BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES Social Adjustment. By SCOTT NEARING. New York: Macmillan, 1911. 8vo, pp. xvi+377. $1.50 net. Dr. Nearing's book is a burning plea for a social crusade to sweep away all the external hindrances to the free and full development of every man, woman, and child in the community. While it bears on nearly every page the stamp of the influence of Professor Patten and Dr. Devine, it makes an independent and fresh contribution to social discussion. Originality is shown not so much in the handling of the specific problems surveyed as in their correlation, and in the stress laid on the features of social responsibility and curability common to all. The general thesis advanced is the old Utopian doctrine of the universality of human capacity and the possibility of redressing all man's ills by changing the environment. Incidentally, it is doubtful if the term "adjustment," with its usual connotation of passive adaptation to the environment, is suited to describe processes which in the main involve changing the environment to give the individual freer play. In his main contention the author expounds with contagious enthusiasm one side of the truth in the age-long controversy as to the relative importance of heredity and environment, and probably the side of truth which most needs emphasis to hearten effort. Yet it is curious that in a study which so confidently and unreservedly asserts the all-importance of environment, no attempt is made to meet the arguments of that other and equally up-to-date and equally confident school which is asserting that only in eugenics is to be found social salvation. It may be that the eugenic contention that social reform is unavailing so long as we perpetuate the weaker rather than the stronger stocks can be disproved-or, better, reconciled-but disproof is not afforded by silence nor by a few sweeping and unsubstantiated statements as to the unimportance of heredity in the eyes of "modern science." In the applications made of the general theory to specific problems, the author provides a good summary of current discussion and a connected program of social striving. The topics considered are: educational uniformity, low wages and standards, congestion of population, dependence of women, the menace of large families, the decadence of the home, the duration of working life, overwork, dangerous trades, industrial accidents, child labor, and unemployment. With regard to each the author seeks to show that existing maladjustments are due to economic causes, that grave social penalties are paid, and that remedy is possible. This systematic approach makes for clearness, though this simplifying is secured at the expense of tenability, when throughout it is sought to explain environment solely in terms of economics. The danger is common to all environmental theories of letting the overshadowed individual fade into abstraction, become a normalized card-index unit, a power of one dimension, economic or other, divested of all racial or religious or family peculiarities. The first seven topics are those regarding which the author considers the public conscience most needs awakening, and which he handles in the freshest way. In the chapter in which the author breasts the tide of denunciation of race suicide, he recognizes the importance of quality rather than quantity in the population, without, however, being led to consider the bearing of the points made on his general environment theory. In the discussion of overwork, the eight-hour day is accepted as the ideal, without any endeavor to discriminate between industries and climates, and it is assumed without discussion that legislative action is the only means for attaining the desired end of shorter hours. The implication on p. 209 that the eight-hour day in Australasia is primarily due to legislative activity is of course unwarranted. In the discussion of unemployment no mention is made of the possibilities of tradeunion or government insurance, while sanction is given the discredited policy of government relief works. Whatever differences of opinion there may be, however, either on such points of detail or on the broader issue raised, few will read the volume without finding their thinking clarified on many points and their optimism heightened. It is an illustration and a justification of Dr. Patten's contention that "the place of the economist is on the firing-line of civilization." QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY O. D. SKELTON American Commercial Legislation before 1789. By ALBERT ANTHONY GIESECKE. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1910. 8vo, pp. 167. $1.50. .This monograph forms one of the Series in Political Economy and Public Law of the University of Pennsylvania. Chap. i gives a brief survey of the mercantile system, the development of England's commercial policy, and the methods used to supervise colonial legislation. In chap. ii the author shows that there was no unity in the policy of levying import and export duties, each colony acting independently. Duties were 'levied primarily for revenue, but in the case of certain imports, particularly those on rum, the protective element entered in, and even that of prohibition. Lower duties were levied on goods imported directly into a port from the place of growth or manufacture. At least five colonies attempted to encourage the shipping industry or direct trade by such means. Contrary to England's theory of the Acts of Trade, duties were levied on English goods in spite of protests from British merchants who complained