OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 6480, 22 December 1883, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

CittcAGO (U.S.A.), November 14,

We are now in the early daya of autumn. The leaves are changing; the fruit is ripe ; the harvest is gathered into barns. The life which has been rich in its manifestations of growth, form, color, and use is paesing into the grist of the seed, or is being released for new combinations by the process of decay. The summer feeling is gone, and outdoor life is becoming less attractive. We have lost that intense desire for the woods, pieniciug, the sea, and the mountains which came upon us in June. The shortor days increase the temper and possibility for work. Nature is contracting and localising her energies. She is busy now, not in producing, but in garnering. The autumn fruits have drawn to themselves, with a chemistry beyond tho schools, whatever could help them of earth, air, rain, or- sunshine. Each has added to the tasteless water from secret fountains the sweets and the acids of its own peculiar delight. It turns dead things into living things. It nourishes its own life upon the things which have no life. It gathers from the earth, air, water, and sunshine the rich flavors and tho substance of its perfection. There is a close analogy to this iu the assimulative power by which our digestive organs sustain our physical life. But the likeness vanishes when we turn the eye within to the mind—the higher life. Then we suffer that which is outside and beyond us to master and degrade us. Thus comes to many every succeeding year that sense of incompleteness, the failure of life, which is every where—in language and literature. What will bring the fruit of our lives to perfection ? MATHEW ARNOLD. Mathew Arnold is coming from England to America, avowedly to make money. He might have announced that he was coming as an apostle of culture and ajstheticism, as did Oscar Wilde ; or have assumed the rdle of a propagandist, as Monsignor Capel. He does nothing of the sort. He tells us with a frankness that is refreshing that he is coming to make money. To a mau of less optimistic temperament than Mr Arnold the time he has allotted himself for this herculean task would seem ridiculously short. He must return in the spring, and so limits his stay to less than six months. The seed to be sown are lectures ou "Numbers," "Culture," " Emeraon," and the like. Mr Arnold's writings arc not unknown in America. His literary stylo is, indeed, peculiar. He is the Autocrat of Alliteration. He is original as a phrase-maker. The American people will give him a hearty welcome. He comes to America in quest of the golden fleece, or, to nut it less elogantly, looking after wool. Ho will not rotui-ii entirely shorn. The announcement of his visit called to my mind his much-talkul-of article about America in the 'Nineteenth Century' for May, 1882. I have read it over again. It stands out in such brilliant contrast to the efforts of other critics, who have become

