No painter of New England landscapes is a more loyal interpreter of nature than Mr. Enneking. His views or art, as well as reproductions of his paintings, will be found in the article by the artist Charles H. Pepper, page 517 Miss Wright has long been known as the best citizen of New Orleans." The story of the good that has been done by this little cripple, without money or outside help, is one of the most inspiring of our generation. Her free night school, which was started twenty-five years ago with one pupil, an acrobat from a stranded circus, now has a nightly attendance of nearly two thousand. Besides this she has built a home for crippled children and a school for girls. She has received the silver loving cup which is given annually to the person who has done the most in the year for the city. At the same time she was given, as a voluntary tribute from the citizens, a check for $10,000 to cancel a debt she had assumed in enlarging her night. school Ex-President Castro EVENTS OF THE MONTH Foreign Affairs So obnoxious was the rule of ex-President Castro in Venezuela that his declared purpose of returning to that country has been hindered by all the means possible to the various governments interested. Castro sailed from France March 26 on the Guadeloupe, intending to land at Trinidad April 10. The Venezuelan government warned the steamship company that he would not be permitted to land at any Venezuelan port, but finally said he could do so "at his own peril." The British government, at the urgent request of the United States government, it is said, instructed the officials at Portof-Spain not to permit him to land at Trinidad. The Netherlands, France, France, Colombia and Panama are all in accord on the subject and are endeavoring to prevent their territory from becoming a basis for any strategic move on Castro's part. He finally went ashore at Fort de France, Martinique, while his wife went on to La Guayra. He has learned that he is under indictment in Venezuela and will be arrested on arrival should he attempt to go there. Two United States armored ships are cruising in West Indian waters to aid President Gomez if occasion arise. The State department at Washington has urged the latter not to resign as he thought of doing. Later news is to the effect that the French government had decided to expel Castro from Martinique on the ground that his presence there may foment revolution in Venezuela. stated that his health is in a precarious condition, the wound from the operation in Berlin having reopened. On April 11 Castro was compelled to embark on the steamer Versailles for deportation to France, despite an emphatic protest on his part. It is England's periodical fear of an invasion by Germany, which to outsiders ap England's pears ill-founded, has been Naval freshly strengthened durScare ing the past weeks by the speech of the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. McKenna, in presenting the annual naval estimates. The rapid growth of the German navy was urged as a reason for a large increase of the naval strength of Great Britain. In the last two years Germany has acquired fourteen vessels, each equal to the English Dreadnought, and her plans for the future, he stated, contemplate several more by next year. Mr. Balfour still further emphasized the dreaded danger by asserting that in 1912 Germany will have twenty-one Dreadnoughts. These statements have stirred the English nation profoundly, convincing many, even of the anti-militarists. The naval estimates were not only at once approved, but decided dissatisfaction with them became evident, it being claimed that the proposed plans were inadequate if the reports as to Germany's navy were true. The Admiralty proposes to have fourteen vessels of the Dreadnought type by the end of 1910. The loyalty of the colonies has been aroused by the strength of the public feeling in the mother country. New Zealand has offered to supply a Dreadnought fully equipped, Canada has intimated that she is ready to assist, if need be, and Australia is raising large subscriptions for the construction of battle-ships. Meanwhile, Germany disclaims in the Reichstag any thought of friction with England and Prime Minister Asquith informs the House of Commons that the government learns it was mistaken as to a rapid enlargement of the German navy in the near future. An interesting debate on the vote to censure the government's naval program resulted in the opposition's motion being defeated by a majority of 218, the Laborites supporting the government. England's Poor-Law A Royal Commission appointed by the Conservative government of 1905 for the investigation of England's poor-law administration Commission has now made its report. It is the result of three years' careful and painstaking work and constitutes a blue book of about eight hundred pages. Lord George Hamilton was chairman of the Commission, which included three women. The existing poor-law system affects some 930,000 persons who are receiving either indoor or outdoor relief. It is pointed out as a radical fault in this system that during three-quarters of a century there has been little effort to help men and women out of the pauper rank. In fact, the number of able-bodied men in the workhouses has largely increased, despite a period of great industrial prosperity. The Phantom Ship-John Bull's Nightmare An immense amount of mail accumulated in the offices and stations. The government put 3,000 soldiers at the task of sorting it, but they did not make a success of the work. No attempt was made to handle the newspaper mail The Commission recommends that these men be put in charge of the home office, and that they be maintained in detention colonies where they would not have the easy life which tempts them to resort to the workhouse rather than struggle for a living. Further recommendations of the Commission are the abolition of poor-law guardians as a local government organization, and that municipal committees shall no longer provide work for the unemployed, but all responsibility for cases of poverty and distress shall be transferred to the county and municipal councils, whose committees shall have the oversight of all charity administration. The modus operandi suggested is thus classified: The establishment in every district of four coöperating organizations: (a) An organization for insurance against unemployment, to develop and secure (with contributions from public funds) the greatest possible benefits to the workmen from coöperative insurance against unemployment; (b) a labor exchange established and maintained by the Board of Trade to provide efficient machinery for putting those requiring work and those requiring workers into prompt communication; (c) a voluntary aid committee to give advice and aid out of voluntary funds, especially to the better class of workmen reduced to want through unemployment; (d) a public assistance authority representing the county or county borough and acting locally through a public assistance committee to assist necessitous workmen under specified conditions at the public expense. Business in Paris was in a state of stagnation for some days in consequence The French of the strike initiated by Telegraph Em- the telegraph employees, ployees' Strike but participated in also by the letter-carriers, mail clerks, telephone operators, linemen, repairers, and other mechanics. An immense amount of mail and of telegrams accumulated, and there |