The New York herald., 1922-06-11


THE SCIENCE OF PURCHASING.
BY Helen Hysell ID. Appleton & Co.
HOW TO SELL AT RETAIL BY w.
w. Charters. Houghton Miffiin
Company.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND. BY III. d.
Henderson. Harcourt. Brace & Co.
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM. BY
Jeremiah W. jerks and w Jett
Lauck. Revised by Rufus d. Smith.
Funk & Wagnalls Company.
HHERE has been a noteworthy
improvement during the past
three or four years in the
quality of practical books on busi-
ness, commercial and industrial
problems. and applied economics in
general Apparently the business
man is coming more and more to
realize that the theorist, or scientific
economist has something of tangible
Importance to say. and there have
been many attempts to ''get it
across" to the lay reader. Many of
the treatises that are avowedly
meant as practical helps to the mer-
chant and manufacturer have also
sound scientific basis and, often,
some distinction in style. There is.
too. an added stress upon the hu-
man factors; recognition of the
truth that all economic problems are
also psychological problems. in one
way or another. and that generally
the most useful angle of approach
IS from this human side
Mr.. Hungerford's discussion of
our railroads and what their future
must be if they are to function to
the best results, is made largely from
this humanized angle. He is not so
much concerned with railroad
finance. or with the success of any
particular line. as with the system
as whole, as an integral part of
national life, and thus. primarily.
matter of public service. Mr.. Hun
gerford is not a mere Utopian theo-
rist. and he does not expect any
miracle. His study is the result of
many years examination of the prob
lens. here and in Europe. and is
{, based upon practical experience. He
fOresees a twilight of competition"
and the establishment of regional
Operation" but he also sees the need
Of Capitalization. and he asks, IF it.
might be good business for the Fed
-eral Government in some distant day
to take over ownership, why is it
not good business to-day'r' He does
rot, however. believe that any such
thing is in sight. and he is fully alive
to the very serious drawbacks of
Government ownership and of Gov
ernment operation. He also sees a
need for a radically changed status
of labor" 1t is a well reasoned, high
~ suggestive book: calculated to
spirited discussion and both approval
and objections.
Prof. Smiths book gives a very
comprehensive statement of the pres
ent conditions. and of probable ten
denotes. in that greatest of all eco
nOmic puzzles. the distribution of
food for the world. as it is affected
by organized marketing machinery,
throughout the world. The author
Is Of the faculty of the University of
Birmingham. England. and is a rec
ognized authority. The book deals
with the various exchanges of Eu-
rope and America. asd such matters
as the grading and marketing of cot
ton and grain at Liverpool, in the
United States and Canada: transac-
tlOns in futures. speculation, clear
ing houses. such as those of Chicago.
Winnipeg and Liverpool. of crop re-
ports. ,warehousing. storage. and a
mass of minor detail The book is
Almost encyclopedia. IL is f0rtu-
nately fairly well indexed: a treatise
of great value to the student and to
the intelligent business man.
Miss Hysell's treatise on buying
rises above the purely practical. and
is entitled to its use of the word
science. She is. concerned prac-
ticaIly with the organization and
functioning of the purchasing end
of large and small businesses. but she
is also discussing the subject upon