of approved candidates and £200 per annum towards maintenance of such candidates who are elected to Parliament. At present a levy of one penny per annum is paid by all the affiliated trades unions, but even this trifling sum represents an annual income of considerably over £4,000 a year. The Labor Representation Committee was originally a sort of offshoot from the Trades Congress, and was founded in 1899. Its present chairman is Mr. Arthur Henderson, who has been returned as Labor M. P. for one of the divisions of Durham. Mr. J. R. Macdonald was appointed its first secretary, and he has been at the helm of affairs ever since. It is to Mr. Macdonald more than to any other single individual that the new party owes so much of its success at the elections. This Scharnhorst of the Labor party, as he has been called, is a native of Lossiemouth, a little fishing village on the coast of Morayshire, and is sprung from the sturdy race of peasants who have done so much to make Scotland great at home and revered abroad-to alter slightly the well-known words of Burns. The political programme of the new party is in many respects frankly socialistic. Of the 29 L. R. C. members, 21 are Socialists, 7 of these being active workers in the Independent Labor Party. So also is one of the best known of the new Miners' members of Parliament, while apart from Mr. John Burns-at least half a dozen well-known Socialist workers are included in the Liberal Labor group. In most of the election addresses of the Labor members the nationalization of the land, railways, canals and mines figured prominently; while several were bold enough to add the whole "means of production, distribution and exchange." The gravity of the unemployed problem was fully recognized. The "right to work"--although the phrase and the principle which it embodied were jeered at by official Liberalism—was a battlecry which found a responsive echo in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of British workmen. The duty of the State to provide work for those who are willing to work and cannot find it was boldly insisted on, this new conception of the meaning of citizenship being strenuously advocated even by those of the old school of trades-unionists who repudiated all sympathy with the Socialism of Mr. Keir Hardie and the Independent Labor Party. Farm colonies, afforestation, reclamation of foreshores and waste-lands, a reduction of the hours of labor (in most of the addresses an eight-hour day was proposed), reform of the land laws and the granting of wider powers to municipalities were among the numerous solutions put forward for the great problem of nonemployment. The working-class candidates-whether Labor or Liberal Labor-were Free Traders to a man. "Thou shalt not tax the people's food" has been the verdict of the working-classes on Mr. Chamberlain's Protectionist nostrums. With regard to Chinese labor in South Africa, too, they spoke with undivided voice. "Remove the stain "-Mr. J. R. Macdonald's expressive phrase-sums up the attitude, not of the Labor members only, but of the whole British democracy on this important question. But the first place in the Labor programme is naturally occupied by the Amendment of the Workmen's Compensation Act and the law relating to trades unions. By the Taff-Vale and other well-known judicial decisions the accumulated funds of the British trades unions have been practically placed at the mercy of unscrupulous organizations of employés, and tens of thousands of pounds have already been swallowed up in fruitless litigation. A bill to amend this state of matters-the Trades Disputes Bill-passed its second reading by a large majority last session of Parliament, but was killed in Committee by an organized capitalist opposition. To the passing of this bill the new Labor party will first devote its energies in the new Parliament, and the Liberal Government has pledged itself to make at least considerable concessions in this direction. Mr. J. Keir Hardie, although perhaps more advanced than some of his colleagues, is still perhaps entitled to speak with more authority on the objects of the Labor party than any other single member who could be selected. He has had considerable Parliamentary experience. His zeal, energy and ability are undoubted. Even his political opponents cordially recognize his manly and upright character and his sincerity of purpose. The worst they have to say of him is that he is something of a visionary and an idealist. But even in politics that is a failing which leans to virtue's side. It is an evil omen for a nation when its young men dream no dreams and its old men cease to see visions. Mr. Hardie's address to the electors of Merthyr Tydvil (from which constituency he has been elected in spite of much strenuous opposition, by a magnificent vote of over 10,000) may therefore be taken as fairly representative of the aims and aspirations of the Labor party as a whole, and on that account we quote from it some characteristic paragraphs: or a zollverein, or