It hails "with patriotic pride the great achievements for the country and the world" wrought by the Democratic Administration of President Wilson; declares "the League of Nations . . . the surest, if not the only, practical means of maintaining the permanent peace of the world and terminating the insufferable burden of great military and naval establishments" and advocates "the immediate ratification of the treaty without reservations which would impair its essential integrity," but does not "oppose the acceptance of any reservations making clearer or more specific the obligations of the United States to the League associates"; praises the Administration's conduct of the war; extols the federal reserve system and the financing of the war and condemns the attempt of the Republican party "to drag our public finance and our banking and currency system back into the arena of party politics"; condemns the failure of the Republican Congress to respond to the President's demand for the readjustment of the tax laws to peace conditions and denies Republican claims of economies; holds the Republican party responsible for the failure to restore peace and peace conditions in Europe, "which is a principal cause of post-armistice inflation the world over," declares that "the high cost of living can only be remedied by increased production,

strict governmental economy and a relentless pursuit

of those who take advantage of post-war conditions and are demanding and receiving outrageous profits," and condemns the waste of money by Congress "in vain and extravagant investigations" which revealed nothing "beyond the incapacity of Republican politicians to cope with the problems"; reaffirms Democratic tariff doctrines and declares for the policy of basing tariff revisions upon the intelligent research of a non-partisan commission rather than upon the demands of selfish interests, temporarily held in abeyance"; favors the creation of an effective budget system to function "in accord with the principles of the constitution"; praises the Democratic record n establishing farm-loan banks and other farm legislation and endorses collective bargaining and researches into production costs; declares the Democratic record in establishing farm-loan banks witnessed by the creation of a Department of Labor, the passage of child-labor acts, workingmen's compensation laws, the eight-hour law, etc., affirms that labor is not a commodity, that it should participate in the formulation of sound laws and regulations governing the conditions under which labor is performed, that labor and capital alike "have the indefeasible right of organization, of collective bargaining and of speaking through representatives of their own selection,' that neither should at any time take action that would jeopardize the public welfare, that in private industrial disputes compulsory arbitration, though plausible in theory, has been a failure in fact, that with resepect to government service, the rights of the people are paramount to the right to strike, and that instant inquiry into the pay of

government employees and equally speedy regulations designed to bring salaries to a just and proper level should be made; endorses the equal suffrage amendment and urges the Democratic governors and legislatures of Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida to complete the process of ratification in time to enable all the women to participate in the fall election; declares against child labor, in favor of child welfare, maternity care, vocational education, better conditions for working women and the reclassification of the civil service with a view to equality of the sexes; advocates generosity to disabled soldiers and declares

in favor of the enactment of soldier-settlements and home-aid legislation; commends federal administration of the railroads during the war, declaring it efficient and economical despite inadequate and outworn equip ment, and criticizes the Transportation Act, which the President was forced to sign upon pain of throwing the railroad situation into chaos; favors the continuance of federal aid in road building; claims credit for the restoration of the American merchant marine and pledges the party to a policy of its continued improvement; pledges ample appropriation for the continuation and extension of reclamation; endorses the creation and the work of the Federal Trade Commission; pledges itself to enact legislation for the supervision of livestock markets; upholds the President's Mexican policy and advocates the recognition of the new Mexican government when it has shown its ability to maintain order; declares that the United States should render every possible and proper aid to the people of Armenia in their efforts to maintain a government of their own; expresses its sympathy with the people of China, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Poland, Persia and others who have recently established representative government, and "within the limitations of international comity and usage" repeats previous expressions of sympathy for Ireland in its aspirations for self-government; favors the granting of independence to the Philippines without unnecessary delay; favors the granting to Porto Rico of the traditional territorial form of government, with a view to ultimate statehood; supports the policy of non-admission of Asiatic immigrants; defends the Post Office Depart

ment "against a malicious and designing assault" and favors the fair and just treatment of all government employees; denies the alleged interference of the Administration with the freedom of the press and freedom of speech; and finally pledges iself to the enactment of laws strengthening the present statutes against corrupt practices, in view of the "shocking disclosures of the lavish use of money by aspirants for the Republican the nomination" and recent conviction of 8 Republican Senator from Michigan, upon whose seat "the present organization of the Senate with a Republican majority was made possible" by the criminal transgression of the law limiting expenditures on behalf of a candidate for the United States Senate.

