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forty thousand people uniess it was prepared to support its statement. The peo

ple of Omaha probably wish that the preceding census had not given them such an exalted pre-eminence in the matter of rapid growth. Their actual gain in twenty years from 30,000 to 102,000-is something to boast of, but the reported loss of forty thousand in one decade will compel real estate men to explain.

Offensive Advertisements

Americans who have followed the campaign of "Scapa," the English society against advertising disfigurement, will be interested in the news of another minor victory. Following its vote prohibiting flashlight advertisements where they "cause danger to traffic "-noted in a recent issue of The Outlook-the London County Council has voted also to prohibit transparent advertisements upon the windows of its own (the municipal) tramcars. The setting of an example so greatly needed will commend itself on purely practical grounds to every American visitor to London. Perhaps in no other big city is it so difficult to disentangle the lettering of its destination from the maze of advertising announcements on a public conveyance as it is in the case of a London 'bus. Many objections were urged to the prohibition, some of them amusingly puerile. For instance, it was contended that London streets are so ugly that people having occasion to ride through them do not wish to see any more of them than is absolutely necessary.

Thus the transparent advertisement upon the street-car window was a relief by what it shut out, a blessing in disguise. More seriously, it was urged that these advertisements brought in an income of £1,500 a year, which the Council was not justified in sacrificing to gratify an æsthetic "fad." To this a conclusive practical answer was made. It has been found on actual trial that wherever the æsthetic taste of passengers has been considered, the popularity of the cars was increased, as shown by the increase of patronage. This has been the experience of Glasgow, Oldham, Blackburn, Hull, Liverpool, Bolton, and Halifax facts which have convinced Sheffield, whose corporation recently voted to allow

no advertisements on its new cars. The London County Council has now gone, probably, as far as it can in the matter of regulating offensive advertisements until it has obtained special powers from Parliament similar to those obtained by Edinburgh. Application may be made for a private act giving the Council power of control. Its æsthetic activity was recently stimulated by the presentation of a protest, signed by more than three hundred London architects, against the growing fashion of disfiguring buildings with monstrous letters and other devices. In this connection it may be interesting to add, as some attention has been called to the matter apropos of the Paris Exposition, that in France no advertisements can be put on public property without a license, and that all exposed advertisements are subject to a small tax. An American who has just returned from a year's residence in rural France, during which he traveled extensively in the provinces, gives this testimony: "There is in France no such outrageous disfigurement of beautiful scenery for advertising purposes as one finds here at home. Such advertising is confined to the line of the railways, and is much more noticeable as one approaches the city of Paris."

The Northfield Conference

The three weeks' sessions closed August 20 with allday meetings in the interest of missions, foreign, home, and city. The English preachers have gone home, and Mr. Sankey has sailed to meet a long list of appointments in Great Britain. Mr. William R. Moody, as successor to his father in the chairmanship of the Conference, has fully justified his father's wisdom in committing to him that position and overruling his natural hesitancy in accepting it. The attractiveness of the young people's meetings has secured them a permanent place in the Conference programme. Of special interest are the statements made of the Christian Endeavor work in prisons. Twenty-five Christian Endeavor societies now exist among prisoners in eleven States. In the State prison of Kentucky the Christian Endeavor Society reports 400 members among a total of 1,300 convicts. The reports of prison chaplairs set high value

upon the results of this work in permanent reformations of character. The "Tenth Legion," the designation of that group of Endeavorers who have joined in devoting one-tenth of their income to the various interests of Christian benevolence, now numbers 17,000. Another group, known as the "Macedonian Phalanx” (in allusion to the call in Acts xvi., 9, 10, for missionary work in Macedonia), aiming to promote individual interest in missions, has sprung up and made promising progress during the past year. The Post Conference began its supplementary series of meetings August 21, under the lead of Dr. H. G. Weston, of Crozer Theological Seminary, who lectured during the week on Biblical interpretation and the four Gospels. The attendance continues to be large.

