BOOK CORNER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 303, 23 December 1933, Page 4

BOOK CORNER

MODERN POLITICS

••PRELUDE TO HITLER,’’ by B T. Reynolds (Johnothan Cape), pp. 2s. This is a valuable book because it i written by an intelligent and syn pathetic observer of both the Germa and the French. Major Reynolds "a on the staff of the Army of Occupation in the Rhineland, he witnessed ihe occupation, and the thing which struck jim most was the untidiness of our allies, and the mechanical defects of <he tanks and the lorries which littered the roadsides of the advance. He learned the German language, passed his examination and became a translation officer. With his wife and small family he settled down to life in Cologne, and duiing that time he visited the Baltic Coast, where he was regarded with no hostility by th e German people. The job having been cut out of existence by he was shifted to Weisbadcn as liason officer to the French, and thus he witnessed the occupation of the Ruhr. “I didn’t know the French in those days and didn’t realise the lengths to which a Frenchman will go in a policy which appears to him to be dictated by logic.” The Rhu Ruhr adventure was at that time looked on as quite a logical step. The outbreak of passive resistance had taken the French completely by surprise. The Separatist Movement fostered by France in the Rhineland had some favourable factors to start with but as is now known the thing misfired. France could have done better. Reynolds saw the British Army move to Weisbaden and then had the task of seeking a job in London when jobs were scarce. However, he succeeded in securing a post in a German clothing factory which was in part financed by British cloth interests, the hope being that British cloth would be used for German suitings. This job was of great value for it enabled the author to follow closely the workings of the German mind, particularly in business. The German efficiency of which so much is heard is not so very much ahead of English muddle-headed-ness and American hustle. They are all about the same degree of cleverness when they are all boiled down. The clothing manufactory, however, resisted reorganisation because first there were only old men ana young men available in Germany at the time, middle -age men were missing. The I each official had a long-term contract, and contract could not be broken while the firm lasted, nor would the official agree to any alteration of the terms of payment. Contracts also included the provision that the employees soon should be taken into the business in a managerial capacity, and this clause would be present even in the contract with a single man. The family of the manager were also shareholders, but as j they were receiving no dividends they could not pay their accounts to the I firm. The German would tolerate a| j lot of bullying and go into tears over • scenes with foremen, but an English I, foreman who used his voice at conver- < sational pitch only got as much out of < the workers as did the German bullies, i The girls were good workers and Key- < nolds has a very good word to say for i the German as a factory worker. But 2 depression hit the factory in the midriff and he was after some years back 1 in England looking for a job. .lobs being scarce, he took up his pen and ' atarted to write again. This book is 5 the result. It is a personal record of ! the ten post-war years in Germany. It * reveals by the hand of a close observer 1 the currents and the movements which t made the way for Hitler. 4 ‘From the Treaty of Versailles onwards, the Ger r man foreign policy has, very naturally, pursued one single aim—the rehabilitation of Germany as a great power. The j prestige of a Government at home j must depend, to a great extent on the s success of its foreign policy. Up to the i Ruhr occupation, German foreign v policy was one long record of failures: i it could not well have been otherwise c in view of lh e attitude of the Powers 1; that had w’on the war, and left her do- u fenceless after the Armistice. This c ■was the first nail in the coffin of Ger- h man Parliamentary Democracy. After t the stabilisation of the mark th e Get- 1! man representatives were treated with 0 consideration abroad and German foreign policy met with a considerable 1 measure of success. But th e country ® and the people weie literally de e ( hauched by international, and primar t ily, American finance, and when Ger many woke up in 1929, with a fearful headache, to discover once more the c old truth that bills must be paid some t) time, it was inevitable that the ordinary German would once more blame the ti Government and the ‘Weimar sys- (i tern.’ ” The author does not blink at the facts —‘‘Hitler’s Third Keich has oi become an accomplished fact, and theie tl is very little doubt that he has the ci bulk of the German people behind him. ft All observers who return from Ger- p many to-day testify to the fact that w the whole country is animated by a lew spirit. The German people have at ei last emerged from a slough of despond v In which they have been floundering w for fourteen years. They are once more pressing foiward in full con- 81 sciousncss of their destiny. ‘Germany er has been long in travail, but at last u ' she has brought forth a man. ’ a ' “But has she, indeed, brought forth ™ a man? That is the question on which m the future of Germany, and perhaps of ai Europe, depends. The negative forces te behind the Nazi movement are sufficiently plain. It is a reaction against oppression, defeatism, corruption and all the ills from which Germany has suffered since the war. On the positive 7 side of Hitler’s programme there is in much that is wholly admirable and c . l, much with which one cannot but sym pathise But there is the reverse . < side of the medal. ... It is not too • ' 7‘iich to say that, since the advent to pun er of the Nazi regime, Germany has lost most of the sympathy which had been gradually growing up in this country for her since the war.” Ger many is not yet ready for war, but pr Germany will make a formidable s j, enemy in th e near future. “The root of all our troubles lies in the fact that on we are trying to run a twentieth cen- th tury world on nineteenth century lines. . . . . The remedy lies in curbing the th spirit of nationalism and leading it stj into useful channels If Herr to Hitler can lead the new spirit that he has undoubtedly awakened in Germany into these channels, he will go down in’ j a history as one of the greatest of human pp benefactors of his age. But should he fail to do so, the outlook for Germany is and for Europe is a dark one,” is the to author’s conclusion. co Major Reynolds' estimate of the an

