Book Reviews : Relation of the State to Industrial Action and Economics and Jurisprudence. By HENRY CARTER ADAMS. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1954. Pp. 182. $3.00.)
| Author | Charles Aikin |
| Date | 01 June 1960 |
| Published date | 01 June 1960 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296001300217 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
524
Relation
of
the
State
to
Industrial
Action
and
Economics
and
Jurisprudence.
By
HENRY
CARTER
ADAMS.
(New
York:
Columbia
University
Press,
1954.
Pp.
182.
$3.00.)
Two
essays
by
Henry
Carter
Adams
and
a
sensitive
and
informative
intro-
duction
by
Joseph
Dorfman
make
up
this
volume.
The
first
essay,
&dquo;Relation
of
the
State
to
Industrial
Action,&dquo;
was
described
by
Edwin
E.
Witte
in
his
presi-
dential
address
to
the
American
Economic
Association
three
years
ago
as
being
in
&dquo;my
way
of
thinking
still
one
of
the
soundest
treatments
of
the
subject.&dquo;
Some
years
earlier
I.
L.
Sharfman
wrote
of
the
&dquo;potent
influence&dquo;
of
Adams
&dquo;upon
prevailing
principles
and
practices
of
public
control.&dquo;
For
his
own
presidential
address
before
the
American
Economic
Association
(1896)
Adams
selected
the
title
&dquo;Economics
and
Jurisprudence,&dquo;
a
title
that
might
catch
the
interest
of
more
traditional
social
scientists
of
today.
The
student
of
the
social
sciences
who
reads
these
essays
may
be
reminded
of
the
fact
that
there
is
much
worth
reading
- in
addition
to
currently
favored
classics
-
that
was
written
before
the
past
two
or
three
decades.
Columbia
Uni-
versity
planned
well
when
it
included
this
small
but
important
book
in
its
Bicentennial
Editions
and
Studies.
The
introduction
to
the
volume
is
in
itself
a
happy
discovery.
Not
only
has
Professor
Dorfman
rescued
Henry
Carter
Adams
from
the
quasi-oblivion
of
only
an
occasional
footnote,
but
for
those
who
never
felt
the
direct
impact
of
his
mind
and
personality,
Adams
comes
to
life.
His
struggle
for
position,
for
tenure,
for
complete
academic
freedom
may
not
often
be
duplicated
in
the
universities
of
today.
Yet
the
teacher
who
is
finding
his
way
within
American
educational
strongholds
may
feel
a
close
kinship
with
the
Adams
of
1879
to
1887.
His
simple,
straightforward
letter
to
the
President
of
the
University
of
Michigan
in
1887
is
a
moving
statement,
&dquo;a
significant
document
in
the
story
of
academic
freedom,&dquo;
as
Dorfman
describes
it.
Adams
acquired
a
tenure
at
Michigan
that
he
main-
tained
until
the
end
of
his
life,
partly
as
a
result
of
this
letter.
One
who
follows
the
public
as
well
as
the
academic
life
of
Adams
becomes
aware
of
how
cordially
Adams
would
be
welcomed
into
the
nation
of
today.
The
significance
of
his
association
with
the
Interstate
Commerce
Commission
for
a
quarter
of
a
century
generally
has
been
overlooked,
but
it
was
of
prime
impor-
tance
in
the
development
of
public
regulation
in
America.
Moreover,
the
partic-
ipation
by
Adams -
nearly
half
a
century
ago
-
in
what
today
would
be
referred
to
as
an
overseas
foreign
aid
program
is
evidence
that
he
would
be
under
pressure
in
1959
from
the
International
Cooperation
Administration.
One
can
think
of
only
a
few
scholars
at
mid-twentieth
century
who
have
contributed
as
richly
to
science
and
to
public
administration
as
did
Henry
Carter
Adams.
University
of
California,
Berkeley
CHARLES
AIKIN
To continue reading
Request your trial