States. 'Premier MacDonald has taken up the matter with the United States because, as he declared in the House of Commons, England has agreed to work in harmony with the Washington government in Mexico.' But the root of the trouble is in Spanish America itself:

The smaller nations of America might assert their personality in the world and laugh at the theoretical tutorship of the United States; but to do so they must be conscious of their own dignity and independence, and it is certain that many of them do not possess this sentiment as yet. . . . The best agents of Yankee imperialism in Spanish America are the Spanish Americans. We have an excellent example of that in Honduras to-day.

...

GENERAL HERTZOG

A SOUTH-AFRICAN editor, writing in the London Daily Mail, describes General Hertzog as quite the reverse of the fire-eating Secessionist commonly pictured in the British press. Indeed, if we are to believe this authority, who has often talked with the Nationalist leader in his quaint family home in one of the oldest streets in Bloemfontein,' General Hertzog 'is the mildest man who ever provoked diatribes about secession, rebellion, racialism, and civil war.' He is a lean, quiet man, with tanned face and small, iron-gray mustache .. one of the kindliest and most courteous statesmen one could wish to meet. . . . There is no trace of racialism in his conversation, no tinge of bitterness toward the English people.' He is described as mellowed rather than embittered by political abuse. Very much a South African, 'perhaps he sees too much of South Africa and too little of the rest of the world. Possibly he is somewhat fanatical on the subject of "South Africa First". . . . He would rather give his

life than wittingly harm South Africa, If he errs it will be only because dreams cannot always come true in a hard world.'

Speaking of his attitude toward the British Empire, General Hertzog recently said: 'Nationalists do not look upon Secession as a matter of practical politics, and are unlikely to do so until the rest of the people, especially the masses of British feeling, are in favor of it.'

The present Governor-General of the South African Union, the Earl of Athlone, is connected by marriage with the reigning house of Holland through his wife, who is the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and first cousin of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. The Governor-General's family has always maintained close social relations with its Holland relatives, and a touch of political tact may be discerned in the selection of King George's vicar in this restless semiDutch Dominion.

GANDHI AND DAS

An attempt to work out a programme of harmonious action between the Gandhi Non-Coöperationists and the new Swarajist Party, which believes in a policy of systematic obstruction in the Indian legislative bodies, has fallen through, and the British press heralds with but half-disguised satisfaction what it interprets as a permanent rift between the proponents of activism and the proponents of pacifism in the Indian independence movement. Mr. Das and his Party have the prestige of at least partial success. They have undoubtedly embarrassed the British Government appreciably in its effort to apply the recent constitutional reforms, and they are probably a force that will have to be reckoned with hereafter. The Non-Coöperation

movement is apparently in a more equivocal position. It makes demands upon the faith, the patience, and the endurance of its followers that, we can well imagine, have but a limited appeal to the man in the street.

On the other hand, it will not do to attach too much importance to current reports of dissension among the Indian leaders. Their aims are pretty much the same, and their disputes over methods may possibly be compromised. Mr. Gandhi continues to lay stress on the necessity of individual moral reform as a prerequisite of political independence, and he has made prohibition a leading plank in his new platform. Native Indian papers contain many allusions to the struggle to suppress the drink and the drug traffic, in which the British Government is usually represented as the champion of the rum-sellers. Gandhi would seem likely to have Moslem support for this part of his programme, which seeks to enforce on all Indians a command of the Koran. Nevertheless, Gandhi's organ, Young India, reports that he is receiving many letters from Moslems charging him with weakening the Moslem community by preaching coöperation between Hindus and Moslems. He says that some of these letters 'contain unprintable abuse' and traces this hostility to a 'most dangerous' source: "The thinking portion [of Moslem India] seems to be tired of non-violence.'

OUR SECRET DISCOVERED

THE sporting editor of L'Echo de Paris discourses as follows upon the superiority of the American athletes in the Olympic games. He saw our countrymen win most of the prizes at Athens in 1896, and take the lead at St. Louis, London, Stockholm, and Antwerp. Although many of the brilliant records

just made by our representatives at Paris had not been registered when he wrote, he discounted them by anticipation.

