Evening star., 1935-01-20

JMAN'S NEW NOVEL, 'ANOTHER
,AR.'
with all its insincere and melodra-
matte performances.
4 x y y
LABOR'S FIGHT FOR POWER. BY
George E. Sokolsky. Garden City:
Doubleday, Doran g. Co.
THROUGH years of Journalism and
l. acquaintance with leaders of many
groups in the Far East, Mr.. Sokolsky
is qualified to speak of those questions
which are producing enmities among
China, Japan and Russia. and are not
leaving England and the United States
unmoved. He has spoken vigorously
and with consideration for all view
points in his book, THE Tinder Box
of Asia" Very recently he has turned
his attention to a different field and
has been making a study OF the
struggle going on in this country be-
tween capital and labor and the ef-
feet of New Deal policies on that
struggle The material collected in
this book has previously appeared in
various magazine articles, which were
prompted by the fact that as early
as June. 1888, Mr.. SokolSky felt that
N. r. A. legislation was too loosely
drawn and too rapidly passed to ac-
complish what was desired or to en-
dure long. The legislation and bal
lyhoo attending the New Deal were
controlled by curious economic falla-
cies."
The analysis of these fallacies is
one of the key parts Of his present
book. Chief among them is that the
N. r. A has attempted to graft upon
capitalistic structure Communlstlc
measures, and the result has been
the confusion of Fascism. He believes
that capitalism is workable and can,
ION the whole, provide its citizens with
constantly improving social and eco
nomic conditions" that the present
depression is due to faulty operation
of the capitalistic system. not
the essential structure" Communism
Is also workable, in a pre-capltaESt
country. with an uneducated mass
unaccustomed to any degree of per-
sonal liberty, possessing no equities in
property. and it is possible to regiment
them within a political structure erect
ed by rigid deSpotism and unques-
tioning obedience" but study OF facts
shows that in Russia, where Com
munism has made its most successful
experiment. 1.-The pull of political grav-
ity has been in the direction Of
capitalism"
MIR. Sokolsky does fot believe that
high wage scale is necessarily in the
best interest of labor; actual earn
ings and purchasing power form a
more adequate standard. He sug-
gests a minimum wage scale, with a
bonus system from profits, to be shared
by labor, management and stockhold-
ers. Some of the other suggestions
he makes are that the example set by
several large industrial organizations
in this country of cooperation be-
tween capital and labor for mutual
profit be followed by all the rest; and
that the American Federation of La
Dor needs an theological as we'll as a
practical program in order to achieve
workers solidarity. In the main, Mr..
Sokolsky's book is descriptive of pres
ent labor conditions, with much criti-
cism of New Deal policies and re-
suits. He enumerates seven major
New Deal failures: To put 100000
men back to work. to hquefy frozen
assets, to reduce expenditures for re-
lief. to stimulate the use of capital
goods, to find procedure for adjust
ing the relations between capital and
labor, to devise program for pro-
tecting the farmer against price mall
adjustment between farm products
and manufactured goods, and to stim-
ulate foreign trade. He prophesieS the
growth of an opposition which will
bring swing to capitalism, democ-
racy, and the Constitution" Mr..
Sokolsky is scheduled to debate with
Mr.. Kaltenborn in the Washington
Town Hall course in February on the
question, Shall the United States
enter the League of Nations?"
X X X X
LABOR, INDUSTRY AND Gov
ERNMENT. BY Matthew Woll.
New York: D. Appleton Century
Co.
THIS book by a vice president and
L member of the executive council
of the American Federation of Labor
NAV probably be considered to con-
tain much of the present credo OF
the federation. Mr.. Woll outlines
the beginnings of the American labor
movement and the principles and
policies of organized labor, as a pre-
liminary to what is the main pur-
pose of the book, discussion Of the
present situation of labor under the
New Deal. Organized labor, he says,
foresaw the economic collapse and
gave warning that the industrial
chiefs of the nation were embarked
on a dangerous course. Unemploy-
ment is a better barometer of Amer
ican business than stock market f1uc-
tuations, and by that barometer the
depression began before the Autumn
of 1929.
The New Deal may be judged from
many points of view-that of the
Roosevelt Democrat, the Conserva-
tive Democrat, the Liberal Republic
can, the Conservative Republican, the
farmer, the management Of big in
dustries, the stockholder, labor in in
dustry. It is the last point of view
which Mr.. Woll represents as he con-
siders labor's right to organize, the
trade union philosophy that en-
ployers should exercise no dominion
over the organizations of employees,