prove as rich as that in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, it will be recalled, the discovery came just when the new war tax on alcohol more than quadrupled its price, and made the demand for a cheap burning fluid a pressing one throughout the North. The experiences of that day made the expression "strike oil" the synonym for the sudden acquirement of wealth-Mr. Carnegie, among others, having had his fortune multiplied by sharing in the $40,000 investment in the Storey farm, from which dividends of a million a year were soon extracted. The knowledge that such things are possible seems to deprive whole communities of their reason, so that probabilities are never measured, and men are ready to invest one dollar in the hope of ten even when they know that the chances are a hundred to one that they will get nothing.

The Leyland Line

Last week the control of the Leyland line of steamers was acquired by Mr. J. P. Morgan, acting for American interests. This is one of the great steamship lines in the world, and its acquisition, even at a price nearly one-half more than it had been previously considered to be worth, has apparently rather frightened our English cousins. Such a well-balanced sheet as the London "Telegraph” says that, after the masterstroke "by which one of the most important of our merchant fleets has been transferred, what position in the whole field of British commerce can be considered secure from the enveloping strategy of the organizer of the steel trust, who, it must be admitted, has acquired a better claim to the title of the Bonaparte of trade than has any other figure of modern industry? . . . A few transfers like that of the Leyland Line will menace the commercial supremacy of Great Britain as it never yet has been menaced." We fail to see how the acquisition of funds enough to replace the Leyland ships and nearly half as many more challenges British supremacy. rest of the "Telegraph's" remarks are more to the point: "America has superseded our agriculture, beaten our coal output, left us far behind in the production of iron and steel, and has passed us at last in the total volume of exports. She has only commenced her final onslaught

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on our carrying trade, and, with these beginnings, we may wonder that, if such things are done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry." It is true that ocean-carriage is the only department in which the gigantic expansion of our commercial control has not made itself felt. The editors of other English papers review the situation in the same gloomy way; they see the British flag driven not only off the Atlantic but off the Pacific. They are united in recognizing the natural and many other advantages of the United States, and in declaring that there is now a necessity to put more brains and more energy into English work, for "it is now a question of the survival of the fittest." Perhaps, after all, add they, wistfully, Englishmen have only flagged a little, owing to a false sense of security arising from years of commercial supremacy. This whole tone of criticism appears to us to be based on a false conception of commerce as a kind of war, whereas it is in fact a form of service, and the competition in commerce is or should be a generous rivalry in the promotion of the world's welfare.

The English Coal Tax Resisted

Opposition to the export tax on coal, from which Sir Michael Hicks-Beach plans to raise $10,000,000 a year toward meeting the expenses of the Boer war, has assumed portentous proportions. During last week it threatened to take upon itself dramatic form, as the officers of the Miners' Federation, at a meeting in London, recommended that all the miners in the United Kingdom-threequarters of a million in number-should stop work until the proposed tax was withdrawn. This proposition, however, by the union rules, was subject to a referendum to the local organizations, and the votes taken on Saturday showed that in two great districts at least-Derbyshire and Yorkshire-a majority were against the strike, while in most of the others the vote was merely to support the position finally taken by the national organization. The mine-owners also are uncertain whether they desire the men to take such extreme action-especially as its political effect might be to prejudice the nation against the demands of the mining interests. In

Parliament, however, the debate upon the innovation has given new life to the opposition, and even lent currency to rumors of an approaching dissolution. When the debate began on Friday evening, Sir William Harcourt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Mr. Gladstone's last Cabinet, arraigned the proposed tax as "an extraordinary and vexatious piece of bungling," which would throw the coal trade into chaos and bring about a reduction in the wages of English miners. It was nonsense, he said, to assert that the foreigner would pay the tax because he must have English coal. Already, he declared, the trade of France was equally divided between England, Germany, and Belgium. At this Sir Michael Hicks-Beach interjected, "We are beating the others;" to which Sir William replied, "Then go on beating them; why throw a shilling into the scale against this country?" In Sir Michael's reply he admitted that the coal tax, like every other tax, was an obstruction to trade, but he had little patience with the claim that the coal industry was not able to bear a part of the taxation needed by the country. The coal-owners of the United Kingdom last year, he declared, made a profit of $145,000,000 upon a capital of $550,000,000. new tax, furthermore, would rest upon the foreign consumers, since the United States had been unable to get any part of England's export trade, even last year, when English coal was much dearer than now. With a shilling a ton added to the present price of English coal, it could still be sold for less than American coal, and therefore would be bought in preference. Upon Upon this point Sir Michael Hicks-Beach seemed to have the best of the argument, so far as the immediate effect of the tax was concerned, but the future development of England's export coal trade is none the less surely threatened by the tax proposed, and the discrimination against a particular industry which the coal tax involves runs counter to the fundamental principle that taxation should rest equally upon all.

