HAMILTON SMITH LIB DURHAM. N. H Dec 30 7 ir/'/^ Granite /tate /H€NTHEy

VOL. LXIII, No. 1 Founded 1877 DECEMBER. i930

SlMALIL llT IBlE

IPlROGIRIESSIIVIE IPlROSIPIEIRSITY OlR

IPOVEIRT¥=*Wlh llClh 1 By CHRISTOPHER BLUNT

JOHN G. WINANT Governor-Elect

TIHOSIE IRlECIEr^T GaIIP^S IBy TiHIE WeT By REV. ERNEST L. CONVERSE

P^^ILJCIh AIDO ABOUT ILIIIBIEIRTY By HOWARD R. BANGS ECITCCIAL/, CCCr REVIEWS, ETC.

TWENTY-FIVE CENTS A COPY THREE DOLLARS A YEAR GRAXITE STATE MONTHLY

Oris 9 y.^ 3

Amoskeag Savings Bank

Largest ^orih of ^oston

This is a mutual savings bank. All the

or are proceeds go to the depositors

carried to surplus for their benefit.

Current Annual Dividend Rate

compounded semi-annually.

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE The Granite State MCNTHLT

TABLE OF CONTENTS Beginning witii the current issue, also, the sub- scription price of the Granite Monthly has been raised lidilorials Pages 3 to 6 to three dollars a year. With the added revenue i)ro- Tin- General Court Page 7 vided bv this advance, the publisher hopes to provide Radio Reforms Page 8 a better Prosperity or Poverty? Page 9 magazine. Byrd in Dublin Page 11 Those Wet Gains Page 12 /^XE GUESS is as good as another concerning the iV/H(7i About 14 ^-^ Ado Liberty Page future of the First National Bank, of Jlanches-

Ex-CATHEDRA ter, control of which, or at least 60 per cent, of the Rumblings from Dear Old Nassau stock of which. \\as held by the now defunct Merri- Lobsters in Literature mack River Savings Bank. It is the Granite Monthly's Admiral Byrd's Saga guess, nay, its prophecy : that if decision to liquidate the property has not already been made before this PUBLISHER'S NOTICE issue to that such will be the decision in THE GRANITE (State) MONTHLY, Published Monthly at 94 goes press, Concord Street, in the City of Manchester, and entered as second class the near future. mail matter at the Alanchester post office under the act of Congress, March 3, 1879. The purchase by Mr. Frank P. Carpenter of the Howard R. Bangs, Editor 907 shares of First National Bank stock held by the Granite AIonthly Co., Publisher Merrimack River Savings Bank, at a price of $126,- Subscription Rates: Three dollars per annum postpaid in the United States: Canada, $3.50; and to foreign countries of the Postal Union, 980, and of additional shares, can hardly be construed $4.00. as a decision by Mr. Carpenter to re-enter the national The Granite Monthly solicits its own contrihutions, and cannot be field an individual nor it responsible for loss of unsolicited manuscripts. banking as operator, would ESTABLISHED IN 1877 be logical to assume that he had any plans for oper- ating it in conjunction with the Mechanics Savings of The Granite is 'T'HIS ISSUE (State) Monthly Bank, of which his son is president, and he treasurer. pubhshed under a new editorship, that of Howard Mr. Carpenter was at one time a prominent director R. Bangs, former editor of Robert Jackson's Man- of the Second National Bank of Manchester, an chester Sun, and for many years identified actively institution that subsequently was absorbed by the with various newspapers. He has been night editor Amoskeag National Bank, of which he is now a of the Manchester Union and managing editor of director. the New York Morning Telegraph, and comes of a With these conclusions in mind it would therefore literary family, his father being the late author, John seem an intelligent guess that Mr. Carpenter did not Kendrick Bangs. act as an individual in agreeing to pay $140 a share Mr. Bangs spent his boyhood in Franconia, N. 11.. for the Merrimack River Savings Bank's holdings in and was educated at Holderness School, Plymoutii, First National stock, but appeared, rather as a repre- N. H., and Cornell University. sentative in a consortium purchase that was partici- Mr. Bangs brings to the Granite Monthly a new pated in by the other Manchester National Banks. editorial policy and a vigorous viewpoint on state af- Elimination of the First National Bank in the Man- fairs. The monthly, hereafter, will be conducted as chester field will reduce the number of national banks a review of significant events as they occur in Xew from four to three, leaving the Amoskeag. Alanchester Hampshire. Matters of social, political and industrial and Merchants National Banks in a stronger position importance will be discussed, and in specialized prob- with regard to banking service. lems, manuscripts will be solicited from the best in- While the passing of the First National is regret- fortned sources in the state. table from the standpoint of sentiment, its control was The addition of a departinent of book reviews will so closely affiliated with the Merriinack River Sav- be an interesting feature of the January number, and ings Bank that it doubtless was confronted with an will contain critical expressions on the latest produc uncertain future. The action of the other banks, in tions of literary men and women. selecting Mr. Carpenter as their financial emissary. GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

a and business-like stroke of was not only courageous pelation "Lunatic Fringe," and used it in paying his but it also clears the field. banking economy, respect to a particularly noisy group of agitators who to objected certain of his administrative policies. An analysis of the so-called "wet" victories in the recent COMEONE, speaking of the economic situ- election, clearly indicates that the same old "Lunatic ation, has said : "These depressions find Fringe" is articulate. the average man in possession of two suits There never has been a doubt in the opinion of of clothes. .So the duration of the depression competent observers that the city of Boston and the is measured by the life of two pairs of state of Massachusetts were "wet", there never has pants." been a doubt that the city of Chicago and the state That is an excellent conclusion if they aren't two- of Illinois were "wet", and the same contention applies pant suits ! tn Rhode Island, and the notoriously damp state of New York. Where, then, except in states which were counted as "wet", have the ¥N AX(JTHER column will be found an interesting already anti-prohibition- i.^ts scored any gains that can be taken as a serious analysis by the Rev. Ernest L. Converse, of Con- indication of a national trend? cord, of the results in the recent national election as Taken politically, prohibition has become merely a they affect Prohibition. Mr. Converse, whose activi- medium for giving mass articulation to the noisiest ties as superintendent of the New Hampshire Anli- elements in the noisiest centers. And the Saloon League have been characterized by an ener- politicians who themselves into the Gran- paddle office on the rise and getic application to his duty, was invited by swell of the Home Brew tide, would be quick to scuttle ite Monthly to comment on the situation. the ship and swim for the shore at the first sign of In e.xtending its invitation to Mr. Converse, the drought. Granite Monthly assured him that no editorial ad- Industrially, the fact that employers immediately vantage would be taken of his conclusions, and further- discharge workmen who try to mix with ma- more, made a statement of its own policy with rela- whiskey chinery, is sufficient evidence of the attitude business tion to the so-called wet and dry issue. has toward prohibition. Recently, however, owing to While the pages of the monthly are open to public the unemployment situation, there has been a great discussion of this important topic, whether the dis- deal of hullabaloo over the benefits that would accrue cussion is of a wet or dry nature, and while it guar- to the jobless by the reopening of the breweries. This antees the same editorial inviolability to the manu- form of reasoning has gained visual and articulate script of an anti-prohibitionist as it has guaranteed abetment from the newsreel editors, and for the last to Mr. Converse, it may be well to state at this time several weeks, tongue-dripping audiences have been •that opinions expressed by individual contributors do treated to animated snapshots of new brewing ma- not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of the chinery being polished up for the imminent return of magazine. Schlitz, Pabst, Budweiser, et al. In New Hampshire, The policy of the magazine is dry. It is not dry in reports from the Frank Jones Brewery in I'ortsmouth, the sense that it advocates restrictions upon the per- and other former manufacturies of beer and a!e, in- sonal appetites of men and women in general, but on dicate that these plants are still doing an excellent the basis that, Mr. Hoover to the contrary. Prohibi- ' cold storage business, and anticipate no retluction in tion is not an "experiment." hut a "fait accompli, temperature. and became such, the moment the 18th Amendment Nevertheless, granting that the of the was ratified into the Federal Constitution. An ordinary reopening breweries might conceivabl_\- give productive emplo\- attribute of decent citizenship in the United States, ment to a half-million idle workers, the situation would is obedience of its laws, and the spectacle of lawless- create a that would vitiate the ness that has followed the enthronement of "Al" paradox eventually very aim it was intended to accomplish. For ever\- Capone as the Maharajah of the American Under- stream of lager beer emanating from a revived brew- world, is not So much to be blamed upon the char- ery, there would be a greater stream of humanity acterless masses that do him homage, as it is upon pouring from the gates of great American industries, Federal and State governments for failing to enforce a stream of humanity, discharged, for the well-known the law, and the willingness of certain depraved units reason that alchohol and buzz-saws, when mixed, pro- of the American press to create the impression that duce no dividends. all Prohibitionists wear tall, black hats, blue glasses, and carry on their hips instruments of torture to be VICTORY of G. in the late physically applied to recalcitrant wets. 'yHE John Winant No intelligent person can deny that from the aspects election is encouraging for the state. It solidifies of its effects upon the society of the United States, the grip of the so-called progressive wing of the Re- prohibition of alcohol as a beverage is a good thing. publican party on the administration of New Hamp- The late lamented Theodore Roosevelt coined the ap- shire affairs, and in a more far-reaching sense indi- GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