so in the habit of throwing dust, that to please the crowd they would attempt the bespattering of the throne of the Infinite itself. He says : " I do not remember to have anywhere in my too numerous writings spoken of American manners as vulgar, or to have expressed my dislike of them. I have long accustomed myself to regard the people of the United States as just the same people with ourselves—as simply the English on the other side of the Atlantic." "As €or my esteeming it a hard destiny which would force me to visit the Un'ted States, I will, borrow Gcotho'B words and say that not the spirit is bound but the foot. With the best will in the world I have never yet been able to go to America, and probably I never shall. But many a kind communication I receive from that quarter. 1 ' Mr Arnold claims the right to speak kindly but plainly, because of the plain speaking he has done about the English. " When one has confessed the belief that the social system of one's own country is so far from being perfect : that it presents us with the spectaclo of an upper class materialised, a middle class vulgarised, a lower class brutalised, one has earned the right, perhaps, to speak with candor of the social systems of othercountries." "I have said somewhere or other that whereas our society in England distributes itself into barbarians, Philistines, and populace, Americans are just ourselves with the barbarians left out, and the populace nearly." That which we call in England the middle class ia in America virtually the nation. "Itis in America virtually relieved of what with us is our populace, and it is relieved of the pressure and false ideal of our barbarians. It is generally industrious and religious as our middle class. Its religion is even less invaded, I believe, by the modern spirit than the religion of our middle class." "And now, having up to this point neglected all the arts of the controversialists, having merely made inquiry of my American friends as to the real state of their civilisationinquiries which they are free to answer in their own favor if they like—l am going to leave the advantages with them to the end. They kindly offered me the example of their civilisation as a help to mend ours, and I, not with any vain Anglicism, for I own our inßular civilisation to be very unsatisfactory, but from a desire to get at the truth, have inquired whether the Americans really think, on looking into the matter, that their civilisation is much more satisfactory than oura. And in case they should come to the conclusion, after due thought, that neither the one nor the other is in a satisfactory state, let me end by propounding a remedy which really it ia heroic in me to propound, for the people are bored to death, they say, by me with it, and every time I mention it I make new enemies, and diminish the small number of friends that I have now. A higher, larger civilisation, a finer lucidity, is what is needed. The friends of civilisation, instead of hopping backward and forward over the Atlantic, should stay at home a-while and do their best to make the administration, the tribunals, the theatre, the arts in each State, to make them to become visible ideals to raise, purge, and ennoble the publio sentiment." "The primary and common schools of America we all know ; their praise is in everybody's mouth. But the secondary education—the training just above the common schools—should be better and more general." Now, that waß all of Arnold's word "about America," and the spirit in which he said it. The present generation will never see tho attainment of Mr Arnold's ideal. But there is no room for resentment in his article. He is a reformer of a highly idealised sort. Christ said: "Be ye perfect, as your Father in Heaven ia perfect." Most people never think that they can be as perfect as God, or as Jesus ; but Christ thought it practicable for all men and women to be so, or he would never have said it. Mr Arnold has much the same thought. I have seen, and you have seen, an old lady with fair hands, faultless dress, whose speech and manner were so gentle, sweet, gracious, refined, pure, and who was ripe with wisdom, that a benediction was felt in her presence, aad womanhood was glorified in her. Mr Arnold thinks that all women can, and ought to be, just like that. There is no more reas:n why a man should swear, talk coarse, use bad grammar, have uncouth, unclean habits, or be other than a well-bred gentleman, than to be a cannibal and eat raw flesh. If Mr Arnold is really hoping too much for poor human nature, wo ought to be, and we are, grateful to him that he is trying to get us all to do our level best. So far it is but a prophetic voice crying out to us in the night—a prophet struggling into the light. WHY NOT STAY AT HOME? We are threatened with invasion by the Salvation Army. The General and Miss Booth (recently liberated from a Swiss bastile) are coming to redeem America by means of extemporised and delirious symphonies, which lead to hallelujah lasses being carried out kicking and screaming in strong cataleptic hysterics. Word is sent in advanco, and the hope expressed that America will receive these battalions with open gates, and make liberal subscriptions towards their commissariat expenses. These funds will certainly be forthcoming. The American people are generous and hospitable to the last degree, and very easily humbugged. The Salvation Army will doubtless be received with volleys of enthusiasm, loud amens, fluttering flags, rolling drums, and waving 'kerchiefs. The fact that the general, the. colonels, and captains have refused thus far to account for the moneys that have been received, though demanded frequently at meetings and by the public Press, will be graciously overlooked. The dear American saints will not pry into the inconsistency of the General of the Army, who preaches simplicity, poverty, and temperance, living sumptuously every day in an elegant mansion and renting out another house—part of his hard-earned property—for a London grog-shop. Cynical people, like Mr Labouchere, might criticise such things, but fervent, generous American Christians never. There is certainly field enough for the English Salvation Army to manoeuvre in at Home for a long time Vet in the future. They will find plenty of Dick Stylesses and Polly Beckß to be shown the error of their ways before seeking new fields to conquer. We have quite enough English evangelists of every sort in this country just now to enlighten us and to save us from ourselves America, with all her defects and eccentricities, is not so bad as Barrioboola Gha. LORD CHIEF JUSTICE COLERIDGE.

