Book Reviews : Henry George. By CHARLES ALBRO BARKER. (New York: Oxford University Press. 1955. Pp. xvii, 696. $9.50.)
| Author | William H. Harbold |
| Date | 01 March 1956 |
| Published date | 01 March 1956 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295600900141 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
210
it
might
be
well
if
this
idea
spread
to
other
areas.
Much
of
the
ill-feeling
toward
the
United
States
that
exists
in
Latin
America
stems
from
our
sup-
port
of
unpopular
regimes.
Extrapartisanship
as
a
definite
goal
would
result
in
the
limiting
of
a
formulated
policy
only
to
those
fields
where
there
is
strong
public
support
and
no
organized
resistance
in
the
opposition
party.
Occasionally
it
might
be
well
for
an
administration
to
advocate
policies
which,
while
not
popular
at
the
time,
can
be
considered
to
be
beneficial
to
the
United
States.
The
administration
might
be
courting
failure
at
the
polls,
but
if
the
gamble
proved
successful,
it
could
contribute
much
to
the
attainment
of
universal
peace.
Ohio
Northern
University.
ANTHONY
L.
MILNAR.
Henry
George.
By
CHARLES
ALBRO
BARKER.
(New
York:
Oxford
Uni-
versity
Press.
1955.
Pp.
xvii,
696.
$9.50.)
Professor
Barker
has
furnished
students
of
Americanna
with
an
excel~
lent
instrument
in
his
biography
of
Henry
George.
The
work’s
value
to
any
social
science
other
than
history,
however,
tends
to
be
limited
by
a
largely
uncritical
presentation
of
George’s
ideas.
The
author
seems
to
be
in
at
least
general
agreement
with
George;
not
only
does
he
undertake
little
critical
analysis
of
the
conceptions
of
the
master,
but
even
his
ideological
opponents,
identified
clearly
enough
throughout,
receive
little
serious
ex-
amination.
Despite
this
shortcoming,
however,
the
book
is
to
be
recommended.
Henry
George
was
an
important
figure
in
the
development
of
American
political
and
social
thought,
and
his
influence
at
home
and
abroad
is
not
to
be
controverted.
Professor
Barker’s
sympathetic
account
brings
out
very
effectively
the
ideas
of
this
essentially
conservative
reformer,
both
in
their
development
and
in
their
multi-faceted
nature.
Apart
from
its
style
and
thoroughness
the
study
is
distinguished
by
a
successful
attempt
to
show
that
George’s
criticism
of
existing
institutions
and
practices
was
more
broadly
based
than
is
often
assumed.
One
of
the
major
points
of
the
text
is
that
the
single
tax,
or
what
the
author
calls
&dquo;fiscal
Georgism,&dquo;
repre-
sented
by
a
small
part
of
what
George
stood
for
throughout
most
of
his
life
and,
furthermore,
a
part
for
which
George
was
not
solely
responsible.
But
a
far
greater
service
which
the
work
renders
is
to
show
the
re,
former’s
moral
and
religious
preoccupations.
Professor
Barker
places
George
in
the
mainstream
of
Western
progressive
thought,
with
its
emphasis
upon
free
will
and
the
ideal
of
a
moral
freedom.
Progress
and
Poverty,
for
example,
is
seen
as
comprising
two
distinct
lines
of
argument.
One
of
these,
which
Professor
Barker
calls
the
economic
syllogism,
brings
out
the
fateful
consequences
of
private
property
in
land
and
proposes
a
remedy
in
the
na-
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