- CONGRESS : 'AN EXPLANATION. By Robert Luce. (Harvard University
Press and H. Milford. Ss. net.)—Thu little book by a member of Congress is designed for the American public who, it seems, pay little attention to their legislature. But -Mr. Luce's spirited defence of Congress against the usual charges of incompetence, waste of time and corruption will have considerable interest for English readers also. It is highly controversial and therefore stimulating. Mr. Luce, for example, rejects the proposal that Congress should have a yearly Budget balancing expenditure against revenue ; he assumes that Congress can spend as much as it pleases, because the revenue can always be increased. This comfortable doctrine may suit a fabulously rich country like America, but it spells ruin in Europe. Mr. Luce exaggerates the power of the Cabinet over our House of Commons to-day ; things have changed since the fall of Mr. Lloyd George. Again, he misconceives the intention of the authors of the American constitution. In providing for a division of powers the)" thought that they were adopting the English practice of that day, as they read of it in Blackstone's Commentaries and saw it—from a distance—in practice. George the Third would have been surprised to hear that his Cabinets " should loot: to the people for ultimate authority." . But Mr. Luce, des- cribing the actual methods of Congress to-day, speaks with
real knowledge of his subject. -
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