Before getting too far from the subject it would be well to explain how the rules above given are enforced.

All questions pertaining to the welfare of the community, the trial of offenders, and matters of local interest are in the hands of a council consisting of the director, who is ex officio president; the bookkeeper, who is secretary; the treasurer of the society, and one delegate from each of the four subdivisions of the colony. These delegates belong to the farmer class and are elected annually, the laborers not having any vote in this election.

The laborer is not disfranchised in the election of state or local officers; this matter is beyond the jurisdiction of the society, nor is one released from his obligations to the State or province by being a mem ber of the colony. However, the code of the colony is so satisfactory that all infractions of law and order within its domain that can be punished by its provisions are left to it.

The practical question comes, What does all this cost?

The last balance sheet, that for 1893, shows that the estimated value of the property is $533,274, and the indebtedness $43,380.

At the time of the last reorganization the indebtedness was $56,000, and to the war of the rebellion in the United States was attributed the responsibility for this debt. The contract which the society had for so many years following 1843 for making coffee bags had proved so profitable that the society, after its withdrawal from this contract, continued the manufacture of jute bags in competition with private firms. From 1861 to 1864 the coffee trade with the United States was demoralized, and all industries depending on this trade suffered loss.

The last balance sheet (1893) shows that the receipts and expenses were as follows:

Religions services and special instruction..........

Ditching, road making, unproductive work, and losses in the various fac

tories....

Advances to colonists over and above returns.

Total.......

$745.94

1, 381.91

4,790.32

1,097.32

8,092.00

538.29

16, 645.78

That is a deficit for the year of $2,819.20, or $1.54 for each inhabitant. To see how the inhabitant is taken care of, and to what extent, the accounts for one week of two extreme cases are presented:

A family of seven persons, in which there were four above 15 years, two above 10, and one under 5, earned in one week during the winter season $4.36. From this amount the following showing was made:

If 80 cents a week were allowed for bread, they would have a surplus of $1.57 for sundry clothing and incidentals.

In the other family there were also seven persons-three above 15, one above 10, two above 5, and one under 5. During the same week they earned $2.36, and spent as follows:

That is 43 cents more than they earned. Because of the number of nonearning members of this family it was allowed $1 a week, so that it had an actual balance in its favor of 57 cents.

As already said, these are perhaps extreme cases and represent two distinct types. In the first cited the man came to the colony when young, his children were born there, and all were accustomed to habits of industry and frugality. The rooms of their house were cosily furnished, a large mahogany chest of drawers represented the savings of many weeks, the omnipresent clock was ticking against the wall, and a rug covered a part of the floor.

The head of the other family had been a mechanic, grew up in a city, and, having failed in his efforts to support his family by his trade, came to the colony later in life. He was, therefore, not used to farm work, and, besides, was disheartened by the recollection of having once failed. But notwithstanding these disadvantages this entire family was provided for, educated, and trained for usefulness at a total annual cost of $52, or less than $8 for each member. An examination of the entire yearly expenses of the colony will show that the average expense for each person there is only $9 a year. This average of $9 does more than feed, clothe, and shelter these needy. persons; as has been repeatedly said, it educates the young, gives them religious instruction, and provides them with a bread-winning trade.

It might well be asked, What more is desired? And in fact this question came to mind innumerable times-first while reading the con

stitution of the society and its annual reports, and then again during my sojourn in the colony in visiting the homes of the laborers; in walking over the farms of the citizens; in watching the happy children at play or their older brothers and sisters working in the basket factory, weaving jute, or drying fruits and vegetables; in looking through the home for the aged, the churches, the professional schools, and the public library. What more is desired? The society would answer, "More money." For, although they have reduced their bonded indebtedness to $37,200, the interest on this sum was last year onethird of the entire deficit.

This shortage is not through any bad management at the colony nor by the society. The departments did not pay their stipulated quota for each family that they had at the colony. Their payments fell short by almost identically the amount of the deficit. The society naturally expected the entire amount, they made their plans and promises accordingly, and their disappointment was shown in the untoward balance.

To say how many persons have been aided would be a mere recital of statistics; to attempt to estimate the amount of good accomplished would be impossible. As may be seen, the assistance is of the best possible character; people are helped to help themselves, they are taught self-reliance; faith in mankind is engendered by the faith that is placed in the individual. The class of persons benefited are in general those who lack opportunity, people unable from some fault or misfortune to make a start. The society practically says: "We will put you in a position to prove your worth, then if found worthy you shall have a start." The man thus addressed works with confidence that the promise will be kept, and knows that starvation will be kept from his family during this period of probation.