A farewell reception was given to our distinguished'guest, Lord Chief Justice Coleridge, on the 25th ult. by the Union League Club of New York. Hon. William M. Evarta delivered the welcome on behalf of the Club. He said, among other good things: "As a moral people we are perfectly willing to have you inspect our numerous virtues and speak of them, You will have plenty of opportunity to criticise our faults when 3,000 miles away." Lord Coleridge, in reply, said : " I am happy to address my last words to this Club, because it was formed with the purpose of preserving the Union. I may consider this Club as representative of the entire nation. I can say through it good-bye to the country where I have been received with 00 much cordiality and hospitality." THE ELECTIONS IN lOWA AND OHIO. More than ordinary interest was taken in the elections this year in the States of lowa and Ohio, it being politically an off year, because of the peculiar issues involved. In lowa, after it had carried an amendment of its constitution providing for the prohibition of the liquor tiaffio by a majority of nearly 30,000, it was declared to be unconstitutional and void by the Supreme Court upon a technicality. The Republican party said that the people of lowa wanted prohibition and they should have it. They boldly faced their political foes upon a prohibition platform, and havo gallantly elected their State ticket by a majority of 25,054. General Weaver, a Greenbacker, upon a prohibition platform j received 23,039 votes; Hon. L. G. Kinre, on the Democratic aud license platform, received 139,093 votes, which gives the principle of prohibition a clear majority of 47,120. The State Senate has a Republican majority of forty-eight. In the Lower House, the Republicans have a majority of three, and five Greenbackers who aro pledged to give the peoplo a Prohibition Bill. Henco the principle of prohibition has a majority on joint ballots of fifty-six. The Republican party in Ohio refused to accede to the wishes of the temperance party and ignore prohibition on license, but to appease the popular clamor submitted two amendments to be voted on, Which-

ever (should obtain two-thirds of all the votes cast should be incorporated in the state Constitution as the Bupreme law :

PRESENT CONSTITUTION. No license to traffic ih Intoxicating lijpo™.« n f hereafter be granted in this States But.the Goncra! Assembly may by law provide against onh resulting therefrom. FIRST PROPOSITION. . Tho General Assembly shall regulate the traffic in intoxicating liquors so as to provide against evils resulting therefrom, and its power to levy taxes or assessments 'hereon is not limited by any provisions of this Constitution.

BKOONI) PUOPOSITION. _ Tho manufacture of and-the trallio in intoxicating Juniors to be used as a beverage are forever prohibited ; and tho General Assembly shall provide by law for the enforcement of this provision. The Democratic party boldly championed tho license proposition. A prohibition ticket was put into the field by the Intractable*, which received only 12,000 votes. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union assumed the championship of the second proposition. The result was that the Republican party was defeated by a majority of 10,000. The first proposition was defeated by a majority of 38,000, tho second amendment receiving 329,608 votes out of a total of 711,691. When 329,456 men vote for prohibition in Ohio, and 161,482 voted for it in lowa all this year, there is no need to discuss further the stupid assertions of a subsidised Press, that prohibition is dead or even sickly. It is the strongest thing in public thought to-day, and stronger than any of the political parties, if only all those who believe in it would act in concert together. It does seem that temperance and temperance measures suffer more from its professed friends than anything else, either political or moral. TWO NEW PHASES DEVELOPED. The knotty problem of the liquor traffic has taken on two new phases groatly worthy of attention. First, it demands that it be not prohibited, nor licensed, nor taxed, and that it is a legitimate business that should no more be interfered with than that of the grocer, the butcher, or the merchant. Second, it proposes as a factor in elections to have no politics, and to belong to no party, but to work with and vote for only such candidate as will pledge themselves to sustain the traffic as an unprohibited, unlicensed, untaxed, and lawful trade. That the traffic has assumed these phases is shown by the resolutions adopted on September 26 by the Illinois Protective Liquor Association, taken up and repeated by kindred associations in lowa, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Tho resolutions are as follows : Resolved: By the Stato Protective Association in convention assembled, that we will continue to keep up and strengthen our organisation for the purpose of securing to our business the recognition and protection it properly deserves as a legitimate trade. Resolved : That we consider tho present Dram Shop Act an unjust and oppressive enactment, imposing unnecessary and tyrannical burdens upon our business, and that tho A«6oJation will not rest until tho most objectionable features thereof aro wiped out by legislative action. Resolved: That the "action of tho last General Assembly in passing the Harper Bill be unanimously condemned, as it imposes additional restrictions without granting any benefits whatever, and that wo will hold every member of that body who voted for that measure responsible in the futuro, while on the other hand wo assure every member and Senator who stood up boldly in dofeuce of our.rights our everlasting gratitiide. Resolved : That we declare it to be tho aim and object of the Association to prevent in the future the passage of all laws which tend to unjustly discriminate against oiir trade, and we will call upon all of our members to aid us in defeating sectarian and illiberal legislation of every kind, and all advocates of such laws. The Wiucousin State Liquor Association at Milwaukee, October 11, resolved as follows: Ist. That, as heavy taxpayers, wo are entitled to the same privileges and immunities as any other business men, and especially as we are recognised by the General Government as engaged in a legitimate business. 2nd. That drunkenness is not due to tho existence of the saloon, but to the lack of education in the youth. 3rd. That we organiso for the purpose of securing good and just laws enacted in our behalf, and to oppose all legal measures, municipal, State, or national, that aro in conflict with our interests. 4th. That wo will not vote for a candidate for any public office who will not fir.t pledge himself to our interest, regardless of party affiliations or party measures.

