MERLE CURTI and KENDALL BIRR. Prelude to Point Four: American Technical Mis sions Overseas 1838-1938. Pp. xi, 284. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1954. $5.00

• Author: Richard H. Heindel
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625530000124
• Published date: 01 July 1955
• Date: 01 July 1955
• Subject Matter: Articles

135

and

perspective

may

be

attributed,

how-

ever,

to

the

skillful

editing

and

the

series

of

analytical

and

interpretive

chapters

(four

of

twenty-six)

contributed

by

Pro-

fessor

Macmahon.

The

study

is

presented

in

four

parts:

Part

I,

Federalism:

Its

Na-

ture

and

Role;

Part

II,

Basic

Controls

in

a

Maturing

System

(The

Political

Process,

the

Courts

and

the

Law,

and

Legislative

and

Executive

Responsibilities

in

Managing

a

Federal

System);

Part

III,

Functional

Channels

of

Relationship

(Illustrative

Studies

of

Functional

Fields,

and

Over-all

Aspects

of

Functional

Relationships);

Part

IV,

Supranational

Union

in

Western

Europe

(The

Economic

Background

and

Functional

Developments

and

The

Project

of

a

Po-

litical

Community).

The

purpose

and

direction

of

the

study

may

be

read

from

the

organizational

pat-

tern.

The

primary

objective

is

a

re-

examination

and

re-evaluation

of

federal-

ism

in

its

legal,

political,

and

functional

as-

pects

to

determine

its

political

usefulness

in

the

rebuilding

of

a

war-shattered

world.

Although

several

of

the

chapters

are

di-

rected

to

an

examination

of

historical

as-

pects

and

theoretical

concepts,

the

princi-

pal

areas

explored

are

those

from

which

practical

applications

of

the

federal

prin-

ciple

can

be

evaluated.

The

specimens

ex-

amined

are

drawn

mostly

but

not

exclu-

sively

from

North

American

experiences.

The

evaluations

follow

largely

the

tradi-

tional

pattern:

federalism

may

be

a

hybrid,

even

unstable

system,

yet

on

the

whole

it

has

served

a

useful

purpose

in

providing

political

stability

among

diverse

elements,

in

preserving

a

functional

balance

of

in-

terests,

and

in

discouraging

concentrations

of

power-both

political

and

economic.

There

are,

however,

dissenters.

Professor

Franz

L.

Neumann

in

a

short

but

caustic

chapter

is

sharply

critical

of

the

advantages

usually

accredited

to

federal-

ism.

Neumann’s

doubts

concerning

the

in-

herent

qualities

of

federalism

are

not

widely

shared,

but

doubts

of

the

general

applicability

of

the

principle

are

raised

by

those

who

examined

the

possibility

of

its

extension

to

some

geographical

areas-say

Western

Europe.

Professor

Kenneth

C.

Wheare

asserts

almost

unequivocally

&dquo;that

no

successful

federation

has

been

formed

from

states

that

have

existed

as

independ-

ent

nations

for

a

considerable

period

of

time.&dquo;

Among

the

other

essays

are

several

which

explore

&dquo;emergent

federalism&dquo;

in

the

European

community.

In

the

concluding

chapter,

Professor

Carl

J.

Friedrich

sounds

a

warning

and

injects

an

optimistic

note

in

suggesting

European

unity

along

federal

lines,

provided

the

architects

of

that

unity

will

cleanse

their

thinking

of

static

con-

cepts

and

regard

federalism

as

a

&dquo;process&dquo;

rather

than

a

&dquo;form.&dquo;

The

symposium

was

one

of

a

series

of

five

conferences

sponsored

by

Columbia

University

during

1954

as

a

part

of

the

Bicentennial

celebration.

Many

of

the

chapters

are

well

documented.

In

some

cases

the

notes,

collected

at

the

end

of

each

chapter,

carry

explanatory

excerpts

from

the

stenographic

record.

There

is

an

ade-

quate

index.

The

book

also

carries

brief

biographies

of

the

conference

participants.

All

in

all,

this

is

a

significant

contribution

to

the

literature

of

federalism.

HAROLD

M.

DORR

University

of

Michigan

MERLE

CURTI

and

KENDALL

BIRR.

Prelude

to

Point

Four:

American

Technical

Mis-

sions

Overseas 1838-1938.

Pp.

xi,

284.

Madison:

The

University

of

Wisconsin

Press,

1954.

$5.00.

The

period

1838

to

1938

is

a

necessary

&dquo;prelude&dquo;

to

contemporary

technical

mis-

sions

overseas-&dquo;necessary,&dquo;

no

doubt,

as

seed

ground

for

today’s

complex

activities

and

as

&dquo;briefing&dquo;

for the

thousands

of

per-

sons

involved

in

this

kind

of

work.

By

numerous

case

studies,

with

broad

sweep

and

fascinating

details

of

this

under-

worked

field

of

American

transitional

his-

tory,

ten

chapters

cover

such

topics

as

&dquo;Missions

to

Japan,&dquo;

&dquo;Cuban

Experiments,&dquo;

&dquo;Missions

Multiply&dquo;

(the

era

of

1912-29),

&dquo;Public

Health

and

Education,&dquo;

and,

coura-

geously,

&dquo;The

Meaning

of

the

Missions.&dquo;

One

may

see

how

Americans

carry

and

modify

their

assumptions

(usually

middle-

class)

when

operating

abroad,

for

example.

the

American

influence

working

toward