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World Affairs Institute

MILITARY DRILL IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLSAuthor(s): E. A. CoilSource: The Advocate of Peace (1894-1920), Vol. 56, No. 6 (JUNE, 1894), pp. 129-131, 139-140Published by: World Affairs InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20665138 .

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1894. THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. 129

ily increasing its navy, which now numbers forty-two new

war-vessels and has cost nearly one hundred millions of dollars. A considerable class of our citizens are advo

cating the universal introduction of military instruction into the public schools and some are even calling for a forced militia service. International fears and suspicion still exist to a deplorable extent and men seem as yet incapable of throwing off the spell which the sorcery of

militarism has thrown over them. While the condition of the world has greatly improved and wars are much less

frequent and less likely to occur than was the case at the dark and bloody epoch when the American Peace Society began its work sixty-six years ago, there will be occa sion for a long time to come for the most earnest, unremitting and wisely directed effort on the part of all the friends of peace.

THE OUTLOOK.

On the whole, notwithstanding these untoward signs, the outlook is unquestionably encouraging. It is difficult to forecast the immediate future, but there are unmistak able evidences that love of peace and dislike of war are

growing deeper and stronger in public opinion. The

press has spoken out in this sense in larger measure and in greater clearness during the past year than at any pre vious period. Efforts to increase the national armaments in Europe have met with greater public opposition on the

part of the people than heretofore. This was notably the case in Germany last summer when the bill for the fur ther enlargement of the army was introduced into the Parliament.

Recently in England a protest against further naval

development was signed by more than five hundred lead ers of workingmen's associations. Peace Societies con tinue to multiply in Europe, gathering more and more in to the ir membership the intelligent and prominent men of the towns and cities, and their efforts are unceasing not

only to promote the growth of peace sentiment but also to devise practical means for the abolition of war. The

Interparliamentary Union has grown until it now numbers several hundred members from different European par liaments. It has established a paper known as the

Interparliamentary Conference {Conference Interparlemen taire), and is putting forth earnest efforts to unite all the

lawgivers of Europe into a compact body opposed to war. The beginnings have been made of an International Alli ance of Universities in which students and professors are to become an active factor in the peace propaganda. The commercial treaty recently made between Germany and Russia is allaying the unpleasant feelings which have so

long existed between the two countries. Statesmen of

France, Italy and Spain have recently suggested a truce until the close of the present century, during which the nations shall pledge themselves not to go to war and not to make any further additions to their fighting strength. This proposal has been made known to all the peace

societies of the world through the International Peace Bureau at Berne and will probably be made the subject of serious study at the coming Peace Congress at Antwerp in August.

For more than twenty years summer has opened in

Europe with general talk and prophecy of war, and people have lived in feverish dread of an early outbreak of hos tilities. Some of this anxiety has disappeared and this

year opens with general talk of peace. Sovereigns, states men and people seem to be really anxious to extricate themselves from the straits into which a long-continued war-policy has brought them. Who will dare to lead the

way in disarmament no one can yet tell, nor can it be

guessed how it will come about. Recent rumors say that Russia is actually on the point of disbanding two hundred thousand of her troops and sending them home that they may assist in gathering the harvests.

Whatever of weal or woe the summer may bring forth, we have abundant reason to thank God that in various

ways and through manifold agencies the cause of human brotherhood is steadily advancing and that the broad foundations of what is ultimately to be a universal and

lasting peace are already securely laid.

MILITARY DRILL IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Sermon preached April 1, 1894, by Rev. E. A. Coil, Pastor of Unity Church, Cincinnati, Ohio,

Text: ?Let us follow after the things which make for peace. Rom. xiv. 19.

The awful tragedy enacted in this country between '61 and '65 was at an end, and the time for a presidential election drew near. The delegates of the Republican party, assembled in convention in the city of Chicago, placed their banner in the hands of General Ulysses S. Grant, the hero of Fort Donelson, Vicksburg and Appo mattox. He wrote a brief letter, accepting the responsi bilities and honor thus conferred upon him, and then closed it with the following significant words : " Let us have peace."

