sence of educational or property qualifications in our suffrage; to the activity of the spoilsman and the saloon-keeper in alliance with the foreign voter; to the indifference of our best citizens to politics because it was politics, I have been forced by experience to a changed point-of-view, to a belief that democracy has not failed by its own inherent weakness so much as by virtue of the privileged interests which have taken possession of our institutions for their own enrichment. From a belief in a business man's government I have come to a belief in a people's government; from a conviction that we had too much democracy I have come to the conviction that we have too little democracy; from a study of history I have been forced to the realization that the progress of civilization has been a constant struggle of liberty against privilege; that wherever privilege has been dominant liberty has passed away and national life has decayed, and that our democratic forms are no more immune from the same dominion than were the nations of antiquity or of modern Europe. It is privilege of an industrial rather than a personal sort that has given birth to the boss, created the machine, and made of the party an agency for the control of our cities, states, and nation, rather than for the advancement of political ideals."

When the question of good government and the people's interests as advocated by Mayor Johnson came up for vote, Councilman Howe did not hesitate to vote for the interests of the city, in spite of the boss and the machine. He knew he thereby joepardized his political life, but a man of his character never places selfinterest above civic duty.

When the time came for nominating a Democrat to run in Mr. Howe's district, the leaders asked Mayor Johnson whom he would suggest they should nominate.

"Why, Councilman Howe," quickly replied the Mayor.

"No, he is a Republican," replied the Dem

ocrats.

"He is a good enough Democrat for me," replied the Mayor. "He has faithfully stood by the interests of the people against the grafters and the plundering franchise-interests and against the power of his party-boss and machine. A man who can do that is to be trusted. Nominate Mr. Howe, and let the Republicans ratify the nomination if they wish

Photo. by Moore, Cleveland, Ohio.

HON. FREDERIC C. HOWE.

a clean, able and fearless friend of the city in office."

But the Republicans did not nominate him. They selected a man on whom the machine could depend.

Mr. Howe was reëlected and has steadily gained in the confidence and love of the people.

Last autumn, when the people of Ohio joined in the revolt of the decent and honest element in various boss-ridden and corruption-controlled states and brought about a revolution against the bondage and degradation of the new unrepublican feudalism of wealth dominated by the boss and the moneycontrolled machine, Mr. Howe was triumphantly elected to the Ohio State Senate, where he is to-day one of the strongest and clearest-visioned leaders of the anti-graft and progressive forces that are battling for clean, honest and free government.

"The Two Ambitions": A Striking Piece of Relief Work by Frank F. Stone.

A STRIKING and highly suggestive allegorical work in relief has recently been completed by Mr. Frank F. Stone of Los Angeles,

California, a half-tone of which we give in this issue. The sculptor has, we think, been very happy in making the clay tell his story. How well does the sleek, well-fed, self-centered figure represent the egoist who through wealth, the assumption of divine rights, the accident of birth or the sword of force seeks power, prestige and advantage over others! The night of physical force, the assumption of temporal power by religious hierarchies that since the days when the prophets were slain and the Great Nazarene was condemned have constantly striven to gain and exercise a power in the State that was not arrogated for himself or claimed for his disciples by the Founder of Christianity and the further assumption on the part of monarchs and aristocracies of special privileges, are all admirably typified by the sculptor in his striking figure.

And equally felicitous is the type of the noble humanitarian who, thoughtless of self and unwilling to rise alone, has fixed his eyes on the heights to which he is raising his weaker brother who in the depths would sink to the oblivion of night were not such aid accorded. Here we have epitomized the heart of the great struggle that is now raging throughout the civilized world between the forces of enlightenment, progress and brotherhood and those of imperialism, militarism, clericalism and reaction. The forces of progressive democracy are actuated by the spirit of altruism. To them the Golden Rule is an ideal for the rule of life. Peace, fraternity, liberty and justice are words of living fire-words that symbolize the soul of the incoming age. They have seen the vision and can never be seduced or won over to that which is sordid, low or unworthy of the best in man; while the dominating influence in the forces of reaction is egoism-conscious or unconscious distrust in the divine resident in man, born of infidelity to the vision that comes to every soul-egoism that has allowed lust for power, lust for gold and lust of the flesh to dim the moral vision and destroy all sense of ethical or spiritual proportion. Wherever we find egoism triumphant we find intolerance, dogmatism and the spirit of persecution in religion, while in business and political life we find a savage determination to crush opposition, by force if necessary or by crafty efforts to gain by indirection, corruption and graft where these things offer victory. All thought of the sacred

rights of others, the happiness, prosperity and unfoldment of the millions-is subordinated to what others think they should believe or to the selfish ends aimed at by those who through force or craft seek for vantage.

