The Religious World Jubilee Meeting of the American Missionary Association

From our Special Correspondent

A peculiar interest always attaches to an annual meeting of the American Missionary Association. Including as it does in the scope of its labors the elements of both home and foreign missionary work, it is able to present all that is heroic and romantic in both lines of effort, and to appeal in an impressive manner to both patriotic and philanthropic sentiment. It addresses itself particularly to what are called the "despised races" in this country-a phrase which ought long ago to have been abandoned-the negroes in the South, the Indians upon the reservations, the Chinese on the Pacific coast, the illiterate "mountain whites" of the Appalachian range, and the Eskimos of Alaska. It is able to gather from these various fields a vast amount of fresh and telling material; and as the officers and workers of the Association have always been men and women of a conspicuously devoted type, the annual gathering of the Association in public meeting has long ranked among the most notable religious anniversaries of the year.

The meeting at Boston last week possessed an unusual interest from the fact that the Association has just completed fifty years of work, and the occasion was properly given something of a festival character. The place of meeting was the new Tremont Temple, whose spacious and brilliant auditorium was profusely decorated with the National colors and with banners bearing legends appropriate to the anniversary. More than a thousand delegates were in attendance, and a large audience was present at every session, the evening audiences particularly testing the full capacity of the hall.

There was, of course, much of reminiscence in the addresses which were given. Several of the speakers, notably the venerable Secretary, the Rev. Dr. M. E. Strieby, whose long years of connection with the Association have won for him distinguished honors, were able to draw from abundant resources in this line.. There was frequent reference to the old anti-slavery days, and many a thrilling incident and heroic achievement were recalled, stirring the hearts of old and young alike. It was the privilege of the Association also to recall to its platform a number of speakers who represented in themselves the practical value of the Association's work; and, as these looked backward to the days of bondage and barbarism from which they had been rescued, their sense of gratitude shone forth at times in a way deeply pathetic. It was right that these noble men and women, with their host of redeemed fellows in the South and West, should be frequently referred to as the true monuments of the Association's work.

But while the reminiscent feature of the gathering was naturally prominent, the chief emphasis was laid upon present needs and opportunities. The fifty years of toil, sacrifice, and hardship were regarded, not as a cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving alone, but as furnishing a basis for yet more extended and hopeful effort. Indeed, this look toward the future was the pronounced characteristic of the anniversary. From the opening sermon by Dr. Lyman Abbott, in which the proclamation of brotherhood was eloquently set forth as the special mission of America, to the closing impassioned words of Dr. Alexander McKenzie, who urged the lifting up of Christ as the one who is drawing all men unto himself, this thought was continually uppermost: What is our present duty? How shall we best improve the vast opportunities opening before us? In special line with this thought was the notable address of Mr. Justice Brewer, of the United States Supreme Court, who dared to lift the veil of the future and describe the Nation with these various racial elements assimilated; also the scholarly consideration of the sociological bearings of the Association's work by the Rev. Dr. Washington Gladden, with its companion eloquent utterance regarding the patriotic relations of the work by the Rev. Dr. C. W. Hiatt; also the special addresses on various departments of the field by the Rev. Dr. Henry Hopkins, speaking for the Indians, the Rev. Dr. James Brand in behalf of the Mountain Whites, and the Rev. Dr. J. H. Twichell pleading for the Chinese. A most practical application of this thought was given Thursday afternoon, when, under the inspiration of two forceful addresses by the Rev. Drs. Nehemiah Boynton and Robert R. Meredith, an appeal was made to the audience to assist in the effort to reduce the debt of the Association by taking "Jubilee shares" of fifty dollars each. More than $20,000 had already been subscribed toward this fund (the debt now being $66,000 as against $96,000 a year ago), and, amid considerable enthusiasm, over $9,000 was

pledged in a brief space of time, most of the contributions being in single shares or less. There was one vivid moment during the response to this appeal when a telegram from Florida was read announcing that the infamous Sheats Law had just been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of that State.

The anniversary was naturally a time for congratulation. Prominent in this connection were the addresses of Hon. Roger E. Wolcott, the acting Governor of Massachusetts, and Hon. Josiah Quincy, the Mayor of Boston, who welcomed the Convention in words of sincere appreciation and genuine Christian sentiment. Fraternal addresses were also received from eminent representatives of the six associated benevolent societies sustained by the Congregational churches of the country. Especially notable were the addresses of Bishop Benjamin F. Tanner, of the African M. E. Church, and of Bishop C. V. Galloway, of the M. E. Church, South. The latter address, which was as fine a piece of rhetoric as has ever been heard on the Association's platform, and as cordial in its brotherly feeling as it was perfect in diction, was received with marked demonstrations of satisfaction and approval.

By courtesy of the city authorities the Association was given permission to "rock the cradle "-which, in local parlance, means holding a meeting in Faneuil Hall, "the Cradle of Liberty." Two noon meetings were held in this historic edifice, and the hall was crowded each time with an enthusiastic audience. The presiding officers on the two occasions were Hon. S. B. Capen and Hon. A. H. Wellman, who both eulogized the work of the Association in promoting an exalted type of patriotism. The speakers were the Rev. Drs. Robert R. Meredith, Alexander McKenzie, Edward Everett Hale, and Alonzo H. Quint-names whose bare mention in such connection will suggest the nature of what was said, and its reception by the audience. Naturally, the all-prevailing political excitement could not be banished from such gatherings, and while no speaker was guilty of "offensive partisanship," there were numerous references to the currency question which indicated a practically unanimous sentiment in favor of "sound money.". At the second of these "town meetings," to use Dr. Hale's felicitous phrase, a ringing resolution was adopted, under Dr. Hale's lead, demanding that the Armenian refugees be given an asylum in this country.

