Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-10
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
1. G. NJ.
hEWIoH ID. BAKER America al War
Frederick Palmer, Dodd. Mead a.

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Eea.gl that right at it, front door
! 4Ls meets is'l " tace, tpe United
81 alta lletlf, az embodied AID sefitlsnt
! Ha,us advancing upon war. A. H3opgE-
bus I.stiSDsl lSefled come W Ife, active
| ana immediate already Ci4 Us way "
! me Hogid conflict. A. giant bent upon
ahaiiGg thbt struggle ~ both military
PBIiakiHg aud civil responsibility. The
| crash III BATTLE, the HDbJialEt Oh Gee III.
| And then, the accommodations and
sattleHle.s III either victory or defeat.
| IiiA accumulation, VIVID and com
plete, carries. ia effect. an individual
| biography
4 story u be told. A report 70 be
rendered Its Sole condition that OF
authenticity, unimpeac1labie. The au-
thar Col. FREDERICK Palmer, profeE-
eiDHaI soldier. sehoolec and trained 70
military habit and outlook. man,
life wise besides, not only 70 the ways
Ut Waf ia its stripped reality; but 70
tiA deep significance or itg effects, Dotn
near and far. as well. Himself upon
tl1s western front during the American
occupancy Ut that area.
! A source OF material for the enter
prise Of making authentic record! NO
other where than the War Department
itself, stored with every sort OF exact
information upon the subject In mana.
And, likewise, no other one than the
Secretary of War 10 open the priceless
arcana 10 this writer who will have only
the truth. stamped officially as such.
And, so, Newton u. Baker, Secretary
OF War and Col. Palmer came together.
The one requesting, the other con-
senting.
Newton d. Baker: America at
War" Ia the Issue Of that series OF
meetings.
"The book is too long" A critic at
his lob. Well, except for skilled crafts
manship, 1t would have been twice, or
three times its present 1000 pages. For
a second, picture the author, neck-oeep
in documents, huge harvest OF onlclai
war correspondence, military and civil,
domestic and diplomatic.
A prodigious task. To assert this
mountain of material, to eliminate the
repetitious or irrelevant, to compress
to coordinate, to give proper stress
here, to hold an easier hand there. The
issue Is 1000 pages OF organized fact
on the subject of the war. Not TOO
long" Do you think?
ITO diffused, too rambling" An
other critic speaking. AS matter OF
fact, the great event itself was hardly
tidy affair. 1t did not fit the single
thread upon which a good novelist
strings romance or adventure. Instead,
here was a living thing, monstrous,
ramping and raging, confused, con-
fusing. Bedlam loose in the open. II
is this spirit, as we'll as the facts above
and below and around it, that the au-
thor has captured. Not too rambling"
Do you think?
At this exigent war hour the Secre-
tary of War, Newton D Baker, was
most influential, the most important
man in America.
And here he is. Certainly man Of
business vision and habit. And SO, a
forward-looking man, envisaging a
thousand needs to be met Immediately
Anticipating the slow processes OF leg
islation, he made plans and programs
to be spread broadcast for use the in
slant that action became law. The
speed and thoroughneSs of the draft
is case in point. A sincere man,
wooing expert knowledge and advice.
An adroit man, readjusting men and
measures for efficiency, without too
grown lax. A silent man whose fire.
quent mo" and less ready Yes" were
final and time-saving.
Yet the storm he raised from poll
tician and ambitious hero. But, did
not partiSanship and self-seeking die
in this crucial day? It seems not. A
"pacifist"! Opprobious title! Yet
just a minute. Are we not all pacifists?
Else what OF our boosted civilization?
Pacif1sts who revert, now and then, to
primal savagery, driving us out to kill
one another. After which 1t is as
sumed that we, purified by this bath
of Brotherhood, mount another rung
in that human device, so naively
named civilization" However, Newton
D. Baker, despite the clear disgrace of
his convictions, went on helping the
war by every means within his official
and personal power. Armies to be
modified, industry and finance to be
modified no less than the collective
spirit of man himself.
This documentary evidence alone,
submitted by the writer, draws from
the reader all homage for the sincerity,
the competency, the achievements of
supreme trial.
Reading, one wonders about Fred
erick Palmer. Where did he get the
poise and dignity of his course through
this book. Where did he get the self
effacement, freedom from personal OBJ
trusion. Where the unbias of mind
and eye? Is this due to his training,
even in part? IF it is, then West
Point is worth its keep, along with
its kind, in both peace and war In
hcmely civilian phrase the man
minds his own business" beautifully,
besides being compact, chiefly, of
straight common sense.
: A couple of plctures-"King Per-
shing" over in France. A twisted
smile or two right here. In truth
he was king Pershing" and some
thing Of 3 martinez besides. Good
thing, too. Seeing the poilu a bit
shutting and lax in off-duty behavior,
and the Tommy, too, this commander
decided while waiting, to have a little
West Point there in his own area.
Just, perchance, to save boy from
his own ignorance and daze and death
when the deep hour struck.
Another picture-Secretary Baker
over in France. Nobody's guest, Just
man going about, everywhere, often
alone, to see something of the day
and night Of the soldier boy from home.
Just now he is talking to company
of our men, drawn up by the road
side And suddenly''-Col Palmer
talking-"I realized he was not saying
what I had expected him to say. And
through the friendly talk shafts Of sun
light from coast to coast of the home
land shot across the Atlantic"
and mingled with the sunlight of the
Alps And I knew then why these
boys were there and the cause that
brought them" the cause of q common
humanity. Only the Secretary of War
speaking to company Of home boys
along the roadside of France.
One more word. A few paragraphs
introducing a new chapter yield
curious idea. Not expressed, mind,
but there, nevertheless. This thought
is that George Washington and Elihu
Root have been the great and only
American war masters. Organization.
Organization. Without II no genuine