penalties they incurred by their failure to maintain the service. The company refused to reduce the working day from sixteen hours, or to pay certain classes of its servants more than 35 cents a day, or to grant them more than four Sundays or holidays in the year.

The new electoral law added a fifth estate to the four already represented in the Reichsrath-the great landowners with 85 representatives, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry with 21, the urban districts with 118, and the rural districts with 129. In the fifth curia only 15 out of the 73 Deputies are chosen by direct universal suffrage-9 from Lower Austria, and 1 each from Prague, Lemberg, Cracow, and 3 other cities. The remaining 58 are chosen by indirect suffrage, 1 elector being named for every 500 inhabitants. For the 15 seats filled by direct election the Christian Socialists polled nearly 248,000 votes and the Social Democrats nearly 219,000, while the Schoenerer party came next with 35,000, the German Nationalists after with 26,000, and then the Young Czechs with 20,000. In the indirect elections the Social Democrats polled the highest number, and after them Young Czechs, Poles, Ruthenians, and Christian Socialists. On April 8 the municipal council of Vienna, by a vote of 93 to 39, elected Dr. Lueger for the fifth time burgomaster of the city. When elected on May 30, 1895, by a bare majority, he declined to accept office. He was elected again on Oct. 29, once more on Nov. 13 of the same year, and for the fourth time on April 18, 1896, but each time the ministry refused to ask the Emperor to confirm the election of the Anti-Semitic agitator. When Dr. Strohbach was chosen burgomaster Dr. Lueger accepted the office of vice-burgomaster. After the success of the party at the polls Dr. Strohbach resigned in order that his chief might be elected once more, and this time Dr. Lueger made none of the threats against the Jews, the Hungarians, and the Cabinet that had formerly rendered him obnoxious. The Emperor sanctioned his appointment, and he was sworn into office on April 20.

Race War in Bohemia. In the session of the Bohemian Diet in February Graf von Coudenhove, the Governor, urged Germans and Czechs alike not to disturb the peace by mutual mistrust, promising that nothing in the nature of educational or national legislation would be undertaken without previously consulting the representatives of the two nations. A representative of the feudal landlords promised that they would assist in promoting a final settlement as soon as they found a harmonious feeling growing between the two races. Herr Lippert declared that the Germans would readily support any efforts for the establishment of friendly relations; previously, however, the position of the German-speaking population would have to be clearly defined. Dr. Herold, speaking in the name of the Czechs, declared that so long as equal rights were not given to both languages over the whole kingdom they could make no concessions. The resistance of the Germans to the demands of the Czechs removed the last differences between the Old Czech party and the aggressive and uncompromising Young Czechs, whose organization had already swallowed up the bulk of the old party of moderation and compromise, the remaining leaders of which now accepted the defiant programme of the stalwart champions of the restored Bohemian nation. The combined factions before the general election put forth a firm demand for the official use of the Czech language in the courts and administrative offices of Bohemia, Moravia, and Austrian Silesia on exactly the same footing as German. They also urged that the Emperor, when he celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his ascent of the

throne, should come to Prague and solemnly assume the crown of St. Wenceslaus and the dignity of King of Bohemia.

In the new Reichsrath the united Czechs formed a more powerful and numerous group than the Young Czechs had in the last, and the Badeni ministry was more dependent on Czech support than it ever had been. Hence the long-expected and halfway promised decree of lingual equality could no longer be refused. An administrative ordinance was issued, directing that Czech should be employed on an equality with German as an official and judicial language throughout the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margravate of Moravia. The Young Czechs made their support of the Badeni ministry conditional on the full co-ordinate use of the two languages, Czech and German, in the judicial and official administration of Bohemia. Count Badeni therefore prepared a project, according to which, after a period of seven years, every Government official in Bohemia must be acquainted with both languages, and judges must dispense justice in either tongue at the request of the parties concerned. The German Deputies for Bohemia declared this to be a gross infringement on the interests of the German-speaking Bohemians, and the German landowners, upon whom Count Badeni had reckoned, refused to separate from the other German factions. Nevertheless the ministerial decree was issued providing for the concurrent use of both languages.

