The Review of Reviews

In addition to these resolutions, the Council expressed the wish, that in order that the evils of alcoholism might be diminished, the following public action might be authorised:

1. That an increased duty be placed on the production of alcohol in France, and stricter measures taken to guarantee the quality of such alcohol as is produced.

2. That the taxes which in any way affect wine, cider, beer, tea, coffee, and sugar, be reduced as much as possible.

3. That the license fees of saloons be increased.

4. That licenses be granted in the future only under stated conditions (according to the number of population, etc.).

5. That the sale of spirituous liquors be prohibited within the prisons, and that the quality of spirituous liquors sold in the military taverns of the state and municipality be submitted to a special supervision.

6. That a more rigorous application of the laws against drunkenness be insisted upon.

7. That the total abstinence societies and liquor organisations continue and assist a healthy reform commenced by these asylums.

8. That the establishment of restaurants and eating-houses for total abstainers may complete this group of curative means to resist alcoholism.

THE HOME SALON.

The Homiletic Review for September publishes an account of the successful effort which has been made by Bishop Fallows in Chicago to supply counter-attractions to the public-house by opening a Home Salon:

In a basement at 155, Washington Street, Chicago, in the midst of a row of exceedingly dingy beer saloons, and surrounded by nearly a thousand more of similar character, has been established this first experiment. It aims to reproduce all the regulation features of the grog shop with the single important exception of the intoxicating liquor. There is a long, highly-polished bar of the regulation pattern, backed by mirrors and an array of cut glass. At one end is a refrigerator with rows of bottles visible within. Back of the bar hang the portraits of the venerable Neal Dow and Miss Frances E. Willard. In connection with the bar is that peculiar Chicago institution, the cafe-tira, which is a lunch counter, wherefrom the customer helps himself. The bill of fare consists of roast beef, roast pork, pork and beans, baked whitefish, codfish, cakes, Frankfurter sausages, and beef sandwiches. A plate of any one costs 10 cents. For 15 cents one can have chicken or lobster salad. The customer helps himself to these, and the necessary knife, fork, spoon, condiments, bread, and butter. With this lunch the customer obtains free any one of a long list of temperance drinks, the chief of which is 'bishop's beer." This pet invention of Bishop Fallows has all the appearance and nearly the taste of lager, but it does not contain a drop of alcohol. One of the most responsible firms of Chicago manufactures it under contract, guaranteeing its purity in every particular. It contains the best elements of the malt and hops. It is estimated that 800 people daily patronize this "Home Salon." One strong evidence of its value is that the liquor interest has done its best to injure the movement. But the Salon is prosperous, and others will be opened soon which can be made to pay a handsome dividend on the capital invested.

THE EXPERIENCE OF NEW ENGLAND.

In the New England Magazine for September there is an article describing the results of a policy of no-license which has been adopted in Cambridge. says:The writer

The no-license policy has not ushered in the millennium; it has not put an end to drunkenness; it has not abolished the liquor traffic altogether. But it has made the streets safer, quieter and cleaner; it has removed allurements from the young, and pitfalls from the path of the weak and tempted; and it is easier to do right and harder to do wrong by reason of it.

361

Another article in the same magazine gives a very curious account of the rum-drinking proclivities of the descendants of the Puritan fathers :

"In early times," says the historian of Wallingford, Connecticut, "rum was largely consumed. A half pint was given to every day labourer. In all families, rich or poor, it was offered to male visitors as an essential part of hospitality, or even good manners. 'Hopkins's Elixir,' which was the most delicious and seductive Women took their schnapps, then called means of getting tipsy that had been invented. Crying babies were silenced with hot toddy, then esteemed an infallible remedy for wind in the stomach. Every man imbibed his morning dram; and this was regarded as temperance.

It was not until the beginning of this century that temperance in the form of total abstinence began to be I considered as a virtue even among the strictest of the Puritans.

III. THE RE-SETTLEMENT OF ENGLAND.

THE question of the Unemployed is inseparably bound up with the Re-settlement of England. I had hoped to have published a survey at some length of the various efforts which are being made in different parts of the country for the purposes of bringing the people back to the land, and promoting the colonisation of England. Space and time, however, have necessitated the postponement of this manual, but meanwhile it would be well if Mr. H. W. Wolff could arrange some method by which all those who are most interested in the subject could be brought together to advise a practical scheme for giving effect to that co-operation in agriculture which he describes so well in his article in the Contemporary Review, of which the following is the substance:

CO-OPERATION IN AGRICULTURE.

