LYMAN ABBOTT D O you find it difficult in these days of religious ferment and argument and turmoil to hold steadfast to the faith that has been within you? Or do new and disquieting fears crowd in to haunt your mind, making you hungry for more explicit exposition of religious truth and spiritual experience which must find new expression to fit the needs and thought of this new day? What Does Your Bible Mean to You? Do you sometimes fear that you must abandon the historic faith of Christendom to accept the theory of evolution? Or do you believe that the historic faith of Christendom when stated in terms of evolutionary philosophy is not only preserved but is so cleansed of pagan thought and feeling as to be presented in a purer and more powerful form-more understandable and more helpful? What Does Religion Mean to You? Does it mean a certain form of worship and a method of living in accordance with the things you learned in Sunday school or from sermons? Or does it mean to you a faith and a power beyond yourself whereby you seek to satisfy your emotional needs, gaining stability of life expressed in acts of love, charity, and service? Or does religion mean to you a life itself, "mystical in its roots and practical in its fruits"? Or do you like to think of it, above all, as "communion with God, a calm and deep enthusiasm, a love which radiates, a force which acts, a happiness which overflows"-in short, a state of the soul? Whatever may be your belief, faith, doubt, perplexity, or fear, you will find clearly set forth and illuminated in two volumes by Lyman Abbott, which it is now the privilege of The Outlook Company to publish in a special edition, a calm and deep-seeing interpretation of many of the religious questions that are haunting men's minds. These books are entitled "The Evolution of Christianity" and "The Theology of an Evolutionist." In them Dr. Abbott "endeavors to indicate the direction in which modern thought is looking," his sole and simple aim being "so to apply the fundamental principle of evolution to problems of religious life and thought that the life which that principle has afforded and the inspiration which it has furnished in the realm of natural science may be valuable to the non-scholastic and non-professional reader." Dr. Abbott's volumes assume the truth of this principle of evolution as defined by Professor Le Conte: "A continuous, progressive change according to certain laws and by means of resident forces." And he admits no ground for controversy in the deeper underlying questions; for he says: "He who believes in the evolution of revelation no longer has to tease his mind, arguing that the creative days were æons, that the sun standing still was an optical delusion due to peculiar refraction of rays, and that some whales have mouths big enough to allow the passage of a man. He frankly treats the stories of creation, of Joshua's campaign, and of Jonah's adventures as literature characteristic of the childhood age of the world and looks for the moral lessons which are behind them." The Secret of Spiritual Evolution Here, then, are two volumes on evolution in the light of religion of great value to every man and woman who would understand the Bible and its teachings more clearly. Volume One considers the evolution of the Bible, of theology, of the Church, of Christian society, and of the soul, with special attention to the secret and the consummation of spiritual evolution. Volume Two considers creation by evolution, the genesis of sin, the evolution of revelation, the place of Christ in evolution, redemption by evolution, the evolution of sacrifice and propitiation, and evolution as related to miracles and to immortality. THE OUTLOOK, March 31, 1926. Subscription price $5.00 a year. Volume 142, Number 13. Published weekly by The Outlook Company at 120 East 16th Street, New York, N. Y. Entered as second-class matter, July 21, 1893, at the Post Office at New York, under the Act of March 3, 1879. SCIENTIFIC The Magazine of Today "Scientific American!" exclaimed Mark Twain. "I've been reading it since I was that high." And he held out his hand about four feet from the ground. "My brother and I used to fight over who would read it first when it came to our home." Thus the famous humorist gave away, a few months before his death, the secret of the knowledge of explosives, machinery, and electricity he displayed so well in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" and other books that will live for centuries. Other men, distinguished for their knowledge or their ability, have acknowledged their debt to the Scientific American. To read it regularly is an education in practical things, a constant fellowship with the world's most stimulating minds. It is the most helpful magazine in America. When King C. Gillette, originator of the safety razor, sent a check saying "Send me the Scientific American for the rest of my life," he was expressing more than his own individual reading preference; he was providing an example which any forward-looking man could follow to his benefit. For a year you may have the pleasure and the value of the Scientific American at a cost of only $4.00. A New Kind of Book The ANNUALOG for 1926 Have you seen the new Scientific American Annualog, the new kind of reference book? When you do you will want to keep it constantly on your library table or office desk, for it is full of just the sort of information you will need nearly every day. Among its contents are: Events of 1925 Star Maps for Each Two Months Geological Facts, Evolution, etc. Radio First Aid-Poisons and Antidotes J All Sorts of Calendars Time, Daylight Savings, etc. Economics, World's Productions Governments of Countries and States Each year a new Annualog will appear to supplement the Annualog for 1926, with an index Scientific American, 233 Broadway, New York, N. Y. Send