retaliation, or any of the many aliases under which it is proposed to foist Protection upon the nation. I would abolish the Customs House altogether, and do away with all forms of indirect Taxation, save the excise duties upon spirits; repeal the coal tax, denounce the Sugar Convention, and make good the loss to the Revenue by a special graduated tax on unearned incomes. "It is as a Socialist, a Trades-Unionist, and a social reformer that I base my chief claim to your support. The workingclass, professional men, and shopkeepers are all struggling some few to make a competence, but the great majority to earn a livelihood. Millions are steeped in poverty, whilst millions more are but one degree removed from it. While the useful classes toil and suffer, the owners of land and capital, and the schemers and gamblers of the Stock Exchange, are heaping up untold wealth. Whilst the poor die for lack of the barest necessaries of life, the rich revel in a riot of excess. Great accumulations of wealth menace our liberties, control the great London organs of the press, lead us into wars abroad, and poison the wells of public life at home. Landlordism and capitalism are the upper and nether millstones between which the life of the common people is being ground to dust. "It was a contemplation of these things which led me to become a Socialist, and to take an active part in building up a Labor party separate and distinct from all other parties; and it is for the electors of Merthyr to say by their votes how far they are in agreement with me. My one object in politics is to aid in creating the public opinion which will sweep away the causes which produce poverty, vice, crime, drunkenness and immorality, and introduce an era of freedom, fraternity and equality. This ideal state cannot be reached at one step, but much can be done to mitigate some of the graver evils arising out of our present system of wealth pro duction. The immediate object of the Labor Party is to create a driving force in politics which will overcome the inertia of politicians in regard to social reforms, and give the nation a strong, true lead along the paths which make for national righteousness. To see that children are properly fed and cared for, that the able are given an opportunity to work, and that comfort is brought into the life of the aged, are objects worth striving for. These things lie outside the domain of ordinary party politics, but they must be attended to if the nation is to be saved from decay; and should I again be returned as your representative, it will be my main concern to see that they are attended to." Such, then, are the men and such the principles of the new party which has Aberdeen, Scotland. IT CHARLES H. GRANT: MARINE PAINTER. BY GEORGE WHARTON JAMES, Author of In and Around the Grand Canyon, Indian Basketry: and How to Make Indian and Other Baskets, Indians of the Painted Desert Region, etc. T SEEMS almost trite to say there is a great difference between a marine painter and a landscape painter. Yet there is a far greater difference than even many so-called skilled artists suppose. It is an undisputed fact, however, that where there is one good marine painter there are a score or a half-hundred good landscape painters. In painting a landscape, while the artist sees a vast amount of changing quality in the clouds, shadows cast, sunlight, waving of the trees, movement of water, the effects of the wind on the grasses, fields of grain, etc., there is equally a vast amount of stable quality in the immovableness of the trees, the rocks, the hills, the course of the streams, etc. But in a seascape, the artist finds nothing stable, nothing at rest. From zenith to nadir, and at every point on the horizon, everything is in motion. Nor is this all; not only is everything in motion, but when one is studying a vessel, the vessel itself is in motion with everything below, around and above it in different motion. The sea has its own motion in relation to the vessel, the clouds and sky have theirs, and the hull, masts and sails change their position against the changing background of sky, clouds, and, if near a shore, shore-line, land and horizon every moment, thus affording a complex problem of movement that only a most careful observer and student, a rapid "transfixer" of the scene and a man gifted with an extraordinary memory can possibly reproduce. But, even this is not all the difficulty. Many sea scenes cannot be gained from the stable shore. The painter must go on a boat and be tossed to and fro on the unstable sea himself, thus complicating the problem of movements, and rendering more difficult the observation and carrying away of the impressions that it is desirable to reproduce. Then, too, it is essential that a sea painter have a knowledge of his subject above that of the ordinary landscape painter of his subjects. He must know all about the craft he pictures; something about currents, and their effects upon moving vessels; the wind and its effect upon sails; and the technical handling and