Evening star., 1924-09-16
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
TliE LIFE OF CALVIN COOLIDGE.
Horace Green. Duffield 4 Co.

TuE LIFE OF CALVIN COOLIDGE.
Horace Green. Duffield Il Co. .
Every man Is a legend, either in
the making or already in a state OF
fultllment and finish. A legend meas
ured. maybe. by only narrow neigh
h"rhood limits or. maybe on the 9TH
or hand by world reach of influence
aud interest. 4 clear advantage OF
thc growing legend over the complet-
ed ona IL that anybody may take Il
hand Ia IT'S making. an exciting ad-
venture that frankly discounts the
seasoned values Of the finished and
ehbaiined brand. Just now the leg
ehd or calvin Coolidge is springing to
rusty growth under the enthusiastic
nurture OF host of observers and
students. reporters and recorders.
better than anything else do the
people or the United States love a
gong concern. Its assured efficiency
smooth gearing. high power, ready
uyhamic response--is In accord with
the spirit Of the country, a beat of its
own heart. In fact. At the moment
Mr. Coolidge stands the most con-
spicuous and satisfying example of
this twentieth century product. A
gong concern OF true American pat
tern. too-the native soil the simple
NE advantages scarce. opportunity
shy. promises faint A hard road to
travel. up hill and rocky, wav sta
tions infrequent and Of no great out
look. Then hill crest. Then an
other. Finally the mountain top-be-
low, the earth and the fullness there
of.
"A legend worth having some part
in. this. So followers at heel come
hooking, and students at farther
range, recorders. Interpreters review
ers+-ail doing their best to reduce a
man TO formula, TO fasten him by a
phraSe' 10 shape him generally to the
tidy uses Of historian, prognosticator,
prophet. Biography, sketch, anaIyt-
ical study, hearsay and plain gossip
are all, by way of press and speech,
lending a hand to the making of the
Coolidge legend. One recalls the tre-
mendous travail of the mountain that
uttered mouse. For the common
product OF this prodigious zeal of en-
uea'or is, SO far, no more than a cou-
pie or designating tags, silence" and
luck Nor has any one, vet, at
tempted to link up the two in sugges-
ton that the habit of silence may be
conditioning precedence of achieve
ment which by the Needless or the
envIous is easily passed off as 'luck":
or that this achievement may to "a
great extent be the clear logic and
the embodying form of 4 silence
whose chief content is habitual activ-
ity along lines of public interest and
concern. Nobody, yet, has done even
this.
The Life of Calvin Coolidge" by
Horace Green. is single leaf from the
seasons windfall of Coolidge literature.
IL Is. however, d leaf with shape and
color OF its own, clearly an inGi.:Gual
Ill an abundance that commonly implies
uniformity. 1t is, besides. ain uupreten-
uous book. A life" as a rule, appeals
TO the pedant, or PERHAPS it appeals to
Sucn or pedantry AS every author pos
sesses. Mr.. Green has successfully re-
sisted this seduction in the interest of
1ree and fresh approach to his subject
he may Well have said To himself, I'll
be the old soak" IN just loaf around
along the Coolidge trail, eopping up the
LOOK or 1t, the feel of it, the special stir
OF IT, trying to make out how it took
hold OF this boy and man, what share it
had in the making of him" And so
Mr. Green lotered a bit around Ply
mouth and Northampton, and over AT
Amherst, and down in the LEGISLATURE
and up at the governors place and
along to the vice presidency and. finally.
right into the White House itself Along
the way he let everybody talk-the
nelghbors, the school teacher, the shoe
maker the grocery man, college profess
sors, law partners. Legislative colleagues,
politlcal friends and enemies. All talk
ing right up to this moment that marks
the opening OF new presidential cam
paign. A many-sourced, informal pro-
Joction. It's immediate purpose that Of
reScung certain dependable and IL
Eliminating fragments from an obscur-
ing whirl OF contradictory and rnislead-
ing detail. Deeply Interesting in this
capacity. a further usefulness lies in
the scope and character of this study. II
will, serve, undoubtedly, a good purpose
as authentic material for future studies
OF American character and American
politics, rightly evaluated through the
agency or a proper perspective.
"A Few days ago President Coolidge
received at the White House an i'm
portant group of labor representa-
tives. He spoke of the interests of
labor, talking plainly and reasonably
OF the inherent rights and legitimate
privileges of the organization. From
this immediate approach he reached
out to matters of vital concern to
labor-immigration, tho tariff. taxes.
An outstanding feature of this ad-
dress. is that the President talked
straight across to the keen intelli-
gence of men on his own level. For
direct, pointed, precise, concrete
statement, this address stands an
oasis in the whirling sands of politi-
cal bombast and sweeping political
promise that is at the moment being
offered to the capacity of a nation of
illiterates and morons to inflame
party strife and to subserve the in
terests of personal political ambi-
tions.
One finds Mr.. Green's study Of Cool
idge filled with evidence that this is
the mans habitual mode of meeting
obligations-personal business, po-
litical-all the obligations that being
an American citizen implies. One
does not see Mr. Coolidge, once, turn
ing sudden corner to avoid a meet
ing, nor trimming at any exigency to
get away from decision. Never does
expediency serve, nor opportunisn.
Gov. Coolidge" SO an older story
runs, 'if you issue that proclamation
you will defeat and probably destroy
the Republican party in Massachu-
setts. You will certainly make it
impossible for yourself to hold an
other public Office" 1T is not neces-
sary for me to hold another Office"
and the governor want about his
business" Here he is talking away
back in 1916: 1T may be that there
would be votes for the Republican
party in the promise of low taxes and
vanishing expenditures. Good
government cannot be found on the
bargain counter. We have seen sam
Piles of bargain-counter government
in the past, when low tax rates were
secured by increasing the bonded debt
for current expenses or refusing to
keep our Institutions up to the stand
ard in repairs, extensions, equipment