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country pure and simple. Incidentally some valuable information is given in regard to economic conditions in Ireland at a period subsequent to the writing of the Political Anatomy.

With Petty's writings is also included the Observations upon the Bills of Mortality which, after a careful analysis of the evidence is, rightly it seems to us, attributed to Graunt, although it may well be that Petty had some share in the work as adviser, and it is not improbable, as Professor Hull hints, that he may even have added certain paragraphs, particularly the conclusion, by way of enibellishment. That the editor's conclusion on the question of authorship did not lead him to omit the Observations is a matter for congratulation, since it constitutes certainly not the least valuable portion of the volumes, and, aside from the real value of the material it contains, must always have great interest for students as furnishing one of the starting points of the modern science of

statistics.

With the exception of the Treatise of Ireland, the most authentic printed editions have been used as the basis of the present reprints, but in the case of writings of which manuscript copies exist (and in several cases there are manuscript copies corrected by Petty himself), the points of difference between the printed and the manuscript copy are pointed out. Professor Hull has performed his work with great thoroughness and, there is every reason to believe, with great accuracy. He has, furthermore, shown sound judgment in what he has left undone as well as in what he has done. He has made no attempt to estimate the value of Petty's work from the standpoint of economic theory. Such an attempt, he truly says, would involve asking what Petty "thought about problems concerning which it never occurred to him to think at all." With the possible exception of the Quantulumcunque concerning Money, in which Petty shows a very clear understanding of many points in the theory of money, his thoughts on questions of economic theory are scattered, not worked out, and form no organic part of the arguments in connection with which they occur. He was a man with keen powers of observation in economic matters, with a talent for estimates and calculations in terms of "number, weight and measure," and a deep interest in practical questions of public policy. If we are to make comparisons with modern writers, it would be much. more true to speak of him as the Mulhall, the Atkinson, or possibly the Wells, than as the Adam Smith, of the seventeenth century. He showed more breadth of view, more liberal tendencies, and a

truer insight into economic conditions than did most of his contemporaries, and in opposition to the pessimism so common at the time in regard to England's industrial condition and prospects he displayed a vigorous optimism, maintaining not only that progress had been the rule, but also the opportunity for indefinite progress in the future if only wise policies were followed. The value of his work lies in the picture which it affords of the economic conditions (particularly in Ireland) and problems of the time and the manner in which they were approached by a keen observer and progressive and vigorous thinker, closely connected with public affairs, rather than in any contribution to economic theory.

In addition to the text the volumes contain a number of critical essays by the editor and abundant notes which not only throw light on the text but constitute an important contribution towards a clear understanding and right estimate of the character and value of the work of the two authors. Professor Hull has earned the gratitude of students for his thorough performance of what must have been in many ways a very arduous task, and we can only hope that the financial results will be such as to justify others in doing a similar work for some of Petty's contemporaries.

Brown University.

HENRY B. GARDNER.

La Concentration des Forces Ouvrières dans l'Amérique du Nord. By Louis Vigouroux, professor d'économie politique à l'École speciale d'Architecture, avec une préface de M. Paul de Rousiers. Bibliothèque du Musée Social. Paris, Armand Colin et Cie, 1899 pp. xxvi, 362.

The Musée Social has undertaken, in accordance with the plans of its public-spirited founder, the late Comte de Chambrun, to study social conditions in various countries. This it has done in part by means of commissions of experts, sent out from headquarters to investigate and report upon the topic in question. One such commission, consisting of five gentlemen, visited England a few years ago in order to examine the trade-unions of that country and published a book on the subject in 1897. The present study, which forms a companion volume to Le Trade-unionisme en Angleterre is the work of a single author, but is preceded by an introduction from the pen of M. Paul de Rousiers, the head of the commission sent to England, who compares briefly the labor organizations in the two countries, and thus gives a certain unity to the two investigations.

