Unsanctioned Voice; Individualism and the Garrett novels; Harangue; Lincoln Steffens; Emma Goldman; Wobblies - IWW; American Omen; Rockefeller Center

Click these links for discussions of the Writer's Note , Chapters 1 and 2, Chapter 3, Chapters 4-6, Chapters 7-10 , Chapters 11 and 12 , Chapter 13 , Chapter 14 and Chapters 15 and 16 of Bruce Ramsey's Unsanctioned Voice.




Chapter 17 focuses on individual self-reliance and its relation to capitalism and Christianity. Ramsey expands on this focus with discussions of three of Garrett's novels - The Driver, Cinder Buggy and Satan's Bushel. Click here for the first part of my 2008 recap/review of The Driver, here for the beginning of my 2004/2005 recap/review of Satan's Bushel and here for part 1 of my recap/review of Cinder Buggy.

Ramsey discusses the Ayn Rand connection with The Driver, including alternative origins for the name "Galt." (p. 121, n. 4). My own belief is that there is enough Garrett material that influenced the Rand novels that the name "Galt" doesn't matter. Even if Rand got the idea for the name "Galt" from The Driver, there is nothing wrong with that. There was no plagiarism. Rand wrote very different books than Garrett, partially by building on some of Garrett's ideas and integrating those ideas into a philosophically-based plot.

Garrett, failing to foresee the plot of Atlas Shrugged, had written in 1913 that "Capital cannot strike." (p. 121, n. 4).

Ramsey writes that "The Driver is not a good novel." (p. 117). I am sure that it does not measure up to the classic fiction works of the past and would not hold the attention of a modern audience. But the story does have merit. The plot of an investor fighting to gain and remain in control of a struggling company despite attacks from all sides is compelling. Gail Wynand's struggle in The Fountainhead is more compelling because Rand was better at integrating philosophical issues into the plot. Modern fiction regarding large companies is spiced with sexual content and/or violence to appease modern audiences. But The Driver serves as an example where the plot turns on a company's value without relying on modern plot devices extraneous to capitalist considerations. Rand's plot elements were definitely based on capitalist issues, but also involved far deeper and more basic philosophical issues.

Ramsey quotes one noncommittal statement about The Driver from Bernard Baruch (p. 117), but Baruch also made a very positive statement here, in which he referred to The Driver as "one of the great novels of the day." Also click here for Time Magazine's review from March 17, 1923.

Ramsey barely mentions Cinder Buggy, except to say that it is similar to The Driver. (p. 117). I think Cinder Buggy showed growth, as the personal stories were more closely integrated into the capitalist message than in The Driver. Garrett did a better job of demonstrating the importance of the underlying industrial activity (iron and steel) and such activity's role in the history of mankind.

Ramsey also quotes Cinder Buggy on the issue of luck as it relates to individualism (p. 119) - a quote that I did not mention in my review. The quote appeared at a point where luck played a role in the advancement of the plot and the characters' fortunes (pp. 201-202 of Cinder Buggy). I had criticized the use of luck as a plot device without realizing that Garrett might have used the concept of luck to help explain individualism.

Ramsey quotes Weaver's speech from Satan's Bushel and compares Dreadwind to Mered from Blue Wound (pp. 117-119).

Ramsey provides clues to the roots of Garrett's economic beliefs (pp. 119-121), citing Herbert Spencer, Simon Newcomb and Francis Amasa Walker.

Garrett understood inflation as confiscatory theft based on his own reporting from post-WWI Germany. (p. 120). This writing shows how far down modern "conservatives" have sunk when they criticize this or that president for "failing to control" or "failing to stop" inflation.

Most importantly, Garrett understood that capitalism was not merely a "system" imposed upon a nation or a people, but was a natural part of life. Capitalism "grew out of life . . . gradually, and is therefore one of the great natural designs." (pp. 119-120). Reading even Ramsey's brief quotation from Garrett's writing is refreshing in light of modern conservatives who fumble in attempting to justify capitalism as merely the best among many "systems."

Chapter 18 begins with the statement that "[a]ll of Garrett's fiction is about work, industry and making a living." [p. 123]. [I made a similar comment in August 2007.]

