the desert; and where barrenness once reigned supreme, oranges, lemons, grape-fruit, and a luxuriance of flowers make southeastern California a paradise. It may well be asked why private enterprise cannot continue the work it has so energetically begun. The answer is simple and conclusive. The mountains where the melting snow should be stored for future delivery are generally far removed from the region where irrigation is needed, thus creating inter-State problems, while the immensity of the engineering projects demands national consideration. The time. will come — and it will, undoubtedly, be hastened by the practical illustrations which came under the President's observation when the now arid domain of the West will maintain many millions of souls. The soil is wonderfully responsive when touched by water, producing not only the finest fruits, but also alfalfa, the stock food of the West, and all manner of grain. In Wyoming a great tract is now being sown in wheat, and the harvest is absolutely certain, because the water, at present stored in an artificial lake, will be fed at regular intervals and in proper quantity to the growing grain, while the always shining sun will insure steady and perfect development. Thus are these arid plains being boldly seized by intrepid pioneers, and made to yield abundant return; and the Americans who have converted dry and barren sand into fields of living green deserve all the praise which the President bestowed upon them.

The President's progress through California was a continuous ovation. His pathway was literally strewn with roses, and all sorts and conditions of men and women united in doing him honor. It is not difficult to find the inspiration for this devotion. Upon the Pacific slope the President was something more than the official head of the nation, something more than a lovable man. He was the embodiment of an administration which has added the furthermost isles of the sea to our domain. San Francisco, more than any other city, has experienced practical benefit from expansion. It is the entrepôt of our commerce with the East. Its docks have been thronged with thousands of soldiers hastening to Manila, while incoming regiments have welcomed the outlines of the Golden Gate with unspeakable delight as the end of their homeward journey. The enormous cargoes of supplies for the Philippines and for the army in China have been broken in bulk in San Francisco, and the transfer from train to transport has given employment to labor. This is but the beginning. From this time on, the argosies that sail the Pacific will increase in number and value, and San Francisco will be the gainer thereby. Force of circumstances has made President McKinley the central figure in this development. In California, and especially in

San Francisco, a grateful and prosperous people made it evident that they regarded him as the mainspring of their enlarged destiny.

It was in San Francisco that a very remarkable result of the war with Spain was observed. Not so very long ago that city was almost unknown to the average Eastern man. It was separated from the East by a tedious and expensive railroad journey. The Pacific Coast was a section unto itself. Even now its merchants talk of "importing" goods "from the States." I remember seeing some years ago intimations that the people west of the Rocky Mountains were able and willing to exist independently of their Eastern brethren. The danger of a division of the Republic was, of course, more imaginary than real; but, in any event, it has been entirely removed by the acquisition of the Philippines. Across the continent during the past three years there has travelled a steady procession from East to West, most of the pilgrims bearing arms, it is true, but all of them active, patriotic, intelligent citizens. These Eastern men, who, but for the strange outcome of events, would never have known the Pacific Coast, have touched elbows with their brothers of the West, and both have gloried in a common country.

As I stood by the President on the broad parade ground of the Presidio and listened to his speech to the returned volunteers, it seemed to me that he had builded wiser than he knew when he guided the nation successfully through the momentous crisis of 1898. Not only had his sympathy and tact welded the North and the South, but he had brought the East and the West together with bands of common intercourse. It is no small thing that more Eastern people have visited San Francisco in the last three years than had travelled to the Coast in the previous two decades. The barriers have been broken down. Instead of being upon the outermost edge of the United States, San Francisco is now a stopping-place on the way to Manila, and to this extent, at least, is nearer New York than ever before. The people of the Pacific Coast realize and appreciate this fact. They favor, therefore, the permanent retention of our new possessions; and, viewed from their standpoint, expansion welds together the links in the chain of our national life.

The personal affection everywhere manifested for the President was remarkable. Crowds are always certain to assemble whenever a President appears in public. Curiosity explains their eager gathering; but no one who has travelled with President McKinley can have failed to observe that the popular esteem in which he is held is as much a personal as an official tribute. No President - certainly no President since the days of Lincoln has been so close to the hearts of the people as

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Mr. McKinley. I could instance a hundred incidents wherein this fact was demonstrated; but it is not necessary to adduce proof. I believe that few persons, even of the most partisan opposition, will dispute the universal personal popularity of the President. He has been blessed beyond measure in his Administration; but, more than this, the calcium light of publicity that surrounds him has revealed him as the highest type of American citizen, courteous, thoughtful, honest, Christian-like in his daily walk and conduct. It is because of his high and lovable character that the heart of the whole country beat in sympathy with his during the trying days of his wife's illness in San Francisco; and while this wellnigh tragic episode brought the trip to a hurried ending, it revealed the love of the American people for the man who, while an efficient and trusted Executive, was still more to be admired as a patient, loving husband. Unfortunate as it was that the finale of the tour had to be abandoned, the President must have found great consolation in the solicitude universally expressed; and the manifestation of this concern by the American people is by no means the most insignificant lesson of the President's trip. It shows that we still honor high ideals in our home life; that our hearts and consciences are not altogether hardened by the mad struggle for the accumulation of wealth.

