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IIEditorialSS.
Opinions of Great Papers on Important Subjects.
jl ' S f i S 4 al S$S
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Official Corruption.
HE greiitGovcrnmcnts and tho great municipal
UIcb of tho world linvc n problem boforo them
which 'as yot thoy have not fairly faced, but
which thoy must faco If thoy aro to mnko Buro
In tlrnoa of cmorgoncy of tlio cfllclcncy of tliolr
agents. The growing huiiKor for monoy an tho
ono absolute condition of ondurablo life, tho
Increasing severity of tho competition for great contracts,
and tho decaying abhorronce of suicide all tend to tho de
velopment of "corruption" In It ofllolal sense, that 1h, of
bribe-taking by officials, and of Hteallng from Btnto and
municipal departments. No form of government seems to
protect tho nations from It. We have less of it than most
countries, becauBo under our social conditions tho clans
which really gov'oniB hnH boon taught from early childhood
to regard bribe-taking an a worse dlHhonor even than cheat
ing nt cards, and because those who suffer are absolutely
free to complain; but oven here, when the Government Is
forced to spend millions suddonly, rings aro formed to get
no mo of that money, and tho taxpayer Is lleocod through
lropostorous charges nnd Illicit commissions.
It is n great blot on modern civilization, which in many
'respects dopends upon efficiency for succoss. Efficiency and
corruption aro wholly incompatible. Some think Unit cor
ruption produces only waste, and that they can bear wasto;
but tli nt Is a false view. Corruption, In tho llrst place,
arrests tho employment of the best men In leading posi
tions, for tho wholo energy of tho corrupt Is devoted to
preventing tholr promotion, or If they aro promoted, to
rendering tliolr positions untonable. In tho second place,
corruption makes energetic administration nearly Impossi
ble, for no Government cvor loses tho hopo of preventing
It; and to prevont It most 'of them apply an Infinity of
"checks," ovory ono of which occupies part of tho tlmo of
the exocutlvo officer, and increases the load of responsi
bility under which at last ho daro do nothing without pre
vious sanction, And, in tho third place, corruption Is not
only fatal to tho very Idea of duty, but to tho habit of
performing It.
A perfect romcdy for corruption Is hard to find, because
It requires a chango In tho motives of tho corrupt which
Governments cannot produce, and which society will not bo
at' tho pains to encourago affect I voly; but two or throe
Valliatlves might at least bo tried. One Is to protect those
who eompluln. Anothor Is to pay all those who havo any
thing whatever to do with contracts at least decently, a rulo
nfton neglected In the case of the experienced but subor
dinate mon upon whoso Judgment their less oxpurlenced
superiors in matters of business compelled to roly. And a
third Is to doclaro bribe-giving and bribe-receiving a form of
treason soveroly punishable whenever It Is proved. London
Spectator.
Social Gravitation.
HE census nrovesA Inenntentiililv Hint ln ilrlft
1 I of population cityward reached Its maximum
I Isomo years ago, nnd has begun to recede. Rome
J one has said: "Hereafter the city and the conn-
PJ&nWSnl tr,V wI" nmrCM fil(lu s,(l0 w,tn ovon step."
fiSSfisjgll Even this Is hardly probable. The chance of
drift Is owing to economical conditions that
will continue Btrongly to favor tho 'country. Population
Will still niovo out and differentiate from tho masses. In
Tact, the coming deal seems to be rather an evenly dis
tributed suburbanlsm, covering tho whole country; while
the cities will remain as ganglia. Following this Ideal the
city wlllcrow more country-like, while the country will
steadily Ticqui're those privileges which have 'heretoTore be
longed to tho city.
According to a recent census bulletin, ir9 towns show
mi increase of fl2 per cent during the last ten years, which
Is about tho average of the Increase of the wholo country.
I'ho relative gain of cities from 18S0 to 1800 was from !2'J
to 20 per cent or 7 per cent positive Increase but from
1800 to 1900 this increase wiib only about 2 per cent,
this tells tho story with accuracy. It does not warrant us
In assuming that cities will cease to grow, but that rela
tively thoy will ceaso to grow as fast as tho country.
