provisions therefore, in comparison with such provisions in twenty-nine other cities, together with recommendations as to the best form in which such training may be given in the public-school system of Chicago."

The committee sought by its recommendations to present a complete scheme which would meet the situation in the city of Chicago today rather than to organize an ideally perfect plan which might ultimately be adopted. It stated that the recommendations were based on a classification of pupils with respect to their need for vocational training as follows:

1. Those who leave school in various grades below the high school. 2. Those who enter the high school but do not finish the course.

3. Those who complete the high-school course but do not enter college. 4. Those who finish the high school and enter college.

5. Those who are already at work in the industries.

The specific recommendations included the establishment of:

I.

1. Two-year elementary vocational schools open to boys and girls thirteen years of age who have had the equivalent of the training given in the first six grades.

2. Elementary industrial schools for over-aged children below grade seven. 3. Optional industrial and commercial courses in grades seven and eight open to pupils who have finished grade six, and leading to high school. 4. A trade school for boys, open to graduates of the vocational schools and others who have reached the age of sixteen.

5. A trade school for girls admitting graduates of the vocational schools and others who have reached the age of fourteen.

6. Apprentice schools.

7. The enactment of state legislation promoting day continuation schools. 8. Co-operation with employers to secure day continuation schools.

9. The enactment of legislation to raise the compulsory age limit.

10. Technical and trade courses in the high school.

11. Co-operative technical and trade courses in the high school.

12. Industrial courses for girls in the high school.

13. A central high school of commerce.

14. Improvement of the present commercial courses in high schools.

The necessity for action along the lines recommended is shown by a series of statistical studies relating to the early elimination of pupils from school; to over-aged and retarded pupils in the grades; and to the results of educational tests given to children between fourteen and sixteen years of age and not in school. These statistics reveal a state of affairs perfectly well understood by many students of public education

but wholly astounding to the average layman and they go far to substantiate the claim now so frequently made that our schools are failing lamentably with 50 per cent of the children and that modifications of, and additions to, the present school system are matters of vital social

concern.

A study was made of the interests and attitude of the employers and workmen of Chicago as represented by industrial establishments and by labor organizations. The report finds a large majority of manufacturers to be of the opinion that the organization of public schools devoted specifically to the instruction of future industrial workers and to the improvement of minors already employed would be an immense improvement to the school system and a decided advantage to the industrial interests of the city.

The investigation of the attitude of Chicago's labor unions indicates that they have a moderate interest in public trade education and a unanimity of opinion regarding the type of education desired and the principles by which industrial schools should be organized and controlled. It is sociologically significant that employers and employed are found to be in closer accord regarding this subject than almost any other in which capital and labor have a common interest.

The study relating to commercial education reveals the existence of problems somewhat analogous to those found in the industrial field. One important difference is noted, however the competition of private commercial schools. The report discusses at length the evil results of solicitation by these schools.

The report is remarkable for the breadth of the theoretical discussions of the general situation; for the definite and carefully collated facts as shown in the numerous charts and tables of statistics; and for the mass of concrete illustrative matter. The excellent descriptions given of the several schools visited in other cities are especially noteworthy for their suggestiveness and accuracy.

While the purpose of the report is primarily to improve conditions in Chicago, this fact does not detract from its general value but rather adds to its effectiveness, affording as it does, not only an unusually complete study of an important public question, but as well, a striking example of the effective socializing work of a citizens' organization.

FRANK M. Leavitt

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

The Negroes and Their Treatment in Virginia from 1865 to 1867. By JOHN PRESTON MCCONNELL, PH.D., Professor of History and Political Science in Emory and Henry College. Pulaski, Va.: B. D. Smith & Bros., 1910. Pp. 126.

The author undertook a very definite task and performed it with satisfactory results. He attempted "to note the essential features of that upheaval through which the Negroes passed in two years, from chattel slavery to full citizenship" in the Old Dominion state. Although the material is not exhaustive, it is convincing and one can scarcely read it without coming to the very conclusion that is so admirably expressed by the author:

It is seen that the relation of the whites and blacks was during that period about as cordial as could have been expected; that they were adapting themselves to their new conditions; that the feeling of confidence and good will between the two races, although temporarily shocked by the events attending emancipation, was reasserting itself during the first year following the close of the war; that the laws had been so amended and modified as to secure for the freedmen all the civil rights and the most important political rights enjoyed by the whites.

