become abreast of the best modern thought on criminal law and criminology, is to make available for American readers the best scientific thought of European writers, hence, “The Modern Criminal Science Series,” of which Dr. Bonger’s work becomes one of the most valuable volumes. Until very recent years, most American judges and prosecuting attorneys gave little thought to the underlying causes of crime. It was the general assumption that courts and court officers had performed their full functions when the guilt or innocence of a defendant had been determined and he was discharged or committed to some penal institution. Here again little thought was given to the one incarcerated other than to hold and generally to exploit him until by law he was entitled to be discharged. Those whose province it was to get men into prison and those whose duty it was to keep them in custody gave little attention to the question whether the convict was a better or a worse unit of society when he came out than when he entered upon a prison term. Even less thought was given to the more important question—why so many commit crime at all. If normal human beings under normal conditions do not commit crime, then crime is evidence of the abnormal, either in the person or in the condition. If this is a correct hypothesis, then the administration of criminal law must to a greater degree in the future than in the past be predicated upon a comprehension and due consideration of this fact. If, in order to materially reduce the quantum of crime, it is necessary to change the economic basis upon which modern society rests and reorganize it “based upon the community of the means of production”, then the outlook for an early diminution in the volume of crime may not be overly encouraging. Such a change in the economic basis of society is hardly to be expected otherwise than as the result of the slow process of social evolution. Progress in this respect has not been perceptibly rapid since Moses gave to the world the Book of Deuteronomy. Many abuses of our present economic system, however, may be modified or abolished without waiting for or conceding the necessity of the change which the eminent scholar holds is fundamental. Again, in conclusion, let me reiterate that the value of Dr. Bonger’s work does not depend upon an agreement with all the views of the author. The book will bring to the American reader a depth and breadth of view most valuable to the administrators of criminal law and to those interested in the wider field of general social progress. Carson City, Nevada, February 18, 1916. TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.