me the Annualog for 1926 and Scientific American for one year. Check for $4.50 is enclosed. In writing to the above advertiser please mention The Outlook Published weekly by The Outlook Company, 120 East 16th Street, New York. Copyright, 1926, 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 olume 142 palatable Truths MBASSADOR HOUGHTON, having recently landed in this country, finds himself the target verbal shafts from several quarters. s offense seems to be that of telling truth about conditions in Europe. ether he said what is attributed to nor not, he has been censured for it writers in the English press, writers in French press, and American Senators. y less subject to attack because not shining a mark is Mr. Hugh D. Gib, the American Minister at Geneva. ther of these diplomats was directly ted, but their views were reported by respondents of the press. One report hat by Mr. Carter Field, of the New k "Herald Tribune"-was inserted in "Congressional Record." What aroused the ire of certain joursts abroad and certain Senators here apparently the view expressed by se diplomats that Europe was revertto the old system of the balance of er, that the difficulty over the proed admission of Germany to the uncil of the League was due to the pose of the Latin-Slavic group of nas to maintain their majority in the ncil, and that Great Britain had nd it necessary to come to such an ement with France as to postpone all ussion of disarmament. Great Britain this report has been rpreted as a reflection upon British omacy. In France it has been inreted as a representation of French erialism and selfishness, and among erican supporters of the League of ions it has been interpreted as an mpt to discredit the League. great deal of the bitterness of this roversy is due to a misunderstanding what the "balance of power" is. Apently both in the minds of those who cise the League as a failure and those defend it as the promise of a better Id, the balance of power is pictured f it were the even setting off of one p of military forces against another p of military forces so that each is ching the opportunity for a slight Inution in the opponent's power as an March 31, 1926 occasion for war. It would be much truer to conceive of the word "balance" as the balance in a ledger. The object of diplomacy is to see that the balance of power is not written in red figures, but represents a surplus on the side of peace. Disillusion THE chief weakness in the statement of Mr. Houghton's views is in the intimation that Europe is reverting to a former state of affairs. As a matter Alanson B. Houghton of fact, Europe is not so much reverting to the balance of power as revealing the fact that it is still there, as it has always been. What is happening is a gradual discovery of the fact that there is no real substitute possible or desirable for a balance of power on the side of peace. People who have supposed that something else could be substituted for it and that the League was that something else are becoming disillusioned. And almost always disillusionment brings bitterness. As a matter of fact, so far as the League is a political agency it will prove of value as it proves to be a means for making the balance of power function more openly and more reliably. No light is thrown upon the problems Number 13 of American diplomacy by such arguments as those of Senator Pat Harrison, which consist mainly in calling the President "Careful Cal," the Secretary of State "Nervous Nellie," and the Ambassador to the Court of St. James's "Gloomy Gus." When a Senator descends to such levels of debate, he injures nothing but his own cause. Apparently, what we lack in the United States Senate to-day is any Senator with a real knowledge of international problems. If there is any such Senator, he is strangely silent. Brazil's Motives TH HE real reason why the Council of the League of Nations adjourned without taking any action upon the admission of Germany has been a matter of surmise. On the surface it was the refusal of Brazil to approve the admission of Germany to a permanent seat without the acceptance of Brazil's admission for a permanent seat at the same time. It is hard to believe that a South American country would have taken this position of its own motion. Of course, the idea that the Western Hemisphere should always be represented on the Council of the League if the League is not to become merely European seems plausible. To bring, however, the League itself so near to a wreck and to postpone, if not endanger, the full operation of the Locarno agreement for any such reason as this seems hardly credible. Search, therefore, has been made for other reasons that could account for Brazil's action. To some observers this has been found in the recent attitude of Italy toward Germany. Mussolini has recently spoken very plainly about the danger with which Germany's ambition still threatens Europe and has protested very vigorously against what he says is the misrep resentation of the Italian treatment of Teutonic elements in Italy's newly acquired northern territory. It is therefore surmised that Brazil acted on the instance of Italy. On the other hand, an entirely contrary reason has been ascribed for Brazil's action. It is said that B was really acting in the interest of Germany, not for the purpose of keeping Germany out of a permanent seat in the Council, but for the purpose of insuring the exclusion of Poland. Another reason has been suggested, and that is that the Powers, after considering what had happened at Locarno, were by no means agreed that the time had come for such a rearrangement of matters in Europe as would have to be considered and probably acted upon soon after Germany's admission to the League as an equal. Therefore it is believed by some that Brazil's action was not wholly unwelcome to the Great Powers. Political