Evening star., 1937-02-27

election fearS. II IL Is 10 De deprived
Of its power to declare acts of Congress
unconstitutional, then Congress (and
the President) must needs be made to
answer to the will of the people di-
rectly, and that more often than every
four years. 1t should be possible to
recall them on fairly short notice.
This seems neat point. Unhappily
it is based more on the theory of gov
ernment than its practice, for the
reader will hardly be able to visual
ize President and Congress. having
deprived the court of its constitutional
authority, proceeding to limit their
own, merely for the saks of good logic.
On the exact contrary, says Mr..
Lawrence, there is much more danger
of unbridled power to be discerned in
the executive branch of the Govern
ment than in the judiciary
"THE President" he points out,
may veto an act passed by
majority of Congress. Mr.. Cleveland
vetoed 100 acts of Congress in one
day.
The President may have signed an
act of Congress and yet when total
membership of one less than two
thirds of both Houses come to the
conclusion subsequently that they
desire it repealed. the erasure from the
statute books cannot thus be attained
without his consent.
1T is possible within nine months
to amend the constitution but
we cannot rid ourselves of an un-
popular President until he has served
four years.
Likewise the President may refuse
to call Congress into session even
though there may be desirable reasons
for an extra session. Neither house
can bring about such a legislative
session of its own initiative
The present Congress, as Mr. Law
renee sees it, has "abdicated its func-
ton" by its abject submission to the
Presidents wishes.
AS for the court, it has merely per-
formed its duty, and that this per-
formance should call for courage he
attributes to campaign to under
mine the third branch of the Gov
ernment" which. he says, has been
gathering momentum for several
months It is the inevitable result
of a quest by the Executive for alb
solute power"
Hard words, perhaps. But the gen.
eral temper of this book is such that
one feels that it can and should be
read by every person interested in the
present struggle to alter the established
forms of the American Government.
FRONT LINE AND DEADLINE. BY
Granville Fortescue. New York:
G. P. Putnam's Sons.
THIS book is a worthy addition to
the now considerable procession of
memoirs written by correspondents,
men who, having had front row seats
at the most spectacular and signifi-
cant events of our troubled times,
now seem, one and all, to feel an
irresistible inclination to make CO.
herent narrative of their witnessings.
Generally, their memoirs fall into
two kinds-those that moralize, ana
lyze and prophesy, and those that
merely relate. leaving the heavy sig
nificance of the material itself to make
its own impression on the reader. The
reviewer finds the latter variety in
fnitely the better. and it is to that
group that Mr.. Fortescue's story be-
longs.
He has not done any interpreting,
nor has he assumed the prophets
robe. He has not even attempted to
extend his news-gathering memoirs to
make a complete autobiography, in
which, for the delectation of breathless
readers. the story of his personal de-
velopment is obligingly related to his
professional career He has, indeed,
been tempted by no irrelevance, but
writes a straight, spirited account of
the adventures he has had since he
went as a very young neWsman (dis-
guised as soldier) to that pre-war
war called the Spanish
Having related his experience in
that dated struggle (he took part in
the charge up San Juan Hill and
stopped a bullet with his ankle) he
skips over the years to 1909, when he
again covered a war, this time the
Riffian trouble in Morocco. From
that he moves on to the World War,
and his narrative of his activities on |
the various fronts in that conflict |
fills the greater part of his book. He
was in Belgium when the trouble be- |
gan and actually was the first cor
respondent to send out the news of |
the violation of that country's neu-
traGty. From that time on he man.
aged to be in at most of the great |
scenes. With Richard Harding Davis |
and Ashmead-Bartlett, he slipped |
through the lines in violation of the
regulations by which correspondents
were supposed to be governed, and |
covered the shelling of Rheims, sub
quently doing eight days in French
prison for his enterprise. And he
witnessed not only the fighting on
the western front, but also that on
the eastern and in Turkey. To read
his book, indeed, Is to become i'm
mersed in the thrilling old war period,
DiO0SAit W q oul lloIlS uNcuI1cSS dlJcI
the years which have intervened.
The book closes with some chapters
on the present war in Spain, wherein,
for the first time in his story, Mr..
Fortescue permits himself to do a
little personal speculation. He feels
that the Spanish struggle will be the
first of series Of world conflicts, a
series of conflicts which will grow out
of gigantic struggle between fascism
and communism; but he adds that
there are other conflicts of interest
in Europe that may throw the
whole present adjustment out of bal
ance.
When" he asks, will the next
world war start? A year hence, two,
five years? It would be rash to pre-
dict"
And, he adds, IF and when the
next war comes, it will be carried
right into the homes of the civilian |