and in its endeavor to secure more effective laws for the protection of popular rights and the preservation of popular interests; and readers of The Outlook will not doubt that The Outlook heartily indorses this position as sound and conservative.

Governor Hughes on the Questions of the Day

The subjects of Governor Hughes's Message, which was read to the New York State Legislature on New Year's Day, may be considered under two heads those which peculiarly concern the State and those which are of National as well as of local or State interest. Those of his recommendations which refer to matters of State policy deal with Canals, Highways, Rearrangement of State Institutions, Agriculture, Harbor Administration in New York City, the National Guard, Forestry, Pure Food, Salaries of Judges, and Race-Track Gambling. Of these purely State matters the subject of race-track gambling is the one upon which there will probably be the greatest contest at the State Capitol. The Governor points out the inconsistency of the present laws, which practically permit betting and pool-selling at race-tracks, while punishing them ast penal offenses when indulged in elsewhere. He recommends that the laws on public gambling and bookmaking be made uniform and more stringent. The gambling interests will not let this commendable recommendation pass without vigorous opposition, and the Governor will need the support of an aroused and well-organized public opinion. The topics on which the whole country will be interested to know the Governor's opinions (although in this Message he applies them, of course, to State affairs only) are the following: Banks and Trust Companies, Insurance, Regulation of Public Service Corporations, the Debt Limit of Great Cities, Ballot and Election Reform, and the Development of Water Powers. These are subjects which come up for legislative discussion and action not only in the individual States but some of them in the administration of the Federal Government. Governor Hughes believes in a stricter and more

uniform control of banks and trust companies. He justly says that trust companies doing a banking business should in the transaction of that business be subject to the identical restrictions and conditions that are imposed upon banks The law should apply, not to the name of the institution, but to the kind of business it does. He advises the Legislature to proceed with extreme caution, if at all, in modifying the laws regulating life insurance, as there is "no business more closely related to the welfare of the people, especially to the thrifty and provident, and none which should be more carefully safeguarded." He advises that the telephone and telegraph companies should be put under the control of the Public Service Commissions, which now regulate the railway, gas, and electrical corporations of the State. As to the borrowing power of great cities, he recommends that bonds sold to build public works that produce an actual net profit to the city ought not to be considered in estimating a debt limit. This is in accordance, it appears to us, with an ordinary wise business procedure. The Governor recommends simplification of the ballot and the printing of candidates' names thereon under the office for which they are nominated and not under a party emblem. He also urges direct nominations and an official primary ballot. He commends the purpose of the Commission which is now investigating the undeveloped water powers of the State, and urges that "no grant should be made of water power privileges without compensation and under restrictions which will properly protect the rights of the public from whom the privileges are derived." The paragraph on water powers is one of the briefest in the Governor's Message, and yet it strikes us as one of the most significant. In the next ten years there will be accomplished a very remarkable development throughout the entire United States of water powers for producing light, heat, and manufactures through the medium of electricity. The rights of the public in this electrical development must be recognized, preserved, and protected. And the principle here enunciated in the Governor's Message is equally applicable to street-car,

telephone, telegraph, electric lighting, and railway franchises. Both in his executive action and in the clear statement of sound political principles in his messages, Governor Hughes has entirely justified the confidence of the people who chose him for Governor because of his character rather than because of his proved statesmanship, at a time when they were apparently more interested in defeating his opponent than in singling him out as their special choice.

Government Insurance

Mr.

The Outlook has received, from time of Bank Deposits to time, for many years, written and printed communications from various correspondents advocating State insurance of bank deposits. At first regarded with derision as the visionary notion of extreme believers in government paternalism, it finally began to be considered by bankers, and we have in our possession, sent to us last November, the draft of a bill prepared by C. F. Allis, Vice-President of the Second National Bank of Erie, Pennsylvania, providing for a scheme of insurance of National bank deposits through the Comptroller of the Currency. Allis's plan arranges for an annual assessment of National banks of a fixed sum of money ranging from one hundred to four hundred dollars, according to the capital of the bank, until the sum of six million dollars is amassed as a guarantee fund. Then the assessment shall stop until payments to depositors shall deplete the guarantee fund below five million dollars. Mr. Allis, however, expressly provides that National banks be forbidden to announce or advertise that their deposits are insured by the United States Government-thus defeating, it appears to us, the chief moral effect of the plan. It has, however, remained for the young State of Oklahoma to put the theory of State insurance of bank deposits into operation by an Act passed on December 17 last, which becomes effective on February 15 next. All banks organized under the State banking law of Oklahoma are required to pay to the State Banking Board, consisting of the Governor, Lieutenant

