to be invited to unite with the Imperial Government in drafting new treaties which would apply to them alone, the reason for this opinion being that, while England's policy is free trade, most of the colonies are protectionist.

Of all the papers, the London "Times" seems the most optimistic, declaring the actual good-will of the British customer to be more valuable to Canada than the good-will of the customer of the United States, the prospective advantages of the British market being more important. At present Canada supplies about one-fourteenth of the imported food of Great Britain, but, under the influence of preferential tariffs, the "Times claims that the Dominion is capable of supplying one-third. It is true that our illadvised Dingley tariff has brought about the preferential trade offered by Canada to Great Britain, a trade at first offered to us. It is by no means true, however, that Great Britain and Canada can count upon a long continuance of our present law, or upon any long-continued lessening of the conviction that the two sections of the English race on the American continent must inevitably fuse. In a recent letter to the New York "Nation," Professor Goldwin Smith well says: "The time will come when American statesmen, now so indifferent to this question, will see that, if it was worth while to spend blood and money in averting the establishment of an antagonistic power to your south, it is not less worth while to bestow political effort in averting the establishment of an antagonistic power to your north, and that the British Canadian is at least as desirable a citizen as the Southern white or negro. British statesmen, on the other hand, will learn the hopelessness of their attempt to keep five millions of North Americans out of North America and attach them to Europe." It is not impossible that Sir Wilfrid Laurier- -a friend of the United States -had all this in mind in his recent negotiations. In obtaining treaty-denunciation he has obtained more than a merely specific thing; he has set the colonies practically free. As the Montreal "Star" says, this is the first time when a British colony has successfully asserted its right to a voice in a matter of great Imperial concern.

We may

add that, with her new power, Canada can the more effectively act in dealing with the United States, her next-door neighbor and natural commercial trader,

Again last week, as for several weeks past, there was a new high record in the price of wheat and a new low record in the price of silver. Cash wheat in New York touched $1.14 a bushel, September wheat (wheat deliverable in September) $ 1.06, and December wheat $1.04. From these prices there has now been a decided and expected reaction, since no such rapid advance may be regarded as permanent. The fear of speculative influences is well justified by the dispatches from St. Louis, Chicago, and Minneapolis. At the high quotation, wheat has been selling thirty-three cents a bushel above its low price during 1897-a price recorded less than three months ago. The recent record is fortytwo cents above the price at the corresponding time last year, and thirty-seven cents over that for 1895. No such high quotation has been known since January, 1892. The "Commercial and Financial Chronicle " points out that high wheat prices in August, when not too high, play distinctly into the farmer's hands-that with such a market he can sell his crop at large profits immediately on reaping it; whereas a long-delayed recovery in prices tempts him to get what he can in the early market. This was particularly true last year, when most of our farmers were still embarrassed by old debts carried forward through a succession of weak markets. It was a common complaint that the farmer had obtained a comparatively small part of the total gain in wheat prices during 1896, and in a measure this was true. The same journal declares that the present windfall to Our agricultural community will be far-reaching, since in the wheat-producing States alone there were, by the Eleventh Census, upwards of two million families occupying and cultivating farms. In the absence of excessive prices, the benefit will continue; it is already coincident with an increase in manufactured exports without precedent in our history.

Present shipments of wheat are the largest since September, 1893, being an increase of one hundred per cent. over July and of one-third over the corresponding month a year ago. This increase seems justified, if we may believe the inquiry into European crop conditions published in the "American Agriculturist." Its estimates of Europe's needs of wheat range from three hundred million to four hundred million bushels. European wheat crops for 1893-4-5 averaged about

one billion five hundred million bushels, while in the famine year of 1891 the product was only one billion two hundred million. The impression is gaining ground that Europe's wheat crop this year is even less than in 1891. The famine exists not only in wheat but also in rye, in which the shortage is even more serious. In ordinary seasons Europe produces twice as many bushels of potatoes as of wheat, but the "Agriculturist" concludes that only about 1,850,000,000 will be harvested this year—a shortage of about a billion bushels. While we have no potatoes for export, the "Agriculturist" thinks that we can spare 240,000,000 bushels of wheat, 300,000,000 bushels of corn, 100,000,000 bushels of oats, and 10,000,000 bushels of rye. In this rather unlikely event the export would be the largest ever made of our grain, but it would only be enough to offset Europe's need of wheat and rye. The Liverpool "Corn Trade List" says that it is not easy to see whence the large quantity of wheat needed will be forthcoming; but the London "Mark Lane Express" remarks, "The Americans have apparently got it all their own way." Already in Europe prices for flour and bread have advanced, and in France there has been a marked agitation for the abolition of grain duties. The Cabinet, however, has decided that there is no ground at present for modifying the duties, Prime Minister Méline declaring that the agitation exists only in Paris, Marseilles, and other large towns, and is visibly a political and electoral maneuver.

