616 



sciujsrc^. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 203 



classroom manual has thus far proved an insuper- 

 able obstacle to the production of a really excel- 

 lent work of that sort. W^e are inclined to the 

 opinion that Professor Macy has more clearly 

 demonstrated the existence of this obstacle with- 

 out successfully surmounting it. 



The arrangement of topics adopted by the au- 

 thor is unusual. After a general introduction, in 

 which is sketched the development of Germanic 

 institutions, from the primitive tunscipa in Sles- 

 wick to the modern constitution of the United 

 States, the reader is conducted through ' Matters 

 chiefly local,' ' Administration of justice,' ' Fed- 

 eral executive business,' and ' Legislation,' to a 

 final consideration of 'Constitutions.' The wis- 

 dom of thus reversing the customary order of 

 presentation is doubtful. The moving cause in 

 Professor Macy's mind was probably the idea of 

 conforming to the order of historical development. 

 Throughout the book, indeed, marked prominence 

 is given to the origin and growth of the institu- 

 tions described. But that the old Germanic town- 

 ship was the seed fi-om which our higher govern- 

 mental forms have sprung, seems to us no good 

 reason why the modern local organizations should 

 take precedence of the higher authorities that 

 make and unmake them. It is likely to be mis- 

 leading to the student to thus disarrange the order 

 of political importance. The most logical method 

 of presentation for the American reader is to begin 

 with state institutions, and proceed, down to the 

 local and up to the national. Professor Macy 

 himself recognizes this in a measure ; for he rec- 

 ommends that the book be taken up in reverse 

 order when a class is reviewing it. 



Another feature of the book that will trouble 

 the teacher is the very excellence of its answers to 

 the question how our institutions grew. A text- 

 book should be suggestive ; but Professor Macy's 

 •sketches of the growth of various forms of govern- 

 mental activity suggest too much. Nothing short 

 of a complete course in the early history of institu- 

 tions will enable a class of young students to ap- 

 preciate, or even to understand, many of his 

 chapters. His summaries are admirable, and 

 could be made of service as the outline for a series 

 of lectures ; but, for class-work in an ordinary 

 academic course, they are too sketchy. 



In general, it is our opinion that the descriptive 

 part of the work is subordinated too much to the 

 historical. The chapter on juries, for example, 

 contains eleven pages of matter relating to the de- 

 velopment of the system in England, with descrip- 

 tions of the customs of ordeal, compurgation, 

 recognition, and trial by battle, and with a dis- 

 cussion of the relative weight of English and 

 French influence in determining the final form of 



the institution. The only reference to ' our gov- 

 ernment ' in the chapter is contained in two lines 

 at the end, stating that "the jury system was 

 established in America by Englishmen, and is 

 found in nearly all the states " (p. 78). For a class 

 of students not learned in the law, we submit that 

 some description of the jury system as it now ex- 

 ists, with some notice of the methods of drawing 

 jurors, would be quite as profitable ; nor could it be 

 said to be less pertinent to the subject of the book, 

 W^hile exception may thus be taken to some 

 features of Professor Macy's work (and it must be 

 admitted that the faults seem to result rather 

 from the aim than the execution of the book), too 

 much praise cannot be bestowed upon the clear 

 concise, and vigorous style of the author. As a 

 practical book of reference for a teacher of civil 

 government, it will be of great and permanent 

 value. The ' suggestions ' which are appended to 

 each chapter show that the avithor himself is a 

 teacher who understands his business, and they 

 will be in many cases more useful than the text. 



W. A. Dunning. 



ECONOMICS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



Economics for the people. By E. R. Bowker. New York, 



Harper, 1886. 16°. 



Of Mr. Bowker's successful attempt " to set forth 

 the principles of economics so as to make them 

 plain and interesting to all readers, illustrating 

 them from American facts, so that at the end of 

 the book the reader will have a fair knowledge of 

 the economic history and condition of our own 

 country," little but what is good can be said. The 

 book is certainly interesting, it is sufficiently full for 

 its purpose, and it is unusually fair and temperate. 

 Once or twice the author's personal opinions seem 

 to come into collision with what most of our 

 people consider established facts, but these are not 

 stated in a way to attract very general attention. 

 For example : on p. 70, while admitting in one 

 sentence that under the protective tariff an enor- 

 mous silk industry has been built up in the 

 United States, and the price of the product great- 

 ly reduced, in the very next sentence Mr. Bowker 

 says, that, " as silk is a luxury, no great hardship 

 is worked by the increased price ; " the fact being, 

 of course, that there is no ' increased price.' The 

 price has been greatly reduced. 



In several passages Mr. Bowker appears to com- 

 mit himself to the belief that the taxation of all land, 

 unimproved on the same basis as improved, is likely 

 to be the chief method of raising revenue in the 

 future. Indeed, he expressly says this on p. 138. 

 That this will really be the outcome of the study 

 of the problems of taxation, we doubt very much. 

 Mr. Bowker's clear distinction between time- 