Inasmuch as he had seen the picture painted in the blood and tears of a divided and warring nation in proc ess of making, the general's appeal in behalf of peace has more than ordinary force. He had seen war in all its awfulness, and he preferred peace. When visiting Eng land a few years later, General Grant refused to " appear at a military review " because having seen so much of war,

" so much of its 4 pomp and circumstance ' " and

knowing so well what it all meant he desired never to see a regiment of soldiers again. I doubt not if some great principle had been assailed, and no way of defence other than an appeal to arms had been clear to him, he would have been as resolute as when he faced Pemberton or Lee. My point is this, having seen war he seemed to recognize the value of the Pauline advice and he sought to follow after these things which make for peace. It is to the end that we may all do this that I am speaking to you to-day. I do not believe the scene pictured by the poet, " When the war-drums throb no longer, and the battle flags are

furled, In the parliament of man, the federation of the world

"

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130 THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. June,

is but a visionary dream that can never be realized in fact. I have more faith in humanity than such belief im plies, and it is because I believe that beautiful ideal, that parliament of man, can and will become the real that I raise the question to-day : Will our present course retard or hasten its corning? I challenge the motives of no one. I grant to those who differ from me in regard to this matter all that I ask for myself, namely, credit for sin

cerity and honesty of purpose. If I am wrong, I am

willing to be corrected ; but if I am right, if my arguments are free from sophistr}T, I hope they will be accepted and used for the betterment of our city.

Believing now that we understand each other as far as the spirit that prompts us is concerned, let us inquire into the reasons for and the probable result of introducing military training into our public schools.

One of the reasons given by those who seek to justify the introduction of the military element into our schools is that it constitutes an important part of that physical training so essential to the development of the perfect

man. If this is true it constitutes a very strong argu ment in favor of compulsory military drill, and in a meas ure justifies the appropriation of public money for the

purchase of guns. ******

The question to be determined now is whether or not

military training is essential to that physical culture the need of which we all admit. I am very well aware that authorities are not agreed upon this point, and therefore I speak with caution. I have seen young men, stoop shouldered and hollow-chested, greatly improved by means of military drill ; but I do not believe it follows that that was the only method whereby those very desir able results could have been attained, nor do I believe it was the best method. We are not entirely at sea in

regard to this matter. tk Experiments, which were conducted in a public

school, with a view to ascertain the relative value of

gymnastics and of mere drill, showed that the average results yielded by the former were more than three times as great as those yielded by drill alone. Relatively, therefore, this method of physical culture is inferior.

Military drill is defective, inasmuch as it does not meet the physiological demands of the body."

The best evidence of the truth of this statement is to be found in the course pursued by the great military nations of Europe. There

" measures are taken to give all the recruits ?rom three to twelve months gymnastic training to develop them as men before they are expected to conform to the requirements of the soldier." In our

country military authorities have found it necessary to

adopt a set of calisthenic exercises or free gymnastics in order to develop ?and make available all the powers of the individual.

" Upton in his Manual of the United States Army

Infantry Tactics'' dwells upon these exercises and their

importance as far as the physical well being of the soldier is concerned. My point now is to show you that military authorities acknowledge the inadequacy of purely military exercises to develop the physical man, and they appeal to the gymnasium as the best means to secure that end. But 1 wish to quote another authority whose testimony I deem very important.

Dr. Dudley A. Sargeant, Director of the Hemenway Gymnasium, Harvard University, who is an acknowledged

authority, says: " In reference to the gracefulness that

is thought to characterize the movements of young cadets, I can only say it is not the outcome of drilling and march

ing. The soldier is trained to square corners, straight platoons, and angular movements. Curves and embellish ments are not encouraged, in speech, or in action. If

you would account for the graceful poise of our National Cadets you must see them from one to two hours a day in charge of the dancing master." Dr. Sargeant sums up his conclusions in the following

forcible words: ? 44 After taking the most favorable view possible of military drill as a physical exercise, we are led to conclude that its constrained positions, and

closely localized movements do not afford the essential

requisites for developing the muscles, and improving the

respiration and circulation, and thereby improving the

general health and condition of the system. We must further conclude that in case of any malformation, local weakness, or constitutional debility, the drill tends, by its strain upon the nerves and prolonged tension on the

muscles, to increase the defects rather than to relieve them."