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Miquel has recently been regarded, first, as the one man in Prussia and in Germany to carry out the Kaiser's ambitious design for extending the canal system, and, second, as the most prominent candidate in the Imperial Chancellorship succession. Last week, however, the Prussian Ministry sustained a defeat in the Prussian Landtag or Parliament, and this was followed by the resignation of Dr. von Miquel and two other Ministers. The ex-Minister of Finance was once a revolutionist; this was in 1848, that year of revolutions. Then he quieted down somewhat and became a Radical, then a Liberal, then a Liberal Conservative, and finally a Tory of the William II. order. To-day Dr. von Miquel is one of the most picturesque characters in Germany, certainly a different character from the twenty year-old youth expelled from the Fatherland. His special ability has been shown in his wonderful knowledge of finance, and his energy in carrying cut his financial principles. An even greater honor, however, attaches to the fact that he was one of the first exponents of German unity, advocating it even when Bismarck was opposed to it. The defeat of the Emperor's canal measure, is, we believe, only temporary. The connection of the Rhine and the Elbe, the Oder and the Vistula, is too definitely profitable a plan not to appeal to all German industrialists. It is absolutely necessary for them to have easy transportation, and it is as necessary for them to have cheap foodstuffs. The canals will solve both problems, hence industrialists are in favor of the Kaiser's project. Here they meet the opposition of the Agrarians, in other words, the agriculturists, who represent both the upper and the lower ten of society, together with much of its wealth and many of its vested interests. The Agrarians are admirably organized in their campaign to raise the duties on all imported foodstuffs. It is thus a battle of giants that we see in Prussia to-day. For the moment the victory is with the Agrarians.

The Prussian Crisis

Last week the Nestor of Prussian politics, Johannes von Miquel, resigned the office which he has so long adorned, that of Finance Minister of Prussia. Dr. von

Famine in China

Last week definite information confirmed the rumors recently current of terrible famine in the two provinces of Shansi and Shensi, China. Those are mountainous regions lying west

of the coast province of Chili, in which the capital city of Peking is situated. It is even claimed that the people of Shansi and Shensi have been reduced to cating the bark on the trees. Mr. Conger, United States Minister to China, who has now arrived in this country, says that nothing has been raised in the stricken provinces for two years, and, unless relief is quickly forthcoming, many must perish. He recommends that money be sent to the United States Consuls at Shanghai and Tientsin, and to the heads of missions in the provinces. He adds that the Chinese Government and the Chinese people will be duly appreciative and grateful, that in any event the demands of humanity will be answered, and that future good will result. Mr. Conger, Secretary Hay, and President McKinley have each contributed to the fund already started with characteristic energy by the "Christian Herald," of New York City. While China has generally a rainfall larger than that of western Europe, conditions in the provinces of Shansi and Shensi begin to approach those of the neighboring and arid Mongolia to the north. Any relief measures undertaken by the Chinese Government would be inadequate and unsystematic; in any event, at the present time, with the entire absorption of the Government in other pressing matters, particularly in that of the indemnity to be paid to the foreign Powers, the horrors of famine are augmented.

