Eevieir of Revieus, l/3lli 



LEADIXG ARTICLES. 



59 



HOW THE PRESIDENT-ELECT 

 DECIDED. 



The Sunday at Home tells the stor}- 

 of Dr. Woodrow Wilson, " Professor, 

 Presbyterian elder, and President- 

 elect " : — ■ 



When he was invited to become a ■candidate f<ir 

 the Pi-esidency, his house was full of reporters 

 waiting for his decision and ready to flash it to 

 the ends of the earth. It was a g-reat moment 

 in a man's life. To the surprise of everybody he 

 went away with his wife, and for twenty minutes 

 the army of pressmen had to wait moi-e or less 

 patiently for his decision. At last a door opened, 

 and he appeared with Mrs. Wilson, and in few 

 wordg gave the reporters the necessary informa- 

 tion. His reticence left them keenly dissatisfied, 

 but not another word could they get out of him. 



One reporter, with almost daring impertinence, 

 asked Mrs. Wilson wliat had occupied her and her 

 husband so long. 



■' Well," she said, shyly. " you know we are 

 religious i)eople." 



It was easy to guess the secret of the delay. 

 They had sought in prayer the guidance and help 

 of their Heavenly Father. It is indeed well 

 known that the Presbyterian elder, who is now 

 President-elect, is a man of simple religious faith 

 and earnest Christian spirit. In a recent speech 

 he declared that true progress could never be 

 divorced from religion. "There can never be 

 any other platform for reformers,'" he said, 

 "than the platform written in the utterances of 

 our lyord and Saviour." 



THE CANADIAN CAVALIERS. 



" The most wonderful body of 

 mounted men in the world," that is the 

 description which Miss A. D. Cameron 

 gives of the Ro}al North- West Mounted 

 Police. She sa\'s it is a combination of 

 all sorts of men drawn together by the 

 winds of heaven: — 



Five years ago the i-oll-call of one division dis- 

 closed an ex-midshipman; a son of the Governor 

 of a Britisli Colony; a medical student from 

 Dublin; a grandson of a Captain of the line; a 

 Cambridge B.A. ; three ex-troopers of the Sc-ots 

 Greys; the brother of a Yorkshire Baronet, and 

 a goodly sprinkling of the ubietuitous Scots. For 

 years a son of Charles Dickens did valiant ser- 

 \-ice with this force, and has left behind him a 

 book (as yet unpublished), " Seven Years Without 

 Beer " I 



In Regina serves a corporal wlio bears a name 

 famous among the famous names of the old 

 nobility of Denmark. When Lord Aberdeen was 

 Governor-General of Canada, he paid an official 

 visit to the Prairie Provinces, making a tem- 

 porary stay ait Fort Macleod in Alberta. When 

 His Excellency asked for his despatches and the 

 accun)ulated mail, the trooper who rode up and 

 handed them to him at the saiute, was his own 

 nephew^ a full private of the R.N.W.M.P. In this 

 force it is service and not ancient lineage which 

 counts, and many a constable, if transferred to 

 a State function in Ivondon, would have to take 

 precedence of every officer in the detachment. 



THE REFORMATION OF KOREA. 



It is impossible in a brief space to 

 give anything like an idea of the numer- 

 ous improvements that Japan is endea- 

 \ouring to accomplish in Korea. In the 

 Japan Magazine F. Kazan notes a few 

 of the activities of his countrymen, and 

 from them we can gather something of 

 the stupendous task in front of the 

 Japanese. The reforms in tax-collect- 

 ing methods, notwithstanding that over 

 5 per cent, of taxes were remitted on 

 account of hard times, have resulted in 

 7,815,871 yen being collected in 1911, 

 which was 818,757 yen more than the 

 year before. In 1910 the value of the 

 exports and imports was 6,798,941 }en 

 more than the previous year. The vast 

 outlaw's of the Government on railways, 

 roads, and other public works has natur- 

 ally mcreased the volume of money in 

 cuxulation and done much to nnprove 

 the purchasnig power of the people. A 

 marked increase has also been notice- 

 able m imports, especial 1\- in cottons, to 

 the extent of some 3,250,000 }-en. The 

 present tendenc}- of exports to overbal- 

 ance imports points to a promising 

 economic future for the peninsula. Be- 

 fore annexation little more than 400 

 miles of new railway had been planned 

 and laid, but since that time the Govern- 

 ment has promoted a plan to extend the 

 new tracks by 1400 miles in live years, 

 representing some 23 new branches, 

 opening up hitherto remote regions. 

 Harbour improvements and customs 

 facilities have also been pushed to a 

 degree consistent with the growth of 

 trade, nearh' five million yen being al- 

 ready spent on this work. 



\'arious schools have been established 

 in addition to those found in operation 

 at the time of annexation, the number 

 now being 173, with about 22,000 pujnls. 

 But what are these among a population 

 of nearly 14,000,000, all in need of 

 education?* In addition, there are some 

 50 institutions of a higher grade with 

 about 1000 students. The Government 

 has also established agricultural and in- 

 dustrial schools to the number of 25, 

 with 1000 students in attendance. There 

 are also a considerable number of 

 private schools, about 780 in all, mostly 



