21 OCTOBER 1922, Page 48

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

(Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.)

THE CONTROL OF AMERICAN FOREIGN RELATIONS. By Quincy Wright. (New. York : Macmillan.)—Dr. Wright, who is Professor of International Law in the University of Minnesota, was awarded the Henry M. Phillips Prize in 1921 by the American Philosophical Society for the essay which he has now expanded into this learned study of American diplo- macy. Eighteen chapters are devoted to theory and one to practice. The last is the most interesting to a non-American reader. Dr. Wright recalls Mr. John Hay's statement that " treaty entering the Senate is like a bull going into the arena ; no one can say just how or when the final blow will fall— but one thing is certain, it will never leave the arena alive." Yet he thinks that no Constitutional change is needed, except perhaps a change in the treaty-ratifying power from two- thirds of the Senate to a majority of both Houses, according to the common practice in Europe. " Any system will work with big men. It is the merit of the British system that it throws big men to the top. The United States must develop political traditions and methods that will do the same."