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ment of product.

It seems tolerably clear that the scheme of classifying stock

holders could not work.

The book closes with suggestive chapters on the political, scientific, and ethical aspects of socialism. In spite of exaggerations and daring jumps of logic, and of the fact that the practicability of some of the constructive program is open to serious question, few readers will be able to read through the book and come out as strong individualists as they went in. It is a book that needs critical reading, but it needs to be read, especially by those who are in position to criticize it.

OBERLIN College

A. B. WOLFE

The Social Direction of Human Evolution. By WILLIAM E. KELLICOTT. New York: Appleton, 1911. 8vo, pp. xii+249. $1.50 net. Eugenics is just now in the perilous stage of popularization. The halfcentury of public apathy encountered by Galton's early views on the inheritance of ability has been succeeded by a sudden avidity for information concerning this new social science and a sudden enthusiasm to apply the science at once in the service of social reform. With corresponding suddenness has come an inundation of popular articles, and latterly of books, designed to acquaint the populace with the exuberant hopes or the limited knowledge which the eugenics movement thus far has brought forth.

The book at present under review is the latest of those which have been written to provide a general statement of eugenic principles. The author claims for it neither originality nor exhaustiveness. He has merely brought together what he believes to be the salient facts, principles, and policies which eugenic investigation has determined, and arranged them briefly under three heads: I, The Sources and Aims of the Science of Eugenics; II, The Biological Foundations of Eugenics; and III, Human Heredity and the Eugenic Program. Of these divisions the first is of relatively slight importance. Professor Kellicott is a biologist. Naturally enough, therefore, the biological aspects of the study reveal his best work.

The treatment of heredity is especially interesting. It is frankly eclectic. Continuous variation, normal frequency, and the "actuarial method" of study which Galton devised and which Pearson has done so much to develop are contrasted with the principles of heredity as interpreted by the Mendelians. The Mendelian formulation, because of its more exact and definite character, is adjudged much the more important. On the other hand, the actuarial method is held substantially valid to show statistically the preponderance of effects which in their individual detail Mendelian analysis has as yet failed to reveal. By this interpretation the author permits himself to utilize conclusions reached by investigators of both schools. One may question the scientific adequacy of such a reconciliation. But as a popular account of heredity, necessarily very much simplified and generalized, Professor Kellicott's presentation is more than ordinarily successful. In particular it gains lucidity and interest from an abundance of genealogical diagrams, which admirably illustrate the persistence of certain defects in human families.

Other excellences of the book may be selected for mention. The sources from which its materials are derived have been well chosen. The result is representative of the status and the direction of eugenic study today. Nor have we here a mere compilation of unassimilated facts and opinions. Almost always the treatment is well considered and well organized. Sometimes it is dull. The discussion of variation might prove heavy reading to the layman who could not foresee its relation to other topics which follow. On the other hand, the rather forbidding statistical method of correlation, so conspicuous in recent eugenic work, is made interesting by the apt example of Heron's researches into the correlation between the London birthrate and conditions of income, overcrowding, pauperism, and disease. The menace of such differential increase—the relative infertility of the educated, well-to-do, and presumably abler elements in the population-is sanely set forth. And when the time comes to discuss the program of practical eugenics, the emphaIsis is wisely placed on negative aspects of racial improvement-the removal of obstacles to the increase of superior stocks, and the restriction of increase where there is clear evidence of inferiority in the form of hereditary defect.

But eugenics involves, in addition to its biologic facts, a social philosophy which Professor Kellicott, like other writers on eugenics, has neglected. What is this human improvement toward which we are to work? Can selection suffice to make all persons superior, or do we fall into fallacy when we think of securing to everyone the advantages now enjoyed by the exceptional individual? Doubtless the race as a whole might benefit by a continued increase of power to control and adapt its non-human surroundings. Similarly a general gain in health and a reduced prevalence of disease may perhaps be hoped for in so far as health is a matter of inherent harmoniousness of physical constitution, and not of the circumstances with which the member of a competitive society is forced to contend. Yet much individual betterment is necessarily procured at the cost of a compensating loss of advantage by someone else. The invidious element in our social life-the satisfaction of comparative well-being and the tribute to comparative ability-must not be forgotten in plans of reform. The uncritical eugenist is pleased to think too solely of quality-too little of equality and inequality. He misses the meaning of Henry George's somber conviction that the naked savage of Tierra del Fuego is more to be envied than the man forced to the lowest level in-and by--the civilization of England. No social reform can bring about a general improvement of men's positions relative to the positions of their fellow-men. And though such grim truisms may seem unnecessary in a brief treatise on eugenics, they are not irrelevant. It is regrettable that those who concern themselves with the mechanism of eugenics should be so little concerned to investigate the assumptions on which the eugenic ideal rests.

On the whole, however, this particular work merits real commendation. It is simple and sane; without hue and cry of emotionalism, but not without its own strong appeal. Beyond much doubt it is the best outline of the subject of eugenics which any one book now offers to the intelligent novice.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

JAMES A. FIELD

The Story of Sugar. By GEORGE THOMAS SURFACE. Illustrated. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1910. 8vo, pp. xiv+238. $1.00.