clement of the state intends to GRANITE MONTHLY extends belated con- catcs that the younger yilE continue in the saddle. gratulations to James AL Langley, publisher of Mr. Winant's most conspicuous victory was won in The Concord Monitor, on the completion of the the September Primary when he defeated Arthur P. fine new printing house from which the Monitor is Morrill, of Concord, for the gubernatorial nomina- now issuing. Mr. Langley's success in the New Hamp- of tion, and at the same time achieved the distinction shire newspaper field has been one of the outstanding being the first man in the history of the state to achievements of the last decade in the state's news- shatter an antiquated tradition that had limited 'i paper history. governor's tenure of office to one term. The tradi- Under his skillful guidance of a modern and influ- that tion, itself, was obviously a political stratagem ential property, Mr. Langley has prospered in a state time or an- may have served a useful purpose at one where the rewards from newspaper operation have other, but which, in recent years, at least, had lost not kept .pace with the rewards accruing from opera- whatever virtue it may once have possessed. tion of other ventures. The first administration of Governor Winant was And now that bouquets are being passed to Mr. certainly a reform administration, and was character- Langley, the Granite Monthly anticipates, that if re- ized bv sane thinking and progressive legislation. Why ports from the Manchester field are not in error, it there should be an objection to the continuation of an in turn will soon be offering congratulations to Col. able administration, merely because there exists some Frank Knox and .lohn A. Muehling, of the L'nion is of those will o' the wisp tradition against it, one and Leader. It is understood that Messrs. Knox and vagaries that make politics in New Hampshire so Muehling expect to begin the building of a modern, intriguing. three stor\- newspaper plant on Amherst street in that The Winant defeat of the indefatigable, and peri- city, soon after the New Year. of Peterbor- patetic Albert Wellington (Hi) Noone, The Union-Leader Publishing Company acquired ough, was picturesque if nothing else. The "double the Amherst street property earlier in the current bar'l" candidacy of Mr. Noone for United States year, and more recently is said to have assembled ad- Senator and Governor gave the campaign a rare and ditional parcels of land that will give the organization piquant flavor. He was the Worcestershire sauce in ample space for its building. the pudding, and for that delightful peppering of an The new L^nion-Leader plant will have as one of otherwise issueless campaign, let us be thankful. its neighbors the building lately owned by the Merri- mack Valley Sun, Inc., publisher of the Manchester Sun, which expired from pernicious anaemia during nPHE RECENT infidelity of the Great American the memorable days of the 1929 stock market crash. Electorate to the cause of Herbert Hoover an^l The Sun building is still unoccupied. the Republican Party, is a fair sample of a type of political grotesquery that every now and then crops /Confidence in the of a up to confound and astonish believers in a democratic leadership large portion form of government. of the New Hampshire press was unquestionably dealt a severe blow the of No intelligent observer ascribes the causes of the by smashing victory Governor-Elect G. not economic depression to any act. political nr otherwise, John Winant, onh- in the but of Mr. Hoover, or the responsible elements of his primal'}- campaign in the general election of is November last. party. The problem of economic rehabilitation as it seem, Governor Winant won his palpably a problem that the business leaders of the Strange may with a nation must go about solving. There is little, if an\- campaign generally hostile press snapping at his his beneath thing, that Mr. Hoover as the executive of the Fed- heels, submerging campaign speeches eral Administration can do. He can investigate and the front page oratory of his opponents, and generally seek contact advise, he can give business the benefit of his own driving him to with the people by turning to the and his friends unquestioned ability as a business man, but he cannot radio, by depending upon good perform miracles, nor force into being any instantan- to get out and around for him. No Republican can- didate in confronted with eous prosperity, merely by waving some magic wand, many years was the task or muttering an all-healing incantation. that faced this tradition-shattering public servant. His William McKinley observed that in times of stress victory was the more valiant for the whipping he to the editors of majorities arise against the party in power, and banal admitiistered New Hampshire. as that Presidential observation may sound today, it The state of the New Hampshire press as regards or indicates, nevertheless, that politically, the mental pro- its ability to accurately interpret public opinion, cesses by which the electorate sizes up situations, have to exert successful leadership, is a state of which new^;- n(jt be is indicative of not changed. It is astonishing that the public, insofar paper owners may proud. It ranks as its relationship to the ballot-box is concerned, still serious illness within the of newspaperdom, and the marks its votes according to the notions it absorbs remarks symptoms of a condition that requires from demagogues, and curb-stone politicians. most vigorous treatment if newspapermen, generally, GRANITE STATE MONTHLY are not to lose that prestige which is normally asso- like manner, but being, as he was at that time, a public ciated with the profession. servant it was his clear duty to have exposed a chief The newspaper that deliberately thwarts the public who was pilfering the public pocketbook. Mr. Black- will, and attempts to stuff hand-picked candidates, and wood's failure to do so indicates that he did not know of its predigested political doctrines down the throats what was going on in his own office, or that he lacked readers, is doomed. Newspaper proprietors have the the moral courage to bring the proper charges against right to support whom they will for public office, they a dishonest official. quite equalh- have the right to speak their minds on Either of these indications should most assuredly public matters, but, being semi-public utilities, they disqualify his present candidacy before the Legisla- or distort facts neither have no right to suppress, ; ture. for have they the right to deny political candidates high public office a free and equal outlet Jor public OO ABLE A phrase-maker as the Hon. George expression. Higgins Moses, whose recent paraphrase of Virgil, a Whether they like it or not, the newspapers have saying "Timeo Democrats et dona ferentes" (I fear Failure to moral responsibility toward the public. Democrats, even when bringing gifts) broke into page run recognize this simply means suicide in the long one prominence, will pardon the Granite Monthly if that to evade it. for the newspaper attempts it, too, resorts to the scholarly reaches of Latin in When the newspapers of the state cease defending bidding adieu to Gov. Charles W. Tobey, and quotes their own errors of judgment, and rectify their course the motto of the noble state of Kansas, thus: "Ad to the point where it accurately retiects majority opin- astra per aspera'' (to the stars through difficulties), ion, they will have gone a long way toward repairing as applying accurately to Mr. Tobey's administration. the damage that has been done them through failure We assume that none of the Governor's critics will t(i fulfill these fundamental obligations. have the audacity to charge that he lacked the force to carry through the things upon which he had set TF ITEMS appearing recently in sections of the New his mind of accomplishment. The Tobey administra- Hampshire Press are to be taken as an indication tion has been one of devotion to principle, and has that there is any great demand for a change of offi- been characterized by an untiring zeal in the pursuit cials in the office of the Secretary of State, then the of, and fulfillment of. campaign promises. He has Granite Monthly believes that the responsible editors been obstructed, not only by an ungenerous and in- have misread public opinion. Either this is the fact, triguing press, an experience with which Mr. Winant, or Mr. Frederick Blackwood's candidacy is merely also, is not unfamiliar, but he has frequently been being given that fraternal salute which one newspaper compelled to travel blindh', dependent upon his own editor might give to another. counsel, owing to the singular failure of some of his Certainly there is no public cry for the retirement adherents to play the game according to Hoyle. of Enoch D. Fuller, whose administration of the office That he has met ever_\- situation with forthrightness has been exceedingly efficient and notably free from and courage, that he has demonstrated that he has

to it political conniving, qualities which were not exactly conviction, and the power carry into practice, conspicuous by their absence during the regime of these are some of the qualities, that now on the eve of Hobart Pillsbury, and during which Mr. Blackwood his retirement from public office, lead his friends to was Mr. Pillsbury's deputy. feel that the eclipse thirty days hence will not be The events which led to Mr. I'illsbury's retirement total. from public office called for a prompt housecleaning, No truthful recorder of Governor Tobey's tenure and now that the house has been cleaned and a com- of office can fail to state that he faced several major petent public official installed as atlministrator. there crises and came out of all of them smiling, and on top. is not the slightest reason why another change should Perhaps the most notable of these were the recent be made, especially when the proposed change involves incident of the Industrial .School expose, and earlier, the restoration of a man whose only claim to the office the appointment of Styles Bridges to the Public Serv- is that he served as deputy to an official who used ice Commission. In both of these situations, the the job for his own financial aggrandizement. (Jovernor finally emerged in complete victory, his The Granite Monthly does not doubt that Mr. enemies thoroughly put to niut, and his own prestige Blackwood is a man of estimable qualities, and that greatly enhanced. as deputy he attended to his business in a business- "Sic itur ad astra" (Thus one goes to the stars.) GRAXITI'. STATE MOXTlllA' The Great and General Court

