out of work. Is it any wonder that the laborers under such circumstances make desperate efforts to better their condition?

In 1855 there were in the city of New York forty-five general strikes and one hundred and seventy-seven workshop strikes. Ninety-seven of these turned out to the advantage of the laborers; but as a rule the laborers suffer most in this battle; and however the different strikes end, they always help to nourish strife and contention. This controversy spreads more and more. Strikes have become common everywhere in the world.

The great strikes in 1893 and 1894 are strong evidences of the restless condition of society. There are plenty of live coals under the ashes, and it does not take much to fan them into a big flame.

The great strike of the laborers in the coal mines in England in 1893 cost more than one hundred and sixty-six million dollars. It was the cause of even greater loss than the great labor strike in America this year (1894).

In sev

Among the many strikes in 1894 we may notice the following: April 4, 15,000 miners were on strike in Pennsylvania. The strike on the Great Northern Railway closed May 1. Then the great coal strike came on. On account of this numerous factories were closed. eral places. non-union men were attacked, and many people were killed and injured. Nine companies of soldiers were called out to keep order in La Salle, Illinois. July 4 this strike was closed. It cost about twenty million dollars.

By this time the Pullman strike was in full blaze, and the so-called Debs strike had begun. The employees on most of the great railroads of the Middle and Western States struck, and for some time the outlook was very dark. The riots and acts of violence were almost equal to a civil war.

Thousands of railroad cars, including mail and express cars, were left by the employees. This brought great trouble and loss to thousands of the traveling public, and caused incalculable injury to freight which was left here and there. Chicago seemed to be the center of the strike, serious troubles occurring in this city. More than one thousand cars were burned, and property worth several million dollars destroyed. The State militia was called to the scene of strife, and President Cleveland sent several companies of United States soldiers to establish order. This strike extended to California in the West and Ohio in the East.

July 24 this strike was practically ended. It caused only loss on all sides. The laborers gained nothing. According to the careful estimate as stated in one of the dailies, the railroad employees lost in wages no less than twenty million dollars, and the loss to all parties amounted to eighty-one million dollars.

July 11 sixty thousand coal miners were on strike in Scotland. August 22 eleven thousand weavers had made strike in New Bedford, Massachusetts. September 6 the Knights of Labor Tailors decided to strike. This brought twenty thousand men out of work in New York and vicinity. These statements are taken from the daily papers.

Thus the poor laborers continue to make efforts to improve their condition, but in most cases it is only made worse. If they would strike against the use of liquor and tobacco, they would succeed much better. If the laboring men of the United States agreed to stop using these injurious articles and would save the money now used in this way, they could in a few years buy and own all the railroads in the country. Will not you, dear reader, make a strike against these tyrants, liquor and tobacco, if you have not already done so? If you do, you are sure to win. Such a warfare cannot possibly bring you any loss. It will bring only gain. Please try it in good earnest.

Anarchism.

Monarchism has surrounded the world, and anarchism has also surrounded it. These two are mortal enemies. They can never become friends. They work continually for the pupose of destroying each other. Anarchism and the labor movements must not be confounded. They are two very different movements. One is trying to defend its own rights under the existing order, while the other is trying to overturn it. Of anarchism Mr. Talmage says:

"He owns nothing but a knife for universal blood-letting and a nitro-glycerine bomb for universal explosion. He believes in no God, in no government, no heaven, and no hell, except what he can make on earth. He slew the czar of Russia, keeps Emperor William, of Germany, practically imprisoned, killed Abraham Lincoln, would put to death every king and president on earth, and if he had power, would climb up until he could drive the God of heaven from his throne and take it himself - the universal butcher."

"It was anarchism that massacred the heroic policemen of Chicago and St. Louis a few days ago, and that burned the railroad property at Pittsburg during the great riots; it was anarchism that slew black people in our Northern cities during the war; it was anarchism that again and again in San Francisco and in New York mauled to death the Chinese; it is anarchism that glares out of the windows of the groggeries upon sober people as they go by. Ah! its power has never yet been tested. It would, if it had the power, leave every church, chapel, cathedral, school-house, college, and home in ashes."

In the present history of anarchism we may notice the following points:

February 21, 1894, the papers stated that two thousand anarchists were in the prisons of Italy. At the same time one hundred and eighteen anarchists were in prison in Barcelona, Spain.

The anarchist Vaillant, who threw a bomb into the legislative chamber of France, was executed Feb. 5, 1894. His last words were, "Long live anarchism!" The Italian anarchist, Santo, murdered Carnot, the president