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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The Yeto Power. By Edward C. Mason. 

 Harvard Historical Monographs, No. 1. 

 Edited by Albert B. Hart. Boston: 

 Ginn & Co. Pp. 232. Price, $1. 



The first number of what promises to be 

 a valuable series of publications has been 

 issued by Harvard University. It gives the 

 history of presidential vetoes in the United 

 States from 1789 to 1889. This record is 

 introduced by an account of the origin in 

 English and colonial precedent of that par- 

 ticular form of the veto power which is found 

 in the United States. Different classes of 

 vetoes are discussed in successive chapters, 

 namely, those affecting the form of govern- 

 ment, those affecting the distribution of the 

 powers of government, and those affecting 

 the exercise of these powers. A chapter 

 is added on the constitutional points which 

 have arisen concerning the operation of the 

 veto power, and another on the develop- 

 ment of this function during the completed 

 century of our national history. Appendix 

 A is a chronological list of all bills vetoed 

 from April 6, 1789, to March 4, 18S9, with 

 dates and references to the journals of Con- 

 gress containing the legislative histories of 

 the bills. Five other appendixes contain 

 similar lists and tables. The editor states 

 that both the author and he have endeav- 

 ored to make this work free from political 

 bias, and that " the vetoes are condemned 

 or approved upon what seem to us sound 

 principles of constitutional law and political 

 expediency, irrespective of the attitude of 

 present parties." 



International Journal of Ethics. Vol. I, 

 No. 1 ; October, 1890. Issued quarter- 

 ly. Philadelphia, 1602 Chestnut Street. 

 Price, $2 yearly ; single number, 50 

 cents. 



We are confident that the world will 

 profit from the founding of this magazine. 

 It is designed to do work which must great- 

 ly aid the elevation of human character and 

 the increase of human happiness. It is the 

 successor of The Ethical Record, and it is 

 more than this. The announcement states 

 that the Journal will be devoted to the ad- 

 vancement of ethical knowledge and prac- 

 tice, and that it will not be the organ of 

 any society or sect or of any particular set 

 of opinions. The word International in 

 its name is justified by the composition of 



its editorial committee, which consists of 

 Felix Adler, Ph. D., New York; Stanton 

 Coit, Ph. D., London ; Prof. G. von Gizycki, 

 Berlin ; Prof. Fr. Jodl, Prague ; J. S. Mac- 

 kenzie, M. A., Manchester ; J. H. Muirhead, 

 M. A., London ; and Prof. Josiah Royce, of 

 Harvard University. The list of contribu- 

 tors already engaged has a still wider range. 

 Seven body articles and a department of 

 book reviews make up the contents of the 

 first number. The opening article is on 

 The Morality of Strife, by Prof. Henry 

 Sidgwick, of Cambridge University, refer- 

 ring especially to wars. It has been said 

 that the spread of altruism would bring 

 wars between states to an end. Prof. Sidg- 

 wick maintains that little improvement 

 would be secured until the predominance of 

 good-will was complete ; for, so long as any 

 were wronged, those persons dominated by 

 altruism would still be eager to fight, albeit 

 in behalf of others and not for themselves. 

 To the proposition that strife can general- 

 ly be prevented by competent arbitration, 

 Prof. Sidgwick objects that this " external " 

 mode of solution can not be applied to all 

 cases, and he thinks it inevitable that, " at 

 least for a long time to come, every nation 

 in the most important matters must to an 

 important extent be judge in its own cause." 

 Therefore " we must endeavor to be just 

 judges." Prof. Felix Adler contributes an 

 article on The Freedom of Ethical Fellow- 

 ship, in which he states that it is the aim 

 of the Ethical Societies " to unite men of 

 diverse opinions and beliefs in the common 

 endeavor to explore the field of duty," and 

 "to embody the new insight in manners 

 and institutions." Prof. Adler says further : 

 " Ethics is both a science and an art. As 

 a science its business is to explain the facts 

 of the moral life. In order, therefore, to 

 improve it as a science it is necessary, be- 

 fore all, to fix attention on the facts, to col- 

 lect them, to bring them into view, espe- 

 cially the more recondite among them. It 

 is necessary to effect in the treatment of 

 the subject a revolution analogous to that 

 which has taken place in the natural sci- 

 ences, namely, instead of beginning with 

 theories and descending to facts, to begin 

 with the facts and to test theories by their 

 fitness to account for the facts." The Popu- 

 lar Science Monthly has always held that 



