Reviews : Growth of Nationality in the United States: A Social Study. By JOHN BASCOM. Pp. ix, 2I3. Price, $I.25. New York: G. P. Put nam's Sons, 1899

• Author: Carl Becker
• Published date: 01 May 1900
• Date: 01 May 1900
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271620001500309
• Subject Matter: Articles

I38

and

pave

the

way

for

the

abstract.

As

a

whole,

this

work

more

nearly

fulfills

the

need

for

a

text-book

of

economics

for

secondary

schools

than

any

that

has

yet

been

prepared.

DR.

TRA.VIS’

&dquo; History

of

the

Clayton-Bulwer

Treaty &dquo; ’

gives

a

full

and

accurate

account

of

the

causes

leading

up

to,

and

the

con-

ditions

attending

the

negotiations

of

this

much

mooted

instrument.

This

is

followed

by

an

equally

detailed

history

of

the

controversies

to

which

the

convention

has

since

given

rise.

On

the

whole

the

author’s

conclusions

are

favorable

to

the

treaty;

in

the

first

place

because,

in

his

opinion,

it

kept

Great

Britain

and

the

United

States

from

going

to

war

over

the

matter

of

the

control

of the

isthmus,

and

secondly,

because

it

provides

in

the

best

possible

way

for

the

neutralization

of

the

interoceanic

canal.

Now

that

England

and

the

United

States

have

at

last

learned

to

understand

each

other

and

finally

come

to

comprehend

the

reciprocal

provisions

of the

contract,

Dr.

Travis

thinks

they

should

retain

the

Clayton-Bulwer

Treaty

and

live

up

to

its

terms.

The

author’s

attitude

is

rather

that

of

the

accurate

historian

than

that

of

the

political

philosopher,

and

on

this

account

imm.ediate

rather

than

ultimate

causes

and

consequences

are

emphasized

in

the

argument.

REVIEWS.

Growth

of

Nationality

in

the

United

States:

A

Social

Study.

By

JOHN

BASCOM.

Pp.

ix,

2I3.

Price,

$I.25.

New

York:

G.

P.

Put-

nam’s

Sons,

1899.

The

title

of

the

book

is

somewhat

misleading;

it

is

not

strictly

a

study

of

the

forces

which

have

brought

about

nationality,

but

rather

a

study

of

the

obstacles

which

these

forces

had

to

overcome.

The

author

considers

not

so

much &dquo;

the

growth

of

national

life

under

the

consti-

tution,&dquo;

as

&dquo; the

divisions

which

were

incident

to

the

conditions

under

which

the

constitution

was

formed

...

or

which

grew

up

later

under

its

operation

&dquo; ( p.

7).

These

divisions-obstacles

to

the

growth

of

nationality,

rather

than

forces

which

produced

it-were

of

four

sorts:

(i)

Strife

between

states

and

the

general

government;

(2)

strife

between

groups

of

states;

(3)

strife

between

departments

of

govern-

ment ;

(4)

strife

between

classes.

Besides

these

subjects,

one

chapter

is

devoted

to

the

Supreme

Court,

and

one

to

a

brief

summary

of

the

main

conclusions.

1

The

History

of

the

Clayton-Bulwer

Treaty.

By

IRA

DUDLEY

TRAVIS,

Ph.

D.

Publications of

the

Michigan

Political

Science

Association, Vol.

III,

No. 8.

Pp. 3I2.

Price,

$I.00.

Ann

Arbor,

January,

I900.