IN "JAVA ET SES HABITANTS,' M. Chailley-Bert renews his studies of European colonization. The author has already published "Les Anglais à Hong-Kong," "Les Anglais en Birmanie," and has in preparation "La Politique et l'administration anglaise aux Indes," "La Politique et l'administration hollandaise dans l'Insulinde," and "La Politique et l'administration coloniales de l'Ancien Régime." His object is to offer to French readers a complete description of all the more important dependencies controlled by the great colonial powers. The present work gives a valuable and interesting description of the Dutch colony of Java. The author discusses the character of the natives, of the colonists, the general organization of the administration, the system of education and the weaknesses of the Dutch colonial government. He summarizes the reforms desired as follows:

1. Less power to be given to the regents.

2. Education of the native aristocracy.

3. Checks upon the possible tyranny of the aristocracy.

4. Greater harmony between the European officials and the natives. 5. Better education of the European officials.

6. The revival of a system of protectorate and administrative decentralization.

EVOLUTION MEANS change, and that may imply decay as well as progress. An interesting study of retrogressive evolution in plants, animals and social institutions has just appeared in an English translation by Mrs. Chalmers Mitchell of a French work, "Evolution by Atrophy in Biology and Sociology."

Without discussing the mooted question of the validity of biological analogies in sociology, the authors, three professors in Brussels, working independently in their respective fields, believe that there are common characters as well as distinctive ones in the comparison of organs and organisms with social institutions and human societies. A comparison of these independent studies of atrophied parts in plant and animal organisms and in social life presents strikingly similar conclusions. Such a study adds many interesting facts to our store of knowledge and has not been the work in either field (biology or sociology) of a workman whose knowledge of one is derived almost 1 Pp. xviii, 375. Price, 4 fr. Paris: Armand Colin et Cie., 1900. L'Évolution Régressive en Biologie et en Sociologie. By JEAN DEMOOR, JEAN MASSART and EMILE VandervelDE. (Bibliothque Scientifique Internationale LXXXV). Pp. 324. Price, 6 fr. Paris: Félix Alcan, 1897.

Evolution by Atrophy in Biology and Sociology. International Scientific Series. Pp. 332. Price, $1.50. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1899.

exclusively from surface analogies in the other. Such work commends itself to good judgment more than most of the results of so-called biological sociology.

The chief conclusions are that retrogression is a universal and necessary complement to progress, that it follows no definite path, and most certainly does not retrace the steps of progressive evolution, and that, especially in the department of social life, its main cause is artificial selection. Other causes of retrogression are found in inutility of function, insufficiency of nutriment or resource, and, in biology only, lack of space.

NAPOLEON'S WAR MAXIMS1 is a collection of the most noted military principles which have been credited to Napoleon. The maxims are discussed very briefly by the editor, who cites numerous illustrations of their application in actual warfare. The work also contains a compilation of Napoleon's social and political thoughts, which are far below the military maxims in their general value. Among the most interesting of the political maxims are the following:

"There should be no half responsibility of the administration. It will only cause peculation and the non-performance of the laws." "Anarchy is the stepping-stone to absolute power."

"A state without an aristocracy is a vessel without a rudder; a balloon in the air."

"Commerce unites men and makes them; therefore it is fatal to despotic power."

"Finances founded on good agricultural prospects will never be destroyed."

"Governments with balanced force are of no value but in times of

peace."

"JOHN RUSKIN: SOCIAL REFORMER," by J. A. Hobson, is an attempt to arrange Ruskin's social philosophy in a logical and orderly discourse, something of which Ruskin himself had no conception whatever. The claim is made that Ruskin is primarily and fundamentally, in all his work as art-critic and man of letters, a political economist, and that he has succeeded in placing political economy upon a sounder scientific and ethical foundation than it had hitherto possessed. Such is the novel and interesting task that the author sets himself. Though an economist of some merit himself and an ardent

1 L. E. HENRY, B. A., M. R. C. P. Pp. xxiv, 187. Price, 6 s. London: Gale & Polden, Ltd., 1899.

Pp. ix, 357. Price, $1.50. Boston: Dana, Estes & Co., 1898.

admirer of Ruskin, it is safe to predict that the general verdict will be that Mr. Hobson has failed of his purpose, largely through no fault of his own, but because of the impossibility of his task. Those who love to read Ruskin for his brilliancy of style and vigorous rhetoric and for the general inspiration that comes from a most original and suggestive thinker, who was too erratic and misinformed to be a system maker, will not relish Mr. Hobson's dry pages, while economists will be more amused than convinced by his attempts to fill out the lacunæ in Ruskin's economic reasoning. The biographical chapter is much less interesting and instructive than an equal portion of Collingwood's "Life and Work of John Ruskin." One might also criticise, in the remaining chapters, the failure to interpret Ruskin's peculiar personality in terms of his surroundings, and of the influence of his time.1

THE LAW OF ELECTRIC WIRES IN STREETS AND HIGHWAYS' contains, in chapters III and IV, an admirable summary of the American law governing the regulation by municipalities of electric light, motor, telegraph and telephone wires. The extended discussion and litigation over franchises in recent years having attracted considerable attention, the author devotes a special chapter to judicial decisions on the grant of franchises for these important purposes.

