5. R. I. one of the five States
which allows the wid-
ower to take all his
deceased wife's prop-
erty.

6. This last point of law
needs revision.

Such an outline calls for a thorough study of the article by the pupil and forces him to read carefully and think analytically-an exceedingly valuable training. No outline is ever accepted that consists of merely general statements. Each outline must present definite information and be absolutely identical in form with the illustration given.

"

In addition to the Thursday work, where the pupils are allowed entire freedom of choice of topics, I assign to the classes articles in such magazines as the "Outlook," the "World's Work," the Literary Digest" and the "Independent," to be outlined as in the Thursday work. All of these assigned articles are discussed in class, the outline points being dictated by the pupils to the classes.

Each pupil is required to keep a Current Events note-book, and in this he must take down the outline points of the most valuable of the Thursday reports and of all of the assigned topics.

About every four weeks an examination is given in current events only. The kind of questions asked may be seen by reading the following, which were given Monday, February 24, 1913:

1. Discuss the following current events, numbering the statements you make.

a. The convict lease system and its evils; suggest remedies.

b. The Idaho case.

c. The Panama Canal toll question.

(1) The history of the case.

(2) The American interpretation.

(3) The British interpretation.

(4) Your personal view.

2. Name six other current events discussed in class, commenting on any two of them.

3. Give four current events not discussed in class, commenting on each in such a way as to show an intelligent appreciation of the topic.

4. Present a discussion containing several points as to the practical value of studying current events.

I am sure a number of the answers to question 4 will be of particlar interest to readers of THE HISTORY TEACHER'S MAGAZINE, because they show the practical value of studying current events from the point of view of the very persons for whose educational welfare we as teachers feel a responsibility, and because these answers, speaking as loudly as they do from pupils themselves, may compel (I was going to say induce) many teachers who are still unbelievers in this great movement to become converts to it. My pupils say that the study of current events is valuable because:

1. It not only gives you an idea of what is going on around you, but it also gives you a feeling that it is your

duty to find out what is going on in your city, State, and nation, and among the nations.

2. It gives the different views held by writers on a particular question, and enables one to draw his own conclusions.

3. It gets one into the habit of reading about important topics, a habit that is pretty hard to get rid of, and one that we don't want to get rid of.

4. It increases one's vocabulary and prepares him to help solve the problems of the immediate future.

5. It lets us know who our distinguished men are and what their good and bad points are.

6. It enables us to find out what is going on in foreign countries, and shows the attitude of our country toward other countries.

7. It reveals the needs of our city and State.

8. It gives us a whole lot we would otherwise miss because of an inclination not to look things up unless asked to do so.

9. It keeps high school pupils up on the important things of the day.

10. It makes one more broad-minded, because both sides of a question are discussed.

11. It develops in the pupil an interest in the affairs of his city, his State, and the nation.

12. It enables us to become intelligent citizens and voters. 13. It keeps the pupils in touch with the way in which the government is managed, and with what is going on in the political and business world.

14. It would produce more independent voters at election time, and that would mean that the bosses would not have so much sway.

15. It disciplines our minds to appreciate political happenings.

16. It keeps one abreast of the time.

17. It makes one capable of talking about different questions.

18. It makes better citizens because pupils begin to look into matters, and they will be apt to continue doing so, which will mean that they will not vote a certain party ticket because their fathers did.

19. It makes the class more interesting as a whole. 20. The pupil does not have to study the same things later as ancient history.

21. It prepares one for a respectable standing among intelligent men, and enables one to talk about politics and understand when others are talking about the government and daily occurrences.

22. It makes us look toward the future and see if the Democrats will rule as well as the Republicans have. We will know whether the Democrats live up to their promises or not.

23. If this were kept up in all of the schools there would soon be an intelligent electorate.

24. It gives one a broader outlook.

25. It enables us to judge whether others are talking intelligently or not.

26. It helps out in other subjects, such as declamation and English.

27. It gives a pupil insight into social and political problems.

28. It takes the pupil outside his own little community and its petty gossip, and interests him in things worth while.

29. Perhaps the greatest and most forcible reasons for studying current events is that to be an intelligent voter one must have a clear idea of the great issues of the day, which can be gained (practically speaking) in no other way than by a study of current events and movements.

