Evening star., 1923-06-26
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THESE UNITED STATES A m
postum. Ernest Gruening, editor.
Boui & LIveright.

4 .
| postum. Ernest GrueninS. editor.
! Bonn Dc Liveright.
Hero the states go marching by.
part of them 1T least. Twenty seven
In this section. to be exact. The re-
| naming ones announced. though not
yet in sight. A spectacle. this. Not
quite the historic pageant. not alto
! gether the monotony Of event and
routine of record that Stamp con-
| ventional history. little OF both,
more like, with something over and
| above, making the spectacle unique.
/ alive, striking, illuminative. Chron-
icle distilled to pure essence. History
| become, so to speak. subject Of
/ modern chemistry, whose reactions
/ separate lasting significance from
Epassing appearance. AS If some
! sublimate process were to dissolve
out from Il human being, any human
| being, the innumerablc things that
/ he is not, leaving him stark in that
| alone which he really is. This ker-
mel, this core of individual existence
We tag, for convenience, with the
name of spirit" And this pageant
| IS. in effect. that Of the spirit of each
Of these states made visual through
the art Of understanding portrayal.
K Z y
! Kansas leads the procession. VIII
! liam Allen White. the alchcmist.
F! chosen 10 transmute the gross bulk
| Of the commonwealth TO the precious
! metal OF its inner existence. And
| Kansas, as a result of tine process,
marches here q clear Puritan, Those
! landing on plymouth rock three
! hundred years ago were no doughticr
/ than this outstanding. straight.
! stepping heir Of those early new
! world crusaders. Mr.. White takes
pains 10 establish tho Legitimacy Of
! tnis descent Not far To 20 for proof.
! not farther back than those days al
/ III" mid-centurE, when stephen Doug
/ la. in quest Of th" presidency. AN
I lil!ted the Missouri compromises b.
! the sTuatteT sovereignty plan. where
! b. the settlers themselves decided by
| vote for slavery or against it. a
/ modest forCrunHeT. THIS, Of M VII
! sons doctrine Of Self-GotCrmiuisuH
! applied tn the world itself And this
/ Is the way that self-G"terminatiou
worked ont in Kansas oH the qucS-
! ton Of slavery. The Puritan of New
! England. Wc must recall, was as
/ pruVidcnL as ne was pfoUs. Even uD
/ 70 this day he has held 10 these
/ BUd-t tlsS--tist pl tNClN, C"ftallES. 30
/ when s4uaItrr sovereignty became 2
| fact the PHritars promptly provided
| the 'squatiers' for kansaS--tlOOdiuG
! Inc territory with staHCh abolition
/ isis thereby floating the advocates
] of slavery into the quiet baCEEatrr
| - a harmless minority. That period
! Of potent initial experiment set tho
| color Of Kansas for all time--a good
! Puritan indigo hue. Ana Kansas
! has thriyen greatly on abolishIus
| many things. on refnrInin" all things
! Not for nothing does his soul -
I marching on" the soul Of John
/ Brown. fanatical reformcr and son Of
Curious effects have followed the
uuguenchablc zeal Of Kansas for
! world made better For instance
this Puritan marching hy is still al
[ English Puritan. pCedOruinautly Eng
iiish, whereas the states lying round
about carry heavy strains Of S"aud -
| irayian and Teulou blood. Cause
/ Kansas in the aboHShiDg business. a.
tusltaL This time 1t is old King Alec
! iIo and al! Of his tribe down to ths
ttcast collateral triCkle Of taint To
fCierman and Eorseman. innocently de-
ipendeHt Tor generations on the brew
| that afterWaEd made milwaukee, ia
nous. Froh.n!tion built nliie-h!sl !!
! barrier against setting down their
| thoUsehold gods In this dry dust
! comma Ulyealth Result: An uncom-
mon purity Of English strain in KAN
Sas sharp contrast to the more usuai
| igoue>onlerate Of American citizenship.
Social and political isms, each hen;
upon q Puritan pattern Of Utopia has
found fat soil in Kansas. And what
sort Of state has grown from this pc
cUllar initial impulse? state IN
which everybody works-Satan. there
fore. pretty much out of job. Ja'j&-
las Il rule. empty. Courts of law with
! time a-p!enty on their hands. A state
lin which the community wealth IS
gu0rmouS--no individual exec SSiVclN
lrich however. 40 other one degrad-
tin@!y poor. Education. in true N"w
| England fashion. sings high here. Il
| liiteracy pipes very low. Such are
some of the high points of intent and
| achievement under whose bright ban
marching by-most decidedly still on
its way.
Too much of Kansas and William
Allen White here, with twenty-six
much. Eut. necessity-Su these TWO
, in capable combination have been
made TO indicate the high quality Of
.he whole splendid performance.
There are other gorgeous spots in this
! pageant, where an uncommonly rich
! subject and 2. vivid medium OF deljv-
cry have. more than once, worked to
an amazing effect. Such. in example.
! is the apocalypse of the Desert"
! Here Murray King sets out the Nor
! mon origin and possession Of Utah.
projecting an entire sect rapt. like
! John on Patmos. before the vision OF
/ Il new heaven and a new earth. Such,
I too, is ~ lingering Fragrance"
! wherein Ludwig Lewisohn evokcs the
,.l,s,
! the old aristocracy of Charleston. u
! "Reminiscences around which the au-
! thor arrays the sharp contrasts OF the
present. Madame de Ia Louisiana"
by Basil Thompson. is sheer capt
( vation as wei! as 4 very disCrimfna
ing historical incarnation. 'Still q
Keystone" is Reginald Wright kauff-
mans highly .intalligent and deeply
! interesting study of the gTeat-still
great-keystone state. Playful titles
Stantial work. The FordizinG of a
Pleasant Peninsula is one of these.
Sherwood Anderson's bit of swaGger
about Ohio, I'm Say We've Done
TO find Mr.. Nencken for once in his
life. at any rate, III the middle OF the
road. MaryIand'S persistent showing
of Just the average" in every sort
of state record and accounting forces
| NIr. Mencken into the strange busi-
ness Of studying his state as the
apex of normalcy." \ finely inforn-
ing and unbiased survey upon the
whole. Mr.. Mencken at the last. how
ever does indulge his disposition by
thanking God that his state is free
from--and then there is consider
able list of persons and measures and
practices against whom, and which.
the author kicks around and thrashes
| about in quite characteristic fashion.
Reassurng, too. for print would lose
a lot if Mr.. Mencken Were to turn