K potent cause for depopulating the country came In with
improved machinery. Farm work could bo done with few
tr hands. A slnglo reaper would replace ton men. Costly
huichlnery could be protltably used only on large farms,
rot a single reaper might serve a dozen small farm owners
co-operatively. So far, the Kastorn States were at th
greater disadvantage, the deserted farms wcro common
throughout Now England. It was wiser to go West with
small capital, and leave tho homestead to go back to wil
derness, rather than to remain nnd be starved. This Btat
of alTnlrs, in aggravated symptoms, continued until noai
tbo close of tho nineteenth century. A cause for
tho reaction which wo chronicle, Is the splendid Increase In
tho value of farm products, brought about by our having
Bocurcd tho world's markets. Commercial expansion dur
ing tho last ten years has Immensely increased tho expor
tation of nearly everything that tho farm produces. Our
fruits, our meats, our corn are now found in every market
of the globe. There Is no longer any fear of overproduc
tion; we havo only to Insist on tho open door principle and
froo competition. The farmer can apply his whole attention
to tho Increase of products, and the conquest of Insect and
fungoid enemies. Agriculture is proving itself to be once
moro what It was In the early part of the last century,
the most independent of all tho industries. Now York In
dependent.
Forts and Naval Attacks.
NE of tho surprises of the Far Eastern war la
tho failure of tho fort guns to do moro damage
In tho attacking fleets. It was a matter of faith
among tho authorities that not evon the strong
est modern battleship could safely attack un
offoctlvo modorn fort, armed with long-rango
heavy guns. England Is at present making a
numbor of long-rango fort guns for tho defense of her south
coast, and it Is calculated that these guns will easily be
able to throw a twelve or thlrteen-lnch shell across the
Straits of Dover, so that it would not seem to be worth
while for France even to take her Channel squadron out
of port, much less to attompt to land In the face of such on
overwhelming uttack. But this Is mere theory. The truth
Is, that, although the weight and range of these guns have
uoon steadily Increasing tho human powers which are to
use thorn havo not shown, and are not likely to show a cor
responding progress. While a gun can carry a shell across
the Straits of Dover, the gunnor who could make a hit 'of
twenty miles Is yet unborn; nolthor eyesight nor Hnenosi
of hand are equal to tho task. Nor would the atmosphere
permit It, If they were. Attacks by fleets are made by sen;
and tho son Is proverbially untrustworthy in tho matter ot
weather. Air currents, mists, uneven radiation, mirage
and a dozen similar causes deflect the shot and the vision
which directs It Moreover, no one nowadays is likely to
attack a fort at close range In brond daylight. The Port
Arthur bombardments wcro nearly all at night, and some
of them In snowstorms. It Is Intelligible that a ship at
sea can moro or less locate a position on land, such as tho
Golden Hill above Port Arthur, over a town where there
are certain to bo some lights at least; but tho fort has no
lights to guide It In locating tho ship, except the momentary
Hash of the guns, which give hurdly any opportunity for
aiming. In the case of tho Vladivostok bombardment, It
seems that the- Japanese Hoot wero too far off to do any
damage, and, therefore, too far off to receive any. It Is
nlso likoly that the object of that attack was to draw the
Russian tiro in order to locate their forts; the Russians
seemed to have divined this, and naturally abstained from
firing.- Harper's Weekly.
m
I GREAT AGRICULTURAL DISCOVERY
' Four-llfths of every breath of air
which tho lungs Inhalo is pure nitro
gen. It Is ono of the commonest of
tho elements. And yet, sayB a wrltur
In Harper's Monthly, It Is tho one thing
for tho lack of which wheat Holds,
cotton Molds and corn Holds aro aban
doned as "worn out" becauso It Is tho
most expensive plant food for man to
supply to tho soil, and ono which most
plants nro unablo to abBorb In Its puro
atnto from tho air. To remedy this
tho Department of Agriculture at
Washington Is preparing to distribute
among fanners n Bubstanco resembling
comprosBed yeast, which will raise, not
bread, but crops; for whon applied
to certain plants It will onablo them
to take abundant nltrogon from tho at
mosphere. Tho "yeast" Is really a
mass of gorms, which bid fair to bo
coino most efllclont gnrdeners.
