sonable really cuts no figure in this strike problem. If the employers had consented to the conference with the unions, it is altogether probable that the demands of the men might and would have been modified down to a thoroughly reasonable and economic basis. After the reply of the corporations, there was nothing for the laborers to do but accept the decision that they would not be permitted to participate in making the contract under which they would have to work or strike.

"In this state of facts, as developed by Commissioner of Labor Wright's investigation, it is clear that the corporations are responsible for the strike. All the inconvenience to the public is chargeable to the railroad managers, because their attitude left no other alternative for the men except unconditional surrender of all voice in determining their conditions."

FACTS ABOUT SOUTHERN CHILD LABOR.

Mr. Hayes Robbins, in a paper on "The New South's Rare Opportunity," estimates the number of children under fourteen years of age at work in the cotton mills of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi at 22,000. Eight or ten thousand of these children are believed to be under twelve, while the fact is well established that some children of nine, eight, and even six years are at work in Southern mills. In connection with these facts, we are reminded that fourteen years is nearly the average age under which factory labor is prohibited by the laws of most of our Northern States and of European countries where there has been any legislation on the subject.

tains that magistrates should be empowered to deal with any lad between sixteen and twenty-one who habitually frequents the streets and highways and has no visible means of subsistence. By dealing with them he means that they should be sent to training ships. The most interesting thing in his paper is the statement which he makes as to the estimate of some American friends of his as to the number of murders which they expected would take place every year in London. After much discussion, they fixed an average of about 200. In reality, the average number is about 18.

BRITISH AND AMERICAN SHIPPING.

Mr. Benjamin Taylor writes a somewhat cheerful article upon this subject, maintaining that if British shipowners, shipbuilders, and railway companies wake up and brace themselves for the struggle, they have nothing to fear. He would pass a simple resolution through the House of Commons forbidding the sale or transfer by any firm of vessels which it is desirable to keep on the British register for possible use in war, and pass a short act re-imposing the old navigation laws, which would close the British register and coasting trade to foreign-built vessels. He also suggests that countervailing subsidies should be paid, and in other ways he would abandon the theory that the British shipowner is the natural enemy of mankind.

THE DEMAND FOR A WHITE AUSTRALIA.

The government resident on Thursday Island, the pearl-fishing station in the north of Australia, gives

some interesting particulars as to the influence likely to be exerted by Asia on Australia. He admits that the pearl-fields could not be worked without Asiatics, but at the same time he is a passionate advocate of a white Australia. This, he says, is the opinion not of the labor party alone, but it is the determination of nine-tenths of the present people of Australia. The southern Australian states will never consent, come what may, to the systematic introduction of colored labor into northern Australia.

UNEDUCATED BRITISH OFFICERS.

Maj.-Gen. Frank Russell declares that he thinks the great war now brought to a close will be noted in history as having brought about an entire revolution in the education and training of the officers of the British army. The report of the committee is a startling and a remarkable document. He examines its recommendations in detail, approving of them in the main, and concludes his paper by calling attention to the striking phenomenon that, although the committee examined no fewer than seventy-two witnesses, some of them more than once and many of them at great length, they never asked Lord Wolseley to attend and give them the benefit of his advice and unrivaled experience. The unaccountable omission detracts very much from the value of the report as a whole.

PROPHECIES OF DISRAELI.

Mr. Walter Sichel claims that no one ever showed greater prescience as to the future of Great Britain than Disraeli. He quotes many passages from his speeches in proof of this; among others, as far back as 1856 he pointed out that American expansion, so far from being injurious to England, contributed to the wealth of England more than it increased the power of the United States. In 1872, he made the following statement as to the conditions upon which, in his opinion, self-government should have been conceded to the colonies. The passage is a remarkable one, and well worth quoting:

"It ought to have been accompanied by an imperial tariff, by securities for the people of England for the enjoyment of the unappropriated lands which belonged to the sovereign as their trustee, and by a military code which should have precisely defined the means and the responsibilities by which the colonies should be defended, and by which, if necessary, this country should call for aid from the colonies themselves. It ought further to have been accompanied by the institution of some representative council in the metropolis, which would have brought the colonies into constant and continuous relations with the home government."

