and proper people-at the thought of the election of Jefferson, whose Presidency they were sure meant the fall of the Republic and the crack of doom; and no arguments which they hurled against him helped so much to elect him as those which depicted him as the prince of anarchy, and the great American democracy as all ready to resolve itself into a mob.

EDWIN D. MEAD.

What Is the Point at Issue? To the Editors of The Outlook:

I have just read the editorial in the last Outlook on "The Paramount Political Issue," in which you give the position of those who oppose the Philippine policy of the Administration, and I now understand the situation. I can now see clearly why the "antis," so called, are regarded as fogies or pessimists or traitors, for in the five attitudes described not one touches the real position of the anti-imperialists. We are not conservatives; we do not doubt the ability of this country to meet every responsibility nobly; we do not doubt the world-power of a republic; we thoroughly indorse all that has been done for Cuba, and many of us grew hoarse pleading for Cuba; and, finally, we believe that temporarily America could do better for the Philippines than they could do for themselves, though in the end development, progress, power, civilization, mean selfgovernment.

With us it is not a question of policy or prejudice. It is a question of right or wrong; and we hold that we have no right in the Philippines, outside of Manila; and to usurp the right is to deny other people what we demand-"the consent of the governed"—and to belie the principles and institutions of our own land. Forcible annexation can find no haven in a republic; either that or the Declaration

of Independence must go. Let the peo ple choose. MRS. H. W. THOMAS.

[I. The Outlook does not believe that governments rest upon the consent of the governed. This parenthetic clause in the Declaration of Independence is often inconsistent with its fundamental principle that governments are for the benefit of the governed. The governed at Santiago consented to the filthy streets which killed hundreds of men, women, and children before their time, but this was not government for their benefit. Majorities do not make right. The majority consented to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ: that did not make the crucifixion righteous. The majority, including both blacks and whites, in many Southern States opposed the maintenance of United States authority; that did not make such maintenance wrong.

II. Mr. Mead illustrates and affirms the proposition which he thinks he is assailing. A strong government in Pennsylvania would have protected persons and property; it did not; it left mill-owners and mill-workers to arm for their own protection: hence the private war. We want a government equally strong to prevent lawless aggressions of corporations and lawless violence of mobs; equally able and equally ready to prohibit and prevent the one from hiring a private army and the other from organizing itself into the semblance of one. All that Mr. Mead quotes from The Christian Union in 1892 The Outlook reaffirms in 1900.

III. Our readers have before them two interpretations of the lessons of history, ours and that of our correspondents. We leave them to weigh for themselves these two interpretations and decide between them. THE EDITORS.]

Vol. 66

The Anthracite

The deferred strike of Coal Miners' Strike the anthracite coal miners of Pennsylvania was

ordered on Wednesday of last week, the efforts of the men to secure arbitration having proved fruitless. The final order was issued from Indianapolis by the National Executive Board of the United Mine Workers of America, and came in the form of an indorsement of the action taken on August 27 by the representatives of the anthracite miners in their convention at Hazleton, Pennsylvania. By the rule of the organization, it appears, the local unions could not order a strike without the sanction of the National Board. The order to strike took effect on Monday of this week, and was at once accepted by about a hundred thousand men out of the one hundred and forty thousand employed in the anthracite coal fields. The Hungarian, Italian, and other immigrant miners have taken but little part in the strike, but the American miners have supported it almost uniformly. The principal demands of the miners are as follows: The abolition of company stores and company doctors; a reduction in the price of powder from $2.75 a keg the price in 1874-to $1.50; the payment of wages twice a month and in cash; the limitation of a ton to 2,240 pounds; and an advance in wages ranging from ten per cent. for men receiving over $1.75 a day to twenty per cent. for those receiving less than $1.50.

No. 4

differences, as it was merely "a play for position," and the strike had been ordered without proper notice to the employers. "As to grievances," he said, "we are always ready to receive complaints and entertain them. We will now meet our men at any time. The whole matter rests with them. But we decline to recognize labor unions. As to our miners, I do not believe that they have any real grievance against us. The assertion that they have not shared in the general prosperity of the country may be met with the statement that the operators are in the same position. I do not believe the statement that the miners desire semi-monthly payments. This is the Pennsylvania law, but the miners have never invoked it." As to the last point, the miners state that the Pennsylvania statute simply mocked them by making it essential that they should "demand" to be paid in accordance with its provisions, when such demand would obviously invite, the discharge of those making it. As to whether the coal companies, including the coal roads, have shared in the general prosperity of the country, the men are ready to accept the findings of arbitrators; and as to the avowed willingness of the agents of the companies to meet with the workmen, but not with workmen's agents, the men state that their local committees have either been discharged for presenting grievances to their own employers or else have been told that the competition of other employers made it impossible to remedy the evils complained of. The situation, the miners contend, demands that all the anthracite coal miners shall act as a unit through their National organization. The fact that relatively few of the newer immigrants among the miners have heretofore belonged to the miners' organization has made united action difficult.

