Books Reviewed

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1015, 4 July 1930, Page 16

Books Reviewed

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT Political pai'ties rise and fall upon such catch-cries as: “We must face the facts,” and “Let us get on with the job.” From the lips of aspiring politicians these slogans may become platitudes of transparent absurdity. Strengthened by leadership jn constructive thought they are at once a warning and an encouragement. Is New Zealand prepared to face the facts of its economic and social position today? Will the country concede the imperative need for sound and independent judgment upon cur rent political issues within the Domin ion and upon the significant inter national movements which separate her from her trade competitors? Her struggle for markets and the uncer tainty of her political future makes this an opportune moment for the pub lication of a masterly survey of her economic and social development, with impartial and practical advice upon her legislative excesses and in hibitions. For such a survey the Dominion is indebted to Dr. J. B. Condliffe, for-

merly Professor of Economics at Canterbury University College and now Research Secretary for the Institute of Pacific Relations, wt '3e book is a valuable addition to the lamentably short list of works upon our great democratic experiment. In an attractive manner, the author of "New Zealand in the Making” turns the powerful searchlight of criticism upon the chief periods in the develop ment of New Zealand, from its early settlement and growth, and through its stages of most prolific law-making up to the position as we face it today. Synonymous with the growth of the pastoral industries and the natural drift to the country’s economic centre -—the North Island —was the Liberal Labour legislative enterprise of the ’nineties, in which the writer sees a useful foundation for much of the prosperity which has followed for the first quarter of the 20th century. Borrowing, taxation, attempts’ a’. State Socialism and the operation of the various systems of land tenure, with their financial aspects, are forcefully discussed by Dr. Condliffe, whs observes iu the rapidly rising burden of taxation in recent years a clear tendency for taxation to increase faster than productive capacity. luci dentally he explodes the fallacy that New Zealand secondary industries are sheltering behind an overwhelmingly high tariff wall. “While the addition of preferential duties against foreign products has had the effect of increasing protection in certain industries,” he asserts, “the general tariff level remains moderate, and there is a large free list. ... It cannot be said that New Zealand has extremely high protection. . . .” Scarcely a phase—certainly no important phase—in the development of this country has escaped the author’s examination. The problem of the Maori, the fluctuations of the trade barometer, and the drift of political thought as reflected in the Statute Book, have all been given thoughtful study’ by the author, who confidently’ concludes, after a searching analysis of our educational system that "it is abundantly clear that New Zealand has not yet developed a keen intellectual life. The comparative failure to provide high training for potential leadership is the most discouraging feature of the democratic experiment.” "New Zealand in the Making,” which includes a short treatise upon Imperial and foreign policy, will, if widely read, assuredly help in the Dominion’s steady advancement toward economic and political self-reliance. “New Zealand in the Making.” George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 40 Museum Street, London, W.C. 1. Our copy from the publishers. ABOUT THE GODS TN one of his books of “Prejudices,’ A the provocative and brilliant H. L. Mencken describes the cosmos as a gigantic fly-wheel making 10,000 revolutions a minute. Man, he says, is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it, and religion is the theory that the wheel was designed and set spinning to give him the ride. And that, iu a few words, shows those who do not already know it, the kind of philosophy dear to Mr. Mencken’s heart. The icono-

clastic editor of the “Mercury” has elaborated on this pet theory of his in

“Treatise on the Gods,” in which Iris researches take him back to the days of good King Sargon and beyond them. Mencken traces die forms of worship that have attracted the peoples of the earth in all ages, with a note here and there upon those who have ministered to many strange gods. And behind it all is the refrain: “Every thing we are, we owe to Satan and his bootleg apples.” All the modern popular forms of Christian religion are discussed, with occasional reference to the lesser known variants such as Holy Rollerism, the Dukhobors, Lh; Shakers, the Menouites and the Two Seed-in-tlie-Spirit Predestinarians. The religions of the East and West and the South (Polynesia) are placed under review. One ranges from Maya temples to Shinto shrines . . » from Confucius to Calvin Coolidgel It is not to be thought that, because Mr Mencken is not an adherent of any form of religious worship, he fails to see beauty’ in the Christian religion Far from it. He is much too clever tor (hat. Consider the following passage in a reference to the .’ewish people: From time Immemorial they have been the chief dreamers of ’Jie human race and beyond all compari&pn the greatest poets. It was Jews vlio wrote the magnificent poems called the Psalms. . . It was Jews who set platitudes to deathless music in Proverbs, ana it was Jews who gave us the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, the incomparable ballad of the Christ Child and the twelfth chapter of Romans. I incline to believe that the scene recounted in John viii. 3-11 is the most poignant drama evewritten in the world, as the Song of Solomon is unquestionably the most moving love song and the Twenty-third Psalm the greatest of hymns. All these transcendant riches Christianity inherits from a little tribe of sedentary Bedouins . . . No heritage of modern man is richer and none has made a more bri'liant mark upon human thought, not even the legacy of the Greeks. The book hhs involved tremendous research —one can deduce that readily enough without reference to the bibliography at the end of it -—and it is characterised by the same fearlessness displayed by Mencken in his regular flaying excursions in America; work which has made him the bete noire of many a 100 per cent. American and the idol of many splendid Americans who can claim to be only 82 per cent. Mencken’s British admirers cherish him as they do their own enfant terrible —Mr. George Bernard Shaw. His prose is always admirable and gains in vitality from his scintillating wit and mordant humour. In “tra.’ing the basic patterns of religious behaviour” he has succeeded as any unbiased person will admit, iu producing a book without a dull page in it. And that takes doing. “Treaise on the Gods.” A Borzoi book. Alfred A. Knopf, Ltd.. London. Our copy from the publishers direct. Edgar Wallace On the jacket of the newest omnibus edition of popular novels issued by Hodder and Stoughton is a Black Maria through the bars of which appear five distraught faces. Above it Is the caption: “The Greatest RoundUp of Thrills Ever,” and when one adds that it is “The Edgar Wallace Police Van” it will be seen that there has been no exaggeration of the quantity of thrill to the square Inch. Edgar Wallace is a conjunction of proper nouns that has now been assimilated into the English language. Philologists hold that each of his novels should now be known as an edgarwal-

