NEW PUBLICATIONS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 19, 13 May 1909, Page 753

NEW PUBLICATIONS

With Uncle Sam- and His Family. By Mr. and Mrs. Grattan Grey. George Robertson and Co. Proprietary, Melbourne. No country in the world affords more scope for the student of politics than the United States of America. In little more than a century its population has grown from about three millions to over eighty millions, and this increase has taken place not, as in the case of other countries, by the conquest and absorption of weaker nations, but by natural growth and by immigration from the countries of the Old World. It has become the home of the surplus population of other lands, and has been for a century the Mecca of the oppressed of every country in Europe. The composite character of the population of the United States and the manner in which the various nationalities, of which it is composed, adapt themselves to their new surroundings, are matters which excite the interest of every thoughtful visitor. The ordinary traveller has neither the time nor the inclination for the study of sociological problems. He looks upon the surface of things; he is particularly struck with the feverish hurry of the" business community, and the . material progress visible on every hand. In no other country have the arts and sciences become so subservient to man. The visitor who rushes through the country in express trains and stays for a day or two in the large centres of population is greatly struck with what lie sees — immense warehouses, factories", elevators, tho many labor-saving devices, and the facilities for handling the products of the country. In this cabegory is not to be placed Mr. and Mrs. Grattan Grey, both of whom are well known in New Zealand, who made a tour of the United States a few years ago, and who now give the result of their observations in a bulky volume of 684 pages. The authors made a thorough study of the American people, their history^ customs, form of government, and laws, and these they have graphically described in the volume under review. The book is a mine of information on the United States, with statistics of growth and .development, and of its present commanding position among the Great Powers — a position which stands for peace and progress, and the well-being of humanity. The authors say that 'in its onward march to nationhood and to the fulfilment of that destiny towards which it is unquestionably advancing, the young Commonwealth of Australia can derive many useful and valuable object lessons from the marvellous developments which have ensued in the Western World since the planting of the first permanent English colony in Virginia in 1607 to the presenb day.' It would be idle to contend that the American people have not made mistakes, and that public life is what it _ ought to be, and therefore the people of the Australian Commonwealth by a study of American history> as told in Uncle Sam and Mis Family, can see what might with advantage be imitated and what should be avoided. The authors have shown us the bright side of the picture, but they have not refrained from painting the darker side when necessary. The volume is profusely illustrated, well printed, and turned out in a style highly creditable to all engaged in its production.