Most of Chapter 18 is about Garrett's 1927 novel, Harangue and his fictional socialist takeover of North Dakota. Ramsey speculates that the title was conceived by the publisher, and that the subtitle (used as the title in the Saturday Evening Post serialization) was more descriptive. Ramsey identifies this subtitle as having come from the Book of Judges. [p. 123].

Ramsey identifies Harangue as Garrett's best novel. [p. 124]. Ramsey includes a more detailed description of the plot than he does for Garrett's other novels. [pp. 124-127]. Part of the plot overlaps real life events surrounding the Wobblies (IWW) [pp. 125-126].

Ramsey notes that Garrett's condemnation of socialism "lacks the bite" of his later attacks on the New Deal. [p. 127]. I have noted many times before that the New Deal would focus Garrett's writing. In the post-1932 world, Garrett wrote with the understanding that the battle against the New Deal was the only relevant issue.

Ramsey also discusses (and cites sources for) Garrett's association with Emma Goldman and Lincoln Steffens. [pp. 127-129]. Footnote 12 [p. 129] is one example that gives the reader some appreciation for Ramsey's task in ferreting out the various pieces of information that he would string together to create Unsanctioned Voice.

Chapter 19 focuses on American Omen and Garrett's travels around the United States. It begins with the sentence, "The 1920's was the last decade in which Garrett was optimistic about America." [p. 131]. I suspect that this statement applied to many people in addition to Garrett, although many people since the 1920's would display "optimism" about superficial matters far different than what Garrett marvelled at in the passages referenced in Chapter 19.

Ramsey focused on the portions of American Omen (1928) that described innovations in business training and management, the role of profit and the relation of technology to labor. [pp. 131-133].

The rest of Chapter 19 quotes Garrett's first-hand descriptions (in various articles) of American highways, Kansas City rail yards, Birmingham steel plants, California redwood forests and the softening effects of mild climates on the work ethic and ambition of the inhabitants. [pp. 133 - 137]. Much of this chapter has the feel of small portions of the old "Route 66" television series (without the drama). There was much about America that justified optimism at that time. Industry was growing and beginning to show its full potential. The changes in American life were visible and inspiring. Today, "urban explorers" seek out and examine the ruins and rubble that once created so much optimism before the government began its scorched earth policy of destruction known as the New Deal (and all that followed).

The chapter ends with curious quotes about the economic justification for skyscrapers in New York and the entire cities of Los Angeles and Wichita. Garrett speculates that these items were not economically motivated, but were created solely as a showcase for American economic power. The final quotation is from a 1929 Garrett article that applies this theory to Rockefeller center, which was under construction at that time. [p. 137].

Click here for a discussion of Chapter 20 and the shooting incident.

The Blue Wound - part III.

Click here for parts I and II of the Blue Wound "live blog."

In the past couple of days, I have read chapters 4 through 7. I believe that Chapters 3 and 4 should be required reading at the beginning of every history class in every school.

I wrote about Chapter 3 here, in which I discussed Garrett's description of the rise and fall of cities.















Chapter 4 is a more comprehensive description of the rise and fall of one city and one civilization. This chapter, entitled "All East of Eden," appears to describe most closely the life of ancient Rome. Not every civilization follows exactly the same formula, but human nature remains a constant. Every great civilization fits somewhere on to this continuum. History can be reduced to the discovery of where any particular civilization fits, at any given time, into the arc described in "All East of Eden." It would serve us well to learn this lesson, as the end of any civilization is usually long and painful. Garrett's fictional city, which had begun in idyllic circumstances, was ultimately reduced to using slaves, enforcing tribute, outright piracy and other programs necessary to pay for a lifestyle that a free economy would not support. "All East of Eden" ends when a barbarian horde "mercifully terminated the tragedy."

But these chapters are more than a mere history lesson. Garrett presents no dates, names or facts. He tells a simple story in brief allegory form. It is almost as if Garrett has reduced large portions of Will Durant's "The Story of Civilization" to a work of art. Ayn Rand wrote that art serves the purpose of objectifying man's values and placing them into a form that all can experience. If that description is accurate, then Garrett produced a work of art in these chapters, by reducing history to an objective, simple story that we can experience and a framework in which we can understand almost anything that has happened in man's past.

