LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 143, 16 June 1917, Page 14

LITERARY.

Ambassador, Monsieur Jnsserand, who represents France at Washington, has a book appearing, "Americans of the Past and Present Days."

With the publication in the pleasant month of April of Sir Henry Howorth's three volumes, "The Golden Days of the Early English Church." a great piece of work has been accomplished. Mr. Murray is the publisher.

Mr. J. W. Fortescuc, the King's Librarian at Windsor Castie, has been called upon to write an official history of the present European War. Meanwhile, the Macmillans are about to issue the eighth volume of his history of the British Army, which covers the years 1610-ISI2.

Swinburne, it seems, -was among those who, peering into the future with a poets eye, saw Germany challenge civilisation. There is at least one poem among his literary remains "which singe as much. This will be included in the volume of "Posthumous Poems" which Mr. Edmund Goose and Mr. T. J. Wise are editing.

"A Diversity of Creatures" is the title which Mr. Rudyard Kipling has selected for his latest volume of short stories, published by Macmillan and Co. No English author has achieved greater success in this department of literature, and as the fourteen storie3 now collected represent the varied phases of Mr. Kipling's genius, the book is assured of a large and appreciative reception.

"The Restoration of Trade Union Conditions" after the war is discussed by Sidney Webb in a little book published by Nisbet and Co., who declares that this question stands second only to the problem of demobilisation. He lays stress upon the point that the entrance of female labour into certain industries from which they were previously debarred has created new conditions, and that if this element is to be retained the trades unions have an irresistible right to demand absolute guarantees against unemployment, and that their standard I rates shall suffer no reduction.

"The Peoples Credit." by Oswald Stoll (Eveleigh Nash), advocates the extension of a credit system as a means of accelerating the development and prosperity of the British Empire. The author reviews the present system of currency and banking, and contends that these fail to supply the nation with a medium of exchange adequate to its needs. His chief proposal is that the Government should make advances, without interest, through the medium of banks, to the extent of half the value of property duly registered for the purpose of such advances. "That the title deeds of such property shall be accepted by ■banks as equivalent to deposits of banking credit in terms of money." He maintains that under such a eystem there would be an enormous increase in the nation's industries.

"This is the End." by Stella Benson (Macmillan), like its author's earlier book, "I Pose," is a whimsical reflection upon things in general, as they came within tne experiences of Jay, a feminine 'bus conductor and an idealist. This young lady was a person of an inquiring mind, who took nothing in the world for granted. Having quarrelled with her family and run away from home, sl.e accepted the best work that offered, and it brought her into contact with various phases of life. The other characters are mostly relatives of Jay, each having peculiarities of its own, which are pourtrayed with humorous exaggeration. There is a good deal of genuine humour in the book, which might be more easily assimilated in a simpler literary dressing.

Wilkie's war maps have established a colonial reputation on account of the completeness of their detail and the fact that they shew the latest positions of the belligerent armies. We have received from Messrs Clark and Matheson. the distributing agents for the Auckland district, copies of maps 6 and 7. These illustrate the British and French lines in the Western sphere of operations, and will be useful in following the events now developing on these fronts. On map No. 7 is shewn the Allied line on February 28, 1917, and the British and French gains eince then. The villages in the vicinity of Ypres are also clearly marked, so that the relation which the territory secured by General Plumer's great offensive bears tc the position of the Allies in Belgium can be readily traced.

"The Coming of the World TeacheT, and Death, War, and Evolution," is the generic title which M. E. Roeke, M.D., has chosen for a book of extracts from lectures and writings 'by C. W. Leadbeater, Annie Besant, and otners. Much of the matter is from lectures recently delivered 'by Mr Leadbeater in Australasia. The work is described iby its compiler as "prophesies relating to the coming of the World-Christ as the culminating point to the amazing changes now takins place throughout the globe." It is further added that "The facts disclosed in the second part of the book (regarding life after death will attract the interest of the many who now mourn their so-called 'dead.' " The publishers are George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., London.

Among the war articles in the May mim'ber of the "Windsor Magazine' , is an account of the work of the British Artillery on the Western Front. There is also an interesting survey of the extent to which the needs of our new army of munition makers are provided for. A paper on "Nature Study at the Front" gives many intereeting cases of the close contact with animal, bird, and plant Jife which our soldiers experience under the strange conditions of modern warfare.

The "Empire Review" for April opens with an article by the editor upon the result? which may be anticipated from the sitting of the" Empire War Cabinet. He declares that this is but the beginning of a complete reconstruction of the constitution of our Empire, which must "knit together the component parts of our great inheritance nnd secure for all time the integrity of our race." An article on '"Food Production," by J. Christian Simpson, offers various suggestions for increasing the food supply of Great Britain. Among facts suggesting the need for the creation of small holdings, the author mentions that agricultural land is owned by occupiers to the extent of 87 per cent in Denmark, SO per cent in Germany, and 53 per cent in France, compared with only 12.2 per cent in England and -Wales, "ft is further stated that the annual loss from the depredations of sparows alone is estimated at 500,000 quarters of cereals, the produce of 125,000 acres, and valued at £1,500,000.