OTHER ARTICLES.

Mr. W. H. Ford comes to the rescue of the censor of plays, and maintains that one scene at least in "Monna Vanna" is quite inadmissible on the English stage. The late Chief Justice of Hyderabad writes on "The Islamic Libraries," and Mrs. Aria discourses on the practice of going to the play in order to display your dresses and meet your friends. Miss G. E. Troutbeck, in an article entitled "A Forerunner of St. Francis of Assisi," revives the almost forgotten memory of Abbot Joachim of Flora, who was born in Calabria in the year 1132.

THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. N the Fortnightly Review, Mr. Francis Gribble

Alexandre Dumas. He says:

"One may speak of him, for instance, as a dissolute Sir Walter Scott, a magnified non-natural George Augustus Sala, a literary Baron Grant, a Henri Mürger with a talent for getting on, but the analogies do not help one very far. Dumas was all these things, but he was a good many other things as well. His life is a real drama which loses none of its significance through the lapse of time. Here, at least, we have the true story of a Titanic conflict. On the one hand, we have the man of genius proudly defying all the conventional decencies of the social order, and trusting to genius, unsupported by any force of character, to pull him through; on the other hand, we have the patient, untiring social forces biding their time and taking their terrible revenge. The collapse has been compared to the breaking up of an empire; and the story is like the

eration of which his former Christian subjects, now completely enfranchised, would form the outer circle and join hands to resist Europe.

SCIENCE AND RELIGION.

Mr. W. H. Mallock gives the fourth instalment of his papers on "Science and Religion at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century." This leads him to the following conclusion:

"Science, then, in the principles from which it starts, and in the conclusion to which it leads, is essentially non-religious. It not only fails to support the essential doctrines of religion, but, as is every day becoming more apparent, it excludes them. If, then, we accept, as all reasonable people do accept, the facts which science teaches, are we, as reasonable people, bound to reject religion? I shall show in the next article that we are not, and why we are not."

and social life."

MAGERSFONTEIN.

Mr. Perceval Landon tells the story of the defeat of the Highlanders at Magersfontein, putting forward for the first time the unexampled series of mishaps which led to their destruction. The first mishap was the cvercharged electricity of the atmosphere, which found expression as soon as the march began in a tremendous thunderstorm which affected the nerves of every man in the force. The brigade, from Wauchope downward, started with a premonition of defeat. When, drenched to the skin, the Black Watch tore themselves through clinging thorns and sinewy branches by main force, a continuous cataract of magazine fire smote them down. When they recoiled, shattered beneath the sudden blow, the quick African dawn rose full upon the scene of failure, enabling the Boers to take aim. At that moment of confusion the brigade found themselves practically without officers, for the new kit in which the officers were dressed rendered them undistinguishable from their men. On this leaderless force lying prone on the veldt the sun arose in a cloudless sky, and the thermometers registered 108 in the shade. A misunderstood operation, ordered by Colonel Hughes - Hallett, was taken as a signal for a general retirement, and the brigade-shaken, broken, decimated-retreated over the coverless zone swept by the Boer fire.

THE PROSPECT IN TURKEY.

A writer calling himself A. Rustem Bey de Bilinski declares that Abdul Hamid has made his unfortunate empire a veritable hell on earth, and this he has done of resolute purpose, displaying great genius in the systematic efforts in which he has struck poison into every branch of national activity. Believing that prosperity would lead to discontent, he pursues a policy of devastation and desolation. His precautions against assassination are complete. The Young Turks are powerless for some years to come, the Christian races will not rise, and, therefore, as long as Abdul Hamid reigns there is not much prospect that the Eastern Question will be raised. If, however, he were to die, the dogs of war would be unloosed, and a general conflagration might ensue. If his successor adopted a policy of reform and progress, Great Britain might come to the rescue, and the Sultan might make himself the center of a confed

THE CONTEMPORARY REVIEW.

