THE BATTALION
8
THE LIBRARY PAGE
R. H. SHUFFLER Editor
H. C. GIVENS Asso. Editor
J. R. KEITH Asso. Editor
G. M. WREN Asso. Editor
J. W. RILEY Asso. Editor
Those wishing to contribute to this
page turn work in to any member of
staff, or mail to Editor at 94 Stu
dents’ Exchange.
The Editor is glad to announce that
William J. Fields Jr., has at last con
descended to gratify the long ex
pressed desire of the Editor by allow
ing said Editor to embellish the Li
brary Page with one of his spicy, ori
ginal, and expressive estimates of
some current book The book in this
case is Judge Ben Lindsey’s “The
Revolt of Modern Youth.” Mr. Fields
has also written a number of delight
ful little lyrics which we hope to pub
lish at a later date.
Lindsey’s “The Revolt of Modern
Youth”.
Reviewed by
William J. Fields, Jr.,
As a case book of social pathology,
written by a small city journalist
from material collected by the
judge of a juvenile court. “The Revolt
of Modern Youth” makes an interest
ing study. However, as a treatise
on the basic social problems of the
day and their possible solutions, the
work is, to say the least, mediocre.
Entirely too much space is devoted
to the task of impressing the reader
with the unique capabilities of Judge
Lindsey, and entirely too few facts
of interest are produced concerning
the alleged revolt of youth.
Since the work is primarily a dis
sertation on the man, Lindsey, and
his work, it might be pertinent to
give some of the facts concerning
this interesting character. He is,
and has been for some twenty years,
the judge of the juvenile family-
court of Denver, Colorado. During his
tenure of office he has undoubtedly
Viewed many strange and interesting
cases, and has gained an unusual
slant on the social organization of
his city. He is now well past the
prime of life, small of stature, weak
of sight, just a trifle dark, and not
in the least striking in appearahce.
However, judging from this work
of his, he fails to see himself in such
a light.
A twentieth century Prometheus,
bound by the chains of existing ig
norance and superstition to the ugly
rocks of “things as they are”, still
defying the Gods of convention for
t-he sake of poor ignorant suffering
humanity—thus it seems that he
would have us picture him. To me
he seems merely a little old man of
mediocre mind who proudly announ
ces in blatant tones the astounding
facts of the sordid hoplessness, mi
sery, and futility of life for the un
guided masses—facts discovered and
announced with equal pride by many
a college sophomore. •
As for the contents of his book,
a series of case stories taken from
personal interviews, there is a deci
ded emphasis on sex. It seems that
his duties are a strange admixture
of those of father confessor and mid
wife. He has collected much inter
esting, if significant, data on the
growth of promiscuity, especially
among the youth of the city, and on
the increasing interest in sex mat
ters in general. When he comes to
the solution of these problems, how
ever, the Judge is more hesitant.
Concerning the problem of sex de
linquency due to ignorance and forced
innocence, Judge Lindsey recommends
a policy of cooperation between the
younger generation and their parents.
This cooperation requires under
standing of a type that has never yet
been successfully accomplished, and
he offers no plan for coming to this
perfect state. Later, in a discussion
of the rapid decay of the marriage
system, he says: “Along with this
changed attitude towards Love with
out Marriage (the capitals are Lind
sey’s) I seen a steadily increasing
resort to the arrangement of so-call
ed Trial Marriage, by which is meant
an informal agreement on the part
of a man and woman to live together
till they change their minds—usually
with the intention of not changing
them.”
Now this Trial Marriage of which
the Judge speaks with such favor, is
to be merely a loosely binding con
tract whereby the two parties, male
and female, will live together so long
as they find cohabitation agreeable.
However, with the birth of chindren,
the question becomes more complex.
So long as the children are in need of
care, the marriage is binding, but
when the offspring have reached ma
turity the marriage reverts to its ori
ginal state of armed neutraliy. This
solution he offers in good faih, for,
in spite of his naive attempts at
social iconoclasm, Judge Lindsey still
clings, according to his own assertion,
to the popular ideals of “virture,
charity, and so on,” and has “abiding
faith in the ultimate and inherent
g odness of mankind.”
The inherent goodness of man
kind—mankind with a sex complex.
Bah! Plow can marriage troubles,
the troubles of an institution based
on sex, be revamped like a Ford hung
together with bailing wire, by such
means as this trial marriage make
shift. The true remedy is a Doctor
with a probe and a yardstick. . . and
a sense of humor!
