583 NATIONAL MUNICIPAL REVIEW [September

The syllabus is divided into seven major sec- tions: Introduction; Western Civilization in the Middle Ages; Western Civilization from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century; West- em Civilization in the Seventeenth and Eight- eenth Centuries; Western Civilization in Europe in the Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Cen- turies; Western Civilization in the United States, 1783 to 1865; and the C o ~ t e m p o ~ y Scene. 1871 to 19%. The first six sections are studied during the 6rst half year. To the last one the whole of the second half year is devoted. From the fore- going it is evident that the treatment of the course is historical. But it is history far re- moved from the usual sort. Special emphasii is properly placed on philosophical or intellectual history and on the basic economic factors that so largely determine the conditions under which people live.

One of the greatest d&cuIties in conducting a c o w that draws material from history, eco- nomics. politics, and philosophy, and even from the natural sdences. and attempts to fuse thii into a well-organized whole is that of semving adequate readings. Existing textbooks seldom fit into this scheme of things. This difliculty hss been met at Columbia by writing books that cover the material needed and by introducing into the syhbus itself brief but excelient sections of explanatory material.

E. D. GBAPER. Univeisity of Pittsburgh.

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REPORT OF THE TAX COMMISSION OF NORTH CAROLINA, 1938. Pp. 79% This thorough and exceedingly comprehensive

report on the North Carolina tax situation em- bodies a series of surveys covering the following subjects: the taxation of agriculture; the taxation of city real estate; the taxation of public service corporations; the taxation of intangible personal property; the taxation of banks; tax admhistra- tion and tax delinquency; the inheritance and estates tax; the income tax; the taxation of highway advertising signs; tax levies and in- debtedness, 1 9 h t a t e and local; comparative burden3 of taxation.

The Commission does not find the tax system of the state defective in any really important respects. It does issue certain warnings and 3uggests some changes. It believes, for ex- ample, that the state cannot with safety increase the tax burden upon business and industry by

further taxes levied either by the state or local units of government. It likewise expresses concern over the burden of the property tax. With the hope of bringing about a material re- duction in this tax, the Commission recommends that the state highway commission take over the maintenance of county highways and that an addition should be made to the gasoline tax which would be su9icient to maintain the larger system. RecogniEmg also that the public school system imposes a heavy burden on the property tax, the Commission advises an investigation of the operation of the school system with the idea of securing more economical and efficient methods throughout the entire public school system.

Other recommendations of the Commission include a genuine revaluation of property every four years; utilization by the counties of the valuations of the state board of equalization; the listing of taxes by mail; the amendment of the caunty government laws and the municipal finance act to prohibit bond issues for any pur- pose without submission to a vote of the people; a larger staff for the department of revenue in order to maintain income tax collection on a high level of efficiency; finally, the consideration of an amendment that would vest in the sound discretion of the general assembiy the authority to adopt at any time such reasonable classifica- tion of any particular class of property as it d a y find to be just and in the interest of a complete and orderly enforcement and administration of the tax laws.

The real meat of this report is not to be found in the general findings and recommendations, but in the special studies and investigation. Students of the rural problem will 6nd avafuable repository of data in the study on the taxation of agriculture. With the aid of field agents and competent enumerators, the Commission studied 1572 farms, and urges better methods of assessing and appraising farm property. While much has been written on the farm problem in the United States, subrtantial facts such as are set forth in this study of the situation in North Carolina have not been available. Another section of the report deserving of special commendation is the part dealing with the taxation of public service corporations. While more theoretical and aca- demic than the other studies, it presents a care- ful analysis of the entire field of public utility taxation in North Oarolina.

In the preparation of this report, the Tax

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Qmmission had the assistance and coijperation of a distinguished corps of experts and specialists. The survey on the taxation of agriculture was prepared under the direction of Dr. G. W. Forster, professor of agricultural esnomics. North Carolinn College of Agriculture and En- gineering. Dr. Clarence H e r prepred the study on the taxation of public service corpora- tions. Professor J. B. Woosley made the survey on the taxation of banks., Others who gave valuable assistance in the preparation of special studies include Professor C. P. Spruill. Jr., Dr. Roy 6. Blakey, Mr. L. R. Gottlieb, Professor Albert S. Keister, and members of the Institute for Research in Social Science of the University of North Carolina.

MARTIN L. FAUST. * MUNICIPAL REPORTS

PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN. First Annual Report under Commission-Manager Cwcrnmenf for Year Ending Deecmbd 31, 1928. Adolph J . Koenig, City Manager. 35 pp. For a first report this little publication sur-

passes those of many other cities which have been issuing annual reports for years. The treatment accorded the various activities indicates a well- balanced appreciation of the work involved in the management of a small municipality. The allotment of space is as follows: historical sketch, two pages; a brief review, five pages; the com- mission, two pages; financial review, three pages; public improvement program, four pages; public works department, two pages; one p a p each to the water, azsessment, police, fire, public health, and legal departments; and, the treasurer’s statements, four pages. The weak points in this otherwise very good report are: the lack of emphasis on important facts; and absence of charts and graphs, a table of contents, com- parative data, and an organization chart.

ROASDHE, VIRGIXU. Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 1928. W . P . Hunter, City Manager. 95 pp, ’ This is the second annual report of this .ity

reviewed in these columns, and it is gratifying to observe a distinct improvement in this report over the previous issue. However, there still remains much to be done in order to place it among the outstanding reports of the year. To begin with, the size of 8% x 11 inches makes it

inconvenient to file with similar reports pub- lished in the usual size of 6 x D inches. Other characteristics which tend to decrease its ef- fectiveness are: scarcity of illustrative material, lack of an organization chart, lack of comparative data, and failure to emphasize the more rig- nificant fads. The features worthy of special commendation are: letter of transmittal which includes a paragraph on “suggestions for con- sideration,” and the balance as between ac- tivities maintained in the content.

SYXhCUSE, NEW Yo=. Annual Report for thc Year 1928. Charles G . Ranna, Mayor. 64pp. This report, prepared with the cobperation

of the officials of the School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, is in several respects quite unique. To name only one: it does more than report the work done and money spent, for it affords a means of offering suggestions for improving the services of the city. This latter is done by inserting “suggestion cards” which may be returned to the compkint bureau by the citizens receiving the report, The classihtion of their responses will be im- mensely intensting and may be significant.

The report opens with a letter of transmittal by the mayor, followed by two and a half pages of “Accomplishments of 19B” and one-half p a p of “Needs of the Near Future.” A few pages are then devoted to the common council, city clerk, civil service commission, bureau of elec- tions, and the like, previous to the reports of the several administrative departments.

The cover page carries the title, “Story of the Year.” In the opinion of the reviewer this nomenclature is of doubtful value. Presumably this title is intended to lure disinterested people into opening the report merely out of curiosity. Even though some are led to a perusal of the report by means of this catch title, can they he fooled by it another year? It would seem a more sound practice to label a report a report, and make the context so intensting that its appearance each year would merit a wide and sympathetic reading.

It is not a t all easy to criticize this report, for it reaches a high standard in report writing. I t abounds with novel feature. There is not likely to be a better report irued this year, and for this reason the reviewer strongly urges every- one interested in public reporting t o get a copy.

CLARENCE E. RIDLET.