verge of a revolution; and while ali Americans have a very friendly feeling for the Russian people, and do not forget the friendship of Russia in dark and critical days, it would be impossible to leave to a Power so constituted and in such a condition the leadership of a world-wide movement. It may be that the time has not yet come for action looking toward disarmament; but it is the right and duty of the United States, not to follow, but to lead in such a movement. The limitation of armaments was one of the subjects which stood first on the list proposed by the Interparliamentary Union. It may be thought advisable to defer action on this matter; but if so, it ought to be, not because Russia takes the lead, but because the United States is convinced that the movement would be forwarded rather than retarded if it is not pressed too vigorously at the moment. The New World is very largely represented in the Conference; it has a much freer hand in dealing with international questions than the Old World. It is the part of the New World to lead and not to follow in such matters.

The Crisis in France

What was at first an industrial demonstration of a unique type, not without its amusing features, last week became in its proportions very like a revolution and brought about a national political crisis. Only the strong personality and convincing eloquence of the Premier, M. Clemenceau, saved the Cabinet from a positive defeat in the Chamber of Deputies. M. Clemenceau's handling of the subject before the Chamber was masterly, and it resulted on Friday of last week in a vote of confidence passed by the great majority of 104, under which the Administration was left free to take all necessary measures to repress violence and re-establish law and order in the disturbed departments of the Midi. There seems to be no doubt that Marcelin Albert, his chief aid, M. Ferroul, and their associates in the strange peaceful revolt planned by them for the vine-growers, were perfectly sincere and single in purpose. But it is

easier to arouse men's passions than to restrain them. The cessation of civic functions by mayors and magistrates, the refusal to pay taxes by the vinegrowers and wine merchants, the implied threat to the Government to disregard it entirely if legislative measures were not at once passed for relief, the parades and street agitation-all combined not only to excite an always excitable people, but also to call out all the hatred which existed against the Government for other than industrial reasons. The Clerical party, the Monarchists, and the Socialists have many adherents in the cities of the South, and the mobs which have filled the streets of Montpellier, Narbonne, and Béziers were, we judge, largely made up of these elements. Troops were poured into the disaffected districts, and the curious fact developed that the disaffected people were bitter in their feeling to the cavalry, who repressed demonstrations roughly, while they were well disposed to the infantry and tried to gain their sympathy and forbearance. The leader, M. Albert, came to Paris, saw M. Clemenceau, and returned to submit to the law; his chief lieutenant, M. Ferroul, was arrested, escorted by one hundred and fifty soldiers to the station, and taken to Montpellier. Orators of the people addressed the troops in this fashion: "We love you as you love your friends. We do not wish you harm, but we hunger, and you will not fire on us." Then an emotional exhibition of fraternity took place between mob and troops, in which the latter shared the former's bread and wine. This was in Narbonne, but in the same city on Thursday attempts to disperse the mob led to firing by the troops, and it was reported that seven deaths resulted, including, as usual in such cases, innocent people, women and children. On the same day rioting took place at Argelliers, and even in the large town of Montpellier. So far as can be ascertained (and the reports given out have been very meager), no deaths were caused by these latter outbreaks, although a number of people were wounded. It was at first reported that public buildings had been burned, but this report seems unfounded. Finally,

on Saturday came the report that at Montpellier, the previous night, barricades had been erected and defended by the mob against a charge by the dragoons, and this news was accompanied by the still more serious report that near Béziers two companies of infantry had mutinied and had persuaded four other companies to join them, but that the mutinous soldiers had soon yielded to the influence of their commanding officers, and had been shut up in barracks to await the action of the military authorities. It is perfectly evident that the acts just described constitute, when taken together, something very like an extended revolt in a large and important section of the Republic. In such a case, no matter what sympathy may be felt with the financial losses and real necessities of the people in that section, it is clearly the first duty of the Government to assert its authority, restore order, and insist on the resumption of the usual functions of administration by those who have will fully relinquished them, or to appoint other officials to take their place. The action of the Chamber of Deputies will make this possible, and after it has been done it can hardly be doubted that the demands of the disaffected section for protection against the adulteration of wine, the concoction of imitation wines, the admission of the inferior product of other countries to come into competition with the vine-growers' product, and the excessive cost of sugar, an essential in their business and now under a high protective tariff-that these and other demands will be carefully considered and made the subject of thoughtful and wise legislation.

