be entitled to a separate representation exceeding one-sixth of the whole number of senators." The Constitution of New York1 provides that "no county shall have more than one-third of all the senators; and no two counties, or the territory thereof, as now recognized, which are adjoining counties, or which are separated only by public waters, shall have more than one-half of all the senators." This latter provision is clearly directed against the Greater New York. Such provisions are not peculiar to Pennsylvania and New York. They are found in the constitutions of many of the other States. The following table will show the discrepancy between the population and representation of the larger cities as compared with the representation of the total population. While we do not find constitutional limitations preventing the cities from enjoying their full quota of representation in European countries, the same influences have produced similar results. With the constant shifting of population, resulting in the growth of urban centers at the expense of the country districts, it is evident that the more rapidly growing districts fail to obtain the representation to which their population entitles them,2 unless a constant revision of electoral districts be made. In Germany, for instance, the electoral districts have not been thoroughly revised since 1871, when the unit of representation for the Reichs 1 Article II, Section 4. For the statistics of urban representation in European countries, I am indebted to the work of Professor Meuriot on "Des Agglomerations Urbaines dans l'Europe Contemporaine." tag was fixed at 103,000 inhabitants. The growth of population since that time has caused the unit of representation to rise from 103,000 to 131,000, a change which is mainly due to the growth of cities. Thus Berlin was given one representative for every 138,000 in 1871; whereas in 1897 the unit of representation for the city was 280,000. From these figures it will be seen that the discrimination against Berlin dates from the foundation of the Empire and that the phenomenal increase of population of the capital city has intensified the discrepancy in representation. As far as its representation is concerned, Berlin has occupied a position of diminishing importance in the national legislature. For the whole of Germany, it is interesting to note that in 1871 the relation between urban and rural population and their respective representation in the Reichstag was essentially the same, the former being 6.9 per cent., the latter 6.8 per cent. By 1897, however, the percentage of urban to rural had increased 13.9 per cent., whereas relative representation had remained unchanged. As the growth of urban population is far more rapid in the northern than in the southern sections of the Empire, it is evident that this discrimination against cities gives to the south a disproportionate share of political representation. As this is the section of marked particularistic or "States' rights" sentiment, it is evident that the decentralizing political forces are given undue strength.1 In France the urban centers enjoy representation in the national legislature nearly proportionate to their population. The twelve largest cities, which include 11.9 per cent. of the total population of France, are given 11.3 per cent. of the total representation. The senatorial divisions, however, combine urban and rural districts and thus prevent the urban centers from having a distinct representation. England furnishes another instance of the unwillingness of political parties to adjust national representation in accordance with the changes in the distribution of population. During the first decades of the century the agricultural counties of the south 1 See Meuriot, op. cit. The of England dominated the political life of the country. small boroughs which controlled the representation in the House of Commons were concentrated in the district south of the Trent. Until the changes brought about by the Reform Acts of 1832 and 1834 the region north of the Trent elected but one hundred and thirty-one out of a total of four hundred and forty-nine members of Parliament. Even at this time the south was given greater political influence than its population warranted. The north had one representative for every 135,000; the south one for every 128,000. It required a long struggle, extending over the greater portion of the century, to assure to the northern counties their due proportion in the national representation. The Reform Act of 1832 was the first important step in this direction, but even after the passage of this act the southern counties continued to enjoy a favored position in the national legislature. The Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884 were both important measures in effecting a more equitable distribution in representation. The representation of the countries south of the Trent, which had been fixed at two hundred and ninety-eight in 1834, was reduced to two hundred and twenty-eight. The northern counties, on the other hand, increased their quota from one hundred and thirty-six to one hundred and seventy; while London, which had always been unfairly treated, found its representation increased from twenty-two to sixty-two. If such, then, is the influence of city growth upon political thought and action, it is evident that with the gradual transition from rural to urban conditions, profound changes, both in the constitution and in the activity of government, are inevitable. Until our habits of thought and standards of conduct have become adjusted to city conditions, we may expect to find an element of instability in our political life directly traceable to the undermining of accepted traditions and ideas. Every step towards such adjustment finds ultimate expression in the attitude of the population towards government. At present we seem to be entering upon a movement of opinion towards municipal socialism. The evils resulting from unregulated competition are receiving a prominence which threatens to carry us-in our city governments at least-into a period of municipal activity which may prove a real menace to individual initiative and enterprise. This danger is unavoidable; in fact, it is one of the results incidental to progress. It must be met if we are to bring our city civilization to its full fruition. A new equilibrium between governmental activity and individual freedom must be established. University of Pennsylvania. L. S. RowE. RAILWAY PROGRESS AND AGRICULTURAL THE HE earliest settlements in the continental territory now occupied by the United States were naturally along the bays and inlets of the Atlantic coast and in regions adjacent to the navigable rivers which drain the eastern slopes of the Appalachian ranges. Each of the thirteen colonies, which afterwards became the United States, had one or more seaports, and what little internal commerce existed was nearly all conducted by means of rivers reaching these ports. There was, of course, some foreign trade, consisting of the exchange of raw materials for manufactured products, but intercolonial exchanges were few and limited, the early coastwise traffic being of but little importance. As the seaports grew in population and wealth, and their requirements in the way of food products increased, the fertility of the interior portions of the country proved attractive to many sturdy pioneers, who pushed the agricultural frontier rapidly westward and established industrious rural communities in regions where they trod upon the heels of the departing Indian and the American huntsman. The meagreness of transportation facilities and the difficulties, dangers, and excessive cost of marketing products seriously hampered this movement and caused public attention to be directed toward the urgent necessity of establishing better means of communication. General Washington was one of the first to appreciate the importance of means for internal commerce, and there are no records of his many-sided activities that afford more ample evidence of his great wisdom than those which express his interest in the development of transportation agencies. The records show that the subject of establishing a connection, by canal, between the Potomac and Ohio rivers attracted his favorable notice as early as 1754; in 1783, while stationed at Newburgh, he made an extended tour in order to study the practicability of connecting, in a similar manner, the waters of the Great Lakes and the Hudson river; and a little later, accepting the presidency of the canal company chartered by the States of Virginia and Maryland, he presented to the |