ITEMS OF INTEREST April 8, 1911 Issue

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Harvard University has arranged an annual exchange of professors with four of the smaller western colleges—Colorado College of Colorado Springs, Col.; Grinnell College, formerly Iowa College, of Grinnell, Ia.; Knox College of Galesburg, Ill., and Beloit College of Beliot, Wis. Every year, until the arrangement is terminated, Harvard is to send a professor who will spend an equal portion of half an academic year with each of the four colleges, and during that time will give to the students of these institutions such regular instruction in their courses as may be arranged by their faculties. In return each of the four colleges will be expected to send every year one of its younger instructors to Cambridge, and during half of the academic year he will be appointed an assistant in some Harvard course. He will not be required to give more than one third of his time to teaching, and may devote the rest of it to graduate and research work in any of the departments of the university.

The drawing up of the proposed new arbitration treaty between the United States and Great Britain, to include all disputes between the two countries, has been begun by Secretary Knox of the state department. The diplomatic exchanges on the convention will be hastened as much as possible, with a view to submitting it to the Senate for ratification at the special session, which began on April 4. The treaty will be the first of its kind ever negotiated. The impetus given the proposal is the direct result of the speech of Sir Edward Grey, minister of foreign affairs of Great Britain in the House of Commons several weeks ago, in which he said that a proposal for the negotiation of such a convention would be welcomed by the British government. Under the proposed convention every dispute will be arbitrated without exception. This will render unnecessary the approval of the Senate to each question as it arises.

In a decision just handed down by the interstate commerce commission, involving the shipment of coal, it was held that rates restricted to the use of certain shippers and not open to all shippers alike are unlawful within the meaning of the interstate commerce act. The parties to the proceeding, which was initiated by the commission, included practically all of the coal producing railroads in the East and other railroads which do not originate their own fuel supply. The carriers are ordered to desist for a period of two years, from May 15 next, from their present practice of maintaining and using tariffs on coal, the rates in which are restricted to shipments of or for certain consigners or consignees, or when the coal transported is for a particular use.

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