A realignment of the New Alliances Great Powers was renAbroad dered imperative by the results of the Russo-Japanese War, which put Russia into the background and pushed Japan into the foreground, not only as a Power of the first rank, but also as a force in the East to be reckoned with at every turn. England was quick to understand the situation, and her speedy alliance with Japan was a masterstroke of diplomacy when one considers

her vast Oriental interests and what she has at stake. King Edward VII. has a genius for diplomacy of the constructive sort. Not only has England come to a thorough understanding with Japan, but with France, with Italy, and with Spain. The latest achievement of the King is substantially an agreement between England, France, and Spain, expressed in an agreement between the English and the Spanish. It is reported that by the terms of the treaty with Spain, which is one of the fruits of the King's diplomacy and a very auspicious accompaniment of the recent marriage between the royal houses of England and Spain, Great Britain has secured for the first time a formal recognition by Spain of her right to the peninsula on which Gibraltar stands; while England, with the backing of her immense navy, substantially guarantees the Spanish possessions in the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean. The agreement between France and Japan recites that the two Governments are moved by a desire to strengthen the friendly relations now existing between them, and to avoid every future cause of misunderstanding; that they agree, therefore, to respect the independence and integrity of China, as well as the principle of equity, in the treatment of that country, for the commerce and subjects of all nations; that, having special interest in seeing order and peace guar anteed in the regions of the Chinese Empire in the vicinity of the territories over which they have sovereign rights of protection or occupation, they have mutually engaged to support each other in assuring the peace and security of these regions and in maintaining the situation and the territorial rights of the two contracting parties on the Asiatic continent. It is believed that a similar agreement will shortly be made between Japan and Russia. The feeling evidently exists in Germany that the result of these various agreements is the isolation of that country, but there is very little doubt that the conclusion of these various treaties means the removal of a number of possible causes of irritation, a thoroughly good understanding between a large group of Powers, and a condition extremely favorable to the continuation of

12

Do Immigrants Pay Extortionate Railway Fare?

There never was a better illustration of the need of our National Inter-State Commerce Commission, and equally of a Commissioner of Immigration eager to protect his poor and often ignorant wards, than was seen last week at the preliminary hearing before the Commission on the asserted wrongful and shameful discrimination against immigrants by the railways. The hearing was not completed, and it would not be fair to criticise the railways unreservedly before their case has been presented to the Commission in full at the postponed hearing. But it is not too soon to say that if the facts are as alleged by the Immigration Inspectors, and at least in part admitted by Mr. J. R. Wood, the General Passenger Traffic Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the need of stringent supervision and control by the central authority of the United States is so strong as to appeal both to one's sense of justice. and to one's human sympathy. It is alleged that seven of the leading railways of the country have united to charge immigrant passengers unjust and unreasonable rates, while at the same time the service given is extremely bad in every particular. Thus, it was admitted by Mr. Wood that within five years the cost of a ticket for an immigrant between New York and Philadelphia has been. raised from $1.75 to $2.25, while at the same time the ordinary first-class passenger's ticket has been reduced in price until it is now only $2.25-precisely what the immigrant pays. So also an immigrant bound for Atlantic City has to pay $3 for a single ticket, while an ordinary passenger can buy a round-trip ticket for $2.50. But this is only half of the story; for the immigrant's ticket is good for only two days, and he has immeasurably inferior accommodations. For instance, the seats are mere benches; there are no porters or brakemen to assist women and children in getting on or off; an immigrant cannot buy a sleeping-car ticket even if he wishes, to; the cars are crowded, so that often the

