Notes and Announcements.

The annual meeting of the American Society of University Extension was held in the Young Men's Christian Association lecture room on December 9th. Mr. Charles Harrison, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania presided. The annual report of the Directors of the Society was read, and the following gentlemen were elected as a board of directors for the ensuing year: Charles A. Brinley, M. G. Brumbaugh, Charles E. Bushnell, John H. Converse, Walter C. Douglas, Theodore N. Ely, Charles C. Harrison, William H. Ingham, John S. MacIntosh, Frederick B. Miles, Henry S. Pancoast, J. G. Rosengarten, Justus C. Strawbridge, Stuart Wood, Charlemagne Tower, Jr. On the adjournment of the meeting Dr. Leipziger, director of the Free Lectures to the People of the New York Board of Education addressed the members of the Society to describe and advocate his work.

ANNUAL REPORT.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

In this annual report of the Board of Directors of your Society it is fitting that you should be reminded of the peculiar and valuable functions of your organization, and of certain reasons why a separate body either as an independent Society or as a department of a university, should undertake university extension teaching.

Our task is to supplement the educational effect of the public schools, public libraries, the press, and miscellaneous reading, by really instructive lecture courses, specified reading, and counsel with the lecturers, and we submit that of all methods for assisting the education of persons unable to secure college training or to give themselves to long continued and close study the methods used by your Society are the most thorough and the most stimulating.

The difficulties of inducing any large number of people to attend, partly at their own cost, courses of lectures which are distinctly educational are very great. Much judgment is necessary in selecting lecturers, who must be chosen with a single eye to their fitness for the particular work they have to do. There must be constant correspondence between local committees and the central office. Every detail as to times, places, topics, advertising, and many other matters, has to be scrupulously looked after. much tact, patience, and enthusiasm are required that only undivided allegiance meets with much success. Under these circumstances we believe that a separate body, either as an independent society, or as a distinct department of a university, can, other things being equal, accomplish more than a university which adds extension work to the more regular activities of its faculty.

So

It has been the experience of those managing your Society that men who give their entire time to University Extension work are, granting equal scholarship and facility in speaking to an audience, decidedly more successful than those who lecture only occasionally. Your directors have therefore taken much pains to discover and attach to the Society com petent men who find a chosen vocation in University Extension lecturing. There are four such men on the staff for this winter.

Dr. Frederick H. Sykes has six engagements for his course on 'Victorian Poets'. He is also editing the Society's publication, 'The Citizen', which, we believe, is adding, wherever it goes, to the respect in which University Extension is held. We have many assur ances that The Citizen is taking an important position

among the best periodicals in the country. Dr. Sykes has organized students' associations in connection with all his courses, and the students regularly turn in to him reports of their reading. The Society has supplied the demand for books by offering cheap editions to the centres.

Mr. Hilaire Belloc will begin his work in January. He has already ten engagements, each for six lectures. He will have one new course on "The History of Paris.' Mr. Surette in music has engagements for eleven courses or sixty-six lectures.

Mr. Clyde B. Furst, who joined the staff this year, is lecturing successfully in Western Pennsylvania, on "The Greater English Novelists.' In all centres he fhas students' associations with which he meets in the afternoon, as well as class discussions after the lectures. Mr. Furst is giving six courses, or thirty-six lectures. In Pittsburgh his audiences average over 350 people. The Carnegie Library provides the books. This centre, besides having three full courses this winter, has arranged for two additional lectures, one by Professor Woodrow Wilson, one by Dr. Gonsaulus. The reports about Mr. Furst from the West are most gratifying.

We are assured that we shall be able to add W. Hudson Shaw to our staff for next winter and we have invited him to come.

We desire very much to secure a good lecturer in history. Six hundred dollars devoted to this purpose would warrant us in doing so.

Besides your own lecturers ten lecturers connected with nearby universities are in the field for us this

season.