For some reason or other, even
the people of Denver have failed to
give the man the worship he con
siders his due. Some of the minis
ters of that fair city have at times
even dared to intimate that the Judge
was exaggerating the amount of de
linquency. Each time this happened,
according to Lindsey’s modest ad
mission, the Judge has been busily
engaged in the sexdvce of the ac
cusing minister’s wayward daughters.
Not only once has this happened, but
three time; coincilental to say the
least. Thus the champion of the
weak returns good for evil—and tells
his public all about it!
This criticism, so far, has sounded
clearly like argumentum ad homium,
and that it may be. My point is
that Lindsey may be a safe and sym
pathetic father confessor for way
ward girls, and a perfectly satisfac
tory Judge of the Juvenile and Fami
ly Court of Denver (which position
he no longer holds) but, as a writer
on the social problems of the day,
he is merely an aged, bespectacled
edition of Vina Delmar.
ATTENTION.
Knowing that many students in
the college have shown a decided in-
tei’est in the subject, we have cilp-
ped the following bit of news from
a California exchange. This is the
first collegiate contest of the kind
that has ever come to our attention,
and it is probable that it will become
quite popular in the future.
Women to Score Milk
At Davis Short Course
A milk scoring contest for women
will be held on Saturday, February
9, at the University of California
Farm here, in connection with the
Dairy Industry Short Courses which
are to be given February 4 to 14. In
making this announcement, Dr. C.
L. Roadhouse, head of the Dairy
Industry Division, said this prob
ably is the first contest of its kind
exclusively for women. He ex
pects a large number of entries since
many wives and friends of those en
rolled in the short courses will be in
Davis for the annual banquet, which
is to be held that evening. Anyone
interested in milk consumption, he
says, is eligible to compete.
In addition to the contests for
women, the California Dairy Indus
tries Association will hold the usual
contests in milk, butter, cheese, in
connection with its annual meeting,
Friday, February 9.
The short courses to be given are
five in number, and include market
milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, and
dairy bacteriology.
—Exchange.
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required to perfect this great work. The
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ination sheets, is bound in one volume.
The first lesson is unsealed which the
student may examine and be his oWn
"JUDGE and JURY.” The later part of
the “Hallmark Self-Instructor,” is sealed.
the . student returning any copy
“Hallmark Self-Instructor” with
the seal un-broken, we will refund in full
all money paid.
This amazing .Self-Instructor will be sent
anywhere. You do not need to send any
money. When you receive this new meth
od of teaching music, Deposit with the
Postman the sum of ten dollars. If you
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New York, N. Y.
WHAT ARE THE BEST NOVELS
IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE?
Prof. Wm. H. F. Lament, head of
English Department of Rutgers Uni
versity recently drew up a list of 50
great modern novels; half of these
novels were by British writers and
half by American writers. He sub
mitted this list to teacher classes in
the Rutgers Extension Division who
voted on the best.
“An Old Wives Tale” by Arnold
Bonnet; “Nigger of the Narcissus,”
“Lord Jim,” and “Nostrome,” by Jo
seph Conrad; “Far From the Mad
ding Crowd,” “Return of the Na
tive,” “Tess of the D’Urbenvilles,”
by Thomas Hardy, were some voted
the best of the English group. The
best of the American group were
the “Brimming Cup” by Dorothy
Canfield; “Red Badge of Courage,”
by Stephen Crane; “Jennie Ger-
hardt,” by Theodore Dreiser; “Bar
ren Ground,” by Ellen Glasgow;
“Rise of Silas Lapham,” by Wm.
Dean Howells; “Giants in the
Earth,” by O. E. Rolvaag; and
“Ethan Frome,” by Edith Wharton.
All these books with the exception
of two can be secured in the Univer
sity library. One of the books, “Jur
gen,” by James Branch Cabell, was
debarred from the mails. It, curious
ly enough, was voted as among the
least interesting.-^Ex.
FRESHMEN FEWER NOW.
It is really amazing how things
are always going to the dogs and
never get there. A little while ago
it looked as if our schools were
going to be crammed and crammed
with matriculants until they burst
wide open. A body wondered where
all the freshmen were coming from
and where all the white-collar men
were ^’oing to. But they tell us
that things promise already to get
better.
The Boston Transcript has kept
records on about ninety American
colleges and universities which it
considers representative, taking ap-
(Continued on Page 5)
PALACE
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LAST
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