Tsow this is frank, and, therefore, I rather like it. I do not blame these men for taking this position. If they are to be in business at all, it is very natural that they should, desire that their business be lawful and entitled to the protection of the law. If a business is right and legitimate the Government have no natural right to restrain, regulate, or to tax that business. If the business is right and legitimate, then the Government have no right even to license it, because a license creates a monopoly and gives away a special privilege. But this demand introduces a new factor into the case, for undoubtedly most Americans, whether Democrats or Republicans, believe that the liquor traffic must bo restrained in some way—if not prohibited, at least licensed. This new factor complicates the question for all parties, Democrats, Republicans, or Prohibitionists, The method by which they propose to work is new and startling. Since 1801 the States and General Governments have been controlled by one party or another, these parties being voluntary organisations of the people on the line of certain general principles of public policy, and if the citizens voted at all they either voted with one party or another on the line of this general policy. But now cornea a factor with vote 3 enough to control the election in every State where the strength of the contesting parties is at all close, and takes the position that it will have no party or politics, and that it will vote only for its own special interest. This is certainly a new departure—a revolutionary epoch in American politics, party government, and public conduct. It makes an end of party government in State and nation. Suppose, for example, that lowa should have an election upon the sole issue of Frcetrade—one party for and another against the policy—and the result were close, eager, earnest—3oo,ooo voters absorbed by their desire for the success of their respective sides of the public and party question. But here come 3,ooo—sufficient to turn the election—who do not vote upon the line of the 300,000—upon party issues of public policy—but solely upon the line of private interest, and apart from the issue of public interest. This may happen at any election. It makes a nullity of parties. It forces the people to abandon the method of government by party, or first settle for all time to come this drink question. In this shape it is up for discussion, and up for settlement. It must be met; there can be no escape from it. What friend of humanity will dare to doubt the result of the issue thus rudely forced upon us ? lam glad that it is so. It is the darkness just before dawn.

ANOTHER OBNOXIOUS SUPREME COURT DECISION.

The Supremo Court of the United States has just rendered a decision upon what is known as the Civil Rights Bill, declaring it to be unconstitutional and void iu so far as it related to the States in this Union, but constitutional and active in the district of Columbia and the territories which are under the control of the General Government. This decision, though not wholly unexpected, has caused a good deal of comment and not a little dissatisfaction. The Civil Rights Bill was drawn up by the Hon. Charles Sumner and passed by Congress in 1875 under the authority of the 13th and 14th amendments to the Federal Constitution t

Art. Xlll.—Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. . Art. XIV.—AII persons born and naturalised jn the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens thereof and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. Nor shall any Stato deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without duo process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The intent and purpose of the Bill were to invest the liberated colored people with the same rights that our white eitizeus have. There are strong prejudices which prevent the recognition of the rights of the black citizen, partly because of his color, and largely because of his previous condition. This prejudice is to some e.vtent universal, but intensified in the South. The late masters will not recognise the black man us a brother, nor accord to him civil rights, except under compulsion. Ho is constantly aubjeetod to petty annoyances. For example: he is refused admission to first-class hotels; he is compelled to eat at a second table with the servants or with those of his own eolor ; the best coaches of a railway train arc closed I against himj his children must not com- ' mingle with the whites' children in the

