Evening star., 1937-02-27

pugnacious' and 'Napoleonic,' ESQ
used In the daily press attempts to
characterize him, are better" then
comedies Mr.. Adamic, cooling over Mr..
Lewis like a mother over a newborn
babe, while to Solid 'dominating.'
formidable vital and potent ro
objection can be made (who was max
ing any-do you care? But this uues-
ton is shortly answered)-not even"
breathes Mr.. Adamic, "by his adoring
daughter and private secretary.
Kathryn Lewis. currently disturbed by
the other adjectives" (The tender
family touch, no doubt, this last)
And so the piece throbs on-inform-
ing us that below his nose Mr.. Lewis
is fighter. but that above it he Is
brooder; that his face can register
every important human emotion mice
discriminating there. Mr.. Adamic) in
the time it takes him to utter a long
sentence; that he is seldom human,
but that when he is human he is
superb (Which may mean something,
and that he Is without doubt planning
to be our next President.
1t leaves one less impressed with
body Of information about the ex-
miner than stunned by the author
Iavished enthusiasm. All that ore
really knows is that Louis Adamic
finds in John Lewis a leader to his
liking. The facts remain as obscure
as facts generally are.
EVEN the Mercury, alas. gives is
- pages to strikes and rumors Of
strikes. Its opening piece in its March
issue is called Case History of a
Strike" and tells of the recent trouble
in the Goodyear plant at Akron. The
author is Gordon Carroll. This plant
Voluntarily arranged for employe
representation shortly after war
Then. says Mr. Carroll, the N. r. A.
appeared, "bolstering the familiar
union doctrine that the Boss Is always
wrong. the Worker always right. On
the heels of N. r. A, professional
union organizers poured into Akron.
dispensing the customary promises
and collecting the customary funds
A vote was taken and out Of 1886
employees, 12,705 voted, with ninety
one per cent rejection of strike. The
workers, in short, wanted peace. But
the unions wanted war. So war was
declared The solid, domineering.
formidable. vital, potent John Lewis
took in the ensuing action a part
rather less that of a brooder than of
a plug-ugly fighter, according to Mr..
Carroll. Reading the Mercury's
article, one must conclude that, in the
Akron trouble, he was functioning
wholly from below the nose"
1t is a disheartening and dis
illusioning piece OF reading for any
one who cherishes the faith that
strikes always represent righteous
spontaneous revolt of workers against
injustice, or that, when settled, they
always represent an improvement in
the workers lot. Perhaps at the
present moment, when it is impossible
to go to a theater and see a pleasant
motion picture without being afflicted
with newsreels Of rioters. it might
ONC4l OC EAS q AASNA O.
professional, since she makes no
money at it, the reviewer sees no
harm in knowing both sides The
professional hberals-surely-h no
real objection?
T IKE Scribners', the Mercury seems
- to be depressed over the impending
doom of the species once known as the
"he-man," and under the title of The
Vanishing American Male" it laments
his mountaineering passing. The
article might not be considered i'm
portant enough to mention. were 1t
not that its subject seems to be claim
ing increasing attention. And that
signifcantly-those who write about
it are all men. One trusts that the
situation is not quite so black as the
boys paint it.