Prior to 2008, Royal Mail had carried out many machine trials aiming to find ways to shorten lines and reduce waiting time for customers at Post Office counters. This time it looks as if the technology needed to deliver a slick, user friendly, flexibile, reliable and entirely automated service has been created. Today the Royal Mail has Post & Go machines operating in nearly 150 Post Office locations around the UK and, since 2010, they now issue attractive pictorial FastStamps in addition to the traditional plain design featuring the familiar Arnold Machin designed effigy of the Queen.

The challenge for the Post Office was not easy. Using expensive employees to repeatedly weigh and service low value, small margin stamp sales is obviously inefficient. You have to sell a lot of stamps just to pay a monthly wage which is why this process has long cried out for self-service automation. The new breed of Wincor Nixdorf Post & Go Machines appear to have cracked the problem. Digital scales combined with a simple touch-screen menu guides users to the correct service and label for letters and parcels while automated vending of postage stamps for first class, first class large letter, european and three worldwide air mail weight bands is equally foolproof. Studies of customer sessions show each Post & Go machine is already serving around 90 people a day in a typical location despite little public promotion. It therefore looks likely we will soon see widespread self-service as the norm in Post Offices across the UK.

An interesting bonus for Royal Mail has been the significant collector interest in the new Post & Go stamps (originally dubbed as FastStamps by Royal Mail). Talking to many collectors it seems the reason for the fast growing interest in Post & Go stamps is quite obvious. Each stamp bears a unique code that identifies the Post & Go machine's location, the specific machine used (as some offices have multiple machines), the customer session number etc. This means collectors can not only trace a stamp's usage via postmarks but can now trace a specific stamp's journey back to the machine of issue. Collectors love nothing more than listing and ticking off numbers, types and place names. Once upon a time postmarks were clear and informative enough to satisfy this desire to catalogue things and victorian stamp collectors can lovingly examine stamps to determine the printing plates or sheet positions their stamps trace back to. However, as printing technology improved during the twentieth century, many of the unique features that appeal to collectors vansihed. Now, it seems, all that may have changed with the advent of Post and Go Stamps. I predict it wont be long before the term "GeoPhilately" enters common usage where people build collections centred around geographic locations rather than the pictorial subject on a stamp.

A few of the more informative philatelic websites are regularly featuring Post and Go stamp news. The webmaster of the GB Stamp Website reports that more than 50% of his recent reader email has been talking about Post & Go stamps and he also pointed me toward this Post and Go stamp website which lets collectors type in a code to find out where a Post & Go stamp was issued.

The days where a collector could seriously hope to build a complete stamp collection for every British postage stamp issued since 1840 have long gone but the arrival of Post & Go would seem to offer the current generation of philatelists a new and affordable collecting opportunity.

I.

Failure to recognize that the American, is at heart an idealist is to lack understanding of our national character. Two of our greatest interpreters proclaimed it, Emerson and William James. In a recent address at the Paris Sorbonne on "American Idealism," M. Firmin Roz observed that a people is rarely justly estimated by its contemporaries. The French, he says, have been celebrated chiefly for the skill of their chefs and their vaudeville actors, while in the disturbed 'speculum mundi' Americans have appeared as a collection of money grabbers whose philosophy is the dollar. It remained for the war to reveal the true nature of both peoples. The American colonists, M. Roz continues, unlike other colonists, were animated not by material motives, but by the desire to safeguard and realize an ideal; our inherent characteristic today is a belief in the virtue and power of ideas, of a national, indeed, of a universal, mission. In the Eighteenth Century we proposed a Philosophy and adopted a Constitution far in advance of the political practice of the day, and set up a government of which Europe predicted the early downfall. Nevertheless, thanks partly to good fortune, and to the farseeing wisdom of our early statesmen who perceived that the success of our experiment depended upon the maintenance of an isolation from European affairs, we established democracy as a practical form of government.

We have not always lived up to our beliefs in ideas. In our dealings with other nations, we yielded often to imperialistic ambitions and thus, to a certain extent, justified the cynicism of Europe. We took what we wanted—and more. From Spain we seized western Florida; the annexation of Texas and the subsequent war with Mexico are acts upon which we cannot look back with unmixed democratic pride; while more than once we professed a naive willingness to fight England in order to push our boundaries further north. We regarded the Monroe Doctrine as altruistic, while others smiled. But it suited England, and her sea power gave it force.

Our war with Spain in 1898, however, was fought for an idea, and, despite the imperialistic impulse that followed it, marks a transition, an advance, in international ethics. Imperialistic cynics were not lacking to scoff at our protestation that we were fighting Spain in order to liberate Cuba; and yet this, for the American people at large, was undoubtedly the inspiration of the war. We kept our promise, we did not annex Cuba, we introduced into international affairs what is known as the Big Brother idea. Then came the Platt Amendment. Cuba was free, but she must not wallow near our shores in an unhygienic state, or borrow money without our consent. We acquired valuable naval bases. Moreover, the sudden and unexpected acquisition of Porto Rico and the Philippines made us imperialists in spite of ourselves.

Nations as well as individuals, however, must be judged by their intentions. The sound public opinion of our people has undoubtedly remained in favour of ultimate self-government for the Philippines, and the greatest measure of self-determination for little Porto Rico; it has been unquestionably opposed to commercial exploitation of the islands, desirous of yielding to these peoples the fruits of their labour in developing the resources of their own lands. An intention, by the way, diametrically different from that of Germany. In regard to our protectorate in the island of San Domingo, our "semi-protectorate" in Nicaragua, the same argument of intention may fairly be urged. Germany, who desired them, would have exploited them. To a certain extent, no doubt, as a result of the momentum of commercial imperialism, we are still exploiting them. But the attitude of the majority of Americans toward more backward peoples is not cynical; hence there is hope that a democratic solution of the Caribbean and Central American problem may be found. And we are not ready, as yet, to accept without further experiment the dogma that tropical and sub-tropical people will not ultimately be able to govern themselves. If this eventually, prove to be the case at least some such experiment as the new British Labour Party has proposed for the Empire may be tried. Our general theory that the exploitation of foreign peoples reacts unfavourably on the exploiters is undoubtedly sound.

Nor are the ethics of the manner of our acquisition of a part of Panama and the Canal wholly defensible from the point of view of international democracy. Yet it must be remembered that President Roosevelt was dealing with a corrupt, irresponsible, and hostile government, and that the Canal had become a necessity not only for our own development, but for that of the civilization of the world.

The Spanish War, as has been said, marked a transition, a development of the American Idea. In obedience to a growing perception that dominion and exploitation are incompatible with and detrimental to our system of government, we fought in good faith to gain self-determination for an alien people. The only real peril confronting democracy is the arrest of growth. Its true conquests are in the realms of ideas, and hence it calls for a statesmanship which, while not breaking with the past, while taking into account the inherent nature of a people, is able to deal creatively with new situations—always under the guidance of current social science.

Woodrow Wilson's Mexican policy, being a projection of the American Idea to foreign affairs, a step toward international democracy, marks the beginning of a new era. Though not wholly understood, though opposed by a powerful minority of our citizens, it stirred the consciousness of a national mission to which our people are invariably ready to respond. Since it was essentially experimental, and therefore not lacking in mistakes, there was ample opportunity for a criticism that seemed at times extremely plausible. The old and tried method of dealing with such anarchy as existed across our southern border was made to seem the safe one; while the new, because it was untried, was presented as disastrous. In reality, the reverse was the case.

Mr. Wilson's opponents were, generally speaking, the commercial classes in the community, whose environment and training led them to demand a foreign policy similar to that of other great powers, a financial imperialism which is the logical counterpart in foreign affairs of the commercial exploitation of domestic national resources and domestic labour. These were the classes which combated the growth of democracy at home, in national and state politics. From their point of view—not that of the larger vision—they were consistent. On the other hand, the nation grasped the fact that to have one brand of democracy at home and another for dealing with foreign nations was not only illogical but, in the long run, would be suicidal to the Republic. And the people at large were committed to democratic progress at home. They were struggling for it.

One of the most important issues of the American liberal movement early in this century had been that for the conservation of what remains of our natural resources of coal and metals and oil and timber and waterpower for the benefit of all the people, on the theory that these are the property of the people. But if the natural resources of this country belong to the people of the United States, those of Mexico belong to the people of Mexico. It makes no difference how "lazy," ignorant, and indifferent to their own interests the Mexicans at present may be. And even more important in these liberal campaigns was the issue of the conservation of human resources—men and women and children who are forced by necessity to labour. These must be protected in health, given economic freedom and a just reward for their toil. The American democracy, committed to the principle of the conservation of domestic natural and human resources, could not without detriment to itself persist in a foreign policy that ignored them. For many years our own government had permitted the squandering of these resources by adventurous capitalists; and gradually, as we became a rich industrial nation, these capitalists sought profitable investments for their increasing surplus in foreign lands. Their manner of acquiring "concessions" in Mexico was quite similar to that by which they had seized because of the indifference and ignorance of our own people—our own mines and timber lands which our government held in trust. Sometimes these American "concessions" have been valid in law though the law itself violated a democratic principle; more often corrupt officials winked at violations of the law, enabling capitalists to absorb bogus claims.

The various rulers of Mexico sold to American and other foreign capitalists the resources belonging to the people of their country, and pocketed, with their followers, the proceeds of the sale. Their control of the country rested upon force; the stability of the Diaz rule, for instance, depended upon the "President's" ability to maintain his dictatorship—a precarious guarantee to the titles he had given. Hence the premium on revolutions. There was always the incentive to the upstart political and military buccaneer to overthrow the dictator and gain possession of the spoils, to sell new doubtful concessions and levy new tribute on the capitalists holding claims from a former tyrant.

The foreign capitalists appealed to their governments; commercial imperialism responded by dispatching military forces to protect the lives and "property" of its citizens, in some instances going so far as to take possession of the country. A classic case, as cited by Hobson, is Britain's South African War, in which the blood and treasure of the people of the United Kingdom were expended because British capitalists had found the Boers recalcitrant, bent on retaining their own country for themselves. To be sure, South Africa, like Mexico is rich in resources for which advancing civilization continually makes demands. And, in the case of Mexico, the products of the tropics, such as rubber, are increasingly necessary to the industrial powers of the temperate zone. On the other hand, if the exploiting nation aspire to self-government, the imperialistic method of obtaining these products by the selfish exploitation of the natural and human resources of the backward countries reacts so powerfully on the growth of democracy at home—and hence on the growth of democracy throughout the world—as to threaten the very future of civilization. The British Liberals, when they came into power, perceived this, and at once did their best to make amends to South Africa by granting her autonomy and virtual independence, linking her to Britain by the silken thread of Anglo-Saxon democratic culture. How strong this thread has proved is shown by the action of those of Dutch blood in the Dominion during the present war.

Eventually, if democracy is not to perish from the face of the earth, some other than the crude imperialistic method of dealing with backward peoples, of obtaining for civilization the needed resources of their lands, must be inaugurated—a democratic method. And this is perhaps the supreme problem of democracy today. It demands for its solution a complete reversal of the established policy of imperialism, a new theory of international relationships, a mutual helpfulness and partnership between nations, even as democracy implies cooperation between individual citizens. Therefore President Wilson laid down the doctrine that American citizens enter Mexico at their own risk; that they must not expert that American blood will be shed or the nation's money be expended to protect their lives or the "property" they have acquired from Mexican dictators. This applies also to the small capitalists, the owners of the coffee plantations, as well as to those Americans in Mexico who are not capitalists but wage earners. The people of Mexico are entitled to try the experiment of self-determination. It is an experiment, we frankly acknowledge that fact, a democratic experiment dependent on physical science, social science, and scientific education. The other horn of the dilemma, our persistence in imperialism, is even worse—since by such persistence we destroy ourselves.

A subjective judgment, in accordance with our own democratic standards, by the American Government as to the methods employed by a Huerta, for instance, is indeed demanded; not on the ground, however, that such methods are "good" or "bad"; but whether they are detrimental to Mexican self-determination, and hence to the progress of our own democracy.

II.

If America had started to prepare when Belgium was invaded, had entered the war when the Lusitania was sunk, Germany might by now have been defeated, hundreds of thousands of lives might have been spared. All this may be admitted. Yet, looking backward, it is easy to read the reason for our hesitancy in our national character and traditions. We were pacifists, yes, but pacifists of a peculiar kind. One of our greatest American prophets, William James, knew that there was an issue for which we were ready to fight, for which we were willing to make the extreme sacrifice,—and that issue he defined as "war against war." It remained for America to make the issue.

Peoples do not rush to arms unless their national existence is threatened. It is what may be called the environmental cause that drives nations quickly into war. It drove the Entente nations into war, though incidentally they were struggling for certain democratic institutions, for international justice. But in the case of America, the environmental cause was absent. Whether or not our national existence was or is actually threatened, the average American does not believe that it is. He was called upon to abandon his tradition, to mingle in a European conflict, to fight for an idea alone. Ideas require time to develop, to seize the imagination of masses. And it must be remembered that in 1914 the great issue had not been defined. Curiously enough, now that it is defined, it proves to be an American issue—a logical and positive projection of our Washingtonian tradition and Monroe doctrine. These had for their object the preservation and development of democracy, the banishment from the Western Hemisphere of European imperialistic conflict and war. We are now, with the help of our allies, striving to banish these things from the face of the earth. It is undoubtedly the greatest idea for which man has been summoned to make the supreme sacrifice.

Its evolution has been traced. Democracy was the issue in the Spanish War, when we fought a weak nation. We have followed its broader application to Mexico, when we were willing to ignore the taunts and insults of another weak nation, even the loss of "prestige," for the sake of the larger good. And we have now the clue to the President's interpretation of the nation's mind during the first three years of the present war. We were willing to bear the taunts and insults of Germany so long as it appeared that a future world peace night best be brought about by the preservation of neutrality, by turning the weight of the impartial public opinion of our democracy and that of other neutrals against militarism and imperialism. Our national aim was ever consistent with the ideal of William James, to advance democracy and put an end to the evil of war.

The only sufficient reason for the abandonment of the Washingtonian policy is the furtherance of the object for which it was inaugurated, the advance of democracy. And we had established the precedent, with Spain and Mexico, that the Republic shall engage in no war of imperialistic conquest. We war only in behalf of, or in defence of, democracy.

Before the entrance of America, however, the issues of the European War were by no means clear cut along democratic lines. What kind of democracy were the allies fighting for? Nowhere and at no time had it been defined by any of their statesmen. On the contrary, the various allied governments had entered into compacts for the transference of territory in the event of victory; and had even, by the offer of rewards, sought to play one small nation against another. This secret diplomacy of bargains, of course, was a European heritage, the result of an imperialistic environment which the American did not understand, and from which he was happily free. Its effect on France is peculiarly enlightening. The hostility of European governments, due to their fear of her republican institutions, retarded her democratic growth, and her history during the reign of Napoleon III is one of intrigue for aggrandizement differing from Bismarck's only in the fact that it was unsuccessful. Britain, because she was separated from the continent and protected by her fleet, virtually withdrew from European affairs in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and, as a result, made great strides in democracy. The aggressions of Germany forced Britain in self-defence into coalitions. Because of her power and wealth she became the Entente leader, yet her liberal government was compelled to enter into secret agreements with certain allied governments in order to satisfy what they deemed to be their needs and just ambitions. She had honestly sought, before the war, to come to terms with Germany, and had even proposed gradual disarmament. But, despite the best intentions, circumstances and environment, as well as the precarious situation of her empire, prevented her from liberalizing her foreign relations to conform with the growth of democracy within the United Kingdom and the Dominions. Americans felt a profound pity for Belgium. But she was not, as Cuba had been, our affair. The great majority of our citizens sympathized with the Entente, regarded with amazement and disgust the sudden disclosure of the true character of the German militaristic government. Yet for the average American the war wore the complexion of other European conflicts, was one involving a Balance of Power, mysterious and inexplicable. To him the underlying issue was not democratic, but imperialistic; and this was partly because he was unable to make a mental connection between a European war and the brand of democracy he recognized. Preaching and propaganda fail unless it can be brought home to a people that something dear to their innermost nature is at stake, that the fate of the thing they most desire, and are willing to make sacrifices for, hangs in the balance.

During a decade the old political parties, between which there was now little more than an artificial alignment, had been breaking up. Americans were absorbed in the great liberal movement begun under the leadership of President Roosevelt, the result of which was to transform democracy from a static to a pragmatic and evolutionary conception,—in order to meet and correct new and unforeseen evils. Political freedom was seen to be of little worth unless also accompanied by the economic freedom the nation had enjoyed before the advent of industrialism. Clerks and farmers, professional men and shopkeepers and artisans were ready to follow the liberal leaders in states and nation; intellectual elements from colleges and universities were enlisted. Paralleling the movement, at times mingling with it, was the revolt of labour, manifested not only in political action, but in strikes and violence. Readily accessible books and magazines together with club and forum lectures in cities, towns, and villages were rapidly educating the population in social science, and the result was a growing independent vote to make politicians despair.

Here was an instance of a democratic culture growing in isolation, resentful of all external interference. To millions of Americans—especially in our middle western and western states—bent upon social reforms, the European War appeared as an arresting influence. American participation meant the triumph of the forces of reaction. Colour was lent to this belief because the conservative element which had opposed social reforms was loudest in its demand for intervention. The wealthy and travelled classes organized preparedness parades and distributed propaganda. In short, those who had apparently done their utmost to oppose democracy at home were most insistent that we should embark upon a war for democracy across the seas. Again, what kind of democracy? Obviously a status quo, commercially imperialistic democracy, which the awakening liberal was bent upon abolishing.

There is undoubtedly in such an office as the American presidency some virtue which, in times of crisis, inspires in capable men an intellectual and moral growth proportional to developing events. Lincoln, our most striking example, grew more between 1861 and 1865 than during all the earlier years of his life. Nor is the growth of democratic leaders, when seen through the distorted passions of their day, apparently a consistent thing. Greatness, near at hand, is startlingly like inconsistency; it seems at moments to vacillate, to turn back upon and deny itself, and thus lays itself open to seemingly plausible criticism by politicians and time servers and all who cry out for precedent. Yet it is an interesting and encouraging fact that the faith of democratic peoples goes out, and goes out alone, to leaders who—whatever their minor faults and failings—do not fear to reverse themselves when occasion demands; to enunciate new doctrines, seemingly in contradiction to former assertions, to meet new crises. When a democratic leader who has given evidence of greatness ceases to develop new ideas, he loses the public confidence. He flops back into the ranks of the conservative he formerly opposed, who catch up with him only when he ceases to grow.

In 1916 the majority of the American people elected Mr. Wilson in the belief that he would keep them out of war. In 1917 he entered the war with the nation behind him. A recalcitrant Middle West was the first to fill its quota of volunteers, and we witnessed the extraordinary spectacle of the endorsement of conscription: What had happened? A very simple, but a very great thing Mr. Wilson had made the issue of the war a democratic issue, an American issue, in harmony with our national hopes and traditions. But why could not this issue have been announced in 1914 or 1915? The answer seems to be that peoples, as well as their leaders and interpreters, must grow to meet critical situations. In 1861 the moral idea of the Civil War was obscured and hidden by economic and material interests. The Abraham Lincoln who entered the White House in 1881 was indeed the same man who signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863; and yet, in a sense, he was not the same man; events and responsibilities had effected a profound but logical growth in his personality. And the people of the Union were not ready to endorse Emancipation in 1861. In 1863, in the darkest hour of the war, the spirit of the North responded to the call, and, despite the vilification of the President, was true to him to victory. More significant still, in view of the events of today, is what then occurred in England. The British Government was unfriendly; the British people as a whole had looked upon our Civil War very much in the same light as the American people regarded the present war at its inception—which is to say that the economic and materialistic issue seemed to overshadow the moral one. When Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it to be a war for human freedom, the sentiment of the British people changed—of the British people as distinct from the governing classes; and the textile workers of the northern counties, whose mills could not get cotton on account of the blockade, declared their willingness to suffer and starve if the slaves in America might be freed.

