Evening star., 1934-08-18
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C.. BOWERMlN.

SKY DETERMINES. An Interpreta-
ton of the Southwest. BY Ross
Calvin, Phi. D. New York: The
Macmillan Co.
The arid climate of New Mexico is
responsible for all that is individual
in the State, says DR.. Calvin, both In
the past and the present That is,
"sky determines" He supports his
theory in 10 different ways and finds
1t proved by all the facts. And, as
he studies sky, desert, mountains and
forest, he finds himself facing fun
damental truth, that "in the world
of roots and clouds and wings and
leaves there exists no Depression:
that in its beauties and simples
rather than from divers bewildered
Senates and Parliaments, Is mans
peace most likely to be derived; that
as life progressively adapts itself to
its background of sun and soil. 1t
gains in wholesomeness and sincerity"
Sky In the Southwest Is the source
Of moisture and heat and determines
the fora and fauna and general aspect
of the country. 1t has made the
! desert by excess of heat and insufn-
cheney of rainfall. 1t has determined
economy of Nature and the extent
and kind of forestation.
All the inhabitants Of the South
west have been ruled by the sky god.
The mode of life of the forgotten
/ peoples was dictated and they were
anchored to the valley cornfields.
The ConQuistadores realized that in
a barren land 1t must be gold or
nothing. The Pueblenos are the
flower Of Indian culture peculiar to
the arid Southwest" The MexicanoS
are q product of a desert culture
eclipsed by isolation and stunted by
poverty" The unparalleled duration
Of Apache warfare was determined
by his arid environment. Ranchmen
have f1ourished in the Southwest, in
spit Of perennial contest with the
sky powers. The reasons for all these
conditions are told by DR.. Calvin, and
in the process of telling he relates
much Of the social and economic
| history of the Southwest. All of the
| life which has made that section Of
our country so popular in romance
and more recently on the screen
passes before us-desert cruelties and
desert beauties, the wonders Of mesas
| and canyons, the remains Of pre-
historic civilizations, Indian warfare
and Indian ceremonies Of worship and
conciliation of the gods Of Nature, the
crazed hunt for gold. peacefully graz
| ing cattle and cattle rustlers, range
wars, lawlessness and the local and
personal administration Of justice.
| The author knows the Southwest well
and writes of his experiences and be-
liefs from an unusual and interesting
approach.
| DEPRESSION AND RECOVERY. BY
Dale Yoder, Phi. D., and George
r. Davies, Phi. D. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co.
Depressions have a long history,
| general characteristics, all unpleasant
ones. The authors of this book, pro-
fessors, respectively, of social eco
nomics and of business statistics in
the College of Commerce, State Uni
versity of Iowa, start of with brief
discussion of past depressions and
their habits. They follow this with
description of the depression Of
! 1929-1933, with its triple breakdown Of
credit, consumption and production.
| In their analysis of the measures
taken to meet the desperate situation
they divide the problem into two parts,
raliof mao ciyvoe and fha
recovery program. The first include
the Civilian Conservation Corps, the
emergency public works program, re-
organized Federal-State employment
service, the Civil Works Administra-
ton, subsistence homesteads, the Re-
construction Finance Corp. and the
Home Owners Loan Corp. The Sec
ond concerns itself with credit control
and relation, rebuilding consumption
and reorganizing production. In con-
nection with the control of credit the
authors say: "It is generally agreed
that there must be some assurance
that the value Of money will be rea-
Sonably constant over period Of
years, or, as the President has stated,
from one generation to the next, If
loans are to be made and large
quantities Of credit created and re-
leased"
This book on depression and re-
covery, similar to large number of
others which have been written by
trained economists, like Prof. Yoder
and Prof. Davies, and sometimes by
unframed non-economistS, who sim
ply have ideas they feel the urge to
express. deals adequately with the
causes and nature of the depression
which began In 1929, and describes
Slccinctly what has been done to
treat the economic illness and bring
bout recovery. 1t does not offer,
however, either in intent or accom-
plishment, any estimate Of the eco
nomic value Of different remedies or
any constructive suggestions for the
restoration Of stability and prosperity
by the application Of either old or
new methods, such as are to be found
In the works Of economists like j. M,
Keynes, Sir Arthur Salter, z. w. Kem-
merer, Leo Pasvolsky, o. M. w.
Sprague, r. G. Tugwell, and even
Stuart Chase and Samuel Crowther,
with their specialized theories.
X n
BLOOD AND TEARS. BY Balder
Olden. New York: D. Appleton
Century Co.
Another novel Of Germany and
Hitler, Blood and Tears" by a Ger
man writer of considerable ability,
shows changing point of view. Hans
Ruemelin, Reichswehr officer under
the republic, has conspired as a fol-
lower of Hitler against the govern
ment and attempted to undermine
the loyalty Of the poor little army"
For this he has been sentenced to
two years Of fortress Imprisonment,
with an additional year because,
taking advantage Of a short parole,
he has dashed to Berlin on his mo-
tor bike and made a fiery speech for
Hitler at a mass meeting in the
Sports Palace. For the leniency and
laxity Of the government, which has
made his imprisonment easy, he has
no gratitude, only scorn. ANY de-