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of their country and competing with their own. Therefore they have been trying to checkmate the Emperor in various ways. One is in endeavoring to unite opponents to the renewal of cominercial treaties, especially the Russian. Germany is, of course, greatly dependent upon Russia for cereals, but if the Agrarians insist upon a high tariff, Russia will not stand it. The Agrarians also hope that the commercial treaty between ourselves and Germany will not be ready for presentation to the Reichstag at its next session. If they can bring about the failure of the Russian and other treaties, they expect that ours will be involved as well. The Agrarians have another means of retaliation, how ever, by playing off the canal bill against the Emperor's anti-strike measure, measure which has already aroused the opposition of the Liberals, the Radicals, the Socialists, and the Catholic party. his side, the Emperor retaliated last week by dismissing Baron von der Recke and other Prussian Cabinet members who had not been able to prevent the canal bills from being shipwrecked. He also dismissed a number of the higher Prussian officials. William II. declares that he will reintroduce his canal bills with certain modifications, and that he expects his loyal Landtag to pass these measures. As showing, at least to the army of German bureaucrats (greater than in any other country), that "loyal" means fidelity to the monarch's interests, even if they are contrary to one's personal opinions, the edict which has just been sent out to the presidents of Prussian provinces is significant. It says that these officials ought not to allow themselves to be misled in official activity by the feelings prevalent in their districts or by the opinions of the population concerning the measures of the King; it is the business and duty of the officials to represent the views of the latter, to smooth the way to carrying out his policy, and under no circumstances to fetter his action.

Dr. Jacob Schurman, Dr. Schurman on the the President of the Philippine Problem Philippine Commission, has given to the public through the press a statement concerning the Philip pines which is probably anticipatory of

the Commission's final report, and which is important less as an expression of his opinion as to what course the United States should pursue than as a careful statement of facts by a judicial and intelligent observer. In this statement there is little if anything that will be absolutely new to the readers of The Outlook, but they will find in it an official and authoritative reaffirmation of statements which in our columns have not always been derived from equally authoritative sources. The size of the archipelago is indicated by Dr. Schurman's statement that in his tour, though he never went into the Pacific Ocean on the east nor the China Sea on the west, he made a circuit of 2,000 miles, all south of Manila-a statement which suggests the magnitude of the task which we have undertaken. Its difficulty is greatly enhanced by a consideration of the character of the inhabitants :

The multiplicity and heterogeneous nature of the tribes is something astounding. Over sixty different languages are spoken in the archipelago, and, though the majority of the tribes are small, there are at least half a dozen each having over a quarter of a million members. The languages of these people are as distinct from one another as French and Spanish or Italian, so that the speech of any one tribe is unintelligible to its neighbors.

His further statement that these tribes are "civilized and Christianized" must be taken, if not with allowance, at least with recognition of the fact that there are various degrees of civilization and various types of Christianity in the world. There are more real capacity for self-government and more promise of improvement in pagan Japan than in some so-called Christian States in South America.

seized upon their governments during the making and the ratification of our treaty of peace with Spain. It would be incorrect to assume, however, that these tribes are allies of ours. They are not. Indeed, they are not without suspicion of the white race, of which they have had experience only through Spain. But they are men of intelligence and property, and the masses, when not stirred up by the Tagalogs, recognize the advantage to them of American sovereignty, and so remain passively neutral, although robber bands from time to time descend from the mountains to plunder and burn the estates of the peaceful inhabitants on the plains.

It is clear from this statement that the parallel between the American Revolution and the Tagalog uprising, sometimes assumed in current discussions, is no true parallel. In the one case the thirteen colonies were composed of people united by race, language, and religion, and constituting the germ of a nation; and although there was opposition in the colonies to the revolt, no colony refused to join in it. In the Philippines

The insurrection, though serious enough, as experience has proved, is not a national uprising. Indeed, there is no Philippine nation. As I have already said, there is a multifarious collection of tribes, having only this in common, that they belong to the Malayan race. The inhabitants of the archipelago no more constitute a nation than the inhabitants of the continent of Europe do.

In fact, the Tagalog insurrection more nearly resembles King Philip's War against the New England colonists than the American revolt against the oppressive and unjust rule of George III. and the English bureaucracy.