After alluding in passing to the various nostrums that have been put forward as the one hope of salvation for the farmer, he sets to work to show from European experience that the best hope of our improvement is by letting small owners cultivate their own land, availing themselves of co-operation in order to promote their common interests. He says that the great agricultural countries of the Continent are all alive with agricultural co-operation, and are daily extending their connections. It is barely twelve years since the French Agricultural Syndicate was founded. There are now over a thousand such societies. These syndicates have compelled the manufacturers of manures to reduce their prices by from 2,000,000 to 6,000,000 sterling. forty to fifty per cent., and have increased the annual expenditure on manures and feeding stuffs from

are re-modelling their

are

Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have organised
exactly the same thing on their own national lines
with the same results, and even now Roumania and
Servia
the same principle. Hence, Mr. Wolff declares the
own agriculture on
banker was quite right who said that what we
suffering from is not so much a depression of agriculture,
as a depression of brains. If every county in England
had its own agricultural co-operative association it would
buy all the manures, feeding stuffs and other articles in
large quantities at wholesale prices under conditions that
would guarantee the quality.
this done in England, because such co-operative dealing
It is impossible to get
enforces cash dealing, and farmers doing business on a
credit system are precluded from availing themselves of
what they could otherwise enjoy. But, as Mr. Wolff
proceeds to point out, the co-operative bank supplies the

very element that is needed by enabling each of the
members of the association to enjoy all the advantages of
co-operative credit.

Then, again, the association would arrange for cooperative threshing-machines, steam-ploughs, and other machinery. And again, they could co-operate in preparing their produce for the market. The wine-growers of the Rhine and Transylvania get twice as much wine out of their grapes by co-operative pressing as when they press them separately. We do not make wine in England,

but we could imitate our neighbours in the making of cider and the co-operative selling of hops. Co-operative dairies and co-operative cheese factories are also indispensable. Co-operative dairies in France and Germany have raised the selling price from 30 to 35 per cent.

Again, the collection of the goods and the conveying of them from the farmer to the market is another branch of co-operation which enables the Danes to flood our country with eggs and the French to deluge us with their fruit. The co-operative syndicate of Nantes sold 1,400,000 pears and 1,092,000,000 bunches of radishes in England in 1893.

In Holland and in France the agricultural syndicates maintain co-operative butcheries, and they also render invaluable service by the way of enabling small holders to have the best pedigreed stock for breeding purposes.

German co-operative associations maintain their own lawyer, who gives gratuitous advice to all members, and when he advises that proceedings should be taken the association pays from half to two-thirds of the cost.

In conclusion, Mr. Wolff tells of the starting of a little farm in Kent which the Co-operative Society has taken and cultivated in order to supply its stores with produce.

IV. THE NATIONALISATION OF RAILWAYS.

THE United Kingdom is but a small country, but it is none the less true that even in England the prosperity of agriculture depends upon the facility and cheapness of railway accommodation. The Light Railways Act is a recognition on the part of the legislature that something must be done in that direction. At the next session it is to be hoped that the interdict will be taken off the carriages driven on the high road by mechanical traction, but when all that is done, it is probable that any serious attempt to deal with the agricultural question will leave us face to face with the much larger question of the nationalisation of railways. In this, as in many other things, Mr. Chamberlain is the one hope of the reformer. Without committing myself definitely to all that the National League claims, there is every reason to believe that the arguments of the following letter which I have received from Mr. William Wilson, the treasurer of that association, will command more and more attention, as the agricultural question comes to be more closely looked into.

The immense advantages that would accrue to the nation from the State acquiring the railways and working them, are so many, that I can only briefly mention a few, which will prove that in its far-reaching benefits, railway nationalisation will excel the penny post, and ought therefore to be put on the foreground of all social legislation. and hence exclusive, and as Continental State Railways give Our railways are dear cheaper facilities for transit the foreigner undersells us in our own markets. Their lines are worked for the public at lowest cost while ours are worked in the interest of dividends with ill success, the average dividends being about 3 per cent., while £50,000,000 of railway stock pay nil. In the United States, which shares with us in the Monopolistic Company system, As are as bad or worse, and £562,000,000 of stock pay nil.