setting of sails; he must know water in all its moods from the placid, pearly-faced calm to the demoniac-voiced ten-thousand-times Charles H. Grant, Pinx. giant-sized stormy wave, that dashes over a large ship and drives it to death on the hungry rocks beyond. The fact is, a marine painter cannot paint on the spot. He must study and know, until everything he would present is a part of his very self, has become so completely his own, that with paints and brush in hand, and canvas before him, he can create his picture from his own inner consciousness. This it is to be a creative artist, as distinguished from a mere reproducer of nature, a copyist or a technician. With such problems as these to contend with, in addition to the difficulties of learning his art, it is not to be wondered at that few men care to serve the long and tedious apprenticeship that is absolutely essential ere any man can be classed as a true painter of the sea. Here is a case where love, delight, pleasure, must become the soul of art. Without such love, no man, or few, would ever undergo the long training and disciplining necessary Whether in calm or storm, it was all the same to him. He loved it, and he soon knew its every mood and expression. At the same time the lad had a natural love for drawing and the use of colors, and made many little pictures that pleased his playmates and friends. But one day, when still a schoolboy in knickerbockers, he learned that a lady had just received a large painting of a shipwreck off Oswego harbor, in Lake Ontario, painted by the Boston artist, Elwell. With desire in his heart and trembling in his knees he went to the home of this lady, determined to ask for permission to look at it. That picture was Fate, leading him on. When he reached the door and knocked, his agitation was so great as almost to suffocate him, and had he had the strength he would certainly have run away. With stammering tongue he told the lady of his desire, and of course, in a moment his pleading eyes had gained the request his lips could scarce request and he stood before the picture. It was six or seven feet long, and, to the untutored eyes of the lad, a masterpiece. His interest so awakened the interest of the owner that she drew him out in conversation and bye and bye, when he shyly said he would give a great deal to be able to copy it, her condescension in telling him to come and do so, almost took away his breath. But there was enough young America in him to hold him to his desire, and purchasing canvas, brushes and paint, he set to work, and on a reduced scale, painted the picture. The writer would give much to see that boyish attempt, but Mr. Grant refuses to say what disposal has been made of it. There, however, was his inspiration, and though but fourteen or fifteen years of age at the time, he has been painting marine pictures, and scarcely anything else, ever since. Before leaving the subject of this picture of Elwell's, it may be interesting to relate that two years ago Mr. Grant was invited to the home of Mr. James Eggle see. ston, president of one of the great transcontinental express companies, who was interested in long-horned cattle, some pictures of which he wished Mr. Grant to As the artist entered the drawingroom, imagine his wonder, surprise and delight to see on the walls this picture that had been his youthful inspiration. It transpired that the lady who owned it was Mr. Eggleston's sister, and, upon making a European trip, she had left it in her brother's care. When Mr. Grant was asked what effect it had upon him. now that he himself was a trained and skilled artist, he said "that while of course it was not the wonderful picture that it had appeared to him to be when a boy, he still felt its strength and power." This clearly shows two things, namely, that, even in his raw days he had the artistic perception, and that the picture was great enough to have given him a true artistic impulse. After a season at the National Academy of Design, New York, he became one of the five American pupils the great marine painter, M. F. H. DeHaas, allowed himself to have. This masterartist had been honored as the court painter to the Queen of Holland, had been given the decoration of the Legion of Honor, was a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold of Belgium, and was a man capable of inspiring his pupils with his own high ideals. Young Grant was filled with the desire to accomplish. The water of the lake had appealed to him, and now he learned the greater power of the vast ocean. The waves became to him the symbols of eternal unrest: he saw in their wild and rough tossing, whether dashing upon a rocky shore, over a pier, submerging a struggling vessel, or in a storm in mid-ocean, the acme of beauty and grace. Here were united hundreds, nay thousands, of curves of all sizes and shapes, moving, scintillating in the sunlight; giving forth the iridescence of a thousand rainbows; imprisoning in their moving forms, moment after moment, the fire and sparkle of the diamond, |