The New York "Times" points out that France is not entirely independent of foreign sources for its food supply, though it is much more so than England. The import duty on breadstuffs puts money into the French peasant's pocket by artificially enhancing the price of food, but it correspondingly hampers the manufacturers. While the manufacturers in England won their contest half a century ago, in France the "landed interest" still manages to retain a duty on imported wheat and flour, in spite of the opposition of the operatives. Hence, speculators are enabled to raise the price of bread to an abnormal limit. M. Méline's words would indicate that the Government is more in fear of the peasant than of the operative; he points out that when foreign wheat arrives the price will fall. In New York the price of the best flour has advanced to six dollars a barrel. There has been

no increase in the price of bread, but a few bakers have admitted that they have been making loaves a trifle smaller, which amounts to the same thing. An average barrel of flour contains 196 pounds, and from it about 280 pounds of bread are turned out. Hence the flour in a pound of bread costs 2.14 cents. Last week was remarkable in the development of general prices, the strike among the softcoal miners in the central West being almost the only cloud on the situation, although this has not had, as yet, such a depressing effect upon commerce as was at first expected. However, some steel-mills, water-works, and electric-light plants have had to suspend operations, and there has been great inconvenience among the Western railways. One of these, the Columbus, Hocking Valley, and Toledo, is now undergoing reorganization in the hands of a great Wall Street firm. Speaking of last week's trade, " Bradstreet's" says that for many years no such general or pronounced upward movement of prices of nearly all leading staples has been witnessed.

By the time this issue of The Outlook reaches its readers the municipal campaign in New York City will in all probability have assumed definite shape. It is generally expected that President Low will be put in nomination as candidate for Mayor of the Greater New York upon Wednesday by the representatives of the 24,000 members of the Citizens' Union, and of the over 100,000 other voters who have under their signatures expressed a wish that Mr. Low should be nominated on the issues presented by the Citizens' Union. With this indorsement from voters of all parties (as regards National issues), Mr. Low must be assured of the genuineness and extent of the desire of a large body of his fellow-citizens that he should accept the candidacy. On Monday night a conference was held at the invitation of the Republican local committee, to which were invited all antiTammany political organizations. The Citizens' Union of New York City respectfully declined to attend this conference; the Brooklyn Citizens' Union sent a sub-committee; the other organizations represented were very strictly political organizations, mainly composed of machine politicians who have bolted from the Tammany rule on local and personal issues. The conference adjourned until Wednesday without taking action of any kind. any kind. The Citizens' Union declined to

attend this conference because it believes that it is absolutely impossible to make a campaign for non-partisan municipal government under an agreement with partisan political committees. If the sole object in view were the election of a particular man as Mayor-whether it be Mr. Low or another -such a union might be politic; but this is not all. The municipal reform organizations earnestly desire to secure the votes of all Republicans and Democrats who wish to help elect a Mayor to conduct the affairs of the city regardless of partisan politics; but they do not believe that the local machine Republican organization, controlled so absolutely by Mr. Platt and Mr. Quigg, would under any circumstances sincerely join in such a campaign. Oddly enough, an excellent platform for a municipal campaign is propounded in a recent utterance of the Tammany leader, Richard Croker. He says:

There should be about as much sentiment about running a city as there is about running a dry-goods store. People will be happiest and willing to spend the most money in the dry. goods store where they get good things best and cheapest. People will be happiest and most willing to pay the taxes in a city where the municipal management gives them the best police protection, the best and cleanest pavements, the highest class of public improvements, and the most just and decent general government for the least money.

If he had added that this is precisely the reverse of what Tammany has always done, and also that cheapness should be subordinate to quality and honesty, the statement would be complete.

The

Republican Conventions were held last week in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. In Nebraska the platform adopted calls for the enforcement of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law, asks the Inter-State Commerce Commission to prevent the increase of freight rates from Chicago to the Atlantic seaboard, urges intervention in behalf of Cuban independence, and condemns the defalcations of two Republican State officials retired last fall. currency issue is not explicitly referred to. The offices to be filled in the approaching election are unimportant, but the campaign has a National interest by reason of its prospective influence upon Mr. Bryan's continued leadership of the Democratic party. In the Pennsylvania Convention all was harmony, and the candidates nominated-for State Treasurer and Attorney-General-and the plat

form adopted are entirely acceptable both to Senator Quay and Governor Hastings. Aside from the declaration that "dollar wheat has sounded the death-knell of free coinage" the only interesting portion of the platform is the qualified indorsement of Civil Service Reform:

We adhere to and renew again the pledges of the Republican party to maintain a just, reasonable, and equitable system of civil service, but we denounce President Cleveland for his partisan abuse of its powers. . We demand that the President of the United States, by executive order, and Congress, by legislative enactment at the approaching session, shall establish a civil service system that shall meet the approval of the American people.