Political Prognostications for the Cognoscenti

1'. D. By Farad Ohm Watt, K. conceal in the hip-puckels of their legislative pants, Legislative Correspondent of The Granite Monthly cans of gasoline, nitro-glycerine, anti-freeze solution or, in fact, any other form of liquid explosive by ¥?OF THE information contained, in this, mj- first which they might maim, lascerate. and otherwise article on the forthcoming session of the New render null and void their Progressive comrades. Hampshire General Court, I am indebted to a Repub- Inasmuch as the Senator-Reject knows his onions, lican Senator-Reject, whose luncheon check I have as well as his colleagues, I have no doubt that once just paid, and a Manchester Democrat with whom organized, the 1931 Senate will function with all the I took afternoon tea the day after Mr. Albert Wel- outward calm of a barrel of Mobiloil. lington (Hi) Noone was returned to the bosom of Getting down to brass tacks, as it were, on the his factory in Peterborough by the tradition-crashing selection of the individual who is to preside over the John Gilbert Winant, of Concord. new Senate, it seems to me that I detect signs of a Neither of these gentlemen was particularly happy disquieting nature. L(jver that I am of the bucolic over the election of Mr. Winant, owing to the fact life, there come upon me, however faint and distant, that the Republican Senator-Reject has invariably certain rumblings that m\' long experience associates been on the other side of the fence, and the Manches- with the whinnyings and closely-barned stompings of ter Democrat a life-long resident of Ward 8. How- horses. The aroma, also, is strangely equine, and ever, I was seeking advice, my business being to write, therefore I am bound by a sense of mental honesty and not to assume the role of ambulance chaser to to state that I DO hear horses!

Be white, brown or sorrel ; be wind- political emergency cases. they black, they suckers or victims of the be Strange as it may seem, the advice given me by string-halts, they spavined, or truck horses— are horses neverthe- both of these gentlemen was the same. They sug- just plain they and ALL of them are dark, even unto the ice- gested that if I wanted to know anything about the less, bound stretches of Winnipesaukee, or the remote out- organization lineup in the next House and Senate, of the Coos reaches. I should read the writings of Major Arthur W. De- posts attitude toward Moulpied in the Manchester Union and Leader, and Assuming a pragmatic the prob- that it abilities the individual soon to be elected failing to get what I wanted from source, regarding President of the and at the same time might pay me to read what Billy Wallace writes for Senate, taking into the and noted The Boston Sunday Herald, or get an English dic- consideration stompings whinnyings I am forced to conclude that a tionary and translate the political opinions of The just above, barring Manchester Democrat. Striking a happy medium be- coup d'etat by some immediately unknown political President of will tween the three, my friends suggested, I probable- jocke}"; the next the Senate be chosen would discover that if I wanted to contribute any- from the following three avowed candidates : James well C. of Harold H. of Wolfe- thing original to the subject, I might just as Farmer, Newbury; Hart, Arthur R. of Keene. express my own opinions. boro; Jones, Having due regard for the acumen of the Senator- All of these gentlemen are known to have not waited until Christmas to their and Reject, whose long experience in practical politics has just before do shopping, have been taught him to adopt a clam-like reticence on prob- for some time going about collecting" votes, abilities, I am inclined to believe, nevertheless, that the promises and what-nots to stuff into their stockings. incoming State Senate will be organized on the basis Even the most seasoned manufacturer of stockings, of doing business with the Winant Administration, however, will not guarantee his product against a and not on the basis of obstruction. I assume the serious run within 30 days, and therefore your ob- organization will be "regular", however, and that un- server would not bet a Mexican dollar, even if it like Senator George Higgins Moses, the Old Guard came from the basement of a Manchester savings Senatorial incumbents will not be wary of Democrats bank, on the outcome. In fact, now that so many bearing gifts. Americans are winning fabulous fortunes on English In this respect the Senator-Reject committed him- racing lotteries, it might be a good stunt to issue self so far as to state that he was not acijuainted witli tickets at a quarter apiece on any and all of the above any "regular" members of the Upper Branch of the candidates, and on Dana A. Emeiy, of Manchester, General Court, who knowingly would carry sticks of and Charles H. Brackett, of Greenland, as added dynamite attached to their watch-chains, much less starters, to boot, the proceeds of which could be used 8 GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

the to relieve unemployment, or to buy a dinner at ing recently in the Manchester Leader, one would be Eagle Hotel for the Dark Horse that might conceiv- led to suspect that Mr. Smith, of Portsmouth, has as a ably win. good chance as any of the others. Knowing how the Having relied, as I have, upon the information given Major likes to keep the copy flowing to the Union- indubi- me by my friend the Senator-Reject for the Leader's linotypes, however, your correspondent is of the Senatorial situation led to that tably penetrating analysis believe Editor Blood, fearing a shortage of it is with a concluded in the preceding paragraph, news on that particular day, called upon Major De- is com- sense of trepidation that I now give you what Moulpied to rustle up a little for the back room, and House. You monly known as the "dope" on the may that the Major, casting about for something at least can't the Demo- stop me if I am wrong, but you stop startling, hit upon Mr. Smith's possibilities and pro- crat from Ward 8, and this is what he says : ceeded to embalm them in type-metal. a of I "Gimme a little lemon and coupla lumps sugar do not seem to recall any political activity in the as I was can last session of in my tea, please. Now, saying, you the Legislature which would lead the so organize the Senate easy, because there ain't many cognoscenti to take the candidacy of Mr. Cummings tabs 'em when as but of 'em that you can't keep on they go anything an elTort to split the vote with Mr. Hotel but take it from across the street to the Eagle ; Smith, thereby reacting unfavorably on the outstand- me. when you try to organize them representatives ing candidacy of ]\Ir. Dickinson. Mr. Cummings is to a of to it's just like trying pour gallon frog's eggs said, however, be gaining the support of the weekly ever a into a quart container. H you scooped up press in New Hampshire, but knowing the failings of know what mess of frog's eggs out of a pond, you'll the weekly press in New Hampshire as well as I do, I mean. They won't stay put." that is, knowing that aside from one or two con- went out With this bit of sage advice, my friend spicuous examples, it has very little effect on public to keep an appointment with Ex-Senator McCarthy, opinion, I would say that the press support for Mr. now of Washington, from whom he hoped to get a Cummings was little more than a salute to a fellow slant on what Senator Moses expects to do in 1932. craftsman. deal Recalling as I do, how when a great younger When the Union and Leader announce thev sup- a than I am now, I did at one time wander into port Mr. Cummings as their candidate, I will eat last near hat on the particularly boggy swamp up Plymouth, pre- year's Panama corner of Elm and Hanover t^ora and sumably in search of frog's eggs, and other streets, and concede him a chance of election. to a date fauna of the territory, but in reality keep Summing it all up, then, I would say that it looks that like with a normal school girl, I am forced to conclude a very successful administration for Mr. Winant. to what my friend from Ward 8 said about trying So be it ! organize the House of Representatives might possibly be true. That body unquestionably represents the most a numerous bunch of legislators that ever confronted Radio Reforms In I state paymaster, and sometimes, I must confess, have expressed the wish that some day they might Manchester take it into their heads to resign, or secede as a whole, William E. the By Gilmore, Jr. and form an entirely new state, thereby leaving Governor and Council and the Senate to expedite the City Clerk of the City of Manchester business at hand. Doubtless if such a proposition had been included among the Constitutional Amendments [Believing that the ordinance recently passed by the placed before the Electorate in the last election, it Board of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Man- might have been ratified by the necessary two-thirds chester for the eradication of radio interference is of majority. public interest, the Granite Monthly invited Mr. Gil- more to contribute an article on the However, be that as it may, I feel that Governor subject.) Winant has the situation pretty well in hand, and that 'T'HE of after the first thunder has rolled away, and the per- RELATIONSHIP the radio to the Ameri- can has to such it petual candidates are once more successfully elimi- home grown an extent that nated, our readers will see Mr. Milan A. Dickinson, of definitely holds a greater regard in the household Swanzey, wearing the toga. Opposing Mr. Dickinson than the time honored and still popular piano or what to date are Rep. Harold M. Smith of Portsmouth, have you. much to the and of these great and good friend of Al Hislop, and one who Now despair disgust

