Evening star., 1933-10-14
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C.. BOWERMAN.
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME.
BY H. @. Wells. New York: The

l
BY H. @. Wells. New York: The
Macmillan Co.
Prophecy, If not too specific. is safe
! form Of self-expression and social serv-
ice. It also furnishes subject for de-
bate by intellectuals, sometimes for
generations or centuries to come. The
| exact meaning of some of the Hebrew
prophets is still being discussed by theo-
logical students. H. G. Wells long ago
established himself as chief prophet of
Great Britain. His earlier novels, be-
fore the fate of the world absorbed him
so completely. were studies Of eccentric
characters, but always with back
ground Of social problem. Perhaps long
term criticism will pronounce "Tono-
Bungay," 'The New Machiavelli." "The
Wife Of Sir Isaac Harman" and "Mr.
Britling Sees It Through" his best
work, judged as literature. But fiction
as fiction, literature as literature, have
| ceased to be Mr.. Wells chief concern,
| If they ever really were. Social, re-
| ligious and political questions seem now
| to engross his whole thought and time !;
| he even produces In a relaxed mood
| such fantastic romances as 1.-The Time
Machine" "The War of the Worlds" !"
| "The War In the Air" and 1.-THE Au-
tocracy Of Mr.. Parham." If one may
Judge by the frequency with which Mr.
Wells is quoted by young English men
and women. both in their speech and
their writings. the influence Of his So
cial and economic philosophy, whether
| expressed seriously or satirically, is
considerable. In the United States it
is becoming the fashion to smile at his
extraordinary versatility in theories and
his too great rapidity of production. but
| among his visionary speculations and
| doctrines there is much sound social
! thinking which is capable of contrib
uting something toward setting the
world right.
THE Shape of Things to Come" is
an altogether serious, thought compel
| ling and brilliant discussion of today
| and tomorrow, Of this "age OF frustra-
tion," the world renascence" which is
, to come, and the birth of the modern
state" which will be the ultimate result.
| There Is a f1ctional introduction. Mr..
Wells mind teens with imaginary phi
losophers, as that Of Dickens did with
grotesque characters The indictment
OF our present world and the agenda
Tor the new one are supposed to be
] contained in ''the dream book of DR..
Philip Raven" a manuscript entrusted
to Mr.. Wells by distinguished mem
Der OF the secretariat of the League Of
| Nations. OF the five books which COM
pose the volume the last three contain
Mr.. Weus ideas for the replacement
modern state. The first two, recounting
the accommodating disproportions Of the
old order" are, expressed with the au-
! thor's usual ingeniousness, most inter-
eStlng, but we are familiar with all the
| facts and conclusions. Mr.. Wells him
self has written before of the straining
| OF the old order by competition and
| monetary tnefflciency, of the relation of
| oVerproductlon to war, Of hatred among
| natlons. OF the breakdown of finance.
industry and social morale after the
| World War and Versailles. Mr.. Wells
DeneVes that we are now experiencing
| cation
1t Is In the last half Of the volume
that We encounter novelty, what Mr.
wells calls his Speculative spree !"
Through present chaos and the dis
| aster Of the near future. he sees the
| world emerging into a modern state
I'm 1879, unified, wise, under educa-
tlonal control. with politicians elirni-
mated. In the interim. before the mil
| iennlum Is reached, there will be a war
between the United States and Japan
ana a flnal World War Q94O-50). in
! which the British and Americans will
hope to keep out of the war and eniov ~,
revival of trade. but will reap a hsr.
vest OF bad debts. BY 2OlO there will
De return of general prosperity. under
| an air OF dictatorship. In the reilIve-
nateo world the banking system will be
entlreIy public and entirely prat1Ii-
tous,' merely System of public book.
keeping" In industry and trade the
state VIII deal directly with primary
pr9oucers; there will be no profits for
moivlouals. There will be no class of
workers; neither will there be a leisure
class There will be mo fatterv of
t ttgnorance and inferiority as though
wisdom; no incitement to envy and
jealousy against knowledge and ability :.
Inc olssolutlon of family life will ne
complete; citizens will be made bv the
! state. not by the home. In snort tbere
WILL be a Wellsian state.
OLD GEORGETOWN ON THE po-
| IOMAC. lon Ey Henry Ridgely Evans.
LII. u, washington. D. c.: Sold
oy the Georgetown News.
| georgetown was nearly 40 years old
When the Federal City was projected
ana nearly $50 years old when the Fed
eral government was moved from Phila-
oeiph1a to Washington in 1900. Such
antlqulty as the District enjoys centers
IN Georgetown, the nucleus of which
was an inspection house for tobacco es-
| tablished near the mouth of Rock Greek
between the years 1874 and 1748. Set
Tiers were authorized by the MARYLAND
Legislature in 1751 to lay out and erect
a town on the Potowmack River" In
| l06 Georgetown was a post Office and
as late as 1880 was one of only rs post
| offices In the United States. In that
year Georgetown was made a port of
entry with collector of customs and
enjoyed a large foreign trade. These
| are samples of the interesting facts
ABOUT Georgetown with which DR..
Evans hundred-page book is packed.
Though not born in Georgetown, he has
! after long service in the United States
Bureau of Education, he has devoted
! some OF his leisure to good purpose in
| the production of this historical sketch.
with photography of source material.
Some of his chapters treat the genesis
and development Of Georgetown-edu-
cational institutions, newspapers, Ii
braries and literati, old homes and
families. old churches and graveyards,
Freemasonry, banks, with appendices on
the Iturbide family and photography
O1 source material. Inc authOr gives
full credit to the rich resources of the
Washington division of the Washington
Public Library. which contains most of
the source material on which he has
! drawn.
4 X i X
PETER ABELARD. BY Helen Waddell
New York: Henry Holt & Co.
The conflict between religion and
! love is motif of the past, both in life
and in fiction. When Goth century
case of such conflict occurs, it is an
exception. But when Peter Abelard,
scholastic philosopher, back in 1116, fell
in love with his pupil Heloise, niece Cor,
as some Of the encyclopedias say,
daughter) Of Fulbert, a canon in the
Cathedral of Notre Dame, there was a
conflict, according to medieval story,
which was devastating for both and
sent Abelard to a monastery and Helnise