1894, together with a Bibliography of Municipal Government and Reform and a Brief Statement Concerning the Objects and Methods of Municipal Reform Organizations in the United States. Philadelphia: The Municipal League. 1894.

The proceedings of conferences do not, as a general rule, make interesting reading, but the conference, held on January 25th and 26th last, lends to the report an interest and value, which is quite exceptional. It was the first, but we feel confident, by no means, the last Conference on Good City Government, and marks the awakening of a new municipal spirit. It takes the average American citizen a long time to see that the conditions which confront him have changed, and that the political organization and administrative methods, which works well among a people who live in small towns, may be wholly inadequate to grapple with the very difficult problems, which concern a million or more of people gathered together in a comparatively small area.

Like all reports of conferences, the papers read at the meetings have been reprinted. Without making any invidious distinctions, the paper of LEO S. Rowe gives evidence of the most exhaustive knowledge of the question from its administrative side. What we mean by that is this, nearly all the other papers, of which those by CARL SCHURZ, CHARLES J. BONAPARTE and GEORGE GLUYAS MERCER are examples, display a minute and practical knowledge of the workings of political rings and the politics of our large cities, especial stress being, of course, laid upon the civil service evil, and, in the paper of CHARLES RICHARDSON on the Introduction of National Issues into Local Elections." But Dr. Rowe's paper treats of the question from the side, where the average educated gentleman and reformer is as totally ignorant as the lowest ward heeler, viz.: what our cities should do for their inhabitants and how they should do it. The knowledge of political evils is common property to a large number of our citizens, probably to all of those who assembled at the conference in Philadelphia, but the knowledge of administrative methods and the results of those methods in foreign cities

must always be confined more or less to the specialist. And when the specialist speaks on his specialty, then knowledge which is new and valuable is given to the hearer. One of the most interesting parts of Dr. Rowe's paper is his destruction 'of the comforting theory, which we have heard many Americans of the educated classes express, that the reason foreign cities are better administered and give more to their inhabitants than the average American city, is because the capitals of Europe are governed, not by the people of the city, but by the central governments of the nation, which is run by the aristocratic, and, therefore, more or less the educated classes. But Dr. Rowe says, page 113: "Finally, we come to what is, in last analysis, the most important of the determining conditions in the municipal life of Berlin, viz., that the efficiency of the city administrations is due, primarily, neither to the Prussian Monarchy nor to the Prussian Bureaucracy. It was the will, the consciously-expressed will of the people of Berlin, that determined the character of their municipality. Judged from this standpoint Berlin is more democratic than either New York or Philadelphia."

Probably the part of the book, which has the most permanent value, is the subject index, which is, comparatively speaking, very complete. Nearly everything that has been written in English on the subject of improvement of cities from a political standpoint is referred to.

There is also an account of the different organizations, which have sprung into existence within the past few years, and whose object is the improvement of either city politics or municipal administration. We strongly recommend the work to any one desirous of making himself familiar with some of the details of the great political problem, which now confronts the American people, viz., the successful government of large municipalities. W. D. L.

THE AMERICAN CORPORATION LEGAL MANUAL.

Edited by

CHARLES L. BORGMEYER, of the New Jersey Bar. Plainfield, N. J.: Honeyman & Co. 1894.

This book is a compilation of what are said to be the

"essential features of the statutory law regulating the formation, management and dissolution of general business corporations in America (North, Central and South), England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Russia and Spain." It also contains a synopsis of the patent, trade-mark and copyright Jaws of the world. There is also appended to it a list of patent solicitors and of "selected and specially recommended corporation counsel." The compilations of the laws of the several States and countries included in the work are made, in most instances, by local attorneys whose names are prefixed to the matter prepared by them. The publication is intended to be an annual one.