The Czechs have worked and striven hard for national recognition during the thirty years that have elapsed since Count Beust first promised, after Sadowa, to give Bohemia her virtual independence and Franz Josef planned to be crowned King of Bohemia and reign over a triple instead of a dual monarchy. Count Andrassy preserved the dual monarchy, and for a long time the Czech ambition was thwarted. During these years of deferred hope the Czechs have earned the racial and lingual supremacy that they have practically achieved. Socially and industrially they have risen to the level of their German competitors, and in political earnestness and discipline they have excelled them. Even in intellectual life they are the equals of their former teachers and political masters. They have not only built up a powerful political party and shown the capabilities of their formerly neglected and despised tongue for oratory and journalistic warfare; they have created a literature also, and even a musical school of their own, and in the fields of science, scholarship, and philosophy the Germans can scarcely still maintain that the Czech is not a Cultursprache, a literary language. Nevertheless the language ordinance of the Austrian ministry permitting this language to be used in courts of law and public offices, roused the Germans to such a pitch of uncontrollable fury and violence as the Young Czechs in their wild period of storm and stress never had displayed. The language war between the two populations was already severe enough over the question of education. In some districts Germans, in others Czechs, could not have their children taught in their own language. Cultured Czechs who had received their whole education in German would not have their children taught even its rudiments. In Prague German inscriptions have been erased from monuments, and that language is seldom heard. In many villages it is interdicted in the public schools under the law that requires the language of instruction to be the one prevailing in the district, although there are several Czech villages which have requested that the children be permitted to receive instruction in German as well as in Czech. In other villages Bohemian is banished from the cur

riculum. After the issuance of the new language ordinance the Germans became fanatical in their hatred of the Bohemian Czechs, and the latter began soon to retort in kind. In Saaz the German ultras refused to attend mass, and the burgomaster called the prior of the Capuchin monastery to account because divine service was performed in Czech. In the neighborhood of Eger the Germanspeaking farmers discharged their Czech laborers and servant maids by wholesale, Czech tenants were evicted from their houses, and the railroad officials of that nationality found their life so unbearable that they petitioned to be transferred. In the town of Eger the Czechs made the lot of their German fellow-citizens unhappy, refusing to sell to them, or to serve them in restaurants or beer halls, or to rent houses to them. In some places Germans were compelled to walk miles to and from their luncheon. In many German districts, on the other hand, the Czechs were given notice to quit their offices, service, and dwellings because of their language, were mocked in public or personally maltreated if they used it, and in many cases were driven from their homes and compelled to seek shelter where their fellows are in the majority. Bohemian sermons were forbidden to be delivered in some of the churches. In the mining town of Reichenberg the two sections of the population engaged constantly in street fights, and here, where formerly the German authorities refused to allow Czech inscriptions to be chiseled on the gravestones, the Germans usually had the worst of it. But the Germans were, as a rule, the more violent and vindictive, for the disturbance was a part of their tactics, and they were incited by vulgar agitators with whom thelr party leaders had refused to consort until the new category of democratic voters were added to the electorate. The executive committee of the Young Czechs published a manifesto protesting in the name of the Bohemian Deputies against the persecution of Bohemians, especially the brutalities practised by fanatical Germans against the Bohemian minority in the closed districts, where "the honor, lives, and liberty of Bohemians true to their descent have been endangered by violent and insolent acts unworthy of a civilized people."

The language question was carried into the Reichsrath by the German Nationalists, who checked all business by tactics of obstruction and disorder such as had never before been tried in Austria. On May 25, when the president, worn out by anxiety, had fainted, and the vice-president was in the chair, the Opposition overturned desks, flung books in the faces of speakers, indulged in coarse invectives, and finally resorted to blows and broke up the sitting in riot and disorder, crowding around the ministerial table and menacing the Premier with clenched fists, with cries of "Down with the Polish Badeni!" At a large representative gathering at Brünn in early June the Germans threatened a continuance of the parliamentary obstruction and of determined resistance to the ordinance respecting the official use of the Czech language, even to the point of refusing their contingent of recruits to the army. The Czechs at a convention at Königgrätz, held about the same time, manifested the fullest confidence in the ultimate success of their cause. While they declared themselves ready at all times to come to an understanding with the Germans on the basis of complete equality between the two nationalities, they did not consider it a favorable moment then to begin negotiations and, moreover, were not themselves disposed to take the initiative. A mass meeting of Germans announced to be held at Eger on July 11 for the purpose of protesting against the action of

