vantage of the American fast woman. They are both essentially vulgar, judged from the strictly social point of view. The men and women of the fast set always force the note. They overeat, overdrink, overdress, and overact their parts. They are to people in really civilized society what sensational journalism is to high-class newspaper work. They represent the "yellow" in morals, dress, manners, and style of life. It is a mistake to treat them too seriously. Irony, ridicule, and sarcasm are the only weapons that touch them. It is the stupidity of fast society that most im presses itself on other people; the inanity of its interests and pleasures, its lack of invention, its general bad taste. The new steel bridge recently A Noiseless in course of construction over Bridge the Sangamon River, near Springfield, Illinois, on the Chicago and Alton Railway, may be studied to advantage in various lines of work in our cities, if reports in regard to one of its qualities are true. It is said to be practically noiseless, the vibrations of the ironwork which cause the sound being practically eliminated. This has been accomplished, according to the Chicago Tribune, by laying upon a bed of steel eight inches of ballast, upon which the ties are placed, instead of directly upon the ironwork, which is the usual method of construction, with the result of reducing the noise of crossing the bridge to a negligible element. This experiment, if successful, ought to mark a revolution in a great many different lines of locomotion. If the method could be applied on a bridge, it could also be applied on the elevated railways, the noise of which, in certain sections of the city, is almost unbearable, and on summer nights must be an element of torture to a great many thousand people. Its importance where railway tracks are carried on elevated structures through the cities is also evident; and it opens the way to the consideration of the elimination of noise as a practical and attainable result. It will be a great blessing when inventive genius is applied specifically to the reduction of noises; for it will remove one of the most irritating and depressing of the many discomforts that diminish the joy and healthfulness of modern life. A New Leader Seldom has a gubernatorial or even Presidential message been so freighted with promise to American democracy as that which was sent last week to the Legislature of New York. By it Governor Hughes has made it clear that he is to be one of the leaders in that democratic movement of which Mr. Roosevelt is conspicuously the chief. Governor Hughes's recommendations may be grouped under three general heads, which may be named, respectively, elections, corporations, and social welfare. Concerning elections, his recommendations are in favor of measures which he believes will make the machinery of government a more sensitive instrument of popular rule. They are, briefly, that the courts be empowered, not only to authorize quo warranto proceedings. to test title to office (a power now in the hands of the Attorney-General), but also in its discretion to order a recount; that the present form of ballot, with party columns, be abolished, and a better form of ballot (which he describes) be substituted for it; that the courts be empowered to review the action of State party conventions, and in their discretion correct such action, so as to prevent corrupt minorities from controlling the party organizations; that the present law be amended so that any general committee of a party may make a trial of direct nominations instead of nominations by convention. Concerning corporations, his recommendations are practically confined to the regulation of public service companies, and are in favor of measures which will more effectively bring them under public control. They are, briefly, that the present Board of Railroad Commissioners, which is inadequate, and the Commission of Gas and Electricity, with broad powers over gas and electric light [and power companies, be abolished; that in their place a new Commission be consti York his great estate of one thousand acres lying on both sides of the cañon of the Upper Genesee River for a distance of three miles north of Portage Bridge, and embracing the three Portage Falls. The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society is to be the custodian of the property. Mr. Letchworth has been a lifelong servant of the State. Thirty years ago, when the Seneca Indians adopted him into their nation, they named him, with rare discernment, HaiWa-Ye-Is-Tah, "The Man Who Always Does the Right Thing." For twentyfive years a Commissioner of the State Board of Charities, Mr. Letchworth not only gave his time, talent, and strength to the State, but also paid his own incidental expenses. His work for the care of the insane and epileptics, the hospitality with which his estate has been thrown open to poor children, the creation of the museum of valuable Indian specimens, his intelligent and enthusiastic work for the development and pres ervation of scenic beauty, are crowned by this noble gift to the people of New York. Evidently there is no cause which interests Mr. Carnegie more deeply or vitally than the propagation of peace, nor has he rendered a greater service to humanity than in the zeal, intelligence, and liberality with which he has striven by voice, by pen, and by the use of his wealth to forward this great cause. The Temple of Peace at The Hague will be not only a beautiful building, but a challenge in all times of international differences and controversy to try every means of conciliation and adjudication before resorting to war. What he has done on the continent of Europe Mr. Carnegie now proposes to do in the Western world by a gift of $750.000 for the erection in Washington of a building for the Bureau of American Republics, which he believes will become a practical instrument for the unification of the Pan-American States. He would build an American Temple of Peace. The Government has already appropriated two hundred thousand dollars for the purchase of a site; the South American republics have subscribed fifty thousand dollars as their quota. Mr. Carnegie's gift will make it possible wor thily and permanently to house a bureau which may prove the beginning of a permanent international brotherhood of peace in the Western world. What is called 66 'the A French View smart set" has very much the same characteristics the world over, and usually develops itself in any city large enough to put sufficient money in the hands of people who are not accustomed to its use and to collect other people, long accustomed to money and social opportunities, who respect neither their privileges nor themselves. The people described in "The House of Mirth " are described by Balzac and Daudet in Paris and by every novelist who has dealt with the various phases of society in the great cities. Their