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made with cocoanuts are recorded, to make each individual test. The subject is to state or write down whether the interval between the second two clicks is shorter or longer than the interval between the first two. This is not a complete test of the sense of rhythm, but if your percentage was bad you could be very suspicious of your ensemble of musical talent. Incidentally it might teach you the fundamental reason why it was difficult for you to learn to dance.

The volume test is to tell whether the second of a pair of sounds is louder or softer than the first. All the finer shades of musical expression are dependent upon the musician's ability to distinguish and then produce fine shades of intensity. Consonance is tested by playing pairs of chords, with answers as to whether or not the second of the pair is better or worse than the first. To test memory, the record sounds a series of from two to six notes and then repeats the series with but one change. The subject then indicates whatever note he thinks has been changed.

3. The enormous economic importance of such tests as these lies in the amount of money which is wasted upon children in the United States who can never become musicians. It has been estimated that the people of the United States spend more than $40,000,000 a year more for musical training than for all high school, normal, professional and college training. The thousands of tests which have been made show that the good and bad receive training indiscriminately. Moreover, the difference between the good and bad is enormous. Quantitatively the good pupils have ten-fold, fifty-fold, even a hundred-fold better tools.

The foregoing tests are but a beginning. To go more deeply into the capacities many more abilities must be investigated. For these tests many special instruments have been devised by Professor Seashore. The chronoscope tests the ability of the muscles

to do quickly and accurately what the brain tells them to do, in performance upon any musical instrument (the voice included). Another instrument tests the greatly varying talent of timbre, an inherent sense of which a real musician must have. One of the most interesting instruments is the musical-touch audiometer, which does a beautiful job of determining how closely an individual is able to approximate an effect which he wants to produce. A large number of music teachers have established beyond doubt the great reliability of this mechanical test. One of the most valuable instruments for use in analyzing musical ability is the tonoscope. By means of this instrument a motion picture of the tones being played or sung, in relation to their pitch, is shown before the eyes of the performer. A person playing the violin may see exactly how many vibrations per second he is out of tune. A singer may see his whole method of tone production.

4. The great importance of Seashore's work is due to the fact that he has devised means for testing talents which are dependent upon inherent qualifications of the subject. As Professor Seashore says: "The gift of music is inborn, and inborn in specific types which can be detected early in life, before time for beginning serious musical education."

Specific proof is presented of these facts. Some of Professor Seashore's "discoveries" have been endowed by wealthy persons. They already give promise of becoming brilliant, nationally-known musicians. One boy, whose father wished him to go into business, was obsessed with the desire to become a violinist. His father agreed to let the decision rest with Seashore. The boy, now 20 years old, is giving a series of violin recitals throughout the country and is being sent next year to Europe for further training. He has been hailed by critics as the "Iowa Kreisler." came within an inch of being just another Iowa hardware merchant. Sci. Am., D., '32.

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Bonds of Better Understanding-1.

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Condensed from Our World

Herbert H. Houston

N the harbor of Buenos Aires many ships were swinging at anchor with cargoes of rejected merchandise two years ago. The orders for their cargoes had been canceled while the ships were on the ocean. This was true, not only in South American ports but in the ports of other countries as well. The reason, of course, was the violent deflation after the war. As a result of broken contracts export houses went under, great banks shook under the storm-some were shattered-and the whole course of foreign trade was upset.

But even as the storm raged, committees of business men from five nations sat in Paris, largely on American initiative, developing plans for the organization of a Trade League of Nations- an International Chamber of Commerce. That was only two years ago last May, but even in that brief period the business men and associations of 29 countries have been brought into its membership and a remarkable body of definite achievement already stands to its credit. For example, an international Court of Commercial Arbitration has been set up, that will settle such cases as those arising from canceled contracts and all similar matters of disagreement between the business men of various countries. Business men in all countries are being urged to insert the following clause in their international contracts:

"The contracting parties agree to submit to arbitration, in accordance with the rules Arbitration Rules of the International Chamber of Commerce, the settlement of all disputes in connection with this contract.”

The spirit of business statesmanship that is behind the Chamber was

apparent at the first meeting of the organization committee in Paris in May, 1920. There seemed no thought of special advantage to any country but only of common advantage to the commerce of the world. The political representatives, meeting often in Paris since the war, have manoeuvered not infrequently, to secure preference for their own nations; but not so with the business men. In every way they were seeking to make the way of trade between nations easier. As Mr. A. C. Bedford, Chairman of the American Section, has pointed out, "It is today the only agency through which America's business men can maintain direct touch with the business men of the rest of the world."

And Mr. Bedford has also emphasized: "The whole world from an economic standpoint is an indivisible unit. There are respects in which the advancement of civilization requires the co-operation of the business leaders of the world, independent of governments and regardless of political boundary lines."