30. It is necessary for the welfare and progress of the country because it makes citizens more intelligent.

31. When one has to write or be examined on what he reads, he takes time to pick out the important points and arrange them in relation to each other.

32. If one keeps up such a careful study of what he reads, he will train his mind to see the important points on the first reading.

33. It trains us to have an interest in government affairs; and we sometimes dislike to wait to see how certain issues are coming out.

34. We learn more of the laws and methods of our own State than we otherwise would, and later this knowledge will prove useful to us.

After reading what these pupils have to say, how can teachers of history do so great a wrong as to withhold from their pupils the opportunity to garner so much valuable information and be responsible for their not having a training that would go a long ways toward developing them into intelligent and efficient citizens?

Ask

Do not wait until next term. Start in now. your principal to request the High School Committee to subscribe to two or three of the best magazines for the purpose. They will do it if you show them the reasonableness of your request and the great value of what you ask, and they will be glad to know that you are alive in your profession.

Periodical Literature

EDITED BY GERTRUDE BRAMLETTE RICHARDS, PH.D.

66

Baron Paul Henri Benjamin D'Estournelles De Constant, one of the most noted of all the world's peace advocates, has an article on "America's Duty" in the December "Atlantic." The duty of the New World, as he sees it, is to experiment with a new policy, a policy of conciliation and respect for the right in the place of the traditional antagonism and adventurousness of which we in Europe see the irreparably tragic results." He shows how the history of America proves her preparation for this role and how her interests will accord with a pursuance of a peace policy.

"My Chinese Fan" (December "Atlantic ") is the rather misleading title of an excellent study of social and economic conditions in China of to-day, by Harry Huntington Powers, formerly Professor of Economics, Stanford University, and now at the head of the Bureau of University Travel.

In the November number of " Blackwood's Magazine," Charles Whibley has an interesting sketch of Alexander I of Russia ("A Famous Tsar"), in which he puts forth the theory that this grandson of the great Catherine was a misfit. The conflict with Napoleon and French civilization is considered somewhat in detail.

"Greece and Europe," by "Politicus," in the "Fortnightly Review" for November, attempts to explain the present attitude of Greece by the events of her history since 1821. The attitude of the Powers toward Greece in that struggle is reason now, says the author, for "the descendants of the heroes of 1821 to show the gratitude which their ancestors promised to their liberators," i. e., Russia and France.

The December "Century" is especially interesting to historians. Helen Nicolay's "Our Nation in the Building," an interesting, gossipy account of the first two decades of our national existence, commences in this issue; Cosmo Hamilton has an article on "England's Malady," in which the British political party system is held responsible for the war and for the dying out of patriotism, and is "the one corrupt thing in the constitution of that nation" and the cause of its degeneracy; Eric Wood, an attache at the American Embassy in Paris during the opening of the war, discusses "Army Reform," and outlines a scheme to provide for military preparedness in America; Walter Hale begins his fascinating Notes of an Artist at the Front," and Arthur Bullard gives a clear analysis of the English political situation in The British Foreign Policy and Sir Edward Grey."

In the "Outlook" for November 17, the series, "The Nations at War," began with a sketch of "Persia," by Richard Hill, formerly missionary there; followed in the issue for December 1 by the second article, "The Plight of Montenegro."

"The Japanese Policy in China," by J. O. B. Bland (November "Nineteenth Century "), tries to explain the evi dent sympathy of the European people for China and their opposition to Japan of the ground of distrust of the lat ter's evident determination to secure 66 a wider place in the sun," as a result of the present war. The author also considers "the permanent objectives of Japan's expansionist policy, and to what extent they are imposed upon her rulers by the character and needs of the Japanese people," and endeavors to show that one may sympathize with Japan's ambitions and recognize the imperative necessity of her policy without being blind to its inevitable results."

SCHOOL MAPS

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"The True Literary Map of the British Isles" is the title of a wall map recently published by the Rand, McNally Co., Chicago and New York, and edited by Blanche E. True. The aim of the author has been to locate upon the map all places which have any significance in the literary history of England. The map shows simplicity of line, clear coloring and legibility of names (size, 46 by 66 inches; price, $6.25).

