Evening star., 1938-05-01
By NC. n.

Dy AVk sOs AAs
TINE reviewer is pleased to find in
the May Scribner's some vim
dication Of her own late as
= sault upon the picture maga-
zines. Scribner's is currently publish
ing a series OF articles devoted to
magazines that SELL" 1t has already
dealt with Esquire and the pulps. Now,
in the present issue, it takes up the
Photographic sheets. Its verdict is
very like the one reached by this
writer some weeks ago. AS Mr.. Jack
son Edwards, the author of the article,
puts it,
"A little reflection will show that
the picture magazines fall into two
distinct groups. In one group Is the
magazine Life. In the second is Look
and all the others. Life is distinctive
because it tries to present news-in-
pictures: all the others concern them
selves with features pictures.
Just what Mr.. Edwards means by
"features-in-pictur may be gath
cred by his statement a few para
graphs farther on that UNLESS pic
ture magazine is publishing news
photos, it seems nearest success with
an editorial formula of half-death,
half"sex."
To be sure, he gives Look a better
bill Of health than any Of the other
feature picture sheets. OF it he says
that 1t began sensationally, but, hav-
ing established itself, it then under
took to handle themes of social i'm
portance, such as child labor, the
slums, tuberculosis, the Ku Klux Klan
and war propaganda. For these en-
deavors. he observes, Look has won
the editorial praise Of the New Re-
public. Since Look has about 16
pages Of advertising per issue and
gets $3,725 a page with circulation
Of over a million. this accolade from
the high-minded Republic strikes the
reviewer as mildly humorous 1t re-
minds her OF the old joke about the
Ford owner who, when told that his
neighbor had bought a Rolls Royce.
said judiciously. We'll. that's good
car, too." The reviewer. Of course,
has crudely materialistic mind. You
can see that plainly for yourselves.
Concerning the future Of the
swarming new magazine breed the
name of Mr.. Edwards article is "One
Every Minute'D we have this hearten-
ing prophecy-thatt the present dozen
or more will presently settle down to
three. Look, Life and Click, says
Mr.. Edwards, will probably survive.
The reason for the optimistic prognos-
tication in the case of the first two Is,
of course, their already established
popularity. AS for Click, Mr.. Ed
wards simply remarks that it is SEN
sational, successfully so, and makes
no bones about it Its editors cook
up their own pictures.
Well, as far as the reviewer is con-
cerned. the whole tribe can perish
and there will be no mourning. But
that is because she. personally. learned
to read once and, having acquired that
habit, has taste for reading that
seems likely to endure. Reading is to
her like eating. Granted that you
are in hurry, you do noI-yet-dis-
pense with meals and gulp down food
tablets of great condensation. The
Nea that you can get the sense Of an
Article" by reading synopsis OF it in
a hQrrid digest Is. of course perfectly
sound. So is the contention that a
pictufe tells story as vividly as words
But-wnat in the name Of literacy
have thase blatantly self-evident facts
to do with, reading? That is a civilized
art. WhenNMr. Edwards remarks that
the picture editors have gone back to
the state of mind of late Paleolithic
Man for their guidance. he has some
thing there. Paleolithic Man-late or
early-indeed. Three rousing cheers
for progress!
THE May Mercury is out and. as
usual. is full of wrathful articles.
There. at least, is one magazine which
does not belong to type you cannot
duplicate it; it is individual. And so, for
that reason alone. even if you do not
agree with its politics you should respect
it. If it were possible to do so. the powers
that brood over mankinds survival
ought to put premium on individual
ity-especially should they do 50 to-
day. For it is individuals alone who
have brought honor to the race. But
of course such a device is impossible
Individuality is one of the few conn.,
modities in the world which cannot be
subsidized. And there, obviously, is the
reason why, under relationships, it is
always eXecrated.
Well. this month. in dealing roughly
with our rulers. the Mercury gets
around to our own city In an article
called How to Get Washington
Job" Mr.. Don Layne treats OF the
various steps by which an aspirant
for political patronage can establish
himself in the Capital.
"Our bureaucratic intumescence."
he remarks e. has reached sucn
proportions that more than $500, ,OOU
men ana women are now obtaining
their livings at the Public Trough
This means that slightly over Ii per
cent Of all those who vote are nuzzllng
at the public teat-a ration OF one
tax-eater TO every seven workers III
all other fields. Furthermore, fully
81 per cent OF sucn tax-eatlng as
signments-"Civil Service" notwith-
standing-have been peddled by our
so-called political statesmen through
the medium OF the spoils or patronage
racket
Mr.. Layne then sardonlcally traces
the steps by which one may move
from the place of a humble member
Of the unemployed to the status OF a
Government expert IN almost any
field. These steps are composed OF
business acquaintance to the local