Such a work as is thus indicated can scarely be said to merit review in a law journal. It is entirely devoid of scientific value, can in no case have the weight of an authority, and is, moreover, disfigured, if not more or less discredited, by the element of advertising which enters into its composition. To the business man, who imprudently relies upon it for his guidance, it is, in common with all similar publications, likely to prove misleading and dangerous. Its contents, however, are such as, upon occasion, may prove serviceable to the lawyer who wishes to obtain a hasty outline of the existing legisla tion in reference to corporations, patents, etc., in the several States and countries covered by it and who cannot, at the moment, command the time or facilities for making a more thorough investigation. It may, also, serve as a useful index to the several codes and enactment which must ultimately be consulted.

The compilations contained in the book appear to have been made with reasonable care and attention to the more important provisions of the statutes which have been thus epitomized. If the publication should be continued from year to year, and is carefully and conscientiously revised, as changes occur in the laws, it should prove a useful hand-book for the purposes above indicated. It would, however, be much improved and rendered more worthy of professional confidence by the suppression of its advertising features.

W. R. F.

SAMUEL S. HOLLINGSWORTH.

It is with deep sorrow that the Editors of the AMERICAN LAW REGISTER AND REVIEW record the untimely death of Samuel S. Hollingsworth, Esq., a member of the Editorial Committee. The following notices, contributed by members of the Philadelphia Bar who had the best opportunity of becoming familiar with Mr. Hollingsworth in his capacity as teacher as well as practitioner, serve to show the loss which his death has occasioned.

Samuel S. Hollingsworth, one of the Editorial Committee of the AMERICAN LAW REGISTER AND REVIEW, one of the leaders of the Philadelphia Bar, and the Professor of the Law of Contracts, Corporations, and Pleading at Law, in the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, died, after a brief illness, on Thursday, June 28, 1894.

A meeting of the Philadelphia Bar was held on July 2, 1894, in the United States Circuit Court Room. The Hon. James T. Mitchell presided, and Messrs. Henry N. Paul, Jr., and George Stuart Patterson were requested to act as secretaries. Addresses were delivered by C. Stuart Patterson, Esq., Richard C. McMurtrie, Esq., Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, Mayer Sulzberger, Esq., Richard C. Dale, Esq., John Cadwalader, Esq., David W. Sellers, Esq., and Charles Cooper Townsend, Esq. The following minute was unanimously adopted:

"The Philadelphia Bar mourns in the death of Samuel Shorey Hollingsworth, the loss of one, whose personal character and professional ability commanded the admiration and respect of all who knew him. He was a learned lawyer, a judicious adviser, and a skillful and persuasive advocate. As a teacher of law, he was patient and thorough, and he inspired those whom he taught with that enthusiasm for study, which always animated him. As a man he was courageous,

steadfast of purpose, prompt to recognize, and zealous to discharge the claims of friendship, and faithful to every call of duty. Dying in the maturity of his powers, and with the promise of yet greater distinction before him, he has left to his professional brethren, the memory and the example of his stainless life."

At a meeting of the Faculty and Fellows of the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, the following minute was adopted:

The Faculty and Fellows of the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, sorrowfully record by this minute their sense of the heavy loss which the University and the Law School have suffered in the untimely death of Professor Samuel S. Hollingsworth. His thorough knowledge of legal principles, accuracy of thought, and clearness of statement, made him an efficient and successful teacher. His courage, fidelity to right, and sound judgment were of signal service to the administration of the School. His colleagues mourn in his death, the loss of a learned professor, a valued associate, and a friend.

The Editors of the AMERICAN Law Register and Review cannot fail to add to these manifestations of sorrow, their own exdression of grief for the loss which they have sustained in the death of Mr. Hollingsworth. His sound learning, his trained ability, and his clear judgment rendered him a valuable and efficient member of the Editorial Committee, his counsel and advice were always at the service of the Editors, and he was always ready to further the interests of the REVIEW. Nor can the Editors forget that they studied under Professor Hollingsworth in the Law School, and that they there came under that powerful and lasting influence which he brought to bear upon his students, and which bound each of those students to him as friend to friend. C. S. P.

After an illness of about two weeks, Samuel Shorey Hollingsworth died of typhoid fever, on Thursday, June 28, 1894, at his residence at Gwynedd, Montgomery County, Pennsyl