Prime-Minister Seddon: The Nestor of Practical Governmental Fraternity.

THE HON. RICHARD SEDDON is without question one of the most commanding figures among the statesmen of the present. He is, we think, fully entitled to rank among the foremost constructive statesmen of the democratic age. True, he did not inaugurate the policy which he has so ably and effectively developed, but he has carried his people steadily forward along the lines of progressive democracy as has no other statesman within a hundred years. His ideal has been justice for all the people and the making of a commonwealth where there shall be no uninvited poverty on the one hand and no unearned fortunes on the other. His faith in the people has been as pronounced as has been his readiness to give ear to any plan for increasing the prosperity and happiness of the masses. "If you trust the people and do that which is just and right, you need have no fear," he declares, and the recent overwhelming victory won for his government is the popular verdict in reply to his claim.

No statesman of modern times in a responsible position has achieved anything like so much for the wealth-creators or the masses as has Mr. Seddon. Under the Liberal government of New Zealand land for settlement laws have been supplemented by the building of homes for workers and the selling of them on terms to encourage home-building. Conciliation or arbitration laws have abolished strikes and lock-outs and thus saved to the workers vast sums while removing from the people the hitherto ever-present menace which strikes and lock-outs involve and the enormous burden of increased cost incidental to these

of the wealth-creators. Then the general provision for marketing the products of labor and the operation of the railways and all public utilities in the interests of all the people are other typical examples of what a twentiethcentury civilized government can successfully carry forward when the welfare of all the people is not subordinated to the rapacity and greed of a privileged few.

Mr. Seddon has also gone further than any other statesman in his efforts to protect the helpless ones of the nation. His old-age pension laws have been supplemented by state nursing homes and other provisions for the protection and help of those needing the support of wisdom and love embodied in the State. With the Prime Minister's imperialistic and protection views we confess we have no sympathy, but we rejoice to note that since the recent election he has signified the intention of the government to reduce duties on the necessities of life.

Democracy in Education; or, The School City in Practical Operation.

OUR RECENT sketch of the life and work of Wilson L. Gill, the originator of the School City, has been widely noticed. This and the extended descriptions of the School City which appeared in preceding issues of THE ARENA have awakened such widespread interest on the part of our readers that we are assured that the following graphic pen-picture of a metropolitan School City, taken from the New York World of Sunday, March 25th, will be read with the keenest interest by our friends.

In passing we would say that the School City movement is spreading rapidly and its success is as pronounced as it it astonishing to skeptics, wherever the schools are well organized and the teachers enter into the work with intelligence and enthusiasm. Of course there are many cases where persons who are ill-fitted for teaching and who take little joy in their work fail to grasp the tremendous importance of this work, either as a factor in the development of the character of the young or its significance for democracy, and in such instances schools have sometimes failed.

Mr. Bernard Cronson, the principal of the successful School City in New York City which is described below, speaks of several failures in that city, but Mr. Gill assures us that success has uniformly attended the School Cities

where they are well organized and where the teachers take the interest in the City that the potential value of the work warrants. And this is also the testimony of Mr. Ralph Albertson, Secretary of the National School City League and organizer for the State of Massachusetts. Mr. Albertson informs us that he is devoting all his spare time to the organization of School Cities, and the results are most gratifying to teachers, scholars and the great

cause.

The chief drawback in pushing the work forward is the lack of funds at the command of the League for the expenses of the organization.*

The following story taken from the World gives a fascinating pen-picture of what any one may see any week in the school described, and not only here. With slight variations the same spectacle may be witnessed in scores upon scores of similar School Cities that testify to the superiority, excellence and the practicability of self-government for the young or democracy in education.

"Children running their own school, rounding up truants, trying and punishing offenders, enforcing discipline and clean hands and shoes, leaving to their teachers only the actual work of teaching, is the unique spectacle to be seen at Public School No. 125, in Wooster street, just below Bleecker street. Teachers of other schools smiled incredulously when they heard of the experiment Bernard Cronson, the principal, was about to try, for they knew it was to be done in a district populated by extremely poor foreigners. But their incredulity has vanished, for those who have visited the school have found order and discipline that cannot be matched in any other

school in New York.

