Evening star., 1929-12-01
IDA GILBERT MYERS.

Y ONG ago. half a thousand wears.
in fact, before our present mode
Of reckoning time began, there
IL lived q man who rose to the
leadership of his state. A man
wise in the law, firm in its equitable
administration. One who advocated
prudence, thrift, simple Iving-and
practiced these himself as we'll Under
his guidance wars, for the time, became
less frequent and fierce. Industry
throve and prosperity became general.
Toward the end of his term Of Office
whispers gathered that he should be re-
turned to public service. The whispers
became vocal in eager words, and these
united in a common clamor Of demand
on the part Of the people. At critical
and momentous point Of the campaign
this man made formal announcement.
What he said was, in effect, 81 do not
choose to run again as consul Of the
Roman republic" And 50, Lucius Gin
cinnatus went back to live upon his
farm, "his small estate" over on the
far side of the Tiber.
This simple event became historical
and memorable, no doubt by virtue of
the fact that 1t cuts to the bottom Of
mans dearest preposSesSion-love Of
power, passion for place, JOY in homage,
happiness in distinction and the apart
ness which every human secretly be-
lieveS himself to deserve. To relinquish
freely that which ministers to these
natural urges Is, indeed, an act OF
heroic personal sacrifice. Not many
times has history had a chance to
record this act of political abnegation.
Coming to our own day, George Wash
ington, In the stately phrase Of his time
and in reasoned words OF political
philosophy, refused to accept again the
presidency of the United States. Much
nearer yet to us-only about two years
sgo-Calvin Coolidge startled the whole
world with the laconic II do not choose
to rum" retiring from this into the
silence again, leaving clipped sentence
to become waymark in the annals OF
political history.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CALVIN
COOLIDGE. New York: Cosmo-
politan Book Corporation.
U'THE chances of having wise and
faithful public service are in
creased by a change in the presidential
office after a moderate length of time"
A single sentence drawn from the fun
and direct amplification of II do not
choose to run" made here by M.
Coolidge as an important chapter in his
own story of his life. This chapter
applied to the chief executive ONCE OF
great country in respect to tenure OF
that Office.
The story itself, running back to the
earliest recollectionS of Mr.. Coolidge
and even beyond these for gathering
up of the family annals, is as straight
faring as is the famous pronouncement
itself Out of it rise pictures that are
reality itself The Vermont farm, the
village which it bordered, the men and
women of the neighborhood, the store
gatherings, the post office assemblies,
the sugaring-off in early Spring, the
blacksmithing next door, the grain
grinding down at the mill beside the
Stream-if you, too, were brought up in
such surroundings you seize upon this
vivid re-living Of the early years of this
man with Joy for the dearness of it all.
Then the demands of education are so
real-that clear New England obSeSsion
for good schooling"-from the little
old schoolhouse on to the village acad-
emy and finally to the college itself.
Soon one has to abandon this keen
sense of partaking, for the young fellow
Is getting ahead too fast for any gen.
eral following in actual experience. Here
10 b1IC WHICH AAAloCA4
does not call it that. Nor even does he
seem to sense it as that. But it is. And
along with its growth there come to us,
bit by bit-wayS so plain and practical.
yet with a touch of the mystic about
them-by which this man pursued his
own life. Some power that little sus-
pected in my student days took me in
charge and carried me on from the OBJ
Scure neighborhood of Plymouth Notch
to the occupancy Of the White House"
Students of political history will, no
doubt, cherish this revelation for its
sound philosophy. for its upright facing
Of political issues, for its mergence of
these with the complete sum of the
common life of a great people. They
will appreciate the attitude that the
political man Is also the man in civil
life, subject to the same attitudes and
exactionS, urged and supported by the
same ethics of conduct and behavior.
That which served to give life meaning
and value on the Vermont farm served
no less along the political highway that
led, finally, to Washington There is
no dignity quite so impressive, and no
independence quite so important, as
living within your means" Calvin
Coolidge was brought up on that. He
believed 1t. And so when he was the
President Of the United States he in
stttuted measures Of economy, or flnan-
cial thrift on the part Of the Govern
ment. OF wise forward-looking into new
and permanent expenditures, as well as
into great savings that reacted in bene-
hts upon every citizen of this great
country.
Read this book for its wisdom in poll
tics. Read 1t for It's sincerity of revela-
tlon. Read 1t for the tenderness that
underlies 1t at many point Read it
as the disclosure OF a man who possesses
actually possesses piety that works
along every day in many a plain and
practical issue. without any obvious con-
Germ about personal rewards, even those
stored up in heaven waiting for the man
VINO has been a Christian on earth.
II * ~
AN ARCTIC RoDEo. BY Daniel w
Streeter. Illustrated. New York.
G. y. Putnam's Sons.
IT was not until tales Of gumdrops
- for ESkimos made somewhat of a
sensation two decades ago that writers
away from the grand, the gloomy and
peculiar in dealing with their subject
Hardship, tragedy and darkness Stalked
through their pages, with hardly a
ripple Of amusement to break the mo-
notony Mr.. Streeter, author Of "Dena-
tured Africa" has gone almost TO the
other extreme; his description of a really
serious and valuable trip Is almost an
endless succession Of wise cracks" It
must be difficult to be both funny and
Instructive for $50 pages, but this
author has accomplished it, wearisome
though the lighter vein occasionally
hnRRYV1ac fE
Water Taffy," although not far from
the mark; nevertheless the entertained
reader obtains and digests a really
amount Of Arctic infornna-
ton. The mere perusal Of the person.
mel who, headed by Capt. Bob" Bart
lett, made this voyage in the antiouated
schooner named the Effle M. Morrissey,