authorities may take proceedings." Part of the subject has also been previously dealt with under the articles "Actions by and against Local Authorities," and "Highways." In spite of these considerations and a commendable conciseness on the part of the Authors the article extends to about 120 pages. Another important article is that on Lunacy, by Mr. S. G. Lushington and Mr. F. J. Coltman. That on Loans, by Mr. W. Jevons, is prefaced by an interesting statement of the amount of "Loans now outstanding, their Amount, Purpose, and Growth." Mr. Jevons gives the amount of loans outstanding for 1903-4 as £393,882,146, an amount which rather more than quadruples that of 1874-5. Mr. Jevons, we are bound to say, qualifies the gravity of this enormous debt by pointing out what provisions are being made for its repayment, what amount of principal has been repaid, and what proportion is for so-called reproductive undertakings. Another article of general interest deals with Locomotives and Motor laws. Mr. Davey has dealt with both these subjects, though perhaps some people may think that Motor Cars should be included in the article on Nuisance. In Volume V-Officers of Local Authorities to Rates and Rating-the principal article is one by Mr. E. M. Konstam on Rates and Rating. Mr. Konstam states his object to be "to give a compendious, and at the same time fairly detailed, account of the various rates, with the statutory authority under which they are levied and the method by which they are assessed." This he has done very successfully in about 150 pages. The next longest article is that on "Private Streets, Paving, Sewering, etc., and Adoption of," contributed by the Editor and Mr. G. R. Hill. Although the difficult question of incidence of charges for these purposes does not concern the local authorities, some cases are cited "for the benefit of the general reader." Mr. G. R. Hill and Mr. H. J. Comyns are each responsible for several of the shorter articles; the former contributes those on "Persons, Cleansing of, Act 1897," "Petroleum and Carbide of Calcium," "Plague, Cholera and Yellow Fever," "Pumps, Cisterns and Wells”: and the latter contributes "Overseers and Assistant Overseers," "Parish Councils," "Parish Meetings," "Parish Property" and "Postal and Telegraphic Facilities." Volume VIReformatory and Industrial Schools to Vestry Clerks contains no less than 25 articles. Of these we would direct attention to the one on Schools by Mr. W. V. Ball, which deals with the administration of our educational system as far as it concerns local authorities,

excluding those of the County of London. We think Mr. Ball may have felt considerable misgivings as to the permanent value of his work considering the uncertain educational future. Other important articles are on the unsavoury subject of "Sewers, Drains, and Sewage Disposal," by Mr. W. Addington Willis; "Tramways," a subject. of increasing importance, by Mr. G. S. Robinson; "Reformatory and Industrial Schools," by Mr. T. E. Bettany and Mr. A. Locke Mr. S. W. Clarke contributes no less than eight of the shorter articles. The most important parts of Volume VII, which conIcludes the work, are the Notanda and the Index. The former is the work of Mr. S. W. Clarke, and the latter of Mr. W. J. Allen and Mr. F. L. Ogden. This last very important part of the work fills up no less than 409 pages, and seems to be very carefully done. It is obvious how very much a good Index adds to the value of any work, particularly one of great length in several volumes. We should like, in concluding our notice, to call attention to the graceful Preface in this volume, in which the Editor expresses to the Subscribers his regret for the delay in the completion of this work, and his thanks to Mr. G. R. Hill, whose knowledge of Local Government law he states to be "wide and exact," for his assistance in editing the two last volumes.

Encyclopedia of Local Government Board Requirements and Practice. 2 Vols. By A. E. WOOD and T. R. JOHNSON. London: Butterworth & Co. 1908.

Local Government is becoming the spoiled child of legal literature. Books innumerable have been published on various branches of law connected with it, and an elaborate and valuable Encyclopædia of Local Government law has just been completed. The present work is not intended as a legal text-book, but as a practical guide to all who have to deal with the Local Government Board. These, besides Solicitors, will include Officials of Local Authorities, Engineers, Parliamentary Agents, Land Agents, and many others. Each of the numerous subjects dealt with forms a separate part arranged in alphabetical order. These parts number 69, and range in importance from Education and Housing of the Working Classes to Public Clocks. A summary of the law relating to each subject is given at the commencement of each part, and there is also a reference in each part to a text-book. Great familiarity is shown with the Orders, Reports, and practice of the

Local Government Board, and the advice as to its views and methods is of the greatest practical value.

The Laws of War on Land. By T. E. HOLLAND, K.C. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1908.

There is by this time a bewildering variety of conventions bearing on the conduct of warfare. They overlap one another, and repeat themselves in a very confused fashion. It is not easy to disentangle their provisions, and it is tedious work. It is therefore a great thing to have their clauses set out in the form of a consecutive code, and the reduction to orderly arrangement of a confused mass of such material is peculiarly the province of Professor Holland. It may well be believed that the book took much longer to prepare than its bulk would indicate. By its aid, even the unskilled reader can now easily understand what the various conventions have accomplished. It may be that he will conclude that they have not accomplished very much. For the loop-holes which they leave to commanders, particularly as they are interpreted by Dr. Holland, are so many and so wide, that the practical conclusion is that an officer may do what he likes, provided he does it to further the objects of the war, and not out of pure wantonness. The Author even questions whether a soldier who surrenders and disarms may not be refused quarter. War is a rough game: but the theory that the more savagely you wage it, the more humane you really are, is more than questionable. We cannot help considering Dr. Westlake's treatise, with its clear disclaimer of the German theory of kriegsraison, a safer guide for the officer on active service. That does not lessen the value of Professor Holland's book to the student, who will be grateful for a path through a very tangled forest.

