Book Reviews and Notices : America Moves West. By ROBERT RIEGEL. (New York: Henry Holt and Company. Revised Edition, 1947. Pp. xi, 632. $4.10.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100325
• Published date: 01 September 1948
• Date: 01 September 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

330
Dominions must alleviate the mother country’s economic burdens by re-
ducing the sterling balances by ~ 1000 in respect of each immigrant arriv-
ing from the home country. The author bases this figure on the belief that
every member of the population of a developed country has a capital value
of approximately ~1000.
Mr. Hodson discusses also some of the problems that have arisen in
Commonwealth relations, particularly the loosening of legal ties, in the last
few years. It is a little difficult to agree, however, that English is the lingua
franca for the whole Indian sub-continent. It may well be the language of
learning and of government, but it is certainly not the language of the
masses, and it is likely to lose its former standing in the administrative and
intellectual world in the near future. The governments of both India and
Pakistan have announced that in the course of the next five years English
will be completely replaced by the local tongue. Similarly, it is a little
strange, although it may adequately describe their functions, to find the
Presidents of Burma, which is independent, and of Eire, which is a Domin-
ion, talked of as &dquo;elected constitutional monarchs.&dquo;
In the last two chapters of his Twentieth Century Empire, Mr. Hodson
calls for the creation of a Commonwealth Council to co-ordinate inter-
imperial affairs and interests. At first this Council would be a &dquo;talking
shop&dquo; only, but in the future, he suggests, it could become a real Union
Government of comprehensive competence. Unfortunately, the basis on
which Mr. Hodson allots representation in this Council is by no means
clear.
If the Commonwealth Council called for by Mr. Hodson were to suc-
ceed in its ultimate purpose, it could contribute greatly to the prospects of
world peace and might well be the nucleus around which World Govern-
ment eventually could evolve. It would then no longer be true to say &dquo;it
seems that the will to common action is not so strong as...