Evening star., 1924-09-20
The Library Table
ny THE BOOkLoyER

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han simply craft or vocation. The
war, and especially the after-the-war
attitude Of newspapers az organs of
pubic opinion toward wayward eco
| nomic and political opinions induced
oy postwar conditions have subjected
newspapers to such attacks, as that by
Upton Sinclair In the Brass Check" as
10 put journalism on the defensive
This has led journalists to define and
state or rcstate the principles underiy-
| ing the profeasion. The numerous new
schoole Of journalism that have recent
ly been established have emphasized
! the professional character of journalism
and have called out the many texts
treating not only the technical routine
or newspaper work, but also books out
ilning the principles upon which jour
naiism must be based in order that it
may rank as a profession and hold the
confidence Of society.
r X
Casper s. Yost who is described on
the title page Of his book as editorial
editor of the st. Louis Globe Democrat
! ana VINO Ii also president of the new
American Society of Newspaper Editors,
says that he has been led to try to
formulate the principles of journalism"
| because OF his conviction that there is a
! growing need for such statement and
definition. He states that although
journalism has taken it's place among
the great professions il is in
fact' so new that it is only now begin
nlng TO realize within itself that il is
/ not a mere aggregation of individuals
pursuing common vocation. but an
ehtity, whose rights must be guarded
whose integrity must be maintained and
whose pgiI .;
J hlZed. by its individual parts" His in
terestlng book defines the standards of
Journalism, its obligations to the pub
nc ltS aims and ideals. 1t is a sober
ana orthodox discussion of such TOPICS
as the truth in the news. the Selection
ana rejection Of news, personality in the
newspaper, editorial responsibility. the
ireedom OF the press and the ethics of
Journalism.
The last topic forms the entire
subject of "The Ethics or Journal
ism, by Nelson A Crawford. head
or the department of journalism of
the Kansas State Agricultural Col
ieee. Thls Is much more thought
provoking book than the one by Mr..
fost. 1t gives a fuller statement of
the perils and pitfalls, the sins of
omission and commission experienced
by the press. 1t quotes at length
from some of the severest critics of
newspapers. such as Upton Sinclair.
Walter Lippman, Samuel Hopkins
Adams. Freemont Older, Oswald Ga
risan Willard. and he meets these
criticisms and tries to construct the
principles and standards of practice
In journalism that shall further the
pest interests of society. Both vol
uInes contain copies Of several codes
of newspaper ethics. particularly the
Canons of journalism" adopted by
the American Society of Newspaper
Editors in 1928; both. likewise, give
the Marion Stars code written by
the late President Harding. Prof
Crawford's book contains nearly 2Ol
such codes, either in use in individual
newspaper offices or adopted by edi-
torlal associations. His book. which
is a very timely and constructive
contribution to thought about the
place OF the newspaper in society,
VIII be of interest to many others
than practicing Journalists
X
One answer to the question so often
raised as to the kind of books one
would choose to read in enforced soli- !
tude Will be found in BLACK Laugh |
ter. Llewelyn Powys, the author of |
this Robinson Crusoe" of the con-
tinent of Africa, who lived for so |
many years where he rarely saw a |
white man, thus describes his Sunday
reading: I read every line of
Shakespeare three times over. 1 read
Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy
and every word that Matthew Arnold
had ever written. And most restora-
tive L found the long urbane SEN
tences of the latters prose, prose
that kept alive in me the happy
knowledge that life contained other
concerns than fretting preoccupa-
ton, with material gain"
X
The man who every Summer sends
nome by express, as a result of his
vacation in the mounta ins and woods.
parcel of several small balsams spruces,
cedars and pines, to set out on his CITY
lawn or In his city back yard and who
every Spring digs up the Drowned skele-
tons of the same little trees and throws
them in his city trash cans at the alIev
gate. should read the book Cultivated
EVersreens,' edited by L. H Bailey. 1t
contains group of articles by special
isls on transpla1ting, soil preparation,
mulchnS, pruning, fertilizers, tree sur
gerry, evergreen diseases and their
remedies, as well as the adaptation Of
eVergreens to landscape gardening. The
oook is intended primarily for hortic,Jl-
turlsts, foresters and landscape archi-
tects but the amateur gardener with
only small piece of land and a taste
for mr. trees will also find it helpful
X
The recent visit of the Moscow Art
Ineater TO this country will make many
eager to read the story of the artistic
life of the founder and director of the
theater, Stanislavsky. His book. INV
Life in Art" is full of Interesting ex-
perences In connection with the drama
eHorts TO elevate the theater to i'm
prove acting, to introduce new forms
and methods, to represent life more
realstlcaily and sympathetically. Con-
stantin Stanislavsky was born in Mos
COW in 1863. He became interested in !
the stage in childhood, when he was
taken to the opera and heard the great |
Itahan singers. During this period he |
also began amateur acting in which he |
initiated his favorite actors. In 1907
he began the plan for a new tvpe of |
theater which developed into the Mos
cow Art Theater Since then this the-
ater OF artistic realism has produced the |
plays of the leading Russian drama
tists-Chekhov, Gorky, Andreyev, GogoI. |
ToStoi. Pushkin-aS well as plavs of
knut Hamsun, Ibsen, Maeterlinck and |
Shakespeare
X X *
Not long ago Albert Edward Wig |
gam, author of that much discussed |
book, The New Decalogue of Science"
was In Salem, Mass, to give a talk. |
Every native whom he met immedi-
ately told him that he was in the |
whaling center of the world" In /
the evening when he had been duly
introduced, Mr.. Wiggam arose tower
ingiy-he is a tall man-and leaned
toward the audience: IT hear this is