This book is intended as a brief and simple story of the labor movement in the United States in a single comprehensive volume of moderate size for the busy citizen. It undertakes to emphasize the nature and significance of the labor movement and the rise of trade unions. There follows a discussion of the old tactics of labor, its first political experience, and its final return to direct industrial action. Some attention is given to the industrial panics, political utopias, trade unionism, politics, schemes, and plans, which have engaged the attention of the labor element during and since the Civil War.

Discussing the situation during the Civil War, the author brings out valuable information bearing on the history of the Negro in the United States. According to the author, labor was forced to take a stand against slavery because of the advanced opposition taken by the South. Up to that time there had been no uniformity but a necessity for such thereafter existed. This was especially true of the mill workers in Massachusetts, among whom there were many abolitionists, while the molders of Kentucky and Pennsylvania struggled for a compromise to avoid bloodshed between the two sections by limiting slavery to the area it then occupied. When manifesting opposition to the extension of slavery into new territory however, the labor leaders were generally opposed to the aggressive policy of the anti-slavery groups. They, therefore, endeavored to take the question out of Congress. The war finally became inevitable; but some of the labor leaders refused even then to grow excited about slavery, believing that many of the bondmen were better off than the starving wage workers of the free States. Thus, indirectly they supported the institution in that they were advancing the argument set forth by slaveholders during that great crisis. The slave had his food, clothing, and shelter provided by his master who took care of him in his old age, while under the factory system workers earned hardly enough sometimes to eke out an existence. In the end, however, organized labor abandoned its opposition or neutral position and gave its support to save the Union.

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The United States and Latin America. By JOHN HOLLADAY LATANE, Ph.D., Professor of American History and Dean of the College Faculty in the Johns Hopkins University. Doubleday, Page and Company, New York, 1920. Pp. 346.

This book is a study in modern diplomacy based upon the former work of the author entitled The Diplomatic Relations of the United States and Spanish America. In response to the demand for this work which is out of print, the author has herein set forth the same facts in a revised and an enlarged volume. There is added to this work much new matter relating to the events of the last twenty years.

The book begins with a discussion of the revolt of the Spanish-American colonies, followed by an account of the recognition of the Spanish-American republics by the leading nations of the world. It becomes more interesting in that portion dealing with the diplomacy of the United States in regard to Cuba, although the author does not frankly state the case from an impartial point of view. He does not bluntly express the truth that the diplomacy centering around the relations between Cuba and the United States resulted from a systematic effort at the expansion of slavery on the part of the slaveholding class controlling this country from 1800 to 1860. The discussion of the history of the Panama Canal is interesting in view of its subsequent development as is also the chapters on French intervention in Mexico. The two Venezuelan episodes, the difficulties of the United States in the Caribbean, tendencies toward Pan-Americanism and the Monroe Doctrine are extensively treated.

The work as a whole, moreover, does not give important facts with regard to Cuba and Haiti. There is no effort on the part of the author to show the imperialistic tendencies of the United States in extending its authority over weak republics at the time that it is professing to be laboring in the interest of the self-determination of smaller nations. The inside cover of the foreign policy of the United States toward Cuba, therefore, cannot be seen in reading this book. There does not appear in this work sufficient treatment of our relations with the Spanish American Republics to show that because of serious tilts in our diplomacy, the relations between the United States and Latin America have become strained.

No better example of the shortcomings of this book can be cited than the very meager reference to the Haitian Republic, which, contrary to international law and the principles of government which we profess to foster in the United States, has been occupied by United States marines, who according to official reports have instituted a regime of murder supported by the Wilson and Harding administrations. Professor Latane should have treated this phase of the question with the same detail with which he treated other aspects of it and his failure to do so identifies his book with that of many others written in the interest of a special class or to promote a special cause.

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Creole Families of New Orleans. By GRACE KING. Macmillan Company, New York, 1921. Pp. 465.

This book, according to the author, "comes in response to a long-felt wish of an humble student of Louisiana history to know more about the early actors in it, to go back of the printed names in the pages of Gayarre and Martin, and peep, if possible, into the personality of the men who followed Bienville to found a city upon the Mississippi, and who, remaining on the spot, continued their good work by founding families that have carried on their work and their good names." The families chosen are such as Marigny de Mandeville, the Dreux family, De Pontalba, Rouer De Villeray, De la Chaise, Lafreniere, Labedoyere, Huchet de Kernion and a score or more of others. The work is well illustrated with scenes bearing on the life of the pioneer aristocracy of that commonwealth. The aim of the author evidently is to publish those records bearing witness to their good blood, their "maintenances de noblesse," which they considered as much a family necessity as a house and furniture. From the records of their baptisms, marriages and deaths, from bits of old furniture, jewelry, glass, old miniatures, portraits, scraps of silk and brocade, flimsy fragments and the like, the author has made an interesting story and well illustrated it. There is a regret that some of these achievements of the past are so deeply hidden for the lack of records to throw light thereupon that a definitive account of some of these families cannot be obtained.

There is evidence, however, that certain records of families equally as noble and aristocratic as some of those recorded in this work were not mentioned therein for the reason that they had mingled too freely with the blacks during the early period and had, therefore, been classed as persons of color. One does not find, therefore, in this work so much about these distinguished families of color as may be discovered in the author's earlier work entitled New Orleans, the Place and People (pages 346 to 349). Referring therein to this gens de couleur, she mentions in the former work a number of musicians, merchants, money and real estate brokers, as the ambitious element of this class, which monopolized the trade of shoemakers, barbers, tailors, carpenters, and upholsterers. Some of these in the course of time attained positions of distinction in the commercial world, acquiring large fortunes in the form of shares of stock in business enterprises and large landed estates like the plantations of Louisiana. One of these families, we know, had a large plantation of about 4,000 acres and owned hundreds of slaves. The head of the family lived in luxurious style in keeping with that of the planters of the South.