Governor, President of the State Board of Agriculture, State Treasurer, and State Auditor, an assessment of one per cent of their daily average deposits for the year preceding the date on which the law becomes effective. The object is to create a guarantee fund which shall amount to one per cent of the total deposits of the banks subject to the Act, and means are provided in the Act for increasing this guarantee fund whenever it shall be depleted by payments to insured depositors, or whenever the amount of the deposits throughout the State increases. All State banks for which this insurance is provided are subject to rigorous and immediate examination by the State Banking Board. For instance, "any officer of a bank found by the Bank Commissioner to be dishonest, reckless, or incompetent shall be removed from office by the Board of Directors of the bank of which he is an officer, on the written order of the Bank Commissioner." On the suspension or failure of any State bank controlled by this Act, depositors shall be paid immediately in full, and when the cash or quick assets are not sufficient for this purpose, the State Guaranty Fund is to be drawn upon. Banks that conform to this Act in all its particulars may publicly advertise that their depositors are insured by the State of Oklahoma; and National banks within the State, which are, of course, exempt from State law, may enjoy the advantages of this insurance, provided they conform to the State Banking Act. The result is that the National banks, eager for the commercial advantage which such insurance would give them, are appealing to the Federal Government to know whether they may be permitted to conform to the State law. It is also said that banks in the neighboring States of Kansas and Missouri see the pressure that will be brought on them by the proposed increased security of banking in Oklahoma, and are beginning to agitate for the insurance of deposits by their own State Governments. This is a radical experiment, but we are glad to see it tried in Oklahoma, which is doing a good deal of interesting experimentation in popular government.

The year 1907 undoubtThe Flow edly will be looked upon of Immigration as a notable one in the annals of American immigration. The most definite and comprehensive law that this country has had on the subject was placed on the statute-books last February. The chief provisions of this law are likely to represent our National policy toward immigration for a much longer period of time than has elapsed since the last previous law was passed. The most vexing foreign question that this country had to face in the course of the year was one regarding Japanese immigration. The new law attempted to solve this problem, but thus far unsuccessfully. A National Commission provided for by the new statute, consisting of nine members, began a thorough investigation of the subject. Its work will be continued for at least another year before it makes a full report, and will include a careful investigation of the effects of immigration on the social and industrial life of this country. An investigation of this character is much needed. In a country in which the settlement of political and social problems depends so much upon a general knowledge of the conditions underlying them, it is important that the public should know the facts. At the present time the only exact information on the subject of immigration within the reach of the people of the United States is contained in the annual reports of the Commissioner-General of Immigration and the last census. The former leaves the immigrant at the exit of the immigration station, and the latter is inadequate and antiquated so far as the subject of the effects of immigration are concerned, for its statistics were gathered before the full force of the present wave was felt. The flow of immigration also reached a new mark last year; a fact which we have already reported and commented upon. The phase of the subject which presented itself in the course of the year that will probably attract the most attention was the volume of the eastward flow, in the course of the last two months, of those styled "emigrant aliens." This was so abnormal that it is causing much apprehension regarding its effect on the coun

tries to which they have been and are returning. It is possible to obtain a good idea of the volume from the data compiled by the Transatlantic Steamship Conferences. The record shows that 103,848 persons sailed for Europe from United States and Canadian ports in the third or immigrant class between November 22 and January 1. The number who turned their faces eastward in the course of the year, the same statistics being used as a basis of computation, was 550,045, or more than two-fifths of the westward movement.

Reasons for Return

This total will surprise

many persons, for it is far above the highest estimates which have been made. Few have any impression of the magnitude of the ebb of the alien tide. As a matter of fact, while many more "emigrant aliens " sailed eastward last year than in any previous year, the most striking phase was the number who sailed in the last forty days. This "forty days' wonder " is likely to be productive of much thought on the part of students of immigration, owing to its relation to our labor conditions. In two different years, in the course of the last ten, the number who have gone to Europe in the third class has been greater, in proportion to the number who came to America, than in 1907. In 1898 the percentage was 45.39; and in 1904, a Presidential year, it was 48.74, or nearly one-half. The total number who have crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the immigrant class in the course of the last ten calendar years is 7,752,978. Those who have returned number 2,486,653, or 32.07 per cent. These figures also include Canadian ports, as many immigrants come to the United States through them. In other words, nearly one-third of our immigration, in the course of that period, has manifested no intention of remaining permanently in America. This fact will be of great interest to those who have been troubled regarding the assimilation of the immigrant. The facts regarding this heretofore little recognized phase of immigration have come to light so recently that it is not possible fully to analyze

its causes. Several stand out quite clearly, however. The movement of the last two months is due to a combination of causes, such as the approach of the holiday and idle season when many return home in normal years, fear regarding the demand for unskilled labor in the near future, and incidentally the proximity of a Presidential election. Many foreigners look upon a Presidential year as one in which labor conditions are likely to be unsettled. This movement demonstrates that we have an elastic labor supply at our command which can accommodate itself, in a measure, to conditions. If there were any doubt of the truth of this, the comparatively empty third-class quarters of certain steamships approaching New York would be convincing. This elasticity is increased by the fact that, owing to the influx of money from America and the higher wages paid in such countries as Italy, as a result of a decreased labor supply through emigration, the economic conditions in Europe are more favorable for unskilled labor than formerly. In December, 1906, 85,466 aliens were landed in the United States. In the corresponding month of 1907 the total number of arrivals in the third class at the Atlantic ports of the United States and Canada was, approximately, 48,000. Among the causes for the normal return are nostalgia, full pockets denoting a fulfilled mission, and illness. Those who complain of the cost of maintaining relief institutions for the benefit of foreigners would be astonished if they realized the number of those who go home after giving America of their best, worn-out victims of a changed environment, and many of them suffering from tuberculosis and other pulmonary ail

ments.