Other subordinate but none the less interesting gatherings were the Y. P. S. C. E. meeting in Park Street Church on Wednesday evening under the lead of Secretary J. W. Baer, which was characterized by the customary Christian Endeavor enthusiasm, and the Women's Meeting in Tremont Temple on Thursday afternoon, when the list of speakers included such noted names as Miss Susan Hayes Ward, Miss Alice L. Dawes, Miss Mary C. Collins, and Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer.

It was a great disappointment that neither Senator George F. Hoar nor Dr. Richard S. Storrs, who were announced for the closing session, could be present, Dr. Storrs being detained on account of sickness in his family, and Senator Hoar on account of the fact need not be disguised-politics. The former, however, sent an eloquent letter, which was eloquently read by Dr. Lyman, of Brooklyn, in which he pointed out the providential leadings of the Association in its relation to American history and public affairs.

A most delightful feature of the sessions was the singing of a double quartette, composed of students and recent graduates from Fisk University. Their rendering of the old slave songs, inexpressibly sweet and musically artistic as well, was greatly enjoyed by the audience. Special mention should also be made of the admirable arrangements which had been devised by the local committee, under the lead of the Rev. Dr. W. E. Barton, of Shawmut Church, for the comfort and convenience of the delegates. The committee was not responsible for the abominable ventilation of Tremont Temple-a blemish upon this otherwise attractive place of meeting-but in every other respect its provisions were most liberal and acceptable.

The Convention as a whole was a splendid success from every point of view, and a new impetus will be given to the cause for which the Association is working, which is sure during the coming years to be productive of large results.

Fourth Convention of the Institu

tional Church League

H. W. G.

The selection of the Fourth in Congregational Church Hartford, Conn., as the meeting-place for the annual Convention of the Open and Institutional Church League was most appropriate. For ten years this church, under the admirable leadership of the Rev. H. H. Kelsey, has been with conspicuous force demonstrating to the traditional conservatism of the old order in New England the practicability of making the church not chiefly a school of teaching but a center of ministry. How helpful

The Discussions

as Signs of the Times

to this end have been the faculty and students of the Hartford Theological Seminary is a matter of history. The "Old Fourth " still stands, sadly deficient as a plant for its multiplied work, but hope for a building which may be adequate to its needs and at the same time yield an endowment income awaits only the favorable results of the present political struggle for its fruition. It need not be said that in such an environment this gathering of the workers and supporters of the so-called institutional churches found warm welcome. Excellent audiences were present at the more formal public meetings of the evenings of the 20th and 21st inst., and the discussions in the other sessions were vigorous, rich in sound principle and common sense, and full of courage and hope. Those who have watched the growth of the League for the three years of its history, and who have participated in its previous conventions in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, perceive a definite increase of strength not only in the individual enterprises represented, but in the closer coherence of the constituent parts of the League. Their creed, that "ministration to all men and all of the man is the function of the Church, has required no revision. The officers elected for the coming year are as follows: President, the Rev. Charles L. Thompson, D.D., of New York; Corresponding Secretary, the Rev. E. B. Sanford, D.D., of New Haven; Treasurer, Mr. John S. Huyler, of New York; Recording Secretary, the Rev. Gaylord S. White, of Brooklyn. Among the Vice-Presidents are such influential names as those of Drs. C. A. Dickinson and Everett D. Burr, of Boston; Drs. Russell H. Conwell, W. M. Paden, Kerr B. Tupper, and Sylvanus Stall, of Philadelphia; Dr. C. S. Mills, of Cleveland; Drs. John Clark Hill and Graham Taylor, of Chicago; Drs. Josiah Strong, F. M. North, Edward Judson, C. S. Harrower, and Leighton Williams, of New York; and Messrs. William E. Dodge and Robert C. Ogden. The subject matter of the Convention is quite as significant as was its personnel, as the topics, even without the synopsis of the exceedingly able addresses, will indicate. Dr. Charles L. Thompson, of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in this city, and Dr. Charles H. Richards, of the Central Congregational Church in Philadelphia, discussed both analytically and broadly the question, "Is the Church Fulfilling its Mission?" Stronger pleas for an open church, an every-day church, for the spirit and method of ministry shown in the Apostolic church, have not been uttered. Dr. Everett D. Burr, of the Ruggles Street Baptist Church in Boston, spoke on "The Spirit of Ministration as Exemplified in the Institutional Church," an address penetrated with truest sympathy for the poor and the workingman, and strong in illustrations from the daily experiences of the speaker's own ministry. Professor William F. Blackman, who holds the chair of Sociology in the Yale Divinity School, presented a most discriminating paper upon "The Institutional Church in its Relation to the Community," in which the kinship of this movement in the churches to the development of the social order and the true perspectives of theology was most effectively stated. From the remarkable successes of the Holland Memorial Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia as a free church, its able pastor, Dr. W. M. Paden, illustrated that very imperative question, "The Problem of Support." Professor W. O. Atwater, of Wesleyan University, whose eminent services in the field of agricultural chemistry are everywhere recognized, and who has been conducting practical experiments not only in the chemistry of foods but in the habits of the poor in the matter of food supply and cooking, discussed "Some Things the Church may do toward Improving the Food and Nutrition of the Poor." The mass-meeting of the second evening brought to the platform three speakers. Dr. Kerr Boyce Tupper, now pastor of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia-a church with a plant which will cost $400,000 when finished, a membership of thirteen hundred, and a remarkably effective organization for church work-spoke of "Some Methods of Church Work which I Have Tried." Upon the present-day theme, "The Institutional Church an Essential Factor in City Evangelization," Dr. C. A. Dickinson, of Berkeley Temple, declared the truth as he saw it in the work of this first institutional church of the land; and the Rev. S. P. Cadman, of the Central Metropolitan Temple (Methodist) in New York, eloquently plead for broader foundations for evangelical thought and a wider scope for the ministries of the Church. Such a Convention, with such discussions, by men who in many different fields have won the right to a hearing, emphasizes the reality of the new era which has come to the Church and the world.

