Evening star., 1924-09-07
Reviews of New Books

| the present, ne cites IL as, tltne diteI
time, the subject of public concern. In
the United States, even, it has been a
thing of moment, giving rise to more
| than one effort to do away with so clear
| IN enemy to the general welfare, III
| was the war, Lord Birkanhead reminds
! us, that aroused the feeling essential
| to the success of any propaganda, this
, coupled with the urge of war industry
to hold labor to Sobrety for a greater
output of war materials, that brought
prohibition to the point of national ex-
pertinent. Astuteiy the prohibitionsts
| took advantage of the ituation to set
re the case by the flna'ity of constitu-
tonai structures. From this point Lord
tiirii mead gives passing survey o.
this experiment as 1t operates, on the
one hand. in the case of the poor man.
on the other hand in the case of the
| rich man. Leaving out the steps of a
very logical line of a. sument, let us
give Lord Birkenhead's summary Of the
case of prohibition in the United States ::
Surrey the results as they have so far
emerged from the experiment justify
the conc usion that where one is dealing
with Se!f-re'ating actions the only
moral conQueStS which are either Va!u-
abe or attainab,e are those which are
gained upon conscience through convic-
ton. and that d law which intolerantly
imposes upon adult citizens an absti-
nence which they dislike. by prescrip-
tons which they consider .tyrannous.
can never effect a permanent improve
nent in human morals"
UNDER THE RED FLAG. By Rich
ard Eaton. New York: BrentanoS.
An open and intimate story of per-
sonal adventures and observations in
Red Russia. Richard Eaton, sent by
the Daily Mail and continental
newspaper to investigate Soviet Rus
STA, offers this volume as evidence
of first-hand, eyewitness, personal
partaking substantially. Under all
sorts of ditficulties--among them ar
rest, imprisonment and the threat Of
death-Mr. Eaton made his way about
the country, picking up every avail
able item whose nature promised eX
planation. however slight. of the cha
otic condition of the whole. He de
scribes Soviet Moscow from an. inside
which not one in thousand is able
to penetrate-certainly not those who
come out of the city-with smooth pic
lures to carry to the outside world
He tells of prison life from his owr
experience, passing from this TO a
general summary of the character Of
Soviet justice. Trade, domestic and
foreign, as this is pursued and pro
jected, is analyzed. The war agains'
religion and the atrocities against ths
priesthood are described in effective
and convincing detail. In word.
maxim the most of his opportunities,
which were more often than other
wise personal misfortunes and mis-
haps. Mr.. Eaton hands over to readers
vivid account of the disorganization
of this great country, Yet, the con-
CluSion of this seemingly hopeless
matter is distinctly hopeful. Russia
is destined to become the most pow
erfui nation on the continent" Ii is
young nation and this is a world of
youth. The revolution has unified
Russia TO a degree. 1t has given
nationalism. These only in the bud
and slow of growth, but bound to
bear fruit in the ultimate greatness of
Russia. A brilliant and interesting
story that gives one a many ;ded
view of the country at the hands of a
competent observer and a most en-
tertaining writer.
JENNY THE JOYOUS. BY Cornelia
Stratton Parker, author of An
American Idyll." etc. New York
Harcourt, Brace & Co.
implications of glad" story lie
in this alliterative title. Nothing
could be farther from this in fact
however. Mrs. Parker has wit, the
keen-edged kind. This would make
her shun Pollyanna as the plague.
Besides. she lacks certain illusions.
Maybe she has lost them. Maybe she
never had them. All that concerns
US about the matter is that the
active agency working here in the
story of Jenny appears to be this
general establishment pressed into
the open through a swift and untir-
ing sense of the absurd. the untrue,
the incongruous. This combination
applied to the experiences of Jenny
produces an effect wholly at odds
with the monotony of the incorrigible
cheerfulness of glad" heroine
Yet it has dangers of it's own, this
special medium. For one gets here
the impression of unreality, just as
he does before the exercise of a cheer
fulness that no misfortune can cor
rupt. Jenny is so completely and
thoroughly the trump through hap
penings calculated to down the most
dauntleSS that she looks, now and
then, suspiciously like a legend, in
stead of plucky woman blowing her
way through all manner of discour-
agementS of common current pattern.
just the story of girl, much like all
girls. Just the story of a young
woman in love and then of a young
woman married, and then widowed.
Joy and sorrow and rather unusual
trouble-or what would have been
trouble to any but the Jennys of the
world. The story is meant, clearly,
to make a realistic picture of high
courage drawn from the common
realities of current life. 1t almost
misses this clear intent through over
drawing on the one hand. and on the
other hand through the authors
seeming inability to resist her own
cleverness. Even cleverness can be
a handicap under injudicious indul-
gence.
SEWARD'S FOLLY. BY Edison Mar
shall, author of The Land of For
gotten Men, etc. Boston: Little,
Brown e. Co.
Another pioneer story to step off
in company with those other two of
recent appearance, THE Covered
Wagon and "Vandemarks Folly"
This one, as its name indicates, deals
with the approaching transfer of
Alaska from Russian to American
control through the foresight of Will
liam H. Seward, Secretary of State
IN the Lincoln Administration.
Against the Alaskan background is
set an involved intrigue of fur trad
ing companies to obstruct the trans
fer of the country from Russian to
American possession. At the center
of this conspiracy, ferreting it out,
obstructing it and finally thwarting
it, as group of Americans, out of
which are drawn both the hero and
the heroine of the political adventure.
These serve also the prime purpose
Of the romance that runs along beside
the historic circumstance itself. This
hero is Jefferson Sharp, dyed-in-the-
wool Southerner, a soldier of the
Confederate Army. who, after the war
is over, consents to go, at the request
of, Seward, an old family friend, up
into Alaska to spy out the land in