original canal cost the State $9,000,000, or $9 per capita for the million people then living in the State; the widening (and deepening) in 1835 cost $25,000,000, or $12 per capita; while the present project calls for an expenditure of $101,000,000, or less than $14 per capita at a time when the average wealth is treble that in the former periods. (2) Water transportation is still far cheaper than rail road transportation, and barge canals equipped with electric traction bid fair to furnish effective competition for railways for a long time to come. Not only would they lower the transportation rates for building materials, coal, and manufacturers' materials of all sorts carried by themselves, but they would regulate the charges imposed by the consolidating railroads. (3) The argument that the rural counties must not be taxed for the benefit of New York and Buffalo is untenable, as these cities, with barely one-half of the people of the State, contribute more than twothirds of the State taxes in which the rest of the State takes an equal share. Many of the individual benefits of the canal reach nearly the whole State, and it involves no sectional injustice in the use of State funds.

The Alternatives Presented

That the bill which has passed the Legislature will be signed by Governor Odell was virtually pledged in his letter accepting the nomination for Governor. The people of New York State must therefore proceed to educate themselves upon the great business proposition to be voted upon in November. Practically there are but two courses of action. Either the proposed barge canal should be constructed, or canal transportation should be abandoned. The latter course seems to us the more hazardous of the two. Yet this is the course prescribed if a majority of the people of New York vote "no" at the approaching referendum. It will not do to say that a vote against the barge canal proposition opens the way to the construction of a ship canal by the National Government. In every State many of the firmest believers in canal competition for railways would oppose this stupendous project for the National Government, because it could be inaugurated only as part of a bankrupting scheme

involving corresponding appropriations for all other States represented by efficient log-rollers in Congress. The producers of the lake regions already have an open waterway to foreign markets through Canada. It is primarily for New York State that the canal is designed, and the State must and should meet the cost of the improvements demanded. Neither will it do to say that a vote of "no" at the referendum opens the way for the improvement of the present canal. This used to be true, but to-day the students of canal problems are practically a unit in declaring that the barge canal equipped with electric traction is the only businesslike proposition under modern conditions. It is this proposition which the great commercial bodies of New York City have indorsed as essential to preserving the city's commercial ascendency, and it is this proposition which canal advocates throughout the State indorse as essential to effective regulation of railway rates. The aggregate expenditure proposed is enormous, but is only the sum expended every year by the city government of Greater New York. If it promises to add as much to the future wealth of the State, it should be indorsed. We speak with diffidence upon the problem, but we prefer to risk the large expenditure to the abandonment of canal competition.

Boss Brayton Defines His Position

Boss Brayton, of Rhode Island, appears to wear his crown or rather wield his whip-with almost as easy an indifference to public condemnation as Boss Addicks, of Delaware. When interviewed last week by the New York" Evening Post's" New York correspondent, who has so forcibly exposed his misrule, General Brayton talked with the utmost calmness of the situation and answered freely and fully every question put to him

except one. In brief, his statement was as follows:

I don't think there is much outright votebuying done; the voters are paid for their time, because they have to leave their work and come down to the polls. Sometimes that takes all day. The manufacturers in the State are really to blame for present conditions. Some of them haven't treated the party just right. The Republicans have never passed any legislation that would bother them, like the ten-hour law and things like that, until

there was such a strong demand from the labor people and the citizens that the party had to do it, and then, with the people voting against us because we didn't pass such laws, and the manufacturers not helping us as they should, we have been caught between two fires. . . . Í am an attorney for certain clients, and look out for their interests before the Legislature. I am retained annually by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company. As every one knows, I act for the Rhode Island Company [street-railway interests], and I have been retained in certain cases by the Providence Telephone Company. In addition to these, I have had connections, not permanent, with various companies desiring franchises, charters, and things of that sort from the Legislature. I never solicit any business. It all comes to me unsought. You see, in managing the campaign every year I am in a position to be of service to men all over the State. I help them to get elected, and natḥrally many warm friendships result; then when they are in a position to repay me they are glad to do it.

