Mr. J. R. -Bellerby, who has shown in earlier books
an unusually dispassionate temper in dealing with economic questions; attempts in A Contributive Society (Education " Services, 7s. 6d.) not merely to state the principles underlying whit he regards as an ideal society, but also to show how such a society might come into being by the voluntary co-operation Of sympathetic and strong-willed individuals, all imbued with a desire-to contribute towards the common needs rather than to get as much as they can for themselves. Unlike most idealists, Mr. Bellerby does not minimize the difficulties. Nor does he wish to compel the majority to come in, because lie believes-in-" the inevitability of gradualness." Nor, again, does he contemplate the suppression of, individuality in his Utopia. " Unmodified equality " would, he thinks, be monotonous-and stifling. It is a curious, but honest, book.
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