'Whence this superiority?' he asks. Partly it is due to race. Our athletes represent selections from many strains; they are the product of the crossbreeding and transplanting of the most virile European races. The popularity of outdoor sports among our schoolboys and college students is a second reason; and the general well-being of our people doubtless contributes to their physical superiority.

Furthermore our representatives are selected from a much larger population than those of many of the European countries. But the writer finds reasons for considering each of these explanations, or all taken together, inadequate.

They do not explain the great superiority of the Americans to the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians, for example, most of whose athletes belong to the same social classes and are educated in the same manner as the Americans. No, the real secret of American success is to be found in their training, which I think is unequalled, and particularly in the spirit that characterizes that training. Now this spirit- this secret of the Americans I believe I discovered the other day when I visited them at the Chateau of Rocquencourt. That secret is the habit of working happily together as a great family. High spirits are characteristic of the Rocquencourt camp. A feminine element is not lacking there, formed of the mothers and sisters of the contestants. There are all kinds of distractions. The table is excellent. On every side you see smiling countenances. We ought to copy this.... We are temperamentally qualified to do so for we are by no means a sad nation, but our trainers and sportdirectors are often personages who take their rôle too seriously. . . . They are too much given to long and tedious lectures, and eventually the contestants themselves acquire the harassed and réclamiste manner of their leaders. Yes, let us insist on the

psychological basis of the Americans' superiority in the Olympic games. They are a happy people. They do not pose. But mark well, this does not keep them from following strictly a voluntary discipline, which is the best possible kind of discipline to have.

MINOR NOTES

RECENTLY Osaka Mainichi celebrated with races, balloons, and fireworks the attainment of one million circulation. Asahi, also published in that industrial centre, claims more than a million subscribers, and the Shufu no Tomo, or "The Housewife's Friend,' reaches more readers than either of its competitors. The two former papers are keen rivals. They are said to be the only journals in Japan that have used airplanes for gathering news. Asahi is a shade the more cautious and conservative, but both papers show a tendency to shift from radicalism to moderation, or even conservatism, as their circle of readers extends.

A SOCIAL Survey of the town of Ipswich, England, which has a population of eighty thousand people, indicates that the waterworks supply 8250 gallons of water a year per capita to its citizens, but there are church accommodations for only one person out

CROWDED PARIS

of three. Despite the housing shortage, the people are better lodged in respect to both the roominess and the quality of tenements than a century or more ago. The number of individuals per dwelling has declined since 1801 from five to four and four tenths.

SUBHI BEY EL EITRIBI, a director of the Ottoman Bank, writes in a contribution to Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung:

Not a day passes without some new foreign company being established in Egypt. Not long ago a French consortium, headed by the Lebon Brothers of the Gas Company and two former Egyptian ministers, were authorized to form a light, heat, and power corporation, and consolidate the existing franchises. An Italian consortium, with a former Egyptian premier at its head, is about to set up 'an Italian Commercial Bank of Egypt.' A group of French and English promoters is negotiating for the right to develop a hydroelectric enterprise at the Cataracts of the Nile. Another company proposes to supply wireless-telephone service to the Stock Exchange. Still other promoters are negotiating for irrigation rights covering the arid lands in the western part of the Nile Delta.

TROTSKII INSPECTS THE DARDENELLES

Rheinisch-Westfälische Zeitung (Krupp's Essen daily), July 24. The AustroThe AustroHungarian ultimatum is nothing less than an invitation to war, but this time a most dangerous one. Apparently we stand face to face with an Austro-Serbian conflict. It is possible, very possible, that we shall have to extinguish a conflagration in Eastern Europe with our own weapons, either in compliance with a treaty or under compulsion of events. But it is scandalous that the Imperial Government did not insist at Vienna that such an ultimatum should be submitted to it beforehand. To-day there is only one last recourse left: to declare that we are not obligated to fight a war to back up a Hapsburg policy of conquest.