Apparently this statement is as accurate as it is bold. The power of the machine in Rhode Island-and in every other State except Delaware-does not rest upon the personality of the boss, but upon the campaign-contributing interests for which he acts as agent. So long as the public conscience tolerates the giving of ill-disguised corruption funds by corporations and the receiving of ill-disguised bribes by voters and legislators, the boss system will endure and the removal of one agent will but make room for another. In conclusion, it may be noted that the one question which General Brayton declined to answer was the prospective fate of the bill-repealing the special act forcing a barroom upon the people of Block Island, despite their vote. The repe is demanded by well-nigh the whole public, but the boss seems to think the public interest in it will die down. The private interests, he knows, will remain alert.

wholesale grocery house of W. M. Hoyt & mitteeman from Illinois, and a man of Co. He is the Republican National Comgood personal standing in his community. The chief issue of the campaign is the traction question. Many of the most important street railway franchises expire on July 30 of the present year, and the questions involved in the renewal of those franchises have constituted for the last half dozen years the most important topic of local political discussion. During the past winter the Council Committee on Local Transportation entered into negotiations over the question of franchise renewals with representatives of the companies, among the latter being Mr. Auerbach and Mr. Govin, of New York, representing Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, and Mr. W. F. Harrity, of Philadelphia, the noted Democratic politician, representing the Widener-Elkins interests. The negotiations were broken off by the representatives of the companies, who claimed that the terms proposed by the city were too onerous. Mayor Harrison has recently said that Messrs. Harrity and Auerbach, during the progress of these negotiations, boasted to him of their power in National Democratic politics, and intimated that higher political honor might be in store for him if he would but assist them to secure the desired franchise renewals. The platforms of both the Republican and Democratic city conventions take progressive ground on the street railway question. Both favor State legislation authorizing cities to own and operate street railways. Both declare against franchise renewal grants for a longer period than twenty years. Both declare that any such grant must contain a clause reserving to the city the right to take over the property at or before the expiration of the grant. The chief difference appears to be as to the referendum. Mayor Harrison's platform demands that the people be given an opportunity to vote on the renewal grants before they shall become effective. Mr. Stewart's platform is silent on this phase of the question. Mr. Harrison, during the six years that he has been Mayor, has won favor with the people and has excited the enmity of some of the heavy financial interests by his stand on the traction question. He has, however, been the subject of considerable

criticism for administrative faults-particularly his failure to suppress gamblinghouses and keep the streets clean. Mr. Stewart promises, if elected, to give the city a first-class business administration. His critics contend, however, that, with the traction question unsettled, no man should be elected Mayor of Chicago who is without a record on that question, which is the case with Mr. Stewart. The latter is subjected to some criticism, too-his friends claim unjustly-because his nomination came to him at the hands of a rather unpopular party machine. The favorite of the independent Republican element for the nomination was John Maynard Harlan, son of Justice Harlan, of the Federal Supreme Court, who polled seventy thousand votes as an independent candidate for Mayor in 1897. Without any organization to start with, Mr. Harlan secured more than a third of the delegates to the recent Republican city convention that nominated Mr. Stewart. There is also a full labor ticket in the field, but it is not expected to secure a heavy vote. The people of Chicago do not allow interest in a Mayoralty election to divert their attention wholly from the City Council, thirty-five members of which are to be elected at the same time. Chicago boasts of having the best Council of any large city in the country, and the nominations made-largely through the activity of the non-partisan Municipal Voters' Leagueassure the continued high quality of that body for the year to come.