The Evangelical Alliance of the United States has A Quiet Day issued a call for the observance of "A Quiet Day by the ministers of the various churches of the United States as a means of preparation for the campaign of the coming winter. It suggests that a day of conference and prayer be spent together by all the ministers in each community, and that that day be November 17, and that in the evening of the same day all the officials of all churches be invited to be present. They call attention to the fact that most of the great movements in Christian history

have been preceded by periods set apart for prayer and humiliation. The great missionary enterprises of this century had their origin in such a meeting. It is proposed that the ministers of the Free Churches of Great Britain unite in such a day this year. The call is issued in view of the fact that we are evidently in the midst of a period of transition, and such periods are crowded with great perils, and no less with great opportunities. The call, which is signed by William E. Dodge as President, Dr. Josiah Strong as Secretary, and representatives of all the evangelical churches, is itself an admirable and inspiring document. It can be secured in full from the Secretary at the general office in New York. We desire to give our influence to this movement. We can think of no better way for beginning the campaign in all the towns of the country than for the ministers and officers of the churches to meet for prayer and devout conference Let the call of the Evangelical Alliance be heeded, and the 17th day of November be observed as a quiet day by the ministers and church officers throughout the country.

The Greatest Work

of the Age

Last week we referred to the annual meeting of the Congregational Union of England and Wales. This week we notice the annual meetings of the Baptist Union and of the Church Congress. The most significant utterance of the Baptist Union was contained in the address of the President, the Rev. T. Vincent Tymms, whose subject was Authority, True and False." In the course of the address Mr. Tymms brought out the fact that the teachings of Christ are essentially revolutionary; that wherever the social order is not organized on the basis of righteousness it finds an implacable foe in Christianity. Concerning the social and political condition in England he said: "There is a schism in the body politic. The lower self is so far smitten and restrained by the higher mind which seeks to serve the law of God that it cannot fully execute its just designs, and is sometimes entirely arrested; but the higher is so fiercely resisted and impeded by the lower that its noblest purposes are often frustrated, and its best acts so marred and mixed with what is bad that its good is evil spoken of, and seems at times, both to Englishmen and foreigners, to be a fraud." Following, he declared that the greatest work of the age is the education of men for authority according to the method of Jesus Christ. He used these words: "It is a greater thing to make men fit for liberty. . . than it is to make them free. It is a greater thing to make men worthy of power than to put a scepter in their hands and to provide them with a realm which they may desolate." Following this he argued earnestly in favor of the distinctly spiritual work of the Church, and said: "I view with jealousy attempts to convert the Church into an engine for the performance of lower works than those for which she was created as a spiritual body." The main thought of the address was that the education of the people in moral ideas is the greatest work of the time, and that that can be accomplished better by the ministry and the churches devoting themselves to distinctly spiritual lines than to co-operation in schemes for political and social renovation.

The Brotherhood of

St. Andrew

The Brotherhood of St. Andrew began its annual Convention in Trinity Church, Pittsburg, October 14. The meeting, while not as large as some which have preceded, was regarded as eminently successful. Among the more notable addresses were those of Bishop Sessums, who spoke on the subject of "Citizenship," and Bishop Whipple, who delivered the anniversary sermon. Six or seven hundred young men representing the Order were present. An interesting feature of the meeting was a session devoted to college men, in which there was a movement to induce them to turn their attention to the founding of college settlements, after the manner of other settlements already in existence both in Great Britain and America. From the report of the Council we notice that the growth of the Brotherhood during the last year has been comparatively small. Forty-nine new "The most chapters have been added, making a total of 1,174. notable incident in the life of the Brotherhood during the year was a visit of a committee representing the two American Brotherhoods to England and Scotland. One outcome of the visit was the formal organization of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew in the Church of England. This occurred June 12 in the Church House, London. One of the interesting incidents of the visit abroad was the receipt of a cordial letter from Mr. Gladstone. From the report of these meetings in the "Churchman" we make the following extract concerning Bishop Whipple's sermon : "The Bishop paid a glowing tribute to the missionaries of other communions, and said that 'in the other land there will be but one communion.' There is no indication that the Bishop went further, and intimated what that communion would be; but, being a peculiarly liberal and broad-minded man, we have no doubt that he referred to the common communion of saints. What a blessing it would be if there could be more of that common communion in all forms of Christian work before we reach that other land!

999

At Eventime By Mary F. Butts Swallow, dear swallow,

Hasten from the sky; The ant with her pack

Has just hurried by. Madame Honey-Bee,

Who started with the day, Has carried home her honey, And packed it all away. Work and play are over, The evening sky is red Let all little people Hurry home to bed.

