298 HARVARD LAW REVIEW Volume two presents the law of receivers so far as it is controlled by statutes. Those which affect the procedure in receiverships are considered, and a chap- ter is devoted to those which affect not only the procedure in receivership cases, but also the substantive rights of litigants, claimants and receivers them- selves; though limitations of space make it impossible to print the text of the numerous state statutes in full. Volume two also contains the important fea- ture of a collection of about two hundred practical forms, which have been gathered from actual cases pending or adjudicated in the highest courts. A chapter is added on the subject of "Custodians of Alien Enemy Property"; and, in order to present the subject intelligently, the author has touched gener- ally upon the subject of "Trading with the Enemy." He has printed and com- mented on the United States Trading with the Enemy Act, and referred to the several English Trading with the Enemy Acts, with the decisions under them. The author's work has, on the whole, been well and thoroughly done, but the book does not entirely escape the besetting sins of modern American law writing, of which we can give only one illustration. At the end of section 507, speaking of contracts of service, the author says: "A specific performance by the receiver would be a form of satisfaction or payment which the receiver cannot be required to make. As well might he be decreed to satisfy the demand for specific performance by money as by the service sought to be enforced." These identical words are repeated as true of contracts generally, in section 517. A different authority is cited for the proposition in the two places where the statement occurs, and there is no cross-reference. The statement which is taken from a decision of the Supreme Court cited by the author under section 517, while true under the particular facts of that case, is not true as a general proposition, and was not stated as such by the court. There seems no doubt that a court might order its receiver to continue performance even of a contract to employ another; and if the contract in question related to property in the receiver's hands, and had created an equitable right therein, as in the typical case of a contract to sell land, it seems clear that it would be the duty of the court to order its receiver specifically to perform the contract. The mechanical execution of the book leaves nothing to be desired. A Bibliography of Municipal Utility Regulation and Municipal Ownership. By Don Lorenzo Stevens, M.B.A. Being Volimie IV of "Harvard Business Studies." Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1918. pp. viii, 410. This is an elaborate and thorough bibliography of a topic of the greatest contemporary interest. The regulation of public utilities and, as the only alternative, pubUc ownership are the rival palliatives of high charges and poor service; and the considerations are much the same whether the contest is staged in nation or in city. The references here given will enable one to study the entire subject or any aspect of it from every point of view. To the states- man, the author, and the debator it will be invaluable; and to the lawyer it is indispensable, since his practice must sooner or later bring him into the thick of the discussion. That this is the case is shown by the large proportion of the titles here emunerated which represent the professional work of lawyers. The compiler has wisely decided to omit the merely ephemeral literature of the subject; and his principle of exclusion has been conservatively admin- istered. He has appended pithy judicious annotations to each title, a practice which enormously increases the value of the work. The scope of the bibliog- raphy is shown by the chapter-headings: General Works, History of Utilities and of Regulation, Franchises, Public Service Commissions, Valuation, Rates, Taxa- tion, Holding Companies, Municipal Ownership. There is an excellent index.
