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data necessary not only for scientific study but for efficient administration. So that, although the British Empire contains within itself every known species of railway enterprise, the study of railways and other means of transport, and their relation to the business, the commerce, and the social life of the country, is deplorably backward. It is obvious that no inquiry into commercial policy, or into such social questions as the housing of the poor, can be effective unless this deficiency is remedied. The whole social and political fabric of the British Empire depends upon the efficiency of its industrial system. On this subject many monographs and larger works have been published in recent years, but dealing rather with such questions as trade unionism, co-operation, and factory legislation, than the structure and organization of particular industries, or the causes and the results of the formation of the great combinations, peculiarly characteristic of the United States, but not wanting in England, which are amongst the most striking economic phenomena of modern times. These are some of the questions which might with advantage absorb the energies of the rising generation of economists. It would be possible to add to their number almost indefinitely, but these press for immediate attention. The claim of economics for recognition as a science and as a subject of study must be based on its relevance to the actual Jife of the economic world, on its ability to unravel the practical difficulties of each generation, and so contribute to the progress of nations. It is impossible to give even a select bibliography which is at all adequate of the publications of recent years on Economics. The most important general work published in English is Marshall’s Principles of Economics, vol. i., 1st edition, 1890 ; 4th edition, 1898. J. Shield Nicholson’s Principles of Political Economy, 3 vols., which is now completed, not only gives a survey of economic principles since Mill’s time, but contains much suggestive and original work. The writer of this article is much indebted to the works of Schmoller, particularly his Grundriss der Allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre (1900), and Adolph Wagner, particularly his Grundlegung der Politischen Oekonomie. On the history of economic theory, Cannan’s History of the Theories of Production and Distribution (1776-1848) is an admirable criticism, from a purely objective standpoint, of the works of the English classical writers. The most important English works published in recent years on general English economic history are Cunningham’s Growth of Industry and Commerce and Ashley’s Economic History, while Vinogradoff’s Villenage in England and Maitland’s Domesday Studies are of great importance to the student of early economic institutions. D’Avenel’s Histoire jtconomique de la Propriete, &c. (1200-1800), is a monumental work on the history of prices in France. Some recent books dealing with special subjects are likely to take a very high place in economic literature. We may mention particularly Charles Booth’s Labour and Life of London and Sidney and Beatrice Webb’s History of Trade Unionism and Industrial Democracy. These books are generally regarded as typical of the best English work of recent years in economic investigation. We may also mention Schloss’s Methods of Industrial Remuneration, a most important contribution to the study of the wages question ; C. F. Bastable’s works on International Trade and Public Finance ; George Clare on the Money Market and the Foreign Exchanges; and A. T. Hadley’s Economics: An account of the relations between private property and public welfare (1896). Studies of particular questions, both concrete and theoretical, in foreign languages are too numerous to specify, and much of the best modern work is to be found in economic periodicals. (W. A. S. H.) Ecuador, a country of South America extending between Colombia and Peru from 1° 56' N”. lat. to about 5° 30' S. lat., and from the Pacific coast to a distance inland not yet determined. The boundary dispute between Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru was, by agreement of 15th December 1894, submitted to the arbitration of the Spanish Crown, but no award had been made up to the beginning of 1902, nor had any definite steps been taken

to execute a survey of the frontier. The climate is on the whole healthy, especially in the inter-Cordilleran valley. Intermittent fevers, frequent in the coast region, are unknown in the highlands, where also pulmonary diseases are rare. The average rainfall at Quito is about 39 inches. The death-rate at Quito in 1892 was stated to be 36 per 1000. Population.—The area has never been ascertained by survey, but is estimated at 118,630 square miles, an estimate which includes a vast territory still in dispute. No census has ever been taken, and the generally accepted estimate of the population is that of Cervallos, who for 1889 put the total number of inhabitants at 1,272,160. The following table shows the population of the fifteen provinces, the territory of Oriente, and the Galapagos Islands, which in 1885 were made dependent on the province of Guayas :— Population, 1889. Carchi Imbabura. Pinchincha Leon. Tunguragua Chimborazo Cahar Azuay Loja. Bolivar

36,000 67,940 205,000 109,600 103,033 122,300 64,014 132,400 66,456 43,000

Population, 1889. Rios. Oro. Guayas Manabi Esmeraldas Oriente Galapagos Islands Total

32,800 32,600 98,042 64,123 14,553 80,000 300 1,272,161

The population contains approximately 120,000 whites, 450,000 of mixed races, and 702,000 Indians. The isolated position of the inland towns has helped their white inhabitants to preserve the characteristics of the original Spanish settlers. The offspring of the intermixture of whites and Indians are called, in the language of the country, mestizos, and the offspring of mestizos and Indians, cholos. The crossing of white and negro, and of negro or mulatto and Indian, produces the classes named respectively mulattos, zambos, and zambaigos. The colour among these people confers superiority in rank, or at least in self-esteem. The half-breeds, whether those between Spaniards and Indians or Indians and negroes, are indolent and unintelligent. The Indians as a rule are sturdily built and have great power of endurance, travelling immense distances over mountainous country without undue fatigue. They are extremely docile, except when excited by drink. A few of the tribes near the seaboard in the province of Esmeraldas have a large admixture of negro blood from slaves formerly employed in that district. The foreigners resident in Ecuador number altogether about 6000, some 5000 being natives of South or Central America, 700 Europeans, and 300 Chinese. The population of Quito is estimated at 65,000 ; of Guayaquil at 45,000; of Cuenca at 25,000; of Riobamba, 12,000; and of Ambato, Loja, and Latacunga about 10,000 each. A fire destroyed half the city of Guayaquil in 18 97. Constitution.—The Constitution in force is that of 1884, with modifications introduced in 1887 and 1897. The legislative authority is vested in a Congress of two chambers, the Senate consisting of 30 members (2 for each province), and the Chamber of Deputies with 41 members (1 for every 35,000 inhabitants, and 1 more if there are still 15,000 unrepresented). Senators are elected for four years, and Deputies for two, directly by popular vote, every male citizen who can read and write being an elector. Congress meets every second year at Quito on 10th June for a session of 60 days. The executive authority resides in the