Abraham Lincoln at that time represented the American people as the British Government did not represent the British people. We are concerned today with peoples rather than governments.

It remained for an American President to announce the moral issue of the present war, and thus to solidify behind him, not only the liberal mind of America, but the liberal elements within the nations of Europe. He became the democratic leader of the world. The issue, simply stated, is the advancement of democracy and peace. They are inseparable. Democracy, for progress, demands peace. It had reached a stage, when, in a contracting world, it could no longer advance through isolation: its very existence in every country was threatened, not only by the partisans of reaction from within, but by the menace from without of a militaristic and imperialistic nation determined to crush it, restore superimposed authority, and dominate the globe. Democracy, divided against itself, cannot stand. A league of democratic nations, of democratic peoples, has become imperative. Hereafter, if democracy wins, self-determination, and not imperialistic exploitation, is to be the universal rule. It is the extension, on a world scale, of Mr. Wilson's Mexican policy, the application of democratic principles to international relationships, and marks the inauguration of a new era. We resort to force against force, not for dominion, but to make the world safe for the idea on which we believe the future of civilization depends, the sacred right of self-government. We stand prepared to treat with the German people when they are ready to cast off autocracy and militarism. Our attitude toward them is precisely our attitude toward the Mexican People. We believe, and with good reason, that the German system of education is authoritative and false, and was more or less deliberately conceived in order to warp the nature and produce complexes in the mind of the German people for the end of preserving and perpetuating the power of the Junkers. We have no quarrel with the duped and oppressed, but we war against the agents of oppression. To the conservative mind such an aspiration appears chimerical. But America, youngest of the nations, was born when modern science was gathering the momentum which since has enabled it to overcome, with a bewildering rapidity, many evils previously held by superstition to be ineradicable. As a corollary to our democratic creed, we accepted the dictum that to human intelligence all things are possible. The virtue of this dictum lies not in dogma, but in an indomitable attitude of mind to which the world owes its every advance in civilization; quixotic, perhaps, but necessary to great accomplishment. In searching for a present-day protagonist, no happier example could be found than Mr. Henry Ford, who exhibits the characteristic American mixture of the practical and the ideal. He introduces into industry humanitarian practices that even tend to increase the vast fortune which by his own efforts he has accumulated. He sees that democratic peoples do not desire to go to war, he does not believe that war is necessary and inevitable, he lays himself open to ridicule by financing a Peace Mission. Circumstances force him to abandon his project, but he is not for one moment discouraged. His intention remains. He throws all his energy and wealth into a war to end war, and the value of his contribution is inestimable.

A study of Mr. Ford's mental processes and acts illustrates the true mind of America. In the autumn of 1916 Mr. Wilson declared that "the people of the United States want to be sure what they are fighting about, and they want to be sure that they are fighting for the things that will bring the world justice and peace. Define the elements; let us know that we are not fighting for the prevalence of this nation over that, for the ambitions of this group of nations as compared with the ambitions of that group of nations, let us once be convinced that we are called in to a great combination for the rights of mankind, and America will unite her force and spill her blood for the great things she has always believed in and followed."

"America is always ready to fight for the things which are American." Even in these sombre days that mark the anniversary of our entrance into the war. But let it be remembered that it was in the darkest days of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln boldly proclaimed the democratic, idealistic issue of that struggle. The Russian Revolution, which we must seek to understand and not condemn, the Allied defeats that are its consequences, can only make our purpose the firmer to put forth all our strength for the building up of a better world. The President's masterly series of state papers, distributed in all parts of the globe, have indeed been so many Proclamations of Emancipation for the world's oppressed. Not only powerful nations shall cease to exploit little nations, but powerful individuals shall cease to exploit their fellow men. Henceforth no wars for dominion shall be waged, and to this end secret treaties shall be abolished. Peoples through their representatives shall make their own treaties. And just as democracy insures to the individual the greatest amount of self-determination, nations also shall have self-determination, in order that each shall be free to make its world contribution. All citizens have duties to perform toward their fellow citizens; all democratic nations must be interdependent.

With this purpose America has entered the war. But it implies that our own household must be swept and cleaned. The injustices and inequalities existing in our own country, the false standards of worth, the materialism, the luxury and waste must be purged from our midst.

III.

In fighting Germany we are indeed fighting an evil Will—evil because it seeks to crush the growth of individual and national freedom. Its object is to put the world back under the thrall of self-constituted authority. So long as this Will can compel the bodies of soldiers to do its bidding, these bodies must be destroyed. Until the Will behind them is broken, the world cannot be free. Junkerism is the final expression of reaction, organized to the highest efficiency. The war against the Junkers marks the consummation of a long struggle for human liberty in all lands, symbolizes the real cleavage dividing the world. As in the French Revolution and the wars that followed it, the true significance of this war is social. But today the Russian Revolution sounds the keynote. Revolutions tend to express the extremes of the philosophies of their times—human desires, discontents, and passions that cannot be organized. The French Revolution was a struggle for political freedom; the underlying issue of the present war is economic freedom—without which political freedom is of no account. It will not, therefore, suffice merely to crush the Junkers, and with them militarism and autocracy. Unless, as the fruit of this appalling bloodshed and suffering, the democracies achieve economic freedom, the war will have been fought in vain. More revolutions, wastage and bloodshed will follow, the world will be reduced to absolute chaos unless, in the more advanced democracies, an intelligent social order tending to remove the causes of injustice and discontent can be devised and ready for inauguration. This new social order depends, in turn, upon a world order of mutually helpful, free peoples, a league of Nations.—If the world is to be made safe for democracy, this democratic plan must be ready for the day when the German Junker is beaten and peace is declared.

The real issue of our time is industrial democracy we must face that fact. And those in America and the Entente nations who continue to oppose it will do so at their peril. Fortunately, as will be shown, that element of our population which may be designated as domestic Junkers is capable of being influenced by contemporary currents of thought, is awakening to the realization of social conditions deplorable and dangerous. Prosperity and power had made them blind and arrogant. Their enthusiasm for the war was, however, genuine; the sacrifices they are making are changing and softening them; but as yet they can scarcely be expected, as a class, to rejoice over the revelation—just beginning to dawn upon their minds—that victory for the Allies spells the end of privilege. Their conception of democracy remains archaic, while wealth is inherently conservative. Those who possess it in America have as a rule received an education in terms of an obsolete economics, of the thought of an age gone by. It is only within the past few years that our colleges and universities have begun to teach modern economics, social science and psychology—and this in the face of opposition from trustees. Successful business men, as a rule, have had neither the time nor the inclination to read books which they regard as visionary, as subversive to an order by which they have profited. And that some Americans are fools, and have been dazzled in Europe by the glamour of a privilege not attainable at home, is a deplorable yet indubitable fact. These have little sympathy with democracy; they have even been heard to declare that we have no right to dictate to another nation, even an enemy nation, what form of government it shall assume. We have no right to demand, when peace comes, that the negotiations must be with the representatives of the German people. These are they who deplore the absence among us of a tradition of monarchy, since the American people "should have something to look up to." But this state of mind, which needs no comment, is comparatively rare, and represents an extreme. We are not lacking, however, in the type of conservative who, innocent of a knowledge of psychology, insists that "human nature cannot be changed," and that the "survival of the fittest" is the law of life, yet these would deny Darwin if he were a contemporary. They reject the idea that society can be organized by intelligence, and war ended by eliminating its causes from the social order. On the contrary they cling to the orthodox contention that war is a necessary and salutary thing, and proclaim that the American fibre was growing weak and flabby from luxury and peace, curiously ignoring the fact that their own economic class, the small percentage of our population owning sixty per cent. of the wealth of the country, and which therefore should be most debilitated by luxury, was most eager for war, and since war has been declared has most amply proved its courage and fighting quality. This, however, and other evidences of the patriotic sacrifices of those of our countrymen who possess wealth, prove that they are still Americans, and encourages the hope and belief that as Americans they ultimately will do their share toward a democratic solution of the problem of society. Many of them are capable of vision, and are beginning to see the light today.

In America we succeeded in eliminating hereditary power, in obtaining a large measure of political liberty, only to see the rise of an economic power, and the consequent loss of economic liberty. The industrial development of the United States was of course a necessary and desirable thing, but the economic doctrine which formed the basis of American institutions proved to be unsuited to industrialism, and introduced unforeseen evils that were a serious menace to the Republic. An individualistic economic philosophy worked admirably while there was ample land for the pioneer, equality of opportunity to satisfy the individual initiative of the enterprising. But what is known as industrialism brought in its train fear and favour, privilege and poverty, slums, disease, and municipal vice, fostered a too rapid immigration, established in America a tenant system alien to our traditions. The conditions which existed before the advent of industrialism are admirably pictured, for instance, in the autobiography of Mr. Charles Francis Adams, when he describes his native town of Quincy in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. In those early communities, poverty was negligible, there was no great contrast between rich and poor; the artisan, the farmer, the well-to-do merchant met on terms of mutual self-respect, as man to man; economic class consciousness was non-existent; education was so widespread that European travellers wonderingly commented on the fact that we had no "peasantry"; and with few exceptions every citizen owned a piece of land and a home. Property, a refuge a man may call his own, and on which he may express his individuality, is essential to happiness and self-respect. Today, less than two thirds of our farmers own their land, while vast numbers of our working men and women possess nothing but the labour of their hands. The designation of labour as "property" by our courts only served to tighten the bonds, by obstructing for a time the movement to decrease the tedious and debilitating hours of contact of the human organism with the machine,—a menace to the future of the race, especially in the case of women and children. If labour is "property," wretches driven by economic necessity have indeed only the choice of a change of masters. In addition to the manual workers, an army of clerical workers of both sexes likewise became tenants, and dependents who knew not the satisfaction of a real home.

Such conditions gradually brought about a profound discontent, a grouping of classes. Among the comparatively prosperous there was set up a social competition in luxury that was the bane of large and small communities. Skilled labour banded itself into unions, employers organized to oppose them, and the result was a class conflict never contemplated by the founders of the Republic, repugnant to democracy which by its very nature depends for its existence on the elimination of classes. In addition to this, owing to the unprecedented immigration of ignorant Europeans to supply the labour demand, we acquired a sinister proletariat of unskilled economic slaves. Before the war labour discovered its strength; since the war began, especially in the allied nations with quasi-democratic institutions, it is aware of its power to exert a leverage capable of paralyzing industry for a period sufficient to destroy the chances of victory. The probability of the occurrence of such a calamity depends wholly on whether or not the workman can be convinced that it is his war, for he will not exert himself to perpetuate a social order in which he has lost faith, even though he now obtains a considerable increase in wages. Agreements entered into with the government by union leaders will not hold him if at any time he fails to be satisfied that the present world conflict will not result in a greater social justice. This fact has been demonstrated by what is known as the "shop steward" movement in England, where the workers repudiated the leaders' agreements and everywhere organized local strikes. And in America, the unskilled workers are largely outside of the unions.

The workman has a natural and laudable desire to share more fully in the good things of life. And it is coming to be recognized that material prosperity, up to a certain point, is the foundation of mental and spiritual welfare: clean and comfortable surroundings, beauty, rational amusements, opportunity for a rational satisfaction of, the human. instincts are essential to contentment and progress. The individual, of course, must be enlightened; and local labour unions, recognizing this, are spending considerable sums all over the country on schools to educate their members. If a workman is a profiteer, he is more to be excused than the business profiteer, against whom his anger is directed; if he is a spendthrift, prodigality is a natural consequence of rapid acquisition. We have been a nation of spendthrifts.

A failure to grasp the psychology of the worker involves disastrous consequences. A discussion as to whether or not his attitude is unpatriotic and selfish is futile. No more profound mistake could be made than to attribute to any element of the population motives wholly base. Human nature is neither all black nor all white, yet is capable of supreme sacrifices when adequately appealed to. What we must get into our minds is the fact that a social order that insured a large measure of democracy in the early days of the Republic is inadequate to meet modern industrial conditions. Higher wages, material prosperity alone will not suffice to satisfy aspirations for a fuller self-realization, once the method by which these aspirations can be gained is glimpsed. For it cannot be too often repeated that the unquenchable conflicts are those waged for ideas and not dollars. These are tinged with religious emotion.

IV.

Mr. Wilson's messages to the American people and to the world have proclaimed a new international order, a League of Democracies. And in a recent letter to New Jersey Democrats we find him warning his party, or more properly the nation, of the domestic social changes necessarily flowing from his international program. While rightly resolved to prosecute the war on the battle lines to the utmost limit of American resources, he points out that the true significance of the conflict lies in "revolutionary change." "Economic and social forces," he says, "are being released upon the world, whose effect no political seer dare to conjecture." And we "must search our hearts through and through and make them ready for the birth of a new day—a day we hope and believe of greater opportunity and greater prosperity for the average mass of struggling men and women." He recognizes that the next great step in the development of democracy which the war must bring about—is the emancipation of labour; to use his own phrase, the redemption of masses of men and women from "economic serfdom." "The old party slogans," he declares, "will mean nothing to the future."

Judging from this announcement, the President seems prepared to condemn boldly all the rotten timbers of the social structure that have outlived their usefulness—a position that hitherto no responsible politician has dared to take. Politicians, on the contrary, have revered the dead wood, have sought to shore the old timbers for their own purposes. But so far as any party is concerned, Mr. Wilson stands alone. Both of the two great parties, the Republican and the Democratic, in order to make a show of keeping abreast of the times, have merely patched their platforms with the new ideas. The Socialist Party in the United States is relatively small, is divided against itself, and has given no evidence of a leadership of broad sanity and vision. It is fortunate we have been spared in this country the formation of a political labour party, because such a party would have been composed of manual workers alone, and hence would have tended further to develop economic class consciousness, to crystallize class antagonisms. Today, however, neither the Republican nor the Democratic party represents the great issue of the times; the cleavage between them is wholly artificial. The formation of a Liberal Party, with a platform avowedly based on modern social science, has become essential. Such a party, to be in harmony with our traditions and our creed, to arrest in our democracy the process of class stratification which threatens to destroy it, must not draw its members from the ranks of manual labour alone, but from all elements of our population. It should contain all the liberal professions, and clerks and shopkeepers, as well as manual workers; administrators, and even those employers who have become convinced that our present economic system does not suffice to meet the needs of the day. In short, membership in such a party, as far as possible, should not be based upon occupation or economic status, but on an honest difference of view from that of the conservative opposition. This would be a distinctly American solution. In order to form such a party a campaign of education will be necessary. For today Mr. Wilson's strength is derived from the independent vote representing the faith of the people as a whole; but the majority of those who support the President, while they ardently desire the abolition in the world of absolute monarchy, of militarism and commercial imperialism, while they are anxious that this war shall expedite and not retard the social reforms in which they are interested, have as yet but a vague conception of the social order which these reforms imply.

It marks a signal advance in democracy when liberal opinion in any nation turns for guidance and support to a statesman of another nation. No clearer sign of the times could be desired than the fact that our American President has suddenly become the liberal leader of the world. The traveller in France, and especially in Britain, meets on all sides striking evidence of this. In these countries, until America's entrance into the war, liberals had grown more and more dissatisfied with the failure of their governments to define in democratic terms the issue of the conflict, had resented the secret inter-allied compacts, savouring of imperialism and containing the germs of future war. They are now looking across the Atlantic for leadership. In France M. Albert Thomas declared that Woodrow Wilson had given voice to the aspirations of his party, while a prominent Liberal in England announced in a speech that it had remained for the American President to express the will and purpose of the British people. The new British Labour Party and the Inter-Allied Labour and Socialist Conferences have adopted Mr. Wilson's program and have made use of his striking phrases. But we have between America and Britain this difference: in America the President stands virtually alone, without a party behind him representing his views; in Britain the general democratic will of the nation is now being organized, but has obtained as yet no spokesman in the government.

Extraordinary symptomatic phenomena have occurred in Russia as well as in Britain. In Russia the rebellion of an awakening people against an age-long tyranny has almost at once leaped to the issue of the day, taken on the complexion of a struggle for industrial democracy. Whether the Germans shall be able to exploit the country, bring about a reaction and restore for a time monarchical institutions depends largely upon the fortunes of the war. In Russia there is revolution, with concomitant chaos; but in Britain there is evolution, an orderly attempt of a people long accustomed to progress in self-government to establish a new social order, peacefully and scientifically, and in accordance with a traditional political procedure.

The recent development of the British Labour Party, although of deep significance to Americans, has taken place almost without comment in this country. It was formally established in 1900, and was then composed of manual workers alone. In 1906, out of 50 candidates at the polls, 39 were elected to Parliament; in 1910, 42 were elected. The Parliamentary Labour Party, so called, has now been amalgamated with four and a half millions of Trade Unionists, and with the three and a half millions of members of the Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Co-operative Union. Allowing for duplication of membership, these three organizations—according to Mr. Sidney Webb—probably include two fifths of the population of the United Kingdom. "So great an aggregation of working class organizations," he says, "has never come shoulder to shoulder in any country." Other smaller societies and organizations are likewise embraced, including the Socialists. And now that the suffrage has been extended, provision is made for the inclusion of women. The new party is organizing in from three to four hundred constituencies, and at the next general election is not unlikely to gain control of the political balance of power.

With the majority of Americans, however, the word "labour" as designating a party arouses suspicion and distrust. By nature and tradition we are inclined to deplore and oppose any tendency toward the stratification of class antagonisms—the result of industrial discontent—into political groups. The British tradition is likewise hostile to such a tendency. But in Britain the industrial ferment has gone much further than with us, and such a result was inevitable. By taking advantage of the British experience, of the closer ties now being knit between the two democracies, we may in America be spared a stage which in Britain was necessary. Indeed, the program of the new British Labour Party seems to point to a distinctly American solution, one in harmony with the steady growth of Anglo-Saxon democracy. For it is now announced that the word "labour," as applied to the new party, does not mean manual labour alone, but also mental labour. The British unions have gradually developed and placed in power leaders educated in social science, who have now come into touch with the intellectual leaders of the United Kingdom, with the sociologists, economists, and social scientists. The surprising and encouraging result of such association is the announcement that the new Labour Party is today publicly thrown open to all workers, both by hand and by brain, with the object of securing for these the full fruits of their industry. This means the inclusion of physicians, professors, writers, architects, engineers, and inventors, of lawyers who no longer regard their profession as a bulwark of the status quo; of clerks, of administrators of the type evolved by the war, who indeed have gained their skill under the old order but who now in a social spirit are dedicating their gifts to the common weal, organizing and directing vast enterprises for their governments. In short, all useful citizens who make worthy contributions—as distinguished from parasites, profiteers, and drones, are invited to be members; there is no class distinction here. The fortunes of such a party are, of course, dependent upon the military success of the allied armies and navies. But it has defined the kind of democracy the Allies are fighting for, and thus has brought about an unqualified endorsement of the war by those elements of the population which hitherto have felt the issue to be imperialistic and vague rather than democratic and clear cut. President Wilson's international program is approved of and elaborated.

