Three-fourths of Your Christmas Shopping Done in Five Minutes TODAY! Why not, this year, dispense with all last minute shopping and give yourself the luxury of a leisurely unharassed (and unharassing) merry Christmas, incidentally giving your friends what they will like above all things? We are not making extravagant claims for Harpers Magazine as the perfect universal Christmas gift. Several on your list, frankly, won't be interested in it. Ingeborg, the new laundress, will doubtless get more real comfort out of a serviceable blouse; the baby is a little young for some of the articles-especially Rebecca West; and Fido would only worry it and make a mess. BUT, the great majority will find more to amuse and enliven them in 12 monthly visits of Harpers than in any other gift you could present. Your father will find food for thought in the unconventional, clear sighted discussions on American life by Duncan Aikman, Charles Merz, Bertrand Russell. Aunt Valerie, that lady of dazzling clothes and sparkling conversation, confesses that, like all of the smart people she knows, she is finding the new Harpers indispensable for the sophisticated, enquiring mind. For Kenneth, one of the younger intellectuals, it is the obvious choice. Likewise, for Honoria. These two follow, with lively comment, the stories of Christopher Morley, Aldous Huxley, Van Loon, and the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Moreover, there are countless features which are absorbing to all; Dr. Fosdick's monthly department, "Religion and Life," the finest fiction from America and England, points of view from and about Europe, and brilliant biography and history. Fill in the coupon below, return it to us, and the major part of your Christmas gifts are purchased and wrapped, to be delivered with a gay Christmas card at the proper time. Moreover, for every gift subscription over one, we will give a holiday price of $3.00 instead of the regular yearly rate of $4.00. SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER HARPERS MAGAZINE 49 East 33d Street, New York, N. Y. Take a load off my mind and send Harpers Magazine for a year to the following names. Bill me later, three dollars for each subscription. Name Address Name. Address My Name and Address (You may send an unlimited number. Attach this coupon to a list of your own if this doesn't give you enough space.) The New is Established! From the moment its vivid cover first appeared, the new Harpers has been phenomenally successful. As the first number-September-disappeared with gratifying rapidity from the newsstands, hundreds of letters, spontaneous and enthusiastic, flooded the editorial offices. Then the October number appeared-and the November, more than fulfilling the bright promise of September, and the letters began to say, "You've done it! You're getting out numbers each one better than the last." Meanwhile the newsstands sales and new subscriptions continue to mount. And in all circles where educated Americans gather, where talk is spirited and fearless, Harpers Magazine is once more acclaimed as the leading magazine of American thought. Please mention The Outlook when writing to HARPER'S MAGAZINE Published weekly by The Outlook Company, 120 East 16th Street, New York. Copyright, 1925, by The Outlook Company. By subscription $5.00 a year for the United States and Canada. Single copies 15 cents each. Foreign subscription to countries in the postal Union, $6.56. HAROLD T. PULSIFER, President and Managing Editor ERNEST HAMLIN ABBOTT, Editor-in-Chief and Secretary ARTHUR E. CARPENTER, Advertising Manager LAWRENCE F. ABBOTT, Contributing Editor The MOTHER the MAN JOHN MARTIN'S BOOK AT BEDTIME HEN comes the bedtime hour when It is the time for sleep and rest. It is the coziest and the best. Through all of daytime's active hours. Of things the resting mind should keep Build what is good while children sleep. "And who should come and tuck him in for the night, but his Mother? And she sat on the bed, and they talked for a long hour, as Mother and son should, if there is to be any future for the Empire."-" The Brushwood Boy," Kipling. "The voices that spoke to me when a child are now speaking through me to the world." AND A MOTHER WHO KNOWS says"John Martin, we want you to know that we appreciate your splendid work and that we are grateful to you for helping us to bring up clean-minded, ablebodied men and women for our great Republic and for the Kingdom of God." the BOK THE DARK THE Dark is kind and cozy: The Dark is smooth as velvet, The Dark can see and love me God made the Dark, so Daytime The Daytime, just like children, Another happy day. God made the Dark for children And guards us while we rest. JOHN MARTIN "T JOHN MARTIN HIS man has devoted his life and greatest powers to the unswerving purpose of adding joy and higher expression to the experience of childhood. He impresses the habit of happiness and a sporting enjoyment of