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HyB filial (in. P L U M mAvm CHAPTER 111. ler "Drawn the Line." ,,-v In February the railways traversing •or state sent to the capitol a bill that had been drawn by our ablest lawyers and reviewed by the craftiest of the great corporation lawyers of New York city. Its purpose, most Shrewdly and slyly concealed was to exempt the railways from practi- willy all taxation. It was so subtly Worded that this would be disclosed only when thei companies should be brought to court for refusing to pay their usual share of the taxes. Such measures are usually "straddled" through the legislature--'that is, neith­ er party takes the responsibility, but the boss of each machine assigns to vote for them all the men whose seats are secure beyond any ordinary assault of public indignation. In this case, of the 91 members of the lower house, 32 were assigned by Dunkirk and 17 by Silllman to make up a ma­ jority with three to spare. My boss, Dominick, got wind that Dunkirk and Silliman were cutting an extra melon of uncommon size. He de­ scended upon the capitol and served notice on Dunkirk that the 11 Dom­ inick men assigned to vote for the bill would vote against it unless he got $7,000 apiece for them -- $77,000. Dunkirk needed every one of Dom- inick's men to make up his portion of the majority; he yielded after trying? In vain to reduce the price. All Dom­ inick would say to him on that point, •JfO I heard afterward, was: k "Every day you put me off I go up •jrtftuussiid dollars a head." • We who were to be voted so profit­ ably for Dunkirk, Silliman, Dominick. and the railroads, learned what was going on--Silllman went on a "tear" auad talked too much. Nine of us, not including myself, got together and sent Cassidy, member from the Sec­ ond Jackson county district, to Dom­ inick 'to plead for a share. I happen­ ed to be with him in the Capital City Hotel bar when Cassidy came up, and hemming and hawing, explained how ,|e and his fellow insurgents felt. ! Dominick's veins seemed cords Straining to bind down a demon strug­ gling to escape. "It's back to the bench you go, Pat Cassidy--back to the bench where I found you,*' he snarled, with a volley of profanity and sewage. "I dbn't know nothing about this here bill except that it's for the good of the party. Go back to that gang of damned wharf rats, and tell 'em, if I hear another squeak, Til put 'em where I got 'em." Cassidy shrank away with a fur­ tive glance of envy and hate at me, whom Dominick treated with peculiar consideratlon-r-I think it was be­ cause I was the only man of educa­ tion of any pretensions to "family" in official position in his machine. He used to like to class himself and me together as "we gentlemen," in con­ trast to "them muckers,"- meaning my colleagues. Next day, Just before the voting .began, Dominick seated himself at the front of the governor's gallery--the only person in it I see him now as he looked that day--black and heavy- Jawed and scowling, leaning forward and both forearms on the railing, and bis big, flat chin resting on his up­ turned, stubby thumbs. He was there to see that each of us, his crea­ tures, dependent absolutely upon him for our political lives, should vote as be had sold us in block. There was no chance to shirk or even to squirm. As the roll-call proceeded, one after another, seven of us, obeyed that will frowning from the gallery--jumped through the hoop of fire under the quivering lash. I was the eighth on the roll. , Sayler!" How my name echoed through that horrible silence! I could not answer. Gradually every face turned toward me--I could see them, could feel them, and, to make Bad enough worse, I yielded to an im­ perious fascination, the fascination of that incarnation of brute-power-- power of muscle and power of will. I turned my eyes upon the amazed, furious eyes of my master. It seem­ ed to me that his lips must give pass­ age to the oaths and filth swelling be­ neath his chest, and seething behind his eyes. '"Sayler!" repeated the clerk that exploded within me. If- "No!" I shouted--not in answer to the clerk, but in denial of that In­ solent master-to-dog command from the beast in the gallery. ; The look in his eyes changed to re­ let and contemptuous approval. There was a murmur of derision from my fellow members. Then I remem­ bered that a negative was, at that Stage of the bill, a vote for it--I had •done just the reverse of what I in­ tended. The roll-call went on, and I aat debating with myself. Prudence, inclination, the natural timidity of youth, the utter futility of opposition, fear, above all else, fear--these join­ ed in bidding me let my ifljte stand as cast. On the other side stood my notion of self-respect. I felt I must then and thero and for ever decide whether I was a thing or a maw Yet, again and again I had voted for