Our high rates result in seven-eighths of the average carriage seats being vacant. Hence it is beyond doubt that our railway system is at fault under the companies. We are told on excellent authority that "our directorates are crowded with titled men who know little of business-life and still less of democratic requirements." Many of these men are pluralists, and have no time to gain knowledge. directors in about 250 boards, in whom are confided the There are about 3,000 interests of 400,000 shareholders, an equal number of employes, and the far greater needs of the outside public. Many of these boards are superfluous and antagonistic, and with all their profits to a minimum. There is also the complexity of the competitive lines, staffs, repairing shops, offices, &c., reduce clearing-house with its 2,000 clerks frittering their time registering the transit of tarpaulins, waggons, carriages, &c, over rival lines.

The amalgamation of these conflicting boards and unification of all lines under one Central Government Board it is estimated will save at least £10,000,000 yearly. The supposed healthy competition of the companies is a delusion, because "where combination is possible competition is impossible." There are 6,000 railway stations in the United Kingdom, and only at 1,500 do competing lines meet, so that 4,500 stations have a complete monopoly, and can charge their maximum rates.

The companies refuse to abate the statutory fare of one penny per mile, except for a few excursion trains, unduly crowded in consequence of their fewness. About one-third of

the entire nation are working men, averaging less than £1 per week, and, as they cannot pay penny per mile fares, we have a large army of unemployed continually tramping the country. State railways carry passengers, third-class, from Buda-Pesth to Kronstadt, 457 miles for 6s. 8d., or a party of ten agriculturists for three-fourths, =11 miles fully per penny. The Great Eastern Railway have for years taken workmen to Enfield and back daily, i.e., 22 miles, for 2d. These facts show that cheapness and profit go together. As regards goods, our high rates result in 5-ton trucks averaging 1-ton loads. American bogie trucks carry 30 tons as cheaply as our antiquated trucks carry 10 tons. Railway rates kill agriculture. A few weeks ago a Somerset farmer sent a ton of apples to London and got 7d. profit.

In 1893 the goods and passenger trains of the United Kingdom ran a total distance of 322,841,802 miles, and the total working expenses were £45,695,119. Thus the sum of 2s. 10d. per mile pays for maintenance, repairs, wages, traffic, rates, taxes, Government duty, compensation claims, law and Parliamentary costs, steamboats, canals, harbours, and every other expense. It follows, therefore, that a third-class carriage with 40 passengers, at a penny per mile, pays the journey, with 18 per cent. profit. Railway success, then, is a matter of trains being fairly well filled.

The 874,751,928 passengers of 1893 paid £30,317,379, or say 84d. per head per annum. 1893 paid £40, 994,637, or say 2s. 94d. per ton per annum. It The 293,341,247 tons of goods in seems incredible that £971,000,000 should be sunk for such trifling results, all due to high fares and rates. One of the large companies could have carried all the 874,751,928 passengers. The average 84d. per head is very low, but the 83,000,000 passengers on the Great Eastern Railway paid £2,264,983, or about 64d. per head; the 44,000,000 passengers on the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway paid £1,884,556, or 104d. per head; the 90,000,000 passengers on the Metropolitan, about 13d. per head; while the 60,000,000 on the Great Western Railway paid £4,124,013, or 164d. per head; the 63,000,000 on the London and North-Western Railway paid £4,830,228, or 184d. per head; and the 28,000,000 on the South Eastern Railway paid £1,529,581, or 13d. per head. Here 1840. per head is the highest average, and cannot be satisfactory. Farthing per mile fares would certainly fill up largely the seven-eighths of vacant seats, and be more profitable, for it pays better to carry five passengers for 24d. than two passengers for 2d. Present fares and rates are self-condemning, for net receipts were only enough to pay on capital in 1889 4.21 per cent.; in 1890, 4 per cent.; in 1891, 4 per cent.; in 1892, 3:85 per cent.: in 1893, 3.60 per cent., so that the vanishing point will come if the system lasts.