N the Contemporary Review for July, Mr. J. B. Johnston contributes a very detailed and interesting summary of the evidence against the theory of natural selection. Geological and paleontological evidence, he says, is every day tending to weaken the Darwinian theory. The earth is now proved to be not so old as was believed, and the enormous periods of time demanded by pure natural selectionists can no longer be granted. Recent discoveries have brought to light many animals in the oldest strata which were quite as highly developed as their posterity in new strata. Mr. Johnston gives a list of such cases, and concludes that while natural selection has played some part in the development of life, it is the part of the eliminator much more than that of the creator. Palæontology furnishes a vast body of proof that a type appears perfect, or almost perfect, from the first, or at least the type's acme is reached very early in its history.

TH

THE WESTMINSTER REVIEW.

HE Westminster Review for July contains a very instructive paper by Mr. Hubert Reade entitled "Empire as Made in Germany." It was written before peace was signed in South Africa, Mr. Reade's purpose being to show the careful and moderate methods of Bismarck in founding the German Empire as contrasted with the pretences of British imperialists. Bismarck succeeded in roping in the German states into the new empire owing to his moderation and his care to save their amour propre. He knew how fatal it would be to Prussia to have subordinate to it a large body of citizens hankering after a vanished past. A tactless statesman would in 1866 have annexed Bohemia, and have filled the palaces of Vienna with kings in exile, making the Prussian flag the emblem of subjection. But Bismarck was extremely moderate; in the art of saving appearances he could have given lessons to the Dowager Empress of China. In the constitution of the German Empire he was equally careful, keeping up the fiction of independence everywhere. The South German states closed the war with France by separate

treaties of peace; the federal states were all to be represented by special envoys at the King's coronation. In short, Bismarck recognized the superiority of diplomacy over edicts in settling international questions, and built up the German Empire with treaties, not with proclamations. If Bismarck had been English prime minister, he would not have refused to treat with President Krüger. He would not have troubled, so long as every Boer was effectively subject to England, to force upon him the recognition of this subjection at every turn. It would have mattered little, while Transvaal and Free State representatives sat in the Federal Parliament of South Africa, whether these states, like the Hanseatic cities, were officially styled republics. He would not have lost a kingdom for the color of an emblem.

Mr. J. G. Godard continues his paper on "Imperialism: Its Spirit and Tendencies." There is an article on the Indian Famine Commission.

THE NATIONAL REVIEW.

HE National Review for July contains an im

Food of the Lower Deck-and a Message from Kiel," which is noticed elsewhere, and a very interesting article, Sir Horace Rumbold's "Recollection of a Diplomatist," full of good stories about such well-known men as Sir Robert Morier, Sir Harry Elliot, Sir Hamilton Seymour, and less great names in the British diplomatic service. Captain Mahan contributes some "Considerations Governing the Disposition of Navies," and Admiral Fremantle discourses upon "Mercantile Cruisers and Commerce Protection." Mr. Whitmore, M. P., writes pleasantly and genially concerning the recently acquired London parks, such as Clissold Park, and Waterloo, Brockwell, and Ravenscourt parks, which are old-fashioned suburban gardens rather than city parks.

Mr. W. J. Courthope makes the following suggestion as to the first step being taken toward imperial federation :

"What would be the objection to having a representative of each colonial government for the time being as a member of a permanent council? The council must necessarily be composed of the executive powers in each part of the empire, but the principle of representation would be duly observed, and it would seem easy to make a body so composed part of the constitution, by converting it into a committee of the privy council. As the council would in itself, to begin with, have neither executive nor legislative functions, there could be no fear of the federal authority attempting to enforce obedience to the central will upon any reluctant member of the voluntary association."

The Earl of Ronaldshay describes a journey taken through Baloochistan and eastern Persia.

THE MONTHLY REVIEW.

NE of the most interesting articles in the Monthly Review is Mr. Arthur Morrison's illustrated paper on the "Painters of Japan."

Ο

The editor, in his opening paper on "Trade and the New World," recommends the adoption of a policy partly protective and partly aggressive, but he admits that for preliminary work necessary to lay the founda

tions of his policy it would be futile to look either to the government now in power or to any alternative government at present conceivable. It is, therefore, hardly worth discussing from the point of view of practical politics.

