Evening star., 1932-08-06
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THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY Sarah C.. BOEERHAN.

human being on earth Is really equipped
to write" says Glenn Frank, president
OF the University of Wisconsin, honestly
and modestly, in the prologue of his
recent book, Thunder and Dawn"--the
thunder Of all the ominous events OF the
past two decades and the dawn which
he hopes he sees ahead. 1t is accord
ing to justice and logic that in a debate
the burden OF proof Is placed on the
Affirmative and the presumption in
favor Is with the negative. The one
who argues for change from existing
conditions has the harder task and the
one who speaks for the continuance OF
things as they are usually has the audi
ence with him, at least at the start.
This Is so, IN u sense. even when public
opinion is most dissatisfied with things
as they are and earnestly desires
change for the better. People are In
clined to shake their heads and say:
Yes that sounds very we'll We should
like to believe that he knows what he
is taking about and that things are
going 10 change for the better, but, after
all, he Is only Offering theories. He
can't prove what the results will &C
tually be-" For this reason the "thun-
der part Of Glenn Franks book. in
which he diagnoses present day condi-
tiOns in the Western World. is perhaps
more convincing than the dawn part
in which he suggests remedies. Most
doctors will probably agree that 1t Is
easier. in most cases, to diagnose a dis
ease than to cure it. However, Glenn
Franks remedies sound SO reasonable
and so possible that we hope in some
way they Will assist in cure. He dis
claims all rosy optimism, based on tenn
permanent or on social or philosophiC
theorizing. ard believes that the f1rst
step to cure Is to face the most dis
couraging facts without evasion.
In the prologue OF Thunder and
Dawn" We are told that what the West
ern World needs is new Renaiss nee.
a new Reformation. and new indus
trial revolutionl. The divisions Of the
first chapter indicate the changing
ideals which have dominated the Twen-
tieth Century Western World: "Prs-war
Materialism," Wartime Idealism' -
Postwar CyniciSm" and Panic Born
Planning" In the chapter THE
Prophets Of Doom Speak the various
fears which haunt different groups OF
thinking people with regard to the
future Of civilization are discussed and
not casually dismissed. The current
literature Of despair. however, can hard
ly be dismissed as the gloomy rationale
zations Of tired prophets" There is
the biological fear that rapid growth
IN population may soon leave standing
room only and that the "colored races
of the Orient" may ,overwhelm he white
races. The psychological fear is that
the individual mind is becoming
swampeda by the crowd d-mind. The no.
htical fear is concerned with the pos
sible failure of democracy. The eco
nonlie fear is for the s9fetv OF free
capitalism. The administrative fS7r is
that the scale and complexitv of The
organized enterprises OF Western life
have outstripDed the existing mana
gerial capacity of Western man" The
moral fear freezes the hearts of many
students OF the individual and institu-
tiOnal conduct OF the contemuorer
West"--the feer that the new freedom
from old tra ditiNIiS means opN new
leVitv and .new l~Hsssees. TFNlloWino
the chepter on til7, ,"Prnph~'~ Of Doom :"
sS an antidOtr = t''a el,s '-'os 'srhe Lit
erature and lie" hip Of Hope
One of the most suggestive chapters
in 'Thrndar and Dawn is the one
called Hum nism Through Technol-
ogy." In it Dr. Frank first Discusses
the philosophy of Gandhi, and of many
others even in the Western World. that
the only salvation for humanity Is
through deSertion of modern machine
industry and return to hand crafts
This philosophy Of social lmystics must
remain theoretical, because few would
consider 1t practically, possible. Ma
chine economy. however bad; Is likely
to continue: conscious reverSion to a
primitive type Is not eeSilv accofnp-
liShed. But the sins of machine econ
omy are largely pioneer sins DR. Frank
thinks, as-machine economy lis mere
fiedgling among the social schemes of
history It is less than 200 years old" "
His belief is that .;'the machine eeoaomy
is a tool OF emancipation that. western
man has not yet mustered the wit to
use wisely" 1t may become the most
valuable instrument We have for human
betterment 1T may be argued that
the true champions Of tf1s masses are
the engineers and inventors. rather
than the social reformers.' sDecentral-
ization Of industry. doing away with
congested industrial oenters, and, q
functional correlation of industry ana
agriculture" would help to eliminate
many evils and would incorporate the
farm problem with the Industrial prob
lem. Utopian as it may seem. Dr..
Frank thinks it possible that with de-
centrd lization- in the hands of q .busi-
ness and lndustrial leadership that will
exploit their full implications, mass
production and mass distribution may
make possible four seemingly ccntra-
dietory achievements at one and the
came time. I) higher wages t2D
shorter hours; 90 lower prices; and (4)
larger total profits" Such a program
seems in these days like charming
fairy tale! If it could be accomplished
then would follow that abundant leisure
for the industrial wofksr Of which the
Observation-Disclosures have for long been
planning to make use, and the effect of
SPECIALIZED routine work would 50 no
longer be SO deadening for the indt-
vidual worker. Almost any one could
endure lOur hours a day of routine
work, if the roma inder of the dav wera
Tree for chosen pursuits crsati.e p-o-
Cuct.on where capacity for it m.2ht
exist.
street may have personality. de-
te!mlned by the parsons who inhabit il.
Louis Golding, perhaps influenced by
pSyehopathic studies, has created a
street with a dual personality in his
novel Magnolia Street" The real
street which i suppo7ed to be the,pro-
totvpe CT the fictitious Magnolia street
Is sal1 to be in Manchester. England
1t is a street inhabited by Jews on one
side end sentiles on the other. The
story OF the street and its denizens COW
ers the period from 1910. to 1880
Romance tragedv and some comedy
are mingled in the life of the street.
Many OF its men take up their share of
the burden of the World War and paw
the penalty, partial or entire. of doing
their duty Domestic Joys and sorrows
are sometimes as important to the
dwellerS in Magnolia street as the larger
ones which are affecting the whole
world. The character who perhaps in
tereStS us most is Rose Berman, who
wants to marry john Cooper. but I'M
StTNN \,