meas­ ures just as corrupt--had voted for them with no protest beyond a cyni- eHB. shrug and a wry look. Every man, even the laxest, if he is to continue to "count as one," must have a point Where he draws the line beyond which be will not go. The liar must have things he will not lie about, the thief things he will not steal, the compro miser things he will not compromise, the practical man of the pulpit, in politics, in business, in the profes­ sor's chair, or editorial tribune, things be will not sacrifice, whatever the 0m. That ^"practical honoe." I had reached my line of practical honor, my line between possible com­ promise and certain demoralization. And I realised it. When the roll-call ended I rose, and, in a voice that I knew was firm and clear, said: "Mr. Speaker, I voted in the negative by mistake. I wish my vote to be recorded in the affirmative. I am against the bill." Amid a fearful silence I took my seat With a suddenness that made me leap, a wild and crazy assembly­ man, noted as the crank of that ses­ sion, emitted a fantastic jell of en­ thusiastic approval. I wish I could boast how brava I felt as I reversed rtj vote, how In­ different to that tempest of mockery, and how strong as I went forth to meet my master and hear my death- warrant But I can't, in honesty--I'm only a human being, not a hero, and these are my. confessions, not my professions. So I must relate that though the voice that requested the change of vote was calm and cour­ ageous, the man behind it was agi­ tated and sick with dread. There may be those who have the absolute cour­ age some, men boast--if not directly, then by implication In despising him who has it not. For myself, I must for wealth, or for the empty feputa- tion of power he wields only on an­ other's sufferance. A glance about me was enough to disclose the chief reason why so many men had surrendered the inner citadel of self-respect. In the crucial h»ur, when they had had to choose between subservience and a hard bat­ tle with adversity, forth from their hearts had issued a traitor weakness, the feeling of responsibility to wife and children, and this traitor had eas­ ily delivered them captive to some master or masters. More, or less, than human,' it seemed to me, was the courage that could make success­ ful resistance to this traitor, and could strike down and drag down wife and children. "I must give up Elisa­ beth," I said to myself, "for her own sake as well as for mine. Marry her I must not until I am established se­ curely in freedom. And when will that be?" In my mood of darkness and despair, the answer to that question was a relentless: "Never, especially if you are weighted with the sense of obligation to her, of her wasting her youth in waiting for you." I wrote her all that was In my mind. "You must forget me," I mid, "and I shall forget you--for I see that you are not for me." ' The answer came bf telegraph: "Please don't ever hurt me in that way." And of the letter which came two days later I remember clearly this sentence: "If you will not let me go on with you, I will make the jour­ ney alone." This shook me but I knew only too well how the bright and beautiful le­ gions of the romantic and the ideal could be put to flight, could be hurled headlong into the abyss of oblivion by the phalanxes of fact. "I see what I must do," was my an* swer to her letter. "And I shall do it. Be merciful to me, Elizabeth. Do not tempt me to a worse , cowardice than giving yon up. I shall not write again." s) •0 I "Damn You, You*ve Put Ms In s Place Where IVs Got fts Whip." Olvs You ths say that I never made a venture--and my life has been a succession of ven­ tures, often with my whole stake upon the table--I never made a venture that I did not have a sickening sensa­ tion at the heart My courage, if it can be called by so sounding a name, has been in daring to make the throw when every atom of me was shriek­ ing: "You'll lose! You'll be ruined!" I did not see Dominick until after supper. I had nerved myself for a scene--indeed, I had been hoping he would insult me. When one lacks the courage boldly to advance along the perilous course his Intelligence counsels, be is lucky if he can and will gead some one into kicking him along it past the point where retreat is possible. Such methods of advance are not dignified, but then, is life dig­ nified? To my surprise and alarm, Dominick refused to kiek me into manhood He had been paid, and the $77,000, in bills of large denomination, were warming his heart from the in­ ner pocket of his waistcoat. So he came up to me scowling, but friendly. "Why didn't you tell me you want­ ed to be let oil, Harvey?" he said, re­ proachfully. "I'd 'a' done it Now, damn you, you've put me in a place where I've got to give you the whip." To flush at this expression from Dominick was a hypocritical refine­ ment of