The relief of Peking and the opening of some other sources of information now make it possible to obtain information about the foreign missionaries who have been in serious danger in different parts of China. There seems to be no question that the reported massacre at Paotingfu (about seventy miles southwest of Peking) actually took place. At this town were missionaries of the American Presbyterian Board and several other organizations. It is not absolutely certain which of the missionaries were in Paotingfu and which of them had escaped before the massacre took place, but there is great reason to fear that when full accounts reach this country they will show a lamentable loss of noble lives. A letter from Chifu to Dr. Judson Smith, of the American Board, recently received from Mr. Henry D. Porter, gives an interesting view of the recent occurrences in China. Mr. Porter says that the Presbyterian Christians (natives) in the Eastern districts are being horribly persecuted, and that it is a great mistake to suppose that the outbreak is "simply a Manchu frenzy." He says that the native Chinese are as bigoted as the Manchurians, and that not the slightest confidence should be placed in the men governing the provinces. He adds: “Li-Hung-Chang and Chang-ChiTung are men incapable of sincerity. Their sole purpose can be to prevent dissolution. The vast Government is worth

The Missionaries in China

less; there are none who can assume control." An important despatch is that received by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in this city. It is dated Peking, August 20, and reads as follows: "North China Christians surviving slaughter destitute, homeless; send immediate help, thank offering, Peking." It is signed by Dr. Wherry, of the Presbyterian Mission, Mr. Hobart, of the Methodist Mission, and Dr. A. H. Smith, of the American Board. In response to this touching appeal a special call for funds will be widely circulated among the churches; and it is urgently hoped that Americans, without regard to church affiliations, will come quickly and liberally to the aid of those who have suffered and are still suffering so much in the cause of Christianity. Contributions may be sent to Mr. Charles W. Hand, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

Dr. Hale's Associate

Those who saw the letter from Dr. Edward Everett Hale printed in last week's Outlook will not need assurance that he is still abounding in activity, in wide interest in human affairs, and in singularly attractive originality in the " art of putting things." The appointment of Professor Edward Cummings, of Harvard, to the associate pastorate of the South Church in Boston does not mean that Dr. Hale retires from active work, but that he is to have efficient aid where it will best enable him to continue his efforts for human betterment in the large sense. Dr. Hale will remain with the South Church, over which he has been minister for nearly forty-five years, as pastor emeritus. Professor Cummings has had a training which particularly well fits him for joint work with Dr. Hale; he was graduated from Harvard and entered the Divinity School, but left the formal course uncompleted in order to pursue special studies in social science, and spent three years in Europe reading and gathering facts on sociological topics. In 1891 Mr. Cummings became instructor in sociology at Harvard, and, later, professor of sociology and an editor of the "Quarterly Journal of Economics." An illustration of the practical character of his work in social economics is seen in the fact that it was through his

suggestion that Massachusetts adopted the advanced plan of allowing prisoners of the class usually confined to work out their fines, to work, instead, at home or at shops, under suitable inspection and probation. An account of this system was given in The Outlook for December 16 last.

Presbyterian Revision

It will be remembered that at the last General Assembly, held at St. Louis in May of the present year, a Committee of Fifteen was appointed by the Moderator, consisting of eight ministers and seven elders, for the purpose of inquiry into the sentiment of the Church with regard to the entire subject of the proposed restatement of the doctrines embodied in the Westminster Confession of Faith. This Committee has been holding sessions in Saratoga during the present month, and has prepared a statement on the subject which will be submitted to all the Presbyteries to consider at their autumn sessions. It was part of the design of the General Assembly, as shown by its resolutions, that the Presbyteries should individually take action on the matter, and should report that action to the Committee of the General Assembly. The statement now put forth by that Committee asks certain direct questions, the replies to which will put the whole matter in clear form so far as the opinions and wishes of the Presbyteries go. They are asked whether they desire a revision of the Confession of Faith, or wish to dismiss the whole subject, leaving the Confession as it is, without change of any kind. If, however, the Presbyteries desire some change, they are asked to state whether they wish, first, a revision; second, a supplemental and explanatory statement; or, third, a supplement in the way of a briefer statement of the doctrines "most surely believed among us," expressing in simple language "the faith of the Church in loyalty to the system of doctrine contained in Holy Scripture and held by the Reformed Churches." Those of the Presbyteries which desire some action are also requested to state definitely in what direc tion and to what extent revision should be undertaken, if revision is favored, or, if an explanatory statement is desired,

what specific points of the Confession the explanation should cover.