44 Finally, if the ultimate object of the drill was to pre

pare young men for the life and duties of a soldier, we should be forced to conclude that the drill itself would still be defective as a means of developing the chief

requisites for men in that profession." Now, since military and civil authorities are agreed

that gymnastic exercises are necessary to develop the

physical powers of the soldier, if physical culture is the sole end in view, why should we not advocate a larger number of and better equipped gymnasia in connection with our public schools, instead of buying guns for our

boys ?* I am afraid my friends, when we probe this matter to

the bottom we shall find that physical training is not the sole end in view. There are certain signs which indicate that preparation is being made for a possible war. The answer I have in many cases received in reply to my pro test against the course pursued by our school board is this : 44 In times of peace we should prepare for war."

It sometimes happens that those who are supposed to stand first of all for peace and good will, fall back upon that old adage as though it justified their indifference to or advocacy of military training in our public schools.

My conviction is that in time of peace we should 44 follow after those things which make for peace

" instead of in

viting war by preparing for it. There is, there must be a better way of settling disputes than that which appeals to the sword, and, professing to believe in the brotherhood of man, I believe it is our duty to try to find it.

But I wish to give you other reasons for my statement that I fear physical culture is not the sole end in view on the part of those who advocate the introduction of military training into our public schools. To me this is a very grave matter and I am weighing my words with the utmost care.

In an illustrated magazine for January ex-President Harrison makes the following reply to a query bearing directly upon this subject.

44 You ask me," said the ex

President, 44 my opinion of the suggestion of Lafayette

Post G. A. R. that military instruction and drill be used

*The Cincinnati School Board appropriated $500 to buy guns for the High School Cadets, and the advisability of making military training compulsory is being discussed.

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1894. THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. 131

in all schools for boys. It is good in every aspect of it ?

good for the boys, good for the schools, and good for the

country." Then follows a remarkable statement which I fear indicates the real sentiment back of the widespread interest which is now being taken in the question of

military drill in our schools. Continuing, Mr. Harrison said : " if all the school boys of the North had from 1830 on been instructed in the school of the soldier, and of the company, and in the manual of arms, how much precious time would have been saved in organizing the Union army in 1861. We were in a very low state, as a people, in

military knowledge and training when the great civil war broke out." These words seem to me to imply unques tioning acceptance of what I believe to be a false asser tion, namely:

" That wars always have been and always will be." That wars always have been is due largely, I believe, to the fact that men have accepted this dictum and have, therefore, always been getting ready for them. Mr. Harrison tells us that much precious time would have been saved in organizing the Union army if from 1830 on

military training had been given in the schools of the North. Possibly that is true. But he seems to overlook the fact that such a course would have stimulated the

military spirit in the South and the only result would have been two armies a little more quickly organized and a little better schooled in the art of destroying human life. If France makes a move looking toward the reinforcement or better equipment of her army, Germany is quick to

respond with renewed activity in the same direction. And this principle is operative in a greater or less degree everywhere. The result of the constant preparation for war in Europe may be instructive to us. The national debts in that country in 1865 aggregated $12,503,330,000. Between the years 1865 and 1890, only twenty-five years, that aggregate debt was increased to $22,039,373,806. This tremendous increase in her national indebtedness, an indebtedness which is sapping the very life blood of her people, can be explained in a single sentence.

Europe has been intent upon increasing the military power, she has been multiplying her armed men. And now an ex-President of the United States gives advice which if followed to its logical conclusion will, it seems to me, bring about the same deplorable state of affairs in our own land. I do not question the motives of the man who risked his life in the interests of our Union. I believe he is honest, but that his zeal in behalf of the country has warped his judgment. Staggering under the military burdens which she has heaped upon herself, Europe is now vainly trying to discover some method of relief. These vast preparations for war seem to have made war

well nigh inevitable. The question is, will we or will we not learn a salutary lesson from the bitter experience of that military ridden land and pursue a wiser course?

In our country the people rule. To the end that the government may be wisely administered popular education is necessary. But,

u popular education multiplies pop

ular wants. If the many have the same wants as the few they will demand the same means of gratifying those wants. To give to the poor like tastes with the rich is to create an inevitable demand for substantial equality of condition, and to stimulate discontent until such equality is secured." Thus wrote Dr. Josiah Strong in his

New Era, and our actual experiences at the present time are proving his statement true. There is a widespread discontent in our country to-day, and as I have pointed out before, it is in no small measure due to the fact that objective attainment has not, with the masses of our

people, kept pace with subjective development.

We educate many of our boys and girls until their tastes call for a piano, and then we ask them to get on and be content with a jews-harp. Bat how does it hap pen, let us inquire, that, we, as a nation, are in the con dition in which we now find ourselves ? It is not because the resources of our country are inadequate I assure you. It has been estimated by careful men that if all our re sources were fully developed we could not only feed, but enrich one billion people.

