The American Year-Book. Edited by Francis G. Wickware, B.Sc. (Appleton
and Co. 15s. not.)—This book represents thirty-eight learned and technical societies ; is brought out under the super- vision of a board, on which they are represented ; and is actually written by more than a hundred contributors, It may be said that every interest, every subject, is authoritatively represented. The result is sometimes what may be called a "Free Council." o Mr. Algernon Lee, described as an editor of Socialist magazines, E
tells us that M. Stolypin "foil a victim to his own devices." The rooroment does not appear to be very powerful in the States ; a total vote of 605,000 (1910) and a single member in the House of Representatives go for very little. The population of the States in the same year was 91,402,151, and the total of the votes cast in the last Presidential Election (1908) was 14,183,251. It need Tardily be said that there is a vast amount of what may. be called neutral information. In Section IX,, for instance, we find interest. tog facts about the administration. Whether this is more effective than ours or not, it is certainly cheaper. A Cabinet of nine receives salaries amounting to £18,000; bore we have twenty with a total of .875,000. The Solicitor-General (the Attorney- General is in the Cabinet) receives 42,000, as against 46,000 and. foes. We might fill columns with notable differences and con- trasts, One thing may be mentioned, because it is a sot-off to what we hear about emigration into Canada from the States. 'One-fifth of all Canadians by birth are now living in the United Statess,____With this may be mentioned a very different work, The Chinese Year-Book, edited by H. T. Montague Bell and H. G. W. 1Voodhead (G. Routledge and Sons, 108. net). The book begins with an account of the Revolution, written, of course, before the movement had been fully developed, but showing an intelligent anticipation of what was about to happen. The editors attribute some share to the secret society of the Ko Ming Tong, but find a more potent cause in the discontent with Manchu rule. "On me point only can the whole of China be said to be unanimous, that an end must be put to the regime associated with the Manchus." Passing to other matters, we find that the popnla- 'Aim of the Empire is put at 331,000,000 and the area at 4,278,352 square miles. The corresponding figures for the British .?,inpire are 307,261,509 and 11,434,862. Canada has an area, we ce, of about five-sixths of the Chinese Empire, with a population of no-forty-seventh. The British Isles show a population of about .70 to the square mile, as against about 70 in China. Of this sopulation the Roman Catholic Mission claims 1,203,634 baptized converts. No numbers are given for the seventy societies other than Roman Catholic which are at work. The Imperial budget for 1011 shows an income of about 437,000,000 and an expenditure of 433,000,000 (in round numbers). This looks very good on paper, but when we come to the "Provincial Budgets" we find a deficit almost everywhere, twenty-four States being in this condition, as against six which show a surplus.
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