that they were "treated as aliens in their own colonies" (p. 27). Later a royal order prohibited governors from assenting to such duties, and suspended the operation of such acts until approved by the crown. The author believes that it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine with any degree of precision the strength of the free-trade movement in the several colonies. Most of them were under the régime of free trade for short periods, but 'this condition was as often accidental as it was premeditated. Free trade was predominant in most commodities in the New England colonies, 'with the exception of Massachusetts, and the same was true of the middle colonies with the exception of New York. In the southern colonies no elaborate tariff system is found except in South Carolina. Export were not so important as import duties, and were used less in the North than in the South. They were levied on tobacco, skins, furs, lumber, etc., primarily for revenue, but in a few instances for the encouragement of home industries. In the latter case duties were levied on raw materials of commerce, such as wheat, lumber, and skins, which it was believed could be worked up within the colony, or in some instances to retain a commodity in the colony for consumption. Such duties did not effectively restrain exportation of commodities which were the produce of a colony. If this was deemed essential embargoes were employed for the purpose. Chap. iii deals with bounties, inspection laws, and embargoes. Bounties were granted by the mother country to increase the production of some commodity with the expectation that such goods would be exported to England or elsewhere. The governors not infrequently urged the colonial assemblies to grant bounties on those products which would furnish a means to pay the balances due to England for her manufactured articles, and yet would not compete with the commodities produced in England, for example, hemp. Such bounties, however, were by no means always successful. Massachusetts was particularly active in giving bounties to encourage the manufacture of linen, woolen, and cotton cloth, commencing as early as 1640. Five colonies granted bounties for the production of silk, though in general the attempts to establish the silk industry in the colonies were a sacrifice to the principles of the colonial system. Wheat flour and salt received bounties in some colonies, and ship-building in Virginia and South Carolina. Bounties for exportation were less numerous and confined almost exclusively to Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and were granted for such articles as hemp, flax, tar, indigo, and cotton, though it is impossible to say how beneficial they were. A second means of encouraging the trade of the colonies was by inspection laws. Several hundred such acts were passed. Their chief purpose was to raise or preserve the reputation of the commodities in the foreign market and thus prevent deceit and fraud affecting the quality or quantity of the articles exported. The mixing of a bad portion with a good one, and the adulteration of goods were common practices. All the colonies passed inspection laws respecting lumber, beef, and pork. Other laws provided for the inspection of fish, flour, tobacco, naval stores, etc. Embargoes were used for short periods to prevent scarcity of provisions, to protect home industries, and to provide for the employment of idle persons. Chaps. iv and v treat of tonnage duties, imposed to provide revenue for defenses, lighthouses, etc., and port regulations to prevent smuggling, secure registration of vessels, and enforce quarantine rules. The administrative machinery of the colonies for the enforcement of their several acts of trade was not uniform and was lacking in effective administrative organization, for controlling and collecting the customs and carrying out the various navigation regulations. Chap. vi discusses the commercial policy of the colonies from the Revolution to 1789, the main emphasis being placed on embargoes, engrossing, and forestalling. Tariff legislation was mostly for revenue, though in some cases the motive was discrimination or protection. The author concludes that the dependence of the colonies on trade and navigation was the cause of numerous commercial regulations, many of which were later incorporated directly into our federal legislation or formed the basis for such legislation. This book is a welcome addition to the literature of our early economic history, a subject which deserves much more attention than has yet been paid to it. So far as the actual legislation relating to trade and commerce is concerned, the subject is covered with a reasonable degree of thoroughness. The author attempts, in several cases, to estimate the effects of such legislation, but this feature of the book is not very satisfactory. Indeed, a thorough treatment of this phase of the subject is, perhaps, more needed than almost any other topic in our economic history. It would call for a wide investigation of other classes of sources than the laws, both in this country and abroad. Until this is done the subject of commercial legislation in its entirety is still untreated. The book is concisely and clearly written, is provided with adequate footnotes, and has an excellent bibliography and index. THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MARCUS W. JERNEGAN The Jukes. A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease, and Heredity. By ROBERT L. DUGDALE. Fourth edition, with a Foreword by ELISHA HARRIS, M.D. . . . . and an Introduction by FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS. New York: Putnam, 1910. 