was seen in their cheerful recognition of Parliament's right to impose external taxes for imperial purposes, while they denied its right to lay internal taxes for local purposes. This was not a working hypothesis as the British Empire was then constituted. Parliament either had full right to tax, or it had none. The English authorities led by Grenville at once claimed the former alternative, while the colonists were soon driven to accept the latter. It is interesting to note that the first plan of the colonists for the division of the field of taxation between two sets of legislative bodies has been substantially adopted and has proved entirely practicable in our own federal system, while the second plan of occupying the whole field of taxation themselves is the one now employed by the self-governing colonies whose relation to the British Empire is very much what the opponents of the Stamp Act and the Townsend Revenue Acts wished to establish. The leaders at this stage were Patrick Henry, under whose influence the Virginia House of Burgesses resolved that taxation by themselves or by persons chosen by themselves is the first attribute of Englishmen, and Samuel Adams in Massachusetts, who proclaimed that the imposition of taxes, direct or indirect, without representation, is unjust and illegal. To reach this conclusion, Adams appealed, as Otis had done before him, to "the true spirit of the constitution," that is to the living principle within it, which alone can make any constitution fit for the continued use of successive generations. Adams and Otis were true Americans in perceiving this, and its general recognition in England as well as in America since the revolutionary war has marked the development of the two great constitutions of the world.

The declaration by Parliament of its right to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever, attracted little notice in the general rejoicing over the repeal of the Stamp Act. But as Parliament proceeded to put its claim in practice, suspending the New York Assembly, ordering the Massachusetts Assembly to rescind its circular letter, and aiming, as was understood, to annul the charters for the purpose of unifying the colonial governments, the colonists met the newly developed aggressive policy by advancing the claim that legislation as well as taxation could proceed only from a body in which they were represented. This was a further blow at the Parliamentary doctrine of virtual representation. The colonial assemblies now became the storm

centers in the gathering commotion. Twice was the Massachusetts Assembly prorogued, because it insisted on discussing the people's violated liberties. These two dissolutions are of the utmost importance, because they mark the beginning of a process which finally resulted in the entire disorganization of colonial government in America. One after another the assemblies were dissolved, and were temporarily replaced by provincial congresses, and these in turn by new State governments. These were very like the old ones, but differed in one essential feature which contained the germ of what is called congressional to distinguish it from parliamentary government. This is the erection of the executive, on one hand, into an active power in government, and, on the other, into a regulative force in controlling legislation. That the governor may not be tyrannical he must be elective, and thereby directly responsible to the people. This device was in the following period applied in federal as well as State government. Thus in a few years after the war the theory of actual representation, for which the revolutionary fathers contended, found an application which was not at first contemplated, and the national executive became a representative of the people in administration as completely as the Congressman in legislation. C. H. SMITH.

The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism. By Williston Walker, Ph.D., Professor in the Hartford Theological Seminary. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1893.-8vo, 604 pp. This work contains an exact reprint of the creeds of the Congregational Communion from Robert Browne's "Statement" in 1582 to the "Commission" Creed of 1883. The student is thus presented with an accurate edition of a series of documents of essential value in a not unimportant portion of ecclesiastical history. To collect these documents in authentic copies was no small task. But Professor Walker has done a great deal more. He has furnished all that is requisite, in the way of historical narrative and comment, for the elucidation of them. The amount of research involved in this portion of the work can only be appreciated by those who have themselves been laborers in the same or a similar field. The author's accuracy and good judgment are every where manifest. Particular subjects, like the 'Half-Way Covenant," are treated with admirable correctness as well as condensation. Errors which have been widely diffused,

and have been sanctioned by good writers, are either silently corrected or distinctly confuted. The work is one of a class which, from the nature of the case, cannot look for a very wide circulation in the immediate future. But they long hold their place as authorities, and their authors are gratefully regarded by scholars who are assisted by them.

G. P. F.

Die Handelspolitik Englands und seiner Kolonien in den letzten Jahrzehnten. Von Dr. Carl Johannes Fuchs, a. o. Professor der Staatswissenschaften an der Universität Greifswald. [Schriften des Vereins für Socialpolitik, LVII.] Leipzig, Duncker und Humblot, 1893-8vo, x, 358 pp.

This is the last of the series of essays on the commercial policy of the principal states of the civilized world which the Verein für Socialpolitik began to publish last year, and it is in many respects the most interesting and valuable for American readers.'

