constitutional amendment is needed, then the Constitution should be amended. To remove the tariff as a punitive measure directed against trusts would inevitably result in ruin to the weaker competitors who are struggling against them. Tariff and trusts are distinct problems. Revision would not reach many trusts; others it would actually foster.

Stability of economic policy must always be the prime economic need of this country. This stability should not be fossilization. The country has acquiesced in the wisdom of the protective-tariff principle. It is exceedingly undesirable that this system should be destroyed or that there should be violent and radical changes therein. Our past experience shows that great prosperity in this country has always come under a protective tariff; and that the country cannot prosper under fitful tariff changes at short intervals. Moreover, if the tariff laws as a whole work well, and if business has prospered under them and is prospering, it is better to endure for a time slight inconveniences and inequalities in some schedules than to upset business by too quick and too radical changes. The first consideration in making changes would of course be to preserve the principle which underlies our whole tariff system-that is, the principle of putting American business interests at least on a full equality with interests abroad, and of always allowing a sufficient rate of duty to more than cover the difference between the labor cost here and abroad. The

well-being of the wage-worker, like the well-being of the tiller of the soil, should be treated as an essential in shaping our whole economic policy. There must never be any change which will jeopardize the standard of comfort, the standard of wages of the American wage-worker.

Reciprocity is preferred to revision, inasmuch as it may be made to utilize practical lowering of the customs duties to widen our markets abroad. If it prove impossible to ratify the pending treaties, and if there seem to be no warrant for the endeavor to execute others, or to amend the pending treaties so that they can be ratified, then the same end to secure reciprocity-should be met by direct legislation. However, any actual reduction of duties should be done only by expert judgment, and a tariff commission for this purpose is suggested. The duty on anthracite coal should be abolished.

Financial legislation encouraging the banks in bearing their proper burden of providing an adequate circulation is asked for, as is a law making all kinds of money redeemable in gold.

Capital and labor, and the organizations of each, are urged to remember that they must bring their interests into line with the public need and must conform to the maintenance of liberty and justice. The government has naught to do with rich or poor as such, and political appeals to class feeling are wicked.

The relations of employer and employed are among the problems with

which a secretary of commerce might be charged. The creation of such a seat in the cabinet is recommended. A Cuban reciprocity treaty is soon to be sent to the Senate. Its ratification is urged from motives of duty, policy and self-interest. The reciprocity pact with Newfoundland is also favored.

A general report of progress on the Isthmian Canal is followed by a strong disavowal of any intention on the part of this country to interfere with any other independent American nation so long as it maintains order at home and discharges its just obligations abroad.

In the colonies there are peace and prosperity. Porto Rico is held up as an example in insular administration. Events have vindicated the Philippine policy of the administration, and the Filipinos are declared freer than ever before in their history and more nearly self-governing than are any other Oriental people, dependent or independent, save only the Japanese. The army of occupation has been reduced to 15,000 men. Instances of wrongdoing have been isolated, in retaliation, and yet punished.

As to the army, its minimum of strength necessitates a maximum of efficiency. He favors manoeuvres, target practice, a general staff and a militia reorganization. The needs of the navy are earnestly advocated. Our foreign policy demands sea power of the first class. Money is needed for manoeuvres and great gun practice. New ships should

be laid down yearly. No less than 1,000 officers should be added by increasing the size of the classes at Annapolis, and large increases in the enlisted force are imperative.

Prosperity is reflected in the postal revenues which now equal monthly the annual receipts in 1860. Rural free delivery should be extended. A beginning has been made in national irrigation. Forest and game protection is a corollary. Public lands should be reserved for home builders, but special laws for grazing lands are needed. Alaska is in need of new laws. The Indians should be dealt with on the theory that they are ultimately to become citizens. The first step is to teach them to earn their living.

The President makes no reference to the ship subsidy scheme, or to the question of restriction of immigration, and offers no definite recommendation either in regard to the necessity of a better currency for the Philippines or to the labor question in the islands-subjects which are likely to provoke much discussion in Congress.

THE METRIC SYSTEM.

AN ARGUMENT AGAINST ITS ADOPTION BY FREDERICK A. HALSEY.

At the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in New York, resolutions opposing the adoption of the metric system were passed after a spirited discussion.

The attack on the metric system was led by Frederick A. Halsey, associate editor of the American Machinist.

