When the Negro owns something, then he is respected... White people down South think that the Negro is a man. They are saying this out loud. They are praying God to help them deal with the Negro on the basis of humanity. They think that the Negro is distinctively a Southern man. I predict that the time will never come when three-fourths of the Negroes of this country will not be found in the South. The civilization of the South, everything that makes it peculiar and characteristic, centers around the Negro. Indeed, the Negro has sweetened Southern life. Whole communities are shaped by the Negro. . Property-owning Southern men do no lynching. Of the sixteen men who were arrested for rioting in Atlanta, for example, not one had his name on the county tax-books. The race problem is to be solved, not by having a few Negroes with education and culture reach the top, but by having the well-trained Negroes reach down and help up the ladder the black men and women who are below struggling. Similar testimony was given at another League meeting by Dr. James Hardy Dillard, of Charlottesville, Virginia, a Southerner who is president of the Jeanes Fund and director of the Slater Fund, and a man who knows the South extremely well. A score or more of Negro men and women told graphically the story of their success in business. Most of them had come from the South. In every case some good white friend had given the struggling Negro some helpful advice or financial support, usually both. The testimony, given under the rapid crossfire of pointed questions, showed clearly that the South offers to-day, as it always has, opportunity for the Negro who is law-abiding, owns property, and meets his white neighbors at least half of the way. At the Boston meeting the National Negro Insurance League held several business meetings and showed the hundreds of visitors, through the use of insurance reports, codes, and text-books, the importance of putting all Negro insurance on a sound financial basis. C. C. Spaulding, who for sixteen years has been connected with the North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association of Durham, is the president. Emmett J. Scott outlined for the executive committee of the League the working plan of the National Negro Business Service, which has three purposes: (1) to help the Negro business men to greater efficiency through co-operative effort; (2) to bring about a spirit of mutual understanding and helpfulness between Negro business men and Negro publishers; (3) to help the Negro newspapers secure just recognition from the National advertisers. The several affiliated National organizations of Negro retail merchants, real estate dealers, newspaper men and publishers, bankers, undertakers, and lawyers held meetings to discuss problems of common interest. For fifteen years the National Negro Business League has placed the emphasis on doing something worth while rather than demanding anything on a color-line appeal. A DISTINGUISHED ACTRESS Since every generation produces only too few players who take high rank as artists, lovers of the stage will receive with a keen sense of regret the announcement of the retirement from the theater of Miss Julia Marlowe, the distinguished actress who has contributed importantly to the American theater and to a larger appreciation of dramatic literature. Miss Marlowe, a portrait of whom appears on another page, has occupied an enviable position in our American theater. Miss Marlowe is best known for her acting of the characters of Shakespeare. Viola, Rosalind, Juliet, and Lady Macbeth are memorable figures. In recent years she has appeared with her husband, Edward H. Sothern. Several seasons ago she attained artistic success with such plays as Percy MacKaye's "Jeanne d'Arc," Hauptmann's "The Sunken Bell," and Sudermann's "John the Baptist," in which she enacted the character of Salome. Her Miss Marlowe made her theatrical début at the age of twelve, appearing in "Pinafore" in Cincinnati. She made her first appearance in New York in 1887 as Parthenia in "Ingomar." The following year she toured the country in the plays of Shakespeare. For a time Miss Marlowe identified herself with romantic plays, achieving large success in " Colinette," 66 Bonnie Prince Charlie," "When Knighthood Was in. Flower," "Barbara Frietchie," and "The Cavalier." DR. EHRLICH AND DR. FINLAY On August 20 announcement was made of the death of two men whose life-work had a tremendous influence upon the development of modern medicine. One, Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, laid the foundations for those experiments in the etiology of yellow fever which ultimately cleansed our Southern ports of that dread disease and made the building of the Panama Canal a human possibility. In a paper published in 1881 Dr. Finlay set forth his theory that yellow fever was transmitted from one person to another solely by means of a mosquito. He experimented to test the truth of his theory, but was not successful in demonstrating this thesis because he