17 FEBRUARY 1906, Page 26

The City the Hope of Democracy. By F. C. Howe.

(T. Fisher Unwin. 7s. 6d. net.)—This book is written throughout with direct reference to the conditions of American life. That the application to English affairs is not remote may easily be understood. The underlying principle on which Mr. Howe builds his theory is certainly one which is universally true or false. This may be briefly stated thus. The corruption that exists in public life is due to the faultiness of the institutions, not to the defects of the individuals who live under them. We are not prepared on the present occasion to affirm or to deny, though we cannot but remember the famous couplet— "flow small. of all the ills that men endure. The part that laws or kings can cause or cure."