It is due to the authorities of Ostende to say that they have made good use of their money. In an official document recently issued, over the signature of the burgomaster of the city, setting forth how the gambling revenues have been used and how essential they are held to be to the continued welfare and prosperity of the city, it is shown that during the existence of the system of licensing the Ostende gaming tables, the city has been enabled to erect beautiful avenues, promenades, dykes, and public buildings for various purposes, besides purchasing and laying out public parks, gardens, and squares. In this same curious and instructive document, which appears to have been issued for the purpose of defeating the proposed anti-gambling legislation, the burgomaster points out that with the aid of these gambling revenues during the next two years it will be possible for the city to add to its attractions by erecting two new churches, some new school-houses, a new fire-engine house, and a new gas-house, and to make additional harbor improvements, without expense to the taxpayers. It will have to be allowed that this constitutes. a tempting sort of programme, even though a somewhat incongruous one, considering the character of the benefits sought and the methods of obtaining them. Under the present financial methods of the municipality there is no doubt that Ostende possesses all the charms of a tax-payers' paradise, however far removed it may be from other paradisaic characteristics. But for the taxes imposed by the general Government throughout the kingdom the people of Ostende would have practically no charges whatever to meet in their corporate capacity.

In addition to the financial considerations urged in favor of the maintenance of the present status with respect to licensed gambling, there is heard the familiar argument that vice in some of its features is bound to flourish to a greater or less extent at all times and everywhere, and that it is better that certain forms of it should be permitted to exist under strict official surveillance than that it should be suffered to go on unrestrained and in the dark. There is no doubt that this surveillance is rigidly maintained in the Ostende gambling establishment. No one is admitted to the Ostende club whose name and residence are not officially registered. There is no gambling tolerated in the city outside the licensed gambling establishment, which is ostensibly conducted after the manner of a private club. Entrance thereto is surrounded by certain formalities, which, though not exceedingly rigid, are sufficiently so to hide the play from the public gaze, without putting it beyond the range of official supervision. It is necessary for those who desire to avail themselves of the club's privileges to make formal application, and to await the delibe

rate action of the management on their application. This action is never taken until after the expiration of two days, during which time an investigation is had as to the genuineness of the applicant's representations concerning himself, as set forth in his application for membership. In this respect the procedure is different from that which obtains at Monte Carlo, where the rule is to admit applicants for admission to the gambling hall without any hesitation or delay, and without charge. At Ostende the admission fee is twenty francs, which operates to exclude nearly all persons excepting those who wish to play, whereas at Monte Carlo the gambling rooms are generally overrun with curious spectators.

Nevertheless, at the height of the season the gorgeous and spacious salons of the Ostende club are generally crowded with men and women, in about equal proportions; and the regulation evening dress of the men and the toilettes and jewels of the women make the scene about the tables as dazzling as it is demoralizing. Roulette and trente et quarante are the favorite games, the former generally for low and the latter for high stakes. The minimum stake is five francs, and the maximum is 12,000 francs. The maximum limit is frequently played by the more experienced and reckless gamblers, and the total winnings and losings of a day or a night are undoubtedly of enormous proportions. Just what these proportions are is known only to the inside management. That they are uniformly large can be readily inferred from the fact that it is no uncommon thing to see a single player win or lose 250,000 francs at a single sitting. With hundreds of players at the tables, playing day and night, with chips representing all the way from five to a thousand francs, it is not difficult to reach the conclusion that upward of a million francs are daily lost and won at these tables and they are generally lost by the players. No doubt the game is fair and square enough, as such games go. It is not necessary for the proprietors of gambling establishments at Ostende or elsewhere to take any unfair advantage of their patrons in order to win their money. Their main reliance is on the recklessness and foolhardiness of the average gambler, who never knows how to stop playing until he has lost his last sou.

Considering the high stakes wagered by so many players at Ostende, the fact that the concession readily fetches 2,500,000 francs annually is not surprising. No doubt it is worth many times that sum to the concessionaires, and they are naturally prepared to spend a great deal of money to defeat the present effort to suppress the system which gives them and their associates a monopoly of the gambling business in the chief watering-place of the kingdom. The amount of money won and

lost at Ostende has grown of late to such enormous proportions that the operations of the gambling establishment have become a continental scandal which has now challenged the attention of the Government in a manner that does not admit of evasion. The experience of the aggrieved parent, before alluded to, brought the excesses of licensed gambling home to a Belgian fireside, and emphasized the demoralizing influence of this form of vice, under whatever auspices it flourishes. Hitherto the Belgian apologists for the existing state of things have been so far disposed to compound with vice as to be willing to allow their municipalities to reap the pecuniary benefits of tolerating the gaming tables so long as the great majority of their victims were summer visitors, away from home. They have entirely ignored the obvious fact that such a gigantic gambling establishment as the Club du Kursaal d'Ostende, "sous la haute surveillance de la Ville," could not exist in any community without showing the results of its contaminating influences at home as well as abroad.

