OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 7750, 23 October 1888, Page 2

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Keokuk (Iowa), September IS. COMPULSORY EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS.

For many years the newspapers of Chicago kept clamoring at the Legislature to pass a law requiring all children between the ages of seven and fourteen years to attend school or to receive instruction from a competent teacher daring at least twelve weeks in every year, unless excused by sickness or other good cause. Orthodox ohnroh members, agnostics, freethinkers, infidels, and atheiatsunited in recommendingthe measure. A Compulsory Education Bill was framed by experienced educators, and passed by both Houses withont opposition from either political party. An emergency danse was added, and the Bill was approved by the Governor. There was muon rejoicing, and enthusiasts stated that an educational revival bad begun. The Chicago Board of Education, whose duty it was to put the law in operation, paid no attention to it. They said that it could not be enforced, and they did not try to enforce it. The superintendent of the schools assumes that it cannot be enforced on the ground that the law is against the “genius of our free institutions” and an infringement of personal liberty, but they have arranged for several new attractions this year, among which are the teaching of German, drawing, music, and gymnastics. The result will be, so far as Chicago is concerned, that about the same number of children will be on the streets instead of being in school, but those that go to school wifi have superior advantages. The school system of New York is nndergoing revision. The recent school elections indicate a strong public sentiment which demands the abrogation of the cramming process and the recognition of the fact that education is a growth of character and not a manufacture of recitation makers. The day of mere mechanism in the schoolroom La fast drawing to a close. The discussion has developed an organisation known as the Public School Reform Society, which assumes to watch the schools and secure the best results.

The State of Massachusetts has passed an Act to enable small towns to provide a superintendent competent to conduct examinations, unify and equalise a common system, and thus secure to the children of every district the advantages of the best methods.

The State of Pennsylvania is endeavoring to entrench her school system on the one hand, and to protect it alike from sectarian strife and from neglect and overthrow by ' the passage of a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing its permanency and freedom from sectarianism.

THE FISHERIES QUESTION AGAIN. The Bayard-Chamberlain Treaty was rejected by the United States Senate by q vote of 30 to 27. This action was so long anticipated that the result created up surprise. It is unfortunate, in view of the interests involved, and the spirit in which such questions should be discussed, that the question was settled by a strict party vote, .The matter came up at an unfortunate time. The pve of a Presidential election does not furnish an atmosphere in which grave international questions can be dispassionately anc| disinterestedly discussed. It is gratifying to note that the bellicose spirit of some of the' senators finds no response throughout the country. American rights \yill be protected, but there is no disposition on thp part of the people at large to create international difficulties as a matter of patriotism. The senators who indulge in references to the possibility of war will be left to conduct the campaign on their own account, The country has'becpme too great and too strong to find delight or profit in shat sort of braggadocio. Sooner or later the question at issue willbe settled in an amicable sppffy and fay methods of peace. War between (■treat Britain and the United States be a orime of the first magnitude. THE PRESIDENT’S SJESSAGE. The refusal of the Senate to amend the treaty or to make any attempt to settle questions at issue by methods usually employed by nations, and its determination tp prope§d by retaliation, Ipts very naturally created the impression that its attitude op the fishery question has been taken mainly for politioal effect at home. But the danger of handling such a grave question in snob a spirit has been strikingly illustrated by the new turn given the whole ’matter by the President in his Message to Congress. The President tried to settle the issues by a treaty. The Senate declares that it will have no treaty. The President now says, in effect; “I have urged pnd tried a friendly settlement ; but you have refused even to consider the possibility of such p settlement, and insist on retaliation. Retaliation then it shall be, in dead earnest, and not in mere talk.” Accordingly the President oatlines the course he proposes to pursue, and asks for additional power. He intends to strike at the most sensitive point in our relations with Canada, and asks the Senate to amend the Retaliation Act so’as to give him authority to stop the transhipment of Canadian goods in bond across our territory unless Canada shall allow our fishermen to tranship across panadian territory. ' [fe carry this measure into effect would visit upon Canada the severest form of retaliation. That it would entail considerable loss to ourselves is also certain; the fact that we can never injure others without hurting ourselves is not alWays considered.' Whether the treaty properly protected American interests is an open question; but the Senate c'onld have amended it and shown what would have been acceptable. Two can plaV at the game'ofpolitics, and the Senate' has no room for complaint if the President has overreached it in the hid for political support. The spectacle is neither edifying nor creditable. Canada has shown a very Small spirit in the matter, and we are bent oh Ireeping the matter on the Same low level. Hitting back has an element of childishness in it which is unbecoming a great people. s

THE CANVASS, As the political campaign progresses, the orghns of each of the parties continue ti> announce proselytes Aram the other. The Democratic defections are principally manufacturers, who may be supposed to carry with them a large portion of their employes. The Republican defections are' chiefly students, out of sympathy with Protection, or, at least,'with high protective ideas; yet, the combined lists of those who'have changed from one leading party to the other do not equal the list of those who have gone ovfer to the Prohibition Party. Every week the ‘ Voice ’ announces new converts—often meh of prominence. Last week it contained a letter from Bishop Hurst, of the Methodist Church, announcing his purpose to support General Fish, and another from Dr Wardj editor of the New York ‘lndependent,! stating the same purpose. One' of the most interesting features of the Prohibition campaign has been of a fund of LB.OOO to send««irdea of the New York * Voice ’ to 60 000 clergymen until the closd of the When the project was first proposed bythat paper soum months ago it seemed chimerical, yet the entire sum has been raised, most of it in small contributions. The census of 1880 reports 64,000 clergymen in the entire country, so that nearly every minister will be the beneficiary of this pewly-organised Tract Society. .. ‘