sensitiveness. To draw my­ self up haughtily, to turn on my heel and walk away--that was the silliness of a boy. Still, I am glad I did both these absurd things. When I told my mother how I had ruined myself in politics she began to cry--and tears were not her habit Then she got my father's picture and kissed it and talked to it about me, just as if he were there with us; and for a time I felt that I was of heroic stat­ ure. But as the days passed, with no laurels in the form of cases and fees, and as clients left me through fear of Dominick's power, I shriveled back to human size and descended from my pedestal. Prom the ground-level I began again to look about the mat­ ter-of-fact world. I saw I was making only a fi»t small payment on the heavy price for the right to be free to break with^ny man or any enterprise that menaoed my self-ownership. That right I felt I must keep, whatever its cost Some men can, or think they Can, lend their self-ownership and take it back at convenience; I knew I was not of them--and let none of them judge me. Especially let none judge me who only deludes himself that he owns himself, who has sold himself all his life long for salaries and positions or And I did not Every one of her letters was answered--sometimes, I remember, I wrote to her the whole night through, shading my window so that mother could not from her win­ dow see the reflection of my lamp's light on the ground and become anx­ ious. But I destroyed those long and often agonized answers. And I can not say whether my heart was the heavier in the months when I was get­ ting her letters, to which I dared not repljs or in those succeeding months when her small, clear handwriting first ceased to greet me from the mail. CHAPTER IV. The School of Life-as-lt-ls. • day or so after I lost the only case of consequence I had had in more than a year. Buck Fessenden came into my office, and after dosing me liberally with those friendly pro­ testations and assurances which please even when they do not con­ vince, said: "I know you won't give me away, Sayler, and I can't stand it any longer to watch you going on this way. Don't you Bee the old man's afterpyou hammer and tongs? He'll never let up. You won't get no cli­ ents, and, If you do, you won't win no cases." These last five words, spoken in Buck's most significant manner* re­ vealed what my modesty--or, if you • y prefer ft; my stupidity--had hidden from me. I had known all along that Dominick was keeping away and driv­ ing away my clients; but I had hot suspected his creatures on the bench. To this day, after all these years of use, only with the greatest reluctance and with a moral uneasiness which would doubtless amuse most political managers, do I send "suggestions" or * intimations" to my ess is office--and I always db it,'and always have done it indirectly. And I feel relieved and grateful when my judges, eager to "serve the party," anticipate me by sending me a reassuring hint I did net 1st Buck see intd my n\ind. '"Nonsense!" I pooh-poohed; Tve no cause to complain of lack of business; but even if I had, I'd not blame Dominick or any one else but myself." Then I gave him a straight but good-humored look. "Drop it, Buck," said L *What did the old man send you to me for? What does he want. He was too crafty to defend an indefensibe position. Til admit he did send me," said he, with a grin, "but I came on my own account, too. Do you want to make it up with him? You can get back under the plum tree If you'll say the word." I could see nay mother, as 1 had seen her two hours before at our poor midday meal-^-an old, old woman, so broken, so worn! And all through the misery this Dominick had brought upon us. Before I could control my­ self to speak, Ruck burst out, a look of alarm in his face: "Don't say it, Mr. Sayler--I know--I know. I told him lt'd be no use. Honest, he ain't as bad as you think--he don't know no better, and it's because he liked and still likes you that he wants you back." He leaned across the desk toward me, in his earnest­ ness--and I could not doubt his sin­ cerity. "Sayler," he went on, "take my advice, get out of the state. You ain't the sort that gives In, and ne more is he. You've got more nerve than any other man I know, bar none, but don't waste it on a fool fight. You know enough about politics to* know what you're up against." "Thank you," said®I, "but I'll stay on" He gave over trying to persuade me. '1 hope," said he, "you've got a card up your sleeve that the old man dont know about" I made some vague reply, and he soon went away. I felt that I had con­ firmed his belief in my fearlessness. Yet, if he could have looked into my mind, how he would have laughed at his credulity! Probably he would have pitied me, too, for it is one of the curious facts of human nature that men are amazed and even dis­ gusted whenever they see--in others --the weaknesses that are universal. 