The Report on Reconstruction of the new British Labour Party is perhaps the most important political document presented to the world since the Declaration of Independence. And like the Declaration, it is written in the pure English that alone gives the high emotional quality of sincerity. The phrases in which it tersely describes its objects are admirable. "What is to be reconstructed after the war is over is not this or that government department, this or that piece of social machinery, but Society itself." There is to be a systematic approach towards a "healthy equality of material circumstance for every person born into the world, and not an enforced dominion over subject nations, subject colonies, subject classes, or a subject sex." In industry as well as in government the social order is to be based "on that equal freedom, that general consciousness of consent, and that widest participation in power, both economic and political, which is characteristic of democracy." But all this, it should be noted, is not to be achieved in a year or two of "feverish reconstruction"; "each brick that the Labour Party helps to lay shall go to erect the structure it intends and no other."

In considering the main features of this program, one must have in mind whether these are a logical projection and continuation of the Anglo-Saxon democratic tradition, or whether they constitute an absolute break with that tradition. The only valid reason for the adoption of such a program in America would be, of course, the restoration of some such equality of opportunity and economic freedom as existed in our Republic before we became an industrial nation. "The first condition of democracy,"—to quote again from the program, "is effective personal freedom."

What is called the "Universal Enforcement of the National Minimum" contemplates the extension of laws already on the statute books in order to prevent the extreme degradation of the standard of life brought about by the old economic system under industrialism. A living minimum wage is to be established. The British Labour Party intends "to secure to every member of the community, in good times and bad alike... all the requisites of healthy life and worthy citizenship."

After the war there is to be no cheap labour market, nor are the millions of workers and soldiers to fall into the clutches of charity; but it shall be a national obligation to provide each of these with work according to his capacity. In order to maintain the demand for labour at a uniform level, the government is to provide public works. The population is to be rehoused in suitable dwellings, both in rural districts and town slums; new and more adequate schools and training colleges are to be inaugurated; land is to be reclaimed and afforested, and gradually brought under common ownership; railways and canals are to be reorganized and nationalized, mines and electric power systems. One of the significant proposals under this head is that which demands the retention of the centralization of the purchase of raw materials brought about by the war.

In order to accomplish these objects there must be a "Revolution in National Finance." The present method of raising funds is denounced; and it is pointed out that only one quarter of the colossal expenditure made necessary by the war has been raised by taxation, and that the three quarters borrowed at onerous rates is sure to be a burden on the nation's future. The capital needed, when peace comes, to ensure a happy and contented democracy must be procured without encroaching on the minimum standard of life, and without hampering production. Indirect taxation must therefore be concentrated on those luxuries of which it is desirable that the consumption be discouraged. The steadily rising unearned increment of urban and mineral land ought, by appropriate direct taxation, to be brought into the public exchequer; "the definite teachings of economic science are no longer to be disregarded." Hence incomes are to be taxed above the necessary cost of family maintenance, private fortunes during life and at death; while a special capital levy must be made to pay off a substantial portion of the national debt.

"The Democratic Control of Industry" contemplates the progressive elimination of the private capitalist and the setting free of all who work by hand and brain for the welfare of all.

The Surplus Wealth is to be expended for the Common Good. That which Carlyle designates as the "inward spiritual," in contrast to the "outward economical," is also to be provided for. "Society," says the document, "like the individual, does not live by bread alone, does not exist only for perpetual wealth production." First of all, there is to be education according to the highest modern standard; and along with education, the protection and advancement of the public health, 'mens sana in corpore sano'. While large sums must be set aside, not only for original research in every branch of knowledge, but for the promotion of music, literature, and fine art, upon which "any real development of civilization fundamentally depends."

In regard to the British Empire, the Labour Party urges self-government for any people, whatever its colour, proving itself capable, and the right of that people to the proceeds of its own toil upon the resources of its territory. An unequivocal stand is taken for the establishment, as a part of the treaty of peace, of a Universal Society of Nations; and recognizing that the future progress of democracy depends upon co-operation and fellowship between liberals of all countries, the maintenance of intimate relationships is advocated with liberals oversea.

Finally, a scientific investigation of each succeeding problem in government is insisted upon, and a much more rapid dissemination among the people of the science that exists. "A plutocratic party may choose to ignore science, but no labour party can hope to maintain its position unless its proposals are, in fact, the outcome of the best political science of its time."

V.

There are, it will be seen, some elements in the program of the new British Labour Party apparently at variance with American and English institutions, traditions, and ideas. We are left in doubt, for instance, in regard to its attitude toward private property. The instinct for property is probably innate in humanity, and American conservatism in this regard is, according to certain modern economists, undoubtedly sound. A man should be permitted to acquire at least as much property as is required for the expression of his personality; such a wise limitation, also, would abolish the evil known as absentee ownership. Again, there will arise in many minds the question whether the funds for the plan of National finance outlined in the program may be obtained without seriously deranging the economic system of the nation and of the world. The older school denounces the program as Utopian. On the other hand, economists of the modern school who have been consulted have declared it practical. It is certain that before the war began it would not have been thought possible to raise the billions which in four years have been expended on sheer destruction; and one of our saddest reflections today must be of regret that a small portion of these billions which have gone to waste could not have been expended for the very purposes outlined—education, public health, the advancement of science and art, public buildings, roads and parks, and the proper housing of populations! It is also dawning upon us, as a result of new practices brought about by the war, that our organization of industry was happy-go-lucky, inefficient and wasteful, and that a more scientific and economical organization is imperative. Under such a new system it may well be, as modern economists claim, that, we shall have an ample surplus for the Common Good.

The chief objection to a National or Democratic Control of Industry has been that it would tend to create vast political machines and thus give the politicians in office a nefarious power. It is not intended here to attempt a refutation of this contention. The remedy lies in a changed attitude of the employee and the citizen toward government, and the fact that such an attitude is now developing is not subject to absolute proof. It may be said, however, that no greater menace to democracy could have arisen than the one we seem barely to have escaped—the control of politics and government by the capitalistic interests of the nation. What seems very clear is that an evolutionary drift toward the national control of industry has for many years been going on, and that the war has tremendously speeded up the tendency. Government has stepped in to protect the consumer of necessities from the profiteer, and is beginning to set a limit upon profits; has regulated exports and imports; established a national shipping corporation and merchant marine, and entered into other industries; it has taken over the railroads at least for the duration of the war, and may take over coal mines, and metal resources, as well as the forests and water power; it now contemplates the regulation of wages.

The exigency caused by the war, moreover, has transformed the former practice of international intercourse. Co-operation has replaced competition. We are reorganizing and regulating our industries, our business, making sacrifices and preparing to make more sacrifices in order to meet the needs of our Allies, now that they are sore beset. For a considerable period after the war is ended, they will require our aid. We shall be better off than any other of the belligerent nations, and we shall therefore be called upon to practice, during the years of reconstruction, a continuation of the same policy of helpfulness. Indeed, for the nations of the world to spring, commercially speaking, at one another's throats would be suicidal even if it were possible. Mr. Sidney Webb has thrown a flood of light upon the conditions likely to prevail. For example, speculative export trade is being replaced by collective importing, bringing business more directly under the control of the consumer. This has been done by co-operative societies, by municipalities and states, in Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, and in Germany. The Co-operative Wholesale Society of Great Britain, acting on behalf of three and a half million families, buys two and a half million dollars of purchases annually. And the Entente nations, in order to avoid competitive bidding, are buying collectively from us, not only munitions of war, but other supplies, while the British Government has made itself the sole importer of such necessities as wheat, sugar, tea, refrigerated meat, wool, and various metals. The French and Italian governments, and also certain neutral states, have done likewise. A purchasing commission for all the Allies and America is now proposed. After the war, as an inevitable result, for one thing, of transforming some thirty million citizens into soldiers, of engaging a like number of men and women at enhanced wages on the manufacture of the requisites of war, Mr. Webb predicts a world shortage not only in wheat and foodstuffs but in nearly all important raw materials. These will be required for the resumption of manufacture. In brief, international co-operation will be the only means of salvation. The policy of international trade implied by world shortage is not founded upon a law of "supply and demand." The necessities cannot be permitted to go to those who can afford to pay the highest prices, but to those who need them most. For the "free play of economic forces" would mean famine on a large scale, because the richer nations and the richer classes within the nations might be fully supplied; but to the detriment and ruin of the world the poorer nations and the poorer classes would be starved. Therefore governments are already beginning to give consideration to a new organization of international trade for at least three years after the war. Now if this organization produce, as it may produce, a more desirable civilization and a happier world order, we are not likely entirely to go back—especially in regard to commodities which are necessities—to a competitive system. The principle of "priority of need" will supersede the law of "supply and demand." And the organizations built up during the war, if they prove efficient, will not be abolished. Hours of labour and wages in the co-operative League of Nations will gradually be equalized, and tariffs will become things of the past. "The axiom will be established," says Mr. Webb, "that the resources of every country must, be held for the benefit not only of its own people but of the world.... The world shortage will, for years to come, make import duties look both oppressive and ridiculous."

So much may be said for the principle of Democratic Control. In spite of all theoretical opposition, circumstances and evolution apparently point to its establishment. A system that puts a premium on commercial greed seems no longer possible.

The above comments, based on the drift of political practice during the past decade and a half, may be taken for what they are worth. Predictions are precarious. The average American will be inclined to regard the program of the new British Labour Party as the embodiment of what he vaguely calls Socialism, and to him the very word is repugnant. Although he may never have heard of Marx, it is the Marxian conception that comes to his mind, and this implies coercion, a government that constantly interferes with his personal liberty, that compels him to tasks for which he has no relish. But your American, and your Englishman, for that matter, is inherently an individualist he wants as little government as is compatible with any government at all. And the descendants of the continental Europeans who flock to our shores are Anglo-Saxonized, also become by environment and education individualists. The great importance of preserving this individualism, this spirit in our citizens of self-reliance, this suspicion against too much interference with personal liberty, must at once be admitted. And any scheme for a social order that tends to eliminate and destroy it should by Americans be summarily rejected.

The question of supreme interest to us, therefore, is whether the social order implied in the British program is mainly in the nature of a development of, or a break with, the Anglo-Saxon democratic tradition. The program is derived from an English source. It is based on what is known as modern social science, which has as its ultimate sanction the nature of the human mind as revealed by psychology. A consideration of the principles underlying this proposed social order may prove that it is essentially—if perhaps paradoxically—individualistic, a logical evolution of institutions which had their origin in the Magna Charta. Our Declaration of Independence proclaimed that every citizen had the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," which means the opportunity to achieve the greatest self-development and self-realization. The theory is that each citizen shall find his place, according to his gifts and abilities, and be satisfied therewith. We may discover that this is precisely what social science, in an industrial age, and by spiritualizing human effort, aims to achieve. We may find that the appearance of such a program as that of the British Labour Party, supported as it is by an imposing proportion of the population of the United Kingdom, marks a further step, not only in the advance of social science and democracy, but also of Christianity.

I mention Christianity, not for controversial or apologetic reasons, but because it has been the leaven of our western civilization ever since the fall of the Roman Empire. Its constant influence has been to soften and spiritualize individual and national relationships. The bitter controversies, wars, and persecutions which have raged in its name are utterly alien to its being. And that the present war is now being fought by the Allies in the hope of putting an end to war, and is thus in the true spirit of Christianity, marks an incomparable advance.

Almost up to the present day, both in our conception and practice of Christianity, we have largely neglected its most important elements. Christian orthodoxy, as Auguste Sabatier points out, is largely derived from the older supernatural religions. The preservative shell of dogma and superstition has been cracking, and is now ready to burst, and the social teaching of Jesus would seem to be the kernel from which has sprung modern democracy, modern science, and modern religion—a trinity and unity.

For nearly two thousand years orthodoxy has insisted that the social principles of Christianity are impractical. And indeed, until the present day, they have been so. Physical science, by enormously accelerating the means of transportation and communication, has so contracted the world as to bring into communion peoples and races hitherto far apart; has made possible an intelligent organization of industry which, for the first time in history, can create a surplus ample to maintain in comfort the world's population. But this demands the will to co-operation, which is a Christian principle—a recognition of the brotherhood of man. Furthermore, physical science has increased the need for world peace and international co-operation because the territories of all nations are now subject to swift and terrible invasion by modern instruments of destruction, while the future submarine may sweep commerce from the seas.

Again, orthodoxy declares that human nature is inherently "bad," while true Christianity, endorsed by psychology, proclaims it inherently "good," which means that, properly guided, properly educated, it is creative and contributive rather than destructive. No more striking proof of this fact can be cited than the modern experiment in prison reform in which hardened convicts, when "given a chance," frequently become useful citizens. Unjust and unintelligent social conditions are the chief factors in making criminals.

Our most modern system of education, of which Professor John Dewey is the chief protagonist, is based upon the assertions of psychology that human nature is essentially "good" creative. Every normal child is supposed to have a special "distinction" or gift, which it is the task of the educator to discover. This distinction found, the child achieves happiness in creation and contribution. Self-realization demands knowledge and training: the doing of right is not a negative but a positive act; it is not without significance that the Greek word for sin is literally "missing the mark." Christianity emphasizes above all else the worth of the individual, yet recognizes that the individual can develop only in society. And if the individual be of great worth, this worth must be by society developed to its utmost. Universal suffrage is a logical corollary.

Universal suffrage, however, implies individual judgment, which means that the orthodox principle of external authority is out of place both in Christianity and democracy. The Christian theory is that none shall intervene between a man's Maker and himself; democracy presupposes that no citizen shall accept his beliefs and convictions from others, but shall make up his own mind and act accordingly. Open-mindedness is the first requisite of science and democracy.

What has been deemed, however, in Christianity the most unrealizable ideal is that which may be called pacifism—to resist not evil, to turn the other cheek, to agree with your adversary while you are in the way with him. "I come not," said Jesus, in one of those paradoxical statements hitherto so difficult to understand, "I come not to bring peace, but a sword." It is indeed what we are fighting for—peace. But we believe today, more strongly than ever before, as democracy advances, as peoples tend to gain more and more control over their governments, that even this may not be an unrealizable ideal. Democracies, intent on self-realization and self-development, do not desire war.

The problem of social science, then, appears to be to organize human society on the principles and ideals of Christianity. But in view of the fact that the trend of evolution is towards the elimination of commercial competition, the question which must seriously concern us today is—What in the future shall be the spur of individual initiative? Orthodoxy and even democratic practice have hitherto taken it for granted—in spite of the examples of highly socialized men, benefactors of society—that the average citizen will bestir himself only for material gain. And it must be admitted that competition of some sort is necessary for self-realization, that human nature demands a prize. There can be no self-sacrifice without a corresponding self-satisfaction. The answer is that in the theory of democracy, as well as in that of Christianity, individualism and co-operation are paradoxically blended. For competition, Christianity substitutes emulation. And with democracy, it declares that mankind itself can gradually be rained towards the level of the choice individual who does not labour for gain, but in behalf of society. For the process of democracy is not degrading, but lifting. Like Christianity, democracy demands faith, and has as its inspiring interpretation of civilization evolution towards a spiritual goal. Yet the kind of faith required is no longer a blind faith, but one founded on sane and carefully evolved theories. Democracy has become a scientific experiment.

In this connection, as one notably inspired by emulation, by the joy of creative work and service, the medical profession comes first to mind. The finer element in this profession is constantly increasing in numbers, growing more and more influential, making life less easy for the quack, the vendor of nostrums, the commercial proprietor of the bogus medical college. The doctor who uses his talents for gain is frowned upon by those of his fellow practitioners whose opinion really counts. Respected physicians in our cities give much of their time to teaching, animating students with their own spirit; and labour long hours, for no material return, in the clinics of the poor. And how often, in reading our newspapers, do we learn that some medical scientist, by patient work, and often at the risk of life and health, has triumphed over a scourge which has played havoc with humanity throughout the ages! Typhoid has been conquered, and infant paralysis; gangrene and tetanus, which have taken such toll of the wounded in Flanders and France; yellow fever has been stamped out in the tropics; hideous lesions are now healed by a system of drainage. The very list of these achievements is bewildering, and latterly we are given hope of the prolongation of life itself. Here in truth are Christian deeds multiplied by science, made possible by a growing knowledge of and mastery over Nature.

Such men by virtue of their high mission are above the vicious social and commercial competition poisoning the lives of so many of their fellow citizens. In our democracy they have found their work, and the work is its own reward. They give striking testimony to the theory that absorption in a creative or contributive task is the only source of self-realization. And he has little faith in mankind who shall declare that the medical profession is the only group capable of being socialized, or, rather, of socializing themselves—for such is the true process of democracy. Public opinion should be the leaven. What is possible for the doctor is also possible for the lawyer, for the teacher. In a democracy, teaching should be the most honoured of the professions, and indeed once was,—before the advent of industrialism, when it gradually fell into neglect,—occasionally into deplorable submission to the possessors of wealth. Yet a wage disgracefully low, hardship, and even poverty have not hindered men of ability from entering it in increasing numbers, renouncing ease and luxuries. The worth of the contributions of our professors to civilization has been inestimable; and fortunately signs are not lacking that we are coming to an appreciation of the value of the expert in government, who is replacing the panderer and the politician. A new solidarity of teaching professional opinion, together with a growing realization by our public of the primary importance of the calling, is tending to emancipate it, to establish it in its rightful place.

Nor are our engineers without their ideal. A Goethals did not cut an isthmus in two for gain.

Industrialism, with its concomitant "corporation" practice, has undoubtedly been detrimental to the legal profession, since it has resulted in large fees; in the accumulation of vast fortunes, frequently by methods ethically questionable. Grave social injustices have been done, though often in good faith, since the lawyer, by training and experience, has hitherto been least open to the teachings of the new social science, has been an honest advocate of the system of 'laissez faire'. But to say that the American legal profession is without ideals and lacking in the emulative spirit would be to do it a grave injustice. The increasing influence of national and state bar associations evidences a professional opinion discouraging to the unscrupulous; while a new evolutionary and more humanitarian conception of law is now beginning to be taught, and young men are entering the ranks imbued with this. Legal clinics, like medical clinics, are established for the benefit of those who cannot afford to pay fees, for the protection of the duped from the predatory quack. And, it must be said of this profession, which hitherto has held a foremost place in America, that its leaders have never hesitated to respond to a public call, to sacrifice their practices to serve the nation. Their highest ambition has even been to attain the Supreme Court, where the salary is a mere pittance compared to what they may earn as private citizens.

Thus we may review all the groups in the nation, but the most significant transformation of all is taking place within the business group,—where indeed it might be least expected. Even before the war there were many evidences that the emulative spirit in business had begun to modify the merely competitive, and we had the spectacle of large employers of labour awakening to the evils of industrialism, and themselves attempting to inaugurate reforms. As in the case of labour, it would be obviously unfair to claim that the employer element was actuated by motives of self-interest alone; nor were their concessions due only to fear. Instances could be cited, if there were space, of voluntary shortening of hours of labour, of raising of wages, when no coercion was exerted either by the labour unions or the state; and—perhaps to their surprise employers discovered that such acts were not only humane but profitable! Among these employers, in fact, may be observed individuals in various stages of enlightenment, from the few who have educated themselves in social science, who are convinced that the time has come when it is not only practicable but right, who realize that a new era has dawned; to others who still believe in the old system, who are trying to bolster it up by granting concessions, by establishing committees of conference, by giving a voice and often a financial interest, but not a vote, in the conduct of the corporation concerned. These are the counterpart, in industry, of sovereigns whose away has been absolute, whose intentions are good, but who hesitate, often from conviction, to grant constitutions. Yet even these are responding in some degree to social currents, though the aggressive struggles of labour may have influenced them, and partially opened their eyes. They are far better than their associates who still seek to control the supplies of food and other necessities, whose efficiency is still solely directed, not toward a social end, but toward the amassing of large fortunes, and is therefore wasted so far as society is concerned. They do not perceive that by seeking to control prices they merely hasten the tendency of government control, for it is better to have government regulation for the benefit of the many than proprietary control, however efficient, for the benefit of the few.