It has long been known that clovor
and othor leguminous crops nourish in
"worn-out" soil, and whon plowed Into
It partially restore the fortuity of it.
Studying this phenomenon, scientists
have -found that In such a soil tho
plants havo nodules, little bunches or
HWolllngR, on their roots, which thoy
do not have when grown elsowhoro.
These nodules aro formed by bnctoria
culled rndlocola.
e
No Thought of Annexation.
HE United States regards Canada as und,
British Imperial suzerainty, an Independent
sovereign nation, whose title Is as valid as that
of any nation on tho globe. It has no thought
of annexing Canada against her will, nor does
it, Indeed, regard annexation as necessary or
Inevitable. It Is not sitting up o' nights to coas
or to coerce the Dominion into union with tho Republic
If ever Canada should at her own will seek such union,
tho United States would probably be cordially responsive
But, If Canada never does seek It, the United States will
regard with entire unanimity and satisfaction the prospect
of continuing for all time to share this continent with an
other great English-speaking commonwealth, and will only
hope for constantly Increasing sentiments of mutual esteem
and constantly strengthening bonds of friendship between
these two sovereign nations. New York Tribune.
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Professor Nobbo, a German investi
gator, found that lupines which had
tho nodules would grow in soil devoid
of nitrogen. Without tho nodules the
lupines would not grow. Ho obtained
some of tho rndlocola from tho nodules
and propagated thorn in gelutlno till
he had many millions of the germs.
llo then put into three Jars equal
quantities of sterilized sand contain
Ing no nitrogen whatovor. In each Jarfwlth tho seed and a little soil, partially
ho planted beans. The first he fer
tilized with all tho usual plant foods
except nltrogon. Tho second he hup
plied with tho same food and salt
peter, a form of nltrogon easily ab
sorbed by plants. The third he fed
like the first, and In addition Inoculat
ed sand with his rndlocola.
The result was extremely interest
ing. Tho beans all ennio up, and for a
fow days grew alike. Then tho first
lot, having no nitrogen, turned yellow
nnd died. Tho second continued to
grow In normal fashion. But the third,
although It got no nltrogon In tho soil,
nourished far beyond Its neighbor, nnd
developed a luxuriant and healthy
growth, showing that tho radiocola
had enabled It to draw Its nitrogen
from the air.
Professor Nobbo carried his experi
ments pinch furthor. Ho showed that
whllo in neutral soil radiocola nro all
alike, onco they have associated thorn
solve with a given plant, as clover,
thoy become very nearly needem for
othor plants, such aa beam and
lupines. Accordingly bo hns labored
to produce highly specialized bacteria
for each crop gardening germs
trained to grow tholr specialty.
Having done this, his next move wna
to place thorn In tho farmers' bands.
He grow thorn by millions and packed
thorn In bottles of gelatine. All thai
tho farmer needed to do was to dilute
the gelatine with warm water, mix 1
dry the mixture nna sow it Tho
germs did the rest
There was much opposition to the
now "lertuizer, anu one old fnrnioc
who did not believe in It planted in
a big Hold a lot of tho inoculated seo4
In a big letter "N," Professor Nobbo,
uaving named mo gelatine compound
"Nitrogen." Tho furmer wns amazed
and convinced when above all his oth
or beans that year there stood out tho
letter "N" In luxuriant nnd healthy
plants.
Professor Nobbo's glass jam aro in.
convenient to handle, so the United
Suites Department of Agriculture, fol.
lowing up his experiments, has hit
upon the "compressed yeast cake
plan" as simple and satisfactory
A Repeater.
Toss I permitted him to kiss mo on
condition that he wouldn't mention It
to anyone.
