Evening star., 1928-05-13

AS I KNEW THEM: Presidents and
Politics from Grant to Coolidge. BY
Henry L. Stoddard. New York:
Harper .and Brothers.
m A S I Knew Them" gives golden
~ ~ opportunity to satisfy In a
"A certain direction that curl
1 \ osity Of which, despite stren-
uous denials, we all stand
1t is only when curiosity
falls into the bad company Of gossip
and traducer that it merits repudia-
ton. Otherwise 1t stands as the true
background Of all knowledge and
progress. Between these two zones
there lies q broad middle ground
neither so high as that OF pure learn
ing nor so low as the muck of false
report. Here endless activities of use
fulness are going on, movements sub
stantial and inspiring about which all
should know. 1t is within this area
that Mr.. Stoddard's subject unfolds.
Here the theme Of politics and Presi-
dents opens, illuminatingly. under the
seasoned appraisal of journalist who
has spent active years in a hand-to-
hand association with both politics and
Presidents. Here, from Grant to Cool
idge, facts, incidents. personalities, epi-
sodes. summaries and prophecies jostle
one another In common urge to
spread before readers many an inside
chapter of events marking stages of the
progress of American politics since the
Civil War. Inside history Is about all
the history that really counts. And
here you have 1t at many a point of
question and crisis. New and often
startling items creep into this report at
frequent turns of 1t. Names that have
dimmed with the daily press Of things
and things grow bright again under
this restoring hand. Grant. the end
less feud of Blame and Conkling. Cleve-
land. Mckinley and host of others
move up into the present, each COM
pact In the substance Of his political
service. With a general line of Ameri-
can history Of this period in mind. you
are privileged to begin reading this
book at any point you may choose.
Many people read books backward.
do. This method permits good send
on out Of the vivid, the immediate, the
fairly well known, into situations that
are more remote and less suited to a
prompt seizure Of their substance.
These will begin this book with the
present administration, with the pres
ent outlook upon parties and policies
and promises. From this near stand
point 1t is an absorbing process to move
back, step by step. to the presidency
OF Grant. shedding some opinions,
changing others, on the course to
more distant. and less intelligible pc
riod. However. the method of reading
Is not essential. II is the book itself
that counts so tremendously in the way
of lighting up the immediate political
past and its present. One OF the two
outstanding features of this book is its
effect OF intimacy. its effect of select
ing, expertly, from an infinitely wider
field than could possibly be presented
here. The other clear claim to inter-
est Is the authors turning about to
face his readers with point so keen and
drive so hard upon their own personal
part In the politics of the country.
Poor administrators In town. county,
State Nation. mean simply that every
American voter is not doing his duty
by the country. He Is either refrain
ing from exercising his right to vote
the most inexcusable of all slackers,
this one--or he is debasing this right
to vicious uses. A fine book. stimulat-
ing from beginninr TO end and packed
with facts that are both interesting
and deeply significant. More than this,
book OF the captivating quality that
calls for of-and-on reading. to be
picked UP hundred times for some
moment Of fresh satisfaction.
~ "a
THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES SINCE 1895.
BY Chang-Wei Chiu. New York
Columbia University Press.
THE speakership OF the House has
become call OF special appeal to
the political writer. The benefit of this
quickened response goes where 1t is most
needed. TO the general reader of politics,
to the active partaker In the affairs of
democratic government. The studies
based upon this theme follow common
course, as a rule. They give the his
toric rise OF the institution. It's relation
10 both legislative and executive
branches OF government, its growth un-
der the expanding complexity OF huge
commonwealth In need of closer legis-
iative cooperation. The treatment
moves forward with the increase of
power which the personnel of the
speakership gradually secured and sus-
tanned. power that by practical revo-
luton In the House forced more equi-
table distribution OF prestige and infiu-
ence Beyond this critical point the
studies, In common. record the various
measures OF adaptation by way of which
the speakership met the new demands
upon IL. They then pass into reports
OF activities and procedures up to the
present time. The study in hand Of
fers no departure from this accepted
formula Of treatment, But 1t does
provide a strikingly new effect. For
here Is a scholar from another coun-
try bending all his energies to this
special instrument of American Gov
ernment OF much longer racial In
heritance than our own. born to other
traditions than those that have taken
root In this country, possessed OF other
national ideals trained in another
school OF political outlook and purpose,
Chang-Wei Chiu. despite such seeming
handicaps. bends himself here to a
patient and searching study Of sub
Iect not too well understood even by
Americans themselves. Here Is an ex-
haustive and scholarly investigation
that takes form In completely clear
and reasoned treatment OF difficult
theme. Undertaken. possibly. for the
writer's own sake, the result Is. never
theless, one Of calculated usefulness TO
every student OF American politics.
auu xxnng Nxs gr.yw xxAx&@.n -