il n'y a plus que de purs practiciens et des compilateurs "-a sentence which perhaps needs a good deal in the way of qualification. An appendix of twelve pages sketches the life of Roman law from Justinian to our modern days. It must be repeated that this whole book is a masterly statement of a great subject which lies at the root of the civilisation of the greater part of Europe. A book which is sufficiently detailed and precise for the student reading for an examination in Roman law is also an invaluable introduction to the chief principles of social evolution. If English people will not read it in the original French, it should be translated with all speed; for there is no other book which can quite take its place. G. R. STIRLING TAYLOR. POLITICAL SCIENCE AND THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. THE perusal of a large number of books upon Political Science is apt to promote the opinion that the subject has no real claim to such a title. The reason is not far to seek. Since the time of Aristotle all the great works on political theory have been in the nature of pamphlets, written with a definite practical object in mind. The writers may have enunciated first principles according to their lights, they may have reasoned profoundly, but their outlook was practical, not scientific. Mr. Gilchrist 1 argues valiantly for the term "political science" as against "political theory" or " politics," but the more closely details are considered the less valid does the claim appear. In truth the essential condition precedent of any scientific study of politics is a thorough restudy of the facts and a thorough revision of the terminology. Words and categories have come down to us from the past that once possessed great historical and practical importance, but are now mere incumbrances that darken counsel. Two such words that could be abolished, or at least reduced to their proper historical position, are "state" and "sovereignty." Both are products of the Renascence, and both served useful and definite purposes in their time, but their true significance and usefulness have now become buried under a monstrous mass of metaphysical subtlety. Metaphysics is completely out of place in the detailed discussion of a concrete science. Mr. Gilchrist provides quite a good instance of the deplorable effects of this tyranny. He writes (p. 121) as follows: The modern theory of sovereignty arose with the modern national democratic state. In the Middle Ages there was really no state in the modern sense. Feudalism had to break up before the modern idea of a state could emerge. 1 Principles of Political Science. & Co., Bombay and London, 1921.) By R. N. Gilchrist, M.A. (Longmans, Green Leaving out the words "national" and "democratic," this is a perfectly fair statement. Then the author puts aside straightforward historical exposition and becomes engulfed in metaphysics, with this result (p. 158): The individual has no rights against the state. To have rights against the state is tantamount to saying that the individual has no rights at all. If there is no state there are no rights, but only powers. The state is essential to the existence of rights among mankind. Putting the two passages together, we arrive at the remarkable conclusion that no rights existed at all during the Middle Ages. What would Bracton or Bartolus have thought of such a statement? They would hardly have been convinced of the superiority of modern science to their philosophy. Let us hasten to add that in objecting to the current methods of studying politics we intend no injustice to Mr. Gilchrist. Within the trammels of a traditional method he has produced a clear and vigorous exposition of all the general heads of the subject. The book is intended primarily for Indian students, but there is no reason why it should not be equally valuable elsewhere. It requires some courage to add another volume to the huge mass of literature on the English Constitution, but Mr. Masterman need make no apologies.1 He writes from first-hand observation, his style is extremely interesting, and, perhaps it is not superfluous to add, characterised by a cheery optimism. The book contains no new theories, but as a plain elementary account of the institutions of England in actual practice it is as good as anything at present in print. Some errors in detail can easily be corrected in subsequent editions, but beyond that we would only remark that a closer consideration of Pollard's Evolution of Parliament might lead to the improvement of certain paragraphs, and that in some directions there is rather too much criticism for a work that professes to be only expository. The plan of the book is quite original. After an introductory chapter describing a child coming into contact with law, the remainder of the first part is taken up with an account of the machinery of elections. The second part, occupying nearly half the entire volume, is devoted to Local Government, designated, not too happily, the government of the city. A short book follows on the legal system, under the two headings of ow and High Justice-a foreign distinction that is alien to English law. Finally about 80 pages out of 265 are devoted to Parliament and the Central Government. This will demonstrate the unusual arrangement of the book, which has the incidental advantage that it can be used as a supplement to any of the other current manuals. H. J. R. 1 How England is Governed. By Right Hon. C. F. G. Masterman. (Selwyn & Blount, Ltd., London, 1921.) Cr. 8vo, xii and 265 pp. 75. 6d. net. A HISTORY OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE OF PARIS. In a notice of the first volume of A History of the Peace Conference of Paris,1 was pointed out the difficulty of presenting as history what was hardly yet past politics, and of appraising diplomacy, when, admittedly, there are things of consequence that are still either unknown or incalculable; and we felt, further, that in an undertaking so vast as that on which the editor had embarked it was not possible for him to avoid inconsistencies and contradictions on the part of his contributors, and for them and him to avoid being inconclusive on one matter and perhaps too confident on another matter. In a foreword to the fourth volume the editor presents an apology. He "has sought to steer a course equally remote from official apologetics and unofficial jeremiads." He recognises that some of the arcana of the Conference may never be really known. For example, while the methods and decisions of the Commissions were "relatively known and exact, more reducible to a formula, and therefore far more intelligible than were the decisions of the Four' or of the Ten,'" it is not always possible to state why "results" were altered, for the explanation is in some cases not known, or, again, “the real explanation cannot always be revealed." The scale on which this work has been planned may be judged from the fact that the whole of the second volume is devoted to the settlement with Germany. The third volume is made up of (1) a Chronological Table (pp. 1-9) for the years 1914-18, (2) a Chronological Summary (p. 10-41) of the Peace Conference, and (3) Documents-principally the German Treaties with Russia and Rumania, League of Nations Documents, the Treaty between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany, and the text of the new German Constitution. The