Jess And did he?
iss well er be. repeated It tho
very next minute.
CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.
By Her. D. G. Wylle.
The early homo of man wns a gar
den, an Eden. It was a beautiful
place, bathed with rosy light and the
dewy freshness of morning's creation.
Heaven was reflected in the purity of
earth.
It is generally believed that tho prin
cipal theme of Canticles, or the Song
of Solomon, Is tho church. The text
speaks of the church as a garden, a
Hplce garden rather thnn a flower gar
den. God nieuns that, like a garden,
the church should be a place of beauty,
security and fruitfulness. When the
Christian, in his church, produces in
his life spiritual fruit God is well
plcnsed. God guards tho church with
a vigilance surpassing that of an orien
tal vineyard owner. As the mountains
encircle Jerusalem, so God surrounds
his people. Night and day, in storm
And In calm, in sunshine and in
shadow, God's eye Is on his holy
church. "I, tho Lord, do keep it; I
will water It every moment; lest any
hurt It, I will keep It night nnd day."
The north wind of the text is a
(symbol of that which hurts tho church.
In the scriptures the noriu wind sig
nifies adversity. In our climate It
means cold, cheerless, unpleasant
weather. When the Icy blasts from
the north fall upon us we arc pierced
by Its sharpness and protect ourselves
with tho coats of wool and fur. It Is
the north wind that drives the sheep
and cattle from the fields to places
of shelter and protection. It is the
north wind, nlso, that brings Ice and
snow, closes navigation, lays a death
like silence upon nature, and often
causes suffering to families and death
to birds and beasts. No garden can
flourish under the blast of a north
wind.
All this nieuns that often the Chris
tian church must suffer adversity and
pass through persecution. It may bo
the north wind of iorerty, or worldll
ness, or unholy living; but, whatever
It is. the church is injured and does
not prosper. It Is a cause for Joy that
at such a time God watches over and
protects his church.
The south wind is a symbol of bless-1
lng and prosperity. When It blows!
softly the snow banks and the Ice in
lakes nnd rivers melt; the touch of
winter disappears from the nir; the
earth revives; gardens and fields look
green; bloom and blossoms cover the
trees of orchards and forests; flow
ers spring up everywhere, and tho air
is filled with sweet perfume and the
songs of birds.
Wo have here the believer praying
that God would bless the church with
all gracious Influences; that the south
wind may blow upon God's garden.
Everything depends upon this; for the
spirit of God alone can stir up new
affections, make sinful lives beautiful,
quicken and revive dormant energies,
and till the life with pence, Joy, and
holiness. The church to-day needs tho
gracious influences of the south wind
of God's favor.
The result of God's blessing upon
the church Is seen. It Is fruit When
the south wind blows the spices of
the garden flow out. God expects tho
church to bo fruitful; to produce saints;
a noble manhood and womanhood; fine
types of Christian oharacter. They
that are planted in the house of the
Ionl ought to flourish.
What are some of the sweet nnd
rich spices which should flow from
tho church tho garden of God? The
answer is, Chris thin character and the
Christian graces.
We mention the sweet spice of de
vout affection. Heavenly mlndednoss,
true devotion to God and to man is
one of the spices of tho garden. Fol
lowers of Jesus should set their af
fection on things above.
Gentleness and humanity should
flow from Christian lives. This Is one
of tho heavenly graces that ought to
adorn every Christian. God loves the
gentle nnd bumble soul. Jesus Christ
sets a noble examplo which we should
follow. (Jod reslstoth tho proud, but
glveth grace to tho humble.
Brotherly lovo is a splco of God's
garden; a fruit of God's spirit; heav
en's supreme test of true dlselpleshln.
If we love tho brethren we know that
we havo passed from death to life
If we hato our brother we abide in
death.
Devotion to Christ and a deep love
for his kingdom is another fruit of
God's garden when tho south wind of
dlvlno favor blows. When Christian
nro truly devoted to all thnt Is good.
pure, noble, and holy it Is, a tine evi
dence that the south wind Is blow
ing.