In gathering material for the History Teachers' Session, to be held on Friday, December 31, in Washington, Prof. W. S. Ferguson has sent out a questionnaire in which he asks for the following information: "I. Do you think it is desirable that the Committee on History in Schools of the American Historical Association should prepare a Fuller definition of the history requirement for entrance to college, showing especially the points to be emphasized and those to be more lightly treated,' as requested by the College Entrance Examination Board? It is assumed that the committee will be assisted in this work by committees of the New England History Teachers' Association, the Association of the History Teachers of the Middle States and Maryland, the Mississippi Valley Historical Society, the Commission on Accredited Schools of the Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Southern States, the California History Teachers' Association, and other similar associations. II. If so, do you think it desirable to define the entire content of each subject by including, for example, in such a definition (a) Topics which certainly should be omitted? (b) Topics which should probably be omitted or else lightly treated? (c) Essential main topics with little or no sub-division, which certainly ought to be included and emphasized? III. Or do you think it wise to limit the definition, for the present at least, to the collateral reading, in such a way that the definition would involve the preparation of a list of topics on which collateral reading in each subject should be required, and which should be made the basis of examination?

Official documents concerning neutral rights and freedom of commerce and navigation have been published by the World Peace Foundation in a series of five pamphlets dealing especially with the relations between the United States and the belligerent nations. Among the subjects included are the following:

NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION.

The meeting of the Northwestern Association of History, Government and Economic Teachers was held in Seattle, Wash., on October 28. The topics of most interest discussed during the meeting were those dealing with the problems raised by the European war. Prof. J. N. Bowman, of the University of Washington, dwelt upon the economic factors entering into the European conflict. In his view, while religious, racial and political ambitions play some part, yet the economic conditions of the European States give the most potent cause of the war. In the discussion which followed, Mr. S. E. Fleming and Mr. H. Hale Smith took part. At the second session, Dr. James A. Smith, of the University of Washington, gave an address upon "The Fight for Home Rule," showing how the tendency toward local control in cities and counties was often thwarted by corporate interests. An interesting discussion arose from the question, "How Shall the History Teacher Treat Such Topics as Militarism, Economic Tendencies, Religious History and Those Facts which Tend to Disillusionment?" Among those taking part were Prof. McMahon, of the University of Washington; Miss Rose Glass, and Dr. Joseph K. Hart. All the speakers emphasized the necessity for freedom in teaching, and also the desirability of the use of tact upon the part of the teacher.

An extremely good analysis of the Carranza platform appears in "The Forum" for November, 1915, in Carlo di Fornaro's article on "The Great Mexican Revolution." He divides the struggle into four phases: (1) November, 1909, the abolition of the Porfirian dictatorship, (2) the unorganized effort of Madero to eliminate the Porfirista machinery, (3) the murder of Madero and Suarez by the Huerta-Diaz clique, (4) the end of the social revolution. After the Revolution (says the journalist-author) the Mexicans will possess higher civic ideals and a greater conception of political life. The revolution against Huerta is fortunate in the leadership of Carranza, whose weaknesses and mistakes are more than offset by his bull-dog courage and tenacity, his financial honesty, his political integrity, his unswerving faith in his own people; his granite will against all compromises, pitfalls and temptations. The social revolutionists are planning:

(1) A disintegration of the enormous estates; (2) equity of taxing of land and real estate;

(3) creation of an all-embracing labor legislation and the establishment of municipal liberty as a constitutional institution;

(4) changes in the organization of the army;

(5) electoral laws to guarantee the effectiveness of the vote;

(6) establishment of the independence of the judicial power in the federal as in the state governments and the revision of laws regarding matrimony and the civil condition of individuals;

(7) reform of judicial proceedings in order to render the administration of justice prompt and effective, and the revision of civil, criminal and commercial laws;

(8) revision of laws relative to the resources of the country, with a view to abolishing monopolies.

"The Journal of Political Economy" for November, 1915, contains a most interesting article by James Westfall Thompson on The Commerce of France in the Ninth Century."

Of all the articles published in the last few months on Italy and the war, none is more comprehensive in its treatment than is the one by W. Morton Fullerton in the December "World's Work." The editors introduce Mr. Fullerton as an American who has lived abroad many years under circumstances which have given him a confidential relationship to European politics.' He was Paris correspondent to "The London Times" until recently. This article," the first of a series on the aims and personalities of the strategists of diplomacy," is a study of Italy's part in the Triple Alliance since she entered it in 1882, and of the beginning of her participation in the Great War.

