Durham, says: "Not many years ago | revenue's sake, claims and interests the attitude of China toward the opium trade and the opium habit was commonly said to be at best only half sincere. To say that now is, indeed, impossible. Overwhelming practical proof is afforded all over China to-day that the people even more than the government recognize in opium a deadly national mischief, and are as resolved upon its extirpation as Japan is upon its absolute exclusion. The moral appeal to England made by that one fact is of incalculable weight. Could a deeper dishonor attach to a great Christian power than that it should be truly said of her that she declined to do her all to leave China free to rid herself of the evil thing; that she, the Christian power, maintained, for which tend to retard the deliverance of China? Within the past five years general opinion in England has profoundly altered upon the opium problem. The most earnest protests, as late as 1904, were still received with indifference or even dislike, as the cry of a fanatical clique. It is not so now, under God's providence. This memorial is one proof that it is not. With profound respect the appeal is presented to the government of a state which has made glorious sacrifices for righteousness in the past. And it is accompanied with earnest prayer to God Almighty that that government may find and take the way to remove forever, promptly and in time, this great blot from the | moral glory of their country." sert their demands, the wage workers | en, who lack the strength and ability may fail to get what circumstances to assert their demands. These conwarrant. On the other hand it is also possible that wages may temporarily remain on a higher level than business conditions justify. Finally, not only economists, but wage workers recognize the distinction between nominal wages, or the amount of money received, and real wages, or the commodities which can be purchased with that money. Hence, money wages are by themselves no sure index of the well being of the laboring classes. We must also know what their wages will purchase. It is often difficult for the individual to influence these conditions, because it is generally easy to fill a single place. The demands of the workers are more effective if many act in common. Hence the strike, or simultaneous cessation of work has become a common feature of labor movements during the past century; they have been numerous and unusually significant in 1910. Trade unions have also arisen in order to give a greater effectiveness to united action by making organization permanent, and putting it under competent lead ers. United action may also be effective in respect to real wages, and wage workers have come to realize that, by coöperating in their purchases, they can secure the advantages of wholesale rates and save the profits of the middle man. Hence the voluntary labor movement has shown itself in strikes, in trade unions, and in coöperation. But purchasing power is not the only thing that affects the wage receiver. His well being is also dependent upon the sanitary conditions under which he works, the hours of labor, the prevention of and insurance against accidents and sickness, the provision for old age and invalidity, and other incidents. Voluntary action is often powerless to affect these, especially in the case of children and wom ditions may affect not only the health of the individual but that of the race. In many cases these evils do not correct, but rather tend to perpetuate themselves. Unsanitary conditions of employment may permanently lower the vitality and earning power of whole classes of the population, and thus make it difficult for an employer with the best of intentions to pay higher wages or spend more money on improving conditions, as long as his competitors are in a position to undersell him. Thus there has arisen a demand for legislation which shall establish minimum standards in the conditions of labor for all establishments of a certain kind within the same jurisdiction. With the growth of the world market, however, states which permit unfavorable conditions are in a position to take advantage of their backwardness in competing with states which have higher ideals. Hence there has arisen a demand for greater uniformity between the states of the American Union, and in some cases for Federal laws regulating conditions uniformly for all the states, as far as such laws are within the constitutional powers of Congress. Both these movements have led to important legislation in 1910. The movement for uniformity has even extended beyond the boundaries of a single commonwealth and has become international, and the International Association for Labor Legislation has been organized, in order to promote uniformity between the leading countries of the world, especially in those departments of law which affect the public health. This department of the AMERICAN YEAR Book thus naturally covers two leading topics, the voluntary labor movement as seen in labor organizations and coöperation, and governmental intervention through labor legislation. THE LABOR MOVEMENT The Shirtwaist Makers' Strike.During 1910 two big strikes took place in the sweated industries of New York, the shirtwaist makers' and the cloakmakers'. The first spread also in Philadelphia. The general strike of the shirtwaist makers in New York began Nov. 2, 1909. It grew out of |