Evening star., 1934-02-07
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Mwgwss Csymond.

Il II
THE CROSS OF PEACE. BY Philip
Gibbs. New York: Doubleday.
Doran & Co., Inc.
When Sir Philip Gibbs writes about
the war and the long chain Of evils
which have fallen upon humanity be-
cause Of 1t, his work rings with the
authority Of knowledge and experience.
For he was among the flrst Of Eng
lands valiant heroes to witness the
mercileSS charge Of the four hor0emen
Of prophecy as they swept out OF the
New Testament into Western Europe
In the Fall Of 1914 and for four long
and weary years wrought death and
destruction in France and Belgium.
He saw and knew the Great War at
its worst, and since then he has seen
the same influences which made that
devastation possible blind and stag
nate the intellects Of those upon whom
has devolved the task Of devising q
code Of Justice between nations, de-
signed to guarantee to the youth Of
the world the privilege Of life, to pre-
vent the necessity Of ever again
drench1ng the earth with the blood Of
young manhood
Ever since his war duties came to
an end Sir Philip Gibbs has devoted
. large part Of his time to the writ
ing Of books which are intended to
promote an intelligent understanding
| Of the crime and the futility Of war
and 20 lead the thoughts of the peo-
piles Of the earth out Of the channels
Of hatred which breed conflict. His
idealism Is not that Of those misguided
chasers after Elusive rainbows, but is
founded upon tho substantial knowl-
edge that the world must be inteln-
gently educated into peace and not
blindly legislated into a state Of false
security.
No novel which has been produced
during the past sixteen years has con-
tanned so strong an argument against
war as does THE Cross Of Peace"
From beginning to end it Is an appeal
to the leaders Of men to apply logic
and reason rather than selhshness
and hypocrisy in meeting the prob
lens and In shaping the destinies Of
nations.
Armand Gatieres, the hero Of the
novel, has won every honor for bravery
and achievement in the service Of his
country which the government Of
| France can bestow. The war has
ended, and after his release as g Ger
man prisoner he has been restored to
military duty with the army Of occu.
patton, where he Is billeted for a
time in the fine old home Of Heinrich
Won Mcneil. The old German and his
wife are hostile, but that Is to be
expected, for the whole Of Germany Is
hostile to the army Of occupation.
There Is no resentment, however, in
the heart of young Otto Won Menzel,
who becomes friendly Immediately
with Gatieres and grows to admire
him greatly.
Resentment In Germany over the
charge Of war guilt is familiar story
to the world, as is also the fact that
its people refused to admit defeat.
But it must always be remembered by
those who were not within the bor-
ders Of that unfortunate nation dur
ing the war that the German people
were deliberately educated to the be-
lief that they were waging q war Of
defense and that France was the
aggressor. It must also be remem-
bered that the Kaiser was supreme
and that any display Of a belief In
his fallibility was punishable by death.
Even the fact that he proved himself
to be SO base q coward as to desert
his people in their hour of need has
failed, even unto this day, to awaken
the masses to a recognition of the
crime into which they were plunged
by the power-mad fiend who now
lives in peaceful exile.
| It was therefore into this hostile
atmosphere that the army Of occupa-
ton marched and took possession Of
the Ruhr. To Gatieres the entire stu
alton was a stupid performance. He
had fought and bled in the trenches,
had seen his comrades mown down
like grass, had despaired with them
and for them. But his was more Of
a spiritual despair, because to him the
war seemed q denial Of all human
reason and intelligence. In young
Otto he found the promise Of q new
spirit in the world, an enlightened
concept Of new order which should
grow out of the four years Of night
mare. He became acquainted with the
New Youth movement and its work,
and through Otto laid the founda-
tions for a campaign Of education
which should become worldwide.
The blunder Of the Ruhr occupa-
ton became daily more evident to
Gatieres. 1t was an easy enough mat
ter for distinguished politicians and
officials miles away to order French
drivers to run the coal trains, but 1t
was a very different and difficult
problem to those anxious experts who
stood in the middle of that gigantic
spiders web of steel and iron, of rail-
ways, mines and machines about
which they knew nothing. It was
another demonstration of the blind
ness OF theorists and politicians to
logic and reason.
| Throughout the period Of occupa-
ton Gat1eres keeps in touch with
Otto and others who have become
devoted to the cause Of a new world
plan in which international peace
shall reign, and then he returns to
his home and takes up the post of
professor of history in Lycee in Avig-
non. His work for peace continues,
and among his students he makes
many converts. For a while all goes
well, but after a time his work and
his sentiments become known, and
troubles heap upon him.
From this point in the story the
author gives an accurate account of
| the twin growths of communism and
paciflsm which have swept over the
world hand-in-hand through the mis-
guided efforts of so-called leaders
] whose understanding of the methods
| OF peace has been as stupid and as
futile as the negotiations of those wise
politicians whose conferences have
ended In failure.
Gatieres is sacrificed on the altar
Of his belief, but through him Sir
Philip Gibbs has presented the rise Of
FaSciSm and Hitlerism and the gen.
eral condition in Europe today-so re-
Gently has he completed his book-in
| a manner to set the world in a line Of
thought which may eventually bear
fruit. Gatieres is paciflst, as Is Sir
Philip, but he is guided by logic and
reason in his work for the ideal In
which he has implicit belief Some