The Newark Indictments

There has never been any question that the frightful trolley accident in Newark, by which nine school-children were killed, was the result of criminal carelessness and recklessness. The only difficulty in fixing responsibility has been that the guilt is distributed among many people, all deserving of severe censure. Thus, not only were the trolley conductor and motorman clearly guilty of violating the regulations, but the superintendent and other operating officials of the trolley road were, it was shown, perfectly well aware that their rules were being violated daily, while the city officials were equally negligent in not enforcing the city by-laws, and the steamrailway company was also shown to be

violating the city ordinances every day. None of these violations of law was slight or unimportant. The crossing was in any weather and at any time a most dangerous place-such a grade crossing as a proper railroad law would not permit to exist. Unfortunately, New Jersey has no Railroad Commission, and the attempt to carry through the Legislature a very moderate law for a Commission (a law the only fault of which is that it is not sufficiently stringent) seems unlikely to succeed. The Newark Grand Jury has now acted with courage and independence. It has not only found indictments for manslaughter against the roadmaster, general superintendent, division superintendent, and assistant superintendent of the trolley line, but also has gone to the fountain of authority, and has indicted the President, Vice-President, and executive officers of the North Jersey Street Railway Company. The list includes Mr. A. J. Cassatt, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Mr. John D. Crimmins, a well-known contractor and capitalist of this city, Mr. E. F. C. Young, a prominent banker of Jersey City. The Grand Jury takes the ground that the highest officials of the road

are

not only technically but morally responsible for the deaths of these children. It may be hoped that this direct placing of responsibility upon those highest in authority may have throughout the country the effect of increasing the watchfulness and administrative care which the officials of all such lines should undoubtedly exercise. The criticism has been made that in such a case as this it may be hard to secure actual punishment in the case of indicted officials who are only remotely concerned with the actual occurrence. It must be shown in this case that the executive officers either did know or should have known about the conditions at the crossing; the first is entirely improbable, the second may be held at least in theory. As to the responsibility of the officials who directly control the working of the trolley line in Newark there can be no question, and it may be added that equal responsibility rests upon the city officials who were willfully and perhaps corruptly blind to violations of the law. The citizens should watch for future violations of law as well as applaud prosecution for past offenses,

Labor Politics in England

The labor movement in England has reached a critical stage. Trades-unionists are beginning to separate themselves from the two existing political parties, drawing a hard and fast line of demarcation bet:veen Labor and Liberal or Labor and Conservative. The movement was initiated. in the first place by Mr. Keir Hardie, M.P., and now boasts a membership of over 800,000, the constituent elements being the large trades-unions and members of the Independent Labor party and other Socialist organizations. Up to this time the Miners' Federation has held aloof, and also the extreme Socialists represented by the Social Democratic Federation. At the last general election fifteen candidates were voted for, but only two, Mr. Richard Bell, M.P., and Mr. Keir Hardie, were returned to Parliament. Mr. Bell has since been censured for the assistance which he rendered to certain Liberal candidates. At the next general election it is quite probable that some fifty candidates will be named. This great movement is largely the outcome of the Taff Vale decision, a judgment which seriously and radically affected the whole position of trades-unions. The Amalgamated Society of Railwaymen, of which Mr. Richard Bell is Secretary, has been mulcted in damages to the amount of £23,000. Trades-unionists, resolved to alter by legislative enactment the law as thus interpreted, are determined to place their own representatives in the House of Commons. This new political movement on the part of trades-unionists is not in open antagonism to either party, although at the present moment it seems to be antagonizing the Liberals to a greater extent than the Conservatives. It is probable that in the final issue the Radical wing of the Liberal party will compel the Liberals to make some sort of "give and take "alliance with the labor men, apportioning to them one seat in each of the large doublemember industrial constituencies, and receiving in return the support of the tradesunionists and Socialists in constituencies where labor candidates would be without any possible chance of success. other solution would probably mean the keeping of the Liberal party out of office for many years still to come, or at least a paralysis of that party as an engine of

Any

government if returned to power with a slender majority.