Chapter 5, "The Wages of Thrift," is also a true classic. This chapter should be required reading at the beginning of every economics class. But it is much more than economics. This chapter is about morality, philosophy and much more. And it presents the least dry treatment I have seen of these subjects outside of Ayn Rand. The point of this Chapter is the inevitable punishment that those who work, earn and produce must endure at the hands of those who would reap the benefits. Again, the lesson is presented in the form of a brief story, starring fictional valley dwellers, being observed silently by the narrator and the mysterious man that started "the war" referenced at the beginning of the book.

At this point, I believe Chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Blue Wound rival Absalom Weaver's speech from Satan's Bushel or the Foreward to People's Pottage as true classic gems from Garrett's writings.

As I proceed through these chapters, I come closer to an explanation of how these stories relate to that devastating war. Today's pundits, rather than endlessly debate the minutiae of today's war, would do better to step outside of today's debate and examine Garrett's simple allegories.
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update - click here for part IV.

Satan's Bushel finally appears

I have previously written here about Garrett's 1923 novel, Satan's Bushel. The aforesaid link includes links to my lengthy review of the book's contents. My previous post describes how I found a serialized copy of the novel in the basement archives of the state library. I had been reading and reviewing the book without ever having seen the actual copy:

I have tried, without success, to find a copy of Satan's Bushel for almost two years. I have never yet seen a copy of the book.

My review was based solely on the serialized magazine version of the book.

All of that changed within the past year when I found an original hardback edition of the book on E-bay.





with dust jacket





without dust jacket

















The inside of the dustjacket included a preview.






I don't remember what I paid for it, but it was only slightly more than $10.00. Whoever sold it to me didn't know what he had. Now if I only had the time to lobby publishers to publish a new edition . . . .

Harangue sighting on e-bay - $99.99

An original edition of Harangue is currently being auctioned at e-bay. I offer no opinions as to the asking price. I bought my copy for much less on e-bay two years ago.

But I can confirm that the description of an original edition Harangue as "very rare" and "very hard to find outside of a library" is accurate. My own struggle to find even a magazine reproduction of Satan's Bushel is described here. Garrett's novels each come available on e-bay about once a year or less.

BTW - this is not my sale. I simply find it noteworthy whenever there is a Garrett novel sighting anywhere. The last such e-bay sighting for Harangue occurred eleven months ago, which listing was withdrawn before any bids were made.

How I Found Satan's Bushel

Satan's Bushel review parts I, II and III.

As I wrote in a previous post, my interest in Satan's Bushel was raised when Bruce Ramsey referred to that book in his introduction to Salvos Against the New Deal:

Satan's Bushel (1924) was an allegory of agriculture and its
struggle with overproduction. ("Satan's Bushel" was the bushel that broke the price.)

I discovered that the story was about much more than that, but getting to that point required a journey.

I have tried, without success, to find a copy of Satan's Bushel for almost two years. I have never yet seen a copy of the book. Bruce Ramsey wrote to me that a copy of the text could be found in back copies of the Saturday Evening Post. Indeed, most of Garret's fiction books can be found serialized in the pages of the Post in the 1920's. Satan's Bushel is one exception to that rule. After I wrote back to Mr. Ramsey and informed him that the Post had come up dry on Satan's Bushel, he told me he would try to remember where he had seen it and get back to me. (Ramsey had previously discarded his photocopies of the Post when he gradually accumulated the actual books with considerable effort over a fair amount of time).

After having one of those "eureka!" moments, Ramsey wrote to me that the actual magazine that contained Satan's Bushel was called The Country Gentleman. While I was glad to have received renewed hope of finding the text, Ramsey's news was not the end of the story.

Upon arriving at the State Library, I was told that The Country Gentleman was not published in 1923 and had merged with the Saturday Evening Post by that time. This information was false, and I persisted in my request that the librarians find the Country Gentleman copies in their stack of microfilms in the basement. After the librarians informed me that they would notify me if anything turned up, I once again gave up hope and returned home.

Much to my surprise, I received a phone call several days later from the librarian. Not only had they found the issues of Country Gentleman in question, they had also found, as a result of this search, the library's entire series of Country Gentlemen microfilms that had been misfiled and lost for years.

I have written in a previous post that Satan's Bushel reflects much of our culture that has now been lost or forgotten. A piece of the dying American culture had been essentially buried in the rubble and had languished unnoticed and unappreciated. I thought of this obscurity several days later as I watched the librarian carry the microfilm to one of the ancient microfilm machines so that I might copy it.

