Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/156

 142 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

the massing of the same industries in the same street. In China there is no very large manufactory, most of them employing about thirty or fifty men each, and all the man- ufactories producing the same commodity are located on the same street. This gives rise to the custom of calling such streets by the name of the commodity manufactured there, instead of by their proper names. WALTER N. FONG, in The Chautauquan for June 1896.

Child-Study. Child-study, as it is coming to be understood, in the broadest sense means more, too, than the study of the average normal child to find out general principles of physical and intellectual development; it indicates also a marked tend- ency, and a necessity on the part of teachers at least, always to consider and respect the individuality of each child under its supervision. There has arisen of late a pro- nounced feeling that children cannot be classified very closely according to age, and all the members of a class or group dealt with exactly in the same manner ; but rather every particular child is a personality unto himself and requires for his best training somewhat different treatment from all other personalities with whom he maybe associ- ated in the home or in the school.

The greatest enthusiasm is manifested everywhere in our own country now in the pursuit of these two objects of child-study. A National Association for Child-Study was formed at the International Congress of Education at Chicago in 1893, an d since that time almost every state in the Union has organized separate associations, having the same general purposes as the national society. These associations comprise in their membership not only teachers but parents and others, and many local societies composed almost entirely of parents are being formed in various cities and towns for the systematic study of childhood. There is hardly an educational publication that does not devote some portion of its space to this scientific work in child-study, and the popular newspapers and magazines seem also to be giving the subject some attention.

It is thoroughly believed by the majority of people today that there are universal laws of mind-growth and development which are as invariable and reliable as those governing the physical world, and one important aim of child-study is to discover what these are, so that they may be duly observed in the training of children in the home and in the school. The importance of this work cannot be over-estimated; and while perhaps not much has yet been accomplished compared with what remains still to be done, yet beneficial results may already be seen in great improvement in the work of the schools and perhaps somewhat in the training of the home. M. V. O'SHEA, in The Chautauquan for June 1896.

Method of Conciliation or Synthesis. Economic organization has for its ends the greatest possible production of goods and the distribution of product which is as equitable as possible. This is only part of the " Social question." Leaving aside technical economics the writer seeks to reconcile the elements of truth in conflicting theories. Socialism is right in demanding that economic adjustments are open for dis- cussion. Liberalism is right in insisting that expedients must be adapted to local social conditions. Utilitarianism is reconciled with morality by insisting that the use- ful, the beautiful, the true all have a right to a distinct place. None must be sup- pressed but all should be harmonized. Communism does not absolutely exclude indi- vidualism ; it is simply a question of giving a due place to authority in controlling common action and to personal liberty in enjoyment. LEON WALRAS, in La Revue socialiste, April 1896; p. 130.

Workmen's Colonies and Casual Lodging Houses in Germany. At a con- ference, May 4-7, 1896, at Berlin, those interested in the wandering population dis- cussed the various modes of relief and care. There are now in the Empire 444 lodg- ing houses (Herberge). The union which oversees them has now existed ten years, and they have steadily increased. The delegates agreed that the stations for relief (Verpflegungsstationen) should be connected more closely with employment bureaus, since they are now frequently abused by vagrants. A new suggestion is to provide colonies for women, similar to the workmen's colonies (Arbeiter-Kolonien). Fliegende Blatter, a.d. R. H., June 1896; S. 243.