The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: 1920-1933. The Cabinet and the Presidency (review)

54Bulletin of Friends Historical Association it was difficult for Howitt to accept Friends' anachronisms of dress and language, and their opposition to the arts. He began attending Unitarian chapels, and in 1847 formally withdrew from Friends. During the 60's, he was an ardent spokesman for "Christian Spiritualism." Yet at the time of his death, he was at work on a life of George Fox. Howitt believed that Fox, "rather than the Society of Friends, because of bis tolerance, flexibility, and anti-materialism, bathed in the purer stream. Until his death . . . [Howitt"] found no higher praise for any man or movement than comparison with the principles of Fox" (p. 2Ì6) . During her husband's life, Mary's spiritual Odyssey was closely parallel to his. Nearly four years after his death, however, she embraced Roman Catholicism. Professor Woodring does not develop much literary criticism, emphasizing instead the Howitts' contacts with Quakers like Lucy Harrison and Lucretia Mott, and with non-Quakers like Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Dickens. He skims, therefore, from one letter, dinner, or trip to another, giving numerous details, but littìe emphasis or depth. Fortunately there is wit in the book. Allegheny CollegeHenry F. Pommer The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: 1920-1933. The Cabinet and the Presidency. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1952. 405 pages. $5.00. IT IS our custom these days to be drafted for public office. That is what happened to Herbert Hoover when in 1919 he and his family returned from Europe after a halt in the American relief operations. He was still in his prime, had been out of the country a great deal, and had had a taste of public service. His ambition was to take a rest and then to re-establish himself in his profession as a mining engineer. Mrs. Hoover at once planned to indulge in her long-held hope to build a house. This it seemed to them was the right of any American family, and they had long wanted to indulge themselves in a comfortable house on the grounds of Stanford University. The house took two years in planning and building. It was not completed before they migrated to the East, where they lived most of the time in Washington for another thirteen-year period. Even though over-all relief was now curtailed, child feeding still continued to merit major concern. In 1920 he launched a great campaign to raise private funds for that purpose. Nearly $30,000,000 was realized, $10,000,000 of which was used by the American Red Cross, $2,200,000 by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and $750,000 by the American Friends Service Committee in its child feeding in Germany and Austria. Herbert Hoover from that day to this has been a staunch supporter of the voluntary efforts of citizens, as carrying a spiritual quality which can rarely be achieved by the use of tax funds. Book Reviews55 Hoover soon found that it would be quite impossible for him to return to private life. For twelve years Herbert Hoover, as Cabinet member and as President, prepared plans which were a most useful background for the first Roosevelt administration. He had a study made as to the ways in which government waste might be reduced. He succeeded in expanding the use of electric power from 5,700,000 to 15,000,000 homes during his time as Secretary of Commerce. He succeeded in standardizing building materials so as to reduce the cost of buildings. Through his encouragement American industry expanded its ingenuity in the production of rubber with its own resources rather than depending upon the British trade, which he found was charging $1.21 a pound where American producers eventually were able to produce for 21c a pound. He points with a good deal of satisfaction to the record which shows that whereas in 1929 the country was producing 509,000 housing units per year, in 1939 it was producing only 406,000. In all of this one sees the engineer at work with as complete abandon as he ever gave to his own private effort. But the humanitarian interest of Herbert Hoover showed itself also. He was instrumental...