The present condition is due to a mistaken policy al ready followed too long, and now we seem on the verge of adopting measures which seem to me to be calculated only to make matters worse. The education given our young people to-day is of such a nature that it limits them in their choice of a life work to fields that are already overcrowded. The result is that while the resources of our country are adequate not only to feed but to enrich one billion people, with but sixty-five millions there is want, hunger, cold and much unrest. There are charges and countercharges, and sometimes low mutterings that presage revolution can be heard. And why?

The great storehouses of our country are locked, and our own people cannot open them, feed and clothe them selves because their education is inefficient. The remedy for this, many of our best educators tell us, is some form of industrial training, and I believe they are right. There is already very great discontent. That discontent, according to the judgment of some of our wisest men, is due to the fact that our present methods of education develop the individual subjectively, but leave him power less to secure the things his cultivated tastes demand. Now instead of putting a key into the hands of that

restless, dissatisfied one wherewith he can unlock the rich storehouses of the great country in which he lives, it is

proposed to give him military training and equip him with the deadly implements of war. Think of these

things my friends for I tell you they have a serious mean

ing. I do not question the motive which prompted our school board to appropriate public money to buy guns for the school boys of Cincinnati ; but I believe it was a mis take, and if I were asked to characterize such action in a

single phrase I should write over it :

4'Bloodshed and violence made easy." It is not fol lowing after the things that make for peace, but, no mat ter how noble the motive that prompted it, it is paving the way to war. If we pursue our present methods of educa

tion, supplementing them with military training, it will be no marvel if we have war in the future, but rather if we do not.

The professions are now overcrowded, and unless some form of industrial education that will open up other and lucrative fields is adopted, the ambitious young man of the future, given military training in our public schools, will almost inevitably turn toward the field of battle. To what else, allow me to ask, can he turn if our

present methods are not changed? And who knows in what direction those guns, bought with your money and mine, will be turned if we do not adopt measures to avert the coming of such a day. I am too smali a tax-payer to say much along that line. I think, however, I have a

right to say that I am willing my taxes should be in creased if thereby some form of industrial education can be introduced into our schools; but I am not willing to

pay a cent towards arming irresponsible boys with deadly guns. My motto is, in times of peace, follow after those things which make for peace.

(continued on page 139.)

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1894. THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. 139

European countries to unite in the protection and further ance of reciprocal interests, is the increase in treaties of commerce. These will embrace and thus unite within the next few years all the countries of Central Europe, ex

cepting perhaps France, which in this matter still keeps aloof not only from us but from Italy, Switzerland and even from her beloved Russia. From all this to a politi cal union seems but a step, only a logical step, and not even a very long one either. In one point alone I differ from the article. The war of 1866 was so great a histori cal necessity that no economic measures could have warded it off.

Catholic Hapsburg had maintained itself for about six hundred years with little interruption as the preponderat ing power in Germany. In the meantime, two-thirds of the population had become Protestants and while Austria was weakened in the war of 1859 and Prussia's power had risen steadily. A fight for the preponderance was there fore unavoidable under any circumstances and in the issue the aspirations of the large majority, which was Protestant, were realized.

B. S.

THE HOLY ALLIANCE ?OPINIONS vs. FACTS.

To the Editor of The Advocate of Peace :

C. B. in the April number of this paper says that the views of the Holy Alliance as presented by Mr. Augus tine Jones, and by myself, are at variance with views

generally held by textbook writers. C. B. confounds two things, the question of peace, and

the policy of a given government in specific cases. The United States have had a more terrible war, and wars for a longer period, than the countries of Russia, Austria and Prussia, since the downfall of the first Napoleon, and

yet no one will deny that the constitution of the United States, which formed the pretext for the most wasteful of modern wars, is essentially a peace instrument. That the European countries named opposed revolutionary uprisings is correct. That they abuse their power is also correct, but that they did so from ignoble motives has never been proven. B. should not lose sight of the principal point : that these governments did not enter on war against each other (except that Austria and the rest of Germany, exclusive of Prussia and a few of her allied small States, made war against Prussia in 1866, which war was practically ended in less than seven

weeks) ; and that with this exception, peace has been maintained by them as to each other for more than one hundred and thirty years altogether, and for nearly eighty years since the signing of the Holy Alliance.

