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January 34, liVl Record and Guide. 117 but because be believes that his opponents are either not honest enough or else not intelligent enough to understand the compli¬ cated railway problems of the time. Having first convinced him¬ self that be understands thesituation and that bis opponents cannot or will not, he then feels called upon to hoodwink, intimidate, bribe, or otherwise mislead sucb opponents pro bo7W pvblico. But as a matter of fact tbe well-informed railway official is about as apt to be mistaken in his views as are his opponents; be is as likely to be blinded by bis interests as are the farmers to err because ot their ignorance. The result is an unfortunate tangle, in which each side justifies whatever is doubtful in its own metbods by assuming that the methods of tbe other side are still worse. Another thing which Eastern critics of Western agitators are apt to forget is the absolute dependence of tbe Western communities upon the railroads. The West bas been settled aa it is in conse¬ quence of railroad building. Cities are started, and afterwards grow or decline, not in consequence of natural advantages of loca¬ tion, but becauae they are or are not favored hy the railroads. A community located in a prairie district where no coal mines are near is dependent upon the roads, not only for sending its ptoduce to a distant market, but also for obtaining at a distance its supply of merchandise, of lumber, and of coal. Under such circum¬ stances, a variation of a very small amount in the charge for freight per ton per mile is of vital importance. If to the foregoing considerat'ons he added the further one, that theownersof the railroads'are almost entirely non-residet ts, so that it is felt tliat any unearned profits not only injure individuals but impoverish tho community as a whole, while the representatives of the roads witbin the State are looked upon as mere hirelings owing duties to the companies inconsistent with good citizenship, we see that Western radicalism is not without cause, aud that an honorable explanalion of its existence can be given. Amos G. V/arner. MR. RIIS, in a bojk, "How the Other Half Lives," gives the support of his investigations to the position taken in these columns some time ago relating to tlie elevation of the ".'^lums" of our city. The position taken by Th ■: Record and Guide on this subject was, it will be remembi red, siibstantially tbis: The "slums" are powerless to help themselves—they can be elevated only through outside aid. Philanthropic appeals to the better emotions of the wealthier classes of themselves amount to very little. The interest of " up-town" people in matters which do not immediately concern them is too apt to evaporate in lhe form of benevolent gifts. Tiie problem of how to elevate the "slum-j" is the problem of how not only to secui^e the interest of oth avenue citizens in tenement dwellers of Rivington street, but more tSian this, how to hold tbis interest when once aroused. To get and hold the atten¬ tion of the wealthier classes, their business sei-se as well as their better emotions must be appealed to. " Philanthropy and 5 per cent," as Mr. Riis states it, is the combination which will open the way to the solution of the problem. CONSIDERING the question of tenement houae rpform from a puiely business point of view, cau well-lighted, well-ven¬ tilated respectable tenement dwellings be constructed and 5 per cent be realized on the investment? Tbe answer to this question is that improved tenement houses have been recently constructed which yield this rate to their owners. The block of improved dwellings which the Tenement House Building Company erected in Cherry street—one of the worst streets in the city^has returned each year, since its completion in 1886, an interest of from 5 to 5J-^ per cent on the capital invested. The Improved Dwellings Associa¬ tion constructed a block of thh-teen houses iu East 73d street nine years ago which has realized to this company 2 per cent each six months ever since the expiration of the first half-year of operation. Attention bas been called more than once in The Record and Guide to tbe success of the Brooklyn experiment in tenement house con¬ struction. The owners of tbe old block of improved dwellings for the laboring classes erected in 1876, at the corner of Hicks and Baltic streets of that city, bave acknowledged tbe financial success of their experiment hy erecting a new block at the foot of Jorale¬ mon street. Attention has also been called to the efforts which are now being made by the city of Liverpool toward the re-housing of her poor in sanitary dwellings. Ifc is estimated that after making ail proper deductions tbe quadrangle of artisans' dwellings already constructed by that city will yield a net return of not less than 4)^ per cent on its cost. --------•-------- A COMPARISON of the rents paid in the various pai-ts of the City of New York show that they are even higher in many of the worst parts of the " slums " than in some of tbe best residence locations up town. Oue inclined to doubt this statement will dis¬ cover its truth on making a per.sonal iuvestigation. Capitalists need not hesitate, therefore, to invest in tenement houses modelled after improved plans, on the ground that the laboring classes in the poorer quarters of the city are not able to pay rents which will insure a fair rate of profit on such investments. The rent charged for unfurnished apartments in the new tenement building situated on the comer of Rivington and Willett streets are nearly as high as the rents charged for furnished rooms of the same size above 61st street, on Madison avenue, or for rooms on tbo sti-eets run¬ ning at right angles to Madison and 5tb avenues, above 50th street. More than this, every square foot available for habitation is occupied in the tenement building on Rivington street, notwith¬ standing the high rents asked for. It may not be strictly orthodox to advocate an appeal to the selfish motives of men as a means of elevating the