The herald., 1898-12-11

EnEllSn anteceututS through tHe various
phases of their development to the present
day. The adoption of the constitution i:
treated as an incident of the process, anc
an important feature of the work is the ac
count given of the stresses and reactions
upon practical politics, caused by the con
densation of the political ideas of the fathers
into a rigid frame of government. The re
suit was that constitutional development
was forced to take its course outside of the
written constitution and provide its OWL
agencies. Hence, party organization is
classed among the organs of government
and is discussed from that point of view
In conclusion, the work attempts to fore.
cast the ultimate type to which American
politics are tending, and reaches conclusions
more gratifying to national pride than are
usually set forth in political treatses.
What first strikes the student of our his.
tory who reads this volume is the likeness
of our constitution to British thought, if not
form; and the construction that our first
public men put upon, the meaning of the
policy we had adopted. Thus, at first, the
president was in some sense direct ruler,
and, as Maclay had before pointed out, he
went upon the floor of the senatoand urged
his views, often taking the presiding Off
GERS chair. Washington did this many
times. and had member of his cabinet
with him to explain certain public measures
he thought important to have passed. The
house, as well as the senate, was personally
addressed. Chief Justice Marshall has noted
the same general purpose in jefferson. 1t
was his idea to "embody himself with the
house" as he expressed it. 1t was the Gus.
tom to make up committees according to
the presidents 5 wishes, and to reserve i'm.
portant chairmanships for members who en-.
ioyed his confidence. Alexander Hamilton
once remarked that the time would come
when every vital question of the state will
be merged in the question, who shall be
the next president 2 -
But things have greatly changed since
then, and the way the president is often
treated by congress gives hint that the old.
time regard for the executive has been
forgotten or resolutely voted out of place.
But who shall say that the old way was not
best? Or who shall say the old fashion
may not come again: We have no hesita.
tion in declaring our belief that the presi.
dent is usually better and wiser than his
party, and better advised as to what is
wisest in policy than is congress; and it
would be hopeful sign if he were to be
more trusted-of course, all within the scope
of his power.
One of the most striking passages of the
book is the characterization of the closing
days of Adams administration, that marked
the death of the Federalsts. ''Burr's pistol
blew the brains out of the Federal party
for Hamilton death removed the only man
who could lead it. We wish we could tell
the reader more about this volume. 1t is
a great book for the student of politics and
government. Indeed, it is keen and un.
sparng analysis of our whole political crea.
tion and growth, and we know of no single
volume that contains so much of vital fact
and suggestion. Besides the index there is
a valuable appendix bearing upon the body
Of the book. There is no despairing note
anywhere, but the spirit of hopefulness in
democracy abounds. Faults there are, and
but ''the sources of national
greatness are uncorrupted, so that amid the
baleful confusion of our politics patriotism
may cherish the hope that purified and
ennobled republic will emerge"
oPHIR'S GOLDEN WEDGE: Some Light
on a Burning Question, by l. n. Vail,
published by the author, 25 cents.
Prof. Vail of Pasadena, who has written
numerous books and pamphlets to set forth
his annular theory Of the earth's forma-
tion, makes his latest contribution to this
interesting study under the above caption
Frof. Vail holds, with most of the geolo-
gists OF our time, that the polar regions, now
securely locked up in snow and ice were
once tropical lands. He also holds, accord
ing to his annular theory, that the polar re-
gions received the first and most generous
deposits of metals as precipitated from the
vaporous canopies that once overhung the
earth. These two ideas he links
with third, which is that, when
he boreal lands possessed mild climate
and eXuberant vegetation, they formed the
natural habitat of man and were densely
populated. This furnishes the ground work
for his argument that the land OF Ophir,
famed in Biblical lore as the ineXhaustible
source of solomon wealth, was none other
than one of those far northern continents.
Prof. Vail sustans his theory with wealth
of scriptural alusions, showing that Solo.
mons navy of ships sailed to some distant
land to bring their treasures, the Journey
occupying three years, and that this land
lay far to the north Summar-
izing his argument he says:
4 lost land of such value forces the
thinker to the conclusion that it has
been closed to the advance of man by
climatic revolution, and this rivets our
attention to northern gold region. A
northern gold region is one Of human
ity's ancient memorials The legends of
the world point toward it, There is
land under the Arctic, continent
locked down in ice, and it is well known
that it once enjoyed a tropic or semi
troplc climate. There is no reason to
doubt that two thousand years ago it's
climate was much milder than now, and
there are strong reasons for claiming
that since the days of Solomon, Alaska
and all the north-world have been closed
against the traffic of the south by the
last downfall OF canopy SHOWS.
believe the day will come when it
Will be demonstrated that Jewish and
Ihoenlclan enterprise once penetrated
this now ice-fettered region. If the
north-world, during very recent geolog-
lc times was II region of abounding life,
see no reason why man has not known
it as a genial land. We know that
hordes of mammalian dead lie in this
frozen graveyard. and we know no rea-
son why the remains of man and his
handiwork may not also be found there.
1t would be startling indeed to learn
that old habitations lie concealed in the
ice mantle of Alaska, but the author of
these pages would not be surprised in