1 doubt not, many who read these memoirs will be quite honestly Phari­ saical, thanking heaven that they are not touched with any of my infirmi- ties. It may have been coincident, though I think not, that, a few days after Fes- senden's call, a reform movement against Dominick appeared upon the surface of Jackson county politics. I' thought at the time that it was the first streak of the dawn I had been watching for--the awakening of the sluggish moral sentiment of the rank and file of the voters. I know now that it was merely the result of a quarrel among the corporations that employed Dominick. He had been giving the largest of them, Roe­ buck's Universal Gaa and Electric company, called the Power trust, more than its proportional share of the privileges and spoils. The others had protested in vain, and as a last resort had ordered their lawyers to organize a movement to "purify" Jackson county, Dominick's strong­ hold. I did not then know It, but I got the nomination for county prosecutor chiefly because none of the other law­ yers, not even those secretly directing the reform campaign, was brave enough publicly to provoke the Pow­ er trust. I made a house to house, farm to farm, man to man, canvass. We had the secret ballot, and I was elected. The people rarely fail to re­ spond to that kind of appeal if they are convinced that response cannot possibly hurt, and may help, their pockets. And, by the way, those oc­ casional responses, significant neith- er of morality nor of intelligence, lead political theorists far astray. As I4 honor or honesty could win othei than sporadic and more or less hypo­ critical homage-- practlo*} homage, I mean--among a people whose perma­ nent ideal is wealth, no matter how great or how used. That is another way of saying that the chief charao teristic of Americans is that We art human, and, whatever we may pro fess, cherish the human ideal uni­ versal in a world where want is man's wickedest enemy and wealth his most winning friend. But as I was relat» lng, I was elected, and my majority, on the face of the returns, was be­ tween 1,000 and 1,100. It must act­ ually have been many thousands, for never before had Dominick "doctoi* ed" the tally sheets so recklessly. (TO BB CONTINUED.) THE TRAIL OF THE -*F, . AMERICAN MISSIONARY By WILLIAM T. ELUS Tfcte DMtntoIshed American JourmHtt !• Traveling Around World tor tin Purpose tf tfc* Amtrioa F«r*St* Ma*' Maury from • Purser Distatsraatod, Secular and Non-Sactartaa Staixtpoiai. Illustrated wtth Drawings and froaa Photograph*. JAPAN PLAYING POLITICS WITH CHRISTIANITY Shiminoseki, Japan.--As I leave Japan for Korea, it is necessary to lummarize the results of three months' Investigation into religious conditions and missionary work in Japan. I find that some of the state­ ments now to be set down are rather sensational; this is due to the facts, and not to their reporting. Indeed, unimportant news could scarcely be expected from the country which em­ bodies the world's greatest political problems, the far eastern question. That much-discussed question, one learns who painstakingly studies it on tie ground, Is really & commingling of racial, religious, economical and political questions. The reader of these articles who has not seen in them more than a treatment of mis­ sions and religion has Sot grasped all the meaning that the writer in­ tended to convey. Playing to the Western Gallery. The Japanese government, which has ever before Its eyes the import­ ance of influencing western opinion, has been playing politics with Chris­ tianity. Like any other nation In sim­ ilar circumstances, it has employed every agency at hand that would serve its own purpose; since the west­ ern world is nominally Christian, Japan has, throughout the present era, displayed a favorable attitude toward Christianity. Indeed, that shrewd old statesman, Marquis Ito (whom many Americans have been led to look upon as a sort of main prop of the church in Japan, although, judged by even the loose Japanese standards, he Is "a most Immoral man") proposed that Japan make chri«H«*nity Ito at«t« religion. I have the personal testi­ mony of educated Japanese that they themselves became Christians 20 years ago "for the sake of the country." Tba Help of missionaries waa fraaly selves? They have done only good and not evil. Their educational work especially has been great--too much cannot be Baid in favor of it But not all missionaries have been suc­ cessful; there are some who are fail­ ures. My own opinion is that there is still a place in Japan for the best type of missionary. Especially do we want able teachers and great thlnk- er»" Hew Ambassador Wright Sixes Up Missionaries. Count Okuma's words have caused a digression from the first point of this article. Before returning to it, and while still on the subject