To his task of making a critical analysis of the work of the Canadian Railway Commission, Dr. MacGibbon brings a clear understanding of the difficulties involved in shaping workable theories of rate making, an intimate acquaintance with the Canadian rate structure and a thorough knowledge of the factors which have been of compelling influence in making the rate structure what it is. His plan is simple. He classifies the rates investigated by the Commission into three main types: excessive rates, discriminative rates and rates inconsistent with wise public policy; and he shows by a discussion of the Commission's decisions what theories it has evolved in connection with each type of rate problem. His presentation is logical, his criticisms fair, his conclusions sound. His opinion of the Commission and its work is favorable, though he feels that in permitting the railroads a large measure of discretion in the adoption of discriminating rates and practices, it has failed to exercise the directing influence upon industrial development which it might have exercised with benefit to the Canadian public. T. W. VAN METRE.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.

The Development of Rates of Postage. An Historical and Analytical Study. By A. D. SMITH. London, George Allen and Unwin, Limited, 1917.-xii, 431 pp.

This is an important book. In a brief introduction, Herbert Samuel, formerly Postmaster General of Great Britain, says: "It is more comprehensive than any book on rates of postage yet published in the English language, or, I believe, in any other."

Everybody knows something about rates of postage. Every school boy knows about Rowland Hill and the great principle of penny postage. Knowing the facts, in part at least, and knowing the guiding principle, everybody feels entitled to an opinion. Hence, when Congress makes a change in the postage rates involving a new principle, or a new application of "the principle", such as was recently made in regard to postage rates on magazines, opinions spring Minerva-like from every head. This book affords a foundation for correcting those opinions.

Mr. Smith, among many bits of interesting postal history, reviews Rowland Hill's famous activities and brings out certain phases of his great reform that are not in the story as popularly told. He shows that Hill was casting about for the best way to reduce the revenues of the government in one of those rare periods when it had a surplus. He

regarded his reform, in part at least, as tax reduction. Again, the author shows that the chief feature of the reform, namely, one rate regardless of distance, rests on the "natural cost of conveying a letter " and on the fact that that cost even for long distances is so small as to be negligible. But, nevertheless, the principle does consider cost.

It seems to be often assumed that cost is negligible in all classes of postage rates. Yet it must be apparent that the cost of conveyance on long, sparsely populated rural routes and for larger bundles varies with distance. Hence, the penny-postage principle is applicable only within its proper limits. When extended, it requires support of other considerations. Among these are "the spread of learning", the "facilitation of trade", "equalization of living" and not a few others, which, when backed up by universal suffrage, are very potent. But "Sir Rowland Hill himself never contemplated that the principle was universally applicable to all matter sent by mail" (page 323).

One of the interesting things shown in the book is the constant tendency of postal bureaus to elevate cost into the chief determining factor and that not merely joint cost but separate cost. Against this stands the tendency of legislation to make rates for revenue's sake in all times of pressure.

The book covers postage rates in five countries: England, Canada, the United States, France and Germany. It covers the rates for letters, the rates for newspapers, the rates for parcels, minor rates (such as book-post, samples, commercial papers, post cards and printed matter for the blind), local rates and international rates. There is considerable historical matter and an especially interesting chapter on the analysis of cost; there is also an extensive bibliography.

Where so many views meet as in the determination of postage ratesviews political, social, economic and selfish-it is not to be expected that there will ever be agreement, and possibly the conclusions which the author sums up in a long chapter may not suit every one. They have, however, one decided merit. They are cold-blooded deductions from experience and facts. He frequently refers to "economic considerations", and to the "necessity for commercial balancing of cost and revenue". These it is certainly well to bear in mind so that departure from them may be deliberate and intentional, with a due regard to the consequences.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

CARL C. PLEHN.

The State Tax Commission. By HARLEY LEIST LUTZ. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1918.-ix, 673 pp.

The State Tax Commission by Professor Lutz is one of the most comprehensive and scientific books which has yet appeared in the general field of state and local taxation. For accuracy of statement, critical analysis of data, discriminating and well-balanced judgment and clear presentation, the work is a permanent contribution to the important field of public finance and should be of great value not only as a reference for students but also as a guide to the practical tax administrator. It is the type of substantial and scholarly book of which no adequate estimate can be made within the compass of the ordinary review.