The reconstruction acts enfranchising the Negroes and the other federal legislation in their interest destroyed the confidence and good feeling that had existed between the two races and arrayed them in a bitter contest for the political control of the state. In the election of October, 1867, the Negroes and radicals were successful. Of the one hundred and five delegates elected to frame a constitution for the state seventy-two were radicals. Of this number twenty-five were Negroes. The blacks attained full civil and political equality but were unable to secure social equality. These struggles engendered political and racial passions and antipathies that have not subsided after a generation. THOMAS J. RILEY

Agricultural Education in the Public Schools, A Study of Its Development with Particular Reference to the Agencies Concerned. With an introduction by CHARLES HUBBARD JUDD dealing with the present conditions of agricultural education in the United States. By BENJAMIN MARSHALL DAVIS, Professor of Agricultural Education in Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. The University of Chicago Press, 1912. Pp. vii+163. $1.00. In this volume Dr. Davis has brought together much valuable information concerning all the more important agencies contributing to agricultural education in the United States, with special reference to

those agencies which are promoting it in the public schools. The agencies discussed in the several chapters include the following: the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Bureau of Education, state departments of education and state legislation, the agricultural colleges, the state normal schools, the National Education Association and other teachers' associations, educational periodicals, periodical literature, state organizations for agriculture, farmers' institutes, agricultural societies, boys' agricultural clubs, and textbooks.

Each of these agencies is considered with reference to what it has done and is now doing for agricultural education, and the information given is reliable and up to date. Considerable attention is given to recent state legislation on the subject, and to the work of the agricultural colleges and the state normal schools in preparing teachers of agriculture.

One chapter is devoted to the elementary and secondary schools— the need of redirection in the elementary schools, how agriculture is being introduced into these schools, and the various types of schools giving secondary instruction in agriculture.

Dr. Davis' book is entirely unlike any other that has been published. It will serve as a reliable compendium for those who want a reference book and as a valuable and interesting introductory textbook for students of agricultural education. For both of these purposes the annotated bibliography of over 200 references will be invaluable.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

D. J. CROSBY

Problems of Boy Life. By J. H. WHITEHOUSE, M.P. London: P. S. King & Son, 1912. Pp. viii+342. 10s. 6d.

This book is a compilation of articles by a number of specialists, and confines itself largely to the problems of labor and education. In the earlier chapters it discusses the wide gap existing between the educational system and trade life. That this gap, plus the increasing subdivision of labor, the instability of industry, and the difficulty of controlling these factors, is reducing most labor to the level of common unskilled labor is clearly shown. The writers discover that in England conditions are very much like those observed by investigators in the United States. They find, for example, that the average boy laborer tends to become an industrial nomad, that he enters the so-called "blind-alley" occupations, gropes about in them for some time, and then becomes the victim of unemployment and frequently loses interest in work altogether.

It is especially shown that many displacements occur in the early industrial life of the young man because he is inadequately trained for work. The disadvantages or doubtful value of the messenger service, the street trades, and of work as errand boys, pages, etc., are boldly pronounced, and reform demanded. Such reform should begin with the elementary school. Half-time labor should be abolished, and the age of total exemption from school attendance be raised. This, at the present time, is only 13-lower by a year than in most progressive American states. A plea is also made for the supervision of children after they leave school, and a program of vocational guidance is advocated. The Munich system of education, as worked out by Dr. Kerschensteiner, is given an entire chapter, and complimented because of its success in preparing children for their subsequent industrial life.

In the middle of the book we find a chapter on "The Boy Criminal," which, while valuable as an independent chapter, is not closely related to the remainder of the book, and somewhat destroys its unity. The later chapters deal with measures of reform, "The Poor Law" and the "Administration of Child Care by the Board of Guardians," which are criticized because of relative inefficiency. Emphasis, however, is placed upon the new program in the public schools. The writers advocate the use of the schools for social service as well as education. They want children's care committees which would interest themselves in the welfare of children, would persuade parents to follow the advice of school nurses, would discover necessitous children and report them, and would advise children in respect to their after-employment-that is, furnish vocational guidance. In these respects the program outlined is quite as advanced as any so far suggested by American writers for the American schools. It is further suggested that the public schools be impregnated with university influence instead of continually carrying the tradition of the public school. This idea is developed in a chapter entitled "Cross-Fertilization in Schools." Another great menace which must be overcome is the development of class spirit and the increasing social stratification. Democracy can be promoted through the public schools and men must ever be on the alert to use them in such a way that the breaking-down of caste can actually be accomplished, for upon this fact largely rests the possibility of social progress.

The last two chapters deal respectively with parliamentary inquiries into the problems of boy life, and compulsory attendance laws in various countries. These chapters should really be regarded as appendices, the former being especially valuable because of its summaries of the results