A LITERARY DIAGNOSIS

The widely heraided problem of American decadence has been approached from many angles. Strait-laced attacks from reformers, slouching policies advocated by followers of the laissez-faire theory, and vitriolic indictments in the Mencken manner have all played a part in diagnosng the national malady. In the current "Independent", Mrs. Miller, chairman of the literary division of the Federation of Women's Clubs, makes a more original contribution to the discussion.

Adopting the method usually reserved for academic theses in the Department of English, she attempts to find in modern literature an accurate diagnosis of present ills. Such a study first reveals son, Eugena O'Neil, and H. L. Mencken When recovered from these flery charges of hypocrisy, the investigator plunges into a drab slough of respectability in which six-cylindered sedans protect bourgeosie from the necessity of thought. In this literary domain, preempted by Sinclair Lewis, murky morals and stupid minds promenade in clean linen.

To offset this gloomy inquest, one may delve into the writings of the modern apostle of moderation, Stuart P. Sherman. His happy philosophy sees in the new order of life a perfectly natural reaction against the complacency of the old regime which led to that inverted climax; the greatest war in history. In his essays, such as "My Dear Cornelia" there is a sanity and a sense of proportion lacking in the more radical novelists. Mr. Sherman shows considerable ability in distinguishing highways from byways.

The real cure for America's illness would appear to be automatically forthcoming. Although the old morality is rather a bore, the accessible sins are no less monotonous. In the absence of a rip-roaring wrong which can be whole-beartedly cultivated, the youthful rebels must seek some respectable course of conduct.

Unless a really entrancing sin can be soon devised, the younger generation will be forced to look for their satisfactions in productive labor. Along the cheerless stretches of existence, many adventurous successes may be achieved. As Edna Ferber's popular novel, "So Big" showed, the Saxon capacity for work is a saving grace not to be ignored. By the use of a modicum of imagination, the seeming oblivion of toil may be turned into a romance.