Evening star., 1926-06-13

OF Potential Russia" etc. New
York: Doubleday, Page & Co.
<THE United ~ STATES 1t ,,;ss > is Rteh the
ard Washburn Child, Am
i bassador to Italy, by virtue
of this office came into
close touch with the other countries
of Europe. And, no doubt, this COM
mon comment upon his country from
European observers shocked the AM
baSsador. 1t is a shock to US, 100, re-
minding us not ffatterlngly OF our
own bearing of regret and superiority
toward the countries south OF US at
the rapid rise of "liberators." the,
swift shifts of government, the law
less disregard of life and property in
those quarters. That We, so proud
and stable and law-minding. should
be classed with the more Temperament
tai peoples of the Western Hem
isphere is certainly untrue and un-
fair.
Upon his return to America Mr..
Child became a member of the Ma.
tional Crime Commission. Stirred by
the foreign comment against us. he
began q thorough investigation OF our
crime record. Appalling, even In cool
statement This discovery led the
commissioner to study the causes of
crime in this country, and from this
point to look into possible remedies
for the deplorable situation.
The book in hand gives the results
of this investigation. The first out
standing fact is that Europe Is right.
The United States is the criminals
paradise. The causes for this are
many. The supreme cause, the one
standing at the head of the list, the
one most general in application, is
the practical doing away with the
home in so large a part of this coun-
try. We are coming to be race of
nomadS Our roots have no soil. Set
here today, tranSplanted there tomor-
row. Prosperity with its easements
the automobile, labor-saving devices,
the craze for pleasure. These are the
undermining influences of the home,
with its duties and obligations. There
are other causes. For instance. our
mixed population. with its old ideals.
refusing to assimilate with the Amer
ican purpose and plan. But all of
these combined fail TO balance the
growing disregard of the home. Next
to this in importance is the general
attitude toward the lawbreaker. The
attitude of the courts on the one
hand. the attitude of sentimental cit
liens on the other. Mr.. Child be-
lieveS in Furnishing the criminal. He
believes in a sturdy pursuit of this
program of punishment. It's the only
way, according to him. to put the fear
of God and man into the heart of the
lawbreaker.
You will find this very robust
treatment of the situation before all
Of us. Behind its conclusion is a
great body of significant investigation
into crime and its causes. Into crime
that takes effect in the individual and
into crime that is organized and pro
NOTED as any other business is or
ganiZed. You will find here little
dramas at whose center is this boy or
that one. gone wrong with a zeal and
an intelligence worthy of some fine
career as an honest and useful citizen.
The book has more than one Of these
concrete and objective points in
plain record of less dramatic appeal.
Mr.. Child knows and declares that
the American pepOle when wakened
to the sense of a great issue can he
depended upon to act. promptly,
unitedly. efficiently. The time has
come for them to see and to think and
to get together in matter from
which no one of them has a warrant
of security for his own family, his
own property, for the family and
property of his neighbor. for the
soundness and health of his own
country.
a book of clear statement right
feeling, sound advice. deep concern
q book, too. filled with the informa-
ton that we heed to see at once in its
rounded content. in it's appalling sig
nif1cance.
THE BLIND GODDESS. BY Arthur
Train. author of His Childrens
Children" etc. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons
IN the otherwise bare walls of the
Criminal Court of New York City
hangs the picture of a heroic female
figure-Justice. The undisturbed dust
and CRIME and smoke of many years
have obscured it to dim and slowly
vanishing point of visibility. This pic
ture stands as the symbol of Justice
in Arthur Trains latest dramatiZation
of the ways of justice in the procedure
of criminal trials. The hero of this
modern story is an ardent young
lawyer bent TO the business of demon
stratins that justice does exist and
that his own profession is it's oracle.
y single case projects the lone fight
wherein this quixotic young man
seeks to vndicate the integrity of the
dlrt-blinded woman whose picture
hangs above him and at the same
time uncover the chicanery that di-
reefs so much of legal tactic and
practice.
A romance goes along with the main
body of this pursuit. Perhaps a
touch of melodrama follows the love
story. However, on the side of ex-
position and exposure THE Blind
Goddess is indubitably but one of a
thousand actual cases coming under
the eye OF Arthur Train himself, but
one Of the many episodes that make
up his sturdy warfare against the
criminal methods of many who stand
as advocates of justice and fair legal
measures. The basis of this story is
literal fact, without doubt. It's hero
is calculated to win the interest of
those who on the one hand are out
for fair dealing and on the other
glory in the lone fight and the ulti-
mate winning.
GEORGE WESTOVER. BY Eden
Phillpotts, author of Orphan Di.
nah" etc. New York: The Mac.
milan Company.
A FTER 80 novels of clear painstak.
ing expended in great part upon
the body and soul of Cornwall after
many years of penetrating and pune
tilious Interpretation of hands s.
breadth of English soil, Eden Phil
potts is beginning to ease up to the
mere telling of a story. Here we have
the Victorian period and within 1t
George Westover, it's principal figure
quite capable at the age of 80 of sus
tanning a full novel length of lusty
activity and a still potent interest to
readers of this old conservative. TC
Westover, Gladstone was a radical. il
not an actual red. And the old Tory
stormed in the fullblooded English
way at the dangerous encroachments
upon the integrity Of the nation by