The range of these independent activities is remarkable. Besides arbitration of trade disputes, they include the adoption of uniform bille of lading and the standardization of all commercial forms, the improvement of telegraph, cable and wireless communications between nations, the establishment of through freight train service on great international trade routes, the reduction of waste in the production and distribution of raw materials, the international protection of property and many other things. In short, the International Chamber of Commerce already has become a Trade League of Nations. And it is interesting to shronisle that

it hasn't hesitated a moment to cooperate with the real League of Nations at Geneva. The ter Meulen plan of establishing foreign credits, developed by the Brussels Financial Conference of the League was supported and adopted by the International Chamber a year ago; and despite the fact that this country is not a member of the League of Nations this ter Meulen plan was submitted to a referendum vote among commercial organizations in the United States and supported by a large majority. With the directness of business initiative, the American section considered the question squarely on its merits, avoiding political issues.

Far-sighted political leaders have seen that the Chamber, just because it is definitely commercial, could become an admirable agency for enlisting the co-operation of business men in international matters. It was Lord Birkenhead, as representative of the British government, who first invited the aid of the International Chamber as a medium through which governments might deal with business men. Since this invitation, not alone the British, but the French, Belgian, and Italian governments have called upon the Chamber for assistance. This was particularly true in preparing the agenda for the Genoa Conference and in furnishing business men to study the economic problems and advise the governments as to the plan to be followed in bringing about the restoration of commerce and industry. The Genoa Conference, barring political questions, followed almost exactly the lead of the International Chamber.

While the Chamber is quick to respond to calls from governments it is convinced that great progress can be made through the business men of the world co-operating directly among themselves. And concrete results, almost every day, are confirming the soundness of this view.

In Paris the Chamber has an effective secretariat, well organized and a

busy center of many activities. The constituent members of the International Chamber are the National Chamber of Commerce in all countries where they are organized. Through the plan of federation, the International Chamber has powerful commercial contacts throughout the world and is enabled to carry forward its work in many countries at the same time by co-ordinated methods.

Recently the Chamber has been studying the problems of international protection for industrial property A conference is to be held shortly to consider the protection of industrial property in patents, industrial designs and models, trade marks, and the repression of unfair competition. The Chamber will hold a conference next summer for the purpose of endeavoring to unify customs regulations of the various countries.

The great general convention of the International Chamber will convene in Rome. Although this meeting is not to be until March, there have been over 200 of the leading business men of this country who already have made arrangements to attend. The general program committee recently submitted its tentative draft to the American Committee and the instant and general belief expressed was that the Rome meeting would secure for the International Chamber broad recognition as one of the greatest of organized world forces working for world reconstruction. And this recognition will be based on the solid foundation of things actually done. Com merce has always reached out for reality from the day the first ship sailed from Tyre, creating bonds of interest and relationship between previously unacquainted peoples, and it seems fitting that business men from the Seven Seas should win the laurel wreath of service on Rome's seven hills.

Our Wld., D., '22.

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The Jews in America

Condensed from The World's Work
Burton J. Hendrick

HERE are no official figures as to the number of Jews in the United States, for the Jews themselves have strenuously-and successfully-opposed any attempt to enumerate them; this is the reason that the United States Census does not enroll our people according to religion, but according to nationality. Our great Jewish population therefore, appears on the documents of the Census Office as "Russian," "German, " and the like. But numerous statisticians who have exhaustively studied the subject figure that there are 1,500,000 Jews in New York City, and about 2,750,000 in the United States. A point not commonly grasped is that certain types of Jews differ from each other almost as much as the Jews themselves differ from the Gentiles. Unless this truth is completely understood the real nature of the so-called Jewish "problem" will not be comprehended.

Perhaps many Americans who regard themselves as "native stock,” whose ancestors fought in the Revolution, may be surprised to learn that there is a Jewish element in the American population with a pedigree as long as their own. These early American Jews, like most representatives of their race who have since sought America, were refugees from persecution; in this case that of the Spanish Inquisition. This Jew was such a different person, physically and intellectually, that he had nothing in common with sons of Israel except the Jewish religion. His features would be regarded by most observers as decidedly non-Jewish; not his the thick lips, the curly hair, the swarthy complexion, the hooked nose, or the round head. The Spanish Jew is neither servile nor bumptious; his

carriage is usually not lacking in a genuine Castilian grace; he does not cringe before his superiors or browbeat those beneath him; he is invariably soft spoken; and he has always been distinguished for elegance and good taste in dress. At times he was the victim of ferocious persecution, yet there were century-long intervals when he was left at peace, and permitted to develop socially and intellectually in accordance with his own genius. His skill in administration, in finance, in scholarship, and the arts made him indispensable to both Moor and Christian. The Spanish Jews were rich and well educated; they were the financial and commercial leaders of Spain; they were the scientists and the physicians. They achieved important rank in the state and even in the Church. Many of them changed their faith to Catholicism and married into the greatest families of Spain. In fact, in 1492, more than 100,000 had formally accepted Christianity. But there was a general suspicion that the great majority were Christians only as a matter of convenience and business. And this was the circumstance that led to the Spanish Inquisition. As a means of transforming Jews into good Christians the Inquisition proved a failure; and the government, in 1492, issued an edict expelling all Jews from Spain.

