Hornell, Orren C

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Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law

Indiana Law JournalVolume 4 | Issue 4 Article 71-1928State Government, by Frank G. Bates and Oliver P.FieldsOrren C. HornellBowdoin CollegeFollow this and additional works at: http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/iljPart of the State and Local Government Law CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the LawSchool Journals at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been acceptedfor inclusion in Indiana Law Journal by an authorized administrator ofDigital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contactwattn@indiana.edu.Recommended CitationHornell, Orren C. (1928) "State Government, by Frank G. Bates and Oliver P. Fields," Indiana Law Journal: Vol. 4: Iss. 4, Article 7.Available at: http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj/vol4/iss4/7REVIEWSAs for this book and others like it, it is only to be devoutlyhoped that we are about through with this flood of pseudo-constitutional law. No doubt training in the Constitution is adesirable thing, but the training should be conducted by personswho have some real knowledge of American constitutional prin-ciples; and this book, like most of its class, is a demonstrationonly of its author's ignorance and prejudice.ROBERT C. BROWN.Indiana University School of Law.STATE GOVERNMENT*For a generation the members of the faculty of Indiana Uni-versity in the field of Political Science and Government havebeen known well and favorably by both students and teachersof government throughout the college world. Professors Wood-burn and Hershey have had no superiors and few peers in thefields in which they have chosen to write. It is of great interestand satisfaction to the old grads to find the younger men in thedepartment maintaining the high standards set by their seniorcolleagues.Professors Bates and Field have written a textbook on stategovernment which maintains the high standard of excellencewhich we have learned to expect from the faculty, of our AlmaMater.The selection and arrangement of material is based upon thepractical class room experience of the authors. They have madeno "radical departures from the traditional methods of pre-sentation."They have not stressed political theory, although they haveincluded it, nor have they stressed the "problems" of state gov-ernment, although they have recognized that problems exist.The need of reform at times is recognized, but the authors neverassume the role of reformers. They claim in the preface that"stress has been laid upon functions and services rather thanupon powers and prohibitions." In other words the actual work-ing of state government is depicted rather than the more tech-nical, legal side. It is the impression of the reviewer, however,that the major portion of the text is devoted to the description,somewhat detailed and carefully exact, of the "structure andoperation of the actual machinery of state government." It ismore completely a descriptive "handbook" of the organizationand machinery of state government than is any other text onstate government. It resembles J. J. Clarke's The Local Govern-ment of the United Kingdom, rather than A. N. Holcombe'sState Government in the United States.The above characterization of the book, however, does notapply to the first five chapters which are more general andphilosophical in their nature. The first chapter deals with thefundamental concept of political science, such as the purpose and* By Frank G. Bates and Oliver P. Field. New York: Harper andBrothers, 1928. PP. XI, 584.INDIANA LAW JOURNALscope of government, the definitions of the concepts, state sover-eignty, nation, and government. Necessarily the authors' pre-sentation is extremely condensed, but nevertheless worth while,in the hands of competent instructors, for students who havebeen unfortunate enough to take up the study of state govern-ment without having had a preliminary course in PoliticalScience such as is covered by such a text as Garner's PoliticalScience and Government.The other general chapters cover the subjects of the relationsbetween the central government and the states, and between thestates themselves, the nature and contents of state constitutions,and the direct activities of the electorate in political party activi-ties and elections.The chapter on state constitution is worthy of special notice.The authors were highly successful in their critical and construc-tive analysis of the present day constitution in which "the musi-cal sound of phrases often serve to take the place of politicalthought" in the bill of rights, and in which too often the longand rigid constitution takes the place of the short and flexibleconstitution dealing "only with the fundamentals of governmentand its functions."The remaining eleven chapters of the text comprise what thereviewer characterized above as a "descriptive handbook" on theorganization and machinery of state and local government. Suchmaterial is most useful in the hands of an instructor able tosupplement it with vital problems facing the actual governmentin separate states.The selection of descriptive materials which are typical ratherthan limited to one or a few states is a hazardous and difficulttask. The authors are to be complimented upon their scholarlyperformance of the task.The reviewer would have been pleased to find a more completeand constructive treatment given to the subjects of corrupt prac-tices legislation, and public utilities administration, but he real-izes that space and balance do not permit the inclusion of all ourpet hobbies.The text is fairly free from typographical errors and mis-statements of fact. However, the omission of a negative onpage 443 spoils the sense of the paragraph. The sentence "sincethe county (in New England) is an important area of local ad-ministration," was evidently intended to read "an unimportantarea." On page 444 it should be noted that in Maine also theultimate authority for levying taxes rests with the legislature.An interesting comparison of the state constitutions of theearly period, the middle period, and the recent period, is madepossible by printing in the appendix the constitutions of Ver-mont, 1771, Indiana, 1851, and Arizona, 1910.The authors have given the members of the profession andthe college classes an excellent working manual on state govern-ment, and not just another text.ORREN C. HORNELL.Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine.

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State Government, by Frank G. Bates and Oliver P. Fields

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