Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 04.pdf/210

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Editorial Department.

became an active worker in the movement against the Tammany ring, which began in the fall of the succeeding year, being one of the " committee of seventy." In 1872 he was offered the Russian Mission by General Grant, which he declined. • At the annual commencement of Columbia Col lege in New York, in 1871, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws, which honor was again conferred upon him two years later by Yale College. In March, 1874, he wrote a letter to Senator Sherman on the financial question, in which he advocated the resumption of specie payments. In April, 1875, Ile was appointed Attorney-General of the United States; and his connection with that office brought him prominently before the country through the attitude of the government toward the disturb ances in Mississippi, and the prosecution of the St. Louis whiskey frauds. In the latter case his fa mous " whiskey letter " drew forth wide comment. President Grant appointed Mr. Pierrepont Min ister to England, May 23, 1876. He accepted the mission, leaving the attorney-generalship to Judge Taft. Mr. Pierrepont was a man of erect, stately fig ure, with a large, intellectual head. His features were regular, and highly expressive of the mental and moral culture which was characteristic of the man. In his manners he was courtly and polite, but never familiar. He was a powerful and elo quent speaker at the bar and on all other occasions. His record as a public man and private citizen was unblemished.

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ditions of operation in various parts of the country are clearly brought to notice. Formerly all statis tics have been massed for the entire country, and the averages deduced have been for all the roads in the United States. The comparisons rendered possible by this report show marked differences in the different parts of the country.

The Atlantic Monthly for March opens with an article by the Rev. Brooke Herford, the pop ular clergyman, on "An Old English Township." Mr. Crawford continues his serial of Italian life, "Don Orsino; " and Miss Isabel F. Hapgood has a vividly written paper on Russian travel, called "Harvest-Tide on the Volga." Miss Agnes Repplier contributes an interesting essay on " The Children's Poets." Joel Chandler Harris has a short dialect story called " The Belle of St. Valerien." Edith Thomas, under the fanciful title of "The Little Children of Cybele," describes, in a half-serious, half-fanciful fashion, the habits of the swallow, the squirrel, the tortoise, the chipmunk, and other dumb pensioners of Nature. The most important article in the number, however, is " Why the Men of '61 fought for the Union," by Maj.Gen. Jacob Dolson Cox, which furnishes another aspect of the principles involved in the contest be tween the North and South, and which will be read with interest by those who have enjoyed Professor Shaler's and Professor Gildersleeve's views on the same subject. Another important article is by Prof. George Herbert Palmer, of Harvard Uni versity, who writes on " Doubts about University Ex tension," — a scholarly paper, which will command the attention of the many persons interested in the work of university extension throughout the country.

REVIEWS We have received from the Interstate Commerce Commission the advance sheets of " Statistics of Railways of the United States." The entire vol ume will cover about 875 pages. This report gives comprehensive statistics covering the operations of railways for the year ending June 30, 1890, and a statement of earnings from passenger and freight service, together with operating expenses and fixed charges, for the nine months ending March 31, 1891. A marked feature of this report, which adds greatly to the value of its statistics, is the division of all statistics into ten territorial groups, as shown by the above map, by which the differences in con

The March Century is particularly interesting to the many thousands who have constituted the audiences of the famous Polish pianist, Paderewski, in different parts of the United States. These pa pers on Paderewski are parts of the musical series which the Century is publishing this year. The frontispiece is an engraving of Paderewski from a photograph; and in addition, a drawing by Irving R. Wiles is given, showing the great virtuoso at the piano., Accompanying these pictures are " A Critical Study," by the distinguished American pianist and composer, William Mason; " A Bio graphical Sketch," by Miss Fanny Morris Smith;