truth and right upon the child's impressionable mind during those early years when mental and spiritual habits are irrevocably formed." "Without ever letting 'business advantage' or any selfish motive divert the sincerity of his purpose, John Martin has won an enviable place of respect and confidence with those who have high hopes and ideals for children." "This man's rare gifts of understanding of the child, along with his joyful common sense, have made his Work for Childhood a National Institution, with rewards that are greater than mere moneymaking.' "The bald but happy fact is that Parents and Educators cannot get all that is best for children in the easiest and happiest way without a sort of partnership with John Martin. . . ." JOHN MARTIN'S BOOK IS A NECESSITY TO EVERY THOUGHTFUL Bible Stories Clean Fun and and it is THE BOOK WITH A HEART [Street, City, State] Donor's Name... Donor's Address. ... Outlook, Nov. 25 Please mention The Outlook when writing to JOHN MARTIN Giving Good Gifts At the Wayside In a beautiful Christmas story, we are told of a Fourth Wise p the suffering at the wayside. Yet in the end was his honor all the greater. The allegory is plain:-the worthy When well and happy we are apt to forget the sick and suffering and needy-men and women and little children to whom Christmas has brought nothing but heartbreak and hopes denied, whose lives, drab at best, are made even more dreary by contrast with the gladness and cheer of the Yuletide season. Try a New Plan this Year This Christmas, give good gifts-not as custom dictates, but as your heart prompts. Give lavishly as your means will permit. Give to those you love and those to whom your gift will bring gladness. Give as far and as widely as you can. But in your giving set apart something a little or much-for those who are in need of Christmas gifts. You who are well and happy this Christ mas-who are looking forward to a day of gladness spent with your dear oneswon't you help spread cheer and comfort among those stricken with Tuberculosis? All over the world today are thousands and thousands of sufferers from Tuberculosis. In this country alone it is estimated that there are 1,000,000 men, women and children afflicted with this dread disease. How wonderful to play Santa Claus to boys and girls whose parents, through poverty or sickness, are unable to give them dolls, drums and wooden soldiers they long to have! It is not necessary to have a can spare only a dollar, or a If you do not know any unfortunate families who need your help, or if feel that you small to be of use, give to one the amount you can give is too of the many well-organized relief and welfare societies. They are in a position to investigate needy cases and will use your money to do the greatest amount of good. They supply warm clothing, they furnish nourishing dinners and distribute toys to eager youngsters who have written confidingly to Santa Claus. It is impossible to calculate the good which these charitable agencies do in giving new hope and cheer to those sick in spirit and in body. They need your help. -This Christmas, give good giftsthe gifts of happiness and cheer and encouragement. When you are mak ing merry know that others are having a brighter Christmas because you have given from your heart. LIGHT THE THAT NEVER METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY-NEW YORK Biggest in the World, More Assets, More Policyholders, More Insurance in force, More new Insurance each year Please mention The Outlook when writing to the METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY Volume 141 A Non-Partisan Tax Bill TH HE Ways and Means Committee of the House has completed the work of drafting a tax reduction bill and has achieved something unprecedented in peace-time action. All of the rates were worked out on a non-partisan basis, which apparently assured united support by regular Republicans and regular Democrats. The Outlook's prediction, made shortly after the final adjournment of the last Congress, that the regular Democrats would no longer make common cause with the radicals appears to be in the way of fulfillment. Estimates indicate that the bill as drafted would reduce taxes by $308,000,000. The surtax limit of 20 per cent, suggested by Secretary of the Treasury Mellon, is embodied in the bill. Under the present law, the maximum rate is 40 per cent. The determination to repeal the publicity feature of the present law is also in accord with Secretary Mellon's suggestion. In other important particulars Mr. Mellon's suggestions were ignored. He was anxious to have the inheritance tax repealed. It stands, however, in the new bill. He objected to the more liberal exemption provisions proposed by Representative Garner, but they are incorported in the bill. The twenty-five per cent reduction of tax on earned incomes not only is retained, but the maximum is raised from $10,000 to $20,000. Incomes of single