question. The Constitution provides: "If vacancies happen by resignation or other wise during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies." Webster gives the following definitions for "happen:" "To come by chance; to come without previous expectation; to fall out; to take place: to occur." It is conceded that the vacancy to which Mr. Quay was appointed did not come without previous expectation during the recess of the Pennsylvania Legislature. His term expired; the Legislature was so divided that it failed to make any choice, and, after many ballotings, adjourned, leaving the seat vacant. The Governor then appointed Mr. Quay as Senator. The verbal argument appears to us conclusive. The vacancy existed during the recess of the Legislature, but did not "happen" during the recess. The argument from public policy appears to us equally conclusive. Senator Hoar, indeed, contended that a State ought not to be left without a representative in the Senate by reason of the failure of the Legislature to do its duty. It appears to us that the danger of misrepresentation of the State would be far less from the establishment of the principle that, if the Legislature fails to do its duty, the State will be unrepresented, than from the establishment of the principle that, if the Legislature fails to do its duty, the Governor may make the appointment. Senatorial elections are already quite too much dependent upon a political oligarchy. The construction of the Constitution upon which the friends of Mr. Quay depended would increase the power of this political oligarchy. Unfortunately, the majority in this case is so slight that the Constitutional question therein cannot be regarded as finally settled.

the President of the United States before they shall become operative. This would enable the country to hold one man responsible for any corrupt or oppressive franchise. A second amendment provides that all charters "shall be subject to alteration, amendment, or repeal," and "shall forbid the issue of stock or bonds except in exchange for actual cash, or property at a fair valuation, equal in amount to the par value of the stock or bonds issued "a provision intended to prevent watering, and, it appears to us, effectual for that purpose. There is some doubt as to the vote on these amendments in the Senate; the past history of that body has created some not unnatural suspicion that personal and financial interests are stronger there than in the House. It is difficult to see any legitimate argument against these provisions; they have entirely sufficient precedent in modern State legislation.

Despatches from ConThe Demand on stantinople state that the Turkey American note handed to the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tewfik Pasha, on Tuesday of last week, is couched in peremptory terms, demanding immediate payment of the indemnity several times promised to Minister Straus by the Sultan. With the character and history of these claims for indemnity our readers are familiar. The note does not fix a time-limit for an answer, but its tenor is not far from the character of an ultimatum. The Porte so far has given nothing but evasive replies and suggestions, and those unofficially, with the exception that in an official communication to Washington it is intimated that the Porte is not disposed to advance our claim above those of other countries which have long awaited payment. The hint that Turkey would be willing to order a war-ship built in the United States with the price fixed so as to include the amount of the claims is typical of Turkish evasion and trickery. The State Department promptly and curtly declined to accept any such plan. Another feeble attempt at escaping the point is found in the issue of an irade, or imperial order, permitting the rebuilding of the American structures destroyed at Harpoot and the enlarging of Robert College. The order ought to have been issued long

ago, and, although welcome in itself, would be of more use to the owners of the property destroyed if it were accompanied by payment of the damages justly due, so that means to rebuild might be available. It is a notorious fact that the Sultan spends annually in bribes and gifts to favorites many times the amount in volved, and his plea of poverty will last only as long as he feels that actual force will not be applied to him or a serious injury result to Turkey's international status. A missionary now present at the Ecumenical Conference suggests that a good way to force compliance with our demands might be to seize one of the islands in the Dardanelles.

The strike in the buildThe Chicago Strike ing trades in Chicago becomes more and more serious as the season advances. It will be recalled that these trades have for years acted together through a council, which has compelled the great body of contractors to guarantee the eight-hour day, high wages, and the exclusive employment of union men. The last of these guarantees has been considered the most essential, and the rules of the council have made the employment of a single non-union man in any one of the building trades the signal for a sympathetic strike in them all. The power thus developed by united action has been used in some cases tyrannically-the unions even restricting the employment of machinery and the purchase of materials from out-of-town establishments. This year the contractors-helped, perhaps, by the lull in building operations caused by the high prices of iron and lumber-determined to overthrow the building trades council, and they have succeeded in securing enough non-union workmen to lead unionists to adopt desperate tactics. Last week a good many non-union men were brutally assaulted, and one union man was killed when attempting to assault the superintendent of a non-union manufacturing plant. The disorder has been such that the contractors have proclaimed the existence of a reign of terror, and called upon the Mayor to employ a thousand extra policemen. Mayor Harrison, however, denies the truth of the alarming statements, and declares that twenty thou