It is an axiomatic prinThe Situation at ciple of law and comGoldfield mon sense that it is the duty of a State to preserve peace and security within its own limits. Sometimes, but not often, a condition of affairs arises when it is beyond the power of the State authorities to exercise this function completely. In that case an appeal may be made to the United

States for military aid. The clause in the Constitution upon which this right of appeal rests is as follows:

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them legislature, or of the executive (when the against invasion, and, on application of the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.

This has always been construed to mean that when the President of the United States receives such an appeal from a State Legislature or Governor, it is almost a mandatory duty for him to furnish assistance promptly. If the President were to wait for full inquiry into the facts, the mischief apprehended might be done; the very nature of the case requires quick decision and prompt action. The Outlook has already reported the appeal of Governor Sparks, of Nevada, to the President for troops to be sent to Goldfield, and the President's action in promptly complying with the request. As a matter of fact, no single life had been lost by violence before Governor Sparks's appeal was made, nor has there been any disturbance, unless possibly the slightest, since the troops arrived. Governor Sparks, however (and, naturally, the mine-owners also), is of the opinion that if the troops were not at Goldfield extensive disturbances might occur. Meanwhile, the Nevada Legislature has not been called together to deal with the situation, and it is only too apparent that the local authorities, including the Governor, have been disposed to look to the United States Government for their sole support. This is all wrong, and when Governor Sparks went so far in a despatch to the President as to intimate that even if the Legislature were convened it might not take necessary action, the time for plain speaking had arrived. President Roosevelt accordingly notified Governor Sparks that if within three weeks the Governor did not assemble the Legislature (three weeks having been named by Governor Sparks himself as the time necessary for that purpose), the Federal troops now in Goldfield would, five days thereafter, be withdrawn. The Governor has intimated his intention to call the Legislature as recommended. So far as we have seen,

this action of the President is universally approved, unless it be by a part of the people of Nevada. If, after a genuine and earnest effort has been made by the Governor and Legislature of Nevada to establish peace and prevent violence, it shall be evident that outside assistance is really necessary, no doubt the United States might properly again come to the assistance of the local authorities; but it is certainly true that the power of sending National troops to preserve quiet in localities where disturbances exist should not be hastily or carelessly employed.

Half-Fares for School-Children

The school-children have had their day in court, and it is gratifying to record the fact that the United States Supreme Court holds that a State may lawfully order its railways to carry them to and from school at half-price. As reported through an interesting editorial in the New York Sun, this right of the State has been affirmed as constitutional, on one ground by the Massachusetts Supreme Court, on another by the United States Supreme Court. The case arose in Attleborough, where a street railway company refused to sell tickets for the transportation of pupils of the public schools at rates not exceeding half the regular fare charged for the transportation of other passengers, as the law requires. The company argued that the statute was confiscatory because it made the company carry the children at a loss. But the highest court in Massachusetts replied that, so far as the statute went, the company could raise its rates to adults so as still to make a profit on its total business, and that, as the children rode at times when the cars were not crowded and as they occupied less space, it was not certain that the half-fare involved loss. But the really important point of the decision was that the selection of children as a class to be favored was not an arbitrary act (as if, for instance, white passengers paid less than black), but was in pursuance of the sound and long-established policy of the Commonwealth to encourage education. Thus technicalities or close construction of a constitution are not to hinder the

large, helpful policy of a State working for the public good. The United States Supreme Court points out that the company got its charter after the statute was passed, and the presumption was that it at that time accepted the restrictions of the statute. But, apart from this, the Court held that the law is not objectionable, either on the ground that it denies to the railway companies the equal protection of the laws or that it deprives the corporation of its property without due process of law. Furthermore, Justice Holmes, though with some hesitation, expressed separately his belief that the statute requirement might be justified under the State's police power, adding these significant words:

If the Fourteenth Amendment is not to be a greater hamper upon the established practice of the States, in common with other governments, than I think was intended, the minor adjustments of life, even though they must be allowed a certain latitude in by their action the burdens of a part of the community are somewhat increased. The traditions and habits of centuries were not intended to be overthrown when that amendment was passed.

Last week the trial of the one hundred and sixty-nine members of the first Russian Duma who signed the Viborg Manifesto was concluded. It will be remembered that during the first Duma a large number of Radicals, mostly Constitutional Democrats, claimed the right to authorize, or to refuse to authorize, taxation. When, by forcible dispersion of the Duma, they were deprived of this right, they fled to Finland, and, in a conference at the city of Viborg, recommended to their fellowcountrymen to refuse the payment of taxes. Among the political leaders at Viborg were Ivan Petrunkevitch, who framed the first demand on the Emperor for a Constitution; Prince Dimitri Shakofsky, ex-Secretary of the Lower House; Prince Obolinsky, the eminent jurist; Vladimir Naboukov, the no less wellknown Radical leader, and others. It is impossible for Americans not to feel sympathy with such men. It is true that it might have been more astute not to have recommended to their fellow

"Constructive Treason'