Evening star., 1935-01-19
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH G.. BOWERM1N.

FRIENDLY RELATIONS. A Maria
tive Of Britain's Ministers and
Ambassadors to America Q7s1-
lsso,. BY Beckles Wilson. BOs-
ton: Little, Brown a Co.
Forty ENJOYS have represented
Great Britain In the United States
since the Nation replaced the British
colonies Some were very important,
some left little mark in Anglo Amer
ican diplomacy. In his narrative Of
their Caresrs in this country Col.
Wilson has written q chapter, q very
popular one, Of diplomatic history.
The introduction to his book Ia by
Sir Ronald Lindsay, present British
Ambassador to the United States,
who pays q tribute to that great
diplomatist, the first Ambassador to
the United States, Lord Pauncefote,"
who did 80 much for cordial relations
between the two countries. Col. Will
son sees an analogy in his own task
Of presenting q series Of foreign en-
voys TO that Of the French protocol,
with its Introoucteur des Ambssss-
deurs.
There was some delay In sending q
representative to the United States
after the adoption of the Constitu-
tion and there were charges here of
British arrogance, but finally George
Hammond, Q young man Of only 28,
Of good family and some diplomatic
experience, was appointed and found
his situation "in many points Of view,
new, critical and rather emba rrass-
ing" When the British Legation was
moved, with the American Govern
ment. to Wsshinsto ton, in 1900. Edward
Thornton was charge daffaires and
remained acting Minister for three
yesrs. From these early expert.
mental, difiicult years, Col. Wilson
traces the growth of irritable, in
creasingly hostile relations through
the War Of 1872, then the gradual
improvement, somewhat interrupted
by the general sympathy for the South
in Great Britain during the Civil
War, the closeness of association dur
ing the World War and efforts TO
preserve friendly rels lions since then.
The most famous names in The
record are those of Sir Julian Psunce-
fote. Sir James Bryce and Lord
Reading, High Commissioner and AM
bssssdor Extraordinary and Plenipo-
LentiaTy 10 the United States during
| the World War. Col. Wilson's treat
! ment Of Bryce. beloved Of the Ameri-
can people, is rather sstiricsl. His
admiration is evidently for the more
plain, competent, alert and single
minded members Of the diplomatic
service. He says Of Bryce: He was
o fluent and scholarly speaker, but
lacked personal magnetism and was
open TO the reprosch Of belonging 10
that order Of solid. sane and sober
intellectusls who are less men than
public institutions" Col. Wilson is
Cana dian born, has been q journalist
in both England and America, served
with the c. E. r. in the World War
and is the author Of several books on
diplomatic subjects. among them The
Paris Embassy and Americas Am
bassadors 10 England"
THE TWILIGHT OF THE SU-
PREME COURT. A History of
Our Constitutional Theory. BY
Edward S. Corwin. New Haven:
Yale University Press.
The treatment OF the development
OF our constitutional theory by Or.
Corwin is in four parts. First, Ham,
ilton's view Of a strong national power
triumphed over Madison's view OF q
union of Sta tes and was given perms
nent form by Marshall. Next. follow
ing the Civil War, the view that in
dividusl initiative and more or less
economic laissez-faire were best for
national welfare gained ground and
the property right concept" found
protection in the court: then. as Dean
Charles E. Clark of the Yale Law
School says in his foreWord, both dual
federalism and laisseZ-faire were
driven to retreat before the courts
growing recognition that our present
economic and social life cannot be
compressed into separate State units I"
The problem of the force of law and
the possession of the function of
! changing it is the subject of the
next section. Finally is discussed the
breakdown of constitutional limits-
tions through the exercise OF the
spending power of government. DR..
Corwin raises the question whether,
| since the United States went in for
| political democracy, it might not have
been rs well to face the logical con-
sequences instead OK resigning the
final decision to the nine members
Of the Supreme Court. He asks:
Back to the Constitution" and an
swers Yes" IL it is remembered that
the first requirement of the consti-
tuition Of . progressive society is that
It keep pace with that society" DR..
Corwin 10 professor Of Jurisprudence
in Princeton University. and the ma
terisl in this book was first used in
q course Of lectures under the Storrs
Lectureship Foundation Of the Yale
School of Law.
MODELLING FOR CHAOS. The
Story Of the New Propaganda. BY
O. w. Riegel New Haven: Yale
University Press.
Directing public opinion sounds
like . high educa ational enterprise at
| its best, and at the other extreme the
pastime of the Spell-binder, but Mr..
Riegel, director of journalism at
Washington and Lee University,
thinks it is loaded with dangerous
possibilities, proba bilities, Or certain
ties. The traffic in propaganda is
more perilous to national and world
safety, he believes, than the traffic
in munitions. 1t is "mobilizing for
chaos" Through it all the human
tolerance and liberty of thought won
, by centuries of struggle are likely
to be lost. In all the leading coun-
tries propaganda is now organized on
q large scale, usually in the interest
Of nstionalism, often in the interest
of the power of dictator. The vari-
GUS channels of news are more and
more coming under control. Amer
lean press. associations still lead in
the degree Of freedom of their re-
ports from governmental influence.
The American press retains conSid-
ersble liberty and zealously attacks
any suspected encroachments upon