not by its past errors. The Church has made mistakes. To deny this would be absurd. But some social reformers are asking the Church to stand for a specific social system which may some day be accepted by the majority, as slavery once was, thus again subjecting herself to the ridicule of a future generation, which shall have outgrown that system.

But, it is insisted, the world is on the verge of a crisis, and the Church must declare herself with regard to socialism. The world has always been on the verge of a crisis. It always will be, because the world is moving. To say that even the introduction of socialism will at once settle every social question is a sign of egotism. If socialism should ever be accepted, it would simply be a step in that process of evolution which will never end, for the labor question will never be settled until the last day's work is done.

It has been said that the Church should recognize and indorse socialism because there are so many socialists. There is no particular point to this argument, for there are probably as many people in this country who are directly and indirectly interested in the saloon business as there are socialists. Must the Church therefore indorse the saloon, even though some saloon men are just as sincere as some socialists?

no particular social system. It accepts only so much of the present system as is in accordance with the principles laid down by the lowly Carpenter. It insists that these privileges shall be applied to society in all of its ramifications, but it believes that others besides socialists have both the brain and the heart to interpret these privileges.

Fourth, it is not offering the Gospel to workingmen as a mere sop, nor because it is afraid that some day they will bring on a revolution. It is offering the same Gospel, with all of its privileges, as well as all of its obligations, to their employers. The Industrial Scrap Heap.

BY CLARENCE H. MARK.

How many of us stop to think of the economic and human waste incident to

It is true that certain churches of today have taken action with reference to socialism. Let these churches be held responsible for their own decrees. Socialists are careful to accept as authoritative only such statements as are issued by their particular branch of socialism. It should be remembered, also, that in practically every instance where a church assembly denounced socialism, it had in mind the grossly materialistic and morally antagonistic features which have sometimes found place in the system, just as it has frequently denounced the same tendencies in prevailing political parties.

As a matter of fact, however, what is the real attitude of the Church as a whole with reference to the questions involved?

First, it recognizes the right of every man to be a socialist, if he is convinced that socialism is morally and economically sound. Second, it recognizes the fact that there are some good things in socialism for which socialism should be given credit.

Third, the Church does not stand for the present social system. It stands for

our present industrial progress; how many of us have had a real vision of the industrial human waste heap in which are buried rich economic assets, and on which are whitening the bones of helpless artisans injured in the struggle?

In other words, how many people know that over half a million wage-earners are annually killed or injured in industry in the United States alone? The speed with which we have been moving industrially has blinded us to the sacrifice of human life and the resulting loss in productive power. The "dump" created by the mills, factories, and railroads has for years been growing, but the killed or crippled artisan thrown thereon by a profligate system of production has long been considered as mere human tailingsworthless and unworkable. Expressed otherwise, it means that when a man, woman, or a child, has been maimed or

killed in the mill or factory, the innocent sufferer has been turned out to join the ranks of those similarly situated, and sooner or later to drift into charity's niggardly maw, after being denied the right to earn a living. Hence, the negligent and profligate methods of the days of '49 and '81, when rich mineral was allowed to remain unused, are being duplicated on a vast scale in the industrial world of a later day.

Looking a little closer at the modern industrial waste heap, let us explain its component parts. Of what is it made and from what sources is it created? By tracing the questions of accidents in industry, as they have been investigated at home and abroad, we find that the five great industries, railroading, manufacturing, mining, building and construction and agriculture, are the main contributors.

The steam railroads in the United States annually maim and kill 100,000 employees and passengers, about 15 per Icent of which number are killed. The factories and mills conservatively add 225,000 to the list annually. With the rush of building and construction, it is not surprising to find that over 235,000 are derived from this source. John Mitchell has estimated the loss in mining at 12,000 lives yearly, this number being based on incomplete reports of only 15 of the 30 mining states. To complete the list, agriculture adds over 9,000 accidents, resulting largely from the introduction of modern machinery.

In the many dangerous trades but little legislation exists to make employment conditions more healthful and operation safer. As a nation of greedy toilers, in search of the almighty dollar, we have not yet awakened to the enormity of the slaughtering process going on all about

us.

The fact that 11 per cent of all the paupers in the United States have been reduced to dependence through needless accidents is either generally unknown or not considered in the rush for gain. The fact that fully 2,000,000 people-wageearners and their dependent familiesare annually crowded to the verge of poverty, and that a large percentage are actually forced into the abyss through accidents that might largely have been prevented, is only beginning to awaken an interest among thoughtful men and women in this country.

The plea that the sacrifice of human life on such a scale is but the price that we are compelled to pay for our remarkable industrial progress will soon be looked upon as barbarous and unworthy of an enlightened people.-Federation of Labor Journal.

Wait a Minute.

Wait a minute.

And what's a minute that one should bother about it?

It isn't much, yet if 59 others wasted a minute each a whole hour has been wasted.

Have you ever stopped to think what may happen in a minute, or what a minute of time means in this country alone?