Many of the ancient writings from the Roman civilization were destroyed by marauding barbarians who burned cities with little regard for what they destroyed. The barbarians did not even understand the concept of literature or the role of literature in preserving civilization.

I felt that I was reversing the ancient Roman scenario by rescuing Garrett's literature with the help of one who had no idea what she was carrying (or what her coworkers had discovered in the basement). Those of us who rescue forgotten American writing, especially literature with a capitalist theme, will do so in relative obscurity without the understanding of those who might still possess the treasures we seek.

The image of this obscurity was reinforced as I scrolled through the microfilm and discovered the hastiness with which the pages had been copied. Half of most of the pages were too blurry to read. I had to copy many pages two or three times just to get a clear image of each word in the text.

But now, one more copy of Satan's Bushel exists outside the confines of some library basement. The most thorough discussion of this book ever created now exists on the internet. Absalom Weaver's speech can now take its place alongside the speeches of Ayn Rand's great characters. More such discussions of Garrett's books will follow on these pages.

Satan's Bushel - part III

Click here for part I and part II.

The time elapsed since my last post here makes it obvious that I am no longer attempting to "live-blog" Satan's Bushel. I finished the book months ago and have been trying to find time to sit down and complete my thoughts.

In some ways, Satan's Bushel exceeded my expectations. In other ways, my hopes were left unfulfilled. The plot and the storyline of the book were tremendous. I won't give away any more of the story than I have already written in previous posts. Suffice it to say that the book is worth reading for the story alone.

I was hoping for more economic insight, especially insight into the nature of overproduction, inflation and the consequences of these phenonema for ordinary people. Garrett wrote about farmers that lived with the consequences of overproduction. But the main focus of the story was on three people whose lives transcended that problem. The book was written in 1923 and I suppose it did not seem imperative to delve into a story relating to the consequences of economic conditions prior to the crises that would soon engulf the world. As I wrote in my last post:

We can forgive Garrett for failing to apply Weaver's lesson to broader government policy. Such a comprehensive approach did not seem as imperative in the pre-New Deal days of 1923.

I am still not sure exactly what I am looking for, but I find only hints of it in Garrett's fiction writings (and none of it anywhere else). Dramatization of the harm wrought by the economic policies that wrecked the 20th century is very rare. Otherwise, such policies would never have become entrenched.

It is very common now to hear dispassionate explanations of why socialism or government interference makes no sense. Such discussions only rarely touch upon the folly of fractional reserve banking. Garrett's nonfiction dealt with fractional reserve banking more so than most writers of the 20th century. Such factors as confidence, the effect of government policy on prices and the unique problems of industrialization would provide the backbone of Garrett novels such as Satan's Bushel and the Driver. While these novels would not necessarily make for good recruitment tools for the free market philosophy, they provide good background for those who are acquainted with such philosophy and who want to know more.

Satan's Bushel is not dry by any means - even though I might make it sound that way by my description. The economic context of the novel makes the story that much more real. The economic context to the story bridges the 80+ years between Satan's Bushel's publication and today.

Aside from the economics, Satan's Bushel provides a model of American culture. There is much we have forgotten in recent decades about the "old values" - trite as that expression may seem. Satan's Bushel is intertwined with old fashioned American values and culture without being clumsy or obvious about it. The old fashioned manners, the work ethic, chivalry, professionalism, honesty and other virtues form the supporting cast for Garrett's main characters. The book is not intended to be a lesson in morality, but the pervaviseness of the above mentioned values in the story's background speaks louder than the most direct sermon. Garrett probably never gave this aspect a second thought, as he was simply placing his characters into the context of his time.

By reading the book, you lose yourself not only in the world of wheat farming, you lose yourself in a much broader world that has since disappeared. Despite its disappearance, the world of Satan's Bushel seems comfortable and right to the reader in a way that one can describe only with reference to the things we have lost over the past 8 decades.

