Book Reviews and Notices : The Alien and the Asiatic in American Law. By M. R. KONVITZ. (New York: Cornell University Press. London: Geoffrey Cumberlege. 1947. Pp. 299. 18s.)

• Author: L.C. Green
• Published date: 01 December 1948
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100424
• Date: 01 December 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

471
British Institutions of To-Day. By KINGSTON DERRY. (London: Longmans
Green and Co. 1947. Pp. viii, 215. 5s.)
Brevity, clarity, and accuracy help to make Kingston Derry’s revision
of his British Institutions of To-Day a worthy addition to the significant
textbooks on government. Although written with the British Sixth Form
pupil in mind the book is readable enough to deserve the attention of the
American who wants to review briefly the outline of, and recent develop-
ments in, British government, or of the professor who needs a concise
introduction to that field for his sophomore class.
Roughly two-thirds of the contents are devoted to a conventional
treatment of British political institutions: the voter, parliament, cabinet,
king, courts, local government, etc. Recent trends and changes including
a summary of war-time institutions, and of those international bodies with
which the British government cooperate, make up the remainder.
Derry’s purpose apparently is to instil an understanding of the
&dquo;changeless democratic ideal&dquo; which he finds running through modern
British politics. The need to make reality more nearly approach this ideal
is stressed. In the concluding chapter &dquo;Cooperation with the State&dquo; he
undertakes to answer the layman’s question &dquo;What can I do to assure
sound government?&dquo; &dquo;Apathy,&dquo; he warns here as elsewhere, &dquo;is a greater
danger to free institutions than partisanship.&dquo;
A
sympathy for the war-time effort of the Ministry of Food to assure
&dquo;a national minimum standard of life which it was the business of the
state to make available to all,&dquo; and for present day socialistic trends per-
vades the latter portion of the text. Coupled with this is a warning against
any abandonment of the traditional British view that the final end of
government is &dquo;the enrichment of the life led by the individual as a free
human being.&dquo;
W. HAROLD DALGLIESH.
University of Utah.
The Alien and the Asiatic in American Law. By M. R. KONVITZ. (New
York: Cornell University Press. London: Geoffrey Cumberlege.
1947. Pp. 299. 18s.)
According to Article 1 (3) of the...