The recent annual meetBritish Wesleyans ing of the Wesleyan Conference shows as vigorous life in British as in American Methodism. For the third successive year over two million dollars are to be expended in churchbuilding. Ninety-five new chapels are to be erected, forty-five of them in places where there have been none of the Wesleyan order. The Twentieth Century Fund for the promotion and enlargement of church enterprises has already reached the sum of $4,000,000-nearly four-fifths of the proposed amount of a million guineas. This Conference, which includes the whole of the United Kingdom except Ireland, closely resemb's the Annual Conferences of American Methodists in its regulation of local matters, while also legislating for the whole body, like the General Conference. Most of a day was given to the scrutiny of a list of 114 candidates for the ministry, twenty-seven of whom were declined, one withdrawn, and the rest ordained. A marked contrast to the sentiment of American Methodists appears in the refusal again given this year to the repeatedly presented proposition to exclude from office in the Church persons connected with the liquor traffic. There were but nine votes against a motion to side-track it by taking up the order of the day. The Sacraments received special attention. The report of a special committee on the better administration of the Lord's Supper issued in a resolution to prepare for general circulation, and especially for new members coming into the Church, a cheap popular treatise on the subject. The preparation of it has been intrusted to Professor W. T. Davison. The report of another committee on the relation of baptized children to the Church gave rise to an animated discussion. While this was precluded by the time-limit from reaching a clear conclusion, preponderant expression was given to the opinion that all children should be claimed for Christ as the Saviour of all, and that "all should be baptized in his name." In this the Wesleyans are true to their Anglican extraction. The late Dr. Dale adopted this

view, though not without strong dissent among his Congregational brethren. The "Wesley Guild" shows, like its American congener, the Epworth League, a vigorous growth, so that a permanent secretary has been appointed for its management, but not without criticism of its alleged overemphasis on social and recreative as compared with spiritual interests. The decadence of the class-meeting is in England, as here, a subject of increasing perplexity. Accordingly, a special committee has been raised to consider the best means of providing for the training and equip ment of class-leaders, and augmenting their number.

Commerce of the Philippines

The War Department has
issued a carefully prepared

statement of the commerce

ion dollars' worth of hemp were exported, and about one and a half million dollars' worth of sugar and tobacco. During the last six years the imports into the islands have increased about one-third.

The Real Peril

It is not a matter of regret that the political campaign shows so little evidence of general excitement and such marked absence of bitterness of feeling. It is quite customary to judge of the importance of political campaigns by the amount of electricity in the air, although, as a matter of fact, the accumulation of heat is rarely turned into light. As a rule, the more heat in a campaign the less light; and what is needed is light and not heat. The great departure in the evolution of the The Outlook of last week to be the paraAmerican system which was declared in mount issue needs clear discernment of fact and cool and dispassionate thought. Nothing would be gained, and much would be lost, if there were widespread excitement and the air were full of clamorous outcries. Four years ago The Outlook declared that it was futile to attempt to defeat Mr. Bryan by fastening opprobrious epithets to his name; it is equally futile in this campaign to denounce Mr. McKinley as a tyrant, a usurper, an 2,355,000 unscrupulous self-seeker, who is slowly 2,155,000 but surely consolidating his power by en765,000 croachment upon the privileges of the people whom he governs. These charges are so grotesque, in view of Mr. McKinley's well-known character, as to be broadly humorous; they belong to the illustrated newspapers, not to the domain of public discussion.

of the Philippine Islands with various nations during the seven months ending with January, 1900. During this period the aggregate of imports was over $14,000,000, and the aggregate of exports was less than $10,000,000-the excess of imports being due, in part, to the foreign goods used by our soldiers. Classified by the countries from which the imports were received and to which the exports were sent, the aggregates for the more impor

tant countries were as follows: Imports from. $5,674.000

China....

United Kingdom..
United States.

Spain.....

British East Indies..

