LITERARY NOTES

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 87, 9 October 1920, Page 15

LITERARY NOTES

Mr. H. G. Wells's idea of an "Outline of History" i& to tell truly and clearly in one continuous narrative the whole story of mankind, so far as it is known to-day. This is a, large order, but Mr. Wells endeavours to. fulfil it. In his "Outline," of which th< first ten numbers are received (from Gordon" and Gotch, Wellington), the popular author draws conclusions and makes suggestions that will not be acceptable to every reader, but all will agree with him that "there can be no common peace and prosperity without common historical ideas." It is the interpretation of the lessons of, history that 'cause men to differ, and often to fight, men as individuals and as nations. However, apart from Mr Wells's opinions, the ''Outline" is a very fine work, ably written, and elaborately illustrated. The colourplates are exceptionally well 'done, and where artists have had to draw upon their imaginations, they have produced some wonderful drawings. Ine "Outline of History" is certainly a work for the people It is written in the simplest of English, with all technical terms made plain. The ten parts of the "Outline" begin with the earth in space and time, and reach to the end of the Roman E«public.

The following long but timely paragraph is from "Democracy in Reconstruction,"' edited by F. A. Cleveland and Joseph Schafer, published by Houghton Mifflin Co., New York :— "The child who sees a,n attractive object in the hands of another attempts to wrest it away. It is natural for people who are in need to revert to primitive methods Conscious of the unequal dis.toibution of. wealth, they confuse tfha I wish for the thought, and advocate a general distribution of wealth among th« masses. If such a plan offered any hops in solving this problem it would' have been adopted centuries ago. - It is not essentially different from the fallacy that the universal salary increases, which ore being granted: increase oui wealth. Increasing the amount of money which each, person receives does not increase tn» amount of food in the world; it doss not increase the amount of shelter; it- only increases the amount of money. The way to increase the sum total, of useful things—things that feed, clothe, and protect people, and add ■enjoyment- to lifeis to improve the methods of making them. Machinery which makes two pairs of shoes at tho formal cost of one pair strikes at the root of the difficulty. But it tafces time, money, labour, and materials as well as the loes incurred by displacing the roaohinexy now in use to make improvements in industry. If there is no surplus of supplies people cannot stop their regular business of making ai living tc. engage in construction undertakings which do not begin to produce until muoh time and labour are spoilt. They must eat, have clothes, and material to work with, while the process of construction is going on. To create this surplus thrift is necessary. Th«i savings of the community must support those who are at work on new projects just as they have been supporting our soldiers at the front. If the American peophs were willing to eov« and increase the capital o{ the country as they have been willing to do to defend it, th,a level of living conditions would rapidly rise. The division of wealth or rise in salaries will not make us richer or happier The person who saves a part of what hemakes is the real benefactor of mankind, because his savings give one man the capacity of two iri- creating wealth. May his triba increase!"

"Few wars," Lord Baldane writes in "Before the War," "are really inevitable. If wo knew better how we should be careful to Comport ourselves, it may be that none are so. But extremists, whether chauvinist or pacifist, are not helpful in avoiding wars. That is because human nature is what it is," In another paragraph he says, "In the course of history it has rarely been the case that any war that has broken out was really inevitable, and there doee not appear to be any sufficient reason for thinking that the war ot 1914 was an exception to the general rule."