That a significant change of heart and mind has begun to take place amongst capitalists, that the nucleus of a "public opinion" has been formed within an element which, by the use and wont of business and habits of thought might be regarded as least subject to the influence of social ideas, is a most hopeful augury. This nascent opinion has begun to operate by shaming unscrupulous and recalcitrant employers into better practices. It would indeed fare ill with democracy if, in such an era, men of large business proved to be lacking in democratic initiative, wholly unreceptive and hostile to the gradual introduction of democracy into industry, which means the perpetuation of the American Idea. Fortunately, with us, this capitalistic element is of comparatively recent growth, the majority of its members are essentially Americans; they have risen from small beginnings, and are responsive to a democratic appeal—if that appeal be properly presented. And, as a matter of fact, for many years a leaven had been at work among them; the truth has been brought home to them that the mere acquisition of wealth brings neither happiness nor self-realization; they have lavished their money on hospitals and universities, clinics, foundations for scientific research, and other gifts of inestimable benefit to the nation and mankind. Although the munificence was on a Medicean scale, this private charity was in accord with the older conception of democracy, and paved the way for a new order.

The patriotic and humanitarian motive aroused by the war greatly accelerated the socializing transformation of the business man and the capitalist. We have, indeed, our profiteers seeking short cuts to luxury and wealth; but those happily most representative of American affairs, including the creative administrators, hastened to Washington with a willingness to accept any position in which they might be useful, and in numerous instances placed at the disposal of the government the manufacturing establishments which, by industry and ability, they themselves had built up. That in thus surrendering the properties for which they were largely responsible they hoped at the conclusion of peace to see restored the 'status quo ante' should not be held against them. Some are now beginning to surmise that a complete restoration is impossible; and as a result of their socializing experience, are even wondering whether it is desirable. These are beginning to perceive that the national and international organizations in the course of construction to meet the demands of the world conflict must form the model for a future social structure; that the unprecedented pressure caused by the cataclysm is compelling a recrystallization of society in which there must be fewer misfits, in which many more individuals than formerly shall find public or semi-public tasks in accordance with their gifts and abilities.

It may be argued that war compels socialization, that after the war the world will perforce return to materialistic individualism. But this calamity, terrible above all others, has warned us of the imperative need of an order that shall be socializing, if we are not to witness the destruction of our civilization itself. Confidence that such an order, thanks to the advancement of science, is now within our grasp should not be difficult for Americans, once they have rightly conceived it. We, who have always pinned our faith to ideas, who entered the conflict for an Idea, must be the last to shirk the task, however Herculean, of world reconstruction along the lines of our own professed faith. We cannot be renegades to Democracy.

Above all things, then, it is essential for us as a people not to abandon our faith in man, our belief that not only the exceptional individual but the majority of mankind can be socialized. What is true of our physicians, our scientists and professional men, our manual workers, is also true of our capitalists and business men. In a more just and intelligent organization of society these will be found willing to administer and improve for the common weal the national resources which formerly they exploited for the benefit of themselves and their associates. The social response, granted the conditions, is innate in humanity, and individual initiative can best be satisfied in social realization.

Universal education is the cornerstone of democracy. And the recognition of this fact may be called the great American contribution. But in our society the fullest self-realization depends upon a well balanced knowledge of scientific facts, upon a rounded culture. Thus education, properly conceived, is a preparation for intelligent, ethical, and contented citizenship. Upon the welfare of the individual depends the welfare of all. Without education, free institutions and universal suffrage are mockeries; semi-learned masses of the population are at the mercy of scheming politicians, controversialists, and pseudo-scientific religionists, and their votes are swayed by prejudice.

In a materialistic competitive order, success in life depends upon the knack—innate or acquired, and not to be highly rated—of outwitting one's neighbour under the rules of the game—the law; education is merely a cultural leaven within the reach of the comparatively few who can afford to attend a university. The business college is a more logical institution. In an emulative civilization, however, the problem is to discover and develop in childhood and youth the personal aptitude or gift of as many citizens as possible, in order that they may find self-realization by making their peculiar contribution towards the advancement of society.

The prevailing system of education, which we have inherited from the past, largely fails to accomplish this. In the first place, it has been authoritative rather than scientific, which is to say that students have been induced to accept the statements of teachers and text books, and have not been trained to weigh for themselves their reasonableness and worth; a principle essentially unscientific and undemocratic, since it inculcates in the future citizen convictions rather than encourages the habit of open-mindedness so necessary for democratic citizenship. For democracy—it cannot be too often repeated—is a dynamic thing, experimental, creative in its very essence. No static set of opinions can apply to the constantly changing aspect of affairs. New discoveries, which come upon us with such bewildering rapidity, are apt abruptly to alter social and industrial conditions, while morals and conventions are no longer absolute. Sudden crises threaten the stability of nations and civilizations. Safety lies alone in the ability to go forward, to progress. Psychology teaches us that if authoritative opinions, convictions, or "complexes" are stamped upon the plastic brain of the youth they tend to harden, and he is apt to become a Democrat or Republican, an Episcopalian or a Baptist, a free trader or a tariff advocate or a Manchester economist without asking why. Such "complexes" were probably referred to by the celebrated physician who emphasized the hopelessness of most individuals over forty. And every reformer and forum lecturer knows how difficult it is to convert the average audience of seasoned adults to a new idea: he finds the most responsive groups in the universities and colleges. It is significant that the "educated" adult audiences in clubs and prosperous churches are the least open to conversion, because, in the scientific sense, the "educated" classes retain complexes, and hence are the least prepared to cope with the world as it is today. The German system, which has been bent upon installing authoritative conviction instead of encouraging freedom of thought, should be a warning to us.

Again, outside of the realm of physical science, our text books have been controversial rather than impartial, especially in economics and history; resulting in erroneous and distorted and prejudiced ideas of events, such for instance, as our American Revolution. The day of the controversialist is happily coming to an end, and of the writer who twists the facts of science to suit a world of his own making, or of that of a group with which he is associated. Theory can now be labelled theory, and fact, fact. Impartial and painstaking investigation is the sole method of obtaining truth.

The old system of education benefited only the comparatively few to whose nature and inclination it was adapted. We have need, indeed, of classical scholars, but the majority of men and women are meant for other work; many, by their very construction of mind, are unfitted to become such. And only in the most exceptional cases are the ancient languages really mastered; a smattering of these, imposed upon the unwilling scholar by a principle opposed to psychology,—a smattering from which is derived no use and joy in after life, and which has no connection with individual inclination—is worse than nothing. Precious time is wasted during the years when the mind is most receptive. While the argument of the old school that discipline can only be inculcated by the imposition of a distasteful task is unsound. As Professor Dewey points out, unless the interest is in some way involved there can be no useful discipline. And how many of our university and high school graduates today are in any sense disciplined? Stimulated interest alone can overcome the resistance imposed by a difficult task, as any scientist, artist, organizer or administrator knows. Men will discipline themselves to gain a desired end. Under the old system of education a few children succeed either because they are desirous of doing well, interested in the game of mental competition; or else because they contrive to clothe with flesh and blood some subject presented as a skeleton. It is not uncommon, indeed, to recognize in later years with astonishment a useful citizen or genius whom at school or college we recall as a dunce or laggard. In our present society, because of archaic methods of education, the development of such is largely left to chance. Those who might have been developed in time, who might have found their task, often become wasters, drudges, and even criminals.

The old system tends to make types, to stamp every scholar in the same mould, whether he fits it or not. More and more the parents of today are looking about for new schools, insisting that a son or daughter possesses some special gift which, under teachers of genius, might be developed before it is too late. And in most cases, strange to say, the parents are right. They themselves have been victims of a standardized system.

A new and distinctly American system of education, designed to meet the demands of modern conditions, has been put in practice in parts of the United States. In spite of opposition from school boards, from all those who cling to the conviction that education must of necessity be an unpalatable and "disciplinary" process, the number of these schools is growing. The objection, put forth by many, that they are still in the experimental stage, is met by the reply that experiment is the very essence of the system. Democracy is experimental, and henceforth education will remain experimental for all time. But, as in any other branch of science, the element of ascertained fact will gradually increase: the latent possibilities in the mind of the healthy child will be discovered by knowledge gained through impartial investigation. The old system, like all other institutions handed down to us from the ages, proceeds on no intelligent theory, has no basis on psychology, and is accepted merely because it exists.

The new education is selective. The mind of each child is patiently studied with the view of discovering the peculiar bent, and this bent is guided and encouraged. The child is allowed to forge ahead in those subjects for which he shows an aptitude, and not compelled to wait on a class. Such supervision, of course, demands more teachers, teachers of an ability hitherto deplorably rare, and thoroughly trained in their subjects, with a sympathetic knowledge of the human mind. Theirs will be the highest and most responsible function in the state, and they must be rewarded in proportion to their services.

A superficial criticism declares that in the new schools children will study only "what they like." On the contrary, all subjects requisite for a wide culture, as well as for the ability to cope with existence in a highly complex civilization, are insisted upon. It is true, however, that the trained and gifted teacher is able to discover a method of so presenting a subject as to seize the imagination and arouse the interest and industry of a majority of pupils. In the modern schools French, for example, is really taught; pupils do not acquire a mere smattering of the language. And, what is more important, the course of study is directly related to life, and to practical experience, instead of being set forth abstractly, as something which at the time the pupil perceives no possibility of putting into use. At one of the new schools in the south, the ignorant child of the mountains at once acquires a knowledge of measurement and elementary arithmetic by laying out a garden, of letters by inscribing his name on a little signboard in order to identify his patch—for the moment private property. And this principle is carried through all the grades. In the Gary Schools and elsewhere the making of things in the shops, the modelling of a Panama Canal, the inspection of industries and governmental establishments, the designing, building, and decoration of houses, the discussion and even dramatization of the books read,—all are a logical and inevitable continuation of the abstract knowledge of the schoolroom. The success of the direct application of learning to industrial and professional life may also be observed in such colleges as those at Cincinnati and Schenectady, where young men spend half the time of the course in the shops of manufacturing, corporations, often earning more than enough to pay their tuition.

Children are not only prepared for democratic citizenship by being encouraged to think for themselves, but also to govern and discipline themselves. On the moral side, under the authoritative system of lay and religious training, character was acquired at the expense of mental flexibility—the Puritan method; our problem today, which the new system undertakes, is to produce character with open-mindedness—the kind of character possessed by many great scientists. Absorption in an appropriate task creates a moral will, while science, knowledge, informs the mind why a thing is "bad" or "good," disintegrating or upbuilding. Moreover, these children are trained for democratic government by the granting of autonomy. They have their own elected officials, their own courts; their decisions are, of course, subject to reversal by the principal, but in practice this seldom occurs.

The Gary Schools and many of the new schools are public schools. And the principle of the new education that the state is primarily responsible for the health of pupils—because an unsound body is apt to make an unsound citizen of backward intelligence—is now being generally adopted by public schools all over the country. This idea is essentially an element of the democratic contention that all citizens must be given an equality of opportunity—though all may not be created equal—now becoming a positive rather than a negative right, guaranteed by the state itself. An earnest attempt is thus made by the state to give every citizen a fair start that in later years he may have no ground for discontent or complaint. He stands on his own feet, he rises in proportion to his ability and industry. Hence the program of the British Labour Party rightly lays stress on education, on "freedom of mental opportunity." The vast sums it proposes to spend for this purpose are justified.

If such a system of education as that briefly outlined above is carefully and impartially considered, the objection that democratic government founded on modern social science is coercive must disappear. So far as the intention and effort of the state is able to confer it, every citizen will have his choice of the task he is to perform for society, his opportunity for self-realization. For freedom without education is a myth. By degrees men and women are making ready to take their places in an emulative rather than a materialistically competitive order. But the experimental aspect of this system should always be borne in mind, with the fact that its introduction and progress, like that of other elements in the democratic program, must be gradual, though always proceeding along sound lines. For we have arrived at that stage of enlightenment when we realize that the only mundane perfection lies in progress rather than achievement. The millennium is always a lap ahead. There would be no satisfaction in overtaking it, for then we should have nothing more to do, nothing more to work for.

The German Junkers have prostituted science by employing it for the destruction of humanity. In the name of Christianity they have waged the most barbaric war in history. Yet if they shall have demonstrated to mankind the futility of efficiency achieved merely for material ends; if, by throwing them on a world screen, they shall have revealed the evils of power upheld alone by ruthlessness and force, they will unwittingly have performed a world service. Privilege and dominion, powers and principalities acquired by force must be sustained by force. To fail will be fatal. Even a duped people, trained in servility, will not consent to be governed by an unsuccessful autocracy. Arrogantly Germany has staked her all on world domination. Hence a victory for the Allies must mean a democratic Germany.

Nothing short of victory. There can be no arrangement, no agreement, no parley with or confidence in these modern scions of darkness—Hohenzollerns, Hindenburgs, Zudendorffs and their tools. Propaganda must not cease; the eyes of Germans still capable of sight must be opened. But, as the President says, force must be used to the limit—force for a social end as opposed to force for an evil end. There are those among us who advocate a boycott of Germany after peace is declared. These would seem to take it for granted that we shall fall short of victory, and hence that selfish retaliative or vindictive practices between nations, sanctioned by imperialism, will continue to flourish after the war. But should Germany win she will see to it that there is no boycott against her. A compromised peace would indeed mean the perpetuation of both imperialism and militarism.

It is characteristic of those who put their faith in might alone that they are not only blind to the finer relationships between individuals and nations, but take no account of the moral forces in human affairs which in the long run are decisive,—a lack of sensitiveness which explains Germany's colossal blunders. The first had to do with Britain. The German militarists persisted in the belief that the United Kingdom was degenerated by democracy, intent upon the acquisition of wealth, distracted by strife at home, uncertain of the Empire, and thus would selfishly remain aloof while the Kaiser's armies overran and enslaved the continent. What happened, to Germany's detriment, was the instant socialization of Britain, and the binding together of the British Empire. Germany's second great blunder was an arrogant underestimation of a self-reliant people of English culture and traditions. She believed that we, too, had been made flabby by democracy, were wholly intent upon the pursuit of the dollar—only to learn that America would lavish her vast resources and shed her blood for a cause which was American. Germany herself provided that cause, shaped the issues so that there was no avoiding them. She provided the occasion for the socializing of America also; and thus brought about, within a year, a national transformation which in times of peace might scarce in half a century have been accomplished.

Above all, as a consequence of these two blunders, Germany has been compelled to witness the consummation of that which of all things she had most to fear, the cementing of a lasting fellowship between the English speaking Republic and the English speaking Empire. For we had been severed since the 18th Century by misunderstandings which of late Germany herself had been more or less successful in fostering. She has furnished a bond not only between our governments, but—what is vastly more important for democracy—a bond between our peoples. Our soldiers are now side by side with those of the Empire on the Frontier of Freedom; the blood of all is shed and mingled for a great cause embodied in the Anglo-Saxon tradition of democracy; and our peoples, through the realization of common ideas and common ends, are learning the supreme lesson of co-operation between nations with a common past, are being cemented into a union which is the symbol and forerunner of the democratic league of Nations to come. Henceforth, we believe, because of this union, so natural yet so long delayed, by virtue of the ultimate victory it forecasts, the sun will never set on the Empire of the free, for the drum beats of democracy have been heard around the world. To this Empire will be added the precious culture of France, which the courage of her sons will have preserved, the contributions of Italy, and of Russia, yes, and of Japan.

Our philosophy and our religion are changing; hence it is more and more difficult to use the old terms to describe moral conduct. We say, for instance, that America's action in entering the war has been "unselfish." But this merely means that we have our own convictions concerning the ultimate comfort of the world, the manner of self-realization of individuals and nations. We are attempting to turn calamity into good. If this terrible conflict shall result in the inauguration of an emulative society, if it shall bring us to the recognition that intelligence and science may be used for the upbuilding of such an order, and for an eventual achievement of world peace, every sacrifice shall have been justified.

Such is the American Issue. Our statesmen and thinkers have helped to evolve it, our people with their blood and treasure are consecrating it. And these statesmen and thinkers, of whom our American President is not the least, are of democracy the pioneers. From the mountain tops on which they stand they behold the features of the new world, the dawn of the new day hidden as yet from their brothers in the valley. Let us have faith always that it is coming, and struggle on, highly resolving that those who gave their lives in the hour of darkness shall not have died in vain.

By way of preface, I wish to say, that I have prepared this paper with the hope of interesting those who are not stamp collectors and my endeavor will be to indicate some of the interesting and instructive things that may be learned by those who follow this fascinating pursuit. Much that I have to say will be ancient history to philatelists, but I trust they will remember that this is not especially intended for them and pardon any dryness in it, in view of its intent.

Stamp collecting, as pursued to-day, has become something more than an amusement for children. It affords instruction and mental relaxation to those who are older and more serious.

On the title page of every stamp album and catalogue should be inscribed the old latin motto: "_Te doces_" thou teachest, for it is certainly an instructor and affords much intellectual entertainment.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Hankow Local Post", 2 cents]

In connection with this motto we have a little philatelic joke from the orient. In one of the Chinese treaty ports a stamp has been issued which bears the motto. We find them on the tea chests, written in excellent Chinese, and, even if we do not read the language, we cannot doubt that they refer to the _tea doses_ which the chests contain.

By some, philately has been called a science. Perhaps it hardly merits so exalted a title but it opens for us a wide field for research, in which we may find many curious, interesting and instructive things. It trains our powers of observation, enlarges our perceptions, broadens our views, and adds to our knowledge of history, art, languages, geography, botany, mythology and many kindred branches of learning.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Canada Postage", Christmas 1898, 2 cents]

Philately embraces the whole earth and likewise the whole earth is sometimes embraced within the limits of a postage stamp. As an example of this, witness the recent effort of our Canadian cousins in celebration of the achievement of the long-desired ocean penny postage, at present an inter-colonial rate of the British Empire, but some day to be an international rate. The motto is a trifle bombastic and suggests the Teutonic superlative; "So bigger as never vas," and the "Xmas 1898" reads like the advertisement of a department store: "Gents pants for Xmas gifts." But we must admit that the stamp is a pretty conceit, in spite of these defects and of the ambition of the artist, which has spread the "thin red line" over territory that has not otherwise been acquired. In addition to the things to be learned from the pictorial part of stamps, there are other things which attract the attention of the thoughtful and bring with them knowledge that is both interesting and valuable. The mechanical part of stamp making may be studied with much profit and entertainment. Considered in all its aspects, philately is even more instructive than matrimony. You will remember the elder Weller's views on the latter subject: "Ven you're a married man, Samivel, you'll understand a good many things as you don't understand now; but vether its worth while going through so much to learn so little, as the charity boy said ven he got to the end of the alphabet, is a matter o' taste. I rather think it isn't." This reproach cannot be applied to philately. It teaches even the unwilling and careless. In the effort to fill the spaces in their albums they must learn what varieties they are lacking and in what these differ from other and similar varieties. Thus some knowledge must be gained, even if unsought. To the studious and the careful, in this as in other things in life, the greatest benefits naturally accrue.