As to the hostility of these governments toward revolu tionary uprisings it should not be forgotten that they have a very vivid memory of the results of the revolutionary period in France.

In the article by Mr. Frederic Passy it is stated that the wars of the Empire alone, from 1804 to 1815, destroyed at the lowest estimate from six to eight millions of men. As to the supposed lack of sincerity of the signers of the "Holy Alliance

" it should be understood that Frederic Wilhelm III of Prussia was a man of undoubted piety and that the charge of insincerity, has never been made against him. It is generally overlooked that the princely families in Europe take great care to give their young members the very best moral and mental education. This is particularly true of the Hohenzoliern family. The

present Emperor is an exceedingly well educated man, and he is a devout Christian. I am very far from defend ing monarchy, but even a strict republican can afford to be just. And why could we not, as just critics, admit that nations and governments that have suffered extremely from revolutionary movements may be ?

pardoned for doing what they can to protect themselves from further war and injury, even at the cost of a u

revolutionary "

principle ? How deepseated prejudices may warp the judgments

of even the most enlightened people appears clearly from the article of Mr. Passy. He calls up the shadow of Von

Moltke and comments at length on an individual remark (expressed in a private letter), instead of telling his countrymen that it was France again and again, and France almost alone, that in more than twenty wars drenched the fields of Germany with blood. Mr. Passy quotes approvingly a phrase of Jules Simon that Europe is paying as dearly as France and Germany for the ran som of Sadowa and Sedan ; but he forgets to add that it is the action of France that is responsible for the present enormous armaments ; that Germany and Austria have followed not led in this suicidal course. Mr. Passy ought not to be so severe on the men who gained Sedan, for it is due to them that we now have a French republic.

It is clearly impossible to expect even the most enlightened people to judge with perfect fairness of con ditions more or less foreign to their experience, and of men seemingly opposed to their interests. We see this same prejudice influencing our national politics, at least it is certain that there are two parties holding very conflict ing views on the negro question, the Chinese question and other questions, and it is quite evident that the con demnations passed by one party on the meanness of the other, in free America, are not a whit less bewildering than the opinions of English and other authors on inter national law, etc., as to the real motives of the signers of the Holy Alliance.

CA. Eggert.

(continued from page 131.) I know there are many people who see no danger in the

introduction of military training into our public schools "

because," they say, " such training begets no desire

for actual war." My observations do not warrant such a conclusion;* but suppose those people are right. My point is that our present methods, if not modified, will inevitably lead to violence and bloodshed whether men desire it or not. It seems to me that a careful study of the signs of the times impels one to such conclusion, how ever unwelcome it may be.

But if we are wise we can avert such a calamity. It need not be unless we close our eyes to what is going on about us and deliberately walk into the chasm which it is not yet too late to avoid. We are standing upon the threshold of what I believe may be one of the grandest eras in the history of mankind. But two ways are open before us. As Mr. Flower states it, in the March number of The Arena, one is the way of Caesar, the other the way of Christ. Along one road are swords, bayonets, cannon,

*I was so situated that I could study the effect that calling out the militia to quell the Cincinnati Riot of March, 1884, had upon a company of school cadets. My conclusion then was, and it has since been confirmed, that young men given military training, be come restless and more anxious for action in case of a riot or

possible war than others not so trained.

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HO THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. June,

powder, dynamite, ruined homes, sad hearts, and fields covered with many dead and drenched in human blood.

Along the other are golden harvests, trees laden with rich fruits, beautiful homes, unbroken family circles, cheery voices, glad hearts, and joyous abundant life. One is the old way of strife and war, the other is the new way, the way of peace and brotherly love. We stand to-day where I believe it is possible for us to choose in which we will walk. And believing as I do that

" Were half the power that fills the world with terror, Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts,

Given to redeem the human mind from error, There were no need of camps and courts,"

I turn my face away from the wars of the past toward the future hoping for better things. I believe the nobler elements in human nature will triumph, wars cease, and

peace reign triumph, and I am trying to hasten the com

ing of that blessed day. I was walking through an art

gallery a few years ago studying the paintings, but they seemed to suggest nothing but war. There were the Cossack Pickets on the Danube, Skobeleff at Shipka, The Road of the War Prisoners, and the awful Apotheosis of War as drawn by the powerful Russian artist, Vassili

Verestchagin. But in another part of the hall and all alone, as though it stood for a higher civilization, a new and more glorious era was that beautiful creation of

Millet, the Angelus, emblem of reverence and peace. 66The Russian artist represents the past" I said to my self,

" but I hope the Frenchman prophesies truly of the future."