The author has presented considerable valuable information, both of a technical and historical nature, concerning the sugar industry. After a general account of its beginnings there is given the more recent development of the industry in the different countries, the sugar-cane and the sugar-beet industries being treated separately. A portion of the work is devoted to the different cane and beet products, and their importance in the industrial and commercial world. This is followed by a historical account of sugar refineries in the United States, together with the development of the sugar trust. The conclusion is a discussion of the future of the industry. The material has been so presented as to appeal primarily to the general reader. It appears to be chiefly based on secondary sources and there is little serious attempt at original investigation of either the historical significance of the industry or the present-day economic problems involved.

The People's Progress. By FRANK IRESON, B.A. London: John Murray, 1910. 8vo, pp. vi+159. 2s. 6d.

This volume is intended as a refutation of some socialistic arguments in favor of government ownership of capital goods. It consists of two parts. In Part I, under the general caption of "The Distribution of Income," an attempt is made to defend the present method of distribution. In Part II, dealing with the "Rewards of Capital," the "labor theory of value" is attacked. The author makes extensive but rather uncritical use of tables, diagrams, and statistics from various sources in support of his statements. The general conclusion of the book is to the effect that socialism is impracticable and, if forced upon society, it will prove destructive of society as a whole.

Industrial Accidents and Their Compensation. By G. L. CAMPBELL, B.S. Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin Co., 1911. 4to, pp. xii+105. $1.00 net. Industrial Accidents and Their Compensation is the seventh of a series of Hart, Schaffner & Marx prize essays in economics. After a brief consideration of the social cost of industrial accidents, the author reviews the efforts being made by various agencies partially to compensate the victims or their dependents and to secure an equitable distribution of the resulting charge. An outline of the present status of "Employers' Liability in the United States" is followed by a chapter on "Employers' Liability Insurance," and leads up to the author's conclusions as to needed reforms in the legal liability of employers, and in the compensation of the victims of industrial accidents. Mr. Campbell believes that the common law of liability is no longer applicable to modern conditions, and he classes its doctrines as "archaic legal dogmas." Although the presentation of the subject is limited in scope, the original investigation having largely been confined to one locality, and while, on account of its brevity, the treatment is necessarily general, yet the book reflects fairly well the modern view of industrial accidents as risque professionel, and the belief that compensation for such should be counted as part of the necessary cost of production in each

particular industry. It is believed that the author has realized his hope: "that its very brevity will commend this little book to many persons who, lacking the time for consulting a large number of public reports and other sources, desire a general knowledge of the problem presented."

Socialism and Christianity. By P. S. GRANT. New York: Brentano's, 1910. 8vo, pp. viii+203.

This little volume consists of a number of more or less disconnected essays upon a few of the popular questions of the day.

In the first essay, which gives the title to the book, the author criticizes socialism on the ground of its being irreligious, grossly materialistic, and altogether opposed to Christianity. He fails, however, to give the reader any adequate definition of socialism or Christianity, which seems to be indispensable to validate the argument. In the essay entitled "Divorce and the Family," the author ascribes the increasing number of divorces in this country to purely economic causes. "Divorce," he says, "is a noxious growth accompanying the social decay which riches induce." In the discussion, "How to Help the Negro," there are evinced many points of a belated evolutionary doctrine. As for example: "The black race, compared with the white, is biologically inferior" (p. 139). "Are the Rich Responsible for New York's Vice and Crime?" is essentially an attempt to fix the responsibility for crime upon riches. Here again is an instance in which a social phenomenon is explained solely upon an economic basis. "What the Working Men Want," "Children's Street Games," "Workingmen and the Church" are some of the other titles in the book. The treatment given these subjects is popular and lacks true scientific basis.

Industrial Accidents and Employers' Liability in Minnesota. By Don D. LESCOHIER. Part II of the Twelfth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor, Industries and Commerce of the State of Minnesota, 1909-10. St. Paul: W. E. McEwen, Labor Commissioner, 1910.

This report gives a very comprehensive statement of the situation regarding industrial accidents in Minnesota. By means of charts and figures the writer shows the number of industrial accidents in all the industries of the state, the proportion of the accidents in the different industries of the state, the nature and causes of the accidents, the time of day in which the greater number of accidents occur, and the age of the individuals injured. The first four chapters of the report are a study of the accidents from the point of view of compensation. In these chapters the number, nature, and causes of the accidents are studied in relation to the rules and the actual workings of the law, which is supposed to provide for the compensation of the injured workers. In chaps. v-xiv, the point of view is principally that of prevention. Particular industries are studied with a view to finding possible means of preventing accidents.

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"THE RISING TIDE OF SOCIALISM”: A STUDY

I

In the spring of 1910 the Socialist party of America won its first considerable political victory. One year later the followers of the red flag claimed successes in thirty-three states and in nearly two hundred municipalities; and at a national conference of Socialist mayors and aldermen held recently, the boast was made that more than five hundred representatives of the faith had been elected to office in the legislatures and local corporations of the United States.

This sudden advent of so large a body of office-holders, representing a wide range of territory and locality, coming as it does in a period of comparative industrial and political normality, strongly suggests the speedy rise of the Socialist party and the Socialist creed to a position of permanent consequence in the United States.

The Socialists themselves have, of course, made the most of this suggestion. Socialism must hereafter be reckoned with in America as a great political force. Their opponents, however, have remained unconvinced. These victories are merely the result of a train of fortuitous circumstances. Socialism still has no chance to root in American soil.

The bare fact of these successes, it is evident, proves little. Socialism of some sort has apparently become of considerable

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