The subject seems at first glance a barren one. As the author says in his opening sentence, "English commercial policy during the last decades has, properly speaking, no history." While other states have gone through many changing phases of policy, England has for over thirty years not deviated a hair's breadth from the principle of free trade. But even in England there have been various interesting problems, such as those raised by the sugar bounties; and there have been various shiftings of public sentiment, such as that shown in the fair trade movement. Moreover, if we turn to the colonies, to which nearly half of the present volume is devoted, we encounter the singular fact that, though Great Britain has adhered steadily to the policy of free trade, almost all of the self-governing colonies have, since the end of the 70's, shown a decided tendency to adopt protection. Even New South Wales, which for many years had adhered to a policy of low duties, at last yielded to the general drift, and adopted a protective tariff in 1891. (p. 213.)

The enquiry which the author makes into the complicated results of these conflicting policies, is unfortunately not very conclusive. In the first place, as he points out, the commercial statistics, even of Great Britain herself, are far from being accurate, and they are especially misleading owing to the fact that only values, not quantities, are declared to the custom house authorities. Thus the figures may show a falling off in the value of

1 For a notice of the other volumes, see Yale Review for August, 1892, p. 229.

exports or imports during a period of falling prices, when there has in reality been an increase in the quantities. (p. 91.)

There is another source of error to which the author, though he occasionally mentions it, does not, it seems to us, give sufficient weight, viz., the movement of securities, the investment of capital, and the payment of dividends and interest. Such apparent anomalies, for instance, as the great excess of imports over exports in Victoria, during recent years, might perhaps be explained by the movement of capital. (p. 241.) And unless we are able at least approximately to gauge this movement, our statistics have comparatively little value.

The general conclusion which Professor Fuchs draws from the commercial statistics as they stand is that, while England's commerce has increased enormously under free trade, several nations pursuing a different policy show a still greater growth. (p. 121.) Thus, while England's share in the commerce of the world is still the lion's share, it is no longer as large a fraction of the total as it was in 1854. (p. 141.) This does not, however, prove that the free trade policy has been a failure. It merely shows that other countries have gradually become industrial states like England. Foreign commerce, moreover, is only a part of national economic life, and internal trade, production, and consumption are of equal or greater importance. These, however, do not appear in custom-house statistics, and are very difficult to gauge by any statistics. The author's conclusion is therefore somewhat negative.

In discussing the effects of the protective system adopted by the most prominent of the self-governing colonies, the author reaches an equally negative conclusion. In a number of cases the protective tariffs were followed by a reduction of foreign trade; but in some others, as in South Australia, New Zealand, Queensland, and the Cape Colony, they were not. (p. 226.) In general, England's share in the trade of her colonies is diminishing relatively to the share falling to intercolonial and foreign trade. This tendency has brought about a considerable movement looking towards a closer union of the different parts of the Empire, both commercial and political. The various plans for imperial federation are discussed in the last section of the book.

The final verdict of the author on the commercial policy of Great Britain is, that it has been, on the whole, a failure. Not

only have other states not followed its example, but many, as France and the United States, have been going further and further in the direction of high protection. The author thinks that a timely use of retaliatory duties against its rivals and of differential duties in favor of its colonies would have checked the extreme protectionism of other countries. (p. 314.) But did German protection under Bismarck force France or the United States to reduce their tariffs? Has the Méline tariff in France brought Spain to terms? Is it not rather the history of most tariff wars, that each of the combatants tries to outdo the other, until both find the operation so costly that they make a compromise which might as well have been made at the outset, but which the tariff has postponed for years? It took thirteen years of progressive protection on the part of Germany and her neighbors to bring about the Central European treaties of 1892. And it seems to us that if England, instead of pursuing free trade, had tried to bring the United States to terms by levying a duty on our wheat or our cotton, tariff reform in our country would be postponed indefinitely.

It is true that free trade has not done what was expected by its promoters forty years ago. In fact, it has brought England into a curiously contradictory position. For, while it was claimed in the beginning that it would be a great benefit for England if all nations were to adopt free trade, it is thought now by some of the wiser heads that the one thing which England has most to fear is a low tariff, adopted by some of the most powerful of her competitors, as, for instance, the United States. But, though events have turned out differently from what was expected, we cannot but think that it has been a great advantage to England that she has not been called upon to play a part in the European tariff struggles of the last twenty years.

H. W. F.

A Brief History of Panics and their Periodical Occurrence in the United States. By Clément Juglar, Member of the Institute. Englished and Edited by De Courcy W. Thom. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893.-8vo, 150 pp.

It is not quite fair to M. Juglar to sever from its context the part of his book devoted to the United States, and treat it as a history of panics in our country. The author did not write a history of panics in the United States; he wrote a history of panics in Europe and the United States, in which the latter is