Mr. Worsfold continues his defence of Sir Charles Warren, dealing with the much-disputed question as to who was responsible for the disaster at Spion Kop. Mr. J. H. Rose's paper, entitled "Our Anti-National Party in the Great War," is written from the point of view of a man who thinks that the more completely British foreign policy is examined in the light of contemporary records the better it comes out. He quotes Dr. Gardiner as agreeing with him in this matter, for, said the eminent historian, "It always does; it always does."

Mr. W. B. Yeats contributes an Irish poem which deals with the fate of two lovers, Baile and Aillinn. The Master of Love, wishing them to be happy in his own land among the dead, told to each the story of the other's death, so that their hearts were broken and they died.

"On the Heels of De Wet." The writer thinks that whether or not De Wet was the best of the Boer generals, he certainly owed a great deal to good luck. The culpable stupidity of his pursuers often saved him, and even when surrounded by the best leaders and best men, chance has stood by him. Luck, however, generally seemed to have come in the form of what the writer calls "effete British leaders;" and he gives an amusing dialogue to illustrate the stupid timidity with which the British senior officers hampered and interfered with their enterprising subordinates.

There is a very interesting anonymous article on "Celestial Photography," in which the writer points out the uses and drawbacks of photography as used in astronomy. The writer says that even with perfect clockwork, human supervision is necessary in photographing the sky, as owing to changes in the atmosphere the stars change their positions by refraction. As they sink toward the horizon the refraction increases. Photography is not very useful when fine detail is wanted, as on all but two or three nights of the year the star-image dances and quivers in the telescope, and the sensitized plate reproduces its aberrations. Photography is especially valuable in the work of measurement, which the writer insists is a much more important work than mere searching for new celestial objects. One of the great drawbacks of photography is that, owing to the coarseness of the silver particles, the picture will only bear a small magnification-some twenty diameters-after which it begins to show single grains. Also the plate is too faithful, and records everything whether wanted or not. It is in observing faint sources of light that photography is supreme. The Lick telescope, when used in combination with photography, discovered some 120,000 new nebulæ, where only 6,000 had been discovered by using the telescope alone.

REVUE DES DEUX MONDES.
HE terrible events of 1871 are beginning to be re-

ingly much is being published which throws a strong light on many events which at the time appeared utterly mysterious and incomprehensible. The place of honor in the first June number of the Revue des Duex Mondes is given to an article entitled "The Biarritz Interview," written (wherein lies its special interest) by M. Ollivier, the French statesman who has remained notorious as having used in 1870 the unfortunate phrase, "The French army is absolutely ready to go into action, even to the last button of the last gaiter." Here, apparently for the first time, is told fromthe French point of view the inner story of the negotiations which preceded the Schleswig-Holstein struggle, and students of modern history will find much that is valuable in these pages. At the present moment one reads with melancholy interest the vivid description of how great a part deadly disease played in the life-story of Napoleon III. During the last seven years of the empire the emperor was constantly ill; but the fact was more or less hidden from those around him, although his ministers were, of course, aware that often the extremity of pain which he was enduring compelled him to leave the councils over which he used to preside with the greatest regularity and intelligence. M. Ollivier, in the second number, continues his diplomatic and political confessions with a long account of the first Hohenzollern candidature-in other words, the history of how the present King of Roumania, a prince of the house of Hohenzollern, became sovereign of the eastern state over which he still reigns, and to which the heir is his nephew, equally allied by marriage to the British sovereign. M. Ollivier is apparently of opinion that Bismarck hoped to plant out cadets of the Royal Prussian family all over Europe, and that, emboldened by the success of this attempt in Roumania, he plotted the disastrous Hohenzollern candidature to the throne of Spain, which practically led to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War.

THE CENTENARY OF COMTE.

Auguste Comte, one of the comparatively very few thinkers who may be said to have founded a new religion, was born a hundred years ago, and his centenary has inspired M. Brunetière, the distinguished French philosopher and critic, to write a courteous analysis of Comte's theories, writings, and general opinions on the intellect of some thinkers who may be said to have been even greater than himself. He points out that Comte had a great respect for all that had gone before, in this matter differing from any of his disciples, who seem far more anxious to destroy than to preserve the edifices built up in the course of ages.

