19W] BOOK REVIEWS 345

not seem correct to sap (p. 168) that the principle of the separation of powers “in the United States is found chiefly in the federal system, having made little headway in State or municipal government”; or to speak of the “Swiss Rous- seau”; and it is obviously a slip to say (p. 299) that the compulsory referendum on legislation exists in all of the Swiss cantons except Pribourg. In chapter XIX-on “Citizenship, Rights and Obligations”-the presentation does not seem altogether precie; here the author seems not to discriminate adequately between legal rights and moral or ideal rights. In general the dis- cussion shows a clear apprehension of essentials, is a t all points adequately fortified by illustra- tions, and is in all parts sane and fair in its a p praisal of the validity of contemporary political tendencies and ideals.

Those who exalt the practical over theoretical aspects of political science pursue an impractical policy if they ignore (as matters of merely am- demic interest) the historical and social roots of present-day political institutions, doctrines and ideals. The volume in hand is a scholarly work of great practical utiIity.

$ F. W. COKER.

BUDQET IMAHING. By Arthur Eugene Buck. New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1921. Pp. %?4 with charts. What is popularly known 8s the budget system

is now a fact accomplished in the federal govern- ment, in 46 state governments, and in several hundred American cities. Considering the executive officials duectly involved in all these cases in the making of budgets, the members of federal, state, and municipal legislatures having a voice in the adoption of governmental financial programs, and the large body of citizens who take an active interest in the subject, there is presumably a widespread need for information on the technique of budget making.

Mr. Buck has written his book with the object of offering practical help to those desiring this technical information. The advantages of the budget plan of governmental financing are re- ferred to only incidentally, e.g., in setting forth the processes and forms required for clearness, accuracy, and completeness in the budget in- formation. Throughout the book the author adheres closely to his plan of explaining in detail the various steps necessBry in giving effectiveness to the purpose of the budget system.

A budget, as Mr. Buck views it, is a complete financial plan for a definite period, based on careful estimates of both expenditures and prob- able income, and presenting both the expendi- ture side and the revenue side. The making of such a budget or financial plan, he points out. constitutes a complete cycle of operations. This cycle begins with the recording of informa- tion as the basis of the work, and includes the preparation of estimates, the comparative and objective analysis of these estimates, and from that proceeds to the formulation, review, and adoption of the financial plan itself. The cycle is completed by the execution of the plan and the coincident recording of more information for use in preparing the next budget. Moreover, each succeeding budget, while complete in itself, is in reality only a link in the lengthening chain of the government’s financial experience and policy.

I t is necessary, of course, before a budget is made, that there shouId be a budget-making authority. Properly, therefore, Mr. Buck not only describes the executive, board, and legisla- tive types of budget-making authorities, but also includes a classification of the states, and some of the more important cities, with respect to the kind of budget-making authority adopted. It ie interesting to find that the budget plan in aL states is of the executive type, in 21 states of the board type, and in one state of the legislative type. There is also a discussion of budget staff agencies, in which is pointed out the value of such a body having a permanent character and a trained personnel-a value that unfortunately is as yet generally overlooked by cities and states alike.

The book is rich in description of the kind of information needed in the budget, the system of classification, and the methods and exact forms to be used in gathering the necessary estimates and in correlating them in budget form. It takes up step by step the reviewing and revising of the budget proposals, the requisite appropriation measures for legislative consideration, and the procedure of giving life and effect to the financial program. Emphasis is laid on the advantages of making the budget a document that tells a com- plete story in interesting terms and of accom- panying it with a budget message that will “put the budget in the news class with the baseball game.”

R ~ s l i g ~ ~ R.WBEY.