Likeness to Christ is anothor
spice of the garden, the churchv lg
should bo the high aim of all to learn
of Christ, walk in bis footsteps, nnd
grow into his image. If we are trul.
and genuinely Chrlstllko tho wori
will bo convlnr-wl'thnf trr hnvn hf
with Josns and ha&eslcarned from him
tho secret of holyjllylng. "Tho fruitj
of the spirit Is love,4 Joy, peace, long
suffering, gentleness, meekness, tem
perance." Here Is a cluster of price
less Jowols, richly sot which should
adorn every Christian life!
i
TOLERANCE IS SPREADING.
Dy Rev. W. Hanson Pnlatord.
One most hopeful sign of tho vital
ity of religion among us is Its in
creasing noglect of what is merely for
mal. In all churches tvo find to-day"
a tolerance, a humanity, a reasonable!
noas, which nro In no small degreo tho
result of our national prerogatives oU
religious liberty, democracy and edu-l
cation. The days aro long past In thlsj
country when it wns possible to sayj
that whoever did not hold to the triu-i
ltnrlan formulas of pant authority
"shall without doubt perish everlast-l
ingly."
Moreover, the abandonment of tha
old unreasoning intolerance Is due in
no smnll measure to tho need of re
ligion. God, Jesus, tho Christian
spirit llgure less In the nbstract state
ments of the creedB, but ns men seek;
to llvo llgure Increasingly as actual fac
tors In the development of a finer typo
of manhood.
It is not so much an intellectual aa
a practical motive which underlies the
process. That form of religion will
ultimately prevail which best serves
tho end of helping men to meet tho
demands of life with tho lnrgost mens
lire of strong, resolute self-possession.
Thnt It may better serve that supremo
end religion is everywhere emerging
from tho narrow precincts of tho
creoda to renew her youth In tho clear
open air of truth and fact In which
men best come to the fullness of theif
manhood.
MORMON1SM IS SCORED.
By Rev. rrederlck C. Priest.
Mormonism is a menace; llrst, to tho
home; second, to the public school
system; third, to the State. Tho gov
ernment of the United States recog
nized tho fact that tho teaching, or-.
gnnizntlon and practices of the'raor-
mon church wore a menace to theso
three Institutions and provided In tho
enabling act that the menace to the
home polygamy should be forever
prohibited in tho State of Utah by ail
ordinance In her constitution; nlso that
the constitution should provide for the
free public school system nnd that it
should contain n further provision that
no church should dominate tho Stato
or Interfere with Its functions.
As soon ns the proclamation declar
ing Utah to be a Stato was Issued,
however, the mormon people ehnnged!
from their good behavior of five or
six years and resumed the old prac
tice of polygamy the chief menace to
the home. But their chief violation of
the compact between the State and tho
nation, and that Avhlch Is a most dan
gerous menace to tho government, wns
that the mormon church immediately
began to dominate tho State, not only
dictating as to the election of officers,
but also seeking to control the legis-t
latlon in the State ns to the laws and
tho enforcement thereof.
Short Meter Sermons.
He who creates can control.
A real grief needs no uniform.
Character is incorruptible cash.
Man is a ban) and not a hand or
gan. Nothing is lost that falls into n
heart '
Peddlers of scandal are sure to bo
Infected.
A .man does not have to bo congeal
ed to be calm.
The heart of the present Is the hopd
of the future.
Affectation Is the language of con
scious Inferiority.
Science is simply the search into
the mind of tho Supreme.
Tho shepherd's crook needs no crook
edness In the shepherd.
The people who have seen better
days did It with a telescope.
What a man gets always depends
on what he is willing to lose.
Some preaching is alwut ns filling
as a bill of fare in the desert.
The cynic Is a man who sees his
own heart and calls It the world.
People who withhold gratitude are
apt to do wholesale grumbling.
It is no use being hotter thnn otJ
ers unless we nre better thnn our ohi
selves.
There Is a dlfferonco between claim
ing the right to rule and tniae to
rule aright '
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