not displace the system of independent banks;" or, as a more doubtful remedy for the circulation in the country districts, the exemption of the Federal banks from the ten per cent. tax on circulation. Finally, they urge all friends of reform "to sink individual preferences as to details, and insist that Congress shall enact such legislation as it may be possible to agree upon." We wish that the committee had definitely proposed some spe cific acts of legislation on which its members believe agreement could be secured. We fear that this report in the form presented is too tentative and too little dogmatic to be of practical effect in securing specific results in legislation.

Money in New Hampshire Politics

Senator Chandler's con

tinued advocacy of bimetallism against the dominant sentiment of New Hampshire Republicans has developed a serious conflict between himself and the machine of which he was formerly esteemed the chief engineer. Senator Gallinger, the present head of the Republican State Committee, not long ago avowed his general opposition to Senator Chandler; and Senator Chandler has taken up the gauntlet by publishing two letters in the Manchester "Union" upon the money power in New Hampshire politics. In his first paper Mr. Chandler recalled that, in 1852, when Franklin Pierce, a citizen of New Hampshire, was elected President, the fund raised amounted to only a few hundred dollars, and nearly all of it was contributed in five-dollar subscriptions. In 1860, when the Republican Wideawake Clubs made such a vigorous campaign, every member paid for his own uniform and his own expenses in going from place to place. Practically this state of things continued until 1882, when candidates, and railroads back of candidates, began to make heavy contributions. These contributions, enslaving the parties receiving them, have continued from that time till this, though, as a rule, the amounts raised have not been large unless the Republican party was thought to be in danger. Last year, however, says Senator Chandler, when Senator Gallinger was at the head of the State Committee, a fund was raised amounting to more than one dollar for every voter in the State, though there was no danger whatever of Democratic victory. Nearly all this money, he says, was collected from the Boston and Maine Railroad

and from a few rich men, who thereby held a mortgage upon every candidate they helped to elect. The raising of this fund, he says, did not have for its object the preservation of Republican ascendency, since that was not in danger; its only object, he alleges, was to secure the ascendency in the Republican party of the men and the corporations who contributed and handled the funds. Regarding the outcome he speaks as follows:

In the coming Legislature the Manchester and Milford Railroad Bill is to be defeated; so are all bills for electric railroads; so is the bill to

disentangle the Supreme Court from railroad contests; any bill effectually prohibiting free passes; the bill for electing Railroad Commissioners by the people and making them the people's agents instead of the agents of the great railroad; and, moreover, the bill preventing fraud and bribery in party caucuses. To accomplish these objects, the great railroad has already furnished its money and the Chairman has distributed the funds in order to control the Representatives and Senators.

Senator Morrill's Death

In recording the death of Justin S. Morrill, "the Father of the Senate," it is natural to lay emphasis on the great length of his political service; it is eminently true, however, that this service was noteworthy for its quality and patriotic spirit as well as for its duration. Senator Morrill had served in the Congress of the United States in all for forty-three years; from 1855 to 1867 he sat in the House of Representatives as a member from Vermont, first as a Whig and then as a Republican; in 1867 he was chosen to succeed Senator Poland in the upper branch of Congress, and was from that time on re-elected as each Senatorial term expired, one may say almost without opposition; his latest reelection was in 1896. It cannot be doubted that, in an unusually thorough and complete sense, he represented the State of Vermont during all this period. Senator Morrill's name will perhaps be most closely connected in legislation with the Morrill Tariff Bill of 1861; from his earliest political record until his death Mr. Morrill was a consistent and sincere protectionist of the thoroughgoing and now rather old-fashioned type, caring little for theories of reciprocity or compromise, but standing firmly on the basic idea of encouraging American manufactures by discouraging importation; it is true, however, that the bill which bears his name was not in all points as radical or far-reaching as some other bills which have been passed.

Apart from his record on the tariff question, Senator Morrill had to do with much important legislation. It is to him that the country owes the National support of agricultural colleges, and the application of part of the proceeds of the sale of public lands for educational purposes. To Mr. Morrill also, largely, was due the construction of the new and splendid Congressional Library; and he had much at heart a somewhat similar plan, namely, that for the erection of a special and worthy building for the use of the United States Supreme Court. It is to be hoped that this latter plan will sooner or later take form; and the building might well be in a way a memorial of the statesman himself. Senator Morrill was a party man in the better sense of the word; but he never allowed his adherence to the Republican party to prevent the forming of an independent judgment on matters of public concern. This was seen most notably in his steadfast opposition to the annexation of Hawaii; and it has been generally understood that he was with equal earnestness, and for the same reasons, opposed to anything like permanent ownership of the Philippines. It is quite superfluous to say that Senator Morrill's character as a private citizen and as a statesman was absolutely without blemish; in a career of public usefulness which has rarely been matched in this country as to length and conscientious effort, not only did no breath of scandal ever for a moment attach itself to his name, but the possibility of such a thing would seem preposterous to any one having the slightest knowledge of the

man.

