Evening star., 1938-01-16

He further tells us that he per-
sonally likes war. He has been q sol.
dier himself and he subscribes to the
Duce's doctrine that war brings out
many v1rtures in a man which 60 un-
expressed in times Of peace, and that,
during warfare, the whole tenor Of life
Is delightfully."- enhanced by danger
and hardship. so that (for the survi-
vors) the experience is seldom a re-
gretted one
When, however, Mr.. Matthews comes
to write Of the Spanish struggle, he
takes a very different tone. He sees
Gen. Frances efforts as an attempt
to foist upon the Spanish people a
kind Of government which they do
not want, and he Is wrathful and
even bitter about such infamy. The
Fascist attempt on Spain. In other
words, is not, like the Fascist attempt
on Ethiopia, q nice high-class tnva.
sion. 1t Is vicious autocratic piece
of work.
A WARE Of the inconsistency here,
Mr.. Matthews goes on to say
that his experience in Spain has OBJ
liged him to revise his original con-
cept Of the 1talo- Ethiopian War. He
still admires the aforementioned vir-
lures Of that conflict, but is disheart-
ened to discover that the innocent
diversion carried out by the Duce's
army in Africa is now responsible for
the horrid crimes being enacted by
Franco. As he reasons, italy, having
conquered her empire" Is now OBJ
liged to defend it, and she can best
do so by having control Of the Medi-
terranean. II she can bring about
Fascist victory in Spain she win have
this control. II Franco is defeated in
Spain she will not have it. Conse-
quently, Italy is vitality concerned IN
seeing Franco win. says Mr.. Math-
thews. and offers as corroboration Of
his claim the statement that there
are now 100000 Italian troops in
Spain and a great outlay of Italian
equipment, all being maintained ct
Italy's expense.
Thus. he notes, nice high-class
invasion can have sinister results.
And the outcome Of the Duce's African
war will be even more sinister than
the present developments in Spain,
he says, for its ultimate ramifications
seem likely to bring on that next
world war, which has been so long
prophesied and which everybody wants
to avoid.
Madrid" he writes, ''S the center
of vortex. Italy has already been
sucked in. Germany. Russia, England
and France are whirling madly on its
outer edge. America is sailing ma
jestically through calm waters, but
is she not sailing in this direction,
too?"
MR.. MATTHEW'S, however, does not
NA see the Spanish war as a strug-
gle between Communism and Fascism,
although in refusing that interpre-
tation he is at outs with the dearest
cherished notion Of little serious
thinkers throughout the world. He
says that Communism has virtually no
foothold in Spain. that the govern.
ment Is not sympathetic toward the
Russian doctrines but Is solidly mid
dle-class bourgeois. He explains Rus
sia's aid to the Loyalists on the grounds
of pure idealism and declares that.
except in the matter Of airplanes, 1t
has never been of considerable
amount. The famous foreign legions,
the international columns" he says
are made up chiefly of Frenchmen.
After that Americans. English and
Germans are the rank and file. These
columns, he adds. have filled their
usefulness now and are being replaced
by well-trained Spanish troops every
where.
It. is interesting to note that,
writing last November, he names the
Teruel front as the spot on which
the decisive stage of the war must be
reached. A rebel victory there, he
says. might easily mean a rebel VIC
tory in the whole struggle. Contrarily,
for Loyalist triumph. In view Of the
events of the last weeks. this state
ment should have considerable signifi-
cance
The book is not wholly given over
to politics, however - not by any
means. 1t contains pretty full strate-
eical descriptions of both wars and .
great many episodes from camp and
life. It is hastily written
and full Of personal prejudice, but
the prejudice Is SO utterly frank that
it hardly need detain any one. For
the rest, it Is an account from q
authoritative source Of
what has actually happened. Its fire.
quent disagreements with previous
accounts equally authoritative ought
10 give the whole business an ironical
in discerning eyes.
A HISTORY OF THE BUSINESS
MAN. BY Miriam Beard. New
York: The Macmillan Co.
pRoFOUND admiration for the au-
thor must be the sentiment of any
reader who takes up this immense vol
lme and remains with it for any length
If time. For it is a mine Of infor-
nation. as the saying goes, and the
of research which has been
necessary for its compilation can hard
ly be calculated. It begins with pre-
Homeric times and it continues to the
present. It is, for the most part,
closely factual, dealing in large, easily
assimilated generalities only for the
sake Of gross classification. And this
is not the whole of its claim to atten-
ton, either; 1t is also entertainingly
written, witty and full Of good COM
ment. If you can 60 beyond that in
writing history, you can 60 very far
indeed.
. And in view of the present beleag-
uered position of the business man in
This country there is perhaps even addi-
tional interest in the volume, Of which
consideration one may say that with
out subscribing to- foolish doctrines,
such as that business is all-good or all
cad. Miss Beard gives the harassed man
OF affairs his due. He was there, and
at work, she notes, long before the