Title: History for ready reference, Volume 7
Recent history (1901 to 1910)
Author: J. N. Larned
Release date: May 16, 2024 [eBook #73639]
Language: English
Original publication: Springfield, Mass: C. A. Nichols Co
Credits: Don Kostuch
[Transcriber's notes. This work is derived from: https://archive.org/details/historyforreadyr07larn To provide some "foresight" on the many international conflicts mentioned in this work, I suggest reading a review of World War I, which commences four years after the publication of this work. For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I These modifications are intended to provide continuity of the text for ease of searching and reading. 1. To avoid breaks in the narrative, page numbers (shown in curly brackets "{1234}") are usually placed between paragraphs. In this case the page number is preceded and followed by an empty line. To remove page numbers use the Regular Expression: "^{[0-9]+}" to "" (empty string) 2. If a paragraph is exceptionally long, the page number is placed at the nearest sentence break on its own line, but without surrounding empty lines. 3. Blocks of unrelated text are moved to a nearby break between subjects. 5. Use of em dashes and other means of space saving are replaced with spaces and newlines. 6. Subjects are arranged thusly: --------------------------------- MAIN SUBJECT TITLE IN UPPER CASE Subheading one. Subheading two. Subject text. See CROSS REFERENCE ONE. See Also CROSS REFERENCE TWO. John Smith, External Citation Title, Chapter 3, page 89. --------------------------------- Main titles are at the left margin, in all upper case (as in the original) and are preceded by an empty line. Subheadings (if any) are indented three spaces and immediately follow the main title. Text of the article (if any) follows the list of subtitles (if any) and is preceded with an empty line and indented three spaces. References to other articles in this work are in all upper case (as in the original) and indented six spaces. They usually begin with "See", "Also" or "Also in". "See" is followed by either "(in this Volume)" or the Volume number of one of the preceding six Volumes. Citations of works outside this book are indented six spaces and in italics (as in the original). The bibliography in Volume 1, APPENDIX F on page xxi provides additional details, including URLs of available internet versions. ----------Subject: Start-------- ----------Subject: End---------- indicates the start/end of a group of subheadings or other large block. To search for words separated by an unknown number of other characters, use this Regular Expression to find the words "first" and "second" separated by between 1 and 100 characters: "first.{1,100}second" A list of all words used in this work is found at the end of this file as an aid for finding words with unusual spellings that are archaic, contain non-Latin letters, or are spelled differently by various authors. Search for: "Word List: Start". I use these free search tools: Notepad++ — https://notepad-plus-plus.org Agent Ransack or FileLocator Pro — https://www.mythicsoft.com Several tables are best viewed using a fixed spacing font such Courier New. End Transcriber's Notes.] {i} HISTORY FOR READY REFERENCE FROM THE BEST HISTORIANS, BIOGRAPHERS, AND SPECIALISTS THEIR OWN WORDS IN A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF HISTORY FOR ALL USES, EXTENDING TO ALL COUNTRIES AND SUBJECTS, AND REPRESENTING FOR BOTH READERS AND STUDENTS THE BETTER AND NEWER LITERATURE OF HISTORY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY J. N. LARNED WITH NUMEROUS HISTORICAL MAPS FROM ORIGINAL STUDIES AND DRAWINGS BY ALAN C. REILEY REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION IN SEVEN VOLUMES Volume VII.—RECENT HISTORY (1901 TO 1910) A to Z SPRINGFIELD, MASS. THE C. A. NICHOLS CO., PUBLISHERS 1910 {ii} Copyright, 1910, BY J. N. LARNED. The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company {iii} PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH VOLUME In the preface to the Sixth Volume of this work, published in the spring of 1901, it was remarked that the last half-dozen years of the Nineteenth Century, which that Volume covered, had been filled with events so remarkable and changes so revolutionary in political and social conditions that many people had asked for an extension of my work to report them. The years then reviewed disclosed only the beginnings of what the decade since has been developing, in movements and achievements so varied, so numerous, in such rapid succession, with effects so profound and so problematical, that their appeal to our interest seems the strongest that has come to us yet from human history. That the interest in them justifies this further extension of my compilation of "recent history" has been made clear to me by the frequency of the suggestions of another Volume which have come to the publisher and to myself. In the new Volume I have striven to make a clear exhibit of all these strangely pregnant evolutionary and revolutionary movements of the present time, which are traversing all divisions and institutions of all society, occidental and oriental, along all the lines of its organization,—international, national, municipal, political, industrial, intellectual, moral,—leaving nothing in life untouched. A few indications of the subjects dealt with most extensively in the Volume may convey some idea of its scope, and of the aims pursued in its preparation. For example: "Railways" and "Combinations" ("Trusts"), treated mainly as the subjects of regulative governmental action, occupy 38 pages in all. "Labor Organization" fills 25 pages with the incidents of its trade unions, labor parties, strikes, mediations, arbitrations and industrial agreements. "Labor Protection" receives 6 pages, for the account of what has been done in various countries in the matters of employers’ liability, industrial insurance, hours of work, etc. "Labor Remuneration" receives 9 pages, for the reporting of experiments in cooperation, profit-sharing, wages-regulation, pensions, etc. Various dealings with the problems of "Poverty and Unemployment" are set forth in 8 pages; similarly the problems of "Crime and Criminology" receive nearly 6; those of the Liquor Traffic 9; those of the Opium evil, 3. The development of organized work for "Social Betterment" is traced in 5 pages; that of reform in "Municipal Government" in 12. The "Race Problems," which are troubling many countries and people, are depicted in 15 pages. Twenty-six pages are given to the Educational history of the last decade; recent "Science and Invention" are reported in 16. "Children under the Law" are the subject of 8 interesting pages on recent legislation touching the young. The contradictory states of temper in the world on the subject of War are depicted under two contrasted headings—"War, The Preparations for" and "War, The Revolt against," in particulars which fill 35 pages. Of the one great war of the period, between Japan and Russia, and the triumph of mediation which brought it to a close, the narrative, in about 20 pages, is full. The story of the late revolution in Turkey is told authentically in 9 pages, and that of Persia in 10. The abortive attempts at revolution in Russia, and the sham of constitutional government conceded, have their history in 18 pages. The signs of wakened life in China are described in 12. The discontent of India and Lord Morley’s measures of reform in the {iv} British-Indian government, enlarging the native representation in it, are set forth broadly in 15. Generally, as concerns the British Empire, the interesting conditions that have arisen in it very lately, adding South Africa to the group of unified Colonial Dominions, which are young British nations in the making, and drawing them all into a league with the "Mother Country" for organized imperial defense, are amply portrayed. So, too, are the agitations in recent British politics at home, which have arisen from an increasing antagonism between popular interests represented in the House of Commons and class interests intrenched in the House of Lords. In American politics, the remarkable invigoration and freshening of spirit which characterized the administration of President Roosevelt are made apparent in a broad exhibit of their many effective results. As was said of Volume VI., it can be said, I think, with even more truth of this, that it presents "History in the making,—the day by day evolution of events and changes as they passed under the hands and before the eyes and were recorded by the pens of the actual makers and witnesses of them." As an appendix to the present Volume, a new feature, related to the whole work, has been introduced. It offers a considerably extensive series of systematic courses for historical study and reading, the literature for which is supplied in the seven Volumes of "History for Ready Reference." This has been prepared in response to many requests which the publishers have received. Even for casual investigations it will be found serviceable to every possessor and user of the work. J. N. L. Buffalo, New York, May, 1910. {v} ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to the following named authors and publishers for permission kindly given me to quote from books and periodicals, all of which are duly referred to in connection with the passages borrowed severally from them: The publishers of The American Catholic Quarterly Review, The American Monthly Review of Reviews, The Associated Prohibition Press, The Atlantic Monthly Magazine, The Boston Transcript, The Century Magazine, The Contemporary Review, The Fortnightly Review, The New York Evening Post, The New York State Journal of Medicine, The Nineteenth Century Review, The North American Review, The Outlook, The Times (London), Messrs. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Co., Messrs. E. P. Dutton & Co., Messrs. Harper & Brothers, Messrs. Henry Holt & Co., Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company, Messrs. John Lane Company, Messrs. Charles Scribner’s Sons; Professors Joseph H. Beale and Bruce Wyman (as joint authors); Mr. Frederick H. Clark, Head of History Department, Lowell High School, San Francisco; Mr. George Iles, author of "Inventors at Work", Dr. James Brown Scott, Solicitor of the U. S. Department of State. I am much indebted, furthermore, to the courtesy of many societies and persons from whom I have received reports and other documents that were essential to my work; and especially do I owe much to the helpfulness of many on the staff of the Buffalo Public Library. {1} HISTORY FOR READY REFERENCE ABD EL AZIZ, Sultan of Morocco. See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1903, and 1907-1909. ABDUL HAMID II., Sultan of Turkey. His forced restoration of the Constitution of 1876 . His faithlessness to it. His deposition. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (July-December.), and 1909 (January-May). ABDULLA MOHAMMED, The Mullah. See (in this Volume) Africa: Somaliland. ABDURAHMAN, Ameer of Afghanistan: Death, 1901. See (in this Volume) AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1901-1904. ABERDEEN, The Earl of: Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906. ABERDEEN, Lady. See (in this Volume) WOMEN, INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF. "ABIR," or A. B. I. R. COMPANY, The. See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1903-1905. ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1902 . The French in favor. Their railway building and plans. "Through Abyssinia the French hope to establish a line of trade across Africa from east to west in opposition to our Cape to Cairo railway from north to south. In this they have already achieved some success. They have settled themselves along the Gulf of Tadjoura, on the south of which they hold the magnificent Bay of Djibouti, while on the north their flag waves over the small port of Obok. But their real triumph in these regions has been the establishment of a lasting friendship with Abyssinia by judicious consignments of arms and ammunition—which were used against Italy in the war of 1896. Finally, they are now in the act of building a French railway from Djibouti to Addis Abeba, the capital of Abyssinia. This railway will completely cut out the British port of Zeila, for in the concession granted by Menelik it is stipulated that no company is to be permitted to construct a railroad on Abyssinian territory that shall enter into competition with that of M. Ilg and M. Chefneux. … "At Menelik’s capital, Addis Abeba, there is, to use the expression of M. Hugues le Roux, a silent duel in progress between the representatives of the various nationalities. We are represented by Colonel Harrington. But, although Menelik is wise enough to extend a friendly greeting to all, there is no reason to suppose that we should enjoy as great a share of favour as other nations. Although throughout the war we preserved a strict neutrality, we are regarded as a powerful and aggressive neighbour, and as the ally of Italy, whereas the French have been the truest friends of Abyssinia. The Russians are also in communication with the Negus, and their efforts are, of course, seconded by France. As for the Italians, their position seems now to be as good as that of any European nation." G. F. H. Berkeley, The Abyssinian Question and its History (Nineteenth Century, January, 1903). ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1902. Treaty with Great Britain. A treaty between Great Britain and the Emperor Menelek, of the kingdom of Ethiopia (Abyssinia), signed on the 15th of May, 1902, defines the boundaries between the Soudan and Ethiopia, and contains the following important provisions: "Article III. His Majesty the Emperor Menelek II., King of Kings of Ethiopia, engages himself towards the Government of his Britannic Majesty not to construct, or allow to be constructed, any work across the Blue Nile, Lake Tsana, or the Sobat, which would arrest the flow of their waters into the Nile, except in agreement with his Britannic Majesty’s Government and the Government of the Soudan. Article IV. The Emperor Menelek engages himself to allow his Britannic Majesty’s Government and the Government of the Soudan to select in the neighborhood of Itang, on the Baro River, a block of territory having a river frontage of not more than 2000 metres, in area not exceeding 400 hectares, which shall be leased to the Government of the Soudan, to be administered and occupied as a commercial station, so long as the Soudan is under the Anglo-Egyptian Government. It is agreed between the two high contracting parties that the territory so leased shall not be used for any political or military purpose. Article V. The Emperor Menelek grants his Britannic Majesty’s Government and the Government of the Soudan the right to construct a railway through Abyssinian territory to connect the Soudan with Uganda. A route for the railway will be selected by mutual agreement between the two high contracting parties." ACCIDENTS TO WORKMEN: In the United States. See (in this Volume) LABOR PROTECTION. ACHINESE, Dutch hostilities with the. See (in this Volume) NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1904. ACRE DISPUTES, The: Claims on the region by Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia. Its final partition. A considerable territory of much richness in the southwestern part of the Amazon Valley, around the upper waters of the Madeira, the Aquiry, and the Purus tributaries, was long in dispute between Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru, and became a cause of serious quarrel between the two first named in 1903. The then Brazilian President, Rodriguez Alves, in his first annual message, May, 1903, stated the situation from the Brazilian standpoint as follows: "Our former relations of such cordial friendship with Bolivia have suffered a not insignificant strain since the time when the Government of that sister Republic, unable to maintain its authority in the Acre region, inhabited exclusively, as you know, by Brazilians who, many years previously, had established themselves there in good faith, saw fit to deliver it over to a foreign syndicate upon whom it conferred powers almost sovereign. That concession, as dangerous for the neighboring nations as for Bolivia itself, encountered general disapproval in South America As the most immediately interested, Brazil, already in the time of my illustrious predecessor, protested against the contract to which I refer, and entered upon the policy of reprisals, prohibiting the free transit by the Amazon of merchandise between Bolivia and abroad. {2} Neither that protest nor the counsels of friendship produced at that time the desired effect in La Paz, and, far from rescinding the contract or making the hoped-for modifications therein, the Bolivian Government concluded an especial arrangement for the purpose of hurrying the entrance of the syndicate into the possession of the territory. "When I assumed the government that was the situation, and in addition the inhabitants of the Acre, who had again proclaimed their independence, were masters of the whole country, excepting Puerto Acre, of which they did not get possession until the end of January. Although since January negotiations have been initiated by us for the purpose of removing amicably the cause of the disorders and complications which have had their seat of action in the Acre ever since the time when for the first time the Bolivian authorities penetrated thither, in 1899, yet the Government of La Paz has nevertheless thought proper that its President and his minister of war should march against that territory at the head of armed forces with the end in view of crushing its inhabitants and then establishing the agents of the syndicate." The Brazilian President proceeded then to relate that he had notified the Bolivian Government of the intention of Brazil to "defend as its boundary the parallel of 10° 20' south," which it held to be the line indicated by the letter and the spirit of a treaty concluded in 1867; and that Bolivia had then agreed to a settlement of the dispute through diplomatic channels. "Upon the Bolivian Government agreeing to this," he continued, "we promptly reestablished freedom of transit for its foreign commerce by Brazilian waters. Shortly after this the syndicate, by reason of the indemnity which we paid it, renounced the concession which had been made it, eliminating thus this disturbing element." In conclusion of the subject, President Alves reported: "To the Peruvian Government we have announced, very willingly, since January, that we will examine, with attention, the claims which in due time they may be pleased to make upon the subject of the territories now in dispute between Brazil and Bolivia." The result of the ensuing negotiations between Brazil and Bolivia was a treaty signed in the following November and duly ratified, the terms of which were summarized as follows in a despatch from the American Legation at La Paz, December 26: "Three months after exchange of ratifications Brazil is to pay an indemnity of £1,000,000 and in March, 1905, £1,000,000. A small strip of territory, north Marso, Brazilero, embracing Bahia Negra and a port opposite Coimbra, on Paraguay River, are conceded, and all responsibilities respecting Peruvian contentions are assumed. The disputed Acre territory is conceded by Bolivia. A railroad for the common use of both countries is to be built from San Antonio, on Madeira River, to Cuajar Ameren, on Mamore River, within four years after ratification. Free navigation on the Amazon and its Bolivian affluents is conceded. A mixed commission, with umpire chosen from the diplomatic representation to Brazil, will treat all individual Acre claims." Subsequently it was determined in Bolivia that the entire indemnity received from Brazil should be expended on railroads, with an additional sum of £3,500,000, to be raised by loan. For the settlement of the remaining question of rights in the Acre territory, between Bolivia and Peru, a treaty of arbitration, negotiated in December, 1902, but ratified with modifications by the Bolivian Congress in October, 1903, provided that "the high contracting parties submit to the judgment and decision of the Government of the Argentine Republic, as arbitrator and judge of rights, the question of limits now pending between both republics, so as to obtain a definite and unappealable sentence, in virtue of which all the territory which in 1810 belonged to the jurisdiction or district of the Ancient Audience of Charcas, within the limits of the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, by acts of the ancient sovereign, may belong to the Republic of Bolivia; and all the territory which at the same date and by acts of equal origin belonged to the viceroyalty of Peru may belong to the Republic of Peru." The case was pending until July, 1909, when judgment favorable to the claims of Peru was pronounced by the President of the Argentine Republic, Señor Figueroa Alcorta. According to the award, as announced officially from Peru, the line was drawn to "follow the rivers Heath and Madre de Dios up to the mouth of the Toromonas and from there a straight line as far as the intersection of the river Tehuamanu with meridian 69. It will then run northwards along this meridian until it meets the territorial sovereignty of another nation." The Bolivians were enraged by the decision against them, and riotous attacks were made on the Argentine Legation at La Paz, the Bolivian capital, and on Argentine consulates elsewhere. Worse than this in offensiveness was a published declaration by President Montes of Bolivia that the arbitration award respecting the frontiers of Bolivia and Peru had been given by Argentina without regard to Bolivia’s petition that an actual inspection of the territory should be made in case the documents and titles submitted were unsatisfactory. "Had this been done," said the President of Bolivia, "the arbitrator would have been convinced of the respective possessions of the two countries. It is inexplicable how the arbitrator, after examining the titles and documents, could give such a decision. He passed over the elementary principles of international rights in awarding to Peru territory which had never been questioned as belonging to Bolivia. As a consequence Bolivia rejects the award." The insulted Government of Argentina demanded explanations; diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken off, and war seemed imminent. Fortunately the term of President Montes was near its close, and a man of evidently cooler temper, Elidoro Villazon, succeeded him in the Presidency on August 12th. The new President, in his message to Congress next day, while characterizing the award as unjust, said: "We must proceed circumspectly, and be guided by international rights and the customs of civilized nations in similar cases. I consider it right to avail ourselves of the means offered by diplomacy to obtain a rectification of the new frontier line given by arbitration, thus saving the compromised possessions of Bolivia." {3} With this better spirit entering into the controversy, Bolivia was soon able to arrange with Peru for a concession from the latter which made her people willing to recognize the award. This agreement was effected on the 11th of September, and its terms, as made known in a despatch from Rio de Janeiro, were as follows: "Peru surrenders to Bolivia a very small extent of territory lying between the Madre de Dios River and the Acre, traversed by the rivers Tahuamano and Buyamaro, which together form the river Orton, an affluent of the Beni River. This territory, with an area of about 6,500 square kilometres, was discovered and colonized by Bolivians, who to-day are in possession of numerous prosperous industries there. Peru gets possession of all the upper course of the Madre de Dios, from its head waters to its confluence with the river Heath. Such a slight modification as the foregoing from the decision reached by the arbitrator in no way disturbs the Argentine Republic." As between Peru and Brazil the boundary question was settled by a treaty signed at Rio de Janeiro on the 8th of September, three days before the Bolivian pacification. This probably closes a territorial dispute which has troubled four countries in South America for many years, and brought quarrelling couples to the verge of war a number of times. ADANA, Massacres at. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (January-May), and (April-December). ADDIS ABEBA, Capital of Abyssinia. See (in this Volume) ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1902. ADULTERATIONS, Laws against. See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH: PURE FOOD LAWS. AEHRENTHAL, Baron. See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905-1906. AERONAUTICS. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT. AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1901-1906. Death of Abdurahman. Succession of his son, Habibullah. Signs of a progressive spirit in the new Ameer. The late Ameer, Abdurahman, died in October, 1901, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Habibullah. Early in the third year of his reign the new Ameer began to show signs of a wish to have his country move a little on the lines of European progress, in the march which so many of his Asiatic neighbors were joining. His undertakings were disturbed for a time by trouble with his half-brother, Omar Jan, and with the latter’s mother, the Bibi Halima or Queen of the Harem; but he brought the trouble to an end which does not seem to have been tragical, and that, in itself, is a notable mark in his favor. The Russo-Japanese War interested him immensely, and he established a daily post between Khyber and Cabul to bring speedy news of events. He then read the reports in public, with expositions, to make the listening people understand the bearing of what was happening on their own interests, and the lessons they should learn from what the Japanese were doing. He is said to have done much in the way of improving agriculture and horse-breeding in Afghanistan; he has a desire to establish a Chiefs’ College, with the English language as the basis of instruction, but has met with strong opposition in this undertaking; and he has introduced electric lighting, with probably other luxuries of modern science, in Cabul. Such things in Afghanistan mark a highly progressive man. His political intelligence is proved by the cordiality of his relations with the British Indian Government. An interesting account of conditions in the Ameer’s country in 1904 was given by Mr. D. C. Boulger, in the Fortnightly Review of December, that year, under the title of "The Awakening of Afghanistan." AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1905. The Ameer becomes King. In a new treaty between the Government of Great Britain and the Ameer of Afghanistan, the latter was recognized as King. AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1907. Convention between Great Britain and Russia relative to Afghanistan. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1907 (AUGUST). AFRICA: Its Colonizability by white peoples. The regions habitable by Europeans. "There are three obstacles to the white race from Europe overrunning and colonising the continent of Africa as it has overrun and colonised the two Americas and Australasia. The first is the insalubrity of the well-watered regions and the uninhabitability of the desert tracts; the second is the opposition of strong indigenous races; and the third, of quite recent growth, is a growing sentiment which is increasingly influencing public opinion, in Europe more especially, and which forbids the white man to do evil that good may come: namely, to displace by force of arms pre-existing races in order that, the white man may take the land they occupy for his own use. It is probable that the second and third reasons combined may in future prove the more effective checks. Deserts, to be made habitable and cultivable, only need irrigation, and apparently there is a subterranean water supply underlying most African deserts which can be tapped by artesian wells. The extreme unhealthiness of the well-watered parts of Africa is due not so much to climate as to the presence of malaria in the systems of the Negro inhabitants. This malaria is conveyed from the black man to the white man by certain gnats of the genus Anopheles—possibly by other agencies. But the draining of marshes and the sterilisation of pools, together with other measures, may gradually bring about the extinction of the mosquito; while, on the other hand, it seems as though the drug (Cassia Beareana) obtained from the roots of a cassia bush may act as a complete cure for malarial fever. … "For practical purposes the only areas south of the Sahara Desert which at the present time are favourable to white colonisation are the following. In West Africa there can be no white colonisation under existing conditions; the white man can only remain there for a portion of his working life as an educator and administrator. … In North-East Africa, Abyssinia and Eritrea will suggest themselves as white man’s countries—presenting, that is to say, some of the conditions favourable to European colonisation. The actual coast of Eritrea is extremely hot, almost the hottest country in the world, but it is not necessarily very unhealthy. The heat, however, apart from the existence of a fairly abundant native population, almost precludes the idea of a European settlement. But on the mountains of the hinterland which are still within Italian territory there are said to be a few small areas suited at any rate to settlement by Italians, who, by-the-by, seem to be getting on very well with the natives in that part of Africa. But a European colonisation of Abyssinia, possible as it might be climatically, is out of the question in view of the relatively abundant and warlike population indigenous to the Ethiopian Empire. … {4} "Then comes Central Africa, which may be taken to range from the northern limits of the Congo basin and the Great Lakes on the north to the Cunenc River and the Zambesi on the south. British East Africa and Uganda offer probably the largest continuous area of white man’s country in the central section of the continent. The Ankole country in the southwest of the Uganda Protectorate and the highlands north of Tanganyika, together with the slopes of the Ruwenzori range, offer small tracts of land thoroughly suited to occupation by a white race so far as climate and fertility are concerned; but these countries have already been occupied, to a great extent, by some of the earliest forerunners of the Caucasian (the Bahima), as well as by sturdy Negro tribes who have become inured to the cold. To the northeast of the Victoria Nyanza, however, there is an area which has as its outposts the southwest coast of Lake Rudolf, the great mountains of Debasien and Elgon, and the snow-clad extinct volcanoes of Kenia and Kilimanjaro. This land of plateaux and rift valleys is not far short of 70,000 square miles in extent, and so far as climate and other physical conditions are concerned is as well suited for occupation by British settlers as Queensland or New South Wales. But nearly 50,000 square miles of this East African territory is more or less in the occupation of sturdy Negro or Negroid races whom it would be neither just nor easy to expel. … "The only portion of German East Africa which is at all suited to European settlement lies along the edge of the Nyasa-Tanganyika Plateau. Here is a district of a little more than a thousand square miles which is not only elevated and healthy, but very sparsely populated by Negroes. A few patches in the Katanga district and the extreme southern part of the Congo Free State offer similar conditions. "In British Central Africa we have perhaps 6,000 square miles of elevated, sparsely populated, fertile country to the northwest of Lake Nyasa and along the road to Tanganyika. There is also land of this description in the North-East Rhodesian province of British Central Africa, in Manikaland, and along the water-parting between the Congo and the Zambesi systems. Then in the southernmost prolongation of British Central Africa are the celebrated Shire Highlands, which, together with a few outlying mountain districts to the southwest of Lake Nyasa, may offer a total area of about 5,000 square miles suitable to European colonisation. A small portion of the Mozambique province, in the interior of the Angoche coast, might answer to the same description. Then again, far away to the west, under the same latitudes, we have, at the back of Mossamedes and Benguela, other patches of white man’s country in the mountains of Bailundo and Shclla. "In South Africa, beyond the latitudes of the Zambesi, we come to lands which are increasingly suited to the white man’s occupation the further we proceed south. Nearly all German South-West Africa is arid desert, but inland there are plateaux and mountains which sometimes exceed 8,000 feet in altitude, and which have a sufficient rainfall to make European agriculture possible. … About two-thirds of the Transvaal, a third of Rhodesia, a small portion of southern Bechuanaland, two-thirds of the Orange River Colony, four-fifths of Cape Colony, and a third of Natal sum up the areas attributed to the white man in South Africa. The remainder of this part of the continent must be considered mainly as a reserve for the black man, and to a much smaller degree (in South-East Africa) as a field for Asiatic colonisation, preferentially on the part of British Indians. "Counting the white-skinned Berbers and Arabs of North Africa, and the more or less pure-blooded, light-skinned Egyptians, as white men, and the land they occupy as part of the white man’s share of the Dark Continent, we may then by a rough calculation arrive (by adding to white North Africa the other areas enumerated in the rest of the continent) at the fol- lowing estimate: that about 970,000 square miles of the whole African continent may be attributed to the white man as his legitimate share. If, however, we are merely to consider the territory that lies open to European colonisation, then we must considerably reduce our North African estimate." H. H. Johnston, The White Man's Place in Africa (Nineteenth Century, June, 1904). AFRICA: Agreements between England and France concerning Egypt, Morocco, Senegambia, and Madagascar. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1904 (APRIL). AFRICA: British, German, and Congo frontier agreement. The following was telegraphed to the Press from Berlin, November 29, 1909: "An agreement was signed in Berlin during the summer, Reuter’s representative learns, whereby various questions affecting the frontier lines between British Uganda and German East Africa and the Congo, which have been under discussion for years, were definitely settled. The agreement is understood to be satisfactory to both parties, but the details are not to be published as yet." AFRICA: French Central: A Land-locked Empire. "Since 1898, successive expeditions have converged from the French Niger Territories, from South Algeria, and from the French Congo towards Lake Tchad, which has ever exercised a mystic charm over the minds of explorers. Rabah, the usurper of Bornou, has been killed, and his son Fadel’allah recently met the same fate, so that all the belt of black countries stretching from the north of Sokoto, the north of Bornon and Baghirmi to the confines of Wadaï, the most easterly limit of the French sphere, are now occupied in a military sense. … Even if we consider the French as now firmly settled in these countries, peopled with timid blacks from whom little is to be feared, the succeeding problem, what to do with them, presents no seductive outlook. "The key to the situation is the question of transport, for here we have a vast land-locked empire, the roads to which are long, complicated, and difficult. For the present the question of a great Trans-Saharan railway may be left out of account, and in all probability more mature consideration will convince the French of the futility of such a scheme. Three roads running through French territory are available; from the east by the Niger, from the south by the French Congo, and from the north, Tunis or Algeria, across the great Sahara. {5} Of the three, the only one which can be made of practical utility for a long time to come is that across the Sahara. From the centre of Africa there are several well-known caravan routes, all capable of being commercially used, provided the intervening tribes can be brought to acquiesce in the French domination. All these terminate in Turkish territory." E. J. Wardle, The French in Central Africa (Contemporary Review, October, 1902). AFRICA: Subjugation of Hausa Land and occupation of Sokoto. Early in 1903 the High Commissioner of Nigeria, Sir F. Lugard, sent an expedition against the Emir of Kano, in the northern part of the Nigerian Protectorate, within the Sultanate of Sokoto, which had never been made submissive to the rule which Great Britain claimed. Kano was reached and taken by assault on the 3d of February, the Emir and his horsemen escaping toward Sokoto. The expedition then proceeded against Sokoto, where feeble resistance was offered, and the seat of the Sultanate was taken on the 15th of March. These conquests are believed to have effected a firm establishment of British ascendancy throughout the Niger territory, from the coast to the Saharan sphere of the French. The possession of Kano is important, as it is the starting point of caravan routes eastward and northward and the chief commercial town of the Western Sudan. AFRICA: Rapid development of the railway system. See (in this Volume) Railways: Nigeria. AFRICA: French Mauretanie. See Morocco: A. D.1909. AFRICA: French Western: Eradication of Yellow Fever. See PUBLIC HEALTH: A. D. 1901-1905. AFRICA: German Colonies: Cost to Germany. Small number of German Colonists. See GERMANY: A. D. 1903. AFRICA: Unpopularity of the Colonial Policy in Germany. See GERMANY: A. D. 1906-1907. AFRICA: Wars with the Natives. In the German Parliament, on the 12th of January, 1905, it was stated by the Director of the Colonial Department, Dr. Stübel, that up to that date 11,000 German troops had been employed against the Hereros and Witbois in Southwest Africa, and that the campaign of 1904 had cost 42,000,000 marks (about $10,500,000). The military estimate for 1905 was 60,000,000 marks. General von Trotha, Governor of the colony, who had been in command of operations, and who had set a price on the heads of Morenga and other insurgent chiefs, and had threatened the whole tribe with extermination, was to be superseded; but the Emperor, notwithstanding, conferred on him the Order "Pour le Merite." A similar conflict with the natives in German East Africa was opened in August, 1905, by the murder of Bishop Spiers and four missionaries and Sisters of Mercy. The Wangonis are of the Zulu race, mustering about 30,000 warriors, and reinforcements of the German troops had to be sent out. AFRICA: Opening of Diamond Fields. Diamond discoveries in German Southwest Africa began to acquire importance in 1908. As stated in a lecture on the subject by Herr Dernburg, the German Colonial Secretary, at Berlin, in January, 1909, these diamond deposits lie in crescent form around Lüderitz Bay, beginning to the south of Elizabeth Bay and extending northwards to the sea-coast in the vicinity of Anischab. The full extent of the stretch of diamond-bearing sand can only be ascertained by careful measurement, but it is even now permissible to describe the deposits as very considerable. The diamonds, which are found mixed with small agates and other half-precious stones, vary from one-fifth to three-quarters of a carat—the average not exceeding one-third of a carat. They are almost perfect octahedrons of good water. The regular exploitation may be said to have begun in September, 1908, the total recovered before that date only amounting to 2,720 carats. In September the amount was 6,644 carats, in October 8,621, in November 10,228, and in December 11,549, or in all 39,762, the price of which would be about £55,000. The administrative regulations introduced stipulate, first, that half the net profit shall go to the Southwest African Treasury; secondly, that measures shall be taken to secure an adequate market for the new supply and to prevent depreciation; thirdly, that suitable conditions shall be established for the working of the mines; and, fourthly, that their exploitation shall be mainly reserved for German capital, and that increased work shall be provided for the German diamond-cutting industry. AFRICA: Portuguese: A. D. 1905-1908. Continued existence of slavery. General F. Joubert-Pienaar, one of the prominent Boer leaders in the Boer-British War, is the authority for startling statements concerning the continued maintenance of slavery in Portuguese Africa. He attempted to become a settler in that region, and related subsequently what he saw and heard during his stay in it. Of an experience at the Island Principe he said: "The English director of the cable office took me to some of the cocoa plantations, with which the slopes of the hills are covered. He told me that it was a terribly unhealthy place to live, and that Europeans could not exist there for more than a couple of months at a time, and that frequent changes have to be made, therefore, in the telegraph department. He told me, further, that the year before the whole original population of the island had died from malarial fever, and that the following year they imported five hundred slaves, men and women, to repopulate the island. That was ten months before my visit. Pointing to five women walking on the street, he said: 'There are all that are left of the women imported, and only about a dozen men remain.' I asked him how they carried on the work of the plantations. He said it was done by simply importing slaves, from time to time, to replace those who had died." General Joubert-Pienaar declares that he never heard of a single case where one of these slaves had returned to his own country, while in the coast towns the abnormal proportion of native women and children noticeable is due to the fact that the men have been sent as slaves to the islands. The method of obtaining the slaves and of making the pretense of a contract with them is thus described: "When any slaves are wanted in the islands, the plantation owner informs the slave-traders on the mainland. The slave-trader goes to a strong chief, inland, and bargains with him for the number of slaves he requires, generally paying him in rifles and ammunition. {6} This chief will not send any of his own men to the islands, but, calling his braves, he goes to some weaker tribe, attacks it, and annihilates the tribe, taking the men, women, children, and cattle captive. The men, and as many women as are necessary, he hands over to the slave-trader, the rest of the women and the cattle he keeps for himself and his people, and the children he sells to colonists for slaves. On these slave-hunting expeditions the most terrible cruelties are enacted and the most gruesome atrocities perpetrated. … Arriving at the coast, these men—and sometimes women when they are required—are brought before an officer appointed for the purpose. He reads the contract to them in Portuguese; and after the contract has been read to these people, who do not understand one word of the language, a black man, who is stationed there for the purpose, shouts to these slaves to say ‘Yes!’ Of course they all repeat the ‘Yes’ after him, and the Portuguese official then certifies that these men have all agreed to go and work on the islands under the terms of the contract read to them. He then takes a little tin box, in which a copy of the contract is placed, and ties it around the neck of each of the slaves." AFRICA: Somaliland: Troubles with the Mullah. In 1902 the British in their Somali Coast Protectorate began to be harassed by raids from the bordering desert region led by a religious agitator who had assumed the character known as that of a Mullah. Three years previously the British Consul at Berbera had reported to London the appearance of this personage, Muhammad Abdullah by name, in the Dolbahanta country, and that he was said to be "collecting arms and men with a view to establishing his authority over the southeastern portion of the Protectorate." He had made several pilgrimages to Mecca, and had attached himself there to a sect which "preaches more regularity in the hours of prayer" and "stricter attention to the forms of religion." He had begun the use of force to compel the tribes of his region to join his sect, and was evidently gaining power to make trouble. The trouble was realized in due time, and became serious in 1902, when, in October, Colonel Swayne, with a native levy of troops, having driven the Mullah’s raiders back into the desert, followed them thither, and suffered a serious reverse. He was attacked and compelled to retreat, with a loss of two officers and 70 men killed and two officers, with about 100 men wounded. Troops were then sent to the Protectorate from India and careful preparations were made for dealing with the Mullah in a more effectual way. He, meantime, sent demands for political recognition and for the cession to him of a port. Early in 1903 operations against the Mullah were renewed, with strongly increased forces from India and from African native levies; but the results were again disastrous. A detachment from a column which pursued the Mullah into his own region ventured too far in the advance and was overwhelmed, losing nearly 200 officers and men. There appears to have been no success during the year to counterbalance this reverse. AFRICA: Peace with the Mullah. The Mullah was brought at last to an agreement with Great Britain and Italy which established comparative peace for the time being in Somaliland, with the promise of freedom in trade. Notwithstanding the pacific agreement with the Mullah, effected in 1905, troubles on the Somali border have continued, because of his attacks on friendly tribes. Early in 1909 it was announced that the British forces in Somaliland were to be increased, but that there was no intention to embark on any expedition against the Mullah. A despatch from Bombay, India, on the 3d of January, said: "Further operations against the Somaliland Mullah are strongly deprecated. It is impossible to conduct a successful campaign, owing to the difficulty of obtaining supplies, unless a light railway 200 miles long is built to Bohotle. The Mullah, who is an able man, is not believed to be anxious to engage in fresh hostilities with the British, but he is determined to dominate the Hinterland. Experts consider that no new movement on the lines of the last campaign would produce a satisfactory result. The Mullah’s strength is unknown, but it is probably great, as his camp sometimes covers ten square miles. His mobility is astonishing, and he can always elude our troops. Our present advanced outpost is Burao, 80 miles from Berbera, where there is a small force of the King’s African Rifles. The country is practically worthless, and the best course, probably, is to hold the coast and to leave the far interior severely alone. The friendly tribes cannot be further effectively protected without permanently employing a large force. Minor operations are now merely a waste of money." AFRICA: Sudan: Suppression of a new Mahdi. A new Mahdi proclaimed himself in Southern Kordofan in November, 1903. He was a native of Tunis, named Mahomed El Amin, who had twice made the pilgrimage to Mecca. Colonel Mahon, the Deputy-Governor of the Sudan, on hearing of Mahomed’s proclamation, started instantly from Khartoum, with 200 cavalry, sending orders to El Obeid for 200 infantry, with Maxims, to meet him near Tagalla. With this force, after a five days march, through the desert toward the Tagalla mountains, he caught the Mahdi, took him to El Obeid and tried and hanged him straightway. AFRICA: Population. Lord Cromer, in his annual report, 1904, estimated the population of the Sudan, within the British-Egyptian Condominium, at no more than 1,870,000, to which number it had been reduced by war and disease from former estimates of 8,525,000, prior to the Mahdi domination. See, also, ALGIERS, CONGO, EGYPT, MOROCCO, RHODESIA, SOUTH AFRICA, etc. AGLIPAY, Padre Gregorio: His secession from the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1902. AGRAM TRIALS, The. See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1908-1909. AGRARIAN INTEREST, in Germany: Its triumph in 1909. See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1908-1909. AGRARIAN LAW, The Russian. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1909 (APRIL). AGRICULTURAL CRISIS IN RUSSIA. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905. AGRICULTURE: Coöperative and other unions among farmers. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902-1909; AND LABOR REMUNERATION: COÖPERATIVE ORGANIZATION. AGRICULTURE: Dry Farming. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION: AGRICULTURE. {7} AGRICULTURE: Germany: Decrease of agricultural population. See GERMANY: A. D. 1907. AGRICULTURE: Increasing cooperative organization in Great Britain. See LABOR REMUNERATION: COÖPERATIVE ORGANIZATION. AGRICULTURE: International Institute: Its origin and purpose. Created under the auspices of the King of Italy. Forty nations associated in its membership. Its seat near Rome. The idea of an international organization for systematizing the agricultural production of the world and regulating the markets of food products, by constant and authentic knowledge of crops and conditions, was conceived some years ago by Mr. David Lubin, of California. It was first expressed by him publicly at Budapest in 1896, but was the growth of thirteen years of thought preceding that date. As the result of Mr. Lubin’s efforts to interest governments and peoples in the project, King Victor Emmanuel III., of Italy, became its hearty patron in 1903, and took the initiative step toward effecting an organization as wide as the civilized world, by inviting all nations to take part in a convention of delegates for the purpose, at Rome, in May, 1905. The invitation, as addressed to the Government of the United States by the Italian Ambassador at Washington, on the 26th of February, 1905, was in these words: "By order of my government, I have the honor to inform your excellency that His Majesty the King, my august sovereign, has taken the initiative in the formation of an international institute of agriculture to be composed of representatives of the great agricultural societies of the various countries and of delegates from the several governments. This institute, being devoid of any political intent, should tend to bring about a community of interests among agriculturists and to protect these interests in the markets of the world. It will study agricultural conditions in the different countries, periodically indicating the supply and the quality of products with accuracy and care, so as to proportion production to demand, increase and distribute the various crops according to the rate of consumption, render the commerce of agricultural products less costly and more expeditious, and suitably determine the prices thereof. Acting in unison with the various national bureaus already existing, it will furnish accurate information on conditions regarding agricultural labor in various localities, and will regulate and direct the currents of emigration. It will favor the institution of agricultural exchanges and labor bureaus. It will protect both producers and consumers against the excesses of transportation and forestalling syndicates, keeping a watch on middlemen, pointing out their abuses, and acquainting the public with the true conditions of the market. It will foster agreements for common defense against the diseases of plants and live stock, against which individual defense is less effectual. It will help to develop rural cooperation, agricultural insurance, and agrarian credit. It will study and propose measures of general interest, preparing international agreements for the benefit of agriculture and the agricultural classes. "Carrying out the intention of His Majesty, the Italian Government appeals to all friendly nations, each of which ought to have its own representatives in the institute, appointed to act as the exponents of their respective governments, as organs of mutual relations, and as mediums of reciprocal influence and information. It accordingly now invites them to participate through their delegates in the first convention, which is to be held at Rome next May for the purpose of preparing rules for the new institute. "The King’s Government trusts that the United States will be willing to cooperate in the enterprise, the first inspiration of which is due to an American citizen, and that, accepting the invitation to the conference at Rome, it will send thither a delegation commensurate with its importance as the foremost agricultural nation in the world." Gratifying responses to the invitation were made by most, if not all, of the governments addressed, and the Conference at Rome was held at the appointed time. It concluded its sessions on the 7th of June by attaching the signatures of the delegates of the Powers represented to a final Act, which embodies the resolutions on which they had agreed. This Act of organization was as follows: "Article 1. There is hereby created a permanent international institute of agriculture, having its seat at Rome. "Article 2. The international institute of agriculture is to be a government institution, in which each adhering power shall be represented by delegates of its choice. The institute shall be composed of a general assembly and a permanent committee, the composition and duties of which are defined in the ensuing articles. "Article 3. The general assembly of the institute shall be composed of the representatives of the adhering governments. Each nation, whatever be the number of its delegates, shall be entitled to a number of votes in the assembly which shall be determined according to the group to which it belongs, and to which reference will be made in article 10. "Article 4. The general assembly shall elect for each session from among its members a president and two vice-presidents. The sessions shall take place on dates fixed by the last general assembly and according to a programme proposed by the permanent committee and adopted by the adhering governments. "Article 5. The general assembly shall exercise supreme control over the international institute of agriculture. It shall approve the projects prepared by the permanent committee regarding the organization and internal workings of the institute. It shall fix the total amount of expenditures and audit and approve the accounts. It shall submit to the approval of the adhering governments modifications of any nature involving an increase in expenditure or an enlargement of the functions of the institute. It shall set the date for holding the sessions. It shall prepare its regulations. The presence at the general assemblies of delegates representing two-thirds of the adhering nations shall be required in order to render the deliberations valid. "Article 6. The executive power of the institute is intrusted to the permanent committee, which, under the direction and control of the general assembly, shall carry out the decisions of the latter and prepare propositions to submit to it. {8} "Article 7. The permanent committee shall be composed of members designated by the respective governments. Each adhering nation shall be represented in the permanent committee by one member. However, the representation of one nation may be intrusted to a delegate of another adhering nation, provided that the actual number of members shall not be less than fifteen. The conditions of voting in the permanent committee shall be the same as those indicated in article 3 for the general assemblies. "Article 8. The permanent committee shall elect from among its members for a period of three years a president and a vice-president, who may be reelected. It shall prepare its internal regulations, vote the budget of the institute within the limits of the funds placed at its disposal by the general assembly, and appoint and remove the officials and employees of its office. The general secretary of the permanent committee shall act as secretary' of the assembly. "Article 9. The institute, confining its operations within an international sphere, shall— (a) Collect, study, and publish as promptly as possible statistical, technical, or economic information concerning farming, both vegetable and animal products, the commerce in agricultural products, and the prices prevailing in the various markets: (b) Communicate to parties interested, also as promptly as possible, all the information just referred to; (c) Indicate the wages paid for farm work; (d) Make known the new diseases of vegetables which may appear in any part of the world, showing the territories infected, the progress of the disease, and, if possible, the remedies which are effective in combating them; (e) Study questions concerning agricultural coöperation, insurance, and credit in all their aspects; collect and publish information which might be useful in the various countries in the organization of works connected with agricultural coöperation, insurance, and credit; (f) Submit to the approval of the governments, if there is occasion for it, measures for the protection of the common interests of farmers and for the improvement of their condition, after having utilized all the necessary sources of information, such as the wishes expressed by international or other agricultural congresses or congresses of sciences applied to agriculture, agricultural societies, academies, learned bodies, etc. All questions concerning the economic interests, the legislation, and the administration of a particular nation shall be excluded from the consideration of the institute. "Article 10. The nations adhering to the institute shall be classed in five groups, according to the place which each of them thinks it ought to occupy. The number of votes which each nation shall have and the number of units of assessment shall be established according to the following gradations:Groups of nations. Numbers of votes Units of assessment. I 5 16 II 4 8 III 3 4 IV 2 2 V 1 1
In any event the contribution due per unit of assessment shall never exceed a maximum of 2,500 francs. As a temporary provision the assessment for the first two years shall not exceed 1,500 francs per unit. Colonies may, at the request of the nations to which they belong, be admitted to form part of the institute on the same conditions as the independent nations. "Article 11. The present convention shall be ratified and the ratifications shall be exchanged as soon as possible by depositing them with the Italian Government." In communicating this Act of the Conference to the Government of the United States, the Italian Ambassador at Washington wrote August 9, 1905: "The final act of the conference was signed by the delegates under reservation of the approval of their respective governments, nor could it be otherwise. After this approval the convention, which constitutes the essential part of the act, shall, if approved (as the King’s Government does not doubt it will be), assume the character of an obligation on the part of the nations which shall have adhered to it through the signature of plenipotentiaries appointed for the purpose." On March 27, 1906, he was able to announce that "the States which were represented at the Conference of last year at Rome … have now all sanctioned by the signature of their plenipotentiaries the Convention drafted at that Conference." As appears from a copy transmitted, the Convention had been signed by the plenipotentiaries of forty nations, including twelve American republics besides the United States. To this gratifying announcement the Ambassador from Italy added the following: "His Majesty the King at the council of January 28 last signed a decree, a few copies of which I have the honor to inclose, by which a royal commission is established, and whose precise duty is to carry into effect, as soon as it becomes operative, the convention which will soon be referred to the several contracting governments for ratification." At the second general meeting of the Institute at Rome, December 12, 1909, more than 100 foreign delegates were present. "His Majesty the King, desiring again to prove how much he has at heart the contemplated international institute, has ordered that the net income of the royal domains of Tombelo and Coltano, amounting yearly to 300,000 lire, shall be turned over to the above-mentioned royal commission from the 1st of July next until the day when, the international institute of agriculture being legally constituted, the administration and usufruct of the said domains shall, in accordance with the announcement made to the international conference at its session of June 6, 1905, be transferred to the institute itself. "In obedience to His Majesty’s interest, the royal commission has decided to apply the sum graciously placed at its disposal for the aforesaid period to the construction of a palace, where the international institute will have its headquarters, and which will therefore be solely due to the munificence of the sovereign. The new building that is to stand on the village Umberto I., near the Porta Pinciana, and will cover 10,000 square meters of public property, will, it is fully expected, be completed about the end of next year, which is the time when the permanent committee of the institute will likely be convened at Rome. This munificent act of His Majesty the King, whereby the erection of quarters worthy of the international institute of agriculture is provided for, thus begins the execution of the convention of June 7, 1905." {9} Transmitting to the American Ambassador at Rome the President’s ratification of the Convention, on the 11th of July, 1906, Secretary Root made known that Congress had appropriated $4800 as the quota of the United States to the support of the International Institute of Agriculture for the fiscal year 1907, and $8000 for the travelling expenses of the delegates to be appointed to the grand assembly of the Institute, and for the salary of one member of the permanent committee; and to this he added: "In pursuance of the authority thus conferred, Mr. David Lubin, of Sacramento, California, has been selected to represent this Government on the permanent committee, it being understood that he is willing to serve without salary." Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1905 and 1906 AGUINALDO Y FAMY, Emilio. See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901. AHMED RIZA. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY). ALASKA: A. D. 1903. Settlement of the boundary question. Dissatisfaction in Canada dissipated by better knowledge of the facts. The Alaska boundary question (see in Volume VI. of this work, under ALASKA BOUNDARY QUESTION) was brought to a settlement in 1903 by an arrangement which submitted it to a Commission of six, three representing the United States and three acting for Great Britain and Canada. The American Commissioners were the Honorable Elihu Root, Secretary of War, and senators Henry C. Lodge and George Turner, of Massachusetts and the State of Washington respectively. The British and Canadian members were the Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Alverstone, Sir Louis Jette, of Quebec, and A. B. Aylesworth, of Toronto, Ontario. The Commission, meeting in London, arrived at its decision in October, signing, on the 20th, an agreement on all the questions submitted. "By this award," said President Roosevelt, in his subsequent Message to Congress, "the right of the United States to the control of a continuous strip or border of the mainland shore, skirting all the tide-water inlets and sinuosities of the coast, is confirmed; the entrance to Portland Canal (concerning which legitimate doubt appeared) is defined as passing by Tongass Inlet and to the northwestward of Wales and Pearse islands: a line is drawn from the head of Portland Canal to the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude: and the interior border line of the strip is fixed by lines connecting certain mountain summits lying between Portland Canal and Mount St. Elias and running along the crest of the divide separating the coast slope from the inland watershed, at the only part of the frontier where the drainage ridge approaches the coast within the distance of ten marine leagues stipulated by the treaty as the extreme width of the strip around the heads of Lynn Canal and its branches. While the line so traced follows the provisional demarcation of 1878 at the crossing of the Stikine River, and that of 1899 at the summits of the White and Chilkoot passes, it runs much farther inland from the Klehine than the temporary line of the later modus vivendi, and leaves the entire mining district of the Porcupine River and Glacier Creek within the jurisdiction of the United States. The result is satisfactory in every way. It is of great material advantage to our people in the Far Northwest. It has removed from the field of discussion and possible danger a question liable to become more acutely accentuated with each passing year. Finally it has furnished a signal proof of the fairness and good will with which two friendly nations can approach and determine issues involving national sovereignty, and by their nature incapable of submission to a third power for adjudication." Message of President Roosevelt, December 7, 1903. In Canada the feeling was very different from that expressed by President Roosevelt. There, the dissatisfaction was intense. The two Canadian Commissioners had opposed the award, while Lord Alverstone cast his vote with the three Americans, which provoked the accusation that his decision had been given, at the instigation of the British Government, not judicially, but diplomatically, for the pleasing of the United States, at the sacrifice of Canadian interests and rights. The groundlessness of such defamatory suspicions became plain when Lord Alverstone made public the reasons for his vote. A recent historian of Canada ends his account of the matter with the following remarks: "In vain did students and experts declare that they had felt before the tribunal met that Canada had, in very many respects, a weak case. It was pointed out that some of the Canadian surveys gave the line as the Americans claimed it, that Americans had by long occupation got a hold upon and a right of possession to various ports and sections, and that against this occupancy there had been no British protest whatever. Finally one distinguished citizen reminded the Canadians that if they had been allowed to select one man as sole arbitrator they would have been glad to accept Lord Alverstone. Lord Alverstone was really the one arbitrator and judge. Had he decided against the Americans, the case would have been deadlocked for years. In time Canadians came to a more sober and reasonable attitude on the subject. They came to see that Lord Alverstone could not have been prejudiced and that his decision was really the only one that was fair and unbiased. Some came also to see that the American case was much the stronger, and that in this light the decision was a just one. But they were not and are not ready to believe that the whole scheme was anything but one contrived at Washington to get the contest settled to the advantage of the Americans." F. B. Tracy, Tercentenary History of Canada, Volume 3, page 1044 (Macmillan Co., New York, 1908). A full account of the arbitration with the correspondence preceding it, and the opinions written by the arbitrators severally, is given in the British Parliamentary Papers by Command (United States, Number 1, 1904), Cd. 1877. ALASKA: A. D. 1906. Convention to provide for final establishment of the boundary line. Final proceedings for establishing the boundary line of Alaska were provided for in a Convention between the United States and Great Britain, signed April 21, 1906. The need and object of the Convention were set forth in its preamble as follows: {10} "Whereas by a treaty between the United States of America and His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, for the cession of the Russian possessions in North America to the United States, concluded March 30, 1867, the most northerly part of the boundary line between the said Russian possessions and those of His Britannic Majesty, as established by the prior convention between Russia and Great Britain, of February 28/16 [sic] 1825, is defined as following the 141st degree of longitude west from Greenwich, beginning at the point of intersection of the said 141st degree of west longitude with a certain line drawn parallel with the coast, and thence continuing from the said point of intersection, upon the said meridian of the 141st degree in its prolongation as far as the Frozen Ocean. "And whereas, the location of said meridian of the 141st degree of west longitude between the terminal points thereof defined in said treaty is dependent upon the scientific ascertainment of convenient points along the said meridian and the survey of the country intermediate between such points, involving no question of interpretation of the aforesaid treaties but merely the determination of such points and their connecting lines by the ordinary processes of observation and survey conducted by competent astronomers, engineers and surveyors; "And whereas such determination has not hitherto been made by a joint survey as is requisite in order to give complete effect to said treaties." To make such determination it was agreed that each Government should "appoint one Commissioner, with whom may be associated such surveyors, astronomers and other assistants as each Government may elect." ALASKA: A. D. 1906. Election of a delegate to Congress. An Act to authorize the election of a Delegate to Congress from the Territory of Alaska was approved by the President May 7, 1906. ALASKA COAL FIELDS. See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES. ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION. See (in this Volume) SEATTLE: A. D. 1909. ALBANIA: A. D. 1904. Hostility to the Mürzsteg programme. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1904. ALBERT, King of Belgium. See (in this Volume) BELGIUM; A. D. 1909 (DECEMBER). ALBERT, Marcellin: Leader of the winegrowers revolt in France. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1907 (MAY-JULY). ALBERTA: Organized as a province of the Dominion of Canada. See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1905. ALCOHOL PROBLEM. ALCOHOL: Austria: A. D. 1903. Resolution of the National Convention of the Social Democratic Party against alcoholic drinks. At a convention of the Social Democracy of the Austrian Empire, held at Vienna, in November, 1903, Dr. Richard Frohlich read an elaborate report against the use of intoxicating liquors, concluding with an earnest appeal, in these words; "We want to create a new social order: to give the world a new face! To lay the foundations for the new society is the task of political and industrial organization— and there is no greater deterrent to the accomplishment of that task than alcohol. In building the new mansion of the future we think also of the men who are to dwell in it. Does it not bring a blush of shame to our cheeks merely to imagine that the men of the future society will be contented because they are intoxicated! Contentment in that new order will arise from a sound brain and the satisfaction of the rational desires which proceed from it. We have enough retarding forces to contend with in our struggle for this ideal of the future generation. One such force we are able to-day to overcome if we will. That is alcoholism, the last refuge of philistinism and stupid conservatism. If we really want the new world, we must provide the new men to make it. The program of total abstinence does not set new ideals for us, but it gives us a new weapon, sharp and effective for the conquest of our old ideals. The responsibility is upon us to use this weapon. Let us do it!" In response, the Convention adopted the following resolution: "The convention of the party recognizes in alcohol a serious detriment to the physical and mental power of the working man, and a great hindrance to all efforts of organization in the social democracy. Every means should be employed to remove the evils which have come from it. "The first aim in this struggle must be the economic betterment of the proletariat. And that must be accomplished by a clear teaching of the effects of alcohol, and by the removal of the common toleration of drinking. "The convention of the party, therefore, recommends that all the party groups and brotherhoods lend their support to the crusade against alcohol, and declares that the first step in this direction must be the abolishment of compulsory drinking in all of the meetings of the organization. Members of the party who are converted to total abstinence are recommended to form total abstinence clubs, to continue the propaganda and to see to it that their members are true to the political and economic duties of the party organization." ALCOHOL: CANADA: A. D. 1906-1908. The Canada Temperance Act. Under what was known as the Scott Act, of 1878, the privilege of local option had been given to counties and cities in Canada, and had been brought into exercise by nine cities and seventy-three counties, which prohibited the sale of intoxicating liquors within their limits; but in most of these the supporters of the law were gradually overcome and the prohibition removed. In all the provinces except Quebec, a referendum vote taken in 1898 showed majorities in favor of a Dominion Prohibition Law; but the vote cast was so light and the adverse majorities in cities was so large that the government did not feel warranted in bringing forward a Bill. In 1906, however, the demand for local option in the matter of permitting alcoholic liquors to be sold had become strong enough to extort from Parliament the desired legislation. As amended in 1908, Part II. of this Canada Temperance Act (Part I. having prescribed the proceedings for bringing Part II. into force) provides that "from the day on which this Part comes into force and takes effect in any county or city, and for so long thereafter as, and while the same continues or is in force therein, no person shall, except as in this Part specially provided, by himself, his clerk, servant or agent,— {11} (a) expose or keep for sale, within such county or city, any intoxicating liquor; or, ( b ) directly or indirectly on any pretense or upon any device, within any such county or city, sell or barter, or, in consideration of the purchase of any other property, give to any other person any intoxicating liquor; or, (c) send, ship, bring or carry or cause to be sent, shipped, brought, or carried to or into any such county or city, any intoxicating liquor; or, (d) deliver to any consignee or other person, or store, warehouse, or keep for delivery, any intoxicating liquor so sent, shipped, brought or carried." But these last two subsections are not to "apply to any intoxicating liquor sent, shipped, brought or carried to any person or persons for his or their personal or family use, except it be so sent, shipped, brought or carried to be paid for in such county or city to the person delivering the same, his clerk, servant, or agent, or his master or principal, if the person delivering it is himself a servant or agent." To bring Part II. of the Act into force in any county or city, not less than one-fourth of the total number of electors therein must petition the Governor in Council for a poll of votes on the question, and when the vote is taken there must be an affirmative majority; failing which no similar petition can be put to vote in the same community for three years. On the 2d of May, 1909, the following announcement of the operation of the law in the province of Ontario was made: "May Day, 1909, will long be remembered by the advocates of local option in Ontario. One hundred and forty-two bars passed out of existence yesterday, and of the 807 municipalities in the province 334 are now without a single license in force. The Toronto commissioners have cut off 40 licenses, leaving only 110 in a city of nearly 400,000 people." ALCOHOL: Casual occurrences of saloon suppression, showing what goes with it. Communities in which the liquor traffic is ordinarily favored are sometimes compelled by exigencies of circumstance to suppress it temporarily, and are forced then to see how much of crime and disorder goes with it. During the weeks in which military authority cleared saloons from San Francisco, after the calamity of 1906, every observer made note of the conspicuous freedom of the city "from all kinds of violence and crime," though the whole organization of life was upset. One trustworthy journal reported conditions six months after the calamity as follows: "During the two months and a half after April 18 San Francisco was probably the most orderly large city in the United States. Violence and crime were practically unknown. During that time the saloons and liquor stores of the city were closed tight. About the middle of July the saloons were permitted to open again. This action of the city government was accompanied by the expectation on the part of many citizens of an outbreak of violence and disorder. Clergymen, and it is said even the police, advised men and women to carry firearms for their own protection. For the past three months San Francisco has been living under a reign of m. In eighty days eighty-three murders, robberies, and assaults were registered on the police records. A despatch to Ridgway’s, the new weekly periodical, reports the sale in San Francisco during one week in October of over six thousand revolvers." When Stockholm, in the summer of 1909, was undergoing the trials of the great general strike, and by general consent of all concerned the sale of liquors was stopped, the same report went out, that magistrates and police had little to do. And that is the standing account of things from the Panama Canal Zone, about which an English visitor, Sir Harry Johnston, wrote in April, 1909: "The whole of the canal zone (ten miles on either side of the canal banks) is ‘teetotal,’ except in the actual towns of Panama and Colon. No alcohol is sold by the Canal Commission at its hotels or boarding-houses. And the general result of these stern measures—the improvement in health and the absence of crime—amply justifies this anti-alcohol policy. … There is singularly little serious crime throughout the canal zone. One has the sensation of being perfectly safe anywhere at any time of day or night. Petty dishonesty among the lower classes is common, especially at the railway stations, where one is liable to lose small articles of baggage if they are left unguarded. Panama in this respect is worse than the other towns of the Isthmus, new or old. But there is no open shock to any one’s prejudices or sentiments in the way of flagrant immorality (as at New Orleans, for example)." So easily can communities solve half, at least, of their most troublesome problems, and cure half, at least, of their worst social maladies, if they will! ALCOHOL: ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 . Passage of an amended licensing law. A moderate reform. A Licensing Bill, moderately in the interest of temperance reform, was discussed and passed in Parliament during the summer of 1902. It made publicans more strictly responsible for drunkenness incurred on their premises; strengthened the prohibition of liquor-selling to habitual drunkards; improved measures for the suppression of public drunkenness; subjected licenses to tradesmen for the sale of liquors off their premises to the unqualified discretion of justices, and facilitated the separation of husbands and wives from a drunken mate. ALCOHOL: A. D. 1904. Passing of a new Licensing Bill, providing compensation for the withdrawal of licenses on grounds of public policy. An agitation in Great Britain which almost equalled for a time that produced in the same period by Mr. Chamberlain’s campaign for a preferential tariff was stirred up by a new Licensing Bill, introduced as a Government measure on the 20th of April, 1904. The bill provided for compensation to be made, at the expense of the liquor trade, for the taking of a license away from any public house, on grounds of public policy, no matter how briefly the license had been held. A fund for the compensations was to be raised by assessment on all engaged in the trade. Authority to refuse the renewal or transfer of licenses on any ground other than ill conduct or character was withdrawn from local magistrates and exercised by the courts of quarter sessions (composed of the justices of the peace in each county) only. When a public house was thought to be superfluous by local magistrates they were required to report the case to quarter sessions, where a hearing upon it would be given. {12} If the Bench of quarter sessions decided to extinguish the license, it must specify the grounds of its decision in writing, and award a compensation, based on the estimated difference between the value of the licensed premises and the value of the same premises without a license. If no agreement on this basis could be reached, the Inland Revenue Commissioners should determine the sum. The Bill was advocated in the interest of temperance, as being calculated to reduce the number of public houses, and to raise their character. Mr. Balfour upheld it as "a great temperance measure." It should be the aim of Government, he argued, to "encourage respectable persons to keep public houses, and with that object they should make the trade secure." On the other side it was opposed with exceeding bitterness as a measure that had the backing and was in the interest of the brewers and the whole liquor trade; that created vested interests in the trade, rooting it to a new depth; that tended to add value to the low class of public houses, and obstructed future temperance reform. Repeated attempts to introduce a limit of years after which the awarding of compensation for the withdrawal of license would cease were defeated, and the Bill passed both Houses in August, substantially as it came into Parliament four months before. ALCOHOL: A. D. 1907. Drink in its relation to crime. Testimony of judges. "The following is from a newspaper report of a speech by Judge Rentoul, delivered in the Guildhall, Cambridge, on the 15th of October, 1907. He happened to be one of the judges of the chief criminal courts of this country, and he said to them on that platform that 90 per cent. of the cases that came to the Central Criminal Court of England came directly through drink. The late Lord Brampton, formerly Sir Henry Hawkins, perhaps the greatest criminal judge during the past century, had also put the figures at 90 per cent. Lord Coleridge, speaking at one Assizes, said, ‘Every single case in my present list comes from the use of strong drink.’ ‘If it were not,’ said his Honour, ‘for alcohol, three fourths of our criminal courts would be closed in this country and closed forever.’" H. A. Giles, Opium and Alcohol in China (Nineteenth Century, December, 1907). ALCOHOL: A. D. 1908. Passage of a new Licensing Bill by the Commons and its rejection by the Lords. Nothing contributed more to the defeat of the Conservative Ministry in the British Parliamentary elections of 1905 than the moral repugnance of the country to the Licensing Bill of 1904 (described above); and the Liberal Government came to power with no commission from the people more positive than was in the demand for an amendment of that law. In 1908 it brought into Parliament and passed through the House of Commons a Bill which answered the demand, asserting the right and the need and the power in Government to put limitations on the granting of licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors, without treating them as vested interests under a sacred guard. The limitation, in fact, was made definite and mandatory by the first provision of the Bill, which declared; "Licensing justices shall, in accordance with this Act, reduce the number of on-licenses in their district so that at the end of a period of fourteen years from the fifth day of April nineteen hundred and nine the number of those licenses in any rural parish or urban area in their district shall not exceed the scale set out in the First Schedule to this Act as applied to that parish or area under the provisions of that schedule." The schedule referred to was as follows:Persons per acre. 2 or less Exceeding 2 but not exceeding 25 Exceeding 25 but not exceeding 50 Exceeding 50 but not exceeding 75 Exceeding 75 but not exceeding 100 Exceeding 100 but not exceeding 200 Exceeding 200 Number of on-licenses. 1 to 400 persons or part of 400 1 to 500 persons or part of 500 1 to 600 persons or part of 600 1 to 700 persons or part of 700 1 to 800 persons or part of 800 1 to 900 persons or part of 900 1 to 1,000 persons or part of 1,000
The Bill provided further for local option in the matter of granting new licenses, permitting a majority of voters in any licensing district to prohibit further grants; and introduced other changes of law in the interest of temperance, but not going to any extreme. When the measure went to the House of Lords it suffered there the same fate that had been meted out to the Education Bill of 1906. How serious an issue between the Commons and the Lords was raised by that occurrence is intimated in one passage of a speech made by the Liberal Prime Minister, Mr. Asquith, in July, 1909. He was reviewing some of the significant incidents of recent political history, and when he came to the Licensing Bill there was more feeling in his remarks than he had shown before. "That," he said, "was a Bill, as you know, which was debated for weeks and for months and passed through the House of Commons with sustained and unexampled majorities. When it reached ‘another place,’ what was its fate? It was rejected without even any pretence of consideration of its details, it was rejected in pursuance of a preconcerted party resolution, it was rejected with every circumstance of contumely and contempt. I will not pause to dwell upon, certainly not to praise, the provisions of the Licensing Bill, which, I may say, was to some extent my own handiwork. But in regard to its rejection I will say that it has made two things—that rejection and the circumstances preceding, following, and attending it have made two things—abundantly plain. The first is that it has ruined the prospects of any really effective temperance reform on anything like a large and comprehensive scale during the lifetime of the present Parliament. I will say next the circumstances of that rejection have brought into greater prominence than ever before the fact that our constitutional system is not, or at least that it can be made not to be, the embodiment, but the caricature of a representative and responsible Government. And the question of the relations between the two Houses of Parliament must be for us Liberals, at any rate, as I described it at the time, the dominant issue in our programme." {13} The requirement of the Act of 1904 that compensation should be paid to every license-holder whose license was withdrawn for public reasons, put so narrow a limit on the reductions made, that the 138,011 licensed houses in England and Wales in 1904 had only been diminished by about 3000 in 1908; whereas the country demanded a great cutting down of the excessive number. ALCOHOL: A. D. 1908. Provisions of The Children Act for the Protection of Children. See (in this Volume) CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS DEPENDENTS, &C. ALCOHOL: A. D. 1909. Taxation of the Liquor Trade proposed in the Budget. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1909 (APRIL-DECEMBER). ALCOHOL: A. D. 1909. The Decreased Consumption of Whiskey caused by increased tax. Speaking in Parliament of the increased whiskey tax in his Budget, on the 29th of October, some months after it had gone into effect and its yield was being shown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Lloyd-George, acknowledged that he had greatly overestimated the revenue it would produce. He said: "The whole point was to what extent would an addition of a halfpenny a glass deter a man from taking his usual share of drink. I could no more estimate that than any other member of the House. I made a very liberal allowance for decrease in consumption, so liberal that nobody either in or out of the House agreed with it. Many said it was absurd. … I assumed that people who could afford it would not regard the halfpenny at all; that they would buy exactly the same quantity of whisky as before. The working classes I assumed would probably purchase a smaller quantity. Supposing a man says, I spend 2s. 6d. on drink; he would not spend more; therefore he would consume less. "I made a rough calculation upon such information as I had how that would affect the consumption of whisky as a whole, but I find the change has gone beyond that, and my information now is not merely that there are thousands of people who drink a percentage which is, in proportion to the increase, less, but some of them drop it altogether. Some of them are barely drinking half what they were before. Altogether a most extraordinary effect has been produced upon the habits of the people. I am not here to apologize for that at all. In some districts, I am told, the drinking of spirits has gone down by 70 percent, in Ireland, I think. I hear that there are districts in Scotland where it has gone down 50 per cent. I have a communication in regard to the whisky distillers of Glasgow saying that the decrease in Glasgow during September has been 36 per cent. "People have not even been driven to the consumption of beer. It is really almost unaccountable. People have not been driven from one form of alcohol to another, but have been driven from alcohol altogether. The fact is very extraordinary, and has gone beyond anything I have anticipated. … Our anticipations now are that the consumption of spirits, both of foreign and home manufacture, will go down by something between 20 and 25 per cent. That means that a smaller quantity of spirits will be consumed in this country during this year by eight or nine million gallons.’’ ALCOHOL: A. D. 1909. Organization of "The True Temperance Association." Its aim and appeal. Under the name of "The True Temperance Association," a London organization headed by Lord Halsbury made the following appeal to the English public, in May, 1909: "Let us take what is to hand—the publichouse; the regulated refreshment house of the people. Let us transform that out of its present condition of a mere drink-shop into a house of general, reasonable, and reputable entertainment—a place where there will be other things to consume besides beer and whisky, and other forms of recreation besides mere drink. We should imitate the model of the Continental café and German bierhaus; the White City and other exhibitions have shown us that they would not be exotics in this country; and those exhibitions with their wonderful record of sobriety also show us that there is every ground to expect that England, with transformed publichouses, would be as sober, and withal as bright as are Continental countries." ALCOHOL: A. D. 1900: England, United States, France, and Germany. Comparative statement of the consumption of alcoholic drink. "The consumption of alcoholic drink in the above countries, per ten of population, was in the year 1900 as follows: Drink-consumption per 10 of population.Country. Beer, spirits, Beer. Spirits. Wine. and wine. Gallons. Gallons. Gallons. Gallons. France 336 62 20 254 United Kingdom 332 317 11 4 Germany 309 275 19 15 United States 147 133 11 3
"Some years agone, the late P. G. Hamerton in his book French and English mentioned the increase of drinking in France, and we see that French drink-consumption per head is now greater than British consumption. The French drink more spirits, more wine, and have a larger total consumption per head than any of these three other nations. "The most striking fact in the above statement is the low drink-consumption per head in the United States. The American total per head is less than one-half of the total consumption per head in any of the three other countries. The superior sobriety of the American workman as compared with the Englishman has often been noticed, and observation in social grades higher than that of the artizan tends to show that American superiority in this respect is a general superiority not confined to workmen only. The developed alertness and prompt energy of the American may, it is quite likely, be due in some part to this relative abstinence from alcoholic drink which is now illustrated. "Looking back over the fifteen years 1886-1900, for the purpose of observing the increase or the decrease in drink-consumption per head of population, the following results have been obtained;—Country. Average yearly drink-consumption, per head of population, during 1886-1890. 1891-1895. 1890-1900. Gallons. Gallons. Gallons. France 26.5 31.5 32.3 United Kingdom. 29.4 31.1 33.1 Germany 24.4 26.6 29.9 United States 11.8 14.3 14.2 The drink-consumption per The drink-consumption per head during 1886-1890 head during 1896-1900 was being taken at 100 per cent. per cent. France 100 122 United Kingdom. 100 113 Germany 100 123 United States 100 120
{14} "In each country the drink-consumption per head of population has increased since 1886-1890, and, with the exception of the United States, there has been an increase during each five-yearly period observed, "Comparing the period 1896-1900 with the period 1886-1890, we see that the percentage of increase per head of population in drink-consumption was smaller in the United Kingdom than in any of the three other countries. Germany and France have had the largest relative increases per head of population. "In the United States, the increase of 20 per cent in the drink-consumption per head of population is due to an increase in beer-drinking—the consumption per head of wine and of spirits has declined." J. H. Schooling, Drink: in England, the United States, France, and Germany (Fortnightly Review, January, 1902). ALCOHOL: France: A. D. 1907. Revolt of the Wine Growers of Southern France against wine adulteration. See (in this Volume ) FRANCE: A. D. 1907 (MAY-JULY). ALCOHOL: Germany: Temperance requisite in railway employees. The dangers to the traveling public that are attendant on the use of alcoholic stimulants by railway employees were discussed very seriously not long since by a writer in the Deutsche Monatsschrift. "The constantly growing demands upon transit service for safety and speed," he observed, "call for an increasingly higher efficiency of the personnel, not only as regards prudence, judgment, decision, and clearsightedness, but a sense of duty, all which qualities are, it has been proved, vitiated by nothing so readily and to such a degree as by indulgence in alcoholic drinks. The chief danger, moreover, consists not so much in excessive drink resulting in drunkenness, which is easily recognized, as in the more moderate but habitual use of liquor, which is harder to control, and the after-effects of heavy drinking. Scientific investigation has established the fact that even a moderate use of alcoholic beverages impairs the acuteness of sight and hearing, including the power of distinguishing colors. Most of the violations of discipline and duty in the German transportation service are due to indulgence in drink, besides leading to misery and want in the home." The writer alludes to an association of German railway officials started by himself, whose object it is to enlighten the public regarding the worthlessness of alcoholic drinks as a tonic and how they may be dispensed with as a means of refreshment. This society, he states, has been most encouragingly successful in its efforts. He adds the important statement that the Prussian Government, owing to recent serious accidents, has issued an order prohibiting all railway employees from taking any beverage containing alcohol while on duty. ALCOHOL: A. D. 1902. Resolution of Socialist Congress. The subject in Prussian schools. The German Socialist Congress, sitting at Munich in September, 1902, adopted a resolution which warned the working classes against the dangers from immoderate indulgence in alcoholic drinks, but declined to make total abstinence a condition of party membership. In the previous March the Prussian minister of education had given instructions to the school authorities mm of the kingdom which aimed at the enlightening of the people as to the deleterious effects, both physical and economical, of an excessive use of alcoholic liquors. The same subject had been agitated in the Prussian parliament, and there was discussion of measures of more strict regulation of public houses. ALCOHOL: International Congress on Alcoholism. For twenty-four years an International Congress on Alcoholism has held biennial meetings in different European cities, beginning at Antwerp in 1885, steadily demonstrating a growth of opposition—especially of scientific opposition—even in Continental Europe, to the use of alcoholic liquors. The meeting of 1905 was at Budapest; that of 1907 at Stockholm; that of 1909 at London. The delegates to the latter numbered about 1300, coming from nearly every European country, and from the United States, Canada, and South Africa. Of the strong character of the discussions at the London meeting the New York Evening Post said after its adjournment: "Men and women from every country, representing varying conditions of society, offered evidence tending to show, by actual figures of loss, the bad effects of drinking. From the standpoint of education, science, medicine, society, economics, efficiency, and law, the speakers all reached the same conclusion, bringing strong testimony in support. Efficiency was the keynote of papers representing public service on the part of the post office, the railroad, the navy, and the army of Great Britain." An interesting figure at the Congress, it was said by an American newspaper correspondent, was Judge William J. Pollard, of St. Louis, who went as a representative of the United States Government, and who was known widely as the originator of the pledge instead of prison method of dealing with drunkards. When he spoke on that subject he was given a double allowance of time, on the motion of a delegate from France, and, although under the constitution of the congress no resolution could be put, a declaration in favor of the plan was signed by practically every delegate in the hall. The declaration reads as follows: "We, the undersigned members and delegates attending the International Congress on Alcoholism assembled in Loudon, July, 1909, desire to record our gratification at the recognition in statute law by Great Britain, Vermont, United States of America, and Victoria (Australia) of the principle of reforming drunkards by the probation on pledge method, commonly known as the Pollard plan. The possibilities of this wise and beneficent policy are so great that we desire to commend its adoption throughout the world." "Judge Pollard’s plan, established in the Saint Louis police court nine years ago, consists in giving the drunkards a chance of reform. Instead of sentencing them to prison or fining them, Judge Pollard requires persons charged before him with drunkenness to take the pledge. If they do so he suspends sentence on them, and if the pledge is kept for a certain period they hear no more about the matter. If it is broken the fine or sentence is enforced." One of the results of the Congress was the organization of a "World’s Prohibition Confederation," "to better amalgamate the forces in various countries working along their respective lines towards the one common aim of the total suppression of the liquor traffic." {15} Two sessions were held and the Conference finally decided by unanimous vote upon the following outline of the purposes and methods of the new Confederation: "(1) Name— The name of this association shall be 'The International Prohibition Confederation (Confederation Prohibitioniste Internationale—Internationaler Verbaud fuer Alkoholverbot).' "(2) Object— (a) To amalgamate the forces in various countries working along their respective lines towards the one common aim of the total suppression of the liquor traffic, (b) To obtain notes of progress, information, and news from all parts of the world, and send such information to all organizations joining the Confederation and other applicants. "(3) Membership— The membership shall consist of representatives of temperance organizations in all countries approving of the objects and such officers as may be elected by the Confederation. "(4) Finances— The financial support shall be gained from such contributions as the various affiliated societies and individual associate members may subscribe." ALCOHOL: New Zealand: A. D. 1896-1908. Twelve years of Local Option. Increasing majorities against the liquor traffic. The vote of women. Under the operation of a local option law since 1896, New Zealand has been steadily narrowing the liquor traffic, with what seems to be a fair prospect of extinguishing it entirely. The law provides for the taking of a vote in each parliamentary electoral district once in three years on three propositions, as follows: "1. That the number of licensed houses existing in the district shall continue. "2. That the number shall be reduced. "3. That no licenses whatever shall be granted. "Electors may vote for one of these proposals or for two of them. The prohibitionists strike out the top line, and thus vote for a reduction of the number of licenses, and also for total prohibition in their district. Those who oppose prohibition usually strike out the second and third lines, so as to vote for the continuance of existing licensed houses; while there are others, again, who strike out the first and third issues, with a view simply to a reduction in the number of licensed houses. An absolute majority of the votes carries reduction; but it requires a three-fifths majority to carry 'no-license.' If reduction is carried the licensing committee must then reduce the publicans’ licenses in the district by not less than 5 per cent. or more than 25 per cent, of the total number existing." The local option vote has now been taken five times, with a slow but steady increase of majorities given against the liquor traffic, either to restrict or to end it,—as the following table shows:Continuance. Reduction. No-license. Valid votes. 1896 139,500 94,500 98,300 259,800 1899 142,400 107,700 118,500 281,800 1902 148,400 132,200 151,500 318,800 1905 182,800 151,000 198,700 396,400 1908 186,300 161,800 209,100 410,100
The figures here entered of the vote in 1908 are not official, but are said to be close to accuracy. The New Zealand correspondent of the London Times, from whose report the above is taken, adds these particulars: "The result of the local option poll taken in December, 1905, was to carry 'no license' in three new districts and reduction in four districts. In 36 of the other districts a majority of the votes polled was for ‘no license,’ though the three-fifths majority necessary to carry the proposal was not obtained. The results of the recent poll were very striking. In six new districts ‘no-license ’ was carried, and in some others ‘no-license’ and ‘reduction’ were only lost by narrow margins. The rapid advance made by the ‘no license’ party is certainly remarkable. "While the proportion of votes cast for continuance is steadily declining, the proportion for ‘no-license’ is increasing at an accelerated rate. Already there is a bare majority of the total votes in favour of prohibition; while if we had national instead of local option the chances are that in a comparatively short period the necessary three-fifths majority to secure total prohibition in the country might be obtained. There are now indications that the ‘no-license’ party will make a bold bid, not only for a bare majority vote on the no-license issue, but also for national option. In this event they will alienate the sympathies of the great majority of the moderates who now vote with them, so that the ‘no-license’ cause may receive, at least, a temporary check. "Three important suggestions have been made to save the trade—viz., reform from within, State control, and municipalization. Judging from past experience, the first idea seems hopeless. The trade has had its lessons, but has not taken sufficient heed. State control will scarcely be tolerated, since most people realize that the liquor trade in the hands of a Government might be a dangerous political engine, besides which there would always be the temptation ever present to a Government to use it for revenue purposes. Without very necessary reform from within, therefore, the only chance for the liquor trade would seem to lie in the direction of municipalization. Under municipal control, with the abolition of the open bar in favour of the cafe system, with better liquor, and with a thorough system of inspection and analysis, the liquor trade in New Zealand might obtain a new lease of life. Under the present system there is every indication that its doom is sealed." The importance of the vote of women, on this question especially, appears in the following statements: "In 1902, 138,565 women, or 74.52 per cent. of those on the rolls, voted; in 1905, 175,046, or 82.23 per cent. of those on the rolls, voted. The proportion of females to males voting at successive general elections also shows a gradual increase from 69.57 per cent. in 1893 to 78.99 in 1905. Then there is the gradual increase in the proportion of females to males in the population of a young country to be considered. At the foundation of the colonies the males, naturally, largely outnumbered the females; but eventually the sexes will become more nearly equal in number. Thus, while in 1871 the proportion of females to males in the colony was only 70.52, in 1906 it was 88.65. Furthermore, women are taking a keener interest than ever in politics. They are beginning to appreciate the franchise and to exercise it intelligently in ever-increasing numbers." {16} The warning and alarming effect of the local option vote of December, 1908, on the New Zealand liquor dealers was made apparent by their action taken soon after, as reported in the following Press despatch from Wellington, January 18, 1909: "As a result of the large 'moderate' vote cast at the recent poll on the question of total prohibition or reduction of facilities for obtaining drink, it was unanimously resolved to-day, at a meeting of the Auckland Brewers and Licensed Victuallers’ Association, representing all the wholesale and nearly every member of the retail trade, to abolish barmaids, to abolish private bars, and to raise the age-limit of youths who may be supplied with liquor from 18 to 20. No woman will be supplied with liquor for consumption on the premises unless she is boarding in the house. "In an interview, the Mayor of Auckland, who is himself a brewer, stated that since the trade has to ask the public every three years for the continuance of its existence, it is necessary for it to be conducted on lines approved by the public at large." ALCOHOL: United States: A. D. 1904-1909. The progress of State, County, and Town Prohibition in the five years. The following exhibit of the status of state and local prohibition in every State of the United States, on the 1st of November, 1909, compared with the same in 1904, is reproduced, with permission, from the latest leaflet published at the time of this writing (January 1, 1910) by the Associated Prohibition Press, located at 92 La Salle Street, Chicago: "The record at Prohibition National Headquarters, Chicago, shows that during the past four years the amount of Prohibition territory has been doubled and 20,000,000 people added to those living in Prohibition cities, counties and states, making an aggregate of over 40,000,000 now by their own choice in saloon-free districts. "The figures below show that nearly two-thirds of the territory and nearly one-half of the people are under Prohibition protection: "17,000,000 people in the South under Prohibition in 1904. "25,000,000 people in the South under Prohibition in 1909. "There are to-day 375 Prohibition cities in the United States, having a population of over 5,000 each, with a total population of more than three million and a half. "In 1904 there were scarcely 100 Prohibition cities of 5,000 or over; there are now 90 Prohibition cities of 10,000 or over. There are fifty-five industrial centers in fourteen different states of 20,000 population and over, with an aggregate of 2,000,000 population, now under Prohibition law. "The Prohibition party is organized and at work in practically every state in the Union. "In 1904 the National Liquor League of the United States was organized at Cincinnati, January 7th and 8th, to put the 'lid' on the apparent beginnings of a Prohibition renaissance. Five years of the 'National Liquor League of the United States' has resulted in 20,000,000 people being added to the Prohibition population of the country; 250 new Prohibition cities; 6 new Prohibition states, hundreds of new Prohibition counties, and thousands of new Prohibition towns and villages in all the rest of the country. "One of the most striking contrasts between 1904 and 1909 is seen in the transformation which has been wrought in the attitude of the daily and secular press towards the Prohibition question. Since 1904 leading daily papers in all parts of the country have begun to exclude liquor advertising from their columns. "The daily press of America is to-day giving ten times more attention to and far more friendly treatment of the Prohibition issue than was the case in 1904. "On November 1st, 1909, the record of state and local Prohibition territory in the United States, at National Prohibition Headquarters, was as follows: The Situation by States.State. 1904. November 1, 1909. Alabama 20 Prohibition State Prohibition; counties. enforcement legislation 11 Dispensary. enacted by Legislature, 35 License. August, 1909. Data shows business prospers, crime decreasing. Popular vote on Constitutional Prohibition November 29, 1909. Arizona No Prohibition New county Prohibition law bare territory. two-thirds requirement. Two-thirds Four-fifths of Territory "dry" majority required. in 12 months is prediction. Arkansas 44 Prohibition 57 Prohibition counties. counties. State certain in next 29 License. Legislature. 2 Partially license. California 175 Prohibition 250 "dry" towns. towns. Sentiment rapidly growing for State Prohibition. Colorado Few Prohibition towns. 100 towns "dry." No local-option law. Stricter law enforcement. Prohibition sentiment growing. Connecticut Half of State Large increase in no-license local Prohibition. vote. Legislature passed several important restrictive measures. Delaware Few small Two-thirds of State Prohibition. Prohibition towns. {17} District of Columbia Apathy dominant. New high license law. Sentiment for Prohibition organizing. Stricter enforcement. Florida 30 Prohibition 35 counties "dry." counties. Popular vote State Prohibition November, 1910. Georgia 104 Prohibition State Prohibition. counties out Supporting sentiment grows. of 134. Atlanta elects law-enforcement Large cities Mayor. Crime largely decreasing. all license. Idaho No Prohibition County law passed. territory. Seven vote "dry." "Wide-open" State. State Prohibition campaign on. Illinois 8 Prohibition 36 "dry" counties. counties. 2500 "dry" towns. 500 Prohibition 23 "dry" cities. towns. No license fight on in Chicago. "Wide open" Sunday. Indiana 140 Prohibition 70 Counties "dry." townships. "Net Prohibition majority 67,025. Three-fourths of the State population under Prohibition. Sentiment for State Prohibition very active; 1,780,839 or 65 per cent of State population in "dry" territory; 32 "dry" cities (5,000 and over). Iowa 25 License counties. Campaign for State Prohibition Lax enforcement developing great enthusiasm. of law. Kansas STATE PROHIBITION. Legislature passed 1909 Lax enforcement. important additions to Law enforcement State law. crusade at Kansas The sale of alcohol in any City, Kan., form absolutely prohibited. a "fizzle." Strict enforcement the rule. Kentucky 47 Prohibition 96 Prohibition counties; counties. 1,541,613 or 66 per cent of Legislature defeated total population in "dry" very moderate territory. local option bill. State Prohibition campaign launched in earnest. Louisiana 20 Prohibition Prohibition sentiment grows. parishes out of 54. Local Prohibition proves notable success in 33 "dry" parishes. Maine STATE PROHIBITION. Move for resubmission Lax enforcement. emphatically defeated by State Legislature. Sentiment for law enforcement growing steadily. Maryland 15 Prohibition Some locals gains. counties. New high-license law for Baltimore. Massachusetts. 250 Prohibition Some local gains. towns and cities. Twenty-five thousand State majority against license. Definite campaign for State Prohibition; 261 towns "dry" out of 321; 20 cities "dry" out of 33; 26,297 State majority against license. Michigan 2 Prohibition Thirty Prohibition counties. counties. Important new restrictive 400 Prohibition towns. legislation took effect September 1, 1909. State Prohibition campaign on. Minnesota 400 Prohibition 1,611 "dry" towns. towns. State wide union of Prohibition forces. Mississippi 65 Prohibition Enforcement of State-wide counties. law passed February, 1908. Legislature defeated Governor Noel a vigorous State Prohibition prohibitionist. amendment. Missouri 3 Prohibition 77 'dry' counties. counties 1905. State Prohibition campaign definitely under way. Vote November, 1910. Montana No Prohibition Prohibition sentiment territory. growing with notable increase of party vote in several districts. Nebraska 200 Prohibition 26 Prohibition counties. towns. Many local gains. State capital Lincoln, 50,000, voted "dry." State Prohibition campaign on; 48 "dry" county seats. Nevada No Prohibition Sentiment against gambling territory. and liquor selling growing. State Prohibition of gambling effective October 1, 1910. New Hampshire. State Prohibition 183 "dry" towns. repealed 1903. New Jersey "Wide-open" State. Whole year of 1909 filled with agitation. Law-defying Atlantic City ring provokes widespread public sentiment. County option expected. {18} New Mexico Nothing. Prohibition forces very active at legislative session. Strong sentiment for State Prohibition growing. New York 285 Prohibition towns. Few changes. Concerted State Cities all license wide campaign on in 300 local by State law. Prohibition contests. North Carolina. Local-option passed 1903. Success of State Raleigh, capital, had Prohibition shown by dispensary run by church official statistics. deacons. In force January, 1908. North Dakota STATE PROHIBITION. Same law. Sentiment Lax enforcement in back of Prohibition some sections. law overwhelming throughout State. Strong supplementary legislation passed 1909. Ohio First State 61 counties "dry." local-option law Campaigns in largest passed. cities, and State Prohibition scheduled for near future. Net Prohibition majority in 70 county contests, 66,132. Oklahoma Few Prohibition towns. Enforcement of State Prohibition law steadily growing success. Governor Haskell heartily supporting it. Prohibition Party organized September 27, 1909. Oregon No Prohibition State Prohibition vote territory. November, 1910. No local-option law. 21 counties "dry." Pennsylvania Prohibition sentiment County option defeated apathetic. 1909 but sentiment rapidly growing. Confident of advanced legislation at next session. Rhode Island 20 Prohibition towns. Little change South Carolina State dispensary. 37 Prohibition counties (Abolished 1908.) out of 42. Sweeping Prohibition victories August 17, 1909. State campaign definitely on. South Dakota Scattering Prohibition Few local changes. towns. Sentiment for State Prohibition campaign developing. Tennessee* 8 License cities. State Prohibition passed Liquor men threatened January, 1909. repeal of Adams Effective July 1, 1909. local-option law. Liquor manufacture prohibition. Law effective January 1, 1910. Remarkably beneficial effects of Prohibition immediately shown in Nashville and other cities.
* A proposal to embody state-wide prohibition in a constitutional amendment was voted down heavily in Tennessee on the 29th of November, 1909.Texas 140 Prohibition 154 Prohibition counties. counties. State Prohibition referendum narrowly defeated by Legislature, only increased agitation for that object. Vote expected within two years. Utah No Prohibition County Prohibition and territory. State referendum defeated in Legislature, expected at next session. Vermont Prohibition 216 towns "dry." repealed 1903. Demand for resubmission 138 Prohibition of State Prohibition growing. towns out of Prohibition majority 240 in 1904. of 8,819 in whole State. Virginia Local-option law 71 Prohibition counties. passed 1903. Democratic primary being fought out on Prohibition issue. Washington Few Prohibition towns. Compromise local Prohibition law, passed Legislature, 1909. Prohibition sentiment growing. Alaska-Yukon Exposition, Seattle, first big "dry" exposition. West Virginia. 40 out of 54 Some local gains. counties "dry" Charleston, state capital "dry" since July 1. Only three wholly "wet" counties. State campaign on. Wisconsin 300 Prohibition towns 789 towns "dry." Prohibition sentiment growing rapidly; 4,000 business men cheer argument for Prohibition in great debate at Milwaukee March, 1909. Wyoming No Prohibition New law effective territory. January, 1910, puts whole State under Prohibition outside of incorporated towns.
