Evening star., 1938-12-25

W tIlc CIldl, Has eVeTyLQlQS MS own
way. So thin a thing certainly
would not hold an audiences inter-
est by its quality alone. That the
authors have depended upon the still
living curiosity of the public about
Oscar Wilde's career and sins is
plainly evident.
An item of interest to readers
should be the foreword by Lord
Alfred Douglas. Lord Alfred takes
the occasion to point out that the
Rostand play on Oscars life did
him an injustice in representing
that, after Wilde's release from pris-
on. he never met or communicated
with Wilde again. Actually. says Lord
Alfred, he was Wildes faithful friend
until death, saw him almost daily
while he remained in Paris and
frequently assisted him with money.
This is brought out in the present
play, which, by Lord Alfred's testi-
mony, is much closer the truth than
has been any preceding work on
Oscar Wilde's career.
AS long as the public is interested
In Wilde there seems to be no
reason why books and plays should
not be written about him. From the
critical viewpoint, however, Wilde
is figure of diminishing impor-
tance. His plays stand, but his
novels and poetry age more dreariiy
and comically with every passing
decade. They were the products of
an era, an era in which a conven-
tional hypocrisy gave quite artifi-
cial Importance to the values which
Oscar celebrated To a period in
which frankness is the great fashion
they seem adolescent. The turning
wheel may bring them back to their
glory, to be sure. But at present
they are merely quaint.
THE RAMPARTS WE WATCH. BY
Maj. George Fielding Eliot. New
York: Reynal e. Hitchcock.
In times of international thuggery
1t behooves any nation which would
safeguard its liberties to keep its
ramparts in good repair In the
case OF democracy, this matter OF
national security in a world ruled
under the law of the jungle Is or
should be the concern of every
citizen possessing the God-given gift
of intelligence.
The highly mechanical military
machines of today have become
entirely too costly to maintain on a
haphazard, unthinking basis. Ma
tional defense must be based upon
thoroughly sane, cool-headed
analysis of the many and exceed
ingly complex factors involved II
must be planned with the most
ScrupulouS care to meet known
contingencies.
Well-desigped modern military
machines are capable Of shattering
the whole fabric, of an unprepared
people. Defense against such ma
chimes cannot be improvised over
night. Men alone, no matter how
courageous or how well led, cannot
stop the war thrust of mechanized
military force. 1t can be stopped
only by men and machines. For Sc
curity, the machines must be ready
In the face of these conditions a
treatise like this work of Maj. Eliot,
former Army intelligence officer and
noted student. should be of interest
to every American who values the
liberty, continued progress and
honor of his country or who has any
interest in the taxes he must pay
for the maintenance of an army
and navy.
Above all, this should be must"
book for every member of Congress
or Federal official who has. any
thing to do with the question Of
national defense and every State
government official who has jurisdic-
ton over National Guard or even
State police affairs.
There have been few, if any.
sounder, better reasoned studies OF
the whole scope of national defense
made available to the public than
in this volume of Maj. Eliot's. While,
of course, there will be differences
of opinion over details of the work,
Army and Navy officers and depart
ment officials who have been gues-
toned by the reviewer about the
book-virtually without exception
they are familiar with it's contents
are in agreement that it is an IN
valuable contribution to the litera-
ture of national defense.
Maj. Eliot takes the rather sober
ing view that if this country, in the
absence of adequate preparations
for It's defense, were to be attacked
by any major power, it might save
itself from subjugation or continen-
tai dismemberment only by the
sacrifice, at least temporarily, of its
democratic form of government.
Only through an immediate, IRON
clad military dictatorship could it
hope to build up hurried defense
under attack. and that only at the
probable cost of thousands of lives,
staggering military expenditures and
an equally stunning loss in ravaged
sea coasts.
He is, on the other hand, astonish-
ingly moderate in his outline of the
defense machinery this country re-
quires for thorough safeguarding
Of its interests. He holds that the
existing naval expansion program,
if carried to full completion, with
an annual replacement program
thereafter to prevent obsolescence,
will be sufficient guarantee against
any known possible enemy power or
coalition of powers. His Army esti-
mates are even more modest; his
total falls below the personnel total