integral parts of the United States within the meaning of the taxation clause. But this divergence in the arguments did not affect the result, and thus by a vote of five to four the Foraker law was declared constitutional. While the Downes decision is a victory for the government, it settles nothing except the constitutionality of one half, as it were, of the Foraker act. The one case in the batch which involves the legality of the duties levied on goods imported by Americans from the states into Porto Rico was not decided, and if at the next term of the court this case should be determined against the government, the whole practical effect of the Downes decision would be annulled. Congress may have the right to pass a law taxing goods shipped from Porto Rico, but if it has no power to impose a similar tax on goods taken to Porto Rico by American citizens from the United States, no such onesided tariff as the construction would permit would ever be adopted against any American possession. It would be repugnant to justice and to the spirit of modern territorial (or colonial) government. The great question whether the constitution follows the flag ex proprio vigore has not been answered by the decisions. Four of the justices hold that it does, and four that it does not, while Justice Brown merely believes that the clause relating to taxation is not applicable to territories. On the other hand, every one of the several opinions rendered contains dicta to the effect that the bill of rights- the amendments to the constitution-binds congress in its dealings with territories. By the bill of rights liberty of speech, press, etc., and trial by jury are guaranteed to all those who are under the jurisdiction of the United States. Justice Brown says: Whatever may be finally decided by the American people as to the status of these islands and their inhabitants-whether they shall be introduced into the sisterhood of states or be permitted to form independent governments-it does not follow that in the meantime, awaiting that decision, the people are in the matter of personal rights unprotected by the provisions of our constitution and subject to the merely arbitrary control of congress. Even if regarded as aliens, they are entitled under the principles of the constitution to be protected in life, liberty, and property. There was but one Philippine case before the court, but it was not disposed of. The logic of the De Lima decision makes the present Philippine tariff illegal, since congress has not acted with regard to the far eastern archipelago, except to pass the Spooner resolution delegating powers of civil government to the executive. There were, however, points in the Philippine case which distinguished it from the Porto Rican suits, and it "rests on its own bottom." There will be no change in Philippine economic or political policy pending the supreme court's determination of the two remaining insular cases. Manchuria will probably China will pay, but how is the money to been a barren one. be raised? An increase of internal taxation never be restored to China. (on salt, inter-provincial commerce, etc.) has been proposed, but this source will hardly prove sufficient. An increase of foreign customs duties has been under consideration, but the United States has opposed it, on the ground that any material addition to the (nominal) five per cent tax now levied on foreign goods would reduce the trade with China and cause a greater loss than the campaign and occupation have entailed on those nations whose products have found a growing market in the great Asiatic empire. Another matter not easy to determine is the due guaranteeing of regular payment of the annual interest and instalment of the principal. What if China should, after a year or two, suspend payment? The powers will probably bind themselves to act as a unit in that contingency, so as to guard against territorial aggression and individual settlements disregarding the common interest. A Chinese bond issue under a joint guaranty has also been suggested, but this is wholly unacceptable to the British government and constitutionally impossible so far as the United States is concerned. Preparations are proceeding for the withdrawal of the foreign troops. All the American soldiers, a legation guard excepted, have already left Chinese soil, and even the Germans are departing. There is some fear that disorder and local rioting may follow the evacuation, and it was an extraordinary phenomenon in military history that hundreds of Chinese merchants and property owners petitioned the commander of the American contingent to continue to administer the section of Peking that had been under his rule for an indefinite period. It is believed, however, that Prince Ching, who is to be the acting military governor, will succeed in preserving order, and that the court will return to the capital and resume full direction of affairs. Thus the settlement will be complete and in harmony with the two fundamental principles originally proclaimed by the United States and Great Britain the preservation of Chinese territorial and political integrity, and the maintenance of the open door. At times it seemed that dismemberment of the empire was unavoidable, but this calamity the civilized world has escaped. It should be remembered, however, that Manchuria is still-and will remain - under Russian control. Cession or transfer on paper has been prevented, but the diplomatic victory has The remarks reported to have been made EDMOND ROSTAND, Who has been chosen a member of the French Academy. It is an interesting coincidence that Commodore Tattnall gave expression to his sentiment for the British while in command of the United States squadron in the China seas in 1859, and while the British squadron under command of Rear-Admiral James Hope was being fired upon by the Chinese forts protecting the Peiho river. It is generally supposed that the remark about the relative thickness of blood and water originated with Commodore Tattnall, but in the interest of truth it must be said that the commodore was not the first to utter that sentiment. Sir Walter Scott in the twenty-third chapter of "Rob Roy" declares it, and even he may not have been the creator of it. As Scott died in 1832, twenty-seven years before Commodore Tattnall uttered the words, the claim of the latter can hardly be sustained. The sentiment occurs, stripped of its Scotch dialect and put into English understandable to all as follows: "You're a bold, desperate villain, sir,' retorted the undaunted bailie; and you know that I know you 6 to be such, and that I would not stand a moment for my own risk.' 