AMERICAN LETTER

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 15, 18 July 1911, Page 10

AMERICAN LETTER

SOCIALISTIC ADVANCES. [MtOAI OUB OWN COERSSSPONDENT.] SAN FRANCISCO, 14th -June. "Prepare for Socialism" is the heading ,of an article in. The Atlantic Monthly, one of tho staidest of American magazines', and a journal not at all in sympathy with socialist propaganda. This fact, merely in itself, is a startling admission of the circumstance that indifference to the socialistic gains is giving way to another attitude of mind. Those gains are not yet fco marked as to arouse tho expectation that socialists will, in the immediate future, assume charge of public affairs, but they- are sufficiently abundant to mak£ tho demand fof preparedness not out of place. For instance, an avowed socialist, . for the first time, sits as a .member of'Congre3s. Someone recently, took ' the. trouble to investigate ■ the spread of socialism in municipal governments, and found that forty-six. Americafi cities have socialist office-bearers. Sixteen of these cities have socialist mayors. The others have aldermen, supervisors, judges, city clerks, etc., who profess the socialist faith. From the indica^ tions to-day, it is more than likely that th© socialistic movement in America will go on making gains. "Iti is," in the words of the writer in the Atlantic Monthly, "a movement of such nature, as seems likely to break suddenly, Some day, into avalanches and floods." The purpose of the writer of that article is to_ urge the recasting of theory and practice of politics so that when soeialiPin arrives it may not fall to th* lot of the bosses— -the Crokers, the Mitrphys, the Quays, and the Ruefs— to mannge the taking over of productive industries and the forces of capitalism, If, he points out, the United States is pushed by the spread of socialistic opinion into attempts at governmental ownftfshirl and management of productive industries, without a previous reformation of her political system, the nation will "inevitably be carried to a disaster so great that imagination can hardly picture it." Such articles, as this afe proof of the belief that the day- is coming when some at kast of the divisions or government will be in the hands of the socialists. 'A BEVOLUTIONAR.Y INTENTION. At a- meeting of the National Electric Association on Ist June, Thomas A, Edison divulged some particulars of a storage_ battery he has invented that in his opinion will revolutionise electric tram systems and surface car transportation generally. Tho battery that he has been working on for months overcome* the three main objections to theoiie now in- use— weight, bulk, and length of time required to store them. So light is this new battery, according to Edison, that one large enough to run a butcher's delivery wagon can be put in a suit case and can, bo charged in four or five minutes. Some of Edison's batteries ara sow being tested on electric surface cars in New York City, but they are not to bo compared with tho new onca, in the inventor' 3 opinion. Tho latter may be stored under the seats, When it cornea to charging they can bo "rushed." The 'full current of an ordinary feed wire can be turned on at the end of each trip, and In four minutes the battery is charged. The use of the battery in vehicles is the most startling : parj> of what Edison had to promise. He told of an old delivery cart he turned into an electric motor in brief time. All he did was to take off the shafts and instal one of the suit cas*- motors along with the motor. A ten-minute charge would carry it more than fifty, mite, he said. In Edison's opinion tho whole cost of the day's dehvenaj for the average merchant would be about 25 cents. The inventor prophesies that this new storage- battery will eventually put the 'trolley car' system, with an overhead feed wit*, out of busincsSi POPULAR ELECTION OF ' . ■ SENATORS. One of the, reforms which prosreeeive politicians have contended for many yeans seems to be realised, namely, the popular election of United States Senators. One of the most prolific sources, ol corruption haa been the election, of Federal Senators by the State legislators, as provided' by the constitution. Both -douses of Congress have now for the first time pronounced in favour of a. constitu' tional amendment by which .senators shall be_ directly elected by the votets. .before, it goes into effect it must be ratified by three-fourths of the State Legislatures, but tnere is no doubt this ratification, will not be withheld. The only matter to be adjusted between fhe Houses of Congress is one with reference to the control of the elections. The Senate insists such control shall be vested an it, while the Lower House wants tho control to be vested in the States. Tho popular election of i« regarded as one of the most important reforms in American political methods adopted for many years, PANAMA CANAL. According to the reports of two engineer* sent to Panama, by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company to make investigations, the canal will be completed bbfore Ist January, 1914. but will not be opened for business until a year later, Hie a-eason assigned for this is that it Has been found that the grade fixed for the sides of Culebra. cut is too eteep, and it will take & year for the hills to dido down of their own weight until a. pranticabl© elope has been attained. There remain but 22,000,000 cubic yards of material to be excavated in Culebra. «ut. As 16,000,000 cubic yards was taken out laet year, sixteen months should be ample for" tho complelion of this woTlt. Engineers who have inspected tho formation of the ground in the Culebra cut, and witnessed the difficulties encountered from the slides, are unanimous in the opinion that a eea-level canal, . involving a cut 85 feet deeper than that now being made, would have been pvactically impossible. NEW YORK LIBRARY. In some waye the new public library recently opened in New York sets a high- w<i tar mark in this class of structure. It cost £2.500,000, and "it is built a-a the anciente built-=-f or eternity," to quote a New York newspaper. For convenience, for its wide range of facilities for all purposes, and for structural durability the library is ea.id to be uneqttplldtl in the world. It hae room in *if« book slarks for 5.500,000 volumes, and it lias a floor epacc of 375.000 ft. The library opens with 373.000 book?, nut it. \a expected that ineido twentyfive years there will be 3,700,000 books within its .valls. The facilities of the library, somp of winch have never been attempted in (lie United Stales at lead, are noteworthy. There is a readingroom for the iiliml. There is a. pretty room for children, with diminutive chairs and low tables, in' the manner of a nursery, over which a motherly superintendent has charge. There are eight private rooma for the use of scholars, and in this connection if. is recalled that Rear-Admiral Mahan wrofo his epoch-marking work on the influence of s>ea. power almost entirely in tho public rooms of the library which n th|s ono displaces,, '|ho gvjat reading'

room, the largest, in the world, is 295 ft lon^, ?? ft wlcl c. and_ 50ft high. The bt>ok# are housed in a stnek-room directly below tho mn.in reading-room. No reader, however privileged, will bo allowed inside. There are sixty-three niilps of shelves in tho stack-loom, and twenty-seven miles more in other rooms devoted -to ■ special • departments. Tho New York Public Library system is a combination of the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden foundations, with an annual income of £700,000, supplemented by tho Carnegie branch libraries. There are sixty branches in New York City connected with the library just opened, and through these some 3,000,000 books are circulated each year. President Taffc, in a speech at the opening, assorted that the New York Public Library accomplishes more in the dissemination of knowledge than any other library in the world. RAILWAY EXTENSIONS. A financial transaction of startling magnitude, even in these days of big money deals, has just been announced by J. J. Hill) chairman of the Great Northern Hallways Company, in tho statement that that cosspa-n^ and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad Company have executed a mortgage of their properties to secure bonds totalling £120,000,000. This will cause a tremendous flow of gold into the eoffefs of tho corporations, and it means that some large projects aro in prospect. Not all the money, however, is to be used in development work, A considerable proportion is to be utilised in 'liquidating outstanding obligations, but there .will etill remain £54,000.000 for expenditure. These two corporations are jointly managed. The plans in view include the construction of additional mileage and double-tracking existing right-of-way. This announcement is another sign that extensive railroad developments arc to be undertaken in the United States during the nest five or ten years. The Union and Southern Pacific Companies recently , made public their plans to spend about £100,000,000 in double-tracking. The transcontinental Milroads doubtless feel that the opening of the Panama Canal will mean increased business.