Macedonia

According to last week's des

patches from Constantinople, considerable dissatisfaction was expressed at the Austrian and Russian Embassies with the tardiness of the Turks in carrying out the Macedonian reform plan. The Embassies are unable to watch the manner in which the Porte fulfills or fails to fulfill its engagements, because they have not received copies of the code of regulations drafted by the Turkish Council of State for the application of the reforms. Dissatisfaction has also been expressed in Macedonia even with the long-desired provision that the taxes shall not be assessed by the same person who collects them. The prompt payment of the local officials, especially the gendarmerie, provided by the reform which the Powers have imposed on the Sultan, would seem to remove the chief cause of bribery, outrage, and oppression, and we may look for some relief from the oppressive course taken by the civil and military representatives of the Turkish Government. The Sultan must certainly be allowed sufficient time in which to institute the reforms to which he has agreed, though the continued arrival of Macedonian refugees in Bulgaria is a disquieting symptom. The Powers are bringing pressure to bear upon Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria to keep the Macedonian revolutionary committees quiet. The region about Samakov in Bulgaria has been their headquarters for arming. Bands of brigands, representing the Macedonian committees, form in that region and march over the border. After some weeks' absence they return without arms, and are again equipped. They declare martial law and condemn to death those who do not fall in with their plans, or help support the cause by contributions of money. In this way they have intimidated the Christian subjects on the Turkish side of the border, and especially the Greek Christians, to whom they, as Bulgarians, are inimical. Last week the President of the Græco-English Byron Society received a letter from the Greeks of Macedonia complaining that, after waiting for centuries for deliverance from the Ottoman yoke,

The

refusal to authorize a continuance of the work done by many of the Roman Catholic male teaching orders, on the ground that they fomented discontent with the actual Government. By the new Law of Associations every association, religious or secular, must obtain Governmental authority to exist. This week we have to record the Parliament's action in refusing authorization to the commercial monastic orders. Of these, the Carthusian is the most important, as it is the wealthiest order in France. Carthusians (or Chartreux) have long been employed in the manufacture of a cordialchartreuse. Most of the money they make is nobly used in benefactions and in the foundation of hospitals, schools, and churches throughout the country in the neighborhood of their great monastery, as Abbé Lemire claimed in defending them in Parliament last week; he also presented a petition signed by nearly a hundred thousand inhabitants of the country surrounding the monastery begging that the Carthusians be not banished. Replying, M. Combes, the Premier, declared that the Carthusians should not be favored because they were rich, or because their departure would certainly mean serious loss to the region in which their motherhouse-La Grande Chartreuse-was situated (the country just north of Grenoble). The fact was, he said, that the Carthusians had conducted an active propaganda against the Republic, culminating in the signature of their Superior-General to a recent pamphlet urging all citizens not to pay their taxes, and to boycott the Republican officials. By a vote of almost three to two, the Radical and Socialistic majority in the Chamber of Deputies then refused authorization to the Carthusians. It is evident to many friends of the Government, however, that the extreme and

atheistic Radical wing is now bent upon a destructive policy towards all forms of religion. However necessary it may have been to banish from France those monastic orders which have been shown to be at enmity with republican government, it is not necessary to go beyond this and denounce the Concordat-a time-honored pact, now a century old, between the Vatican and the Government of France, assuring financial support, not to the monks, but to the priests and bishops, who are, as a rule, of the admirable class described by Halévy in "L'Abbé Constantin." It would be better for the extremists to follow the advice which Premier Combes, himself a Radical, gave to them last week. He would not say that the day for the denunciation of the Concordat would not sometime arrive, but declared that the time for its denunciation had not yet come; and he declared that the Government would maintain the Concordat if, on their part, the clergy would keep out of politics.

Personal Religion

Before the Church Club Captain Mahan on of New York, Captain Alfred T. Mahan, of the United States navy, who is widely known. as the foremost writer on sea power and allied subjects, spoke last week on the subject of "Personal Religion." It is rare that this subject is touched upon without some appearance of disingenuousness or sentimentality. Captain Mahan's address, notable of itself as coming from a man of his standing, was therefore the more notable because of its dignity, its transparent sincerity, and the persuasive beauty of both its substance and its form. The extent to which the Christian impulse is to-day languid he attributed to two immediate causes: the advance of science, by which God is revealing those forces which seem to some eyes to obscure him; and criticism of the Bible, which seems to necessitate a radical change in our ideas concerning the nature of God's revelation-ideas, as Captain Mahan tersely expressed it, "which being ours were not necessarily God's." Back of these immediate causes he placed, however, the ultimate cause-the habit of being governed by appearances rather than by love of God himself. For this reason a