NOTES AND ABSTRACTS IC9

publish a " white list " of retail mercantile booses which should be patronized bv mem- bers. The league has a definite standard of wages, hoois, and conditions of a "^ fair house." This standard has not been altered, but the number of names on the list has increased from eight in 1891 to forty in 1S98. The work has been taken up by many other cities in New York. In 1897 consumers' leagues began work in Phila- delphia, Brooklyn, and Chicago, and in January, 1S9S, the Massachusetts League was established. .-Vllhougn consumers' leagues are necessaxv, vet improvements in the conditions of wage-earners should, where possible, be seciired by their own associated action, " because such action develops the moral and intellectuaJ nature of these who take part in it, and because advantages gained by self-effort are better appreciated and more lasting than those conferred in consequence of the eiertions of others." The Retail Clerks' Protective Association attempts this, and should therefore be encouraged. — Mrs. Ch.\ki.es Russell Lowell, pubiuations of tke CAristtan Social Union, No. 46.

The Real Causes of the Indastriai and Colonial Development of Eng- land. — At the beginning of the last century- Latin peoples exhibited more enterprise than the .\nglo-Saxon. The supremacy of the .-^iiglo-Saxon today is not to be exclusively explained by the constitution of society, particularly that of the family. The beginnings of England's greatness are to be traced in the rapid series of mechan- ical inventions of the last century in textile and iron industries. England's geo- graphical position, moreover, protected her from continental ttoubles ; her coal mines furnished magnificent forces to work the steam engine, newiv invented, and her situa- tion forced her attention upon ocean commerce. Most of all, the principle of private initiative, "self-help," has made England great. The meddling of government and over-centralization, the refusal of proper anthority to local colonial representatives, 'tiave mined France's imperial ambitions. She must follow the principles that have made England great, including the right of free testamentary bequest. — URB.vtN Gir£&is, " Des causes r^elles du d^veloppement industriel, La Reforms sociaU, May 28, 1S9S.

Anglo-Saxon Methods a propos of the Spanish- American War. — It is too often assumed that the -\iigi:'-Saxoiis are a superior nee. Latin peoples, however, discovered, or first explored, .\merica, India, .\ustralia, and the Cape of Good Hope. The Anglo-Saxons have won their way by a continuous course of perfidy, greed, and rapine ; violating treaties, and imposing upon weaker cations, .\merica has done the same in her actions toward the Indians and Mexico, and now toward Spain. The Latin peoples are a brave and energetic people ; but there is an element of nobility and generosity in their natures that prevents the highest success. We must acknowledge the energy, perseverance, and practical sense of the -\ngio-Sax ; r.;, V."e iiriire their spirit of self-reliance and the greatness of their success : but- _;: tia:,

in spite of the grandeur of the spectacle, their successes have means

which a just and Christian people cannot approve, far ie?? ■ :ii i:: example. —

HuBERT-V.ALLERorx, " Precedes anglo-saxons a prop: ; ; . .-;rre hispano-ameri- caine."

Oversaving and the Unemployed. — Underconsranp^i : ^ v cause

of unemployment. Sometimes it is the absence of one rec _ - n, as ^

result of war or drought, for example, which causes a cess;' Mcre-

oii-er. any catastrophe which affects the prosperity and --ir.c -.-.. e-

foreign countr\- mav render useless some part of the ': wer. **N

the evil effects of unemployment may be intensified b- irrangeme-

unemployment is not necessarily a mark of disease :: r.itv. Ani

other hand, though full employment maybe an index :: ; i-mption. :_...

sumption may be badly distri'Duted." .\ community in which one class were slaves, or had only their labor. " might be in a thoroughly unsatisfactory conditio-, i^i yet there might be in it full emplovment, and full, though badly distributed, c ^ "

Though inequalities of wealth are not necessarily a direct cause of under- . -,

they are likely to bring about tmemplo\-ment indirectly by facilitating sa\:r.^ :

requirements of consumption are satisfied and consumption stands still, it is c,-;

save in order to increase production. Moreover, the attempt to make useless s.;..; ..;