Evening star., 1939-01-01
Bv MIC. X.

tempt to sum up the past years
magazines, as specifically she has
summed up books in the opposite
columns. To do so would be to sift
through great multitude of articles,
most Of which are now out Of date
and few of which have any merit
outside of the timely facts
which they contain. For the era
of the essay is long past and no
more do our periodicals offer us
pieces Of writing in which polish
and wit are deemed sufficient en-
tertainment; no more do our men
and women Of letters concern them
selves with producing Well-turned
discussions OF philosophic import.
We are at the mercy of editors, and
our editors have decided to keep us
on iron rations, Lterarily speaking,
allowing us no mental fare beyond
the strict news. There is nothing
to do but make the best of it.
In our time, of course, news dis
tribution is at higher level of
efficiency than at any other in the
worlds history; we have more ia
cilities, outside our magazines, for
learning what is going on about
us than mankind has ever had, in
radio, in news reels. in photography
and in Well-organiZed daily press
1t might be thought, therefore, that
the controllers of our monthly and
quarterly periodicals would see an
opportunity and provide news
surfeited populace with the relief
of variety; but this has not taken
place.
All our great monthlies depend
on current events for their leading
pieces. Space for the more thought
provoking essays is either completely
lacking or is departmentalized in
their pages into innocuous obscurity.
Consequently summer-up quickly
runs into difficulty. The articles
which last July were burningly i'm
portant are dead as last weeks news
columns today. The most that one
can do is to comment a little on
the general trend of editorial pre-
occupations, as changes in various
periodicals make its nature evident.
The most obvious movement in the
field of our periodicals then is in
the superiority which the picture is
assuming to the word And after
that one must mention a somewhat
less evident. but more important
development, which is the ques-
tionable use to which the picture
is put very frequently. After that
one might comment on the decline
of magazine fiction. Outside of
these three divisions. the field of
magazine publication would seem to
be pretty we'll conventionalized and
practically unchanging.
AS to the rise of the picture over
the text, that is to be seen on every
hand. The magazine stands have
at all times on their counters an
array of pictorial news sheets and,
while these, as individuals, change
and die, as a class they are there
to stay, for some time at any rate.
Likewise magazines not devoted
wholly to pictorial matter have in
creased their pictorial space, as in
the case of Scribner's, and those
newcomers which seem destined to
prosper are in large part pictorial,
as with Coronet and Ken. The
superiority Of the picture in these
publications. however, is not limited
to space measurements alone For
as this space increases so does the
quality of the printed matter de-
cline Coronet and Scribner's are
vapid in their written contents and
Ken is hysterical, prejudiced and
violent.
The reason advanced for increased
dependence upon pictures is usually
this-that the people want the news
and that the news is more quickly
and memorably conveyed by photog-
raphy than by words. This. however,
would seem to be an evasion of the
truth. For it is only small pro-
portion of the pictures printed
which deal with news. Even in the
avowedly news" sheets one finds no
regular dependable presentation Of
the weeks events. such as one finds
in a printed news weekly
Instead, one finds a large gallery
of photographs which are obviously
slanted toward the Objectionable,
and which do refrain from crossing
the bounds Of legal permissibility
but certainly 60 clear up to the
border. The editors of the suppos-
edlv news magazines are. indeed,
our modern panders. One will not
say that they are creating a low
level of taste. for the general taste
is always low. In the past. how
ever. there has been. among all
classes of people. dominant senti-
ment in favor of influences which
worked for the general protection
and good But In the case of the
sensational news" picture sheets
this sentiment seems to have ceased
to be effective.
These magazines incite and
strengthen the most destructive in
fluences, destructive whether one
regards them as they work in the
individual or in society. They are
not the influences of mere animal
ism. Those are basically healthy
and often find expression through
an extenuating wit: they are not
civilized. but they are always with
us, and, properly assimilated, do
civilization no harm. No-the in
fluences loosed in the Objectionable
picture sheets are the reverse of
healthy; they are the influences of
degeneracy.
Yet these publications are not sold
under the counter. They are mar
keted openly and are allowed, as
WASHINGTON'S BEST
SELLER LIST WEEK ENDING