The cruelty with which this law was enforced upon 200,000 souls is a familiar story; it was this expulsion that gave America its first Jews. It is incontestable that, from most points of view, the Spanish Jews are superior to other Jews. There are only a few of them; they are nearly all rich; they are merchants, bankers, and land owners; they are not pawn

brokers or peddlers or rag-pickers; and they have a distinct talent for public life. It is no accident that the most distinguished Jewish statesman of Great Britain, Disraeli, was a descendant of Spanish Jews, or that the Jew who has reached the most powerful position of any member of his race in recent American life, Mr. Bernard Baruch, also traces his origin to the Jews of Spain. Judah P. Benjamin, Secretary of State of the Southern Confederacy, probably the most distinguished of American Jews, belonged to the same branch of the race. The number of these Jews in the United States is steadily decreasing through inter-marriage with Gentiles. All three of the men just mentioned married Christians. The Spanish Jews have practically disappeared in England, again through inter-marriage with Christians.

Neither did the second phase of Jewish Immigration create anything that could be called a "problem.' Probably about 200,000 German Jews came to this country between 1815 and 1880. They were not workers, but middlemen-the peddler, pawnbroker, petty tradesman. Many of the best known Jewish families in the United States founded their fortunes in these humble occupations. The Seligmans, and Solomon Loeb, of the great banking houses; and Benjamin Altman, who died the owner of the most distinguished department store in New York, are amples. The great point to be kept in mind is that these German Jews did not congregate in vast colonies in the great cities. The fact that he was a small tradesman caused him to distribute himself pretty generally throughout the country. It would be absurd to deny that a certain prejudice existed against the German Jews, but it was not bitter, and never reached the proporations of a public issue.

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In the year 1881 began an influx, on an enormous scale, of an entirely different type of Judaism. Of the 9,000,000 Jews scattered throughout Europe, about 7,000,000 are congregated as a mass in a rather restricted area of western Russia, eastern Prussia and northern Austria. One hundred and fifty years ago this territory was all part of the Kingdom of Poland; in reality, therefore, these are all Polish Jews. Unless the transplantation of Jews from this area is artificially dammed there is not the slightest question that, in less than a generation, this great mass of central European Jews will have moved to this country. America will fulfil the role which Paland

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This eastern European Jew presents such dissimilarities to the type of Jew which had already been domesticated here as to seem to belong to an entirely different race. The German and Spanish Jews refused to regard him as a social equal, abhorred the idea of intermarriage, called him а "Polak"-and practised against him, indeed, many of the discriminations which all Jews have for generations suffered at the hands of their Gentile compatriots. These new Jewish immigrants came from a country that was still living in the Middle Ages. The life of the Russian peasant was a squalid and poverty-stricken routine; he was as ignorant a human being as the earth contained. They were ill-fed, ill-housed, and over burdened with taxes, imposed by exploiting nobles. And in this Russia, numerous as the Russian Jews were, they had never been anything but aliens. The Spanish Jews spoke Spanish; the German Jews spoke German; but the Eastern Jews spoke neither Polish nor Russian, but an outlandish jargon, known as Yiddish. The fact that these people had not acquired the speech of the peoples among which they had sojourned so long tells their story. They paid taxes which their Christian neighbors did not pay; they were prohibited from owning or cultivating the soil. The Russian code contained more than 1,000 articles directed exclusively against the Jews.

Despite these limitations, the Jews had attained a definite economic position. Russia had only two social orders-its great impassive peasantry and its nobles. The peasants were too ignorant to enter business, and the nobles regarded "trade" as degrading. Naturally the Jew stepped into the vacant place. For centuries the Jews had been the middlemen of Russia. The great mass of Russian Jews, however, were manual workers; above all, they were workers in the tailoring trades. Similarly the great mass of Jewish artisans in America are workers in the clothing trades.

Yet the motive that first started this great Western exodus was not economic. America's present Jewish problem has its origin in 1881, when a crazy Nihilist hurled a bomb at Czar Alexander II. The direct result of that act was to put the reactionary party into power. Persecutions and pogroms began all over Russia, and have continued with only occasional breathing spells. These onslaughts on the Jews were of an atrocious character. Up to this time Russia had had vigorous laws prohibiting emigration; but now the Jews were not only permitted but invited to leave the country. Such was the original impetus of the movement that, in 40 years, increased the Jewish population of the United States from 200,000 to close to 2,000,000. W. W., D. '22

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