The Two Orphans

By Nora Archibald Smith

There was a flutter, a splutter, a rustle, a scratching, and a squeak in the chimney, and, suspecting a mouse, I hurriedly called out "Scat!" Then there was more flutter, more rustle, and more squeak, and the noise of a light fall. It must be a bat, I thought; but who ever heard of a bat falling down a chimney?

The curious noise went on, so I cautiously stole to the fireplace and moved aside the fireboard a little, not at all sure what sight would meet my eyes. The light pouring in produced a marked effect, and the fluttering increased, .while the other noise grew louder and sounded like a snake's hiss, alternating with a shrill chirp. Brave in the knowledge that snakes never crawl down chimneys, I thrust my head still further into the darkness, and there, clinging to the blackened bricks, was a halfgrown swallow, in a high state of fear and excitement, apparently calling for his mother in one breath, and in the next bemoaning the ruffled, sooty condition of his first suit of feathers. In the ash-pan lay another swallow, not fully fledged as yet, and not as strong as his brother, but very bright-eyed, noisy, and watchful, while beside him were the nest, one long, pointed white egg, and the pieces of a broken one. Evidently while the parents were out for an airing the young birds had been having a nursery frolic, and down had come babies, cradle, and all. Knocking a thing down, as perhaps you have noticed, is really quite an easy matter, but putting it up again is often very different. The more I looked at the nest, the more sure I felt that fastening it to the bricks was a task altogether beyond my powers, even if I had been able to climb far enough up the chimney to secure it in a suitable place. The baby birds were too young to give advice, and, besides, I did not understand their language, though I knew enough about it to be sure that they were both crying at once, "Oh, mother, I'm so frightened! Oh, father, do come quickly!" The nest really was so sooty and so dirty that I lifted it with the tongs and laid it in the dust-pan. The little thing was beautifully made, like half an oval basket in shape, and carefully woven of flexible twigs in real basketwork pattern, over and under one, over and under one, with not a single bit of a mistake in one of the rows. The twigs were glued together to make it more secure, and it had evidently been glued to the chimney, too, only the father and mother bird perhaps had not had much experience with babies before, and did not know how they kicked nor how strong their cradles had to be. The more I looked at it, the more I wondered how two small swallows could make such a cradle, with no hatchet to cut the wood, no knife to trim it into shape, no shuttle to weave the twigs, no foot-rule to measure them, no glue-pot and no brush to stick them together, and no needles and no thread to sew the soft linings. What care and tenderness and patience and industry had been lavished on that nest, and here it was in a dust-pan at last! But my admiration was not half finished when the young swallows grew so noisy and so uneasy that I felt that something must be done at once to

help them; so I picked them up, too, put them in the dust-pan, and carried nest and all downstairs and laid it on the grass under the lilacs. Now, I thought, the father and mother bird will certainly find their babies, for no one could help hearing such cries, and, of course, they will think out some way of meeting the difficulty. I must go away, though, or the parents will be afraid to come, and I went upstairs to my work. But hours passed and the old birds did not appear, while, after an interval of silence, the screams of the two orphans grew so much more piercing that I really feared they would attract a neighbor's cat half a mile

away.

It was late afternoon now, and the babies of course were hungry, as well as frightened and lonely. They must not be left on the ground all night, so I hunted up a small basket, and, lining it with flannel, tucked the sufferers within and hung it high in the branches. The basket was not half as well made as their own, but it would serve for a shelter. Now bed was provided, but where was supper? I moistened bread with warm milk, and tried to open their beaks and coax a few mouthfuls down their gaping throats. No, they would not eat; they gasped and choked and almost tumbled out of the basket in their fright and disgust. It was much as if an elephant should try to feed a mouse, and I retired to the library window, ready to weep over my failure. Where were the father and mother? Had they both been killed, and were the babies alone in the world? They were quiet now, and in the

silence I heard the flutter of the catbird's

wings as he came to his nest in the same clump of lilacs. I knew him and his dusky wife very well, and had taken a great interest in their three little ones, and I could hear now their flutterings and calls for food and see their heads thrust out of the nest for the expected mouthful. The baby swallows heard, too, and began to cry again, "Oh, dear, I am so hungry! oh, dear, I am so cold! oh, dear, I am so lonesome!" over and over again. The catbird seemed surprised to find the noise so near, and hopped on a twig to look at the basket and its contents. Of course he had heard the crying all the afternoon, but at a greater distance, and it could scarcely be called his business then, as I appeared to be nursing the foundlings. He shook his head now, and retired to think the matter over. Presently his wife returned, and again there was excitement and loud calls for food from the kitten birds, followed as before by renewed wails from the swallows. The mother listened, fluttered through the lilacs to the basket, made some remarks in a low voice to its inmates, and rustled away.

What was going to happen? Would this dear, kindly little couple take the sad case in hand? Yes, bless the warm hearts that beat

under the gray feathers! here they came flying back, each with a beakful for the orphans. To and fro, to and fro they hurried, thrusting bit after bit into the wide-opened mouths until the hungry cries died away and soon only sleepy twitters of satisfaction could be heard.

I watched them in my window, and cried for very joy in their goodness and relief at the orphans' good fortune. But their tender charity was only half completed, for as the evening grew dusky and the night dews began to fall, one of the good Samaritans hopped into the basket and cuddled the shivering swallows under her thick feathers and close to her warm, loving little heart, while her mate hovered their own brood. Happy kitten birds to have such a mother and father, and happy swallows to have found such protectors!

The next morning I eagerly watched the lilacs, and saw that the orphans were being cared for as regularly and as carefully as the other brood, while at night they were tenderly hovered again. So the days went on, the parent birds working with scarcely a moment's rest to care for their five little ones. The swallows grew up as strong, bright-eyed, and well-feathered as if their very own father and mother had been tending them, and when the

right time came they were taught to fly, and went out into the world.