the Government was prohibited by the imperial authorities. In defiance of this prohibition notwithstanding the re-enforcement of the gendarmerie of the little town by mounted police from Prague, and the dispatch of a detachment of military to avert the expected influx, a great number of Germans made their way into the place from all parts of Bohemia. Headed by the entire German Bohemian delegation in the Reichsrath, the procession forced its way in the town hall in contemptuous disregard of the warnings of the local authorities. Several speeches were made before the police were able to disperse the meeting. The gathering reformed in procession in the streets and marched across the frontier to continue its deliberations on Bavarian soil. On the return of the demonstrators the streets were cleared by the police and military with drawn swords, several persons were wounded, and numerous arrests were made. The German citizens of Eger had decorated their houses for the occasion with black, red, and golden colors of the German Empire. The spokesman of the Deputies called upon the people to remain steadfast to their German nationality, and never to give up the fight until victory was won and the language ordinance withdrawn. In a German National meeting at Asch, on Aug. 22, Deputy Iro made speeches that led to his indictment on the charge of high treason. During the parliamentary vacation the Prime Minister invited the German Nationalists to a conference with the Conservative landed proprietors and those of the constitutional party and with the Young Czechs for the purpose of considering the measures by which he proposed to bring about an understanding between the German and Czech nationalities. The German representatives refused to enter into any negotiations until the language ordinance should be withdrawn, basing their refusal upon the alleged incompetence of the ministry to issue such an ordinance.

Autumn Session.-The first session of the Reichsrath elected under the reformed suffrage was brought to an abrupt close on June 2. The violent interruptions and obstructive tactics of the German Nationalists, aided by the Socialists, prevented any business being done. The Prime Minister, stating that such proceedings were contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, prejudicial to the interests of the state, and calculated to undermine the fundamental principles of parliamentary institutions, and that it was a necessity of state to put an end to such a condition of affairs, declared the session closed. This course had never before been adopted except as a preliminary to dissolution, and it took the opponents of the Prime Minister by surprise. The Germans attributed the action to a desire to check their activity in the constituencies by depriving them of their constitutional immunity as Deputies, which a mere prorogation would have left intact. Before the Reichsrath came together again Count Badeni met the representatives of the parties forming the Slav Clerical majority, and received from them assurances of their continued support without conditions.

When the Reichsrath reassembled, on Sept. 23, Count Badeni was greeted with a hostile demonstration by the Schoenerer group, which cheered for the German people when cheers were called for the Emperor Franz Joseph. A series of motions was offered aiming at the impeachment of the ministers. The German Nationalists demanded the impeachment of Count Badeni, because of the conduct of the Government officials at public meetings. The German Radicals and the Schoenerer group wanted him impeached for prohibiting the mass meeting at Eger, and called for the impeachment of Count Gleispach, Minister of Justice,

