To the lay mind, statistics of exports and imports seem even more mendacious than ordinary statistics. It is decidedly annoying to find that the American figures for exports to England seem to be quite independent of the English figures for imports from America; and though this fact may in part be traced to its cause in differences of bookkeeping, other difficulties not less vexatious are constantly arising. Dr. Gustav Lippert in his monograph Über die Vergleichbarkeit der Werte von internationalen Waren-Übertragungen (Wien und Leipzig, Wilhelm Braumüller, 1903; 188 pp.), attempts to show that in spite of appearances, most of the discrepancies in valuation may be explained away. While it can not be said that Dr. Lippert has cleared up the subject completely, nevertheless his work is of distinct value to the student of commercial statistics.

The present controversy in Great Britain makes especially timely the appearance of Free Trade and other Fundamental Doctrines of the Manchester School edited and with an introduction by Mr. Francis W. Hearst (Harpers). The book of over 500 pages contains the most important speeches and essays of Cobden, Bright, Hume, Fox and their leading followers. The five divisions treat respectively of England, Ireland and America; the Corn Laws and Free Trade; Wars and Armaments; Colonial and Fiscal Policy, and Social Reform. It will be found a convenient handbook of information.

An important contribution to the literature of Chamberlainism is Mr. J. W. Root's Trade Relations of the British Empire (Liverpool, J. W. Root, 1903; 431 pp.). Mr. Root begins with a very intelligent discussion of the geographic and economic conditions prerequisite to a satisfactory customs union, and concludes that the British Empire does not present such conditions. Then he enters upon a statistical analysis of the trade of Great Britain with her chief colonies and attempts to indicate the possibility of radical changes under a system of preferential duties. A careful comparison is drawn between the foreign and the colonial trade, and the point is made that the former is so essential to British welfare that it is dangerous to place impediments in its way. While not a dogmatic free trader, Mr. Root is very decided in his view that Mr. Chamberlain's plan promises ill for both the colonies and the mother country.

A modest contribution to the literature on the same subject is M. Georges Blondel's La Politique protectioniste en Angleterre (Paris, Victor Lecoffre, 1904; xv, 161 pp.). Two-thirds of the essay is devoted to a statement of Mr. Chamberlain's position, with the arguments of his supporters and opponents. In the opinion of M. Blondel, the

policy will in the end be injurious to England; he believes, nevertheless, that the chances favor its adoption. In the last third of the essay M. Blondel discusses the probable effect upon France of the adoption of a protectionist policy by England. France is certain to be injured by such a change in British commercial policy. Retaliation being out of the question, France can seek to reinvigorate her industrial life only through a radical change in the educational system and through the adoption of forms of industrial organization similar to those of Germany.

Another essay by the same author merits at least a cursory examination. This essay, entitled La France et le marché du monde (Paris, L. Larose, 1901; 164 pp.), contrasts the position of France with that of her chief competitors, and attempts to account for the relative decline of France in commerce and industry. M. Blondel regards the low birth-rate as the principal cause of the loss of national prestige in economics as in politics. What France lacks most is competent leadership; and the small family is not likely to furnish men possessed of self-reliance and initiative. Other important causes mentioned are the lack of adequate transportation facilities, incapacity for organization (misnamed "individualism" by the author) and an unpractical system of education and unpractical social ideals.

Professor Karl Kaerger's Landwirtschaft und Kolonisation im spanischen Amerika (Leipzig, Duncker & Humblot, 1901; 2 vols., 939, 743 pp.), offers a vast mass of information on the agricultural resources of South America. Dr. Kaerger was agricultural expert with the German legation at Buenos Aires, and consequently had excellent opportunity for observation of South American methods of production. A careful perusal of this work will strengthen the belief that if ever Argentina succeeds in securing a good supply of efficient labor, she will become a most formidable competitor in the wheat and livestock markets of the world.

By a curious coincidence two books on the economics of wheat with almost the same title, and yet written in an entirely different way, have recently been published simultaneously in France and the United States. The French work, by Edouard Huet, is entitled Le Grain de blé, d'où vient-il, où va-t-il, (Paris, Guillaumin). The American work, by William C. Edgar, is called The Story of a Grain of Wheat (Appletons). M. Huet's book discusses in the first part the cultivation of wheat, and takes up in a second part, the French legislation in its relations to wheat culture and wheat trade. Mr. Edgar's book is more popularly written, and contains a somewhat wider survey of facts from

an international point of view although especially interesting for its clear account of American methods of production and transportation. Each work will usefully supplement the other.

The third volume of the Handbuch der Wirtschaftskunde Deutschlands (Leipzig, Teubner, 1904; xii, 1047 pp.) gives a succinct account of fifty-one of the principal industries of Germany. In the case of each industry, a sketch is given of recent development, technical and economic, and in many instances illuminating suggestions are made respecting probable future movements of the industry. The prevailing technical processes are carefully described, and estimates are given of the extent of the industry. Many pages are devoted to market conditions, and the causes of the prosperity or the decline of the several industries. The work will be of great value to American students who seek to obtain an intelligent view of the resources and potentialities of America's most formidable competitor in the world market.

