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LYMAN ABBOTT, Editor-in-Chief

MAY 17, 1913

HAMILTON W. MABIE, Associate Editor THEODORE ROOSEVELT Contributing Editor

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ence.

Lord Weardale, the head of the British delegation, pointed out not only that we should rejoice in the fact itself, but, as he put it, that it ought to be a lesson to all mankind; that we should like it to be almost a manual of instruction to the youth that they should read in the history of the last one hundred years how, in spite of many difficulties, of constant possibilities of conflict, we have been able, thanks in the first place to the admirable agreement which has kept the Great Lakes and that long frontier from fortification, and, above all, to the good feeling and good-fellowship of the BritishAmerican people, to avoid any serious menace." And Sir Edmund Walker, the head of the Canadian delegation, affirmed that nothing could do more to insure eventual peace for all the world than this example of the way in which one-quarter of the world can be inspired by peace. The history of this movement and of the historical events it commemorates has been outlined more than once in The Outlook. The Conference which has just taken place in New York had for its chief purpose the settlement of a definite programme for the celebration and for the international permanent memorials. The memorials agreed upon in the final report of the executive committee are numerous and interesting. They include:

First: The erection of two monuments, identical in design and inscription, in Washington

and London. It is proposed that the foundation stones of these two monuments shall be laid at the same time, by the King of England and the President of the United States, and that at the time of the ceremony the English-speaking world shall recognize the significance of the moment by a five minutes' cessation of all business.

Second: The institution of traveling scholarships and exchange professorships: the compiling of a history of the one hundred years; the erection of commemorative tablets as memorials to individual events; religious services: a commemorative celebration in Ghent, where the treaty was signed in December, 1814.

Third: The erection of permanent memorials and monuments along the American-Canadian frontier, including arches over the QuebecMiami and Vancouver-Los Angeles highways where they cross the boundary. Among the monuments to be erected along the Canadian border will also be a bridge over the Niagara River near Niagara Falls, and a bridge, accompanied by water-gates and possibly a tunnel, at Detroit.

The complete programme of celebration by Great Britain, Canada, Ghent, and the United States separately, and by combined action internationally, will be both elaborate and impressive. It will be outlined fully in The Outlook hereafter. An International Committee appointed by the New York Conference will begin active work immediately. The attention and interest evinced in the press as to this Conference and the participation of so many distinguished men and women in the reception of our visitors have given added proof that the subject is of National importance and universal significance.

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American Peace Society its session last week

in St. Louis is composed of a number of peace societies, among them the American Peace and Arbitration League, and the American Peace Society. The action taken at the Congress which has

caused, perhaps, the widest comment was not an action taken by the Congress itself, but by one of the constituent societies. This was the removal of the name of Dr. Lyman Abbott from the roll of Honorary VicePresidents of the American Peace Society. The reason given for this action was that Dr. Abbott had signed a petition of another society whose representatives were present at this Congress-the Navy League of the United States. This petition asked for two things: first, for the reorganization of the personnel of the navy, in order that the navy might be made more efficient by having younger officers in high positions and thus securing fleet commanders with longer experience than the navy can now have; and, second," a continuing and consistent programme of naval construction, to be formulated by a Council of National Defense duly authorized by Congress." In amplifying this statement of a "policy for building up the navy" the petition declared that "To fix the country's standard, the proposed Council of National Defense should take into consideration National defense, American policies, and the naval programmes and military strength of possible opponents." The petition included no request for more battle-ships. It is evident that by its action the American Peace Society was willing to place itself on record against the reorganization of the personnel of the navy and against a consistent naval policy of construction with a view to National defense. There are undoubtedly some Americans who hold that peace will be promoted by a policy of rendering the army and navy inefficient. This is not the position of the American Peace and Arbitration League, or of the Carnegie Peace Foundation. It apparently is the position now of the American Peace Society. The theory that peace does not always follow as a result of inability to defend one's self was amusingly illustrated at St. Louis during the Congress. A Peace delegate, on the way to a disarmament session, got into a fight with a pickpocket who had seized his purse. The Peace delegate was a poor fighter, and it was necessary for two other men to come to his rescue. One of these received a black eye. purse was restored after the arrival policeman had brought about peace. petition of the Navy League is one which, for the sake of international peace as well as for the efficiency of our navy, should be carefully considered by the American people

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and the American Congress. It has received eight hundred signatures, among them those of the Presidents of Yale, Princeton, and California Universities, publishers, authors, professors, Governors, and men in various positions of public life, including, it is interesting to note, the entire Supreme Court of one of the States. Dr. Abbott's view of the relation between international peace and international justice will be found in a signed editorial on another page.