Alexander Dana Noyes-the financial editor of "The New York Evening Post," has a short but careful account of the war finances in the December "Scribner's" on "The Condition of Europe During and After the War." The greatest danger to the American people in the whole situation lies in the possibility that after the close of the war, the European nations "will instantly pour into the rich United States so immense a mass of manufactured goods, offered at very low prices fixed by the urgent needs of the European producers, as to cut off our own manufacturers from the market."

The October "Edinburgh Review" has a most interesting article on "Greek Athletics and Military Training," by F. A. Wright.

"The National Geographic Magazine" for October, 1915, contains a well-illustrated article on "Greece of To-day," by George Higgins Moses, formerly United States Minister to Greece.

Dr. M. Epstein gives an excellent account of German publications in the "Hibbert Journal" for October, under the title, "Some Recent German War Literature."

AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION. The twelfth annual meeting of the American Political Science Association will be held in Washington, December 27 to 31, inclusive. On Tuesday, December 28, at 3.30 p. m., there will be a joint session with the American Historical Association to discuss the "Preservation of the National Archives." In the evening of the same day a joint session will be held with the American Association for Labor Legislation, at which the presidents of the two societies will deliver their annual addresses. "Standardization and Governmental Efficiency " is the topic for the Wednesday morning session; "Administrative Tribunals" will be discussed in the afternoon of the same day, and "International Disputes of a Justiciable Nature" will be treated in the evening. On Thursday, December 30, the morning session will

be devoted to papers upon "Improvement in the Technique of Direct Legislation; at 12.30 p. m., there will be a luncheon at the Cosmos Club, followed by a short statement on the part of the Committee on Instruction and a discussion of the elementary course in politics. The business session of the Association will be held at 3.30 o'clock on Thursday afternoon; and in the evening there will be round table conferences upon "Political Scientists and Practical Governmental Work," and The Amending Procedure of the Federal Constitution." On Friday morning a joint session with the American Historical Association will listen

to papers upon The Growth of Nationalism in the British Empire; and the afternoon session will discuss "Statute Drafting."

MIDDLE STATES' ASSOCIATION.

The fall meeting of the Association of History Teachers of the Middle States and Maryland was held in Philadel phia, November 26 and 27. The program as announced in the November number of the MAGAZINE was carried out. The dinner at Houston Hall on November 26, was in the nature of a welcome to Prof. Dana C. Munro, who returned this fall to the East to accept a professorship at Princeton University after a number of years' residence at the University of Wisconsin. Professor Munro addressed the members upon the subject, "Changing Conceptions in His tory." It is hoped to print the paper in the MAGAZINE in the near future.

The Saturday morning session at Drexel Institute was well attended, and all the speakers announced were present and took part. The topic, The Content of the Course in European History in the Secondary Schools," was discussed in its general aspects by Prof. William E. Lingel. bach, of the University of Pennsylvania, who pointed out that there was danger of overemphasizing the relation of the past to the present; and that certain large aspects of the past should be taught, including the dynamic forces, of which geographic influences were important. Prof. Helen L. Young, of Hunter College, New York City, and Dr. A. C. Bryan, of the High School of Commerce, New York City, presented papers giving in detail their views of the actual conduct of the course in European history. The discussion evoked many different expressions of opinion running all the way from criticism of the college professor's attitude toward secondary school history, on one hand, to approval of the report of the Committee of Seven, on the other; and from a defense of school administrative officials, to the advocacy of the history of trades and in

In closing the discussion, the last speaker urged (1) that one unit of history be offered in each year of the high school; (2) that these units include at least European history, American history, and practical civics and economics; and that in both European and American history the recent periods be emphasized; (3) that at least two and onehalf units of history, civics and economics, be required in all high school courses; (4) while not neglecting the essen tial facts of political and constitutional development, that the stress be laid upon economic and social forces; (5) that a list of topics be recommended for each of the periods of history, but that these be not detailed in the form of a syllabus.

On Saturday afternoon a pilgrimage was made by many of the members to Germantown, where the site of the bat tle was visited, the Chew House and many other old houses inspected, and a visit paid to the Museum of the Site and Relic Society of Germantown. The trip was un der the direction of Dr. I. P. Willits, of the Site and Relie Society.