A Series of Biographies of Men conspicuous in the Political History of the United States. EDITED BY JOHN T. MORSE, Jr. The volumes known as the "American Statesmen" series had a just raison d'etre; for the biography of our past political leaders compels or induces a study of the times in which they acted, the forces with which they dealt, and the public measures of importance on which their influence was felt. The New Englander (New Haven). JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. By JOHN T. MORSE, Jr., author of " A Life of Alexander Hamilton," etc. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. BY HENRY Cabot Lodge, author of "The English Colonies in America,” “ Studies in History," etc. JOHN C. CALHOUN. By Dr. H. VON HOLST, author of a of the United States." “ Constitutional History ANDREW JACKSON. By Prof. WILLIAM G. SUMNER, author of "History of American Currency,” etc. JOHN RANDOLPH. By HENRY ADAMS, author of " New England Federalism," etc. JAMES MONROE. By D. C. GILMAN, President of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. THOMAS JEFFERSON. By JOHN T. MORSE, Jr. DANIEL WEBSTER. By HENRY CABOT LODGE. ALBERT GALLATIN. By JOHN AUSTIN STEVENS, recently editor of “The Magazine of American History." JAMES MADISON. BY SYDNEY HOWARD GAY, author (with William Cullen Bryant) of "A Popular History of the United States." JOHN ADAMS. By JOHN T. MORSE, Jr. JOHN MARSHALL. By ALLAN B. MAgruder. SAMUEL ADAMS. BY JAMES K. HOSMER, Professor in Washington University, St. Louis, author of "A Short History of German Literature," etc. THOMAS HART BENTON. BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT, author of "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman," etc. HENRY CLAY. By Hon. CARL SCHURZ. In two volumes. It is not too much to say that, for the period covered, we have no other book which equals or begins to equal this life of Henry Clay as an introduction to the study of American Politics. - Political Science Quarterly. PATRICK HENRY. By MOSES COIT TYLER, Professor of English Literature in Cornell University, author of "History of American Literature," etc. It is thoroughly and excellently well done, and so fascinating that it would let me attend to nothing else until I had finished it. You have said all that there was to be said; you have said it thoroughly well; and you have rejected all the trash called tradition which cannot stand the test of historic criticism.-Hon. George Bancroft. gouverneUR MORRIS, BY THEODORE Roosevelt. IN PREPARATION: GEORGE WASHINGTON. By Hon. HENRY CABOT LODGE. In two volumes. MARTIN VAN BUREN. By EDWARD M. SHEPARD. Other volumes to be announced hereafter. Each volume, uniform, 16m0, gilt top, $1.25. Half morocco, $2.50. For sale by all Booksellers. Sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price by the Publishers. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., BOSTON. to Communications for the Editorial management should be addressed THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Cambridge, Mass. Business letters, subscriptions, and remittances, to GEO. H. ELLIS, 141 Franklin Street, Boston. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, $2.00 PER ANNUM. Single Copies, 50 Cents. CONTENTS FOR OCTOBER, 1887. I. THE THEORY OF BUSINESS PROFITS, II. "FUTURES" IN THE WHEAT MARKET, NOTES AND MEMORANDA. Proposed Tariff Legislation since 1883. The Monetary System of Holland. CORRESPONDENCE: The Economic Movement in England, II. THE WORKINGS OF THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW, Political Economy, Old and New. Extension of German Insurance Legislation. Wages and Profits. Occupations of Immigrants. A Suggested Rearrangement of Economic Study. CORRESPONDENCE: Economic Thought in Russia. RECENT PUBLICATIONS UPON ECONOMICS. APPENDIX. THE MYSTERY OF THE NEW-FASHIONED GOLDSMITHS. Francis A. Walker' Sidney Webb CONTENTS FOR APRIL, 1888. I. A REPLY TO MR. MACVANE: ON THE SOURCE OF BUSI- II. GROUND RENTS IN PHILADELPHIA, III. THE TARIFF, 1830-1860, NOTES AND MEMORANDA. Government Monopoly vs. Private Competition. The Proportion of Wages to Other Forms of Income. APPENDIX. STATISTICS OF IRON AND COTTON 1830-1860. Francis A. Walker Edward P. Allinson Boies Penrose F. W. Taussig [Entered as Second-class Mail Matter.) THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS JULY, 1888 WAGE STATISTICS AND THE NEXT CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES. It is characteristic of the practical and realistic direction given to the study of political economy in recent years that great attention is paid to statistics. They lend themselves naturally to the illustration of economic principles, or to exemplify the good results of following out correct economic policy. The theory of free trade has never had a more powerful argument than that deduced from the continually increasing prosperity of Great Britain, as shown by the figures of exports and imports and the extent of its commerce and the size of its merchant marine. Every political economy, however theoretical and deductive it may be in principle, must feel gratified to find its theories confirmed by the actual experience of mankind. In fact, in the long run, such confirmation must be present, or the theory will fall into contempt. The argument in favor of free trade has always been a curious intermixture of a priori reasoning and a posteriori appeals to successful experience. The free traders have always protested against the derogatory insinuation of the protectionists that free trade was all very well in theory, but bad in practice. And, in this appeal to experience, the former have often been so successful that they have driven the latter off from the purely economic ground of direct gain or loss to more theoretical considerations of the effect of free trade on the social position of the community. The weapon which has enabled them to do this has been the statistics of the enormous increase of wealth in freetrade countries since the adoption of the policy of freedom. But, so long as we remain in the realm of purely dogmatic political economy, the use of statistics can be of very small importance. At the best, they can be only illustrative or confirmatory of the truths already grasped by deductive reasoning. Often they serve rather to interrupt the continuity and harmonious development of the argument than to strengthen it, especially when contradictory statistics are brought forward on the other side. In their nature, they are too empirical and uncertain to form an integral part of a line of reasoning that, in its essence, is still deductive. The two will not successfully blend. When, however, we get out of the realm of purely dogmatic into that of historical and descriptive political economy, the position of statistics is entirely different. They become then a valuable auxiliary in the work of depicting the evolution of economic institutions, or of describing the present economic condition of the world. In fact, many of the phenomena of economic life are peculiarly adapted to the quantitative measurements of statistics. If we are studying the evolution of the credit system, what can give us a better conception of the importance of credit transaction in modern times compared with former periods, than the figures of note circulation |