Experience has shown that the best results are obtained with people from small towns or from the country, while those who have lived in a large city, for a longer or a shorter period, chafe under the restrictions of the colony and show a reluctance to exchange the freedom of a city for its restraints. This experience also reflects itself in the donations. as well as the interest, they being, per inhabitant, the minimum in Amsterdam and Rotterdam and the maximum in Utrecht and the smaller cities.

It must not be imagined that the colony is in any sense an agricul tural normal school, that good farmers are here taught skill, wisdom, and experience, and sent throughout the kingdom to teach others by precept and example how to farm. As already intimated, but few, very few, families willingly leave the colony. And why should they? They would necessarily be renters wherever they should go, and in the colony there is land enough for generations to come. Here they are not subjected to exorbitant rents, their tenancy is secure, the manifested will is accepted as an important step in the doing, and their landlord is their best friend.

Then, again, it is best that such persons should remain near the hands that are ready to catch them should they stumble, close under the arm that is willing to shield them should adversity come. They are men who were helped to their feet, steadied during their early attempts to walk alone along the highway of independence, and strengthened for life's conflict with moral and financial support. They are not men strong in every respect, or they would not be in the colony; they are the men, within the boundaries of "brave little Holland," deficient in moral courage and unfortunate through accident or vice, or there would be no "Maatschappy van Veldadigheid." So when this society elevates a man into its citizenship it makes him in a truer sense a citizen of Holland. The Government appreciates this fact, and gives the colony an agricultural experiment station. General van Swieten saw its power for good, so, when he wished to perpetuate the memory of a beloved son, he endowed its professional schools. The corps of faithful ministers and teachers realize the importance of the work committed to them and labor with zeal and devotion. Her Majesty the Queen is the society's patron and annual benefactor.

Again I must call attention to the important fact that the beneficiaries are not abased by their benefits; they are not caused to feel that they are paupers; their independence is not expelled by the acceptance of gratuities. They experience the great joy of having found a friend who will loan them money, give them advice free from selfish motives, and afford them the opportunity to become men.

For opportunities to become so well acquainted with the society and its work in the colony, I am indebted to Mr. van Eeghen, secretary of the Amsterdam department, and Mr. Bleeker, member of the faculty of the School of Horticulture, who gave me freely of his time at Frederiksoord,

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN JAPAN. (a)

BY WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS.

Japan is becoming less and less dependent upon foreign nations for the necessities and comforts of life, and is making her own goods with the greatest skill and ingenuity. Since their release from the exclusive policy of the feudal lords, the people have studied the methods of all civilized nations, and have adopted those of each which seem to them the most suitable for their own purposes and convenience. They have found one thing in Switzerland, another in Sweden, another in England, others in Germany, France, and the United States, and have rejected what is of no value to them as readily as they have adopted those things which are to their advantage. It is often said that the Japanese are not an original people; that they are only imitators; that they got their art from Korea, their industries from China, and that their civilization is simply a veneer acquired by imitating the methods of other countries. All of this is true in a measure, but it is not discreditable. Under the circumstances that attend the development of modern ideas in Japan, originality is not wanted, but a power of adaptability and imitation has been immensely more useful. The Japanese workman can make anything he has ever seen. His ingenuity is astonishing. Give him a piece of complicated mechanism-a watch or an electrical apparatus-and he will reproduce it exactly and set it running without instructions. He can imitate any process and copy any pattern or design more accurately and skillfully than any other race in the world. It is that faculty which has enabled Japan to make such rapid progress, and will place her soon among the great manufacturing nations of the world.

It was only forty years ago that the ports of Japan were forcibly opened to foreign commerce. It was only twenty-eight years ago that the first labor-saving machine was set up within the limits of that Empire. Now the exports and imports exceed $115,000,000.

The following table shows the general character of the merchandise imported into Japan during the year 1894: (b)

Raw cotton.......

Machinery, etc..

Sugar

$9,551, 961

7,974, 543

6,662, 261

a The facts on which this article is based were collected by Mr. Curtis, personally, while in Japan during the past year.

b Values stated in American gold on the basis of 2 silver yen to the dollar.