Evening star., 1936-11-28

knows, when one has nnHhed MS
piece, that he opposes war. But that
Is about all. However, he seems to
belong in the trilogy.
On collectivism, Mr.. Lppmann
writes with melancholy detachment.
He calls his piece "The Collectivist
Movement in Practice" and he sees
that practice as about done. Discuss
ing the Russian state, with It's wide
discrepancies between proclamation
and fact, Of which he says, THE
dogmas accompany the action, but do
not direct 1t. like the songs that SOL
diers sing when they 60 to war" he
concludes that ''the beginning Of the
end Is at hand, that we are living at
the climax Of the collectivist move
ment, its promises already dust and
ashes In mems mouths, its real con-
sequences no longer matters of theo-
retical debate, but Of bitter and bloody
experience"
This article Is one Of the series
which Mr.. Lippmann Is now publish
ing on the history of political thought.
Another Is promised for the succeed
ing issue.
In discussing cooperative business,
Mr.. ]. B. Matthews, an authority on
the subject, makes public the horrid
fact that these concerns, generally
accepted as being Of a more idealistic
quality than private business, actually
make use Of misleading advertising
and frequently put out inferior goods.
He quotes some instances. He also
makes this unorthodox remark:
80 neither workers state nor
q cooperative system has shown in
practice the ability or even the clear
intent to serve consumers as well as
has private business enterprise" Well,
there you are. He seems pretty
definite.
SCRIBNER'S, like its old contem-
porary, gives practically complete
farewell to the recently so-burning
issues. and in its December number
makes hardly any reference to the
election at all. In fact. it seems to
bid for a frivolous public, now that
it has a new price and new formal.
and it opens with one of the oldest Of
all bids-the he-or-she.
This Is contained In q piece by
Thomas H. Uzzell and v. E. Leroy
entitled, The Decline of the Male"
1t makes spoof1ng capital Of the sit
uation of modern man as the inferior
nf randarn N dacnrihinn hin,
anything but q conqueror." Instead
OF "a virile glow of power and con-
f1dence," say these traitors to their
sex, modern man has chiefly for his
attributes. debts, office worries, low
vitality, bald head. eyeglasses, store
teeth. halitosis. hernia. high blood
pressure. constipation. can't eat this
can't eat that, weak muscles, fallen
arches, corns. tobacco-heart. abdom-
inal-tosis, bunions. ingrowing toe
nails-and the whole fiabby works
dominated by chronic mother-fixa
ton, which raises hell with every
yirile impulse he possesses"
The obvious purpose OF this Is to
bring in comments, and the editors
obligingly state that they will print
any pertinent" ones which they re-
ceive. So people who write letters may
as well sharpen up their pens. This
is the oldest controversy-and the
surest.
For the rest. Scribner's gives In
creasing space to fiction and pictures
1t is rather determinedly youthful.
THE MERCURY, to be sure, has not
given up the political fight. Unlike
its contemporaries. it does not concede
that the election is past. In an open
ing editorial, 1t frankly announces its
sturdy intention to carry on.
THE Mercury" II says, will con-
tinue to expose the absurdities and
stupidities Of the New Deal Just as
strenuously as it exposed the absurdi-
ties and stupidities Of the First Crack
pot Reich, l933-1936"
But this is not so regrettable be-
cause the Mercury, alone among the
magazines, has contrived to make its
exposure" funny. II it continues to
De as amusing IN Its assaults on the
administration as it has been. its heroic
gesture is distinctly to the good.
1t gets of to an excellent start in
the present number, to be sure with
Mr.. Mencken-who else?-opening the
firing. In piece called THE Dole for
Bogus Farmers" he imparts to us the
news that Government aid to agri-
culture is q political racket And
while this may not positively electrify
the detached reader with surprise. it
Interestingly demonstrates a geological
fact, namely: that lion roaring, even
just doing q little routine vocal exer-
else to keep his throat healthy makes
more impressive noise than any other
animal. be it wolf. donkey, hyena or
nightingale. And among prose stylists,
and particularly among political prose
stylists, Mr.. Mencken Is a lion. He
rises in the last paragraphs Of the