HERETIC (THE). FICTION The By J. Mills Whitham. Macmillan Company, New York. $2. The author presents a singular character in Raymon Verne; as a boy he is a "natural bone-setter" and becomes a manipulative surgeon, to meet with fierce opposition from the regular profession. Later his genius turns into other directions, but success never crowns his ideals. The novel has originality and intellectual force, but is not definitely planned. HIS GRACE GIVES NOTICE. By Lady Troubridge. Duffield & Co., New York. $1.75. Clever in its early pages and in the character of the footman who is a duke, commonplace in the later working out of plot. HOUNDS OF BANBA (THE). By Daniel Corkery. B. W. Huebsch, Inc., New York. $1.50. Nine short stories by an Irish writer new to America. Mr. Corkery belongs to a generation younger than that of the exponents of the Irish renascence, and this book is concerned with the life of contemporary Ireland. Specifically it treats of Ireland in revolution, and of life in the Republican army. Despite a finely dispassionate attitude toward political issues, perhaps even because of it, Mr. Corkery has given the noblest interpretation we have yet received of the current of thought and feeling in Ireland to-day. It is not, however, for this that his book is notable. Its true distinction lies in a poetic beauty and an exquisite artistry that flood each brief narrative. BIOGRAPHY ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN. By Francis Russell Hart. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. $3. Three centuries of adventure in the Caribbean Sea regions are here summarized in the life stories of Sir Francis Drake, Sir Henry Morgan, Admirals de Pointis du Casse and Vernon, and Lord Rodney. The chapters are scholarly, well considered, and readable. PRIME MINISTERS AND PRESIDENTS. By Charles Hitchcock Sherrill. Illustrated. The George H. Doran Company, New York. $2.50. No less than fifteen Prime Ministers and four Presidents of European countries, four British Dominion Premiers, and eleven eminent statesmen and diplomats of Japan cross the stage of the present volume. Mr. Sherrill is a keen observer and is able often to describe a man in a very few words-for instance, the Ru-. manian Take Jonescu. He is, we read, "a clever writer and a keen judge of just how political cats are going to jump. . . . He is certainly a most engaging talker, and in the easy flow of his remarks one frequently sees through to a rock-bottom of studied wisdom, in which, however, he seems to take less pride than in his skill at deft turns of policy. . . . There is no denying that manians of this type are unusually asing in manner, and especially is this true of Jonel Bratianu, more than once Prime Minister." Such a book should have had an index, for its value as a book of reference is even greater than its charm as a volume of description of notable men. Aside from the personal element, two impressions gained by General Sherrill in his journeys are of wide interest. One is that, in the opinion of every European politician, "all his country's woes, economic or otherwise, would be cured by giving it a piece of neighboring territory." Another impression is that “all to leave to the westward Great Britain, of Europe west of a line, so drawn as France, Spain, and Portugal, has no effect upon the vote in America, while the countries to the east of it, from the. North Cape to the tip of Italy, strongly affect our vote." STORY OF A COMMON SOLDIER (THE). By Leander Stillwell. The Franklin Hudson Company, Erie, Kansas. A soldier of the Civil War fights his battles over again in this book, and does it well. The stories, homely as they are and appearing in a homely setting, “ring true," and the book will take its proper place in the literature of personal narrative dealing with the great American conflict. DRAMA IMAGE AND OTHER PLAYS (THE). By Lady Augusta Gregory. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. $2. Of the four plays contained in this volume, three are in the genre, lying midway between comedy and farce, that Lady Gregory has made distinctively her own. Her art, despite a deceptive surface of simplicity, is the product of a sophisticated observation and a facile dramatic technique. She writes of Irish peasant life as one keenly aware of its incongruities, its humor, and, occasionally, its pathos, but conscious always of an amused superiority to the characters who people her plays. The fourth play draws upon spiritualism for its theme in an effective but unconvincing fashion. HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY AMERICA AND THE BALANCE SHEET OF EUROPE. By John F. Bass and Harold G. Moulton. The Ronald Press, New York. $3. This work of collaboration deserves wide reading. To Mr. Bass are due, no doubt, the elaborate and painstaking assemblage of facts and figures and the large amount of first-hand observation one might expect from a foreign correspondent whose reputation for trustworthiness is first rate. To Professor Moulton is probably due the credit for the systematic arrangement of the