and continuously trained by the responsible commander-in-chief, in conformity with his established doctrines of attack and defense. It is for this fundamental

reason that the Navy is, and must always be, firmly opposed to trusting the air tactics of its fleet to the pilots of a united service.

N 1884 Congress created a Bureau of Labor, an outgrowth of various state labor bureaus, the first of which was established by Massachusetts in 1869. The primary duty of all of these was the collection of statistics bearing upon the interests of labor. The national bureau was placed under the Department of the Interior, where it remained until the Department of Commerce and Labor was created in 1903. Ten years later this department was divided, a Department of Commerce and a Department of Labor being established. The act creating the Department of Labor was signed by President Taft on the last day of his term. He had some objections to it for administrative reasons, but was not opposed to the purpose of it, which was, as declared in the act, "to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wageearners of the United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment." When President Wilson was inaugurated he found this new Cabinet office waiting to be filled, and he appointed William B. Wilson, at that time a member of Congress but previously an officer of the United Mine Workers of America, as Secretary of Labor. Mr. Wilson served through both terms of President Wilson's Administration.

With the intent of the act, as expressed in its text, there can be no quarrel. "To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage-earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their op

portunities for profitable employment," are laudable purposes, and a proper function of an enlightened government. To what extent these purposes have been fulfilled by the Department under the direction of Secretary Wilson it is not my present task to inquire. But, without regard to the personality or acts of the Secretary there are some objections to the operation of the Department that are inherent in its organization. Being a department for the advancement of the interests of labor it is, almost of necessity, a partisan of labor, and in particular a partisan of organized labor, which, it is needless to say, is but a small proportion of all labor. The mere fact of organization greatly facilitates those inquiries which are a part of the work for which the department was created, enabling it to secure statistical information, not easy, if, indeed, it is possible, to obtain from unorganized labor. Moreover, organized labor having its representatives whose expenses, at least, are paid, can be and is in constant contact and coöperation with the Department, leading to the very general impression that it is in effect, as so far conducted, a department of the American Federation of Labor rather than a department of the United States Government. The tendency of the Department as now constituted is to make it an agency of organized labor, and, at least by implication, in opposition to the interests of the employers.

The welfare of labor is inseparable from the welfare of industry. Labor is not all of industry, but is only one of the

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two elements without which industry cannot exist, and each is wholly dependent upon the other. To create a department for the promotion of the interests of one element without regard to, or in antagonism to, the interests of the other, is not helpful to the advancement of industry, and therefore in the long run is hurtful to labor, for labor can progress only in relation to the progress and prosperity of industry as a whole. The fundamental interests of employers and employees are identical, and the proper interest of one cannot be injured without reflex injury to the other. Neither, on the other hand, can the interest of one be helped at the expense of the other without ultimate injury to both. There is nothing so essential to the welfare of the wage-earners of the United States as harmonious relations between employers and employees. The Department of Labor as now constituted exercises no influence for the establishment of such relations, for from its very nature it becomes a partisan of one element in opposition to the other. The employing interest gets no encouragement or help from it, and in consequence its operations are viewed with suspicion, if not with antagonism, by that interest. It does seem that its scope might be broadened, with advantage to labor, and to all industry, by making it a Department of Industry, or of Industrial Relations. Without modifying in any degree the purpose expressed in its present act of creation, it could be extended to promote and develop the welfare of industry in the United States, by using its powers, fairly and impartially, to encourage friendly coöperation between the two elements of industry for the advancement of both. A great many of the conflicts in industry

grow out of misunderstanding, which could be avoided if an authoritative and unbiased governmental agency could, upon proper application, ascertain the facts in the situation and present them to the parties concerned, or, if necessary, to the public. The Secretary of Labor, under the law as it is, is empowered to act as mediator and to appoint commissioners of conciliation in labor disputes whenever in his judgment the interests of industrial peace may require it to be done, but the nature of his office makes him a partisan of labor and therefore an object of mistrust by the employing interest. But if he were a Secretary of Industry, his duty would be to promote the welfare of industry, which would mean the welfare of both wage-earners and wage-payers, and in promoting both would best promote each, while at the same time he would be promoting the public welfare, which is the primary object of all good government.

