davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
BerrlstorfHf' S Own Storv
Former German Ambassador Tells How He
Worked for Peace

| but I wanted to make peace before we
came to the end Of our tether.
"Ludendorff-We, however, didn't
want to-
Bernstorfr's book reemphasizes the
fact that Germany's war strategy was
never clarified or stable. His dipIo-
matte instructions varied according to
the exigencies Of the struggle in Ber-
lin between the civilian and military
factions. Bethmann- Hollweg had to
fight Tirpitz and Fslkenhayn, and the
empires foreign policy was in the bal
ance during those squabbles. When
Luoendorff came into power Bethmann-
Hollweg's sun had set, and the Foreign
Office became only an attachment to
General Staff headquarters.
Bernstorf felt that he could look
for support to Won Jagow. But all the
others in Berlin were more absorbed
in the rivalries of domestic politics
than in winning the war by clear think
ing and adroit action. The boosted
Prussian Constitution was supposed to
insure absolute unity of control-the
prime requisite in war. But it insured
only disunity, because the Kaiser was
incompetent to command and the vari-
Gus political and military factions
fought and intrigued to exercise COM
mand in his stead.
Germany, lost the war because Of
Ludendorff's fatal misjudgment in Jan
uary, 1917. On this point BernstorT
makes the shrewd observation: at
seems TO have been our destiny that all
our most important decisions Of the
war were the outcome Of military and
not Of political considerations. On the
Entente side the converse was always
true, and that is why. though It suf-
fered many military reverses. the En-
tente won che war"
BernstorR's account Of his relation
to German sabotage and offensive Ger
man propaganda in this country must
be taken with more than a grain of
suspicion. But his personal desire to
keep Germany and America at peace
cannot be doubted. His book shows
that he was a keen student of Ameri-
can politics and we'll informed one.
He has scored news beat on every
correspondent in Washington by telling
the world that if President Wilson had
been defeated for reelection in Novem-
Der, 1916, he would Immediately have
made Charles E. Hughes Secretary Of
State and then resigned, turning over
the Presidency to the Republicans.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
BY William l.. Mcpherson

IT N AN article in The Tribune Sun
day Magazine section for July 10
l showed how completely Count
Won Bernstorff's book, "My Three
Years In America" CHARLES Scribner's
Sons), demolishes legend created by
some Of President Wilson's admirers
and contributed to by the President
himself in the celebrated McCumber
colloquy. That legend was to the effect
that in his diplomatic dealings with
Germany prior to January 81, 1917, Mr.
Wilson was deliberately preparing the
country-at leasts morally-for war.
Some other aspects of this important
and absorbingly interesting book de-
serve to be noted. 1t may be said in
passing that the title of the transla-
ton is a misnomer. Bernstorff was
the Kaiser's ambassador here for eight
years, instead Of three. The title of
the German edition is more appropriate,
Germany and America: "reminiscences
Of the Five Years. War"
Bernstorff is the most successful of
the German apologists who have so far
broken into literature. 1t must be
admitted that he makes out a case for
himself from his own diplomatic dis
patches. He was wiser than his gov
ernment-wiser than either Bethmann-
Hcllweg or Ludendorff. He says that
he was convinced after the Battle of
the Marne that Germany couldn't i'm
pose peace Of conquest on Europe.
He believed that her only hope lay in
q peace of conclliation-based, in q
general way. on the status quo ante.
He wanted to encourage mediation by
the United States and to keep the
United States out Of the war at any
cost.
That was too rational program for
most Germans. Bernstorf played the
diplomatic game here with great
ability. There seems to be no ques-
ton that he would have kept America
neutral had his policy not been con-
stantly thwarted by gross blunders in
Berlin. He read the situation better
than Ludendorff did The latter grossly
deceived himself in the question of the
efficacy Of the U-boat warfare, which
Bernstorff was clear-sighted enough to
wish to discard. The former ambassa-
dor recounts this interview with Luden-
dorf at grand headquarters in 1917:
"Ludendorff-In America you wanted
to make peace. You evidently thought
we were at the end of our tether.
Bernstorff-No, did not think that;
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
Love and a Feud
An Old Theme Is Handled
Attractively