It remains only to add that the President's train travelled about 7,000 miles, and that the entire journey was accomplished without delay or mishap. When it is remembered that this gratifying result was attained without the derangement of regular schedules, and that every detail of travel which forethought had suggested was executed without the slightest friction, it seems to me a notable demonstration of the excellence of American railway management. No wonder that the American railroad is to-day the envy and the admiration of the civilized world. HENRY LITCHFIELD WEST.

DEFECTS IN OUR PENSION SYSTEM.

IN a speech on the army bill, delivered in the House of Representatives in February, 1901, Mr. McClellan of New York presented a table of figures showing what war means on its financial side. The appropriations for the regular expenses of maintaining our military establishment, as distinguished from those of an emergency character, amount to $152,068,100 a year; the appropriations for the expenses fastened upon posterity by past wars- including the pension system, homes for disabled soldiers, national cemeteries, artificial limbs, and the like- amount to $154,694,292; the total expenses of maintaining the naval establishment amount to $80,056,135. The grand total of $386,818,527 is striking enough in itself, but it becomes positively startling when we contrast it with the corresponding totals in each of the great Continental countries, and find the nearest approach to it in France, where the total war budget is only $190,197,542, or less than half of ours. The largest

item of appropriation in our whole list is for our pension system, which consumes, including the cost of maintaining the Bureau, very nearly $150,000,000 a year.

One might naturally assume that the Government of the United States, acting as trustee for the people, would strictly scrutinize everything that is liable to increase the burdens of the Treasury. In the departments concerned wholly with active military administration it does this. No branches of our executive organism are protected by law with a nicer sense of the obligation of the custodian than the army and navy. The officer in either of these services who through carelessness loses sight of his accountability is subject to discipline; while he who deliberately proves false to his trust forfeits his commission and his livelihood, if indeed the magnitude of his offence does not land him in the penitentiary. Not a pound of hard tack or a pair of shoes can be sold to the War Department, for example, till the assurance exists that it will be needed, till the contractor has satisfied the authorities of his responsibility, and till the goods themselves have been inspected by experts. Not a dollar may be paid on either purchase till the vouchers have been

made out in a form designed to protect the Government against fraud as far as human precautions can do so, and until the auditing officers have gone over all the data and convinced themselves of the entire legality of the transaction. If, after furnishing the supplies, the contractor is so unfortunate as to trip on some unnoticed technicality, his account may be held up at the moment when he most needs the money, and his only recourse will be to the Court of Claims, where he must present his case as he would before any other tribunal, and where it will be decided in accordance with law and in pursuance of precedent. If he fails there, nobody can help him but Congress and the President, by the enactment of a private measure for his relief.

It will not be necessary to pause in this place to contrast the course of the military and naval establishments, charged with the duty of providing for our active war service, with the methods imposed by law upon the pension establishment, charged with liquidating most of our obligations surviving from past wars: the disparity will be obvious enough later. But there is another phase of this matter to which we should give a passing glance. Our pension system is the only form of life and casualty insurance in which the citizen is the insurer and the Government the underwriter. The citizen comes into this relation when he engages in what is regarded as an extra-hazardous employment, uamely, that of fighting or resisting an armed enemy. If the Government were so disposed it might do with its soldiers somewhat as it does with its civil employees in fiduciary positions. It does not, in the case of these persons, write its own policies of indemnity. On the contrary, it says to the official trustee: "Find a bondsman for yourself. We reserve the right to reject him if unsatisfactory. Your compensation is made a trifle higher than that of your clerical colleagues or subordinates, so as to make up to you for the extra trouble and expense to which you may be put in procuring a bond; but every risk must fall upon your guarantor, and every premium he demands for taking this obligation upon himself must come out of your pocket and not from the Treasury."

Suppose it dealt in the same way with the soldier, requiring him to take out his own policy of insurance against death or accident, what would be the chance of his obtaining the stipend due him in case of disability, or of his family's receiving a corresponding consideration after his death? Taking for granted the solvency of the insurance company, the only question involved would be the perfection of the proofs adduced as to the insurer's death or disability. But these would have to be beyond reasonable doubt. Would the company obligingly throw open its books