Placating Mr. Hearst

Millicent Willson married William Randolph Hearst on April 28, 1903. On March 4th— six days later — Mr. Hearst officially became a Congressman. He held office from the Eleventh District of New York in the 58th and 59th Congresses. In 1907, Mr. Hearst’s office-holding career came to an end. Since then Millicent Willson Hearst has been known as the wife of a financially successful journalist, and as the original of many photographs in Hearst papers representing a handsome woman attending civic functions and giving baskets of food to the poor. Now there is a possibility that she may realize part of her husband’s frustrated political ambitions.

The reasons are two: 1) Mrs. Hearst is popular — much more so than her husband — with certain Tammany politicians; 2) Mr. Hearst and his press are likely, out of fealty to Mrs. Hearst, to treat kindly any Democratic ticket which includes the publisher’s wife. The death of Congressman W. Bourke left a vacancy in the 16th Congressional District, Manhattan. Tammany is casting around for a candidate, and whomever Tammany picks is almost sure to be elected. The district went Democratic even in the Republican landslide of 1920.

But why choose Mrs. Hearst? Because she is the easiest way of win ning the Hearst press without swallowing William Randolph Hearst himself. He has often stepped on the toes of Tammany chieftains. He stands against the League of Nations and ” Wilsonism.” Mrs. Hearst, on the other hand, has stepped on nobody’s toes. She has made herself popular by her public benefactions.. Only a few weeks ago she took a prominent part in Mayor Hylan’s Silver Jubilee of Greater New York. She has always stood openly behind ex-President Wilson. And she commands the respect of the Hearst press.

It is quite likely that Mrs. Hearst may decline the nomination, if proffered. Nevertheless, the fact that Tammany considers her is a gracious tribute to the Hearst press, and suggests a new method of disposing of inimical publishers, a method superior to the time-honored practice of bribery.

A New Magazine

“A bright-faced, cheery, helpful youngster,” so said E. Haldeman-Julius, Henry Ford of publishers, about Vol. I, No. 1, of his newest magazine venture (15 cents a copy, $1.50 a year). Over each of its pages it bears the heading: “KNOW THYSELF, GIRARD, KANSAS.”

Know Thyself appears in about the same size as Life, with a cover of about the same material as The Tale Review. It deals with evolution, psychoanalysis, sex, philosophy. The first issue is signalized by three leading contributors: William J. Fielding, E. Haldeman-Julius himself and Napoleon Bonaparte.

William J. Fielding is editor. He is also author of several books, among them The Caveman within Us, Health and Self Mastery. To the first issue of Know Thyself he contributed a poem, Love, which begins:

“A subtle dart

From Cupid’s bow,

And, lo, the heart

Receives a blow!”

He also wrote seven leading articles, including The Secret of Autosuggestion, Glands — the Super-Regulators of Personality, The Morality of Birth Control, Why We Love, Raising the Dead by Modern Science. This latter article deals largely with the bringing to life of a still-born child (one of twins) by an injection of adrenalin (TIME, March 3). The article is profusely illustrated with pictures of Daniel and Dorothy (the twins), Anita Grogan (their nurse), Mrs. Bertha Isaacson (their mother), Dr. Philip Mininberg (who brought Daniel to life) and of Editor Fielding himself.

Mr. Haldeman-Julius contributed an article on Culture and the Workers in which he declared that taste does not follow class distinctions. He based his argument on the popularity of his ” Pocket Series ” of books, chiefly reprints of literary classics. Mr. Haldeman-Julius has sold over 30,000,000 of these in three years.* The best seller of the group is Plato’s Trial and Death of Socrates. Said Mr. Haldeman-Julius of the working man and these volumes: “He can read the biography of a great man while riding to work; can learn the gist of Chinese philosophy during the lunch hour; can obtain a clear view of the sweep of evolution on his way home from work; . . . Sundays in the park he can carry some of the little blue books and, when he grows tired of feeding peanuts to the monkey, he can read about the upward march of the race from monkey to man. . . . Are mechanics who dream at their workbenches of the glories of the past likely to cherish destructive impulses?”

Napoleon Bonaparte was the author of a number of maxims and sayings appearing in the latter part of the magazine (excerpts from Maxims by Napoleon, No. 155 of the Pocket Series).

The psychoanalytic, auto-suggestive note was carried through the entire number, even to the joke department, in which appeared:

” ‘ Fred’s been glum since he was arrested for auto-suggestion.’

” ‘ Auto-suggestion ? ‘

” ‘ Yes, he asked a girl to go riding.’ — Wisconsin Octopus.”

Included among the advertisements were ” PE-RU-NA,” “The Utah-California Exploration Co.” and ” Vinex, Formerly Known As Rattle Snake Oil” (cure for deafness).

On the cover of the first issue Mr. Haldeman-Julius said : ” We are proud of this beginning, but we are not going to settle back with a satisfied air.”

* The price of the Pocket Series did not, as had been announced in advertisements, rise from 5¢ to 10¢ a volume on June 30. The importation of paper from Europe and new presses enabled Mr. Haldeman-Julius to continue the sale of his books at 5¢ each.