TN The Wall Between Little,
L Brown Company Sarah Ware
Bassett writes simply and with a
good deal Of skill Of New England
character. The wall is the symbol for
neighborhood enmty, a family feud
that has dragged itself on for so many
generations that the survivor scarcely
know how it started But though the
wall itself crumbles, the feud tlourishes
The story itself is unpretentious
enough. Indeed, the fresh ingenious
ness Of the love story which concludes
the enmity hardly seems native to
these bleak people, whose flinty hard
ness is each generation sharpened
afresh on the granite hills. But though
Miss Bassett is intent on making her
story romance, she does not for that
reason soften or bedeck the sharp
native outlines Of her characters.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
A Detective Story
Mystery Does Not Hold
Out to the End

DETECTfVE stories are usually
the basis for a battle Of wits
between the author and the
reader, and be a mystery tale never SO
engrossing, the reader will be a trifle
disappointed II he can identify the
guilty person before the author re-
veals the secret, Therefore. No Clue,
by James Hay jr. [Dodd. Mead, will
d!sappoint any experienced reader of
detective stories who can lay down
the book long enough to puzzle out the
situation
No Clue is compounded Of famil-
lar ingredients, but it Is a we'll knit,
we'll written story which emphasizes
an inquiry into motives rather than a
series of melodramatic Developments
Nevertheless, the present reviewer was
able to name the murderer of Mildred
Brace long before Jefferson Hastings.
detective, tossed his cards on the table.
Mr.. Hay, in his anxiety TO mask the
criminal, declined to permit suar,cion
to fall on the guilty person, wnn py
the circumstances of the story, might
reasonably have been considered as
murderous possibility. The reader. by
process Of elimination, Will be able
to spot the assassin. although the mo-
tlves remain undisclosed until Jeffer-
son Hastings reveals them
However, the fact that some readers
will be able TO solve the mystery with.
out the assistance of Jefferson Ha,.~
ings should not be considered a. a
serious charge against the story
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19

the internal aTasrs Of q country In
which he 10 @ visitor.
an England, should be with such
protest and with "a loud q voice as
possible, but think that II I did so
In America 1 might be very justly
told to mind my own business, and
that no matter how wrong the people
who said 1t might be in other ways,
they would certainly have right on
their side in that"
st. John IRVINE answered the mani
festo heartily and without reserve.
YES, indeed, you may add my name
to the list Of protesters against the
banning of Jurgen. l consider myself
to DO very ordinary sort of person,
with u mind as shockable as that of
either of the Rockefellers,. but could
not find anything in Jurgen that seemed
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
KyUGH WALPOLE calls |
4 4 this ban on Jatrgea H.
dicr0us

without mentioning publishers; 1t has
liberty"
The emergency committee Is now en-
gagged in drafting en- amendment to the
laws affecting these persons Mr.. Clark
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., painters, sculptors
and scientists. The efforts of the com
mittee, he says, are directed toward
the passage Of q law which would
permit a work Of art, If its "morality"
be questioned, to be judged by those
qualified to pass judgment on it. The
work Of art" would embrace every
work that might be considered seri-
GUS effort.
ut would be patiently absurd to ask
any jury to decide whether book or
"a picture was or was not an enduring
masterpiece" says Mr.. Clark "But the
distinction between the book that treats
sex as part Of life and that which
treats sex primarily for the purpose
of stimulating the sexual instinct is
easily drawn"
Mr.. Clark's objection is not to the
existence Of a law permitting censor
ship, but to the kind Of censorship
permitted under the existing law and
to the personnel Of the jures which
may pass upon works of art"
Mr.. Bicrstadt's objection is much
like Mr. Clark's in principle, but differs
decidedly in expression. He presents
his ideas in an essay on Morals, Not
Art or Literature, a heading borrowed
ciety for the Suppression Of Vice,
Definition of Terms
"Persona,ly don't understand it at
all," he says, in reference to the cap
ton. 1T implies a relationship that
does not exist; 1t makes distinction
between elements that cannot be COM
pared; it states dramatically rcvela-
ton that has nothing to reveal"
He demands definition of terms
and then proceeds to define the terms
Of this heading as he understands
them. He says: Morals.
They are what we have made thems
and we'll we know that at best they are
only the poor approximation Of what
we would have them Morals,
or to phrase it more normally, the NOR
alist would we'll know that il Jurgen
were true art it could no more be i'm
moral than life itself, and he would
know likewise that If it were not true
art it would die from sheer
malnutrition and inertia"
Mr.. Bierstadr goes on with his
method Of definition and gives q few
Of his opinions upon standards Of art
and the code, which may influence them
for q short time. He raises the ques-
ton as to the fitness Of q professional
moralist to judge works Of art.
"a moralist is no more capable OF
judging a work of art than is pure
food expert" Not content with this,
Mr.. Berstadt goes further and says:
"And, too, the question may be
raised, Are the members Of the Society
fer che Suppression Of Vice meralists
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
irrational jury of Writers Votes to Acquit Jurgen