Dr. Bilinski, Minister of Finance, and Baron Glanz d'Eicha, Minister of Commerce for exceeding their powers in the issuance of the decree authorizing the official use of the Czech language in Bohemia and Moravia. On the following day Dr. Wolf, the German Nationalist leader, who on May 8 had fought a duel with the Czech Deputy Horica, provoked a challenge from Count Badeni by insulting epithets, characterizing as blackguardism the alleged introduction of policemen into the house disguised as ushers. Although dueling is a violation of the Austrian criminal law, the Emperor approved the course of the Premier, and refused to accept his resignation. In the duel, which was fought the next morning, Count Badeni was wounded by a pistol bullet, which plowed its way along the whole length of his arm. The Opposition in the Reichsrath voted not to elect the 40 members provided by the statutes from the Unterhaus to the Austrian Delegation until they had settled their difficulties with the Government. There were five motions for the Premier's impeachment before the Reichsrath. The German and Anti-Semitic members declared that the Government intended to prorogue Parliament as soon as the Delegations were chosen, and enact the remaining legislation by despotic ministerial edicts. The stormy and disorderly meetings of the Unterhaus continued. On Oct. 19 the sitting was suspended after a band of deputies had surrounded the chair and assaulted their presiding officer. The outrages of the German obstructionists finally forced Thomas Kathrein, the president of the Unterhaus, to resign on Oct. 26. The budget for 1898, based on the new system of taxation, made the total revenue 719,900,000 florins, which was 29,760,000 more than in the preceding year. The expenditure was computed to reach about 715,000,000 florins. The new ground tax was expected to bring in 28,700,000 florins, as compared with 32,700,000 florins in 1897; the tax on buildings, 31,100,000 instead of 33,300,000 florins. From the new personal income tax a revenue of 15,600,000 florins was looked for, from the tax on rentes 3,100,000 florins, from the tax on salaries 310,000 florins. In the supplementary budget reckoned as permanent investment the sum of 29,000,000 florins was set down, to be raised by a 3-per-cent. loan, and expended in discharging debts incurred for extraordinary purposes, and for domestic improvements in general, chiefly in constructing new railroads and equipping the old ones. The adoption of the budget and the renewal of the Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich were the only indispensable acts required of the Reichsrath. The Government resorted to all-night sittings in the hope of rendering the Opposition physically incapable of keeping up the obstruction. In the nocturnal sittings the scenes of turbulence and disorder grew worse, and the debates degenerated into an exchange of insulting epithets and personal abuse. Herr Lecker, on the Government side, stretched out one speech for twelve continuous hours. The Government, which is empowered to suspend the Constitution temporarily by one of the articles of that instrument, could carry on most of the public business without the help of the Reichsrath, but Count Badeni was reluctant to resort to this extreme course.

Hungary. The Hungarian Reichstag consists of the Table of Magnates, in which 19 archdukes, 181 hereditary peers paying 3,000 florins in direct taxes, 41 dignitaries of the Roman and Greek Churches, 11 representatives of the Protestant confessions, 84 life peers, 17 state dignitaries, and 3 delegates of Croatia-Slavonia have seats, and the House of Representatives, consisting of 413 members from Hungarian towns and rural districts and

40 delegates of Croatia-Slavonia, elected for five years by all male citizens twenty years of age who pay a certain small house, land, or income tax or possess educational or professional qualifications. There were 821,241 electors in 1895, being 1 in every 18 inhabitants. Croatia-Slavonia has a provincial Diet of 90 members to legislate on local affairs. The Hungarian Cabinet at the beginning of 1897, first constituted on Jan. 15, 1895, contained the following members: President of the Council, Baron Desiderius Banffy; Minister of Finance, Dr. Ladislaus de Lukacs; Minister of National Defense, Baron Geza Fejervary; Minister at the King's Court, Baron Samuel Josika; Minister of the Interior, Desiderius de Perczel; Minister of Education and Worship, Dr. Julius de Wlassics; Minister of Justice, Dr. Alexander Erdely; Minister of Industry and Commerce, Baron Ernest de Daniel; Minister of Agriculture, D. Ignatius de Daranyi; Minister for Croatia and Slavonia, Emerich de Josipovich.

Finances.-The budget estimates for 1897 make the total ordinary revenue 465,191,881 florins, and the transitory revenue 10,134,424 florins; total from all sources, 475,326,305 florins. Of the ordinary receipts 307,582,306 florins are from the Ministry of Finance, 132,407,875 florins from the Ministry of Commerce, 16,668,565 florins from the Ministry of Agriculture, 1,434,717 florins from the Ministry of the Interior, 800 florins from the ministry ad latus, 793,660 florins from the Ministry of Justice, 347,180 florins from the Ministry of Defense, 1,611,668 florins from the Ministry of Education and Worship, and 4,345,100 florins from state debts.