text, the thorough editing of the volume, and the proper presentation of material upon which discussion and argument may be based. The present volume seems tinged with pessimism. Not that its pessimistic interpretations are necessarily destructive. On the contrary, where the authors tear down the present structure of international economic relations so that they may examine its weaker parts definite proposals are made for correction. While there is not the slightest suspicion of distortion in order to establish a predetermined result, their book is based upon circumstances which are assumed as actual and perhaps known, but to which not all the spectators may be inclined to agree. In setting forth their programme of policies, the authors declare that domestic production must be increased in every country, that balanced international trade and the gold standard must be restored, that international budgets must be balanced. To this end what must Europe do? The authors reply: "Reduce reparation demands and cancel inter-European war debts, eliminate tariff and trade barriers, and restore international transportation routes; abandon governmental support to national combinations for export trade and foreign exploitation; repudiate the bulk of the issues of paper currency and domestic bonds." What must the United States do? The authors reply: Cancel European indebtedness to us, lower our tariff duties, contribute part of our gold reserve to maintain the European gold standard, make loans for purely reconstructive purposes, and finally, re duce armaments. TRAVEL AND DESCRIPTION ITALY OLD AND NEW. By Elizabeth Hazelton Haight. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. $2.50. The somewhat commonplace title of this book fails to do justice to the lively, imaginative, and pleasantly learned style of the author. Her book is full of the joy of the devoted lover of Italy and of the famous characters of Roman and later Italian history. The book will be a delight to discriminating visitors to Italy. LABRADOR. By Wilfred T. Grenfell. The Macmillan Company, New York. $2.50. A new edition of an authoritative book about a land that increasingly attracts the attention of explorers and prospectors. Dr. Grenfell's new chapter about the conservation of Labrador's resources is interesting and timely. TRANS-MISSISSIPPI WEST (THE). By Car dinal Goodwin. D. Appleton & Co. $3.50. Professor Goodwin gives us in this book a detailed and impersonal record of the Western expansion of the United States from the time of the Louisiana Purchase to that of the Mexican Cession. These fifty years constituted a vital period in the growth of the country, and this period is here succinctly described. POETRY WILLOW POLLEN. By Jeannette Marks. The Four Seas Company, Boston. $2 This is Miss Marks's first volume of verse, and it is a most excellent entrance into a field wherein she assuredly deserves a place if not by strength of thought and inspiration at least by verbal felicity and a delicate feminine touch that is always distinguished and NEW figure has A commerce... a year by year looms as his helping hands world's essential in Chemical Engineer... strange mingling of visions have crowded the highways of commerce! come into the world's new personality that larger in importance reach deeper into the dustries. He is the and truly he is a abilities... a coupling of the man of science with the manufacturing expert... a chemist who has forsaken his test-tubes for the lathes and vats of the world's industrial plants. This is the man who, more than any other, has crowded the highways of commerce, and in the past generation made the Zulu and the Eskimo brothers in the world's market-places. For it is he who has brought to the manufacturer's assistance, in a practical way, the chemist's slowly-won mastery over Nature's elemental substances. It is he who, applying chemistry's discoveries, has made available new substances, new uses for long-used substances and uses for products that once were waste, and has invented processes less costly and less wasteful . . . It is he who has intensified the world's production, lowered costs and driven the carriers of commerce to the far corners of the earth seeking the raw materials industry needs, or carrying to market its finished goods. But its founder, Eleuthere Iréneé du Pont de Nemours, was himself a chemist, and the making of explosives, even in his day, called for the services of the chemist. As dynamite was invented and other high explosives came into use, increasingly higher types of chemical knowledge were needed. So it was only natural that in the early years of this century the du Pont Company came to have a very extensive chemical staff. It was a staff of Chemical Engineers, men who knew manufacturing as well as chemistry, and so in the course of research looking to the improvement of du Pont explosives, they came upon other products alike in their chemical structure, that might be manufactured from the same or similar basic materials or by machinery and processes with which the du Pont Company was