BOOK REVIEWS.

POLITICS AND THE MORAL LAW. By Gustave Ruemelin, late Chancellor of the University of Tübingen. Translated from the German by Rudolf Tombo, Jr., Ph. D., Columbia University. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Frederick W. Holls, D. C. L. New York: The Macmillan Co. 1901. pp. 125.

This excellent translation of Dr. Ruemelin's address of November 6, 1874, the birthday of King Frederick of Würtemberg, the admirable introduction by Dr. Holls, and the notes on the provocation of war, treaties, and the morality of war, altogether make up an interesting and useful handbook of political ethics. Doubtless each generation will continue to discuss the question, "Is politics, i. e., the untrammeled practice of public affairs subject to the moral law, or does it follow laws of its own?" Yet, perhaps, no generation is likely to make a more searching examination of Machiavellism than has been made by men whose memories go back to the Napoleonic era and cover the administrative activity of Bismarck. More illuminating examples of the practical difficulties of living up to an ideal standard of truth and justice in statecraft or diplomacy are not likely to be offered than those which have been created since the Congress of Vienna; and saner or more well-informed discussions in the philosophy of public morals can hardly be looked for than one finds in the writings of John Stuart Mill, John Morley, Robert Von Mohl and Louis Proal. If these examples and discussions have contributed nothing to the solution of the problem stated in Ruemelin's question above quoted, the final solution must be indeed far off, or even doubtful.

Dr. Ruemelin's address itself, while broad-minded and suggestive, can hardly be regarded as profound. It states clearly enough the alternatives, and defends the position that while "the very highest sense of moral obligation is enjoined upon the statesman, the content of his duties is not thereby prescribed." But it does not reveal a penetrating insight into the reasons for an undoubted difference between the concrete content of private morality and the concrete content of public ethics. It abounds in too many assertions for which no adequate justification is offered; as, for example, this: "It would, however, be quite as illogical as it is impracticable to demand from the community itself the same course of action or omission as from its members." That such a course would be impracticable most sensible men are willing to grant. That it would be illogical they do not so clearly see, and what they most of all desire to learn from writings like Dr. Ruemelin's is just why the impractical is also, in derivation from accepted ethical postulates, illogical.

Frankly, we must say that Dr. Ruemelin has not satisfactorily met this desire.

As much as this is by implication confessed when with Dr. Ruemelin's paper are combined Dr. Holls' introduction and elaborate notes, all of which have obviously been added because without them to address itself would be both incomplete and weak. Much the best material in the volume is found in the long quotations from John Stuart Mill's Essay on "Treaty Obligations." Here we feel the grip of a master mind, and know that we are being brought face to face with discriminations that go deep down into the principles of human nature and the practical conditions of existence.

In fact, it is in two famous rules laid down by Mill, that we find the most valuable suggestions ever made toward the reconciliation of public policy with the requirements of abstract morality. "Nations," he said, "should abstain from imposing conditions which, upon any just and reasonable view of human affairs, cannot be expected to be kept, and they should conclude their treaties as commercial treaties are usually concluded, only for terms of years." From these two rules a fairly complete and, we think, a sound philosophy of political morality could be developed. Morality is a quality of unconstrained conduct. It cannot be predicated of acts which are performed under duress or necessity. It is, therefore, a mere jugglery with words to talk about the morality or the immorality of wars which, in view of the struggle for existence and the imperfections of human nature, are practically inevitable. Only those acts which needlessly and wantonly provoke war can be condemned. In like manner, since growth and development from generation to generation are normal processes, it is inevitable that inconsiderate promises binding future generations shall from time to time be broken. They should never have been made; but if they have been made under compulsion, the nation that has exercised the compulsion is in no sense a mentor of righteousness, but only an ordinary fool, if it expects the promises to be fulfilled. All such promises fall within one general class of non-moral cases, namely, those in which a wrong act is so bound up with a right act that in order to do right it is necessary at the same time to do wrong. To break promises is ipso facto wrong, but to arrest development or curtail the liberty of others is also ipso facto wrong. Logically, all such cases drop out of the category of voluntary acts, and, therefore, of morality, and take their place in the category of necessity.

We could wish that Dr. Holls had included in his full and illuminating notes citations from Proal's "La Criminalité Politique,' a translation of which appeared in this country in 1898-a thoughtful work, defending the authority of abstract moral principle.

THE CLERK'S AND CONVEYANCER'S ASSISTANT: A COLLECTION OF FORMS OF CONVEYANCING, CONTRACTS AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. By Benj. V. Abbott and Austin Abbott. Second Edition. Revised

and enlarged by Clarence F. Birdseye, of the New York Bar. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Company. 1899. 1899. pp. 1061.

Since Abbott's "Clerk's and Conveyancer's Assistant" was published in 1866, many of its forms have become obsolete through change of business conditions and methods, judicial decisions, or legislation. Lawyers will consequently welcome this second edition, revised and enlarged by Mr. Birdseye, who has omitted obsolete forms and those which arise under codes of procedure and which properly belong to works on pleading and practice. He has also omitted forms relating to the formation and government of corporations, which are governed by specific statutes in the various States and cannot be covered by a general book of forms; and has added forms of corporate mortgages and traffic, underwriting, reorganization and similar agreements, which are now so large a part of ordinary practice.

This book, like the other works of the late Messrs. Abbott, is not, and does not purport to be, a scientific treatise, but is an instrument or tool to aid the busy lawyer in the drawing of papers. If treated as such, and used with a knowledge of the decisions and statutes covering the particular state of facts, it will be of very great assistance. A word of caution against blindly following a form would be out of place if careless lawyers did not sometimes sacrifice the substance of the particular needs of their clients to the form in the book, by inserting in documents provisions which have nothing to do with, or are contrary to, such needs.