-----------------

For those who wish to escape into the wheatfields of 80+ years ago, don't wait to find the book on e-bay or Amazon.com. You might wish to search antique book stores. But your best bet is to visit your local university library and ask for the 1923 editions of "Country Gentleman" magazine. Satan's Bushel begins in the October 27th edition. On October 20, 1923, the editors described the upcoming serialization:

The struggle of humanity for food is like a mighty flood - too vast, it would seem , for any to presume to stem or to direct it; yet those there are - gamblers in mankind's daily bread - who seek to do these things. These gamblers - the men of prophetic foresight whose battleground is the wheat pit; their petty imitators in the small-town bucket shop; even the farmer himself who grew the wheat - are shown in stark flesh and blood in Garet Garrett's vivid new novel, Satan's Bushel, which begins next week. Real wheat ripening in the Kansas sun; phantom wheat sold by the millions of bushels on our boards of trade; the great wheat corner; the jounrey's end of a man and woman who set forth on a world-wide quest - these are part of this truly great story of what is perhaps the greatest drama in the world, the fight for daily bread.

Satan's Bushel - II

Click here for part I.

On further reading of Satan's Bushel, I discovered a speech that rivals any of the great speeches I have read in any work of fiction. It certainly deserves its place with the speeches of Roark or John Galt (although it is not as comprehensive as the speeches from those characters).

One of the main characters, Absalom Weaver, sits listening to a sales pitch for the local farmers to join a marketing cooperative. At the end of the sales pitch, the farmers persuade Weaver to rise and give his opinion:

. . . He had not yet begun to speak, but he was peering about in the grass, stooping here and there to pluck a bit of vegetation. He walked as far as the fence for a bramble leaf. Returning he snapped a twig from the elm above his head and faced them.

"This towering elm," he began, with an admiring look at the tree, "was once a tiny thing. A sheep might have eaten it at one bite. Every living thing around it was hostile and injurious. And it survived. It grew. It took its profit. It became tall and powerful beyond the reach of its enemies. What preserved it - cooperative marketing? What gave it power - a law from Congress? What gave it fullness - the Golden Rule? On what was its strength founded - a fraternal spirit? You know better. Your instincts tell you no. It saved itself. It found its own greatness. How? By fighting. Did you know that plants fight? If you could only see the deadly, ceaseless warfare among plants this lovely landscape would terrify you. It would make you think man's struggles tame."

"I hold up this leaf from the elm. The reason it is flat and thin is that the peaceable work of its life is to gather nourishment for the tree from the air. Therefore it must have as much surface as possible to touch the air with. But it has another work to do. A grisly work. A natural work, all the same. It must fight. For that use it is pointed at the end as you see and has teeth around the edge - these. The first thing the elm plant does is to grow straight up out of the ground with a spear thrust, its leaves rolled tightly together. Its enemies do not notice it. Then suddenly each leaf spreads itself out and with its teeth attacks other plants; it overturns them, holds them out of the sunlight and drowns them. Marvelous, isn't it? Do you wonder why the elm does not overrun the earth? Because other plants fight back, each in its own way. I show you a blade of grass. It has no teeth. How can it fight? Perhaps it lives by love and sweetness. It does not. It grows very fast by stealth, taking up so little room that nothing else minds, until all at once it is tall and strong enough to throw out blades in every direction and fall upon other plants. It smothers them to death. Then the bramble. I care not for the bramble. Not because it fights. For another reason. Here is its weapon. Besides the spear point and the teeth the bramble leaf you see is in five parts, like one's hand. It is a hand in fact, and one very hard to cast off. When it cannot overthrow and kill an enemy as the elm does, it climbs up his back to light and air, and in fact prefers that opportunity, gaining its profit not in natural combat but in shrewd advantage, like the middleman. Another plant I would like to show you. There is one nearby. Unfortunately it would be inconvenient to exhibit him in these circumstances. His familiar name is honeysuckle. He is sleek, suave, brilliantly arrayed, and you would not suspect his nature, which is that of the preying speculator. Once you are in his toils it is hopeless. The way of this plant is to twist itself round and round another and strangle it."

"This awful strife is universal in plant life. There are no exemptions. Among animals it is not so fierce. They can run from one another. Plants must fight it out where they stand. They must live or die on the spot. Among plants of one kind there is rivalry. The weak fall out and die; the better survive. But all plants of one kind fight alike against plants of all other kinds. That is the law of their strength. A race of plants that had wasted its time waiting for Congress to give it light and air, or for a state bureau with hired agents to organize it by the Golden Rule, or had been persuaded that its interests were in common with those of the consumer, would have disappeared from the earth.