In my remarks this evening I shall endeavor to touch upon a few subjects which are quite certain to attract the attention of any one who takes up stamp collecting with any degree of earnestness and thoroughness. That these subjects open up other fields for interesting and profitable study will be readily apparent.

Let us take a postage stamp and consider it. Aside from the name of the country whence it emanates and the expression of value, what do we find in it to study? First the design, next the means by which the design was prepared and placed upon the paper, thirdly the paper upon which the stamp is printed, and lastly the finishing touches of gum, perforation, etc.

[Illustration: Stamp, "New Zealand", 9 pence]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Toga", 5 s.]

In the early days of stamps most countries made their own and they were, in some degree, an indication of the artistic progress, or want of it, in a country. But we have changed all that and to-day all effort seems to be directed toward producing artistic and attractive stamps. Sometimes this is due to national pride and occasionally it is intended to draw attention to the resources and natural wonders of a country. As an example of the latter, here are the marvelous pink terraces of New Zealand, which were, unfortunately, destroyed by volcanic disturbances a few years ago. But too often, we fear, these picture stamps are produced merely with a view to their ready salability to collectors. More frequently than not, these brilliant labels are the product of a distant country and are no longer indicative of the artistic status of the country by which they are issued. For example, a late issue from the Tonga islands but made in London. Indeed, the wilds of Africa, the distant islands of the Pacific and the tumultuous republics of Central America far outshine the cultured countries of the old world in their postal stationery. The designs of stamps may suggest many things: the power of nations, the march of history, the glory of victory, the advance of civilization, art, industry, natural resources, scenic grandure, the dead and storied past, the living breathing present.

The majority of stamps bear a portrait, usually that of a sovereign. The stamps of our own country present a portrait gallery of our great and heroic dead, for by law the faces of the living may not appear on our stamps or money. This is the reverse of the rule in monarchical countries, where the portrait of the reigning sovereign usually adorns the postal issues. The likeness most frequently seen on postage stamps is that of her most gracious Majesty the Queen of England. For more than half a century her portrait has adorned the numerous stamps of Great Britain and the British Colonies, beginning in 1840 with a beautiful portrait--painted by an American, we may be proud to say--the portrait of the girl queen, wearing her coronation crown, and continuing, until to-day she wears a widow's veil beneath the crown of the Empress of India. In the issue by which Canada commemorated the sixtieth year of Her Majesty's reign the two portraits are happily combined.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Canada Postage", 1837-1897, ½ cent]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Haiti", 1 cent]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Tonga", 2 d.]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Samoa Postage", 2½ pence]

[Illustration: Stamp, Siam]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Republic Liberia Postage", 1884-1892, 8 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Holkar State Postage", ½ Anna]

Following the lead of Europe and America, other countries have placed the portraits of their rulers on their stamps and from this custom we may gain some slight information on the subject of ethnography. Hayti, Tonga, Samoa, Siam, Liberia, Holkar, etc., have shown us types of other races than the Caucassian. One of the stamps of Congo is adorned by a couple of natives in local full dress which appears to be much on the order of that of the lady in the ballad who wore a wreath and a smile. Japan has placed on her stamps the portraits of two heroes of her late war with China. Guatemala has the head of an Indian woman. The stamps of British North Borneo have the arms of the company with two stalwart natives as supporters and a similar device is used by the British Central Africa Co. The stamps of Obock show a group of natives. The picture is entitled "the missionary at dinner with the native chiefs." For further particulars of the missionary enquire within.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Congo", 5 francs]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Emperial Japanese Post", 5 sen]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Emperial Japanese Post", 5 sen]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Guatemala", ½ real]

[Illustration: Stamp, "British North Borneo", 50 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Brit. Central Africa", 2 s. & 6 p.]

[Illustration: Stamp, "République Française Obock", 1 ct.]

Another large group of stamps have numerals of value as their distinguishing feature. As examples of this we find, the early issues of Brazil and Hawaii, many stamps of Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, etc., as well as the postage due stamps of many countries, including our own.

[Illustration: Stamp, Brazil, "30"]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Hawaiian Postage", 2 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Lösen", 1 øre]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Nederland", 2½ cent]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Danmark", 5 øre]

[Illustration: Stamp, Arabic]

In other countries only inscriptions are used. This is especially the case with the Native States of India, in some of which as many as four languages are said to be employed on one stamp. These are interesting for their crude and curious designs but are not popular with collectors, probably because of our inability to read them.

[Illustration: Stamp, Arabic]

Afghanistan has varied the idea by placing on her stamps a tiger's head surrounded by a broad circle of inscriptions. Owing to the short comings of native art the tiger is more often droll than ferocious.

The method of cancellation used in that country is crude but effective. It consists in cutting or tearing a piece out of the stamp. Needless to say, it is not popular with stamp collectors.

[Illustration: Stamp, Arabic, Hindi]

Jhalawar, one of the Native States of India, has also varied the monotony of inscriptions by the addition of a sort of jumping-jack figure. By some writers this is claimed to be a dancing dervish and by others a Nautch girl. As pictured on the stamp the figure does not present the sensuous outlines which have always been attributed to those delectable damsels. Bossakiewicz, in his _Manuel du Collectionneur de Timbres Poste_ says: "A dancing nymph, belonging to the secondary order of Hindu divinities and known as an _apsara_." Here is a problem which the next convert to philately may undertake to solve. You see there are still worlds to conquer, in spite of all the inky battles that have been waged by philatelic writers.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Diligencia", 60 centavos]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Escuelas", 1 centesimo]

The first stamps of Uruguay bear the inscription "diligencia" (stagecoach), thus plainly indicating the method then employed for transporting the mails. On some of the Venzuelan stamps is the word "escuelas" (schools), a portion of the revenue from this source being devoted to the maintenance of the state schools.

[Illustration: Stamp, "North Borneo", 12 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Obock", 1893, 5 c.]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Sudan Postage", 1 millieme]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Correo Lima", 2 centavos]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Guatemala", 20 centavos]

[Illustration: Stamp, "New South Wales", 8 pence]

[Illustration: Stamp, "New South Wales", 1 shilling]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Newfoundloand", 5 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Newfoundloand", 2 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Postage W. Australia", 1 shilling]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Republic Liberia", 4 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Republic Liberia", 1 dollar]

[Illustration: Stamp, "New Zealand", 6 pence]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Stamp Duty Tasmania", 6 pence]

The animal world has been thoroughly exploited by designers of stamps and many curious products have they shown us. This creature with the fine open countenance hails from North Borneo but it is said that similar creatures have been seen by earnest philatelists after an evening of study in the billiard room of the Collectors Club, followed by a light supper of broiled lobster and welsh rarebit. Very familiar to collectors are the camel of Obock and the Soudan, the Llama of Peru, the sacred quetzal of Guatemala--the transmigrated form of the god-king of the Aztecs--the lyrebird and Kangaroo of New South Wales. New Foundland has pictured the seal and cod fish, Western Australia the black swan, Liberia the elephant and rhinocerous, and New Zealand the curious bird called the apterix, which is wingless and clothed in hair instead of feathers. Tasmania shows us her animal freak, the platypus paradoxus, the beast with a bill, first cousin to our tailors and butchers, all of whom are beasts with bills. Our own country has added to the philatelic "zoo" by placing a herd of cattle on one of the Trans-Mississippi issue. That it is a pretty picture cannot be denied but the connection between cows and postage stamps is not obvious.

[Illustration: Stamp, "New Brunswick Postage", 3 pence]

[Illustration: Stamp, Japanese, 1 sen]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Imperio do Brazil", 300 reis]

Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have adorned their stamps with the heraldic rose, thistle and shamrock of the British Empire. Japan, ever artistic and ever a lover of the beautiful, has placed on her stamps the chrysanthemum, both as a flower and in its conventionalized form as the crest of the Imperial family. And Nepal has the lotus, sacred to Buddha. Brazil has shown us the brilliant constellation of the Southern Cross which sparkles in the tropic sky.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Malta", 5 shillings]

Many nations have used their coats of arms as appropriate decorations for their postal issues. On the five shilling stamps of Malta we find the Maltese cross, emblem of the Knights of St. John and reminiscent of the crusades.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Postes Egyptiennes", 5 piastres]

[Illustration: Stamp, [Greek: Hellas], 2 [Greek: drachmai]]

[Illustration: Stamp, [Greek: Hellas], 1896, 5 [Greek: drachmai]]

[Illustration: Stamp, [Greek: Hellas], 1896, 10 [Greek: drachmai]]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Fiji", 1 penny]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Labuan", 8 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Congo", 40 centimes]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Congo", 10 francs]

Egypt has her sphynx and pyramids; Greece an artistic series of pictures of her famous statues and ruins. Fiji shows a pirogue, the native canoe, rudely shaped from a tree trunk and hollowed out by fire. Labuan has a piratical looking native dhow. The stamps of Rhodesia and the Congo Free State depict the advance of civilization on the dark continent. History is sumptuously illustrated in the series of stamps issued by our Government to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the new world by Columbus and to celebrate the settlement and growth of the great west. Portugal also has celebrated, in an elaborate issue of stamps, the voyage of Vasco da Gama to India. Other countries have been quite too ready to do likewise until we have feared we were in danger of being drowned in the flood of commemorative and celebration stamps, many of which we felt were designed to replenish an empty treasury rather than to honor the glorious deeds of the past.

[Illustration: Stamp, "St. Vincent", 5 shilling]

[Illustration: Stamp, "République Française", 1]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Cape of Good Hope", 1 penny]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Trinidad"]

[Illustration: Stamp, "British East Africa", ½ Anna]

Quite a number of stamps have allegorical designs. One of the most beautiful examples comes from St. Vincent. Familiar figures to philatelists are those of Peace and Commerce on the stamps of France, Hope with her anchor on the issues of the Cape of Good Hope and Britannia on several of the British Colonies. The stamps of British East Africa bear a flaming sun and the legend "light and liberty," typical of the light of civilization and progress now dawning upon that part of the world. And on one of the late issues of Portugal is a beautiful allegory of the muse of history watching Da Gama's voyage to the East.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Portugal", 1498-1898, 23 reis]

[Illustration: Stamp, Greece]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Uruguay", 50 centesimos]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Barbados", ½ penny]

From allegory to mythology is but a step. Greece has long displayed on her stamps the winged head of Mercury and Uruguay has given us a dainty picture of the messenger of the gods. The late issues of Barbados have a picture of Amphitrite, the spouse of Neptune, in her chariot drawn by sea-horses. The handsome stamps of the United States, intended for the payment of postage on newspapers and periodicals bear the pictures of nine of the goddesses of Grecian mythology. The stamps of China, Shanghai and Japan introduce subjects from oriental myths. This is not a pussy cat in a fit or trying to dance a _pas seul_ on the end of its tail. It is one of the most venerated of the Chinese dragons. One of its provinces is to guard the sacred crystal of life. It has a human head, the wings of a bird, the claws of a tiger and the tail of a serpent.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Shanghai LPO", 80 cash]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Nicaragua", 1 centavo]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Estados Unidos de Colombia", 50 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Venezuela", 5 c's]

[Illustration: Stamp, "State of North Borneo", 18 cents]

One of the stock arguments advanced in favor of philately, by those who think it needs other excuse than the entertainment it affords, is that it teaches geography. This is undoubtedly true, and, as if in support of the argument, several countries have given us what might be called map stamps. Of late years, it has become customary for countries to exploit their attractions by issues of "picture" stamps, many of which show views of local scenery. One of the first in this line came from North Borneo, showing a view of Mt. Kimbal, a celebrated volcano of the island. Congo has given us two pictures which are microscopic gems of art. The first is a view of the railroad crossing the Mopoxo river and the second the Falls of Inkissi. British Guiana has recently shown us two of her natural wonders, Mount Roraima, a great table-topped mountain, and the Kaiteur Falls. New Zealand has an extensive series of views, one of the most striking of which is Mount Cook. Among the latest of these attractive issues is one from Tonga, which includes a picture of a wonderful work of the pre-historic inhabitants of those islands, a tri-lithon, believed to have been erected as a burial place and monument of a chieftain. In its arrangement and massive simplicity it is suggestive of the Druidic ruins of other lands.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Congo", 50 centimes]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Congo", 25 centimes]

[Illustration: Stamp, "British Guayana", 1897, 1 cent]

[Illustration: Stamp, "British Guayana", 1897, 2 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "New Zealand", 5 pence]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Toga", 3 d.]

[Illustration: Stamp]

Crowns and post-horns figure on many stamps and both are significant of the authority and purpose of these seemingly trifling bits of paper. An interesting combination of these two emblems is found on one of the newspaper stamps of Hungary. In this case the crown is not merely a creation of the artist's fancy but the historic crown of Saint Stephen, the "iron crown of Hungary," so called because it has within its rim an iron band said to be made from one of the nails of the cross.

In all these subjects of thought I have mentioned only a few examples under each head. The number might be multiplied many times, did I not fear to weary you.

But, turning from the purely pictorial side, let us consider the material side of stamps and the various methods employed in producing them. The design having been selected, it becomes necessary to reproduce it in some form suitable for making stamps in large quantities. In a general way we may divide stamp printing into two classes: printing from metal plates and printing from stone, or lithography. The first class contains two grand sub-divisions. In the first of these sub-divisions the lines to be reproduced are sunken below the surface of the plate. This is known as _taille douce_ or line engraving. It is also called copper plate and steel engraving. The copper plates for our visiting cards are familiar examples of this style of work and our national paper currency presents very beautiful and elaborate results of the process.

The second sub-division is known as typography or surface printing. As its name indicates, the lines to be reproduced are at the surface of the plate, the other parts being cut away. A newspaper is an example of typographical printing, the term being applied to designs made up from type, as well as to specially prepared plates.

I need not suggest to you how wide a field for thought and exploration this subject of engraving opens to us, leading as it does directly into the world of books, pictures and art. But at present we must confine ourselves to the subject as applied to postage stamps, save for a brief consideration of its origin and history.

The art of engraving owes its origin to the Florentine goldsmiths of the fifteenth century. They were accustomed to ornament their work with incised lines which were filled with black enamel. A design thus filled with enamel was called a _niello_, a derivative of the word _nigellum_ (the most black). The brass and nickel signs with black letters, which we find at the doors of business houses, are modern forms of _nielli_. While making a _niello_, the artist naturally wished to see how the work was progressing and if any alterations were required. It was not desirable to put the enamel in the design because it was difficult to remove. To avoid this an impression of the work was taken in clay, from which a sulphur cast was made. The lines of the cast were filled with lamp black. Thus a copy of the work was obtained which reproduced its coloring and showed the condition of the engraving. A more simple process was discovered later. This consisted in filling the lines of the engraving with a thick ink and pressing a sheet of damp paper against them. Sufficient pressure was used to force the paper into the lines and take up the ink on its surface. This was the beginning of line engraving and plate printing. The process was at first employed for the preservation and duplicating of designs for goldsmith's engraving and afterwards for the sake of the work itself. It was not until the next century that the process assumed a leading place in the world of art. If it were not going too far away from our subject we might study the early engravers and their work with much profit and entertainment. But it is our purpose to consider the subject only so far as it applies to postage stamps.

Until the early part of the present century copper was practically the only metal used for engraving. Only a limited number of impressions can be taken from a copper plate because it wears rapidly, and it is not suited to such work as the production of postage stamps. About 1830 the way was found to make steel of sufficient softness and fineness of grain to be available for engraving. To-day annealed steel is almost exclusively used for this purpose. Annealed steel is steel which has been softened without being decarbonized. The surface is carefully ground and polished to a mirror-like brightness. Any work which is to be reproduced many times, such as postage stamps and parts of bank-notes, is made on small pies of steel called dies.

If the design to be used is in the shape of a drawing or engraving, a sheet of gelatin may be laid over it and the outlines traced with a sharp-pointed instrument. More often a photograph is taken on a ferrotype plate and the outlines scratched into the plate. These outlines are filled with vermilion. A piece of paper is then laid on the plate and the two passed through a hand-press. This is called "pulling" an impression. While the ink of the impression is still moist it is sprinkled with powdered vermilion to strengthen the lines. The block of steel is then covered with an etching ground (a composition of asphaltum, wax, resin and ether) and the impression is transferred to this. The outlines are cut through the etching ground and bitten into the steel with acid. The coating is then removed from the block and the artist proceeds with the engraving. The mechanical details and various methods of engraving are highly interesting but time will not permit their discussion.

An engraver is seldom expert in more than one style of work. Each makes a specialty of some branch, portraiture, lettering, scroll-work, etc. For this reason several engravers are usually employed on each die for a postage stamp. And in this inability of one individual to do all styles of work equally well lies one of the great securities against counterfeiting.

In the course of making a die, proofs are usually taken and these are much prized by collectors.

The die being finished, it is placed in a bath of cyanide of potassium and heated until the vessel containing it is red hot. This process occupies from fifteen minutes to half an hour for dies but may take as much as an hour for a large plate. The die is then transferred to a bath of oil, to cool and temper it. By this process it is thoroughly hardened.

[Illustration: From "The Popular Science Monthly," Vol. XLVI, No. 5. Copyright, 1895, by D. Appleton & Co.]

In the case of postage stamps, where it is desired to exactly duplicate the design many times on a plate, recourse is had to transfer rolls. A transfer roll is a piece of soft steel, in shape a cross section of a cylinder. The edge is sufficiently wide to receive an impression from the die. We show you here a picture of a transfer press. From each side of the roll projects a small pin or trunion. These pins form an axle for the roll and by them it is held in the carrier of the press. A is the roll in the carrier. The die is placed on the table or bed B. The roll is held against the die with a pressure of many tons, obtained by compound leverage. By means of the wheel, E, and the connecting pinion and rack, the bed, carrying with it the die, is moved back and forth under the roll. This is called "rocking" and by it the soft steel of the roll is forced into the die and a reverse impression of the design is obtained. The roll is then hardened and, by a reversal of the process, impressions from it are transferred to the steel plate from which the stamps are to be printed. The plate is, of course, soft at first and is hardened after the required number of designs have been transferred to it. This process is so perfect that the most delicate lines of the die are repeated with absolute fidelity on the plate. When many plates of a stamp are likely to be needed, it is customary, in order to avoid risk of wear or damage to the original die, to make duplicate dies, called transfer dies, and from them the necessary rolls to make the plates.

The plates are made with great care. They are touched up by hand and subjected to close scrutiny and the work is often gone over a number of times before the result is pronounced satisfactory. Incidentally any guide lines and marks used by the transferrer are removed by burnishing. In the older issues of United States stamps, such lines and dots are frequently found on the stamps but the later issues are very free from them.

Plates that have become worn are "re-entered," that is to say, the transfer roll is applied to the plate in the original position and the lines thus sharpened and deepened. If, by any mistake in making or re-entering a plate, the roll is incorrectly placed and then changed to the correct spot, a double impression of some of the stronger lines will result. This is called a "double transfer" and sometimes, though wrongly, a "shifted die." These double transfers are quite common in the United States stamps made before 1861 but are scarce in the late issues, either because the work is now more carefully done or because any mistakes have been corrected. Such a correction is effected by turning the plate on its face on a hard substance, hammering on the back until the surface is driven up smooth and then entering the design anew.

A number of very delicate machines are used as aids to the engraver, though much more for bank-notes and large pieces of work than for postage stamps. These are called ruling machines, medallion rulers, cycloidal and geometric lathes. Ruling machines are used to make the backgrounds of portraits, the shadings of letters and similar work.