used for the purpose of inoculation mosquitoes that had bitten yellow fever patients only from two to five days previous to his attempt to transmit the disease through their agency. The experiments of our American army surgeons after the Spanish War proved that the mosquito is harmless until twelve days or longer after having itself become infected. The series of experiments which resulted in the attainment of this knowledge forms one of the proudest chapters in American history. The devotion and self-sacrifice of the men who volunteered for the dangerous service can never be forgotten. But perhaps "never is too strong a word to use when we remember how long it took Congress to vote a tardy and inadequate pension to the wife of Dr. Lazear, who, as the tablet erected to his memory in Johns Hopkins Hospital reads, "With more than the courage and the devotion of a soldier . . . risked and lost his life to show how a fearful pestilence is communicated and how its ravages may be prevented." Dr. Paul Ehrlich, who was born in Strehlen, Germany, in 1854, and died at Bad Homburg a week ago last Friday, was one of the foremost medical scientists in the world. He is most widely known for his discovery of salvarsan in 1910, a specific for the most dreaded of all blood diseasessyphilis. His great discovery was made after a series of 606 experiments, a fact which gave to his new drug its popular title of 606," in contradistinction to its less pronounceable scientific name of dioxydiamidoarseno-benzol. Certainly if no other medical discovery than this of Ehrlich's had resulted from vivisection it would have more than justified the continuance of animal experimentation. When we add to such a discovery as that of "606" the tremendous advance that has been made in the control of such diseases as diphtheria, tetanus, rabies, cholera, bubonic plague, typhoid fever, epidemic meningitis, malaria, sleeping sickness, infantile paralysis, and many others, the marvel is that enough ignorance and prejudice remains in the world to serve as a "culture for the bacillus of anti-vivisection. A CITY IN THE HANDS Nashville, Tennessee, is in the hands of a receiver, or rather was for a few days, and therefore, so the argument runs, the commission form of government is a failure! In this manner the opponents of commission government for American cities are reasoning, while they overlook and defy the facts involved in the successful operation of the plan in four hundred and more other cities. One might as well charge the old form of government which Nashville had with murder, because the brilliant United States Senator Carmack was ruthlessly shot down in cold blood in the streets of that city a decade ago. The trouble lies not in the form of government, but in the people of the city who expected a form of government to do what only they themselves can do. Some idea of the local situation in Nashville can be gathered from an incident which occurred at one of the hearings. The Mayor, who is also under fire, was on the witnessstand. The attorney for the citizens was about to examine him, but instead of doing so declared to the Court that he would not proceed unless he also was allowed to arm himself, as the Mayor was armed with two revolvers. His Honor was ordered to disarm himself, and the case proceeded. In the words of the Pittsburgh Sun:" "The whole proceeding has been a series of thrills, and in none of them has the city officials appeared in a pleasing light. The appointment of a receiver will be something new in municipal management, but it seems the only thing that will take the city's money out of improper hands and place it where it will be properly accounted for." cash books, covering the period of 1908. to 1912, was overshadowed when Comptroller Burns-under charges himself-filed with other citizens a bill in Chancery Court asking for a receivership to take charge of the affairs of the city. This was followed by the arrest of the City Treasurer, who was charged with the appropriation of $10,000 of municipal funds. The warrant was sworn out by the City Comptroller, who has been resisting the fight of all the other city officials arrayed against him. The arrest of the City Treasurer, similar action against the City Finance Commissioner, City Comptroller, and the disappearance of an Assistant City Treasurer will, it is thought, be followed by other arrests. Meanwhile petitions are being circulated for the immediate recall of the city commissioners by a recall committee composed of lawyers and business men. Bondholders of Nashville securities to the amount of several millions are inquiring closely into city affairs because of the scandals that have been unearthed. It is believed that if it had not been for the courage of the Comptroller, the conditions would not have been revealed—at least for some time to come. The end is not yet. In all fairness it should be said that the commission form brought out into the sunlight of publicity the evil conditions that had been festering in the body politic, and has