p. 21 | News and Miscellany

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 18, 1915

News and Miscellany

Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press

— On October 19, Russia and Italy declared war on Bulgaria. It is feared that other of the Balkan States may become involved in the general European turmoil.

— Although President Wilson cast his vote in favor of woman suffrage in New Jersey at the special election held October 19, the cause was defeated by a large majority vote. This is the first test of the reception of woman suffrage in an Eastern State.

— According to statistics, there are over 18,000 regularly established libraries in the United States, containing more than 75,000,000 volumes. The number of volumes is an increase of 20,000,000 since 1908. Of the 2,849 libraries containing 5,000 volumes or over, 1,844 are classified as “public and society libraries,” and 1,005 are “school and college libraries.”

— The memorial to be erected in Washington, D. C., in honor of the late Mrs. Ellen Wilson has taken definite form. It is to provide clean and sanitary homes for the poor. The cost of the memorial will be about $350,000. It will consist of two-, three-, four-, five-, and six-room flats renting for from $7.50 each a month to $17.50, and of a number of small stores, operated on a cooperative basis.

— John R. Mott has accepted the position of general secretary of the international committee of the Young Men’s Christian Association. He succeeds the aged leader, Mr. Richard C. Morse, who has served in this position since 1869. This change in general secretaries is accompanied by a complete reorganization of the international committee and its work. Mr. Mott will still continue as chairman of the continuation committee of the Edinburgh Conference, and as leader of the World’s Student Federation.

— Yuan Shi-kai, president of China, a few weeks ago, issued a mandate in which he said that he had received repeated petitions from representative Chinese and the Mongolian and Tibetan nobility expressing the unanimous opinion that the republican reform government is unsuited to the needs and conditions of China, and requesting him to follow the people’s wishes by adopting a constitutional monarchy, so that peace be maintained. It was officially stated that the national assembly will be called early next year, and that whichever form of government is decided upon in the impending expression of the popular will, the government will be a constitutional one.