Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/618

 596 THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL certain of the exact services rendered and the risk undertaken. But the comparison, apparently, is to the advantage of the English railways. JOHN MACDONELL The Scottish Railway Strike, 1891: A History ad Criticism. By JAMS MAVOR. Edinburgh: William Brown, 1891. THE readers of Mr. Mavor's account of the Scottish Railway Strike in the first nmnber of this Journal will be glad to supplement the information therein contained by the little pamphlet now before us. They will find that the same desire is evinced to furnish a 'dispas- sionate and scientific'discussion of the important question involved, and to give an accurate record of the incidents of the struggle; but that the strike is treated at somewhat greater length and from some- what different standpoints. Mr. Mayor commences with a ' narrative of the transactions prior to the strike,' and he then proceeds to notice the ' leading events' which occurred during its continuance. He then dis- cusses the ' issues involved,' which were on the one hand the question of the hours of labour, and on the other the recognitiofi of the union. After tracing the different stages of the ' negotiations for settlement,' he con- siders the legal questions involved, and the economic and social issues raised. Such a contemporaneous record, made by a trained economist, of so important an industrial struggle, is likely to prove of more than temporary value; and to serve not only to correct many of the several public impressions, but also to supply material for the thoughtful consideration of the economic student. Mr. Mavor has earned the lasting gratitude of both these classes by the has fulfilled his task. manner in which he L. L. PscE The Ecoomic Basis o.t Protection. By PATTEN, Ph.D. Philadelphia, 1890. PROFESSOR SIMON N. AMONG the distinguishing features of American political economy noted by Cliffe-Leslie, ' the systematic teaching of protectionism as a scientific doctrine' was one. The book before us is a fresh instance of this tendency, which indeed it carries somewhat farther than its predecessors. In former pleas for protection limitations on foreign trade were regarded as at most temporary expedients destined ultimately to make way for free trade. Professor Patten argues for ' permanent' protection to be consistently applied until a new type of society is developed by its action, and in support of his view seeks very justly to place the discussion of the problem on'a more fundamental basis.' The moral and political aspects of the question are to be excluded, and the economic conditions alone considered. The student familiar with the writings of Carey and List not to mention smaller names ..will feel relieved at this announcement, and naturally