vatism legislators have clung to a system which invites and promotes fraud, and provides for the success of the bosses and the boodlers in politics, rather than the triumph of the people. But the indications are that a primary reform, as radical in its protective features as the Australian ballot, is destined to be speedily adopted in most of the states. According to Mr. Meyer, the primary election system which prevails in some of the southern states is far from being either in theory or practice what the exigencies of the case demand. In the South the system works fairly well, for the reason that there is practically but one party in the field, while an entirely different system is necessary where there are two closely divided parties, but where the temptation to forage upon the floating voter is very great.

One of the interesting chapters in the book before us gives the history of the labors of Governor La Follette to secure primary reform in Wisconsin, reference to which will be made in another part of this magazine.

The appendix to Mr. Meyer's books contains the Stevens primary election bill. This measure was defeated by the last Wisconsin legislature, but is presented as an ideal statute. It provides for the nomination of public officials, to be voted for at direct primary elections. Such elections

are to be held on the same day in each precinct in a state, and they are to be conducted with all the secrecy and safeguards which characterize a general election. All the political parties are to vote at the same time and place. Candidates are to secure places on the nomination ballots by petition. Such petition must be signed by two per cent. of the voters of the party residing within the state or subdivision for which the person is a candidate. The law contains many provisions for registration and to secure its practical application. This measure does away with not only the caucus at the bottom but the convention at the top of our nominating methods. Under its operation the opportunity for the ward heeler, or his more forceful boss, to manipulate the caucus or convention, would be gone. With such a law in force, political responsibility would rest

solely with the voters, and they alone would be to blame if political honesty and decency did not prevail.

CLARK'S THE GOVERNMENT: WHAT IT IS; WHAT IT DOES. By Salter Storrs Clark. Cloth, 12m0, 304 pages, with maps and illustrations. Price 75 cents. American Book Company, New York, Cincinnati and Chicago.

This is simply another volume added to the long list of text book now being made to meet the demand for civil government teaching in the public and other schools of the country.

It deals in detail with a multitude of subjects, and claims to treat the topics as a well-equipped teacher would present the matters to his class.

An explanation is given of the operation of the state, local and general governments, with an exposition of the laws relating to crime, the rights of property and a multitude of allied topics. A chapter is devoted to nominations and party procedure in general, and another to the issues which divide parties. The appendix gives an outline of the principal governments of the world, briefly explaining their peculiar features.

NEW BOOKS OF INTEREST

Finland: Its Public and Private Economy. By N. C. Frederickson. Crown, 8vo, $2.00. Longmans, Green & Co., New York and London.

The Life of Napoleon I. By J. H. Rose, M. A. Illustrated, 2 vols., 8vo, $4.00, net. The Macmillan Co., New York.

The German Empire of To-day. By "Veritas." With map. Crown, 340 pp., $2.25. Longmans, Green & Co., New York and London.

The Principles of English Constitutional History. By Lucy Dale. Crown, 8vo. Longmans, Green & Co., New York and London.

The Philosophy of Despair. By Dr. David Starr Jordan. Elder & Shepard, San Francisco.