The Missionaries

in China

If any of our readers are still in doubt whether the course of Dr. Ament and Dr. Tewksbury in China deserves criticism or commendation, we advise them to read with care the article by Dr. Arthur H. Smith in this week's Outlook, and the article by Dr. Judson Smith in the "North American Review" for May. It is not necessary for us to summarize the latter article here, since in the main it simply confirms the statement of facts as made by us in the editorial entitled "Missionaries in China" in our issue for April 13. There are, however, some additional facts of significance stated by Dr. Judson Smith, and his entire statement must be regarded as authoritative, because it comes from one who has had every opportunity

to acquaint himself fully with the facts. The most important of these statements is that the settlements made by Dr. Ament and Mr. Tewksbury with the village authorities were with the approval of Mr. Conger, the United States Minister, Mr. Rockhill, the special United States Commissioner, and Li-Hung-Chang, the Governor of the Province. The allied Powers, it appears, decided that they could do nothing for the Christian Chinese, and therefore, if they were not to be left to die of starvation, provision must be made through the instrumentality of the missionaries. The New York" Sun," which in this matter is looking for a dishonest man as eagerly as Diogenes with his lantern ever looked for an honest one, seems to imagine that there is an inconsistency between Dr. Judson Smith's statement that the indemnity secured by the missionaries was "not for themselves, not for the mission, let it be clearly understood, but solely and simply for the Chinese who were dependent on them," and the statement by Mr. Tewksbury of the basis on which the village indemnities were paid, which included the provisions that “ "any balance after claims are paid to be used as designated by the church,” and, "if desired by us, in any village where disturbances have occurred, a suitable location shall be provided for the Christian chapel." But it is perfectly clear from the context that the "church" here referred to is the village church which had been impoverished or destroyed. The indemnities in all cases went, not to the missionaries nor to the Missionary Board, but to the Chinese Christians themselves who had been despoiled by the mobs. "Not a penny," says Dr. Judson Smith, "has been asked or used for missionary losses of any kind."

The surrender of General The Philippines Alejandrino has been followed by that of General Tinio, who has long been carrying on an active insurgent campaign in the province of South Ilocos. Tinio is the man who held Lieutenant Gilmore and his men prisoners, and is. said to have ordered them shot after t' plan were turned adrift. It is also resideraby General MacArthur that us, which opposition in the island of on by the ectarian theological

been ended by the surrender of Quentin Sales. Minor items of news of similar purport come from other parts of the archipelago, together with one report of a fierce fight between a hundred insurgents and twenty-one men of our forces under Captain McDonald, in which that officer was wounded and an American soldier killed; the insurgents were defeated. Brigadier-General Bell, who has just arrived in this country from the Philippines, said to an interviewer: "One-sixth of the natives of Luzon have either been killed or have died of the dengue fever in the last two years. The loss of life by killing alone has been very great, but I think that not one man has been slain except where his death served the legitimate purposes of war. It has been necessary to adopt what in other countries would probably be thought harsh measures, for the Filipino is tricky and crafty, and has to be fought in his own way." The trial of Captain James C. Reed at Manila on charges of soliciting and receiving bribes for wrong disposition of commissary stores has been concluded, but the verdict is not known at this writing.

The New President of Barnard College

Miss Laura D. Gill was formally installed President of Barnard College in this city on Wednesday afternoon of last week, Brinkerhoff Hall being crowded with an academic audience, duly gowned, and pervaded by a spirit of generous welcome for the new head of the institution. After a short prayer offered by Bishop Potter, President Low, on behalf of Columbia University, and after due commemoration of the admirable services to Barnard College of Miss Ella Weed and Miss Emily James Smith (now Mrs. George Haven Putnam), formally welcomed Miss Gill to her new work. Professor Robinson, who has been the Acting Dean since the retirement of Mrs. Putnam, extended a welcome on behalf of the faculty, Miss Virginia Gildersleeve on behalf of the alumnæ, and Miss Florence Sanville on behalf of the undergraduates. Miss Gill's Aress was brief, and was an expression Spirit and her ideals rather than a of her methods. It was marked Johannes vs of statement, soundness of which he has su Finance Minister

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view, and a broad human conception of the ends of education. She said:

In a very broad view we may look upon education as any training by which are developed individual power and poise. By power and steadily accomplish a given end. But I mean the capacity to clearly concentrate this force should be regulated by a sense of proportion and good judgment which may be expressed by the word poise. The aim of a college is more than intellectual, it is moral and spiritual as well. To this end the social life of a college must represent the truest democracy, and the religious life of a college should be as catholic as the social life is demobroader obligations-service to the community. cratic. A college must recognize also much Woman's influence will be as broad as her intelligence makes it. Here in Barnard your effectiveness is aided by a consolidation of like forces.