The official count in The Dispensary System South Dakota shows Gaining Ground that the constitutional amendment providing for a dispensary system was adopted by a majority of 1,613 votes. The total vote polled upon it was light; and it is possible that its opponents may yet prevent a trial of the new system by petitioning for a referendum vote upon any law passed to carry the amendment into effect. The newly adopted clause reads as follows: "The manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors shall be under exclusive State control, and shall be conducted by duly authorized agents of the State, who shall be paid by salary and not by commission." Some of its critics insist that this wording requires the State to

manufacture all the liquor which it sells; and if the courts uphold this construction, it will be necessary for the State-which now has prohibition-to build distilleries and breweries before a dispensary can be opened. The construction, however, seems unnatural, as the obvious intent of the amendment was merely to prevent the private manufacture or sale of liquor within the State. This victory in South Dakota, furthermore, according to the New York "Sun," is not the only gain which the dispensary system has recently made. In Georgia, where the plan was first tried in the college town of Athens, it has been adopted in a score of towns and counties. In Alabama also it is gaining a foothold, two counties having a dispensary bill pending in the Legislature.

in South Carolina

The greatest gain it The Dispensary System has made, however, is in South Carolina. As our readers will recall, the dispensary law first encountered violent resistance from the liquor-dealers and their sympathizers in some of the cities; and when Governor Tillman put down the disorders and reduced the illicit traffic to a minimum unknown in any other State, a Federal judge (Judge Simonton) restored the "blind tigers" by enjoining State officials from preventing the sale of liquor in " original packages "imported from other States. This decision was based upon the astonishing doctrine that the dispensary law was not passed under the police powers of the State. Judge Simonton for months almost nu!lified the State law by permitting liquor-dealers to import car-loads of loose packages of liquor, some of them containing only a half-pint. His decision did not, however, keep the State officers from watching where these original packages were sold, and arresting dealers who allowed the contents of the packages to be drunk on the premises. In this way the law was kept half alive until last March, when Judge Simonton's decision finally reached the Supreme Court, and his usurped protectorate over the liquor traffic was brought to an end. "At the present time,” says the article in the “Sun,” “ there is not an original-package shop in the State, there are comparatively few blind tigers, the dispensary system has more friends than it ever had before, and a declare that it has come to stay. All efforts against it now look, not to more whisky, but to prohibition." All the

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liquor furnished to the million and more people of the State is bought at one of the ninety-five dispensaries, and even there cannot be drunk on the premises. Citizens can still drink what they want in their own homes, but tippling, treating, and loafing-places are practically things of the past.

Commissioners

Lose Heart

The Rapid Transit ComThe Rapid Transit mission of New York City seems at last to have given up hope that the powers that be in New York City politics will permit it to execute the order of the people to construct a municipal rapid-transit system. It will be recalled that the work of the Commission was at first blocked by a decision of the courts that the route planned would cost more than $50,000,000 and cause the city to exceed its constitutional debt. When the Commission modified its plan so that the estimated cost came far within the limit set, and the plan received the assent of the court, the work was blocked again by the astonishing estimate of the new Tam many administration that the cost of every public work which the city had contracted to do in the future was already a part of the city's indebtedness. The Commission denied the justice of this estimate, and also called public attention to the fact that New York County had no indebtedness, and might under the Constitution issue bonds sufficient to construct the railway system. But, strong as the Commission's position was in the eyes of the general public, and mandatory as were its orders from the people, it has found that the hostility of the Tammany machine to municipal construction involved perpetual impediments. It will be recalled that in the campaign in which Mr. Van Wyck was elected over Mr. Low and Mr. Tracy, Tammany Hall, with hardly any men of wealth among its avowed supporters, seemed to have the largest campaign fund of all the factions. No sooner was Mr. Van Wyck installed than the hostility of his administration to the work of the Rapid Transit Commission seemed to point pretty definitely to the source of these campaign funds. These indications have simply multiplied as time has gone on. A few weeks ago Mr. Croker announced that the administration would support a rapidtransit system built by private capital. Since then it has been reported that the Metropolitan Street Railway system was willing to

