Book Reviews: China, Japan, and the Powers. By MERIBETH E. CAMERON, THOMAS H. D. MAHONEY, GEORGE E. McREYNOLDS. (New York: The Ronald Press Company. 1952. Pp. xiii, 682. $6.50.)

• Author: Alfred Crofts
• Published date: 01 December 1952
• Date: 01 December 1952
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591295200500408
• Subject Matter: Articles

660

The

editors

would

have

done

a

kindness

both

to

the

author

and

to

his

many

devoted

readers

by

eliminating

some

of

the

many

grammatical

errors

and

un-English

phrasings.

Irritation

-

even

involuntary

-

pro-

duced

by

such

elements

detracts

from

the

influence

exercised

by

the

work

itself.

The

most

interesting

part

of

the

book

consists

of

its

last

three

para-

graphs.

Here

Kelsen

says

that

the

choice

between

the

two

leading

(there

are

others!)

hypotheses

concerning

the

relationship

between

international

and

national

law

is

a

matter

of

ethical

or

political

attitude

or

preference,

even

&dquo;sympathy&dquo;

(p.

447).

Contrary

to

Kelsen’s

expressed

conclusions,

which

he

seems

to

state

with

more

feeling

than

rational

conviction,

the

reviewer

believes

that

the choice

between

these

two

hypotheses,

far

from

being

&dquo;beyond

science,&dquo;

is

one

of

the

great

issues

which

must

and

can

be

decided

by

inductive

science.

If

this

is

not

correct,

if

it

be

admitted

that

the

basic

question

of

the

primacy

of

international

law

is

a

matter

of

per-

sonal

subjective

preference

- sentiment,

mood,

emotion,

state

of

one’s

digestion

-

where

then

is

the

&dquo;science&dquo;

of

international

law?

The

priority

of

instinct

over

science

and

reason

was

one

of

Mussolini’s

pet

dogmas.

PITMAN

B.

POTTER.

The

American

University

.

China,

Japan,

and

the

Powers.

By

MERIBETH

E.

CAMERON,

THOMAS

H.

D.

MAHONEY,

GEORGE

E.

McREYNOLDS.

(New

York:

The

Ronald

Press

Company.

1952.

Pp.

xiii,

682.

$6.50.)

China,

Japan,

and

the

Power

the

first

new

college

textbook

on

the

Far

East

to

appear

since

the

Korean

War,

has

been

produced

by

three

New

England

scholars,

thoroughly

grounded

in

the

literature

of

their

subject

though

never

resident

for

an

extended

time

in

Asia.

The

Intro-

duction,

a

warmly-worded

tribute,

is

supplied

by

Kenneth

Scott

Latourette.

A

fourth

of

the

thirty-two

chapters

are

introductory,

dealing

with

the

Far

East

before

the

rise

of

Western

imperialism.

The

subject

matter

conforms

to

the

limitations

of

the

title,

almost

ignoring

the

Malay

Countries

and

Southeast

Asia

before

the

twentieth

century;

Korea

receives

passing

attention,

and

Central

Asia

is

integrated

into

the

affairs

of

China.

This

textbook

in

international

affairs

offers

a

full

and

penetrating

treatment

of

the

interaction

between

East

and

West,

though

purely

Oriental

matters

receive

briefer

attention:

limited

space

is

given

to

the

influence

of

resources

and

climate

on

the

Asian

peoples,

or

to

their

cultural

evolution.

The

pressure

of

over-population,

the

most

massive

of

all

indigenous

problems

and

the

prime

cause

of

Japanese

expansion,

is

lightly

passed

over.