your choice.
DEMOCRACY. By Shaw Desmond.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Democracy Is a novel. a drama of
discomfort, staged in the streets and
parlors and parks of London. It's
movement fs. in the main, mob move
ment with class leveling as the goal
and democracy as the Anal issue. La
bor, in its revolt against the wage lot
| of the laborer. forms the center Of the
movement. To right and left Of the
workingman, however. stand the So
| cialfst. the anarchist, and many a
minor list Of less determinate name
and aim. Meetings and strikes and
| riots advance the action of the drama,
| Oratory of both soap-box and parlor
brands placard the revolutionary
plans OF the crowd. Leaders, women
and men alike. agitate for increasing
acts of rebellion. And, through the
medium of this pushing. fighting, riot
| ing crowd, the story goes on to an
| other defeat for what these people
| are pleased to call the cause of democ-
racy. The handicraft of the author is
remarkable. The nervous clipped SEN
| tence; the short chapter. solid with
| some single turn Of events; the quick
shift to another packed moment of
| action; the vision of some towering