: homes which were enter- evidently has taken to heart the motto "When at made happy with mai-velous etc."—et al and tainments from the air, with a to first you don't succeed, ; Rep. George repertoire satisfy D. Cummings, editor of the Peterborough Transcript. the most fastidious, a legion of demons unseen, but According to a screed by Major DeMoulpied appear- not unheard, have come from nowhere in particular. GRANITE STATE MONTHLY evenwlierc in general to threaten tlie popularity 01 ing by those complaining ol interference and the com- this wonderful discovery. mittee sends its representative with his magic electrical I-'ather. mother, or some member of the family may detecting apparatus onto the job. tune in to a favorite station only to have one or more When the source is found, the unfortunate culprit of these demons give a demons-tration (pardon the (in most every instance innocent of his or her wrong- is notified of the misdemeanor and jest) with raucous roar or squeal of fiendish delight; doing) suggestions another turn of the dial and your attempt for enter- to prevent further interference to radio reception are tainment is again frustrated by these demons of the given. air with another bag of noises different both in Although this work has only lately been inaugurated

so it some- the both in radios and volume, sound and continuity and goes ; cooperation given by dealers, times, part of a day or evening yet alwa}-s ready to electrical equipment, has been remarkable, as has let the listener know that they are on the job twenty- been the aid furnished by the Public Service Compan\- four hours a day. and the street railway in helping reduce radio inter- ference. The city of Manchester, rich with radio fans, ideally situated for radio reception has awakened to the fact A great many sources of interference have been that these demons infesting the air have multiplied so traced directly to signs, Hashers, electric organs, street beyond endurance that remedies to prevent such in- cars, brushes on dynamos, transformers, air motors, fringements upon their enjoyments shall be applied. gas pumps, curling irons, ice refrigerating machines, Accordingly a committee appointed from the Boar.l vacuum cleaners, lloor waxing machines, and numer- of Mayor and Aldermen have very ably sponsored an ous other appliances. ordinance in conformity with the rules and regulations It is also a good idea before one condemns his as the States to his own domicile first for prescribed by United Government, im- neighbor investigate ; posing a penalty upon ofifending parties that are re- many a fan is the victim of his own home-made noises one be able to find in the sponsible for unleashing preventable noises unto the ; might loose lamps air. sockets, bad ground wire connections, loose tubes in A detector has been purchased and the operaloi" his radio, unfiltered home appliances, all of which puts this machine into his automobile and goes out might contribute a few howling demons 'to offend detecting, tracing down with great accuracy the the ear and turn an otherwise pleasant evening into sources of anguish. a night of bitterness and disappointment. This device follows up all clues, and is so sensitise As mentioned before, the use of the radio has so that the the operator has been led into a barber shop and increased that step taken by the cit}' of Manches- found that electric clippers were innocently spoiling ter with its ordinance protecting her citizens from a man's radio reception upstairs in the same building. preventative interference augers well for the coni- Blanks are filled out, filed at the Municipal build- munity. Prosperity or Poverty—Which? Some Problems of the Machine Age

By Christopher Blunt intelligent nursing to bring them into full flower. It seems to us that the Economic Depression has THHESE ARE days of anxious scannings of the reached what for lack of a better name, may be business horizon for reliable indices that may be termed the "brass tack" era, and, having arrived there taken as an accurate reflection of an uptrend toward in spite of all tlie Presidential pronouncements and prosperity. political incantations to the contrary, we now? believe will im- While there may be a faint, thin light visible, it that only fools and economic illiterates be is yet in such a nebulous stage that even the most pressed by a continuance of such blather. confirmed optimist will not wittingly burst into hosan- There is serious work to be done, and it requires nalis of joy. the most intense application on the part of the busi-

As a matter of fact, by every major indicator it is ness leaders of the nation. Without minimizing the exceedingly doubtful that the corner, around which tragedy of the effects of the depression on the social Prosperity is said to be lurking, will be turned before life of America, it would seem, nevertheless, that the the Autumn of 1931. To blink the facts is merely more important task is to so organize business in the to indulge ourselves in dreaming, and certain it is that future that major crises of the nature that are now if next there the American shall not recur. b}!- Spring begin to appear tiny shoots afflicting nation, of long green, it will require the most diligent and Any effective .survey of the ways and means of 10 GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

accomplishing this desirable objective will not fail to inquire into the very threads of the pattern from which we have woven our economic structure.

We have heard much of the "machine age". It has been discussed pro and con innumerable times since it first burst upon us with all its titanic power. Has it

finally reached that stage where it has run amuck, BOOKS and like the Frankenstein monster of old, got so far out of human control that it threatens the very exis- for readers of tence of the multitudes to whom it was to have been

an agency for their liberation from economic slavery? No less an industrialist that Henry Ford has stated Che...

that American industry is in the position where it i.-; able to produce in ten months all the goods that the population can consume in twelve. If that be the fact, and there is no reason to dispute Mr. Ford, it would seem that the men who control production in this country have been influenced more by greed than M€NTBiLy bv a recognition of their responsibilities toward the social welfare of the United States. The process of "overproducing" the national and international markets, by the reckless turning on of With the inauguration of a new de- machiner\-, is not only a process that violates the partment of book reviews in the fundamental laws of supply and demand, but it is like- The GRANITE wise a symptom of managerial irresponsibility that re- January number, has quires regulation, either by the producers themselves, MONTHLY made arrangements or eventually by Federal legislation, a form of regula- widi a prominent book-seller by which tion that is not desirable. any book reviewed in the periodical The depression which was signalized by the stock- may be obtained by simply forward- market collapse of 1929 is not the result of any sud- ing the net price to the Granite den disorganization of American business, nor can it Monthly. be attributed to any single factor which was not en- tirely within the control of responsible industrialists. Furthermore the assumption that the orgy of gambling Owing to the dearth of bookstores in on the stock-market, which kited prices beyond all many localities of the state, it is oft- reasonable values, was to blame, is an error. The times difficult for readers to obtain on the stock-market merely reflected a soaring prices copies without sending out of the false impression of the state of business in the nation, state for them. an impression that had been built up by political pro- nunciamentos and the indiscriminate production of The Granite book service more goods than the market could consume. The Monthly is free of to all and stock-market collapsed when the true condition of charge readers, affairs became apparent, and only after the cumula- any who desire to avail themselves of tive ills of came to a and industry head, exploded. it, need only write, giving the name the future by these it would Judging experiences, of the book wanted, and enclosing seem that a continuation of the scheme of industrial remittance in the amount of the net activity that has already been characterized by the price. Prices will be published with collapse of values throughout the workl, can lead onl\- all Granite - Monthly reviews. to the creation of another vicious cycle, and the at tendant suffering it imposes upon humanity. It is time for the business leaders of America to make their decision NOW. ^Ae Granite Monthly Are we to have permanent prosperity?

Or progressive povert}-? WHICH? GRANITE STATE MONT 111. ^ 11 Why Byrd Came to Ne^v Hampshire j4nd What the Explorer Thinks of Dublin

