British Constitutional History since 1832, by R.C. Schuyler (no named reviewer)

[p033] J.D. Too Many Gaps British Constitutional History Since 1832. Robert Living- stone Schuyler (Corinne. Anvil Books, Macmillan. 1957, 8s. 6d.) THIS is a collection of documents on British Constitutional History, mainly since 1832, although extracts from writings by Charles I, Blackstone, the Duke of Richmond, Tom Paine and Bentham are all included to set the scene. It is interesting to read Grey on the Reform Bill of 1831. In the Lords he said: ‘Do I propose that your Lordships be deprived of any part of your legitimate power or influence? God forbid! The respect due to your rank ,and the influence which, from pro- perty, you necessarily possess, will belong to you after the passing of the Bill, as fully and in as great a degree as they now do...” But the greatest single force which challenged the powers who created the Constitution which is here so much admired, the labour movement, gets but one document—an excerpt from the Clarion of a report on the formation of the Labour Re- presentation Committee. The General Strike, with its far- reaching constitutional implications (which were certainly not lost on the ruling class even if historians think them unim- portant) gets not a solitary word. Ninety-five pages of introductory matter attempt to com-

[p034] pensate for this particular documentary vacuum, but the chapter From Democracy to Socialism should not alarm read- ers. What is referred to is not the socialism of workers’ coun- cils. The climax of this section concerns a series of measures of ‘Regency Legislation’ carried out by various Tory groups to ensure the avoidance of national catastrophe while the sov- ereign has—mumps! Real socialist legislation on the future of the monarchy will prove to be less teasing of our legal in- genuity than these complex measures seem to be. Perhaps a well-written constitutional history could be of help to the working-class movement. But surely, the crying need is that the workers should write it—in deeds, directed against the ‘influence, which, from property’ the ruling classes possess. This is one of a series of paperbacks on political ques- tions. The others may be more interesting to readers of Labour Review than this one is. Sidney Hook is announced as one performer, on The Ambiguities of Marxism, and John Shelton Curtis is announced as a contributor to the series with The Russian Revolutions of 1917. There will also be a book on The Negro in the U.S., a history by R. W. Logan.