The Washington times., 1936-07-18
NOW
Book UnmlGSkS
DiCtGtOrS
'GANGSTERS'
BY HELEN ESSARY

L
dictators of Europe are magnifi'
cent fellows. With flashing ges'
lures they take command of the
stupid populace. With genius,
sometimes perverted, they direct
governments. To their exquisite
courage millions respond with mad
enthusiasm.
w. A. S. Douglas, a newspaper
man of wide experience, has just
written about these Respondent
Europeans. His short, fearless vol
ume, THE Racketeer Of Europe"
will destroy any Sentimentalist's
picture of the dictator.
Mr.. Douglas calls his book "a
Political Travelogue." He steps
swiftly through Germany, Italy,
Roumania, Poland, Albania, Aus
tria and Hungary. Neatly and
wildly chopping off glamour as
he goes, national heroes emerge
in his pages as gangsterS, differ
ing only from the American gang
Ster in that they have Shrewdly
obtained official sanction for their
lawlessness.
Mr.. Douglas says in his intro
duction that the beginnings OF his
unvarniShed slant on European
dictators was a conversation with
Teddy Newberry, Short-lived sue
cessor to Al Capone. Gunman New.
berry told him once in a moment
of confession, "Our kind is pikerS
compared with that European
gang"
First and most important" in
Mr.. Douglas characteriZatiOnS,
''cOmeS AdOlph Hitler, the Aus
trian corporal, a pink-cheeked
rabble-rOuSer, who has Billy SUM-
dayed Germany into the belief
that there is no God but Ger
many and that the Austrian is
His prophet.
"He has forced his badly writ
ten book, 'Mein Kampf,' down
the threats of 100000 Germans
At So a copy"
'FMuSs0lini," remarks Mr..
Douglas, "gOeS it alone. If one
of his aides begins to look dan
gerOuS, as did ItaIO BalbO, he is
Immediately kicked out of power,
exiled or killed. When the Big
Boss goes there will be a free
fOr-alI."
"CarOl, King of ROumania,"
Mr.. Douglas writes, combines
drunkenness and disSOluteneSS
with a rare cunning. In his
youth a master of women, he
now becomes in middle age the
tool of a clever woman. Their
combined sagacity makes his
tenure in ROumania stronger
than it really appears to be-"
poland is ruled by The Colo
nels'," continues the author of
"The Racketeers." '"They have
gathered in all of the available
cash throughout the nation.
Their army awaits bids for its
services. Its strength is such
that it holds the balance of mill
tary power in Europe today"
"ZOg, King of Albania" Mr..
Douglas regards as the "Only
professional kidnaper to arise
from the art of snatching to a
throne" "Mustapha Renal is
even more blOOdily picturesque
'ePrince Won Starhemberg Of
Austria is the playbOy, woman
chasing type of mObster, almost
Robin HOOd-Iike in his methods"
"HOrthy of Hungary and GOem-
bOes, his right bower, once whole
sale murderers, are now kindly
bosses"
These excerpts from the Rack
eteer of Europe" prove to even a
heat-wave invalid that soothing
syrup is not a favorite medicine
Of it's author.
w. A. S. Douglas previous book,
"Long John Murray" is a poetic
account of the swaShbuckling
Ulstermen of North Ireland.
An extremely close relative Of
ours has been remembering since
the attack on King Edward VIII
how her English schoolmates in
a Swiss school adored the British
royal family. How the girls would
proudly tell the simplest sort OF
anecdotes about the young princes
and their wives.
King George V was personally
q stranger to these young subjects
in Switzerland. But when he died
they grieved as if he were their
most intimate friend.
Such intensity of affection for a
ruler cannot be comprehended by
an American. When the poSt-inau-
guration honeymoon is over, the
American springs on his President.
With claw and fang he cheerfully
tears his private and public life
to shreds.
When Mrs. Boerge Rohde steps
temporarily from her role as wife
of the Honorary Groom of the
King of Denmark and as Ruth
Bryan Owen goes out over the
country to speak for President
Roosevelt she will not appear as an
amateur campaigner.
A few years ago, before she be-
came the American Minister to
Denmark, she toured the country
ON the Chautauqua Circuit and