B\< HiLDRETH W. Allison arrive, a secret well kept, however, bv the reticent Mrs. Byrd. hitherto unrecorded {Hcrcii'itli are presented some The admiral slipped unostentatiously into town on couccnwuj the reasons why the famous Polar facts July 4 for a brief week-end rest. A week afterwards at N. H. Explorer selected "Fairwoods Farm", Dublin, he was back officially, but so quietly did he arrive that for his resting place last summer). the fact was not known until two days later. iiXlTE USUALLY go to the seashore," said the With the beginning of his sojourn in Dublin, Byrd woman in the Lincoln car, "but this year we laid aside the uniform of a rear admiral and with his official The sort of it, rank. In the counlrv . thought we'd try the mountains. place temporarily, wide where a fellow he we are looking for is one with a fine view, open regular enjoys being comfortable, where can be our- doesn't in much for formal dress. fields, and above all a spot we by go Perhaps, too, felt a bit stiff and selves and enjoy privacy.' Byrd something starchy about his estate naval title which he decided could "View, open fields, privacy," reflected the real newly acquired also into the sea chest ; for awhile. At man, mentally running over his list of available places go any rate, Farm'." in New he was "Dick" then aloud, "Suppose w-e look at 'Fairwoods Hampshire just Byrd, a private A nod to the chauffeur, and the big automobile citizen. hill above Dublin the Antarctic glided into motion. Up the village, Ostensibly leader was in Dublin for a cement and around Dublin restful vacation over a fine stretch of road, ; actually, however, he probably lake. Then it swei-ved abruptly to the right, passed worked as hard as any man in town. Although the climbed a avenue was a of the the golf club, entered and private expedition thing past, masses of detail was winding through an apple orchard, and the lady growing out of it were constantly accumulating. There at her place of destination. was his narrative to prepare, selections for lecture — all are here in be Views, open fields, privacy these purposes to made from thirty miles of motion pic- clad in the verdure of ture film taken in plenty. Grand ^lonadnock, Antarctica, the vyorking out of his rears its massive dark spruces and lighter hardwoods, lecture itinerar\-, frequent trips on business to New bulk to the southeast, majestic, impressive. Meadows, York, and various other matters. in Dublin gently rising from the little travelled Old Marlborough Byrd's summer was one of virtual seclu- screened road, slope back gracefully to a farmhouse sion. Even his telephone number was a mystery, and by shrubben- and shade trees. Privacy there is in the local operators were instructed to connect no one it— house abundance—350 acres of while the itself, with him who could not give it. Intrepid newspaper re- a structure of New England Georgian charmingly writers who boasted that they never failed to "get Aid- modelled by its present owner, Mrs. Charles F. their man" returned to their sheets crestfallen and rich of Boston, is so arranged that it can be divided without intervievys. Yet the admiral was constantly suites. out of and back into three distinct and separate slipping town again on business trips, There was no need of looking further. Obviously unobserved by even the wariest. from her delighted comments Mrs. Richard E. Byrd Despite the busy days, however, the verandah at had found a place seemingly made to order. "Fairwoods Farm" was the occasional scene of an seas of diversion. Rear Admiral Byrd was returning on the high hour Often along with the ring of chil- from Little America, Antarctica, when the lease was dren's voices the staccato bark of Igloo, Byrd's con- signed. To facilitate preparations for his occupancy stant companion, might be heard—a sure indication of the Dublin residence the strictest precautions were that the South Pole hero was relaxing. On one occa- exercised to guard the secret of his coming. To all sion a by-passer, chancing to glimpse the admiral and save the few connected with the rental of "Fairwoods his four children through the trees, saw them all hap- Farm," where Byrd w-ould "base'' for the summer the pily at play flying toy airplanes. facts remained the darkest of mysteries; and not until To be sure it is reliably reported that the tall, trim the psychological moment were they made public. young admiral who has already conquered both poles Then, indeed, Dublin people, impassive and grown and flown the Atlantic as well, has definite plans for blase to the coming of celebrities, were agog with further adventure. But when he left tovyn in late excitement. They would have acclaimed the admiral September to begin his lecture tour, Dublin people with a brass band, confetti, and the ringing of bells didn't exactly bid him good-bye. Instead they made had thev been able to ascertain the day when he would it, 'So long, Dick Byrd, and good luck." 12 GRAxNlTE STATE MONTHLY Those Recent Gains by the Wets jin Mti'Saloon League jinalysis

L. Convekse B'\\ Rev. Ernest more drys in both branches than voted to submit the eighteenth amendment to the states for ratification. the {Rev. Mr. Converse, ivho is supcriiiteiideiit of As a sample of how wet gains are made, the fol- New Hampshire Aiiti-Salooii League, and an occa- lowing is significant. An official of one of the wet sional contributor to the press on Prohibition matters, organizations said that the wets in the House of has prepared the follozoing article on the recent n.r Representatives had been increased by the election of from to tional election.) seventy-five one hundred and forty-five. As a matter of fact dry leaders had counted from one is several weeks 'X'HI': NOVEMBEIv electiun away hundred to one hundred and ten of the present House as we write and we can see in better ijerspective. as wet. So that if there were to be one hundred and The reader of the news reports the niorniny after the forty-five wets in the next House the real gain would wet be election would have inferred that everywhere only about forty. And that estimate is probably candidates were replacing dry officials. This is an- high. handles all wet other sample of the way the wet press Where Democrats defeated dry Republicans iv President Hoover won so over- was in most cases more the fact news reports. When that they were Demo- that whelmingly two years ago it was most grudgingly crats, than that they were wet, that caused their elec- that tion. has been any admission was made by press reports pro- Much said about the victory of Robert hibition entered into the contest at all. Any unpre- J. Bulkley, wet Democrat, over a dry Republican for that more than United States senator in Ohio. judiced observer knew prohibition, But the Democratic the his candidate for Governor in any other issue, gave president top-heavy Ohio was a strong dr}- and is a lesser the other he won a majority. Now there swing way, by larger majority than Bulkley. Evidently and how it is magnified. it was a Democratic victory with Bulkley incidentall}' But w^hat really happened ? There was a large gain a wet of Democrats over Republicans. So large was th.j Distinct gains were made by the wets in the of are United Senate in the gain that both houses Congress nearly evenl.\- States elections of Marcus Cool- divided between the parties. The prohibition question idge in Massachusetts, J. Hamilton Lewis in Illinois, In the entered in very significantly in some places. Einar Hoidale in Minnesota and Bulkley in Ohio. Northeastern quarter of the country the Democrats Also Jesse Metcalf in Rhode Island came out for re- in that are more likely to be wet than dry. So part peal in this campaign. He liad been counted as favor- of the country a Democratic swing is likely to carry ing prohibition before. in wets to replace drjs. Supporters of prohibition gained by the election o\ Prohibition, however, was but one of the causes Wallace H. White in Maine to succeed Senator Gould of the overturn but not the most influential. There who was wet. Fluey P. Long in Louisiana succeeds a was to be expected an off year reaction from the over- wet senator. Where drys succeeded drys there was a whelming Republican victory of 1928. We are in a moral gain in some cases. In South Carolina James great industrial and financial depression with its wide- F. Byrnes, a sincere dry, succeeds Cole Blease who reacts spread unemployment and want. This always voted dry but talked wet. Law-rence Phipps, a "politi- or against the party in power, however much, little, cal dry" from Colorado, is replaccfl by Edward P. that party is responsible for the depression. Uneasi- Costigan, a strong dry Democrat. ness, dissatisfaction and distress call for a change, In the race for governor, Ely. wet, won in Massa- whatever the change may be. chusetts over a capable dry. In Pennsylvania, former The real loss of dry strength at Washington is sur- governor Gifford Pinchot, an outspoken, uncompro- prisingly small when put down in black and white. mising dry, won over the Democrat who was wet, and One observer, in a position to know, has stated that who had the support of the wet Vare Republican there will be five or six fewer dry United States machine in Philadelphia, as well as that of former Senators in the next Congress than in the present Republican national committeeman Atterburw session. In the House the drys lost eleven in the Referenda in Massachusetts. Rhode Island and Illi- various primaries, and about a dozen more in the nois went wet by large majorities. lUit these are all election. Thus the lower house will have about in the wetter part of the nation. Rhode Island never twenty-live more wets than in the present line up. ratified the Eighteenth Amendment. Illinois has However, with these losses there will still be several Chicago. Massachusetts has a large foreign element. GRANITE STATE MONTHLY 13