persons are to be exempt up to $1,500 and of heads of families up to $3,500. The corresponding figures in the present law are $1,000 and $2,500. Normal rates are reduced from 2 to 12 per cent on the first $4,000 of taxable income, from 4 to 3 per cent on the next $4,000, and from 6 to 5 per cent on larger incomes. The Repeal of the gift tax is provided for. Practically all excise and occupational levies are scheduled for repeal. maximum inheritance rate is to be 20 instead of 40 per cent. Corporation and capital stock taxes remain unchanged. The changes proposed in income-tax provisions will reduce the total of taxes. paid by about $200,000,000 dollarstheoretically. Actually, the reduction November 25, 1925 may be more or less. Plans for other changes, still to be worked out, will effect another theoretical reduction of about $100,000,000. The two items make up the total by which Secretary Mellon and other Treasury officials have said that the Government's income may be reduced without danger. On the large scale, therefore, the Treasury plan is the one adopted by the Committee. Various details of Treasury suggestions are ignored, but there is no overstepping of the safety line marked out. A Tax Court Proposed A ears. CONSIDERABLE number of years has elapsed since Congress created a court. It is not unlikely, therefore, that a suggestion of the Solicitor of the Internal Revenue Bureau will find willing It is that the Board of Tax Appeals, created by the tax law of the last session of Congress, be converted into a court, presumably under the name of the Court of Tax Appeals. It would have a status somewhat similar to that of the Court of Customs Appeals. As matters stand now, the Board of Tax Appeals hears and passes upon the complaints of taxpayers who feel that they have been unfairly dealt with. It is entirely separate from the Treasury Department, and is supposed to be an impartial arbiter between that Department and the taxpayer. But it has no vested judicial authority. Solicitor Gregg recently told the Ways and Means Committee that the usefulness of the Board would be greatly increased if it were constituted as a regular court. He thinks that many abuses would be prevented by the power to impose fines. Solicitor Gregg's position was supported by representatives of the American Bar Association and of the American Institute of Accountants who appeared before the Ways and Means Committee. Number 13 tion willingly or were forced there by the tactics of the Mitchell defense is not quite, apparent, but the door has been. opened wide for the admission of practically all the testimony that Mitchell desires to offer as to the truth of his charges. In effect, the Army-and, to a lesser extent only because it is not directly a party to the court-martial proceedings, the Navy-is on trial before the tribunal of the country. The question whether or not Mitchell's conduct was injurious to discipline and good order in the Army is submerged if not obliterated. There is still controversy between the judge advocate and defense counsel as to whether or not testimony concerning the veracity of Colonel Mitchell's charges is to be considered as an absolute defense or only in mitigation, but the testimony continues to pile up for the consideration of the Court. An array of witnesses, mostly army officers, has been produced to testify to specific facts supporting the general assertions of Colonel Mitchell. Captain Oldys testified, for instance, that Major Wheeler was killed in Hawaii by trying to save his plane after having been told. by his Chief of Staff that he would be held personally responsible for further accidents in aviation and that pilots. would have to pay for damage to planes. Major Spatz, after citing specific incidents, testified that "military aviation is in a bad plight because of insufficient personnel, obsolete or obsolescent equipment, and faulty administration by the War Department." Major Brandt pointed out numerous particulars in what he regards as the deterioration of the Air. Service and said that responsibility for its inadequacy rests with "the present economy programme." Asked if he knew whom this involved, he said that he did, and that he preferred to let his testimony stand. These are typical bits of the testimony offered in Colonel Mitchell's defense. The public had previous knowledge of The Army and Navy on Trial THE United States Army, apparently, most of the incidents detailed, as rumors is court-martialing itself, trying to determine whether or not it is guilty of the atrocities charged by Colonel William Mitchell, for whose trial the court martial ostensibly sits. Whether the Court and the Army went into this posi at least. But their recital before the Court Martial tends to show that there is a considerable sprinkling of army officers whose way of thinking agrees with Colonel Mitchell's. About the only inci dents adduced in testimony of which |