given the voters a good opportunity to clean things up, and that is much more than happened under the old form. DESTRUCTION BY STORM AND FLOOD The storm which swept the Gulf of Mexico on August 16-17 was one of the worst ever known in the history of the Gulf. Galveston suffered most severely; scenes of some of the damage are shown in pictures on another page. The property damage in Galveston was greater even than in 1900. What the loss in life and buildings might have been were it not for the great sea wall built after the storm of 1900, it would be difficult to estimate. As it was, a breach was made in that great wall; buildings and crops estimated at the value of twenty-five million dollars were destroyed; fires resulting from storm conditions aided in the damage; several large steamers were driven ashore and even some distance inland; and there was a not inconsiderable loss of life-one estimate we have seen places the loss of life in Gal ... veston and along the Gulf coast of Texas at five hundred. Nevertheless, Mayor Fisher, of Galveston, declared that "the sea wall has proved its efficiency, and Galveston, though staggered by the blow, is in good spirits. . . . The causeway will be rebuilt with little delay; ... the approaches are damaged, but the concrete arches and supports are intact." Relief for the sufferers from the Galveston authorities, from the State Health Department, from the United States Army Headquarters, and from Houston was immediate and adequate. Other parts of the country have also suffered severely from unusual storm conditions of late. The worst injury reported, apart from the vicinity of Galveston, was near St. Louis, where, on August 20, the heaviest rain ever recorded fell, with the result that the river overflowed and inundated some parts of the city and a large area in the country roundabout. In St. Louis more than two thousand persons were unable to get to their work, and business men went downtown in rowboats. Thousands of people were marooned in the country districts. The number of deaths was small, perhaps somewhere from ten to twenty. IF NOT WAR, WHAT? Americans do not want war with Germany. America is a peaceful country and wants to be on good terms with every nation. But Germany has doubly affronted America. By giving orders to Americans as to how they shall travel, she has affronted American self-respect; and by her barbarous war on non-combatants she has affronted Americans' sense of humanity. And now Germany, after receiving solemn protests from this Government, has torpedoed the Arabic and has sent more non-combatants to their death. It is not enough that Germany should express "sympathy" for the loss of American lives on the Arabic. Germany expressed sympathy for the loss of American lives on the Lusitania and continued her practice of killing non-combatants, Americans included. It is not enough that Germany should declare that she has no "intention "of killing Americans. Germany's intentions are not to be judged by what the German Ambassador says, but by the necessary consequences of what Germany does. Germany's submarine warfare on merchant vessels inevitably results in the loss of American lives. That is ample proof of what Germany intends. It It is true that the German Government has asked for time in which to explain. is also true that von Bethmann Hollweg, the German Chancellor, has intimated the possibility that the commander of the submarine that sank the Arabic "went beyond his instructions, in which case the Imperial Government would not hesitate to give such complete satisfaction to the United States as would conform to the friendly relations existing between both Governments.” These are signs of promise, but only signs. Explanations, of course, are not what America wants. The only "complete satisfaction" would be that accompanied by guarantees. A government that has repudiated its pledged word as Germany has must be required, as an untrustworthy debtor would be, to give ample security to insure her abandonment of her nefarious method of submarine warfare. Since Germany has not voluntarily abandoned this practice, and has not as yet given assurance that she will abandon the practice and make amends for what she has done, what means can America adopt to compel Germany to stop this practice? How can we make our will and determination felt in Germany? There are several ways in which we can do this without resort to war. We have heretofore outlined some of these ways. We here refer to but one other. We can say to Germany that she can no longer count upon our financial resources. It is probable that the combined financial and economic strength of the Allies and of the United States is invincible. This strength consists of the accumulated wealth and the earning power of their population. If we deny Germany access to our resources, we should employ those resources elsewhere, and that would mean that we should put them largely, if not wholly, at the disposal of Germany's enemies. These enemies of Germany have undertaken enormous