Evening star., 1934-04-14
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C. BOWERMAN.

recovery policies and OF the people
who are giving them effect. BY
Roger W. Babson. New York:
Harper d Bros.
The recovery policies of the ad-
ministration have been often ana
lyzed, pro and con. eulogistically and
sntasonistically, 1ntelligently and not
so intelligently. Books and pamphlets
on the subject are pouring from pub
fishing houses in ever increasing
floods. In this book, dedicated to
Frances Perkins. Secretary Of Labor,
Roger Babson, statistical expert, who
was at first very doubtful about Gov
ernment policies and enterprises since
last March, has become an enthusi-
astic sympathizer. His statement of
accomplishments and his opinion
about objectives are extremely clear
and will carry conviction to many.
Probably the average reader will, how
ever, be at least equally interested
In the sketches Of prominent per-
sonalities in Washington-in THE
Man on the Threshold,' THAT Wom-
sni". Honest Ickes," "Moleys
Friend" Young Henry" Captain
Dern." Big Navy Claude" The
Chief Executioner," The Revolution
lists Attorney" Little Woodin Willie"
and Big jim" With the exception
of the first, all these suggestive titles
are placed by Mr.. Babson in quota
ton marks, to indicate that he Is
not responsible II Congressman, de-
partment heads and Washingtonians
generally will use these epithets. Each
member of the cabinet is character
lied assa revolutionist, at the begin
ming of Q sketch which is in each
case piquant in style, whatever the
soundness Of the judgments. The
subjects of the sketches might have
opinions about that. Mr.. Babson
Qualities his "revolutionist" label by
saying: 1T is admittedly dif1cult to
picture James Farley in the role of a
revolutionist" Any filing system is
liable to error.
In the chapter. The Revolution
Mrs. Roosevelt and their life in the
White House are the subject. Frank
lin Delano Roosevelt has only
about IL to IA hours q day for work
/ will say that, even under
these conditions he takes time 10
meet more people and dictate more
personal letters than the average
business man OF large affairs" The
chapter. The Man on the Thres-
hold" Is devoted to Vice President
Garner. The chapter, Whom to See
and Where First to Co." should be
helpful to visitors to Washington with
q purpose but we wonder how CRATE
full many already besieged ofncisls
will be to Mr.. Babson. Apparently
hastily written. in no way profound,
Mr Bsbson's book Is of the type likely
to be popular.
THE NEW DEAL IN EUROPE. BY
Emil Lengyel New York: Funk
Il Wagnalls Co.
or Hungarian birth. editor and
journalist in Austria, master Of many
languages, having experienced impris-
onment in Siberia during the World
War, DR.. Lengyel now devotes himself
10 watching the European scene, with
more than q side glance at the Amer
icsn scene, and to writing and lectur-
ing on international economic and
political affairs. He is the author Of
q biography Of Hitler and THE Csul-
dron Boils." an investigation of the
problems of Eastern Europe which en-
danger the degree of peace which still
exists in the world. The New Deal
in Europe" shows that the United
States was conservatively slow in its
march toward economic change Eu-
rope began it first. 1t tells of MUS
solinis cooperative state, Russia's five-
year plans, Hitlers many sided Nazi-
ism and Sweden'S currency expert
ments. On. Lengyel asks whether the
United States has studied the expert
ments of Europe and will it be able TO
learn something from them. to dis
card what has been unsuccessful or
even disastrous. TO adopt what has
worked well. Ten years of residence
in the United States probably entitle
him to join the many Europeans who
are giving US advice. He is not a
mere -tripper" to this country His
chapter, America Looks at Europe's
New Deals" concludes with the ques-
tion whether the American new deal
will remain a characteristic product
OF the native soil" and quotes A. A.
Berle. jr., one OF the brain trust, ="
as saying: If. for example. we were
to adopt the Russian system entire
it would look q good deal more like
the Rotary Club or the four railway
brotherhoods than like the Moscow
Soviet"
JEREMY HAMLIN. BY Alice Brown
New York: D. Appleton Century
Co.
Jeremy Hamlin, old rich man of
the struggling New England town of
Bridebrook, has been dead six weeks
when this story opens. His daughter
Julisns, sitting by the front window
Of the OH house, realizes that in
spite of her more than middle-age.
she still has q great hunger for life
Jeremy. dead is as important as
Jeremy, the town dictator. was when
living. At his death the lives of
four people are brought into close
contact, with the influence of all
that Jeremy stood for affecting all
that they do almost all that they
think. 1t sounds rather ghostly and
most hampering to personal inde-
pendence. The situation Is entirely
in the Alice Brown tradition. The
four people are Juliana, John Mil
burn. who has long loved her and
has the courage to tell her that her
father was an adventurer and q pi-
rate; Naomi. Jeremys granddaughter,
and Jim Mclvor, journalist -philoso-
pher. Naomi and Jim furnish the
young love to balance the elderly love
which is not very convincing, in its
late start. The story moves at a
leisurely pace, backward and forward.
Sometimes it relates the life of
Jeremy, how he came TO the town an
uneducated boy and through the
possession Of get-ahead qualities rose
to- be its leading manufacturer and
fnancier: sometimes 1t follows the
search of Julians for long-delayed
freedom, the gentle pursuit Of John
Milburn, and the difficulties Of Naomi
with Jim. It is all told without effort
for dramatic effect, with the quiet
whimsicality familiar to the readers
Of Alice Brown, whose style Is Sug-