Dr. Schurman's Recommendations

Dr. Schurman affirms that "intelligent Fili pinos not less than foreign nations expect us to fulfill" the obligations which we have assumed "for the maintenance of peace and order, the administration of justice, and the security of life and property among all the tribes of the archipelago," though he cites no evidence in support of this assertion. demand of this sort really coming from intelligent and influential Filipinos would carry great weight with the American people. He also expresses great confidence in the capacity of the Filipinos for development:

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I have great confidence in the people of the Philippine Islands, and much sympathy for

their aspirations. A race should be judged by its best products, and an educated Filipino of whatever tribe (and each city has its educated men) will bear comparison with an educated man of any other race. Among the masses one often finds consciousness of ignorance and strong desire for education. He thinks the development of this people will require time, the "inspiration of American civilization," and the maintenance of American sovereignty; he affirms that the responsibility is heavier than most people supposed it would be," but that this "is no excuse for failure to discharge it" and he makes the very practical suggestion that Congress declare what form of government is to be established "in the Philippine Islands, or, better still, let Congress establish a government for the Philippine Islands, and have it put in force." The country need not wait for Congress to do this. If the President would divide the too great burden now put upon one man, and assign the war duties to one general and the task of reconstruction to another, he would greatly expedite the work of both. We believe that the country is growing impatient for this division, and we hope that the report of the Philippine Commission will expedite the very necessary reform in our administration in Luzon.

The Captain Carter Case

The case of Captain Oberlin M. Carter, convicted by court martial over a year ago of conspiring with contractors to defraud the Government, is now more prominently before the public than ever before. Charges were first preferred against Captain Carter in August, 1897, by the engineer who succeeded him in Savannah Harbor when he became military attaché of the American Embassy in London. They were referred to a board of engineers, who reported that he had allowed fraudulent claims aggregating two and a half million dollars. A court martial was summoned, which began its sessions in January, 1898, and did not conclude them until April. The court was composed of fourteen officers, including General Otis and Judge Advocate Colonel Thomas F. Barr. Before this court Captain Carter plead the statute of limitations, and was tried only for irregularities within the two years preceding his accusation.

Nevertheless the court found him guilty, and sentenced him to dismissal from the army, a fine of $5,000, and imprisonment for five years these penalties carrying with them, by the unwritten code of the army, the loss of future recognition by army officers. Upon the claim of his attorneys that he was the innocent victim of star-chamber proceedings, President McKinley submitted the records of his trial to ex-Senator Edmunds, whose report is said to be a confirmation of the findings of the court martial. This, however, is uncertain, and a full statement is not likely to be published until ex-Attorney-General MacVeagh, one of Captain Carter's counsel, has returned from Europe and received another hearing from the President. Meanwhile, unfortunately for Captain Carter, another of his attorneys, Mr. Blair, has come out in newspaper interviews alleging that his client is another Dreyfus, and charging General Otis with lying, and Judge Advocate Barr with perjury and the subornation of perjury in order to convict him. Inasmuch as the popularity of Captain Carter was as marked as the unpopularity of Dreyfus, and Captain Carter's reckless extravagance of living without visible means of paying for it made his position more nearly correspond to that of Esterhazy, Mr. Blair's sensational appeal to the passions of the moment simply injures his case with all judicial people. Mr. MacVeagh's claim is much more moderate. It is, we understand, that the evidence against Captain Carter is such as would not be allowed to convict any man before a civil court. This is intrinsically credible, and the public can afford to await its careful consideration. Even in Germany it is now provided that an army court must contain two civil jurists, and may not convict without the assent of one of them.

The testimony as to the

The Mazet Inquiry Ramapo Water Company heard by the Mazet Committee in this city last week shows that while millions `of gallons of water are lost by waste and leakage, the Water Commissioner, the President of the Board of Public Improve ments, and the Highway Commissioner were rushing into a new contract for water supply, either with no adequate

knowledge or with guilty knowledge. Mr. Moss well said:

The Ramapo scheme was clearly in itself an impossibility; the Ramapo Company could not do what it contracted to do, and the city was inadequately protected against the Company; the only way for the Company to make money was to sell its bonds and stocks. In other words, it was a stock-jobbing operation; its purpose was to issue its stocks and bonds, and to pocket what it might, the city having no protection, as the Company had no property. When the city officials, in the face of this, attempted to jam this through, they were first guilty of incompetence, if they couldn't see this scheme, and when the matter was brought to their attention they were guilty of abetting it.