We wish to call attention to the formation this autumn, by their own initiative, of a state federation of the New Jersey Centres, and to report that a similar union is contemplated in Western Pennsylvania. Your Directors have desired to meet and have met as far as the resources of the Society permitted a demand for lectures in parts of the town where it is almost impossible for the people to pay more than a nominal fee. Two courses have been given this winter in Kensington, one to the Kensington Centre, to an average audience of 367, the fee for the course being 25 cents, and one, which was free, at the Lighthouse. Two free courses have been given to Hebrews in the lower part of this city and one to the colored people in Bainbridge street, with a fee of 25 cents for the course.

The

Your Directors would remind you that all the activities of your Society are carried on at a cost to its supporters of about $8000 a year. Two-thirds of this amount is provided for by a guarantee fund, the rest is from membership fees or is contributed from time to time. The expenditure by you of $8000 induces the public to spend directly for education five times that amount, and indirectly much more. effect of any additional sums which may be placed at the disposal of the management will be much greater in proportion than that of the $8000 now spent. Already we carry our instruction to many places where it elevates and brightens the life of whole communities. As a body unsupported by public grants, without endowment, without real estate or buildings, you are giving annually in eighty centres six or more good lectures to about 17,000 people. This means an attendance of about 100,000 a year, one-fifth of the attendance upon the free lectures given in Now York by the Board of Education, with the aid of public funds. In conclusion we would call your attention to the fact that the term of the guarantee in the case of many subscriptions expires January 1, 1899, and that a strong interest on the part of the members in the work of the Society, and a liberal

support from those who are able to assist it with money are essential to its continued usefulness. Philadelphia, Dec. 9, 1897.

At a meeting of the Directors of the American Society for the Extension of University Teaching, held on December 15, the following officers were elected: President, Mr. Charles A. Brinley; Treasurer, Mr. Frederick B. Miles; Secretary, Mr. John Nolen.

Mr. Hilaire Belloc of Oxford will deliver in Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia, a university extension course of six illustrated lectures on the Crusades, beginning Monday, January 10, 4.30 p. m., and continuing weekly. The subjects are: (i) 'Awakening of Europe', (ii) 'Battle-grounds of the Crusades', (iii) 'First Crusade. The Conquest', (iv) Second Crusade. The Defence, (v) Third Crusade. Richard Coeur de Lion', (vi) Effect of the Crusades'.

Mr. Belloc comes to America on the completion of his autumn courses in England, where he has delivered courses of lectures at Oxford, Redditch, Rochdale, Bradford, Alderley Edge, Moston, Stratford-on-Avon, Welshpod, Wells, and Clevedon.

A university extension course of six lectures on 'Representative Novelists and Short Story Writers' (Thackeray, George Eliot, Hawthorne, Poe, Stevenson, Kipling) will be delivered in Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia, by Professor Bliss Perry, of Princeton University, on Monday afternoons beginning February 21st, and continuing at weekly intervals.

courses.

The American Society of University Extension has just issued various syllabi of lectures in the winter Mr. Hilaire Belloc treats Paris under the heads: Origins, the Paris of St. Louis, the Paris of the English Wars, the Paris of the XVII century, the Paris of the Revolution, the Siege, Commune, and Modern Paris. Dr. Henry E. Shepherd outlines under the title French History and Literature' four lectures dealing with France until the Hundred Years' War, the Huguenot Movement till the revocation of the Ediet of Nantes, France and England from the War of the Spanish Succession till the Seven Years' War, the movements of English and French literature in the XVIII and XIX centuries, and the political struggles of the same period. Professor Bliss Perry has prepared an excellent syllabus of the lectures on 'Representative Novelists and Short-Story Writers' referred to above.

Mr. J. Eugene Whitney, of the extension department of Rochester University has been working to establish the extension system of instruction in New York City. The field would seem to be already in part occupied by the public lecture system of the board of education of that city, but the cooperation of other agencies will be welcomed where the ground is so extensive as New York.

