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literature, including the official reports of permanent and special tax commissions, as well as the discussion on periodicals and special treatises. In fact, he has done this too well, perhaps, for the result is a considerable threshing of old straw. The shortcomings of the general property tax have already been so thoroughly explored and exposed that Professor Jensen is able, in this book, to do little to enlarge the account or to render it more convincing.

There is produced, in consequence, an effect of poor balance. The devotion of so much space to well-known and well-established shortcomings leaves little room, as the book is planned, for constructive treatment. The author recognizes this, and explans his purpose by stating that sound tax reform depends upon a greater popular understanding of the flaws and merits of exist- ing state and local tax systems and of practical changes and alternatives, then now prevails (preface).

Greater popular education upon the subject is beyond doubt needed, but the emphasis should be on the merits of the proposed substitutes, in this case. Many prefer the defects of an es- tablished tax to the hazards of new taxes which are not clearly understood. Professor Jensen has not wholly neglected these aspects of the problem, but his purpose would have been better served by a sharper focus upon the future tax system.

H. L. LUTZ. Princeton University.

* CLASSIFICATION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE

CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS. Civil Service Com- mission, May 20, 1951. 61 pp. This classification of the positions in the civil

service of Minneapolis is the result of a year’s work by the staff of the League of Minnesota Municipalities under the direction of Morris B. Lambie.

One accomplishment of the reclassification was a reduction in the number of payroll titles from 385 active ones to 177. There are, however, 311 eligible list titles in the new plan. This device of using a single payroll title to include several eligible list titles is not widely used but seems to have some merit in simplifying payroll writing while leaving the civil service commission free to use Merent examinations and establish separate lists for groups of like positions under a single payroll title.

The specifications themselves are disappoint- ing. They are too brief to be of much use for recruiting purposes or even for the information of the appointing officer and the public. Much more thorough work has been done recently in this field in California. There is no attempt to indicate differences in duties or qualifications be- tween elegible list titles under a single payrolI title. A list showing lines of promotion is help- ful. The lists of payroll titles and eligible list titles would be more useful if indexed to refer to the specifications. Interesting data on salary ranges and rates, turnover, actual promotions, advancement, and age of present employees which were submitted by Dr. Lambie with his report unfortunately were not printed. A com- pensation plan, based upon this classification, is the next step planned by the civil service com- mission. This was not included in the assign- ment given the League, or in the published report.

HUVEY WALBER. * A HISTORY OF THE DETROXT STREET RAILWAYS.

By Graeme OGeran. Detroit: The Conover Press, 1931. xvii, 459 pp. This volume is not for sale but is available in practically every library in cities of 80,000 population or more. The literature on public utilities grows apace.

But there still remains a large gap to be filled in with histories of important individual public service enterprises, and of the development of utility services in local areas.

Professor OGeran’s book tells the story of the street railways of Detroit from the time of the first franchise in 1861 down to 1930. The establishment and early struggles of the several small companies between 1862 and 1890, are sketched in the first three chapters. The events of the next decade, a period of political conten- tion, and of successive consolidations whose sole survivor was the Detroit United Railway Com- pany, are methodically described in Part 11. By 1900 astrugglefor municipal ownership of the street railways had begun under the leadership of Mayor Hazen Pingree. In Part I11 of the book, the author analyzes and describes the numerous agreements, plans and elections relating to the movement toward public ownership, and gives us an interesting picture of the varying fortunes of the combatants. This period ended in 1920 when Mayor Couzens’ plan for municipal owner- ship was approved at an election. City owner-