Evening star., 1933-03-05

PRIVATE PHOPEHTY. BY AQOQ "A.
Berle, jr. and Gardiner c. Means
New York: The Macmillan Co.
-HE two authors Of this investi-
cation into American cor.
porations are both connected
with Columbia University.
and the book was prepared
under the auspices Of the
Columbia University Council for Re-
search In the Social Sciences, acting on
behalf Of the Social Science Research
Council Of America. Much research
and much thinking have gone into the
production of the work, and 1t goes
without saying that the resulting con-
clusions will be the subject OF con-
troversy. According to the authors,
two hundred great corporations domi-
nate American industry, and they ask
what is the nature Of these corpora
tions, who controls them and what Is
their significance to the investor, the
business man, and society as q whole.
In search Of an answer to these ques-
tions, the individual reader will find
himself turning to the index and the
table Of companies discussed, to look
up first, with pardonable curiosity and
perhaps anxiety, the companies In
which he may be most interested.
Book of "The Modern Corporation
and Private Property" develops three
important conclusions: That industry
and its wealth are concentrated In q
few great corporations and "the only
apparent factor which may end the
tendency Is the limit In the ability of
few human beings effectively to
handle the aggregates Of property
brought under their control; that ac-
companying this concentration is a
wide dispersion Of stock ownership: but
that control OF the corporations Is IN
the hands Of few men, constantly
growing fewer and fewer. "A wide
variety Of kinds and conditions Of con-
troll situations can be found-forms
derived wholly or in part from owner
ship, forms which depend on legal de-
vices and forms which are extra legal
in character. Five major types can
be distinguished, though no sharp d.
viding line separates type from type.
These include % control through al
most complete ownership, (2) majority
control, (O control through a legal
device without majority ownership. 90
minority control, and go management
control" Regarding the relation Of
modern corporations to the state and
society, the authors say: "The rise Of
the modern corporation has brought q
concentration Of economic power which
can compete on equal terms with the
modern state-economic power versus
| political power. each strong in its own
| field. The state seeks in some aspects
| to regulate the corporation, while the
the corporation. steadily becoming more
powerful, makes every effort to avoid
such regulation. Where its own inter-
ests are concerned, 1t even attempts to
| dominate the state" Probably the most
valuable book In It's field which has
appeared in a long time. and not with
out its sensational element.
THE ADVENTURES OF THE BLACK
GIRL IN HER SEARCH FOR GOD.
BY Bernard Shaw. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
A LLEGORY, not drama, has been
n chosen by Shaw as his medium for
| conveying his ideas. not very clear or
decided ones, on the subject Of God.
| Perhaps in order to mark difference
| in procedure from his dramas, perhaps
in order not to spoil the story, he has
placed his usual essay-preface at the
end. He says that, with the story nm
ished. he proceeds to speculate on
what it means, though cannot too
| often repeat that am as liable as
any one else to err in my interpreta-
ton, and that pioneer writers, like
other pioneers, often mistake their des-
tination as Columbus did" 1t causes
q dash Of surprise to md that Mr.. Shaw
considers himself pioneer writer on
great philosophers Of modern times.
even II the ancients are ignored. at
least did some cropping in that direc-
ton. What OF Descartes, Hume. Kant
and Spinoza. for example,? And. II
satire IS required, what Of Voltaire, who
is one of the characters in the allegory
Of the Black Girl? It may be reason
ably suspected that Mr.. Shaw has read
Voltaire's philosophical romance. Ia
dig" and found there some Of his pio-
neer reflections.
Since an allegory carries q story.
however unimportant it may seem to
an author intent on an idea, Mr.. Shaw
has furnished the story, as clever and
paradoxical and extravagant as all Of
his plot creations. The Black Girl,
into the jungle with her Bible in one
hand and a knobkerry In the other to
find God She is child Of nature who
has absorbed few simple ideas. yet her
part in the conversations with the
prophets and philosophers she meets is
astonishingly sophisticated and Shav-
ian, She begins all her inquiries, Il
am seeking God. Can you direct me?"
Her first encounter Is with a mamba
snake; her last with an Irishman who
has In the illustrative engraving, very
much the appearance Of Shaw himself.
Between the two she meets deities who
| of Job, the God of Ecclesiastes, the God
| of Micah, the God of Jesus and the
God Of Mohammed, the God Of Science
and the God Of Art. (The engravings
assist in identiflcation) At each meet
ing the Black Girl fails to find the GER
tainty she seeks and has frequent re-
course to the knobkerry. which is her
method Of final argument. At the end
she is told by Voltaire that the best
place to seek God Is in a garden. The
| girl thinks that too commonplace,
wishes to go farther afield, and pro-
tests that she has read line Of poetry
the highest when we see It," Voltaire
replies: "That poet was a fool. We
hate 1t: we cruelty it: we poison it with
hemlock; we chain it to stake and
burn 1t alive" Here is a reminiscence
of the theme Of Shaw's greatest play,
est. JOAN" Then the more or less
mad 1rishman comes upon the scene,
with q spade. and turns to practical
digging-the useful sedative against all
philosophical unrest. Voltaire arranges
q marriage between him and the youth
full seeker for truth and she IS hidden
to help dig and to bring up children.
Throughout the main allegory, Shaw
makes use Of opportunities to introduce
satire on behalf Of some of his favorite
reforms. The Wandering Jew tells the
Black Girl that If God does not come
soon 1t will be too late, for "men learn
nothing except how to kill one another
in greater and greater numbers" The
God Of Science boasts Of the tortures
he has inflicted on innumerable dogs in
his experiments directed toward solv-
ing the problems Of human conduct,
and Shaw thus makes q small slam
score for his fellow anti i-vivisectionists.
Honors in the book, in satirical kind,
| Y>I 1Al~ ~