lace. At all events, one has no need to say anything further about an author whose tales appeal alike to mikados, Balkan princes, judges of the High Court, flappers, hangmen, Spanish duennas and prosperous U.S businessmen. “The Police Van makes four trips and each “consignment” represents a full novel. In one attractive volume are reprinted “The Green Archer,” “The Forger,” “The Double” and “The Flying Squad.” It is a companion edition to the excel lent “Sapper” collection reviewed re cently on this page. “The Kdgar Wallace Police Van.” Dodder and Stoughton, Ltd., London and Sydney. Our copy from the publishers' Sydney representative. Mr. W. S. Smart. Satire Peep:s Through An ancient kingdom in the 20th century! A half unreal place of strange customs, queer peoples, and brave (and sometimes stupid) doings. Here is that rare discovery—a really unusual novel—and one that is not without literary brilliance. The author, Mr. W. Todd, transports us, with very little preamble and still less tiresome explanations, into a new land of his own imagining. Yet, in common with his principal character, we remain strangely aloof from our material surroundings in the City Moated and Walled, as is the way in those queer dreams wherein happenings and one’s own actions become detached and without volition. At this point comes the realisation that Mr. Todd is playing with us in subtle and airy fashion. He is, in fact, presenting us with clever satire of a new and fantastic kind. His City Moated and Walled is, in truth, “in the very world, which is the world of all of us.” This attractive addition to the 11. and S. summer list is, perhaps, best described as a pleasant and sometimes exciting tale of every-day people who

have been changed outwardly by the touch of a magic wand and cloaked with a fascinating atmosphere of mediaeval romance. One can recommend it unreservedly as a charming excursion, “and a very well-written book. “The City Moated and Walled.” Ilodder and Stoughton, London. Our copy from W, S. Smart. Sydney. Unpleasant Andrew When Mr. Andrew Rogers received the sack from the office which he had consented to adorn he was rather fortunate in meeting Jane, a sophisticated free-lance journalist and a keen supporter of the vie de Boheme. They met in a bar. Jane was usually (o be encountered there. And Mr. Andrew Rogers, physically a magnificent per- | son—fie was a boxer at odd moments — and mentally a nitwit, struck §ome deep chord, partly maternal, partly passionate, in the breast of plain Jane who gradually drifted into the position of being privileged to keep Mr. Rogers. There was no illicit liaison. Jane would gladly have been his lover, but Mr. Rogers permitted himself to bo kept and kept himself—to himself. There had been women in his life. One of them, at this time, was in the unfortunate position of expecting to be mother to his child. His procrastination and pitiful indecision convincing her. possibly, of his worthlessness she took one of the courses open to her, and committed suicide. More drinking and sordid recriminations follow, between Jane on tile one part and Andrew on tlie other, culminating in tlie magnificent Andrew striking Jane a blow of the ox-felling type. She dies, then and there . . . “and then there was one!” We would have relished reading that Jane, after three or four pink gins, bad felled Albert like an ox at the end of chapter three; but it was not to be. “Strange Combat” is a powerful book of its type. Miss Sarah Salt, its author, lias the gift of gripping a reader’s attention and doesn’t flinch at her task however difficult the pace she sets herself maybe. “Strange Combat.” Victor Gollancz, Ltd.. Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London. Our copy from the publishers direct. Rabelaisian! The book's jacket assures the pub lie that "The Specialist,” by Charier Sale, is a minor American classic ot which over 300,000 copies have been sold in the United States. It is a genuinely funny little work, and while it is far too innocuous to become the object of a censor’s scrutiny, it deals with a subject that is not cits cussed with any relish or animation by the polite and sensitive. Lem Putt whose soliloquy occupies the whob book, performed a useful and neces sary service in Sangamon country. Ht takes pride in his work and tells thi world about it. The book is amusing and its frank humour is preferable tc much of the “smart Alec” salacity which is applauded in more pretentious works. “The Specialist.” Charles Sale. Put nam. Our copy from the publishers. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED The Droll Stories Magazine. —This publication is composed almost entirely of short humorous stories, and these have been written by such notable people as Henry Lawson, Dale Collins, E. S. Sorenson and Will Lawson. Jt is announced that in later issues of this magazine there wijl also be stories by tlie famous “Kodak,” by Roderick Quinn and almost every short story writer o* account in Australia and New Zealand. The magazine, which is published bimonthly, is on sale at all booksellers. Our copy from tlie publishers, The New Century Press. Ltd., N.Z. office. Box 965, Wellington. “How to Bid at Contract Bridge.” —A short cut from Auction to Contract, by Madeleine Kerwin (Director American Bridge League). Our copy from the publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Ltd., London and New York