Evening star., 1944-08-06
The Neu Books
On Ny Own
BIZ Walter B. PttktH. (Scrtb-
1aRrss I


many different kinds OF things. The
best seller, Life Begins at Forty"
will probably be the association
most commonly invoked by Mr.. Pit
|kin's syllable designation. But there
|are also associations with critical
writing, journalism, military
prophecy and Hollywood. The fact
lis that Mr.. Pitkin has very genuinely
had the kind Of career which dust
jacket blurb writer's describe In their
trade language as varied" He tells
the story in this, his autobiography.
He began life-at the usual age
In Ypsilanti, Mich, as the son Of
severely Scottish parents Of modest
means. A Scottish temperament and
a raging curiosity seem to have been
his most useful bits Of natural equip
ment. The latter led him into in
Vulnerable odd enterprises, the for
mer kept him sceptical Of results.
Combined, they produced philos-
ophy which, In its time, Mr.. Pitkin
considers typically American. He
has been q rugged individualist, he
says, content to follow his own lines,
regardless of everything else. He is
a social misfit" and perfectly happy.
From this point of view, he reviews
the events Of his life inrather minute
scrutiny. He tells of infantile men,
ories, of boyhood adventures, of
mature conclusions, all as a man
who has done his own thinking, even
to laying down the basic premises
for thought itself. The actual events
are, as said, highly varied. They in
clude a self-supporting venture of
30 months at the University of Mich
igan, junket OF most diverting
nature to the Paris Exposition of
1900, a five-year period Of study in
Germany, and a 38-year period as
instructor of logic and esthetics at
Columbia University, with side ex-
cursions into political prognostica-
ton, the movies, journalism and
authorship. But the bulk Of the
book Is of Mr.. Pitkin's reflections on
and reflections Of conventionalities in
intellectual procedure. Sometimes,
these are tied to nothing more i'm
portant in itself than a boyhood
fishing expedition. Sometimes, they
fasten on a personality Of world
moment, as, for example, Woodrow
Wilson, to whom Mr.. Pitkin devotes
many pages Of iconoclastic analysis.
On the whole, the shaking down
of lifes impressions, as presented
here, is a fascinating performance.
Certainly. Mr.. Pitkin's summing up
Of himself far surpasses the COM
ponent parts which came from his
pen aforehand.
United States War Aims
By Walter Lippmann. little,
Bro1Dn.)
In this book Walter Lippmann
carries on from about the point at
which he ended his last work,
United States Foreign Policy" In
that volume he reminded us of our
lack Of any foreign policy for the
last 40 years and recommended
that, at the end of this present war,
we 60 about getting one. We should
make, he said, nuclear alliance
with Great Britain to maintain
peace among the nations touching
on the Atlantic Ocean. Now he
goes on to expand this idea.
His theory is that, after the war.
the world will be divided into great
communities" OF nations, each
ordered, though not ruled. by Ger
tain of the victorious powers. There
will be the Atlantic community cen
tering about the United States and
Great Britain and taking in the
nations of Europe west of Germany.
There will be the Russian orbit,
which will comprise Russia and the
European nations east of Germany
There will be the Chinese COM
munity, which will take in Asia
from the borders of Russia to those
of India. And there may well arise
in the future Moslem community
made up of the Moslem peoples of
the Near and Far East. As for Ger
many, she must be kept disarmed
Aol oOAiC 4O yCdlS dAlu tAACAA dCSCPtCu
into the Atlantic group.
Within these great groupings, as
Mr.. Lippmann sees 1t, the nations
will retain their sovereignty. There
is no use to look forward in our
lifetimes to a world state; people
are not willing to enter any such
precarious and experimental ar
rangement. But there will be a
world council on which the COM
munities will be represented, the
representatives of each community
being intrusted equally with the af-
fairs Of all the nations involved.
This council will be for consultation
only. It will not govern. 1t will
not have an armed force at its COM
mand. 1t will endeavor to iron out
difficulties and to promote nom
political welfare enterprises. The
communities themselves will be re-
sponsible for peace within their
bounds and there is no way human
ly possible of making sure that they