past ten years and his estimate of the present and the future coincides fairH closely with the views expressed in thi editorial columns of the “Chronicle.’ ■nd there must be some satisfaction K i<l the estimate come to in New Zea ind by a distant observer, should b( | • confirmed by a close observer. Thi; * .ndicates that a proper reading of tin news which is available to the student is not so unreliable as superficial com ment would lead the world to believe In view of the outstanding importance of Nazism this prelude to its coming tn power is of great interest. This reviewer has no hesitation in commend ing it to the public. FICTION "A GRAIN OF WHEAT," by Toyohiko Kagawa. translated from the Japanese by Marion R. Draper (Hodder and Stoughton) pp. 313.—“Kagawa is one of the most striking figures in the Far East. Son of a man of Cabinet rank and a geisha, giving up all in response to a mystic ’vision of the Cross of Christ, he plunged into the life of the slums, and through 15 years residence acquired an unequalled insight into tlw problems of the poor. From being tno suspect of the police he has risen to be an adviser of Governments. For a time he served as head of tohe Social Service Bureau of the City of Tokyo. “He is a prolific writer; over one and a-quarter million copies of his books have been sold. ‘A Grain of Wheat’ has run through 150 editions and has been put on stage and film. “Kagawa. student, of the slums, labour leader, novelist, poet, city official and—Christian. The country-side of Japan, desperately poor, awakes from the sleep of centuries, stretching out to new ideas, and—everywhere cramped for space. Eschewing a political career. Kagawa has given himself to the preaching of the Gospel, and that in its widest applications. To-day he is the outstanding figure in the Christian movement.” Thus writes W. H. Murray Walton in p preface to this rather unique novel. The author himself in an introductory note indicates some of the problems of Japan in view of its rapidly increasing population and the smallness of its territory. He feels Japan is not awake. “Denmark, when she was sunk in the depths of poverty, revived through a

pian oasea on tnree principles; me love of the land, the love of one’s neighbours, and the love of God. In this I novel 1 have told the story of some young people who tried with their comrades to put these three forms of love into practice. It is four years since I : organised my Peasant Gospel School. Jver 40 of my young comrades—for we live as comrades in this school, and ffiare the same food—are now scattered , ill over the country, each one striving :o become ‘a grain of wheat.’ And the roung women who, though they keep in ■ he background, are working with } hem, are carrying on with the same r indaunted courage. . . It is my earnest •- lesire that my readers will find in this j itory of life in the depths of the nountains of Japan the future for our f ountry. ” This English translation is tot without its vital message to New ’ealand and some of its problems. The story is written around a young J nan by the name of Kakichi I'amashita. It is a familiar record of c tis life and work, his aspirations and ' truggles, his follies and virtues, his de- t eats and victories. Being written for 0 'apanese by one of themselves, it s laturally deals with the affairs of their v veryday life with intense realism, and 1 he story is thereby enhanced so far as a re are concerned because of the inti- ‘1 late portrayal. I have found myself I ompletely absorbed in the life of the ■ eople as well as in the intensely mov- n ng tale of Kakichi and his reactions to o ife. To pick up the book and start p canning some of the pages once again I j to find myself reading on and on ii ■ ith peculiar pleasure. The style itself ti I most intriguing. There is the full a harm of unstudied simplicity both in r< inguage and treatment. Kagawa has S 1 ndoubtcdly written for the peasant lass of his own country and the trans- n , rtor has retained the atmosphere of Cj ae book with charming fidelity. There ; a paragraph from a page that falls pen as I write: “The gloomy night faded away as ie dawn broke. The summer sky, vercast with clouds, turned to a 1 >aden colour, and the sun opened its fes. Kakichi had left his bed early in ie morning to climb the mountain so a( lat he might pray that his father and v< rother might be healed, and for his w der brother and sister in all their ' u ■oubles. These things lay heavily on is heart as he sat absorbed in meditaon and looked down at the houses of pper and Lower Tsugu.” Children of the higher standards of ir primary schools could easily read ie book so far as the language is con- bj irned. although it should be w'ithiheld Si om them owing to many references to rases of life in Japan which are dealt cl ith in rather too realistic a manner as ►r them. A footnote here and there ar mbles the reader to appreciate festi- be ils and customs which would other- in ise be perplexing if not completely un- ta telligible. Some features of the story i * ock and appall one. The, dire pov ty accepted with such matter-of-fact- ; !ss horrifies. Yet Japan proves how H 1 the world is akin, as the poor help e poor. In appraising the book one Unt needs keep in mind its purpose, id the people for whom it was writ <l | l n. Now. go to and read it.