The companies fear competition and do all they can to crush it, hence the most competitive canals have been bought up and their trade strangled. Docks and harbours have also been largely bought up to strengthen the monopoly. They have compelled the Postmaster-General to adopt the retrogade step of running mail coaches to Brighton, etc., to save railway charges. For the same reason the Manchester people spent about £15,000,000 on a 35-mile canal needlessly. In 1883, when the Parcel Post was established, the railways at once reduced their parcel rates largely, from 60 to 80 per cent. in some cases, the result being 20 per cent. more parcels in 1892 than in 1882, but in these ten years Parcel Post increased from 22 to 51 millions, so that a new trade of 51 millions arose from cheapness alone. The Glasgow Corporation work the gas, water, trams, buses, and ferry boats, and raise revenue. Lincoln

has also bought over water and gas companies, and lights the city for nothing. What municipalities do with gas and water companies is an example for the State in the great boon of nationalised railways. State railways in Germany yield £17,500,000 to the Exchequer, and relieve taxation. Our railways have not fulfilled their trust. They have run parallel lines to the big cities, with parallel trains, at parallel hours, which is all wasteful mismanagement and rivalry, while the smaller towns are in many cases neglected. Thus, Stoneham in Hants, with 10,309 people, is 3 miles from its nearest station, viz., Southampton, and Warley in Yorkshire, with 9,249, is 3 miles from Halifax, and so on.

Sir Arthur Arnold, in his Report in July last, said:-"Out of 200 railway stations in London, 176 need improved accommodation." Just as State telegraphs have reduced thousands of mileage charges to uniform charges of d. per word whether for 1 mile or for 800 miles, and reduced the average charge from 28. 2d. to 74d. per telegram, and increased the stations from 3,000 to 10,000, bringing into communication villages that the companies ignored as unprofitable, so I believe similar and more important benefits would follow the establishment of State railways. Under the company system, Ireland is a spectacle to the world of a most disjointed railway system. Under State railways the broken circuits between Sligo and Ballina, Waterford and Wexford, Downpatrick and Dublin, etc., would long ago have been remedied, and that "distressful country" would have had one "injustice" less. The Government might well try State railways first in Ireland, and they would quickly follow in Great Britain.

V.-A SOCIAL SETTLEMENT AT WORK.
BROWNING HALL.

MR. ASQUITH has consented to attend and speak at the first formal Inaugural Meeting of the Robert Browning Hall, of York Street, Walworth, S.E., which will be held on November 21st. An interesting and encouraging report has been issued of the first eight months' work at this new settlement. Within one square mile of Browning Hall, 115,000 human beings are crowded together, and it is in the midst of these that the settlement has been formed. They have now 270 registered members of their P. S. A. Association; over 200 members of the P. T. A. for women only. Every fortnight during the summer this association was entertained by Mrs. Briant in her garden at Loughborough Park. Mrs. Morgan, of Stroud Green, also has acted as hostess; and there are clothing, boot, blanket, and coal clubs in connection with the P. T. A. The Settlement House is at 82, Camberwell Road, ten minutes' walk from the Hall. Here the resident staff and family live, and accommodation is provided for guests as temporary residents. Public discussions on social duties have been held fortnightly throughout the winter. People's Drawing Rooms are given on alternate Thursdays. Saturday evening entertainments are run from January to May. These are chiefly musical, but some have been illustrated with the lantern. Every available seat is

crowded. The boys' brigade now numbers fifty members. A gymnasium is held every Monday, at Clayton Hall. There are two club-rooms, and eighty members, in the Browning Hall Club. About fifty "Penny Poets" are purchased weekly by the men. They have begun to form a picture gallery, and have already a small library. £300 have been spent in renovating and decorating the club-rooms. On Tuesdays two gentlemen attend to give legal advice gratuitously to those who cannot afford to pay for it. There is a Band of Hope with one hundred members. A Happy Evening for the children is provided once a week through the winter. On Saturdays parties from fifty to one hundred children are taken to the parks and entertained to tea. There was a May Day Celebration on the morning of the 1st of May, and there was a special celebration of Browning's baptism and birthday. The Fourth of July was commemorated by a demonstration in favour of the Unity of the English Speaking World, attended by representatives from the United States and the Colonies. There is a Flower Mission. Trips are arranged to the parks and to the seaside. A very successful ten days' encampment at Court Farm, Whyteleafe, Surrey, from August 2nd to 12th, was made by members, varying from three dozen to one hundred. Every Wednesday evening there is an hour on social study of the Kingdom of God, which is said to have been well attended, and followed with keen interest. Two dramatic dialogues representing Jeremiah at the Temple Gate, and the Maccabees at Modin have deeply impressed those scenes on the memory of the class. The adult school for men on Sunday morning has only recently been opened. The report concludes by stating:

Among our most pressing needs are a trained hospital nurse in readiness; other residents of both sexes; lady visitors who will regularly give a certain number of hours a week to visiting the houses of the poor; and money to keep the work going on all its sides. Whoever has the will to work or give can certainly find amongst the many branches of the Settlement's operations some object suited to his desire.

