10 Conservative.
ly draw together nil those enthusiastic
iu this study who nro perhaps iu part
amateurs. From this class the science
of nstrououiy has , however , drawn SOHIO
of its brightest lights. Hall , for exam
ple , now nt the head of the Yorkos ob
servatory , in the htart had his own little -
tlo telescope in Chicago , and Barnard , '
who discovered the fifth satellite of
Jupiter , was originally a photograph
er's assistant at a small salary. An as
tronomical society admitting these ama
teur workers as associate mom hers ,
while the full membership would bo reserved -
served for the higher achievement ,
would bo of great scientific value.
Medical Experts.
Mr. St. Olair McKolway of Brook
lyn delivered a pregnant address at the
Saratoga convention of the Amoricar
Social Science association on a topic of
great practical interest. In this he dis
cussed the value of medical expert testi
mony in law trials and the evils in
volved in the practice. The speaker ,
putting emphasis on the point that the
medical export is retained to prove the
contention of one or the other si do pre
cisely as is the lawyer , goes on to say :
"If the professions other than that of
law , which , as already said , is a licensed
and discounted partisan , and the con
tending partisanship of which is tem
pered by judge and jury and is really
useful to both , deliberately outer the
market in competition for clients or for
a price , they must expect to part with
the authority and respect which they
would like to command , and they must
expect to bo rated by the gauge and
wage of interest in hand or in sight ,
supplied by the adherents to ihe view
to which they sell their services. The
retained expert is becoming more and
more a discredited quantity in the
courts of law , among jurors , in the
press and in the general community. "
Mr. MoKelway touched a crying evil
with great vigor of statement. Had the
consequences not been so maleficent in
a host of cases it would have made this
court practice a public laughing stock
as a travesty on the righteous mechan
ism of law. The speaker argued that
this hitherto necessary evil should bo
remedied by making the payment of expert -
pert testimony an affair of public re
muneration , the selection of the wit
nesses a matter to bo determined by the
presiding judge. This would eliminate
the phase of personal temptation and
hang the issue on the skill and voracity
of .tho witness who had ceased to be a
retained advocate. Whether or not the
manner of reform would suit the prefer
ences of the bench and bar , its need is
recognized generally by the profession.
In submitting to any rational re
quirements of a pcaco conference as to
disarmament this country would have
the advantage. Her margin would a 1-
mit of much expansion to match the
contraction of other pooploa
Olympic Games at Paris In 1000.
The revival of the ancient Greek
games at Athens in 1890 was a thought
at once unique and valuable. The
Olympic festival , occurring every four
years , was hold by all Hellenes in every
Mediterranean country as the most sa
cred thing in the race life , and it pow
erfully drew their eyes and hearts to the
common homo. Consecrated by divine
sanction , the Olympic season at once
declared truce to all warring Greeks ,
and peace then reigned throughout
Hellas. No other influence so welded
Greece together and BO made its com
monwealths feel the thrill of a common
blood and a common ideal. The modern
recrudescence lacks nearly everything
which made the ancient festival an or
ganic outgrowth of life. But it does not
lack in timely suggestion. The recent
announcement of the programme of the
games by the international committee
includes nearly every kind of prominent
athletic amusement and exercise in-
Solved iu our modern habits and will
bt once engage the attention of expec
tant competitors.
This international festival of athlet
ics , for this is what it is proposed to be
come , may attain n strong influence ,
which will help to bind the world to
gether in ties of future peace. Regard
ing modern civilized humanity as a
greater Hellas , for the world'a finest
culture cnmo from this source , there is
something striking in the thought of the
now Olympic festival , which will bo
moved , however , from city to city in
stead of being sacredly guarded at one.
The trend of recent startling movements
has bob. * toward the establishment of
universal peace and of safeguards for its
continuance. Humanity longs for such
a panacea to its manifold wars , and the
disposition to put that into operation
has been made manifest in startling
fashion. Everything which can cou-
verge to that end is full of significance.
It is one way to look at the now Olyin-
pie games. Even as the great Elian fes
tival drew the hearts of all Greeks to
gether in love and covered the sympa
thy of blood and ideal so perhaps this
new Olympian gathering for interna
tional rivalry in friendly exploits maybe
bo a binding link in the great peace
chain. Should it provo to exert such a
manifest influence the uamo of King
George of the Hellenes as u world's
benefactor , for to his inspiration the
project to connect ancient and modern
lifo in this fashion wan due , will our-
vivo all the mediocrities of his reign.
The railway industry in the United
States is the most important factor iu
our prosperity , and its capitalization is
the largest , yet the returns of that in
dustry are the lowest , and there has
boon n steady decadence in the income
value of railroads for the last six years.
According to the statistics of Poor's
Manual and of the interstate commerce
commission , our roads have Funk to such
n low ebb of profit that they oannot go
much further that way without border
ing bankruptcy. Without entering ex
tensively into figures it may bo cited
that on n stock and bonded capital of
$10,035,008,074 the returns are 1.92
per cent , adecloiihionof one-half within
half a dozen years. The essential cause
of this terrible decline is attributed to
extensive competition and the cutting
of rates in the most unscrupulous fash
ion. In every pooling arrangement there
has always been one to betray the rest.
No guardianship on the part of traffic
associations or of the interstate com
merce commission has boon able to
check the rings within rings in railway
operations and the surreptitious at
tempts to cut each other's throats. Many
of the most conservative and honest rail
way men are coming to believe that
government ownership is the only rem
edy. But agaiubt that , alike as n matter
of theory and practice , there is a radical
objection in the sentiments of many pee
ple. That something wi'l ' have to bo
done very soon , however , to remedy the
evil is the conviction of all those who
have looked into the subject.
Corbctt on Boxing.
The pugilist whoho solar plexus was
rudely shocked last year by the fist of
ouo FitzsimmoiiB has given his views in
a very prominent newspaper on the sub
ject of prizefighting. His tone is as
that of an ancient Hellene commending
the dignity and importance of the
Olympic games. Mr. Corbott promul
gates the following : "It must bo evi
dent to every one that boxing , in the
highest sense of the word , has become a
sport that must bo recognized by the
American public. The day of the prize
fighter , the man who pummeled hiu ad
versary with his bare fists , has gone for
ever. In his btcad has sprung up a race
of athletes , quiet , gentlemanly , well
dressed men , who are welcome in any
company , although they earn their live
lihood by their knowledge of the art of
'hit , stop and get away. ' From a sport
that was carried on only under cover it
has come to bo ouo of the leading enter
tainments and amusements of the
times. "
It is quite fit that this representative
of the fistic art should salvo his own
vanity by puffing the business which he
alternates with play acting as a means
of support , but ono must bo allowed
gently to dissent from his conclusions.
In calling professional boxing for money
one of the loading entertainments of the
time and prizefighters "a race of ath
letes , quiet , gentlemanly and well dress
ed , welcome iu any company , " ho is
forcing the pace much nioro than ho
was able to do with the redoubted Aus
tralian bruiser. The spectacle of a
modern prizefight , whether it bo called
a boxing entertainment or a bruising
match , smacks of the same ruffianism as
