The Washington times., 1932-11-24

Missing an Influence
The fact that cubsm is not only lMHMMNMl
being practiced by great many E'IbFKT sELDES
painters but has had tremendous effect painters
who have never joined the cult themselves, and has
corrected the eye of these painters; and pro-
1oundly important step in the development of the
extraordinary genius of Pcasso to have escaped
Mr. Sullivan. Recalling the popularity of "Septem-
Der Morn" and the jeers and catcalls which met the
modernsts in their show at the armory in 1913 it
should have occurred to Mr.. Sullivan that he could
omit the name of the painter of the first entirely with
out anybody caring but that the painters of cubsm
have grown and developed and remained in the public
mind.
Freud In America
AS a great admirer of the entire series of which
this book is only part allow myself to be perhaps
hypercrtcal. The account of the influence of Freud
on America is obviously great effort to be fair. But
Isuspect that Mr.. Sullivan did not like the subject
for reason, that discover another typographical
error in quotation from Milton-as if having done
his best to be generous to Freud Mr.. Sullivan dsked
the entire subject and did not want to have to read it
over again.
He is much better on Omar Khayyam and he is in
fnitey better the things which out so we'll in
other books-changes in fashion, dancing and popular
songs what happened to the newspapers the political
scene and the whole mixed and unconsciousy happy
life OF the years before the
An Old Picture ....
Here is a story of Roosevets quarrel with Taft and
the rise and fall of progressivism in America here is
picture of the Congressman who attacked Wall Street
for bringing the panic of 1907, and in the same pic
ure there is the Congressmans at the of eight
this to be the first to fly alone the
Atlantic they pictures of Vernon and Irene Castle
looking astonshngy awkward, and there is the story
OF Irving Berlin and the emergency OF the word high
brow as a term of contempt
The Unknown Man
But perhaps the most startling portion of the book
comes very close to the beginning, when you find that
in 1913 the name of Henry Ford not in Who's Who
and was known only to the public the trade of
motor car. Mr. Sullivan is very acute when he points
out that Ford might have gone making motor cars
and developing the most important manufacturing
method of our generation and still remained personally
obscure What made Ford known was his announcement
on the fifth of Januay, 1914 that he going to pay
minimum wage of SIS for an eght-hour day. In seven
days." says Mr.. Sullivan the newspapers OF New York
city, which had hardly printed a line about Ford IN
the preceding year although Ford had made profit of
20 million dollars in that year. now printed 81 columns
about him."
Ahead of Time
Mr. Sullivan hardly needs to point out that in 1914 Mr.
Ford had actually put into practice the one practical
method which might have prevented the depression and
the one method which industriasts were most likely
to adopt if they had any intelligence, to prevent its
recurrence That is to say he paying the worker
not what he had to but what the worker had to have
in order to buy the product of the machine
New Idea In Wages
Mr. Ford obviously believed that his employees with
these great new wages would invest in his and
he was right He was thinking of wages not as part
of cost of the production but the means by which more
people could buy things. II wages mad been hlgh
enough from January to September 1929 to allow people
to continue buying might have had panic in Wall
Street. but would not have had to suffer so much
from depression in industry.
Quaint or Modern
You have to make your choice, in looking back far
as 19O9 between what is unbeevably quaint and what
is unbelievaby up to date. There is statement at
the end of Mr. Sullivans book (Which is published by
Scribners) the control of credit It written by
Woodrow Wilson when he governor of New Jersey,
and although in Wilson's Administration the Federal
Reserve Bank created it still remains true that "a
great industrial nation is controlled by its system Of
credit" That said 21 years ago, and in 21 years
American industry has not begun know how true it is
and how far credit to keep industry steady to
prevent panics or-if it is badly handed-to wreck
everything that industry attempts