In Maryland, where the campaign has National importance by reason of the approaching election of a Legislature to choose Senator Gorman's successor, the Republican Convention wisely refused to recognize either of the contesting delegations from Baltimore, and ordered a new primary, adjourning until the delegates elected therein could be present. If this decision prevents the nomination of two sets of legislative candidates in Baltimore, it makes possible the election of a Republican Senator, since the Chicago platform Democrats are lukewarm in their support of Senator Gorman.

The conference at Pittsburg between coaloperators and coal-miners failed to effect a settlement of the strike. The recent rate for mining has been fifty-four cents a ton; the old rate was sixty-nine cents. The operators offered to reopen the mines at a compromise rate of sixty-one cents pending the decision of the arbitrators, or to reopen without fixing the rate, and pay the miners whatever figure the arbitrators might determine. The miners' representatives rejected both these propositions, but offered another which seemed to the outside public equally conciliatory. If the mines were reopened at the sixty-nine cent rate, they agreed that the operators might subsequently deduct the difference between this rate and that determined upon by the arbitrators. The union officials said it would be an injustice to the miners in other fields if those in the Pittsburg field were permitted to return to work at less than the old rate, for the men in other fields had refused separate settlements, equally favorable to themselves, in order that the campaign for the old rate might not be thrown into confusion, The operators rejected the miners'

proposition with as little hesitancy as the miners rejected theirs, and the struggle was continued. Some of the operators subsequently agreed to reopen their mines, if necessary with imported laborers, and selected those of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to begin the experiment. As this road is in the hands of receivers appointed by the Federal Courts, the operators can the more easily call upon these courts for aid. This decision bids fair to give further vitality to the discussion of "government by injunction," which seems to be the most important topic before the labor conference at St. Louis this week. The proposal of a general sympathetic strike in behalf of the miners wins almost as little popular support as it deserves, and the delegates to St. Louis are likely instead to recommend a sympathetic "assessment." If the union workers of the country would assess themselves five per cent. of what a sympathetic strike would cost them, the success of the coal-miners would be assured. But such is the perversity of human nature that selfsacrifice is more difficult to secure in the ways of peace than in those of war.

President Jordan, of Leland Stanford University, has promptly denied the harmful report that Professor E. A. Ross has been dismissed from the chair of economics because of his free-coinage views. Jordan says:

President

I have not seen Professor Ross since May, and he certainly has not been dismissed. With the return of Professor Warner the work in economic science here has been readjusted in accordance with the original plan, Warner, the major professor, taking applications of economics and social pathology, Powers theoretical economics, and Ross social science. The work in administration and finance will fall to Dr. Durand, now absent in Europe. Personally I do not trust nor approve of the methods by which certain views of Dr. Ross are reached, but I believe in academic freedom within the bounds of common

sense.

It will be seen from this that the two freecoinage economists-Professors Ross and Powers are both retained, though neither of them, perhaps, will have an opportunity in the class-room to teach his free-coinage opinions. As both of these professors took some part in the free-coinage campaign last fall-though neither of them, like one of the gold-standard professors at Brown, obtained leave of absence for that purpose—it will be seen that the right of professors to express their political convictions when they are of

public interest and importance is conceded at Leland Stanford. While it is true that Professor Ross's reputation rests mainly upon his brilliant pleas for international bimetallism and later for free coinage, he has, perhaps, done as much work in social science as in economics, and is credibly reported to prefer his new chair.