Though I did not see them bid the home nest good-by, yet I know the parting must have been a very tender one, and I am sure, of all the carols of all the feathered songsters in the world, none can ever be so sweet to them as the mew of the catbird.

A New Kind of Kite

Kites used to be considered toys for boys Now they are used for weather observations, and for decorations during a parade or outdoor demonstrations, having held flags in the air at varying heights. Now the possibility of using them in times of war to study the enemies' fortifications is being talked about. In New York Harbor is an island called Governor's Island, used by the Government for purposes of defense. On this island is a fort equipped with mounted guns. Soldiers are stationed there. Opposite on the other shores are other forts equipped with mounted guns and soldiers. No enemies' ships could come to New York without passing these forts. The guns at the forts would sweep the decks of the ships, and sink the ships. This is what is meant by the defense of the harbor. One of the officers on this island has been experimenting in making a kite that will carry a man high in the air, where he may see the surrounding coun try. He made a frame thirty feet long and nine inches deep. This frame is strongly braced on the inside, and the kite-string is a quarter-rope. There are really two kites, one smaller than the other, fastened four hundred feet apart on the kite-string. The kites have

no tails.

The ends of the frame are covered at either end with canvas, and the wind has free play through the frame. The kite-string fastened to the main frame is wound round a windlass, and is played out by four men. Less than that number could not hold the kites. The smaller kite helps to raise the larger one. Last week the kites floated in the air with a dummy weighing forty pounds, dressed as a man, sitting in a hanging seat below the larger kite. The kites carried the dummy easily, and when it was drawn in it settled gently to the ground. The problem is to find out how heavy a load the kites will carry, and then to devise some steering-gear by which the kites may be controlled in the air. Lanterns were tied on the kite-string the other night and made a very pretty sight.

Two Babies in a Bag

Out West, last spring, two young men were plowing when they found two young coyotes, a species of prairie-dog. They tried to take the coyotes home. After a good deal of trouble with the father and mother, who tried to recover their dear babies from these, to them, cruel monsters, the men succeeded in driving the father and mother away, and then watched the bag for a while, but, as the father tied the babies securely in a bag. They and mother did not attempt to come nearer

than the edge of the wood, they thought they were thoroughly frightened and would not try to get their babies back. The men followed the plow from end to end of the field, passing the little creatures in the bag several times. Suddenly there was a strange sight when they

turned down the field. It was the mother

coyote dragging the bag with her babies in it across the field to the woods. She reached the woods with the bag, escaping the men, and there probably ripped the bag open and let her babies out. She seemed to know that to let them out of the bag in the field would mean recapture; she could run with them tied up faster than they could run if free.

A Queer Cat The Chicago "Tribune" says there is a cat in Chicago that loves water, and dislikes warm sunshine or the heat from a fire. This cat was in a house that was burned down, and its feet were burned. Ever since he has shown a dislike of heat, and that he likes water.

Correspondence

Silver and Mexico

To the Editors of The Outlook:

Your successive articles on the "money" question have always met with my hearty approval. As it seems desirable that all possible light shall be cast upon this subject, especially at this critical period, I beg leave to add to your valuable contributions on this topic a very interesting letter received by me from a very distinguished and influential citizen of Mexico, and my reply thereto, not as directly bearing on this election, which involves issues of far greater importance to the welfare and existence of our Republic, but as aiding in the solution of the financial problem, which will remain and become an all-important question long after the election shall have settled the more momentous issues. The situation seems almost grotesque, that a citizen of Mexico should be commenting upon and deploring the threatened disorders of the United States! The translation of the letter is as follows:

EXTRACT FROM LETTER

Pro

My Dear Friend: I see with regret that the political agitation in your country continues to produce financial uneasiness of fatal consequences to the natural course of business. It may be that after the 3d of November next you may enjoy some tranquillity; but in the meantime the alarm, whether it has solid foundations or not, will continue increasing, in all probability. A panic is a sentiment very easily communicated, and takes hold of the multitude with lightning rapidity, causing among them terrible havoc. Will the United States reach such a stage? With all my heart I desire that they shall not. The fact that two great parties, which in turn have been directing the affairs of state, should be divided on the question of "Free Trade" or tection," of itself entails a serious impediment to the normal life of business. And, besides, an addıtional obstruction exists; a natural law, which seems to recognize a financial crisis of greater or less importance as likely to occur in periods not exceeding ten years, almost as great a disturber as the tariff reform, arises in each Presidential epoch, which, affecting as it does production in its source, affects perforce all the mechanism of the question of "wages," exchanges," and of "credit," without obtaining, in a properly constituted social body, any compensation by the acquirement instead of other advantages. And if to this, already a serious question, we add the new problem, or, to better express it, the new conflict which is being waged, notwithstanding the technical character of the matter, begold" and silver" supporters, it appears but natural that doubt and indecision should invade all classes, this phenomenon producing an alarm which all feel, but cannot clearly account for. I venture to send you a copy of an article I wrote and published here (in the City of Mexico) on the silver question, hoping it will interest yon. The article is as follows:

tween

"Editor of the Corres Español:

"Sir-The silver problem, concerning which you have asked my opinion in your esteemed daily, rather demands a book, scrupulously considered, than a few lines written in haste. A good many have, in fact, been published in late years, but, abstracting the very important collection of data necessary for the formation of a judgment concerning the approximate circulation of the white metal, all that these intellectual efforts have shown has been the uselessness of every tendency to withdraw this problem from its economic channel to place it in spheres of administrative action. seeking a thousand legal solutions, all of which are impossible. Within such a field it would be useless to pretend that this matter should acquire greater light than the very small one with which it is now illumined; and in truth it does not cause much wonder to see it obscured and entangled, in view of the inefficiency of the methods of examination applied thereto. In my opinion, the value of silver "bullion" has come to be confused with that of silver "coin," not considering the fact that a coin of a nation represents, to a certain degree at least, its credit; and, as such, made receivable for taxes and other uses as money, might as well be placed upon a piece of argentiferous metal (making an abstraction of the bullion value thereof) as on a piece of paper. When a State is sufficiently rich to convert into gold at a given moment all its coined silver presented, it can fix the relation between the two coined metals in any manner it may deem most reasonable, as France, Belgium, or the United States are now able to do. But whereas in Italy, Spain, or Portugal, the economic power is weak and badly organized, public authority lacks the means to force said relation, and the market then establishes it-the coin becomes bullion, changeable in value according to supply and demand. From this confusion between silver as a product and silver as coin arises the prejudgments which prevent the solving of the problem."

"The rise of silver at this moment (August 31, 1894) is an accident of commercial character and has no connection of any kind with the scientific view of the question. As to my personal opinion on the subject, it can be condensed in a few lines. I do not believe in the positive and permanent reinstatement of the value of the white metal, and I will not believe in it even it all the governments in accord fix upon it a definite ratio in its relation to gold. Let us suppose that said arrangement had been agreed upon at this moment. In what form could it be done? The relation, it is obvious, could only be established between gold and silver coins. Supposing that the contracting powers fix a common standard for their coinage. None of them, unless they had lost their reason, would obligate itself to coin a larger amount than it required for its own use. The moment that silver would, by this device, receive a higher value than properly belongs to it, the production thereof

would necessarily be stimulated to an exorbitant degree. Let us imagine that the governments would obligate themselves to convert into coin all the silver now produced from the mines, distributing it equitably (i. e., according to each country's need and ability to maintain at par with gold on the fixed ratio). As soon as the hope of a greater profit increased the production, who would then consume the surplus? Would it be offered for sale, as any other product? Then, in such case, from that moment the legal standard and the fixed price would perforce be altered, and the silver subject, like any other commodity, to the law of supply and demand.

Would the production of silver in the world be limited to a fixed amount to prevent so difficult an obstacle? Could the amount of silver, in excess of the limit which the contracting powers had determined necessary for consumption, be declared contraband? And even if this were done, would such a measure be at all effectual? The limitations to the legitimate use of our activity are never decreed except to fall into disuse. I do not, therefore, think that silver will ever recover its former purchasing power (at least as refers to natural products, as the manufactured products will constantly cheapen), nor as a coin, nor as a product; and I do not think, either, that its present condition can be bettered in a permanent manner by monetary congresses or international agreements. In case mining should prove unprofitable, and the product be diminished thereby, we might hope, considering the necessity of silver as an intermediary coin, for an advance in price; but this advance could never go beyond the level of a reasonable compensation for the labor employed, because otherwise, as soon as the phenomenon of large profits presents itself, the increase of the production would come, and moderate it by competition.

"Such are the eternal and unavoidable laws which govern the economic life of humanity."

Your affectionate friend, TELESFERO GARCIA.

66

My reply was as follows: My Dear Friend: On my return I find your valued favor of 7th inst., with your letter on silver." I am struck and impressed by both your views on the political outlook in the former, and on silver in the latter. I must absolutely agree with you in all you say on the former topic, and am glad to report that the continuous speeches of Bryan are illustrating and demonstrating, to all who read them, what a shallow, unprincipled fellow he is. His appeals to the passions and prejudices of the mob shock every good citizen, and produce a silent if not a public avowal of enmity and a determination to vote against him. This feeling is so widespread already as to very much relieve the situation, and many of us do not hesitate even now to predict an overwhelming defeat to him. As to silver, all your propositions are incontrovertible, although I cannot accede to your conclusion, which, alas I would be death to silver and thus a catastrophe for the time being. It seems to me that every argument you use in reference to silver" applies equally to gold." And it occurs to me that to constitute that metal the one sole measure of value is to make the standard a variable one-certainly depending on the supply -liable to bring about every financial evil if the supply be largely diminished, and almost as great disturbance in the opposite direction if the world should be flooded with a great excess. The two metals seem to have operated to establish an equilibrium in this particular; perhaps I am wrong, but such has been my idea. Certain statisticians declare that our annual supply of gold now exceeds 200 millions. Well, that is barely sufficient to meet the present demand-in fact, absolute requirement-of the world for its annual increase of money. Positive facts show that from 1860 to 1890 the annual average sum added to the existing bulk of money in the world has been 200 millions of dollars. Just think of it! in thirty years, 1860-90, the bulk of money was doubled! In 1860 the accumulation of all the preceding ages of civilization was a little less than 6,000 millions of dollars. In 1890 there was 12,000 millions. A study of this most astounding fact leads one to a singular conclusion, which is that the progress of the world may be measured by the amount of new moneyrequired to be added to the existing volume; and that, applying this test, there has been as much real progress and advancement in the world in the last thirty years as has taken place during all the preceding ages of civilization.