are poor lavatory accommodations and sometimes none; and the immigrants have to wait penned up like cattle in the stations, sometimes for ten or twelve hours. Much of this was admitted by Mr. Wood, while the actual condition of affairs was saliently brought out by the story of Inspector Cowan, of the Immigration Department, who journeyed from New York to Philadelphia in company with about three hundred and fifty immigrants. He described the floor of the room where they were penned in for four hours as covered with refuse and in a filthy condition, while there were only plain board seats without backs. There was no opportunity to obtain provisions during the four hours' wait, and when they were bundled in a seven-car train they found not enough seats, so that many of the passengers went to sleep on the floor. There was no lavatory, no wash-basin, and no water in the water-cooler. At Philadelphia the immigrants who had overcrowded the seven-car train 'were all jammed into a six-car train; and at this point Mr. Cowan felt that his experience had been all that he could stand. And for this kind of accommodation, if the charges made by Mr. Watchorn are correct, the great railways are charging as much as or more than they obtain from first-class passengers, occupying firstclass cars, and having liberal stop-over privileges and all provisions for comfort!

The Recount Bill

Governor Hughes has signed the Recount Bill, and it is now the law of New York State. He has accompanied this signature with a memorandum giving the reasons for his approval. They might be expressed in a single sentence thus: Special exigencies sometimes require special legislation, and such an exigency is produced by the uncertainty in which is involved the result of the municipal election of 1905. This exigency the Governor thus describes :

It is well known to all who are conversant with sentiment in the city of New York that there is widespread doubt as to the accuracy of the official canvass. The failure to resolve that doubt and to determine in a prompt and decisive manner, satisfactory to all fairminded citizens, the result of the election

has become a grave public scandal. The denial of all relief, either under the existing law or through appropriate legislation for the ascertainment of the fact whether the votes had been lawfully counted as cast, has brought our law into contempt and created a grievance shared by many thousands of our fellow-citizens who believe that a great wrong has been committed which it is the duty of those charged with the enactment of laws to repair.

The Governor holds that quo warranto proceedings do not afford adequate remedy, because they necessarily involve great delay. He concedes that the bill as signed puts the Mayor at disadvantage by requiring him to pay the cost of recount in any districts which he asks to have recounted, in case that recount shows that he was duly elected. But this injustice, he declares, is remedied by the supplementary bill which has already passed the Legislature. We regret that a careful reading of Governor Hughes's memorandum does not change the opinions which The Outlook has expressed respecting this recount bill. We regret this because this is almost the only executive action of Governor Hughes which we have not been able heartily to approve. Nor do we for a moment question the worthiness of his motives in urging this measure, though we differ from his judgment respecting the wisdom of setting a precedent which appears to us perilous. We shall be glad if he proves to be right in thinking that proceedings under this bill can be pressed to a more expeditious result than quo warranto proceedings. But as we go to press it is, on the one hand, officially announced that Mr. Hearst will call for a recount and a recanvass—that is, a judicial examination of all the ballots cast in all the districts, and it is unofficially reported that Mayor McClellan will resist such a recount and recanvass on the ground that the law is unconstitutional, and will, if necessary, carry the question of its unconstitutionality up to the Supreme Court of the United States. We do not doubt the purity of Mayor McClellan's motives in thus insisting, at very great expense, on what he believes to be the best interests of the city, against what he believes to be a danger ous experiment, but we think that such a protraction of proceedings under this

bill would be inexpedient, and that the advantages of having the measure declared unconstitutional, if this result should be secured, would not be suffi cient to counterbalance, the disadvantages if not years, to of keeping the question open for months, come. His protest

against this bill has been dignified and strong, and now that it has been overruled he would be wise to accept the result without further contest. The chief good result which we look for from this agitation is the possible impetus which it may give to a very much needed reform of the ballot and election laws in this State.