VI.-PLAYGROUNDS FOR CHILDREN.

A CORRESPONDENT in Liverpool sends me an account of a benefaction in that city, which I hope may stir up some other benefactors to do likewise in other cities. She says:

On the 7th of September last, a great new park was opened to the public amid civic rejoicings. This park, the gift of an anonymous donor, is consecrated to the children of the city, and is known by the name of Wavertree Playground. Wavertree is one of the most populous centres of Liverpool, and so healthful an open space, endowed in perpetuity-never to be built upon-is a boon whose value is not to be reckoned. The cost of maintenance is practically defrayed by the income from houses and rents, etc., connected with the land, which the generous giver has placed at the disposal of the ratepayers. The playground is a wide expanse of undulating meadowland, with broad walks, bordered with trees and shrubs; shelters and cloak-rooms, and lavatories and seats are abundantly provided; and the donor has suggested by his representative that schools and clubs might have parts allotted them for a small annual rent. The opening day was really "Children's Day" in the city. Sports, prizes, and fireworks were provided, and a great army of children, drawn from all the schools-national schools, board schools, training schools, and ragged schools-marched four abreast through the grounds to the sound of music. This symbolic taking possession was a significant spectacle, prophetic almost, one might term it. The barefooted, barcheaded child of the slums, dressed in fluttering rags, walked in procession with his brother of broadcloth and shining boots, and the orphan charity girl in her uniform marched with her more fortunate sister, whose white frock and blue sash proclaimed she came from home and mother.

In Birkenhead, the lesser Liverpool, some human-hearted men and women have resolved themselves into a company for the spread of philanthropy, and in the name of Charles Thompson's Mission to Poor Children, are making existence sweeter to thousands of the hungry and homeless of Birkenhead. It is some years since Mr. Arthur I. Preston, the honorary secretary and treasurer of the mission, relieved Mr. Charles Thompson from the fast multiplying cares which business and the duties of his voluntary guardianship of a host of "the least of these, my brethren," showered upon him and set him free to promote the work he loves best. Mr. Preston's intuition has not misled him. The usefulness of the mission has gradually developed, with its basis founded on practical lines, and with the purchase of the new hall in Hemingford Street. Birkenhead has an unenviable notoriety for drunkenness, among women especially, and there are hundreds of little ones-worse than orphaned-whose only friend is Charles Thompson, and their home the mission-room in Hemingford Street. There by night and by day, he is in readiness to take in the abandoned baby, to feed the starving, and to clothe the naked. Nor does he stay at home to wait for the destitute; he goes forth in search of them, and brings them to the cheer and warmth of the home. It is an unforgettable sight to see the little ones going reluctantly away when the meeting at the hall is over for the night. Associated with the work of the mission is a staff of voluntary workers who attend at meals to cut bread and butter, and who dress dolls, and mend clothes, and play with the children. A great feature of the mission is the periodic excursion by road and rail. All the summer through, waggon and train and boat loads of happy ragged "have nots," are taken out to the country residences of those "who have," to enjoy a long day amid fields and flowers, with the accompaniment of games and tea, and cakes, and milk. During the winter campaign, concerts and tea-parties prevail, and Christmas is a season of great rejoicing.

VII-BOARD SCHOOLS AND SOCIAL INSTITUTES.

FEW enterprises promise as much for the economical and effective utilisation of time and of work as that which Dr. Paton has in hand for securing the employment of board school buildings as Social Institutes. The preliminary experiment which was made last winter in one large board school in the North-East of London was very successful, and there is good reason to hope that, if adequate support be forthcoming, the example will be followed in many of the buildings which are used for the education of scholars in the daytime, but which, for the most part, stand empty and useless in the evening. Application is being made on behalf of those social institutes to the Governors of the City Parochial Charity Trust, which has funds at its disposal for purposes which cannot be more effectually served than by utilising board schools in this fashion. from the Trust to cover the working expenses in supporting such institutions would go far to provide for the toiling population of London a people's palace in every district, well warmed, well lighted, centrally situated, and available for all purposes of education, recreation, and of social intercourse.

