Book Reviews and Notices : Edmund J. James Lectures on Government. Fourth Series. EDITED By CLARENCE A. BERDAHL, H. M. GRAY, AND JOHN M. MATHEWS. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 1947. Pp. 93. $.75, cloth.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100347
• Author: Albert C.F. Westphal
• Published date: 01 September 1948
• Date: 01 September 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

355

Edmund

J.

James

Lectures

on

Government.

Fourth

Series.

EDITED

By

CLARENCE

A.

BERDAHL,

H.

M.

GRAY,

AND

JOHN

M.

MATHEWS.

(Urbana:

University

of

Illinois

Press.

1947.

Pp. 93.

$.75,

cloth.)

This

volume

comprises

the

lectures

for

the

last

three

years

delivered

at

the

University

of

Illinois

under

the

terms

of

a

foundation

established

in

memory

of

the

late

President

of

the

University.

The

committee

chose

prob-

lems

of

special

international

significance

as

the

central

theme

for

the three

annual

lectures

and

invited

men

of

unusual

competence

to

discuss

these

problems.

The

lecturer

in

1945

was

W.

Y.

Eliot

who

discussed

&dquo;The

Strategy

and

Politics

of

Raw

Materials

in

Peace

and

War.&dquo;

In

the

1920’s

Professor

Eliot

advocated

the

settlement

of

war

debts

by

payments

in

commodities.

Again

he

advances

this

proposal

for

repayment

of

Lend-Lease

operations

and

post-

war

debts.

Based

upon

his

wartime

experience

in

securing

vitally

needed

materials,

he

advocates

a

national

policy

of

peacetime

stockpiling

that

would

build

up

our

reserves

of

materials

in

short

supply.

He

is

not

deterred

in

his

observations

by

the

insistence

of

the

&dquo;mineral

bloc&dquo;

for

a

privileged

posi-

tion

in

any

such

program.

&dquo;Disputes

before

Organs

of

the

United

Nations&dquo;

was

the

subject

of

Manley

O.

Hudson’s

lecture

in

1946.

The

analysis

of

the

new

postwar

peace

machinery

is

necessarily

conjectural.

It

is

a

constitutional

study

with

particular

emphasis

on

the

role

of

the

International

Court

of

Justice.

Pro-

fessor

Hudson

laments

the

failure

of

the

draftsmen

of

the

new

Court

to

extend

its

jurisdiction,

and

he

places

the

blame

for

this

upon

the

United

States

and

the

Soviet

Union,

neither

of

which

&dquo;had

made

any

significant

contribution

to

the

development

of

the

law

of

pacific

settlement

inaugur-

ated

in

1920.&dquo;

Last

year

Herman

Finer

gave

a

lecture

on

&dquo;Force

or

Persuasion

in

In-

ternational

Relations.&dquo;

This

is

a

hard-hitting

address

that

will

nettle

the

world

federationists.

He

reasons

from

the

simple

premise

that

sovereign

states,

each

with

a

different

ethos,

and

centripetal

in

their

demands

for

loyalty,

make

up

the

modern

world.

The

protection

of

national

values

is

the

central

purpose

of

the

national

state;

the

veto

power

is

only

a

manifesta-

tion

of

the

desire

of

nations

to

preserve

the

values

that

their

individuals

cherish.

&dquo;The

Secretary

of

State

casts

not

his

but

their

vote,

and

he

casts

it

for

the

things

they

want.&dquo;

Persuasion

as

a

cohesive

international

force

is

incapable

of

achieving

world

government

because

the

Soviet

rulers

are

not

susceptible

to

it.

Democracy’s

survival

against

totalitarian

pressure,

therefore,

may

necessitate

reliance

upon

the

disciplinary

power

of

prepon-

derant

force.&dquo;

ALBERT

C.

F.

WESTPHAL.

University

of

New

Mexico.