construct an underground railway to be run in connection with its surface lines. Everything seems now to be moving toward that outcome. Last week the Rapid Transit Commission appointed Comptroller Coler and one of its old members, Mr. Reeves, a committee to draft a memorial to the Legislature explaining the present situation and outlining the best and quickest way of obtaining the money necessary to build the tunnel. The Comptroller has definitely announced that he will not recede from his opposition to the issuance of public bonds. If, therefore, this committee is to come to an agreement, it must be on the basis that the public, instead of paying three per cent. directly upon the bonds actually required for the construction of the underground system, shall for an indefinite period pay something like five per cent. upon all the bonds and stocks at which a private corporation can capitalize the enterprise. Under the circumstances we can hardly criticise the Commission; but the attitude of the city government, in its flagrant violation of the will of the people in order to promote the interests of a corporation, forces every one to question the supremacy of democracy.

New York School Report

The most significant point in the first report of the New York Board of Education since the consolidation is that the buying of school sites and the building and enlarging of schoolhouses do not keep pace with the demands of the children of school age, in spite of the liberal expenditures of the past three years and the far-sighted plans of a most intelligent Board of Education, whose plans have been defeated. This report clearly indicates what could be accomplished in the city of New York by sympathetic co-operation of the Department of Education and the city government in the educational interests of the great metropolis. The report reveals the lack of uniformity in the methods, both business and educational, in the five boroughs. The uniformity lies in the need for more school-houses, more teachers the eligible supply is not equal to the demand-increase of salaries, more money for the kindergartens, manual training and night schools, and a free use of the buildings and grounds outside of school hours. The report shows progress in every direction, and indirectly reveals an increasing knowledge of the whole depart

ment of education on the part of the people. The future is promising because of past progress and the wrenching of the schools from political control at least enough to arouse public feeling against their connection.

A Great Railway

in Africa

The recent brilliant military successes of the English in Africa are overshadowed by the magnitude and importance of their colonizing and commercial activities. England is not only to have a highway from Cairo to the Cape of Good Hope, but she is also to have a great railroad system-one of the most magnificent in its extent and its possibilities yet devised. The success at Omdurman has removed many obstacles which stood in the way of the completion of the northern end of the line, and the work on the Tanganyika division is being pushed with great energy. Within the next decade the completion of the road may be looked for. This road will be only the main line of a great system which will ramify into all parts of the Dark Continent. When it is completed, this road will represent skill and daring on their highest levels of practical achievement; for it is to pierce mountain-ranges and penetrate dense and deadly swamps. Nearly 250 miles of the road have already been built from Mombasa through a desolate country.

After the Treaty, What?

There is very little doubt that the treaty with Spain will be ratified. It is hardly possible that any amendments will be made, since an amendment would involve reopening negotiations with Spain. It is conceivable that the Cortes may refuse to ratify, but it is not conceivable that Spain should attempt to recover by war what she has reluctantly abandoned by executive act, so that the only practical effect of such a refusal by the Cortes would be to relieve us of the obligation of paying her the $20,000,000 promised. It is probable that the Cortes will be wise enough to see this, and, after some protest, will accept the terms which the Spanish Commissioners have so reluctantly conceded. What next?

This treaty will clearly make us responsible for law and order in the Philippines; and the responsibility for Cuba will be as clear, though not as distinctly avowed. The treaty, when ratified, will be our public and solemn recognition, before all the world, of obliga

tions which we tacitly assumed when we undertook to destroy Spanish authority in Cuba and at Manila. The moment we destroyed the existing government in the islands under Spanish rule, we became morally bound to provide the inhabitants with a government at least as good; by this treaty we recognize this obligation to them and to the world. Whether they add to our trade or not, they add to our duties-duties from which there is no escape except by a faithful and efficient performance of them.

