Roger Drake, Captain of Industry. By Henry Kitchell Webster. (Macmillan
and Co. 6s.)—This is a very clever novel indeed; the most languid reader will not be disposed to linger oyer it or to skip. The only criticism that we are disposed to make is im- plied in the question : Where does the " industry " come in ? We are told much about Roger Drake's love affairs ; how he is jilted by his first love, and more than compensated for the loss by the second; and we have many most interesting narratives of his financial, commercial, and political doings—it seems that on the other side of the Atlantic you do great strokes of business by getting Acts through the State Legislature—but still the " industry " is wanting. Surely if there is a " captain "there should be followers. We hear of Roger Drake's allies, rivals, and enemies; of his dis- coveries, of his mines, his railways, his utilisation of water-power, and so forth ; but of the workers whose labour brings all these things into profitable existence not a syllable. A novel written on this side under this title would bring before us Trade-Unions, Free Labour Associations, and like matters. On the other side it is the "Trust" that occupies the prominent place.
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