The West Philadelphia Centre announces a winter course of six lectures on The Greek Drama', to be delivered on alternate Mondays by Louis Bevier, Jr., Ph. D., of Rutgers College. The programme includes lectures on 'The Greek Theatre, Actors, and Acting", Jan. 3; "The Rise of the Drama', Jan. 17; 'Eschylus', Jan. 31; 'Sophocles', Feb. 14; 'Euripides', Feb. 28: and 'Aristophanes and Greek Comedy', March 14. On the alternate Mondays students' meetings will be held. Dr. Bevier has delivered several courses of extension lectures, being especially well known in this city by the series on 'Greek Literature', at the Summer School in 1895, and that on 'Six American Poets', before the West Philadelphia Centre during the last winter. The success of the former will commend the course announced for this winter. The lectures will be delivered in the lecture hall of the New Tabernacle Church, Chestnut street, above Fortieth, at eight p. m.

THE NEW JERSEY CENTRES OF UNIVERSITY EXTENSION.

A meeting of the secretaries of the New Jersey local centres was held at Camden, December 4, in accordance with the resolution adopted at the first annual conference of New Jersey centres held on September 23rd. Considerable time was devoted to an informal discussion of those problems which are ever present to the local secretary upon whom fall most of the burdens of extension work in out-of-town centres. It was decided to hold a general meeting at Moorestown, one of the oldest centres in the State, May 7th at 2.30 p. m. The order of conference includes addresses by prominent men connected with the General Society in Philadelphia as well as by various members of the New Jersey centres. The committee appointed to perfect the details are Miss Wilson of Moorestown, Miss Meecum of Salem, Miss E. C. Reeve of Camden, and Mr. John S. Bioren of Riverton. Communications should be addressed to Mr. Bioren at 136 So. Third street, Philadelphia.

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION TEACHING IN LONDON.

From the report of the London Society for the Extension of University Teaching, it may be gathered that the movement is proving a success. During the past year the number of courses of lectures delivered has exceeded those of any previous session, and continuity of study has become a prominent feature in those persons attending the lectures. Pioneer courses of lectures amongst artisans have been attended by about 3500 individuals; at the same time the value of the work done by long established centres has been completely maintained. During the past five years the number of lecture courses has increased from 130 to 160, and the number of entered students from 13,200 to 14,100. The anticipation that artisans could not be interested in higher education has been falsified, for the lectures given in artisan centres have been largely attended, and there is every indication that the scheme for the extension of University Teaching is and will be one of the great refining influences of London.-The Church Weekly', London.

THE NEW YORK, PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX D

TILD-N FIND TIONG

Vol. III.

Life and Education. PARDEE HALL, the handsome building erected at Lafayette College by the late Ario Pardee, was largely destroyed by fire on the morning of December 18. The central structure contained the mineralogical and geological cabinets, including very valuable collections of European and native minerals, and of coal fossils. The west wing contained Professor Thomas C. Porter's very complete flora of Pennsylvania, which fortunately was saved; and the valuable Ward Library of History and Political Science. The destruction of the Ward Library is felt to be a very severe and irreparable loss, as in addition to the books, it contained fine collections of autographs, MSS., and historical prints. While the fire insurance, which has been satisfactorily adjusted, will replace the building and the general equipment, President Warfield is obliged to appeal to the friends and alumni of the College for aid in replacing the library and collections.

Two years ago the Philadelphia street railways were consolidated by a company which guaranteed to pay dividends ranging from 20 per cent. to 67 per cent. on actual investment to eleven of its important constituent companies. The public quietly permitted this Union Traction Company to undertake the administration of the railways, knowing that the company was organized upon a plan which requires the management to earn dividends upon a capitalization which is nearly four times the real investment. And now the acquiescent public complains of poor service, and protests against the recent limitation of transfer privileges. Nothing could be more unreasonable. The management of the company is highly efficient, and it is probably giving the very best service and the lowest rates of fare which the conditions permit. So the citizen of Philadelphia should summon his philosophy and cling contentedly if he must to a strap in a car which seats twenty-six passengers and frequently carries sixty. He should cheerfully pay eight cents for a transfer and rigidly observe its limitations. He should strive to conquer his reluctance to patronize a company which exacts from its employees twelve hours of arduous service daily. The financial organization which he tacitly approved and which he tolerates requires all these sacrifices on his part. The more cheerfully he makes them the more comfortable the situation will be for all concerned. However, while grumbling is most illogical under present conditions, the citizens