When the advocates of this attempt to plunder the city in a $200,000,000 contract appeared on the stand, they showed a singular and universal ignorance about the origin of the Company, its history, the way the contract proposed came to be drawn, and its meaning. Mr. Lauterbach, the Company's counsel, even took the ground that the contract to supply the city with water had been drawn so as to give the city an unfair advantage, and, if accepted, would have ruined the Company, whose real and main object, he said, was to furnish electric power. Water Commissioner Dalton took refuge from embarrassing questions by professing his technical ignorance; the city's technical experts understood engineering, but not this contract; Mr. Frank Platt (Senator Platt's son) knew a little about the organization of the Company, but not its later history, and so down the whole line of witnesses; Mr. Holahan, President of the Board of Public Improvements, almost alone tried to defend the scheme, and declared boldly that he would vote for it again if offered a chance, at the same time admitting that he knew nothing about the officers or owners of the Company, nor about its financial standing, nor whether it owned any reservoirs, streams, or water rights-in point of fact, it owned only options on land. It is generally believed that the scheme is now dead, regardless of the result of the injunction proceedings against the Board of Public Improvements. The city taxpayers owe a debt of gratitude to Commissioner Coler for his promptness in combating the scheme, and to the Mazet Committee for showing how under the present municipal government the city is in constant danger

now known as the Laurel Hill Association -was organized in Stockbridge, Mass. Its annual meeting is of interest not only to Berkshire County, but to many villages throughout the country which owe their own beauty to its example. Much of the good done is possible anywhere, such as the care of roadsides, boxes for refuse, paths with seats at good view-points, and planting of trees where the original growth has been sacrificed. Massachusetts was the first State to appoint a Board of Trustees for Public Reservations. They found the best parts of seashore, river-banks, and mountain-tops already in private possession, to the exclusion of public enjoyment. Acquisition by the State, when possible, is slow and costly. Could private wealth build better memorials than those in Stockbridge? There is hardly a village which has not some choice spot which might now be easily secured for the pleasure of posterity. The annual meetings of the Laurel Hill Association are held in the woods of Laurel Hill. On September 13 the grassy amphitheater was crowded with friends and well-wishers from Berkshire resorts. The stone platform is built against the face of a massive rock, over which swayed the American flag. The speakers were the Hon. Samuel S. Rogers, of Buffalo, John E. Parsons, of New York, and Dr. Edward Everett Hale. The latter, "perhaps more pleased than at any invitation of his life," has special interest in the object of the Association. His subject was Forestry," its dangers, from "those landscape gardeners who know how to plant a garden better than God in the Garden of Eden," and its greatness in opportunity and necessity. The great

thing for this country Dr. Hale considers "the preservation, enlargement, and improvement of its forests." The destruction of forests is daily less necessary, as our export of their products becomes relatively less important. "Its forests have made America," from the sassafras and planks which paid the English creditors of the Pilgrims, "to the New Hampshire staff which carried the Admiral's flag in Santiago Bay." England, which has only thirtyseven varieties of native trees, while Massachusetts alone has one hundred and forty varieties, is introducing American trees into Epping Forest. This great pleasureforest near London gives a revenue of over two million dollars. Massachusetts receives nothing for her woodlands. "In America there is as yet no successful public school of forestry. At Biltmore, on an estate larger than the District of Columbia, George Vanderbilt is nobly creating a school of forestry which may be useful to his country." While great wealth in private possession can splendidly help the State, Dr. Hale strongly urges that "the State, omnipotent and ever-living," shall invest public surplus "in forests, in making forests where now are deserts, and in planting prairie." The time is slow in coming, "but it will come."

The official reports of comAugust Trade merce during August are especially gratifying, since they show that fears of a decline in exports of manufactured products on account of advance in prices have not been realized. On the contrary, our foreign commerce last month was the largest ever known for any August. The exports were no less than a quarter more than for August 1898 (a phenomenal year). For the eight months of the present year the total exports are the highest for any like period in our history. While more wheat, flour included, has been sent abroad than a year ago, the exports of corn, including meal, are even greater. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Government report indicates a wheat crop this year of only five hundred and sixteen million bushels. It may be remembered, however, that a year ago the report indicated five hundred and eighty-five million bushels for last year's crop, but that afterwards