[Illustration: Coin Stamp, "New South Wales", 5 shillings]

Here is a very pretty example of ruling, in the so-called "coin" stamp of New South Wales. These machines rule either straight or curved lines. They can be adjusted to rule several thousand lines to an inch, but that is only done for microscopical work, not for engraving. The general principle of a medallion ruling machine is a rod, fixed on a pivot, at one end of which is a pin which is drawn across a medallion, while at the other end a graving point traces a corresponding line on the steel. The large stamps issued in the United States in 1865, for the payment of postage on newspapers and periodicals, are examples of this work.

Cycloidal ruling in its simplest form resembles a series of loops. It is produced by a fixed point which is held against a plate while the latter is moved in a circle and, at the same time, forward. By altering the size of the circle and the speed of the forward movement a great variety of results are obtained. By cutting one series of loops over another, lace-like effects are produced. The process is still further varied by the use of eccentrics.

[Illustration: Ruling Patterns]

The geometric lathe is a most delicate and complicated machine. By means of elaborate attachments very involved and eccentric motions are given to the plate under the graving point and extremely complicated and beautiful designs are produced. I think we are all familiar with these from the examples on our national currency. Geometric lathework was used on a number of the United States stamps of the issue of 1861 and also on the $5,000 revenue stamp. The work of this machine is regarded as a great safeguard against counterfeiting. The most skillful engraver would have difficulty in imitating the simplest designs produced by it. The machines are too expensive to be obtained by anyone but a government or a great banknote company and there are very few men who thoroughly understand operating them. A turn of a screw or a variation of a single cog will change the result entirely. Finally the work of the lathe is often reversed, so that the line which is cut by the graver and should print in color prints white, and vice versa. It would not be possible to imitate this by hand engraving.

Printing from line-engraved plates is largely done by hand presses. The ink used is very thick. When black it is made of finely pulverized carbon, mixed with oil. Colored inks are composed of zinc white and dry colors, ground in oil. The colors are animal, vegetable or mineral. The latter cause the plates to wear out rapidly. Green is an especially destructive color. In recent years aniline colors have been largely employed. They afford an elaborate range of shades and color combinations which are most puzzling to describe. Soluble inks are much used by the leading English firm of stamp printers. They are very sensitive to water and are regarded as one of the best preventatives of the cleaning of used stamps. Beautiful results are obtained by printing stamps in two colors. Of course, this necessitates the use of two plates for each design. This also gives rise to some interesting varieties, caused by one part of the design being printed upside down. Such oddities are scarce and are highly valued by philatelists.

When a plate is to be printed from, it is first warmed, then the ink is applied and rubbed into the lines with a pad. The surface of the plate is wiped off with a cloth, then with the hand and lastly, polished with whiting. A sheet of dampened paper is next laid on the plate and the whole is passed under the roller of a press, which forces the paper into the lines of the plate, where it takes up the ink. When the plate is deeply engraved the ink seems to stand up from the surface of the paper in ridges and some times we find corresponding depressions on the backs of the stamps. The sheets are then dried, gummed and dried again. They are now so much curled and wrinkled that they are placed between sheets of bristol board and subjected to hydraulic pressure of several hundred tons which effectively straightens them out.

The second process of printing from metallic plates is called typography. The plates for this process are the exact reverse of those engraved in _taille douce_. Instead of the design being cut into the plate, it is on the surface and everything else is cut away. Hence, the term "surface printing." This form of engraving is also called _épargné_ engraving, because the parts of the plate which bear the design are _épargné_ (preserved.)

The dies for typographical plates are cut in wood or steel, usually the former. They are reproduced by two methods, stereotyping and electrotyping. In the former process casts of the die are taken in papier maché or plaster of Paris. From these casts other casts are taken in type-metal. A sufficient number of these casts are clamped together or fastened to a backing of wood and thus form a plate. This process is not much used for stamps. It may interest you to know that most of our large newspapers employ this process. The type-set forms are, of course, flat. From them papier maché impressions are taken and bent into a curve, so that the casts made from them will fit the cylinders of the printing presses.

In electrotyping, an impression is taken from the die in wax or gutta percha. The surface of this impression is coated with powdered plumbago. It is placed in a solution of sulphate of copper and, by the action of a galvanic battery, a thin shell of copper is deposited on it. This shell is backed with type-metal and is then ready for use. A number of these elecrotypes may be fastened together and electrotyped in one piece.

There is also a photographic process for making typographical dies. This is said to be used in making the stamps of France and her colonies.

[Illustration: Cliché with two stamps, "Colombia", 5 cents]

[Illustration: Cliché with two stamps, "Colonies de l'Empire Français", 10 c.]

Stereotypes or electrotypes of single stamps are called _clichés_. In making up a plate it sometimes happens that a _cliché_ is placed upside down. The result, after printing, is a stamp in that position. This is called a _tête bêche_. We illustrate here such a stamp and another which is semi _tête bêche_, i.e., turned half around instead of being entirely inverted. Like all oddities these are prized by stamp collectors.

[Illustration: Stamp Arrangement, "Newfoundland", 3 pence]

The triangular stamps of the Cape of Good Hope and New Foundland are so arranged in the plate that half of them are _tête bêche_ to the other half. The same is true of the stamps of Grenada of the issue of 1883.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Hawaiian Postage", 5 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Petersburg, Virgina", 5 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Eranco en Guadalajara", 2 reales]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Ile de la Réunion", 15 centimes]

Another form of typography is found in stamps which are composed of printer's type and ornaments. These are usually called "type-set", to distinguish them from stamps produced by the normal process of typography. Stamps made in this manner are often of a high degree of rarity, having been produced in remote parts of the world, where facilities were limited and the use of stamps restricted. To this class belong the stamps of the first issues of British Guiana, Hawaii and Reunion, which rank among the greatest philatelic rarities. We show you here a number of type-set stamps. The first was used in the Hawaiian Islands, in payment of postage on letters between the different islands. There are a number of plates of these stamps, of different values, and each containing ten varieties. The second stamp was issued by the postmaster of Petersburg, Va., in the early days of the war of the rebellion and before the postal service of the Confederate government was in working order. The third was used in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1869, during the war between France and that country. It was made from the cancellation stamp in use in the post office, the usual date being replaced by the value. The stamps were struck by hand on sheets of paper which had been previously ruled into squares with a lead pencil. The fourth stamp is one of the Reunion stamps previously mentioned. There were eight stamps in the setting, four having a central device like the stamp shown, and the other four being of a different design.

It is interesting to remark that most of these type-set stamps show an evidence of their provisional nature and the stress under which they were made, in the paper on which they were printed. It was usually writing paper, such as would be found at a stationers at that period. Some of the rare type-set stamps of British Guiana were printed on the paper used for lining sugar barrels.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Shanghai LPO", 2 candareens]

The stamps of the first issue of Shanghai supply an unique variety in typographed stamps. In these stamps the central design is cut upon a block of ivory and the surroundings are set up from printer's type and rules. The stamps were printed one at a time upon a hand press. The value, in both English and Chinese, was changed as required, and it is recorded that on occasions the different values were produced literally "while you wait." Under such circumstances it is not surprising to learn that minor varieties are very numerous.

In printing from typographical plates the ink is applied to the surface by means of a roller. Impressions from these plates, before they have been pressed, show the design forced into the paper, instead of raised above it, as in _taille douce_ printing.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Confederate States", 5 cents]

There is often a noticeable difference in the impressions made from the same plate by different workmen, owing to the varying degree of skill and care employed. We frequently find in stamp catalogues such terms as "London print" contrasted with "local print." These terms indicate a fine impression and an inferior one. We find a good example in two five cent stamps of the Confederate States. They are both from the same plate but the first was printed in London by the skilled workmen of Messrs. De La Rue & Co., and the last was locally made with poor facilities.

Embossing is a variety of printing connected with both line engraving and typography. Embossing dies are produced by sinking lines in the plate but, as a rule, they are intended for such productions as stamped envelopes and the sunken portions are a series of hollows rather than sharply cut lines. An envelope, viewed from the reverse, will give an excellent idea of the appearance of such a die. In printing from these dies very heavy pressure is used and the paper usually is backed by a piece of leather or something of similar nature. In its simplest form embossing is a stamping in relief without color. The stamp of Natal shown here was produced in this manner. The stamps of Scinde, issued in 1850, were embossed and for the red one large wafers, at that date in common use for sealing letters, were used. The brittle nature of this material is probably responsible for the scarcity of this stamp, especially of copies in fine condition.

[Illustration: Stamp, embossed, "Natal"]

[Illustration: Stamp, embossed, "Scinde District Dawk", ½ anna]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Halfpenny Postage"]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Heligoland", 2 Pfennig]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Bayern", 1 Kreuzer]

Embossing is usually combined with typography. The surface of the die being inked, that part of the design is printed in color at the same time that the rest is embossed. These three stamps show this class of work, one being an envelope stamp with the head deeply embossed. The Heligoland stamp like all the stamps of that island is in the local colors, red, white and green, of which the inhabitants are so proud. In the case of the Heligoland and Bavaria stamps the entire sheets are embossed at one time and not each stamp singly, as is usual.

[Illustration]

Some curious varieties of this sort of printing are found among the early issues of Peru. The machine in use there printed the stamps one at a time on long strips of paper. When the end of a strip was reached another was attached to it with gum, in order that the process might be continuous. It frequently happened that an impression was printed upon or partly upon the overlapping ends of the strips. In the course of time these ends became separated and thus we find stamps embossed partly with and partly without color and occasionally entirely without it. Philatelists call these varieties semi-albinos and albinos. The latter term is also applied to envelope stamps which have been embossed without the die being inked.

Lithography, while a simpler and less expensive mode of making stamps than those previously described, is not often employed for the purpose. The work is inferior in quality and too easily counterfeited to commend itself. In lithography the lines of the design are neither sunken nor, to any appreciable extent, raised above the surface. The design is practically a drawing, in a certain greasy ink, upon stone of a particular quality. When several colors are used, as in chromo-lithography, a separate stone is prepared for each. The design is sometimes drawn directly on the stone and at others transferred to it. For stamps a die is made in wood, metal or stone. Impressions from this are made in transfer ink (a very "fat" ink, made of soap, resin, tallow, etc.) upon transfer paper. These impressions are placed, face downward, on the stone and the paper is moistened. On being passed through a press the ink adheres to the stone and the paper is easily removed. A wet sponge is passed over the stone, the water adhering to the exposed surface but not to the greasy ink. While it is moist a roller, covered with transfer ink, is rolled over the designs to which it adheres. The wetting and rolling are alternated until the designs have sufficient body. Lastly, a very weak solution of nitric acid, gum arabic and water is passed over the stone. This is at once washed off. It bites the stone to a very trifling extent and serves to clean the surface and add sharpness to the design.

Impressions taken from a lithographic stone are perfectly flat and smooth, the surface of the paper being neither raised nor depressed. They have usually a slightly greasy feel.

[Illustration, Stamp, "N. Caledonie", 10 c.]

An interesting specimen of lithography is supplied by the first issue of New Caledonia. The design (fifty stamps in five rows of ten) was drawn upon the stone by a sergeant of Marines, named Triquéra. It is said the work was done with a pointed nail. As might be expected, it was very crude.

Another interesting stamp was issued in the island of Trinidad in 1855. In this case, the stone, after the designs had been placed upon it, was very deeply bitten with acid, so that it might properly be called etched and the impressions from it be said to be typographed from stone. This stone was used in 1855, 1858 and 1860. Owing to its friable nature and want of care the stone deteriorated, so that the last impressions from it are little better than blurs.

Having considered the design and the methods of preparing plates and printing stamps the next thing to attract our attention is the paper. We here show you some photographs of paper. These were not taken by reflected light but by transmitting light through the paper, so that we have the fibre and structure of it.

[Illustration: Paper]

The two varieties of paper most used for stamps are termed wove and laid. Wove paper has an even texture suggestive of cloth. Like cloth it may show no grain when held to the light or it may have the appearance of interwoven threads. The paper ordinarily used for books and newspapers is wove. There is a very thin, tough wove paper, much like that familiarly known as "onion-skin," which is called pelure by philatelists. On a few occasions a wove paper, which is nearly as thick as card board, has been used for stamps.

[Illustration: Paper]

Laid paper shows alternate light and dark lines, parallel and close together. These lines are called _vergures_. There are usually other lines, an inch or more apart, crossing the _vergures_ at right angles.

Ribbed paper has much the appearance of a fine closely laid paper. It is, however, a wove paper with a corrugated surface. In oriental countries, especially Japan, a peculiar, tough, cottony paper is produced. It is sometimes wove and sometimes laid, usually thin and hard to tear. I believe this is made from rice straw. Paper which has thin lines about the distance apart of the ruled lines in writing paper is called _batonné_, from the French _baton_, a stick or rule. If the paper between the _batons_ is wove, it is called wove batonné. If the space is filled with fine laid lines, it is called laid batonné. _Quadrillé_ paper has laid lines which form small squares. When these lines form rectangles, it is called oblong quadrillé.

[Illustration: Paper]

[Illustration: Paper]

[Illustration: Paper]

Some of the stamps of Mexico were printed on paper ruled with blue lines. This was merely ordinary foolscap paper. Many of the early stamps of Russia were on a paper having the surface coated with a soluble enamel. This not only gave a very fine impression but, on an attempt to clean a cancelled stamp, the enamel would wash off, carrying the design with it.

Two stamps of Prussia, issued in 1866, are usually said to be on gold-beater's skin. But they are really on a very thin tough paper which has been treated with shellac, parrafine, or something which makes it transparent, and afterwards coated with a gelatine preparation. On this the design was printed reversed, i.e. only to be seen correctly when viewed through the paper. The stamps were gummed on the printed side. When they were affixed to an envelope any attempt to soak them off resulted in the paper coming away while the design adhered to the envelope, like a decalcomanie. Essays of this nature were made in a number of countries, including our own, but Prussia was the only one to make and use the stamps.

There are several varieties of paper which have threads of silk or other fibre. The first of these is known as Dickinson paper, from the name of its inventor. It has one or two threads of silk incorporated in the paper in the course of manufacture. For stamped envelopes two threads were generally used. They were placed about half an inch apart and the envelope was usually so printed that the threads would cross the stamp. For adhesive stamps only one thread was used. Great Britain and several of the German States made extensive use of this paper. It has never been successfully counterfeited. The best imitation was made by gumming together two thin pieces of paper with a silk thread between them but the fraud was not difficult to detect.

Some of the United States revenue stamps were printed on a paper which had a few bits of silk fibre scattered through it. The paper called granite or silurian has a quantity of colored threads mixed with the pulp. In Switzerland blue and red threads were used, giving the paper a slightly grayish tone. In Servia only red threads were used but in sufficient quantity to make the paper appear a faint rose color.

Manila is a coarse buff paper made from manila fibre. It is generally used for newspaper wrappers.

It will scarcely be necessary to say that paper is found in a great variety of colors and that such colored paper has frequently been used for stamps.

We cannot consider paper without treating of watermarks, since they are made in the process of paper making and constitute an important feature of stamp paper. Watermarks are designs impressed in the paper pulp. The paper is slightly thinner in the lines of these designs and appears lighter when held to the light. Of course you are all familiar with this appearance from having noticed the watermarks in note paper. On rare occasions the watermark is a thickening of the paper instead of a thinning. In such a case the watermark appears more opaque than the paper. Watermarks in paper used for stamps are, of course, intended as a security against counterfeiting.

[Illustration: Watermark U.S.P. (mirrored letters)]

There are a great variety of watermarks; words, letters, figures, heraldic devices, etc., etc. Sometimes the design covers the whole sheet and at other times several stamps, but usually there is a separate watermark for each stamp. The current stamps of the United States are watermarked with the letters "U. S. P. S.", United States Postal Service. This is so set up that the letters read in sequence from any point and in any direction. At one time several of the British colonies in Australia employed paper watermarked with a figure or word of the value of the stamp intended to be printed on it. It can readily be understood that these would sometimes get mixed and result in more of those oddities in which philatelists delight.

[Illustration: Watermark, Crown with letters CC]

[Illustration: Watermark, Crown with letters CA]

[Illustration: Watermarks, Cross and Orb, Anchor, Elephant Head, Pine-Apple, Castle]

[Illustration: Water Marks, Post Horn, Turtle, Geneva Cross]

Here are some well-known watermarks. The letters CC under the Crown stand for "Crown Colonies." This was extensively used on stamps of the British Colonies. It has been replaced by a similar design, lettered CA, "Crown Agents for the Colonies," which is still in use. A great variety of crowns have been used, as also of stars. The cross and orb are found on stamps of Great Britain. The anchor belongs to the Cape of Good Hope, the elephant to India, the pine-apple to Jamaica, the castle to Spain (where else would we have castles if not in Spain?) the post horn to Denmark, the turtle to Tonga. The Geneva cross belongs to Switzerland but is not really a watermark, as it is impressed in the paper after the stamps are printed. The pyramid and sun and the star and crescent both belong to Egypt. The lion comes from Norway, the sun from the Argentine Republic, the wreath of oak leaves from Hanover, the lotus flower from Siam.

[Illustration: US. POD '99]

[Illustration: Double eagle]

[Illustration: Watermark, Pyramid, Moon and Star]

[Illustration: Watermark, Lion with Axe, Sun, Wreath, Flower]

Here is one from Travancore, it represents a shell sacred to the god Vishnu. On the stamps of Shanghai we find these Chinese characters. They read Kung Pu, literally labor board, otherwise Municipal Council, by whose authority the stamps were issued.

[Illustration: Watermark, Shell]

[Illustration: Watermark, Chinese Characters]

The watermarks on the preceding page are from envelopes of the United States and Russia. Of course there are many more watermarks than those we show. On many sheets there are watermarked borders with the name of the country, the word "postage," or other inscriptions.

There is much that is interesting in paper making. The best paper is made from linen rags but many other substances are used, cotton rags, esparto grass, straw, etc. Very common paper, such as that used for the daily newspapers, is made from wood pulp. Paper is made in two ways, by hand and by machinery.

Hand made paper is made by means of a mould and a deckle. A mould is a piece of fine wire gauze, tightly stretched on a wooden frame. If the paper is to be laid, coarser lines are woven in the gauze. If it is to be watermarked, the designs, made of wire bent in the desired shape or of bits of metal, are fastened to the surface. A deckle is a narrow wooden frame which fits on and around the sides of the mould. The deckle is movable, in order that it may be used with more than one mould. The mould is dipped in paper pulp and a quantity taken upon it. It is then shaken, to make the pulp cover the whole surface evenly and rid it of water. The edges of the resulting sheet are, naturally, rough and irregular and are called deckle edges.

To make the paper pulp the rags are first boiled with soda and lime, to rid them of dirt and grease. They are then macerated in a vat, through which fresh water continually flows. When thoroughly ground the pulp is treated with a bleaching fluid which removes all color. It is then pressed and is ready for use. When about to be used the pulp is mixed with water and color is added if desired. When the paper is to be made by machinery the pulp is allowed to flow slowly from the vat upon a wide, endless band, usually made of fine wire gauze but occasionally of canvas or other form of cloth. This band is stretched upon rollers and travels slowly forward while, at the same time, it is shaken from side to side to distribute the pulp. Two narrow bands of India rubber are stretched lengthwise of the gauze band and resting upon it. They serve to confine the pulp and regulate the width of the paper. These bands are also called deckles and produce the same edge as the frame used in making hand-made paper.

