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and von Moltke. In the interests of civilization, to which Germany has made such splendid contributions, they desire the overthrow, not of Germany, but of militarism in Germany.

1870-1914

The Outlook believes that fundamentally the European conflagration is a war of military monarchism against liberalism. In support of this conclusion a brief quotation from Busch's "Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of His History," may be of interest and value to our readers. Moritz Busch, acting as Bismarck's secretary and authorized biographer, describes in the following passage from his diary an interview between Prince Luitpold of Bavaria and the Iron Chancellor. At the time at which Dr. Busch was writing, September 12, 1870, Bismarck had apparently little thought to waste upon that Slavic peril and uncultur against which Germany has now assumed the right to raise the banner of civilization. The purpose and sub

ject of this interview between the Prince and the Chancellor Dr. Busch describes and paraphrases as follows:

I have reason to believe that this interview was the beginning of negotiations (which were several times interrupted) between the Chancellor of the Confederation and the Emperors of Austria and Russia, which gradually led to an understanding, and finally resulted in the so-called "Drei Kaiser Bündniss," or Three Emperors' Alliance. The object of these "historical and political statements" was to induce Prince Luitpold to write a letter to his brother-in-law, the Archduke Albrecht, submitting certain views to the personal consideration of the Emperor Francis Joseph. . . . They were as follows: The turn which events have taken in Paris renders it possible to regard the present war between Germany and France as a defense of monarchical conservative principles against the republican and socialistic tenets adopted by the present holders of power in France. The proclamation of the Republic in Paris has been welcomed with warm approval in Spain, and it is to be expected that it will obtain a like reception in Italy. In that circumstance lies the great danger for those European states that are governed on a monarchical system. The best security for the cause of order and civilization against this solidarity of the revolutionary and republican elements would be a closer union of those countries which, like Germany, Russia, and Austria, still afford a firm support to the monarchical principle. Austria,

Sir Edward Grey made earnest efforts to secure the co-operation of Germany in an endeavor to obtain for Austria and Servia justice without war. Germany refused. Germany's second mistake.

Germany, England, and France had guaranteed, by sacred treaty, the neutrality of Belgium. Germany, in her plan of campaign, disregarded her pledge and asked Great Britain to disregard her pledge also. Germany's third mistake.

Americans do not believe in condemning an accused without giving him an impartial hearing. They do not believe in war without exhausting every endeavor to secure justice by peaceful measures. They do not believe in regarding a solemn treaty as a scrap of paper which may be discarded whenever it interferes with the interests of either of the parties to the treaty. If a nation can break its solemn obligations without penalty, there is an end to any international good relations.

The agitation for international arbitration -the substitution of the appeal to reason for the appeal to force-has led thousands of Americans to hope that henceforth treaties would require no other enforcement than the

public sense of national honor. Germany's disregard of her treaty obligations by her invasion of Belgium has disappointed this hope.

CONCERNING CLOTHES

Mark Twain, who made fashions for himself, wore white flannel during the later years of his life, and, like every other man or woman who departs from the modes of the hour, was accused of self-advertising. There was method in his madness, however, as there often is in the seeming insanity of original people. Dark clothing, he explained, was depressing to him after passing his seventieth year, while lighter colors cheered him; he could not compel others to wear white, but he could wear it himself, and accordingly he wore it.

There is reason and also good sense in the conventions about dress that rest on good taste and a nice sense of propriety, which some "come-outers" discard, but which are a protection to privacy, to feeling, or to instinct.

The only reason for the uniformity of most of the clothes we wear, however, is the stimulation of business. We wear garments devised, not by artists, but by expert promoters of trade, and the fashions change every six months simply because the exigencies of business demand the discarding of the old in order that something new may be in demand. When one thinks of it, the general submission of society to the dictates of a group of irresponsible fashion-makers is one of the extraordinary facts about the Western peoples of to-day. Our ancestors had the idea that dress ought to be becoming, and that what was appropriate in one decade was appropriate in another; we have the idea that dress ought to be varied from year to year and that it ought to be standardized. The artist is brought in when it is a question of making a woman beautiful for a particular purpose or occasion; the rest of the time the tailor rules her with a rod of iron. feeling man recently said that his heart would never be moved by the appeals of the "slaves" for freedom so long as they voluntarily wear skirts in which they cannot walk with comfort or run under any circumstances.

