Evening star., 1937-07-31

JuSb Coulun L SIdnQ JrenCh lie. 1hlS
is rather startling, in view of his pre-
vious idealiSm
He did not give up his interest in the
war, however, on quitting active serv-
ice. but got a job as correspondent and
settled down to observe from Madrid.
What one gathers from his revelations
is that Spain is a madhouse, a ground
where international rivalrieS are being
fought out at the bitter expense of the
Spanish people, who, for the most
part, do not understand any of the
uproar. He himself is bitterly partisan
for the government; his revelations,
however, unconsciously expose conduct
on the part of the prevailing regime
which seem equal in corruption and
folly to anything which he attributes
to the rebels. The very incoherence OF
the book, one feels, is is part. 1t is
about an incoherent situation.
The two works are startling
monument, when taken together. They
speak of corruption that is fathomless
cruelty that is deliberate and horrible
and an impenetrable contempt for
individuals and individual liberty. To
read them is, as has been said, to
marvel at human conduct. And to be
thankful that the Atlanti. Ocean is
SO wide.
THE SEVENTEEN MILLION. BY
nONon Mile
MasMillan Co.
THIS book is defense of the Con-
stitution against what the author
takes to be the present determination
Of those in office to render the docu-
title comes from the election returns
Of last November. Seventeen million
Americans went on record there, says
Mr.. Mills, as preferring the established
forms Of our Government to any
drastic alteration. Other voters, not
inside that number, probably held the
same view without realizing that the
Constitution was to be tampered with
in the post-election months. But, as
Mr.. Mills sees it, the administration
is in the hands Of collectivists whose
intention is revolutionary.
NO mere amendment will serve
the purpose OF the collectivists," he
says, and none has been presented.
They would remake America to suit
themselves. And to remake America,
the Constitution must not just be
amended-but destroyed
Since the Constitution cannot be
destroyed directly, it is to be rewritten
by q subservient Congress, supported
by q packed and servile court"
That is his thesis.
He then takes up in successive chap
ters the problems of peace, security,
agriculture and labor and shows how,
within the existing limits of the Gov
ernment, there is perfectly adequate
machinery for handling such problems
as have arisen. AS for the present
outlook, he sees our trend as toward
a Fascist state, with ever greater CEN
tralization in Washington, and ever
greater restrictions imposed on indi-
Viduals. Planned production, he saws.
will have to be met by planned con-
which means, telling the
people when to buy what to buy, and
how much" Such an assumption OF
authority has not yet been attempted.
he observes, but. he points out, Hitler
was voted in by majority of the
German people in an apparently hon
est election. But just let the German
people try to vote him out" And he
leaves us to draw the inference for
ourselves.
Whether or not one agrees with his
premises; one must always find the
championing OF the doctrine of indi-
vidual liberty heartening thing.
THE STORY OF DICTATORSHIP.
BY E. E. Kellett. New York: E. P.
Dutton Co.
THIS is a collection of scholarly
essays. each devoted to treatment
OF particular dictator Cor, as they
used to be called. tyrant from the
beginning Of recorded history down to
the present time The theme running
through the collection is that tyrants
and tyranny through the ages differ
little in any but outside trappings.
and not enough in those to deceive the
discerning. A man arises in troubled
time to repel an invader. to stabilize
finances. to champion the poor; he
does what he promises to do; he next
discovers conspiracy among the
wicked to undo his good work and
orders summary executions or banish-
ments, the so-called wicked generally
include his former friends and asso-
ciates; he begins to fear opposition and
suppresSes free speech and the press;
he lengthens his original term until it
becomes for life. he depends more and
more on the army; and so on All
alike, says Mr.. Kellett, all unmistak-
able
Napoleon. Abimilech, the de Medici,
Periander. Dionysius, Lopez. Francia,
Hitler Mussollnl and Stalin-all are
examined here and found to conform
reliably to the pattern. The book is
written with a COOL non-insistent
irony and without a vestige Of preju-
dice. 1t makes amusing reading until
it comes to the present. Then it will
probably be amusing only for the
reader who is philosopher. But to
such it can be heartily commended.
RAILROAD WEST. BY Cornelia
Meigs. Boston: Little Brown and
Co.
HIS is the story of the building of
the Northern Pacific Railroad.
told in the form of novel. 1t centers
around the work and romance of
young Philip Fox, who goes out as an
engineer on the project, meets his
future wife there, takes surveys while
Indians are potting at him, fights
bllzzards, swamps, hunger and thirst.
sees the railroad project apparently
swept away by financial panic, but
finally stands proudly by while the last
spike is driven. 1t is quiet little tale,