temperance matters. Nearly a year ago M. Leon Say was appointed president of a Commission to report upon changes in the French laws respecting alcohol. His report is now publulled.' The first part of it deals with the proposition that the Government should take the manufacture and sale of spirits into their own hands, in the same way that they have

already done .with tobacco. The Commission report upon the success of the liquor legislation of other Governments. In Norway in 1830 there were 10,000 distilleries. By heavy taxation this number has been reduced to twenty-four. In Russia the distilling of liquors was formerly a monopoly, which was funned out to private firms. In 1858 the State decided to change the system. The contractors who had the monopoly offered L 30,000,000 for the privilege of continuing. The history of Bismarck’s unsuccessful attempt to establish a State monopoly in Germany is well known. The French Commission think that the German Parliament was right in refusing to sanction the measure. The report goes on to show that so far as public health is concerned Government inspection can accomplish all Government manufacture can do, and can make it impossible for deleterious alcohol to enter the market. In reply to the argument that the profits of State monopoly would be enormous, perhaps L 32,000,000 a year, the Commission urge that the compensation to existing distilleries for the loss of their business would be correspondingly great. The second part of this interesting report deals with the hygienic aspects of the question, and the problem how to reduce the consumption of liquors. The Commission, which certainly cannot be accused of fanaticism, express the belief that alcoholism is, in a degree hitherto unknown, one of the most serious dangers of the times. Men, women, and children are affected. Mental diseases hitherto unknown are now common. The old-time intoxication gives place to brutalising inebriety. Since 1875 the number of dramshops has increased in France from a proportion of one to every 109 inhabitant to that of one in every ninety-four. Alcoholism is a positive and threatening danger to democracy. The Commission make no recommendation beyond restricting the number of saloons, and a system of inspection by which the quality of the liquors sold may be tested. The statistics of the new license law of Pennsylvania are now complete, and they throw a flood of light upon the questions which the French Commission have been considering. The number of licenses has been reduced from 14,553 in 1887 to 7,724 in 1888. The revenue from these licenses has meanwhile increased from L 195.000 to L 367.000. So far, then, this seems satisfactory. The ‘ Philadelphia Record ’ publishes interviews' with some of the leading brewers of that city, which indicate that the reduction in the number of saloons has caused but a very slight reduction in the amount of beer consumed. One of the brewers says: “I do not believe that there is a brewery in the city which has not been materially benefited by the new law.” In explanation of this he said that the closing of the saloons on Sunday had been in part compensated by increased trade, and that the business was made bettor and safer, because the saloon business was in the hands of a wealthier class of dealers who were able to pay up promptly. The brewers are to a man heartily in accord with the new law. The ‘ Record ’ is very far from being a Prohibition paper, a fact which will give weight to these interviews and reports. The fact that lowa is a Prohibition State gives interest to her criminal statistics at this time. It is conceded that the Prohibitory law is well enforced in more than ninetenths of the State. Inquirers are beginning to ask for results. Courts, jurists, and philanthropists have claimed that the liquor traffic is responsible for from three-fourths to nine-tenths of the crime of our land. The enclosed official table of the criminal population of lowa from January 1,1887» to August 1, 1888, is, to say the least, suggestive, and will be to some minds conclusive evidence of the value of Prohibition in reducing the number of convicts in our State prisons. This table was compiled by Governor Larrabee, and needs only this explanation: that we have in lowa two State prisons—one at Anamosa and the other at Fort Madison, The figures under each place refer to the number of convicts confined at the time indicated. It is able to speak for itself

DEPOPULATION OP THE PENITENTIARIES The fact that lowa’s criminal population has b;cn steadily decreasing has been frequently noticed, but very few people have any idea of bow much of a decrease has actually been made. Governor Larrabee has compiled a table of crinpnal population of the State by months since 1887 as follows : Fort

The total decrease during the one year and a-half has been 120, a decrease of over 17 per pent., or nearly one-fifth. This is a yecord of which the Stato may well be proud. In this connection it may be stated that during the last month theie were only three commitments, and two of these were by order of the United States Court.

Jn many counties where the law has been most rigidly enforced there are no prisoners in gaol awaiting trial, and not a single pauper in their poorhouses. The best results of Prohibition in lowa are yet to come. No State in which licenses exist can show such a record. The reqent Republican State Convention in Nebraska decided by a large majority to instruct its representatives iu_ the next Legislature to vote for the submission of a Erohibitory amendment, to be voted for y the people at a non-partisan election, when that will be the on'y issue. They E repose to keep the question of Proibition out of politics. The defenders of the saloons will transfer their energies and activities from lowa to Nebraska, They must begin to think that Fate is against them, and that it is but a question of time when they will have to meet the prospect of Prohibition all over this country, not as a political issue, such as the Third Party is foolishly trying to make it, but as a non-partisan matter of supreme interest to every home in the land. 1 1 ’Ulysses.

Anamcsa. Uadhon. Total. January 1,1887 February 1,1887 ., 313 371 684 .. 320 373 693 March 1,1887 .. 321 385 706 Aoril 1887 .. 815 383 698 May 1,1887 .. .. 323 380 703 June 1,1887 .. 316 317 689 July 1,1887.. .. 313 360 673 August 1,1887 .. SOI 349 650 September 1 1887 .. 284 348 622 October 1,1867 .. 284 338 357 632 November 1,1887 .. 291 648 Pecembcr 1,1887 .. 286 352 638 January 1,1888 .. 299 358 648 February 1,1888 March 1,1888 .. 285 .. 280 357 858 642 638 April 1,1888 .. 28 4 354 638 May 1,1888 .. .. 265 353 618 June 1,1888 .. 263 347 610 July 1, 1888.. ., 259 330 589 August 1,1883 .. 249 315 t)04