Evening star., 1938-06-12

'ROYAT,
'e French prize nopel Just pub
think the Japanese q threat. Mr..
Price shows what natural and his
torical forces have nodded the Japa-
nese into the individuals and the
nation they are today. He tells what
they have accomplished at home and
in Korea, Manchuria, China and other
parts Of the world. He tells, too, what
they are accomplishing now and what
their methods of domination are. He
has followed their trail from the Arctic
to the Equator and all around the
sphere. Their energy, their industry,
their ceaseless striving to attain world
dominance, both Enthusiastically and
commercially. has made a convert Of
Mr. Price. While he adds to the ter
rors of the jingoists by prophesying
the eventual world control by the
Japanese, it is plain that he believes
the Japanese have demonstrated their
wisdom and abilities in those lands
which they already rule either by force
Of conquest or force of commerce and
industry.
While this book might we'll be used
as a political treatise, it is equally
interesting as travelogue. The trail
Of the Japanese led the author through
little-known parts Of the Japanese
Islands themselves, through China,
Manchukuo. Mongolia, Korea, the
Micronesian Islands, Siam, Formosa,
the Philippines, with brief excursions
into Hawaii. South America, Australia,
New Guinea and other points. In
each Of the countries mentioned, and
In many not mentioned, Japan has
q roornold. Exports from Japan have
surpassed many times in most OF the
countries those from the mother ma
tions which Iiominally control them.
The balance Of trade is overwhelming
~ in Japan's favor. but Japan seeks
to dominate not only the exports to
the underpopulated sections of the
world, but the imports from them.
Sober review Of trade figures shows
that she is we'll on the way to accom-
plishing her goal. r. R.T.
THE PAST MUST ALTER" BY Al
bert Joseph Guerard, New York:
Henry Holt & %. 1888.
In reviewing . book from the pen
Of former schoolmate whom one re-
CARDS highly there is the difficulty
that the review may be partial. The
compensation, however, is that the re-
viewer can see the book in terms Of
the creation of familiar personality.
The reviewer feels that THE Past
Must Alter" is one of the best first
novels he has read in years. 1t gets
completely away from the hackneyed
Hollywoodish boy-meets-girl theme,
which forms the plot backbone Of two
thirds Of the Niagara of current nc
ton.
The story centers about the per-
sonality problems Of Fritz and Diane
Simmons and their son Jim. The
parents are entering their sos and
their boy is about as the book begins.
Fritz Is city editor for . large daily
in the mythical Midwestern city Of
Deering. Fritz's great passion seems
to be betting and he has q system Of
race horse betting that keeps him win
ming in the long run.
Due to overwork the wife persuades
Fritz to take several months Of vaca-
tion at Monterey, Calf, where he re-
cuperates with his family. After some
exciting adventures involving 4 fair
at Monterey, q gamblers brawl, and
the discovery by Fritz that his wife
has been secretly saving money from
his winnings which infuriates him,
Fritz gets q job from his boss as q
news correspondent in France just
prior to the entry Of the United States
into the World War.
Diane and Jim 60 to ASH Francisco,
and finally lose sight of Fritz. She
gets permission to go to France in an
effort to locate him. In vain, however,
for she does not flnd him, but learns
that he finally is killed in a gamblers
fight In Rome.
In France Diane meets a Mr.. How
ard and his two daughters. His wife
succumbs to cancer, and he wishes
to marry Diane. but she refuses on
the pretext that Jim does not wish
1t. The Howards return to the United
States, Jim Is put in French board
Ing school, and Diane goes to
sanatorium In Switzerland. One term
in the boarding school makes Jim
frantic. He visits his mother In the
snowy Alps at Christmas, and after
much argument and q hectic New
Year Eve celebration wherein she
discovers her boy gambling, danes
mind is made up. She takes Jim
back to America with the marriage to
Howard in the ofilng, which will pro-
vide Jim with the proper type Of
father and home environment.
Not . dull page Is in the book.
The swiftly changing environment,
the restless excitement Of the World
War background, all tend to leave
the reader little bewildered and
out Of breath ut times. First Deer
ing. Monterey. San Francisco, Paris,
Switzerland, Italy-all serve to pro-
vide fresh background for the plot
at regular intervals. The description
of Armistice Day in Paris Is one OF
the best parts of the book. The
victory drunk crowd sing the Mar
seille: lover and over the triumphant
chorus swept over the crowd, and
disappeared. resumed by fresh voices
in the glittering distances Of the
streets which forked away from the
square"
The psychological portraits Of Fritz
the gambler, the weak-willed Diane
and the lovable Jim a+s such q 10