3 JULY 1886, Page 26

Economic .Aspects of Recent Legislation. By William Watt. (Longmans.)—One can

fancy without much difficulty what havoc an " economist " let loose on some recent Acts would make. Mr. Watt has some very sharp things to say about Irish legislation, for instance. What would he have to say about the Acts of the " Statutory Par- liament," if it should ever come into being ? But he is not a mere "economist," nor one of those thinkers who suppose that when one has uttered the mystic words, " freedom of contract," all is settled. If he does not approve of the Irish Land Acts, on the other hand, he sees great good in the "Agricultural Holdings Act of 1875." But we cannot discuss Mr. Watt's essays. Suffice it to say that they seem to have eminently well deserved the honour which was accorded to them of winning the prize proposed by Mr. H. D. Pochin for an essay on this subject which should be a memorial of Mr. William Newmarch.