Pacific Blockade. By A. E. HOGAN, LL.D., B.A. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1908.

Dr. Hogan defends, in its least defensible aspect (as extending to the ships of third parties), that form of unlawful violence known as pacific blockade; but his arguments are not convincing, and he himself characterises them in one instance as "somewhat sophistical." He infers, for example, that because reprisals are permissible, no limit can be set to them; which is in flat contradiction to Vattel's standard definition of the term. In his second part, the Author sets out valuable details of several "pacific" blockades. A reference to Atherley-Jones' Commerce in War would have supplied him

with one or two more. The list is swollen by the inclusion of cases of violent hostilities, of "blockade" of disturbed parts of the blockaders' coast, and of cases of mere reprisals. (The Brazilian case of 1858 was, for instance, nothing more nor less than an example of the good old custom of reprisals according to Vattel.)

It is impossible to create out of a few anomalous incidents a new legal institution. A gauge of the extent to which the upholders of "pacific" blockade are deluded by words is found in a casual remark of the Author, in which he exclaims at the "curious idea of Geffcken, that the Greek proceedings of 1886 were "not a blockade." The really curious notion is that which considers a port blockaded to which commerce has constant access. In fine, the Author would spring on the world a novelty which he admits cannot be governed by any established rules, and which he comes near to emancipating from all rules whatever. The temperate style in which he writes deserves high praise; as does also the thoroughness and method with which he has collected information. The learned Registrar of the Admiralty Court appears as "Roseve" on p. 48, and another Author as Attlay." Otherwise there are few misprints. The book, though short, would have been none the worse if an index had been included. Considering the absence of material in English dealing with this subject, it might have been well for the Author to have included in his bibliography the article which appeared in this Magazine for August 1896. He would possibly not then have quoted Cauchy as an authority in favour of the compatibility of blockade with peace.

66

By A. V. DICEY, K.C., 1908.

Second Edition. Conflict of Laws. Hon. D.C.L. London: Stevens & Sons. To the international lawyer, the manner in which the laws of different lands conflict is an endless source of puzzle. If it were possible to agree a common basis upon which to legislate in certain matters, how it would limit the annual output of judicial decision. If, for instance, civilised nations agreed upon a law of divorce, domicil, or contract, common to all of them. But such an ideal is impossible, until we have some equivalent to "Esperanto" in law. The fact that this conflict exists has necessitated an understanding among civilised nations that the decision of each should be recognised in others. Unless this were so, think how impossible the situation would be if the English Courts refused to recognise an American divorce. Take also, for example, the British Empire, comprising as

it does, a variety of systems of law: what confusion would ensue if in the most important matters the Courts of the several Colonies did not recognise each other's decisions. Such matters as Divorce, Domicil, Bankruptcy, Contract, and other subjects of equal importance, are dealt with in a scholarly and able manner in Professor Dicey's book. Following his usual custom, the learned Author places in the Appendix valuable notes germane to the subject-matter of the text. It is now some twelve years since the first edition was published, and the present one is intended to bring the work quite up to date, besides embodying in the text the result of the many decisions which have accumulated during that period. Professor Dicey has omitted the notes of American cases which had been provided in the first edition by Professor J. B. Moore. Once more, we are glad to say, the Right Hon. Arthur Cohen, to whom the book is dedicated, has rendered aid to the learned Author in its preparation. How valuable that aid must have been can only be appreciated by those who know Mr. Cohen to be an erudite jurisconsult. In conclusion, we can only say that, for merit and instructiveness, Professor Dicey's book has everything to commend it.

Second Edition. Macdonell's Law of Master and Servant. By E. A. MITCHELL INNES, K.C., M.A. London: Stevens & Sons. 1908.

The first edition of this important work was published in 1883, and was compiled by Sir John Macdonell. The present edition is divided into two parts, Part I dealing with the Common law on the subject, and Part II with the Statute law. Since the production of the first edition much has eventuated by means of legislation and judicial decision. Take, for instance, legislation; the whole fabric of the law has been revolutionised. Formerly, the Civil law of conspiracy applied to trade disputes, a question which was placed beyond dispute by the House of Lords in Quinn v. Leathem (L. R. [1901], A. C. 495). In the year 1906 the Trades Disputes Act was passed which exempted acts done in contemplation or furtherance of a "trade dispute" from the application of that principle. This would have been sufficiently sweeping; but the Act went further, and over-ruled the famous Taff Vale Case by prohibiting actions of tort against Trade Unions. All these points are thoroughly elucidated and dealt with in masterly fashion. At he risk of making the work unwieldly, Mr. Mitchell Innes has