VIII-ST. ANTHONY'S BREAD.

Grants

MR. CHARLES ROBINSON, writing in the North American Review for September, gives the following interesting but brief account of the excellent charitable agency which has sprung up in France within the last three years:

Less than three years ago there was founded, in the back room of a small store on a side street in Toulon, a charitable

project which bids fair to do more towards bringing about the solution of the social problem in France than all the congresses and conferences that have been held, and all the books and articles that have been written with that end in view. It is rapidly assuming the proportions of an international economic movement of the first magnitude.

This charity, which has become an object at once of the astonishment and admiration of all Europe, is named "St. Anthony's Bread," after St. Anthony of Padua, and it is by the voluntary contributions of his clients that it is maintained. "St. Anthony's Bread" comprises not only food, but also clothing and medical attendance-everything, in fact, necessary for the relief of the poor in general, and of the sick and afflicted poor in particular: for its directors wisely hold that with this class one should always "make the good God visible." They ascertain the names of the labourers in the various parishes who are out of employment and help them to procure work, quite irrespective of their religious belief, or want of religious belief. Orphans are sent to school, the aged, the blind, the deaf and dumb are all placed in special establishments; letters are written for those who are themselves unable to write, and advice procured from either doctor or lawyer when needed. While the deserving poor are thus sought out and all their wants supplied, professional beggars are tracked and exposed.

The promoters of this charity, however, do not labour merely to solve the Social Problem, important though that work undoubtedly is. The corporeal necessities of the poor are relieved through the medium of "St. Anthony's Bread" only on the understanding that their spiritual duties are not neglected. The conditions imposed upon the workmen in this regard are of the lightest possible character. For example, one of the publications issued under the auspices of "St. Anthony's Bread" consists wholly of light literature, except for one brief paragraph of religious matter at the end of the last page. "We must give them the feuilleton or they would not read the instruction," it is explained. In friendly conferences, held at stated intervals, the same clientèle is taught the lesson of mutual help and sympathy.

IX. THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS.

It is interesting to know that, in the opinion of a thoughtful writer in the Annals of the American Academy, no more interesting or significant event has taken place for some time in the sphere of economic and political education than the recent establishment of the London School of Economics and Political Science, which will begin work in October, 1895." He says:

The establishment of such a special school for the study of economics and politics in London, has a significance, not merely for that city or even for England alone, but for the world. The influence which a properly equipped school, devoted to these subjects, might exert throughout the world, from London as a centre, is absolutely incalculable, and the only wonder is that we have had to wait so long for its establishment.

The work of the school will take the following forms: 1. Public lectures, and classes in connection with them, on the following subjects: Economics (including Economic Theory, and Economic History), Statistics, Commerce, Commercial Geography, Commercial History, Commercial and Industrial Law, Banking and Currency, Finance and Taxation, and Political Science. 2. Special classes, arranged as a three years' course of study, concluding with a research course. 3. The promotion, by means of scholarships or otherwise, of original research. 4. The publication of books containing the results of researches in economic and political subjects conducted by the teachers of the school or under their direction. 5. The collection of a library for the use of the students of the school, consisting of books, reports and documents illustrative of Economic and Political History and Theory. 6. The. organisation of an "information department," to assist British students and foreigners visiting England for the purpose of investigation.

It is not proposed to prepare students especially for any examination, but the lectures and classes already arranged will be found useful to candidates for the following public examinations among others, viz., Civil Service (Class I. and Indian), Council of Legal Education, Institute of Bankers, Institute of Actuaries, London University (Mental and Moral Science), London Chamber of Commerce (Commercial Education).

The lecture courses of the school, which will be open to the general public as well as to the members of the school, will usually be given in the evening between the hours of six and nine. The classes will be held both in the daytime and in the evening; but it will not be necessary for students to attend both day and evening classes. Women will be admitted on the same terms as men.

The school year, commencing on October 10th, will be divided into three terms: October to December, January to March, April to July; the first two terms embracing ten weeks each, the third or summer term from twelve to fourteen weeks.

