For a book of this sort there ought certainly to be a good index, but there is none at all! There might well have been a two or three page bibliography telling the student where to gain additional information, and also appraising the varying value of the authorities quoted. Prof. Willoughby's suggestion to the Chinese Government (p. 260) for a conference committee of each of the two Parliaments, is repeated and expanded on pages 273-274.
There is an inherent difficulty in analyzing the '"'constitutional dievelopment'? of a land which never suspected that it had any. "constitution." The history 1s the main thing and the constitutional development" becomes quite subsidiary, constitutional questions disappearing in the mire of political struggles. This is ré- cognized on page 255, but it should be kept in mind in reading every individual page- In case this manual should become a standard, which would be desirable, we would suggest the prefixing of a few short, crisp chapters showing that without knowing it China has always had a potential "constitution." This thesis should be illustrated by Chinese history in each of several leading dynasties, T'ang, Sung, Ming, and Ch'ing, without confining the consideration to the latter as the temptation is to do.
The application to China of the remark of John Stuart Mill quoted by the author (p. 267) that in many cases a people prepared To carry on the work of local government may well be entirely unfitted for the operation of representative government, is important. i This thought should be amplified into a brief exposition of the way in which cities, towns, districts, prefectures, and especially provinces in China have come to he frequently segregated and potentially hostile. The same idea carried in another direction would make clear how the Chinese can have "democracy"? on a small scale, but be unfitted for it on a larger scale. No Western student could he expected to comprehend this intricate situation off-hand. The historical relation of the provinces of China to the Empire as a whole, instead of occupying a few pages at the close of this book, might well be put at the very forefront. A consideration of the theme here discussed would be of definite value to young Chinese who find it difficult to comprehend what is going on in their own country, and might help them to see in what direction to exert their combined efforts when they ready to do so.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.