Evening star., 1934-12-16

1oDhls
a smudge on the history Of the mill
tary service" Col. McCormick's re-
valuation Of Grant, perhaps return
to the estimate which was general
throughout the North at the close
Of the Civil War, will probably be
criticized by some historians as lack
ing in judicial coolness, but it seems
a safe surmise that he Is writing not
for historians, many of whom he
criticizes severely, but for the great
body Of his fellow Americans.
SOUTH STREET. A Maritime His
tory Of New York. BY Richard c.
Mckay. New York: G. P. Putnams s
Sons.
WALL Street for finance; South
W Street for shipping. Richard
Mckay is the grandson of Donald
Mckay, famous builder of American
clipper ships. He begins his story
of the shipping of New York shortly
after the Revolution and brings it to
the present time. When President
Washington signed documents in a
Colonial house on Franklin Square,
the international communication of
New York was carried on in English
vessels, brigs of less than 200 tons,
called coffin brigs" with sinister i'm
plication, because so many of them
sank beneath the stormy waves Of the
Atlantic. The commerce of the new
country struggled up from the wreck
age Of. the Revolution and had its
headquarters on New YorkS East River
water front. The first American vessel
to sail from New York to London was
the Betsy, dispatched from Cruger's
Wharf. In those days, "old City
Dock was the corner stone Of the
commerce of our metropolis, the pro-
genitor Of our miles Of wharves," and
there were located all the prominent
merchants. The first vessel to sal
direct from New York to China was
the Experiment, which made no profits
on the voyage because Of excessive
Chinese customs duties.
Included in this story Of New
York's early shipping are lists oi
prominent merchants of the eigh-
teenth century, and accounts Of the
bringing in of indentured men and
women, famous old shipbuilders and
shipyards, the rise of John Jacob
Astor, the effect of the embargo OF
1807-8, the Erie Canal project and
the attitude of Jefferson and Madison
toward the growth of the American
merchant marine. With the end o1
the War of 1912 "al commercial and
manufacturing enterprises bounded
forward with an elasticity that bewil-
dered the conservative merchant OF
old New York-that old New York
which, because Of increa sed immigra-
ton and the opening Of the Erie
Canal, was destined in few years tc
pass away foreverl" In history al
most every period seems to be the
end Of an era, but hitherto a new
era has always begun, Through the
invention of the steamboat, various
Federal laws affecting maritime pros
perity, the vicissitudes Of foreign
trade competition, disasters at sea,
rapid and radical changes in types
of vessels, the gold rush Of '49, booms
and collapses in shipping, as in other
business, Mr.. Mckay carries his
story down to 1914, when the World
War found us without merchant
marine. He tells of the building OF
merchant vessels at great cost and
the haste with which they were scat
tered, destroyed or given away at the
end of the war. He frankly and
heartily favors a. merchant marine as
an adjunct to our commerce and an
element in national defense, and says
that Ito maintain a foremost position
as sea power Americans-East
West, North and South-must be ship
minded, incurably maritime" Mr.
Mckay writes with enthusiasm and
concreteness. His book is full OF ro-
mantle maritime episodes and is illus
trated. with many reproductions OF old
drawings, prints, engravlngs and
paintings.
THE OPEN DOOR AT HOME. A
Trial Philosophy of National In
terest. BY Charles A. Beard. With
the Collaboration of G. H. E. Smith.
New York: The Macmillan Co.
IN HIS recent work, THE Idea OF
National Interest" DR.. Beard in
vestigated professions and actions OF
American statesmen coming under the
head of national interests and found
a mass of "confusions and contradic-
tions." Statesmen belonging to the
same political school were found ap-
proving "self-canceling operations. !"
Neither political school has ever been
consistent in its philosophy or practice,
and not even DR.. Boards orderly mind
could arrange the governmental ac-
tions of our history, logically and with
out exceptions, under either the Ham,
iltonian or the Jeffersonian system.
He came to the conclusion that the
phrase national interest" was in most
cases merely a formula employed for
accomplishing designs in the field Of
foreign affairs. He has, therefore,
written "The Open Door at Home" to
work out a conception Of national in
terest of his own, an ideal concep-
ton, so the structure Of the book is
argumentative. He has, however, at
tempted to keep separated statements
of facts and personal views.
As his title intimates, DR.. Boards
philosophy is that Of economic ma
tionalism, and he marshals many and
strong arguments in its favor. He
says that our historic policy of 'the
open door" abroad has resulted in "the
present economic calamity" and that
for recovery and further economic
advance we should abandon that pol
icy and adopt one of self-suf1ciency.
He writes: The open door at home
means the most efficient use of the
natural resources and industrial arts
of the nation at home in quest for
security and q high standard Of living.
- It implies a reversal Of reliance
on imprudent risks and invites the
American Nation 10 open doors at