az snT No, surely they are not. They
are experts in immortality, that 10 all,ss
Replies Of the Writer'S
AN appeal to protest against the sup-
preston OF Jurgen, addressed by the
committee to g number Of we'll known
writer's. elected some interesting ex-
pressions Of opinion. A decided ma
jority Of these authors show marked
sympathy with Jurgen and hostility
to the idea Of book censorship, al
though q few voices are raised in de-
tense Of the society, and some writer's
refuse to commit themselves without
having read the book.
A typically strong eutburst 10 that
Of Sinclair Lewis:
ITO stop the sale Of such q book,
while permitting lewd plays to con-
tinue on Broadway, is practically like
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
JAMES BRANCH CABELL, author of Juroen 4vhich has
come under the ban of the Vice Societu

to me likely to destroy or even disturb
the morals Of strict and particular
Baptist.
There are two kinds Of war: the war
waged by evil men on the body and the
war waged by moro evil men on the
mind. . Wherever one looks to-day
one sees attempts being made to con-
troll opinion and to suppress thought
We must fight with our backs to the
wall in defense of free minds"
A Wsrd for the Society
Another view of the case is stated by
Brander Matthews III brief note
"No, l won't join you. The Society
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
r THEODORE DRESSER,
Il nrho backs up his protest
Nth q 500 contribution to
the defense fund

and sell openly obscene photographs
as they do. The only thing
they have 30 far omitted is to ban
The Thinker
in fighting for Jurgen you are serv-
ing the highest cause. We have had
50 few books of sheer magic beauty
in this country that the thought of
assailing Jurgen is infuriating"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
Vice Society Is Condemned
A Change in the Law Concerning Works Of Art
To Be Demanded

@Te Suse az prompt to proceed apa;na+
an established publisher or q known
author as against the street peddler
VINO seeks 70 excite impure thoughts IN
'ns minds OF boys by retailing question
aoie pictures on the public street. Anv
0tnef course would lay "a open to ,uat
criticism" '"
Principle OF Censorshgp
The principle Of literary censoruh,n
is sharply attacked by Mr.. Clark in his
formal report and by Mr.. Bierstadt
IN short essay entitled, Morals. Not
Art or Literature"
The executive committee CANA IN
the conclusion that to carry on an
extended campaign, either on behalf
OF Jurgen or Of any other book, or
against any particular society, could
not improve the situation" says Mr..
clark IN his report in explanation of
why the original plan Of the committee
TO give wide publicity to the proteat
and the list Of signers WAS NOT car-
ried out.
A Change In Law
so 1ar as any definite conclusion
can be reached as to the most sffec-
tive method Of suppressing tho SUD-
pressors, 1t Is this: That the law. as
written by Anthony Comstock and an
iofeeo Oy MS successors, must be rad
'cal1y amended. That law not only has
permitted gross injustice to writer's.
painters, sculptors and scientists-
without mentioning publisher. It has,
Dy reason Of its skillfully worded
terms, permitted the establishment Of
mass Of judicial decisions and intar-
pretatlons the application Of which is
contrary to the first principles of
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19

for the Suppression Of Vice Is probably
making fool Of itself-as It has done
on more than one occasion. But I am
old enough to feel very grateful to it
for the cleansing Of the newsstands Of
New York from what they were fifty
years ago. hold it to be most use-
full organization; and l don't believe
that there Is really any danger here in
the United States in the twentieth GEN.
fury that any true work Of art Will be
suppressed"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
Love and Air Lines
Struggle Against Big Odds
Enlivens American Novel