2,316,000

888,000

1,436,000
1,086,000

Exports to.
$2,511.000

The principal exports from the islands were raw materials, and the principal imports were manufactured goods. Of the latter, cotton goods ranked easily first, over three million dollars' worth being imported. Next to cotton came drugs and chemicals to the value of half a million; glassware to the value of four hundred thousand; paper and books to the value of three hundred thousand each; and wine, beer, spirits, and wheat flour to the value of two hundred thousand each. The only important agricultural product imported was rice, of which nearly two million dollars' worth was brought in from China. The exports of the islands are made chiefly of three items-hemp, sugar, and tobacco. During the seven months under review four and a half mill

The fact of expansion and the policy of expansion are realities which are clear to every intelligent American; but the thing called Imperialism, about which so much is being said at present, is a thing of the imagination; it has no reality, and for that reason it has failed to make any wide impression on the American people. Whatever may be the faults of the American people, they have an instinct for fact ; and while they may be often deluded, and sometimes for considerable periods of time, they are rarely perplexed by specters. The question whether or not the army shall be

increased to one hundred thousand men is debatable; there are good reasons to be urged against it; but to declare that the liberties of the country are to be endangered by such an increase is to take the discussion out of the realm of fact into that of pure fancy. If the liberties of this country, after a hundred and twentyfive years of national existence, and fifteen hundred years of English political education, are to be endangered by an army of a hundred thousand men, it is time that another basis were put under those liberties. The real danger in this country is not from a conception of the Nation which spells it with a capital N, nor from a strong government either in the State capitals or at Washington; the real danger, as The Outlook said editorially several weeks ago, is from weakness of govern ment. Lawlessness has been one of the chief vices of American life from the earliest times in our history. It was the prevalence of lawlessness and the extent of the lawless classes in the country that made Hamilton the advocate of a strong central government. It is the prevalence of lawlessness that, more than anything else except the development of rings and bosses, has misinterpreted American public life and the American spirit to the peoples of Europe. A country in which. the recent riots in New Orleans and New York, the forcible control of the political campaign by armed men in North Carolina, the destruction of public buildings by a mob in Akron, Ohio, last week, are possible, is in far greater danger from the mob than it is from the army or the Executive. The peril to liberty in this country is real, but it does not come from so-called Imperialism; it comes from the fear of the mob and the weakness of executive officers in the presence of the mob. Among all the tyrants, none is more brutal than the mob; and in this country the mob, even in old communities, is often, for considerable periods of time, the real ruler.

The safeguards needed in this country are not safeguards against too much government, but against lawlessness. We need sheriffs, mayors, governors, and presidents who are not afraid of citizens who have put them into office when those citizens are organized for the purpose of breaking the law and committing deeds of violence.

We need men who will not hesitate to put down a mob with a strong hand; men whose first concern it is, with absolute indifference to friend or foe, to maintain in New Orleans, North Carolina, New York, Akron, and St. Louis, that order the preservation of which is the first instinct of men of English blood and English political training. Nothing has brought greater reproach on American institutions than the frequent outbreaks of lawlessness in many parts of the country which have sometimes been met, as they ought always to be met, with prompt and stern upholding of the law by adequate means, but more often by evasion, delay, indecisic and sometimes cowardice. The real servant of the people is the executive who is not fraid of the men who elected him when it comes to a question between order and disorder. So long as negroes are hunted in great cities, voters are intimidated in ancient commonwealths, streetcar traffic is prevented in great cities, and public buildings are blown up by dynamite, it is idle to talk about the danger of too much government in the United States.

The Situation in China

The American position in China has not changed, and so far no complications have arisen which have led in any way to its modification. That position has been from the first so clearly defined that it could not be mistaken, and in the uncertainty and confusion which reigns in Peking and in China generally there need be no uncertainty or confusion in regard to the purposes of the United States. We declared that we would enter into no negotiations with the Chinese authorities so long as unrestricted communication with the American Legation at Peking was denied; we demanded, before opening negotiations, that the attacks on the legations cease, that communication be restored and order maintained. These ends secured, this Government is pledged to do what it can to maintain the integrity of China, and to enforce free and unrestricted commercial intercourse.

The Chinese authorities failed to meet these conditions; they did not make free intercourse with the legations possible; they did not cause the attacks on the

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