The City Wilderness. By Robert A. Woods. (1Iougl,ton, Mifflin, and
Co.)—Although this is in the strictest sense a study in United States "slum sociology," it deserves the serious attention of students of similar problems on this side of the Atlantic. It might be described as an estimate of work done by Toynbeeism working within a small and manageable area. In the autumn of 1891 Professor William Tucker, now President of Dartmouth College, then of the Theological Seminary at Andover, sent out a circular to persons interested in the same problems as himself, in which he proposed that there should be established in one of the nine crowded districts of Boston a house or settlement "designed to stand for the single idea of resident study and work." The district chosen was the congested South End, a district with a population of little over forty thousand—predominantly Irish, although the Jewish population is becoming a very important factor —and occupying mostly tenement houses. As Boston is a small city when compared with London, or even with New York and Chicago, the efforts of the students who composed the settle- ment were could easily be employed in a systematic fashion. So in this volume we have the results cf careful investigation presented under such heads as "Population," "Public Health," "Work and Wages," "The Roots of Political Power," "Criminal Tendencies," "The Church and the People," and "The Strong- holds of Education." No doubt some of the views which have been arrived at have the look of commonplaces which were known long ago, such as that "the Irish women maintain the high standard of chastity which is the distinction of their race," and that "the Jews are conspicuously free from the vice of intemperance and from sins against the family." On the other hand, such little-known facts are brought out as that trade- unionism is eminently hostile to Socialism, and that "although the trade-unions have many faults to answer for, they have on the whole and in the long run distinctly served in bringing about that considerable measure of industrial peace and stability which exists in Boston." The corruptions of civic government are very clearly and fully set forth by the writer of that section of the book which deals with this subject. The spirit of the volume as a whole is hopeful. It seems to show that if the intelligence of a great city sets itself seriously to the task of solving the problems which are bound up with" congestion," it will accomplish that feat in time. This, however, is a book which deserves the most careful and minute study. Being of a handy size, it should be acceptable to sociologists in all parts of the world.
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