The Galveston Disaster

The outpouring from the whole country of aid and sympathy for the sufferers at Galveston has been extraordinary, as might be expected from the broad generosity of the American people. Money in large amounts has been sent to Galveston rapidly and liberally, while trains and steamships filled with supplies have been despatched from many cities; yet so overwhelming and wide-reaching was the devastation that assistance must be continued and extended in even larger proportions. There are many excellent methods of forwarding contributions; we need here give only one address, to which our readers may send money with certainty that everything received will be promptly and economically applied to the needs of the people of Galveston-the Citizens' Relief Committee of the Merchants' Association of New York. Checks should be made to the order of the treasurer, Mr. James Stillman, and sent to him at 52 Wall Street, New York. Thousands of people are homeless and hundreds of families have been broken up by death. It is now estimated that the loss of life is from five to six thousand out of a total population of about forty thousand. Many bodies have been buried at sea, more have been cremated, and it was only after days and nights of arduous labor that the city began to be safe from the danger of plague arising from the number of unburied corpses. Unlike most stories of calamity as told by the press despatches, the record of this one has increased from day to day as the proof of the damage wrought has become more evident; for once the sensational papers were actually unable to exaggerate in their first reports of the calamity. Governor Sayers, of Texas, Mayor Jones, of Galveston, the United States Marshals in the vicinity, and other officials, have combined to organize the work of relief and of search, and all ablebodied citizens, whether lawyers or longshoremen, bankers or draymen, have been put at the actual labor. Thieves and robbers of the dead were detected in many cases in the act, and dealt with summarily and so effectively that the danger of the evil spreading has been forestalled. Armed guards are preserving order and preventing looting. The entire city will be cleaned and disinfected as rapidly as

possible, and then the question of rebuilding will be taken up seriously. While there are many who think that a sand island exposed to storms from the Gulf will never prove a suitable site for a great city, the prevailing opinion seems to be that solidity in construction and proper sea-walls will make the new Galveston safe, and that its present site is so peculiarly favorable for commerce that there should be no thought of abandoning it.

China and the Powers

During the past week the diplomatic correspondence between the Powers with regard to China, so far as it is known, appears to have been chiefly in the nature of what may be called maneuvering for position. The one fact of the week which looks toward immediate advance in settling the difficult questions with regard to indemnity and security for the future has been the departure of Li-Hung-Chang from Shanghai for Peking by way of Taku and Tientsin. At Peking he will meet Prince Ching, who, with him, is to represent China in the negotiations. Prince Ching is entirely acceptable to the Powers as a representative of the Emperor, as he has always been favorably disposed to foreigners. He is supposed to lean a little toward English influence, while Li-Hung-Chang is regarded by the English diplomats as having a distinct tendency to favor Russia. It seems to be uncertain whether Yung-Lu is to be joined with Li-HungChang and Ching as a negotiator; one imperial edict appears to desire this, but the Powers, naturally, are greatly disinclined to accept Yung-Lu, because of his hostile attitude toward foreigners and his intimate connection with the outrages at Peking and elsewhere in the Empire. It should be remembered, however, that the Chinese officials with whom the Powers will deal are not in any sense to be arbitrators, but merely, so to speak, counsel for the defense. Various utterances attributed to Li-Hung-Chang, as well as information from other sources, make it increasingly clear that the Empress Dowager was brought by Prince Tuan and other fiercely anti-foreign officials to believe in the power of the Boxers, and to give them something more than her tacit ap proval. If the Emperor is to be re-estab

lished on his throne by the Powers, it would seem to be of paramount importance that his advisers and controllers should be other than the Empress Dowager, Prince Tuan, Yung-Lu, and the other officials who brought about the recent terrible condition of affairs in China. Another stipulation which would seem to be desirable for the Powers to make is that acknowledgment of the outrages upon the foreigners and apology therefor should be made in imperial edicts publicly and widely posted, so that the great body of the Chinese might not remain ignorant of the actual defeat of the Imperial Government by the Powers, as has happened more than once heretofore.

Rumors and Facts

Rumors have been frequent during the week of various combinations between the Powers and as to their ultimate demands. The most important of these rumors is that which credits Germany and Russia with having agreed upon terms to be demanded, and upon mutual action for the future; at present it is impossible to judge of the truth of this rumor. Russia continues to assert her intention of withdrawing her troops and diplomatic force from Peking to Tientsin, but thus far no actual steps to that end have been taken. Reports of the slaughter of native Chinese Christians in the interior continue, and there is little doubt that the story of the massacre of missionaries and of native Christians will, when completely known, be full of horror. An imperial edict has now been issued calling upon the imperial troops to destroy the Boxers wherever they may be found, and Li-Hung-Chang has issued orders to the same effect. The attitude of the United States during the week has been that of waiting for further information about the intentions of the Powers. No orders have as yet been issued for the withdrawal of United States troops from China. Reports of the departure of an expedition of the troops of the allies into the interior were cabled in the early part of last week, but no news from the expedition has since been sent; it was supposed to be aimed at Paotingfu, about ninety miles southwest of Tientsin, where many missionaries have, almost without doubt, met their death. The fuller

reports of the occupation of Tientsin and Peking confirm the statement that both places were sacked, and enormous quantities of private property seized or destroyed. According to the correspondents' stories which have reached this country, and the official reports which have been sent in by our officers, the American forces behaved with commendable moderation; the Japanese also seem to have refrained from general looting; but, according to the statement of correspondents, the Russians and French acted with great cruelty and cupidity, while the British troops were not properly restrained from plundering.