I gazed in rapt admiration upon his picture for a time then turned .and left the hall ; but all that day I seemed to hear a voice u like a bell, with solemn sweet vibra tions" saying:

44 Let us have peace." I believe we are all ready to say

" amen " to that earnest appeal. I believe we are all anxious to exalt the Angelus and draw a veil over the Apotheosis of war. But in order to attain an end so desirable we must diligently and persistently "follow after those things that make for peace." We must reduce to the minimum the opportunities of the am

bitious, unprincipled demagogue, who unhesitatingly re sorts to any means to accomplish his selfish, unworthy ends.

This can be done only through the adoption of educa tional methods that will make possible a larger number of happy homes by imparting that knowledge which con stitutes the key to the storehouses in which much of our national wealth is now so securely locked. This means

supplanting that training which is now making its appear ance in our public schools, and which proposes to teach our boys how to wield a deadly gun, with that nobler education that will enable them to handle skilfully and with profit the hammer and saw, compass and crucible, plow and spade. Will we do it? Will we choose the

Angelus or the Apotheosis of war? These are the ques tions we must help to answer. Will we recognize in our

practical life the principle of universal brotherhood in which we profess to believe? I hope we are ready to give an affirmative reply.

The American people of to-day have one of the greatest opportunities ever offered any part of the human race.

They have it in their power at the present time to do more than any other nation on the face of the earth to

change the sentiment of the world and usher in the new and grander era of universal peace. Theirs is a great privilege, but it carries with it a tremendous responsibility,

and I speak to you with earnestness because I believe that upon their action depends very largely the quick or

tardy coming of the day, " When the war-drums throb no longer and the battle flags are

furled, In the parliament of man, the federation of the world."

And this is why I appeal to you to-day to follow and advocate, in this time of peace, i(,the things which make for peace"

NEW BOOKS.

The Political Economy of Natural Law. By Henry Wood. Boston : Lee and Shepard. Price, $1.25.

Messrs. Lee and Shepard have issued a new book by Henry Wood, author of u Ideal Suggestions,"

" God's

Image in Man," " Edward Burton," etc., under the above

title. Its purpose is to outline a political economy which is practical and natural rather than theoretical and arti ficial, being a study of inherent laws and principles. In 1887 this author issued a volume entitled,

" Natural Law in the Business World," which was well received and passed through several editions. The present book is not a revised edition, but substantially a new book of double the size.

The titles of a few of the twenty-four chapters will give some idea of its contents. Among them are, The Law of

Co-operation, The Law of Competition, Combinations of

Capital, Combinations of Labor, Profit Sharing, Socialism, Economic Legislation, Can Capital and Labor be Har

monized, The Distribution of Wealth, The Centralization of Business, Booms and Panics, Money and Coinage, Tariffs and Protection, Industrial Education, etc., etc.

Political Economy is interpreted from the standpoint of evolution and natural law. The idealism and optimism of this book strongly distinguish it from the many of the

pessimistic treatises of the present time.

In the chapter on Co-operation much truth is uttered in a nutshell. We do not think Mr. Wood quite rightly in terprets Governmental Arbitration as it is now coming into use in various countries. It is, in our judgment, much farther removed from the ordinary processes of law than he makes it. The State simply offers its services as a third party, but forces itself on no one. The State Boards of Arbitration also do much in the way of concili ation, about which Mr. Wood speaks admirably.

The Strike at Shane's. Sequel to " Black Beauty." A Prize Story of Indiana. Boston : The American Hu mane Education Society. Price, 10 cents.

Whoever sits down and begins to read this little story will not be likely to get up again until he has reached the last word. It is a long time since we have read anything more entertaining and delightful and at the same time

simple, healthful and instructive. It is worth a whole newstand of such books as one ordinarily sees about the railroad stations. It represents the animals on the farm of one Mr. Shane in Indiana (being a native Hoosier we have known a considerable number of the Shane tribe), who have been cruelly abused by their master and his son

Tom, as finally meeting in convention and deciding to strike until better treatment is granted them. The strike is carried on u

peaceably " and without destruction of prop

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