characteristics are the same everywhere : lack of real interests in life, absence of the sense of dignity, the temptation to be what is called "fast" and to play about the edge of dangerous experiences for the sake of excitement, with a touch of vulgarity. Fast society in New York, like that in Boston, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, London, Paris, and Berlin, shows these same characteristics. It is interesting, however, to get the sidelight which a foreign observer sometimes throws on the fast society of a locality. Madame Blanc, who is one of the best informed and most intelligent women in Europe, has been expressing her opinion of Mrs. Wharton's story and of the people whom she describes. It is not a pretty picture as Madame Blanc sees it. 66 Men are capable of coveting other men's wives, but for that they must be under the excitement of cocktails or whisky; the women will be coquettish and easy on occasion, but when they compromise themselves it is only in order to pay the bills of their dressmakers if the natural banker, the husband, proves insufficient for the occasion." The fast woman in society in France compromises herself because she falls under the spell of passion; the fast woman in society in New York, on the other hand, compromises herself to pay for her bonnets and gowns. In this comparison the French fast woman has much the ad vantage of the American fast woman. They are both essentially vulgar, judged from the strictly social point of view. The men and women of the fast set always force the note. They overeat, overdrink, overdress, and overact their parts. They are to people in really civilized society what sensational journalism is to high-class newspaper work. They represent the "yellow" in morals, dress, manners, and style of life. It is a mistake to treat them too seriously. Irony, ridicule, and sarcasm are the only weapons that touch them. It is the stupidity of fast society that most im presses itself on other people; the inanity of its interests and pleasures, its lack of invention, its general bad taste. The new steel bridge recently A Noiseless in course of construction over Bridge the Sangamon River, near Springfield, Illinois, on the Chicago and Alton Railway, may be studied to advantage in various lines of work in our cities, if reports in regard to one of its qualities are true. It is said to be practically noiseless, the vibrations of the ironwork which cause the sound being practically eliminated. This has been accomplished, according to the Chicago Tribune, by laying upon a bed of steel eight inches of ballast, upon which the ties are placed, instead of directly upon the ironwork, which is the usual method of construction, with the result of reducing the noise of crossing the bridge to a negligible element. This experiment, if successful, ought to mark a revolution in a great many different lines of locomotion. If the method could be applied on a bridge, it could also be applied on the elevated railways, the noise of which, in certain sections of the city, is almost unbearable, and on summer nights must be an element of torture to a great many thousand people. Its importance where railway tracks are carried on elevated structures through the cities is also evident; and it opens the way to the consideration of the elimination of noise as a practical and attainable result. It will be a great blessing when inventive genius is applied specifically to the reduction of noises; for it will remove one of the most irritating and depressing of the many discomforts that diminish the joy and healthfulness of modern life. A New Leader Seldom has a gubernatorial or even Presidential message been so freighted with promise to American democracy as that which was sent last week to the Legislature of New York. By it Governor Hughes has made it clear that he is to be one of the leaders in that democratic movement of which Mr. Roosevelt is conspicuously the chief. Governor Hughes's recommendations may be grouped under three general heads, which may be named, respectively, elections, corporations, and social welfare. Concerning elections, his recommendations are in favor of measures which he believes will make the machinery of government a more sensitive instrument of popular rule. of popular rule. They are, briefly, that the courts be empowered, not only to authorize quo warranto proceedingsto test title to office (a power now in the hands of the Attorney-General), but also in its discretion to order a recount; that the present form of ballot, with party columns, be abolished, and a better form of ballot (which he describes) be substituted for it; that the courts be empowered to review the action of State party conventions, and in their discretion correct such action, so as to prevent corrupt minorities from controlling the party organizations; that the present law be amended so that any general committee of a party may make a trial of direct nominations instead of nominations by convention. Concerning corporations, his recommendations are practically confined to the regulation of public service companies, and are in favor of measures which will more effectively bring them under public control. They are, briefly, that the present Board of Railroad Commissioners, which is inadequate, and the Commission of Gas and Electricity, with broad powers over gas and electric light [and power companies, be abolished; that in their place a new Commission be consti tuted to regulate and supervise the corporations now subject to the present Commissions; that the Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners, which supervises the New York City subways, be also abolished, and that in its place a new Commission, similar to the one he recommends for the State generally, be created, to have charge of gas, electric, and transportation companies within the city and immediate vicinity; that both Commissions be State Commissions, but that the acts of the latter be subject to the approval of the chief municipal bodythe Board of Estimate and Apportion ment. Concerning social welfare, his recommendations are for a larger field of State supervision and assistance: agricultural labor, good roads, the labor department, child labor, pure food, etc., all receive attention. Although there is in this Message no trace of political philosophizing, yet out of it one can readily frame an intelligible political philosophy. It might be framed thus: The machinery of government should be so constructed that the people may be able to understand public issues without being confused by the introduction of minor and irrelevant personal or party questions; that they may be able themselves to choose the men they wish to have as their representatives; that they may be able to record their decisions securely without fear of having their action nullified; and that they may be able to see their will corporated into law. The