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4 unalet gums of mons na ange mittemur, parnofor; ka venenca intercm f Laser vas narys iregis down to hef, be you dé me arrastat the Ced States. la voulu se you any té labor mens is inscribed mnder the souls of game wish I the epicyers, molecove bargaining www va ace Wile the author has produced a wwel alle vezary of the recent labor movement in the Geral "rman, safar been mismate that the publication of his mote wana kog vre man to have been modly delayed Thus it MAS HOLMENA, atletim to take advantage of the facts consat perhewe Lewer's important "D'Carrier Americain,” wel, you spared to 'wn as to lose the distinction which might have spa tres pecary of vélication. Much of the ground covered My Verona Vigorox has thus already been covered by Professor VATNA he chapters of his book devoted to labor organization. Bum dewch za złactory part of the whole study seems to us the short Magher Gewed to final conclusions. In reply to the question whether trade sons have improved the material and moral condibem of American working men, he says confidently; Oui, sans aucun Bat instead of proving his assertion, he expressly declines enter into the statistical and theoretical study absolutely necessary in order to justify any conclusions, one way or the other. In another torage in the same chapter, he suggests that the consumer will perbapa sametimes pay the cost of an understanding between organized labor and organized capital, and this seems to imply that in those ensen, at least, the higher wages attributed to the union are gained at the expense of the consumer, which usually means the laboring classes themselves. In that case the higher wages would be

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obtained by those who are organized at the expense of those who are not organized, and to speak of trade-unions causing the material improvement of the laborers as a whole would no longer be justified. This point is made, not in order to disprove the statement made by M. Vigouroux, but in order to show that the question of the exact economic benefit of trade-unions, though very positive views are expressed upon it, especially by those who are interested in the movement, is in reality one of the most complex in the range of applied economics, and that a scientific author should be careful not to make absolute statements on the subject unless he is prepared to marshal his proofs fully and in detail. The value of the book would also have been enhanced by more copious bibliographical notes and by an alphabetical index.

H. W. F.

The Elements of Public Finance, including The Monetary System of the United States. By W. M. Daniels, M.A., Professor of Political Economy in Princeton University. New York, H. Holt & Co., 1899-8vo, vii, 383 pp.

During the last dozen years there have been some notable contributions to the science of public finance by American economists. Some have with more or less success restated the general principles of the science as constructed by the European, especially the German, authorities; others have contributed to this department of applied economics an analysis of the fiscal legislation and operations of our own country. The book before us combines these two points of view. As far as it aims to present a philosophy of government revenue and expenditure, it does not represent an advance on former works. The third chapter, on taxation: its equitable distribution, for instance, contains the usual eclectic compilation of theories that have been offered to "justify" taxation. Similarly the treatment of theories of public expenditure is unsatisfactory. However, the author's handling of the difficult and abstruse subject of the incidence of taxation, and the bearing upon it of production under competitive or under monopoly conditions, is much more satisfactory and suggestive.

In the treatment of the concrete fiscal experiences of the United States the author is at his best. It is to such lines of investigation that American economists should turn with the assurance that their results will both enrich the literature of public finance and inciden

tally increase the popular interest in that important branch of economics. Professor Daniels has sketched in cutline, and sometimes in greater detall. the leading fiscal problems which our varied experience in the federal, State and city governments of the United States presents.

For instance, one chapter deals lucidly with federal budgetary legislation, which, in so many ways, epitomizes the difference between our methods of government and those of Europe. Then, again, our peculiar experiences in federal indirect taxation are made the subject of two interesting chapters, which note, especially, the mixture of protective and revenue motives in our tariff policy, the uncertainty of our customs revenue and the relatively important part the latter plays in our revenue system. It will be remembered that of all the important countries of the world, the United States and the other American republics stand first in their dependence upon their revenue from import duties. Then, our checkered career with the internal revenue system furnishes most attractive material for the study of indirect taxes, especially those on the consumption of spirits, the analysis of which made the late David A. Weils famous a generation ago.

The financial system of the State governments offers problems in the taxation, especially of personal property, peculiar to the United States, in which the taxation of corporate property seems destined to become the more or less exclusive concern of State legislation. In dealing with local and, in particular, with municipal taxation, the author is chiefly concerned with the valuation and taxation of real estate. The defects of the general property tax and its trend toward a real property tax are concisely and lucidly pointed out. It is to be regretted that this and the other peculiarly American fiscal problems are not elaborated. Much has been written about our antiquated property tax, but few writers analyse its true essence. As long as American cities are growing rapidly, the heavy municipal taxes we pay are an investment from which we expect returns in the shape of increased value of our land and houses. We are reconciled to the burden in the belief that we are anticipating, if not effecting, a rise in their value. The subject of municipal debts is also best approached from this standpoint. J. C. S.

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