of Philadelphia should not forget that when they are ready to make a serious effort to get adequate street-car service at reasonable rates this boon is within their reach. By the terms of an ordinance of 1857 a large number of our principal railway companies operate their roads under a contract which contains this clause: "And the city of Philadelphia reserves the right any time to purchase the same by paying the original cost of said road or roads and cars at a fair valuation." The validity of this contract has never been passed upon by a court, but there is excellent reason in the decisions of our Supreme Court in similar cases for believing that the contract is good. When Philadelphians finally come to the conclusion that they cannot afford to pay more than 70 per cent. dividend on actual investment to two of the old companies, 42 per cent. to another, 40 per cent. to a fourth, 31 per cent. to two more, and so on down the list, then they should cease from unavailing complaint and assert their reserved right.

IN the last number of THE CITIZEN we commented upon the strike of the English engineers from the point of view of those who assume that an eight-hour day is an end to be desired. We now propose to look at the matter from another side. We adhere to the thesis that the forces of civilization are tending towards more leisure for wage-earners. This follows from the fact that production has increased more rapidly than population. Yet notwithstanding this fact wages are in general higher than they have ever been before, and while the hours of labor are shorter, the purchasing power of money is perhaps greater than at any time in the century. In brief, wage-earners were never better off; for a generation there has been a steady improvement in their condition and prospects. This result certainly speaks well for our civilization, and the forces that have tended to produce it are probably by no means exhausted. It may be said to be "reasonable and proper" to get, if you can, for eight hours' work the wages for which it was once necessary to work ten hours, but to be quite reasonable it would be well to take care that the opportunity to get work on any terms is not jeopardized by threatening the life of an industry. It is equally reasonable and proper for a railway company to add a mill per "mile-ton" to a given rate, if it can do so without losing its business; but the time comes in any competition when to ask more for a commodity or service is a mistake leading to disaster. Men's habits, especially for good, change much more slowly than the conditions under which they labor. More leisure by two hours a day does not necessarily mean so much

more time spent in an improving manner, any more than entire leisure implies a maximum of spiritual and intellectual development. England has had in the past certain trades in which men, women, and even young children-children never to grow to full stature-worked fourteen, sixteen, and more hours a day under vile conditions. The trade-unions, and the public conscience, when it had a chance to ally itself with a strong movement on the part of the laborers themselves, have in many cases altered these conditions for the better, but there are still occupations in which the hours of work are excessive, the wages barely enough to keep body and soul together, and the conditions of life and work unwholesome in the extreme. It is the weak who are the tenants of the sweat-shops, and although they have sympathy, it does not take the militant attitude that benevolence assumes when a powerful union is fighting an even battle-not to escape from a peculiarly hard lot, but to exact from the masters concessions that threaten the very existence of England's pre-eminence in branches of trade which not long ago were peculiarly hers. The engineers' union was quite selfishly "going for all it could get," and it has transpired that the motive for demanding an eight-hour day was not so much a desire to read Ruskin as a purpose to have work for more men. The same motive is at the bottom of the "one man one machine" contention. In other words, the masters were asked to employ 20 per cent. more men, which is a little worse for the employers than a demand for 20 per cent. more wages. Again, the men insisted that all who do the same class of work should receive the same pay. Compare the English manufactories, subject to such regulations, with American shops in which the work is paid for by the piece, the men work ten hours, and each man runs as many machines as he can, knowing that a high rate of production upon his part means for him not only more wages but promotion. Under such conditions for each country, if there were no other competitors, English foreign trade would pass rapidly to the United States, and the leisure of the English engineer would perhaps oppress him more than a ten-hour day.

