nents, and thus in 1874 gave the Democratic party the popular ascendency which, as we have seen, it held for twenty years; though under our obstructive Constitution the Republicans were still left in possession of the government and the spoils for three-fifths of the time. They increased these perquisites by voting themselves the additional subsidy of a high protective tariff. The Republican party was thus kept intact chiefly by the "cohesive power of public plunder;" the strong anti-tariff and anti-monopoly sentiment of the Western States yielding in the main to its spell. Though there was a considerable and genuine sentiment on the part of Democrats of the great Northeastern States in favor of restoring home rule to the South, yet, aside from this, the party affiliation between the solid South and the Democratic States of the North was unnatural and in many respects incongruous.

The demonstration of this proposition came at the first opportunity, namely, when for the first time the Democrats, during Cleveland's second administration, came into control of the legislative and executive power—that is, of the power to act. President McKinley, shrewdly enumerating in his recent speech at New Orleans the interests and beliefs common to the South and to the Republicans of the North, observed that while he was a member of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, the Republican demand for protection for Northern manufacturers was matched by the appetite of Southern members for a sugar tariff. This reminder brought cynical smiles to the faces of those Northern Democrats, who in the enthusiasm of youth, some thirty years ago, in a political way pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" to the cause of redeeming the South from carpet-bag rule and ruin; and it called to mind President Cleveland's bitter letter written to Mr. Catchings, when he came to realize that, owing largely to the "communism of pelf," the boon of home rule which Northern Democratic self-sacrifice had secured for that section had been rewarded by the betrayal of the struggle of a generation in the cause of tariff reform. The humiliating and disastrous outcome of this heterogeneity of the Democratic party will not soon be forgotten; nor is it possible to calculate the harm done to the country in thus being left under the party government system but without an opposition party of solidarity or strength enough to challenge seriously the policies or the excesses of the party in power. In refutation of the contention that the Democratic party has been inefficient in comparison with the opportunist Republican party, because it has been devoted to ideals, theories, and principles, we have but to call to mind the tremendous strength and consistency with which it pressed

its traditional principle or ideal of economical and honest administration, and, considering the formidable material odds against it, the wonderful victories it won by the power of that devotion under Tilden and Cleve land. Nor should we forget its splendid practical victories in forcing the administration of Mr. Hayes to adopt its policy of home rule and no military interference in the South, or the practical fact of the civil service reform which it forced a hostile Republican administration to adopt. The weakness of the Democratic party in other respects, during its brief period of power, lay in the fact that it was organized upon territorial rather than economic lines, that its basis was a section rather than a sentiment of the country.

It is significant that in Mr. Bryan's home State one hears his former Democratic followers freely questioning the expediency of his further leadership of the party and the wisdom of his policies, while his Populist neighbors seem to be drawing closer to him and are increasingly warm in his defence. This country is not ripe for a Socialistic party of any practical strength or importance. The Populists who are socialistic in respect to the control and ownership of all so-called natural monopolies or public utilities, but strongly individualistic in respect to other classes of property, naturally take the place of the socialists as the advance or radical party, and they seem to regard Mr. Bryan as their natural leader. If he would but say the word which, on account of his dual function as leader of both the Democratic and Populistic parties, under their confused fusion, he has never spoken, and would declare himself in favor of "government ownership," that would at once advance him to the place of de jure as well as de facto leader of the Populist party. There would then result three well-defined parties with rational, honest, and distinct beliefs and principles, in place of the heterogeneous, crazy-quilt combinations of which all our present parties are constituted.

I do not, however, lose sight of the possibility that, under the pressure of the present acute economic conditions, large numbers of Republicans, as well as largely predominating numbers of the Democratic party, may soon be ready to adopt the strongly anti-monopolistic principles of the Populists in the main those in relation to the public ownership of public utilities. But it is not likely, I think, that these issues will, for a long time, become so prominent outside the Populistic party as to overshadow other distinctively Democratic principles, or other principles of a large number of dissatisfied or rebellious Republicans.

ALBERT WATKINS.

THE GOVERNMENT EXHIBIT AT BUFFALO.

AT every important exposition held in this country during recent years, the United States Government has been a principal exhibitor. This policy was inaugurated at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia; it was followed at New Orleans, Cincinnati, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, and Omaha; it is now in force at Buffalo. A large building, which is itself a part of the display, is filled with objects illustrating the work, the functions, and the resources of the Government; making for the thoughtful visitor a veritable museum of public affairs.

Why should the Government enter upon this field of activity? To gratify local pride and assist local enterprise? To supply the public with a midsummer's amusement? Large appropriations are not made by Congress for reasons such as these. At every exposition the strict constructionist grumbles, saying, "This is the last time"; but precedent rules, and the next appropriation is more easily made than the one preceding. For Omaha, $200,000; for Buffalo, $500,000; more still, probably, for the Government display at St. Louis; and so it goes. Is the expense justifiable, and, if so, on what grounds?

