him should subordinate the treatment of the merits of public questions to a discussion of his course in dealing with them. This the author has done in a way both discriminating and interesting. Reed's work in shaping the practical processes of government stands out in bold relief throughout.

MORSE, EDWARD LIND (Ed. by).
Pp. xxxvi, 988. Price, $7.50.
An authoritative and well-balanced biography of the inventor of the telegraph,
written by his son. The work abounds in extracts from letters, diaries and

Samuel F. B. Morse: His Letters and Journals.
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1914.

sketch-books that throw into clear relief the life of a man who would have been eminent in his day as a scientist and artist even if he had never attained fame as an inventor.

MUNRO W. B. Selections from the Federalist. Pp. vi, 202. Price, $1.00. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914.

Pertinent and typical excerpts from The Federalist on the dangers of disunion and the need of a strong federation; the inadequacy of the old confederation, and the difficulties encountered in framing the new constitution; the conformity of the new constitution to republican principles, and the justification of the military, diplomatic, commercial and other powers conferred upon the federal government; a comparison of the powers of federal and state governments; the system of checks and balances, including an examination of Montesquieu's Doctrine; the objection to a complete separation of powers, and the necessity for checks and balances.

The selections are chosen with judgment. The volume makes a splendid handbook for class-room and general use. In the introduction is a terse historical summary of the occasion for the letters and an estimate of their value.

PERRIS, GEORGE H. The Industrial History of Modern England. Pp. xix, 603. Price, $2.00. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1914.

This is not a dry recital of events, but an interpretation of the spirit of the economic history of Great Britain during the last one hundred and fifty years. The tone throughout is humanitarian. Doctrinaire political economy is consigned to the slag-heap, and a philosophy of social reform is made to appear in every chapter. "Unrestrained competition has proved a curse, not a blessing. Society must be organized if the greatest good is to reach the greatest

number."

PERRIS GEORGE H. The War Traders. Pp. viii, 168. Price, 18. London: National Peace Council, 1914.

Mr. Perris presents in a series of brief chapters the evidence to show that the supplying of war materials has become internationalized. He shows that the armament trust has systematically set out to exaggerate the consciousness of nationalism and to stimulate the building of dreadnoughts and the outfitting of armies for defense, all of which plays into the hands of the trust which supplies

all parties with the instruments of destruction. War scares are hatched whenever contracts are needed, old "models" are rapidly replaced by newer and more destructive and powerful cannon and battleships while the common people pay the cost. These arguments are an illuminating supplement to the arguments presented in Mr. Norman Angel's The Great Illusión.

ROSENBLATT, BERNARD A. The Social Commonwealth. Pp. 189. Price, $1.00. New York: Lincoln Publication Corporation, 37 E. 28th Street, 1914.

"Is it possible for us to construct new 'Cities of Refuge' for those thousands of honest workers who do not find a place in our cumbersome economic system?" With such a question in mind the author lays plans for a “labor commonwealth" where a haven of safety is offered. In addition he proposes an "industrial commonwealth" which will compete with present-day industries thereby decreasing the cost of necessaries and automatically fixing a maximum price for consumers. Coupling the two plans he establishes his "Social Commonwealth." The book is interesting in that it beams with the spirit of utopianism. The reader, however, is constantly in doubt as to whether our human kind ever can be shaped into the ideal moulds the author outlines.

ROYCE, JOSIAH. War and Insurance. Pp. xlviii, 96. Price, $1.00. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1914.

STRUNSKY, ROSE. Abraham Lincoln. Pp. xxxv, 331. Price, $2.25. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1914.

It has not been the purpose of the author of this book on Lincoln to discover new material, but rather to present Lincoln in a "new historical perspective." The author seems to have been impressed with the thought of Lincoln as a man rather than as a statesman or as the "great liberator." She has viewed Lincoln as "part and parcel of his class, the small homesteader, who claimed an equal opportunity in the virgin forests." It is doubtful whether much is to be gained by emphasizing the life and times of Lincoln before the debate between Lincoln and Douglas made Lincoln a national character. Nevertheless, the book is well done and on the whole well balanced. The criticism here made applies to the first third of the volume. In the latter two-thirds of the work, Lincoln's constructive statesmanship is presented in a clear and accurate manner.

