fundamental doctrines of modern economics. Clearness of ideas, a well-known characteristic of the author, makes the book invalu'able to the intelligent layman and to the teacher of elementary economics. In this respect it differs notably from most works which attempt a condensation of economic teaching. Brevity is attained by omitting outlying portions of the subject, and rigorously excluding controversial matter. What is left forms a compact but substantial treatise. Although the author does not parade the original portions of his book, it is not a mere compilation or summary, but the work of one who has his own independent point of view. The usual division of subject matter is abandoned. The book consists of three parts, viz., "General material welfare," or "the unchanging laws of political economy," "Individual welfare under private property," and "The promotion of material welfare by the State." Especially instructive are the portions which treat of capital ("stock of useful material objects"), of "material services" of wealth, of the comparison of incomes, and of the theory of in terest. I. F. How far has the progress of events modified the objections raised in past times to the practice of taking interest? (Oxford University Cobden Prize Essay for 1896). By Percy F. Rowland. Sydney, McCarron, 1897, 29 pp. This interesting essay is based on the "Capital and Interest" and "Positive Theory of Capital" of Böhm-Bawerk. It passes in review the scriptural, Greek, mediæval and socialistic objections to interest, and answers them by means of Böhm-Bawerk's theory that interest, being an agio on present over future goods, is inevitable so long as mankind prefers immediate to deferred pleasures. Replying to Marx and Rodbertus, who contend that labor is the sole source of value, and that the laborer should be paid the total value of his product with no deduction for interest, the author pertinently asks "Was the laborer to receive in the present the entire present value of his work, or in the future the entire future value of his work? Either of these positions is tenable, but Rodbertus and his followers usually write as if the laborer was to receive in the present the future value of his work." But while maintaining that interest is inevitable and therefore justifiable, the author is inclined to admit that, prior to modern industrialism, when the borrower was usually very poor and the lender very rich, there was real ground for the charge of extortion. Even to-day "the 'sixty per center' still exists, and retains his ancient characteristics. Say what we will, the money lender is not an amiable person." Pursuing this sentiment, the author allows it to get the better of his judgment. He is certainly misstating authoritative opinion when he asserts that "Ruskin is no longer thought fantastic for teaching that a man who knowingly deals at a shop where murderous wages are paid is a virtual murderer." It is not shown how a falling off of demand for the wares of a shop-keeper is to have any other effect than to decrease the "murderous wages" or throw the workmen out of employment. I. F. BOOKS RECEIVED. American Orations, edited by A. J. JOHNSTON; re-edited by J. A. WOODBurn. 2 vols. N. Y., G. P. Putnam's Sons. Annual Literary Index, edited by W. I. FLETCHER and R. R. BOWKER. N. Y., Publisher's Weekly. BOUGHTON, W. History of Ancient Peoples. N. Y., G. P. Putnam's Sons. BOURINOT, J. G. The Story of Canada. (Story of the Nations Series.) N. Y., G. P. Putnam's Sons. BROWN, ALICE. ner's Sons. Women of Colonial and Revolutionary Times. N. Y., C. Scrib DAYTON, A. C. The Last Days of Knickerbocker Life in New York. N. Y., G. P. Putnam's Sons. FRASER, R. W. British India. (Story of the Nations Series.) N. Y., G. P. Put nam's Sons. GIDDINGS, F. H. GOODNOW, F. J. GIBBINS, H. DE B. & Co. The Theory of Socialization. N. Y., Macmillan & Co. Municipal Problems. N. Y., Macmillan & Co. History of Commerce in Europe. London & N. Y., Macmillan HALE, W. B. The New Obedience: A Plea for Social Submission to Christ. N. Y., Longmans, Green & Co. HOLM, ADOLF. The History of Greece. Vol. III (translated from the German). London & N. Y., The Macmillan Co. KEASBEY, L. M. The Nicaragua Canal and the Monroe Doctrine. N. Y., G. P. Putnam's Sons. LANG, ANDREW. Pickle the Spy: The Incognito of Prince Charles. London & N. Y., Longmans, Green & Co. MACY, JESSE. The English Constitution. N. Y., The Macmillan Co. MAITLAND, F. W. Domesday Book and Beyond. Three Essays in the Early History of England. Boston, Little, Brown & Co. MAXWELL, SIR H. Robert the Bruce. (Heroes of the Nations Series.) N. Y., G. P. Putnam's Sons. MILLER, W. The Balkans. (Story of the Nations Series.) N. Y., G. P. Putnam's Sons. MITCHELL, DONALD G. American Lands and Letters. N. Y., C. Scribner's Sons. Official Handbook, Independent Order, Knights of Labor. Tiffin, O., C. R. Martin. PELLEGRINI, PIETRO. I disiderati e i loro diritti. Borgo a Mozzano, N. Vannini. PALGRAVE, R. H. I. Dictionary of Political Economy, vol. II. F-M. London & N. Y., The Macmillan Co. POULTON, E. B. Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection. N. Y., Macmillan & Co. Report on Contracts given out by Public Authority to Associations of Workmen. London, Eyre & Spottiswoode. Report on Public Baths and Public Comfort Stations, by the Mayor's Committee of New York City. RICHARDSON, O. H. The National Movement in the Reign of Henry III, and its Culmination in the Barons' War. N. Y., Macmillan & Co. SMYTH, NEWMAN. The Place of Death in Evolution. N. Y., C. Scribner's Sons. Third Annual Report on Changes in Wages and Hours of Labour in the United Kingdom. (Board of Trade, Labour Department.) London, Eyre & Spottiswoode. The Revolutionary Tendencies of the Age: Their Cause and Their Ultimate Aim. N. Y., G. P. Putnam's Sons. TSOUNTAS, C, and MANATT, J. I. The Mycenean Age. Boston & N. Y., Houghton, Mifflin & Co. WATT, W. A. The Theory of Contract in its Social Light. Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark; N. Y., C. Scribner's Sons. Zeller's Aristotle, translated by B. F. C. Castelloe and J. H. Muirhead. 2 vols. N. Y., Longmans, Green & Co. POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. Prospectus for 1897. URING the last few years science has been unusually fruitful in important and striking discoveries. Helium and argon, the electric furnace, and the X-ray are but a few of the more startling results in the physical sciences. Similarly important if less sensational advances are being made in the fields of medicine and sanitation. Students of society and politics are coming to see the necessity for a scientific study of sociology, if we are to cope successfully with the increasing difficulties of modern civilization. We have always insisted that such a study was the only one which promised any satisfactory solution of social problems, and that many of society's worst evils were due simply to ignorance of elementary scientific principles. It is very gratifying to observe the unmistakable signs of a growing acceptance of this view that have become manifest during recent years. In our issues for 1897 we shall endeavor, as heretofore, to help on this movement by giving to the general public month by month a summary, in simple words, of what is going on in the various fields of scientific research, and of the applications of the principles thus worked out. Among the features of special interest will be a series of papers by Prof. WILLIAM Z. RIPLEY, on the Racial Geography of Europe, the subject of the last course of Lowell lectures delivered by him. The articles will be freely illustrated. DAVID A. WELLS'S interesting papers on Taxation will continue, and there will be a series of carefully prepared illustrated articles on science at the universities, which is to include accounts of the leading scientific institutions and societies of the country. Education and child psychology will be given considerable space, and sanitary questions, especially in connection with household economy, will receive attention. Timely single articles may be expected from our usual contributors, among whom may be named ANDREW D. WHITE, WILLIAM T. LUSK, M. D., T. MITCHELL PRUDDEN, M.D. 50 Cents a number. $5.00 per annum. D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, NEW YORK. |