OTHER ARTICLES.

Other articles include a short scientific summary of the world's volcanic eruptions, by M. Dastre; a detailed account of the battle of Oudenarde, by the Comte d'Haussonville; and yet another section of M. Lenthério's picturesque and yet most detailed description of the northern coast-lines and seaport towns of France.

NOUVELLE REVUE.

S usual the Nouvelle Revue for June is composed of a very great number of short articles, of which perhaps the best is that, by M. Buret, entitled "The Rights of War, and the Rights of the Wounded." Next May, at St. Petersburg, will take place a great international congress of Red Cross societies. The last was held at Vienna in 1898, at a moment when none foresaw the grievous struggle which has just come to an end. It is said on the Continent that, in view of recent events in South Africa, certain articles of the Geneva Convention will be there revised. This will be more necessary owing to the fact that the famous convention omitted to deal both with the captive wounded, and with the case of prisoners of war. During the Franco-Prussian War the German military authorities complained bitterly that certain articles of the convention made it easy for active combatants to pose when convenient as doctors and ambulance men, and the same complaint was made in Great Britain apropos of the many Russian, Dutch, and American ambulances which attempted to make their way into the Boer lines.

THE MARTINIQUE DISASTER.

The Martinique disaster is the subject of a paper by M. Desmarest, who gives some little-known details concerning the doomed town of St. Pierre. He points out that many of the houses were made of wood, and so caught fire almost at once. The one survivor, a negro, happened to be confined in an underground prison, and so escaped. It is clear that the island had had ample warning, for during the last hundred years several terrible earthquakes took place, that of 1830 completely destroying Fort de France. Many ancient prophecies foretelling the awful eruption of this spring were current in the island, but even the more superstitious inhabitants fully believed that this would not occur for at least another thousand years.

THE JAPANESE WORKMAN.

According to M. Dumoret, the Japanese workman is far more pleasantly situated than his European brother. In the country of flowers, strikes are absolutely unknown, for as yet trade unionism has made no way in the East. Every man makes the best bargain he can for himself, and, as a rule, for a time exceeding three years. A bad element in the working life in Japan is the existence of a professional intermediary who acts as go-between between men and masters, and who obtains a commission from both sides. Yet another regrettable fact is the immense number of children employed in the various factories. On the other hand, every house of business in Japan is regularly inspected by a government official, and as it is the custom to provide food for workers inside factories and workshops, this also has to be inspected and of good quality. The hours are very long, only one hour being allowed for meals during the whole day. Japan has long had something very like the British Employers' Liability Act in force, and the sick worker has a right to the best of hospital treatment. The Japanese, as America has discovered to her cost, is a first-rate emigrant, and soon becomes a formidable competitor to the native-born workman; for one thing, the Jap artisan is very sober, and lives mainly on rice and fish. In Japan great resentment is felt as

to the fact that both in America and in Australia the Japanese are regarded as belonging to the same strata of humanity as do the Chinese. The Japs consider themselves, and justly so, very superior to the other yellow races, and would like to feel that they were welcome in those new countries where good workmen are

scarce.

REVUE DE PARIS.

HE June numbers of the Revue de Paris are ex

Aulard's account of the Legion of Honor.

THE COST OF THE BOER WAR.

M. Viallate offers a careful analysis of the effect on British finance of the South African war. The French writer has long made a study of the British financial system and of British taxation, and he points out that there was practically no provision made for such a war as that which has just been concluded. When, in the October of 1899, the ministers were obliged to go to the country for money, they did so feeling certain that a comparatively small sum would suffice to cover the cost of the then small expedition to South Africa. Three months later, however, Parliament had again to be asked for money; and more than a year later,—that is, when the budget of 1901 had to be presented to the country,-the Chancellor of the Exchequer was compelled to admit that the war was in no sense a small war; but, in point of view of finances, a very great war. In two years and a half the war, which was at first spoken of as a trifling matter, had cost the country more than twice the immense sum spent over the Crimean War. The French writer does not consider that with the end of the war will come an end of the supplementary expenses connected with the late struggle; he points out that even the Liberal Imperialists are extremely desirous of promoting costly army reforms, and of adding yet further to the navy; and he says that had it not been for the death duties imposed by Sir William Harcourt in 1894, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach would have had to discover new sources of taxation, and, even as it is, he believes that soon British free trade will be but a name.

