September 30, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



165 



tional obligations is equal to seven times the annual revenue of the 

 indebted States. At the liberal estimate of $1.50 per day, the pay- 

 ment of accruing interest, computed at 5 per cent, would demand 

 the continuous labor of three millions of men. Should the people 

 of the United States contract to pay the principal of the world's 

 debt, their engagement would call for the appropriation of a sum 

 equal to the total gross product of their industry for three years ; 

 or, if annual profits alone were devoted to this purpose, they would 

 be enslaved by their contract for the greater part of a generation." 

 Chapters II. and III. treat of the political and social tendencies of 

 public debts, and reveal the power of analysis which distinguishes 

 Professor Adams in so high degree. I have particularly in mind 

 those passages in which he shows, that, while public debts do not 

 create class distinctions, they tend to render such distinctions per- 

 petual. The analysis of the public debt of the United States is 

 likewise specially interesting, for it reveals the surprising extent to 

 which that species of property, at least, is concentrated. It appears 

 that out of a total of $664,000,000 registered bonds, $410,000,000 are 

 held in sums of $50,000 and over. As Professor Adams pointedly 

 remarks, this shows the absurdity of those who would have us keep 

 our debt as an investment for widows and orphans. Chapter IV. 

 deals with industrial effects of public borrowing, and Chapter V. 

 answers the question, ' When may States borrow money ? ' 



The topics of the chapters in Part II. are these : financial man- 

 agement of a war ; classification of public debts ; liquidation of war 

 accounts ; peace management of a public debt ; payment of public 

 debts. 



Part III. opens with a comparison of local with national debts, 

 and then passes on to an able account of State indebtedness be- 

 tween i83oandi85o. Here, again, we see the difference between the 

 economist as a man of science and the economist as the advocate of 

 some powerful interest ; for example, of corporations. The advo- 

 cate will dwell on the evils of State enterprise when tried, and, 

 passing lightly over those of private enterprise in the same field, 

 will draw the confclusion that corporations can provide all things 

 better than public bodies like cities, States, or the Federal government. 

 Professor Adams, on the other hand, examines the entire field, con- 

 ceals nothing, exposes unfortunate failures of public undertakings, 

 and finds that in the Western States, whose history in this respect 

 he has most carefully studied, "whether judged from the stand- 

 points of results or of business probabilities, the State authorities 

 showed greater foresight and greater business conservatism than 

 individuals." While Professor Adams does not wish the States to 

 undertake those kinds of business which are at all times subject to 

 the control of competition, and suitable for private enterprise, he 

 holds — and in this I fully agree with him — " that it was a mistake 

 for the States to abdicate certain sovereign functions in favor of 

 private corporations, for the evils thus incurred have proved greater 

 than the evils escaped." 



The remaining chapters of the book deal with municipal indebt- 

 edness and the policy of restricting governmental duties as a cure 

 for public corruption and mismanagement. Going below the sur- 

 face of things. Professor Adams finds in the improper restriction of 

 governmental duties a chief source of bad government. It seems 

 to me that this is beyond controversy when the facts are all re- 

 viewed. The whole history of industrial society tends to show 

 that public duties can best be performed by public and responsible 

 agents. It was a great step in advance when States ceased to sell 

 their taxes to corporations and individuals, and to collect them 

 themselves. Another step will be taken when public bodies as- 

 sume the direct management of natural monopolies like gas-works, 

 water-works, and railways. Are not these natural monopolies 

 now a chief cause of disturbance and corruption ? And how cure 

 the disease without removing the cause, and how remove corpora- 

 tions from the field of natural monopolies unless governments ab- 

 sorb the duties they perform ? In accordance with this view. Pro- 

 fessor Adams very properly recommends the purchase of telegraph- 

 lines by the Federal government as a solution of the difficulty which 

 the treasury surplus occasions. We might then have as good a 

 telegraph service as our present postal service. 