An un

The obstacle in the way of individuality and freedom in dress is the publicity which any departure from the fashion of the moment entails on the innovator. The man who wears a coat of a past design, or a

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in his "shirt sleeves" insulted his audience and lost the election. An evening coat is, in certain places and at certain times, as much a working dress as the dress of a man who plows or lays railway ties or carries a hod. A well-known public man who is noted for his skill in "keeping his ear to the ground' was traveling toward his home in clothes of a strictly orthodox fashion; as he neared his "district" he excused himself, retired to his stateroom, and presently reappeared in a negligée shirt, a loose coat minus a waistcoat, and a slouch hat. He had dressed for his part as a man of the people." It is said in Italy that Radical deputies are often observed leaving Rome in first-class carriages; but when the train makes its last stop before reaching the town where the deputy is to be met by a delegation and welcomed as a defender of popular rights, he changes to a third-class carriage and becomes one of the people. An eloquent politician who is a noted "friend of the people" reproached a little group of men who had bravely announced their opposition to the platform of a popular candidate. He declared that they had needlessly jeopardized their popularity because the man could not be elected; and he laid down this fundamental principle for their future guidance: "Always give the people what they want if you are sure they can't get it." These men are sure in the end to be discovered and sent to the rear.

In dress, as in ways of living, honesty and sincerity are essential to good taste, and appropriateness for the occasion and a due regard for what is becoming and attractive are the evidences of self-respect and respect for others.

abroad is paid. For the past four years the average annual balance of trade in favor of the United States has been about $550,000,000. During the same period the average annual value of the cotton and tobacco exports has been about $600,000,000. For the same time our net exports of gold and silver have averaged only $25,000,000 annually. These figures make it clear that

it is in cotton and tobacco that we pay our debts to Europe, and that any depreciation in the value of these two great commodities means a corresponding impairment of our debt-paying power, the impoverishment of a large portion of our agricultural population, and widespread loss to the Nation.

Just how the emergency has been faced and met I shall endeavor to explain in detail in a subsequent article. It is sufficient for the present to say that it has been met, and met without any departure from what is considered conservative finance, and without any concession to the semi-Socialistic demand that the Government should follow the disastrous methods adopted by Brazil in "valorizing" coffee, and interpose the National credit to sustain the price of our more important agricultural products. Only those who have been in Washington upon such occasions as this can appreciate the relentless importunity with which the Government is besought to extend its paternalism to protect people against their own mistakes or against misfortune.

That these demands have been resisted is greatly to the credit of Congress and the Administration, and particularly to the credit of Secretary McAdoo, upon whose department most of these wild proposals insistently converge.

One cannot but be impressed with the public spirit of the Government officials in Washington, who are now at their desks night and day, Sundays and holidays, patiently listening to the impossible suggestions of people from all over the country, who come here obsessed with the idea that in the present emergency it is the duty of the Government to assume or avert the loss and interruption of business which must inevitably fall upon nearly every one in business in a European war that is wasting the world's wealth at the rate of $100,000,000 a day.

If the conference that has been in progress here for three days had been otherwise result

less, it would have been worth while for the sympathy it has established between the business men of the country and the Administration, and for the words of financial soberness and sanity which Secretary McAdoo has spoken.

In reply to the repeatedly urgent request that the Government should in some way so increase the issue of currency that unlimited borrowing would be possible Mr. McAdoo said:

"There is enough currency authorized by law to-day to wreck the United States of America, and the danger in this situation is that by ill-considered views and ill-considered actions we may put out so much inflationary paper money that we will ruin the country. You gentlemen must remember that this currency is not Government money. The Government has not got money that it is going to hand out to anybody. The only money in the Treasury of the United States to-day is the gold fund, the surplus over and above its liabilities, amounting to about $130,000,000, and that is none too much to enable this Government to carry on its business, and to take such reasonable measure of protection for the general interests of the country as the use of any surplus part of that fund may enable it to do."

The effect of these words upon the hundred and fifty men present at the Conference was to reinvigorate their self-confidence, reawaken their courage, and send them home with the optimism that is always born of self-dependence.

A committee of the Conference appointed by Secretary McAdoo has submitted a report making certain recommendations that are most interesting. Meanwhile the hysteria that has led to mistaken reliance upon the hope of Government relief has passed, and people have gone home with renewed confidence in themselves, the Nation, and the sane beneficence of our Governmental institutions.