There is no getting away from the fact that employers and employees have a common interest in the advancement of industry. Labor demands which cripple industry inevitably react upon the laborer. On the other hand, the employers interest is best promoted by the productiveness and economy that comes from an appreciated and appreciative force of wage-earners. A Department of Industry, serving both, could do much to bring the two elements closer together, to create better understandings and friendlier relations without mischievous interference with individual effort. There could be no greater service to labor than this, and it would be a service that would, if fairly given, command the confidence of the employing interest, and vastly enlarge the influence of the Department.

positive and negative electricity. The centre of the atom is known as the nucleus and contains all of the positive electricity. The negative electricity exists in the form of electrons which arrange themselves in space about the nucleus and revolve in a fixed system around or about it. Although the atom as a whole is very small, the electrons are far more minute. If we were to enlarge an atom until it had a diameter of one mile, the electrons would be about five feet in diameter while the nucleus at the centre would be no larger than a walnut. In other words, each atom may be considered more or less as a little solar system all by itself, is and this new conception of the atom is enabling scientists to work along lines of new knowledge with far greater hope of success.

While the electrons in all atoms are alike, each one of the ninety-two elements, which we believe constitute all matter, has its own particular type of nucleus. These nuclei differ from one another only in the amount of positive electricity they contain. Thus for the simplest element, hydrogen, the nucleus has a unit positive charge which is able to neutralize the charge of a single electron. Therefore a hydrogen atom consists merely of the nucleus or core and one electron. The next element, helium, has a nucleus with a double positive charge, and consequently this element contains two electrons. In like manner it has been discovered that the carbon atom contains six electrons; oxygen, eight; aluminum, thirteen; sulphur, sixteen; iron, twenty-six; copper, twenty-nine; silver, forty-seven; gold, seventynine; mercury, eighty; lead, eighty-two; bismuth, eighty-three; radium, eighty-eight; thorium, ninety; and uranium, ninety-two.

So much for the fundamental idea of the atomic theory. The questions arise: What does this mean to us in our lives to-day? What are the future possibilities of scientific developments along this same line, and what effect I will these advances have on civilization?

Life is a variety of motions and motion is energy. If the moving things are large enough to see, we call their movement mechanical energy. If the particles in motion are invisible to the eye, even through a microscope, we call their movement heat energy. When the particles are not matter at all, but electrons, we call their energy electrical energy. The farther we go, the more it appears that the basis of all life is electricity. Some day we may know just what electricity is.

The first real step forward in the utilization of the mysterious energy of the atom was the invention of a practical X-ray machine. The X-rays are identical with light and electric waves, except that their wave-lengths are very much less than the shortest of light waves. Our present X-ray practice is extremely wasteful, for not more than of 1 per cent. of the energy delivered in an X-ray tube leaves the tube as X-rays, the remainder of the energy being transformed mainly into heat. MADAME CURIE'S DISCOVERY

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NOTHER development closely related to the X-ray, and of even greater interest to students of science, is radioactivity. The famous discoverer of radium, Mme. Marie Curie, is expected to visit the United States this month. The story of her wonderful achievements in science unfolds a tale of zealous research, self-sacrifice, and persistence unique in history. When but a girl, Mme. Curie entered the University of Paris, where she did brilliant work as a student in chemistry. Prof. Becquerel, who had devoted much time to investigating the X-ray, accidentally discovered the property of radioactivity in 1896. His experiments led to the development of the fact that the salts of uranium possessed the property of converting the molecules of gases into charged particles. Mme. Curie, one of Prof. Becquerel's students, was invited to assist in the problem of uranium research, to see if that metal, after exposure to sunlight, would shine when brought into a dark room, and if it did, would that light act like the newly discovered X-ray.