It is also in accordance with this general view that Professor 

 Adams recommends that treasury management be kept as free 

 from bank agencies as possible. Our experience in the United 



States seems to have demonstrated the wisdom of this. Before 

 Senator Sherman became secretary of the treasury, it was custom- 

 ary to place Federal bonds on the market through the aid of syndi- 

 cates of bankers, but he saved the United States over a million 

 dollars in the sale of four-per-cent bonds by dealing directly with 

 the public. 



When I reviewed Professor Clark's ' Philosophy of Wealth ' for 

 Science, if my memory serves me correctly, I pronounced it one of 

 the ablest works ever written by an American on the fundamental 

 principles of political economy. I have elsewhere spoken of Pro- 

 fessor Adams's monograph, ' The Relation of the State to Indus- 

 trial Action,' as the profoundest study of the industrial functions of 

 the State in the English language, going far ahead of any thing Mill 

 ever wrote on that subject. I believe the present work on public 

 debts the best work, on the topic with which it deals, to be found 

 in any language. 



In view of these facts, and others which might be cited, it does 

 not seem rash to venture to predict that within ten years the recog- 

 nized leaders of economic thought among English-speaking people 

 will be Americans. Richard T. Ely. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Letters have been received by the Montreal Gazette from 

 Dr. G. M. Dawson, in charge of the Canadian geological party ex- 

 ploring the Yukon district, to date of July 29. The party con- 

 structed two boats on Dease Lake, and left on June 3 to descend 

 the Dease River to its junction with the Liard. From that place 

 Mr. McConnell left with two men to descend the Liard. The re- 

 mainder of the party, with five Indians, ascended the north fork of 

 the Liard to Lake Francis, and, leaving their boats, crossed a long 

 portage of sixty miles to Pelly River, near the abandoned Hudson 

 Bay post of Pelly Banks, where they arrived on the 29th of July, all 

 well. From this place the Indians were sent back, and Dr. Daw- 

 son, with Mr. McEvoy and two white men, remained to construct a 

 boat and descend the Pelly to its junction with the Yukon. The 

 country north of Dease Lake proved somewhat varied in structure, 

 having a granitic nucleus with paleozoic rocks on its flanks ranging 

 from Cambrian to Carboniferous, and overlying Tertiary beds. The 

 old portage was found to be entirely disused, and the party had to 

 struggle through tangled woods, often knee-deep in moss. They 

 got over, however, with a month's supply of provisions for the ad- 

 vancing party, and leaving stores cached for the returning Indians. 

 Being north of the latitude of 60°, they enjoyed almost perpetual 

 daylight, and the weather was good. The country is described as 

 possessing well-grown trees, and a great number of the ordinary 

 eastern plants were seen in flower, with some northern and western 

 strangers. Only the great growth of sphagnous mosses and the 

 abundance of reindeer moss give the country a different aspect 

 from that of British Columbia. No Indians had been seen, except 

 those the party brought with them from the coast. Though some- 

 what later in the season than he had expected to be. Dr. Dawson 

 had still good hopes of reaching the coast before the freezing of the 

 rivers, and the lines of section made by Mr. McConnell and himself 

 will give a good idea of the structure or resources of the country. 



— Since starting the third series of his ' Butterflies of North 

 America,' Mr. Edwards has issued his parts in more rapid suc- 

 cession than before, a third number having appeared within the 

 year. As it is the most important iconographic work now issuing 

 in this country, and in artistic merit the peer of any that have yet 

 illustrated the natural history of America, we may once more draw 

 attention to it. Three species are illustrated, all from the Pacific 

 coast, to each of which a quarto plate is devoted. Two of them,, 

 species of MelitcBa and Argyjiiiis, have liberal illustrations of the 

 early stages, in which the points necessary to a good understanding 

 of the structure of the caterpillar at different stages are especially 

 well brought out. Considering that the insects had to be raised 

 thousands of miles away from home, from material specially sought 

 for, the success of Mr. Edwards is remarkable. The text in this 

 part is almost entirely made up of technical details ; and the third 

 plate, another of the multitudinous species of Argynnis, is inferior 

 in interest and in execution to the others, though the latter point 

 would hardly be noticed were it not in a work of such uniform 

 artistic excellence. 



