Reviews : KALES, ALBERT M. Unpopudar Government in the United States. Pp. viii, 263. Price, $1.50. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1914

• DOI: 10.1177/000271621405300140
• Date: 01 May 1914
• Author: Clyde Lyndon King
• Published date: 01 May 1914
• Subject Matter: Articles

329

KALES,

ALBERT

M.

Unpopudar

Government

in

the

United

States.

Pp.

viii,

263.

Price,

$1.50.

Chicago:

University

of

Chicago

Press,

1914.

Through

the

election

of

countless

officers

and

multiplicity

of

election

dis-

tricts,

American

legal

government

has

been

completely

decentralized.

In

control

of

this

decentralized

government

is

a

highly

centralized,

though

extra-

legal

and

invisible

government,

composed

of

a

professional

vote-directing

par-

tisan

organization.

The

electorate

by

being

required

to

vote

too

much

has,

in

effect,

been

deprived

of

its

right

to

vote

at

all.

Nine-tenths

of

the

voters

must

vote

the

way

they

are

told

for

four-fifths

of

the

oflicers

on

the

average

ballot.

Since

the

ballot

is

too

cumbersome

to

vote

without

direction,

a

complex

vote-

directing professional

class

has

been

evolved.

This

vote-directing

organiza-

tion

is

our

invisible,

though

actual,

government.

Rewards

for

service

are

apportioned

out

among

local

leaders

as

special

privileges

or

immunities,

but

to

the

lord

paramount

and

his

tenants

in

chief

are

reserved

the

highest

privilege,

and

reward-that

of

entering

into

an

alliance,

offensive

and

defensive,

with

special

business

and

property

interests

which

need

the

aid

of

the

local

or

state

governmental

power

to

exploit

to

the

best

ad-

vantage

of

the

many

or

the

protection

from

governmental

interference

at

the

demand

of

the

many

who

are

being

exploited.

&dquo;Indeed,

so

close

may

the

rela-

tions

become

between

the

great

captains

of

such

special

business

and

property

interests

and

the

extra-legal

government

by

politocrats,

that

the

real

power

of

government

may

to

some

extent

actually

reside

in

the

former

rather

than

the

latter.

It

will

indeed

be

difficult

in

many

instances

to

tell

which

group

com-

mands

and

which

obeys.

Where

the

leaders

of

both

are

equally

able

there

will

be

a

complete

partnership.&dquo;

When

the

outlook

is

dark

for

this

extra-legal

government

by

and

for

the

politocrats,

they

nominate

a

Hughes

or

a

Wilson,

and

content

themselves

with

the

&dquo;spoils&dquo;

of

the

smaller

offices.

The

king-pin

of

&dquo;unpopular

government,&dquo;that

is

government

&dquo;of

the

few

by

the

few

and

for

the

few

at

the

expense

and

against

the

wish

of

the

many,&dquo;

is

that

the

electorate

is

voting

for

a

dummy

though

legal

government.

The

only

avenue

through

which

unpopular

government

may

be

converted

to

essentially

popular

government

is

through

centralization

of

legislative,

executive

and

judicial

power,

such

as

is

typified

in

the

commission

plan

of

government

and

in

the

short

ballot.

Thus

judges

will

always

be

nominated

by

somebody.

They

may

as

well

be

nominated

by

some

responsible

person

in

power.

So

runs

the

argument

in

this

tersely

written

and

pertinent

book

by

Prof.

Kales,

who

is

professor

of

law

in

Northwestern

University.

CLYDE

LYNDON

KING.

University

of

Pennsylvania.

KEYNES,

JOHN

M.

Indian

Currency

and

Finance.

Pp.

viii,

263.

Price,

$1.60.

New

York:

The

Macmillan

Company,

1913.

The

appointment

to

the

Royal

Commission

(1913)

on

Indian

Finance

and

Currency

of

a

man

with

the

keen

insight

and

great

ability

of

the

author

of

this

volume

is

reassuring.

Rumor

has

it

that

Indian

affairs

have

too

often

been

treated

superficialTy

and

without

appreciation

of

the

seriousness

and