sand extra police could not better the situation. The present force, he says, is doing all that can be done to repress violence-even forbidding union "pickets" to gather in such numbers as to suggest intimidation. Both parties to the strike, he declares, have been unreasonable, and the arbitration now demanded by the workmen ought to be accepted by the

contractors.

The Boer War

Last week the British gained two victories in the Orange Free State; they relieved the hard-pressed garrison at Wepener and they won in a fight at Thabanchu-both in the eastern part of the State-apparently clearing the country of their enemy as far north as Ladybrand, a town due east of Bloemfontein. By the middle of the week the British relieving columns had become so strong as to compel the Boers to raise the siege of Wepener; but the other British aim, to throw a cordon around the besieging Boers, was not so successful. The genius of General Botha, the Boer Commander-in-Chief, succeeded in evading the encircling movement. With caution and ability he led his mobile forces north forty miles to Thabanchu, and thence, after a defeat at that place, eastward an equal distance to Ladybrand; taking full advantage of the mountainous nature of the country. His success in eluding the more numerous British forces under Generals French, Rundle, and Pole-Carew is one of the most adroit feats of the war. Thabanchu is situated on a range of precipitous hills, with narrow poorts or passages between, and it commands a great extent of country. It is, therefore, a natural fortress and a place of great strategic importance. The principal engagement in its capture on Thursday occurred at Israel's Poort, one of the approaches, about seven miles from the town. Notable gallantry was displayed by the Canadian troops, who occupied the place of honor on the British side. The kopjes were shelled all day, and at night the Boers fled toward Ladybrand. Although unfriendly Basutos line the border, Ladybrand is a proper point of Boer concentration, as it can be approached only by a British army in strength. The surrounding country is one eminently favorable to Boer tactics.

The Boers in the country between Wepener and Ladybrand have now returned to their farms, and many have taken the oath of allegiance to the British. The e perience of the past few weeks, however, would indicate that this is sometimes only a ruse to induce the British to move on, after which the farmers have the opportunity again to combine and to create disturbances on the British rear. After their unsuccessful pursuit of the Boers, Generals French and Pole-Carew returned to Bloemfontein. The latter's progress through the Free State shows that the policy of leniency has been abandoned. He not only seized the horses and cattle of all farmers who, after having declared their allegiance to the British, were found fighting on the Boer side, but also confiscated available forage everywhere, giving receipts in each case, and even burned outhouses contain ing meal and other provision which he was unable to remove. Though this stern policy creates distress among the farming population, there is no longer any inclination on the part of the British to permit the Boer use of the country's resources to British disadvantage. Drastic as are these methods, they are certainly better than the proposition of one London paper, which would reproduce something like General Weyler's Cuban reconcentrado system, but "without the horrible dishonesty of its execution." There is also severe criticism on the part of such journals regarding the British Government's commendably lenient policy towards Boer rebel prisoners in Cape Colony. These These prisoners, instead of being summarily executed, have been turned over to the civil authorities, to be dealt with in the indefinite future. The despatches of Tuesday of this week indicate that General French is holding Thabanchu and is reconnoitering the hilly country to the east of that place, while reports from Pretoria show that the Boer forces from Dewetsdorp and Wepener have reached the main camp at Brandfort in safety, thus largely concentrating the Boer army.

