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 270 NEW BOOKS. Le Socialisme et la Science Sociale. Par GASTON RICHARD. Paris : Felix Alcan, 1897. Pp. 200. Socialism presents two totally different ideas to the mind. The first of these ideas is the necessity for mitigating the violence of economic competition. The second is the necessity for abolishing capitalism. Socialists hold that the only way to mitigate competition is to destroy capitalism. M. Richard holds that the teachings of Social Science do not harmonise with this view. The destruction of capital would, according to M. Richard, condemn society to consume immediately what it pro- duced. The result of this would be to intensify competition. In such circumstances competition would degenerate to the condition which it occupies hi primitive forms of society. It would not be merely economic in character as it is at present. It would cover the whole field of existence, including liberty and life. The upward struggle of humanity has, as the Socialists truly say, consisted of a struggle against the un- bridled forces of competition. But they make a mistake in supposing that the end of the struggle necessitates the abolition of private property. Competition is an indestructible element in human nature, and cannot be eliminated. The only effective method of dealing with the competi- tive spirit is to control and moralise it. The classical economists are powerless against socialism. They argue that human individuals ought to be free and contracts ought to be free, therefore competition ought to be free. But the Socialists have shown that there is sophistry under- lying this method of reasoning. Unlimited competition tends to the enslavement of the individual and the degradation of his personality. In order that there may be true freedom of contract the contracting parties must stand as far as possible on an equal footing. In the case of women and children the contracting parties do not stand on an equal footing. Freedom of labour implies the freedom of the labourer. Unless the labourer is free it is a mockery to talk of the freedom of labour. True social and economic progress consist in compelling contracts to conform to certain ethical standards. It is here that the true function of the State comes in. It must compel the strong to respect the rights and liberties of the weak. It must attenuate the economic struggle between individuals by eqiialising its conditions. It must even prescribe the con- ditions under which the struggle will be permitted to take place. M. Richard considers that the task of Liberalism at present is to lay down and equalise the conditions under which the competitive spirit shall be permitted to operate. It must ami at placing the woman, the workman, and the child in such a position before the law that they will no longer be exploited by commercial rapacity. M. Richard's book is well worth reading. W. D. MORRISON. Theorie der Begabung. Psychologisch-padagogische Untersuchung iiber Existenz, Klassification, Ursachen, Bildsamkeit, Wert und Erziehung menschlicher Begabungen. Von Dr. RICHARD BAERWALD. Leipzig : O. R. Reisland, 1896. London : Williams & Norgate. Pp. x., 289. Dr. Baerwald suggests, while discussing the subject of reading, that a book written in a clear and concrete manner loses hi effect, owing to the ease with which it is understood, while one which is difficult to grasp may gain its end by wearing out the reader's powers of resistance. Both statements may, to some extent, be tested by the perusal of the present work. The sections intended for the general reader are clear and