The Belgian conscience has been perceptibly quickened by the discussions of the proposed legislation against the gaming tables, and the strength of the anti-gambling movement has surprised its most sanguine promoters. As originally introduced in the Lower Branch of the Legislature the bill commanded an overwhelming majority of the deputies. It was subsequently amended in the Upper House so as to arrange that its provisions should not take effect until the expiration of two years, and that the localities affected by it should be indemnified for the losses which they would sustain under its operations; Ostende and Spa, for example, being granted under these modifications of the bill 5,000,000 and 3,000,000 francs, respectively, to compensate them for the pecuniary loss it is contended they would suffer by the closing of their expensive gambling halls. These amendments were in turn overwhelmingly rejected by the Lower House; and the parliamentary session closed in August with the two branches of the Legislature at loggerheads on this subject.

There is little room for doubt, however, that a satisfactory agreement will be reached when the session is resumed this winter, and that the end of licensed gambling in Belgium is not far off. The forces of delay and obstruction, in one form or another, may operate as temporary setbacks, but they can hardly withstand the tremendous moral uprising that has followed the uncovering of the operations of the gambling halls now protected by the general Government. The debates in Parliament, when the anti-gambling bill was under consideration, emphasized the

fact that Belgium stands alone among the representative Governments of Europe in countenancing this sort of thing. There was no serious effort made by the minority to defend the license system, and their efforts were mainly directed toward delay. They were generally willing to allow the bill to become a law at the expiration of the present concession, thus practically acknowledging the ultimate triumph of the anti-gambling movement.

The sudden shutting off of the large revenue now coming to those localities where licensed gambling establishments exist may temporarily affect the local treasuries that have profited so heavily by the sale of these concessions, and may make it necessary for the resident tax-payers to reach down somewhat deeper into their pockets to provide the wherewithal to meet their municipal expenditures; but this can scarcely be reckoned an intolerable hardship. Ultimately this shifting of the burden of taxation and the attendant purification of the local atmosphere must work to their advantage, as similar heroic treatment operated for the benefit of Homburg, Wiesbaden, Baden Baden, and Carlsbad, when licensed gambling was abolished in Germany. Since this change was made the population of these spas has more than doubled, and they are more popular and prosperous resorts for a better class of summer visitors than they were in the days of their notorious gambling halls. The outlook for the Belgian summer watering-places when regenerated will not be so dark as the champions of legalized gambling would like to have people believe. As Catholic Deputy Woerst said in leading the debate on the bill, the time has gone by when a civilized Government can afford to compound with vice by giving it shelter, no matter what the pecuniary inducements may be. And his declaration was cheered to the echo. GEORGE F. BABBITT.

THE UNITED STATES CONSULAR SERVICE.

THE trade conditions of our nation are rapidly changing. The United States is to-day an exporter instead of an importer, a creditor rather than a debtor, in its international relations. This new situation, due largely to the efforts of our leading merchants and manufacturers, has stimulated nearly every element of business activity, until all our commercial forces may be said to be vying with each other in increasing the demand for American products throughout the world. It is to be expected that those who seek to promote trade with foreign countries will avail themselves of every possible opportunity to take advantage of favorable conditions, to establish new relations and to increase existing facilities. Naturally, they turn for assistance to the regularly authorized commercial representatives of the Government, the United States consular officers, not only because of the popular belief that the consular department is available for use, but owing to the fact that the greatest benefits we as a nation can derive from this service are those resulting from the fostering and promoting of American export trade.

Since there exists a diversity of opinion concerning the general efficiency of this department as a factor in the development of our commerce, I shall present in this article some evidence, collected as the result of an investigation made during the summer of 1900, when, as the special representative of the National Business League of Chicago, I visited many of the capitals and other large cities of Great Britain and Continental Europe. These particulars may furnish thought for reflecting minds.

Our consular service was primarily created to protect the lives and property of our citizens in foreign countries, and, in some degree, to promote their welfare. Probably its chief object at first was to protect American shipping, then an extensive factor in our foreign trade. For these reasons it was placed in the Department of State. As the functions of this department are of a legal or diplomatic character, the consular bureau was not constituted or technically organized for what is now its more important duty, that of fostering American commerce. So, while the service required has been altered in scope and character,