Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/765

 REVIEWS 749

guided to some extent in the case of the common laborers by frag- mentary official statistics. It might be about as easy to determine accurately the rate of wages of these classes as to determine "every one's common observation," if that means anything more than the per- sonal impressions of the writer.

However, it is not to be presumed that the book is without merit, for it has great merits. The author is also original, or at least inde- pendent, in regard to some of his conclusions as well as to his method and conception of statistics. His defense and advocacy of a personal- property tax (chap, viii) certainly shows that he reaches economic con- clusions in a somewhat different way from that in which statistical ones are sometimes reached. Nor does his predilection for "silver" (chap, v) depend upon a similar coincidence with the popular impres- sion. Such positions do show, however, that the author is an inde- pendent thinker in fields where scientific opinion is almost universally upon the side criticised.

The historical reviews of the distribution of wealth, the growth of incomes, etc., are concise and suggestive ; the brief analyses of the results of the Civil War and of the protective tariff are keen and to the point ; and the brief statement of the railroad problem and the prob- lems of taxation are helpful and worthy of close attention if not conclusive. In fact it is because there is much that is commendable both in motives and the general conclusions that it is to be regretted that the method is so vulnerable. The author is familiar with the sub- ject and with such statistical investigations as have been made. But the overpowering desire for definite and conclusive results, a feeling that every investigator can appreciate, has led to a treatment of the subject which at times is unscientific. Nor is science a fetich here, for being unscientific means that the results are neither conclusive, nor strictly accurate.

And those who sympathize with the author's attitude should be the first to perceive the dangers involved. If social truths are to be gained by revelation even if the oracle consulted is common opinion there is no means for proving Mr. Mallock's revelation less reliable than Mr. Spahr's. A serious objection to all oracular pronouncements is that they are capable of contradictory interpretations. Nor will the vox populi t vox statistici theory prove to be any more reliable. A serious factor in the present social condition is the lack of inu-l!< sympathy. And if the proposed theory be allowed there is little hope