unless intelligent action be taken by our people-by the government—this demon of greed will ride rough-shod over the helpless Filipinos as it has already done over our unguarded interests here at home.

We have the power to say to our representatives in Washington: "We will do right!" and we will be culpable not to enforce it.

There is no truce between imperialism and democracy. The former is in the interest of self-seeking, the latter seeks justice for all.

DISCUSSION.

David Ferris, of Wilmington, Del., the great question is, shall we remain a republic or become a despotism? We cannot force a despotism on the Filipinos without its reacting upon ourselves. We resisted the Filipinos' appeal for freedom and thus commenced this disastrous war which has cost us so much in lives and in money and has redounded so to our discredit. I still have a hope, however, that we will go back to our first principles as embodied in the Declaration of Independence. If we continue this overthrowing of the liberties of others we shall not long have our own liberties.

DR. REBECCA MOORE, of Philadelphia. Military men are apt to be descendants of military men. We may expect the children to inherit the tendencies of the ancestor in geometrical progression. I am sorry you have not the subject of peace on your program this year. To keep up with the time you should have a representative of Peace upon your platform.

WHITTIER FULTON. The same motive that led England to fight the Boers underlies this war of ours with the Filipinos. Its settlement lies with the people. Our corporations want those seventy millions of acres. In Philadelphia the many are being robbed by the few. Perhaps if the many while objecting to being robbed were clear of the disposition to appropriate these special privileges themselves if they had the opportunity, their influence for good would be more weighty. We need a higher moral tone among the people.

In reply to questions by CHARLES SWAYNE and CATHARINE

HANNUM, MR. WELSH thought this country ought to act towards the Filipinos as it has now done to Cuba: Encourage them to form a government of their own and protect them in it until they are fairly launched, while they need protection.

The Filipinos had self-government for six months, between the fall of Spanish power and the assumption of authority there by the Americans; and they did not have anarchy. Treat the other man as you would have him treat you.

The discussion closed and MISS SLEEPER sang a solo, most acceptably.

FREDERIC A. HINCKLEY then addressed the meeting, as

follows:

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE COAL STRIKE.

Longwood would hardly be Longwood if it could preserve silence at this Annual Meeting concerning the great industrial strike now under way in the coal fields. The world has been shocked recently by the volcanic disturbances which have dealt so much of suffering and death to human kind. Certainly these disturbances have been terrible enough to bring all humanity to a halt in their contemplation. To some I suppose they suggest the need of reassurance as to that Eternal Goodness which most of us fondly dream presides over the universe of mountains and of men. But there has been an event within the past month nearer home, one of a long series of events, which seems to me more momentous, better calculated to cause us to stop and listen, and think, and reason together, than the terrible disasters which have come to the little islands to the South. I shall not forget the spirit of Longwood, and the spirit of my own profession in the observations which I am about to make. I invite you to rise with me above the prejudice of trade, and the passion of party to a search for the truth in that sweetly reasonable way which is consistent with mutual respect, and mutual good will. I am not ambitious for such ephemeral strength as may lie in rash statement. I seek rather the reserve force of moderation such as one of the ancients said, might venture to fix the boundaries of wisdom itself.

In the United States of America, the country as we think most friendly to man of all the countries on the globe, the country most quick to observe human wrongs, and most eager to redress them, upwards of two hundred thousand workers, representing an untold number of young and old dependent upon them, as well as themselves, have suspended work, and are foregoing the means of support for an indefinite period in the conviction that they have grievances which justify such action. How many more may become involved it is difficult at this juncture to estimate, but it is among the possibilities that the number may reach four hundred and fifty thousand. This is the fact which in the name of humanity, and in a spirit of sweet reasonableness, we are called upon to contemplate today. These workers had made certain demands of their employers, these demands had been rejected, a serious strain had come between the two parties threatening industrial war. Following this the workers had proposed arbitration and the employers had declined it. Then it was that with much deliberation the workers standing together inaugurated a strike. For the large purposes of this address it is not necessary to consider the nature of the demands made. I want rather today to call your attention to some general facts which are of great significance, and great concernment.

