The Washington herald., 1921-04-09
THE HERALD BOOKSHELF
BY Darling
BOOKNOTES

facts that take place between IL
and the world upon which IL preys.
Emerson Clifford Taylor. repre-
sented In the spring fiction by The
Long Way Round" was a major OF
infantry Of the Twenty-sixth di-
vision and acting assistant Chief
of StaT. AS the Official historian OF
the division he published last fall.
New England in France. 1917
1919"
1t was with more than a critical
sense that Thomas Il. Dickinson
selected his chief contem orary
dramatists-it was with almost
prophetic vision. His book antici-
pated a number of the New York
successes of the year. Mr.. Dickin-
son discovered Guitry and arranged
for the use Of his play. "Pasteur."
before the same writer's "Deburau"
had become one of the theatrical
events of the season. Abraham
Lincoln Mixed Marriage" The
Yellow Jacket" "Amoureuse." The
Easiest Way" The Lower Depths"
were al, secured by Mr.. Dickinson
for his book before they appeared
in New York. other of the plays
which he included will undoubtedly
he staged in America next winter.
Mr.. Dickinson seems to combine to
an extraordinary degree the stage
mans canny knowledge Of what
il takes to make a genuine stage
success and the literary mans
knowledge Of genuine.
The problem of the distribution
OF wealth is discussed from some
new points of view in Hugh Dali
toms Some Aspects OF the Unequal
ity Of Incomes in Modern Commu-
mites" a recent issue of f. p. Dut-
ton e. Company. The author.who in
vestiEates and discusses the causes
Of that great inequality OF individ-
ual income which is so potent a
cause Of modern discomfort and
restlessness, proposes some reforms
that might better this condition
and shows how important IL is to
improve education as a means of
reducing inequality and increasing
production. He studies inequality
Of income from both an ethical and
an economic standpoint and criti-
cizes at length various past and
present theories OF distribution.
In his new book The Crisis in
Russia" CHuebsch) Arthur Ran
some. whose earlier book Russia
in 1919" attracted wide attention,
reports a conversation with Burov.
who rs in charge OF the famous
Propaganda Trains" which sug-
Sests, according to Mr.. Ransome.
"the most horrible possibilities Of
oficiai art under socialism" Burov,
whom Mr. Ransome describes as a
"ruddy. enthusiastic little man In
patched leather coat and breeches"
has been forced TO rely for the dec
oration of his trains on the Fu-
turists until very recently. One Of
his trains. "The Lenin," Mr.. Ran
some says. had been painted a
year and a half ago. when, as fad
ing hoardings in the streets Of
Moscow still testify. revolutionary
art was dominated by the Frturist
movement. Its pictures are art for
arts sake and cannot have done
more than astonish and perhaps
terrify the peasants and the work
men Of the country towns who had
the luck to see them. Another
train. the Red cossack.' n quite
different. As Burov put II with
deep satisfaction, AT first we were
in the artists hands. and now the
artists are in our hsnds!" This is
the sentence which suggested to
Mr.. Ransome ''the most horrible
possibilities OF oficial art under So
cialism.
On March IS the Harpers publish
ed "A Stake in the Land" by Peter
A. Speek. Volume Nv in the Ameri-
canization studies:" The Kaiser VS..
Bismarck" the volume for which
all the world has been waiting for
nearly thirty years and which
makes public for the FIRST time the
Kaiser'A letters to Bismarck which
preceded Bismarck's dismissal by
the young Emperor. Star Dust" a
novel by Fannie Hurst: The Rus
sian Workers Republic" by II. N.
Brailsford.