690 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
whether social, commercial, or political, is recognized by the Ger- mans. Dr. Lyon's excellent study of " General Education " is, however, confined to the public school system, omitting art galleries, museums, libraries and reading-rooms, and other means of adult education.
Trade schools and commercial schools are given a separate sec- tion in the care of Gewerbeschuldirector Kuhnow. They are, pos- sibly, sufficiently separate in administration and purpose from the regular schools to warrant the prominence thus given them. They are undoubtedly important enough to deserve special treatment.
Public charities have been so long well administered in Germany that Dr. Bohmert's paper is sure to arouse general interest. The broad development of the work and the more or less " paternal " attitude of the government, whether state or municipal, necessitate inclusion of a very large field in this discussion. In order to cover the ground, the author has been compelled to pass over many impor- tant subjects with little more than mere mention, though he presents the salient points of most of them and discusses a few of the very important. It may be noted, in passing, that the second part of this paper, devoted to public welfare, includes municipal employment bureaus, reading-rooms, libraries, domestic-science instruction (in the schools), etc.
Dr. Koch deals with the subject of finances and the city debt, as affected by the many undertakings of the municipalities some income-producing, some not profit-bearing. This subject is impor- tant and worth study because of the great activity of the German municipalities in charitable, communal improvements as well as in paying enterprises. It is interesting to see how a municipality finances these various undertakings, and Dr. Koch has written a very competent paper.
The space devoted to public savings-banks and pawn-shops would make one think this one of the most important activities of the municipalities ; but, as stated before, each author has been left to his own devices, so one must not expect relative emphasis. The writer, Dr. Ritthausen, is director of the Dresden municipal savings- bank, and his statements may therefore be taken as authoritative.
The police are under direct state control, but, because of their close connection with the cities, and because many of their functions are the direct outcome of city conditions, there is some propriety in including the paper by Dr. Wemgart in a work on the German cities.
