Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/574

 558 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

It was well, therefore, that a skilful and sober student, as Pro- fessor Gilman is, should gather up the sure results of these recent investigations and practical experiments, and interpret their signi- ficance. This he has done in sixteen chapters, in which he discusses with utmost impartiality the combinations of employers and of work- ingmen, collective bargaining, the sliding scale, the incorporation of industrial unions, boards of conciliation and arbitration, and legal regulation of labor disputes. The treatment is characterized by insight, sobriety, and accurate learning.

The author rightly thinks that wage-workers need a better train- ing in the elements of economic science, and he adds : " Common- school education should be so revised that some tuition in these matters shall be given before the boy gets out into the world as a worker at fourteen or sixteen." How many boys at fourteen could comprehend such instruction? A better suggestion is found in the schools for adults in New York city; because only the superficial aspect of economic activity can be understood by children.

C. R. HENDERSON.

Out of Work. By FRANCES A. KELLOR. New York: G. P.

Putnam's Sons, 1904. Pp. 292.

Miss Kellor's previous studies of convict women and correctional institutions gave her an admirable preparation for the investigation of employment bureaus. It was high time to concentrate attention upon these useful but much-abused agencies. The descriptions of places and people are spicy enough, but the analysis of the connection of intelligence offices with vice and suffering touches the tragic. No previous study has accumulated such a wealth of information on this vital problem. The author has very properly aimed to give a clear and adequate statement of the entire situation and has dealt out advice sparingly. Yet she has probably suggested about all the measures for betterment which give any promise of immediate usefulness.

C. R. HENDERSON.

Life in Sing Sing. By NUMBER 1500. Indianapolis : The Bobbs-

Merrill Co., 1904.

The story of a convict is not wholesome for general reading-?" but may be useful to students of criminal sociology. There is danger from the bias of cynicism and resentment which clouds the vision of