the Ecumenical Missionary Conference, contributes new and important information concerning the treatment of the South African natives by the Boers and by the British. In his opinion, while accidental cases of British ill-treatment of the blacks are to be found, the main thing to be considered is the fundamental policy of the two governments-the Boer in the Transvaal and the British in Cape Colony. The difference begins (1) with the Transvaal “ "Grondwet or Constitution itself, which affirms that there shall be "no equality either in Church or in State between white and colored." On the other hand, the Cape Colony Constitution allows no difference because of color. (2) Natives in the Transvaal may not use sidewalks, or occupy any but special railway trucks and carriages. In Cape Colony they may walk where they like; Mr. Phillips says that during his former residence of seven years in that Colony he never saw a native shoved into the street by a white man. (3) In the Transvaal natives may not engage in commerce, but in Cape Colony they may trade on the same conditions as the Boers or the British. (4) In the Transvaal the natives may not own land. The contrary is the case in Cape Colony; in Mr. Phillips's former native congregation there, nearly every head of a family owned the plot of land on which his cottage or hut was built. (5) In the Transvaal natives may marry by paying a fifteen-dollar fee to the one Government Civil Marriage officer in the entire Rand district (a premium on immorality). In Cape Colony there is no fee, and every clergyman is a marriage officer. (6) Mr. Phillips declares that no government in the world does as much for the education of its own children as does the Transvaal Government for the Boer children. While its maximum service is in this direction, its minimum service is for the children of the Outlanders; but for the children of the natives it provides no education at all. In Cape Colony, on the other hand, education is provided for all natives. Phillips himself once had seven schools under his charge there, not one of which could have been kept open apart from the Government grant. A school of this character is always established whenever a missionary indicates the need for it. (7)

Mr.

In the Transvaal the natives have had no prospect of acquiring the franchise. In Cape Colony they enjoy the franchise on the same conditions as the whites. At the Bloemfontein conference Sir Alfred Milner asked for the Outlanders less than is freely conceded to the natives in Cape Colony. The latter have in their own hands the remedy for any grievances. Furthermore, the two political parties are so evenly divided that the natives hold the balance of power. At the next election that party will succeed which secures the native vote.

Liquor and Labor

In one respect only is the Transvaal general policy better, says Mr. Phillips, than that of the Cape Government; namely, in regard to a prohibitory liquor law for natives; but as this law is not properly executed, it is a dead letter. As a matter of fact, there has been more drunkenness among the Transvaal natives than among those of the Cape. The former are slaves to the adulterated and destructive spirits manufactured in Portuguese Africa-spirits from which a white man's appetite recoils, and which are in consequence consumed only by the natives. One-third of the hundred thousand natives working in the Johannesburg mines are continually incapacitated by drink. The illegal liquor-dealers and liquor companies take an average of thirty thousand dollars a month out of native pockets. To the charge made by pro-Boers that the condition of the natives working in the Kimberley diamond-mines approached that of slaves, Mr. Phillips replies that the work ers in any diamond-mine would necessarily be closely watched, especially where, as in Kimberley, the natives will not only put diamonds in their clothing and will swallow them, but where they even inflict severe wounds in which they hide diamonds, allowing the wounds to heal temporarily. Though the time for which the diamond-worker is engaged is a short one, the Kimberley mine managers have done everything possible for the comfort of the workmen. Baths have been provided, and a large space for games; shops have been. erected, an excellent hospital established, and a doctor is always present at the mines, ready to deal with an accident. The one

thing which the natives cannot get at Kimberley is any kind of intoxicating. drink. Taking the treatment of natives at Kimberley as a whole, the missionaries in South Africa do not see how any better system could be devised. Every visit to Kimberley, says Mr. Phillips, only confirmed him in the impression that the blacks there were the happiest in South Africa. Another delegate to the Ecumenical Conference, the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw Thompson, representing the London Missionary Society, declares that no complaints from any of the missionaries in his Society have been received, that the Rhodesian Government is anxiously trying to do its best. and that the natives seem happy and content under it. With regard to the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, Mr. Phillips informs The Outlook that, while that Church has a large and flourishing native mission comprising many individual churches in Cape Colony, and while it has done good among the natives of the Transvaal and of Nyassaland, by missionaries deeply interested in such work, these missionaries form a distinct and inferior class of men, and are seldom allowed to ascend a Dutch Reformed pulpit. Furthermore, not one colored clergyman is to be found in the Church, and no native is allowed to be educated as a missionary; indeed, nothing is done for the higher education of the natives. In the "Dopper" or Conservative branch of the Dutch Reformed Church as it exists in the Transvaal, matters are even worse. two years ago any Dopper office-bearer or member who attempted to do anything towards evangelizing the natives was threatened with excommunication. Phillips declares that no native may enter a Duteh church. He believes that the outcome of the Boer war will be, especially for the natives, a larger life of liberty and freedom.