The total ordinary expenditure was estimated at 441,275,181 florins, transitory expenditure at 8,013,952 florins, the total of investments at 19,051,651 florins, and extraordinary common expenditure at 6,897,886 florins, making the total expenditures 475,238,670 florins. Of the ordinary expenditures 4,650,000 florins are for the civil list, 79,500 florins for the Imperial Chancery, 1,775,043 florins for the Reichstag, 27,881,803 florins for the contribution to common expenditures, 26,416 florins for pensions charged to the common account, 8,350,374 florins for Hungarian pensions, 129.031,474 florins for the national debt, 13,671,681 florins for debts of guaranteed railroads that have been acquired by the Government, 499,078 florins for guaranteed railroad interest, 8,356,364 florins for the administration of Croatia, 148,548 florins for the office of the Accountant General, 240,987 florins for the administration of courts of justice, 440,460 florins for the presidency of the Council, 70.808 florins for the ministry ad latus, 43,078 florins for the Ministry for Croatia-Slavonia, 16,447,501 florins for the Ministry of the Interior, 75,197,236 florins for the Ministry of Finance, 93,514,166 florins for the Ministry of Commerce, 17,607,512 florins for the Ministry of Agriculture, 12,140,122 florins for the Ministry of Public Instruction and Worship, 15.966,402 florins for the Ministry of Justice, and 15,136,628 florins for the Ministry of Honved.

The Session of Parliament.-A conflict arose between the ministry and the Opposition, and was prolonged for many weeks by means of obstructive tactics similar to those practiced in the Austrian Reichsrath. The matter at issue was a clause in a bill amending criminal procedure and trial by jury, The bill provided that in future newspaper libel cases should be tried before a judge alone without a jury. This the Opposition held to be an infringement on the liberty of the press. The Government refused to modify the bill, but temporarily withdrew it on encountering determined obstruction, and in its place brought in a bill for the extension for one year of the sugar bounty system. The Opposition, however, would not allow any progress to

be made with this or any other measure until the Government consented to modify or permanently withdraw the objectionable clause in the jury bill. At last, on July 30, the Government consented to a modification of the clause, and the Opposition in return promised to cease obstruction then and not to have recourse to it during the remainder of the session on the discussion of the provisional arrangement of the Austro-Hungarian compromise question and the voting of the provisional budget. When the question of the Ausgleich came up in October, Francis Kossuth urged the Government to take advantage of the Austrian chaos and try for Hungarian independence. Baron Banffy replied that the union of the two countries must be regarded as indissoluble, but should the Austrian Constitution break down Hungary would be obliged to act independently regarding the questions of the customs and commercial treaty and the charter of the Austro-Hungarian Bank. It is the view of most Hungarian politicians that if parliamentary government ceases in Austria or if the federal system is established there the present union will by that fact be abrogated and the only remaining tie between the two monarchies will be the sovereign. Agrarian Socialism.-The theories of socialism have not been rife hitherto in Hungary, as they have been for many years among the laboring classes of Austria and Germany. They have not permeated the rural population of those or any other countries, nor have the Hungarian peasantry been prone to the phases of agrarian discontent that have cropped up elsewhere in Europe, or used to holding conventions to discuss their condition and voice their grievances. Hence the Agricultural Laborers' Congress that met at Buda-Pesth in the beginning of February, 1897, was a novel and a singular phenomenon, and its most singular aspect was its distinctly socialistic cast. It revealed the existence of an agrarian movement of a serious character among a part of the Hungarian peasantry, differing from the peasant movement in Galicia in many respects, and starting spontaneously from the bosom of the peasant community instead of being fomented by any popular agitators, or guided by men of enlightenment and culture, such as Father Stojaloffski. There was no lack, however, of forcible and eloquent pleaders of their cause, for every Hungarian is a born orator, and the villagers are practiced in political and electioneering arts. At the congress several addresses were delivered that were worthy of the Reichstag, and they attracted the attention of politicians of note. The members of the congress declared that, in case the authorities should continue to place obstacles in the way of the organization of the Agrarian Socialist party, they would form a secret society and bring about a general strike if their demands were rejected. These were an increase of wages, a reduction of the hours of labor, and the abolition of the corvée system. The movement originated and had its principal seat in the midst of one of the most fertile parts of the Hungarian plain, a district where the land belongs to large proprietors and rich peasants. Its character was especially disquieting to the Hungarian authorities because advanced socialistic theories, involving atheism and the negation of patriotism, seemed to have taken deep root among the genuine Magyar population, formerly distinguished for strong attachment and devotion to the country and its institutions. The rapid spread of new theories among this landless population is easily accounted for, as the people here live in communities of from 20,000 to 30.000 persons, and while they find plenty of work in the summer and autumn on the farms and in the regulation of rivers, in the winter they have little to do and find plenty of time and opportunity