THE RUIN OF A CITY.

M. Charléty contributes a striking historical article of the kind French writers so delight in. In it he describes the ruin of the one-time prosperous medieval city of Lyons during the reign of Louis XIV. The story is a curious one, and shows clearly why the Revolution found so many ardent adherents in the famous silk-making town. Unfortunately, Lyons was known to be a wealthy city; accordingly, whenever the Sun King went to war, built a palace, or led a campaign against heresy, he immediately taxed the unfortunate townspeople as heavily as possible. Even in those days there was a great dislike to direct taxation; accordingly, the new tax was not called a tax, but by some other name. Office-holders were compelled to buy in their offices; the town had certain rights, and it was asked to pay for the privilege of keeping them. Then the revocation of the Edict of Nantes proved a terrible blow to the silk industry. When the municipality begged leave to light up the streets, the king said he would allow this to be done if his government was given, as it were, the job. The townspeople were informed that they must pay a huge sum, but that in exchange the town would be thoroughly well lighted; the sum was

paid, but only a thousand lamps were provided. And this was but one example out of many. At last the industry by which the town lived was attacked,—that is, it was heavily taxed. Every weaver had to pay for the right of working his loom; and so, little by little, came ruin, and in 1715 the whole town became bankrupt. The great manufacturers,-for even in those days there were great manufacturers,-closed their manufactories, their workpeople emigrated or became beggars on the high roads, and the population dwindled. The facts concerning this extraordinary tragedy—for tragedy it was-have been carefully gathered together by M. Charléty after prolonged study of the archives of the town of Lyons, and they should be carefully studied by all those who wish to know why France parted with so little struggle from her monarchical system.

NAPOLEON AND THE POPULAR DRAMA.

That many-sided genius, Napoleon I., is still ever providing entertaining copy. M. Albert describes the great soldier's delight in the drama. He believed that the theater has a great influence on popular imagination, accordingly he greatly encouraged all those actors and actresses who made a point of playing patriotic plays. He did not care for literary comedy. To give an example: he was quite indifferent to Molière; but he delighted in the cheap drama,—that is, in those plays which celebrated his victories, and which predicted his future triumphs.

THE SHIPPING COMBINE.

Under the name of "The Ocean Trust," M. de Rousiers attempts to give his French readers an account of the great shipping combine. He declares that in England the fact has escaped most people that the shipping combine is really intimately associated with the great American railway systems, and he attempts to analyze the effect of the combine on any future European war.

THE SPANISH MONARCHY.

Spain is of more importance to France than she is to any other European country. Many patriotic Frenchmen hope that the day will come when the most fertile and most ill-governed of European countries will become French soil. Accordingly, the course of the Spanish monarchy is closely watched and criticised in France. M. Bérard gives a sad account of the relations existing between the Spanish court and the Spanish people. Madrid, where the young King has lived most of his life, is absolutely the capital suited to an autocratic monarch. The stately city is far from the commercial centers of Spain, and during many centuries the great Spanish empire was governed from Madrid. Now, however, Spain, shorn of her colonies, is less willing to take her orders from Madrid. Even the country clergy have no love for the young king and his mother; and were it not for the strong personal support of the Pope, they would find in each country priest a more or less disguised enemy. M. Bérard gives a curious account of how great a part the colonies played in the life of the modern Spaniard. Apparently the Zollverein theory was in full force; a Spanish colony was practically compelled to deal with Spain only; even absolutely foreign produce reached each Spanish colony via a Spanish port. During the last four years, thanks to the intervention of the United States, the colonial source of revenue has practically come to an end, and this has disorganized the whole of Spanish trade. From one