In his Gold Bricks of Speculation (Chicago, Lincoln Book Concern, 1904) Mr. John Hill, Jr., member of the Chicago Board of Trade, very laudably endeavors to acquaint the public with the devices and villainies of those most audacious and slippery scoundrels, the operators of bucket-shops. Mr. Hill, in behalf of the Board of Trade, engaged in a vigorous warfare to put a stop to the swindling operations of the bucketshops, against which he bears a grudge, since not only do they plunder their victims but they also bring legitimate speculation into disrepute, and tend to depress prices of agricultural products through the diversion of capital that would otherwise find an outlet in bona fide transactions. The latter part of the volume is devoted to a defense of legitimate exchanges and an explanation of their methods. The book is written in a breezy style, and should appeal to a wide circle of readers, of whom all will be enlightened by it and some may be preserved from the pitfalls of the form of gambling against which it is directed.

There is no surer indication of the increasing interest taken in economics than the multiplication of text-books that is now in progress. Professor Flux's Economic Principles: An Introductory Study (London, Methuen & Company, 1904; 324 pp.) is a work true to the best traditions of English economics. The topics treated in his eighteen chapters value, distribution, money, international trade and its regulation and taxation are those to which English economists since Adam Smith have devoted greatest attention. Like the English masters, too, in discussing these topics, the author has a marked predilection for the a priori method. While the scope and method of his

work are thus reminiscent of a book like Ricardo's Principles, its contents show thorough familiarity with the best contemporary thought. In the chapters on distribution, the influence not only of Marshall, to whom the author acknowledges special indebtedness, but also of Clark and Böhm-Bawerk, is clearly evident. But here as throughout, the author has not so much appropriated as assimilated the contributions of others. His treatment is distinctly his own and all the better because judiciously articulated with the work of other economists. The book, as the title indicates, is introductory rather than elementary. It seems intended for mature students entering on a graded course in economics, and should prove well adapted for this purpose.

Among recent text-books on economics none is written in a more interesting style or shows a deeper sympathy with the social movements of the day than that of the French economist, Professor Charles Gide. The second American edition of this work, Principles of Political Economy (Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1904; pp. 705), translated and edited by Professor C. William A. Veditz of Bates College is a distinct improvement over the first. Not only has the editor substituted copious American notes and illustrations for those of the French original, but he has added whole new sections (e.g. on the tariff history of the United States, on American banking experience, etc.) and expanded considerably chapters in the books on Distribution and Consumption. Except as regards the labor and the monopoly problems, the work is now thoroughly modern and up-to-date. It may be recommended to teachers who prefer an encyclopædic treatment of economics to a text in which the theoretic leaning of the author is a prominent feature.

Professors Ely and Wicker are the joint authors of an Elementary Principles of Economics (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1904; pp. 388), which compares favorably with other text-books adapted to the needs of students in the secondary schools. The material which it contains is drawn for the most part from Professor Ely's larger Outlines of Economics, but in the order of its presentation, the proportionate space allotted to different topics, and the simplicity and clearness of its style, the new work is decidedly superior. It should serve to lighten somewhat the burden now imposed upon teachers of economics in the commercial high schools of the country.

Professor Schmoller has reprinted his well-known work, Über einige Grundfragen der Sozialpolitik und der Volkswirtschaftslehre (Leipzig, Duncker und Humblot, 1904; 393 pp.). Along with the three essays reprinted in the first edition, he has included his valuable paper on "Die Gerechtigkeit in der Volkswirtschaft," first published in 1881.

The two leading Italian economists have enriched the permanent literature of the science by collecting in book form a number of essays written during the past quarter of a century. Professor Loria's book is entitled Verso La Guistizia Sociale (Milano, Societa Editrice Libreria), a portly volume of almost 600 pages, divided into three parts, containing respectively his critical, his economic and his sociological essays. Professor Pantaleoni's book is entitled Scritti Varii de Economia (Milano, Reino Sandron). It includes essays on finance, on economic psychology, and on the history of economic theory. These volumes will be welcomed by the many admirers of the distinguished Italians, some of whose works are familiar to American readers through translations.

The well known work by Noyes on American Socialism was published about thirty-five years ago. It is eighteen years since Professor Ely again treated the subject in his Labor Movement. In view of the fact that the last two decades have witnessed so great a development of socialism, the time had obviously come for an attempt to bring the treatment down to date. Mr. Morris Hilquit, a New York socialist, has endeavored to do this under the title, History of Socialism in the United States (Funk & Wagnalls Co.). The first part, entitled Early socialism, adds practically nothing to our knowledge. In the account of the modern movement, however, the chapter on the ante-bellum period gives an interesting sketch of the German socialists. After a rather slight presentation of the period of organization, which is declared to have lasted to the middle of the 70's, the work deals primarily with the socialistic labor party and present day socialism. The author has eschewed all scientific apparatus, such as notes and references, allusions to sources, so that the usefulness of the book to the serious student will be comparatively small. As a running comment, however, on recent socialism, written largely from the inside, the work will have its undoubted place.

A stupendous work has recently been undertaken under the auspices of the International Institute of Bibliography. This is nothing less than an annual classified list of all publications in economics. The first volume containing the works for the year 1902 has appeared under the name of Bibliographia Economia Universalis. The title page states that it is published by Professor Mandello of the faculty of law at Pozsony and edited by Ervin Szabo, librarian of the chamber of commerce of Buda-Pesth. It contains 170 pages, printed, however, only on one side of the leaf, which makes it very convenient for annotations and additions. The economic bibliography is the tenth in the