SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as hare not been reserved for review in other forms.] Politics and Administration. By Frank J. Goodknow. (Mac- millan and Co. (is. Ed.' net.)—This "Study of Government" is well worthy the attention of English readers, It refers, in the first instance, to the practical working of the Government of the United States, but its secondary reference to our political system is not remote. The framers of the American Constitution had unquestionably the English Constitution in view, and desired to profit by experience, to avoid our faults and adopt our merits. It is very interesting to see how far in the judgment of an expert they have succeeded or failed. "The Boss" is a notable chapter, with the contrast between the American creation and the Premier of the English Constitution. The Premier began by being a " boss "; but we made him responsible and he is now an influence for good. The American party leader is not responsible to the people. Hine fons et origo mali.—It will be interesting to read in connection with this Exit Party, by Sir Frederick Young (Chapman and Hall, 3s. 6d.) "My point is," says the author in his preface, "that the' fall' I am about to describe is in the 'old order of things' which placed the formation of the Cabinets which constituted the successive Governments of the country, absolutely in the sole bands of the dominant political party for the time being, be it either Whig or Tory, Liberal or Conservative, as the unalterable factor of such selection." It is too big a subject for discussion in these columns, but we may say that Sir Frederick Young deals with it in an open-minded, reasonable way.
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