schools, even though? thd advantage of scholarship may be with the black child; the blacks must worship God in their own sanctuaries, and when they get to Heaven their white brothers will turn up their noses and petition the King that they be given a reservation. As a matter of fact, this Civil Rights Bill was practically a dead letter. It attempted t6b aati'sh—the giving of social rights along with civil rights. Jfo human law can give social rights, Social rights, social privileges, and social Standing every man, white or black, must earn and gain for himself. i This decision makes it worse for the black man than if there had been no Civil Rights Bill at all. It puts the colored people outside of the law to some degree. It is a victory for their old masters, who will not be slow to take every advantage of it. It is practically a surrender of one of the main principles involved in the late War —State rights. It calls to mind certaiu other decisions which do not improve our respect for Supreme Courts. The Fugitive Slave Law decision, rendered in the infamous Dred Scot case by Judge Fancy, which practically made every man in the Union a slavecatcher, to assist the poor slaves in their efforts to get to Canada and freedom, and turn their backs on their masters and their bloodhounds. The lowa Prohibition Amendment decision, and now this civil rights reversal. The Southern Press are quite happy, and some arc dropping into poetry, e.g,—

TUB CIVIL RIOnTH DKCISIOtf'. The sun is shining in the night— The highest court declares That sovereign States shnll have a right To run their own affairs. By yielding this strong point at last, The higher court ignores its past. But there is an undercurrent of popular feeling aroused. This Question of civil rights will be an active factor in the canvass for the next Presidency. It will revive the question : Are the United States a nation sompetent to protect all its citizens ? PREPARING FOR CONGRESS. The Cabinet officials and Commissioners of Bureaus are busy preparing their reports for submission to Congress in December. Not :>ho least interesting will be that of the Treasurer. The national debt under the present Administration has been reduced already by L 56,173,686. During the month of September it was reduced by LSO.OOO. The total redaction of debt in the eighteen years since the war has been L 243,529,949. There is cash on hand in the Treasury vaults amounting to L 80,000,000. It may be said that prosperity is the rule throughout the entire country. Some of your readers will doubtless be surprised to learn how niggardly thi3 wealthy nation pays ita officials. This can be shown best by comparison with Great Britain. We pay our Minister to France L 3.400 a-year ; Great Britain pays her Minister to France LIO.OOO a-year, and gives him a palace to live in. We pay our Minister to the Court of St. James L 3,400 j Great Britain pays her Minister at Washington L 6.000, and supplies him with a mansion well furnished, and a further allowance of L 1.200 a-year for incidentals. We pay our Chief Justice L 2.100 a-year, and each associate Justice L 2.000 a-year; Great Britain pays Lord Coleridge, who has just returned Home from a visit through this country, a salary of LB,OOO, and the other eight Associates of his Court gets L 5,000 ; and about the same ratio from the highest Cabinet official to the smallest postmaster. It is true that Great Britain pays nothing to the memberß of the House of Commons. We pay our representatives to Congress—Lower House, L 60 0; Upper House, L 1,200 a-year. Looking at our Civil Service from the standpoint of compensation, no one need be surprised that in some instances we are poorly served. THE MORMON UTAH COMMISSION. The report of the Utah Commissioners confirms the impression resulting from other testimony that the Edmunds law is a failure in so far as it attempted to check polygamy by a limitation of the suffrage. The law itself, and the efforts that have been made to execute the law, have served to unite the Mormons, under the pretence that injustice has been done to them. Persecution has always be<m the life of fanaticism, and the Mormon leaders are making the most of their opportunity to arouse their followers. A more heroic remedy must be adopted, and that right speedily, or it will gain so strong a foothold that it will be impossible to dislodge it without bloodshed. If it should become a factor in national politics and intrench itself behind the local jurisdiction of a State Government it may very eaßy become impregnable. Self-government in Utah must not be established. Electionsmust be abolished. Mayors, justices, police magistrates, and other local officers must be appointed by the General Government, and force enough put behind them to make their administration effective. Some will say that this new policy would disfranchise the Gentiles as well as the polygamists. Very true, but suffrage is of no value to the Gentiles under the present conditions. Temporary loss of suffrage to the Gentiles will be a gain of influence. To the Mormons it will work the ultimate extinction of polygamy under efficient enforcement of civilised laws. THE TARIFF. The tariff situation is a very peculiar one, with reference to business, with regard to the probable action of Congress this winter, and in the attitude of the principal political parties towards it. It is now evident that the changes of various kinds made in the tariff at last session had no particular effect upon business, otherwise than to introduce non- complexity and uncertainty into a state of affairs that was already far from being encouraging. The most highly-protected of the larger industries of the country are undoubtedly wool, woollens, iron, and steel. The dutie3 on the latter were perceptibly reduced last year, as were those of some branches of the former, though partially neutralised by changes in classification. Both of these industries are in a comparatively depressed state, but in neither case is the depression due to any change made in the tariff. The woollen business was largely overdone before the changes were made. The real seat of the difficulty lies in the undue protection for the wool growers of the older and eastern States, and for the woollen manufacturers. The same is true of the iron and steel interests. Curiously enough the first political demand for the re-opening of the matter in Congress comes from the already ultra-protected in an absurd and clamorous demand for increased protection. The revenue reformers will have a splendid argument in the condition of the national treasury and the steady strain of surplus revenue in spite of the tariff changes. The chances are now that there will be an active debate in Congress during the long session, which will have a moulding influence upon public opinion that will be felt in the coming presidential campaign.