The Fusion Regents of Kansas State Agricultural College have issued a spirited reply to the charge that they removed professors because of their political opinions. The causes of the removals, they state, were in brief as follows:

1. The tendency in the past to swamp the Faculty with half-educated men has been so marked as to excite comment. Of all those removed, one alone could claim to have made fairly respectable preparation for the high duties of professor in a college. 2. Despite the imperative need for a strong agricultural department in the agricultural college of a State whose leading interests are agricultural, the inefficiency of the agricultural as compared to the other departments of the College is notorious, both at the College and throughout the State. 3. We believe the time has fully come when the producing classes must grapple scientifically and intelligently with the principles governing distribution and exchange. This necessity, however, the retiring administration would not concede. 4. As to the political aspect of the changes made: Of the fourteen members of the old Faculty to whom positions were offered, twelve were understood to be Republicans. We have elected men to important positions without inquiring or learning their political preferences. In regard to the "liberty of teaching" the Board conclude: "We hold the principle of freedom of science equal in rank and importance with the principles of freedom of thought, of speech, of the press, and of the ballot; and this Board is resolved that in one college, at least, competent men shall be at liberty to investigate, to teach, and to publish, even on economic and social lines, as freely as do their co-laborers in other fields of scientific research." Whatever may be thought of the unconscious motives of the Board in removing President Fairchild, this statement regarding the other removals made is corroborated for us from Republican sources; and the Regents' resentment of the charge that they interfere with the intellectual freedom of their professors is certainly matter for universal congratulation.

A special commissioner, appointed by the Governor of Georgia to investigate the convict camps of that State, has just rendered a

report which makes credible the worst horrors charged against Siberian prisons. Indeed, the Atlanta" Constitution" is moved by the report to declare that the Russian prisons are "pleasure resorts" in comparison with the privately managed "misdemeanor "camps of Georgia. The lessees are charged, by name, with forcing the convicts to work from fourteen to twenty hours a day, with furnishing them insufficient clothing and sometimes loathsome food, with lodging them in rooms without beds, without heat, and without ventilation as many as sixty-one being lodged in one room eighteen feet square, without a window-and with punishing them with a brutality in some cases involving murder. In one camp the women convicts were punished with a severity only less revolting, and with a shamelessness infinitely more so. In all the twenty-odd camps under private lessees the inhumanity was resulting in the death of one out of seven of the convicts. And yet these are the "misdemeanor camps," the more serious offenders who require more guards being kept in the employ of the State, while the petty offenders, likely to prove profitable

The first is due to last year's destruction of females, plus the starvation of pups from pelagic sealing in 1894. The shrinkage of males was due to the last-named cause. The herd is now reduced to less than one-fifth of its number in 1883. Dr. Jordan declares the only remedy to be in the absolute prohibition of pelagic sealing. He reports entire success in the branding of young female seals, as the skins of the branded cows returned this year to the island clearly show the permanency of the mark and its sufficiency to render the skin unsalable, without injury to the animal or the herd. It is claimed that branding has

the same effect on the fur-seal herd that branding calves or shearing sheep has on those animals. At the first of the year the counsel for both the Canadian and the United States Governments, in the proceedings to settle claims under the Paris Tribunal, took evidence in Victoria. In June they took evidence in Montreal, and they have now arrived in Halifax for the purpose of listening to witnesses there and finishing the business.

meanor

tractors. That no prison discipline has been maintained is a matter of course. While the law provides that the terms of the "misde" convicts shall be shortened for good behavior, the Commissioner-Colonel Philip G. Byrd-reports that the lessees have systematically robbed their profitable employees of the time-allowance they have earned. The only gratifying feature of the report is the small number and relatively trivial character of the abuses in the twenty-four county camps. Upon this the Atlanta "Constitution" sensibly comments as follows: "The reason is not far to seek. Those who manage the county convicts act under the eye of the public, and are amenable to public sentiment. The misdemeanor convicts, on the other hand, are leased to private persons, who remove their victims out of sight of the public." The remedy which will be urged for the abuses exposed will be the placing of all convicts under the direct supervision of public officials.

President Jordan, of Stanford University, our Seal Commissioner, has returned from his labors in Behring Sea, and declares that the breeding rookeries show a shrinkage of fifteen per cent. since last year, and the killable males a shrinkage of about one-third.

There are no men or women who owe more to themselves and their fellows than those to whom opportunities are constantly coming, before whom doors are constantly opened. Such a lot is the highest of all good fortunes, since it means not only success but growth, not only talent but the possibilities of character. There is a patient host who work on day after day with no hope of large advancement, no stimulus of marked progress, and no inspiration of wider outlook; who must find their reward in the consciousness of work well done, and possess their hearts in patience so far as their aspirations and ambitions are concerned. Many a man is conscious of a larger power than circumstances afford him the room to put forth; and it involves no small strain on character to accept such limitations cheerfully, and to recognize the progress of those who are more fortunately placed not only without envy but with a generous pleasure. He who can do this has a heroic strain in him.

To those, therefore, into whose hands the golden keys are put there come not only great satisfactions but great responsibilities. If such an one is tempted to find the secret of his success in himself, let him consider well what his circumstances have been, and let