4.0 .•iiid liie aiul with several stale-wide voles has usually gone worst \ear was per hundred thousand, be like Maine, best 1.0. against prohibition. It would selecting year trials. In With of to with no Georgia and New Hampshire for referenda plenty money use; scruples these latter three states the vote would be as over- against hiring newspaper columnists to color their with sneers at and with little re- whelmingly tlry. output prohibition ; gard for facts, so long as prejudice can be aroused In New Hampshire iirohihition did not suffer in the the wonder is that wet gains were election. The Republican cantiidates for the major against prohibition, not offices were dry and the Democratic candidates wet. greater. We are told that you can fool all the people some The industrial depression has been felt especiall}' of the time, some of the all the time, but not keenly in Manchester and Nashua and a few other people all the all the time. If this is true some of bank failure was people places. An unfortunate played up those who have been taken in by unfounded claims in Manchester In- the Democratic candidate for gov- and false statements will wake and resent ernor and senator. In these centers the Democratic up being duped. They will then be stronger than ever against vote was larger. a traffic that has always been lawless and for the corrupting, In spite of this, the Republican majority and destructive, and for the most effective means \x-t state was onlv four or five thousand smaller than the formed to curb the evil. last oft' vear election in 1926 when the total vote was The temperance movement has always had its ebbs almost the same. Although all the Republican candi- and flows. That the last election showed some ebb dates for major offices were rated as drys, Governor- is certain, but it was slight in comparison with claims P^lect Winant had the issue more emphasized dry made for that ebb. His was a thousand votes larger than the majority The Christian Science Monitor sums up the results others. as follows: "So far as a defection from the polic\- of In the state senate are seven or eight pro- very prohibition is indicated in the voting, this is due mainly nounced And another seven or have a drys. eight to superficial thinking, herd instinct, failure to remem- record, or are understood to be previous dry voting ber pre-prohibition conditions and a complaisant ac- favorable to prohibition. ceptance of blatant sophistries which have been made The opponents of prohibition spent many times as current by mere repetition in well-financed propaganda much money as the supporters of the law in the cam- and a wet press." paign. The last available report showed the leading wet organization to have acknowledged the spending of over four hundred thousand dollars. At the same time the national Anti-Saloon League had spent a bit £x-Cathedra over nine thousand dollars. The out the enemies of propaganda put by prohibi- A S THIS is being written, an Am.erican author. tion has been skilfully prepared and wisely used, ll for the first time in history, is sailing abroad to has been careless of facts. Many of its statemenis receive the Nobel prize in Literature ! On December were either false or misleading. Its aim has appar- 10th. Mr. Sinclair Lewis, (Main Street, Babbitt, entl\- been to declare certain things and repeat them, Arrowsmith, Elmer Gantry, et al.) in Stockholm, without proof, till people accept them as facts. One Sweden, will be handed a check for $46,350, repre- who is reasonably well informed can easily disprove sentative of the cash value of the Nobel prize to the the and show the of the claims, falsity alleged proofs, winner. but the more thoughtless are taken in. In his pocket as he sailed from New York for Typical of the methods of the responsible leaders Stockholm, Mr. Lewis is said by ship-news reporters against prohibition, was the argument of a United to have carried a pamphlet entitled, "How to Speak States senator from another state who spoke recently Swedish in Ten Easy Lessons", and doubtless by the in New Hampshire. He declared that there was more time he goes before the august prize committee he drinking and more deaths from alcoholism now than will have learned enough of the language to say before prohibition. To prove it he gave figures for "thank you." Thus does the creator of George Fol- 1919 as compared with 1927. Evidently he intended lansbee Babbitt, go Babbitt-like to receive his reward. his hearers to think I9I9 was a pre-prohibition year. Winning literaiy prizes is no new experience for But war time prohibition went into effect July first, Mr. Lewis, but accepting them is a different matter. 1919. And the first half of the year was lived under In 1916 he created a furore in American circles by the severe restrictions put on the traffic during the declining to accept the $1,000 Pulitzer prize, offered war period. Census Bureau figures show that the him for his novel, '"Arrowsmith." In rejecting this average annual deaths from alcoholism in the registra- morsel, the youthful, red-headed author declared the tion areas from 1901 to 1917 were .'i.G per hundred provisions of the Pulitzer prize were so cramped as to thousand population. Since national prohibitiim the (Turn to Page 16)

I 14 GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

Much Ado About Liberty Some Reflections on Sunday Blue Laws

By Howard R. Bangs I am willing to state the above proposal on the basis that Mr. Davis is deserving of the honor, and ^OMEHOW, stretch my sense of impending calamity not because I feel that it is of any general public as I will, I cannot bring myself to that state of importance whether the proprietors of Pee-Wee golf desperation that a great number of my editorial col- establishments enjoy the privilege of doing business leagues appear to have reached, over the threat to on Sunday, or not. In fact, if the trials and tribula- our liberties inherent in the recent outcroppings of tions of these gentlemen ever become of sufficient Sunday Blue Laws in Vermont and New Hampshire. moment to create a stoppage of governmental activi- Legislative anachronisms, like the measles and the ties in New Hampshire, then, I believe, that along mumps, are no novelty in this day and generation, with myself, there will be any number of otherwise and such being the case, I see no reason for taking intelligent citizens who will be quite willing to emi- down my shot-gun and getting ready to aim and fire grate to India, where, I understand, it is sinful to at the enemy, merely because a few sadistically-minded take a bath on Saturday night, and cows enjoy the individuals in remote sectors of the American Com- political and social freedom of Princes and Bengali monwealth, seek to invoke the pleasure of Jehovah Potentates. Doubting, however, that such an event by disinterring archaic prohibitions and applying them, will ever come to pass, I anticipate that we will con- tinue in this state for some to figuratively, to the pants-seats of their fun-loving time come, the enjoy- neighbors. ment and Lux-ury of our week-end bathtubs, and to Regarded through the sombre-hued glasses of ex- regard cows as public servants, quite willing to dis- perience, I am led to believe that these strange mani- pense their milk without the necessity of titilating their of festations are things to be thankful for, rather than vanity by addressing them with the prefixes rank accorded to statesmen and members of to resist, for to my way of thinking they do not con- usually stitute any new assault upon our rights as freemen, the Legislature. but bear, rather, all the distinguishing marks usually As I have stated previously, if I did not regard threatened of as a associated with the expiring gestures of a rapidly enforcement Sunday Blue Laws mortifying body. And if the body in this instance symptom of a moribund condition, I would be the I happens to be, as I suspect, the body of the Puritan first to do battle ; nevertheless, do feel that the pub- tradition in New England, then I prefer to sit back licity attendant upon these matters in Bellows Falls, warrants an of the and enjoy the demise with ghoulish glee, rather than Vt., and Concord, open discussion to waste my ammunition in the hope that an immedi- entire subject of Liberty, and its place in our scheme ate discharge of buckshot will beat the undertakers of Democratic government. to their job. Granting that in my old age 1 may have become Editorial defenders of freedom to the contrary, infected with the bug of conservatism, and that con- notwithstanding, I feel that in New Hampshire, at sequently my notions about Liberty are as archaic as least, Attorney General Davis has the situation well the Blue Laws, I, nevertheless, am forced to conclude in hand, and that when he asserts he will endeavor that if there are any menaces lurking around the to inject a little common sense into the proceedings American Scene, they are the menaces of too much in the event of a sudden cloture of all Sunday en- Liberty, and not the lack of it. In defense of this deavors, save church-going, in Concord, he is not only argument I can go back 23 centuries, if I so desire, to be taken at his word, but will not need to call out and rake up Plato, and by so doing I can prove to the United States Marines to accomplish the job. In my own satisfaction, at least, that even so long ago fact, as this is being written, I note that the agencies as that, there was a great deal of speculation con- of public prosecution in Merrimack County already cerning the rights of man. I'lato, describing his ideal have run up the white tlag of surrender. Having state, in which philosophers were to be kings, used thus a few averted with well-chosen words, what the city of Athens as an example to show the evils might have attained the importance of a legal "cause of "entire freedom and the absence of all superior celebre" in New Hampshire, I hereby suggest that authority." Said he : Mr. Davis be returned to his private practice, ne.xt "Under a Democracy slaves are just as free as then- month, with all the trumpeting and fanfare that is masters, and even the horses and the asses come to due a man who has, single-handedly, quelled an in- have a way of marching along with all the rights and surrection of the the\- people. dignities of freemen ; and will run at anvbod\- GRAXITI'. STATE MONTIllA' 15

tlie of to tlial whom they meet in the street if he does not get out escaped, iiy simple expedient resorting well-known of of their way; and all things are just ready to burst strategem "every man for himself." restrictions with Liberty." While the imposed upon the Liberty of Pee-Wee golf players in Concord and Manchester, While this is an exceedingly amusing statement, appear to us to be particularly silly, it is, neverthe- and while it may contain elements of wisdom thai less, a fact that the methods employed by the suf- might conceivably coincide with the private opinions ferers in the hope of obtaining relief, are as preda- of some students of present day manifestations, it tory in character as are the Blue Laws to which they nevertheless is a rather superficial indictment of Demo- object. An indiscriminate enforcement of these laws cratic government, and that is not the purport of this would merely represent a renewal of suffering for a article. Things being as they are, I would no sooner large portion of the populace, that at the present advocate the supplanting of our Democracy by Plato's moment, at least, indulges its extra-Sabbatical vices Rule In- rhilosophers, tlian I would advocate the by the expedient of nullification. To subject to ar- shooting of Aristocrats, and the dismemberment of rest those vicious characters who like to read .Sunday the Bourgeoise. two Liberties which, next to that of newspapers, or run clown to Nardini's, or ( Crimes' changing one's wife whenever the spirit moves, are Lunch, for a surreptitious ham sandwich of a Sab- the most popular fonns of freedom in Soviet Russia. bath afternoon, seems to us to be only a way of re- 1 f we are to se, as an indorse- interpret Liberty, per viving the Blue Laws, when, as a matter of fact, the ment of the individual's to do as he damned right ambition is to bury tiiem, preferably after cremation, rather than as a relative condition pleases, dependent so that any future experiments leading to their resur- tolerance and then 1 can see upon reason, nothing rection will be futile. ahead but the collapse of the American civilization, Having set up the Blue Laws as their target, it or the installation of a and its attendant dictatorship, would seem sensible if the Pee-Wee golfers concen- Either one of these no doubt, tyranny. contingencies, trated their aim in the proper direction. That direc- would be received with by those critics of applause tion is not in the direction of the Sunday newspaper American political phenomena who make their living readers, or the ham sandwich brigade, but is, rather, the virtues of the foreign systems the_\- by expounding in the direction of the incoming Legislature, where at have recently tied, and whose judgments of life only least, the ammunition necessary for the execution of in the United States are formed the imbecilities by the Blue Laws is at hand. Furthermore, that is the they find reflected in certain sections of the American orderly way of obtaining relief from oppressive legis- press. lation. The disorderly way is to incite to riot, and In into there- any philosophical inquiry Liberty, thus provoke the intervention of the police authority. fore, I am led to the belief that, the public mass being All of this however, seems to be somewhat aside what it is of ever it, is, innately incapable attaining from the general pui-port of this article, but 1 will the all of the current hullabaloo and that being case, be pardoned, I am sure, for having brought the about it narrows down to the age-old custom of one troubles of the Blue Law violators into the discus- the force of segment of public attempting, by legisla- sion again. I have done so with the idea of estab- to stuff its down tive proscription, own conceptions lishing a horrible example of the extent to which and the gullets of another segment of the public, masses of the people will go in their efforts to secure with the whichever segment finally emerges scalp, by for themselves what they fondly believe is guaran- the mere impact of its victory, establishes the current teed them under the Constitutic^n and the Bill of mode. Rights. Conceptions of Liberty change with the rise and No general discussion of Liberty then, I am sure, fall of the tides, they change with the crossing of can be conclusive without taking into consideration geographical boundaries, and for that matter they re- the suspicion that that state of being is incapable of ceive new interpretations with the comings and goings practical attainment, and that a great many of the of kings and presidents, governors, mayors, aldermen notions now parading in the guise of Liberty are and ward-heelers, and so violent are the opinions of mere frauds and delusions. some of these gentlemen, that it sometimes appears In America, at least, it can be said in conclusion, difficult to believe that there is any such thing as that our Democratic foitn of government has been Liberty, and that if there were, it would not long reasonably successful in procuring for us the greatest survive under the brutal buffeting it would receive amount of individual free-will compatible with an at the hands of its wooers, when once they recog- orderly and intelligent system of civilization, and nized it as such, and proceeded to hog-tie it before it certainly that is sufficient. 16 GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