The Police Graft Citadel Shaken

Mr. Whitman. the District Attorney of New York City, struck a straight and telling blow at the very center of police corruption in convicting last week the four Inspectors, Sweeney, Hussey, Murtha, and Thompson. The charge against them was not bribery, but conspiracy to suppress evidence. Instead of lessening the importance of the case, this under the circumstances increases it; while indictments for bribery still stand against the Inspectors, and will doubtless be pressed unless one or more of the convicted men seeks for mercy by complete confession. The vital thing in the present war against police blackmail is not to show that this man or that man has been guilty of extorting bribes, but to expose and extirpate the complex conspiracy by which police criminals have systematic ally imposed, collected, and divided regular toll from vice. If such a system exists (and who now can doubt it?), its vicious strength lies in the mutual support of the criminals by perjury. To disentangle this net of perjury, to frighten minor accomplices into confession, to make each man "higher up" feel that his doom threatens-this is what Mr. Whitman has done in making so clear a case against the four Inspectors that the jury brought in their verdict with no hesitation whatever. In his final argument the District Attorney said:

If the Police Department, its leaders and commanders, can conspire to defeat the law, it means an end of civilized government. They are guilty of crimes more dangerous than bribery." The facts are that step by step the connection was being shown between the keeper of a disorderly house and the patrolman who collected for the police, the patrolman and his captain, and so on up, when these Inspectors united in a desperate attempt to keep out of reach those witnesses whose testimony was necessary

and conclusive. The plain course of justice was squarely blocked for the minute. Patiently and logically the prosecutor bent to the work of removing the obstruction; he obtained the confession of Captain Walsh, he convicted one patrolman of perjury and another of extortion, and he forced a lawyer to plead guilty to tampering with a witness. Thus the screen before the Inspectors fell and their conspiracy was clear as day-so clear that they evidently expected conviction. Again the road seems open to that full exposure of the grafting system which is needed to stir the public to reorganization of the police force, and to give heart to the many honest police officers who dare not oppose openly those who hold the reins of power. The sight of four convicted Inspectors going handcuffed to jail and the recollection of a lieutenant convicted of murder have shaken the prestige and power of the police grafters as nothing has done in New York's history for twenty years.

Two Suffrage Demonstrations

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Suffragists are coming to measure the success of each year's campaign by the size of the annual procession in New York City. If this tradition has grown quickly, so have their parades. The advocates of votes for women have reason to be gratified by the size of their most recent demonstration, held on Saturday, May 3. Twenty thou sand women and men (estimated by the antis as exactly 9,613, and by the suffragists at over 30,000) marched from Washington Square to Fifty-ninth Street, taking over two hours to perform that most important function of all parades-the passing of a given point. The women marched in excellent order. The reception accorded them by the large crowd that lined the sidewalks of Fifth Avenue was both respectful and considerate, but, it must be added, there was almost an entire absence of enthusiasmthere was a little clapping now and then at some special feature of the procession, but practically no cheering at all. One palpable hit, acknowledged as such by not a few antisuffragists, attracted the amused attention of many spectators. The suffragists engaged a room overlooking the windows of the anti-suffrage headquarters, and suspended therefrom a large yellow banner inscribed as follows:

"They say that the home is the woman's sphere; Then what are the antis doing here?"

That suggests the very difficulty of any movement against woman suffrage. Most of the women who wish to be free from the burden of suffrage wish for the same reason to be free from the burden of opposing it. This open-air demonstration in favor of woman suffrage was preceded the night before by a great meeting in the Metropolitan Opera-House. The gathering was addressed by Dr. Anna Shaw and by Mr. Roosevelt. This was Mr. Roosevelt's first public confession of faith in the suffrage movement to be made under the auspices of a suffrage organization. All who believe that law and order are more important than the temporary advantage of any particular ism or propaganda should be gratified by the firm stand taken by both Dr. Shaw and Mr. Roosevelt in opposition to the militant arsonettes " of England. American suffragists as a whole have so far regarded themselves as neither beyond nor above the law they sought to change; but that a strong undercurrent of impatience with the constitutional method of protest exists even here may be judged by the fact that the loudest and most spontaneous applause of the evening came during the taking of the collection, when a woman offered to the Suffrage Association one hundred dollars in honor of Mrs. Pankhurst."

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million women was defeated last week in the House of Commons by a vote of 266 to 219. The significance is seen only when it is remembered that last year practically the same measure came much closer to passing-the vote was 222 to 208-and that in this Parliamentary stage, namely, the second reading, woman suffrage bills have in seven instances secured a majority vote. Thus, instead of being aided by the lawlessness of the militant faction, their ultimate purpose has been retarded. Cable reports fully recognize this, and ascribe the result to the militant madness,” adding that serious women suffragists do not deny that the defeat of the bill and their loss of the franchise is due to what is called Pankhurstism. The proposed bill would have made it possible for women over twentyfive years of age to vote if they had the household qualification the possession of which now allows a man to vote, or if they were wives of men having that household qualification. Meanwhile public indignation against the

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