An experiment was prepared with a photographic plate enclosed in a black envelope, on which a piece of uranium was laid. While waiting for a sunny day, this was placed in a dark drawer. Two weeks later it was decided to test the freshness of the plate by developing it, and to the surprise of all, a dark spot appeared on it, beneath where the mineral had rested. This was proof conclusive that some unsuspected rays had passed through the black paper, and after delicate tests had been made, it was shown beyond doubt that the new and unsuspected rays were really electrical.

Mme. Curie took up the pursuit and found that radioactivity is an atomic property; that thorium acted like uranium; that pitchblende carrying a given weight of uranium

had approximately four times greater activity than any pure uranium salt containing the same weight of uranium. This latter disclosure caused her to conclude that pitchblende contained another element that was also radioactive, and she proceeded to prove this conclusion.

The pitchblende was dissolved, and the various elements in it were precipitated and tested for radioactivity. The principal activity was found to be concentrated in the barium, strontium, and calcium group. After the After the calcium and strontium had been eliminated the barium that remained still showed strong activity. This caused Mme. Curie to investigate further, and the element radium was eventually separated out by the fractional crystallization of its salts from the corresponding barium salts. Radium gives off three types of rays-called the alpha, beta, and gamma. The alpha rays travel with a velocity of about 20,000 miles a second; the beta rays are ejected with a velocity of more than 100,000 miles a second; while the gamma rays travel with the speed of light. The alpha is stopped by an ordinary sheet of notepaper; the beta ray will penetrate a piece of glass; while the gamma ray is practically identical with the X-ray, only being more penetrating.

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THE SOURCE OF RADIUM

N 1898, Mme. Curie announced to the world the discovery of the new element-radium. Speed tests were made, and it was found that the new metal gives out heat continuously. Miners throughout the world started to search for this wonderful metal, which, weight for weight, is worth 150,000 times as much as gold. Radium is now obtained chiefly from carnotite, though a small amount is derived from pitchblende. Practically all of the world's radium until about nine years ago, came from deposits in Portugal. The first important radium operations in the United States did not commence until 1912, though a small plant designed to recover uranium from carnotite ore was erected in Colorado in 1900. This venture, however, was unsuccessful.

Practice has shown that it is necessary to handle and treat something like 1,000,000 pounds of ore in order to recover a gram of radium. One ton of ore will seldom deliver more than six or seven milligrams of the radium element, or an amount of radium no larger

than the size of a pinhead. One authority figures that including coal, water, and chemicals, the producers must handle more than 50,000 tons of raw material to produce an ounce of the precious radium metal. No such effort has ever before been required to produce a spoonful of any single element.

The medical fraternity of the world has come to accept radium as a beneficial treatment for cancer. Permanent cures have been accomplished, and practically every large city has at least one hospital that is supplied with a small quantity of radium. In actual practice the surgeon generally uses a minimum of 50 milligrams of the powerful substance, and even this quantity, which is no larger than the head of a match, costs him $6,000.

As a general rule, the radium metal is shaped into a tiny rod no larger than a small piece of the lead in a pencil. This is encased in a glass capsule and hermetically sealed; next the whole tube is placed in a silver casing, open at one end; and finally the silver tube with its precious contents is inserted in a strong cylindrical holder made of brass. The rays of the radium are directed upon the diseased human tissue through a screen of rubber, and strange as it may appear, the rays act only upon the diseased flesh, leaving the healthy tissues unaffected. The rays of this small piece of radium will penetrate lead to a depth of more than two inches, and the metal must be handled carefully with silver forceps. If the surgeon's fingers should come in contact with the radium, a serious burn would result.

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RADIUM'S AID TO MEDICINE

HERE has been much discussion of late concerning the real value of radium as an aid in medicine. A careful survey throughout the country shows a list of successful treatments which is quite convincing. Dr. W. J. Mayo uses radium extensively in his famous institution in Minnesota. He says: "By properly combining radiotherapy with surgery, we can increase operability, lower mortality, and increase the percentage of cures." Dr. Joseph Ransohoff, of Cincinnati, is favorable to the use of radium treatment of cancer of the uterus in certain cases, because the "radium can be brought into close contact with the cervix, where it can exert its direct influence." Recent practice shows conclusively that the application of radium to the