II ME- recent establishment Of an
ocean-to-ocean aerial mail service
has emphasized the value Of aero
plane and dirigible as savers Of time
In transportation. We naturally ex-
pect a new school or department OF
fiction to come into being, one that
WALL give In story form the adventure.
the romance and the business phases
OF this fascinating product Of the
times. Rolworthy Hall 10 TO be con-
gratulsted.
The timeliness Of his latest novel
Egan (Dodd, Mead q Co.. must give
it welcome beyond that accorded the
average piece Of fiction, for It's plot
centers in the struggle Of q youa@
American officer returned from the war
to apply his knowledge, gained In the
air roads over France. to modern bust
ness demands In the United States.
Bronson Egan, son of "old man
Egan," Of Plainfeld, Ohio, has all his
fathers qualities Of stubborn self
reliance and grit. The elder Egan had
built up q big manufacturing plant In
Plainfield through his own efforts and,
desiring to give his son benefits he had
not enjoyed, sent the boy to college,
where he won fame as an athlete and
an easy grip on the admiration OF his
fellows. From college Bronson goes
to France and becomes q famous flyer
over the Hun lines. The novel opens
with the young man returning from the
war and nearing Plainfeld in a Pull
man He overhears, in a conversation
on the train. details Of his fathers
death and the smashing of the Egan IN
dustrial plant by competitors.
From the hour Of that overheard
talk dates Bronson's determination to
wiring from his fathers enemies a. full
measure Of reparation. But the young
fellow, aggressive, too sure Of his abilt-
ties, unwilling to take generous advice,
plunges ahead, practically without capt.
tai, N an effort to form q corporation
to build aeroplanes and conduct an ex-
press business over air routes. The girl
he has loved for years is the daughter
of the man who has plotted to ruin his
fathers business, though he does not
know this at first His absence in
France has thrown him wholly out OF
touch with the politics and trade rival
ries Of Plainfield, and he is baf3ied and
beaten until he Is glad TO accept posi-
tion as foreman Of gang Of laborers
on e highway. Another girl comes into
his life. shrewd and companionabls
young woman, and the drift Of tho
novel goes down g new road that opens
up fresh vistas, possibilities and sue
cess.
OF course. all comes out happily in
the end. Egan is not novel of the
first rank. 1t Is as local as the trans
Allegheny stories Of Booth Harrington
and Meredith Nicholson. which it re-
sembles, and it is rich in the drive and
the color Of our modern America that
has won vision OF magnificent con-
quest and Is on the march. 1t holds
up q mirror TO q restricted community
life, catching the movement Of big
business and the fleeing figures Of 4
little but engrossing love motif In
peculiarly human and American
manner.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19

great military motor lorries, packed
with soldiers and sailors waving red
flags and cheering and shouting ves
hemently."
Against the Treaty o
OF the Treaty Of Versailles Princess
Blucher says:
~ fear that England has missed
the right moment for restoring
touch with the German people and
laying the foundation for a lasting
peace in Europe. After the yevolp-
ton, in the great wave Of tbs reae-
ton against the war, the Entente
could have done anything with tho
German people had they made tho
slightest overture toward q reesa
Citation. People here were ready
to make reparation for the wrong
done by their leaders. But now they
say that Wilson has broken his word,
and an undying hatred will he
smoldertng in the heart of every
German. Over and over again I hear
the same refrain. we shall hate
our conquerors with hatred that
Will only cease when the day Of re-
venge comes again."
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19