Lord Cromer's Report

Less than

Mr.

The publication of the annual report of the British Consul-General in Egypt is an event of more than ordinary significance. Nowhere has Great Britain instituted more reforms, and nowhere has she attained in so short a time such success. This success is due almost entirely to the efforts of one man, Viscount Cromer, who went

He

to Egypt in 1887, as Commissioner of the English Debt. In the Dual Control of Egypt by England and France which followed he was the representative of the former country, and, when that control broke down, became a so called ConsulGeneral, really a Governor-General. warned the Gladstone Government of the impending Gordon tragedy, but he was, unfortunately, unable to avert that tragedy. His most distinguished service to Egypt, and especially to the holders, English and Continental, of Egyptian bonds, has been his transformation of Egypt from a condition of bankruptcy, less than twenty-five years ago, to a condition of solvency. Indeed, he reports for the past year a revenue of over fifty-five million dollars and a surplus of over two million dollars. The surplus would have been larger but for the sinking-fund requirement imposed by the "International Control" of Egyptian bondholders. The sinking fund now amounts to nearly forty million dollars. In attaining this signal success, Lord Cromer has benefited not only the financial but also the industrial and social worlds. He has not obtained his augmented revenues by augmented taxation; on the contrary, the fellahin or peasants are not burdened by the oppressive taxation which existed before the English came into power in Egypt. Further to help the fellahîn, the Consul-General recently carried into effect a scheme of Government loans at ten per cent.; the fellahîn had been paying four times that percentage to usurers. When Lord Cromer assumed authority in Egypt, only the slow-moving dahabîya was a means of communication; now there are hundreds of steamers on the Nile, and the country is gridironed with railways. An excellent postal service, which includes a telegraph service, has been established, and the returns from both the State railways and the postal departments show a surplus. The Nile has been the lowest on record during the past season, but the treasury is strong enough to meet the loss arising from this source; in olden times a low Nile would have meant famine. In a few years the Egyptian treasury will not be compelled to meet any strain by reason of a low Nile, as the great Assuan dam now building promises a continuous distribution of the river flow. As in the case of General

Wood's reforms in Cuba, all of these improvements have been carried out with but a part of the burden of taxation which the Khedives once levied to support their useless civilization and their make-believe government.

English Liberals

of the

In

The formation Imperial Liberal Council, under the presidency of Lord Rosebery, commits him and his supporters, among whom are surprisingly large numbers of Nonconformists, to a modified policy of imperialism. It arrays in opposition a few representative Liberals like Sir William Harcourt and Mr. Morley, together with their supporters. The Liberal party is thus once more rent in twain. 1886 a cleavage took place on account of Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule proclivities, and the party was divided into Liberal Unionists and Liberal Separatists, the first, under the leadership of the Duke of Devonshire, allying themselves for many practical purposes with the Conservatives, and the last becoming familiarly known as Gladstonian Liberals. The Gladstonian Liberals, however, have succeeded to the title "Liberal," rather than their former fellow-workers in that party. With the new cleavage, the Liberals are now popularly dubbed "Greater Englanders" and "Little Englanders," but the followers of Mr. Morley repudiate the term "Little Englander," declaring that they are for the maintenance of the British Empire as it is, but not for its unnecessary enlargement. This group of Liberals has issued a statement conveying an assurance of sympathy to their Dutch fellow-subjects in the South African colonies, whose self-control is being so sorely tested. The statement also expresses the hope that the publication of their disapproval of the Boer war may help to secure at the close of the war a fairer settlement of British relations with the whole of South Africa. Though conceding Outlander grievances to have been real, the signers condemn the war because it was more than usually incumbent on the stronger Power to have adopted a conciliatory attitude, and because the announcement that a large British force was to be sent into South Africa tended to fix in the minds of the Boers the idea that war and not peace