In other cases in which the color of the quadroon or octoroon did not brand him as far removed from the white race, the social distinctions existing between whites and such Negroes were not observed. If they were enforced against some of these aristocratic persons of color fortunate in having sufficient of the world's goods to secure the comforts of this life in spite of their social position, they usually sent their children to northern institutions and even to Paris where they were well educated. Thousands of these on their return to this country easily passed to the other race and mingled their blood with some of the most aristocratic families mentioned in this recent treatise of Grace King.



NOTES

On the first of October Mr. Victor R. Daly, who has recently been the Industrial Secretary of the New York Urban League, became the Business Manager of the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY. For some time his work will be largely in the field in an effort to extend the circulation of this publication and to find friends for this cause. It is earnestly hoped that the public will receive him as a coworker and give him the most hearty support.

* * * * *

The Association for the Study of Negro life and History will hold its next annual meeting at Lynchburg, Virginia, on the 14th and 15th of November. The morning sessions will be held at the Virginia Theological Seminary and College and the evening sessions at the Eighth street Baptist Church and at the Court street Baptist Church.

Men of national prominence will address this meeting. President R. C. Woods, of Virginia Theological Seminary and College, will deliver the welcome address, to which Professor John R. Hawkins will respond. Other addresses will be made by Dr. I. E. McDougle, Dr. W. H. Stokes, Professor Bernard W. Tyrrell, Professor Charles H. Wesley, and Dr. C. G. Woodson.

* * * * *

The April number of the Monthly Labor Review contains a discussion of various features of the labor situation of interest to all students of social sciences. It embraces among other things the treatment of the trend of child labor in the United States from 1913 to 1920, the average union scale of wage rates during the same period, Federal labor legislation, and Negro labor during and after the war. The treatment of the last topic centers around the work of Dr. George E. Haynes, who during the World War and for some time thereafter was the head of the Bureau of Negro Economics in the Department of Labor.

The article briefly discusses the formation of the division of Negro economics, showing the difficulties of finding a person competent to do the work and the handicap preventing the Department from carrying out its chief objective, that of bringing the two races together. The article shows, moreover, how the beginning was made in North Carolina among citizens of both, races, how they directed their attention seriously to the economic problems, and how many of the obstacles which at first were encountered were finally removed by hearty cooperation. There is a discussion of the industrial employment of Negroes during the scarcity of labor and the depression which followed after the war. In this case valuable statistics are given to set forth the writer's point of view. The article finally closes with a discussion of Negro women in industry. Here are given valuable facts as to how these workers were employed, the problems which they faced, and what this Department did to meet the exigencies of the situation. This short but valuable article may be read with interest and profit.

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[Transcriber's Notes:

Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other inconsistencies. The transcriber made the following changes to the text to correct obvious errors:

1. p. 30, persons or persons —> person or persons 2. p. 30, herefter —> hereafter 3. p. 89, 26. —> 20. 4. p. 96, maunmission —> manumission 5. p. 99, indefiite —> indefinite 6. p. 104, perfer —> prefer 7. p. 107, bcome —> become 8. p. 111, atending —> attending 9. p. 115, Carcia —> Garcia 10. p. 129, non-partisian —> non-partisan 11. p. 155, doucments —> documents 12. p. 171, Binghan —> Bingham 13. p. 181, wthin —> within 14. p. 191, No footnote marker for footnote #5. 15. p. 199, neigbors —> neighbors 16. p. 200, deleted duplicate phrase "and of the enslaved" 17. p. 202, No footnote marker for footnote #1. 18. p. 207, pusuing —> pursuing 19. p. 211, thoroughout —> throughout 20. p. 216, carrying-ing —> carrying 21. p. 217, kipnapping —> kidnapping 22. p. 218, discouragments —> discouragements 23. p. 218, apointment —> appointment 24. p. 219, prepetrators —> perpetrators 25. p. 220, portentious —> portentous 26. p. 223, communciation —> communication 27. p. 225, cirumstances —> circumstances 28. p. 226, beseeech —> beseech 29. p. 231, sperations —> separations 30. p. 249, beautful —> beautiful 31. p. 259, ben —> been 32. p. 270, There were two references to footnote #15. The second has been duplicated and labelled #15a. 33. p. 284, There were two references to footnote #37. The second has been duplicated and labelled #37a. 34. p. 315, ineficient —> inefficient 35. p. 316, perserving —> persevering 36. p. 316, society —> society, (added comma) 37. p. 319, There was no section VII in the original. 38. p. 325, trival —> trivial 39. p. 329, Contiment —> Continent 40. p. 331, if proportionably —> is proportionably 41. p. 335, penalities —> penalties 42. p. 336, exisiting —> existing 43. p. 333, now shall —> nor shall 44. p. 344, If has since —> It has since 45. p. 351, so satisfactory result —> no satisfactory result 46. p. 366, artifical —> artificial 47. p. 385, No footnote marker for footnote #2. 48. p. 405, No footnote marker for footnotes #38, #39, #40. 49. p. 426, No footnote marker for footnote #82. 50. p. 450, No footnote marker for footnotes #136, #137. 51. p. 452, Footnote #143 renumbered to #142 52. p. 453, Footnote #142 renumbered to #143 53. p. 468, No footnote marker for footnote #169. 54. p. 487, futhermore —> furthermore 55. p. 489, litttle —> little

Also, many occurrences of mismatched single and double quotes remain as published.

End of Transcriber's Notes]