Miss Gill is a graduate of Smith College, has made an extraordinary record during the last two years in philanthropic and educational work in Cuba, and enters upon her new work with every promise of eminent usefulness.

On Friday evening of last week the New York Society for Ethical Culture, founded and still directed by Dr. Felix Adler, celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary. Mr. Salter, Mr. Sheldon, and Mr. Weston, the leaders of the daughter societies in Chicago, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, were present, and letters were received from the kindred associations in Europe, all of which owe their establishment to the impulse given by the parent organization. Mr. Percival Chubb, Dr. John L. Elliott, and two of the officers, reviewed slightly the work of the Society, how its disclosure of the tenement-house conditions led to the appointment of the first Tenement-House Commission, and how the pedagogical methods introduced in its schools had been adopted by the public schools of the city. A pleasant interlude occurred when a young girl in a simple white gown stepped on the platform, whose occupants rose to greet her, and presented, in behalf of the alumni and pupils of the Ethical Culture Schools, a silver wreath, as a token of the reverence and affection felt by those who had come up from the kindergarten through the industrial and literary training of the schools, for the Society which had made their training possible. As the leaders from the other

The Society for Ethical Culture

cities paid heartfelt tribute to the inspiration and light Dr. Adler had given them, one might have wondered how the quiet man sitting there, apart from the hallowed tradition and quickening of the churches, had been able to give so much; but when he arose to speak, and gave expression to the passion for righteousness which bas animated all his work, it could be understood. Dr. Adler spoke of what the visit ing delegates had accomplished, making their societies in the different cities instruments for civic righteousness, and said: "If any word uttered on this platform has been of helpfulness, it is because the Ideal has used me." He touched on the aims of the Society, its desire for truth and for service to humanity, its emphasis on democratic equality, on the fact that no front pews were to be bought by the man of wealth, and that he who contributes his dollar a year and he who gives of his bounty are as brothers. He told of the failure predicted when the Society was started, by those who said that, after the novelty had worn off, no group of people would come to hear lectures on mere morality, and spoke of the respect and recognition which had been won from the community. Notable in such a meeting was the absence of any note of selfglorification and of any attitude of antagonism toward orthodox institutions, and all present went away inspired and encouraged in the belief that there is a power not ourselves that makes for righteousness—a power which works irrespective of the limits of creeds and theological differences.

A tortnight ago The Outlook reported the difficulty which four members of the present Senior Class of the Union Theological Seminary had with the examining bodies. These bodies declare that the difficulty was not theological but in tellectual, and that their action was in the interest of scholarship. Since then five candidates for licenses from that class and two from other institutions have successfully passed examinations by the Brooklyn Presbytery. The examiners declared themselves not concerned about what special collateral views may have been encouraged in the students in in

Union Theological Seminary

terpreting Scripture, provided that the students held to the main points of belief current among Presbyterians. At the close one of the examiners remarked that, though the students had shown themselves sound on the main points, there was an observable fringe of individual opinions, all of which were not, however, such as could be regarded as unsound. The spirit both of the Presbytery and the candidates, on what has been until recently a burning question in both the Congregational and Presbyterian denominations, was indicated by the following question and answer in the case of one candidate: "Where would you class a man like Socrates?" "I think I would leave him to the mercy of God."

The most important Dr. Parker's Proposal feature of the Joint Assembly of the Congregational and Baptist Union in England, which has just been in session, was the proposal made by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Parker, Chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, looking towards a union of the Congregational, Presbyterian, and Baptist bodies of England on lines similar to those adopted in the recent union of the Free Churches of Scotland. Dr. Parker urges the members of the Free Churches to unite in providing a theological education for their respective ministers, so both economizing expenditure and increasing results. In his idea, the united body of Free Churches should establish a ministerial sustentation fund, which should preserve the individuality of each church. Three high-grade colleges at Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham would replace the present eight existing theological colleges belonging to the above-mentioned denominations. Both economy of management and greater working power would be secured by the application to the religious world of that spirit of combination which has already achieved such success in the commercial world. If Dr. Parker's proposal is accepted, as we hope it may be, English Dissent may date a significant development from the 1901 meeting of the Baptist and Congregational Union. The plan has features in it worthy of the consideration of our own denominations, which enfeeble theological education by the multiplication of sectarian theological seminaries.