LAND OF THE FREE

The author of The People's Choice, Pulitzer Prize Winner, gives his readers a book that might form the basis for a new political and social creed. He offers a solution, a path that is neither Capitalism nor Communism, Socialism nor Fascism -- but a purely American product, utilizing the basic principles on which this country was founded, returning to the ideals of the people that were neither very rich nor very poor, to the independent small manufacturer, trader, farmer, to a greater individual self-sufficiency, with socialization of the utilities that should belong to all, withdrawal from finance-capitalism, big business, credit inflation, stock market booms, depression collapses, and robber barons. He urges that we follow the way of Culture not of Civilization, and keep away from the urban road. Written with a lightness of touch and an underlying soundness of psychology and vision. There are brilliant passages, and passages requiring close concentration. Controversial, yes; radical, in spots; certainly an overthrow of the accepted order, but, above all, a constructive plan, and one that should stimulate thoughtful discussion. Tie up with the Bingham book, Insurgent America, reviewed above (Harper).