TOWER, CHARLEMAGNE. Essays Political and Historical. Pp. 306. Price, $1.50. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1914.

Over half of this volume of essays is composed of studies of the operations of Cornwallis and Howe during the Revolutionary War. There is a very sketchy discussion of the relation of the United States to the arbitration movement and a well-balanced popular presentation of the development and importance of diplomacy as a profession. The treatment of the treaty obligations of the United States relating to the Panama Canal is too brief and categorical to give a proper appreciation of disputed points. A chapter on some modern developments of

international law emphasizes the protection of citizens abroad and the rules of the Declaration of Paris. The best discussion is that of the European attitude toward the Monroe Doctrine.

TREXLER, HARRISON ANTHONY. Slavery in Missouri, 1804-1865. Pp. viii, 259. Price, $1.25. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1914.

This is another of the useful monographs from the careful researches of Johns Hopkins. The negro population increased steadily both by immigration and natural increase until in 1860 there were 3,572 free colored, 114,931 slaves as compared with 1,063,489 whites. As an economic factor, slavery was largely a domestic rather than a commercial system. The "slave before the law," though not always a chattel, had no property nor few other rights. The social status was about that of slaves in Virginia and Kentucky. There was considerable anti-slavery sentiment which made the slavery issue a cause of division in the churches and of a long bitter contention in politics. New light is thrown on Senator Benton's opposition to slavery and his political downfall as well as the part of Missourians in pushing "squatter sovereignty" through Congress and in trying to place Kansas and Nebraska in the slave column. A chapter on manumission, colonization and emancipation closes the discussion. A valuable bibliography, mainly of original material, is attached.

VECCHIO, GIORGIO DEL. (Translated by John Lisle.) The Formal Bases of Law. Pp. lvii, 412. Price $4.50. Boston: Boston Book Company, 1914.

WICKWARE, FRANCIS G. (Ed.)

American Year Book for 1914. Pp. xviii, 862. Price, $3.00. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1915.

WILLIAMS, EDWARD HUNTINGTON. The Question of Alcohol. Pp. 127. Price, 75 cents. New York: The Goodhue Company, 1914.

Dr. Williams discusses the "other side" of the alcohol question with a saneness and freedom from prejudice sure to be welcome to those who, like himself, have been appalled at the flood of unscientific literature on the subject. His book is a plea for the presentation of scientific truth about alcohol, and three of its five chapters are given to weighing and analyzing certain sweeping statements of "reformers" in regard to the relation of the use of alcohol to crime, insanity and disease. The author criticizes sharply the so-called "temperance instruction" given in our schools and shows that much of it is based on unverified conclusions and, through gross exaggeration, is apt to defeat its very purpose. In the chapter on The Drug Habit Menace, Dr. Williams shows that the use of habit-forming drugs is increasing at an alarming rate, especially among the illiterate negroes and whites of those states that have laws prohibiting the sale of liquor.

The conclusions the author arrives at are definitely constructive in character. He repeats the often-demonstrated fact that legislation proves of little value except as it is supported by the opinion of an intelligent majority in the community. He urges that we cease to regard the alcoholic as an offender, and advises that plans be made for the medical treatment of this as of other diseases. He

advocates the Scandinavian plan for grading the licenses for the sale of liquor and agrees that certain strict regulations should be enforced in regard to the sale to minors and drunkards. Most important of all, he believes that the municipality, aided by the churches, and philanthropic bodies, must provide counter attractions in the way of recreation centres, gymnasia, etc., that will in time crowd out the saloon. Certainly the book is thought-provocative and more than worth an hour's study.

WITHERS, HARTLEY. Poverty and Waste. Pp. ix, 180. Price, $1.25. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1914.

INDEX