of mission­ aries, let me quote the opinion ex­ pressed tq me by the American am­ bassador to Japan, Hon. Luke E. Wright: "When I came to the orient 1 was disappointed in the missionaries --agreeably disappointed. I expected to find them, as in every other call­ ing, all sorts of men, with a propor­ tion of no-account ones who had come out here because they could not make a living at home. But I must confess that 1 have not met a single mission­ ary who could not pass anywhere. Both in the Philippines and in Japan 1 nava met many missionaries, and a finer lot of men 1 have never seen anywnere. They are first class as men. Some of them have become my personal friends." Then the ambassa­ dor went oh to speak in detail of in­ dividual missionaries. He left upon my mind the Impression that he un­ equivocally approves of the mission­ aries. My own investigations, while they have of necessity gone mora intimate­ ly into the work and qualifications of the missionary body, in Japan, have led me to the same general conclusion as that reached by the ambassador. I have met personally 269 mlsaiona- • vi . Missionary t, first, be- Why the Judge Was Merciful Know What Prison Sentence to the Criminal. Meant The judge and the district attorney lunched together at the end of the case. "Three months," said the dis­ trict attorney, as he cut the omelette hongroise, "was a merciful sentence, sir." "Perhaps, perhaps," the judge agreed. He sipped his mineral water. "Did you ever spend three months in jail?" he asked. "Of course not!" laughed the district attorney. "Well, if you had," said the judge, "perhaps you wouldn't think so lightly of it." He knitted his brows. "The evil-tast­ ing food, the prison smell, the prison morals--pah! I," he went on, "spent a week in jail before I entered on n*y judgeship. I ate the prison food. I slept in a cell. I conformed with stll the prison rules. I Wftre the prison clothes. I did prison work, Thns 1 learned the value of the sentences I was to mete out later on. I got to know what a week, a month, a year, in jail meant. As a result I am mor* merciful than most judges. I thinh it would be a good thing if every judgs before taking office would spend a lit­ tle while in jail as I did. He then would know the value of prison sen­ tences, a thing he doesn't know now. Now he is like a cashier who attempts to pay out- money in a coinage oi which he is Ignorant In Baden this thing I speak of must be done. Every judge in Baden before he takes his seat on the bench is required by law to pass two weeks like a common pria oner In jail." Life's Storm and Sanshlns. Ths tears of the night equal tlM smiles of the day.--Rousseau. U.* '( ' ̂ "'"oai = i -J ,I»v?v'L!£ X**u.£j by the It waa need**1, and aeoondly, because Japan wanted to appear in a pro-Christian light Undoubtedly there has been a measure of this same sort of statecraft in the govern­ ment's recent gifts to the Young lien's Christian association army work. In the government offlceB of Tokio I came upon the program with re­ spect to religion, and how it has been changed. Mr authority is so high that it cannot be questioned. The in­ tention of the men who Bhape the nation's policy (and this i3 a paternal, not a popular, form of government) was that the Crown Prince of Japan should become a baptized Christian, so that the next emperor should be counted among the Christian rulers of the earth. The personal convictions of the crown prince did not figure in the matter at all; the rulers look upon Christianity without any regard to the beliefs of Individuals, which is a serious oversight as 1 shall show. Even yet it is possible that the pro­ gram may be overturned by the sin- cero conversion of the crown prince to Christianity, an event, however, which is quite improbable. For the second part of the gov­ ernment program reverses the first. The j>lan has been changed. It has now been decided that it is unneces­ sary for Japan to become a Christian nation. The next emperor will not be a Christian. Independence and toler­ ation in religious matters will con­ tinue tc be the national policy, but the same official whose views I have beei. expressing declares it to be his belief that Japan will never become a Christian nation, although there will remain, alongside of Buddhism and Shintoism, a Japanese Christian church. An Elder Statesman's Keen Views. On the Bame point let me quote Count Okuma, one of the elder states­ men,and the most influential lndivid- uafvin Japan. I had a long interview with him in his beautiful home, upon many phases of the Japanese problem, including this one. "Japan has the most perfect religious liberty in the world. So great is the spirit of toler­ ation here that a conference on mu­ tual relations was recently held in Tokio by the Christians, Buddhists and ShintolslJ. But this very confer­ ence showed a lack of seal