SOCIALIST NATIONAL CONVENTION. The nominating convention of the Socialist party was held in New York City May 8-14. The platform was framed by Mr. Morris Hillquitt of New York and was criticised by the extreme radicals as too conservative. The Convention voted the majority report of its committee on foreign relations, May 14th, declaring that the Socialist party of America adhered to the "Third International," but on the understanding that its international delegates should not be bound to the acceptance of any special means of attaining the Socialist commonwealth, as for example, by a dictatorship of the proletariat. Its adherence to the International was not to be subject to such a condition and delegates to the International were also to be instructed to take part in movements for the unifying of Socialist bodies throughout the world into a single international organization. A radical substitute offered by the minority of the committee, which merely declared the adherence of the party to the Third International without any qualifications, was voted down by 90 to 40. The Convention nominated for President, Eugene V. Debs, who was serving a ten years' sentence in the Federal penitentiary at Atlanta for violation of the Espionage Act. His name was received with great enthusiasm. committee was appointed to present a petition to Attorney-General Palmer for the release of Debs, declaring that the practice of condemning citizens for the expression of views opposed to the party in power was repugnant to the spirit of democracy and that all the other Powers that had taken part in the war had pardoned their political offenders. It added that the plea that the United States was still at war was merely a quibble.

Α

The Convention debated for a long time the question whether the Socialist party should retain its declaration that it did not purpose to interfere with the internal affairs of labor unions and it finally decided to retain it but added a statement to the effect that it approved the organization of workingmen into a single workingclass body, in other words, the One Big Union programme. After a debate in which churches and religion were alternately attacked and defended, it decided against any references to capitalist control of churches.

FARMER-LABOR CONVENTION. Representatives of the Committee of Forty-Eight, the Non-Partisan League, and other dissident groups met in convention at Chicago, July 11. Senator R. M. La Follette of Wisconsin refused to stand on a national ticket and the convention nominated for President Parley P. Christensen of Salt Lake City, Utah, and for Vice-President Max S. Hayes of Cleveland, O., Meanwhile several factions including the Single Tax group had withdrawn from the meeting. The platform was based in general upon the principles for which the Committee of Forty-Eight had for two years been

contending in its propaganda (see FORTY-EIGHT, COMMITTEE OF). It insisted that the two old parties were maintained by "the invisible government" of this country in order to "confuse the voters with false issues." Specifically it demanded among other things: Restoration of right of free speech, etc.; protection of workingmen's right to strike; amnesty of political prisoners; election and recall of Federal judges; withdrawal from participation under the Treaty of Versailles in the subjection of conquered peoples; instant lifting of the blockade against Russia; immediate repeal of the Esch-Cummins law; public ownership of railways, mines, and natural resources, etc.; legislation on behalf of the farmers; increased share of labor in control of industries; right of civil service employees to organize; and a long programme of social legislation in respect to hours of work, workingmen's insurance, pensions, women in industry, abolition of private employment of detective and strikebreaking agencies, etc.

SOCIALIST LABOR CONVENTION. The National Convention of the Socialist Labor party was held in New York City, May 5-10, the delegates numbering about fifty and representing twenty States. It nominated for President William W. Cox of St. Louis, organizer for the Workers' International Industrial Union; and for Vice-President, August Gillhaus of Brooklyn. In its platform it described itself as "the only party in this country that blazes the trail to the Workers' Industrial Republic." After denouncing modern capitalist society and declaring that private prop. erty in the means of life has become a social crime, it called upon the wage-workers to organize themselves into a revolutionary political body and "to organize themselves likewise upon the industrial field into a Socialist industrial union, as now exemplified by the Workers' International Industrial Union, in keeping with their political aims."