'I know well,' said the other, you have gentle blood in your veins, and I would be loath to hurt my own kinsman. But I'll go out here as free as I came in, or the very walls of Glasgow jail shall tell of it for these ten years to come.' Well, well,' said Mr. Jarvie, blood is thicker than water, and it lies not in kith, kin, or ally to see motes in any other's eyes if other eyes see them not. It would be sad news to the old wife below the Ben of Stuckavrallachan, that you, you Highland robber, had knocked out my brains, or that I had hung you up with a rope. But you'll own, you bold devil, that were it not your very self, I would have gripped the best man in the Highlands.' Local officials in China are paying off claims of American and English missionary societies without waiting for their adjustment through Peking and Washington. Of the reported indemnities granted by the Chinese, hardly any will find lodgment in coffers of hardly any will find lodgment in coffers of missionary societies in this country, at least. Viceroys in South China long ago settled all claims, and recently the claims of the Presbyterians and other bodies in the Shangtung province have been adjusted. Here was located the Wei Hien compound of the Presbyterians, the destruction of which involved a loss of about seventy-five thousand dollars. Churches here have not pressed for indemnity, and have left amounts to be paid almost wholly to the Chinese. The latter have come forward with offers of money, and in some cases have shown impatience at delays in arriving at amounts to be paid. At this writing only the damages to property in Peking remain unadjusted, or in process of adjustment. 66 At this late day it is hardly worth while to dwell on the Wall Street "smash" or panic, the severest and at the same time the most absurd and abnormal in our financial and commercial history. The causes of the episode are now well understood. While speculation, chiefly in railway securities, had reached dizzy heights and made a reaction inevitable, but for the corner in the stocks of the Northern Pacific railway no such crash as occurred in May would have been possible. The fierce contest between the Hill-Morgan faction and the Harriman syndicate grew out of the absorption by the former of the Burlington road, and its desire to protect its interests by securing control of the Northern Pacific. Heavy purchases of the stock of the latter property, and other "deals" in pursuance of the community-ofinterest plan, had caused a constant rise of the market price of stocks- a rise that had no relation to the economic value and dividend-earning capacity of the roads. The advances brought extraordinary profits to hundreds of the holders of stock, and this produced a riot of speculation. Thousands rushed into Wall Street to gamble on stocks, confident of further advances. Brokers all over the country were flooded with orders to buy, and silly newspapers ignorantly encouraged the mania by attributing the rise to the wonderful prosperity of the country. The collapse came upon the discovery that more Northern Pacific stock had been sold than could possibly be delivered, and that the phenomenal rise in the price demand. It has been estimated that over was due to an artificial and temporary demand. It has been estimated that over $600,000,000 in paper value was wiped out in the two days of the panic. But this unprecedented shrinkage meant heavy losses and impoverishment for thousands who had bought stocks on margins and were unable to protect their interest by additional deposAt one time the two syndicates were harshly its of money or securities with the brokers. criticized as deliberate lawbreakers and wreckers, but subsequent explanations seemed to some to indicate that the "corner" had arisen spontaneously and without design. out of the stock market, the gambling frenzy At any rate" the public" has been driven is at an end, and there has been a substantial recovery of most of the securities. They are now at a point which is deemed to correspond to real intrinsic value as manifested in the receipts and dividends. Meanwhile the therein. The commission calls attention to two syndicates have settled their difference, certain startling facts. It says that, ignorand both factions are to have liberal repre- ing all rumors and taking account of wellsentation in the management and directorate authenticated reports alone, there were of the Northern Pacific. The panic threat- absorbed in various ways between July 1, ened a severe blow to the community-of- 1899, and November 1, 1900, over twentyinterest method of railroad operation, but five thousand miles the compromise effected has apparently of railroad- that is, averted the mischief. Community of inter- more than one-eighth est, as admitted by experts, involves of the entire mileage reciprocal acquisition of stocks by the com- in the United States. peting railroad companies. Ownership of The law may forbid one railroad by another and competing one is combination, but if contrary to law, but nothing appears to competition be unprevent individual stockholders in one from profitable and wastepurchasing the stock of the other and ful, combination is voting against any measure injurious to achieved in some either property. In practise this plan leads indirect way-chiefly to consolidation and concentration of control. by the merging of the Pooling is illegal, but the objects formerly weaker lines into the achieved through pooling agreements are stronger systems. now even more effectually realized by the new method of control. Where will all this end? is the question asked in many quarters and answered variously. Perhaps in the nationalization of railroads or in rigid public regulation and supervision. In each annual report the Interstate Commerce Commission makes the same statements or complaints, formulates the same suggestions, and in almost the same language urges action by congress toward remedying existing mal-adjustments in the railway industry. The law regulating interstate commerce is virtually a dead letter. Discriminations and other illegal practises continue; rates are arbitrarily raised and secretly reduced to favorites; and pools are organized in forms that are beyond the reach of the law. The commission asks greater power and control over rate-making, and is willing to concede to the railroads the freedom of combination for reasonable restraint of competition. The railroad corporations-a few excepted-desire desire freedom of pooling, but strenuously oppose the second half of the program, or rather, the first half, since the commission would not consent