25 APRIL 1908, Page 11

MARX'S "CAPITAL."

Capital : a Critique of Political Economy. By Karl Marx. Tel. II., "The Process of Circulation of Capital." Edited by Frederick Engels. Translated from the Second German Edition by Ernest Untermann. (Swan Soanenschein and Co. 10s. 6d.)— 'This volume has been pieced together from the manuscripts of the author,—a task which the editor describes as full of difficulty. The preparation of a third volume is "proceeding rapidly." The position of Marx in the Socialistic controversy is very important, but it is based entirely on his earlier volume. For students the present work will be interesting, but for the general public its 'obscurity and pedantry render it quite unreadable. The Socialist Party have not quite made up their minds as to whether Marx is to be disavowed or not. For the most part his authority is repudiated. For ourselves, Marx's whole theory has always appeared an extraordinary example of perverse ingenuity, and this impression is only confirmed by the present volume. The preface contains a vindication of Marx from the charge of having plagiarised his famous doctrine of surplus value from Rodbertus. Most of us regard this as one of the most stupendous fallacies that ever vexed mankind, and the discussion as to the merit of its discovery leaves us, we confess, somewhat cold.