on the part of each for its own faith. This same lack of ancient zest, and ten­ dency to surrender beliefs, is also noticeable, I understand, in America. As to Christianity in Japan. I would say that it has spread as a moral philosophy, rather than as a religion. It may continue to grow, j&nd be widely accepted, but it will never be­ come a national religion. Had Christ­ ianity been our ancient faith, the situation would have been different. Moreover Christianity would have been greater in Japan were it not for the denominational divisions and strife, which have hindered Christian growth here. I am glad to notice a decrease of this, both in Japan and America. Mission boards should take into account the Importance of this matter. {•:ftm of t*» sMsatonsrlss,. tfcsm- 'fcv" ' '• . •>. *?• • • „ •' Pariah Heme. ries, of all creeds, stationed In every part of Japan. I have seen them at work and at play. I have sought out the criticism against them and their work that could be heard. Wherever I have learned of a critic or antagonist of the missionaries I have tried to get the worst he had to say. From scores of Japanese, Christian and non-Chris­ tian, I have gleaned opinions of the missionary force. Summing all up I am bound to say that the mission­ aries as a whole grade higher than even the ministry at home. Their devotion to their work, and to the welfare of the Japanese is unques­ tioned. The results of their labor are beyond doubt ^really great To say that their converts are not genu­ ine and their work superficial Is simply to betray a lack of knowledge of conditions that are apparent to any unbiased observer. Of course there are individual missionaries not a few who are misfits and should be re­ called, and of course there are minor points on which the missionaries are undoubtedly open to criticism. Never­ theless, these cannot affect the gen­ eral verdict, that the missionaries are creditable representatives of the best life of the Christian nations, and that their efforts are bearing fruit which justify the cost Ths Opinion of the Optimists. * This leads right back to the main question. "Will Japan become a Chris­ tian nation?" As opposed to the nega­ tive view of nearly all the government officials with whom I have talked, I find every Christian, foreigner and Japanese, taking a confidently affirma­ tive view. In no case has a Christian betrayed the slightest note of uncer­ tainty on this point. They ridicule all idea Of an amalgamation of Chris­ tianity, Buddhism and Shintoism, say­ ing that this is Buddhist talk. Budd­ hism feels its weakness and forsees impending defeat, and wants to capit­ ulate. It may take time, say the Christians, but eventually Japan will become, in the lives of her people, and, consequently In her government, a Christian nation. This confidence on the part of the Christians Is rather inspiring; they have the faith of their creed. Missionaries are quick to point out the weakness of the official predict­ ions. The latter are all based on the assumption that Christianity may be treated as an entity, and dealt with as the government would deal with a monetary system, or a naval code. Christianity may not be considered thuB, say the missionaries. It does aot thrive by the approval of cabinets, or succeed by imperial edicts. They do not want official sanction or en­ dorsement; that would be as danger­ ous to the church as it was in Con­ stantino's day. Christianity is slowly but steadily growing in Japan, and it will continue to grow increasingly, by being accepted as the personal belief of Individuals. Its appeal is not to men in the mass, but to men one by one. As a personal, vital experience, taking first place In the individual's life, it will exert its power and find its place. Thus all ths plans of the govern­ ment may be upset tor the chsi^ ^s - & belief and life of the people; andjjjf1 since the missionaries rely on th# .:*-/*>"~f supernatural aspect which official- dom Ignores, it may oome to pass thai even the next emperor will be a * L: f Christian, Just as many persons In aft - branches of government service havS become believers in the gospel of. ̂ ,/ Christ As the seed in the crack Ke» s comes a tree that splits the rock, s# . $ by its inherent vitality and growth^" ^ t-Si Christianity* in Japan will over thro1* s alike the devices of statesman SaMf ' tte old creeds of the nations. How the Movement Weirfci. In the next breath, after telling yon that Christianity will never cooquefc ^ Japan, the statesmen will confess cs ^ ^ ^ their perplexity over moral and socta||^J^^ conditions In the country. Japiu| ' 4 needs badly a new set of moral ideals; > ^ how badly, the west cannot possibly ; •• understand. Unquestionably, Christ . tianity is erecting these in a largs „ . <s 'J body of the people. I have been a| ' ^ pains to assure myself that the Angk£.