from (Continued Page 13) America and its traditions for the Nobel prize is an insult to America." suggest "not actual literary merit, but an obedience We are inclined to reprimand the good doctor with form to whatever code of good may chance to be popu- a Wilsonian, "tut, tut," but on second thought feel lar at the moment." that perhaps he was only kidding the Philadelphia dilTerent Of the, Nobel prize, however, he holds a businessmen, or that something he had eaten had opinion. "It is an international prize," he says, "with disturbed the serenity of mind that has characterized no strings attached, and I feel the highest honor and his professorial activities at dear old Nassau. gratification." In any event, after reading Dr. van Dyke's diatribe, of Whatever may be said Mr. Lewis' reasoning on we cannot feel that his opinions on the subject are the relative merits of the two prizes, it would be a of sufficient importance to indicate a very general carping critic who would deprive him of a distinction critical impression. Dr. van Dyke's tradition, if we that links him with the literary nobility of Frederick may be permitted to say so, is not the tradition of Mistral, Gerhard Hauptmann, Romain Rolland, Knut modern American literary thought. It is the tradition of Hamsun, Anatole France, William Butler Yeats, that literary era that had its flowering in what is known George Bernard Shaw, Henri Bergson, Sigrid Undset, as the mauve decade, a period of the gay nineties and Thomas Mann, the recipients of the prize in other when William Dean Hovvells typified all that was years. desirable in literary production. It was an era of Be that as it may, the impact of the Lewis achieve- gentility and long skirts, bicycle riding and sweeping ment has not been without its reaction in America. moustaches that sometimes got caught in the wheels. Hardly had he packed his luggage to depart for It was the era when bathtubs began to become popu- Stockholm before the venerable Dr. Henry van Dyke, lar at least once a week for the sake of utilitv. and of Princeton L^niversity, emerged from his classic not for the sake of impressing the neighbors, or visit- slumbers to cast the first stone. Addressing a group ing British celebrities. of Philadelphia businessmen at a luncheon the usually It furthermore was an era of a different literary

said : tradition the amiable professor than era just preceding it, and doubt- "It (the award) shows the Swedish Academy knows less Dr. van Dyke, had the occasion arisen, would nothing of the English language. They handed Lewis have shuddered in horror if Mark Twain, or Bret a bouc|uet, but they gave America a very back-handed Harte, or any of the others of the so-called robust compliment. school of American writers, had been honored as has " 'Main Street' and 'Elmer Gantry' cannot be con- Mr. Sinclair Lewis. sidered to honestly represent the best in American So much for traditions. They are valuable only so writing. In 'Main Street' there isn't a girl in the long as they serve a useful purpose. When the)' begin story with whom you would fall in love. to hinder public expression, or thwart the popular "It used to be that Americans were taught to honor will, socially, morally, politically, or in the delinea- traditions. Nowadays the modern idea is to scoff tion of a phase of human life, they quite properly go at these traditions. Choice of the author of 'Main into the discard.

Street' and the rest of these novels that scoft' at The necessity for an American author to include

The Scott Oil Co. Twins '^^Et'ooL'^^ take great pleasure in introducing to the motorist public, a new member of the family and her name is "Tydol Ethyl" Say, boys, she sure is peppy and when you have "her" in _vour car the old bus will get no more "knocks" for she is a real knock-out.

Our suggestion for a genuine "joyride" is just this : Take the Scott Oil Co. "dol's" into your car— Ty-dol gasoline and Vee-dol oil—Cushion the car with a new set of United States Royal Cord Tires, we always carry a full line—and then throw in a few extra accessories for an emergency—these also can be purchased from our complete stock. That's all—Try it—You'll like it.

SCOTT OIL COMPANY ^2^^^,l^^ Seven Stations in Manchester for Your Convenience GRANITE STATE MONTHLY 17

that I should confine activities to in his novel a girl with whom a man can fall in love, Monthly my report- session of the never- is as stupid as a formula for creative writing as would ing the forthcoming legislature, I, an sort of a and so the other be the stupidity of the writer who conformed to such theless, am obliging cuss, I was asked to for one of our a formula. There are so many girls a man can fall day when pinch-hit whose time in love with in real life, that it is sometimes a great book reviewers, was otherwise employed relief to find a horrible example bound in Morocco. weaving in the Amoskeag mills, I acquiesced. We agree with Dr. van Dyke that Mr. Lewis' "And what shall T write about, sir?" I asked the English is not invariably elegant, and that quite pos- literary editor. siblv the Swedish Academy "knows nothing of the "Oh. about a \ard and a half," he replied. Then his or he knit I'm not English language," but we disagree with him entirely wrinkling brow, perhaps it, when he assumes to state that the Nobel Prize Com- sure which, he added: "I think a critical review on mittee, in recognizing the Lewis genius for detailing the Lobster's place in literary endeavor would help ver\- to fill the between phases of American life as they actually, and indis- nicely up space my comments on Sinclair Lewis and those of Mr. Pdunt on Admiral putably, exist, has insulted America. book." Dr. van Dyke, like a great many other elderly and Byrd's new estimable gentlemen, has failed to keep in step with "But," I rejoined, somewhat mystified, "I didn't American thought. His commentaries, therefore, on know the Lobster had any place in literature.' back contemporaiy literature are interesting only as they My editor sat and roared with laughter. he cried. "You may reflect the Patriarchal views of a distant literary "What?" didn't know the Lobster had in Literature? era, as opposed to an era which, since the World War any place Well, well, well, he has. And a ver\- at least, has been characterized by a Democracy of certainly important one, too, my dear Mr. Watt. In case to writing, and an intelligent rationalization of the you want know the truth, American Scene. I have it on the highest authority that no less a liter- ary personage than Booth Tarkington never begins LOBSTERS IN LITERATURE one of his novels until he has eaten a boiled lobster. They seem to lend color to his stories." Farad Ohm Watt By I blushed at my ignorance. After all, being merely when I took "IVTHILE IT WAS my understanding a political reporter, how was I to know anything about up mv duties with the editor of the Granite the gastronomic activities of Mr. Tarkington, much

ERVICE AFETY AVING

This Company, writing automobile insurance on a mutual plan has re-

turned $285,406.84 to its policy holders m dividends

A Dollar Saved is a Dollar Earned

NEW HAMPSHIRE MUTUAL LIABILITY COMPANY

2 So. Main Street Concord, New Hampshire 18 GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

NEUI HAMPSHIRE FIRE INSURANCE CO. MANCHESTER.N.H.