government, made thus responsive to the people, should be sovereign over all its creatures; should exercise efficiently its mastery over all corporations and institutions, no matter how rich and powerful, not destroying them, but rather requiring them to serve the whole people. The government, so constructed and empowered, should be free not merely to act as policeman, but to promote industry, economic freedom, and happiness, and in fact to do anything which the people jointly can do better than any private concern. This view of government is not shared by the individualist who wishes to reduce government to a minimum, to rely upon the common law for justice and upon "nat ural laws," whatever they may be, for economic welfare. It is not shared by the Socialist, who would reconstruct society so that it might direct practically all human activities. It is shared, however, by a seemingly increasing number of Americans. It bears no party name or factional title, except that it has sometimes been called Roosevelt Republicanism; it has been assailed in vain on the one side by Mr. Parker and on the other by Mr. Bryan; during the recent years when it has prevailed it has been stamping a new character upon American democracy. We do not say it has been consciously adopted by Mr. Hughes; but it is the view which his recommendations have materially confirmed and strengthened. In the development of public opinion Mr. Hughes has thus, will he, nill he, made himself a leader. Mr. Hughes has done more; he has become a leader, not merely of public opinion, but also in practical statesmanship. As we have said, there is no philosophizing in his Message; neither is there exhortation. Mr. Roosevelt has, with great effectiveness, used the Message as a sermon; Mr. Hughes, on the other hand, has made of his Message almost a schedule of desirable legislation. He even goes so far as to recommend a law for a recount of the votes of the last Mayoralty election in New York City, and thus exhibits the shrewdness of the honest man, which always makes the wisdom of the small politician seem as foolishness. Whether this and other particular measures which he recommends are advisable is another matter; the point is that he recognizes definite needs and urges the enactment of definite laws. Instead of recommending a general reform of the ballot, he distinctly advocates the adoption of that form of ballot "in which the names of the candidates for the respective offices appear but once grouped under the names of the offices." Instead of recommending vaguely governmental regulation of public service corporations, he urges the abolition of present boards of commissioners, and advocates the creation of other boards of a definitely described character. Instead of recommending undefined labor laws, he specifies how he would have the Legislature improve the Department of Labor and restrict the employment of children. He has not made a contribution to the abstract discussion of public questions; he has rather told the people and their legislators what he believes they are now called upon to achieve. When he was elected, Mr. Hughes was known as a wholesome hater of iniquities, a ken inquisitor of shams and frauds, a friend of justice even when it was unpopular, a man high in integrity, sharp of wit, and capable of an incredible amount of work. Although he was known to be a Republican of the Roosevelt school, he had never held public office and had had no political experience. Most of his supporters, we believe, were satisfied to have elected an honest, aggressive, able man as Governor, and did not expect him to be a leader in a democratic movement. During his campaign he gave on the stump little evidence that he could or would be such a leader. He was busily engaged in another task-that of discrediting a political quack. How effect ively he did his work the election figures have dramatically told. Now, confronting the task of directing the policies of a State, he has taken it up, not as the almost academic investigator, not as the merciless debater with an unscrupulous adversary, but as the constructive statesman. The people of New York State now know, what a few foresaw, that the man in the Governor's chair is to be a leader of the forces of real democracy. Church and State It is not a mere coincidence that the English people are making a determined attempt to free national education from ecclesiastical control; that the Emperor of Germany has dissolved the Reichstag in order to put an end to the dictation of the Clerical party in the Reichstag; that the Spanish Government has inaugurated a policy which can end only in the separation of Church and State in that country; and that the French people, with singular unanimity, have regis tered their determination that the union between the State and the churches of all kinds shall cease and that education throughout France, so far as it is possible, shall be secular. These are different phases of a movement which began with the Reformation, and which will not end until Church and State are everywhere entirely dissociated. This movement may mean, in the intention of some of its supporters, and in the apprehension of many of its opposers, the final separation of religion and government; it means, in the judgment of The Outlook, the drawing of a hard and fast line between politics and ecclesiasticism. It means ultimately the freedom of the Church; for the attempt of the Church, in various countries under various names, to exercise direct political control has done more to put the Church into chains, hamper its growth, check its influence, and dry up its power at the source than any other single condition which Christianity has faced since it began its westward march. This movement, though it may have an anti-religious appearance, is a manifestation of the deeper and broader religious spirit of modern times, and will result in a victory for religion rather than for secularism. The Church as an organization, in this country as in so many others, has lingered behind the Church as spiritually conceived by those of its members who in every generation are leading the way to a larger and nobler thought of the Incarnation and of the kingdom of God among men. It is because of this spiritual conception of religion as opposed to a purely ecclesiastical conception that the majority of Englishmen of many faiths and creeds are determined that in English schools the dogma of no special Church shall be taught. It is not only the Nonconformist who is in revolt against the authority of the Established Church in English schools; it is also. a large body of English Churchmen. When John Bright, years ago, took a distinguished American Bishop of the Episcopal Church into the House of Lords and semi-humorously shook his fist at the bench of Bishops, the American Bishop said to him, "I agree with you. They ought not to be there; their |