Book Reviews : Shape-Up and Hiring Hall : A Comparison of Hiring Methods on the New York and Seattle Waterfronts. By CHARLES P. LARROWE. (Berkeley: University of California Press. 1955. Pp. ix, 250. $4.50.)

• Date: 01 March 1956
• Author: William S. Hopkins
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900156
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Subject Matter: Articles

229

almost

no

examination

of

the

politics

of

integration;

no

measurement

of

individual

attitudes

in

the

community

toward

problems

of

metropolitan

government;

no

inquiry

into

community

value

patterns

that

might,

for

example,

just

possibly

indicate

that

administrative

efficiency

or

equity

in

municipal

finance

are

not

regarded

as

matters

of

first

magnitude

toward

the

achievement

of

goals

considered

important

by

the

Angelino-on-the,

street.

This

study,

in

other

words,

treats

metropolitan

area

government

as

if

it

were

purely

an

administrative

problem.

The

research

might

equally

well

have

been

done

by

any one

of

several

professional

agencies

that

con-

duct

administrative

surveys.

Within

its

narrow

concepts,

the

study

is

very

competent.

Many

social

scientists

will

wish,

however,

that

a

social

scientific

methodology

had

been

used

in

an

attempt

to

furnish

some

information

concerning

the

political

and

social

dynamics

of

metropolitan

problems.

The

data

presented

in

this

volume

are

not

an

adequate

basis

from

which

to

derive

an

answer

to

the

question,

&dquo;Is

Integration

Possible?&dquo;

CHARLES

R.

ADRIAN.

Michigan

State

University.

Shape-Up

and

Hiring

Hall :

A

Comparison

of

Hiring

Methods

on

the

New

York

and

Seattle

Waterfronts.

By

CHARLES

P.

LARROWE.

(Berkeley:

University

of

California

Press.

1955.

Pp.

ix,

250.

$4.50.)

The

author

of

this

book

is

an

economist

at

the

University

of

Utah.

Either

by

preference

or

because

of

the

absence

of

a

large

labor

relations

research

institute

at

Utah,

Larrowe

has

worked relatively

alone,

and

has

tackled

successfully

a

topic

which

extends

far

beyond

the

limits

of

his

own

professional

discipline.

His

book

is

of

interest

to

economists,

but

it

must

be

of

equal

interest

to

political

scientists,

historians,

sociologists,

business

men,

and

labor

leaders.

In

part,

he

has

been

a

reporter.

The

New

York

waterfront

has

been

&dquo;news&dquo;

for

several

years.

The

names

of

Joe

Ryan

and

Harry

Bridges

have

been

consistently

&dquo;newsworthy.&dquo;

Larrowe

reports

the

events

which

have

occurred

in

the

longshoring

operations

on

the

New

York

and

Seattle

waterfronts;

he

has

reported

fully

and

carefully.

The

story

has

never

been

told

before

in

one

volume,

and

the

interested

public

should

be

grateful

for

this

book

which

tells

it

so

well.

But

it

is

much

more

than

re-

porting

-

it

is

also

analytical

and

interpretive.

It

is

a

practical

book,

deal-

ing

as

it

does

with

the

development

and

practices

of

two

forms

of

long-

shore

hiring,

but

there

are

overtones

of

theory

and

philosophy.

The

reader

begins

to

understand

why

the

events

were

what

they

were.

He

sees

why

such

large-scale

racketeering

became

inevitable

on

the

New

York

water-

front

whereas

the

Seattle

situation

remained

comparatively

orderly.

Even

more,

he

sees

the

significance

of

this

for

future

policy

and

practice.