NA TURE 



457 



THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1903. 



A DUTCH PRIME MINISTER ON ECONOMICS. 

 Principles of Economics. By Dr. N. G. Pierson. 



Translated from the Dutch by A. A. Wotzel. Vol. i. 



Pp. xxx + 604. (London : Macmillan and Co., 



Ltd., 1902.) Price 10s. net. 



DR. PIERSON'S book in the original Dutch has 

 become widely known in this country, in spite of 

 the obstacle of language. So much was due to the 

 author on account of his peculiar position as a banker 

 and man of business, as well as a statesman, entitling 

 him to a special hearing as an economist. But 

 the intrinsic qualities of the book have also been such 

 as to attract an appreciative audience. It is an account 

 very largely at first hand of the writer's own experiences j 

 in applying economic principles to the daily practice of 

 banking business, and later on to the problems of econo- | 

 mics which came before him as Prime Minister of his j 

 State. We are glad, therefore, to see the present trans- 

 lation into English, which is extremely well done, and 

 will contribute greatly to extend Dr. Pierson 's reputa- 

 tion in this country, well known as he already is. 



Dr. Pierson informs us in his introduction that 

 " economics may be described as the science which 

 teaches us what rules mankind should observe in order 

 to advance in material prosperity "; and this appears 

 to be an excellent definition if the qualification be 

 added to the word " rules," that they are to be general 

 rules applicable to every description of industry and 

 business, and not the special rules of each industry by 

 itself. There are many rules, for instance, to be studied 

 and applied by the farmer or banker, each in his own 

 profession, in order to advance in material prosperity, 

 which are no part of the more general economic rules 

 that equally require study. The qualification should, 

 also be added, perhaps, that the rules referred to are 

 largely rules to be followed by publfc men in directing 

 the action of the State where it comes in contact with 

 business — in regulating taxation, monopolies, cur- 

 rency, and any other matters that seem properly re- 

 served for the action of the community as a whole in 

 the conduct of common business. Nothing much, 

 however, turns upon definitions of this kind. In eco- 

 nomic books the important thing always is to be in 

 contact with reality, and in this respect Dr. Pierson 's 

 book is not lacking. Leading business men and poli- 

 ticians are practically taught how to advance in material 

 prosperity by observing the nature and conditions of 

 exchanges. It is, in fact, thoroughly scientific. 



Dr. Pierson 's conclusion that the science is mainly 

 •deductive may also be accepted. There is often con- 

 fusion in discussions as to the limits and functions of 

 political economy between the phrases deductive and 

 theoretical. Because it is so much deductive, political 

 economy is often said, with reproach, to be a theoretical 

 study only, and its professors are nicknamed theorists. 

 But the deductions, nevertheless, may be from facts of 

 a general kind, and are thus as legitimate as the pro- 

 positions of the multiplication table. Dr. Pierson, ac- 

 cordingly, is fully justified in his remark. It should 

 NO. 1742, VOL. 67] 



be understood, moreover, that as to large provinces of 

 the study, especially the province of the money market, 

 Dr. Pierson is mainly a describer, and not a theorist, 

 or if, as sometimes happens, he appears to theorise and 

 is not so much a describer, he theorises as Ricardo did — 

 that is, by giving as a theory a description of what 

 business men invariably do under the conditions stated. 

 We would especially refer students to the closing 

 chapter of the book on foreign exchanges as of singular 

 excellence, containing, perhaps, the fullest exposition 

 ever given of the various puzzles as to balance of trade, 

 balance of payments, and balance of indebtedness, as 

 well as those respecting high and low rates of discount, 

 on which so many people make shipwreck. There has 

 been no more complete exposition of the subject, and 

 what Dr. Pierson has to say may well be compared 

 with Mr. (now Lord) Goschen's " Theory of the 

 Foreign Exchanges " and Mr. Bagehot's " Lombard 

 Street. " We are not quite sure we can agree with him 

 throughout as to the regulation of currencies, a subject 

 which we should have liked to see discussed from the 

 point of view of no regulation at all, instead of from 

 the Continental point of view, which accepts regulation 

 as a matter of course ; but this criticism in no way 

 diminishes our sense of the value of the discussion itself. 

 The chapters on the principal monetary systems and 

 on banking in the principal countries are equally com- 

 plete and interesting, especially when the student re- 

 members that Dr. Pierson himself has had to deal with 

 the business in his capacity as President of the Nether- 

 lands Bank and Prime Minister of the Netherlands. 



The student will find it both interesting and amusing, 

 we believe, that Dr. Pierson, after an elaborate descrip- 

 tion of the fall in silver and the ineffectual attempts of 

 bimetallic agitators in the United States and elsewhere 

 to restore the ratio, goes on to describe with effect 

 various practical reasons for believing that bimetallism 

 is no longer a possibility, and then adds a regret that 

 this should be the case, when the opinion had become 

 very general among experts — he himself holding the 

 same opinion — that bimetallism is really possible if only 

 all nations would consent to try it at the same time ! 

 We cannot but think this expression of opinion the one 

 symptom of imperfection in the book. The practical 

 reasons against bimetallism — universal or otherwise — 

 are, in fact, found to be based on the mathematical 

 reasoning of Locke, who demonstrated that, as there 

 could be no fixed price between gold and silver, there 

 could be no coexistence of the two as standard money 

 and no joint circulation of the two at any time at a fixed 

 price. But this is a small blemish in a bcjpk all but 

 perfect in other respects, which ought to be in the hands 

 of every economic student. R. G. 



PURIFICATION AND DISPOSAL OF SEWAGE. 



Sewage Works Analyses. By Gilbert J. Fowler, M.Sc. 

 (Vict.), F.I.C. Pp. vi+130. (Westminster: King 

 and Son; New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1902.) 



THE thanks of all who are directly interested in 

 the disposal and purification of sewage — a 

 rapidly increasing number — are due to Mr. Fowler for 

 his excellent little manual. In his preface he says :• — 



X 