condition of the inhabitants of the lower quarters of our city, but men are selfish and can only be dealt with as they are. Men and Things. Not long since an article several columns in length was published in tbe Herald, signed by Rudyard Kipling, Tbis article, I beheve, was contributed some years ago by Mi-. Kipling to an Indian paper, upon which, up to that time, he had been a regular employe, and was the out¬ come of the impressions incident to a stay of ten days in Han t'rancisco. Of course, written under sucb cireumstaoces and for such a purpose, it wasnothmg but a hasty sketch, and deserves no more than the passing attention which the contributionsof "our special correspondent" generally get and seldom repay. But Mr. Henry Guy Carleton, in a letter to the TToWcMafit medium), takes umbrage at Mr. Kipling's skittish criticisms of American manners, and denounces theji with the same fine discrimina¬ tion and excellent taste that are frequently characteristic of American's replies to foreigners' strictures. I will give just a few instances to indicate Mr. Carletou's methotis of controvei'sy. He says : It would appear by two or more allusions which he makes to our " pirat - ing" books, that Mr. Kipling has vifited us as a sort of nemesis for wrongs done the pockets of Dickens, Thackeray, Lytton, Scott and other British writers; possibly he himself contemplates essaying to write a book some day. and fears that the reciprocally larcenous spirit which has hitherto animated publishers on both sides of the water will injure him to the extent of several hundred dollars, maybe. I hope his fears will prove groundless, Mr, Kipling has already written several quite readable skits of Indian life. I do not know more than twenty reporters in New York who could have done as well. Of course, for strength of eharacte-ization and exquisite finish of diction Mr, Kipling in no wise approaches Bret Harte, nor is be capable of sustained efforts like those of Cable, nor do scholarly attamments glitter through his pages as they shine resplendently through every crystal-ent phrase of Iiafcadio Hearn. —but Horto and Cable and Hearn are great writers, and it is manifest injnsfcice to Mr. Kiplmg to make comparison. Of course Mr. Kipling's grammar is sometimes unconventional, and occasionally he seems to have rather carelessly skimmed the dictionary in learning the significance of words he employs, but he writes neatly, crisply, and generally in an interesting fashion of Indian life, and we a.-e glad to learn something thereof. How interesting he may prove in fields already trodden remains to bo seeu. * " * 1 have quite admired at times Mr. Kipling's literary plumage from afar, but tbe raspingly vulgar voice and distorted feet which his near approach brings into notice are disappointing. For bird of paradise, peacock; and for gentleman, cad; are exchanges which sadden me. This is what Heury Guy Carleton thinks of Rudyard Kipling; but what io the world will Rudyard Kipling think ot Henry Guy Carleton? I do not know whether the latter's letter will ever ba read by Mr. Kipling; I hope it mil not; but if it is, Mr. Kipling should be warned that Mr. Carleton's tirade is not representative of the taste or opinions of cultivated Americans, Mr, Carleton speaks of Mr. Kipling's " careful study of American society, as represented by one bunco-steerer," Let the latter be warned not to make the same mistake a second time and judge of the best American con¬ troversial courtesy as exhibited by one—Henry Guy Carleton. *** A fitting answer to Mr. Carleton's query as to "bow interesting" Mi', Kipling "may prove iu fields already trjdden" is found in the latter's novelette in January Li^pmco(s, entitled the " Light tbat Failed." This is an admirable story. My limits do not permit of a detailed analysis of its qualities,but I cannot forbear from entering into a brief description of a few of the many exceilenciis. The book is marked by a fine objectivity Half of the characters in many good novels strike one as kind of tame ani. mals—sublimated expressions of the writer's ideas of men and women, eked out here and tbere by a dash of life. Mr. Kipling has beeu singularly suc¬ cessful in endowing his characters with flesh and blood, vivifying all their words and actions with living emotions. Hence the story has all the fresh¬ ness and abounding vigor of a clear autumn day; it acts like a tonic pro¬ ducing a healthy elation; its ciEeet is similar to that of any good action actually witnessed. Never an opinion is uttered, nor a word is passed that i5" not tbe outcome of character, influenced by circumstances, A neces¬ sary concomitant of all this is abundant humor, well chosen incident and exceUent dialogue. Every page bristles with brief sugges, tion, Mr. Kipling evidently has what Walter Bagehot would call an experiencing natui-e. His observation of men and women must be as incessant and as penetrating as that of his own creation, "Dick Heldar," It is the happy privilege of such a nature always to grow, to accumulate new experiences and mould them into new forms. The story is an irmnense improvement on his shorter sketches. Not only has he discarded many crudities of manner and tricks of narration, but his knowledge has become broader, his insight clearer, and his powers better under command. Another quality which the book shows is an exquisite nicety in the treatment of detail, amounting in some cases to genius. Tbe beautifully allusive treatment of tbat yellow sea-poppy and of Maisie's hair are cases in point. Then what could be more natural than the temptation of poor Torpenhuw, which is vividly brought out without a trace of prurient suggestion! Probably tbe most delicate touch in the book is the casting of tbe three pence into the Thames by Dick—the three pence given to bim by bis lady-love—which symbolizes that tbe world has paid to bim its debt, and which he casts into the river, where it wiU ever remain, as a sacrifice to Fate to secure her well-being. Many instances could also be mentioned in which a few well-chosen words have opened up