National.

In England bill-boards are coming to be regarded as a nuisance, and the sentiment is also growing apace in this country that offenses to the eye are as proper subjects for control as those to hearing and smell. A decision recently rendered in a suit at equity at East San Jose, Cal., upheld the ordinance forbidding the maintenance of bill-boards, the judge holding that a "glaring bill-board set opposite a man's house in a vacant lot bordering upon a public highway in a country town devoted to homes, was just as offensive to the immediate residents as would be the maintenance of a pig-sty giving forth offensive odors, or the maintenance of a stone-breaking machine." Two other notable advances in the crusade are the agreement of some three hundred advertisers on bill-boards in Cincinnati not to renew their contracts, under pressure from the Municipal Arts Committee of the Business Men's Club of that city, and the attempt of the assessors of a township near New Brunswick, N. J.. to put a proper valuation for tax purposes upon some of the glaring signs within their territorial bounds. The State Board of Equalization of Taxes upheld the assessors, ruling that the signboards are personal property and thus fully subject to taxation. The attorney for the sign-erecting company gave notice that he would appeal to the Supreme Court.

The National Drainage Association, the delegates representing more than a score of States, held a three-days session at Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, last week. The object of the association is to get people interested in the reclamation of swamp lands and to induce the National Government to advance money enough to start the work. A bill providing for this is now before Congress and has been favorably reported in the Senate. There are eighty million acres of swamp land in the country, distributed over thirty-seven States, the reclamation of which, according to drainage experts, would not only add to the wealth of the Nation about two million dollars annually, but would greatly improve sanitary conditions as well. Major J. Dappray, U. S. A., discussed the drainage question from a military viewpoint. George Otis Smith, director of the United States Geological Survey, presented a paper detailing the relation of his department to the work. Other papers were on "The Status and Need of Agricultural Drainage," "Drainage as a Commercial Asset," "Drainage and the Public Health," "The Wet Lands of Minnesota," "Drainage from a Labor Standpoint."

A noteworthy gathering in the interest of the science of city government convened in Providence. R. I., Nov. 19-22, for the annual meetings of the National Municipal League and the American Civic Association. Among the general subjects discussed were municipal and railroad topics. Some of the papers related to "Municipal Adornment and Parks," "Bill-boards," "Parks and Public Reservations," "The Smoke Nuisance of Locomotives," "The Railroad as a Factor in Civic Improvement." Nearly a score of papers were presented on different phases of taxation. There was a round table on "Definite Work for Small Communities," and a "Niagara" evening.

Spirited discussions on taxation, tariff revision, and other questions of national importance, lent unusual animation to the closing sessions of the National Grange at Hartford, Conn. Resolutions were passed against the purchase of land by aliens who have not first declared their intention to become citizens. This action, it is understood, is aimed at wealthy foreigners who purchase large tracts of land here for sporting purposes only.

Judge Howe of the District Court has decided that the Des Moines, Ia., plan of government is constitutional in all points. The decision comes as the result of a test case, politicians having vigorously opposed the plan when it was submitted to the voters, on the ground that it was unconstitutional.

The Government has won a notable victory over the White River band of Ute Indians of Utah. The red men have decided to go to work on railroad construction work.

International.

The Douma last week, by a vote of 246 to 112, decreed that the title of autocrat, which has been borne by the emperors of Russia for centuries, is no longer tenable within the Russian State and is incompatible with the regime inaugurated by the manifesto issued by Emperor Nicholas on Oct. 30, 1905. Premier Stolypin in his ministerial declaration before the Douma, however, emphasized the idea of the autocratic power and unfettered will of the Emperor. At the same time he denounced the members of the extreme Left party, whose excesses, he said, had demoralized the country. The announcement was made that the Douma is expected to take its cue from the Administration in the matter of legislation, and the Premier outlined what future legislation was expected. The statement is taken to show that the Administration looks with disfavor upon any alliance between the Octobrists and the Constitutional Democrats.

Whitelaw Reid. the American Ambassador, and Field Marshal Sir George Stuart White were the speakers at the Thanksgiving Day dinner of the American Society at London. Three hundred Americans celebrated Thanksgiving at Berlin by dining at the Zoological Garden. In the absence of the American Ambassador. Charlemagne Tower, Consul-General Thackera presided. President Hadley of Yale and Professor Schofield of Harvard made speeches. At Dresden the American Consul-General. T. St. John Gaffney, and Mrs. Gaffney were at home to all Americans for the day, and there was a dance and supper at the Hotel Bristol in the evening. At Vienna the American colony celebrated Thanksgiving Day with a banquet and dance. A gala Thanksgiving dinner was was given at Tiflis and was attended by John P. Jackson, American Minister to Persia, and the highest military and civil officials in the Caucasus.

Sentiment in favor of annexation to the United States is said to be growing again in St. Croix and St. Thomas, the Danish islands which it was reported some time ago would be purchased by the United States.

Industrial and Commercial.

The committee sent by the Massachusetts Commission on Industrial Education to investigate certain industrial educational conditions in some of the most important European countries, finds that in Liverpool, with its great technical school which cost upward of half a million dollars and is practically unoccupied during the daytime, there are fifteen hundred pupils. The famous Manchester School of Technology was found to be housed in a magnificent building, which cost $1,500,000, and is run on a correspondingly large scale, paid in part by the State, in part by the city, and in part by students' fees. London has seven polytechnic schools, to which boys of sixteen to eighteen years of age are admitted after a shortened course in the secondary schools. Its provisions for elementary technical education assume enormous proportions. In France the pupils begin their trade studies as early as thirteen years of age, and the training received has a thoroughly recognized value in francs. French schools are conducted on much more formal lines than in England. The high character of the work is particularly noticeable. In Geneva the Horological School occupies a foremost position. In summer the hours of instruction are from seven to six, and in winter from eight to seven, with an hour and a half of freedom in the middle of the day. Many workmen of extraordinary skill are developed by this school. The Apprenticeship School in Berne has four departments, which offer instruction in trades of machinists, cabinet making, locksmithing, and tinsmithing. The expenses are borne by the city, the Canton of Berne, the Swiss Federation, and the sale of the products of the school. The industrial schools of Germany are justly celebrated for their thorough, systematic, and comprehensive instruction. The lower industrial schools connect directly with the common schools, and thus become continuation schools and give training to workmen; the higher industrial schools correspond to our technical colleges and produce the leading technologists; the middle industrial schools are for pupils who have gone through the lower industrial schools, but who desire to shorten the period of higher education. In Belgium industrial education is taken most seriously, but those who have it in charge deplore the fettering which they experience due to established traditions. In Scotland the two representative institutions devoted to industrial education are the Heriot-Watt College at Edinburgh and the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College at Glasgow. In Ireland industrial education is considered of such importance that no less than a million dollars is spent annually for this object.

Work has been begun at Sault Ste. Marie. Mich., on a third great ship canal around the rapids at the foot of Lake Superior. The cost of the work is estimated at five million dollars, and it will be under the charge of the engineers of the War Department. There are now two great canals on the American side of the river and one on the Canadian side. The Canadian government is contemplating the construction of a second canal.

The imports of diamonds and other precious stones at New York for the first ten months of this year, as compared with the corresponding period of last year, show a falling off of more than six million dollars' worth.