As for compulsory arbitration, it is interesting to contrast with Dr. Albert Shaw's opinion -quoted in our January issue-that one effect of the English engineers' strike has been "the sudden accession of many thoughtful men to the ranks of the advocates of compulsory arbitration" with the attitude towards this question of a jurist whose opinions have always been held in great respect by the Philadelphia bar. The late Richard C. McMurtrie, in a paper written August, 1892, said of arbitration: "To

my mind this means slavery, which no one at the present day would urge or even desire, or it is a phrase with no meaning, and this is so plain as to be self-evident." He shows that so long as so-called arbitrators "can do no more than suggest or advise or counsel, there is nothing whatever of arbitration"; that "arbitration means a decision by a third person, which both parties may be compelled to obey," and he says towards the end of his paper: "Now, this thing called arbitration in respect to the making of contracts between employed and employer is nothing more or less than substituting some one for the employer to determine the questions that must be determined before the relation of employer and employed can exist. It is not sufficient that the servant can leave the place at any moment that he pleases, nor that he combine with his fellow-servants to do this at any moment when the consequences are ruinous to the employer, and thus exact unreasonable wages. It is not sufficient that he can enforce any contract and can be made to perform none. He must have the right to compel the surrender of the control of the business to himself or to some third person, and this solely to coerce the employer in contracting. If this power is to be created by the state, it is clear that the persons exercising it are to be the conductors of the business, while the person who furnishes the capital and bears the risk does not select the master or manager, nor determine what contracts he may make. Whoever these persons may be, they are state officials dictating the essentials to any business requiring human aid or co-operation. The upshot of this is, the law does not furnish any mode of compelling obedience to any dictate of an arbitrator in such matters. Nothing that produces such results could be enforced, because it would be domestic slavery; anything short of this is mere advice, which no one can oblige himself to obey. The remedy, and the only one for the successful party to the arbitration compatible with personal liberty, is damages for non-performance, which could be enforced by, but not against, the man. And the whole proceeds on the absurd theory that a stranger can better determine what ought to be the terms of a contract than the parties to it; which is paternal government, and that is the worst thing the world has yet seen except anarchy."

THREE plans for the improvement of the monetary system of the United States have been brought into prominence during the last few weeks. In view of the fact that money is a subject about which men are seldom in agreement, it is a little remarkable that these three plans are substantially in accord as to the

evils of the system and as to certain remedies which should be adopted. The plans are proposed by President McKinley, by Secretary Gage, and by the Monetary Commission of the Indianapolis Convention. The President in his message to Congress recommended that hereafter whenever the revenues shall permit, the greenbacks paid into the Treasury shall be laid aside and not reissued. Secretary Gage's plan has the same end in view. In his report to Congress he recommends the refunding of the national debt by the issue of 24 per cent. bonds and an additional issue of $200,000,000, the proceeds of which shall be devoted to the purchase and retirement of greenbacks. The vacuum thus created in the currency of the country he would fill with national bank notes. The Monetary Commission recommends that all the government credit money be made redeemable on demand in gold, that the national banks be allowed to issue notes against their general assets, and that greenbacks be canceled as rapidly as bank notes are issued to take their place in the circulation. The Commission's plan provides for the extinction of the greenback at the end of ten years. If the surplus revenue is not adequate, then short-time bonds are to be issued. It will be noticed that these three plans all aim to get rid of the greenback. It is assumed to be the most dangerous element in the currency. It is the instrument which enables bullion brokers easily to get gold from the government reserve, for it is the government's promise to pay in coin, and coin this government cannot honorably construe to mean anything but gold. The President's suggestion aims at nothing more, and would be most excellent if there were any certainty that the next half dozen years would yield a surplus rather than a deficit. There is no such certainty, and therefore his suggestion is not received favorably by men who wish the soundness of our monetary system to be beyond question. The greenbacks are a demand obligation of the government, and are part of the nation's debt as much as any of the bonds. The issuing of bonds to provide for their cancelation does not increase the national debt, it merely changes the form of the debt. Inasmuch as the greenbacks can be used at times to destroy the confidence of the people in the dollars with which they do business, common sense demands that we get them out of the way if we can, and use something else in their place as a medium of exchange. For the accomplishment of this purpose there is little choice between the plans of Secretary Gage and the Monetary Commission. Each provides directly for the removal of the greenback from the currency by the use of surplus revenues if possible, by an issue of bonds if necessary.