familiar. And the results are sometimes surprising to those who look only at the products, which seem so unrelated, and do not consider the origin of these products. "For," says one, "what have dyes to do with explosives?" What, indeed, except that the raw materials from which explosives are made, are the same that are needed for making dyes! So, too, for the same reason, the du Pont Company came to make Pyralin for toilet articles and numerous other things; and Fabrikoid for upholstery, luggage, book bindings and half a hundred other uses-for these products contain many of the same raw materials. Paints and Varnishes now carry the du Pont Oval, because this field of effort is also one in which the knowledge of the Chemical Engineer can be effectively applied. The du Pont Oval also guarantees the purity and excellence of many chemicals, some of vital importance to industry, others invaluable in modern surgery and medicine. This is one of a series of advertisements published E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS & COMPANY, Inc., Wilmington, Del. TRADE OU POND MARK (THE BOOK TABLE-Continued) sincere. Her moods, mainly inspired by nature, are fresh and authentic, and they are handled in a naïve and tender fashion that makes them well worth their inclusion in book form. Nothing more can be asked of poetry than the sincere and exalted betrayal of one's self. If Miss Marks never climbs very high, at least she is mistress of that undoubted plane to which she does rise. She knows her limitations, and within them she composes a volume of tender minor poetry that is extremely enjoyable to read. The majority of Miss Marks's poems are in free verse, and, while it is generally unwise to quote but part of a piece of work, space here allows only the quotation of the first two verses of "Sea Gulls" as an exhibition of her work in this medium: Sea gulls I saw lifting the dawn with rosy feet, Bearing the sunlight on their wings, Dripping the dusk from burnished plumes; And I thought It would be joy to be a sea gull At dusk, at dawn of day, And through long sunlit hours. Sea gulls I saw carrying the night upon their backs, Wide tail spread crescent for the moon and stars The moon a glowing jellyfish, The stars foam flecks of light; And I thought It would be joy to be a sea gull! SCIENCE COMPLETE OUTLINE OF SCIENCE (THE). By J. A. Thomson. Vol. III. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. $4.75. The third volume of this important work maintains the standard set in the previous volumes and makes a still more popular appeal, dealing as it does with psychic science, biology, meteorology, and various phases of applied science such as electricity, wireless telegraphy, and aviation. The chapter on psychic science by Sir Oliver Lodge will arouse antagonism in some quarters because of what may be called its "receptive" attitude toward clairvoyance, psychometry, and even "dowsing." MISCELLANEOUS MEMOIRS OF A CLUBMAN. By G. B. Burgin. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. $5. An amusing book of literary and social gossip by a London journalist and man of the world. Stories about Barrie, Jerome, Baker Pasha, Conan Doyle, and many other well-known men enliven the narrative. By PUPPET SHOW OF MEMORY (THE). Maurice Baring. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. $5. An English journalist and critic with an astonishing memory for details gives us in this book his recollections of men, "1 women, and events covering a period of forty years. There are innumerable anecdotes, some of them inconsequential, many of them highly significant, in connection with noted men, but all breathing the irrepressible vitality of a strenu ous personality. The reader who likes to dip into a book at odd moments will find in this one considerable entertainment. B BY ERNEST G. DRAPER PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN CREOSOTING COMPANY USINESS men are proverbial opportunists. When skies are clear and winds are fair, they crack on sail until their industrial barks groan Let a sudunder the straining canvas. den squall come up, and their alarm is exceeded only by their surprise that such an unlucky, fortuitous circumstance should catch them unawares. Canvas rips, masts snap, and once in a while the whole precious cargo goes to the bottom. But the captain usually conceives himself as the very last one to be blamed. So certain is he of his own innocence that, once the storm is over, he is eager to jam on sail again just as though periodic squalls were as infrequent as earthquakes. We all know now that we have been through the greatest economic storm our civilization has ever seen, and most of us feel that the skies are definitely clearing. But whereas a few months ago, when all seemed black and uncertain, we were ready to listen to any one who had something to say on the increasingly grave problem of unemployment, it is much harder to invoke real interest in the subject to-day, because to so many business men the problem seems solved of its own accord. It will not be until the next depression hits