"Ninety per cent. of the children at this school are Italians, as the names of the officials they elected on February 1st would indicate.

"Mayor, City Attorney, Board of Aldermen and three Judges are elected every three months. The Mayor appoints two chiefs of

*All persons interested in this important movement, which we believe to be the greatest educational advance step introduced since the days of Pestalozzi and Fröbel and an innovation in education that is vital to democracy, should send for literature to Mr. Ralph Albertson, 5 Park Square, Boston, Mass.

police one boy and one girl-who select their deputies; a Health Commissioner, who appoints his deputies. The Judges appoint a clerk of the court, and the Aldermen elect a President of the board.

"The other day a lady was pleading with Principal Cronson to use his influence to get a boy out of the Catholic Protectory, and the principal was urging her to let him stay there three months for his own good. The lady, apparently a missionary or settlement worker, seemed unsatisfied, so Mr. Cronson sent for Rocco Montemora, the Chief of Police, and asked him to tell the visitor what he knew of Tony - Rocco, a bright-eyed, thick-set, rosy-cheeked lad of about thirteen, answered gravely:

"He got in with a tough gang; he would not come to school, but spent his time loafing on corners and stealing.'

"Stealing!' cried the visitor.

"Yes, ma'am. He was one of de gang dat broke into -'s saloon and stole a lot of lead and brass pipe. I sent my detectives after him several times, but he would not come to school.'

“I think I had better let him stay at the Protectory a while,' said the lady, ‘or he may land in the penitentiary.'

"Yes, ma'am,' answered Chief Montemora, very gravely.

"The chief of police takes his position seriously; it is no play for him; he goes out into the streets and arrests boys who ought to be at school and are not; if they refuse to come in he reports them, and they are sent to the truant school.

"He and his aides catch boys smoking cigarettes and arrest them for that.

"They stop street-fights and have the fighters punished-not by the courts, not even by their teachers, but by the school court, of which three little girls are judges. This court is the most striking feature of the School City, for its decisions are obeyed without question, though the prisoners are often great hulking bullies, and the judges are only three winsome little girls.

"The most important personage in the school is Giacomo Casale, the Mayor, a tall, intelligent, but quiet youth of about sixteen. . . It is he who calls the school together and manages the morning assembly and the afternoon dismissal. At these important gatherings not a teacher is in sight except the young

woman at the piano, and she has her back turned to the pupils and acts under the direction of the Mayor. The children assemble in their class-rooms under the direction of their class presidents, and at the sound of the bell (rung at a word from the Mayor), march to their places in the assembly-room. The Mayor stands facing them; the police, boys and girls, at their appointed places. It is the duty of the police to see that the lines and files are in perfect alignment, and that there is no disorder. A ring of the Mayor's bell and all are seated. Another ring and every hand is placed upon the desks, while the health squad passes up and down the lines examining hands and faces. Then follows an inspection of shoes. Dirt is reported to the court, not to the teachers. All this takes only a few minutes, and at 9 o'clock sharp the Mayor turns to the teacher at the piano and gives her the word. She strikes a chord, at which the school rises like one person. Another chord, all bow; boys on the right to girls on the left, and vice versa. The opening hymn follows, sung with a dash and volume that proves not only excellence in musical training but actual enthusiasm on the part of the children. However, 90 per cent. of them are Italians, so the singing ought to be good.

"The Mayor motions to the teacher again and she begins the march that sends all to their class-rooms, walking with a military step and bearing that has nothing of stiffness in it, but is perfect in precision.

"In the class-rooms the work goes on as if by machinery. One morning last week Principal Cronson pointed out two rooms in which there were no teachers. Entering unannounced the visitor found a room full of small girls, silent, absorbed in their work, while at the teacher's desk was one of the pupils correcting exercises. The principal entered a minute later and asked the little teacher how the children had behaved themselves that morning.

"Not quite so well as they might have done, sir,' she replied, 'and I am afraid I shall have to report one or two of them.'

"The other teacherless room was full of boys and equally intent upon their work and equally well behaved.

"At 3 o'clock court opened in the assemblyroom. Only the officials of the city school and two members of each class were present