A Popular Uprising

western

Two million consumers of natural gas in the cities, boroughs, and villages of Pennsylvania are aroused against the monopoly of light, heat, power, water, and traction facilities main-' tained by the Philadelphia Company. This corporation, which has a history of "bold financiering," exercises privileges by virtue of an extraordinary charter. It owns nearly all of the gas-mains in Pittsburg and western Pennsylvania, nearly all of the electric light plants, every street railway in Pittsburg and Allegheny, and nearly every street railway line in western Pennsylvania. Outside of the city it controls water companies and electric plants. The charter, which was granted under the old State Constitution, is of the blanket variety; it allows the Philadelphia Company to do practically anything it wants; to enter any line of business, manufacture any article, and sell anything. The Company used to be owned locally, but recently the United Railways of San Francisco took over practically all of the stock. This fact has increased the exasperation of the people against what they regard as its exorbitant charges and its arbitrary course. Against this Company a storm has been brewing for years; but when recently letter-carriers handed into eighty-eight thousand homes thin slips of paper bearing a brief announcement from the Company that after June 20 the price of natural gas would be thirty cents instead of twenty-five cents a

to invoke the sovereignty of the State in an attack upon the Company's charter. This fight is not without meaning for the Republican State organization. Its dilemma seems to be either to affront the people of western Pennsylvania, or to strengthen the leadership of Mayor Guthrie, who might be a powerful Democratic candidate for the Governorship.

thousand cubic feet, the storm broke out with full force. This increase of five cents will net in Pittsburg alone, as indicated by the Company's annual statement, $1,750,000 profit. In that city a majority of the industries are operated by natural gas, and not one in a hundred dwellings has any other fuel or illuminant. Outside of Pittsburg the use of natural gas is as general as within the city. It costs no more to sell the product now than it did several years ago, when the price was fifteen and twenty cents; even now it is sold by the Company in West Virginia, which requires as much pipe line as Pittsburg, at fourteen cents. The Company has many streetcar ventures; and losses it has incurred from these it is, in the opinion of Mayor Guthrie, trying to offset by raising the price of gas. Moreover, the Company, because it can thus make more profit, is making discrimination in favor of manufactured gas and electricity. Thus, it refuses to make contracts for the use of natural gas with incandescent mantles. Though the courts have ruled that the Company cannot say what use a man shall make of the gas after it has passed the curb line into his house, the Company evades the ruling by threatening to shut off the gas. The Company has refused to build the needed extensions of the street-car lines without free and untaxed franchises in perpetuity; it has refused to observe the clauses in its franchises requiring it to keep the streets clean between the car tracks. It has failed to provide all the needed and promised additional cars; it has ignored the proposal to abolish the car line loops; it has failed to pay its increased license for its cars; it has declined to establish the system of "grounds" that will save the city water-mains from electrolysis due to the electric conduits of the Company. In the fight against the practices of this Company the leader is the Mayor of Pittsburg, George F. Guthrie. Associated with this Democratic Mayor are the Republican Mayor of Allegheny, Charles F. Kirshler, Mayor Coleman, of McKeesport, and committees from city councils, boroughs, and business organizations. Together these officials and delegates have petitioned Governor Stuart

College festivities have filled much space in the reports of the newspapers during the past week. At Smith College the Senior class presented "Much Ado About Nothing," with the admirable scenic background and exceptionally good acting which for years past have characterized these dramatic presentations.The Commencement address at Mount Holyoke College was delivered by Miss Jane Addams, of Hull House, Chicago.- -Dr. Wheeler has declined the invitation to become President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and remains at his post in Berkeley, where he is rendering admirable service. in broadening the field of work and of influence of the University of California.- -At the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, the resignation of Superintendent General Scott Shipp, after a service of seventeen years, was accepted, and Colonel Edward W. Nichols, Professor of Mathematics and Economics in the Institute, was appointed temporary Superintendient. Speaking in New York City at the Commencement of the College of St. Francis Xavier, Archbishop Farley commented on the large number of graduates of Catholic colleges who did not send their sons to the schools to whose training they owed their success; and the Rev. Dr. Brann called attention to the fact that the poor built and supported Catholic parochial schools, and as yet no man of wealth in the metropolis has built and endowed such a school.-Lafayette College, at Easton, Pennsylvania, celebrated its seventy-fifth year by addresses from Professor Münsterberg, of Harvard, Professor Cattell, of Columbia, and Professor Owen, of Lafayette.of Lafayette.At Brown University the address before the Phi Beta Kappa