"UNDERSTUDY,” by Berta Ruck lodder and Stoughton L pp. 319. Berta Ruck writes for those who int to be amused by a strong femine interest. In other words, the diffi Ities and the thoughts of those who ►sire to get married while young are r chief concerns. With these properJs she constructs pretty and interest g romances in he modern setting. To ve glamour to the tale there are. of urse, men with money, there are two iters, and the younger one is a sort Cinderella without the cinders, ('ir mstances force Betty Broomfield into etending that she was engaged tn her iter’s fiance, and was to have given is “performance” for one evening ly; but her acting was so good that e understudy stole the lead. It has ppend in life before, both on and off 3 boards, but this time it was offige. Now you know, its quite good read if you are young of heart. "CROSS MARKS THE SPOT,” |, v mes Ronald (Hodder and Stoughton). . 316. fhe technique of the mystery novel well known. This novel conforms the accepted methods. A crime is nmitted. the suspicion according tn pearances turns in the direction of

e an innocent young girl, Cicely Foster, v JShe was the last to have left the muriC dered man’s flat and appearances were such that they justified that the homio cide was justifiable. But Singerman i was murdered by another hand, was the • conclusion of Julian Mendosa when he is arrived at the spot before Scotland e Yard had got there, and he had made it his own investigations and deductions, i- The difficulties of a crime reporter un- \ ravelling a mystery are more than e enough to provide thrills, and so the g book moves with a quickly told narrai- five from one incident to another. It I- is good, clean holiday reading, and to be recommended. “THE HUNGRY HILLS.” by W. R. Calvert (Putnam’s), pp. 320. This author starts with a great advantage over many others, in that he knows his country; indeed, it may be said that he is part of it. He does • not need to go and study the locus of his plots and stories—they are racy of e the very soil. Hence it is that he t knows the men and the women who eke out a living on the lean farms on s the moors of Cumberland. Riley Musf grave and Hester, his wife, are of a . kind that can be met with in any count trysidp, but it requires an artist to see } material in these grim, unkept, un--3 sanitary people. W. R. Calvert not . only sees the value of the material, but » he knows how to use it. The man who f engaged in a grim battle with Nature to get money, and lost the fight because j it was only money that he sought; the ’ weary wife, with her pains, her fears r and her hopes, and her aspirations for 5 her son, are particularly well drawn, and the characters are caught up in the • christening of Allan, their son. The ■ schoolmaster is asked to be a god- ? parent because of his book-learning. 1 while Ben Suddart, the poacher, is also ' brought in “because of his brass.’’ ‘ The christening is made use of to reveal the almost pagan mind-attitude of 1 these people. But into the life of Allan ; is planted the of culture by the schoolmaster god-parent. John Jophon, and this seed grows underground while the harsh father Riley is alive, to flower steadfastly -when that miser is removed by death. It was Sir Walter Scott w’ho claimed that the life of any man, properly written, would be worth reading, and this book stands testimony to the truth of the saying. There is the usual procession of tragedy and humour which stalks in an English countryside, and this tale could have been a grim one. but for the excellence of the I authorship. There is a grimness in much of the detail, but it is well done, and therefore is not depressing. Those who want to read of the English peasantry in their true colours can find good realism here. “DR. THORNDYKE INTERVENES” (by Austin Freeman), (Hodder and Stoughton). Dr. Freeman has produced another of his detective stories, unfolding against a background of medical jurisprudence. The scientific deductions ascribed to Dr. Thorndyke—the medico jurist who sets himself the task of unravelling the several problems which arise—are both , clever and sound. To one who has , dabbled even a little in medical science, the book provides that additional interest which makes it a worthwhile “thriller.” Similarly the author ( clearly is familiar with fhe law T and its < ways so that any having a n interest in 1 that profession, and with time for the 1 occasional relaxation of detective I stories, will find the presentation of I various legal sidelights well handled. 