The Washington herald., 1907-03-31

ourselves as others see US. From De
TOcqueviile we got the French view OF
our democracy: from Ambassador Bryce.
the English idea of our commonwealth,
and from Munsterberg. the German view
Prof. Miyakawa. in his volume. sets
forth the clauses of the Constitution upon
which each Of the four powers of the
American government rests. AMI cites the
construction that has been given them
by the authoritative exposition of the
courts Of the established practice Of tie
government of the United States. In his
main argument, the author follows tie
line OF constitutional Interpretation as it
IS writ down by our own leaders in juris-
prudence, but from time 80 time ne in
dulges in passages OF original comment
which are instructive and interes ing, For
instance, discussing "The People, he
writes:
If the professor Of laws will tum to the Com
mentaries Of Blackstone he viii find al once that
under the head People the word people" Is
used ia the same sense as subjects and not In the
sense of the body polite q paE Of IL. Nowhere
viii he ind the people the American viii
ind IN the laws CT his country. lrh~fsct IN Eng
land, there Is no people from a strict legal con
temptation. Bryce emphasized that when he said
that 'the British Parliament had always been and
remains sovereign and constituent assembly.
II can make and uHTaake any and every law.
change the f0Im Of government or the successor %
the Crown interfere with the course Of justice,
tngIish the most sacred private rights 0f the citi
zens. The word people. according 70 the Com
1enIaTies Of Ito, has singularly interesting sig
hiicance. The komin. the people, of Japau Is
nothing moEe than the Omitakara the public
treasure" The distinguished commentators or
rather ntroduerTs Of the japanese constitution
1t Is to be noticed that there have been instances
Of the people calling themselves the Emper0r's
treasures, as may be seen from the following
poem. Happy are we, his majesty's treasure, 20
have ample recumpense for our earthly existence
in having been born at epoch 50 fuil Of pros
perity aud glory,
Mr. AliyakaWa also discusses such points
of difference as exist between our Con
gress and the Diet of Japan, He has
men who make up the two bodies of our
lawmakers. and is inclined to be en-
thusiastic about them. The quality OF
this Americanized japanese literary
style-more than a trifie grandiose-may
be judged from the following paragraph
in which he discusses the American Chief
Executive. He says:
The President Of the United States. the strictest
creature Of the constitutional nomenclature, is not
obnubilated behind the mysterious obsunty Of
counseiors. Power is communicated TO him With
hbsrahty. though with ascertained limitations. To
him the pICFldent OF mnm0Yldfnt use Of Il Is to be
ascribed. For the first he viii have and deserve
undivided applause For the last, be viii be sab
ltct to censure il necessary, % punishment. lie
is the dimihed but accountable magistrate of free
aud great people The tenure Of his Office. IL IS
tnle Is not hereditary IS il for life; but st 1t
Is a tenure Of the u0blest kind; by being a man OF
the people his Inyestture viii be voluntarily and
eheerfuliy and honorab5 renewed.
The work is scholarly and able one:
It reflects great credit OF its author and
it will be. without doubt vastly useful to
American students of government, as wei
as helpful, perhaps, to Mr. Miyakawas S
own countrymen by aiding them TO Un-
as. washington: The Wilkens-
Sherry Coz
It seems a little difficult to understand
just why such a ponderous volume should
have been written by John Wilson Town
send on Richard Hickman Menefee. One
term in the Kentucky legislature and
one term in Congress seems TO span Mr.
Menefee's public career, and though most
of his speeches are reprinted IN this
volume they are not remarkable in any
-
was lost once, but has been recovered-is
here printed. but if 1t had never been
found the world would not have lost
much. This volume may, PERHAPS, inter
est the heirs and relatives of Nh. Meme
fee; TO the general public Il will have no
appeal washington: The Neale Pub
fishing Coz
I had the honor once or sitting next to
Mr.. DisraeH at a dinner at Trinity House.
says Lord Goschen. in the April Put
MANS. He had a bishop on one side
whom he did not like: so he unbent to
me, a young politician and made three
epigrams. each Of which struck me as
very good. I was deeply interested seven
years later in finding all three just as he
had used them to me, introduced in
Lothian" and "Endymion-" The fact is,
he potted his epigrams. Let me tell you
one Of them. He told me, in a dramatic
style I wish I could reproduce that in
1S4S. or about that time, Count Bismarck,
as he was then. had been summoned to
Berlin to give Germany a constitution,
and was instructed to take London on his
way
At London it was arranged that Bis
marck and Disraeh should meet. We
met" said Disraeli. 7 said TO Count Bis
marck, They have summoned you TO Ber-
lin to give them a constitution? To
which Count Bismarck replied: They
have summoned me to Berlin to give
them a constitution; intend TO give them
a country On this I observed: "Mr
Disraeii that sounds like one Of your own
epigrams across the table of the House Of
Commons. He replied, but in a very un-
voice, Count Bismarck did
say So" Well, gentlemen, had am op-
pOrtunity years afterward, dining with
Count Bismarck, to tell him the story.
and ! asked him, Did you say that?"
Count Bismarck said to me, but also in an
unconvincing voice: Yes, I said so"
Mr. Disraeh was dead at that time. Well
/ had against me two great men, both of
whom said IL was Count Bismarck who
used the words. but for my part I be-
lieve to this day that sthe phrase was
coined in a British mint Count Bismarck.
however. was perfectly capable Of splen-
did rhetorical phrases.
The record of book popularity at the
Public Library during the past week
shows that in nonfction the books most
called for were Bryee's American Com
monwealth" and shaws Three Plays for
Puritans. In fiction the call was for
Hichens call of the Blood" and Dumas
Count of Monte Cristo;H while the chill
dren demanded Frenchs Junior Cup
and Miss Alcott's Under the Lnacs. q"
This is the first time for mary weeks
that Lang's fairy books have been al
lowed to rest
Zangwin, the author. was recently asked
by daily paper to prepare for next
mornings issue history of famous
trials. Mr.. ZangwiI sat down with a
stenogTapheT then and there, dictated a
twO-coiumn article such as was desired.
ElEing q Easume nf NerE faunls trIals