It must be pretty clear, by this time, to all who dare look the facts fairly in the face, that this duty cannot be performed by simply leaving the government to the people of the islands. We cannot call them together in a general election, based on universal suffrage, and ask them to frame their own constitution, organize their own government, elect their own officers, and proceed to administer their own affairs. It would be quite unreasonable to suppose that centuries of Spanish misrule would fit a people for so difficult a task. The experience of the Spanish-American Republics, and our own experience with the negro race, furnish adequate demonstration of the total inadequacy of such a method. Even if the people were both intelligent and homogeneous, the difficulties would be great; but they are neither. They have been without schools, and without that schooling which independence gives. They are divided by race lines into classes bitterly hostile to one another. The riotings in Havana during these last two weeks, while Spanish rule has been weakening and American rule not yet established, indicate what a reign of terror would be initiated if all external authority were at once withdrawn from Cuba. Reports from the Philippines must be received with caution; but it may at least be assumed as true that the Filipinos are divided into factions and are quite unable to agree on any common policy, that the foreign residents in Manila would have no security under any government which the Filipinos are at present able to establish, and that the Spanish prisoners in the camp of the Filipinos are being held as hostages in order to secure either a cash ransom or political concessions. It is clear, under these circumstances, that America, after the treaty with Spain has been signed, cannot, if she would, escape the responsibility for protecting life and property in Manila, preventing, if possible, any peril to the Span. ish prisoners in the hands of our late allies,

and generally securing in both Cuba and the Philippines a substantial government where hitherto the community has had to choose between despotism and anarchy.

It is of the first importance that this point of view of National honor, involved in the manner in which we fulfill our new National obligations, should be recognized by the press and the pulpit and be by them urged upon the people. For in America public men necessarily reflect public opinion; and whether our administration of government in Cuba, Porto Rico, or the Philippines is one of plunder or of justice will depend upon the question whether in the Nation the greed of the few is given a free rein by the indifference of the many, or whether the conscience of the Nation is aroused and takes control of our foreign policy. If it is to be aroused, the press and the pulpit have a serious work before them.

The first thing for this conscience to demand is a pure, capable, and trained civil service for foreign administration. The counsel of Jethro to Moses is the counsel which America should give to its executive department: "Thou shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such to be rulers." America has plenty of men who answer this description. From them President McKinley appears to be making his selections for Cuba and Porto Rico. But the pressure for place will soon become very strong. This pressure will come from the people, and from the people must come the pressure which alone makes resistance to the spoilsmen possible. It is now difficult to get able and honest men in our home civil service. So many of a very different type have been pressed into this service that the term politician, which should be one of honor, has become one of reproach. The financial rewards are not large; promotion for efficient service is rare; instead of honors are dishonors. Young men train themselves for a mercantile, a legal, a medical, a ministerial career, but not for a governmental career, not only because they cannot be sure of permanence of tenure, but because they are sure that their tenure will be dependent on the chances of politics-and there are few games in which chance plays so large a part. The same causes which have produced corruption in our home civil service will produce it in our foreign service, if they are allowed to operate. If once admitted into that service,

their subsequent exclusion will be a matter of the greatest difficulty. No person should sign a petition for the appointment of any man to public service unless such person would be willing to assume the responsibility for the appointment if he had the power to make it. Every man should resist in his own locality the attempt to use the government service, by means of such petitions, for the lame, the halt, and the blind.

Nor is it enough to be innocent of officeseeking for one's self or for others. More is demanded. Political indifference is responsible for a larger proportion of America's political sins than is any other culprit. One may argue with some degree of plausibility in New York City that, if he prefers to suffer the evils of a bad government rather than assume the burdens involved in making it a good one, he may do so-the argument is not sound, but it is sufficiently specious, unfortunately, to satisfy, or at least to pacify, a good many sleepy consciences. But no American who has any conscience, or, indeed, any sense of National honor, will argue that it is none of his business how the Nation, of which he is a part, treats a dependent people. Whoever by his lazy indifference contributes to the continuance of Spanish methods in the Spanish colonies, after they have passed under the American flag, will be particeps criminis. It was not the Spanish people, it was the Spanish officeholders who robbed the Cubans and the Filipinos. Spain is no richer because her colonies were plundered; but the world holds Spain responsible; and the world is right. To abet a thief and not even share in his plunder is a folly as well as a crime.

We do not believe that government in either Cuba or the Philippines is to be permanently administered by Americans. We do not believe that it is, even in these first few months of occupation, to be exclusively administered by Americans. How the cooperation of the natives can be secured in a joint administration, and how thus gradually a system of true self-government can be developed, are questions we may recur to hereafter. Here we lay stress on the one phase which ever since the forerunners of war sounded the alarm last spring we have been emphasizing in successive issues of The Outlook: our National problem is not, How can we escape National responsibilities?that is cowardice; nor, How can we use other communities to build up our own?-that is