From these facts I infer that no less than 200 millions per annum are required now to keep pace with the world's needs. Can this sum be supplied with gold as sole basis, remembering that the lowest estimate of the amount of gold required each year to supply the present demand of the arts and sciences and dentistry-and which increases yearly-is at least 60 millions per annum, and up to possibly 90 millions; take out whatever sum this may be, and this must be supplied by paper. The evident insufficiency of supply opens the door to monopoly of gold supplies and corners in gold, by which the locking up in a critical time of even a moderate quantity of gold would produce a panic and financial crisis. If this be so now, what will be the condition fifty years from now, when the time will have added at least 700 millions to the world's inhabitants, and to main

tain an equal per capita sum would have required by

that time the creation of at least 7,000 millions more money than now exists, and to maintain our present rate of progress double this amount, or 14,000 millions will need to be added. I cannot think that there are deposits of gold on the surface of the globe to afford any such sum. One is lost in discussing the subject. I have a strong feeling that some other resource must be devised as a basis for currency than gold, and I will in another letter give you my ideas. Most sincerely, Your affectionate A. F. H.

Gresham's Law

To the Editors of The Outlook:

A few months ago I subscribed for your valuable

allow me to call your attention to a general error which you have made, in common with most writers and speakers who oppose independent free coinage? It is a thing as simple as the Gresham Law, and yet I have not seen it correctly stated, while the conclusions drawn from it are often false.

The law as commonly stated is that the cheaper coin will drive the dearer one out of circulation. From this it is implied that, under free coinage, sil ver will drive gold out of circulation and also out of the country. Now, this law works only when there is a redundancy of coin. It does not work to cause violent contraction. The tendency of contraction is to lift the cheaper coin up to the value of the dearer, and cause botn to float together. The law properly stated should be: When there is a redundancy of coin, the cheaper will drive the dearer out of circulation. Under free coinage gold will not leave us by the action of the Gresham Law until enough silver is coined to cause a redundancy of coin. Free coinage will not, therefore, necessarily cause violent contraction. So important is this point that I hope you will make a note of it before the campaign closes. R. E. B. Chicopee, Mass.

The Precious Metals To the Editors of The Outlook: In The Outlook for October 17 "F. S. K." says that the production of the precious metals is not largely governed by the market price, and "that any increase in the production of the precious metals is largely dependent upon chance finds."

Is either statement correct? Gold is used for coinage, also for jewelry and ornamentation. A large part of the gold mined must be sold in the open market, but the market value of gold is such that the average person cannot afford to spend a great amount for gold ornaments. Hence the limited demand for gold, and, therefore, limited production.

With free coinage of silver there might be an unlimited amount of silver coined.

Every mine-owner in the United States would work his mine for all there was in it if there were a market in this country for every ounce of silver it contained.

When the United States Government had taken the silver bullion and coined it intodollars, those dollars would go back into the mine-owner's own capacious pocket to spend how and where he pleased, in this country or abroad, as he pleased. Perhaps he would go to some South American silver country with which the silverites are anxious to increase our trade, and buy another silver mine-one of the inex

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haustible mines of the Andes, for instance. Then he would bring more silver bullion to the United States to coin. Those dollars would also belong to him. He might possibly spend a few in this country, so as to say he was increasing the amount of silver money in use in this country. By and by he would be rich enough to exchange his silver for half its weight in gold, or less by that time, and go to the gold countries of Europe and end his days in luxurious ease.

An extreme case? Possibly. Meanwhile our silver dollars would be worth the weight of the silver that was in them, fifty-three cents or less, according to the market value of silver for the world. We laboring people would have to work just as hard as we do now for our $1 or $2 a day, but the hardearned dollars would be worth only the silver that was in them. Why will a United States silver dollar or silver certificate buy 100 cents' worth to-day? Because it has a gold dollar behind it. Take your United States silver dollar to Mexico. Buy a dollar's worth of goods. You will get your dollar's worth of goods-what the Mexican shopkeeper calls a dollar's worth, of course-and a Mexican silver dollar in change. Because a United States dollar is worth two of the Mexican, and the Mexican dollar you would get in change would have more silver in it than the United States dollar you took with you. So much for our gold standard at present.

And, after all, how does helping the mine-owner help the farmer? We hear a great deal about helping the farmer and the poor laboring man, but how is free coinage of silver going to do it? How is the money to reach the farmer? If the United States Government offered to buy all the wheat the farmers would raise, every farmer would plant every square inch of his land in wheat, and we should hear no more of abandoned farms. Then the farmers and laboring people and everybody else would be benefited, and we should all be sure of cheap bread, though perhaps not much else in the way of cheap food. Similar to the other case? Yes, but a farm is a small thing compared to a silver-mine, and the farmer would be likely to spend his money in this country. But is not one plan as sensible as the other?

Some people say "with free coinage there will be more money, and we'll all get some of it." That reminds me of a picture that I saw the other day. A farmer from a very rural district has ridden into town to interview the station agent. He says, "If Bryan gets elected we'll have free silver, won't we?" "Yes." "Well, when you get the free silver, will you send it out to us, or shall we come in after it ?" We should all have to work for our money, and the farmer and grocer and shoemaker would give us fifty cents' worth of their goods for fifty cents' worth of silver even if that fifty cents' worth of silver were marked one dollar. Wheat and manufactured goods have a value in the market of the world, as well as silver, and the farmer and manufacturer would want the market price. "A man is known by the company he keeps" applies to intelligence as well as to morals, and we, as the United States of America, want to be with the best company we can find in the world.

If the greatest countries of the world and the best financiers of our own country approve of a gold standard, why should we wish to rank ourselves with Mexico and China

Isn't China spoken of in the geographies as halfcivilized? G. W. S.