8vo, pp. v+120. Once more this little classic has been reissued and put within general reach. It had long been out of print-so long, in fact, that the publishers lost count, and have given us the fourth edition fifteen years after the fifth edition of 1895. Apart from this absurdity, which is likely to perplex the bibliographers, there is nothing in the book to call for review on the ground of novelty. We find it merely a fresh printing from the old, uncorrected plates. The one new featurethe introduction by Professor Giddings-is so compact and so just an estimate of the work as to make further comment seem even less necessary than it might otherwise have been. And yet, after all, a book which has been only with difficulty accessible to two or three university generations of students comes to them almost as a new book. For this reason it is noticed here-and for the stronger reason that one is moved to appraise the qualities that have given it its enduring importance, despite the advances of more than thirty years in that branch of science in which its author was a pioneer. Of the subject of the study it can hardly be necessary to say much by way of explanation. Mr. Dugdale undertook, in 1874, an investigation of county jails in the state of New York. In the course of his work he became interested in the case of a group of depraved criminals connected by close blood relationship; and as the result of devoted study and diligent accumulation of facts he extended his records of this family until it was found to comprise the twelve hundred felons and degenerates whom he has made notorious under the name of "Jukes." From this mass of material Dugdale attempted to disentangle the separate effects of heredity and corrupt associations as causes of crime. In 1877, when The Jukes was published, the scientific study of heredity was barely begun. Galton, reckoned the first definitely to doubt the transmission of acquired characters, had but just declared his position two years before. The epoch-making studies of Weismann were still to be made known. Mendel's experiments, performed a decade previously, had been announced and ignored. Even yet, all that has been achieved during the last generation in promoting the knowledge of biological principles of inheritance has left us, as regards human beings, deep in doubt how to distinguish results of the determining forces of example and tradition from the original qualities determined before birth. It is not surprising, then, that Dugdale should have made but stumbling progress in many of his deductions. What is surprising and admirable in his work is his own consciousness of the limitations of his method, and his rare merit of caution in drawing conclusions, combined with earnest zeal in bringing forward all the evidence he could accumulate. "Tentative Inductions" is regularly the phrase with which he heads his inferences. Many of these inductions-as, for example, those dealing with the sex-proportion of illegitimate and legitimate children— are contrary to the evidence of more comprehensive studies. The inadequacy which here may be supposed to result from the limited data at his disposal doubtless may invalidate in similar degree his other conclusions. Yet much of significance remains. We are today increasingly inclined to believe that pauperism is the slow product of exhaustion by inbreeding, debauchery, and disease. The hypothesis that crime mostly springs from unions between vitiated and vigorous stocks is an interesting guide to further investigation. "The tendency of inheritance is to produce an environment," in terms of parental example, which intensifies the effects of heredity, even though it may not "perpetuate" the inheritance itself. And though we question the views implied in Dugdale's conception of "heredity itself as an organized result of invariable environment," on account of his manifest belief in the strong hereditary effect of acquired modifications, we must agree with Professor Giddings' statement of the main conclusion to which the book leads: "If bad personal antecedents are reinforced by neglect, indecent domestic arrangements, isolation from the disturbing and stimulating influences of a vigorous civilization, and, above all, if evil example is forced upon the child from his earliest infancy, the product will inevitably be an extraordinary high percentage of pauperism, vice, and crime." On account of its historical importance and its lasting merit we welcome the book again. JAMES A. FIELD A Report on the Taxation and Revenue System of Illinois. Prepared for the Special Tax Commission of the State of Illinois. By JOHN A. FAIRLIE. Danville: Illinois Printing Co., 1910. 8vo, pp. xv+255. In answer to a widespread demand for revision of the state-tax system the General Assembly of Illinois, in 1909, authorized the governor to appoint a special commission to investigate and report on the working of the revenue laws and to suggest changes in the method of taxation now employed. The report of this commission included, besides the formal findings and recommendations, additional information compiled by experts. The volume under consideration was prepared by Professor Fairlie in this connection. The work is of the nature of a handbook, designed primarily for the use of the members of the general assembly, and must prove a valuable aid in reconstructing the state-tax system, should such a course be decided upon. natural consequence of the purpose of the work, the explanations are often very As a |