Mr. Halsey has made an exhaustive study of the workings of the metric system in various countries with a view to proving that, instead of the metric system's universal adoption as the most expedient system of units, the American and English system is in reality a better one. To reenforce his arguments Mr. Halsey had enlisted expert testimony in the shape of letters from various large manufacturers and the heads of great technical industries, and he made perhaps as able a presentation of the adverse side of the case as was possible. The most striking of his arguments was the declaration that in many of the countries where the metric system has been in vogue, in consequence of the law, the older systems are still extensively employed. Thus, in France, where it had been compulsory for over a century, and where a piece of goods would be sold over the counter by the metre, it would be manufactured in accordance with entirely different standards. For this reason Mr. Halsey thought that the testimony which tourists bring back relative to the use of the metric system was of little value. They only saw it in shops. They were not in a position to know what was done behind the closed doors of the factory. He also cited a table of foreign weights and measures, compiled at the State Department, to show that in countries where the metric system is supposed to prevail many other standards are recognized. Mr. Halsey said in part:

"The situation at Washington regarding our system of weights and measures demands the most serious consideration. The testimony before the House Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures was overwhelmingly onesided, and, weighing such testimony in the only way that Congressmen can, the committee could bring in no other report than the one it did, recommending the passage of the metric system bill. Scientific and practical men of the front rank, as well as engineering, scientific and trade societies everywhere, are calling for this measure. The Western Society of Engineers, by a

of

mail ballot, voted for it by over five to one. The Franklin Institute, with Samuel Vauclain, James Christie and Wilfred Lewis on its committee, has also endorsed it. With the report of the Franklin Institute were transmitted to the House committee twenty-one letters from various large manufacturing firms, particularly manufacturers machinery, which had been received in answer to a circular letter of inquiry, of which twenty favored the metric system. To cap the climax, the unfortunate resolution of this society last spring, condemning the action of its committee in going to Washington, was interpreted in the only way it could be -as a withdrawal by this society of its opposition to the measure and for years we have been the only effective opposition. It is up to us.

"The pro-metric argument is, substantially, an a priori argument. The metric advocates adopt the methods of the old philosophers, who laboriously sought to prove what ought to be. My method is that of modern science, which interrogates nature in order to learn what is. For instance, they tell us how easily and how quickly this nation ought to make this change; I shall show how slowly and laboriously France and Germany have made the change. The testimony before the House committee is sprinkled with opinions that this great change can be made in from three to five years. In this matter we do not, however, need to regard opinions at all. but may apply the scientific method at once and consult the facts. The general use of English pitch threads in Germary is, of course, well known, but it will do no harm to take the fact from a metric advocate's mouth. The discriminating engineer will recall that English sized twist drills make Englishsized holes, and he will take the use of English-sized screws and twist drills as additional evidence that the millimetre has not yet driven the inch from German machine shops, and that Germany is still in the transition period.

"The fatal mistake of the metric advocates and the weakness of their case lies in their assumption that the statute

book is an index of the practice of the people. The arguments for the saving of time in calculation, for the simplification of our weights and measures and for the saving of time by school children are all based on the tacit assumption that the old units are to disappear. As they have not done elsewhere, they will not do so here, and every one of these arguments falls to the ground.

"Shall we carry our heads in the clouds of speculation, or shall we consult the experience of others? Shall

we join in the chase of this will-o'-thewisp which no nation has ever caught? That and only that is the metric question of the hour. Arguments based on the beautiful interrelation and correlation of the units have little more application than a philosophical speculation regarding the appearance of the back side of the moon. On its merits, then, I claim that the metric system is a bagatele. Admit all, for the sake of argument, that the metric advocates have claimed regarding the fundamental superiority of the system, and we admit nothing. The pro-metric argument is that the decimal basis and the interrelation of the units of length, of capacity, and of weight greatly simplify and abbreviate calculations. That is all, for when it comes to actually measuring things, no one claims that it cannot be done just as readily by the English system; and, in fact, if there is any argument from this standpoint, it is that the English system is better than the French system."

bly a graphic description of a ride taken by the editor of the paper on the locomotive of the Twentieth Century Limited, in which the vivid impressions gathered from the front end of a crack modern express train are realistically portrayed. Under the section devoted

to Marine Transportation the full statistics of our shipping, deep-sea, lake and river, are given with photographs of some of the latest, finest Americanbuilt passenger steamers and detailed descriptions of the same. The fastest of the new transatlantic passenger steamers, the "Kaiser Wilhelm," is also illustrated, while we notice a handsome fullpage drawing of the two great freighters building at New London for the transpacific trade.