Princess Butcher, an English girl mar
RED to German prince, who spent
the period of hostilities in Berlin. In
An English Wife in Berlin she has
given this country a sharp pen pic
ture of the feelings that actuated the
enemy leaders and common people dur
ing the war. She knew the Kaiser,
Roger Easement and other figures
about whom the world has yet 20 learn
the full truth. She ate kangaroo
thankfully during the food shortage in
the German capital, and. with re-
markedly clear judgment fostered by
her divided sympathics, weighed enemy
and Allied propaganda at its proper
valuation.
The book is diary. Early in Au-
gust, 1914, Princess Butcher whotc:
Exactly what was the real cause
OF the war no one seems to under
stand. 1t is said in England that
Germany provoked the war, but here
they emphatically deny it, One
tHiHS grows clearer 10 me every day:
neither people here nor there de-
sired the war, but here they are
carried off their legs at seeing so
many enemies on every side"
From the princess we learn that
German propaganda for internal CON
SUMPTION was as INSCRIPTIONS in It's
ho
fostering patriotism" as we now know
that Of any other country to have
been. Regiments of convicts, the Ger
man people were told, formed the
mainstay Of the British army; sap
pers' knives, made with a special SCOOP
to twist out the eyes Of German pris-
oners, had been provided; Belgian
women and children had been guilty.
Of terrible atrocities.
Kaiser a pathetic Figure
Then there is the ex-Kaiser. q
pathetic figure even in those days. &C
cording to the princess, who remained
his loyal friend. At court ball in
Berlin the former Emperor asked her
to christen his new cruiser Blucher.
* expect you'll get into trouble with
your English relations if you launch
my battleships, now, won't you?"
In 1915 Princess Blucher wrote: "He
is too terribly misjudged and misunder-
stood
She wishes England could know how
the Emperor had forbidden air raids
over London, had opposed Won Tirpitz's
submarine warfare and had tried to
stop, and bitterly regretted, the execu-
ton OF Edith Cavell. The military
party, she writes, OVERRIDE all his weak
objections.
"He complained most bitterly that
he was deceived and lied to from the
outset of his reign, and especially
throughout the war; that he
was treated as nonenty by the
General Staff; that they made 5
point Of contradicting every order or
command he gave; that he was
turned out of the room whenever the
telephone rang at headquarters, so
40 NOT 20 heaT' che commands and
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
All-Wool Morrison

A TWO-FlSTED mayor Of a West
~ ern city, who fights the graft
ers with one hand and the Boil
shevists with the otner-that is the
hero Of AlWool Morrison, by Hol-
man Day Harper & Bros,). Morrison
is Of the idealized type of young
American business men who cannot
be bullied and who cannot be seduced
He ia an impregnable fortress of vir-
tue against every temptation-even
when the father Of the girl he loves
proves to be the leader Of the ring
which 10 trying to steal the water
power of the state he does not swerve
FROM the path Of gectituda
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-19
Mr.. Mencken's Opinion

II. L. Mencken is equally outspoken:
"The raid on Jurgen is the crown
ing absurdity. The book is not only
a sound and honest piece of work Z;
it is also an unquestionable work Of
art, and perhaps the finest thing Of
this sort ever done in America. In
any civilized country such q book
would be received with enthusiasm
by every educated man: here it is
exposed forthwith to the stupid at
tack of persons without either tntelli-
gence or taste"
Theodore Dresser recommends an
authors defense fund. He says:
There should be a cash defense
fund, such as for the last Ave years
l have advocated, which should be de-
voted to the hiring Of competent law
gers and the prosecution Of these cat
tie in every city in which they OPP
erate-and they now operate every
where"
Hugh Walpole is one Of several for
behalf of Jurgen. Mr.. Walpole says:
Il can only say, in the first place,
that l regard any censorship Of art,
organized and directed by men who are
moved by political and moral feelings
apart from aesthetic ones, as an I'M
possible anachronism in any modern
civilized country, and that in any case
cannot see that Jurgen can possibly
be held to offend against morality for
the simple reason that there Is no In
cident, detail or description, from one
end Of the book TO another, that is not
there entirely for reasons Of truth
and beauty"
John Drinkwater, in replying to the
appeal, says that he is heartily tn
sympathy with il. but refuses to take
part In something which belongs to