A REVISED EDITION of Judge Landon's Constitutional History of the United States has recently appeared. The original edition of this work published more than a decade since, has been constantly gaining in public favor, owing partly to the fact that it is the only constitutional history of the United States in one volume, and to its clear and succinct presentation of the leading facts in the development of our complex constitutional system. In the new edition the work has been rewritten in part and considerably enlarged. The first two chapters of the original edition, dealing with the colonial and revolutionary periods, have been expanded into four, and two chapters instead of one are devoted to the "Critical Period" of the Confederation and Constitutional Convention. Although the body of the work, dealing with our history under the Constitution, has undergone less

1 Contributed by Professor S. M. Lindsay.

By EDWARD Q. KEASBEY. 2d edition. Price, $4.00. Chicago: Callaghan & Company, 1900.

The Constitutional History and Government of the United States. Revised edi tion. By JUDSON S. LANDON, LL. D. Pp. vii, 447. Price, $3.00. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1900.

change we note here and there an illustrative footnote or a supplementary paragraph, as is notably the case in connection with the history of the events growing out of the recent Spanish war. An additional chapter has been added to the admirable treatment of the judicial system contained in the original edition. In fact, the most valuable feature of the work to the general reader is the excellent presentation of the position and influence of the Federal judiciary in our system. This position is set forth in a scholarly and discriminating review of the great constitutional decisions of the Supreme Court from the earliest cases down to the most recent, with special emphasis on those relating to corporate combinations and territorial expansion. In treating the constitutional issues arising from our most recent acquisitions, the author reaches the conclusion that the Federal Government may exercise in our new possessions "the combined powers of a general and of a state government," but "if the people of these islands become subject to the sovereignty of the United States, it will not be the unlimited sovereignty as exercised in its foreign relations, for the people subject to its sovereignty cannot be foreign to it, but they will be subject to its limited sovereignty, as the constitution confers it over the people under its jurisdiction." The two concluding chapters of the original edition have been recast in the new. They contain a philosophic discussion of some of the reasons for the stability and success of our dual system of government, and point out some of the dangers of the future and their remedies. All of the changes noted enhance the value of an already useful work.

LA RÉNOVATION DE L'ASIE1is an interesting discussion of the more recent phases of the Asiatic question, with special reference to the development of Siberia by Russia, the progress of Western ideas and reforms in Japan, and the questions arising from the reform movement in China. The author is of the opinion that progress must move very slowly in the latter country if it is desired to avoid the destruction of the empire. He discusses the weakness of the Pekin government, the reform movement under the leadership of KangYou-Wei, the influence of the Dowager Empress, the palace revolution of 1898, and the possibilities of an eventual partition of China. It is interesting to note that the author classes Germany, Russia and France together as hostile to the open-door policy, Great Britain, the United States and Japan as partisans of that policy. The author concludes in favor of the preservation of the existing government rather

1 BY PIERRE Leroy-BeauliEU. Pp. xxvii, 482. Price, 4 fr. Paris: Armand Colin et Cie., 1900.

than the establishment of a government which would "give to a few Europeans power over hundreds of millions of Chinese."

A NEW EDITION of Plehn's Introduction to Public Finance1 testifies to the popularity of that work as a college text. Except for the addition of an important chapter on the "Financial Administration of War; Illustrated by the Experience of the United States in the War with Spain," the new edition is so like a reprint of the old that reference to it as "revised " as well as enlarged" seems scarcely justified. Adams' "Finance" is still spoken of as "announced," and the account of the tariff policy of the United States still concludes with a description of the "recent reforms of the Wilson act and without any reference to subsequent legislation. These minor points, however, detract but little from the value of the work, and the full account of the financial operations connected with our late war in the chapter referred to, brings it down to date in all essential respects. The chief merits of this as of the earlier edition are its interesting presentations of the facts connected with the financial policies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France and its temperate discussion of principles. In using it no teacher will be under the necessity of antagonizing, and therefore to some extent discrediting, the author as is too frequently the case with text-books on political economy.

WORLD POLITICS AS INFLUENCED BY THE Oriental SITUATION' makes its appearance at a most opportune moment. The author considers the Chinese question to be the centre of interest in international politics; he therefore groups all his material around this central point. In Part I, the growth of the idea of national imperialism is sketched and Machiavelli's place as the philosopher of nationalism is discussed. An interesting though brief comparison of the ancient and modern systems of world politics, the world-embracing empire and the “international equilibrium" is also noteworthy. In this first part the author also calls attention to the rapidly increasing importance of modern transportation systems in determining the political solidarity of colonial empires. After some discussion of the reasons for the success or failure of the different colonizing powers of Europe, Part I concludes with a consideration of the connection between colonization and imperialism, and the consequences of the imperialistic policy. Briefly stated, the author finds the consequences to be, the increase of mutual suspicions among the nations, the growth of an 1 BY CARL C. PLEHN. Pp. vi, 384. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1900. 2 BY PAUL S. REINSCH, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin. Pp. xviii. 362. Price, $1.25. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1900.