Evening star., 1933-10-29


Leaders series, of which the last preceding was
Allan Nevin,s "Grover Cleveland" In DR.. Den
netts long photography, first place is given to
a number of valuable manuscript collections,
among them the Hay papers, privately owned,
and the Hay clippings in the New York Public
Library. The clue to John Hays character
is found in its "sensitiveness to impressions"
1t was this senstiveness which led him early
in life into poetry made him something OF an
iconoclast at that time, and brough about the
result that at 80 he had withinIhis grasp the
leadership of the new school fof radicals IN
literature and thought" In his later life, as
politician this promise of radicalism failed OF
fulhllment. His real political life began When
he became Assistant Secretary of State in the
Hayes administration gave up the position OF
a political independent, and came to rest In
the Republican party
DR.. bennett warns that "a little history
crowded in" as he wrote this biography This
seems inevitable, considering Hays long career
in public affairs and it decidedly adds both
necessary information and interest to what Is
a distinguished piece of American biography.
The facts of Hays public life are well known.
This biography is not a mere narration OF
facts; it is a relation of facts to each other,
an Interpretation of events in the light of per-
Sonality, study and final estimate OF the
man If Hay failed, as most men do to &C
complish the most and the best OF which he
was capable, it was because "al through lie,
until its end, wherever choices we're pre-
sented he was too inclined to select the easier
way" Hays enduring fondness for Blaine. in
spite Of the Credit Mobier affair, the Multi
gan letters, and Blaine's contempt for clvn
service reform puzzles DR.. bennett. Abraham
Lincoln and William Mckinley were the two
men who made John Hay, the one at the start.
the other in later life, yet neither was the
kind of man. says DR.. bennett Hay was &C
customed to choose as a friend. Hays rela-
tions with other prominent men of his time,
Horace Greeley, Whitelaw Reid. Henry Adams
(nis intimate friend), Garfield Lodge, Root,
Pauncefote, Choate, Roosevelt and many others,
are described and analyzed
John Hay was perhaps almost too gifted for
his own best success He found himself late
and his achievements of greatest value in
American history belong to his last years, after
he was so. In those years were the secretary
ships of State under Mckinley and Roosevelt.
The former was the genuinely creative PERIOD
by September 1901, the major foreign policies
were all we'll defined" Between 1898 and his
death in 1905, Hay handled peace negotiations
at the close Of the Spanish American War,
safeguarded American interests in China fol-
lowing the Boxer uprising, at the same time
guaranteeing Chinese integrity and reinforcing
the open door, policy, negotiated the Hay
Pauncefote treaty regarding the 1sthmlao
Canal and subsequent treaties with Colombia
and Panama facilitating construction of
canal, settled disagreements with Germany
over Samoa and arranged the settlement by
joint commission Of the Alaskan boundary. DR..
Dennetts final estimate of Hay is that he was
not really a politician and that never, even
to the end was he able completely to unity his
convictions and think his way through. He
was versatile, many sided American of the
Gilded Age" "Indolent by nature, John Hay
worked hard, and long after he had valid
reason to quit. An ndividualist, better man
than his party he chose to cling to the latter,
at the cost of such discomfort as only sensitive
souls can appraise. vagrant in life, he bowed
before sense of duty and yielded to its dis
cipline. Evading most of the rough spots,
nevertheless he fell into Some-and marched
through like man. In rather brutal, mas
terful age he achieved better part: He over
came himself" The quotations given illustrate
better than any comment DR.. Dennetts appre-
cfative and forcibe method.
MY BATTLE. BY Adolf Hitler. Abridged and
Translated. BY E. T. s. Dugdale. Boston:
Houghton Mif1in Co.
IOWEvER much of surprise or indignation
the views expressed in this political auto
biography by the most powerful man in Ger
many may cause every reader will admit, that
the book is q significant historical document
The first part was written in 1924, when Hitler
was In prison In the fortress Of Landsberg am
Iech, as the result Of uprising in Munich
the previous year. It was published IN Ger
many under the title Of "Mein Kampf" and
was followed by q second part in 1927. Its
abridgement in this American edition, the pub
fishers explain, merely omits matter mot OF
general or international interest" The abridge-
ment has, however, been under criticism by the
American Jewish Committee, of which many
distinguished Jews are members as an attempt
at bowdlerizing. Whatever has been cut
enough remains to indicate without chance for
misunderstanding, Hitler's attitude toward ma
tionalism militarism, class warfare, representa-
tive government, the position Of women in the
state, education, science, and the Jewish
question.
Hitler is extreme nationalist. He believes
In thOroIphlv unified CermanV not q dis.