Under the head of Locomotive Statistics, there is a full-page drawing, showing very graphically the magnitude of our railroad system, the comparison being made with the Great Pyramid of Egypt. There is also a richly illustrated History of the American Locomotive, and also an article on the Modern Block Signal System, which gives a concise and clear account of this important phase of railroad operation, the various systems being illustrated by half-tone and line engravings. The present state of the art of Electric Traction, with particular reference to the application of alternating current, is treated in various articles, in which are included the celebrated Berlin-Zossen trials and other modern experimental work.

MARINE AND LAND TRANSPORTATION.

The Scientific American of December 13 is a special number devoted to the subject of transportation by land and Bea. The articles are comprehensive, and there is practically no feature of the subject, broad as it is, that is not covered; and some of the articles are very thoroughly exhaustive. There are one or two features of special novelty, nota

THE National Grange, in session recently at Lansing, Mich., adopted the following resolution: "Manufacturers have filled every corner of our land with their wares and now through the spectacles of reciprocity are looking across the waters for a free port of entry for their surplus products. They must reciprocate in their own field, not ours. They may exchange a twine machine for a foreign-made mowing machine, but we protest against their exchanging a binder for any import that will compete with the products of the farm."

[San Francisco Chronicle.] The fact is that all this talk of tariff revision within Republican ranks springs from political rather than economic motives. Certain Republican leaders seem to have become badly scared by assertions that in some of the strong Republican states there are large bodies of Republican voters who cannot be "held in line" except by some show of "doing something" about "the tariff." It is alleged that these shaky people are scattered about in the rural districts of the Mississippi states, and that "something must be done" to satisfy them. We do not believe there are any such bodies of voters. We regard as conclusive evidence that there are none the fact that no schedule of the present tariff has been specially assailed. There are no allegations that the people of any rural district are suffering from the effects of any particular duty, and as a matter of fact it is notorious that our farmers were never so prosperous as now. We therefore regard the disturbance as merely a manifestation of what is familiarly called "cold feet" among some Republican leaders, who have been scared by the noise of the free trade tom-toms. If it be thought by any one to be good party policy to alarm the people in order to hold voters in the Republican camp, the reply is that when party leaders seek to gain party triumphs at the expense of the prosperity of the nation, it is time to get new leaders. A party which can succeed only by injuring the country ought not to succeed at all, and is not likely to do so.

INDUSTRIAL DIVERSIFICATION.

[Gunton's Lecture Bulletin.] Protection gave the manufactures to this country; it stimulated the diversification of urbanizing employments. Without that we probably would have remained very largely an agricultural people. Agriculture of course is absolutely essential, but it is of all inductries the most uniform and simple, and there

or

fore has the least diversification in it. It lacks the influences which develop groups and stimulate new ideas and innovations. For that reason, if we had never had manufactures we certainly should never have been in the foremost rank among the nations, either in wealth, population, intelligence power, because those come chiefly of the developing forces which diversified industries give. And so the agricultural part of our population, which has felt aggrieved that others were protected and not they, indirectly have reaped a great benefit. This policy developed in this country a great population that did not raise grain or cotton or potatoes, but made cloth and furniture and jewelry and all the diversified products of modern life, and at the same time constituted a very great market for the products of the farmers, which never would have been if simply more farmers had been developed.

[Gunton's Lecture Bulletin.]

Every time a single individual is improved society is benefited to that extent, and every time a large group or class can be benefited by having their opportunities for improvement in any or all lines protected or secured, so much addition to the opportunities for progress and increase of welfare has been made. It takes nothing from anybody else. It does not take anything from the manufacturers and employers of this country that the working children in our factories are compelled to go to school, and that the working day is reduced to ten hours, and that wages have risen from fifty to seventy-five per cent. Not at all. Nobody is any poorer; on the contrary, everybody is richer. The nation is richer. To be sure, all this increase in opportunity leads to increase in industrial activity, in personal demands, to a greater defence of rights and personal liberties, and a more intelligent direction of the efforts to get higher wages and better homes.