The arrival of President Kruger at Lorenzo Marques last week, and the announcement of his intention to proceed thence to Holland before long, form the best evidence of the final collapse of serious resistance to British arms in the Transvaal. It was at first announced that Mr. Kruger had left Vice-President Schalkburger in executive command of what is left of the Transvaal Republic, and that it was Mr. Kruger's intention to seek European intervention by personal interviews. The improbability of European intervention, however, is so great that this may be taken. as a semi-excuse and explanation for the abandoning of political hope by the President of the Transvaal Republic. The statements that the Portuguese officials were holding Mr. Kruger as a prisoner in Lorenzo Marques mean simply that they are exercising such surveillance over him as would prevent his carrying on political or military plans while in neutral territory. It is not at all probable that any attempt will be made to restrain President Kruger's action except such as is required by international law from neutral countries in dealing with the officers of combatant States. Perhaps even a greater blow to the waning cause of the Boers than President Kruger's flight would be the death of General De Wet, whose brilliant and long-continued raids and rapid movements have given him perhaps the greatest military reputation attained by any of the Boer generals. A cable despatch from Johannesburg asserts that General De Wet was

President Kruger's Flight

killed on September 7 near Potchefstroom, but this rumor has not, as we write, been fully confirmed. The division generals of the British forces are pushing the remnants of the Boer army back irom point to point, and have ccupied several places of strategical importance during the week. General French has gained possession of Barberton, and is advancing rapidly beyond that point. There are various rumors about General Botha; one is that he is negotiating for a surrender, another that he has given up his command and has been superseded by General Villjoen.

The Cuban Elections

இ

The election for delegates to the forthcoming Constitutional Convention took place in Cuba last Saturday, and, like the recent elections for municipal officers, was entirely free from disorder or violence of any kind. The returns from distant parts of the island are coming in rather slowly, and as we write it is not possible to analyze the party character of the delegates with accuracy. It seems certain, however, that in the city and province of Havana the National party elected six out of the eight delegates, the other two going to the, Republican party. In Santa Clara a combination of the Republican and UnionDemocratic parties was made which probably elected its nominees without exception, while in Puerto Principe there was no party contest at all, the delegates having been put in nomination by the people without dissent. In the Province of Santiago, where the race question has more importance than elsewhere in the island, it is reported that the parties in which the negroes predominate have been successful in electing their candidates. The experiment of minority representation appears to have worked very successfully. In the Province of Havana the minority party (which is there the Republican party) will probably have two delegates. The three parties in Cuba differ chiefly on local matters and in shades of opinion rather than in fundamentals. All are practically unanimous in the hope that real Cuban independence will be achieved through the new Constitution now to be formulated. It is also true that most of the delegates feel very strongly that the relations between the United States and Cuba which

will follow the adoption of the Constitution should be determined either by a declaration of the United States as to its intention and policy, or by treaties between Cuba and the United States made after independence has been declared, on the ground that such relations should not be permanently determined by the fundamental law of the country, but should be open to revision as are treaty stipulations. The three parties, the National, the UnionDemocratic, and the Republican, have fused in different combinations by twos in various parts of the island, and this renders it the more difficult to declare immediately after the election its exact significance and results.

Governor Roosevelt's

Acceptance

Governor Roosevelt's letter of acceptance gives the securing of

good government at home the place of first importance among National problems; affirms that under the present Administration the country has attained the highest prosperity in its history, and declares that this is due to wise legislation on the tariff and finance; that the reversal of the financial policy and the adoption of the policy outlined in the Kansas City platform would change all these existing conditions, disarrange the industrial life of the country, and bring disaster to American finance. A sound and proper system of finance, basing the currency of the country on the gold dollar worth one hundred cents, he declares to be fundamental in our National policy; this issue between the two parties, although overshadowed for the moment by differences on foreign matters, is vital and fundamental. He protests against indiscriminate denunciation of corporations and industrial combinations, and declares that this treatment carries with it an air of demagogism and insincerity. He holds that there are real abuses which can be remedied by intelligent legislation, and among the things to be secured are publicity as to capitalization, profits, and all other matters of importance in the management of these great concerns; taxation must be considered in reference to trusts and corporations, and closer supervision and inspection devised. He reviews the history of expansion, and declares that the history of the Nation has