%*;s||g| Saxon standards of virtue prevail1 ,» • among the Japanese Christians a£ they certainly do not among the pear- » "i pie generally, or ev^rx the Buddhisf. ^ ^ priests. The place of women must ' be radically changed if Japan la t# rank with the civilised nations; a^ , • ^ mittedly the most potent force * i$ ^ ^ effecting the alterations already a«» , • complished are the mission schools and the churches. .. With respect to eleemosynary Inatfc $ tutious--the care of the insane, of lepers and other Incurables, the form of Incipient criminals, the prep vision for orphans and destitute, ths display of to dumb crear, tures, etc.---Japan has soarcely emerg­ ed from barbarism. Practically ever# advance in these particulars has bees made by the missionaries. Bespits endless twaddle that has been writtes about the Japanese home life. It is undoubtedly true that the Christian, or, say, the American conception of a home is only now being- learned, an|| that from the missionaries. The dis' ingenuousness and subterranean nsfci- . ^ ture of the Japanese character, which bas brought shame upon the nation- in tte business dealings with ths world, is being replaced by straight forwardness and integrity on the paft of the thousands who are accepting , the bible standard of conduct * ^ The Situation as It Stands. ^',1 So far as figures may do so, th£ missionary situation in Japan may 1* set forth very briefly. There are 33 denominations, or organized religious bodies, doing work m Japan. ThesS maintain a force of 889 white mis* sionaries and a still greater numbef of native workers. They possess property, in the way of churches^ schools, residences, etc., to tho^ value of $1,379,902. Of native Christians enrolled in the Protestant churches there are 60,862, including catacho* *4/ mens; in the Roman Catholic church, ' ; 59,437 and in the Greek church, 29,U&, ^ ^ Roughly speaking, this means a Chris* tfan force of 150,000 persons, wh0 ^ v look forward to the evangelisation of a *** nation of 45,000,000 people. While " 'V-f's Japan is not going to become Chris**.' ' tlan in a day, she has made a aisV , ; stantial beginning In that direction* * The Japanese Protestant chureheif ^ d i s p l a y c e r t a i n c n a r a c i e i i a u O a n u C w , ' require mentioning In this resume* ' First is the tendency toward union, 1 All Presbyterian bodies are one iifl,, Japan. All Methodist bodies formal!# ;v: unite next May. The Episcopalians , -i and the Church of England are one^ |j The Congregationallsts. United Breth^ ' *,,'1 ren and Methodist Protestants &r4 vVj. vi uniting, as In America. Left to them*. ^ PI selves, the Japanese Christians will v ^ undoubtedly form one church, since ^ denominational and doctrinal distinct *'$•% tions of ecclesiastical government v* "Ij-f! mean little to them. The missionaries In this country also are ahead America in respect to united religions y i |: efforts. "" I (Copyright. 1>W.. by Jose-" B. Bowles.) * Precious Heritage. J|-y* Sweetness of temper Is a prod on* 'H*. heritage. It gives beauty to every* • thing. It keeps Its windows open to- ward the spice country, and fills th€| , I J home with perpetual delight The for* ^ tunate possessor of a sunny soul is- ' -„'J God's evangel in a dark world. He is ** - a living gospel which no one will ever , -Jj ^ repudiate, and the blessedness of ' ^ Cj; which all men will appreciate. Th* ^ body will grow old and the smooth brow will be furrowed, but a happy ^-5 J disposition is an aureole to the gray *'***< : crown of age. Blessed Is he whos«r. 'Mj',"' life looks out upon the land of Bed* '1 ^ lah and whose soul is reaponatva M *» V * the outlying vision. W'i • • New Explosive of Great Value. ' " Potasimite is a new explosive, per ? fee ted in Monterey, Mexico, and first ! used with success upon the constructs tion of a Mexican Central railroad; f branch with wonderful results, for it is pronounced safer, cheaper and more ^ powerful than dynamite. Those explo- tAj?1*' gives based upon nitrogen produce a '"I1 gas that necessitates abandoning' # v closed works, such as a mine or tun- ' ^4^ nel, during the explosion, and the la- borers can not return to work for a long time thereafter, depending upon jM'h' the facility for carrying off the gas. , ? Pot&simite is said to produce no nox* " ';3 ioi'i gas, the only precaution S c^ry In its use being that the work- \"J| m e n . g e t o u t o f t h e w a y o f t h s H y i n g ' g ' ' - parttclea of blasted rock. . . • feS. From Errand Boy ts QevmSto. Edwin S. Stuart, elected governor of Pennsylvania, is the first native- born Philadelphian to win that dis­ tinction In many years, in his early teens he started Him as errand boy in a book store. Mr. Stuart b a bachelor, his home being managstf; by his sister. Miss Cora A. 8tnart. ^ ..£•* .Ait'.. , Wt. I t.' ...k_ . JkV. 1 . _.JK. u..V *AX ' 3k, ...jti 4-, mm