Book Reviews : The Department of State. By GRAHAM H. STUART. (New York: Macmillan Company. 1949. Pp. x, 517. $7.50.)
| Date | 01 December 1950 |
| Author | Ellsworth E. Weaver |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295000300430 |
| Published date | 01 December 1950 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
649
and
greater
security.
Of
course
it
is
rather
difficult
to
provide
exact
figures
for
these
benefits.
In
spite
of
all
misgivings
and
well-founded
criticism,
the
authors
pro-
vide
some
basic
recommendations
for
a
future
policy.
They
recommend
that
union
and
state
governments
should
provide
a
health
and
decency
standard
for
all
persons
who
are
at
present
in
need.
This
would
not
require
the
costly,
elaborate
and,
according
to
the
authors,
spurious
para-
phernalia
of
insurance.
Costs
should
be
covered
by
taxation.
The
solution
offered
by
the
authors
oversimplifies
somewhat
their
own
findings.
They
devote
a
whole
chapter
to
show
that
it
is
rather
difficult
to
define
&dquo;needy&dquo;
persons.
The
definition
of
the
persons
in
need
is
the
key
problem
of
their
whole
proposition.
Thus
the
result
of
this
study
cannot
be
accepted
without
further
clarification.
Even
this
lack
does
not
diminish
the
value
of
this
study,
which
can
be
recommended
highly
to
friend
and
foe
of
social
security
in
the
United
States.
EMIL
KAUDER.
University
of
Wyoming.
The
Department
of
State.
By
GRAHAM
H.
STUART.
(New
York:
Macmillan
Company.
1949.
Pp.
x,
517.
$7.50.)
This
well,documented
study
is,
as
its
author
proclaims
in
the
preface,
a
brief
but
comprehensive
history
of
the
Department
of
State.
The
present
looms
larger
to
historians
than
does
the
past,
for
in
192
pages
the
author
covers
the
first
hundred
years
and
in
275
pages
the
next
fifty
years.
Time
mellows
all
things
and makes
evident
nonessentials.
The
style
is
anecdotal,
lending
itself
to
ease
of
reading
and
giving
a
feeling
of
intimacy
with
the
period
being
described.
The
incidents
recorded
are
often
pungent
and
to
the
point.
An
example
is
the
situation
that
prevailed
in
the
period
of
Richard
Olney’s
secretaryship:
He
believed
that
the
Department
should
close
at
four
o’clock
and
he
saw
to
it
that
it
did.
On
one
occasion
when
the
British
ambassador
appeared
at
four
o’clock
as
Olney
was
going
to
the
elevator,
he
announced
to
him:
&dquo;Mr.
Ambassador,
it’s
now
four
o’clock
and
the
Department
is
closed;
so
I
must
ask
you
to
call
again
tomorrow.&dquo;
A
basic
ingredient
of
intimate
familiarity
with
international
affairs
is
a
knowledge
of
the
history
that
has
molded
the
Department
of
State
and
shaped
its
destiny.
Professor
Stuart’s
book
helps
to
view
the
Depart-
ment
of
State
as
an
office
where
mortal
men
live
and
work
and
have
a
being.
ELLSWORTH
E.
WEAVER.
University
of
Utah.
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