A friend said to me this last week, “There are two things that I instinctively distrust, one is prophecy, the other is statistics. Now that the war has lengthened into the fourth year and America has taken her place by the side of the Allies, I find my gorge rising every time any one attempts a prophecy and quotes statistics. All prophecies have proved false and statistics are utterly unreliable. Even the clocks have been made to lie by official decree.” Granted that my friend is pessimistic, at

One of the commonest sights in the city is that of the people going to work in the early morning; the streets are thronged with men carrying dinner pails, and girls and women carrying bundles. Many are hurrying with a worried look on their faces as if fearful of being a minute or two late. At night the same people are again on the streets with their faces turned in the opposite direction going home after the day’s work. A few hours’ rest, then a new day, and the same people may be seen in the sa

There have grown up on the western plains of Canada a number of large cities and a great many small villages and towns. These are the direct results of a process of civilization dependent upon the fertile soil from which vast quantities of wheat are reaped each year. Just before harvest the sea of grain extends as far as the eye can see. The first settlers built their little cabins, bought as much seed grain as was available, and planted it; doing nearly all of the work themselves. Improved meth

“Now when we cross this bridge, look north and you will see the soul of our city symbolized in brick and mortar.” These were the words of a business man who had taken an afternoon off and was showing his friend the wonders of a New England city that had grown up about the textile industry. The soul of the city, as he thought of it, lived in the huge mills lining the banks of the canal which runs through the city. When his friend looked, he saw more than the mills. He saw a road beside the canal

Fifth Avenue in New York is one of the world’s great thoroughfares. Years ago it was devoted exclusively to residential purposes. The wealthy people built their homes along the lower end of the street. As the city grew, these people followed the avenue north until at the present time the finest homes in the city are located in the neighborhood of Central Park in the upper reaches of the street. Between Fourteenth Street and Washington Square there are now a number of business houses, two fine ol

According to the old Greek story Prometheus stole fire from heaven and thus drew upon himself the anger of the gods, because with fire he was able to work miracles and do wonders that rivaled the gods themselves. The metals of the earth are the instruments in the hands of man for accomplishing the material wonders that mark our time. Our age has been rightly termed the steel age, but, as we shall see in subsequent chapters, this period has its important and unique character only because man know

“The sky-line of your cities is the monument of your civilization.” These words summed up the impression of an Oriental visiting America for the first time. He had seen everything of America that could be shown during his two months’ visit. Boards of trades in the various cities entertained him. Figures concerning miles of pavements, hundreds of miles of trolley lines, millions of dollars in the various banks, thousands of bales of cotton, millions of tons of coal, iron, steel, potatoes, rice, w

“Here, boss, jes’ take fo’ dollars’ worth of ride out of this here bill.” This was the response of an old Negro riding on a Southern train when asked for his ticket by the conductor. Without a word the conductor gave him the change from a ten dollar bill and a ticket to tuck into his hat and which allowed him to ride to a town approximately two hundred miles distant. When the train reached its destination the old Negro began to fumble in his pockets and then he picked up his bundles and slowly g

“I would not like to work in a candy store,” said a young lad, “because then I could not have the fun of buying candy.” A visitor to Atlantic City stepped into one of the shops to make a purchase. She said to the little girl in charge, “It must be delightful to be able to live in Atlantic City and work right here on the boardwalk.” “You may think so,” replied the girl. “But I guess if you put in all your time in this store, and had to come to work at eight in the morning and work until nine at n

“Why is it that those who produce food are hungry, and that those who make clothes are ragged? Why, moreover, is it that those who build palaces are homeless, and that those who do the nation’s work are forced to choose between beggary, crime, or suicide in a nation that has fertile soil enough to feed and clothe the world; material enough to build homes to house all peoples, an enormous productive capacity through labor-saving machinery of forty thousand million man-power; and where there are o

Any one who reads history with his eyes open will be impressed with the fact that this world has always been considered a man’s world. At one period woman was denied every right; she was the slave of man. Rome and Greece treated her as a child. Medieval ages found her working in the fields and supporting large families, while her husband and son fought for rights that could never be hers. The familiar figure of a woman and an ox yoked together and driven by a man well represents the spirit of th

“No, we can’t go to school, much as we’d like to. You see, school holds only a few weeks each year and we have to help with the tobacco.” This was the reply of a twelve-year-old girl to a question regarding her school work. She also informed the visitor that helping with the tobacco meant doing everything that was necessary to be done from the time the plants are set out until the leaves are finally cured. While the conversation was going on, this girl’s eight-year-old sister came out of the bar

“He has never given me a mouthful of bread nor means to gain it. What have I to do with your God?” This was the answer of an immigrant woman to an appeal made by the church visitor, and it strikes nearer the heart of our modern life than it appears upon first thought. Why indeed should a person acknowledge kinship to a God who allows suffering, sorrow, and want in the world? It is not enough to answer such a question by pointing to the ultimate ends God has in view, for with hunger gnawing at th

Abbott, Grace. The Immigrant and the Community. 1917. Century Company, New York. $1.50. Antin, Mary. The Promised Land. 1912. Houghton, Mifflin Company, Boston. $1.75. Burritt, Arthur W. Profit Sharing. 1918. Harper & Brothers, New York. $2.50. Carlton, Frank T. History and Problems of Organised Labor. 1911. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston. $2.00. Cole, G. D. H. Self Government in Industry. 1918. Macmillan Company, New York. $1.75. Fitch, John A. The Steel Workers (Pittsburgh Survey).

Abbott, Edith. Women in Industry. 1916. Daniel Appleton & Company, New York. $2.50. Addams, Jane. The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets. 1909. Macmillan Company, New York. 50 cents. Henry, Alice. The Trade Union Woman. 1915. Daniel Appleton & Co., New York. $1.50. Fraser, Helen. Woman and War Work. 1918. G. Arnold Shaw, New York. $1.50. MacLean, Annie M. Wage-Earning Women. 1910. Macmillan Company, New York. $1.25. MacLean, Annie M. Women Workers and Society. 1916. A. C. McClu

Atkinson, Henry A. The Church and the People’s Play. 1915. Pilgrim Press, Boston. $1.25. Cutting, R. Fulton. The Church and Society. 1912. Macmillan Company, New York. $1.25. Felton, Ralph A. A Study of a Rural Parish. 1915. Missionary Education Movement, New York. 50 cents. Gates, Herbert W. Recreation and the Church. 1917. University Press, Chicago. $1.00. Harrison, Shelby M.; Tippy, Worth M.; Ward, Harry F.; and Atkinson, Henry A. What Every Church Should Know about Its Community. Federal Cou

Baptist —The Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board, Rev. J. G. Brown, 223 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario. Church of England —The Missionary Society of the Church of England in Canada, Rev. Canon S. Gould, 131 Confederation life Building, Toronto, Ontario. Congregational —Canada Congregational Foreign Missionary Society, Miss Effie Jamieson, 23 Woodlawn Avenue, East, Toronto, Ontario. Methodist —Young People’s Forward Movement Department of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, Canada