The Maccabaean

for a moment has this brave woman lost hope. Even though again an exile, and more pained than ever at her enforced absence, Babushka and her devoted friends feel that Russia's wrongs will be overcome. Her conclusions seem to be that the world must exercise patience towards Russia, and to accompany that patience by what amounts to non-intervention. She says:

wAWER® A ut A “And as long as my people wish to develop their capacities as they think best, they must be left alone, and have time to use their innate energy and genius; on condition, of course, that they shall not meddle with the affairs of others. When ripe enough, it will make them able to live a common life with their neighbors, with all the world. Per- hans the time ice nnt en remnte as wer mischt think ”?

League of Nations Ideas

The League of Nations Today and Tomorrow. By MORACE M. KALLEN. Marshall Jones Co., Boston. 1919. 181 pp.

ACCORDING to Dr. Kallen, for the past year and longer a body of men of affairs, university men and journalists, mostly editors, gave themselves to the collective consideration of the economic and political relations between states and peoples, in so far as these have been factors in causing the war just closed. Among other things, a report was prepared on the League of Nations by the author and Ralph S. Rounds, of the New York Bar—Mr. Rounds apparently acting as critic of the results as they were col- lated.

Dr. Kallen works under the unfortunate disadvantage of not having had before him the draft of a covenant for the League of Nations adopted by the Peace Conference. Instead, he has worked out a plan all his own, which bears some resemblances to the draft adopted and in some ways is superior to it. Dr. Kallen’s plan provides for an International Council, with representatives elected by popular vote; a series of International Commissions, a Ministry of the International Council, and an International Court. Each of the features of his plan is explained by Dr. Kallen in detail.

An interesting passage on the rights of minorities forms a valuable commentary on the famous Clause X. of the adopted draft, particularly as concerns the right of revolt—Locke's "appeal to Heaven." Dr. Kallen believes that under his plan "the Irish might, for example, enter suit in the International Court against England, the Poles against Austria," etc.

That so much valuable thought should have been spent by Dr. Kallen on a subject practically settled by the sudden coming of peace is another commentary on the fact that (as he himself remarks) “the German collapse caught all who are concerned, from whatever angle, about the destinies of mankind, unprepared. It rendered nugatory the demand for a preliminary and public conference of the Allies and the United States for the purpose of establishing unity of political front in the matter of peace terms.”

Three Text-Books of Democratic Utterances

The Spirit of Democracy. By LYMAN P. POWELL and GERTRUDE W. POWELL. Rand, McNally & Company. 272 pp.

America and the League of Nations. Addresses in Europe by WOODROW WILSON. Compiled by LYMAN P. POWELL and GERTRUDE W. POWELL. Rand, McNally & Company. 208 pp.

The World and Democracy. Selected and Arranged with Introductions and Notes. By Lyman P. PoweLı and CuAarLes M. Curry. Rand, McNally & Company. 553 pp.

THESE handsome text-books present to the English reading public an extensive volume of democratic utterance, chiefly, but not exclusively, on the topics of War and Peace, under the collective title of "Patriotism Through Literature." A great deal of the material pre-

served in this trio is not literature, and some of it is patriotism in the shape of hazy generalities and shrill-pitched oratory. This defect through inclusion renders the three volumes by no means valueles. They contain, on the whole, a good deal of judiciously selected reading-matter of imperishable value, the best collection of war-theatre maps we have ever seen, and a great-many valuable utterances from little-known personalities, which, but for the enterprise and diligence of the compilers, would have been buried in the limbo of old newspaper files. The main defect af tha whnla sariac sermae tn ha thic»

The compilers lost sight of the fact, that democracy can- ‘not realize itself except through conflict with opposing forces—and that the Towers of Central-Europe in arms are far from being the only adversaries of democracy, either historically or at the present time. Whether in prose or in poetry, democratic utterance flapping its wings in a vacuum is sure to lose interest after a while. Take, for instance, the volume of this series dealing with President Wilson’s triumphant progress from London to Rome. Here we have a very attractive bundle of cinema-reels, very skillfully done. But the finest of President Wilson’s utterances abroad —the manifesto on the Italian coniention—a veritable ciassic of friendly remonstrance and democratic argument—it left out. Instead, we are treated to an endless series of toasts and reception-speeches, many of them quite inevitably of only ephemeral value. Why this omission? Because, as aforesaid, the compilers did not perceive that controversy is the very air in which a living democracy breathes and has its beine.

u > 3 The most attractive feature of the entire series in Part II of “The World and Democracy” is entitled ““Embattled Democracy: Letters from the Fighting Men.” For the first time in the long history of warfare the man in the service has found a voice and given adequate expression to the army’s soul. He has done this by means of innumerable letters, poems and books of personal experiences. These various forms of communication run the entire emotional gamut, from the hilarities of a Bruce Bairnsfather to the intense spiritual seriousness of a Donald Hankey. Part III consists of a series of selected letters. The compilers assure us that their selections “have not been chosen because they are the.best that could be found. They have been chosen as fairly representative of the various objects about which soldiers write, and as representative of the types of mind making up the armies of democracy. For these armies, we must keep in mind, are made up of citizens of all classes and callings. The professional soldier’s point of view is not that commonly found. These men came from the walks of peaceful life. They were bound to their homes by strong domestic ties. They were not romantic adventurers, but men moving under the sense of great duties and faith in a great ideal. Their literary style is not always faultless. There is little evidence of pose. The power of such letters lies in the evident sincerity of the writers.”

The letters selected by the compilers have appeared in print, for the most part, in widely scattered periodicals. Many sections of the United States are represented. A few letters are from English, French or Italian soldiers. Several from men who have fallen are from memorial volumes. As a rule the writers are not personally identified, since the point to the collection is that of typically representing the more intimate and personal reactions produced by contact with the unfamiliar and astounding facts of war.