Book Reviews : Municipal and Other Local Governments. By MARGUERITE J. FISHER and DONALD G. BISHOP. (New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1950. Pp. viii, 664. $4.75.)

• Date: 01 September 1951
• Author: Frank M. Stewart
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400340
• Published date: 01 September 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

531

Correction

of

an

adverse

balance

by

either

of

the

first

two

measures

implies

that

correction

will

occur

through

adjustments

in

the

rate

of

ex-

change

responding

to

revaluation

of

currencies.

It

is

the

judgment

of

Mr.

Hawtrey,

the

third

situation

pertains

to

European

countries

generally

and

to

England

in

particular.

The

trade

displacements

caused

by

World

War

II,

and

the

urgent

necessity

of

re-equipment

through

United

States

aid,

have

assured

an

adverse

balance

of

payments

to

western

Europe

of

a

fun-

damental

nature.

The

&dquo;restrictive

measures&dquo;

would

have

to

be

import

quotas

or

other

import

restrictions,

combined

with

a

directed

economy

aiming

towards

a

revitalized

foreign

trade.

Implied

is

the

sacrifice

of

a

present

standard

of

living

in

the

expectation

of

a

higher

one

in

the

future.

Such

restrictive

measures,

it is

to

be

noted,

do

not

preclude

multilateral

agreements

which

might

lend

some

degree

of

stability

to

the

European

economies.

Mr.

Hawtrey’s

dissertation

was

written

in

the

latter

months

of

1949

and

the

early

months

of

1950,

at

a

time

when

England’s

dollar

shortage

was

soon

to

become

less

serious.

The

Korean

&dquo;police

action&dquo;

and

the

necessity

for

war

preparations

have

further

modified

the

situation

in

regard

to

adverse

balances.

Changes

in

international

trade

and

within

domestic

economies

follow

changing

world

situations

rather

closely.

Never-

theless,

Mr.

Hawtrey’s

close

reasoning

and

sound

economics

repay

any

attention

siven

to

a

Derusal

of

this

book.... --

HOWARD

L.

DALSLEY.

Russell

Sage

College.

Municipal

and

Other

Local

Governments.

By

MARGUERITE

J.

FISHER

and

DONALD

G.

BISHOP.

(New

York:

Prentice-Hall,

Inc.

1950.

Pp.

viii,

664.

$4.75.)

From

experience

with

the

use

of

materials

by

students

in

the

Maxwell

Graduate

School

of

Citizenship

and

Public

Affairs

of

Syracuse

University

and

with

study

groups

of

the

New

York

State

League

of

Women

Voters,

the

authors

have

written

a

useful

and

practical

book

for

students

of

local

government

and

others.

Two

introductory

chapters

deal

with

the

significance

of

local

govern-

ment

in

our

society,

and

with

the

relations

of

the

city

to

other

units

of

government.

Part

II

discusses

the

forms

of

municipal

government,

parties,

and

politics.

Part

III

is

devoted

to

personnel

and

finance,

and

Part

IV

pro-

vides

a

separate

treatment

of

eleven

activities

of

municipal

governments.

A

concluding

chapter

is

entitled

&dquo;Planning-The

Hope

for

the

Future.&dquo;

Two

appendixes

discuss

county

and

other

units

of

local

government,

in-

cluding

the

New

England

town,

the

township,

village,

borough,

and

special

districts.

A

useful

index

is

provided.