Chapters i-iv, inclusive, trace the evolution of centralized administration from the local assessor through local boards of review, township, city and county, to the state board of equalization and assessment and finally the modern state tax department. If a more detailed historical study of the tax systems of the different states had been possible-and such a study is practicable only in the form of historical monographs for each state-the reviewer is of the opinion that relatively more space would be devoted to the local review board, particularly that of the county. The author very properly recognizes that whether assessors are elected locally or appointed centrally the first condition which "must be met" is "the establishment of an intermediate official between the tax commission and the local assessor (page 635). A critical study of the county supervision of local assessment is important in this connection. A mass of detailed facts along this line are presented in various chapters, which, in the reviewer's opinion, will, if carefully interpreted, be of great service in coördinating and thereby rendering more workable and efficient the administrative machinery of state and local assessment and taxation. The author, however, in these chapters gives a thorough and scientific statement of why some form of centralized assessment is developed in the different states. In a word, very proper emphasis is placed on the much-neglected subject of fiscal administration.

Chapters v-xviii, inclusive, are devoted to a critical study of the tax departments of Indiana, New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Michigan, West Virginia, Washington, Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon and Ohio followed by a brief survey of the tax commissions of certain eastern, southern and western states. Scholarly presentation is made of such important subjects as the income tax of Wisconsin, the gross

earnings tax in Minnesota, classified property taxes, the so-called principle of the separation of revenue sources, the ad valorem as contrasted with the gross earnings and other systems, the different methods of electing, appointing and removing from office of local assessors and finally the power and authority of state tax commissions. The tax commission is considered from the standpoint of review, the original assessment of certain classes of property and the more efficient supervision of local assessment, although the latter subject is worthy of an even more thorough study.

The conclusion is the only part of the work which, in the judgment of the reviewer, is somewhat inadequate and incomplete. Perhaps, however, the more extended synthesis of such important subjects as the state supervision of local assessment noted above which ought to be made, can more appropriately be presented in the form of articles contributed to standard economic journals. In a word, the great mass of facts so carefully sifted and analyzed can and should be interpreted in a more comprehensive manner by Professor Lutz. I have in mind such subjects as the general property tax and centralized administration, the state supervision of local assessment, and the local assessor. Articles on these subjects from the pen of Professor Lutz would be of great service, particularly to tax administrators.

IOWA STATE COLLEGE.

JOHN E. BRINDLEY.

The Science of Power. By BENJAMIN KIDD. With an Introduction by FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS. New York, G. P. Putnam's Son's, 1918. viii, 318 pp.

That ready vehicle for specious argument, the syllogistic form, has always been Mr. Kidd's favorite method. In his earlier book, Social Evolution, beneath astonishing and entertaining verbiage could be discerned one major premise, two minor premises and two conclusions. The major was: A brute struggle for existence, resulting in drastic natural selection, is necessary for progress. The first minor was: Man's reason always endeavors to prevent or mitigate the brute struggle for existence. The conclusion followed: Reason is an enemy of progress. The second minor premise was: Religion, operating without sanction of reason, encourages increase of population and is thus a chief cause of maintaining the brute struggle for existence. The second conclusion followed: Religion, not sanctioned by reason, insures progress. Social Evolution obtained its popularity, because at

the time of its publication the charge that religion has no rational sanction aroused intense interest and discussion. The general reader was not able to appreciate the inaccurate interpretations made of biological and other doctrines. Scientists did not waste time in discussing them. In mode of construction the present volume is true to form. Amid much display of learning, unashamed dogmatism and an egotistical style, the chief contentions lie ready to be reduced to syllogysms. The major premise is: Evolution lies along the line of maximum power. The first minor premise is: From Darwin's day to the present moment the pernicious man-made application of the individualistic and rationalistic doctrine that A survives if A can kill B before B kills A, has determined the line of maximum power. Hence, man through rationalism and individualism has led the world toward ruin. The second minor premise is: In the future the line of maximum power and progress, conditioned from now on by the subordination of the individual to the future survival efficiency of the group, will be determined by the group which first organizes itself about woman's worship of the ideal and through emotion subjects the individual in the present to the future survival of the group. Hence, woman through the " emotion of the ideal" will determine progress.

By comparing the arguments of the two books it will be apparent that Mr. Kidd has shifted his ground in one important point but has retained his position in another. The first minor proposition of the present volume contains the assumption that degeneration has resulted from just such a brute struggle for existence as the major premise of the first volume assumed to be necessary for progress. Both propositions cannot be true. If the logic of one book is correct, the other is thereby proven unsound. On the other hand, both books assume progress to be hindered by reason aud fostered by emotion. The first volume looked to religion for the necessary emotion, the second to woman. In both cases, reason is held to militate against survival and emotion to assure it.

The syllogisms thus stated are not clearly brought into juxtaposition by Mr. Kidd. Even the separate propositions are by no means free from obscurity of language, if not of thought. In elaborating the second minor premise of the present work, for example, Mr. Kidd remarks: "Power in civilization rests ultimately on knowledge which is conveyed through emotion and not through the reasoning processes of the mind." The phrase, "knowledge conveyed through emotion", may be pleasing to the ear, but what its meaning is would be hard to explain to the mind of a rational man. Still, one must not be unfair.