As the pulp moves along with the gauze band it passes under a roller called the "dandy roll." The covering of this roll determines the character of the paper. When the paper is to be wove, it is covered with wire gauze. If it is to be watermarked the designs are attached to the surface of the roll and duly pressed into the paper. To make laid paper the surface of the roll is covered with longitudinal wires, with spaces the width of a wire between them. Rings of wire pass around the roll at regular intervals and hold the longitudinal wires in place. For _batonné_ paper, there are thick longitudinal wires at intervals and between them either smaller wires or gauze, as the paper is to be laid _batonné_ or wove _batonné_. After passing the dandy roll the paper goes over a number of rollers covered with felt and cylinders heated by steam, until it is dry. It is then sized, dried again, pressed between heavy rollers, to give it a surface, and the edges trimmed by revolving cutters. It is then wound up in a roll or cut into sheets, as may be required.

Having duly considered the design, printing and paper of stamps, the next thing to attract our attention is the gum. Most gums are prepared from potato starch, dextrin or gum arabic. Gelatin is sometimes added to supply body and glycerine to give smoothness. Gum varies much in thickness and color. The first three cent stamp of the Danish West Indies furnishes an instance of this. The stamps were sent from Denmark without gum, as is frequently done with stamps for tropical countries. When they reached the islands the stamps were given to two druggists to be gummed. One used gum of good quality and, light color, while the other used poor material and of so dark color as to stain the paper and even darken the ink of the stamps. In Hanover rose-colored gum was used for a number of issues. Some of the earliest local prints of the South African Republic were made upon paper sent out ready gummed from Germany. The paper was much wrinkled by the gum and the effect may be seen in the wavy and broken lines of the ink.

The stamps of the first issue of Reunion were sold ungummed and were affixed to letters in any way that pleased the writers. Some were fastened by wafers and some even were pinned on.

Formerly, sheets of stamps to be gummed were fastened in a frame and the gum applied by hand with a large brush. They were then sent to the drying room and hung up to dry. Now the process is entirely mechanical. The sheets are fed into a machine in which they first pass under a gummed roller. Then they are carried on an endless chain through a long box filled with steam pipes and emerge at the further end dry and ready to be pressed and perforated.

The subject of perforations is also worthy of some brief attention. The first stamps were imperforate, necessitating the use of scissors or other instrument in separating them. This was a manifest inconvenience. In 1847, Henry Archer, an Irishman, began experimenting with machines for perforating stamps. After a number of attempts he succeeded in making a machine which was accepted by the English government and for which, in 1852, he was allowed a compensation of £4,000. James M. Napier greatly improved on this machine and adapted it for steam power.

The general principle of all perforating machines is a series of hollow needles, which remove rows of small disks of the paper from between the stamps, and thus fit them to be readily torn apart. For convenience of reference and description philatelists have adopted, as a standard of measurement, the space of two centimetres. The gauge of a perforation is determined by the number of holes in this distance. Scales have been prepared for measuring perforations but it would be superfluous to attempt to describe them here. One of the largest perforations that has been used for stamps has seven holes in two centimetres. This was used on the stamps of France by Susse Freres, a firm of stationers. It was done for the convenience of themselves and their customers. Some of the stamps of Mexico have a still larger perforation gauging 5½. The finest gauge is about 19. This is an unofficial perforation and was applied to some of the early stamps of Tasmania.

[Illustration: Perforation]

[Illustration: Perforation]

[Illustration: Perforation]

[Illustration: Perforation]

We show you here a variety of perforations. The first two are ordinary perforations of different gauges, 9½ and 14. The third shows a perforation in square holes instead of round. The next is an example of pin perforation, the holes being far apart and small. Two sides of the stamp show the holes before the stamps have been torn apart and a third side shows the ragged effect produced by separating them. Another form of pin perforation is made by needles which are not hollow and merely prick holes in the paper without removing any of it. This sort of perforation has sometimes been made by a sewing machine with an unthreaded needle.

[Illustration: Perforation]

The last form of perforation shown is called lozenge. In this the machine removes small diamond shaped pieces from the paper. The effect before the separation is shown between the pair of stamps, while the outer edges show the appearance of single copies.

[Illustration: Perforation]

A variety of machines are used in perforating stamps. One perforates only a single row of holes at a time. This is known as the guillotine machine because its action suggests that unpleasant instrument. Another machine is called the comb machine because the needles are arranged to perforate across the top of a row of stamps and at the same time between the stamps of that row. This arrangement somewhat resembles a comb. It will be seen that the first application perforates the stamps of one row on three sides. The application of the machine to the next row below completes the fourth side. In the best perforating machines the needles are arranged in circles around a spindle. The sheets pass under this roller and are perforated in one direction. A similar machine makes the perforations in the other direction.

There is another form of separation called rouletting, from the French "roulette", a little wheel, its simplest form being produced by a small wheel with an edge of sharp points. By this process a series of small cuts is made between the stamps but none of the paper is removed.

[Illustration: Rouletting, Large Gauge]

[Illustration: Rouletting, Small Gauge]

In these two illustrations are shown roulettes of large and small gauge. The same result is also obtained by setting printers rules which have a notched edge between the _clichés_ which compose the plate. These rules are set a trifle higher than the _clichés_ so that, when the sheet of paper is pressed against the plate in printing, the points of the rules are forced through it. These points receive ink the same as other parts of the surface of the plate and the effect thus produced is called rouletting in colored lines.

[Illustration: Rouletting Forms]

[Illustration: Rouletting Forms]

There are a number of systems which produce the effect of rouletting in a variety of fancy forms. One is called _percé en arc_. This produces a series of arches on one stamp and a series of scallops on the adjacent one. Here is an example of this rouletting, in a small gauge. A similar form is called serpentine perforation. It is here shown.

[Illustration: Rouletting Forms]

[Illustration: Rouletting Forms]

Still another form leaves the edges of the stamps in sharp points. This is called _percé en scie_ or saw-tooth perforation. When this perforation is very fine it is called serrate. There is still another form of rouletting, which we also show you. It is called rouletting in oblique parallel cuts and consists of a row of short cuts placed obliquely and parallel to each other. Stamps thus rouletted have a very ragged edge when torn apart. This roulette was only used in Tasmania and was a private production.

[Illustration: Burelage]

[Illustration: Control Number, 70]

[Illustration: Moirée Pattern]

One of the nightmares of every government is the fear that its securities will be counterfeited or tampered with. I have several times mentioned precautions against such abuses in the shape of fine engraving, watermarks, enameled paper, sensitive inks, etc. There are numerous other devices which have been used with the same end in view. The patterns here shown were printed on the backs of the stamps in blue ink. The first is a band of interlaced lines, called a _burelage_. The second is a sort of control number. The number differs for each stamp on the sheet. The third resembles the lines in watered silk and is called _moirée_. It covers the entire back of the sheet. Sometimes the stamps are covered with a network which only becomes visible on the application of certain chemicals. In this country the experiment has been tried of breaking the fibre of the paper by pressing into the stamps a group of tiny pyramids, called a grill. The idea was that the cancelling ink would penetrate the broken paper and could not be removed.

We cannot finish our study of the material side of stamps without reference to another feature, i.e., surcharges. Correctly speaking, a surcharge is an added charge, but in philately the term is applied to a variety of overprints, the majority of which indicate a reduction rather than an increase in value. Years ago the word surcharge usually suggested a makeshift, something of a temporary nature prepared to meet an emergency and, therefore, interesting and likely to become valuable. But our little weaknesses are now well understood by those who are exploiting the commercial side of postage stamps and we have reason to fear that many recent surcharges were made for revenue only and not from any real necessity. The majority of surcharges are made to supply a value which has been temporarily exhausted. For example, many of the British Colonies obtained their supplies of stamps in London. It may happen that an order is not placed early enough or there is delay in filling it and delivering the stamps. Owing to this, the values most in use may be exhausted. Under such circumstances, it is customary to provide a temporary supply by printing the needed value on some other stamp, usually one of higher value. To use a lower value would tempt the counterfeiting of the surcharge, for the profit to be made through the increased value.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Mauritius", surcharged 4 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Gibraltar", surcharged 5 centimos]

There are, however, a variety of other surcharges, a few of which may interest you. The first two stamps indicate a change in the form of the currency of the country, from pence to cents in Mauritius and from the English half penny to its Spanish equivalent in Gibraltar. The Seychelles stamp was prepared to meet a change in the rate for letters to countries in the International Postal Union.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Seychelles", surcharged 8 cents]

[Illustration: Stamp, "St. Helena", surcharged 1 penny]

The first stamp made in St. Helena was a six pence. For a long time no other value was engraved but the six pence stamps were printed in a variety of colors and surcharged with the desired values. The Ceylon stamp has been made available for revenue purposes, as well as postal. The last stamp shown is from Shanghai. Its original value was 100 cash. This was overprinted "20 cash" and the equivalent Chinese characters in a double-lined frame, and again surcharged "100 cash."

[Illustration: Stamp, "Ceylon", 15 cents, surcharged 5 cents, Postage, Revenue]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Shanghai LPO", 100 cash, surcharged 20 cash, surcharged again 100 cash]

There is an interesting bit of history connected with these surcharges. The supply of 20 cash stamps was exhausted and the postmaster surcharged that value on eight hundred of the 100 cash stamps. A tourist, learning this and knowing that the regular 20 cash stamps were expected to arrive at any moment, bought the entire lot. But the expected stamps failed to arrive and the postmaster made a second lot of surcharges but on the 80 cash this time. When the tourist learned this he wished to return the stamps he had bought. The postmaster refused to take them back but, pressure being brought through the Municipal Council, finally consented. In the mean time the 20 cash stamps had arrived and, not needing provisionals of that value, he restored them to their original value by the second surcharge, "100 cash."

[Illustration: Stamp, 1 penny, surcharged "Cyprus", 30 paras]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Antigua", surcharged "Montserrat"]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Bermuda", surcharged "Gilbraltar"]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Straits Settlement", surcharged "Perak"]

This group illustrates stamps of one country or state surcharged for use in another. For a long time Cyprus was supplied by overprinting the stamps of Great Britain. In like manner Montserrat was surcharged on Antigua stamps, Gibraltar on Bermuda and Perak on the Straits Settlements. In the case of Gibraltar some of the stamps were printed in other colors than were used in Bermuda. The colony of Eritrea has always been supplied by overprinting the Italian stamps.

[Illustration: Fives]

In 1883 a large quantity of stamps were stolen in Cuba and to prevent their being used the remaining stock were overprinted with the devices shown here. These were the _clichés_ used to print the control numbers on the tickets of the Havana lottery.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Z. Afr. Republiek", 1 penny, surcharged "Transvaal"]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Transvaal Postage", 6 pence, surcharged "Z.A.R", 2 pence]

Sometimes surcharges are the outcome of historic events or are at least suggestive of such. The first stamp in this group is one of the crude products of the South African Republic, which was surcharged during the British occupation of the country. The second is a stamp issued during the same occupation and surcharged after the Boers again came into power. The Chilian coat of arms on the stamps of Peru tells its own story of war and invasion. Lastly we have a stamp of Fiji on which the initials "C.R.", Cakambau Rex, are overprinted with the "V.R." of the Queen of England.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Correos del Peru", 1 centavo]

[Illustration]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Fiji", surcharched "V.R."]

During the Carlist insurrection in Spain, the stamps of France, surcharged with a _fleur de lys_ surrounded by a five-rayed star, were used by Don Carlos to frank his correspondence across the frontier into France. These stamps were in use for only a brief period, pending the preparation and issue of the Carlist stamps.

[Illustration: Stamp, Poland]

It may be remarked that there are many suggestions of history in stamps that are not surcharged. The succession of portraits and other devices in the issues of a country is often eloquent of the march of great events, and there is a touch of pathos in Poland's solitary stamp.

Finally, I wish to call your attention to a few stamps which tell most interesting stones, and which have a touch of mysticism and symbolism, which is not of to-day.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Correos Mexico", ½ real]

The coat of arms of Mexico has its origin in the distant past. General Lew Wallace says in his historical romance the _Fair God_: "The site of the city of Tenochtitlan was chosen by the gods. In the south-western border of Lake Tezcuco, one morning in 1300, a wandering tribe of Aztecs saw an eagle perched, with outspread wings, upon a cactus, and holding a serpent in its talons. At a word from their priests, they took possession of the marsh and there stayed their migration and founded the city; such is the tradition. As men love to trace their descent back to some stoned greatness, nations delight to associate the gods with their origin."

[Illustration: Stamp, Persia]

Many stamps of Persia bear the lion and the sun, the arms of the country and the insignia of its highest order of nobility. It is the lion of Iran, holding in its paw the sceptre of the Khorassan while behind it shines the sun of Darius. There is a legend concerning the latter symbol to the effect that Darius, hunting in the desert, threw his spear at a lion and missed. The beast crouched to spring, when the sun, shining on a talisman on Darius' breast, so overpowered it that it came fawning to his feet and followed him back to the city. And for this reason the sun became part of the arms of the kingdom. But I think we may look further than this and find in it a relic of the ancient fire worship and of oriental pretentions to power over heaven and earth.

[Illustration: Stamp, Egypt, 5 para]

How much of Egypt's myths and splendors are here depicted; the temple column called Pompey's pillar, the obelisk of Luxor, the mighty pyramids, last of all the sphynx, that fabled creature with the face of a woman, the body of a tigress and the heart of both. In fancy we can see her, crouched on a rock beside the great highway to Thebes, propounding her fatal riddle to the bewildered passers by, till Oedipus shall come.

[Illustration: Stamp, Turkey]

On the stamps and coins of Turkey we miss the portrait of the reigning sovereign, which we find on such issues of most monarchies. This is due to a law of Mohammed, which forbids the reproduction of the human figure. On the stamps we find the crescent, said to have been the emblem of the Byzantine empire and adopted by the Turks after the fall of Constantinople. We also find an elaborate device called the Toughra or signature of the Sultan. It owes its origin to the Sultan Murad I, a liberal sovereign and founder of many schools and institutions of learning but unable to write his own name. He signed imperial decrees by dipping his fingers in ink and placing them on the documents with three fingers close together and the little finger and thumb extended. In course of time this was adopted and, so to speak, consecrated as the signature of the Sultan. It was also elaborated and arranged to form a written phrase, while preserving, in a general way, its original form. The toughra contains certain characters which are permanent and minor ones which change. The latter are the names of the sovereign and his father. Thus the toughra which we illustrate reads: "His Majesty Abdul Hamid, son of Mejid, may he be always victorious." The small inscription at the side reads "_el ghazi_," the victorious, one of the titles of the Sultan. The toughra is often referred to as the hand. In an article published in 1867 I find the following on this subject:

[Illustration: [Arabic: El Ghazi]]

"The hand has to Mussulmen three mystic significations; it denotes providence; it is the expression of law; and thirdly, of power; it restores the courage of the faithful and strikes terror to the hearts of their enemies.

"As an emblem of law, the Mussulman thus explains the meaning of the hand. It has five fingers, each, with the exception of the thumb, having three joints, all the fingers are subordinate to the unity of the hand, their common foundation. The five fundamental precepts of the law are: 1st--Belief in God and his prophet. 2nd--Prayer. 3rd--Giving alms. 4th--Fasting during the sacred months and at the appointed times. 5th--Visiting the temples of Mecca and Medina. Each of these precepts admits of three divisions, except the first, symbolized by the thumb, which has only two, _heart_ and _work_. These dogmas and their modifications have for their source the central doctrine of the unity of God; and all the creed of Mohametanism is contained in the hand,--the five fingers and their forty joints.

"The hand placed above the gates of the Alhambra, upon the Sultan's seal, and upon the stamps, symbolises the spiritual and temporal power which protects the good and the faithful and punishes their adversaries."

[Illustration: Stamp, "Korea", 5 Poon]

This stamp is from Corea, the Land of the Morning Calm. In the corners are the plum blossom, the royal flower of the present dynasty which has existed over 500 years. In the four corners of the central square are letters taken from the original alphabet of all languages and representing the four spirits that stand at the four corners of the earth and support it on their shoulders. The central device is an ancient Chinese symbol which represents the dual principle in nature, the male and the female, the beginning and the end, the union of all opposite forces, of which the highest product is man. This symbol pervades all oriental art and thought. Those of you who have seen Vedder's illustrations of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam will remember the ever recurring swirl which "represents the gradual concentration of the elements that combine to form life; the sudden pause through the reverse of the movement that marks the instant of life, and then the gradual, ever-widening dispersion again of these elements into space." The swirl is only another form of the Chinese symbol.

A postage stamp is a tiny thing but it holds in its pictured space thoughts that embrace the beginning and the end of things, life, death and--we know not what.

The trick to making money can often mean buying items before they become popular - while they are cheap - and selling them again later on once demand increases and prices have risen accordingly. However, despite sounding like a simple challenge, it's been rare in my experience with collectables to identify what looks like an obvious opportunity to buy up items at their very cheapest now to hopefully make a profit within a reasonable time frame. In my opinion the recently introduced smoking ban has created just such an opportunity.

Tobacciana - smoking related collectables - is already a well established field for collecting but I see a bright future for one particular area of the hobby. For generations breweries have produced branded items to promote themselves in pubs, clubs, hotels and other licensed premises. Among these items was the humble oversized pub ashtray but their production and use was all but killed off instantly by the smoking ban.

This means there are now millions of attaractive, antique or modern, unusual, large, interesting pub ashtrays in existence and they are all virtually redundant. A quick check on eBay for pub ashtrays usually reveals many of these redundant ashtrays in all sizes and shapes bearing those old familiar slogans about a Double Diamond doing wonders or a Mackeson being good for you. Car boot sales and even asking pub landlords if they have any old ashtrays available can also produce bargains for shrewd collectors. The really good news is pub ashtrays can be acquired very cheaply at the moment because the public has yet to catch on in significant numbers to their future potential as decorative collectables.

Think chamber pots! Once upon a time almost everyone used a chamber pot before the WC moved indoors. Thesedays chamber pots are virtually redundant from their original purpose yet the finer, more decorative examples can command very high prices and you see them put to all kinds of alternative uses. I'm convinced a similar future lies ahead for the humble pub ashtray.

Nicely designed pub ashtrays in good condition are very affordable now - even when displaying smaller brewery names or promoting one off events - and could prove a great investment in years to come. So, whether you're looking for a little punt to make a few pounds or want to start a collection that could one day prove a valuable family asset, why not consider the idea?

KALYMNOS, GREECE: As a Brit sitting on a small Greek island during this slow motion economic car crash, I can feel how little sympathy the people of Europe have despite most of them having little or no understanding of how the typical Greek is being impacted by current events.

On TV every day Greece is being portrayed as the country that has derailed the European elite's dream for an "ever closer union" and gets the blame for the very real threat now casting its shadow over the Euro. Even Obama in the White House appears to have abandoned his hopeful messages to nervously warn how Greece could represent a danger to the entire world. Add to that a healthy dose of stereotyping being broadcast about the lazy and feckless Greeks and you start to get the picture being seen here.

From where I sit readers in the UK and northern Europe would do well to rethink their opinions of the mess Greece is in and the willingness and efforts of its people to salvage a future. Do they really expect normal men and women in the street to be capable of paying the price being extracted by European politicians and bankers? Who gave Greece membership to the European Club and, perhaps more importantly, who turned blind eyes to the criteria in place in order to say Greece was eligible to adopt the Euro? Does any responsibility lay with the negligent eurocrats that looked through rose tinted glasses at the unified currency and ignored the bleedin' obvious? How can any independent economy ride the economic waves without the ability to devalue its currency if it gets in to trouble? Plenty of people are asking this question now in Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy - oh, and Greece of course - but why wasn't it asked before? Is Greece entirely to blame?