The publisher's work is well done, and the full index will be of great service.

A BRIEF FOR By Austin Abbott. ers' Editorial Staff.

THE TRIAL OF CIVIL ISSUES BEFORE A JURY. Second and Enlarged Edition by the PublishRochester, N. Y.: The Lawyers' Co-operative Publishing Company. 1900. pp. xiii, 603.

The first edition of this useful work for the trial lawyer came out in 1885, and this second and enlarged edition will be heartily welcomed on account of the development in trial practice since then. The work does not deal with the science, but with the practical mechanics of a lawsuit. But the lawyer cannot, in justice to his client, disregard this side of the practice of his profession. Everyone who has followed the history of lawsuits knows that often, even under our modern practice, a good cause is jeopardized or lost because the right motion or objection was not made at the right time and in the right way. The original edition was chiefly for the New York lawyer, and he may at first find the greater size of the second edition inconvenient, but he will be more than compensated by the references to the decisions of other jurisdictions, which throw light on undecided, doubtful or disputed questions. Comparatively few changes have been made in the arrangement or in the text of the first edition, but other and important subjects have been added, such as the examination of witnesses, the impeachment and corroboration of witnesses, the absence of the judge and

his improper conduct, and the verdict and its incidents. In addition, the treatment of the subject of exceptions has been greatly enlarged. This new work has been carefully done. The utility of the work is enhanced by its convenient arrangement and clear, attractive typography.

Reviews to follow:

THE POLICE POWER OF THE STATE AND DECISIONS THEREON AS ILLUSTRATING THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALUE of Case Law. By Alfred Russell, of the Detroit Bar. Chicago: Callaghan & Co. 1900. pp. xvii, 204.

PROBATE REPORTS ANNOTATED. Vol. IV. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co. 1900. pp. xxxiii, 767.

AN EXPOSITION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ESTOPPEL BY MISREPRESENTATATION. By John S. Ewart, Esq. Chicago: Callaghan & Co. 1900. Pp. xlvii, 548.

A SELECTION OF CASES ON THE LAW OF INSURANCE. Edwin H. Woodruff. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Company. 1900. pp. xiii, 591.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. By Francis Newton Thorpe. Chicago: Callaghan & Co. 1901. pp. Vol. I, xxi, 595; Vol. II, xix, 685; Vol. III, xvi, 718.

A SELECTION OF CASES AND STATUTES ON THE PRINCIPLES OF CODE PLEADING, with notes. By Charles M. Hepburn, of the Cincinnati Bar. Cincinnati: W. H. Anderson & Co. 1901. pp. xxxvi, 651.

A TREATISE ON CANADIAN COMPANY LAW. By W. J. White, Q. C., assisted by J. A. Ewing, B. C. L. Montreal: C. Theoret. 1901. pp. xxiii, 708.

DIGEST OF THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE. Being a synopsis of the Code. By Charles W. Disbrow, of the New York Bar. Albany: Matthew Bender. 1901. pp. 151.

FALSTAFF AND EQUITY: An interpretation. By Charles E. Phelps. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1901. pp. xvi, 201.

A COMPILATION OF THE BAR EXAMINATION QUESTIONS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, SINCE 1896, WITH ANSWERS, REFERENCES AND NOTES. Edited by Wilson B. Brice. Albany: Matthew Bender. 1901. pp. 229.

A TREATISE ON THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES GUARANTEED BY THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STates. By Henry Brannon, Judge of the Supreme Court of West Virginia. Cincinnati: W. H. Anderson & Co., 1901. pp. vi, 562.

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

PUBLISH ALSO FOR The Columbia University Press THE FOLLOWING
BOOKS OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO STUDENTS OF THE LAW SCHOOL.

SCIENCE OF STATISTICS.

By RICHMOND MAYO-SMITH, Ph.D., Professor of Political Economy and Social Science in Columbia University. Cloth, 8vo, gilt tops.

Part I. Statistics and Sociology, pp. xvi + 399. $3.00 net.
Part II. Statistics and Economics, pp. xiii + 467. $3.00 net.

ESSAYS ON TAXATION.

By EDWIN R. A. SELIGMAN, Professor of Polit. Econ. and Finance Columbia University. Third Edition. 8vo, cloth, pp. x + 434. $3.00 net.

THE SHIFTING AND INCIDENCE OF TAXATION. By the same author as, and uniform with, the above. Second Edition. pp. xii+337. $3.00 net.

THE GOVERNMENT OF MUNICIPALITIES.

By the late DORMAN B. EATON. 8vo, cloth, pp. x + 526, $4.00 net.

MUNICIPAL HOME RULE-A STUDY IN ADMINISTRATION. By FRANK J. GOODNOW, A. M., LL.D., Professor of Administrative Law in Columbia University; author of "Comparative Administrative Law." 12m0, cloth, pp. xxiv + 283. $1.50 net.

etc.

MUNICIPAL PROBLEMS.

By the same author as, and uniform with, the preceding. $1.50 net.

DEMOCRACY AND EMPIRE.

WITH STUDIES OF THEIR PSYCHOLOGICAL,
ECONOMIC AND MORAL FOUNDATIONS.

By FRANKLIN HENRY GIDDINGS, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Columbia University; author of "The Principles of Sociology. Cloth, 8vo, pp.x + 363. $2.50. CHICAGO TRIBUNE.-"The volume is one of rare thoughtfulness and insight,"

THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH.

A THEORY OF WAGES, INTEREST AND PROFITS.

By JOHN BATES CLARK, Professor of Political Economy, Columbia University author of "The Philosophy of Wealth." Cloth, 8vo, pp. xxviii +445. $3.00 net

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.