In dealing with the agricultural possibilities, which he minimizes, he omits mention altogether of the great Susitna valley, which all Alaskans know to be the best in Alaska from an agricultural standpoint.
It is very clear that Archdeacon Stuck is not an authority on agriculture in any of its branches, and that he never lived a day on a farm.
Aside from his opposition to government railroads in Alaska and his doubts as to agricultural possibilities there, on which subjects a minister of the gospel is not necessarily good authority, his book is one of the best of the many recent popular works on Alaska.
John E. Ballaine.
The Coming Hawaii. By Joseph King Goodrich. (Chicago, McClurg, 1914. Pp. 329. $1.50.)
Like the author's earlier books on China, Mexico and Canada, The Coming Hawaii is based partly on the writer's own experience and partly on other authorities, which he cites in footnotes throughout the book. Like his earlier works, also, it is written in a popular style and is intended for the reader whose interest in Hawaii is a general one.
Mr. Goodrich made his first visit to Hawaii in 1866. A second and longer one was made after the government there had become republican. His residence in Japan as professor in the Imperial Government College at Kyoto has enabled him to speak authoritatively on the attitude of that country toward Hawaii.
In The Coming Hawaii, Mr. Goodrich sketches the history of the islands, surveys present conditions and considers the relation of Hawaii, in the future, to other countries.
The historical outline includes some notice of the myths and legends which are interwoven with the early history of the Hawaiians, the rule of native monarchs, the transition to American control, and the present administration of the islands by the United States.