Die Post (Berlin Conservative daily), July 24. Is this a diplomatic note? No, it is an ultimatum- in fact, an ultimatum in the bluntest form. Austria demands an answer within twentyfour hours. An answer? No, the submissive acceptance, the complete humiliation, of Serbia. Hitherto we have scoffed often enough—and with good ground-at Austria's lack of vigor. Here we have an example of vigor that is terrifying. The note represents the last word that a Government can use, and a word that is not spoken until it has been decided to declare war in any case.

twelve and one o'clock a great mob gathered in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin. Its members hooted and whistled, and shouted: 'Down with Russia!' 'Long live Austria!' 'Down with Serbia!' The police gradually dispersed the crowd. Such uncalled-for demonstrations by immature and thoughtless young men will be condemned unsparingly by all serious and rational people. We hope that measures will be taken at once to prevent the repetition of such a scandal, and to bring the disturbers of the peace to account, and we regret that such measures have not already been taken.

Leipziger Tageblatt (Moderate proBismarck daily), July 27.- Paris, July 26. This morning about one hundred young fellows gathered in front of the Austrian Embassy and began to shout: 'Down with Austria! Death to Austria!' One of the disturbers pulled a black-and-yellow flag out of his pocket, set a match to it, and trod it underfoot. The police immediately intervened, and dispersed the troublemakers. The Austrian Ambassador at once protested at the Quai d'Orsay against this demonstration, and demanded that measures be taken to prevent its repetition. The Director of the Foreign Office expressed his regret at what had happened, and declared that necessary measures would be taken immediately. The rioters marched from the Austrian Embassy to the Russian Embassy, in order to make a demonstration of sympathy for that

Vossische Zeitung (Berlin LiberalJingo daily), July 30. Alarming rumors are multiplying rapidly during the last few days. Between two and three o'clock yesterday afternoon the Lokal-Anzeiger issued an extra containing a report that an order to mobilize the army and navy had already been signed. Upon inquiring of the authorities, we discovered that this report was false. The extra edition was withdrawn from circulation shortly afterward. About three o'clock Wolff's Bureau circulated the following official denial of this alarming report: 'We learn from an authoritative source that the report published in an extra edition of the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger, to the effect that His Majesty the Kaiser has ordered the mobilization of the navy and army, is untrue.' This extra edition accentuated still further the excitement of the Stock Exchange, and also created great concern in the ranks of the general public.

Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger (semiofficial Monarchist daily), July 31.- Rome, July 31. It would be literally criminal to doubt the resolute determination of Italy at this moment. Italy will unhesitatingly fulfill the expectations of her allies. These are substantially the words in which an Italian Cabinet officer, who is a personal friend of mine, summarized the situation in my presence to-night.

Deutscher Kurier (Berlin Jingo, steelindustry daily), July 31.- New York, July 31. Dispatches from Tokyo indicate that people in the Japanese capital are following events in Europe with intense interest. Long Cabinet meetings are held daily in Tokyo, concerning which absolute secrecy is maintained.

that if Russia becomes involved in a European war Japan will put great difficulties in the way of the Russian Government in order thus to ease over the domestic crisis in Japan.

Berliner Zeitung am Mittag (currentaffairs daily), August 2.- At Lichterfelde a grocer insisted that a woman purchasing from him should pay him in gold money. When the woman declared that she had only a hundredmark bill, he would not consent to take it except on the condition that he be paid ten marks extra. The woman let herself be intimidated and paid ten marks more than her original bill. Her husband immediately reported the incident to the police, who promptly closed the merchant's shop, which an angry mob was already preparing to storm.

Münchener Post (Bavarian SocialDemocratic daily), August 1.-Defeat would be tantamount to a complete collapse, to annihilation, to endless misery for all of us. Our whole being revolts against this possibility. Our Party's representatives in the Reichstag have unanimously declared on countless occasions that the Social Democrats would not desert their Fatherland in the moment of peril. If the fateful hour strikes, the workingmen will make good the promise that their delegates in Parliament have given. Our 'unpatriotic' comrades will do their duty in a way that no patriot can improve upon.

Magdeburgische Zeitung (Centrist daily with Conservative leanings), August 2. - Berlin, August 1. At several synagogues the rabbis now recite the following prayer at morning service: 'My brethren and sisters. Serious, bitterly serious troubles threaten our land, threaten perhaps the whole world.