National.

Enlarged application of the leasing principle as applied to public domain, especially a liberal leasing law for the development of the mineral resources of Alaska, particularly its coal lands, and immediate consideration by Congress of the whole subject of water-power development and control, are the most important recommendations contained in the annual report of Secretary of the Interior Fisher. "The great public movement for the conservation of our national resources," says Secretary Fisher, "is not in any way opposed to prompt and wise development of the public domain. The essential thing is to see that under the guise of settlement we do not permit mere exploitation, which in the last analysis retards both settlement and development."

Governor Dix of New York, in outlining his opinion as to what should be done to utilize the waters of the state, which he believes up to this time have been wasted, says the reservoirs in the different watersheds should be built at the expense of the power users, and their bonds for the construction of dams should be guaranteed to the state after such users release to the state all of their title to surplus waters. The bonds the Governor would have run for fifty years, after which the property, the water and the power generated, should be the property of the state and continue so forever. The plan is similar to that under which the subways of New York are being constructed.

A nation-wide investigation of the food supply of the United States, with special reference to the increased cost of living, has been inaugurated under the personal supervision of Commissioner of Labor Charles P. Neill. This inquiry, ordered by Secretary of Commerce and Labor Nagel, will be the most comprehensive ever undertaken in this or any other country, and will last for several months. Experts will be sent over the country to visit fields, factories, and stores. Each important article of food will be traced from its beginning to the door of the consumer, and then the department statisticians will prepare a report for the government and the public.

Interesting figures showing a large increase in the amount of customs duties collected last year on passengers' baggage and on post office packages have been made public by the collector of the port of New York. Nearly seven times as many dutiable declarations were received during 1911 as in 1906, and the total receipts last year were $2,399,394, compared with $996,790 in 1906. Notwithstanding a large falling off in immigration, $24,842 was collected in duties at Ellis island—more than twice the amount collected during 1906 and 1907, when the arrival of aliens was double that of 1911.

A confession by a Philadelphia cutlery importer, involving the undervaluation of German cutlery by importers of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, is said to be in the hands of the secretary of the treasury. Secretary MacVeagh has been offered one million dollars by the importers to effect a settlement, but it is understood that he demands five million dollars, and unless this sum is paid the United States courts will shortly begin prosecutions based on false consular invoices made out to the government by the cutlery importers.

Across the Potomac from Washington there is being erected by the navy department a wireless station capable of sending messages three thousand miles. The cost will be approximately two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It is the purpose of the department to erect a series of these stations, one at Colon, another on the California coast, another at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian islands, another in Samoa, another in Guam, and still another in the Philippines, so that all foreign interests of this country may be in constant touch with Washington by relay.

The Massachusetts gas and electric light commission recommends to the Legislature the following act: "A corporation organized under 'the business corporation law,' shall not, without authority of the General Court, own or control more than ten per cent of the stock of a corporation organized under the general or special laws of the commonwealth for the purpose of carrying on within the common-wealth the business of a gas or electric light, heat, or power company."

Fulton market, after an existence of ninety years, is soon to go the way of other institutions of old New York. The population that the market used to serve has moved north and west and the trade has changed gradually from retail to wholesale. Fulton market was established under the laws of 1817 for the purpose of supplying the "common people with the necessaries of life at reasonable prices." The market was built in 1821.

International.

The building of the palace of peace at The Hague is nearing completion and the structure, designed in that Flemish type of which there are many splendid examples in the Netherlands, will before long be free of its scaffolding. In his "Diplomatic Memoirs" John W. Foster mentions that the second peace conference at The Hague paused in its labors to take part in the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the palace of peace in 1907 "to be erected at The Hague through the munificence of Andrew Carnegie, an American citizen. The Dutch government accepted the fund given by him, purchased a tract of thirteen acres, beautifully located, at a cost of one million three hundred thousand dollars, and created a commission to erect the building and hold it in trust for the use of peace conferences and the arbitration courts instituted by them."

The completion of the new cable to France, giving two new lines, has permitted of a considerable extension of the existing telephonic communication between England and the capital of the French republic. As a result of this, direct telephonic communication has been established between Paris and some three hundred towns in England, Wales, and Scotland. The completion of the new cable makes six lines in all between England and France, and when the cable which the French government intends to lay is in working order there will be eight lines of communication between the two capitals. A new cable is also in course of construction between England and Belgium.

The head master of Eton has invited head masters of preparatory schools to cooperate with him in providing that boys shall not begin Greek until they have obtained a fair mastery of the rudiments of French, Latin, and English. The head masters of Winchester, Harrow, Rugby, and Charterhouse are in favor of the arrangement mentioned, and are taking steps to have it carried into effect in the schools committed to their charge.

British and Russian legations are said to be supporting M. Mornard, the Belgian ex-director of customs in Persia, as treasurer-general to succeed W. Morgan Shuster, the American who was dismissed from the office of treasurer-general by the cabinet at the demand of Russia.

King George and Queen Mary concluded their durbar visit Jan. 10, sailing for England aboard the royal liner-yacht Medina. The royal visitors were escorted to the landing-place by the Bombay garrison and a large number of local princes and British and native officials.

Industrial and Commercial.

For many years there has been a steady search in European countries for vegetable fibers suitable for cloth weaving, with a view to freeing the textile industries from dependence on the American cotton market and from the fluctuations due to speculation. In 1876 a German commission, composed of prominent chemists, technicists, and botanists, was appointed to investigate the possibilities of the domestic nettle, but the problem was not solved, owing to the difficulties of freeing the fiber from the woody parts of the stem without injury and without too great expense of handling. According to Prometheus (Berlin), as a result of private experiments a feasible commercial process has been invented and made public after a two-years testing which gave excellent results. The method of treatment is both simple and inexpensive, yet so rapid and effective as to yield a supply of smooth, bleached, spinnable yarn in about eight to ten hours' time from the green plant to the salable product, and at a price considerably less than that of raw cotton. The nettles are harvested twice a year, at the end of June and at the end of September, with mowing machines. They lie in the field to dry from two to four days, and thereby lose the power to sting, since the stinging hairs are active only while the plant is green. They can now be handled like flax to remove leaves and twigs. The naked stems are then boiled in dilute soda-lye in open kettles for half an hour or so, until the fiber begins to loosen, when it is separated by a revolving brush-machine. The process of refinement is completed by repeated boilings of short duration in the dilute lye under high pressure, and by through washing, also under pressure. The product now consists of perfectly clean "degummed," lustrous fibers of a yellowish tint. Proper bleaching methods change this color to a dazzling white, at the same time heightening the natural luster. It is now ready to be treated like other textile threads,—combed, carded, and spun. The finished yarn is as soft and smooth as flax, with only a slight "woodiness" remaining, much less than that of hemp, jute, and the like.

Toledo, Ohio, will have three-cent fares for two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon, six tickets for a quarter and universal transfers the rest of the day, as the result of a temporary agreement, pending franchise negotiations, reached between representatives of the company and the city. This announcement followed closely on the heels of the application for receivership of the company on behalf of friendly interests.

Platinum, of which Russia is the chief producer to the markets of the world, is found in greatest quantities in the Ural mountains. In 1910 the output amounted to 175,720 ounces. The demand for platinum throughout the world is much in excess of the supply, and the price of this metal has now reached about forty-five dollars per ounce, and is more expensive than gold.

The total output of iron ore in the ten principal countries engaged in the industry exceeded in 1909 one hundred and twenty-five million tons.