THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



179 



bearer a "thinking and responsible social 

 unit." It has become impossible for them 

 "to accept with dull and passive content 

 the lot of their fathers." The author does 

 not desire nor expect ever to see the real- 

 ization of the Utopian^ dreams of some re- 

 formers who clamor for equality in mater- 

 ial possessions, but takes the common 

 sense view of it when he says: "Inequal- 

 ity of material possessions among men is 

 certain to continue as long as some are 

 prudent and others foolisb, some grasping 



and others generous; The dead level 



of the ideal of Bellamy has little to com- 

 mend it to the average American. " What 

 the laborer of today claims is the right 

 to have things so arranged that his strug- 

 gle for daily bread need not be performed 

 under conditions that tend to shorten his 

 life, or ruin his health. He wants, not 

 equality of possession, but the chance to 

 earn enough to give him a comfortable liv- 

 and hours to realize that he is a thinking, 

 reasoning being, with desires and aspira- 

 tions, not an animal or a machine; or as 

 the writer aptly terms it, ''In other words, 

 the laborer is a man, claiming a man's 

 share of life; and the question which most 

 directly affect him can be best considered 

 from the standard of manhood rather than 

 that of classhood." 



Among the numerous other articles are 

 "The True Meaning of the New Sugar 

 Tariff, "by Dr. Harvey W. Wiley; "Whence 

 Come the American Indians;" "Side 

 Lights on Postal Reform," etc. 



The March number will contain two 

 articles of especial interest to most farm- 

 ers. One is "The Tramp Problem," and 

 the other is "Should the United States 

 Produce its Own Sugar," by James Wil- 

 son, Secretary of Agriculture; 'iOur Duty 

 to Cuba" and "The Duty of Annexing 

 Hawaii," are articles that will interest all 

 citizens of this country who keep abreast 

 of the times. 



REVIEW OP REVIEWS. 



In view of the "war-talk" now going on, 

 the article in the February number, by 

 Frederick Passy, entitled "The Advance 



of the Peace Movement Throughout the 

 World" is particularly pertinent. Dealing 

 as it does, with the question of arbitration 

 and legal remedies as a settlement of inter- 

 national disputes, instead of war, the fact 

 that the author is a Frenchman and there- 

 fore voices the French idea of this subject, 

 makes it all the more interesting and in- 

 structive. W. T. Stead, the well known 

 British journalist, deals with "British 

 Problems and Policies for 1898," under 

 that heading. While claiming as he does 

 to be an optomist, especially regarding 

 Great Britain, he feels that he must chron- 

 icle a few facts, even if they are unpalat- 

 able to British minds. One is the inad- 

 equacy of the standing army for the main- 

 tenance of the supremacy of so vast an 

 empire; another is the practical collapse of 

 one of the great political parties, so that 

 the cooperation and rivalry of the two par- 

 ties that for sixty years has been the basis 

 of good government, can no longer be re- 

 lied upon. And the third, according to 

 Mr. Stead, is the fact that Great Britain's 

 industrial supremacy is seriously threat- 

 ened by the United States and Germany. 

 The "Traveling Library A Boon for 

 American Country Readers," will be found 

 interesting, especially so to those whom 

 such libraries benefit. 



Walter Wellman tells of Artie Explora- 

 tion and the Quest of the North Pole," and 

 gives accounts of the five expeditions that 

 are planned for the near future. Lieuten- 

 ant Perry intends starting in July for a 

 final effort to reac*ft the pole. In July, 

 also Mr. Walter Wellman will make a sim- 

 ilar effort, starting from a different point. 

 Three others will also make the attempt. 

 The usual interesting review of periodi- 

 cals and leading articles is given. 



THE AUSTRALIAN REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



The account of the escape of the Cuban 

 maiden, Evangelina Cisneros, from the 

 prison at Havana, as told in the December 

 magazine under the heading "A Romance 

 of the Pearl of the Antilles," is as thrilling 

 and romantic as any fictitious story of ad- 

 venture. The second installment is given 



