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LYMAN ABBOTT, Editor-in-Chief. HAMILTON W. MABIE, Associate Editor

THEODORE ROOSEVELT Public Libra

Contributing Editor

MR.

ROOSEVELT'S

SORBONNE LECTURE

The address on "Citizenship in a Republic," printed in full in The Outlook last week, was received by the press of Paris with comment showing plainly that the impression made by the speaker was one of sincerity and force. Thus the "Temps," to quote one such expression only, says that the effect produced was all the greater because Mr. Roosevelt did not present theories that he conceived, but experiences that he lived. The " Temps " finds many lessons for France in the lecture, and concludes with an appeal to France to take "the advice of an honest man whose deeds and life during thirty years qualify him to speak." An account of the occasion received from The Outlook's staff correspondent may be added as a pen-picture of a noteworthy occasion : "The Sorbonne address was a complete success. The occasion was great, the oratory great, great also was the evidence of the power of moral ideas to interest and inspire. The spacious amphitheater of the Sorbonne was filled with a representative audience numbering three thousand, while many hundreds were unable to get admission. Around the hall were statues of the great masters of French intellectual life-Pascal, Descartes, Lavoisier, and others. On the wall was a beautiful mural painting by Puvis de Chavannes. The group of university officials and Academicians on the dais from which Roosevelt spoke gave an appropriate university atmosphere. The single but perfectly arranged decoration, the French and American flags back of the speaker, gave an international atmosphere. The speech was an appeal for moral rather than for intellectual greatness. It was received with absorbed interest and

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marked approval; the passage ending with a reference to 'cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat' was delivered with real eloquence and aroused a long-continued storm of applause. Occasionally an extemporaneous sentence in French was interjected by Mr. Roosevelt with quizzical and bubbling humor, to the great satisfaction of his audience. His creed as to vested interests was not in the printed address, but was written the very morning of the lecture. It was enthusiastically approved. It was as follows:

My position as regards the moneyed interests can be put in a few words, In every civilized society property rights must be carefully safeguarded; ordinarily, and in the great majority of cases, human rights and property rights are fundamentally and in the long run identical; but when it clearly appears that there is a real conflict between them, human rights must have the upper hand, for property belongs to man and not man to property.' This he gave first in English and then repeated in French. With characteristic courage, Mr. Roosevelt attacked race suicide when speaking to a race whose population is diminishing, and he was loudly applauded. I am more and more impressed with the fact that Theodore Roosevelt is everywhere recognized as a great leader of international influence in practical social and political morality."

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the Lords, true to their pledge, accepted the verdict of the general election without appreciable protest. The Budget had passed the Commons the night before by practically the same majority that had adopted Mr. Asquith's veto resolutions about one hundred votes. Parliament has now adjourned for the spring recess of four weeks. When it reassembles, the Lords will take up the consideration of the Asquith resolutions, which aim to shear them of much of their power. What they will do with them is hardly a matter of conjecture, and their refusal to accept them will almost certainly precipitate another election. So far prediction is nearly safe. Beyond that point lies a crisis. which may add a new and perhaps revolutionary chapter to the constitutional history of England.

A PURSUIT RACE IN THE AIR

An exciting contest in the air took place last week in England. Louis Paulhan, a French aviator, flew in his aeroplane from London to Manchester, a distance of one hundred and eighty-five miles, with only one stop. His rival, Graham White, an Englishman, left London an hour later than Paulhan, and succeeded in getting only within sixty miles of Manchester. The aviators were trying to win the prize of $50,000 offered by the London 66 Daily Mail" for the first flight from London to Manchester with not more than two stops. Mr. White had already made one unsuccessful attempt several days before, and when M. Paulhan suddenly came over from France to compete with him public interest and excitement rose high. The French aviator stole a march on his British rival. He started on his flight at half-past five Wednesday afternoon, when White had gone to bed after hours of exhausting work in getting his machine ready for the flight which he expected both would attempt the next day. White was immediately informed of Paulhan's start, and pluckily set out after him with the least possible delay. Paulhan flew one hundred and seventeen miles that night, coming down near Lichfield, sixty-eight miles from Manchester, shortly after eight o'clock. White alighted at Northampton, sixty miles from London, a few minutes earlier.