Mr. Hewin, who is entrusted with the direction of the school, says:—

From my experience of lecturing for University Extension, I am convinced that if London is well "worked," we ought in time to have two thousand students, full members of the

school, who will be engaged in the systematic and continuous class work.

X. THE REUNION OF CHRISTENDOM. THE Pope's letter to the English people, to induce them to return to the fold of the Church over which he presides, has elicited two responses-one from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other from the Grindelwald Conference. The Archbishop of Canterbury's letter is a somewhat ineffective document. Dr. Benson utters the pious hope that the Anglican Church may be called of God to do something in the way of reuniting the Eastern and Western Churches. When the Anglican Church and its Primate have done something to reunite Protestant Christendom, or even to establish civil relations and visiting terms between Church and Dissent, it will be easier to believe in the providential mission to which the Archbishop alludes than it is at present. The address which was drawn up at Grindelwald, and which has been influentially signed by the leading representatives of the Churches represented there, is a somewhat less fatuous document.

OUR CIRCULATING LIBRARY.

S will be seen from the list of new centres formed last month, the popularity of our Circulating Library is increasing as it becomes better known. There is now scarcely a county in England which has not taken at least one of our Library boxes:

BEDFORD-Cardington.

CHESHIRE-Frodsham, Preston Brook.
CORNWALL-Perranarworthal.

DERBY-Castle Donnington.
DEVON-Buckfastleigh.

ESSEX-Southend.

KENT-Lee.

LANCASHIRE-Garstang.

NORTHUMBERLAND-Embleton, Norham.
STAFFORD-Hednesford.
SUFFOLK-Eye.

SURREY-Burstow.

WILTSHIRE-Downton.

WORCESTER-Edgbaston.

YORKSHIRE-Brighouse, Cowling, Sheffield.
WALES-Oakenhoet, Beaumaris.
IRELAND-Ballynahinch, Co. Down;

Castle Freke, Co. Cork.

SCOTLAND-Carradale, Kintyre, Rescobie, Forfar. ABROAD-Bathurst, R. Gambia;

Gaboon.

Old Calabar.

At first the cheaper boxes of books were not nearly so popular as the boxes containing the dearer books. This is, however, no longer the case, probably because the smaller villages have just begun to hear of the scheme.

The scheme of circulating boxes of books seems not only to have met with success among our rural population, but it also has supplied a long-felt want among the small colonies of English-speaking people scattered all over the world. Last month boxes were despatched to three towns on the West Coast of Africa for the use of the English residents who find a difficulty in getting English books. I have applications almost every week from all parts of the world asking whether we cannot supply boxes of books to places situated outside the United

Kingdom. It may therefore be well to set forth here the conditions on which we are able to send bookboxes abroad. I cannot undertake to supply boxes to foreign countries unless the centre can arrange to take at least two boxes, which they will interchange halfyearly. The boxes need only be returned to London at the end of the year. To return them at shorter intervals would be impracticable, as too much time would be lost in transit. The centre wishing for boxes of books must undertake to pay carriage both ways, and also to pay a year's subscription in advance.

With the help of Mr. Wallis-Jones I have drawn up a list of one hundred Welsh books suitable to be included in the boxes circulated in Wales. This list has been revised by Professor Anwyl of Aberystwith College, and others. Therefore, as soon as I receive twelve orders for boxes containing Welsh books, I will make up the sets. The following is a specimen of the books supplied with one of the boxes:

1. Caniadan Hiraethog (a) (songs).

Elfed (songs) (b).

3. Gwaith Alun (b).

4. Cofiant Parch J. Jones Talysarn (a) (biography).

5. Tro yn yr Eidal (a) (travels).

6. Hanes y Merthyron (b) (history).

7. Enoc Huws (a) (novel).

8. Y Ferch o Gefn Ydfa (b) (novel).

9. Pregethan Parch E. Morgan (b) (sermons).

10. Gwyrthiau. Dr. O. Evans (a).

11. Geninen. Vol. I. (a) (magazine).

12. Gems of Welsh Melody.

The Welsh books have been divided into two sets, a and b, so that a centre will have the choice of having either six or twelve Welsh books in its box.

The experience of the secretary of one of our centres in the West of Scotland as to what the people read should tend to reassure those who believe that the present generation is given over entirely to novel-reading. He writes:

I have been here as a teacher for five years, and formerly

« Previous Continue »

Books

The Review of Reviews, Volume 12