First, in regard to strikes, and their history in this country. I may claim to have been a student of the labor question, in a modest way for something like thirty-five years. I can testify, as every such student can, that during that time in this country, strikes have grown from very small affairs to very large ones. Where they once concerned a single shop or factory, they now concern a whole industry. This fact in itself is portentous-that these thirty-five years show not a spasmodic, but a steady growth of strikes both in regard to number and power. I suppose the underlying meaning of that is, that during all these years the laboring classes have been learning the art of acting together. They have developed men as everybody knows with great powers of leadership.

"The monarch mind, the mystery of commanding,
The birth hour gift, the art Napoleon,

Of wielding, moulding, gathering, welding, banding,
The hearts of thousands till they move as one;"

this has come in time to the industrial masses in the United States. Nobody could have dreamed a quarter of a century ago that at the opening of the twentieth century these masses would have any such power of combination as they show now. Did any body of men ever get such power without exercising it? Is it reasonable to suppose that the steady growth covering the best part of half a century in this country having gone so far will stop now? Is it not more reasonable to suppose that it will go on until organized labor wields far greater power than it does to-day? These are fruitful questions for the candid and unprejudiced mind to consider.

These thirty-five years of which I speak have also marked a constant increase of friendly feeling toward the laboring classes in their struggles toward greater opportunity. I am not very old, but I can remember the time when the eloquent voice of Wendell Phillips was about the only one of any reputation among us to champion this aggressive action of the workers. How that has all changed now! The great newspapers of the country, the pulpit, the magazines, are all recognizing that there is such a thing as the labor problem, and that it is one of the greatest, if not the greatest problem of our times. There is now a marked absence of public condemnation of labor when it strikes; I might say, with truth, there is a marked friendliness for labor when it strikes, such as there has never been before. Is it probable that these changes not of a day, but of the years, have reached their end? Have we any reason to suppose that the discussion will not grow in frequency and intensity, and the friendliness for labor become still more marked as the years roll on? These are questions too, well worth our careful consideration.

There is another side to the problem equally impressive. Whereas, thirty-five years ago the capitalist was a man standing by himself, controlling what has come to seem a small

sums.

sum of money, he is now one of many controlling very large The various trusts, the outgrowth of the steady development of the principle of combination among capitalists younger in years, some of them, than any of us, have a power of control over large industries which is almost inconceivable. It would seem like a fabulous story if we had not seen it, the way in which it is possible for a few men in democratic America to control railroad lines and steamship lines, the production of coal upon which millions depend for fuel, and the sale of beef upon which millions depend for food. I can remember when there was thought to be only one side to the question of great accumulations in the hands of the few, by which was meant, understand, very small accumulations compared with what we now have. We must look to these, was the cry, for our public improvements. Poor men, simply well-to-do men cannot build railroads and make tunnels, and multiply conveniences for transportation in city streets, and over a continent from sea to sea. But how little it was thought then, that the consolidation of wealth which looked like a public benefaction would grow, and grow, and grow until for purely selfish ends it should stand between the people and the necessaries of life! Have we any reason to think that if left to itself this growth, so deeply ingrained in the very nature of things, will stop here? Does it not seem probable that if left to itself, it will go on increasing in power and in its threatening attitude toward the needs of the people? These are questions which the thoughtful cannot pass unnoticed.

Some appreciation of them has doubtless fed the change of feeling toward these large accumulations of capital which is evidently taking place. Thirty-five years ago it was heresy of the most dangerous sort, so dangerous as hardly to be tolerated, to raise the question of the rightfulness and usefulness of what were then regarded as large accumulations, but to-day the Executive Department of the National Government responsive to an undoubted feeling among the people themselves is contemplating the necessity of checkmating and curbing the tremendous power of combined capital which has grown with the years.