BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
THE CITY
There is no adequate literature of cities in America. Some of the larger cities possess guide-books and local histories; but the most valuable illuminations on the history and development of the American city lie buried in contemporary papers, narratives of travel, and speeches. The reader who wishes to explore the ground farther should dip into volumes and papers drawn from all periods. The recent editions of “Valentine’s Manual” should be interesting to those who cannot consult the original “Manual of the Common Council of New York.” During the last twenty years a great many reports and surveys have been printed, by city planning commissions and other bodies: these are valuable both for showing the limitations of the established régime and for giving hints of the forces that are working, more or less, for improvement. “The Pittsburgh Survey” (Russell Sage Foundation) is the great classic in this field. A compendious summary of American city developments during the last generation is contained in Charles Zueblin’s “American Municipal Progress” (Macmillan). Standing by itself in this literature is a very able book by Paul Harlan Douglass, called “The Little Town,” published by Macmillan. (A book which shall deal similarly with the Great Town is badly needed.) The best general approach to the city is that of Professor Patrick Geddes in “Cities in Evolution” (Williams and Norgate, London.) Those who are acquainted with Professor Geddes’s “A Study in City Development” or his contributions to “Sociological Papers” (Macmillan, 1905, 1906, 1907) will perhaps note my debt to him: I hasten heartily to acknowledge this, as well as my debt, by personal intercourse, to his colleague, Mr. Victor V. Branford. If the lay reader can learn nothing else from Professor Geddes, he can learn the utility of throwing aside the curtains of second-hand knowledge and studying cities and social institutions by direct observation. The inadequacy of American civic literature will not be altogether a handicap if it forces the reader to obtain by personal explorations impressions which he would otherwise get through the blur of the printed page. Every city and its region is in a sense an exhibition of natural and social history. Let the reader walk the streets of our cities, as through the halls of a museum, and use the books that have been suggested only as so many tickets and labels. Americans have a reputation in Europe as voracious sightseers. One wonders what might not happen if Americans started to see the sights at home—not the Grand Canyon and the Yosemite, but a “Broadway,” and its back alleys, and the slums and suburbs that stretch beyond. If observation led to criticism, and criticism to knowledge, where might not knowledge lead?
L. M.
POLITICS
The standard works on the history of American politics are so well known (and so few) that they scarcely need mention. Bryce, Ostrogorski and de Tocqueville, I assume, have been read by all serious students, as have also such personal memoirs as those of Blaine and John Sherman. Bryce’s work is a favourite, but it suffers from the disingenuousness of the man. Dr. Charles A. Beard’s “Economic Interpretation of the Constitution” is less a complete treatise than a prospectus of a history that is yet to be written. As far as I know, the valuable suggestions in his preface have never inspired any investigation of political origins by other American historians, most of whom are simply unintelligent school-teachers, as their current “histories” of the late war well show. All such inquiries are blocked by the timorousness and stupidity that are so characteristic of American scholarship. Our discussion of politics, like our discussion of economics, deals chiefly with superficialities. Both subjects need ventilation by psychologists not dependent upon college salaries, and hence free to speak. Certainly the influence of religious enthusiasm upon American politics deserves a careful study; nevertheless, I have never been able to find a book upon it. Again, there is the difficult question of the relations between politics and journalism. My belief is that the rising power of newspapers has tended to drive intelligent and self-respecting men out of politics, for the newspapers are chiefly operated by cads and no such man wants to be at their mercy. But that sort of thing is never studied in the United States. We even lack decent political biography, so common in England. The best light to be obtained upon current politics is in the Congressional Record. It costs $1.50 a month and is well worth it. Soon or late the truth gets into the Record; it even got there during the war. But it seldom gets into the newspapers and it never gets into books.
H. L. M.
JOURNALISM
I know of no quite satisfactory book on American journalism. “History of Journalism in the United States” by George Henry Payne and “History of American Journalism” by James Melvin Lee are fairly good in their treatment of the past, but neither of them shows any penetration in analyzing present conditions. The innocence of Mr. Payne may be judged by his opinion that the Kansas City Star, under Nelson, exemplifies a healthier kind of “reform journalism” than the Post under Godkin! “Liberty and the News” by Walter Lippmann is suggestive, but it does not pretend to contain any specific information. More specific in naming names and giving modern instances is a short essay by Hamilton Holt, “Commercialism and Journalism.” “The Brass Check” by Upton Sinclair contains much valuable material, and perhaps what I have said of it does not do it justice; certainly it should be read by everybody interested in this subject. Will Irwin published in Collier’s Weekly from January to July, 1911, a valuable series of articles, “The American Newspaper: A Study of Journalism.” I cannot find that these articles have been reprinted in book form. There is some information in autobiographies and biographies of important journalists, such as “Recollections of a Busy Life” by Horace Greeley, “Life of Whitelaw Reid” by Royal Cortissoz, “Life and Letters of E. L. Godkin” by Rollo Ogden, “Life of Charles A. Dana” by J. H. Wilson, “Life and Letters of John Hay” by William Roscoe Thayer, “An Adventure with Genius: Recollections of Joseph Pulitzer,” by Alleyne Ireland; also “The Story of the Sun” by Frank M. O’Brien. Biographies, however, celebrate persons and only indirectly explain institutions. A useful bibliography, which includes books and magazine articles, is “Daily Newspapers in U. S.” by Wieder Callie of the Wisconsin University School of Journalism. But after all the best source of information is the daily newspaper, if one knows how to read it—and read between the lines.
J. M.