Highlandville, Mass.

The Power of Free Coinage to Restore the Parity

To the Editors of The Outlook:

In your issue of the 17th inst., " F. S. K." states that after the adoption of free coinage we should have the six hundred millions of gold now supposed to be in this country "thrown upon the markets of the world, and a demand created for at least enough silver to coin an equal amount." (The italics are mine.) This seems to be a singular misconception; there is no evidence that there would be any such demand. The United States Government now holds over tour hundred millions of silver idle in its vaults. This quantity would be at once available. Last year's production of silver was upwards of two hundred millions of dollars, and with free coinage of silver in this country the production would probably increase largely.

These facts, I think, completely upset "F. S. K.'s" theory of a short supply of silver to be caused by the advance of gold to a premium. On the other hand, as you point out in an article in the same number of your paper on the Transvaal gold fields, there is every prospect of a very large and very steady increase in the supply of gold, which will tend to equalize the value of the two metals.

In view of this immediate increase of the gold supply of the world, it seems the height of folly to debase our currency and incur all the dangers which must follow such a course. O. E. E. Blowing Rock, N. C.

Respectfully referred to The Outlook of October 10

To the Editors of The Outlook:

In your paper dated May 4, 1895, page 721, in reply to Secretary Morton's statement as to the cause of falling price of silver, you show by table that it was not due to its increased production. In summing up the article you say, the relative depreciation of silver since 1873 (and especially since 1893) is entirely due to legislation, decreasing the demand for silver and increasing the demand for gold. The relative value which legislation clearly destroyed, legislation can as clearly restore. This is just what the silverites are claiming now, and you are at this time giving your aid to McKinley. Please give your answer, through the columns of The Outlook, why this change of front. J. W. F.

Fairlawn, O.

An Office-Holding Aristocracy To the Editors of The Outlook:

Will you have the fairness to publish a protest against your recent editorial on "Civil Service Reform" as an issue in the present political campaign?

I have read and re-read the Democratic plank on this subject, and am utterly unable to find in it any justification of your statement that it is an attack upon our civil service system, and the still more astounding and sweeping assertion that "there is small reason to doubt that if Mr. Bryan is elected qur whole system of civil service would be swept away." I am not writing as a silverite-I have no affiliations with the party-but as a governmental employee, appointed under civil service, and a longtime reader of The Outlook, anxious to keep his respect for and confidence in the fairness of that paper.

This is a new departure, and fit subject of criticism and discussion.

At sight it might seem to invite the evils of the spoils system; but, as a result of some two years' experience of the inevitable working of our present laws, I wish to say to you that I think no more useful amendment to our civil service could be made than a fixed term of office-in other words, periodical re-examinations to test continued fitness.

It is notorious that our Government pays higher salaries for less work than competing employers. The idea that the Government should lead in liberality toward labor, the pensioning sentiment, and, most of all, the personal touch of office-holders themselves with the Government, secures this, and their combined influence is massed against all reform that imperils their positions. A reform department chief

finds as a result of all this a low standard of work as compared with the outside business he has been managing. Where there is a flagrant violation of rules or exceptional incompetence discharge is easily effected, but this very fact of a low average makes it well-nigh impossible to single out and dismiss enough to revitalize the service. You would regard such wholesale removal of men selected and serving without complaint for years under civil service as a violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the law, and yet it is the easiest way of renovating the service, of removing the rust and sloth and decrepitude and rutism that mark the average old Government employee and debase the service.

Furthermore, so long as Government employees get more pay for work than the average, the many will be taxed for the benefit of the few, and the outs," the many, will legitimately protest against such favoritism. This I understand the Bryan party to do more from the logic of the situation than from

46

the phraseology of their declaration, but this is no

part of true civil service, but its abuse.

Are you not governed by preconceptions and do

you not confuse all suggestions of reform with the desire for "spoils "? OFFICE-HOLDER.

Free Silver Coinage Moral and Wise To the Editors of The Outlook:

Will you permit a few questions from one who finds neither his judgment nor his conscience satisfied with the outcome of your discussion of the political issues in The Outlook of October 10? As is usual with The Outlook, you have made all those who are compelled to differ with you in your final conclusions your debtors for the tairness with which you state the underlying facts and principles in the opening of your article. Your spirit of candor and fairness has carried great weight, and has made us desirous of agreeing with your conclusions. Unable to do that, I am sure that your courtesy will welcome questions designed to show why I feel constrained to doubt

the assurance you would have us feel in your conclusions.

1 First, as to the morals of the free coinage of sil ver. The moral objections to free coinage you say are more serious than the economic objections. The firs question I ask is, Cannot your two principles for guidance in times of moral perplexity be turned against your own cause? You say it is rarely wise to do to another what he thinks unjust. I do not know what stronger argument you could put into the hands of the advocates of free coinage. Do you know how strong is the sense of injustice that has been rankling in the hearts of tens of thousands for years? It is this very sense of injustice which has given this movement its mighty impetus and is today making it almost resist less in its momentum. Nor is it satisfied in directing itself against a wrong inflicted by a former generation. I am convinced that the crime of '73, as the crime of '73, has never taken very strong hold of the general conviction of the people. They are rather content to let that go with Professor Francis A. Walker's characterization of it as one of the greatest political blunders to be found upon the pages of history. But it is the injustice of the maintenance of the gold standard in the light of the preset facts that arouses this sense of outraged justice. It is a present wrong, persisted in in the face of long-continued and unheeded protests,

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