obligations. If the United States indorsed these obligations, the indorsement would give them increased currency and acceptability. In the last analysis, credit is the ability to borrow or to induce sellers to accept promises to pay rather than cash. The decision to uphold the obligations of the Allies would injure Germany's credit and increase the credit of Germany's ene mies. It is true that Germaný professes to be financially and economically self-contained, and it is true that Germany is in fact commercially isolated from nearly all the world; but she looks forward to establishing again her trade relations as soon as the war is over. If she is to continue as a nation she must establish these trade relations once more. She must get rid of her surplus product if that surplus product is to be of any value to her whatever. If a man produces a hundred bushels of potatoes or a hundred bushels of wheat more than he needs, and cannot sell the surplus, it profits him nothing. And this is as true of a nation as it is of a man. The moment a specific product of any country exceeds its power to consume that product, it has an excess product. It is through trade in such excess -products that nations grow. For this reason the threat of a commercial or financial boycott that should necessarily be felt after the war is over, as well as during its continuance, would have great terror for Germany if she believed it could be carried out. And even trade within Germany itself as well as between Germany and other countries would suffer if her credit were impaired. It would be practically impossible for Germany to continue fighting. At present Germany is paying her own citizens for munitions and supplies for her army in a depreciated paper currency which is said to be already at a discount of about thirty per cent. If this discount continues to increase, the currency will soon become as valueless as the paper assignats of the French Revolution or the Confederate scrip, and even the power of the Government could not, in all probability, force the people to part with things of real value for valueless paper. There are economic laws that are superior even to the edict of the German Kaiser. In order to injure Germany's credit, therefore, it is not necessary to injure the German people directly. The Government's credit is generally exhausted long before the citizens, individually or collectively, are insolvent. The fact that America and England have access to the chief gold supplies of the world, while Germany has no gold mines within her borders, has some bearing on this situation. If Germany should part with the gold she has, and could get no more gold by trading with other countries, her credit would be gone. But, even apart from this, Germany would be greatly weakened by the exercise of such financial and economic pressure as America could put upon her without any resort to arms. Is the United States willing that Germany's belief in the power of frightfulness, intimidation, brutality, and the sacrifice of everything to military necessity shall be justified? If not, let the United States answer in terms that Germany will heed. We believe that the use of financial and economic pressure is one of those ways. If so, it is a far better way than war. WOLF, WOLF! The cry of "Wolf, wolf !" has been heard so often of late years that nobody pays attention to it, and it has degenerated into a disagreeable form of vocal exercise. The latest and most offensive recent outcry is that which comes from some people in Georgia, who are shouting at the top of their voices that the indignant protests of the newspapers against the revolting crime of the mob which hanged Frank is the utterance of a press "subsidized" by money from Frank's friends. The charge is, of course, puerile, and might be ignored if the unanimity of the newspapers in denouncing the outbreak of savagery were not the one hopeful aspect of the National disgrace. The heat and vigor of that condemnation show that the Nation is sensitive to such an offense, and quick to resent it as a blow to its honor. The German press and many so-called German-Americans have been quick to explain the sound and outspoken expression of American indignation at German crimes against humanity on land and sea as the utterance of a press subsidized by Great Britain. If these Germans had any knowledge of American opinion or any sense of humor, they would have been saved from this egregious blunder; twisting the lion's tail has been so long the habit of many American newspapers that nothing less than a great and passionate feeling of indignation could have broken the habit. Some newspapers have been and some probably still are venal; but it is unfortunate to waste the force of public opinion by making accusations so obviously preposterous that they fall to the ground by sheer weight of stupidity. And the cry of "interests" has been heard so often that it no longer receives attention. A few years ago it meant something; there were real wolves, and the country needed the |