Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-01-26


aATIONS. 1933-ls35. Edited by
Macmillan Co.
1HIS book is collection OF al
ready published articles on
such current topics as are in
Il fluencing present conditions
and seem likely to influence the future
trend of the Government. Taxation
and the budget, the devaluation Of
the dollar. managed currency, labor.
the N. R. A., relief, the Presidents
leadership, the state Of agriculture
and international affairs are among
the subjects considered.
Mr.. Lippman's views are. of course.
too well known to call for much COM
menting. In sum, his conclusions
are substantially those of most
agencies or individuals who have ex-
amined the present administrations
efforts on the basis of figures rather
than emotions, which is that, in gen.
eral, these efforts have failed of ac-
plishing their purposes.
The Public Works Administration,
he says, has been worse than fail
ure"; it has demoralized private con-
struction without fulfilling its own
raison d'etre, which was the creation
of relief. The N. r. A. was a Mid
summer madness" The A. A. A.
was not important enough either for
good or for evil to be worth long
debate" And New Dealers them
selves do not know what the New
Deal is aiming at.
Mr.. Lippmann has sometimes
seemed obstructionist when one has
read his isolated pieces. Together.
In one volume, these pieces reveal
him as surprisingly tolerant, and he
has been correct in his judgments
with uncanny frequency. AS an aid
to understanding what we have been
through-and what may still lie
ahead of us-one can recommend this
book even to those who do not agree
with its authors policies.
THE HOOVER ADMINISTRATION
A Documented Narrative. BY Will
liam Starr Myers and Walter H.
Newton. New York: Charles
Scribner'S Sons.
THIS record of the Hoover admin
istration was prepared from
documents placed at the authors dis
posal by the former President. Will
liam Starr Myers is professor of poll
tics at Princeton University and WAL
ter H. Newton was Mr.. Hoover's secre-
tary.
The material has been grouped un-
der two main headings-that which
deals with the depression and that
which deals with the normal tasks Of
the administration. Under each head
the plan of making day-by-day log
of the record has been used. The
reader therefore can turn to any day
OF the period, and discover what the
Government was doing at just that
time. Condensation naturally has
been necessary, but reference is al
ways given to the complete docu-
ment from which the excerpts are
taken. Comment by the authors has
been reduced to a minimum.
As political records go, this would
seem tc be good idea. Readers, of
course, will interpret the work as they
wish. The authors, while, as has
been said, avoiding comment. are
clearly in sympathy with Mr.. Hoover's
policies and state in their preface
something which is usually over
looked, that he was the first Presi-
dent to bring Government resources
to work in an effort to alleviate de-
preston. Grant, Cleveland, Theodore
Roosevelt and Wilson. they point out,
had depressions in their times and
practically ignored them. Mr.. Hoover,
they see as unprecedented in assun-
ing responsibility in an economic
crisis.
The book is a unique work in that
1t is, in essence, history, but written
while the conditions which ID deals
with are still current factors in ma
tional life.
AMERICA MUST ACT. BY Francis
Bowes Sayre. New York: The
World Peace Foundation.
THIS book is concerned with Amer
- ica's position In world trade. Its
author IS Assistant Secretary of State.
Mr.. Sayres thesis is, briefly, that
we are in place where we must take
q decisive stand on the questions of
tariffs and trade agreements. He ex-
amines the current conditions in our
foreign trade situation and sums up
as follows:
THE issue lies between powerful in
terests demanding these narrow and
short-Sighted policies (tariffs and re-
strictions) and forces working for
liberal commercial policy based on the
principle of equality and on-discrim-
1nation. At such time those who
have the vision to comprehend the
issues and the courage to act, cannot
afford to be silent"
In developing this idea, Mr.. Sare
discusses at some length the program
Of the present administration for de-
veloping foreign trade under the trade
agreements act. While for the most
part the effects of this act lie in the
future, he expresses confidence in its
essential soundness. Already, he says,
our imports from Cuba-one of the
countries with which an agreement
under the act has been worked out
have increased A per cent.
The book contains much factual in
formation. While, as has been said,
the proof of the authors contention
lies largely in the future, he advances
q respectable body Of evidence to sup
port its merit.
CAN WE BE NEUTRAL? BY Allen
W.~xz;les and Hamilton Fish Arm
strong. New York: Published by
Harper and Brothers for the Coun-
Gil on Foreign Relations, Inc.
THIS is q study of what may be
- accomplished by legislation to in
sure neutrality for America in case
Of another war. After examining the
various pieces Of neutrality legislation
- A,y vaocCoA tho authors 1aeNn IN