The welfare of a republic demands that the people shall understand and appreciate the Government which they have created. Every agency which contributes to this end deserves encouragement; every one is needed. In fact, the people know less of their Government than they should know. They have patriotic faith, but that is not enough; they have printed reports, which few read; they seek other information. Only to a limited extent does the average citizen come in personal contact with governmental agencies. He may never see a ship or a fort; taxation touches him indirectly; of all the administrative forces the post-office alone falls under the general observation. An excusable ignorance is almost universally prevalent. What should a Nebraskan know of the light-house service? What does a Vermonter see of Indian reservations? The Department of Agriculture investigates the cotton-worm in Texas, but the citizen of Oregon must pay his share of the bill. New York harbor is improved, and Kansas is taxed for it. In each case the common welfare is at stake, but how is the machinery operated? On

this point even a member of Congress may have strangely vague ideas, applying to one executive department for information which relates to the work of another. Every administrative officer in Washington can tell of just such misconceptions.

An exhibit like that which the Government now has in place at Buffalo is a report to the people of its work. It is a report in the form of an object-lesson, which even the least-educated visitor can understand. It is more effective than the printed report, and equally legitimate as a means of disseminating information. The citizen who intelligently visits the Government Building at the Pan-American Exposition learns to appreciate the public service more highly than before, and he returns to his home a better American. The exhibit is a help to patriotism, a stimulus to national pride. Comparatively few of our people can ever visit Washington; but even there, at the very seat of Government, no such summary of its work can be found. There everything is scattered; at Buffalo it is condensed, prepared especially for exhibition, and labelled. Some things, like the work of the life-saving service and the coining of money, cannot be seen in Washington at all. At the Pan-American Exposition they are admirably represented; and attendants to explain the work are with the exhibits. The beneficial effects of previous expositions furnish the arguments by which the present display is justified.

For the exhibit of the United States Government at Buffalo, the sum of $500,000 was appropriated; $200,000 being set aside for the erection of buildings. The latter were constructed under the direction of the supervising architect of the Treasury Department; the exhibits themselves were placed in charge of a board consisting of twelve members representing severally the eight executive departments of the Government, the Smithsonian Institution, the Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the Bureau of American Republics, and the Department of Labor. This board, made up of men in the regular public service, who receive no extra compensation for their added duties, has more than ordinary powers. It allots the appropriation among the several departments, considering not their official rank, but their importance as exhibitors; under it the exhibits are organized, installed, maintained, and finally returned. Seven of its members have had experience in former expositions, where they have learned to pull together and to subordinate individual preferences and the ambitions of single bureaus to the general welfare; and so a unity of effect has been developed which was lacking at Philadelphia and Chicago.

At Chicago the Government Building contained ten distinct exhibits under ten members of a board, each one regardless of the others in colorscheme, decorations, and methods of installation. At Buffalo the Government exhibit has the appearance of one fine display, and yet the individuality of the several departments is preserved. Exposition work has grown to be almost a profession by itself, and experience in it goes a long way toward securing satisfactory results. The essential continuity of the Government board from Chicago to Buffalo has contributed much toward the effectiveness of the present exhibition. Even the Government Building illustrates the same progress toward coherence of design. In the White City the United States was represented by a huge brownish structure, which was absolutely out of harmony with all its surroundings. At the Pan-American Exposition the building is part of the general architectural scheme, which was worked out by all the architects in repeated conferences. Unity of purpose, harmony of effect, and, withal, an abundant diversity of detail are the products of this policy.

The magnitude of the Government exhibit is easily indicated, even though its size gives no hint as to its quality. The main building is essentially rectangular, measuring 418 feet by 130, and is connected by colonnades with two annexes, each 100 feet square. In round numbers about 75,000 square feet of floor space are thus available for exhibition purposes. But this is not all. On the shore of the Park Lake another structure houses a crew of the life-saving service, who demonstrate every day the nature of their duties. The life-boat is launched, the crew is drilled in its management, and a sailor is rescued by the lifeline from a mast, in order that the public may see, at ease and in comfort, the performance of a task which the same men may practise next winter on a stormy shore, with their own lives in danger and a wrecked ship close at hand. At the north end of the Government Building a mimic parapet, the copy of a modern fortification, protects a battery of guns, whose mechanism is shown in operation at stated intervals of time. The visitor has heard of the disappearing gun carriage; there it is, where he may behold its actual working. South of the building, a field hospital, complete in all its details, is exhibited; and there you can see how your friend in the Philippines will be cared for if he happens to be ill or wounded. A company of coast artillery and a battalion of marines are also encamped near by, to show the daily life of our defenders. All this is outside the main body of the Government exhibit, an overflow, so to speak, but none the less important for exposition purposes.

Upon entering the Government Building the visitor finds himself