New-York tribune., 1901-03-21
SOME MAGAZINE NOTES.
sr-RJEcTs CRAVE AND GAY-DoGS PER
WADE THE MARCH PERIODICALS.


IT is to the original creative work that the
reader first turns in opening A fresh msEazihe,
and II is pleasant indeed TO find something oi
real value TIE opening chapters OF Inc foi
+,on n Labor" the new novel which Miss Mary
wilkins has contributed TO Harper . give
promise Of something stronger than any pre-
x,ious work bv her They ~ouse interest anu
riaue curiosity; they foretel tragedy, and whlle
they are rot without humor, they nave the SOM
b~e atmosphere that TO Miss wilkins. as TO other
commentators. appears to be the nalienaole pos
session Of New England.
Rishop Potter's impressions Of Japan as set
forth in The Century are full of keen opserVa-
tion and nertinent suggestion. He credits the
Jaranese with exceptional energy, curiously
quick prehensile quality in all mental processes
and a houndIess ambition. "A little while ago.
he SAYS Japan could not have too much or
too many of us. But now, as an aggrieFeu
American manufacturer said TO me. we no
sooner build their factories for them ana teach
them how 20 run them than they dismiss our
superintendents and pack them home again.
And why should they not? They are building
factories and maintaining them for their own
profit not ours; and apprehend that Amer'-
can unpopularity in Japan is due at any rate
partly to our overeagerness to seize oppor'uhi-
ties which the people themselves have discerned
or created and Of which they themselves not
unnaturaIlv desire to reap the benefits. Per
sonalIy. I cannot say that I encountered any
evidence that foreigners are not as well treated
and as cordially welcomed in Japan as they are
say. in Germany or France"
Engaging dogs, The Century" gives us two
one Mrs Wards dainty. poetic little toy spaniel
a loving tyrant; the other the big, faithful
hound whose hunting instinct takes him into
wicked, wolish company, and who redeems him.
Hnnty
Both stories are written con amore and fully
justify the space given to them.
In a paper on China in the current "Scrib-
ner" Mr.. T T. Mlard declares that the real
root Of the recent disturbances is in the ever
present labor question. Think he says, "of a
vast nation. where the ranks of productive labor
are filed overlooking. even when the most
antiuuated and cumbersome methods are used,
and where tens of millions of men and women
earn but a precarious livelihood; think of that
nation threatened, against her consent, with
the introduction of mechanical methods which
will abruptly deprive vast sections of her popu-
lation of employment. and disrupt her whole
social and industrial system" He goes on 70
show that the Chinese has unoccupied land
to TILL and that as a matter of fact he cannot
emigrate, he is nowhere welcome. "China's
industrial situation" adds Mr.. Mard, is such
at the present moment tndt TO push ner an lfcn
will cause terrible suffering while TO suddenly
force her step will be to create a cataclysm."
Raffles, beguiiing Rafies comes back to
'Scribner" with some pages OF tragedy and
mockery. This is the most distinctive and
memorable character yet conceived by Mr..
Hornung. and it is a pity that he should not
have saved him for long novel
TWO bits of fiction with a Western flavor
help TO diversity the pages of ''McClure's" Mr..
H. w. Phillips's "A Matter of Authority" shows
admirable streak of humor. Mr.. Frederick
Remingtons "By's fearless Woe is the touch
ing story Of a good dog and his master. He who
has loved Old friend in doggy form will n
cerstand Eilly's woe Mr.. Roosevelt, writing
Of social reform in New York. has some words
Of Just appreciation TO say of Mr.. Jacob Riis.
There are certain qualities he says. that the
real reformer must have if he is to be real re-
former and not merely faddist.
He must possess high courage. disinterested
desire to do good, and sane wholesome common
sense These qualities he must have; and it is
furthermore much 10 his benefit if he also pos
sesses sound sense of humor. All four traits
are possessed by Jacob Riis. No rebuff no SEEM
ing failure. has ever caused him to lose faith.
The memory of his OWN trials never soured him.
TIE Keen sense or the sufferings of others never
clouded his judgment. never led him into hys-
NOT few men are drawn by the very keenness
or their sympathies; and which some other men
avoid not because they wise. but because
tney are cold hearted He ever advocates me rev
nut he ever recognizes the need Of Justice The
mon leader. the bomb thrower have no sym
pathy from him No man has ever insisted
more the danger which comes 10 the com
munity from the lawbreaker
Mr. Remngton's little story Of dogs illness
and death. slight as it is. is rresstibly moving.
We find in The Cosmopolitan a good example
Of how not to do it, by the late Stephen
Crane 1t is meant to be a tear compelling pict.
ure OF the friendship of a stray cur and a
poverty stricken child, but il is stiff artificial
and forced as so much of Cranes work was A
serious contribution this magazine is Sir
Robert Hart's paper on the Boxer movement
Here are some of the pleasant things he saws
about the Chinese:
The central idea of their cult is flial pietv:
reverence for seniority, ntensifying with every
generation That transmitted it, settles all the
oetalls or family, social and national life They
are pre-eminent1y reasOna BILE people and when
olSputeS occur it is the appeal TO right that
so!NeS them; for thirty centuries or more this
recognized and inherited worship of right has
gone on strengthening and so strong is the
feelng that TO hint TO them right must he SIM
ported ny might excltes something more than
amazement- The relations of sovereign TO sub
9ect ana OF man TO man have so long been au-
thoriiauNely defined and acknowledged that
the lie of the people has been poured into and
SNAPPED 10y a mould of duty while the natural
division of the empire into provinces has been
so harmonlOusly supplemented by prCvinciaI and
lnterproVlncial arrangements under the metro
poiitan administration that law reigns every
where, and disorder is the exception. In
no other country is education so prized So hon
ored so utilized and so rewarded. and such is
the veneration for that simple vehicle of
thought. the written character. that to tread on
paper with either writing printing on it Is
all but desecration.
Every body's Magazine contains ar,opg o+bar