Notices of Books . 
53i 
America he hoped to put some of these schemes into practice, 
and “ commenced, with more enthusiasm than judgment, to 
apply a system drawn from my experience in England and the 
Continent to Celts, with not very fortunate results. They were 
suspicious of the houses that I built ; were certain that I was 
personally deriving benefit from the fines that I proposed for the 
foundation of their fund ; were jealous of their own members, 
raised to higher position than themselves, as they thought, by 
being brought more in contact with the officers of the Company 
than they were ; and caused so much trouble that in the interest 
of the Company I was obliged to abandon any attempts to 
elevate the condition of the men, and I must confess that I have 
been obliged as conscientiously to abstain from acfting as I was 
at first disposed conscientiously to acft.” 
This is a very discouraging result, and the suspicions of the 
men were no doubt ridiculous. Yet we must remember that the 
hated “ truck system,” which has enriched so many contractors 
and the like, has often been disguised under attempts to promote 
the welfare of the employed. Many judicious politicians even 
think that all connection between the employer and his workmen 
beyond the actual hours of labour should, on this account, be 
discouraged as much as possible by stringent legal enactments. 
Just as there are men whose only endeavour is to do their work 
as badly as they dare, and get through the week with the mini- 
mum amount of exertion, physical or mental, so there are masters 
who regard their men as natural enemies, to be outwitted and 
cheated if possible. Yet for a number of men to act success- 
fully in concert without mutual respect and goodwill is in the 
long run impossible. In industry, as in war, the most perfect 
materiel is of little avail if the personnel be untrustworthy. 
Confidence between employer and employed, based on a convic- 
tion that either party is desirous to do his best for the other, is 
the first step towards an improvement in the condition of work- 
men ; but there is no receipt for creating such confidence. The 
man who can inspire it, like the true poet, nascitur , non fit . 
Building Construction , showing the Employment of Brickwork 
and Masonry in the Practical Construction of Buildings . 
By R. Scott Burn. London and Glasgow : W. Collins, 
Son, and Co. 
The present work, otherwise unimpeachable of its kind, is 
strangely included in an “Advanced Science Series,”— an in- 
stance of a confusion very annoying to the methodologist, but to 
which the British public seem incurably given. The author 
treats on plan-drawing ; on the employment of brick in con- 
struction ; on the varieties of stone-work ; foundations, walls, 
2 X2 