to legalization of pooling unaccompanied by the additional restrictions proposed by it in other directions. In its recent report the commission renews its recommendations, and discusses at length the alternative to the policy of restricted and regulated combination. It dwells on the irresistible tendency to consolidation in the railroad sphere, showing that the ordinary drawbacks to combination do not exist COL. GEORGE B. DAVIS, Who is to become Judge Advocate General. Curiously enough, a day or two after the publication of this report, a new and stupendous railway combination was announced. This includes over thirty independent railways, and the aggregate mileage brought under harmonious control is over seventy-six thousand, covering vast sections and extending from Atlantic to Pacific ports. Even the daily press manifests some apprehension at this new development of the trust idea in a sphere where special privilege renders relief from new competitors impossible. According to the Interstate Commerce Commission, these tendencies are not unmixed evils. The present condition "is not without its benefits," for under unified administration many of the worst forms of combination will disappear, and rates of transportation will be reduced in consequence of the great saving in the cost of the service. Yet the commission is not blind to the dangers of railroad consolidation. It says: When we consider what has actually been done, what is undoubtedly in contemplation, the entire feasibility of these schemes, the great advantage which would result to the owners of the properties involved, and the fact that a step once taken in that direction is seldom retraced, it becomes evident that in the immediate future the main transportation lines of this country will be thrown into great groups, controlling their own territory, and not subject, with respect to most of their traffic, to serious competition. Under these circumstances, the commission continues, it would lie within the power of two or three men to say what tax should be imposed upon the vast traffic moving between the east and west, and both human nature and the lessons of history show that unlimited Incidentally public meetings were held to power induces misuse and abuse. Railroads promote the movement for industrial peace, may not intend extortion, but if no control and they were well attended and successful is exercised, oppression is certain to be the in every way. The declaration of purposes result of monopoly. It is doubtful, however, and principles adopted by the committee is whether the commission's remedies would too long to be reproduced here in full; suffice either check com- it to say that the purpose of the body is the bination or prevent prevention of strikes and lockouts, and the the bad consequences scope or field of the work comprehends disapprehended. There semination of useful knowledge regarding the are those who believe success of arbitration or amicable agreements that present tenden- between employer and employed; encouragecies are bound to ment of frank and free discussion at joint lead to government conferences of the interests of labor and absorption of the rail- capital; the extension of "trade agreeroad industry, and ments," adjusting hours, wages, etc.; and, to national owner- above all, the establishment and maintenance ship and operation. of "a board or commission composed of the most competent persons available, selected from employers and employees of judgment, experience, and reliability, which shall be charged with the above described duties and shall also be expected to make known to workmen and employers that their counsel and aid will be available if desired in securing that coöperation, mutual understanding, and agreement. The committee is to enlarge its membership so as to include many representative and influential citizens, but the actual work will be entrusted to an executive sub-committee of fifteen. IRA REMSEN, PH. D., LL. D., Elected President of Johns Professor Ira Remsen, who has been selected as the head of the faculty of Johns Hopkins UniHopkins University. versity, has been connected with the institution since it was opened in 1876, and has been largely instrumental in bringing its chemical department to its present high standard. Prior to his connection with Johns Hopkins he acted for two years as assistant in chemistry in the University of Tübingen, Germany, and occupied the chair of chemistry at Williams College. He was called from Williams to Johns Hopkins. Professor Remsen was born in New York City in 1846. He pursued his studies at the College of the City of New York, also at the medical department of Columbia College, graduating from the latter institution in 1867. He went abroad and took postgraduate courses in the Universities of Munich and Göttingen. The trustees of Johns Hopkins practically decided upon Professor Remsen soon after the announcement of President Gilman's resignation. Professor Remsen is a man of decided personality and broad culture outside of his particular department. He has always held the high esteem of the other members of the faculty and of the student body. The national committee on conciliation and arbitration, appointed some months ago at a conference held under the auspices of the Civic Federation (and the names of whose members were given in THE CHAUTAUQUAN last month), met recently at New York for the purpose of adopting a plan of operations. While this indicates a gain for the cause of arbitration, it is unpleasant to record that in some directions positive and unfortunate losses have been sustained by the movement for peace in the industrial world. The past few weeks have witnessed a large number of strikes some of them accompanied by disorder and violence, especially the Albany strike of street railway men, which, after the intervention of the military forces of the state and the loss of some lives, was settled by mutual concessions. A strike of national proportions has occurred in the machine trade, the dispute relating to the wage schedule under the nine-hour day which, under an agreement reached in May, 1900, between the Machinists' Union and the Metal Trades Associations, went into effect on May 20 of this year. The machinists claimed that they were entitled to ten hours' pay for the nine-hour day, while the employers asserted that the settlement of 1900 left the wage question open, to be settled by local meetings and arbitration. There were mutual charges of violation of contract, an attempt at partial arbitration at Chicago, which failed, an abrogation of the arbitration agreement and of the nine-hour day conces |