to discuss the hardness of their lot and listen to socialistic theories. Thus the doctrines of agrarian communism have made great progress in the lowlands between the Danube and the Theiss, although in other parts of the country they are unknown. The movement, limited as it was, caused anxiety in governing circles, where the opinion gained ground that legislative measures must be taken to provide redress for any legitimate grievances that the agricultural laborers have, though it was difficult to see in what form alleviation could be extended when the low prices of agricultural produce precluded a rise in wages, while a shortening of the hours of labor might prove disastrous in a country where the harvest has to be gathered in so short a time that work goes on day and night. These natural conditions made this agrarian socialism appear more serious and more troublesome to be dealt with by the authorities than socialism is in large industrial centers. An industrial strike, which is also quite unusual in Hungary, occurred in January at Temesvar, where the workmen employed in the Anina coal mines, belonging to the state railroad, organized a demonstration against an increase in their contributions to the benefit fund. An immense crowd, which included a large number of women, proceeded to the offices of the directors to protest against the change. When the gendarmes pressed them back, the men, incited by the women, hurled stones, one of which wounded a lieutenant. The gendarmes then fired, killing 9 and wounding 11 persons. The infuriated miners compelled the gendarmes and officials to take refuge in the Government building until they were rescued by a detachment of soldiers. To frustrate the threatened harvesters' strike the Government determined not only to use force when necessary to preserve the peace, but send a sufficient force of laborers to take the place of the strikers wherever the strike should break out. Early in June socialist riots occurred in the peasant communes of Nadudvar and Alpar, where the gendarmes fired on the disturbers, killing one man in each place and wounding a considerable number. In connection with these disturbances 21 persons were arrested as socialist agitators. Near the end of the month, in the height of the harvest season, an extensive strike occurred in the Alföld district, and the movement continued in spite of the introduction of outside laborers through the agency of the authorities and the premature intervention of the police, prior to any disturbance of the peace, with the object of coercing and intimidating the strikers. The Government labor reserve had little or no effect on the regular harvesters, who proceeded to carry out their threat of striking unless the employers accorded the terms demanded. The untrained imported laborers, on the other hand, proved inefficient and expensive, and were almost useless to the employers, who complained that the provisions made by the Government were useless, and that it was impossible to get their crops in properly with inexperienced hands, such as those provided. Some of the imported workers at the last moment declined to carry out their engagements, in consequence of threats of violence from the local agricultural laborers.

Peasant riots occurred in September in CroatiaSlavonia, where 4.000 men armed with scythes and pitchforks, after killing two Hungarian officials, took up a fortified position. Twelve districts were placed under martial law, and troops were sent to quell the disturbance, which here originated in a belief of the Croatians that the Hungarian authorities intended to deprive them of their ancient privileges and forcibly convert them to Catholicism. When the signs of disorder appeared in April the Governor, Count Khuen Hedervary, revived the old

law of association, under which political societies may be dissolved and their funds confiscated, and even nonpolitical societies suppressed unless they are specially authorized by the Government. In Slavonia the agrarian movement had at that time become so threatening that wholesale arrests were made among the peasantry and military precautions were taken against disturbances. While in Croatia proper the peasants are to a great extent the owners of the soil, in Slavonia, and particularly in the eastern parts, the land belongs to great proprietors. The landlords, many of whom own enormous estates, are absentees, and where the land is owned by the cultivators, these are worse off than the tenant farmers, owing to the heavy mortgages they must carry. Owing to these causes a communistic agrarian movement similar to that in Galicia found a fertile soil in eastern Slavonia. The Government party has a large majority in the Agram Diet, but it is opposed by a noisy minority whose aim is separation from Hungary and the restoration of the dismembered kingdom of Croatia, embracing Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Fiume, and Istria.

