Book Reviews and Notices : The Government of New Mexico. BY THOMAS C. DONNELLY. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1947. Pp. v, 330. $4.00.)

• Author: John C. Bollens
• Date: 01 June 1948
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100220
• Published date: 01 June 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

195
official procedures and codes adopted in the West (the Spanish alcalde for
example), derive from complex preliminaries. He hints that free mining
has traditionally provided a stimulus for self-government.
Speaking of the western miner, he has this to say:
In reality he was a plain American citizen cut loose from authority, freed from
the restraints and protections of law, and forced to make the defense and or-
ganization of society a part of his daily business. In its best estate the mining
camp of California was a manifestation of the inherent capacities of the race
for self-government. That political instinct, deep rooted in the Lex Saxonum,
to blossom in the Magna Charta and in the English unwritten constitution, has
seldom in modern times afforded a finer illustration of its seemingly inex-
haustible force. Here, in a new land, under new conditions, subjected to tre-
mendous pressure and strain, but successfully resisting them, were associated
bodies of freemen bound together for a time by common interests, ruled by
equal laws, and owing allegiance to no higher authority than their own sense
of right and wrong. They held meetings, chose officers, decided disputes, meted
out stern and swift punishment to offenders, and managed their own local
affairs with entire success ... and the growth of their communities was proceed-
.
ing at such a rate that days and weeks were often sufficient for vital changes
which in more staid communities would have required months or even years.
Probably nowhere else in the American scene is there such a fine example
of political spontaneity as in the western mining camp and it is Shinn’s
contribution that he has pointed this out to us in his important book.
This second edition of Mining Camps, which carries an introduction
by Joseph Henry Jackson, will appeal to a national audience, for his work
helps to explain the evolution of American political life. Shinn was a
pioneer historian of the frontier (he anticipated Frederick...