fourth and fifth volumes have as their subject-matter the reconstruction or the founding of States upon the ruins of the old Austria-Hungary. A sixth volume remains to be published. The outstanding marks of this History are the diligence that has gone to its making, and the comprehensive and varied nature of its contents. The mere summary just given should suggest these conclusions. One or two illustrations will suffice to confirm them. We welcome a number of historical retrospects and appreciations, e.g. on Alsace-Lorraine, and on the expansion of Europe and the German colonial movement, in the second volume; on the Teschen question in the fourth volume; and on the protection of minorities in the fifth. These surveys are sparse, and we again express regret that the historical background has been interpreted in so slender and niggard fashion in the planning of this work. The historical facts may seem to be, in some cases, not very illuminating, as they are said to be with reference to the question of the northern frontier of Italy. But, where they do not present a positive contribution to the 1 Volumes ii to v. Edited by H. W. V. Temperley. (Henry Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton.) settlement or an arrangement made, they do usually present at least a negative lesson, not wholly barren of results, in brushing aside baseless and irrelevant claims and contentions. Still, we welcome the little that is proffered by way of what may appear to some of the contributors to be pre-history-history before this History takes beginning and title. As an example of the directly useful character of the contents of these volumes, we would point, apart from texts and documents, to the twenty maps given in them: they have the merits of pertinence, adequacy, and clearness. On the inviting but exacting subject of the relation of political principles to facts and results, we welcome, in the second volume, the sensible exposition of the causes-the three main ideas born of experience from which issued the three " practical causes "—of a desire for a League of Nations. We cannot accept the statement there given as adequate for the genesis of the principles that moved the reputed father of the League, but a protest is rightly uttered against the excessive claim that has been advanced for the influence of the constitution of the United States upon the terms of the Covenant. The relation of principles to facts is well illustrated in a chapter by the editor in the fourth volume-considerations on the principles underlying the treaties with Austria, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Not without reason attention is drawn, in a footnote, to the limitation prescribed by Mr. Wilson himself to the application of the principle of self-determination : That all well-defined national aspirations shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be accorded them without introducing new or perpetuating old elements of discord and antagonism that would be likely in time to break up the peace of Europe, and consequently of the world. It is intended to point out in the concluding volume the lessons of the Conference. In the meantime it may be said that this work is of very high value for the student of international affairs, and will be indispensable for the historian. WAR AND TREATY LEGISLATION. D. P. H. It is the fashion of to-day to disparage the Treaty of Versailles. But, though events have damaged its prestige, readers of its text must surely admire the skill of those who gave form to its clauses. Alternating periods of bustle and delay, constant revisions and confusion of languages, were no doubt responsible for not a few blunders; and many critics dilate upon them. "Formal indication of insolvency," they say, truly, is a phrase strange to English law; yet, according to the Treaty, it is to bear the same meaning as in English law. The phrase, therefore, as Mr. Paul F. Simonson points out in his recent book, Private Property and Rights in Enemy Countries,' is probably an incompetent retranslation of a French 1 Effingham Wilson and Sweet and Maxwell, London, 1921. translation of some words in the Bankruptcy Act, 1914. Again, subclause (f) of Article 297 is a departure from the scheme of the private property clauses which only the circumstances of its origin could justify. Mr. Simonson is led by reflections such as these to suggest that these clauses were originally drafted in French and then suffered at the hands of an unskilled translator. This may be so; but diplomatic processes are seldom so simple, and he is a confident critic who dares to analyse the proceedings of an international committee of experts. Treaties are generally patch-work, threads drawn from a hundred plans and projects, worked and reworked in the search for compromise. The marvel seems, therefore, to be that the legal provisions of the Treaty of Versailles break down so rarely. For they are complex-so complex that many have vainly thought to simplify them. Mr. Simonson has set himself to this task in the earlier pages of his book, but readers must judge for themselves whether the Treaty itself is more complex than the analysis. Perhaps these chapters would have run more smoothly if the writer had not fallen victim to yet another temptation. The private property clauses in the three other ratified treaties are so like the German clauses that it seems natural to deal with them all together. Yet perhaps this too is a delusion, and one pair of eyes at least have tired of the monotonous refrain of "Germany [Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary]." On the other hand, Mr. Simonson's plan of printing the relevant passages of the subsidiary treaties on the pages opposite to the German text in his commentary is excellent. The commentary is certainly the best part of the book. The writer has not been daunted by the absence of authority on most of the doubtful points, nor by the outpouring of decisions in many countries while his work was in progress. He has examined the text of the treaty with obvious care, and by his research has made discoveries of value. Some of them, however, would not puzzle an international lawyer so much as they seem to have puzzled Mr. Simonson. In truth, this book does not arrest attention as one destined to be a standard work; but the author can justly claim to be a not unsuccessful pioneer in fields where many will labour hereafter. 1 Mr. Scobell Armstrong has also written a book on the Treaties. It is, as its title proclaims it, mainly a collection of documents. Unlike Mr. Simonson's book, it travels back into the older story of war legislation; but, like Mr. Simonson's book, it has introductory chapters-one of them on the private property clauses in the treaties of peace-and so challenges comparison with it. Mr. Armstrong's chapters are short, sketching each subject in the barest outline, and if, as undoubtedly they are, they are clear and readable, they owe much of their simplicity to the omission of those details which are essential to a full survey of the subject. Nevertheless, these attractive summaries, scattered about this book of reference, are tantalising. For they suggest that Mr. Armstrong might have written a book of greater value. As it is, his pages are rich in information. 1 War and Treaty Legislation, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1921. |