Evening star., 1937-04-03

or energy properly to insure her child's
health and life. Awakened by the
shock Of her daughters death. she
finally succumbs to the need Of human
relations, but in the end Is too ab-
sorbed in her career to make . real
success Of second marriage.
The tale Is we'll told and holds the
interest, but one wonders bit at the
lack OF plausibility Absolutely mex
perienced, and with only three weeks
OF Job hunting during period Of de-
preston, Mary Dobbs finds job which
allows her to start as reception clerk
in magazine publishing house and
finish as editor in chief Moreover,
she Immediately plunges into writing
short stories and novel for syn
dicate, although her previous literary
efforts never extended beyond fresh
man composition. And one wonders
too. whether need and ambition are
sufficient equipment to raise one from
mere clerk to editor in chief. There
the book and but little elsewhere, that
Mary Dobbs had anything else
r. r. T.
ASIA'S GOOD NEIGHBOR. BY
Walter karig Bobbs Merrill &
Co., Indianapolis and New York.
A NEWSPAPER MAN, one OF the
distinguished members Of Wash
ington's corps of correspondents, has
written a fascinating book on sub
ject that most Of us too willingly
leave to the heavy experts who see
foreign relations and international
trade through a maze Of statistics
and quotation marks. Mr.. Karig,
plainly, does not like statistics. And
his quotation marks are few and far
between. The book is written as 4
good newspaper story would be writ
ten-clear, direct and to the point,
with the human interest and the con-
sequential facts carrying the reader
along in an effortless absorption Of .
vast amount of new and Unexpectedly
interesting information
1t differs from the reporters tale,
however, in the authors frank as
sumption Of editorial command Of
his theme The book fairly sizzles,
in spots, with personal indignation
over acts in the past-not so distant
past-in the white mans exploitation
Of the East. Yet a fine balance is
struck through Mr.. Karig's whole
souled appreciation Of what he con-
siders Americanism at its best. And
Americanism at its best, in the field
Of foreign relations, is the intelligent
appreciation of the rights and the
aspirations Of other people than our
own. Mr.. Karigs heroes are not
Dewey at Manila Bay or Commodore
Perry at Toxic Bay. but Townsend
Harris, Caleb Gushing and Arson
Burlingame, men Of good will, whose
policies in the Far East were the
policies of the Good Neighbor; who
commanded respect and affection for
their country because they. in turn,
were respectful and affectionate in
their relations with others.
Two hundred thousand years ago,
MI hdIl6 WI1IcS, LNO stIcAuls VI
humanity flowed out of Asia in op-
posite directions, and now they meet
on the shores Of the Pacific and make
horrible faces at each other" That.
the author announces, IS his story,
and his theme becomes an indignant
question OF why, now that they are
met, they should make faces. The
answer is that the story deals with
humanity and becomes cluttered up
with q lot OF stupidity" on the part
OF other nations and our own which, in
taking up the white mans burden,
have conceived 1t as an opportunity
to bring home the bacon. The only
preventive for the war with Japan
that 50 many have accepted as in
eNtable, perhaps through w1shful
thinking, is the policy Of the good
neighbor which America followed for
half \ century in the Far East and