New-York tribune., 1886-04-25
4 NEW QUARTERLY.

TIE DISCUSSION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE.
The Political Science Quarterly. tho first number of
which has lust been published by CHM 4 Co., OF
Boston and New-Yorl, is edited by the Faculty OF
Political Science of Columbia College, and all the
articles in this initial s,ue are from the professors
and lecturers in that department. Contributions
from other sources however are to he looked lof
later and il is not intended that the review snail
reflect only the opinions Of its conductors c0mpe-
tent writers of various schools being invited 70 ur
n,.h papers over their signatures and Oh their own
responsibility The tide Of the new periodical eN-
plains its purpose. 1t is to discuss politics from
the historical and scientific rather than the party
pont of view; political economy in Its different
branches: and questions Of public law, con>tltu-
tional administrative and international. All these
subiects are attracting year by year more general
nonular interest and more earnest study, and II IS
remarkable that we have publication III tins
country except the new review, when deVoieS IL
self espec tally to their consideration I"e i0+dt
Science Quariey therefore, has rich and free helu'
II begins we'll Even the least weighty of the aIti-
cles serve a good purpose III pointing out now
much the discussion of certain grave topics
is needed. and how much We have 10 learn
before we can deal INTEL gently v ith pressing prob
lens Of the State. For example, the paper by Hlr.
y ". Whitridge. on Legislative Inquests," is
f the LEGISLATURE to conduct such inquiries as that
ueld on in this city i'll relation to the Broad
way Railroad franchise. lie takes the ground that
tho committee has greatly exceeded its powers.
in conducting an inquest which IS not re-
ouircd for legislative purposes. This position
scoms TO us indcfenslblc since the committee
collected information needed by the Legi'lat-
mr., in order to act ntegently on the general ques
lion OF curtailing the Alderncn's powers and tho
nartcular question of repeating the charter OF the
railtoad company But Mr.. Whitrdge does show
that legislative inquest5 are liable to abuse and
that their rights and functions ought 10 De mucl
more strictly dchneu and he indicates the lines
upon which the debuitlon Will probably he framed
whenever get il. Professor Richmond Si. oml'n
has an interesting article on American Labor
Statistics" certain TO DO read inst now WIN curl.
| osjty What he demonstrates is tho futlIlty Oh
nearly all the facts and ieuIes Halnciou w te s'N
teen bureaus OF Labor Statistics now at WORK III te
| limited states. Some are useless because the
| States f,om which they derive their authority re-
fuse them the means to discharge Their proper Iunc
| tIons Some, including that OF New-l ork are oi
| roo recent institution 10 have collected anythlhB
| OF value tLey are now only earning tnGr expert
| encr Massachusetts, has the oldest anu by lar the
hest bureau and some Of the publications. put lOlth
Inv its accomplished head, Carroll -. Wright, have
| a high vaiue. But conclusions drawn from tho
| Massachusetts, reports, hlch nave aroused cohsu
ernble attention, are Vit.ated by misleading sYs-
| fem of stating averages and Professor smith
,nuintans that the figures from proving tho
! state of industrial prosperity Implied by Mr.
| Nrigtts sensational deduction that the general
! average weekly wage paid to employees III twenty
! four manufacturing and mechanical industries III
Massachusetts Is iZ per cent higher imam the gem
| eral average weekly wage paid III the same INDUS
| tries in Great Britain 1hls sta teinent may he
literally tue and II is not disputed that wages are
higher in Massachusetts than IN Great britain Dut
au exact comparison Is impossible because the
! Siqrilicance OF the Igures depends upon how you
strike the average But If Professor Smith teaches
| us no more than that we have not ascertaincd the
| facts necessary for a comprehension OF the TABOR
difficulty, he has done us Il seTylcc even IN that.
| A paper likely 10 provoke dispute Is Professor
| John ". BnIgesss on" lho American Common
| wealth He attacks what lac believes 10 DO an
! antiouated and mlschlcYcus dogma OF our political
| system the principle of " an mdestluctlble union
! of ndestructbe and mmutable States, which he
| thinks has support Ill history or IN reason ana
| maintains that the two natural elements III our
| system are the Community and the Nation Tho
former organized in municipalities ~ the point OF
local sci-gOvernment; the latter that of tue gen
eral self government. The Commonwealth. or the
! state is IA mcddlesome intruder III both spheres
! its history is history OF usurpation; II Is deS.
tined to become of less and less Importance and
power; and III the next century, II not before our
cardinal doctrine will read The Nation. sole and
exclusive sovereign. distributing the powers aud
functions of government between Central organs
commonwealth and municipality inns ~ exactly
the English system, which IN its origin was rhdi
cally different from ours and proceeded from Q
different IL cory Of popnla Jar rights. Professor Dur
CESS has Set forth budget OF paradoxes which VIZ
presume that he will ind 1t extremely diihcuIt u
| defend.