Bourse Legislation. The question of regulating the stock and produce exchange has engaged the attention of the Hungarian Government, which first sent its representatives to investigate the conditions prevailing in the principal bourse centers of Europe. Then a commission was constituted under the auspices of Baron Daniel, the Minister of Commerce, on which various financial, mercantile, and agricultural institutions, the Reichstag, and the legal profession were represented. The bourse of Buda-Pesth is an institution through which business in produce, as well as in stocks and shares, is transacted. Being the only establishment of the kind in Hungary, it plays an important part in the commercial and financial affairs of the country. The bourse committee, which has extensive administra

tive powers, is elected from among the members, and the elections are afterward ratified by the Minister of Commerce. The decisions of the committee are final after they have been reviewed by officials appointed by the Government for the purpose, but the powers of these officials are limited to restricting the action of the committee to its prescribed sphere, within which its power is practically uncontrolled. The subjects to which the Government inquiry was directed were the position of the bourse in relation to the state, the composition of the bourse committee, the conditions regulating the terms of membership, and the disciplinary authority of the bourse authorities. The majority of the commission approved the intervention of the state for the regulation of the bourse and its methods of business. In the discussion of the second question the representatives of agrarian interests proposed that the committee should in future be composed partly of candidates elected by the members of the bourse and partly of candidates elected by agricultural associations having no direct connection with the bourse. This latter element they desired to add because the produce exchange exercises a preponderating influence on agriculture in general and upon the material welfare of the farmer and landowner in particular. Their opinion was opposed by the financial experts on the plea that all corporations, agricultural and others, that were in direct touch with the bourse were entitled to a voice in the election of the committee, but the adoption of the proposals of the agrarians would subject the decisions of the committee to outside control, which in the end would prove detrimental to all concerned. With regard to the third question the representative of the bourse committee advised the application of legal measures limiting the number of members who should be entitled to vote, and the exclusion of undesirable elements.

BAPTISTS. The American Baptist Yearbook for 1897 gives the following numbers for the Baptist churches in the United States: Number of associations, 1,567; of churches, 40,658; of ministers, 27,257; of members, 3,824,038; of persons baptized during the year, 172,433; of ministers ordained during the year, 504; of Sunday schools, 23,787, with 164,431 officers and teachers and 1,590,190 pnpils; value of church property reported, $84,039,959; amount of salaries and church expenses reported, $8,106,769; of contributions for missions, $1,222,621; of gifts for education, $165,286; of miscellaneous gifts, $2,214,682. Six hundred and sixtytwo churches were organized during the year, and 351 church buildings dedicated. Thirty-three charitable institutions return property valued at $1,525,721. One hundred and sixteen periodicals are conducted as representative of the Baptist churches and principles. For Baptists in the world, including America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia, are enumerated 47,363 churches, 31,825 ministers, and 4,573,264 members.

Home Mission Society.-The seventy-fifth annual meeting of the American Baptist Home Mission Society was held in Pittsburg, Pa., May 19 and 20. The Rev. H. Kirke Porter presided. The total receipts for the year had been $422,428, of which $297,329 were from the contributions of churches, Sunday schools, and individuals. The expenditures had been $450,693, viz., $202,308 for missionaries' salaries, $84,469 for teachers' salaries, and $50,377

for expenses of administration. The gross debt of the society on April 1, 1897, was $214,694, toward the payment of which $32,933 had been specifically subscribed, leaving a net indebtedness of $181,761. In the missionary department 1,064 missionaries and teachers had been employed, of whom 254 missionaries and 21 teachers had labored among the foreign population: 47 missionaries and 216 teachers among the colored people; 17 missionaries and 21 teachers among the Indians; 17 missionaries and 5 teachers among the Mexicans; 4 teachers among the Mormons; and 452 missionaries among Americans. The missionaries had supplied 1,775 churches and stations, and reported 4,916 members received by baptism, 49,253 church members, 137 churches organized, 1,157 Sunday schools, with a total attendance of 68,379; and $91,305 of benevolent contributions from the mission churches. The society aided in the support of 31 established schools for the colored people, the Mexicans, and the Indians, 11 day schools for the Chinese, and 1 day school in Utah, and 1 in New Mexico. The work among the Indians was confined almost exclusively to Indian and Oklahoma Territories. The work among the foreign populations was gradually assuming new aspects. Several of the churches called foreign had during the year become American, dropping their foreign tongue and using the English language in all their services. Much of the work done among these people was "foreign" now only in name. Probably the majority of German, Swedish, and