Sixtieth Progressive Annual Statement

Gash Capital &3,000,000 Liabilities Except Capital S6,919,223.80 Sarplas to Policyholders & 11,504,302.74

FRANK W. SARGEANT, President Nathan P. Hunt, Treasurer Frank E, Martin, Vice-President Oilman McAllaster, Secretary William B. Burpee, Vice-President GEORr.E W. Swallow, Secretary George A. French, Vice-President Victor E. Stevens. Secretary Charles E. Chase, Vice-President James D. Smart, Secretary Henry F. Berry, Assistant Secretary

FINANCE COMMITTEE Nathan P. Hunt, Chairman Frank P. Carpenter Arthur M. Heard Frank W. Sargeant Norwin S. Bean GRANITE STATE MONTHLY 19 less, in fact, as to wliere he tjot the color he puts into of heavy bombing planes and an officer on the his books. For all 1 had known he mijjht have got stalT of Enver Pasha. He has been decorated the color from eating rock cod, or cunners, which 1 with high German and Turkish orders, and is the understand you can catch very readily off the rock- possessor of the German life-saving medal. bound coast of Biddeford Pool. "The Colonel charged a fish merchant with However, as I have stated before, I am an obliging cruelty to a lobster by displaying it in his shop sort of a cuss, and so I ran out to one of the nearest w'indow with its claws bound by a string. The lending libraries and inquired for something in the fish merchant was arrested and brought before a literary line that would give me the correct dope on civil court. Three experts, including one profes- the lobster's place in literature. Nothing very ex- sor of biology and a director of the IV-rlin Aqua- pensive, mind you, just a little information, maybe rium testified in the ca.se. el something about one of those babv lobsters would "Said Col. Haroun Raschid Be} : I am the do. possessor of the highest German medal for life Well, the book lender was veiy obliging, and took saving. But it is of equal concern to me whether out a copy of the December number of "Our Dumb I come to the rescue of a human being or an Animals," an attractive pamphlet published by the animal that is suffering.' Massachusetts .S. P. C. A. "The professor of biology testified that it was "If you'll turn to the editorial page," he said, 'T difficult to state whether a lobster had anv feel- think you'll find something about lobsters, and inas- much as this is the only piece of literature on lobsters I've ever seen, I guess you'll get enough information out of it to write intelligently for the Granite You've Planned to— Monthly." Believe it or not, as Mr. Ripley says, here's what

I found : SOMETIME

"BERLIN, Oct. 26.— (By Universal Service) - Yes, indeed, you've often told yourself that you Has a lobster any feelings? needed more "life and accident" insurance. You've "This was the question debated here today in one of the ever witnessed strangest proceedings planned to go in for that sort of thing, sometime. in a Berlin court, and which is attracting interest But "sometime" never comes. Has it ever oc- not only in Germany, but throughout Europe. curred that the "For it involved a complaint against a fish to you while you are dallying with merchant for to a lobster one cruelty brought by insurance idea you are gambling with Fate itself. of Germany's most colorful officers. Col. Haroun Many a man has put off the Insurance problem un- el Raschid Bey, whose romantic career in Turkey surpasses fiction. Col. Haroun el Raschid Bey is til it was too late. a German who became a Turk when adopted bv Life insurance is a Turkish family. He was a war fl\er in charge today's opportunity.

Your UNITED Policy provides—

$5,000 ANY NATURAL DEATH

$10,000 ANY ACCIDENTAL DEATH

$15,000 CERTAIN ACCIDENTAL DEATHS

$50.00 PER WEEK NON-CANCELLABLE ACCIDENT BENEFITS WAIVER OR PREMIUM

"Write for Booklet"

United Life and Accident Insurance Company

CONCORD N. H. 20 GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

BIRD ROOFS

BIRD Double Twin Shingles Give Complete Roofing Protection

CFor many years Bird Asphalt Shingles have been protecting property from the pouring rains of spring and summer and the driving snows of winter. However, protection from the elements is only a part of the service they offer. CFire resistance is an increasingly important factor to consider. Bird Asphalt Shingles are listed as Fire Resisting by the Underwriters' Laboratories. They will not catch fire from falling sparks or burning embers. CBe sure you get this protection wnen you buy a roof. Look on the bundle for the Label of the Fire Underwriters' Laboratories. CBird Asphalt Shingles are suitable for either new work or re-roofing. They can be applied right over the old wooden shingles. When used in this way, you secure the additional insulating value of a double roof, thus making the building on which they are applied easier to heat.

liBt US show you samples of these sturdy, eiUeetivo shingles J.J.MdR^u ON VuoLESALE AND Retail Hardware and roofing

1 1 17^ 1 127 Elm 5t., COR.Washington MANCHESTER. NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANITE STATE MONTHLY 21

since the lobster couUl ings, or suffered, only tell. "The court decided that the lobster did have

feelings, and fined the fish merchant $10." Now, I think that is a very interesting story about Burn Your lobsters. But at the risk of being in contempt of court, 1 am going to say that I have on innumerable occasions, chiefi}- at Ham's restaurant at Portsmouth, made an exhaustive study, nay, autopsy, of the lob- ster, and I have yet to discover a nervous system in anv darn one of them. Spare .\ntl what's more, I'm going to keep right on eating them. l!oiied, broiled, baked or fried, I'll eat lob- sters. And I'll testify before any court that the only I know is a la cruelty to lobsters of, cooking them Time Newburg, Volstead style, thus depriving them of the privilege of going to oblivion in a state of hilarit}- that robs death even of its sting. Into If this be an adequate critical review on the lob- ster's place in literature, I will gladly give up report- ing the legislature for the pleasures of intellectual pursuit. Income

ADMIRAL B Y R D'S SAG A GRANITE MONTHLY has an of "Little America," Admiral rpHE PUBLICATION which Richard Evelyn Byrd's account of the two years interesting proposition by he spent in the Antarctic wastes, and during which energetic men and women can turn flew South he across the Pole, has a particular signifi- their spare time into earning money. cance to New readers. The book was Hampshire It does not matter where you are, so written this last summer during Admiral Bvrd's stay long as you live in New Hampshire. at Dublin, N. H.. where he occupied "Fairwoods Farm." If you are interested, just drop a Another New Hampshire interest is to be found in line to the Circulation Department, the author's account of the service rendered by Arthur and full will be sent T. Walden, of Wonalancet, who was the trainer of particulars the sled-dogs that accompanied the expedition to the immediately. plateau beyond the Ross Barrier, the site of the B\rd Here is an excellent to camp. Mr. Walden's experience in the Antarctic was opportunity not without sadness, for it was there that his cham- increaseurease your income throughtl digni- eskimo enfeebled and pion dog, "Chinook," by age, fied and pleasant work. unable to do the work of his more vigorous team- mates, slipped away one day and never returned. Just write- Tile Byrd book is a saga of the heroism and stoic resistance to the elements that characterized life in the "coldest region of the world." While written with the bluntness and detailed accuracy, so characteristic The Granite of the scientific mind, it nevertheless, contains ele- ments of beauty and romance. Here is an excellent volume for Christmas giving, one that will provide its with an recipient many hour of thrilling reading, Monthly built an as well as a background upon which may be Post Office Box 23 understanding of that vast continent that for centuries has resisted the invasion of man. Manchester, N. H —Christopher Blunt. 22 GRANITE STATE MONTHLY

Visitors to Manchester are cordially invited

to visit the new STATIE TlhlEATIRIE The Handsomest Theatre in INew Hampshire

WHERE THE LATEST AND FINEST TALKING PICTURES ARE SHOWN

You will be with the entertained delighted— theatre, by the pictures and well, we do our utmost to provide rest

and comfort for our guests.

HONOR ROLLS AND BRONZE MEMORIAL TABLETS

MODELED CAST

and

FINISHED

by

ALBERT RUSSELL AND SONS COMPANY

121 MERRIMACK STREET NEWBURYPORT, MASS. GRANITK STA'll': MONTHLY 23

Hiiillililll JBiaBiiBi

GENERAL OFFICE BUILDING AT MANCHESTER, N. H. r

The Public Service Company of New Hampshire ... an institution wholly within the state ... is the Public It serves largest New Hampshire Utility. many cities and towns with Electric Light and Power, three cities with Gas, one city with a Street Railway System, and an Interurban Line to a neigh-

St. demand boring city. A The increasing popular for the above outlined services is active proof that the Public Service Company . . . whose watchword

. . to offer that makes ii S RVICE . has something Life Easier and Happier.

Public Service Company of New Hampshire 24 GRANITE STATE MONTHLY DIVIDENDS

are payable semi-annually on January First

and July First

Current Dividend Rate PER 5 CENT DEPOSITS

made on or before the close of the third business day of any calendar month draw interest from the first day of that month BANK BY MAIL

This Bank is as near to you as your nearest Post Office Box

Manchester Savings Bank

Elm Street at Market

Manchester, New Hampshire

> JAh. 193. V*«i N