us that we shall realize all over again how little we have done to attack the evil at its roots. Yet since some time we shall have to deal directly with this slow poisoning of our industrial fiber, there can be no harm in stating briefly how necessary is the cure and what we could do to hasten it. What are the stakes involved in reducing unemployment? They cover the tremendous material waste in these periodic wrenches of our industrial machinery, to say nothing of the spiritual waste involved. We are just beginning to realize that the high peaks and low hollows of seasonal trade, followed by orgies of hiring, firing, and hiring again, are infinitely more expensive than more or less stabilized production. According to the Federal Census for 1900, over 6,000,000 persons were unemployed during the year 1899 for periods varying from one to twelve months. The American Association for Labor Legislation has estimated the total annual loss of wages of these workers at over a billion dollars. This loss of a billion dollars had to be underwritten by society in some way, either through public or private relief, loss of savings of the unemployed, or permanent crippling of the physique of those unemployed, which in turn lessens the productive power of the country. We are also beginning to sense more vividly than ever the deep-seated power of unemployment to breed labor unrest. as to Some authorities go so far prophesy the virtual collapse of unhealthy restlessness on the part of the workingman if only he can feel a real tenure in his job. The experience of Whiting Williams, a former vice-presi dent of the Hydraulic Pressed Steel The stakes involved, then, in reducing Unemployment can undoubtedly be reduced, and reduced permanently, first, by attacking the problem in a personal way through the effort of individual employers, and, secondly, by attacking the problem in a public way through the adoption of various expedients to be mentioned later. How can individual employers reduce unemployment in their own plants? The best answer to that question is to cite the experience of employers who have already done it. The Dennison Manufacturing Company, of which Henry S. Dennison is President, has adopted various means to regularize production in its plants. A recent statement by its personnel department shows how seriously and intelligently this problem is being met. It says: At the plant of the Dennison Manufacturing Company a marked reduction of seasonal employment has been effected by the application of certain These clearly conceived principles. principles were not put at once into sudden and complete operation, but were given a practical try-out, and were extended first in one direction and then in another, as conditions made possible. In the nature of things, any very considerable reduction must be a matter of gradual development. It is, indeed, going on here to-day, with the goal far ahead of present attainment; but results so tangible have been secured that the means through which they have been achieved are no longer untested. The five principles applied include: 1. Reduction of seasonal orders by Choose a safe antiseptic N SELECTING an antiseptic bacterial development-yet one gentle enough to do no injury even to the most delicate tissue. Listerine has proved itself efficiently safe for half a century. Its scientific combination of essential oils and essences with a saturated solution of pure boric acid (one of the most wholesome and healing agents known to medicine) furnishes you an ideal antiseptic protection. You take no chances with Lis terine. Yet you know it is doing its work and doing it well. Here are some of the many uses Listerine serves: Some of its many uses A safe, unirritating antiseptic for cuts, wounds and scratches, affording protection against infection while Nature heals. As a gargle for sore throat to ward off more serious ills. As a spray in nasal catarrh. A safe and fragrant deodorant in matters of personal hygiene. As a mouth wash to correct unpleasant breath [halitosis] Delightful after shaving. combating Effective in dandruff. Useful in many skin disorders. Read carefully the booklet packed with every bottle of Listerine. It suggests many other household uses to which Listerine is adapted. Always have a bottle near at hand in your medicine cabinet. Lambert Pharmacal Co. Saint Louis, U. S. A. CAN UNEMPLOYMENT BE REDUCED? (Continued) getting customers to order at least a minimum amount well in advance of the season. 2. The increase of the proportion of non-seasonal orders with a long delivery time. 3. The planning of all stock items more than a year in advance. 4. The planning of interdepartmental needs well in advance. 