Le Regime des Capitulations et la Worms Constitutionnelte en Chine,
by Louis Ngaosiang Tchou (Cambridge University Press, 7s. 6d. net), is a these de doctoral for a degree at Louvain University, and its publication has been transferred to Cambridge owing to the force of circumstances. The thesis falls into two independent parts, of which the first is concerned with the Capitulations at present in force in China, and with the history of their origins, as well as with a short sketch of Capitulations in general, in which we are reminded that the earliest of such treaties and the type of all later ones was that concluded in 1535 between Francis I. of France and the Sultan Soliman the Magnificent. The author expresses a hope that, in view of the establishment of the new regime in China, it may be possible gradually to abolish treaties which he describes as "une grave atteinte an prineipe de la souverainet6 des Etats." The second part of the dissertation traces the history of the Constitutional changes in China since the collapse of the Manchu dynasty, and gives the texts of the successive provisional Constitutions which have been promulgated. The last of these, which is now in force, gives almost absolute power to the President; but the author apparently inclines to the view—which seems at first sight somewhat paradoxical—that a "strong Executive" was neces- sary for the defence of liberty, which had been threatened by the encroachments of Parliamentary oppression.
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