Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-05-22


where's. or After Life, From Certain
Eminent Personages as Also Some
Brief Account of the Planet Mercury
and of Its Institutions. G.. p. Putnam's
Sons. Publishers. New York.
This is work SO entirely out of con-
lventional lines that it can scarcely fail
to attract attention. Its authorship is
anonymous. 1t opens up with the
| assumed death of the writer, and is
devoted to the description of his ex-
periences in the elsewheres. From
this standpoint the writer reviews the
theories of the scientists, and essays to
reveal the secrets of the after life. The
work is as original in its way as
5eliamy's Looking Backward" 1t is
fuii or fascination to the reader who is
interested in any wise in metaphysical
questions. For sale at all book stores
At Hawarden with Mr.. Gladstone
ana Other Transatlantic Experiences
by William Fl. Rideing Thomas Y
Crowell 4 Company. Publishers, Boston
| A dull work never came from the pen
of Mr.. Rideing. and. in this glimpse he
gives us of the home life of England
Grand Old Man." he is at his best
In addition to the visit to Mr.. Glad
stone, he tells us in his own breezy and
entertaining way of "A Run Ashore at
Queenstown The Route of the Wild
lrishman, Quaint Old Yarmouth. >
Law. Lawyers. and Law Courts"
The House of Commons" and "Old and
New on the Atlantic" The book is full
of charm and we lay it aside reluctant
| ly. 1t is very dainty bound. and nicely
printed, fully up to the high mechanical
| standard that MessrS. Crowell & Com
pany have established for their publ
cations. The work retails for $1.00 and
| would be an ornament to any library
For sale at all bookstores.
Protection and Prosperity, An Ac-
count of Tariff Legislation and its
Effect in Europe and America, by
Hon. George =. Curtiss. Royal octave,
S96 pages. Pan American Publishing
Co, Ill Fifth Avenue, New York
| A book for which three presidential
aspirants have written an introduction
on the verge of a political contest and
which each has commended in I'M
qualified terms certainly deserves no.
tice. Messrs. Mckinley. Morton and
Reed have in their introduction, not
merely expressed their approval of the
work as in thorough accord with their
own well known views on protection.
but they have stated their belief that ii
| is the ablest, the most exhaustive and
the most accurate treatise on the sub
| ject that has ever been written. This
| is strong praise and coming from such
prominent men challenges the attention
of every one who is in the least inter
ested in the subject. A mere glance at
the contents of the book sufices to CON
vince us that whatever its merits it
does not fall within the class of those
| eVanescent publications so violent in
| tone and restricted in scope, which
flood the country at intervals of four
, years There are chapters on the COM
merce of ancient nations on the rise of
| the Italian cities. on the commercial
progress of the Netherlands. on every
phase of economic development of Eng
| land down to the present time. Then
| follow several chapters on Germany,
France. Russia and other leading com
mercial nations and finally very com
| plete survey Of the tariff history of the
| United States including an account of
| the German Wilson bill and its effects.
| The author evidently believes that the
only sound basis of an economic policy
| is the experience of nations. and to find
out what that experience has been he
| traVerses the whole range of CONNER
cial history, both ancient and modern.
| In SO doing he gives proof of very e%-
tensive and conscientious study. yet he
never cumbcrs his pages with merely
| curious information or Wanders from
| his subject to make q display of learn
| ing There is no difficulty in discover
| rg the relevancy of what lie says.
| Every period that he describes has its
definite economic moral Thus. the de-
| cline of Rome was due to her neglect
| of the industrial welfare of her agri
cultural population through her de-
| pendence on foreign supplies. cnicc
| is shown to have won her commercial
supremacy and to have maintained ii
| by rigid protective policy. The
| Netherlands won theirs because of
! favorable conditions which afforded
their commerce Il sort of natural pro-
lection This failing. they soon sought
shelter under a protective tariff. And
so it is throughout the entire book.
The commercial history of England is
treated in $50 compactly written pages.
comprising first the early free trade
period during which the English de-
pended upon foreigners for their cloth
| ing, implements and all other manu-
| featured articles and allowed these
foreigners the monopoly of their whole
sale and retail trade; then the gradual
rise of a protective policy from the
| small beginnings under Edward Ill
| through the great Industrial epoch of
I1IiZabeth's reign down to the early
part of this century when England had
driven the merchant vessels of every
| Continental nation from the seas BY
| 1850 she stood foremost among all the
nations of the world, unquestionably
| the greatest commercial power that
had ever existed. During this entire
period protection had been her con-
sistent and unwaverng policy. The
contrast between it and the earlier
period when an opposite poi1cy was
followed, is WILDLY set forth and the
| writer now proceeds to describe the
Anti-Corn Law movement and the
effect of the resulting revolution in her
tariff policy He shows in the first
place that the English manufacturers
no longer regarded protection as neces-
sary to shield them from invasion and