8 If anything, the legal and medical I aspects may seem to some readers un- '- duly laboured for this type of book. c However, these are the means whereby .he solution is developed, and in these matters the author impresses as being c on firm and familiar ground. Hence the 11 preponderance of attention paid thereto. s The story itself is as entertaining and impossible as the average good detcc- c tive fiction. The mysteries are. around a bodyless human head, a platinum ( robbery, a bogus burial, and a sub- C stitutod coffin. All these have their '' bearing upon the quite genuine though / mistaken claim of a successful American business man to an English peerage. v And of course the only outstanding j difficulty, after all the investigations p have concluded, is resolved by the n union in marriage of the younger gen- qoration of the rival claimants. Altogether it is very readable litera- ei t-ure of its type and should prove most A acceptable to those who prefer the di- m version of occasional light reading f< without going to the extent of the abso- pi lute “shocker.” tl IF hi JUVENILE LITERATURE tr ca "THE GOLDEN PILGRIMAGE.” th by O. G. Whitfield (Hodder and Stoughton), pp. 207. Assuming that you are a particularly a S clever person, dear reader, you will n | assuredly want this book before you c * are many years older. I know you will, V because lam a particularly bright boy . myself, and I am always refusing to j talk to child]en, not because lam so ( busy as I pretend, but because I fear = falling down on the job. It takes imagination to talk to children and unless you hav e that peculiar faculty which is the - priceless possession of “H.G.G.,” you are sure to be stumped, and there goes your reputation for cleverness like a pricked bubble. Reputations are very fragile things and it is nasty for them to be broken up “ by the tiny hands of children. I would advise you then to get “The Golden cl Pilgrimage” for your child, and then you will be able to look through it for its valuable pointers when you are going to address a children's gathering This is. of course, just a tip from one good fellow to another. Bl LECTURE lit fri 'ACRES OF DIAMONDS," by 10l Russell H. Conwell (Angus and Robert- tb: u>n, pp. 58.—J'his is an inspiring lee- sti :ure by an American gentleman who has m< in ideal and aiso an ability for picking pa nit first class illustrations. The book th. ipens with the story told by an Arab of lamel driver of the man who sold his tin arm in order that he might secure an uoney to search for a diamond mine, on lis own farm provided the famous Go! ael ■onda Diamond Mine while t.he wan Io lenng Arab was drowned by accident ka laving moved down into poverty. The me noral of the story and of the lecture as abi whole is that opportunity is at one’s thf .wn door and there is no need to travel No far to find Bonanza. Success lies in fin. npp.ving the needs of people, and when hot hat is done fortune awaits.

THE MAGAZINES fi d w b< The AJI Detective, Magazine for No- c , vember contains two major features, “Dead Man’s Star,” and “Hell d< House,” a Scarlet Ace novelette. ai Short Stories, for mid October, in- H eludes a ” Hopalong Cassidy” feature, tc DOGS ‘ I vv "AUSTRALIAN BARKERS AND ’’’’ BITERS,” by Robert Kaleski (En(ieavour Press, Sussex Chambers, Wei- 111 lington) p.p. 256.—“ The dog is the friend of man all the world over,” so said the copy-books of my youth, so ch long and long ago. Ah. me! and all st that sort of thing. But the old saw is still true, and the wider one walks the, th more true is it to be found. In Austra- to ba the large spaces to be covered, and the roughness of a considerable portion it? of the country makes it imperative Ai that the dog should ho highly efficient and be aide to walk on his owu. The n <> dingo breed has been made use of to ce achieve some excellent results in regard to cattle dogs, while the hunting of the to kangaroo has necessitated the develop- ter ment of a canine helper of singular ability The man who is the friend of thi the dog is so all the world over, and fhe pe. New Zealander of the right class will wo find a groat deal to interest him in this Jei book about dogs on the other side of we