"The farmer is like a plant. He cannot run. He is rooted. He shall live or die on the spot. But there is no plant like a farmer. There are nobles, ruffians, drudges, drones, harlots, speculators, bankers, thieves and scalawags, all these among plants, but no idiots, saying 'How much will you give?' and 'What will you take?' Until you fight as the elm fights, take as the elm takes, think as the elm thinks, you will never be powerful and cannot be wise."

This speech is the ultimate rejoinder to those who preach "compassion" as the justification for socialist economic policy. This speech denies and disproves any policy that would use government obstacles and barriers against those who must fight for survival (all of us - not just farmers). This speech helps us understand our own nature and how that nature is suited to the capitalist economic system.

While Weaver's speech needs context for it to have the most impact, that context would soon be provided by the policies of the New Deal. We can forgive Garrett for failing to apply Weaver's lesson to broader government policy. Such a comprehensive approach did not seem as imperative in the pre-New Deal days of 1923.

Satan's Bushel

Many bloggers use their sites to "live-blog" television broadcasts, such as the Presidential debates or press conferences. In this case, I am going to live-blog a book. I started reading Garet Garrett's 1923 novel, Satan's Bushel, about two weeks ago.

I have never actually seen the book. I photocopied my copy from the microfilms of "The Country Gentleman" magazine, where the book was serialized in six editions in late 1923.

I don't fully know what to expect, but I found this passage particularly striking early in the book, as Garrett describes the travels of a wheat speculator in western Kansas on his first trip outside the city:

Riding by railway through the wheat fields on a very warm May evening is an exquisite experience if you give yourself to it. All sounds are muted. Those that are naturally harsh become pleasing and satiny. I suppose this is from the fact that the grassy ocean absorbs them, somewhat as snow does. The shriek of the locomotive at road crossings is like an echo. The wheels on the rails sound like a lathe tool cutting soft iron. You would think the train was stealing its way on tiptoe for fear of waking something. And all the time the air is vibrant and musical with the rhythm of phantom castanets playing just over and under the lowest pitch audible to the human ear. You rather feel than hear it. And that aromatic pungency of the growing wheat! The smell of the sea, so fresh and clean is a fabricated, purified smell. This is a living, untainted essence, originally sweet - - distillation of sunlight trapped in the dew.

My expectations from this book were created by two writings. In
2002, Bruce Ramsey and Caxton Press published a collection of Garrett's Saturday Evening Post articles. The collection was entitled Salvos Against the New Deal. [I will have more to say about that in a later post.]

In the introduction, Ramsey summarized Garrett's novels. I had never heard of any of these books before. The reference to Satan's Bushel stated the following:

Satan's Bushel (1924) was an allegory of agriculture and its
struggle with overproduction. ("Satan's Bushel" was the bushel that broke the price.)

I haven't reached that part yet.

Ramsey's description reminded me of Chapter 4 of A Bubble that Broke the World. That chapter dealt with pre-Hitler Germany, and its flirtation with financial disaster through a policy of flooding the world with cheap goods made by means of cheap credit supplied by Western governments. Garrett wrote "Bubble" and its component articles in 1930-1932. When I read that chapter around January, 2002, I was fascinated for reasons I still don't fully understand. [I will write more about "Bubble" in future posts.]

When I saw Ramsey's description of Satan's Bushel, I was left to wonder if Garrett had managed to fictionalize the events of @ 1930 Germany - half a decade before they occured!

I am about to find out over the coming days and weeks.

Update - click here for part II of the Satan's Bushel review.

Harangue

Harangue

A 1927 original edition of Harangue is up for sale now on e-bay. Again, I do not plan to make it a habit to quote e-bay information, but this is a rare find. I bought my copy of Harangue more than a year ago (on e-bay) and I haven't seen it available since then. (Of course I still haven't read it yet, but more on that later.)

The opening bid is $15.00 and there are no bids yet (and no, this is not my sale). The seller probably doesn't know what he has in his possession (and apparently neither do any buyers).

Normally, if you want to read this book, you have to go to a university or state library and photocopy the microfilm versions from the old Saturday Evening Post or Country Gentleman. That is what I did to obtain copies of the Driver and Satan's Bushel - but more on that later.