Evening star., 1922-05-14
Reviews of New Books

THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY OF
| GOVERNMENT; Essays. By Al
| pheus Henry Snow. author of THE
Administration of Dependencies. %
etc. New York: g. p. Putnam's
] Sons.
n R. SNOW here makes analysis
MI of the American philosophy
l"E of government-that Is to
say, he traces the line Of
thinking that produced the political
theory of our democratic form Of
government. a vital and basic point
opposes this theory to- that OF
monarchical governments. These
confer Fights upon their peoples. The
| nized fundamental riehts-God- given
rights-and this recognition shaped
our political theory and invented a
system to safeguard this theory and
reduce 1t to practice. The Declara-
tion Of Independence affirms the
able rights" to. life. liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. The Constitu-
| tion defines them with exactitude in
its bill of rights and elaborates the
mechanism by which these rights
shall be preserved @ even q sgainss ain tine the
\ .
difference that sets democractes of
from monarchies. 1t marks the
growth of the individual In power and
| the. rise of the people to government
| making stature. An effect which the
| author traces here in a most timely
/ consideration is the problems that
| this vital difference sets upon all In
| ternational dealings-upon arbitra-
tions. world tribunals, leagues OF ma
| tions. He reviews the Monroe doc
trine as merely reafiirmation of the
| theory Of fundamental rights in gov
| ernment, In order that the old
monarchical system should not be
| transferred to Latin America as a
| barrier to their development toward
| free government. Every student Of
| reader would be enlightened. and
stimulated. by a careful consideration
| of this exposition of our government,
and of the allied studies that accom-
pany it.
MY MEMORIES OF EIGHTY YEARS.
BY Chauncey NJ. Depew. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons.
| A memory eighty years long takes
| ono back to the Harrison-Tyler ad-
| ministration. Then the national bank,
high tariff and the abolition move
| creating new political combinations.
just as these and other political
! theories have been doing ever since.
From this far starting point Mr..
Depew moves forward to the present
| in a brilliant tide of reminiscence.
American readers are justifiably and
properly curious are brought here to
| so close a range that time slips out
and immediate contacts are set UP.
| Political leaders, business pioneers,
| diplomats, writer's, statesmen and men
4 n VI nd thanYv
this company for the readers benefit
| and delight. Innumerable interesting
| facts about one or another OF these
| prominent figures, facts hitherto un-
! known to the average reader. build
| into ones acquaintance with many
| who have had much to do with the
| building of the country. One gets a
new view of the author himself here.
| The genius Of Mr.. Depew for the Mt
| ting and perfect anecdote has, in a
| way. obscured the man to the COM
mon citizen. Here. wholly by Incl
| dent. the other Man takes his proper
| place and the reader feels a sort OF
proprietary pride in this fellow citi-
| zen. A rich life, a substantial and
| useful cancer. an amazing sum OF
together with the writer's fluency and
| warmth of expression, contribute a
surprising addition to the body of
American memoirs.
IRACEMA; Legend of Ceara. By
Jose de Alencar. Translated from
the Portuguese by n. Biddell, F. r.
| G. S. Rio de Janeiro: The English
| Press.
| A tragic, little story that goes back
| 400 years and more in the history of
Brazil to the early contacts of native
| and European. 1t is the old story of
! alien races. with youth and love seek
4 hsI
| them-an old story of disappointment
and disaster. The romance. as such.
Is of singing and lyric quality.
Around it is gathered store Of
legend and ancient custom. of native
rites and ceremonial. of native modes
Of resistance to the white intruder
in this respect the book passes from
fiction to folklore, one of the founda-
l tions of primitive history. The most
| marked quality of this romance, and
local color, its setting in nature. This
it is that joins that long past to the
present, for the same rivers flow now
| as then. The same forests bank the
streams, the same jungle of vegeta-
| ton shelters the same wealth Of ami
1 NAL life. Color and life and move
| ment are here in rich abundance. The
author of Iracema stands as leader
| in the literature of Brazil, a leader
ship that has. recently. been given ma;
statue at Rio de Janeiro. Novels,
| dramas and poems give evidence of
his genins. One novel. indeed. forms
the foundation of an opera that has
| been sung throughout Europe. A mat
| ter Of special local interest attaches to
| the name Of Jose de Alencar, since 1t
Is his son, Augusta Cochrane de Allen
| car, who 10 at present ambassador
from Brazil to the United States
Translations Of the best Of South
American literature are beginning to
| move into this country. 1t IL an in
| valuable medium for q truer knewl-
| edge of our South American neigh
! bors, for closer friendship, for, a
| clearer understanding. More than
this. the literature of that country is
as literature, a rich and absorbing
| field of letters.
THE COWBOY. BY Philip Ashton
Rollins. New York: Charles
| Scribners Sons.
This book stands as a needed piece Of
rescue work. set a-going to deliver the
actual cowboy from the wholly artificial
parsonage that wild west tales and the
moving picture have made of him. And
| it is as interesting as 1t Is important
| Here one finds out where the cowboy
came from-what originated him, 30 to
| speak. The hectic stories and pictures
have given no hint Of the source and
! cause Of his being. so he has been
classed with Topsy and let alone at that
This most readable account follows him
| from his beginnings and shows the real
part he has played in the building of
the west. incidentally. too, this COM
plete study of the cowboy in his various
| activities sums to a consideration Of
the opening Of the west to ranch and