THE VICE-ROYALTY OF CANADA. j The Marquis of Lome laid down the, insignia and the office of the Governor- ; Generalship of Canada, and it was taken up by the Marquis of Landsdowne with formal j cremony. Everything passed off pleasantly and creditably. The threatened Fenian i fiasco did not occur. Lome and Louise lm- i mediately embarked for home, and almost simultaneously an article from the pen of the retiring Governor-General appeared in the ' Contemporary Review' on "Canadian Home Rule." The wisdom cf the Marquis is seen in the fact that the publication of the article was deferred until he had left the Dominion. The Canadian indiguation at his doubt of their loyalty would be more trying to his nerves than the curtain lectures of his Princess Louise. But the Marquis takes a sensible view of matters. He sees very plainly that Canada will not long remain a British dependency that it will follow manifest destiny and become a State of the American Union. The article of the Marquis and that of Archibald Forbes on the Australian colonies come in the nick of time to dispel the delusion which was being fostered by Professor Steley's book about the Great Federal British Empire. The new Governor-General, it is paid upon the advice of Lord Lome, has refused to receive addrtfses from National societies as sriioh, but only as citizens of Canada. Henceforth he will know neither English men, L-ifalimoii, nor Scotchmen, but know all merely as Canadians. He has received a number of letters threatening his life, but the military authorities think that they aro competent to proteot him. It would seem that Great Britain has but one Lord Dufferin. Lorno has not the ability of a Dufferin, and Landsdowne is not the equal of Lome. j THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. I Work has been suspended on the construe-

tlon of the Canadian Pacific Railway ia order to make new surveys. The pass chosen over the Rockies was found to be impracticable. A new route and a new pas* mast be selected before farther work isdone. It i* thought that this will cause a. delay of four years in the final completion of the line. About 4,000 Chinese laborers have been thrown out of employment, and the problem for the authorities 4a solve is what to do with them. A VISITOIi WOhTH WATCHING.