PROHIBITION CONVENTION. The Prohibition party met in National Convention at Lincoln, Neb., July 22, and adopted as the principal plank in its platform the condemnation of attempts to nullify the Eighteenth Amendment, saying, "The organized liquor traffic is engaged in a treasonable attempt to nullify the amendment by such modification of the enforcement act as will increase the alcoholic content of beer and wine and thus thwart the will of the people as constitutionally expressed. In face of this open threat the Republican and Democratic parties refused to make platform declarations in favor of law enforcement though petitioned to do so by multitudes of people. Thus the Prohibition party remains the sole champion of national prohibition. . . The issue is not only the enforcement but also the maintenance of the law to make the amendment effective. . The proposed increase in the alcoholic content of beverages would be fraught with grave danger in that it would mean the return of the open saloon with all its attendant evils." The convention nominated for President Aaron Sherman Watkins.

THE ELECTION. The extent of the Republican victory exceeded the most sanguine predictions of the party's prophets. The vote for Harding was 16,181,289 and for Cox, 9,141,750, giving the former a plurality of 7,039,539. The vote of the Presidential electors was: Harding, 404; Cox, 127. The Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs received 941,827 votes (exclusive of eight States

for which returns were not available at the close of the year and which gave 23,582 votes for the Socialist candidate four years before). The Prohibition vote in the 24 States in which it had a column on the ballot was 195,923; and the Farmer-Labor vote in the eighteen States in which it had a column on the ballot was 350,267. The women's vote was not segregated from the men's except in Illinois (q.v.). For votes by States, see articles on States, paragraph Elections.

Both Houses of Congress were carried by the Republicans. According to the unofficial figures of the Clerk of the House at the close of the year the Republicans in the new House numbered 307; the Democrats, 127; and the Socialists, 1; a Republican majority of 179, the largest in the history of the party. Members of the existing House who were not returned numbered 119. The only Socialist elected was Mr. Meyer London of New York. The only woman elected was Miss Alice M. Robertson of Oklahoma. In the Senate the Republicans retained all the seats they held and gained 10 from the Democrats. Their actual majority was 22.

Tennessee went Republican by a majority of 12,000. West Virginia, Mississippi, Maryland, and Oklahoma also went Republican, and Kentucky remained Democratic by a narrow margin. There were also gains in various localities regarded as strongholds of "solid" Southern Democracy.

UNITED STATES MILITARY ACAD

EMY. An institution for the practical and theoretical training of cadets for the military service of the United States. Since the World's

War the mission of West Point became the preparation of officer personnel for the next possible future war. It is situated at West Point, N. Y., and was opened in 1802. The strength of the corps of cadets was 1020. The maximum authorized strength of the corps is 1334. There were about 180 officers in the faculty. The funds of the institution are appropriated annually by Congress. The candidates must be between the ages of 17 and 22, but it was provided that in the calendar years 1919, 1920 and 1921, any appointee who had served honorably in the armed forces of the United States or in the armies of the Allies in the late war and possessed the other qualifications might be admitted up to the age of 24. From 1802 to 1920 inclusive, the number of cadets has been 6809. Superintendent, Brigadier-general Douglas MacArthur, U.S.A.

UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY. A school for the training and education of naval cadets, situated at Annapolis, Md.; founded in 1845. In 1920 there were enrolled 1803 midshipmen and the faculty numbered 245. Candidates are selected by competitive examination or otherwise for mention by Senators, representatives and delegates in Congress. The law authorizes the appointment of 100 enlisted men each year by a competitive examination. The candidates are required to be citizens of the United States and the age limits are 16 to 20 years. There are strict qualifications in regard to physical ability. The course lasts four years. Superintendent, Rear-admiral A. H. Scales, U.S.A.

UNIVERSALISTS. Statistics for 1920 for this denomination show that it had a total membership of 55,000 with 550 ministers and 617 churches while the Sunday Schools show a membership of about 55,000. The year 1920 marked