Well, as you are keeping someone waiting while you waste just a minute of your time, and of theirs, a whole lot of things have been accomplished.

Every minute 600 pounds of wool grow in this country, and we have to dig 61 tons of anthracite coal and 200 tons of bituminous coal, while of pig iron we turn out 12 tons, and of steel three tons. Each minute, night and day, by the official reports, the United States collected $639 and spent $461-$178 more than necessary. The interest on the public debt was $96 a minute, or just exactly equal to the amount of silver mined in that time.

In the minute you have waited, 15 kegs of nails have been made, 12 bales of cotton were produced, 36 bushels of grain made into 149 gallons of spirits, while $66 in gold was taken from the earth. In the same time the United States mints turned out coin to the value of $121.

Suppose you waste 100 minutes each day for a year; you have wasted 600 hours, or 60 working days, equal to two full months.

Have you ever figured out the value of time this way?

Well, you ought to take this view of it along with other views, for it will give you a better conception of what your time is worth to the world.

Do You Know That

If the state of Texas were pivoted at Texarkana and swung half around, El Paso would extend out into the ocean east of Savannah, Ga.?

The extreme north boundary line of Texas is less than 50 miles south of Cairo, Ill.?

It is as many miles from the northwestern to the southeastern end of Florida, as it is from Fort Scott, Kas., to Wheeling, W. Va.?

It is as far from the northern to the southern end of California as it is from St. Louis, Mo., to New York City?

Florida has more square miles than any other state east of the Mississippi river?

There are only 38 cities in the United

States having a population of 100,000 or over?

There are 458 cities in the United States having a population of 10,000 or over?

That of the 80,000,000 of people living in the United States, 55,000,000 of them live in the country or in cities under 10,000 population?

There are 16,230,797 families in the United States?

There are 14,474,777 dwelling houses in the United States?

Nearly one-tenth of the people of the United States own their own homes? The center of population is six miles

rebel and months of pain and depression is the penalty with ever-increasing doctor and drug bills. Does it pay? "No," I hear you reply; "but I have gotten into the habit of eating hurriedly and can't help it." Professor Irving Fisher of Yale says one's endurance may be doubled in five months by the thorough mastication of food, as well as prolonging its enjoyment. As a test and proof of his theory he experimented upon nine Yale students for four and one-half months and thus describes the results:

"At the middle of the experiment the men had improved 50 per cent in endur

Nothing was set before them except what was ordered by them.

"Meats were available three times a day, but it was found that by thorough mastication the men gradually lost their desire for meat, and substituted cereals, fruits, and nuts, so that at the end of the first half of the experiment their daily consumption of meat was little more than half of its original amount.

"In June it was found that the men had decreased their consumption of flesh foods to one-sixth of its original amount." -The Headlight.

How is Your Backbone?

It is a bad thing to have a weak back. All the nerves of the body, nearly, have their starting place along the spine. A good share of the muscles are in some way or another hinged to the backbone. Whatever hurts the back, hurts the whole body. From blows in the breast, or upon almost any other part of the body one may recover, but a severe blow anywhere upon the back will put a man out of the fight quickly.

Backbone seems to be missing in a great many people in these days. "I do hate to say 'No'." Did you ever hear men say that? Thousands of young men go down to ruin, just because they are asked to do what they know to be wrong and have not the backbone "Excuse me."

to say

A good share of the crookedness in business comes just that way. Somebody was urged to do a mean thing, and had not the manhood to say, "Get out!" In days to come, when exposure stares them in the face, these weaklings go out and hang themselves or go by the pistol route rather than have it known that they have weak backs.

But how we honor the men with the strong backbone! We get up close to him and try to absorb some of the fire that makes him such a power. We feel the inspiration of his life and for a time the world thinks we ourselves are wonderful men, just because we are absorbing a bit of moral strength from the giant at the head of the procession.

Who are the men that are carrying this nation on their shoulders today? Men with backbone. Is there any business anywhere that is running unless somewhere there are a few brave souls that have plenty of faith and lots of backbone? You can think of none. You never will. Backbone makes the world move.

There is no place in this world for the man that is weak in the back. There is plenty of room for him in the earth, but none on it.

But what if a man is naturally weak as to the spinal column? Then let him make the most of what he has and work hard for more. It is the man that hath that shall have more. Small though the portion may be at the beginning, the store may be enlarged by cultivation. The man that is willing to stiffen up the backbone he has with straps and braces to steady him till he gains more, will surely see that the promise is being verified to him. One good solid "No" in the day of temptation is worth a thousand weak, "I'd like to accommodate you!"

Heaven help the man that says "I can't help it. I want to be a good fellow. I hete to make my chums feel bad by refusing. So I keep in with them!"

Being a good fellow lays the train which will one day blow the best meaning man sky high. There is nothing in heaven or on earth for the man that stakes his all on being a good fellow.