As it dawns on European leaders what problems are coming their way, instinctively they ratchet up the threats against their southern friends who they will soon likely cut adrift with all the blame. They pompously declare the Greek government must meet its commitments to reduce its structural deficit and, if it doesn't, the next tranche of bail-out money won’t be given. The blame game has started. The exposure of French and German banks is about to be realised and politicians will blatantly rewrite the context of recent history to make sure little or no blame is attached to them.

But what hope has Greece got under the relentless pressure to punish its own people for buying in to this luxury European timeshare complex? Can we blame Greece for signing up to the salesman's promises of the Euro when it was barely ever mentioned just how inherently inflexible a single currency is bound to be when shared with major economies like Germany and France? A population of 10 Million people - around one sixth of that in the UK - cannot hope to absorb the full impact of this crisis. Did anyone mention mis-selling?

Despite the recent 20% wage cut for public service workers, it's rumoured loudly that a further 30% raid on income is planned. No ifs or buts, such a move will tip many more Greeks in to real poverty in addition to those already there. I mean the kind of poverty where children's bellies go empty for days - not the theoretical poverty measured by TVs and free school meals that UK politicians like to refer to when seeking power.

In addition to these punishing cuts in pay, new taxes are arriving at a moment’s notice. Following on from the so called "Solidarity Tax" which meant most middle class families had to stump up around 1,000 Euros, they have now been given a month before they must pay a new property tax which will cost the same people around 700 Euros. As this tax will be collected via the electricity bill the threat has already been made that failure to pay will get your power turned off despite 15% of customers already being in arrears on their utility bills. Squeezing blood from a stone?

Here in real Greece it's not unusual for a full week's adult wage to be little more than 200 Euros with no top up benefits to speak of. Food prices in the supermarkets make my British eyes bulge and who in the UK would enjoy living with a VAT rate of 23% with few exemptions? A good friend of mine dutifully turns up to his postman's job at 7am five days a week delivering mail and pension payments until 3pm. After a few hours rest with the family he starts a second job cooking in a taverna until 11pm. This job is seven days a week and don't even think about going sick, paid holidays or the meaning of the Working Time Directive! Yet he's grateful for the second job, he couldn't feed his family without it.

So how interesting it was that a German tourist recently pointed him out to me as being a prime example of the lazy Greeks the Germans now have to support. My friend had made the silly mistake of playing with his daughter in a swimming pool between jobs in the presence of this tourist. He didn't know what job was being done just an hour earlier or where my friend would be in a few hours. Where did this man get that thought? I'm certain it wasn't in Greece and, sadly, I'm equally certain people will lap up the lazy Greek story back in Munich, Berlin or wherever he's returned to. Meanwhile my Greek friend continues on with his 68 hour working week wondering where this 700 Euros will come from to avoid having his power cut off.

Put the EU to one side a moment and realise that many Greeks now openly question whether the democracy they only gained in 1974 has really delivered on its promise. While in Britain we call it democracy when we get a choice between two parties and the least unpopular of them wins, in Greece they've done even better than us and made government largely a popularity contest between two families! Cynicism and political detachment now wins out among the regular folk here as it does in many democracies. The politicians in power, while speaking about the virtues of democratic rule, relentlessly conspire to build ivory towers that openly transfer publicly funded status, jobs and wealth to unelected people. Look no further than the current president of the European Union for example. I can't even recall his name but I know for a fact that no European citizen in any member country voted to put him in that job! As one wise person once said, you can't fool all of the people all of the time, so some might soon be asking if European democracy needs a cleanup?

Fortunately there are plenty of examples to see around the world that proves democracy is easily the lesser evil when it comes to systems for running a country but, with that said, put yourself in the position of a typical Greek today and try to think that way. Give up 20% of your income and pay two new taxes that demand a four figure payment from you at short notice. Switch on TV every day to hear how lazy you are when you're working 68 hours a week without a day off and see if you feel the same admiration as the bankers and politicians do toward the German economy.

The myth that the Greeks won't pay taxes needs to be quashed although it's true to say the Greek government has proved incapable of running a credible income tax system. Undoubtedly the political elite in Greece have been lacking in talent at best or corrupt at worst in their never ending quest to gain and retain power. But Greece didn't admit itself in to the European Union and Greece didn't allow itself in to the single European currency. However you play the blame game with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, one thing is very obvious here. The working age population of Greece is fast evaporating to Australia, Canada, the US and elsewhere leaving fewer productive people to pay for the elderly, the kids and, of course, the current European nightmare. The pot to plunder is shrinking fast.

Is this the moment the European dream ends and we wake up to realise we aren't at all unified and we Europeans aren't willing to support each other in times of need? Are we all willing to tighten our belts or would we prefer to see Greece become a third world nation? Is this the moment the reality of human nature blows away the idealistic foundations of the EU? Is this the moment we realise the EU would be better run as a club that you're not allowed to fight in but operates as a free trade area for the benefit of all the members?

In my view it is time for Europe to accept reality and deal with the Eurozone problem we have ALL combined to create. If the larger economies still want to keep the Euro then they should pay much of the current cost and treat Greece as a friend in need rather than a parasite. Otherwise, if the Euro does survive and Greece does remains in the EU what will happen when Greeks start migrating in large numbers to other EU countries in order to get jobs, homes and food they can afford?

How could anyone fail to love this Alpha Blondy cover of Pink Floyd;s classic Wish You Were Here?

Here are a few thrifty gems to save money or just improve your life around the house!

• Use the forked end of a cheese knife to remove those hard to grip stalks from strawberries. It deals with them with ease!
• Hang your washing line over a flower bed during Spring and Summer, you'll be surprised how much nicer your clothes smell when they're dry!
• To avoid your expensive non-stick pans getting scratched when they're stacked place a piece of kitchen paper between them.
• Use an old glasses case as a travel jewellery holder.
• If you struggle threading needles try spraying the cotton thread with a little hairspray.
• Use vaseline to gently but effectively wipe away any hair dye that gets on your skin when you're colouring your hair.

Six Household Money Saving Tips

I'm heartened to see that 'people power' appears to have won a significant battle after more than 100,000 people signed an online petition seeking the full publication of cabinet papers relating to the tragic Hillsborough disaster. Three hours of debate and a vote among MPs is now scheduled for October 17th and I for one hope MPs will line up to voice their support for this campaign.

The UK Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, has already insisted the relevant cabinet papers must be published so this latest development should rightly add further pressure on the government to abandon its stubborn refusal to publish on the grounds that cabinet papers must be treated as 'privileged information'.

While I and most reasonable readers will accept that some information has to be kept secret when sensitive issues are at stake, this matter relates to a tragedy that occured 22 years ago and family members will be going to their graves without knowing the full, unedited facts unless bravery and integrity from today's politicians can triumph over this disgraceful absurdity left by their predecessors.

In any other walk of UK life when would a boss, a parent or any responsible adult insist on keeping secrets that have zero impact on current security or safety in preference to revealing the full truth to fellow citizens about the circumstances of their loved ones death? Would any of us really give two hoots about the labelling of such knowledge as so called privileged information?

Whatever the ramifications, this campaign isn't simply about pointing fingers and embarassing people as some may claim, it's about removing the unwarranted veil of secrecy obstructing our view of the facts surrounding Hillsborough. Sadly, none of the 96 Liverpool football fans will come back from the grave if this information is released but many people can then go to theirs content that they know how their loved ones came to perish before them and what the people in power were told and said about it 22 years ago.

Windows 7: Adjust Mouse Pointer Speed

From your Windows desktop click 'Start" and then click on the link to open your machine's Control Panel. Once in your Control Panel follow the link for the menu option titled 'Hardware and Sound'. From there you can now select 'Mouse'. You can now select 'Pointer Options' and use the motion slider control to adjust the speed as you wish.

How to Speed Up or Slow Down Your Mouse Pointer Movement in Windows 7

The Olympus TG-310 14 Megapixel camera is a shockproof and waterproof camera that's ideal for outdoor and holiday use. Olympus say the camera is waterproof down to three metres and shockproof when dropped from a height of 1.5 metres. While I've no reason to disbelieve Olympus, for the purposes of this reveiw I should say that I haven't personally tested either claim yet!

The camera certainly feels robust and the camera lens doesn't protrude out of the front even when using the 3.6x zoom as all the movement is confined inside the camera's dimensions.

As you would expect from most digital cameras thesedays, there are various sockets and a memory card slot. However, because the camera is waterproofed, these are all found by opening a catched access hatch on the side of the camera. The sockets for charging the camera and connection to a computer or TV are not all standard. So while the cables and mains power adapter are supplied, you may find it is more costly to replace any that are lost or get damaged.

The same access also leads to the removable, rechargeable battery and SD card. The card supports both the SDHC and SDXC larger capacity memory card standards. This means the TG-310 can be used to quickly capture high definition video at the click of a button rather than having to deal with dials and settings each time.

There's nothing about the camera that is particularly difficult to use and, although there's an automatic mode where the camera chooses the most appropriate set up, there are also plenty of modes to manually choose from to quickly set the camera up for almost any kind of scene or lighting condition.

A good degree of user help is available on the camera screen and there's a handy question mark button that gives fast access to any help required.

The TG-310 can display the histogram feature to help set up the lighting balance for shots along with guide rules to aid the framing of pictures.

There are some fun features on the camera. For example there's a 3D picture facility where users can take two pictures with a little movement between each shot and the camera will automatically combine them to form a 3D image. While this is far from being as good as a two lens camera, it is possible to get some interesting images and impressive results.

Offered in a variety of colours, the camera is generally available on the high street for between £150 and £160 (check eBay) at the time of writing and, at that price, it represents great value for the outdoor type who will want the rugged strength, waterproofing and speed of use the Olympus TG-310 offers.

If the shockproof and waterproof features of the TG-310 aren't required then an alternative to consider is the Canon Powershot A3300 IS. Around a tenner cheaper it takes great quality pictures.

Olympus TG-310 Digital Camera Reviewed

Windows XP users can now get several features of Windows 7 - like the thumbnails of open windows, start button and the ability to pin favourite programs to the taskbar - by using a free program called Viglance.

Visit the Viglance website download page to get the program. Once installed you should see the Windows 7 style thumbnails of open windows start working above the taskbar as you open various programs and minimise them.

Viglance places an icon on the desktop's Notification Area (bottom right of the screen). By clicking this icon you can choose various options including making Viglance start up automatically with Windows. This is also the place to enable the Windows 7 style start menu.

Enjoy!

Give Windows XP the Style of Windows 7

Most of Freddie's personal possessions were burnt following his death in line with his family beliefs but the stamp collection survived and the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

The collection features stamps from many parts of the British Empire with particular interest being given to the stamps of Zanzibar which was Freddie Mercury's birthplace.

Freddie was born Farrokh Bulsara and this year, 2011, marks the 65th anniversary of his birth.

Currently there are around 1.5 million sufferers of age related mental loss in the UK and, as our life expectancy continues to rise, doctors expect this number to significantly increase - perhaps double - over the course of the next generation.

So it is exciting news that UK Researchers have reported that recent studies show a daily boost of three types of Vitamin B - all of which are already freely available and cheap - can significantly slow mental decline for the elderly. They now plan a further major study into measuring the effectiveness of the vitamins at preventing Alzheimer's disease. This will study up to 1000 elderly people and measure the effectiveness of precise doses of vitamin B12, B9 and B6 at delaying the onset of Alzheimer's and other forms of age related dementia.

While it may be easy to think in terms of taking a daily vitamin pill to ensure you receive a regular intake there are also some commonplace natural sources of vitamin B to consider as an alternative. These include spinach, wholegrain bread, meats, most types of edible beans and bananas.

This exciting research comes as a follow up to previous studies that led to the same researchers announcing a year ago that taking the combination of Vitamin B supplements had significantly reduced brain shrinkage by up to 30% in 266 people aged over 70. The episodic memory - which lets people recall the time and location of specific events - also appeared to sharpen in many test subjects. In fact, during memory tests conducted on study participants, those given the Vitamin B combination were found to be 69% more likely to recall words from a list compared to the control group who didn't take the added vitamins.

Lovecraft's horror works focused on the possibilities presented by the emerging sciences of his era and envisioning a human race controlled by forces in the universe beyond its understanding.

Lovecraft was a keen philatelist in his private life but, to date, he has only ever been featured on a set of unofficial "cinderella" stamps produced by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. So now fans of the author are being encouraged to actively campaign for the United States Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to consider an official USPS stamp issue commemorating the 125th anniversary of Lovecraft's birth in 2015.

To add your weight to the campaign for a Lovecraft stamp issue write to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, c/o Stamp Development, US Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300, Washington DC 20260-3501.

More H P Lovecraft related links from around the web...

An asthma attack can happen suddenly although many people suffering asthma learn to recognise the warning signs such as an itchy nose, itchy skin, light-headedness (which can cause dizzy spells) or simply a persistent cough. These warning signals can act as a prompt for someone with asthma to take preventive action before a serious asthma attack occurs.

Asthma is recognised as a chronic condition, meaning attacks occur over a prolong period of time but between acute episodes most ashmatics can experience long periods with little, if any, problems.

The major symptoms of asthma are:

• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Shortness of breath
• Tight feeling in the chest

Asthma can have a range of different causes and science has still got a lot to learn about exactly what these are. Overly sensitive airways, a genetic history and allergies to various substances can be so called asthma triggers.

Some scientists have expressed the opinion that asthma may cause airways to become oversensitive due to a virus in the lungs which damages cells whereas others believe the onset of asthma is caused by an allergic reaction which causes a persons lungs to over-react to infections.

The most common asthma triggers are:

• Household dust mites
• Mould spores
• Pollen
• Family pets
• Food allergies

Most asthmatics find there are several other things that can trigger their asthma too.

If you are worried about asthma or experiencing any of the symptoms described we strongly advise you to see your Doctor.

Asthma: The Causes and Symptoms of Asthma

Several artists, including big names such as Cliff Richard, actively campaigned for the change in the belief they should continue to earn from their creations for longer although some contrary views argued that most musicians will see very little real benefit as most additional income will be paid to the biggest stars and their record labels.

The new ruling applies to the copyright on studio recordings only which is very often owned by the record labels. The ruling does not affect the rights to the musical composition which is usually owned by songwriters.

If the 50-year rule had remained unchanged then the copyright on songs by sixties supergroups like The Beatles and Rolling Stones would have expired within a few years meaning anyone could then sell unprotected songs in any way they like with the performers and record labels unable to collect royalties.

Her album, My Heart, has made it to number nine in the UK album chart, more than sixty years since the 87-year-old released her debut album in the US.

My Heart is a selection of recordings produced by Doris Day's son, Terry Melcher, before he sadly died in 2004.

]]> Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:15:47 +0000 http://www.jotty.co.uk/art-entertainment/doris-day-album-creates-new-uk-music-chart-history/ http://www.jotty.co.uk/art-entertainment/doris-day-album-creates-new-uk-music-chart-history/ The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), a British government-backed commission headed by Sir John Vickers, has said it would be "easier" and "less costly" to sort out banks that find trouble. The ICB also recommends the changes are implemented by the beginning of 2019.

Chancellor George Osborne referred to the report as being "good" and indicates that he plans to stick to the timetable recommended in the report.

Chancellor Osborne said; "This commission tackled that big question we face in Britain, which is how can we be a home to successful banks that compete around the world, but lend to British families and British businesses. But at the same time protecting us as taxpayers from the cost of them going wrong, and not ending up with a multi-billion pound bill when the bank collapses."

Ed Balls, shadow chancellor, believes the reforms are of cross-party interest and wants the three main political parties to work together in order to get the reforms through. Ed Balls described the ICB report as "important" and "authoritative" and the ring-fence proposal was, in his words, "tough and radical". But he has also suggested these reforms should be the start and not the end for UK banking reform.

What do you think? Please use the comments system below.

Purchasing one of the bargain priced ready made - so called "turnkey" - websites listed on eBay can prove worthwhile provided you make sure you avoid some of the pitfalls webmaster newbies often encounter. So here are a few suggestions of what to do and what not to do when buying a website online at eBay.

Try to buy a website from a reputable seller as the quality of service you get after you've paid can be crucial. Always check their feedback and be wary of sellers with little or no track record of selling websites. If you have any questions use the eBay system to ask the seller before bidding. Many people bid first and ask questions later when it may be too late. This also gives you an opportunity to see how quickly the seller responds to questions which is a good guide to the kind of after sales service you can expect to receive.

Before I discuss the potential traps when buying a ready established website, take a look at some of the sites currently available:

Now don't be blinded by any fancy claims about the quality of search engine optimisation, traffic volume or earnings potential a website has. The truth with almost every new site is a slow and steady climb up the search engine rankings awaits that will need to be powered by your own efforts. Buying the website ready made can cut out a lot of the initial donkey work but don't expect floods of traffic to find your site if you wont be putting in some SEO and marketing effort in future.

Do some research. You can easily check on the Google homepage to see if a website is already indexed and, if so, how many pages are already being displayed in their SERPS pages. If you don't use the Google toolbar you can find sites that will check to see if the site has a Google pagerank yet. If a seller claims the site has been making a substantial income then ask for proof. If no proof is forthcoming assume the site is not making money and bid accordingly.

Be sensible about the value of the domain name the site will operate from. Read up at the various forums to understand what makes a good domain name. A genuinely premium .co.uk would be a single, dictionary listed word for a generic product or service (e.g. toy.co.uk) but two word or hyphenated domain names can still do well if they exactly match heavily searched terms.

Be prepared to pay ongoing hosting costs. Hosting is very cheap thesedays but be careful of sales where you are expected to keep the site hosted with a certain company or by the seller. Ideally you want the freedom to choose your own hosting and the seller should indicate whether help is on offer to transfer the website and domain to a new registrar and hosting provider. Remember too that there is usually a charge to transfer the domain ownership properly. For most UK domains this will mean transfering the domain at Nominet and they charge £10 + VAT for transfers at the time of writing.

There's no reason to believe eBay is any more risky than any other website when it comes to buying an "off the shelf", "ready made" or "turnkey" website. A little research and some simple checks can avoid the vast majority of potential pitfalls.

Born in London, UK, Turing's father was a civil servant. Turing graduated in mathematics at Cambridge University in 1935 and spent the following three years at Princeton University in the United States working with Alonzo Church, a well known logician.

During his time at Princeton University Turing conceived of a theoretical machine which would employ binary code as a means to solve mathematical problems and undertake sequential instructions. It's now evident that Turings machine was the starting point for modern automata theory, the mathematical study of computers and other logic machines.

During World War II, Turing designed machines like Colossus at the secret codebreaking establishment at Bletchley Park in the UK. Colossus broke German military codes being transmitted using the Enigma cypher machine. Due to the extreme secrecy of the work undertaken at Bletchley Park, Turing received little public credit at the time for his contribution to the allied war effort.

Once the war ended Turing went on to design the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) at the UK's National Physical Laboratory. Frustrated by slow progress with ACE and inaequate investment, Turing joined the faculty of Manchester University in 1948 where he applied himself to the nature of intelligence and information. Along with Norbert Wiener (1894-1964), the american founder of cybernetics, Turing was convinced that intelligence was strictly a matter of processing information, meaning human thought and intelligent machine operation differed only by degree.

By 1950 Turing had devised a test for intelligent machines. The condition of the test states; If a knowledgeable person cannot tell whether a problem is being solved by a computer or a person, the computer that solved the problem is "intelligent". Many people are still trying to design computers and programs to pass Turing's test today.

Alan Turing was named a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1951 before his suicide in 1954 most likely caused by his conviction for "Gross Indecency" (he was homosexual) resulting in chemical castration.