5. The building up of out-of-season items and the varying of our lines so as to balance one demand against another. Besides these methods of decreasing the pressure of seasonal demands and evening out the inequalities we can meet seasonal employment by conforming ourselves somewhat to it. We can balance the decrease in work of one department against the surplus of another. We can transfer operatives not needed in one line to another where there is work on hand. In doing so we make it a rule to transfer our operatives to the same off-season work each time, so that they will develop proficiency in these off-season trades. Some of the same expedients have been adopted by the Hills Brothers Company, importers and packers of dates. Originally the demand for dates was confined to the fall and early winter, and particularly to the holiday season. By judicious advertising as well as sales effort the season for eating dates has been lengthened, so that now dates are considered appetizing (as they should be) from September to June. Even so, it is inevitable that a peak of demand will exist in the early fall. To meet this demand a cold-storage warehouse was erected into which is placed the daily production. Plans are so made that packing these dates continues month in and month out at a comparatively even rate, but, as sales fall off in the summer, a surplus is built up and held in the cold-storage warehouse ready for instant release when the fall demand becomes -MADE AT KEY WEST insistent. As a result of this system, the regularization of employment has been remarkable. The whole factory morale has been strengthened by the avoidance of hiring and firing wrenches, which were so upsetting under the previous conditions. Although numerous other examples of this nature could be given, their number is pitifully small as compared with the number which might be given if only the requisite amount of foresight and planning were used by all employers alike. To grant that all business is more or less seasonal is not to grant that deep hollows of production must always remain deep. Probably ninety per cent of all business to-day could become more effective as well as more regular in the employment of its workers if the peaks were left alone and persistent, careful thought were given to the question of leveling up the hollows. Efforts to regularize employment are not charitable in the sense of being undertaken without hope of pecuniary reward. They are efforts that spell at the same time economic security for the worker and larger profits for the employer. It will be necessary to do more than enlist the private efforts of employers in their own plants, however, in order to solve the problem of unemployment in any complete way. In the first place, our cities can help greatly, and in a twofold way. All public work requiring a large percentage of labor can be held off every year until that time in the year when the average manufacturer's business is slack. Such an expedient will tend to iron out the yearly seasonal wave of unemployment. There are also the waves of panic years which strike us with disheartening regularity every ten years or so. As provision against these a special reserve fund can be built up to be spent upon the erection of needed public work in times of severe business depression. The Federal Government should do its part also in sharing this burden. In 1921, for instance, it has been estimated that $158,000,000 of National funds were available for road building. Appropriations for Federal buildings, rivers and harbors, post offices, etc., could be held down to the minimum for several years, and then be expanded with safety when periods of stress threaten. Combating unemployment by these methods is nothing new. So long ago as in 1913 the International Conference on Unemployment adopted the following recommendations: 1. That public works be distributed, as far as possible, in such a way that they may be undertaken in dull seasons or during industrial depression. 2. That budget laws be revised to facilitate the accumulation of reserve funds for this purpose. 3. That permanent institutions be created to study the symptoms of depression in order to advise the authorities when to initiate the reserved work. 4. That such work as land reclamation and improvement of the means of communication, which would tend to increase the permanent demand for labor, be especially undertaken. 5. That, in order to secure the fullest benefits from the reserved work, contracts should be awarded, not as units, but separately for each trade. There remains to be mentioned one more vital way of warding off unemployment. That is the adoption by States of compulsory unemployment insurance. Just how such a plan would be worked out is beyond the scope of this article, but it is fair to say that various workable plans have been suggested, in particular a very carefully considered one by the American Association for Labor Legislation. The main points of this plan include the taking out of insurance by the employer, all details as to rates of disbursement, amount of premiums, and the like to be under the supervision of a State board on which would sit representatives of the State, employers, and employees. In addition there would be established by the State at important centers of population governmental employment agencies so that the freest possible interchange between employer |
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