Backbone, young gentlemen! Back. bone is the thing to cultivate. All the best things of life are ready for the man who has it. Nothing for the one who lacks it.-Spare Moments.

France's Wealth.

An eminent French publicist, M. de Foville, has recently published the results of his inquiries into the progression of the wealth of France, and his conclusion that the rate of growth of money accumulation is beginning to exhibit signs of a decline has stirred up comment throughout Europe. This conclusion is intimated rather than directly stated. France has so long seemed to have an endless money reserve that if she is entering upon an era of stagnation, when the diminution of her resources will compel her to refuse to lend, there must be a corresponding readjustment of policies on the great European exchanges.

There is plainly a disposition in higher financial circles to question the accuracy of M. de Foville's deductions from the latest statistics he has collected. He may not make sufficient allowance for the ways that the taxes on which he bases his argument are evaded as their weight increases. But the data relating to the part that he has collected are not criticised, and on this he relies largely to demonstrate his thesis. M. de Foville finds that between 1825 and 1830 the average annual value of the properties subject to succession taxes was 1,843,000,000 francs. By 1850 the basis had risen to 2,605,000,000, and by 1870 to 4,729,000,000. It reached its highest point about 1805, 6,930,000,000, and since then has been declining, the annual average since 1900 having been in the

neighborhood of 6,489,000,000 francs. French statisticians are properly the persons to pass on the correctness of De Foville's deductions, but meanwhile comment is made that the apparent decrease in French wealth may be due to a change in the field of investment, and that really France has so much money that she is in a position similar to that of a capitalist who invests with an eye to concealment of his holdings from the tax collector.

Another line of comment is that the population of France is so nearly stagnant that no inducement exists for the extension of home industries, and her capitalists must look around to "turn" the money in their hands. French vital statistics certainly lend plausibility to this theory. The population has for a long time remained between 38,000,000 and 39,000,000. To clothe and feed and house a population that remains so nearly stationary is an operation almost as easily calculable as the rationing of a regiment in time of peace. It calls, perhaps, for a variation of styles and commodities, but not for a great expansion of capital. France, moreover, finds it difficult to expand her manufacturing industries, to extend her foreign markets enough to overcome the uniformity of the domestic demand. She is a large importer of coal, and unlike Italy, whose population also grows slowly, she is without remarkable water powers to which she can harness electricity. Italy's estimated population, 33,500,000, is but 5,000,000 larger than it was 20 years ago, and if she were entirely dependent on coal her industries would be in a very bad way. The Italian rivers feeling clear to the sea the impulse of their initial leap from the Alps or the Appenines lend themselves readily to the application of electricity, and the use which Italy is making of this force is stimulating her industries and is attracting European attention.

Whether racial tendencies are responsible for the slow growth of the Latin countries is one of those questions more readily to be debated than decided, but the fact that in France, Italy and Spain the same peculiarity is observed suggests much when we speculate as to their industrial commercial future. Spain's population in 1900, 18,618,086, was but 3,200,000 in excess of what it was in 1857. Italy is better situated than the others, as there is large emigration which offsets the drift to congestion and which diffuses the demand for Italian products. If all the Italians who have settled in other lands in the last 20 years had remained at home the "statistical position" of the country would have been improved, but at a price the payment of which might have taxed her real progress. The Teutonic nations,

on the other hand, not only report marked increase of population, but marked industrial advancement contemporaneous with emigration. It is Germany's great industrial and commercial expansion that is troubling the financial calculations of other European countries.-Boston Transcript.

The World's Alphabets.

The alphabets of the various languages of the world vary from 12 to 202 letters. That of the Hawaiian language has only 12 letters, while that of the Tartars is at the other end of the list with 202 letters.

A Good Club.

The happiest men in the world are the fellows who long ago held a caucus with themselves and decided that the great majority of things were none of their business. The ranks of the club are open to any fellow who wants to join-no application, no dues, no initiation, every fellow being his own lodge.-Tampa Times.

Shall Unions Incorporate.

The question whether trades unions should be incorporated is discussed at length in a report made public at Boston, Mass., by the state bureau of statistics of labor. No definite conclusion is reached by the bureau, but the consensus of opinion of employers, labor leaders, members of the legal profession and representatives of the general public, to whom questions bearing on the subject were propounded, is presented. The report says:

"Employers believe that trade unions should incorporate because the better class of members would be individually active in the management of the union for the purpose of conservative action leading to continually increased strength in their standing before the community.

"Labor leaders believe that trade unions should not be incorporated, because the individual members whould be held responsible for the actions of the organizations; also, because the organizations would be held responsible for the action of the individual member, or, in other words, the responsible members would be liable on account of the irresponsible ones.

"The public view is that incorporation is desirable because it would bring about a greater willingness of the employers to deal with the unions when they feel that the unions are legally responsible.'

Nearly a thousand letters were sent out by the bureau questioning opinions upon various phases of the question, and replies were received from 301 persons.