Both aviators were compelled by darkness and cold to come down for the night; but both were under way again at a very early hour, White starting just before three and Paulhan about four o'clock. The victor reached his destination at 5:30, while White came to earth again at four o'clock on account of trouble with his motor. The result of the contest breaks no records for continuous flight, for M. Paulhan had already flown one hundred and thirty miles, from Orléans to Arcis-sur-l'Aube, in France, without landing. But it is only one more illustration of the steady progress which is being made in the conquest of the air. Aeroplanes are becoming more and more efficient and dependable every day, and every day aviators are learning better how to use them. Flights, even with one or two passengers, are becoming matters of common Occurrence. Flying is already a recognized sport. The next step, adapting it to usefulness, may come before we know it.

THE FRENCH ELECTIONS

Last week occurred the French elections for members of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the French Parliament. While the elections leave the political parties practically in the same position as they were in the old Chamber, the result is considered a strong indorsement for the two principal measures expected to be passed by the new Parlia ment.

The first is a measure of electoral reform whereby the basis of voting is changed from small districts to cover entire departments. For thirty years the vote by district has been in vogue. By removing the deputy from local influence the new electoral system will raise the level of representation. Unmoved, therefore, by petty interests, future parliaments may be able better to govern the country and to prepare the long-advocated reforms planned by those who would give a decentralized system of administration to France, one more in harmony with our times, replacing the obsolete framework devised for a different epoch and different conditions. That this was realized by the late Chamber of Deputies is evident from its vote of over two to one for the proposed electoral reform. In other words, the old electoral

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system could no longer afford free play for the country's present aspirations. The second proposed piece of legislation is the income tax. For sixty years it has been in the radical platforms. Since 1848 no less than seventy bills outlining an income tax have been introduced. A year ago the Chamber of Deputies passed an income tax bill, but the Senate has not yet ratified it. To win that ratification will be one of the new Parliament's principal labors.

As both of these measures have already taken firm root in the old Chamber of Deputies, the new Chamber may be considered as in large measure a continuation of the old. Not only in legislation will it be a continuation, but probably also in its attitude toward the Cabinet. The late Parliament was less wasteful of Ministries than some have been. During its tenure three Prime Ministers were sufficient to govern France-M. Sarrien, M. Clemenceau, and M. Briand. Indeed, we might almost say that France had but one Ministry during the late Parliament, for M. Clemenceau was the Minister of the Interior in the Sarrien Cabinet, and M. Briand Minister of Justice in the Clemenceau Cabinet. The Briand policy was impressively approved in last week's election. It appears that the premiership has not left this particular political family.

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do not like the Administration's position on the question of universal suffrage. Yet it is difficult to carry through the broad suffrage demanded by the Socialists and other radicals. At present the Chamber of Deputies is elected by a vote of male citizens over twenty years of age who pay a small tax on property or on income. Certain professional, scientific, and learned classes are entitled to vote without other qualifications. The Hungarian electorate consists of about one-fourth of the male population over twenty years of age. Of course this is not a one-man, one-vote system, and that is what many want. With this, they contend, they would have not only a more democratic government, but also one racially more equitable. The Magyars, or Huns, only very slightly exceed half of the population. The remaining peoples are Germans, Rumanians, Ruthenians, Croatians, Slovaks, and Servians. Under the present system the nonMagyar races maintain that they have not the opportunity for proper development because the Magyars hold most of the property and therefore command a disproportionate influence through the suffrage. Count Apponyi, late Hungarian Minister of Education, who, at his castle near Pressburg, entertained Mr. Roosevelt, acknowledges that "the non-Magyars have not been conquered by Magyarization.' The question now is, Will they be conquered by a greater democratization?

BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON

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Norway loved Björnson not only as poet, playwriter, and story-teller, but also as a devoted patriot. When, some years ago, it was reported that he was weary of political turmoil and intended henceforth to live in Germany, he wrote a disclaimer of such an intention, and in it said: "I shall live right here in Norway—I shall thrash and be thrashed in Norway-I shall win and die in Norwayof this you can be sure." Personally, he has been described as a man of powerful frame, of overflowing physical life, and of intense energy of mind and feeling ;. and a writer in The Outlook a few years ago further characterized his personality and methods by saying: "He is a dynamic worker in every department of life, a born

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