Dramatics in Paris POLITICS drama what they seem to lack in logic. Where else could a tottering government, facing a financial crisis, save itself by defending a Minister exiled during the war on conviction of negligence amounting to treason? That was the spectacle staged on March 18 in the Chamber of Deputies. The issue was the inclusion in Briand's reorganized Cabinet of Louis Malvy as Minister of the Interior. Malvy's name, it will be recalled, was associated with Caillaux's in allegations of negotiating with Austrian and German agents regarding peace terms. His return to the post which he held from 1914 to 1917, in the Cabinets of Viviani, Briand, and Ribot, rearoused extreme Nationalist sentiment. Clemenceau first made charges against Malvy, in June, 1917, of negligent administration encouraging defection at the front. Malvy resigned on August 31, and the whole Ribot Cabinet followed. Léon Daudet, the Royalist leader, then accused him of communicating the plan of attack on the Chemin des Dames to the enemy in the spring of 1917, and of being responsible for the mutinies which followed. When Malvy appeared before the Senate as a High Court in July, 1918, this definite charge of treason was dismissed. But he was convicted, on evidence of slackness, tolerance of defeatist and revolutionary propaganda, and disorganization of the intelligence services, of having "failed in, violated, and betrayed the duty of his task." He was sentenced to five years in exile. The case against him never was accepted as valid by French radicals; and when he returned to France in 1924 he was welcomed at a Radical Socialist congress. Nationalists in the Chamber launched a bitter attack against Premier Briand on his return from Geneva for reappointing Malvy in his new Cabinet. Malvy, pale and trembling, pleaded with his accusers. Briand made an impassioned defense. The Opposition howled. Malvy fainted and was carried from the Chamber. And Briand won a vote of confidence by 341 to 165, with the support of the Radicals and Socialists. French politics may not appear practical to Americans, but no one can deny that they are picturesque. Police Aid to Communists E ARLY in March the police of Passaic, New Jersey, used their clubs on the parading textile strikers and the visiting newspaper men and women. This move was calculated to discourage mass picketing by the strikers and to suppress the news pictures in the daily papers. How it brought Nation-wide publicity, popular sympathy, and financial support to the strikers was told by Ernest W. Mandeville in The Outlook of March 17. The financial and moral support gained by the strikers and their radical leaders through the publicity freely supplied by the Passaic police made the thousands of immigrant textile workers. cocky with confidence. Their case was taken up on the front pages. They were noticed by Washington. Their numbers almost doubled. Their demands at first seemingly reasonable became impossible of acceptance by the mill-owners in the present state of the textile industry. Hot-headed strikers-formerly pretty well cowed by the majesty of the officers of law and order-now let themselves go. Even the Passaic Commissioner of Public Safety seemed to agree that much harm had been done by the unwise actions of the police. Every one thought they had learned their lesson, for they allowed the strikers to parade freely and the story had almost dropped out of the news. Then on March 18 the whole unfortunate process was repeated. Police clubs fell upon strikers and newspaper cameras once more. Front-page publicity. More sympathy roused. More rebellion awakened. On March 19 the police clubs were idle and all was at peace again. Let us hope that, after these two costly demonstrations of the wrong course, the police will come to their senses. Otherwise there is no telling what damage may come from their a ning of the revolutionary flame in Ne Jersey. Losing Unskilled Labor Board reports that between July 1 1925, and January 31, 1926, 15,378 m skilled laborers entered the country fr abroad and 24,175 departed, leaving net loss of 8,797. The shifting was, good part, Italian. Unskilled labor in United States is no longer poorly pa Indeed, the man with the pick is be off by far than most factory works particularly those employed in the ter industries. For once the Scriptural junction that the laborer is worthy of hire seems to be recognized in practic The emigration does not mean lack employment, so much as a return to tive lands with pockets full of America dollars, which, split into lire, now go long way. Criss-Cross Party Policies POLITICALLY speaking, this is sure the queerest Congress that th United States has ever seen. Not onl do hard and fast and utterly regu Republicans desert the Administrati upon occasion, but regular and irredeem able Democrats support the Administra tion upon like occasion, and that merely as individuals but as organiz tions. The very extraordinary spectacle presented in the Senate the other daye the solid Republican membership of th Banking Committee repudiating th position of Secretary of the Treas Mellon and the solid Democratic me bership's supporting him. As the Rt publicans constituted a majority of t Committee, Mr. Mellon was overridde The matter involved goes back to th Pittman Silver Coinage Act of war days when, to avert a financial crash in Ind Congress voted to send great quante of silver to that country from the vart of the United States Treasury. The hundred and fifty million silver dollar went from the Treasury to the ancien Empire. The law contained a provis that silver later be coined to repla them. The contention of Secretary Mellent that to comply with the provisions of th law as the Senate Banking Commie construes them would cost the Gover ment $5,000,000, and that, anyhow, th spirit of the law already has been con |