i i enclose you a clipping that may interest I your readers. Mr. A. M. Garland i 3 the ; president of the American Wool-growers'' Association, and is a special correspondent of the Chicago ' Tribune.' His salary and 1 expenses are paid by that newspaper, which 'l3 a sturdy advocate of Freetrade. Mr Gar--1 land claims that it is for his interest to be an 1 ultra-Protectionist; he is not. therefore, ■ sent, as was Robert Porter to England, to ' bolster up a failing cause, but, if possible, to larrive at the truth. His letters will have i another result, viz., to increase our limited stock of knowledge as to your country. He will visit Dunedin before his return. Mr Garland writes to us from Sydney:— "Americans are proverbial for drawing comparisons between their own country and those through which they travel. I confess to the average weakness in this particular. I further confess that such comparisons as I have been able to make have discovered parallels which create a sympathy for the people of these colonics beyond that felt for the avearge of foreigners. Speaking the same language, dressing in the same styles, and transacting business in the same manner, they are treading the path over which Americans have travelled for the last hundred years. With a population nearly identical in number with that of the United States at the close of the Revolution, with unlimited natural resources and little commerce, dependent for the greater portion of required manufactures upon older nations, they are manfully grappling with the problem of national existence and development. Though not like the United States—handicapped by the incubus of slavery—their feet are fettered by the apron - strings of that * Mother Country ' which has so generally contrived a way to make her colonial wards repay with usury what has been expended during their callow period. Such comparison cannot, however, be pushed far before it develops practical considerations which may well claim the attention of the students of American interests. Already these colonies, though but sparsely settled and with their natural resources not only undeveloped, but many of them untouched, are making their mark in the world's markets. Sheep husbandry stands at the head of the list. Australian flocks number more than 80,000,000. The mea who have given it this development are pushing it with unabated zeal still further toward the interior and northward into the hot country. The 80.000,000 fleeces which now largely control the price of wool ii» markets supplied from other sources will be yearly supplemented by added millions, with the probable result of forcing prices toward the minimum of cost of production under the most favorable conditions. True, comparatively little Australian wool gets into the markets of the United States—probably less than 4 per cent. of the total yield ; but the presence of the other 96 per cent, in the markets of Europe will have an influence upon prices all over the world. The excellence of these wools is indisputable, and their sale in London and Antwerp calls together buyers from Holland, Belgium, etc.—the very cradle of the woollen industry—for in the Middle Agee the weavers of Ghent and Bruges were the clothiers of Europe, and by settlements from these the woollen manufacture of England was established. As early as the tenth century the weavers of Flanders imported wool from foreign countries. That their wool are sought by manufacturers in these old weaving centres is esteemed no small compliment by Australian flockowners. Enlargement of manufacturing must needs create enlargement of importations, and to this contingency are the hopeful eyes of these men of these colonies now looking forward, as they claim fiat no cthsr country can stand in their way when the character of wool and its production in necessary quantities at minimum cost is taken into account. But it is not alone in the production of wool that Australian sheep husbandry is to exert an influence upon the price of articles in which the farmer of the United States has a direct interest. Ho has an especial interest—in fact has hitherto enjoyed almost a monoply—in supplying meat to the European markets. The business of freezing and shipping meat is just now attracting the attention of capitalists all over the world, The practicability of reaching London with sheep carcasses from New Zealand has been so thoroughly demonstrated as to warrant large investments of capital in abettoirs and steamships to be devoted exclusively to the business. Up to this time England has taken such shipments as have gone forward, and thus the demand of that country for American meat has alone been menaced. But England is not the only European buyer of meat from abroad. France and Germany, compelled to sustain armie3 of 400,000 to 500,000 men, do not raise as much meat as they require, and have hitherto depended upon the United States for their surplus. Neither can be called a land of flocks or herds. France, with her small holdings, will not produce meat whenever the present population can produce wine, or sugar-beets, or silk, or olive oil, for the land adapted to these products cannot be spared for purposes of pasturage. Both have great cities whose populations consume largely and produce little or nothing edible, though demanding better fare than contented their fathers. Right there, on the centre of European population, are fixed the eyes of the men who after a long series of experiments have invested their millions in the faith that a return is to be had by taking and holding a trade that has heretofore belonged to Americans. There may be no occasion for present Hneasiness on the part of American producers ; but it is well enough for those upon the watch-towers to keep an eye towards this once far-off land, now brought near by steamship lines already established, and processes of preparing fresh meat as yet employed only to an extent that demonstrates its feasibility. Foreign markets can be more easily entered and controlled by Australians than by Americans, from the fact that here the home demand cannot possibly increase in ratio with the possible increase of meat production. Americans have no advantage in the character, the breeding, and feeding of their meat-pro-ducing animals, as some sanguine citizens may flatter themselves. Actual observation satisfies me that the average merit of nooks and herds here is equal to the average standard in the United States, and better tluui that of the purely pastoral regions there. New Zealand mutton is proverbially excellent—not so much by reason of its broods as from the especial succulence and sweetness of its herbage. There the owners do not have to move their animals from one region to another to prepare them for market, as is often necessary in the pastoral districts of America. These advantages have been noted by breeders here, and their knowledge will not be without influence in keeping them in the business when once they are enlisted. This dead-meat business may mean I even more than I have here foreshadowed. ' Its practicability once demonstrated to the I satisfaction of timid capitalists, they may be | found entering the immense pampas of South j America and pushing into market the i increase from herds unknown to commerce i except through their hides and offal. Other ; imineuse grazing grounds lie in Southern \ Siberia and Central Asia, which, though i far away, are not beyond the sight and scent lof enterprise and capital. The'long lines of I steamers and rails which Russia is pushing I into the interior of her possessions may be ! for other purposes than those of war,"