Evening star., 1938-04-17
By Mary.Carfer Roberts.

VSlblll/ bIbh41N. 11S IL " VNAo
Garden City: Doubleday Doran.
1WO books come this week from
the industrious pen of our
foremost modern cosmogra-
a pher. the nimble and ingeni-
Gus Mr H. G. Wells. The first
named of them is long short-story
first published in this. its present
form. The second is collection of
essays, lectures and articles, all of
which have previously been given to
the public in some manner or other.
The idea in both volumes, however, is
the same.
In The Brothers" Mr.. Wells simply
puts into fictional form the solution
for cosmic troubles which he has
worked out in World Brain" 1t is
his latest remedy. Even allowing for
his indefatigability. one feels that one
can safely say that. For the publica-
ton date of THE Brothers is April
4 and that of World Brain" April 8.
It will probably be all of June or
July before Mr.. Wells has time to come
to the rescue again. That the world
has not been saved in the last is
years assuredly is not his fault.
But there it is The obstinate
planet persists in its folly and Mr.
Wells is obliged to think up a new
way Of salvation for 1t as often as
three and four times year. Now
he shows US. with great plausibility.
how the root OF our trouble lies in our
Intellectual DISCRIMINATION. Man for
man. he finds, we may be capable of
fairly intelligent and decent conduct.
But when we begin to act in groups.
as nations for example, we inevitably
fall into old errors.
In all other types Of organization
he points ont, We have made distinot
progress. We can design factories
wherein the parts of an automobile
are made to At together with truly
beautiful efficiency But we have no
assembly line for our knowledge It
remains scattered about. contained in
various brains and in miscellaneous
volumes. Let us gather it all to-
gether, says Mr. Wells. into World
Encyclopedia, and make this work
available to every citizen of every
land. Let the citizens then be trained
to turn to the new compendium for
the def1nitive word on every subject.
Let them know that in it is truth. Let
them be given. in other words, a new
manner of authority, new fiat. For
without authority the people cannot
live And since that is SO, says Mr..
Wells, let the one which is given them
be an authority that is based on
truth (as We modernly interpret IT.
and not on the old tribal superstitions,
dogmas, taboos and faiths with which
ve now, in hodge -podge fashion, suf-
fee ourselves.
Well, it is fair enough idea. Like
most of Mr.. Wells plans Of salvation
it is entertaining, well seasoned and
inbued with not a little plauslbilitv.
It might even be adopted-though
not, one feels, in time to be Of any
use in our present situation.
As said, this plan is set forth In essay
form in the volume called World
Brain" In AThe Brothers" Mr.. Wells
offers the essential germ Of it in the
form of a story. In that story he has
two brothers, twins, pitted against one
another in a struggle analogous to the
one now going on in Spain-there are
the Reds on one side and the Fascists
on the other, each recognizing IFS su-
preme and infallible leader" in one
of the twins
WHAT happens is that the twins get
together and talk things out and
IN the course of the conversation dis
cover that they are both striving for
the same thing and both possessed of
the same contempt for their followers
The thing that they want is to bring
about the education Of humanity be-
cause In its ignorant present state 1t
offends them. To them both it is ''an
unframed, unquickened animal; ami
NAL still; greedy, cowardlv animal
whose only loyalty is disguised Mar
cissism." Back Of this ambition to
is. of course. the vastly more
essential desire to express themselves
through power. Thus, says Mr.. Wells,
dictators of whatever persuasion.
The crux of the argument is con-
tanned in the following speech made
by the Fascist leader as he speaks out
to his brother of the Left:
The Left and Right in any age are
Just the two faces of the Common
Fool, and nothing more. :. Your
Communist fool denounces what he
calls Utopianism and my individual
lists denounce Socialism. And when we
look into it they mean precisely the
same thing What moves them either
way is fear and hatred of the un-
known. fear and hatred of the coming
organized state, dread
that they will be called upon for effort
and performance Your Communist
releases his fear and detestation Of
whatever that isn't the
glorifcation of his proletarian self,
through the class war and his blind
hatred of what he calls Utopians,
and my individualist does exactly the
same thing by denouncing the col
lective control that would stop his
grabbing and gripping, and mating
what he calls visionaries and fanatics.
Both Left and Right are defensive hate
systems. -
When the two brothers have agreed
upon these truths they plan to give
over fighting and remake the world
together. But, naturally. their devoted
followers will not hear of that and the
two erstwhile leaders are slain.
The reviewer has called this piece a
story, but it is, of course, no more than
q thesis beneath its thin fictional
veneer. Like the essays of the other
volume, 1t cries out against the folly
of the races mass conduct and en-
visions state of civilization wherein
Intellectual organization will keep pace
with the organization of the physical
side OF society.
And truly 1t would seem that Mr..
Wells has something there. Not any,
thing that is very new, perhaps, and