Looking Forward
by
[John Day, $2.50]
‘HAMILTON,’ remarks Mr. Roosevelt, ‘was too impatient of slow-moving methods,’which is an interesting commentary by a man whom the world regards as the first authority for speed in driving a governmental machine; but if you read the book to discover what manner of statesman this author is, you will carry away the impression of one not unphilosophic in mind and temper, patient, unhurried, and temperate. In large part rewritten from his campaign speeches, this straightforward little volume gives us the clear pattern of a simple and an honest mind. One reads it for the light it casts upon the writer, but the real usefulness of the book is as a helpful and compendious guide to the things which constitute good citizenship. The most fruitful chapters are those based upon Mr. Roosevelt’s long experience in the government of the State of New York. Here the problems have lain longest in his mind, he thinks of them in concrete terms. His discussions of the utilization of land, of the reorganization of government, and his vivid appraisal of the complexities of taxation, will start any man to thinking along useful lines. Principles he sets forth with admirable clarity, but as principles gradually expand into a programme, the outline becomes less sharp and hope replaces purpose. But we must remember that this book bears date of March 1. The outlines of national and international policy, as he sees them, are sharper now. Not two months old in the Presidency, he has had a training unsurpassed in history. Already he speaks with sharp incisiveness, and there is more eloquence in his acts than in his words. To him and to us, it will be interesting four years hence to overlay the pattern with the performance. It will, we are confident, be of one piece. The design is there, and there it will remain.
E. S.