{19} ALCOHOL: A. D. 1908-1909. Diminished consumption of whiskey and beer. According to the annual report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909, there were about 5,000,000 less gallons of whiskey contributing to the Federal revenue than in the fiscal year preceding, and something like 2,500,000 fewer barrels of beer and ale. "This seems clearly to mirror the effect of the prohibition movement which has lately gained such headway in certain sections of the South and West. Ordinarily, the consumption of spirits and malt liquor is fairly steady in times of depression; and when an industrial revival is under way, their use increases and reflects itself in larger revenue returns. The absolute shrinkage in consumption in the past fiscal year, therefore, is doubly significant." ----------ALCOHOL: End-------- ALCORTA, Jose Figueroa: President of Argentine Republic. See (in this Volume) ACRE DISPUTES. ALDERMAN, Edward Anderson: President of the University of Virginia. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1909. ALDRICH, Nelson W.: Work on the Payne-Aldrich Tariff. See (in this Volume) TARIFFS: UNITED STATES. ALEXANDER, King of Servia: His murder. See (in this Volume) BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: SERVIA. ALEXEIEFF, Admiral: Appointed Viceroy in Manchuria, 1903. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1901-1904. ALFARO, General Elroy: Made President of Ecuador by a revolution. See (in this Volume) ECUADOR: A. D. 1905-1906. ALFONSO XIII.: His Coronation. See (in this Volume) SPAIN: A. D. 1901-1904. ALFONSO XIII.: Marriage. Attempted assassination. See (in this Volume) Spain: A. D. 1905-1906. ALGECIRAS CONFERENCE, and Act. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906, and MOROCCO: A. D. 1907-1909. ALGIERS: A. D. 1896-1906. Encroachments on the Moroccan boundary. See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1895-1906. ALIENS ACT, The English. See (in this Volume) IMMIGRATION: ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1909. ALIENS, Rights of: Pan-American Convention. See (in this Volume) American Republics. ALI RIZA PASHA. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY). ALL INDIA MOSLEM LEAGUE. See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1907 (DECEMBER), and 1907-1909. ALLIANCES: Franco-Russian. Effect of Russo-Japanese War. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1904-1909. ALLIANCES: Great Britain with Japan. See Japan: A. D. 1902, and 1905 (August). ALLIANCES: The Triple Alliance. See TRIPLE ALLIANCE. ALMENARA, Dr. Domingo. See (in this Volume) PERU. ALSOP CLAIM, The. See (in this Volume) CHILE: A. D. 1909. ALVERSTONE, Sir Richard Everard Webster, Lord Chief Justice: On the Alaska Boundary Commission. See (in this Volume) ALASKA: A. D. 1903. ALVES, Rodriquez. See (in this Volume) ACRE DISPUTES. AMADE, General d’: Operations in Morocco. See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1907-1909, and 1909. AMADOR, Manuel: President of Panama. See (in this Volume) PANAMA. AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION, of Iron, Steel, and Tin Plate Workers: Its strike in 1901. See (in this Volume) Labor Organization, &c.: United States: A. D. 1901. AMALGAMATED SOCIETY OF RAILWAY SERVANTS, British: In Taff Vale case. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION, &c.: ENGLAND: A. D. 1900-1906. AMALGAMATED SOCIETY OF RAILWAY SERVANTS, British: In strike of 1907 See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION, &c.: ENGLAND: A. D. 1907-1909. AMARAL, Admiral Ferreira do. See (in this Volume) PORTUGAL: A. D. 1906-1909. AMBAN, Chinese. See (in this Volume) TIBET: A. D. 1902-1904. AMERICAN CIVIC ASSOCIATION. See (in this Volume) SOCIAL BETTERMENT: UNITED STATES. AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION, &c.: UNITED STATES. "AMERICAN INVASION" OF CANADA, The. See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1896-1909. ----------AMERICAN REPUBLICS: Start-------- AMERICAN REPUBLICS: The South and Central American nations: Their recent rapid advance in character, dignity, and importance. Among the astonishing. changes that have come upon the political face of the world within a few years past, producing new arrangements of rank or standing and new distributions of influence in the great family of nations, the emergence of the South American republics from generally chronic disorder and obscure unimportance to a position, almost suddenly recognized, of present weight and dignity and great promise to the future, is far from the least. In 1890, when Mr. Blaine, as Secretary of State, opened the first well-planned endeavor of our government to put itself into such relations with them, of friendly influence, as the elder and stronger in the family of American republics ought to hold, there was little appreciation of the importance of the movement. Even Mr. Blaine did not seem to be fully earnest and fully sanguine in it, or else his chief and his colleagues in the government were not heartily with him; for his admirable scheme of policy was almost wrecked in the second year of its working, by the unaccountable impatience and harshness with which President Harrison wrung humiliating apologies from Chili for a trifling offense in 1892. The seeming arrogance of power then manifested cast a reasonable suspicion on the motives with which the great republic of North America had made overtures of fraternity to the republics of the South, and it freshened an old distrust in their minds. {20} Happily, however, Mr. Blaine, in 1890, had brought about the creation of a harmonizing and unifying agency which needed only time to effect great results. This was the Bureau of the American Republics, established at Washington, by a vote of the delegates from eighteen North, South, and Central American governments, at an International American Conference, held in that city in March of the year named. Its immediate purpose was the promotion of commercial intercourse; but the information spread with that object, through all the countries concerned, has carried with it every kind of pacific understanding and stimulation. The common action with common interests thus organized must have had more than anything else to do with the generating of a public spirit, lately, in the Spanish-American countries, very different from any ever manifested before. It has wakened national ambitions in them and sobered the factious temper which kept them in political disorder so long. Ten years ago, the Central and South American republics had so little standing among the nations that few of them were invited to the Peace Conference of 1900, and the invitation was accepted by none. Spanish America was represented by Mexico alone. At the conference of 1907 at The Hague there were delegates from all, and several among their delegates took a notably important part, giving a marked distinction to the peoples they represent. It was by a special effort on the part of our then Secretary of State that they were brought thus into the council of nations. Mr. Root has had wonderful success, indeed, in realizing the aim of the policy projected and initiated by Mr. Blaine. He has cleared away the distrust and won the confidence of our fellow Americans at the middle and south of the continent, bringing them to a friendly acceptance of the leading which goes naturally with the power and the experience of these United States. The resulting weight in world politics of what may be called the Concert of America, paralleling the Concert of Europe, is one of the greater products of the present extraordinary time. AMERICAN REPUBLICS: Their Second International Conference, at the City of Mexico, in 1901-1902. Its proceedings, conventions, resolutions, etc. The First International Conference of American Republics was held at Washington in the winter and spring of 1889-1890, attended by delegates from eighteen Governments of the New World. See, in Volume VI. of this work, American Republics. On the suggestion of President McKinley, ten years later, and on the invitation of President Diaz, of Mexico, a second Conference was convened at the City of Mexico, on the 23d of October, 1901. The sessions of this Conference were prolonged until the 31st of January, 1902. It was attended by delegates from every independent nation then existing in America, being twenty in number; but the delegation of Venezuela was withdrawn by the Government of that State on the 14th of January, and the withdrawal was made retroactive to and from the preceding 31st of December. The delegation from the United States was composed of ex-United States Senator Henry G. Davis; Mr. William I. Buchanan, formerly Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic; Mr. John Barrett, formerly Minister Resident of the United States to Siam; and Messrs. Charles M. Pepper and Volney W. Foster. The following account of the work of the Conference and its results is compiled from the report made by the delegates of the United States to the Department of State: "Señor Raigosa, chairman of the Mexican delegation, was chosen temporary president, and the Conference then preceded to its permanent organization by the election of his excellency Señor Lic. Don Ignacio Mariscal, minister of foreign affairs of Mexico, and Honorable John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States, honorary presidents; Senor Lic. Don Genaro Raigosa, of Mexico, president; Senhor Don José Hygino Duarte Pereira, of Brazil, first vice-president, and Señor Doctor Don Baltasar Estupinian, of Salvador, second vice-president. … Under the rules adopted 19 committees were appointed and the work of the conference was apportioned among them. … "Discussion between the representatives of the Republics that would constitute the conference began months previous to its opening upon the subject of arbitration, and while every desire was manifested then and thereafter by all to see a conclusion reached by the conference in which all might join, unsettled questions existed between some of the Republics that would participate in the conference of a character that made their avoidance difficult in any general discussion of the subject. … This difficulty became more apparent as the conference proceeded with its work. … It was tacitly agreed between delegations, therefore, that the discussion of the subject should be confined, so far as possible, to a committee. … There was at no time any difficulty with regard to securing a unanimous report favoring a treaty covering merely arbitration as a principle; all delegations were in favor of that. The point of discussion was as to the extent to which the principle should be applied. Concerning this, three views were supported in the conference: (a) Obligatory arbitration, covering all questions pending or future when they did not affect either independence or the national honor of a country; (b) Obligatory arbitration covering future questions only and defining what questions shall constitute those to be excepted from arbitration; and (c) Facultative or voluntary arbitration, as best expressed by The Hague convention. … "A plan was finally suggested providing that all delegations should sign the protocol for adhesion to the convention of The Hague, as originally suggested by the United States delegation, and that the advocates of obligatory arbitration sign, between themselves, a project of treaty obligating their respective governments to submit to the permanent court at The Hague all questions arising or in existence, between themselves, which did not affect their independence or their national honor. Both the protocol and treaty were then to be brought before the conference, incorporated in the minutes without debate or action, and sent to the minister of foreign relations of Mexico, to be officially certified and transmitted by that official to the several signatory governments. After prolonged negotiations this plan was adopted and carried out as outlined above, all of the delegations in the conference, excepting those of Chile and Ecuador, signing the protocol covering adherence to The Hague convention before its submission to the conference. {21} These, after a protracted debate on a point of order involving the plan adopted, later accepted in open conference a solution which made them—as they greatly desired to be, in another form than that adopted—parties to the protocol. The project of treaty of compulsory arbitration was signed by the delegations of the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Santo Domingo, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. … "By the above plan the conference attained the highest possible end, and for the first time each of the American Republics, as a result of that action, takes her place by the side of the other countries of the world in favor of international arbitration; more than this, by the unanimous acceptance thus of The Hague convention on the part of the 19 Republics represented in the conference, it is given that force and character which places it to-day as the formal expression of the governments of the entire civilized world in favor of peace. The delegates of the United States believe, hence, that substantial progress and a noteworthy and historic step in advance has been taken in the interests of peace, and that means have been provided by which wars will be rendered less frequent, if not wholly avoided, between the countries of the Western Hemisphere. The opening of the doors of the permanent tribunal of The Hague to all of the Republics of America, as this protocol has done, is of itself an achievement of the greatest importance. As a result of this action the American Republics now have at their command the machinery of that great international body for the pacific settlement of any dispute they may desire to refer to arbitration. Beyond this the obligations imposed by their adhesion to the convention to have recourse, as far as circumstances allow, to the good offices or mediation of any one or more friendly powers, and to permit these offers to be made without considering them unfriendly, is certainly a point of great value gained by all. "In addition to accepting The Hague convention the conference went further. It accepted the three Hague conventions as principles of public American international law, and authorized and requested the President of the Mexican Republic, as heretofore explained, to enter upon negotiations with the several American Governments looking toward the most unrestricted application of arbitration possible should the way for such a step appear open. In addition to the protocol and treaty referred to, another step was taken in the direction of the settlement of international controversies by the adoption and signing, on the part of every country represented in the conference, of a project of treaty covering the arbitration of pecuniary claims. Under this the several republics obligate themselves for a period of five years to submit to the arbitration of the court at The Hague all claims for pecuniary loss or damage which may be presented by their respective citizens and which cannot be amicably adjusted through diplomatic channels, when such claims are of sufficient importance to warrant the expense of arbitration. Should both parties prefer that a special jurisdiction be organized, according to article 21 of the convention of The Hague this may be done, and if the permanent court of The Hague shall not be open to one or more of the signatory republics for any cause, they obligate themselves to stipulate then in a special treaty the rules under which a tribunal shall be established for the adjustment of the matter in dispute and the form of procedure to be followed in such arbitration. As a supplement to the protocol and treaty above referred to, this project of treaty is of great importance and will most certainly be of wide benefit to the good relations and intercourse between the United States and her sister republics of this Hemisphere." … "Among the most important recommendations made by the First International American Conference, held in Washington in 1889-1890, with a view to facilitating trade and communication between the American Republics, was that looking to the construction of an intercontinental railway, by which all of the republics on the American continent would be put into rail communication with each other. In pursuance of the recommendations of that conference, an international railway commission was organized, and under its direction surveys were made which showed that it would be entirely practicable, by using, as far as possible, existing railway systems and filling in the gaps between them. … The report of the intercontinental railway commission showed that the distance between New York and Buenos Ayres by way of the proposed line would be 10,471 miles, of which a little less than one-half had then been constructed, leaving about 5,456 miles to be built. Following up the work of the first conference and the intercontinental railway commission, the present conference adopted a strong report and a series of carefully considered recommendations on this subject. … "The resolution … providing for the meeting of an international American customs congress in the city of New York within a year, to consider customs administrative matters, is one of the subjects on which early action should be taken by our Government if the success of the congress is to be assured. The governing board of the International Bureau of the American Republics is to fix the date for the meeting of this congress. … This congress will have nothing whatever to do with the subject of tariff rates in any of the countries represented. Its functions … briefly stated, are to consider means for bringing about, as far as may be practicable, the adoption by the several republics of uniform and simple methods of custom-house procedure and a uniform and simple system of port regulations and charges; measures to secure the adoption and use in customs schedules and laws of a common nomenclature of the products and merchandise of the American republics, to be issued in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and that it may become the basis for the statistical data of exports and imports; to provide for the organization of a permanent customs committee or commission, composed of persons having technical and expert knowledge, which, as a dependency of the International Bureau of the American Republics, or otherwise, shall be charged with the execution of the resolutions and decisions of the congress and the study of the customs laws of the American republics, in order to suggest to the several governments the adoption of laws and measures which, with regard to custom house formalities, may tend to simplify and facilitate mercantile traffic. … {22} "Another resolution which contemplates that early action must be taken by the several Governments is that regarding quarantine and sanitary matters. In dealing with this subject the object of the conference was to make sanitation take the place of quarantine. When the ideal had in view by the conference shall have been realized, the cities of the Western Hemisphere will have been put in such perfect sanitary condition that the propagation of disease germs in them will be impossible and quarantine restrictions upon travel and commerce, with their vexations and burdensome delays and expenses, will be unnecessary. "The conference fully recognized the value and importance to all the Republics of the International Bureau of the American Republics, which was established in Washington in pursuance of the action of the First International American Conference. … With a view to rendering the Bureau still more useful to all the countries represented in its administration, and making it still more valuable in establishing and maintaining closer relations between them, the conference adopted a plan of reorganization, or rather of broadening and expanding the existing organization. … The new regulations adopted provide that the Bureau shall be under the management of a governing board to be composed of the Secretary of State of the United States, who is to be its chairman, and the diplomatic representatives in Washington of all the other governments represented in the Bureau. This governing board is to meet regularly once a month, excepting in June, July, and August of each year. … "In order that the archæological and ethnological remains existing in the territory of the several Republics of the Western Hemisphere might be systematically studied and preserved, the conference adopted a resolution providing for the meeting of an American international archæological commission in the city of Washington, D. C., within two years from the date of the adoption of the resolution. … "The conference gave its most hearty indorsement to the project for the construction of an interoceanic canal by the Government of the United States." … "The recommendation of the conference that there be established in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Buenos Ayres, or any other important mercantile center, a bank with branches in the principal cities in the American republics, is in line with the similar resolution adopted by the First International American Conference in Washington in 1889-1890." "In addition to the protocol for the adhesion of the American Republics to the Convention of The Hague, the treaty of compulsory arbitration signed by nine delegations, and the treaty for the arbitration of pecuniary claims, the Conference agreed to and signed a treaty for the extradition of criminals, … including a clause making anarchy an extraditable offense when it shall have been defined by the legislation of the respective countries; a convention on the practice of the learned professions, providing for the reciprocal recognition of the professional diplomas and titles granted in the several Republics; a convention for the formation of codes of public and private international law; … a convention on literary and artistic copyrights; … a convention for the exchange of official, scientific, literary, and industrial publications; … a treaty on patents of invention, etc.; … and a convention on the rights of aliens." The treaty on patents and the convention on the rights of aliens could not be signed by the delegates of the United States, for reasons set forth in their report. "The delegates desire especially to express their most grateful appreciation of the courtesy extended by the Mexican Government in preparing for the comfort of delegates and in all the arrangements for the conference. Every convenience at the command of that Government was placed at the disposal of delegates to assist them in the discharge of their labors. … "It is the belief of the delegates of the United States that the results of the Second International American Conference will be of great and lasting benefit to the nations participating in its deliberations. … That the relations between the American Republics have been improved as a result of the conference cannot be doubted. The intimate daily association for nearly four months, of leading men from every American Republic of itself tended toward this result. Delegates learned that, while existing international relations made differences of opinion inevitable between the representatives of some of the countries, they all had many interests in common. As a result, toleration for the opinions of others was shown by delegates to a marked degree, and the sessions of the conference were remarkably free from acrimonious debates and reflections on the policies of delegations or their Governments." 57th Congress, 1st Session 1901-1902, Senate Document 330. AMERICAN REPUBLICS: Their Third International Conference, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1906. Proceedings, conventions, resolutions. The Third International Conference of American Republics was held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 21st to August 26th, 1906. It was attended by delegates from each of the 21 American Republics, excepting only Hayti and Venezuela. The delegates from the United States of America were the Honorable William I. Buchanan, chairman, formerly Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic; Dr. L. S. Rowe, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania; Honorable A. J. Montague, ex-Governor of Virginia; Mr. Tulio Larrinaga, Resident Commissioner from Porto Rico in Washington; Mr. Paul S. Reinsch, Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin; Mr. Van Leer Polk, ex-Consul-General; with a staff of secretaries, etc., from several departments of the public service at Washington. The Conference was attended also by the Secretary of State of the United States, the Honorable Elihu Root, incidentally to an important tour through many parts of South America which he made in the months of that summer. In the course of his journey he visited, on invitation, not only Brazil, but Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama, and Colombia; and, as stated in the next annual Message of President Roosevelt, "he refrained from visiting Paraguay, Bolivia, and Ecuador only because the distance of their capitals from the seaboard made it impracticable with the time at his disposal. He carried with him a message of peace and friendship, and of strong desire for good understanding and mutual helpfulness; and he was everywhere received in the spirit of his message." {23} In the instructions to the delegates from the United States, prepared by Secretary Root, this wise admonition was conveyed:— "It is important that you should keep in mind and, as occasion serves, impress upon your colleagues, that such a conference is not an agency for compulsion or a tribunal for adjudication; it is not designed to compel States to make treaties or to observe treaties; it should not sit in judgment upon the conduct of any State, or undertake to redress alleged wrongs, or to settle controverted questions of right. A successful attempt to give such a character to the Conference would necessarily be fatal to the Conference itself, for few if any of the States represented in it would be willing to submit their sovereignty to the supervision which would be exercised by a body thus arrogating to itself supreme and indefinite powers. The true function of such a conference is to deal with matters of common interest which are not really subjects of controversy, but upon which comparison of views and friendly discussion may smooth away differences of detail, develop substantial agreement and lead to coöperation along common lines for the attainment of objects which all really desire. It follows from this view of the functions of the Conference that it is not expected to accomplish any striking or spectacular final results; but is to deal with many matters which, not being subjects of controversy, attract little public attention, yet which, taken together, are of great importance for the development of friendly intercourse among nations; and it is to make such progress as may now be possible toward the acceptance of ideals, the full realization of which may be postponed to a distant future. All progress toward the complete reign of justice and peace among nations is accomplished by long and patient effort and by many successive steps; and it is confidently hoped that this Conference will mark some substantial advancement by all the American States in this process of developing Christian civilization. Not the least of the benefits anticipated from the Conference will be the establishment of agreeable personal relations, the removal of misconceptions and prejudices, and the habit of temperate and kindly discussion among the representatives of so many Republics." The following account of the Conference and its action is derived from the subsequent official report of the Delegates of the United States:— "The sessions of the Conference were held in a spacious and ornate building, erected especially for this purpose by the Brazilian Government, and situated on the superb new boulevard that for nearly four miles follows the shore of the Bay of Rio, and at the end of the new Avenida Central. The building is a permanent one, reproduced in granite and marble from the plans of the palace erected by Brazil at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, at St. Louis. It is surrounded by an exquisite garden, and, facing as it does the entrance to the wonderfully beautiful Bay of Rio, the building is a notable landmark. It was christened 'The Monroe Palace' by special action of the Brazilian Government. The Brazilian Government installed in the palace a complete telegraph, mail, and telephone service, and telegrams, cables, and mail of the different delegations and of individual delegates were transmitted free. Recognition is due in this connection to the governments of the Argentine Republic, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chili, which officially extended, through the director of telegraphs of Brazil, the courtesy of free transit for all telegrams sent by delegates over the telegraph lines of their respective countries. This marked courtesy on the part of Brazil and of the Republics mentioned was greatly appreciated by the delegates. In connection with the work of the Conference, the Brazilian Government organized and maintained at its expense an extensive and competent corps of translators, stenographers, and clerical assistants, whose services were at all times at the command of the delegates. A buffet lunch, for the convenience and comfort of delegates and their guests, was maintained in the palace throughout the period of the Conference. The palace was elaborately lighted and was the center of attraction day and night for great crowds of people, and nothing in connection with its equipment and administration or that concerned the comfort or convenience of delegates was left undone by the Brazilian Government. The Monroe Palace now becomes a national meeting place for the people of Brazil. It will remain as an adornment of the splendid new Rio that has risen from the old city during the past two or three years, and as an evidence of the progress and energy of the Brazilian people. "The Conference was formally opened in the presence of a large and distinguished audience on the evening of July 23, 1906, by His Excellency the Baron do Rio Branco, the distinguished Brazilian minister for foreign affairs. The approaches to the palace were lined with troops, the public grounds and avenues of the city brilliantly illuminated and packed with people. … The Conference unanimously chose as its president, His Excellency Señor Dr. Joaquim Nabuco, the Brazilian Ambassador to the United States; as honorary vice-presidents, His Excellency the Baron do Rio Branco, and the Honorable Elihu Root, Secretary of State of the United States, and as its Secretary-General, His Excellency, Señor Dr. J. F. de Assis-Brasil, the Brazilian envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic. The latter selected as his assistants one of the most competent and distinguished groups of men that has served any of the preceding conferences. … These officers left nothing undone toward aiding and facilitating the work of delegates, and to them the United States delegation feels greatly indebted for the many courtesies and the great kindness extended on all occasions. "The conference was attended by delegates from each of the 21 American Republics, with the exception of Haiti and Venezuela." … {24} "The distinguishing note of the Conference was the extraordinary session convened to receive the Secretary of State of the United States, Honorable Elihu Root, who, as stated earlier in this report, had been named one of the two honorary presidents of the Conference. The reception accorded the Secretary of State by the Conference was one of the most notable political events that has taken place in our relations with Central and South America, and manifested the feeling of good fellowship and sympathy that exists between the American Republics. We believe the visit of the Secretary of State to South America has resulted in greater good to our relations with Central and South America than any one thing that has heretofore taken place in our diplomatic history with them. The extraordinary session of the Conference to receive the Secretary of State was held on the evening of July 31 and was one of great brilliancy. In introducing the Secretary of State to the Conference, His Excellency Dr. Joaquim Nabuco, the Brazilian Ambassador to the United States and President of the Conference, delivered a notable address, to which the Secretary of State replied." It was, indeed, a notable utterance of pregnant and impressive thought which Mr. Root addressed to this important congress of the American Republics, and it well deserved the distinction that was accorded to it by the President of the United States, when he appended it to his Message to Congress the following December. A considerable part of the brief but richly filled address may fitly be quoted here: "I bring from my country," said the Secretary, "a special greeting to her elder sisters in the civilization of America. Unlike as we are in many respects, we are alike in this, that we are all engaged under new conditions, and free from the traditional forms and limitations of the Old World in working out the same problem of popular self-government. "It is a difficult and laborious task for each of us. Not in one generation nor in one century can the effective control of a superior sovereign, so long deemed necessary to government, be rejected and effective self-control by the governed be perfected in its place. The first fruits of democracy are many of them crude and unlovely; its mistakes are many, its partial failures many, its sins not few. Capacity for self-government does not come to man by nature. It is an art to be learned, and it is also an expression of character to be developed among all the thousands of men who exercise popular sovereignty. "To reach the goal toward which we are pressing forward, the governing multitude must first acquire knowledge that comes from universal education, wisdom that follows practical experience, personal independence and self-respect befitting men who acknowledge no superior, self-control to replace that external control which a democracy rejects, respect for law, obedience to the lawful expressions of the public will, consideration for the opinions and interests of others equally entitled to a voice in the state, loyalty to that abstract conception—one’s country—as inspiring as that loyalty to personal sovereigns which has so illumined the pages of history, subordination of personal interests to the public good, love of justice and mercy, of liberty and order. All these we must seek by slow and patient effort; and of how many shortcomings in his own land and among his own people each one of us is conscious! "Yet no student of our times can fail to see that not America alone but the whole civilized world is swinging away from its old governmental moorings and intrusting the fate of its civilization to the capacity of the popular mass to govern. By this pathway mankind is to travel, whithersoever it leads. Upon the success of this our great undertaking the hope of humanity depends. Nor can we fail to see that the world makes substantial progress towards more perfect popular self-government. … "It is not by national isolation that these results have been accomplished or that this progress can be continued. No nation can live unto itself alone and continue to live. Each nation’s growth is a part of the development of the race. There may be leaders and there may be laggards, but no nation can long continue very far in advance of the general progress of mankind, and no nation that is not doomed to extinction can remain very far behind. It is with nations as with individual men; intercourse, association, correction of egotism by the influence of others' judgment, broadening of views by the experience and thought of equals, acceptance of the moral standards of a community the desire for whose good opinion lends a sanction to the rules of right conduct—these are the conditions of growth in civilization. … "To promote this mutual interchange and assistance between the American republics, engaged in the same great task, inspired by the same purpose, and professing the same principles, I understand to be the function of the American Conference now in session. There is not one of all our countries that cannot benefit the others; there is not one that cannot receive benefit from the others; there is not one that will not gain by the prosperity, the peace, the happiness of all. … "The association of so many eminent men from all the Republics, leaders of opinion in their own homes; the friendships that will arise among you; the habit of temperate and kindly discussion of matters of common interest; the ascertainment of common sympathies and aims; the dissipation of misunderstandings; the exhibition to all the American peoples of this peaceful and considerate method of conferring upon international questions—this alone, quite irrespective of the resolutions you may adopt and the conventions you may sign, will mark a substantial advance in the direction of international good understanding. "These beneficent results the Government and the people of the United States of America greatly desire. We wish for no victories but those of peace; for no territory except our own; for no sovereignty except the sovereignty over ourselves. We deem the independence and equal rights of the smallest and weakest member of the family of nations entitled to as much respect as those of the greatest empire, and we deem the observance of that respect the chief guaranty of the weak against the oppression of the strong. We neither claim nor desire any rights, or privileges, or powers that we do not freely concede to every American republic. We wish to increase our prosperity, to expand our trade, to grow in wealth, in wisdom, and in spirit, but our conception of the true way to accomplish this is not to pull down others and profit by their ruin, but to help all friends to a common prosperity and a common growth, that we may all become greater and stronger together. {25} "Within a few months, for the first time the recognized possessors of every foot of soil upon the American continents can be and I hope will be represented with the acknowledged rights of equal sovereign states in the great World Congress at The Hague. This will be the world’s formal and final acceptance of the declaration that no part of the American continents is to be deemed subject to colonization. Let us pledge ourselves to aid each other in the full performance of the duty to humanity which that accepted declaration implies; so that in time the weakest and most unfortunate of our republics may come to march with equal step by the side of the stronger and more fortunate. Let us help each other to show that for all the races of men the liberty for which we have fought and labored is the twin sister of justice and peace. Let us unite in creating and maintaining and making effective an all-American public opinion, whose power shall influence international conduct and prevent international wrong, and narrow the causes of war, and forever preserve our free lands from the burden of such armaments as are massed behind the frontiers of Europe, and bring us ever nearer to the perfection of ordered liberty. So shall come security and prosperity, production and trade, wealth, learning, the arts, and happiness for us all." The fruits of the Conference were embodied in four conventions and a number of important resolutions. The text of a convention agreed to, which establishes between the States signing it the status of naturalized citizens who again take up their residence in the country of their origin, will be found elsewhere in this Volume, under the subject-heading Naturalization. Another, which amends and extends the operation of a treaty signed at the Second Conference, at Mexico, in 1902 (see above) is as follows:— "Sole article. The treaty on pecuniary claims signed at Mexico January thirtieth, nineteen hundred and two, shall continue in force, with the exception of the third article, which is hereby abolished, until the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and twelve, both for the nations which have already ratified it, and for those which may hereafter ratify it." The third Convention signed was a modification and extension of another of the agreements of the Second Conference, at Mexico, having relation to patents of invention, literary property, etc. The fourth Convention provides for an "international Commission of Jurists, composed of one representative from each of the signatory States, appointed by their respective Governments, which Commission shall meet for the purpose of preparing a draft of a code of Private International Law and one of Public International Law, regulating the relations between the nations of America." The more important of the resolutions adopted were the following: "To ratify adherence to the principle of arbitration; and, to the end that so high a purpose may be rendered practicable, to recommend to the Nations represented at this Conference that instructions be given to their Delegates to the Second Conference to be held at The Hague, to endeavor to secure by the said Assembly, of world-wide character, the celebration of a General Arbitration Convention, so effective and definite that, meriting the approval of the civilized world, it shall be accepted and put in force by every nation." "To recommend to the Governments represented therein that they consider the point of inviting the Second Peace Conference, at The Hague, to examine the question of the compulsory collection of public debts, and, in general, means tending to diminish between Nations conflicts having an exclusively pecuniary origin." Other resolutions of the Conference were directed to a broadening of the work and an enlargement of the influence of the International Bureau of the American Republics; to the erection of a building for that Bureau and for the contemplated Library in Memory of Columbus; to the creation in the Bureau of a section having "as its chief object a special study of the customs legislation, consular regulations and commercial statistics of the Republics of America," with a view to bringing them into more harmony, and to securing the greatest development and amplification of commercial relations between American Republics; to promote the establishment and maintenance of navigation lines connecting the principal ports of the American continent; to bring about more effective cooperation in international sanitary measures; to advance the construction of lines that shall form, connectedly, the desired Pan-American Railway, extending through the two continents. The time and place of future conferences are to be determined by the Governing Board of the Bureau of American Republics. AMERICAN REPUBLICS: The International Bureau: Its increased efficiency. The gift of a building to it by Mr. Carnegie. The International Bureau of the American Republics, instituted at Washington in 1890 (see in Volume VI. of this work), assumed larger functions and increased importance in 1906, after the return of Mr. Root, United States Secretary of State, from his tour of visits to the South American States. The Honorable John Barrett, who had successively represented the Government of the United States in Panama, in Argentina and in Colombia, as well as at the Second Pan-American Conference, in Mexico, was made Director of the Bureau, and entered upon its duties with an exalted belief in the possibilities of good to be done in the American hemisphere by an energetic promotion of more intimate relations between its peoples. At the same time a new dignity was given to the International Union of the American Republics, embodied in the work of the Bureau, by the provision of a stately building for its use. Mr. Root had persuaded Congress to appropriate $200,000 for the site and building of such a home, to be offered to the Union, and this inadequate sum was supplemented by a generous private gift. It was easy to interest Mr. Andrew Carnegie in a project which bore so directly on the promotion of international friendliness and peace, and he offered an addition of $750,000 to the fund for the Pan-American Building. The site secured for the structure is that of the old Van Ness mansion, about half-way between the State, War and Navy Building and the Potomac River. It covers a tract of five acres, facing public parks on two sides. There the corner stone of a central seat of Pan-American coöperations and influences was laid in May, 1908, in the presence of official representatives from twenty-one American republics, and under their assembled flags. {26} AMERICAN SCHOOL PEACE LEAGUE, The. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1908. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF EQUITY. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902-1909. AMERICAN SUGAR REFINING COMPANY (the "Sugar Trust"). See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907-1909, and 1909. AMSTERDAM: A. D. 1907. Meeting of International Woman Suffrage Alliance. See (in this Volume) Elective Franchise: Woman Suffrage. AMUNDSEN, Roald: Arctic Exploration. Magnetic Pole Researches. See (in this Volume) POLAR EXPLORATION. ANAM: Deposition of the King. Toward the end of 1906, France asserted sovereignty over Anam, which had been a French Protectorate for many years, by adjudging its king to be insane, placing him in confinement, and thus ending his reign. He was accused of almost incredible atrocities, in torturing and murdering his wives and other subjects within his reach. Even cannibalism was included among his alleged crimes. ANARCHISM IN INDIA. See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1907-1908, and 1907-1909. ANATOLIAN RAILWAY. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: TURKEY: A. D. 1899-1909. ANDERSON, Judge A. B.: Acquittal of the Standard Oil Company. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904-1909. ANDRASSY, Count. See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905-1906. ANGELL, James Burrill: Retirement from Presidency of University of Michigan. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1909. ANGLE HILL, Capture of. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY). ANJUMAN, ENJUMEN. A term which seems to signify in Persia either a local assembly or a political association of any nature. See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1908-1909. ANNUITIES, for Workingmen. See POVERTY, PROBLEMS OF. ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION. See POLAR EXPLORATION. ANTHRACITE COAL: The Railroad Monopoly. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906-1909. ANTHRACITE COAL STRIKES. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES. ANTI-REBATE LEGISLATION. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1870-1908, and 1903 (FEBRUARY). ANTI-SEMITIC DEMONSTRATIONS. See (in this Volume) JEWS. ANTI-TRUST, or Sherman Act, of 1890 . See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1890-1902. ANTI-TRUST DECISIONS, in United States Courts. See (in this Volume) SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. ANTUNG: Opened to Foreign Trade. See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1903 (MAY-OCTOBER). ANTUNG-MUKDEN RAILWAY QUESTION, between Japan and China. See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1905-1909 APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF THE CURIA. See (in this Volume) PAPACY: A. D. 1908. APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN FORESTS, Preservation of the. See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES. APPONYI, Count Albert. See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1904; 1905-1906; 1908-1909. ARABIA: A. D. 1903-1905. "Holy War" with the Sultan opened by the Sheik Hamid Eddin, of the Hadramaut, claiming the Caliphate. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1905. ARBITRATION, INDUSTRIAL. See LABOR ORGANIZATION. ARBITRATION, INTERNATIONAL: General Treaties, since the First Peace Conference, of 1899. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1899-1909. ARBITRATION, SPECIAL: Of the Pious Fund Dispute between Mexico and the United States. See (in this Volume) MEXICO: A. D. 1902 (MAY). ARBITRATION, OF CLAIMS AGAINST VENEZUELA. See (in this Volume) VENEZUELA: A. D. 1902-1904. ARBITRATION, Of Alaska Boundary, between the United States and Great Britain. See (in this Volume) ALASKA: A. D. 1903. ARBITRATION, Of Brazil and British Guiana: Boundary Dispute. See (in this Volume) BRAZIL: A. D. 1904. ARBITRATION, Of Great Britain and Russia: The Dogger Bank Incident. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (OCTOBER-MAY). ARBITRATION, Of Fisheries Questions between the United States and Great Britain. See (in this Volume) NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1905-1909. ARBITRATION, Central American Court of Justice. See (in this Volume) CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1907. ARBITRATION, Of Casablanca Incident, between Germany and France, at The Hague. See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1907-1909. ARCTIC EXPLORATION. See (in this Volume) POLAR EXPLORATION. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1901-1906. Participation in Second and Third International Conferences of American Republics, at Rio de Janeiro. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1902. Noble ending of naval rivalries with Chile. A model arbitration treaty. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1902. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1903. The Foreign Population. "Statistics of 1903 showed 1,000,000 foreigners in Argentina in a total of 5,000,000. Of these 500,000 were Italians, 200,000 Spaniards, 100,000 French, 25,000 English, 18,000 Germans, 15,000 Swiss, 13,000 Austrians, and the remainder of many nationalities. The number of Americans did not exceed 1,500, although many are coming now, to go into cattle-raising and farming in the country or into all kinds of business in Buenos Ayres. English influence is very strong, especially in financial circles, with the Germans almost equally active." John Barret, Argentina (American Review of Reviews, July, 1905). ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1904. Inauguration of President Quintana. Dr. Manuel Quintana, elected President of the Republic, was inaugurated on the 12th of October, 1904, and entered on an administration which promised much good to the country. {27} ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1905. A revolutionary movement promptly suppressed. A revolutionary undertaking, in Buenos Aires and several provinces, had its outbreak on the 4th of February, but was suppressed so promptly that the public disturbance by it was very brief. Particulars of the affair were reported by the American Minister at Buenos Aires, Mr. Beaupré, as follows: "On the afternoon of the 3d instant rumors of an intended movement subversive of the established government of this country came to the Federal authorities from various parts of the Republic. These rumors were at first discredited, but finally proved so persistent that the President and heads of the various departments of the government proceeded to take measures of precaution. In the early hours of the morning of the next day, the 4th instant, the anticipated outbreak came simultaneously in the capital, Rosario, Mendoza, Cordoba, and Bahia Blanca, these being the largest cities of the Republic and the principal political and military centers. "In the capital the plan of the revolutionists seems to have been to attack the police stations and military arsenal, with a view perhaps of forcing the police of the capital into their ranks and of supplying themselves with arms and munitions. At the arsenal, by a simple stratagem of the minister of war, the malcontents were lured into the building and arrested. About the police stations there was some fighting, particularly at Station No. 14; but the insurgents proved unprepared and insufficiently organized, so that by dawn the movement had completely failed in this city. Except that many of the shops remained closed throughout the day of the 4th, and except for the presence of armed police in the streets, there were no evidences of any revolutionary effort. Some half dozen fatalities are reported. "The prompt and effective suppression of the revolution in this city is due in large measure to the energy and judgment displayed by the President and his ministers, who spent the entire night in the Government House in council. Following up the precautionary measures of the 3d instant and the active measures of the night of the 3d and 4th, the President proceeded at 8 A. M. of the 4th to declare the Republic in a state of siege for a period of thirty days, to call out the reserves and to establish a censorship of the press and of the telegraph service. "The movement in Rosario was about as brief and unsuccessful as that in the capital, so that by the forenoon of the 4th it was known to have failed in the two principal cities of the Republic. Here there was also some blood shed. "In the meantime the real center of the movement was the city of Cordoba, while serious trouble seemed in view in the city of Mendoza, where the revolutionists were said to be in a strong position, and in the province of Buenos Aires, where troops and marines were already in movement from Bahia Blanca upon the capital." Forces despatched to those points made as quick an ending of the revolt there as at the capital. "The revolutionary forces at Cordoba had made prisoners of the vice-president of the Republic, Dr. Figueroa Alcorta, and other prominent citizens. These prominent men they are reported to have proposed putting in their vanguard unless concessions were made to them. This and the conditions of the revolutionists the vice-president telegraphed to the Executive, who did not allow himself to be moved by threats or even by sympathy for his colleague. Consequently the revolutionists, finding threats and resistance vain, fled yesterday before the government troops arrived. With the failure of the movement in Cordoba the revolution is considered at an end and the country has returned to its former condition of peace and tranquillity." ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1906. Death of its President. Dr. Manuel Quintana, the much esteemed President of the Argentine Republic, died in March, 1906, and was succeeded by the Vice-President, Dr. Figuero Alcorta, who will fill the office until 1910. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1908. Dreadnought building. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1909. Assassination of Colonel Falcon. As Colonel Falcon, Prefect of Police at Buenos Ayres, was returning from a funeral, with his secretary, on the 14th of November, a bomb was thrown into the carriage and exploded, with fatal effects to both. The assassin, a youth of nineteen years, was captured. The murder had been preceded by a number of bomb explosions in the past six months, all attributed to anarchists from Europe, of whom large numbers were said to have been collected in Buenos Ayres. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1909. Chief food supply to Great Britain. "How many readers of The Times (said a special correspondent of the London Times writing from Buenos Aires, October 15, 1909), if asked to name the country which supplied the United Kingdom last year with the largest quantity of wheat, of maize, and of refrigerated and frozen cattle, would unhesitatingly award the first place to the Argentine Republic? How many English people realize that this South American Republic is changing places with the North American Republic in the exporting of these and other food products to the United Kingdom? The Argentine Republic last year occupied, and may in the future occupy, the first, whilst the United States may have to be content with the second, place in the exportation of foodstuffs. The change is partly due to the shortage of meat in America, and partly to the fact that with their increasing population the United States will have less and less surplus provisions with which to supply the world. Last year, the Argentine Republic sent England three times more maize than the United States did, something like four and a half million cwt. more wheat, and considerably over twice the amount of refrigerated and frozen cattle. The shipments of meat are considerably heavier for the first nine months of 1909, so the proportion shipped by the Argentine Republic is not likely to be less for the present year." ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1909. Arbitration of the Acre boundary dispute between Bolivia and Peru. See (in this Volume) ACRE DISPUTES. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1909. Building of the Transandine Railway Tunnel. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: ARGENTINA-CHILE. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1910. Agreement with Uruguay concerning the River Plate. The following message came from Buenos Ayres on the 6th of January, 1910: "A burning question between Argentina and Uruguay, which for two years was seemingly insoluble and possibly involved Brazil, has been settled by Señor Roque Saenz-Peña. {28} As Argentine Plenipotentiary he signed a Protocol at Montevideo yesterday, of which the following is a summary: Recognizing the reciprocal desire for friendly relations, fortified by the common origin of the two nations, the parties agree to declare that past differences are not capable of being regarded as a cause of offence and shall not be allowed to continue. The navigation and use of the waters of the River Plate will continue as heretofore without alteration, and differences which may arise in the future will be removed and settled in the same spirit of cordiality." ARICA-LA PAZ RAILWAY. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: CHILE-BOLIVIA. ARICA QUESTION. See (in this Volume) CHILE: A. I). 1907. ARID LANDS, Reclamation of. See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES. ARIZONA: Refusal of statehood in union with New Mexico. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906. ARMENIANS: A. D. 1903-1904. Incursions of Armenian revolutionists from Russia and Persia. Exaggerated accounts of massacre. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1904. ARMENIANS: A. D. 1905. Massacre by Tartars in the Caucasus. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (FEBRUARY-NOVEMBER). ARMENIANS: A. D. 1909. Massacre at Adana and vicinity. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY) and (APRIL-DECEMBER). ARMAMENTS. Armies. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATION FOR. ARMOUR & CO.,et al., The case of the United States against. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903-1906. ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY: Decision against in rebating case. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908. ARMSTRONG, Vice-Consul J. P.: Reports on affairs in the Congo State. See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1906-1909. ARMSTRONG INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE. See (in this Volume) INSURANCE, LIFE. ARNOLDSEN, K. P. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. ARRHENIUS, SVANTE AUGUST. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. ARYA SAMAJ, The: This is "an organization founded in Bombay more than 30 years ago by a devout Gujerati Brahmin who was born in Kathiawar. So far as I am aware, it has few followers in Bombay nowadays: but in the last few years it has waxed very strong in the Punjab. Originally it was a purely religious movement, based upon the teaching of the Vedas. It promotes the abolition of caste and idolatry, condemns early marriages, and permits the remarriage of widows. At the same time it is violently hostile to Christianity. There can be no question that large numbers of members of the Arya Samaj are only concerned with its spiritual side; but there can be equally no question that the organization, as a whole, has developed marked political tendencies subversive of British rule. … "In the United Provinces it is believed that there are now about 40,000 members of the Arya Samaj. I have entirely failed to secure any trustworthy estimate of the number of its members in this province [the Punjab], but there are flourishing branches of the Samaj in every large town and in many of the important villages, and proselytism is being actively pursued with marked success. The members of the Samaj strenuously deny that their organization has a political side. The literature of the sect, and particularly the writings of their founder, the ardent ascetic Dayanand Saraswati, who came from Kathiawar, show no trace of any interest in mundane politics. Dayanand was an enthusiast who denounced the idolatrous tendencies of modern Hinduism, and advocated a return to the earlier, purer faith. … Dayanand’s clarion call of "Back to the Vedas" produced a complete revulsion of feeling, and he made the Punjab a stronghold of the new creed. For that reason, the Arya Samaj is to this day the bitterest opponent of Christianity in India; and Punjabi Mahomedans declare that it is also their most formidable foe." India correspondence of The Times. ASHOKAN RESERVOIR. See (in this Volume) NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1905-1909. ASIATIC IMMIGRATION: The resistance to it in South Africa, Australia, America, and elsewhere. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS. ASQUITH, Mr. Herbert Henry, Chancellor of the Exchequer. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905 (DECEMBER), and 1905-1906. ASQUITH, Mr. Herbert Henry: On the German attitude toward an international reduction of naval armaments. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR. ASQUITH, Mr. Herbert Henry: Address at the Imperial Conference of 1907 on Preferential Trade. See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907. ASQUITH, Mr. Herbert Henry: Prime Minister. See ENGLAND: A. D. 1908 (APRIL). ASQUITH, Mr. Herbert Henry: On the rejection of the Licensing Bill by the House of Lords. See (in this Volume) Alcohol Problem: England: A. D. 1908. ASQUITH, Mr. Herbert Henry: On the Budget of 1909. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1909 (APRIL-DECEMBER). ASIA: The Asiatic future of Russia as it appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA. ASSAM: United with Eastern Bengal. See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1905-1909. ASSASSINATIONS: Of King Alexander, Queen Draga, and others of the Servian Court. See (in this Volume) BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: SERVIA. ASSASSINATIONS: Of Count Alexei Ignatief. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1906. ASSASSINATIONS: Of Ali Akbar Khan, the Atabek Azam. See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1907. ASSASSINATIONS: Of Ashutosh Biswas. See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1907-1908. ASSASSINATIONS: Of the Atabeg-i-Azam. See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1907 (JANUARY-SEPTEMBER). ASSASSINATIONS: Of General Beckman. See (in this Volume) DENMARK: A. D. 1909 (JUNE). ASSASSINATIONS: Of Governor-General Bobrikoff. See (in this Volume) FINLAND: A. D. 1904. ASSASSINATIONS: Of M. Bogoliepoff, Russian Minister of Instruction. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A D. 1901-1904. ASSASSINATIONS: Of King Carlos I. and Crown Prince Luiz Felipe. See (in this Volume) PORTUGAL: A. D. 1906-1909. ASSASSINATIONS: Of Sir Curzon-Wyllie. See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1909 (JULY). ASSASSINATIONS: Of Premier Delyannis. See (in this Volume) GREECE: A. D. 1905. {29} ASSASSINATIONS: Of Colonel Falcon. See (in this Volume) ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D). 1909. ASSASSINATIONS: Of Fehim Pasha. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER), and 1909 (JANUARY-MAY). ASSASSINATIONS: Of Prince Ito. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1909 (OCTOBER). ASSASSINATIONS: Of Colonel Karpoff. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1909 (DECEMBER). ASSASSINATIONS: Of President McKinley. See (in this Volume) BUFFALO: A. D. 1901; and UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901 (SEPTEMBER). ASSASSINATIONS: Of General Min. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1906 (AUGUST). ASSASSINATIONS: Of M. Plehve. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1901-1904. ASSASSINATIONS: Of General Sakharoff. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1904-1905. ASSASSINATIONS: Of Count Schouvaloff. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (FEBRUARY-NOVEMBER). ASSASSINATIONS: Of Grand Duke Sergius. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1904-1905. ASSASSINATIONS: Of Shemsi Pasha. See TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER). ASSASSINATIONS: Of M. Sipiagin. See RUSSIA: A. D. 1901-1904. ASSASSINATIONS: Of ex-Governor Steunenberg, of Idaho. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES. A. D. 1899-1907. ASSASSINATIONS: Of D. W. Stevens. See KOREA: A. D. 1905-1909. ASSASSINATIONS: Attempted murder of Minister Stolypin. See RUSSIA: A. D. 1906 (AUGUST). ASSINIBOIA: Absorbed in the Province of Saskatchewan. See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1905. ASSIS-BRAZIL, Dr. J. F.: Secretary-general of Third International Conference of American Republics. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. ASSOCIATIONS, Law: French. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1902 (APRIL-OCTOBER), and 1903. ASSOCIATIONS, Law: German. See GERMANY: A. D. 1908 (APRIL). ASSUAN DAM, Completion of. See (in this Volume) EGYPT: A. D. 1902 (DECEMBER). ASTRONOMY OF THE INVISIBLE. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION. ATABEG-I-AZAM: Premier of Persia. His assassination. See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1907 (JANUARY-SEPTEMBER). ATABEGS, ATABEKS. See (in this Volume) Persia: A. D. 1905-1906. ATCHINESE, Dutch hostilities with the. See (in this Volume) NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1904. ATHABASCA: Absorbed in the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1905. ATLANTA: A. D. 1906. Anti-Negro Riot. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906. ATWATER, Professor W. O. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. AUSGLEICH, Austro-Hungarian. See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1902-1903, and 1907. ----------AUSTRALIA: Start-------- AUSTRALIA: The Race Problem. Reasons for dread of Asiatic immigration. The demand for a white Australia. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS. AUSTRALIA: Woman Suffrage. See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: WOMAN SUFFRAGE. AUSTRALIA: Government ownership of railways. Disconnecting gauges in the several states. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1901-1902. The Tariff Question in the First Parliament of the Commonwealth. Issue between the Senate and the Representative Chamber. "The tariff originally proposed by the government was framed on lines of extreme protection, with special reference to the languishing industries of Victoria; it was inevitable that the opposition, mainly representing New South Wales, should fight tooth and nail to prevent its becoming law. The result of the struggle, which lasted almost without a serious interruption for nine months, has been a compromise which leaves the tariff of the commonwealth neither one thing nor the other. There can be little doubt that in debating power and political generalship the victory lay generally with the opposition; but after all the result, so far as it was a victory for the party of free trade, was due to the action of the Senate. "To many, and apparently not least to the cabinet, the prompt and effective interference of the Senate in a question of taxation, which was generally supposed to be practically placed by the constitution almost as much beyond their control as custom has placed it beyond that of the House of Lords in England, was a great surprise, and as the first test of the respective powers of the two chambers of the legislature it can hardly fail to be of great political importance. It was provided by the constitution not only that all bills involving the taxation of the people, directly or indirectly, should, as in this country, originate in the representative chamber of the legislature, but further that such bills should not be altered or amended in their passage through the Senate. As a concession to the less populous states, it was agreed when the constitution was framed that while only the chamber, elected on a strict basis of population, should impose or control taxation, the Senate, in which all the states enjoy, as in America, equal representation, should have the right to suggest, for the consideration of the other chamber, any amendments it thought desirable in any money bill sent on for its assent. This provision, mild and inoffensive as it was supposed to be, has now been used in a way to upset the policy of the government, and practically to compel the assent of the representative chamber to the views of a Senate majority. The tariff bill as passed by the government majority was subjected to an exhaustive criticism by the Senate, and finally fully fifty items of the schedule imposing duties were referred back to the representative chamber, with a request for their reconsideration and reduction or excision. {30} "The government attempted to meet the difficulty by agreeing to a few trifling amendments on the lines suggested, and got the chamber peremptorily to reject all the others, sending the bill back in effect as it was. To this the Senate replied by calmly adhering to the views it had already expressed, and sending the bill back again for further consideration, allowing it to be pretty plainly understood that, in the event of their views being ignored, they would place their reasons on record and reject the bill altogether, thus preventing any uniform tariff being established during the session. Face to face with so grave a difficulty the cabinet gave way, and agreed to a compromise which they would not have dreamed of doing but for the action of the Senate, with its free-trade majority of two votes. The immediate result of the long struggle has been the passing of a tariff act which pleases neither party, but will apparently raise the required revenue of $40,000,000, needed to meet the wants of the federal and state governments." Hugh H. Lusk, The First Parliament of Australia (American Review of Reviews, March, 1903). AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1902. The "States Rights" temper. Question of constitutional relations between Commonwealth and States in external affairs, as raised by South Australia. Decision of the Imperial Government. "State-rights" questions and the provincialistic spirit behind them made a prompt appearance in the Australian Commonwealth after its federation was accomplished. One of the first wrangles to occur between the General Government and that of a State was appealed necessarily to the Imperial Government at London, because it arose out of a call from the latter, in September, 1902, for information about an incident which concerned a Dutch ship. The request for information went from London to the Commonwealth Government, and from the latter to the Government of South Australia, where the incident in question occurred, involving some act of its officials. The South Australian Ministry declined to pass the desired information through the channel of the Commonwealth Ministry, but would give it to the British Colonial Office, direct. A long triangular argumentative correspondence ensued, in the course of which much that seems like a repetition of the early history of the United States of America appears. Such as this, for example, in one of the letters of the Acting Premier of South Australia to the Lieutenant-Governor of that State: "The importance to the States, especially to the smaller States, of strictly maintaining the lines of demarcation between Commonwealth and State power is manifest. Already a movement has begun to destroy the Federal element in the Constitution. A remarkable indication of this may be gathered from a speech made by Sir William Lyne, the Commonwealth Minister for Home Affairs, at Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia, on the 2nd day of the present month. Speaking of the Constitution, Sir William Lyne said: 'If the population increased in the States as he expected, he did not think three of the larger States would still consent to be governed by four of the smaller ones. He hoped that when the time came there would not be bloodshed, but that things would settle themselves in a manner worthy of the records of the first Parliament.’ "Believing, as Ministers do, that the peaceful and successful working of the Constitution depends upon the strict maintenance of the lines of demarcation between the powers of the Commonwealth and those of the States, and that that line is drawn clearly in the Constitution, they cannot agree to the opinions of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, which increase, by implication, the power of the Commonwealth, and which seem to Ministers to tend to Unification, and to a sacrifice of the Federal to the National principle." This communication, transmitted to London, drew from the then Colonial Secretary, Mr. Chamberlain, an unanswerable reply, addressed to the Lieutenant-Governor and dated April 15, 1903, in part as follows: "Your Ministers contend ‘that the grant of power to the Commonwealth, notwithstanding the general terms of Section 3 of the Act, is strictly limited to the Departments transferred, and to matters upon which the Commonwealth Parliament has power to make laws and has made laws,’ and that ‘in the distribution of legislative and consequently of executive power, made by the Constitution, all powers not specifically ceded to the Commonwealth remain in the States.’ "They are unable to agree ‘with the contention that there does not appear to be anything in the Constitution to justify this limitation,’ and argue that the validity of any claim of the Commonwealth to any particular power, should be tested by enquiring:—Does the Constitution specifically confer the power? "The view of the Act which I take is that it is a Constitution Act, and creates a new political community. It expressly declares that ‘the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia.’ The object and scope of the Act is defined and declared by the preamble to be to give effect to the agreement of the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania 'to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established.’ "The whole Act must be read in the light of this declaration and the provisions of Section 3. So far as other communities in the Empire or foreign nations are concerned, the people of Australia form one political community for which the Government of the Commonwealth alone can speak, and for everything affecting external states or communities, which takes place within its boundaries, that Government is responsible. The distribution of powers between the Federal and State Authorities is a matter of purely internal concern of which no external country or community can take any cognizance. It is to the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth alone that, through the Imperial Government, they must look, for remedy or relief for any action affecting them done within the bounds of the Commonwealth, whether it is the act of a private individual, of a State official, or of a State government. The Commonwealth is, through His Majesty’s Government, just as responsible for any action of South Australia affecting an external community as the United States of America are for the action of Louisiana or any other State of the Union. {31} "The Crown undoubtedly remains part of the constitution of the State of South Australia and, in matters affecting it in that capacity, the proper channel of communication is between the Secretary of State and the State Governor. But in matters affecting the Crown in its capacity as the central authority of the Empire, the Secretary of State can, since the people of Australia have become one political community, look only to the Governor-General, as the representative of the Crown in that community." The published correspondence ends with this, and it is to be assumed that South Australia had no more to say. Correspondence respecting the Constitutional Relations of the Australian Commonwealth and States in regard to External Affairs (Parliamentary Papers, Cd. 1587). AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1902. British Colonial Conference at London. See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1902. The Governor-Generalship. The office of Governor-General was resigned by Lord Hopetoun in the summer, and he was succeeded by Lord Tennyson. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1902-1909. Undertakings of irrigation and forestry. See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1903. The Governor-Generalship. In August, Lord Northcote, previously Governor of the Presidency of Bombay, was appointed Governor-General of Australia, succeeding Lord Tennyson. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1903-1904. Resignation of Premier Barton. The Deakin Ministry. Four months of power for the Labor Party. Its influence in the Commonwealth. Sir Edmund Barton, who had been the Prime Minister of the Australian Commonwealth since its Union in 1900 (see Australia in Volume VI. of this work), resigned in 1903 to accept a place on the bench of the High Federal Court, and was succeeded by Mr. Alfred Deakin, previously Attorney-General in the Federal Cabinet. The most important occurrence of the year in the Commonwealth was the election of a new House of Representatives in the Federal Parliament and of one third of its Senate. These were the first federal elections occurring since those of 1900 which constituted the original Parliament, opened in May, 1901, and the first in which women went to the polls. The main issue in the elections was between the Labor Party and its opponents, and the rising power of the former was shown by its gain of six seats in each House, four from the Ministry and two from the opposition in the Senate, and all six from the Ministry in the lower House. This threw the balance of power into its hands in both branches of Parliament. Naturally, in these circumstances, labor questions became dominant in Australian politics, with Socialistic tendencies very strong. The Deakin Ministry was defeated in April, 1904, on an industrial arbitration bill which excluded State railway employés and other civil servants from its provisions, contrary to the demands of the Labor Party. The adverse majority was made up of 23 Labor representatives, 13 opponents of the protectionist policy of the Government, and 4 from the ranks of its own ordinary supporters. The ministry resigned, and the leader of the Labor Party, Mr. J. C. Watson, a young compositor by trade, was called to form a Government, which he did, drawing all but its Law Officer from the Labor Party. It is creditable to the capability of this Labor Ministry that, with so precarious a backing in the House, it should have held the management of Government, with apparently good satisfaction to the public, for about four months. It was defeated in August on another labor question, and gave way to a coalition Ministry of Free Traders and Moderate Protectionists, formed under Mr. George Houston Reid. An account of the Labor Ministry and its leader, from which the following facts are taken, was given by The Review of Reviews for Australasia at the time of its ascendancy: The average age of the members is only forty-three years, while in England sixty is the average age at which corresponding rank is attained. The nationalities of the members are as follows: One, the prime minister, is a New Zealander, two are Australian-born, two are Irish, two are Scotch, and one is Welsh. There is not one who was born in England. Mr. John Christian Watson, the premier, is but thirty-seven years of age. He was born in Valparaiso, where his parents were on a visit, but was only a few months old when they returned to New Zealand. At an early age he began his apprenticeship as a compositor, joining the Typographical Union. When nineteen, he came to Sydney and joined the composing staff of the Star. Then he became president of the Sydney Trades and Labor Council, and president of the Political Labor League of New South Wales. In 1894, he was returned to a New South Wales Parliament, and took the leading place among the Labor members. In 1901, he was returned to the first federal Parliament. He was selected to lead the Labor party in the federal House, and has won golden opinions in that position. He is a born leader of men, and has rare tact. He overcame the apprehension caused by his youth. He curbed the extremists of his party. Power came to him at once. He seized the advantage of leading a third party between two opponents. It was he, rather than Sir Edmund Barton or Mr. Deakin, who decided what should pass and what not. The situation developed in this period is described by an American writer, whose sympathies are ardently with the Labor Party, as follows: "Protectionists and Free Traders (so called) were so divided in the Australian Parliament that neither could gain a majority without the Labor Party. A succession of governments bowled over by labor votes drove this hard fact into the political intelligence. The Labor Party was then invited to take the government. For five months men that had been carpenters, bricklayers, and painters administered the nation’s affairs. No convulsion of nature followed, no upheavals and no disasters. It is even admitted that the government of these men was conspicuously wise, able, and successful. But having a minority party, their way was necessarily precarious, and on the chance blow of an adverse vote they resigned. Some scene shifting followed, but in the end the present arrangement was reached, by which the government is in the hands of the Protectionists that follow Mr. Deakin, and the ministry is supported by the Labor Party on condition that the Government adopt certain legislation. And that is the extent of the ‘absolute rule of the Labor gang.’ The Deakin Government does not greatly care for the Labor Party, nor for the Labor Party’s ideas, but it rules by reason of the Labor Party’s support, and in return therefor has passed certain moderate and well-intentioned measures of reform. {32} Indeed the sum-total of the ‘revolutionary, radical, and socialistic laws’ passed by the Labor Party, directly or by bargaining with the Deakin or other ministries, indicates an exceedingly gentle order of revolution. It has done much in New South Wales and elsewhere to mitigate the great estate evil by enacting graduated land taxes; it has passed humane and reasonable laws regulating employers’ liability for accidents to workmen and laws greatly bettering the hard conditions of labor in mines and factories. It has passed a law to exclude trusts from Australian soil. It has stood for equal rights for men and women. In New South Wales it has enormously bettered conditions for toilers by regulating hours of employment even in department and other stores and by instituting a weekly half-holiday the year around for everybody. It has tried with a defective Arbitration and Conciliation Act to abolish strikes. To guard Australia against the sobering terrors of the race problem that confronts America, it has succeeded in keeping out colored aliens. It has agitated for a Henry George land tax and for the national ownership of public services and obvious monopolies. And with one exception this is the full catalogue of its misdeeds." [The "one exception" is the abolition of coolie labor.] Charles E. Russell, The Uprising of the Many, chapter 24 (Doubleday, Page and Company, New York, 1907). See, also, (in this Volume) Labor Organization: Australia. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1905-1906. Mr. Deakin’s precarious ministry. Power of the Labor Party without responsibility. Its principles and its "Fighting Platform." Important legislation of 1905. The Federal Capital question. General election of 1906. Mr. Reid, the Free Trade Premier, had taken office on an agreement with Mr. Deakin, the Protectionist leader, that the tariff question should not be opened during the term of the existing Parliament. But the truce became broken early in 1905, each party attributing the breach to the other, and the Reid Ministry, beaten on an amendment to the address replying to the Governor-General’s speech, resigned. The Protectionists, in provisional alliance with the Labor Party, then came back to power, with Mr. Deakin at their head. Of the political situation in 1905 it was said by a writer in one of the English reviews: "The Labour Party can dictate terms to the Ministry, and ensure that its own policy is carried out by others. It is strongest whilst it sits on the cross benches. During the few months it was in office it was at the mercy of Parliament; it left most of the planks of its platform severely alone, and it had, during that time, less real power than it has had either before or since. It is not likely again to take office, unless it can command an absolute majority of its own members to give effect to its own ideas, and, indeed, it perhaps would be better for Australia that it had responsibility as well as power, rather than as at present power without responsibility. However, if not at the next general election, the party is bound ere long to get the clear Parliamentary majority it seeks. Under these circumstances, great importance attaches to its aims and organisation. … "To quote from the official report of the decisions of the last Triennial Conference of the Political Labour organisations of the Commonwealth, which sat in Melbourne last July, the objective of the Federal Labour party is as follows: "(a) The cultivation of an Australian sentiment, based upon the maintenance of racial purity, and the development in Australia of an enlightened and self-reliant community, (b) The security of the full results of their industry to all producers by the collective ownership of monopolies, and the extension of the industrial and economic functions of the State and Municipality. The Labour party seek to achieve this objective by means of a policy that they invariably refer to as their platform. The planks of what is called the ‘Fighting Platform’ are as follows: "(1) The maintenance of a white Australia. (2) The nationalisation of monopolies. (3) Old age pensions. (4) A tariff referendum. (5) A progressive tax on unimproved land values. (6) The restriction of public borrowing. (7) Navigation laws. (8) A citizen defence force. (9) Arbitration amendment." J. W. Kirwan, The Australian Labour Party (Nineteenth Century, November, 1905). A strike in one of the coal mines of New South Wales during 1905 brought the Arbitration Act of that province to an unsatisfactory test. The dispute, concerning wages, went to the Arbitration Court and was decided against the miners. They refused to accept the decision, abandoning work, and the court, when appealed to by the employers, found itself powerless to enforce the decision it had made. The judge resigned in consequence, and there was difficulty in finding another to take his seat. The Labor Party secured the passage of an Act which gives the trades-union label the force of a trade mark. Another important Act of 1905 modified the Immigration Restriction Act, so far as to admit Asiatic and other alien students and merchants, whose stay in the country was not likely to be permanent, and which, furthermore, permitted the introduction of white labor under contract, subject to conditions that were expected to prevent any lowering of standard wages. The location of a federal capital became a subject of positive quarrel between the Government of the Commonwealth and that of New South Wales. By agreements which preceded the federation, the Commonwealth capital was to be in New South Wales, but not less than a hundred miles from Sydney. This hundred-mile avoidance of Sydney was considerably exceeded by the Federal Government when it chose a site, to be called Dalgety, about equidistant from Sydney and Melbourne. New South Wales objected to the site and objected to the extent of territory demanded for it. Mr. Deakin proposed a survey of 900 square miles for the Federal District. New South Wales saw no reason for federal jurisdiction over more than 100 square miles. Ultimately Dalgety was rejected and a site named Yass-Canberra, or Canberra, was agreed upon and the choice confirmed by legislation. It is in the Murray district, about 200 miles southwest of Sydney. A general election in the Commonwealth, near the close of 1906, gave the Protectionists a small increase of strength in Parliament, and the Labor Party gained one seat, raising its representation from 25 to 26. The losers were the so-called Free Traders, or opponents of protective tariff-making. Their leader, Mr. Reid, in the canvass, dropped the tariff issue and made war on the State Socialism of the Labor Party. He held in the new Parliament a considerably larger following than the Protectionist Premier, Mr. Deakin, could muster, but it contained more Protectionists than Free Traders. {33} AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1906. Developing the water supply. See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1907. The "New Protection," under the Tariff Excise Act. See (in this Volume) LABOR REMUNERATION: THE "NEW PROTECTION." AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1907. Statistics of state schools. See EDUCATION: AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1907 (April-May). Imperial Conference at London. See BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1908 (December). Population of the Commonwealth. According to a letter to the London Times, from Sydney, "the population of Australia on December 31, 1908, was estimated at 4,275,304 (exclusive of full-blooded blacks), showing an increase of 509,965, or of 13.5 per cent. in the eight years of federation. That," said the writer, "is not a satisfactory expansion, and we should have fared better. New South Wales gained 231,367, or 17 per cent. and Western Australia 87,143, or 48.4 per cent. but all the other States fared indifferently. There is reason to hope that in the change of fashion, Australia will again grow into some favour with the emigrant from home." AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1908. Change of Ministry. Late in the year, the Ministry of Mr. Deakin lost the provisional support of the Labor party, which had kept it in control of the Government for nearly four years, and suffered a defeat in Parliament which threw it out. For the second time a short-lived Labor Ministry was formed, under Mr. Andrew Fisher. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1908. The Governor-Generalship. After five years of service as Governor-General, Lord Northcote returned to England in the fall of 1908 and was succeeded by Lord Dudley. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909. Attitude of the people toward immigration. Land-locking against settlement. See (in this Volume) Immigration: AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909. A summary of sixty years of growth and progress. Sir John Forrest, Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia, in his Budget Speech to the Federal House of Representatives, in August, 1909, surveyed the position of Australia as part of the British nation,—a continent, he observed, containing two billion acres, with a coast line of 12,000 miles, no other nation having right or title to any part of this splendid heritage of the Southern Hemisphere, which was another home for the British race. Sixty years ago, said Sir John, the population of Australia was 400,000 and there were no railways. Now the inhabitants numbered nearly four-and-a-half millions, of whom 96 per cent were British. They had £112,000,000 deposited in banks and deposits in savings banks to the amount of over £46,000,000, the depositors in these being one-third of the entire population. They had produced minerals to the value of £713,000,000. Ten million acres were under crop. During last year Australia had produced 62,000,000 bushels of wheat. It had exported butter of the value of £2,387,000 and wool of the value of £23,000,000. Australia had 90,000,000 sheep, 10,000,000 cattle, and 2,000,000 horses. The oversea trade in 1908 represented £114,000,000. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909. Proposed federalization of state debts. On the 8th of September, 1909, the Government introduced a Bill in the House of Representatives for the amendment of the Constitution so as to enable the Commonwealth to federalize the State debts incurred since the inauguration of the Commonwealth, in addition to those then existing. The Premier urged that if the agreement was carried out the Commonwealth would be freed financially, and if the debts were taken over the per capita payments would be appropriated to meet the interest on the debts, the States making up any deficiency. The Bill was passed by the House on the 7th of October. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909. Federal acquisition of the Northern Territory. A Bill providing for the transfer to the Commonwealth of the vast unpopulated Northern Territory of the Australian Continent was before the Parliament of the Commonwealth during the last summer. In advocating its passage, the Minister for External Affairs explained that "the area to be transferred under the Bill was equal to France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy together. Port Darwin was nearer to Hongkong than to Sydney, and while the Northern Territory remained unpeopled it was a perpetual menace to Australia. The military authorities, Sir George Le Hunte, formerly Governor of South Australia, and Lord Northcote, formerly Governor-General of the Commonwealth, had all strongly urged its effective occupation, and Mr. Roosevelt had advised the Commonwealth to fill its ‘empty north.’ "By the terms of the agreement the Commonwealth would assume responsibility for the debt of the territory, amounting to £2,725,000, and the accumulated deficit of the past administration, amounting to £600,000. The measure provided for the taking over of the Port Augusta-Oodnadatta Railway at a price of £2,240,000, and for the Commonwealth to undertake the construction of a trans continental line connecting the territory with South Australia, at an estimated cost of £4,500,000. The latest reports showed that the interior of the territory was a fertile and well-watered white man’s country, the healthiest in the tropical world, and that it was capable of carrying a large population." Despatch from Melbourne to The Times, London. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909 (May-June). Opening of the session of Parliament. Programme of business proposed. The political situation. Coalition under Mr. Deakin against the ministry. Its success. Resignation of Premier Fisher and Cabinet. Return of Mr. Deakin to power. His programme. The Federal Parliament was opened at Melbourne on the 26th of May. In the speech of the Governor-General, Lord Dudley, as reported to the English Press, he stated that "notwithstanding a decrease in the Customs and postal revenue, arrangements had been made to pay old-age pensions from July 1. Large financial obligations would be incurred in the near future and would demand careful attention. Parliament would be invited to consider the financial relations between the Commonwealth and the States, with a view to an equitable adjustment of them. Proposals would be submitted for the establishment of a Commonwealth silver and paper currency. {34} "The Governor-General went on to refer to the coming Imperial Defence Conference and the establishment of a General Staff for the Empire. Engagements had, he said, been entered into for the building of three destroyers, and Parliament would be asked to approve a policy of naval construction including the building of similar vessels in Australia and the training of the necessary crews. A measure providing for an effective citizens’ defence force would be introduced at an early stage. "It being recognized that the effective defence of Australia required a vast increase in the population, it was proposed to introduce a measure of progressive taxation on unimproved land values, leading to a subdivision of large estates, so as to offer immigrants the inducement necessary to attract them in large numbers. "Proposals would be submitted for the amendment of the Constitution, so as to enable Parliament to protect the interests of the consumer while ensuring a fair and reasonable wage to every worker to extend the jurisdiction of Parliament in regard to trusts and combinations, and to provide for the nationalization of monopolies." See (in this Volume), LABOR REMUNERATION: THE ‘NEW PROTECTION’. In an editorial article on the situation at this juncture in Australia, which was, it remarked, "as interesting as it is obscure," the London Times rehearsed the main facts of it as follows: "It will be remembered that towards the close of last year the withdrawal of its support by the Labour party led somewhat unexpectedly to the defeat and resignation of Mr. Deakin’s Cabinet. A Labour Ministry was subsequently formed, and was enabled by Mr. Deakin’s refusal to combine with the Opposition against it to prorogue Parliament and get into recess. It has since elaborated a programme, announced by Mr. Fisher, the Prime Minister, to his constituents at Gympie, a few weeks ago, and recapitulated yesterday in the Governor-General's speech, which strongly resembles in most particulars the national policy advocated by Mr. Deakin when in power, and includes besides one or two additional proposals, such as ‘the nationalization of monopolies,’ more exclusively the property of the Labour party itself. These latter aspirations are probably more pious than practical, and are certainly not the issues on which the Labour Ministry is now to stand or fall. It will stand or fall by its proposals for the readjustment of the financial relations between the Commonwealth and the States, the establishment of a local flotilla designed for coastal defence, the creation of a citizen army based on universal training, and the imposition of a progressive land tax calculated to bring about the subdivision of large estates. "This latter proposal is the only one in which the Labour party cannot claim to be carrying out the spirit, if not the letter, of Mr. Deakin’s own programme; but, curiously enough, it does not seem to be the question on which Mr. Deakin has taken immediate issue with them. He is taking issue, we gather, first and foremost on the question of defence. The Labour Ministry is to be censured for refusing to make the offer of the Australian Dreadnought in the name of the Commonwealth. In taking this line Mr. Deakin has already made it clear that he has not in any way modified his previous views on the necessity of providing immediately for the creation of an Australian flotilla, but he considers that this necessity should in no way prevent Australia from adding in emergency to the strength of the British fleet. Speaking at Sydney last month, he said: ‘Our defence needs not only our own flotilla but a fleet on the high seas as well. It is for us to recognize that by joining New Zealand and making our offer of a Dreadnought for the Imperial Navy … the Commonwealth must do its share to prove the reality of Australia’s federal unity, to prove the unity of the Empire, to stand beside the stock from which we came.’ "On this point there is no obscurity. It presents a clear difference of view dividing Mr. Deakin and the two sections of the Opposition with which he has now coalesced from the policy of the Ministry in power. But while it provides a rallying ground from which the coalition may defeat the Ministry, it provides no subsequent line of united advance. The terms on which the coalition has been formed seem indeed to contemplate no definite policy at all." The coalition against the Ministry of Mr. Fisher, referred to in the above, accomplished its purpose on the day after the opening of Parliament, by carrying a vote of adjournment which the Ministry accepted as a vote of want of confidence, and resigned. The former Premier, Mr. Deakin, then resumed the reins of Government, with a following that does not seem to have been expected to hold together very long. On the reassembling of Parliament, June 23, the Prime Minister made a statement of the business to be submitted to the House, including along with other measures the following: "A Bill would be introduced establishing an inter-State commission which, in addition to the powers conferred by the Constitution, would undertake many of the functions of the British Board of Trade. It would also undertake the duties of a Federal Labour Bureau, which would comprise the study of the question of unemployment and a scheme for insurance against unemployment. The commission would also assist in the supervision of the working of the existing Customs tariff. … An active policy of immigration would be undertaken, it was hoped with the cooperation of all the States. … The appointment of a High Commissioner in London with a well-equipped office was necessary to take charge of the financial interests of the Commonwealth, to supervise immigration, and to foster trade and commerce. … The Old Age Pensions Act was to be amended in the direction of simplifying the conditions for obtaining the pensions. … The policy of the Government in the matter of land defence would be founded on universal training, commencing in youth and continuing towards manhood. A military college, a school of musketry, and probably a primary naval college would be established to train officers. The counsel of one of the most experienced commanders of the British Army would be sought for with regard to the general development and disposition of Australia’s adult citizen soldiers. "In view of the approaching termination of the ten year period of the distribution of the Customs revenue provided for in the Constitution, a temporary arrangement was being prepared, pending a satisfactory permanent settlement of the financial relation between the State and the Commonwealth." {35} AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909 (June). Federal High Court decision on Anti-Trust Law. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909 (July-September). The Imperial Defense Conference. Defense Bill in Parliament. Proposed compulsory military training. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: MILITARY AND NAVAL. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909 (September). Coal Miners strike in New South Wales. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1905-1909. AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909 (September). Meeting at Sydney of Empire Congress of Chambers of Commerce. See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1909 (SEPTEMBER). AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1910. The last year of a troublesome Constitutional Requirement. Article 87 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (see in Volume VI. of this work), reads as follows: "During a period of ten years after the establishment of the Commonwealth, and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides, of the net revenue of the Commonwealth from duties of custom and of excise not more than one fourth shall be applied annually by the Commonwealth towards its expenditure. The balance shall, in accordance with this Constitution, be paid to the several States, or applied toward the payment of interest on debts of the several States taken over by the Commonwealth." This, which has been known as the Braddon section, has imposed a serious handicap on the Federal Government. As its working was described recently by an English Press correspondent, "it made the Commonwealth raise four pounds whenever it wanted to spend one. It made the States begrudge the Commonwealth every penny it spent, even out of its own quarter—for every penny saved out of that quarter was an extra penny for the States. And it prevented every State Treasurer from knowing, until the Federal Treasurer had delivered his Budget speech, how much money he was likely to get from Federal sources for his own spending." At the end of the year 1910 the requirement of the Article will cease to be obligatory, and the Federal Parliament will be free to make a different appropriation of the revenue from customs and excise. Meantime the subject is under discussion, and in August, 1909, it was announced that a conference of the State Governments had come to an agreement—subject to ratification by the Federal Government—which provides for the annual per capita payment of 25s. in lieu of the three-fourths of the Customs revenue which has hitherto been returned to them. Western Australia to receive a special extra contribution of £250,000, decreasing by £10,000 annually until it ceases. Until the arrangement becomes operative, the Commonwealth may deduct from the statutory payments to the States £600,000 annually towards the cost of old-age pensions. The readjustment of State shares in the Customs revenue is said to involve an annual loss to New South Wales of £1,000,000. According to a London newspaper correspondent, "the main effects to the Commonwealth are the abolition of the book-keeping system between the States, the power to issue Australian stamps, telegrams, &c., and the securing of about £2,300,000 a year, or more, additional revenue. The States lose revenue to a similar amount, but there is a transfer of old-age pensions to the amount of nearly £1,000,000, of which they are relieved. In three of the States, all of which suffer little by the change, the pensions are new, and a considerable boon to the people. But more than half the money sacrifice falls upon New South Wales, and it goes to relieve her less prosperous neighbours. Well, that is true Federation! Naturally the Southern States would have nothing but a per capita distribution from the Commonwealth, and the New South Wales Ministers agreed to it with their eyes open. At present the Commonwealth Government secures the further revenue needed. But whether this agreement will so distinctly suit that Government as the State populations grow is another matter." A Bill for the required amendment of the Federal Constitution was introduced in the House of Representatives by the Prime Minister, Mr. Deakin, on the 8th of September. On the 4th of November, in opposition to the Government, an amendment to the Bill, limiting the duration of the agreement, instead of giving it force in perpetuity, was carried in committee of the whole by the casting vote of the chairman. On the 1st of December the Bill had its third reading in the Senate. ----------AUSTRALIA: End-------- ----------AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: Start-------- AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1870-1905. Increase of population compared with other European countries. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1870-1905. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1902 (June). Renewal of the Triple Alliance. See (in this Volume) TRIPLE ALLIANCE. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1902-1903. Notice by Austria of intention to end, in 1904, the Customs Union which formed part of the Ausgleich, or Federation Compact of 1867. Language struggle in Austria. The difficulties between Austria and Hungary, concerning a renewal of the Ausgleich, or federation compact of 1867, which created the dual empire,—some account of which is given in Volume VI. of this work,—were compromised in 1900 by an agreement which extended the Ausgleich temporarily until 1907. See, in Volume VI. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1899-1900. It was stipulated, however, in the agreement, that if no permanent settlement of the questions involved should have been reached by the end of the year 1902, either party to the Ausgleich should be free to dissolve the Customs Union that formed part of it after 1904, provided that said party should have formally denounced the compact prior to January 1, 1902. The formal notice or denunciation was given accordingly by Austria, whose government gave notice that it would end the Customs Union unless better terms from Hungary could be secured. In Hungary the Independence party led by Ferencz Kossuth, the son of Louis Kossuth, was eager for the break, desiring no union with Austria beyond that of the two crowns on one head. The tariff question seemed insoluble, because Hungary wanted protection for its agriculture, which Austria believed to be greatly disadvantageous to herself. {36} The prime ministers of the two Governments came to an agreement which was submitted to the two parliaments early in 1903, but obstruction in both bodies prevented any effective action. On other questions the antagonism was no less pronounced. The Hungarian Independence party was resolute in determining to separate the Hungarian from the Austrian army, making it distinctly Hungarian, under Hungarian officers and using the Hungarian word of command. This drew from the Emperor, in September, a public announcement that he must and would hold fast to the existing organization of the army. At length, in December, Kossuth agreed, for his party, to abandon obstruction on condition that Parliament should proclaim, as a principle, that "in Hungary the source of every right, and in the army the source of rights appertaining to the language of service and command, is the will of the nation as expressed through the legislature." But though obstruction from the Independence party ceased then it was continued by a Catholic party, on grounds of personal hostility to the Protestant Premier, Count Tisza, and the Government, deprived of authority to recruit the army, kept in service the men whose term had expired. An almost equal deadlock of legislation prevailed in Austria, where the struggle over language questions between Czechs and Germans went fiercely on; while Croatia was full of rebellious spirit, excited by the Magyarizing policy of its Hungarian governor. Twice, during 1903, the Hungarian administration underwent a change, the Szell Ministry giving way in June to one headed by Count Kuen Hedervary, he, in turn, being displaced by Count Tisza in October. The latter was a son of Koloman Tisza, who had formerly held the reins in Hungary for many years. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1903-1904. Concert with Russia in submitting the Mürzsteg Programme of reform in Macedonia to Turkey. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1904. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1904. Paralysis of Government in both divisions of the dual empire. Legislation in both Austria and Hungary was paralyzed throughout 1904 by obstructive oppositions which nothing could pacify. In Austria it was the battle of Czech against German for language rights; but, in the end, the German Premier, Dr. Körber, lost the support of his own race, by allowing Italian law-classes to be formed in the University at Innsprück, with a faculty of their own. He resigned on the last day of the year, and was succeeded by Baron Gautsch. In Hungary the obstruction was maintained by a combination of three parties,—the Independence Party of Ferencz Kossuth, which is irreconcilable in its repudiation of the union with Austria, the Liberal-Conservative Separatists, so-called, led by Count Apponyi, and a Catholic People’s Party, under Count Zichy. The extraordinary attitude of these practical anarchists, as they would seem to be, is indicated by a performance at the opening of the session of the Hungarian Parliament on the 13th of December, 1904, which is described in the Annual Register, as follows: "They entered the House before the usual time of meeting, assaulted the police when they endeavored to prevent some of the members from mounting the President’s platform, tore down the woodwork, destroyed the furniture, and finally had themselves photographed, with the ex-Premier Baron Banffy at their head, in the midst of the ruin they had wrought. This extraordinary scene was described by M. Kossuth as ‘a symbol of the political maturity of the Magyars, who, after asserting their rights, refrain from excesses;’ and by Count Apponyi as ‘an evidence of the importance attached to continuity of legal right in Hungary.’ When the broken furniture was removed and the House was restored to something like its former appearance, the members returned; but all the attempts of the Government to speak were howled down by the Opposition." The Opposition which accomplished this paralysis of Government in Hungary numbered, in its three divisions, only 190 members, out of 451. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1904-1909. Effects in Europe and on the Triple Alliance of the Russo-Japanese War. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1904-1909. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905. Action with other Powers in forcing financial reforms in Macedonia on Turkey. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1905-1908. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905. Hostility to the Serbo-Bulgarian Customs Union. See (in this Volume) BALKAN STATES: BULGARIA AND SERVIA: A. D. 1902. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905-1906. Continued deadlock, seated mainly in Hungary. Resignation of Count Tisza. The Fejervary Ministry. Dissolution of the Hungarian Parliament. Kossuth and his allies take office. Universal male suffrage adopted in Austria. The deadlock of political forces in the Dual Empire was prolonged through another year, Hungary being the main seat of the block. Elections for the Hungarian Diet, in January, went heavily against the Ministry of Count Tisza and strongly in favor of that section of the Opposition which bore the name of the Independence Party and which was led by Ferencz Kossuth. Count Tisza resigned, and the Emperor-King endeavored to make terms with Kossuth, Apponyi, and Andrassy under which the Government might be carried on with parliamentary support. This proved impracticable, especially by reason of the insistent demand of the Opposition for a separation of the Hungarian from the Austrian part of the imperial army, and the determination of the sovereign not to yield to that demand. Count Tisza and his colleagues were kept in office until June, despite a heavy vote of censure in the Diet, and then the Emperor appointed as Premier General Baron Fejervary, who commanded no more support than his predecessor had done. The majority in the representative chamber denounced the Ministry as unconstitutional, and issued a manifesto, calling on the people to withhold taxes and military service from this simulacrum of Government, which had no lawful claim to either. This was accepted as good counsel by great numbers of people, and grave embarrassments resulted from the non-payment of taxes. {37} In the August number (1905) of The American Review of Reviews Count Albert Apponyi, leader of one of the parties united more or less in the Hungarian Opposition, gave the Hungarian side of the political issues with Austria. In part, he wrote: "The writer had the honor of delivering at St. Louis, at the Arts and Science Congress of last year, a short historical account of our relation with the Austrian dynasty. There are to be found the chief facts, which show: (1) That our forefathers called that dynasty to the Hungarian throne, not in order to get Hungary absorbed into an Austrian or any other sort of empire, but, on the contrary, under the express condition of keeping the independence and the constitution of the Hungarian kingdom unimpaired; (2) that this condition has been accepted and sworn to by all those members of the dynasty (Joseph II. alone excepted) who ascended the Hungarian throne; (3) that, nevertheless, practical encroachments on our independence, followed by conflicts and reconciliations, have been at all epochs frequent; (4) but that a juridical fact never occurred which could be construed into a modification of that fundamental condition of the dynasty’s title to Hungary. … The physical person of the ruler is, in truth, the same in both countries, but the juridical personality of the King of Hungary is distinct and, as to the contents of its prerogative, widely different from the juridical personality of the Emperor of Austria. Hungary is the oldest constitutional country on the European Continent. The royal prerogative in her case is an emanation of the constitution,—not prior to it,—and consists in such rights as the nation has thought fit to vest in her king. In Austria, on the other hand, the existing constitution is a free gift of the Emperor, and has conferred on the people of Austria such rights as the Emperor has thought fit to grant to them. The title of ‘Emperor of Austria-Hungary’ … [sometimes used] is simply nonsense. The time-hallowed old Hungarian crown has not been melted into the brand-new Austrian imperial diadem. That imperial title does not contain, to any extent, the Hungarian royal title. The Emperor of Austria, as such, has just as much legal power in Hungary as the President of the United States has. He is, juridically speaking, a foreign potentate to us. "On these fundamental truths, no Hungarian—to whatever party he may belong—admits discussion. … The Liberal party, vanquished at the last elections, does not in the least differ from the victorious opposition as to the principles laid down in these pages; it only advocated a greater amount of forbearance against the petty encroachments which practically obscured them. That policy of forbearance became gradually distasteful to the country; seeing it shaken in the public mind, the recent prime minister, Count Tisza, formed the unhappy idea of gaining a new lease of power on its behalf by a parliamentary coup d’état. The rules of the House were broken, in order to prevent future obstruction, chiefly against military bills. This brought matters to an acute crisis. The parliament in which that breach of the rules had taken place became unfit for work of any sort, the country had to be consulted, and down went the Liberal party and the half-hearted policy it represented with no hope for revival. "The army question, with its ever-recurring difficulties, is a highly characteristic feature of the chronic latent conflict between the Austrian and the Hungarian mentality. It amounts to this, that, as we are a nation, we mean to have an armed force corresponding to our national individuality, commanded in our language, and serving under our flags and emblems. It would be unnatural for any nation, and would be, in fact, an abdication of the title of ‘nation,’ to renounce such a national claim. The Austrians, on the other hand,—and, unhappily, their influence is still prevalent in this question,—not yet having abandoned the idea of a pan-Austrian empire, uncompromisingly adhere to the present military organization, which makes the German language and the imperial emblems prevalent throughout the whole army, its Hungarian portion included." In September, 1905, the Emperor-King summoned the chiefs of the opposing coalition to Vienna and renewed his endeavor to make terms with them; but his own conditions, relative to the army, to the language of command and service in it, to the tariff relations between Austria and Hungary, and to other matters of dispute, were apparently as uncompromisable as theirs, and only intensified the bad feeling in the country. A little later the Fejervary Ministry announced a programme of policy which offered concessions and many excellent measures, but all save one of them were scorned. That one was a proposal of universal suffrage, with direct secret balloting, which in both Hungary and Austria had now become a subject of wide popular demand. The agitation for it became clamorous in the later months of the year, especially in the Austrian towns. But the leaders of the Hungarian Opposition were supposed to be personally hostile to universal suffrage. "As representatives of the most educated, wealthy, and powerful race in the kingdom, they have long enjoyed absolute political control. But universal suffrage," says a contemporary journalist, "would so increase the non-Magyar elements in Parliament as to deprive the Magyar leaders of much of their ascendency. At present these leaders are strong enough to defeat the King’s magnificent programme, announced by Baron Fejervary. But such a defeat would place them in an embarrassing position. They would have definitely assumed an attitude which belies their name of Liberal." The Fejervary programme was well planned to be troublesome to the opponents of the Government. While not surrendering to their demand for the Magyar language of command in the Hungarian part of the Imperial army, it proposed that the men who do not speak that language should be trained in it as far as possible. And it included a number of other most important measures: for compulsory free education; for compulsory insurance of workmen; for small farm grants to the peasantry; for the conversion of mortgage debts that weigh on small landowners, and for various taxation reforms. Evidently the Opposition endeavored to keep public attention and public feeling focused on the claim for a distinct Hungarian army, with the Magyar language for its word of command. Kossuth, the dominating leader of the coalition against the Government, defined the argument for this claim. No mention, he said, is made of any common army in the agreement on which the Dual Empire is founded. The Hungarian Constitution vests in the Emperor of Austria, as King of Hungary, "all those things which refer to the commanding and administration … of the Hungarian army." {38} But the Constitution does not hint that the Hungarian army should be commanded in German. It has not specifically forbidden such a thing, but in another part of the Constitution it is provided that the language of public services in Hungary shall be Hungarian. And is not the army a "public service"? he asked. Besides, he explained: "A century ago the Hungarian magnates, generally, paid for their own soldiers, and ours was not, in the beginning, a State army. When the combination with Austria came about, the officers were of all nations, and the Austrians brought in many of their own. To tell the truth, our own Hungarians were too lazy—there is no other word for it—to take the trouble to reorganize and start a Hungarian army, so they left it to the Austrians for the time being. It was for this reason, and with the consciousness of this defect, that Article XI. expressly left the language of command to be determined, constitutionally, later. But we also expressly confined it within the limits of our own Constitution … and we spoke of a Hungarian army, not a common one." The year 1906 opened with the discords of the situation in Hungary rather heightened than lessened, and on the 19th of February the Emperor dissolved the Hungarian Parliament, announcing that he did so for the reason that the parties of the Opposition had "persistently refused to take over the Government on an acceptable basis without violating the Royal rights as by law guaranteed." Disturbances on the occasion were prevented by strong forces of soldiery and police. Two days later the Austro-Hungarian tariff and a commercial treaty, both of which had been refused ratification in Hungary, were promulgated as of force, pending future action; and by various other arbitrary measures the Emperor-King assumed the right to prevent a governmental collapse. This attitude on the part of the sovereign appears to have produced a change of attitude among his opponents; for early in April M. Kossuth and Count Andrassy entered into an arrangement with him for the formation of a Ministry by themselves and their associates of the Coalition, with the understanding that the army question should be put aside until after the election of a new Parliament, to meet in May. At that session they promised to pass the budget, the new international commercial treaties, to maintain in every way the existing condition of things between Austria and Hungary, to permit the passage of a bill providing for universal manhood suffrage, and then for Parliament to terminate its labors, allowing the election of a new one under the universal suffrage system, the Cabinet to be re-formed conformably to the desires of the parliamentary majority. Thereupon the Emperor-King requested Dr. Alexander Wekerle, a former Hungarian Prime Minister, to form a Cabinet, including in it Kossuth, Apponyi, Andrassy, and Zichy. At the election, held soon after, the Independence party won about 250 out of 400 seats. The new Parliament was opened on the 22d of May. In Austria, the grand event of 1906 was the franchise reform, which extinguished the whole system of class representation and established a representative Parliament on the broad basis of a manhood vote. "Every male citizen who had completed his twenty-fourth year and was not under any legal disability was entitled to be registered as a voter after one year’s residence. Every male, including members of the Upper House, who had possessed Austrian citizenship for at least three years and had completed his thirtieth year, was eligible for election as a deputy; but members of the Upper House elected to the Lower could not sit in both at once. Voting was to be direct in all provinces. In Galicia, however, every constituency would return two deputies, each voter having one vote, so as to permit of the representation of racial minorities, the population being composed of Poles and Ruthenians. Voting was to be obligatory under penalty of a fine wherever a provincial Diet should so decide. This Bill was passed, in the face of the opposition of the Conservative and aristocratic members of both Houses and of the extreme representatives of the various nationalities, mainly through the influence of the Emperor. He regarded it as the only way to get rid of Parliamentary obstruction, and the best means of stimulating loyalty to the dynasty." Two changes of Ministry occurred in Austria during 1906, Baron Gautsch, as Premier, giving way to Prince Hohenlohe in April, and the latter resigning in June, to be succeeded by Baron Beck. Count Goluchowski, who had been Austro-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs since 1895, resigned in October, because of ill-feeling against him in Hungary, and was succeeded by Baron Aehrenthal. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1906 (January-April). At the Algeciras Conference on the Morocco question. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1907. Effects of universal and equalized suffrage in Austria. Elections were held in Austria a few months after the passage of the law which introduced equal and universal male suffrage, and the character and disposition of the elected Reichsrath, which met in June, 1907, afforded indications of some remarkable effects from the extension and equalizing of the franchise. It was expected, of course, to popularize the Reichsrath, and break the domination of the upper classes in that body; but, according to reports, it has done much more. Prior to 1896, the members of the Abgeordncten or lower house of the Reichsrath, then numbering 353, were all divided into four sections, elected by four classes of people, as follows: 85 elected by the owners of large landed estates, 22 by chambers of commerce and manufactures; 115 by town taxpayers assessed for five florins of annual tax, and by doctors of universities; 131 by country taxpayers assessed for five florins yearly. In that year the membership was enlarged by an addition of 72, who were to be representatives of the whole people, elected by universal male suffrage, while the old classified representation remained as before. The new law has swept away the whole system of a classified representation, and the representative house is now leveled to one footing, as a body of deputies from the people at large. The most conspicuous effect of this in the elections appears to have been a sudden break of the power which the German element in the much-mixed population of the Austrian dominion has been able to exercise hitherto. Hence, it must be the fact that the Germans hold far more than their proportion of the property which the old system represented, and derived from that, formerly, a weight in the Reichsrath which their numbers cannot give them on the equalized vote. {39} Altogether, in the various Cisleithan states—the two Austrias proper, Bohemia, Moravia, Galicia, Silesia, Salzburg, Tyrol, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Istria, Dalmatia—they form a little more than one third of the total population, the other two thirds being mainly Slavonic, in many divisions, principally Czech, Polish, and Slovene. Ten years ago the Austrian Reichsrath was offering a spectacle of factious disorder so violent that it drew the attention of the world, and was made entertaining as well as interesting by Mark Twain, then a resident for some months at Vienna and writing descriptions of the scenes of tumult that went on before his eyes. See in Volume VI. of this work AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER). The specially bitter race quarrel was over a language question between the Germans and the Czechs. The Czechs had succeeded in forcing the government to give their own tongue its rightful public use in Bohemia, where the German had displaced it officially for along time past. The determination of the Germans in the Reichsrath to undo this change practically paralyzed that legislature for a number of years, and seemed to be driving the realm of the House of Austria to inevitable wreck. Indeed, some factions of the Germans made no concealment of their wish for such a wreckage, out of which the German Kaiser at Berlin might pick the pieces that it pleased him to take. They have never doubted the sympathy and countenance of their kinsmen in the neighboring empire, and that has emboldened them to an attitude which a minority, in other circumstances, would hardly take. Within the last few years there has been a quieting of the antagonism; but most observers of the state of things in Austria have looked for serious troubles to arise, whenever the great personal influence of the present Emperor is withdrawn by his death. The imperial dominion of the Austrian archdukes could not be dissolved and its parts redistributed without subjecting the peace of Europe to such a trial as it never yet has gone unbrokenly through. If the Germans lose disturbing power in the Reichsrath, as the late elections are said to indicate that they will, and if racial factions give place to political parties, as a consequence of the equalized and universalized suffrage, then Austria may possibly be welded into a nation, and her neighbors may not be tempted to quarrel over her dismembered remains. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1907. Final negotiation of a new financial Ausgleich. Adjustment of the vexed questions of tariff, joint debt, and revenue quotas. The long struggle toward a readjustment of the Ausgleich or Agreement of 1866 between Austria and Hungary, on its financial side, was brought to a close on the 8th of October, 1907, by the signing of a new agreement that day. It continued the common customs arrangement until 1917, and provided that commercial treaties concluded with foreign powers must be signed by the representatives of both Austria and Hungary—a concession by Austria to Hungary. Hitherto the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs had conducted such negotiations. On its part, Hungary made the minor concession of conforming its stock exchange laws to those of Austria. Previously, excise duties had been common to both states; henceforth they were to be left to each state to be determined and levied. In the joint fiscal burden, Hungary’s contribution was increased from 34.4 per cent to 36.4 per cent. Provision was made for a court of arbitration, composed of four Austrian and four Hungarian members, who must chose a ninth member as chairman. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1908-1909. Hungarian politics. The State Bank question. Split in the Independence party. M. de Justh, a new party leader. Attitude of M. Kossuth. Deadlock returned. The complete deadlock of legislation in Hungary from 1904 into 1906 was overcome but partially, and not for long, by the patched-up coalition which started the wheels of Government anew, under Dr. Wekerle, in April, 1906, as related above. In the course of the next two years the Wekerle Ministry accomplished some useful legislation, besides achieving the ratification of the important tariff and commerce agreement which settled long-troublesome disputes with Austria; but its very slight coherent energy was exhausted soon,—too soon for its promise of universal suffrage to be fulfilled. Practically, it seems to have been at the end of its capabilities for some time before the spring of 1909, when, in April, it resolved to resign, and began an effort to escape from office which went on through the year without success. The Crown could induce no one to take from Dr. Wekerle the impossible task of government, and kept that unfortunate gentleman in his powerless place. In Austro-Hungarian politics a new contention had now been developed, which divided the Independence party, led hitherto by M. Kossuth and Count Apponyi, so that it acquired on the new question a third more extreme sectional chief, in the person of the President of the Chamber, M. de Justh. The followers of M. de Justh were demanding the transformation of the existing joint State Bank into two autonomous banks, connected in operation, but distinctly Hungarian in one organization and Austrian in the other. This demand was opposed in Austria as determinedly as the obnoxious demand for army use of the Hungarian language in Hungarian regiments, and the Crown would give sanction to neither. Apparently, neither Kossuth nor Apponyi would act with M. de Justh on the bank question, and the Independence party lost, consequently, its advantage as the largest of the various parties in the Chamber. In November, when a test of numbers occurred at a conference of the party, the following of M. de Justh was found to be largely in the majority. A resolution demanding the separate Hungarian State Bank was adopted by 120 votes against 74, despite a declaration by M. Kossuth that he would quit the party if it took that stand. According to a Press report of what occurred at the conference, the burden of Kossuth’s speech to the conference was "that without his name and his leadership the party would never have obtained the majority, and that many of those who were about to vote against him owed their seats in Parliament to his recommendation. His speech was indeed a scarcely-veiled threat that when deprived of the support of his name his opponents would find themselves forsaken by their constituents. The defeated minority proceeded forthwith to constitute itself as the ‘Independence, 1848, and Kossuth party,’ as distinguished from the ‘Independence and 1848 party,’ over which M. de Justh now reigns supreme." {40} Immediately after his triumph at the party conference M. de Justh resigned the presidency of the Hungarian Chamber and presented himself for reelection. In that test he suffered defeat, the combined forces of the Andrassy Liberals, the Clerical People’s party, and the Kossuth group casting 201 votes against 157. The Croatian Deputies abstained, owing, it is said, to a promise made to them by Dr. Wekerle that, if they remained neutral, he would deliver Croatia from the oppressive rule of the Ban, Baron Rauch. The political situation in Hungary was thus more than ever confused. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1908-1909. The "Greater Servia Conspiracy." Alleged treasonable movement of Servians in Croatia. The Agram trials. The following telegram to the newspaper press, from Agram, Austria, October 5, 1909, reported the conclusion and the result of a long prosecution which had drawn wide attention and excited deep feeling in many parts of Europe for a full year: "After a trial lasting seven months, sentences were handed down to-day in the cases of fifty-two school teachers, priests, and other persons charged with connection with what is known as the ‘Greater Servia conspiracy.’ The prisoners were accused of high treason in participating in a movement for the union of Croatia, Slavonia, and Bosnia to Servia, even carrying the propaganda among the troops of the Austro-Hungarian army. Thirty of the accused are condemned to terms of rigorous imprisonment varying from four to twelve years, and twenty-two were acquitted. The persons condemned have given notification of appeal." On the 31st of December it was announced from Vienna that all but two of the condemned had been set at liberty pending their appeal, this being consequent on the revelations of forgery in the documents on which they were convicted. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH) at close of article. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1908-1909. Arbitrary annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Violence to the Treaty of Berlin. The European disturbance and its settlement. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1808-1809 (OCTOBER-MARCH). AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1909. The language quarrel in Austria. "Amid deafening uproar from the Czech Radicals, the Austrian premier has submitted to the Chamber [February 3, 1909] two bills for the regulation of the Bohemian language question. The bills, which in present circumstances appear to have little chance of becoming law, divide Bohemia into 239 judicial and 20 administrative districts. Of the former, 95 are German, 138 Czech, and the remainder mixed, while of the administrative districts five are German, 10 Czech, and five mixed. In the German districts German is to be the predominant language, and in the Czech districts Czech, while in the mixed districts, which include Prague, the two languages are placed on an equal footing. Provision is, however, made for the use of either language if necessary throughout the whole province." NEW YORK EVENING POST. A telegram to the same journal from Vienna, March 10, reported: "The Lower House of the Austrian Parliament, which closed on February 5, after a scene of extraordinary turbulence arising from old racial ill-feeling between the Germans and the Czechs, reopened to-day with every promise of a continuance of the disorders. The galleries of the House were crowded with partisans of the two factions, and as soon as the ministers appeared hostile shouts came from the Czech and radical benches, drowning the cheers of the members of the Left party and the Poles. "Premier von Bienerth, amid an incessant tumult, declared the nineteenth session opened, saying he hoped the work would be crowned with success and the proceedings not disturbed. His statement sounded ironical in face of the unbroken uproar." The following is a later Press despatch, November 2, from Vienna: "The Emperor has accepted the resignations of the two Czech Ministers in the Austrian Cabinet, and has sanctioned the laws adopted by the Diets of Upper and Lower Austria, Salzburg and Vorarlberg, to establish the unilingual German character of those provinces. In the name of the Czech people the Czech National Council addressed yesterday a telegram to the Emperor begging that the laws might not be sanctioned, since, runs the telegram, they affect the honour of the Czech people and must cause constant racial strife both in the provinces and in Vienna, ‘which is not only the capital of Lower Austria, but is also the capital of the whole empire and of all its races. These laws are a dangerous beginning of constitutional changes in your Majesty’s glorious empire.’ A copy of the telegram was sent to the Polish leader, Dr. Glombinski, with an 'expression of the deepest regret that members of the Polish party should have supported as Ministers these anti-Slav laws.’" A revival of turbulent obstruction to legislative proceedings in the lower house of the Austrian Reichsrath led, at last, in December, to the enactment of rules which so enlarge the powers of the speaker as to enable him to suppress factious obstruction and to suspend deputies who outrage the decencies of behavior in the Chamber. The measure was limited in its operation to a year, but is expected to be prolonged. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1909 (December). Alleged plan of a Federated Triple Monarchy. "There has been circulated in Paris a curious document, full of figures, supposed to be based on authentic information. This document relates to the plan attributed to Prince Lentur and Count d’Aehrenthal to change the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary into a triple monarchy. Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Dalmatia, according to the scheme, would be united into an independent and constitutional kingdom, corresponding to the old Illyria. The double state, Austria-Hungary, would be changed into a three-fold Austria-Hungary-Illyria. A Slav nation would thus stand side by side with the Teutonic nation of Austria and the Magyar nation of Hungary. Its extent would be a good deal smaller, a little more than one-third, of the other two, and its population about a quarter of the Hungarian and one-sixth of the Austrian. According to this document, which is declared to have strong claims to be considered authentic, this change would no doubt be followed by a further one. Bohemia and Moravia would also want home rule. The monarchy would thus become a kind of Federal state. Hungary alone would remain standing strong and united as the centre and leader of this federation." New York Evening Post, December 29, 1909. {41} AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1909-1910. The Hungarian situation. Late in December, Dr. de Lukacs, who had served in the former Szell Ministry, was persuaded by the Crown to undertake the formation of a Government which might hope to secure some measure of parliamentary support, and on the 4th of January he was formally appointed Prime Minister; but his undertaking ended on the 11th, when he resigned, and Count Khuen Hedervary was heroic enough to accept the apparently hopeless task. The Hedervary Ministry suffered defeat on the 28th of January, when a vote of no confidence was carried by M. de Justh, and the King thereupon prorogued the chamber until March 24. A majority of the members, however, remained in session until they had adopted a resolution declaring the Government to be unconstitutional and forbidding the payment of taxes to it. Such is the Hungarian situation at the time this record of events goes to print—February, 1910. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1910. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Heir Apparent to the thrones. Since the tragically mysterious death (January 30, 1889) of the Emperor’s only son, Rudolph, the heir apparent to the several Hapsburgh crowns has been the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, son of the Emperor’s brother, the late Archduke Karl Ludwig. In order to contract a morganatic marriage, some years ago, he renounced the right of his children to the imperial and regal succession; but it is believed that he will force the regularizing of his marriage and the annulling of his renunciation, as he is reputed to be a man of strenuous will. According to report, also, he is strongly anti-democratic and reactionary, and extremely likely to give trouble as a sovereign to this democratic generation. ----------AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: End-------- AUTOCRAT: Title denied to the Czar by the Third Duma. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1906-1907. AZAD-UL-MULK. See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1905-1907. AZEFF: The Russian police spy and agent provocateur. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-JULY). AZUL, Party of the. See (in this Volume) PARAGUAY. B. BABISM. See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1908-1909. BACON, Robert: Secretary of State. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1909. BADEN: A. D. 1906. Introduction of universal suffrage. See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: GERMANY: A. D. 1906. BAEYER, Adolf von. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. BAGDAD RAILWAY, The. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: TURKEY: A. D. 1899-1909. BA HAMED, Late Grand Wazeer of Morocco. See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1903. BAHIA HONDA: Coaling and naval station leased to the United States. See (in this Volume) CUBA: A. D. 1903. BAHIMA, The. See (in this Volume) AFRICA: ITS COLONIZABILITY. BAILEY, L. H.: On Country Life Commission. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908-1909 (AUGUST-FEBRUARY). BAKHMETIEFF, Madame: Her humane work in Macedonia. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1902-1903. BAKHTIARI, The. See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1908-1909. BAKU: Destruction of Oil Industry. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (FEBRUARY-NOVEMBER). BALDWIN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. See (in this Volume) Polar Exploration. BALFOUR, Arthur J.: Becomes Prime Minister of England. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (JULY). BALFOUR, Arthur J.: His puzzling attitude on Mr. Chamberlain’s declaration for preferential trade with the Colonies. Correspondence on Mr. Chamberlain’s resignation. See ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (MAY-SEPTEMBER). BALFOUR, Arthur J.: In the "Dreadnought" debate of 1909. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL. BALFOUR MINISTRY: Its resignation. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906. ----------BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Start-------- BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1903-1907. Complaint of European non-action by Christian subjects of Turkey. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1907. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Bosnia: A. D. 1908. Arbitrary annexation to Austria-Hungary. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH). BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Bulgaria: The influence of Robert College. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: TURKEY, &c. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1901. The Bulgarian committee which directs revolutionary operations and assassinations in Macedonia. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1901. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1903. Alleged promotion of revolt in Macedonia. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1902-1903. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1905-1908. Barbarities of Bulgarian bands in Macedonia. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1905-1908. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1908. The race struggle in Macedonia. See TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (MARCH). BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1908-1909. Independence of Turkey declared and won. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH). BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1909. Prince Ferdinand assumes the title of King. On the acquisition of complete Bulgarian independence, Prince Ferdinand was said at first to be intending to assume the title of Tsar; but that intention, if it had been formed, was changed, and he took the title of King. {42} BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Bulgaria and Servia: A.D. 1905. Customs Union Convention between the two States. Anger and Hostility of Austria. Dictatorial demands on Servia. The frontier closed to trade. "Servia and Bulgaria, in July, 1905, signed a Customs Convention, creating a customs union and breaking down the tariff barriers between the two countries. The age is the age of union in business, in finance, in every department in life. … Not only has the Customs Convention between the two countries, which is, after all, but the first step towards a real zollverein, demonstrated the trend of international development, but it has enabled the world to see clearly the relations existing between the small Balkan States—unprotected by any guarantee of neutrality—and their great neighbours. It has been made clear that, despite all the many protestations in Vienna of goodwill to the Balkan States, Austria does not wish to see real progress in that part of Europe. And what is true of Austria is true also of Russia. … "True to her unvarying policy, Austria no sooner heard of the Customs Convention than she set to work to destroy it, claiming that it damaged her commercial interests. By her unjust attempts at coercion, plain and undisguised, Austria brought into being a political bond between Bulgaria and Servia which was not in existence at the time of the signature of the Customs Convention. … "In the past Servia has fallen more and more completely under the domination of Austria; her geographical position and her internal troubles made her an easy prey for Vienna, and had it not been for the desire of Russia to share the dainty morsel, Servia would in all probability have gone ere this to join the Servian provinces of Bosnia and Hersegovina as an integral part of the Austrian Empire. Her commerce is almost solely with Austria or Hungary, and her finances are under the control of a French-Austrian syndicate. It might therefore well seem incredible that the small State, bound thus hand and foot to the oppressor, should dare to oppose her desire for liberty to the Austrian desire for gain, political, commercial, or financial. But just as under the Turkish rule the Servians began to fight for freedom in small bands, so the Customs Convention with Bulgaria represents the first blow for economic and political freedom. … While the Convention represents an effort on Servia’s part to free herself from the thrall of Austria, it was not directed against that country. It seeks rather to open up new markets and new means of export, for which there was sufficient reason in the fact that there was no increase in the export of Servian goods to Austria during the last few years, some of which even showed a decrease. Commercial development demanded that new markets should be sought and a new route via Bulgaria to the Black Sea ports be opened up. … "On January 8th the Austrian Minister in Belgrade presented a note from his Government making it a condition that in order that the negotiations for a commercial treaty should not be suspended, the Servian Government should engage not to bring the Customs Union before the Skouptchina before the conclusion of the treaty. At the same time he indicated the disastrous results of refusal on Servia’s part. The Servian Cabinet accepted the Austrian proposals as to the postponement of the presentation of the Customs Union to the Skouptchina, and promised also to consider the modification of the Convention in so far as these modifications were not contrary to the nature of the Customs Union. The Austrian Minister recommended a change of the reply, because his Government would not accept it as it stood. On the Servians refusing to make any change, he gave them till the afternoon of the next day to repent, with the alternative that the treaty negotiations would be broken off and the frontiers closed. … Servia insisted upon maintaining her dignity as a nation, while expressing her readiness to meet Austria in every possible economic way. Furious at the Servian refusal, the Viennese authorities ordered the closing of the frontiers to Servian cattle, pigs, and even fowls. This last restriction was contrary to the existing treaty of commerce between the two countries which does not expire till March 1st, 1906. The cattle and pigs were excluded under the arbitrary veterinary convention, it having been found that a pig had died of ‘diplomatic swine fever,’ a contagious disease, prevalent when Servia opposes Austrian desires. The cool indifference with which Austria ignored her treaty obligations with Servia led to a profound feeling that it was hardly worth making sacrifices in order to obtain a new commercial treaty, which could be as equally well ignored. Patriotic fervour waxed great in Servia, and the people prepared to make a good fight for their liberty. But it was never overlooked that the relations with Austria were of great and vital importance." Alfred Stead, The Serbo-Bulgarian Convention and its Results (Fortnightly Review, March, 1906). BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Herzegovina: A. D. 1908. Annexation to Austria. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH). BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Montenegro: A. D. 1905. Prince Nicholas’s Constitution, and his operation of it. "When Prince Nicholas heard that the Czar had promised his people a Constitution, he, disciple of Russia in all things, determined to outdo Nicholas II., and, as a matter of fact, granted his little country [December, 1905] a more liberal Constitution than that which Russia enjoys. In Russia certain things were not to be discussed in the Duma. In Montenegro, everything could be discussed. When this principle began to be put in practice, however, although in the most loyal and respectful manner, the Prince took offence and began to imprison politicians who dared to ask for information about the financial condition of the principality. As a consequence, he made himself unpopular among what in Russia would be called the ‘intelligencia,’ but, being a man of far stronger personality and more striking genius than the Czar of Russia, he is still feared and obeyed. He is, in fact, an old soldier with all the old soldier’s preference for barrack discipline as the only method of rule, and in thinking that he understood what is meant by the words ‘constitutional government’ he deceived himself, for he does not understand, and being an old man surrounded by flatterers, he is perhaps less able to understand now than he would have been thirty years ago. "If he had been more adaptable, and had taken greater pains to instruct his people in the methods of parliamentary government, the constitutionalist movement might have been a success, but unfortunately he withdrew from Cettinje in a ‘huff’ when the Skupschina passed some criticisms on the government, and declined to coöperate with the deputies, though they were all very anxious to have his advice. It is stated, on the other hand, however, that the Skupschina interpreted in too large a sense the Constitution that had been granted to them." Special Correspondent New York Evening Post, Cettinje, December 15, 1908. {43} BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1908-1909. With Servia against Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1809 (OCTOBER-MARCH). BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Roumania: A. D. 1866-1906. Development of the country under King Charles I. and his admirable Queen. "The efforts of King Charles have been principally devoted towards internal improvement. Railways have increased and improved since the State purchased them in 1886, at an outlay of 237,500,000 francs. Then there were 1,407 kilometres; in 1903 these had increased to 3,177. In the Dobrudja, given to Roumania after the war with Turkey, the King has created a great commercial port at Constantza, whence the grain and petroleum of Roumania can flood the market. From here will radiate a Roumanian merchant marine, which will bear the Roumanian flag to all parts of the world. Agriculture has been carefully cherished, and to-day the country is one of the principal grain-exporting countries of the world, and the lot of the peasant, formerly so low, has been improved. An educational system has sprung into being, owing much to the direct support and inspiration of the Royal family. The finances have been put on a stable footing, and although the nation has already acquired a sufficiency of debt, the future is not at all dangerously beset. Thanks to the discovery of extensive petroleum fields, Roumania has been strengthened and raised from the position of a country relying solely on the rain and sun for its prosperity; while thanks to the King’s indefatigable efforts and unceasing watchfulness, the petroleum industry has been protected from becoming the monopoly either of the ruthless Standard Oil Trust or of the politically guided and government-supported German Bank. Had King Charles done nothing else for Roumania, his determined and wise action in this question would have earned him all praise. But whether it be in the question of the Danube, with its international Commission, or of the transformation of the twelve enormous Crown lands, dispersed over the kingdom, into national and social models, to see and follow—a work due principally to M. Kalindero—the King’s interest in all things which directly or indirectly touch Roumania is unabated. "And what manner of man is this, who has thus created a European State out of the remnants of a land cursed by a Turkish rule and Phanariot sway? First and foremost he is always a Hohenzollern, swayed by his obedience to duty, and based upon that Hohenzollern saying: 'It is not enough to be born a prince, you must show that you are worthy of the title,' and second, he is ever a true Roumanian, who has caught much of the inspiration of those great former Roumanian leaders and warriors. His youth was one of discipline and healthy education, while the influence of his father on his character can never be overestimated. Every inch a king, he never forgets that he is always also a man—personal animosities never cloud his national judgment. An indefatigable worker and on an organised plan tending towards definite ends, King Charles devotes his whole time to his never-ceasing task. By his marriage to Princess Elizabeth of Wied’ [known in literature as Carmen Sylva] ‘a marriage so non-political as to make it a political event of the first importance,’ he brought to Roumania a queen who made herself beloved of all, and speedily became the centre of all charitable ideas and works." Alfred Stead, King Charles I. of Roumania (Fortnightly Review, July, 1906). BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1902. Oppression of the Jews. Appeal of the United States to the signatories of the Treaty of Berlin. On the 11th of August, 1902, Mr. John Hay, Secretary of State in the Government of the United States, addressed a communication to the American Ambassadors and Ministers in Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy, and Turkey, whose governments were parties to the Berlin Treaty of 1878, directing that it be read to the proper ministers in the governments of those countries. The communication related to the treatment of the Jews in Roumania, which had long been a matter of deep concern to the United States, not only from sympathy with the persecuted people, but also because of the state in which it drove them as emigrants to this land. An abridgment of Secretary Hay’s despatch, published at the time, renders its substance as follows: "As long ago as in 1872 this country protested against the oppression of these Jews under Turkish rule. The Treaty of Berlin it was supposed would cure this wrong by the provisions of its forty-fourth article, which prescribed that ‘in Roumania the difference of religious creeds and confessions shall not be alleged against any person as a ground for exclusion or incapacity in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil and political rights, admission to public employments, functions and honors, or the exercise of the various professions and industries in any locality whatsoever. These prescriptions, however, have, in the lapse of time, been rendered nugatory as regards the native Jews of Roumania. Apart from the political disabilities of the Jews in that country, and their exclusion from the liberal professions, they are denied the inherent rights of man as a breadwinner in the ways of agriculture and trade. They are prohibited from owning land or from cultivating it as common laborers; they are debarred from residing in the rural districts, and many branches of petty trade and manual production are closed to them in the cities. They have become reduced to a state of wretched misery. The experience of the United States shows that the Jews possess in a high degree the qualities of good citizenhood. No class of immigrants is more welcome to our shores when coming equipped in mind and body, but when they come as outcasts, made doubly paupers by physical and mental oppression in their native land, their migration lacks the essential conditions which make alien immigration either acceptable or beneficial. Many of these Roumanian Jews are forced to quit their native country, and the United States is almost the only refuge left to them. They come hither unfitted by the conditions of their exile to take part in the new life of this land, and they are objects of charity for a long time. Therefore the right of remonstrance against the acts of the Roumanian Government is fairly established in favor of this Government. This Government cannot be a tacit party to what it regards as an international wrong. It is constrained to protest against the treatment to which the Jews of Roumania are subjected. The United States is not a signatory to the Treaty of Berlin, and cannot, therefore, appeal authoritatively to the stipulations of that treaty, but it does earnestly appeal to the principles consigned therein, because they are the principles of international law and eternal justice." {44} BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1907. Agrarian and anti-Semitic riots. Serious riotings of the peasants of Roumania, in both Moldavia and Wallachia, occurred in April, 1907. Before the rising could be suppressed more than 100,000 troops were employed; the capital, Bucharest, was in a state of siege, and martial law was proclaimed throughout the country. At first the character of the uprising seems to have been purely agrarian. The peasants demanded land at low prices and tried to throw off the yoke of the middlemen, who are mostly Jews. As the revolt spread, villages, farms, and even some towns were plundered and destroyed by wholesale. Hundreds of peasants were killed, and in several sections a state of real war existed for more than a week. King Charles issued a proclamation to his people promising the redress of their grievances. The Conservative ministry resigned on March 24 and a Liberal government was at once formed under the presidency of Dr. Sturdza. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Servia: A. D. 1901-1903. Royal Constitution-making and unmaking. The character of the Servian monarchy, and the value to the nation of its king-made Constitution, may be judged from the following report, May 12, 1903, to the State Department of the United States Government, by its Minister at Athens, who has the care of American interests at Belgrade: "The Servian constitution now in force is that which was granted the country by King Alexander on April 6-19, 1901. Under this constitution the influence of the radical party had gradually increased to such an extent that the King thought it was dangerous to the welfare of the country. For some time there were rumors to the effect that a new constitution was in contemplation and would probably be put into force on the anniversary of its predecessor. More or less excitement was caused by these reports, and in consequence the King determined to act at once. "On the afternoon of March 24—April 6 last [1903] a royal proclamation was issued to the Servian people, explaining the King’s views of the situation, suspending the constitution referred to above, annulling the ukase of April 6, 1901, and all subsequent ukases relating to the election of senators, retiring all the members of the council of state, dissolving the Skupshtina (national chamber of deputies), annulling the election of all senators chosen for the period 1901-1906, annulling various laws relating to the liberty of the press, the election of deputies, etc., and putting into force certain laws which had previously been repealed. "The next morning a second proclamation was issued, putting the same constitution in force again, and directing the life senators to elaborate a provisional law for the election of senators and deputies, who should hold office, respectively, until September, 1909, and May, 1907. "The date for the elections has been fixed for the first part of June. It is considered probable that the Radical members of the Government (four ministers, I believe) will soon withdraw from the cabinet." BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1903. The murder of King Alexander, Queen Draga, her brothers, and two ministers of state. The military plot. King Alexander, who received the Servian crown, as a mere boy, by the abdication of his father, the erratic King Milan, in 1889, began his reign autocratically, but attempted twelve years later, to propitiate popular favor by the grant of a liberal constitution, in 1901. See, in Volume I. of this work, BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1879-1889. This failed, however, to win the good will of his subjects, and he annulled it in April, 1903, with much of the legislation it had produced. This intensified public feeling against him, and against his unpopular Queen,—the former lady-in-waiting at his mother’s court, Madame Draga Maschin. This marriage in 1900 is related in: See in Volume VI. of this work BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: SERVIA. There were fears of an intention to force recognition of Queen Draga's brother as heir apparent to the crown, and feeling in the army became especially bitter against both king and queen. The outcome was an awful tragedy of murder on the night of June 11, 1903, when a party of officers broke into the palace and slew, with barbaric ferocity, the King, the Queen, the Queen’s brothers, the Prime Minister, and the Minister for War. The following account of the horrible tragedy appeared in the next issue of The Contemporary Review: "All traces of the midnight carnage in the palace of Belgrade have been cleared away. The Pretender for whose benefit it was perpetrated comes in. First proclaimed in the midst of the still warm corpses, the title of military acclamation has been ratified by a National Assembly, convened by the Pretorians almost simultaneously with the massacre to meet three days after that event, and in the palace where Colonel Maschine and his lieutenants, acting in the names of outraged national dignity and social purity, put to shame human nature, Karageorgevich, whose career as a Pretender in some points resembles that of Louis Napoleon, accepts the proffered crown. The telegraphic agencies have informed us that order reigns at Belgrade, and that Peter I. has entered his capital amid demonstrations of public joy. The representatives of the Press of Europe, numbering about a hundred, were, through the civility of a palace official who witnessed the nocturnal invasion, taken through the theatre of one of the most revolting crimes of modern history. They were minutely informed of the circumstances connected with it, saw the smashed doors and floors where dynamite tubes had exploded, the pistol shots in walls and ceilings; the timepieces shaken by the explosion had stopped at five minutes past one on the morning of the 12th June. The palace official took them into the little wardrobe room in which the King and Queen had hidden themselves, and, when found, met their doom, unshriven, offering no resistance. … {45} "Officers who had studied in the Zurich Polytechnic school knew how to use dynamite without injury to themselves when they wanted to break in doors massive as those of a church. Those who had been told off to cut the electric wires communicating with lamps had indiarubber gloves. They searched by the light of composite candles they had brought in their pockets for the hiding-place of the King and Queen. When they discovered the fugitives, some of the officers held high the candles for their comrades to lay on and not spare the unfortunate pair. There was no attempt to resist. All Alexander wanted was ‘to die with Draga,’ and this elevated him into the region of romance. It may hereafter furnish a theme to Servian bards. Another modern circumstance makes one’s flesh creep. The bodies, flung out of a window, lay on a garden walk until dawn, when a soldier received an order to wash them there with a fireman’s hydrant, and when they had been cleansed to lay them on the tables of the palace kitchen for dissection. The surgeons had been requisitioned to come there at five o’clock. … "At the post-mortem in the palace kitchen at Belgrade, the surgeons counted in the body of Alexander six revolver wounds, each deadly, and forty-two sword wounds. Draga received two pistol balls and sixty-two sword cuts and slashes. She had been cut to pieces, but they left her face unmutilated. And—still more frightful—her corpse bore black and blue marks that testified to a merciless pounding with strong fists. The regicides gave so many conflicting accounts of their adventure that one did not know what to believe. It is now certain that the King and Queen were defenceless, that they at once on being aroused by the dynamite took refuge in her wardrobe room, and that they never sought to escape by the roof, and did not run through a long suite of rooms, slamming the doors after them. They had not a moment’s time to utter a prayer. "Draga’s brothers received a five minutes’ respite to make their souls. Nicodemus, the eldest, for whom Mademoiselle Pach mourns in Brussels, asked for cigars and for leave to embrace his brother. He and Nicholas faced unflinchingly a firing party, casting away the cigar ends as they stood before a wall. … "Colonel Maschine, who figures as the ringleader in the conspiracy, had been in the inner circle of King Milan, who thought him a valuable officer. Milan, a man with considerable ability and without his match in playing an intricate and difficult diplomatic game, had been educated in his mother’s fast set in Vienna, and at a Paris lycée. … Military force as a means of government recommended itself to his barbarous mind. It may be that he saw in Maschine a man suitable for coup d’état work. An ostensible reason for taking him into favour was Maschine’s bravery in the campaign against Bulgaria and his personal fidelity to Milan, as twice evinced in saving his life. The partiality of the King buoyed up Maschine’s hopes of a brilliant military career. Death overtook Milan, who so often had escaped poison and assassin’s bullets, on his way to Belgrade, where he was to have set Alexander aside and remounted the throne. His unexpected decease blighted the colonel’s prospects, inasmuch as Draga gained thereby uncontrolled influence over the King. She and the Maschines had long kept up a bitter feud. Barbarians like to brood over their grievances, real or imaginary. Colonel Maschine could not forget or forgive, and his pride prevented him from trying to propitiate her when she let him know that he thought her more intractable than she really was. He had set about the slander that she poisoned her first husband, and then made believe he committed suicide. This story had been told by the Colonel to Milan. Alexander, when his father repeated it to him, called it a ‘machination,’ the name he ever after gave to slanders and libels that came to his knowledge about Draga. He refused to hear calumnious tales, but could not prevent anonymous letters passing into the hands of his secretary, and spoke of the Court of Russia as being stupidly turned against his wife by ‘machinations.’ One can understand from this why Colonel Maschine became the soul of the horrible conspiracy, and bent his whole mind to carry out a plan which has succeeded, through his perfect generalship as to ensemble, the minutest attention to details, the widest prescience, the coolest head and an utter unscrupulousness." Ivanovich, The Servian Massacre (Contemporary Review, July, 1903). In the same issue of The Contemporary, Dr. Dillon wrote: "A graphic version of one scene of the tragedy, which was given to me by one of the murderers, Adjutant N., is as follows: ‘We were wild with passion, trembling with excitement, incapable of receiving any impressions from the things and people around us. Hence we cannot say who shot the King in the head, who in the heart. But I have a vivid recollection of some things. I remember turning out the electric light and going to fetch candles to light my comrades on the way. That done I remained together with them to the end. I remember our breaking into the King’s bedroom, finding it empty, and then looking into the Queen’s wardrobe room, where we found the pair. Who fired first? I don’t know; nobody knows. At first we did not fire at all. We drew our sabres and cut off the fingers of the King and Queen; four fingers were hewn from the King’s hand. Then we fired.’" E. J. Dillon, Servia and the Rival Dynasties (Contemporary Review, July, 1903). The hideous crime which ended the reign of King Alexander excited horror everywhere except in Servia. There it seemed to be approved and rejoiced over universally, even the head of the national Servian Church, the Metropolitan of Belgrade, officiating at a thanksgiving service and commending the army for what it had done. Senators and Deputies of the Skupstchina filled the vacant throne by the election of Prince Peter Karageorgievitch, descendant of Kara Georg (Black George), the primary hero of the later struggle of the Servians with the Turk. King Alexander had been of the house of Milosh Obrenovitch, founder of the Obrenovitch dynasty, which supplanted that of Kara Georg. See in Volume I. of this work, BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: 14TH-19TH CENTURIES: SERVIA. Prince Peter, then in exile at Geneva, accepted the blood-stained crown, and was welcomed at Belgrade on the 24th of June. Foreign governments, except those of Russia and Austria-Hungary, gave no recognition to the new sovereign for some time; but, said a writer in The Fortnightly Review of the next month, "no thrill of horror has been manifested by the ‘dear brothers ’ and ‘cousins’ of the royal victims; on the very day of the holocaust, when the mangled corpses of a King and Queen were being exposed to the outrages of frenzied fiends, there was never a pause in the pomp and circumstance and revelry of European Courts. {46} But the ghastly details of the deed have appealed to the melodramatic instincts of the vulgar, arousing a morbid indignation throughout every land. What honest person could fail to be stirred by the story of the conspirators, sitting over their wine under the verandah of the Srbski Kruna, uproariously urging the gipsy band to play Queen Draga’s March before they sallied forth to hack her to pieces with their swords; by the airy apologies of the baffled murderers when they roused a citizen for axes and candles, wherewith to track down their victims in the sleeping palace; by the thought of the ill-starred young Sovereigns lying in their own gardens, riddled with bullets, sighing through the small hours for the long-delayed relief of death? In the pages of ancient or mediaeval history, even in sensational fiction, such hellish horrors could not fail to arouse intense emotion; in the cold glare of the twentieth century they are brought home so vividly that we are almost eye-witnesses." Herbert Vivian, A ‘Glorious Revolution’ in Servia (Fortnightly Review, July, 1903). A general election in September gave the Radicals a decisive majority in the Skupstchina, and a Radical Ministry under General Gruiteh was formed. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1904. Coronation of King Peter. King Peter was anointed and crowned with due ceremony, at Zicha, on the 9th of October, 1904. Representatives of all the Powers in Europe except Great Britain did honor to the occasion by their presence; thus condoning the foul crime which smeared the new King’s crown with blood. The officers who committed the crime had been dismissed from their palace posts, but rewarded by military promotion. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1908-1909. Attitude toward Austria on the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH). BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1908-1909. The alleged "Greater Servia Conspiracy." The Agram Trials. See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1908-1909. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1909. Renunciation of the crown by the Crown Prince. The following note was addressed to the Prime Minister of Servia by the Crown Prince, George, on the 25th of March, 1909: "Driven by unjustified insinuations based on an unfortunate occurrence, I beg in defence of my honour, as well as of my conscience, to declare that I renounce all claims to the Throne, as well as any other privileges to which I am entitled. I beg you to take note of this, and to take the necessary steps that this action may receive the necessary sanction. I place my services as a soldier and citizen at the disposal of my King and Fatherland, ready to give my life for them. —George." The "unfortunate occurrence" alluded to was the death of one of the Prince’s servants from injuries which the Prince was believed by the public to have inflicted, as he was reputed to have a brutal temper. BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: Servia and Bulgaria: A.D. 1905. Customs Union Convention. See above: BULGARIA AND SERVIA. ----------BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: End-------- BALLINGER, Richard A.: Secretary of the Interior, United States. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (MARCH). BALLINGER, Richard A.: Action against Water Power Monopoly. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909. BALLOONS, Dirigible. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT. BALTIC FLEET, The Russian: Its voyage and destruction. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (OCTOBER-MAY). BALTIC PROVINCES: Peasant insurrection. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (FEBRUARY-NOVEMBER). BALTIMORE: A. D. 1904. Destructive fire. Next to that at Chicago in 1871, the most destructive fire among the many that have devastated the cities of the United States occurred at Baltimore on February 7th and 8th, 1904. It burned for thirty hours, in the heart of the city, the center of its business, destroying some 2600 buildings and consuming property to the estimated value of $75,000,000. BAMBAATA. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: NATAL: A. D. 1906-1907. BANNARD, Otto T.: See (in this Volume) NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1909. BARCELONA: A. D. 1902. General strike and battle with soldiery. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: SPAIN. BARCELONA: A. D. 1909. Revolutionary outbreak. Trial and execution of Professor Ferrer. See (in this Volume) SPAIN: A. D. 1907-1909. BARCELONA: A. D. 1909. Riotous hostility to war in Morocco. See MOROCCO: A. D. 1909. BARGE (ERIE) CANAL, The. See (in this Volume) NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1898-1909. BARNATO, Harry. Bequest for cancer research. See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH. BARRETT, Charles Simon: President of the National Farmers’ Union. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902-1909. BARRETT, John. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS, INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF. BARRETT, John. Delegate to Second International Conference of American Republics. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. BARTHOLDT, Richard. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1904-1909, and 1907. BARTON, Sir Edmund: Premier of Australia. See (in this Volume) AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1903-1904. BAST, The taking of. See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1905-1907. BASUTOLAND: See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1904, and 1909. BAVARIA: A. D. 1906. Introduction of direct voting. See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: GERMANY: A. D. 1906. BEATIFICATION OF JOAN OF ARC. See (in this Volume) PAPACY: A. D. 1909 (APRIL). BECHUANALAND: A. D. 1904. Census. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1904, and 1909. BECK, Baron. See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905-1906. BECQUEREL, Henri. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE, RECENT: RADIUM; also, NOBEL PRIZES. "BEEF TRUST," The: Investigations and prosecutions by the U. S. Government. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1906; 1903-1906; and 1910. {47} BEERNAERT, M. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES BEHRING, Emil Adolf von. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. BEIRUT: Joy over the restored constitution of Turkey. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D). 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER). ----------BELGIUM: Start-------- BELGIUM: A. D. 1870-1905. Increase of population compared with other European countries. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1870-1905. BELGIUM: A. D. 1900-1904. Municipal systems of insurance against unemployment. See (in this Volume) POVERTY, PROBLEMS OF: UNEMPLOYMENT. BELGIUM: A. D. 1902. Popular opposition to the plural vote. Demand for constitutional revision defeated. General strike in the country. Substantially universal but not equal suffrage is given to the male citizens of Belgium by the Constitution of the kingdom as revised in 1893. See in Volume I. of this work, CONSTITUTION OF BELGIUM. All have one vote, but certain classes of persons, qualified by property ownership, tax-payments, education, office-holding or professional dignity, are given one or two supplementary votes. Opposition to this political inequality had been growing from the first, until it united the Socialist and Liberal parties in a demand for the revision of the Constitution, not only to abolish the plural suffrage, but to introduce proportional representation and compulsory education. The agitation attending this demand brought about, in April, a general strike throughout the country of workmen in all departments of industry, to the extent of 350,000. The Government resisted the demand, maintaining that the system of plural voting had not been sufficiently tried, and the bill for constitutional revision was defeated in the Chamber of Representatives, after a bitter debate, by 84 votes to 64. The situation was described as follows by Mr. Townsend, the American Minister to Belgium, in a despatch of April 19: "The struggle between labor and capital in Belgium has become extremely acute in the past few years. A large industrial population, confined to a small superficial area, with long hours of labor and small wages, have combined to produce a feeling of discontent among the working classes, who, perhaps unjustly, blame the existing Government for a condition of affairs which may be due to economic conditions rather than political. This is a factor which may be largely responsible for the rapid growth of Socialism in Belgium during the past few years. Liberals and Socialists have combined to fight for universal suffrage, and have raised the cry ‘one man one vote’ as a panacea for the existing ills. "The Clericals maintain that the existing system of plural voting meets the present requirements of the country; that it places a premium on education, and acts as a check to the power of the ignorant, who are prone to resort to violence and disorder. The more moderate Liberals in the House of Representatives expressed a willingness to accept a compromise in the shape of a total abolition of the triple vote, granting one vote at 25 years and a second vote to married men of 35 or 40 years, with legitimate issue. The Clericals, however, would not consider a compromise and opposed revision in any form. "During the past fortnight, while the debates on the subject of revision were being held in the House of Representatives, the socialists and workingmen have held nightly meetings at the Maison du Peuple, and have frequently paraded the streets shouting for universal suffrage and ‘one man one vote.’ The Liberal members, as well as some of the socialist leaders in the House, have cautioned the paraders to be calm, to avoid violence and disorder. But the ranks of the paraders have been swelled by the addition of the representatives of the very lowest and criminal classes of the population, the result being a conflict with the police followed by the breaking of windows and other damages to property. Shots were exchanged between the gendarmes and rioters, several of the latter being killed and wounded. Similar scenes were at the same time enacted in other towns in Belgium, consequently the Government called out the troops. Order has been restored, but the streets of Brussels, as well as the large towns, are lined with soldiers. A general strike has taken place in all the industrial centers of Belgium, with the avowed object of forcing the Government to grant universal suffrage, but without success. The feeling of unrest is very general all over the country." Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1902, page 85. BELGIUM: A. D. 1903. Enactment to compensate workmen for injurious accidents. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: BELGIUM: A. D. 1903. BELGIUM: A. D. 1903. Agreement for settlement of claims against Venezuela. See (in this Volume) VENEZUELA: A. D. 1902-1904. BELGIUM: A. D. 1903-1905. King Leopold’s administration of the Congo State. See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1903-1905. BELGIUM: A. D. 1904. Liberal gains in the elections, at the expense of the Catholics and Socialists. Belgian elections, in May, reduced the majority by which the Clericals still retained control of the Government, and took six seats in the representative chamber from the Socialists, adding in all nine to the representation of the Liberal party. The latter continued, with no success, its demand for a revision of the Constitution, especially for the abolition of the plural vote, which gives the Church party its majority in Parliament, while its voters are an actual minority of the nation. Belgian feeling on the subject of the charges of brutal oppression in the Congo Free State was deeply stirred, and its current ran strongly against the accusers of the King. The public in general appears to have been fully persuaded that interested motives were actuating the whole criticism of Congo administration, and that the stories of inhumanity to the natives were wholly false. BELGIUM: A. D. 1906. At the Algeciras Conference on the Morocco question. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906. BELGIUM: A. D. 1908. North Sea and Baltic agreements. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908. BELGIUM: A. D. 1908 (October). Annexation of the Congo State. See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1906-1909. BELGIUM: A. D. 1909. New military law. Compulsory service with no substitution. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: BELGIAN. BELGIUM: A. D. 1909 (October). The Government’s programme of reforms in the Congo State. See CONGO STATE: A. D. 1909 (OCTOBER). {47} BELGIUM: A. D. 1909 (December). Death of King Leopold. Accession of King Albert. On the 17th of December, 1909, King Leopold died. He was succeeded on the throne by Prince Albert, son of his brother, the Count of Flanders. Of the new King, who was born in 1875, it was said by The Times, of London: "The happiest expectations are cherished in Belgium for the new King’s reign. He has shown, together with his gracious Consort, that desire to identify himself with the interests of the humblest of his subjects which we are accustomed to admire among the characteristic merits of our own Royal Family. He was naturally precluded by his position from taking any part in the controversies connected with the Congo, but it may reasonably be thought that if his uncle’s life had been less prolonged the constitutional difficulties raised by the ‘Congo question’ would have been avoided. He is known to have been painfully impressed by the need of reform during his recent visit to the colony." ----------BELGIUM: End-------- BELL, Richard: Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: ENGLAND: A. D. 1907-1909. BENEDICTINES: Forbidden to teach in France. See (in this Volume) France: A. D. 1908. BENGAL: A. D. 1905. Partition of the Province. See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1905-1909. BEQUESTS. See GIFTS. BERESFORD, Admiral Lord Charles: On the "Dreadnought." See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: DREADNOUGHT ERA. BERKELEY, California: Perfect example of the "Commission Plan" of Government. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: CALIFORNIA. BERLIN: A. D. 1903. Sweeping victory of Socialists in Imperial election. See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1903. BERLIN: A. D. 1905. Strike in electrical industries. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: GERMANY. BERLIN TREATY OF 1878, Violations of the. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH). BETHMANN-HOLLWEG, Dr. von: Appointed Chancellor of the German Empire. See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1908-1909, AND 1909 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER). "BIG SIX," The. See (in this Volume) Combinations, Industrial: United States: A. D. 1903-1906. The "Beef Trust." BIRRELL, Augustine, President of the Board of Education. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905 (DECEMBER), and 1905-1906. BIRRELL, Augustine, Chief Secretary for Ireland. Proposed Councils Bill for Ireland. See (in this Volume) IRELAND: A. D. 1907 (MAY). BISWAS, Ashutosh, Assassination of. See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1907-1908. BITUMINOUS COAL STRIKES. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES. BJORNSON, Bjornstjerne. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. BLACK HAND, The. See (in this Volume) CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY. BLERIOT, Louis. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: AERONAUTICS. BLIND, Karl: On the "Young Turks." See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER). "BLOC," Chancellor Bülow’s: Incongruous coalition in the German Reichstag. See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1906-1907. Its break. See GERMANY: A. D. 1908-1909. "BLOODY SUNDAY." See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1904-1905. BOARDS OF CONCILIATION. See Labor Organization: GERMANY: A. D. 1905-1906. BOBRIKOFF, Governor-General of Finland: His assassination. See (in this Volume) FINLAND: A. D. 1904. BOER-BRITISH WAR, Last year of the. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1901-1902. BOERS, The: Repatriation and resettlement. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1902-1903. BOERS, The: Active in movement for South African Union. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1908-1909. BOGOLIEPOFF, M., Assassination of. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1901-1904. BOLIVIA: A. D. 1901-1906. Participation in Second and Third International Conferences of American Republics, at Rio de Janeiro. See (in this Volume) American Republics. BOLIVIA: A. D. 1901. Broad Treaty of Arbitration with Peru. See (in this Volume) ARBITRATION, INTERNATIONAL: A. D. 1902 (NOVEMBER). BOLIVIA: A. D. 1903-1909. Boundary disputes in the Acre region with Brazil and Peru. See (in this Volume) ACRE DISPUTES. BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, The Bubonic Plague in. See (in this Volume) Public Health: Bubonic Plague. BONAPARTE, Charles J.: Secretary of the Navy and Attorney-General. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1909. BOND, Sir Robert: Premier of Newfoundland. Negotiation of the Hay-Bond Reciprocity Treaty. See (in this Volume) NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1902-1905. BOND, Sir Robert: At the Imperial Conference of 1907. See (in this Volume) British Empire: A. D. 1907. BOND, Sir Robert: Resignation and defeat at election. See (in this Volume) NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1908-1909. BONHAM, Captain W. F. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1902-1903. BONILLA, General Manuel: Revolutionary President of Honduras. See (in this Volume) CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1903, and 1907. BONUS SYSTEM, The. See (in this Volume) LABOR REMUNERATION: THE BONUS SYSTEM. "BOODLERS," so called, in municipal government. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. BORSTAL SYSTEM, The. See (in this Volume) CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY: PREVENTIVE DETENTION. BOSHIN CLUB. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1909. BOSNIA. See (in this Volume) BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES. BOSTON: A. D. 1904. International Peace Congress. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1904. BOSTON: A. D. 1909. New plan of city government chosen by popular vote. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. {49} BOTHA, GENERAL LOUIS: In the closing year of the Boer-British War. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1901-1902. BOTHA, GENERAL LOUIS: Premier of the Transvaal. At the Imperial Conference of 1907. See BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907. BOTHA, GENERAL LOUIS: Leader in movement for South African Union. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1908-1909. BOURGEOIS, Leon: President of the French Chamber of Deputies. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1902. (APRIL-OCTOBER). BOURGEOIS, Leon: President of Chamber of Deputies. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1903. BOURGEOIS, Leon: Minister of Foreign Affairs. See FRANCE: A. D. 1906. BOURSE LAW, German: Revision of it. See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1908. BOURSES DU TRAVAIL. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: France: A. D.1884-1909. BOXER OUTBREAK, The: Penalty paid by China for it. See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1901-1908. BOXER OUTBREAK, The: Recurrence of. See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1902. BOYCOTTING: In China: The boycotting of the United States in 1905. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1908. BOYCOTTING: In India. See INDIA: A. D. 1905-1906. BOYCOTTING: In Ireland: The recent practice. See IRELAND: A. D. 1902-1908. BOYCOTTING: In Turkey, of Austrian commodities. See EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH). BOYCOTTING: In the United States: By Trade Unions. Decisions of courts. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908-1909. BRADDON SECTION, The. See (in this Volume) AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1910. BRANCO, Baron do Rio. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS: THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. BRAUN, Ferdinand. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. BRAZIL: A. D. 1901-1902. Participation in Second International Conference of American Republics. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. BRAZIL: A. D. 1902. Inauguration of President Alves. Dr. Rodriguez Alves was inducted in office as President of the United States of Brazil on the 15th of November, 1902, succeeding Dr. Campos Salles. BRAZIL: A. D. 1903. Settlement of boundary dispute with Bolivia. See (in this Volume) ACRE DISPUTES. BRAZIL: A. D. 1904. An impromptu Revolt that became a comedy of errors. "To the American who is under the impression that all South America is continually in the throes of one or another revolution it will come as a surprise to learn that this vast district, comprising one half the territory and almost two thirds the population of the whole continent, has known no revolution since the founding of the Republic. The revolts of 1893, 1897, and 1904, menacing in varying degree, were outbursts fostered by a centralization of national vitality which inspired the belief in each insurrectionist that it was but necessary to strike the head,—the body would lie dormant. The justification of this belief lay in the historical fact that the vast majority of successful revolts throughout South America have consisted merely in coups d'état. The masses have lain dormant, and the fighting, if any, has generally come after the somersault. "The revolt of November of last year in Brazil was so typical of South American revolutions, and so elementary, that it affords a lucid illustration. Owing to the prompt and efficient measures taken by the government to suppress true reports of the disturbance, and owing, too, to its signal failure, this revolt was scarcely mentioned by the American press. Nevertheless, it missed by little causing international commotion. … "A great epidemic of smallpox led the government to require of Congress a law making vaccination compulsory. Long and heated debate on the constitutionality of the measure went on, while the epidemic assumed alarming proportions. The Executive’s patience being worn out, arbitrary pressure was brought to bear, and the law passed. This intervention brought down the general censure of the press, and the opposition seized the handle with disproportionate avidity. On the eleventh of November a mass meeting was held in one of the central squares of Rio Janeiro. … The mounted police broke up the meeting with the flat of the sword: no lives were lost. On the following day the scene was duplicated, several people injured, and a life lost. By night riots had broken out in various parts of the city. "Up to the fourteenth of November, revolution was not even rumored. … Toward evening city and government were genuinely surprised by the news that General Travassos, who was to have commanded a battalion in the review, immediately upon the announcement of its postponement had proceeded to the Military Academy on the outskirts of the city, and, before the student body, had demanded of the officer in charge transfer of his command. Frightened by the attitude of the cadets, the commanding officer made a puerile protest, and surrendered. He and his staff were allowed to withdraw, and carried the news of the revolt to the city. It was soon confirmed: the cadets were advancing on the President’s palace, under the leadership of General Travassos. … "The shortest line of march was along the bay front, and to repulse the attack were sent by land a battalion of the line reinforced by police, and by sea two gunboats under the play of searchlights from an armored cruiser. The cadets marched under the assurance that no soldier of the line would fire on them, as the army was back of the movement. … They were met by an armed force, indistinguishable owing to the destruction of all the lamps by rioters. The force was the advancing battalion, and it is generally believed that it fired on the cadets, mistaking them for the returning body of police which had followed the water front. Brisk fighting ensued, when suddenly the cry arose among the cadets that they had been betrayed, and were attacked by soldiers of the line. They broke and made a disorderly retreat to the Academy. Almost simultaneously the soldiers learned their mistake, and that they had opposed a commanding officer; and they turned in precipitous flight. General Travassos was mortally wounded in the engagement. … {50} "Meanwhile the detachment of police dispatched from the city had advanced along the bay front to the stone quarry, where they awaited the rebels. Drawn up at this spot under close formation, they were mistaken by the gunboats for the cadets, and were made the target of a disastrous hail of bullets from quick-firing guns. Their retreat also was precipitous. "Such was the comedy of errors which will be known as the Revolt of 1904. Its net results were a rude but salutary recall of the government to watchfulness; added prestige abroad for the government, vouched by a rise in its bonds; and, most significant of all, spontaneous and immediate support of the Chief Executive from neighboring states. And yet the credit was not due to the government, which avowedly had been caught napping, but to the Goddess of Chance, the arbiter of every coup d'état." G. A. Chamberlain, The Cause of South American Revolutions (Atlantic Monthly, June, 1905). BRAZIL: A. D. 1904. Settlement of boundary between Brazil and British Guiana. By the decision of the King of Italy, to whom the boundary question in dispute between Brazil and British Guiana had been referred, the line separating the territories of the two states was defined, as drawn by Nature, along the watershed, starting from Mount Yakontipu and running easterly to the source of the river Mahu, thence down that river to the Tacuta and up the latter to its source, where it touches the boundary already determined. Both countries to have free navigation of the rivers in question. BRAZIL: A. D. 1906. Presidential Election. The quadrennial presidential election occurring in Brazil in the spring of 1906 raised Dr. Alfonso Moreira Penna from the Vice-Presidency to the Presidency of the Republic, with no disturbance of its quiet. BRAZIL: A. D. 1906. German Colonies. "Already 500,000 Germans, emigrants and their offspring, are resident in Brazil. The great majority of them, it is true, have embraced Brazilian citizenship, but their ideals and ties are essentially and inviolably German. In the south, where they are thickest, they have become the ruling element. German factories, warehouses, shops, farms, schools and churches dot the country everywhere. German has superseded Portuguese, the official language of Brazil, in scores of communities. Twenty million pounds of vested interests—banking, street railroads, electric works, mines, coffee-plantations, and a great variety of business undertakings—claim the protection of the Kaiser’s flag. A cross-country railway and a still more extensive projected system are in the hands of German capitalists. The country’s vast ocean traffic, the Amazon river shipping, and much of the coasting trade are dominated by Germans. "Over and above this purely commercial conquest, however, looms a factor of more vital importance to North American susceptibilities—namely, the creation of a nation of Germans in Brazil. That is the avowed purpose of three German colonising concerns, which have become lords and masters over 8,000 square miles of Brazilian territory, an area considerably larger than the kingdom of Saxony, and capable of dwarfing half-a-dozen German Grand Duchies. It is the object of these territorial syndicates to people their lands with immigrants willing to be ‘kept German’—a race of transplanted men and women who will find themselves amid conditions deliberately designed to perpetuate ‘Deutschthum,’ which means the German language, German customs, and unyielding loyalty to German economic hopes." F. W. Wile, German Colonisation in Brazil (Fortnightly Review, January, 1906). "The talk about German exploitation of Brazil for colonization purposes is pure buncombe. The writer has visited the southern Brazilian provinces of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catharina, and Parana, where most of the Germans reside, and he has seen no more reason for Brazil to fear ulterior purposes on the part of Germany than has the United States because Germans form a large percentage of the population of New York, Chicago, and Milwaukee. The Germans make excellent Brazilian citizens, while loving the Fatherland from association and respecting the Emperor for his great personality." John Barrett, The United States and Latin America (North American Review, September 21, 1906). See (in this Volume), also, GERMANY: A. D. 1904. BRAZIL: A. D. 1906. Third International Conference of American Republics at Rio de Janeiro. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. BRAZIL: A. D. 1907. Adoption of obligatory military service. By a law enacted in 1907 military service was made obligatory. BRAZIL: A. D. 1908. Dreadnought building. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR. BRAZIL: A. D. 1908-1909. Increasing immigration. See (in this Volume) IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION. BRAZIL: A. D. 1909. Frontier agreements and demarcations. The Message of President Penna to Congress, May 3, 1909, contained the following announcements: "On September 15 last, a treaty between Brazil and Holland was finally approved at The Hague, to determine the limits of our frontier with the Colony of Surinam or Dutch Guiana. The demarcation of the new frontier line between Brazil and Bolivia in Matto Grosso is now completed, and awaits only the approval of the two Governments interested. The same mixed commission to which was intrusted this survey will now proceed to reconnoitre the head-waters of the Rio Verde. The Government of the French Republic proposes the appointment of a mixed commission for the demarcation of the common boundary established on December 1, 1900, by arbitration of the Swiss Federal Council. An agreement will shortly be arrived at with Great Britain to determine the frontier of Brazil with British Guiana." BRAZIL: A. D. 1909. Death of President Penna. Accession of the Vice-President. Dr. Alfonso Penna, President of Brazil, died suddenly on the 14th of June, 1909, and was succeeded in the office by the Vice-President, Señor Nilo Pecanha, who will fill out the presidential term, ending November 15, 1910. Meantime an active canvass of candidates for the succeeding term has been in progress, the names most discussed being those of General Hermes de Fonseca, Baron Rio Branco, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Señor Ruy Barbosa, a prominent advocate. ----------BRAZIL: End-------- BRENNAN MONO-RAIL SYSTEM. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION: RAILWAYS. BRIAND, Aristide: in the Ministry of France as Minister of Public Instruction and Public Worship. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1906. {51} BRIAND, Aristide: Prime Minister of France. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1909 (JULY). BRIAND, Aristide: On the French secular or neutral schools and the clerical attack on them. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1909. BRENT, Bishop: Service on International Opium Commission and on Philippine Committee. See (in this Volume) Opium Problem. BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA: Its parts suitable for European Settlement. See (in this Volume) AFRICA. BRITISH COLUMBIA: A. D. 1901-1902. Census. Increased representation in Parliament. See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1901-1902. BRITISH EAST AFRICA: Its habitability by whites. See (in this Volume) AFRICA. ----------THE BRITISH EMPIRE: Start-------- THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A Census of the Empire. In March, 1906, a "Census of the British Empire"—the first ever undertaken—was published as a Parliamentary Blue Book. Its preparation had been proposed by Mr. Chamberlain, who suggested, while Colonial Secretary, that the figures of the census of the United Kingdom in 1901 should be collated with those of other portions of the empire, to be analyzed, tabulated, and published as a whole. A full realization of the plan of collation had been found impracticable, owing to the wide differences of circumstance and of the forms of census-taking in different parts of the Empire; but many summings up of highly interesting and important facts were obtained. The territory covered by the British Empire was shown to be 11,908,378 square miles, being an increase of 40 per cent. since 1861, and embracing more than a fifth of the land surface of the globe. This exceeds the area of the Russian Empire (European and Asiatic) by more than three millions of square miles. It is nearly three times the area of the Chinese Empire, and more than three times that of the United States and their exterior possessions. An exact count of population in all regions of the Empire was impossible, but the estimated total is 400,000,000, of which 300,000,000 is assigned to Asia and 43,000,000 to Africa. The United Kingdom contains 41,500,000, British America 7,500,000, Australasia, 5,000,000, the Mediterranean possessions 500,000, and there are 150,000 in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Classified by religion, there 208,000,000 Hindus, 94,000,000 Mohammedans, 58,000,000 Christians, 12,000,000 Buddhists, and 23,000,000 of other religions—Parsees, Confucians, Jews, Sikhs, and Jains, over whom Edward VII. of England reigns as Emperor or King. His Asiatic subjects alone are three-fourths as many as the Emperor of China is supposed to rule, and considerable more than twice the number that live within the whole sweep of the scepter of the Tsar. THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1902. Conference at London with the Prime Ministers of the self-governing Colonies. Address of the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Chamberlain. Results of the Conference. Taking advantage of the presence in London of the Prime Ministers of the various self-governing colonies of Britain, on the occasion of the coronation of King Edward VII., a Conference with them, touching questions of general interest, was arranged by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Chamberlain, in meetings which extended from June to August, 1902. The proceedings were confidential, and no report of discussions made public; but the resulting resolutions, together with the opening address of the Colonial Secretary, and certain statements on subjects considered, are printed in a Parliamentary paper (Cd. 1299) from which the following account of the Conference is derived: Mr. Chamberlain in his address argued strongly and with feeling for a political federation of the Empire. He said: "I may be considered, perhaps, to be a dreamer, or too enthusiastic, but I do not hesitate to say that, in my opinion, the political federation of the Empire is within the limits of possibility. I recognize as fully as any one can do the difficulties which would attend such a great change in our constitutional system. I recognise the variety of interests that are concerned: the immense disproportion in wealth and the population of the different members of the Empire, and above all, the distances which still separate them, and the lack of sufficient communication. These are difficulties which at one time appeared to be, and indeed were, insurmountable. But now I cannot but recollect that similar difficulties almost, if not quite as great, have been surmounted in the case of the United States of America. And difficulties, perhaps not quite so great, but still very considerable, have been surmounted in the federation of the Dominion of Canada. … We have no right to put by our action any limit to the Imperial patriotism of the future; and it is my opinion that, as time goes on, there will be a continually growing sense of the common interests which unite us, and also, perhaps, which is equally important, of the common dangers which threaten us. At the same time I would be the last to suggest that we should do anything which could by any possibility be considered premature. We have had, within the last few years, a most splendid evidence of the results of a voluntary union without any formal obligations, in the great crisis of the war through which we have now happily passed. The action of the self-governing Colonies in the time of danger of the motherland has produced here a deep and a lasting impression. … I feel, therefore, in view of this it would be a fatal mistake to transform the spontaneous enthusiasm which has been so readily shown throughout the Empire into anything in the nature of an obligation which might be at this time unwillingly assumed or only formally accepted. The link which unites us, almost invisible as it is sentimental in its character, is one which we would gladly strengthen, but at the same time it has proved itself to be so strong that certainly we would not wish to substitute for it a chain which might be galling in its incidence. And, therefore, upon this point of the political relations between the Colonies and ourselves. His Majesty’s Government, while they would welcome any approach which might be made to a more definite and a closer union, feel that it is not for them to press this upon you. The demand, if it comes, and when it comes, must come from the Colonies. If it comes it will be enthusiastically received in this country. {52} "And in this connection I would venture to refer to an expression in an eloquent speech of my right honorable friend, the Premier of the Dominion of Canada—an expression which has called forth much appreciation in this country, although I believe that Sir Wilfrid Laurier has himself in subsequent speeches explained that it was not quite correctly understood. But the expression was, ‘If you want our aid call us to your councils.’ Gentlemen, we do want your aid. We do require your assistance in the administration of the vast Empire, which is yours as well as ours. The weary Titan staggers under the too vast orb of its fate. We have borne the burden for many years. We think it is time our children should assist us to support it, and whenever you make the request to us, be very sure that we shall hasten gladly to call you to our councils. If you are prepared at any time to take any share, any proportionate share, in the burdens of the Empire, we are prepared to meet you with any proposal for giving to you a corresponding voice in the policy of the Empire. And the object, if I may point out to you, may be achieved in various ways. Suggestions have been made that representation should be given to the Colonies in either, or in both, Houses of Parliament. There is no objection in principle to any such proposal. If it comes to us, it is a proposal which His Majesty’s Government would certainly feel justified in favourably considering, but I have always felt myself that the most practical form in which we could achieve our object would be the establishment or the creation of a real council of the Empire, to which all questions of Imperial interest might be referred, and if it were desired to proceed gradually, as probably would be our course—we are all accustomed to the slow ways in which our Constitutions have been worked out—if it be desired to proceed gradually, the Council might in the first instance be merely an advisory council. But, although that would be a preliminary step, it is clear that the object would not be completely secured until there had been conferred upon such a Council executive functions, and perhaps also legislative powers, and it is for you to say, gentlemen, whether you think the time has come when any progress whatever can be made in this direction." Turning naturally from this to the subject of imperial defence, Mr. Chamberlain gave the substance of a paper which would be submitted to the Conference, exhibiting comparatively the naval and military expenditure of the United Kingdom and of the different self-governing colonies. The cost of the armaments of the United Kingdom had increased enormously since 1897, and "that increase," he said, "is not entirely due to our initiative, but it is forced upon us by the action of other Powers who have made great advances, especially in connection with the Navy, which we have found it to be our duty and necessity to equal. But the net result is extraordinary. At the present moment the estimates for the present year for naval and military expenditure in the United Kingdom—not including the extraordinary war expenses, but the normal estimates—involve an expenditure per head of the population of the United Kingdom of 29s. 3d. per annum. In Canada the same items involve an expenditure of only 2s. per head of the population, about one-fifteenth of that incurred by the United Kingdom. In New South Wales—I have not the figures for the Commonwealth as a whole, but I am giving those as illustrations—and I find that in New South Wales the expenditure is 3s. 5d.; in Victoria, 3s. 3d.; in New Zealand, 3s. 4d.; and in the Cape and Natal, I think it is between 2s. and 3s. Now, no one, I think, will pretend that that is a fair distribution of the burdens of Empire. No one will believe that the United Kingdom can, for all time, make this inordinate sacrifice. … I think, therefore, you will agree with me that it is not unreasonable for us to call your serious attention to a state of things which cannot be permanent. We hope that we are not likely to make upon you any demand that would seem to you to be excessive. We know perfectly well your difficulties, as you probably are acquainted with ours." The speaker passed next to the question of commercial relations between the mother land and its colonies. "Two salient facts" he set with emphasis before his colonial audience. "The first is this. That if we chose—that is to say, if those whom we represent chose—the Empire might be self-sustaining. It is so wide; its products are so various; its climates so different, that there is absolutely nothing which is necessary to our existence, hardly anything which is desirable as a luxury, which can not be produced within the borders of the Empire itself. And the second salient fact is that the Empire at the present time, and especially the United Kingdom—which is the great market of the world—derives the greater part of its necessaries from foreign countries, and that it exports the largest part of its available produce —surplus produce—also to foreign countries. This trade might be the trade, the inter-imperial trade, of the Empire. It is at the present time, as I say, a trade largely between the Empire and foreign countries. Now, I confess, that to my mind that is not a satisfactory state of things, and I hope that you will agree with me that everything which can possibly tend to increase the interchange of products between the different parts of the Empire is deserving of our cordial encouragement. What we desire, what His Majesty’s Government has publicly stated to be the object for which they would most gladly strive, is a free interchange. If you are unable to accept that as a principle, then I ask you how far can you approach to it? If a free interchange between the different parts of the Empire could be secured it would then be a matter for separate consideration altogether what should be the attitude of the Empire as a whole or of its several parts towards foreign nations? … "Three proposals have been made for the consideration of the present Conference, on the initiative of New Zealand. The first and the most important one is that a preferential tariff should be arranged in favour of British goods which are now taxable in the respective Colonies and in the United Kingdom. And although no proposal comes to us from Canada, I am, of course, aware that similar questions have been recently specially discussed very actively and very intelligently in the Dominion, and that a strong opinion prevails there that the time is ripe for something of this kind." {53} Thereupon Mr. Chamberlain examined the results of the Canadian preferential tariff, showing that England derived very little commercial benefit from it, and continued: "I think the very valuable experience, somewhat disappointing and discouraging as I have already pointed out, but the very valuable experience which we have derived from the history of the Canadian tariff, shows that while we may most readily and most gratefully accept from you any preference which you may be willing voluntarily to accord to us, we cannot bargain with you for it; we cannot pay for it unless you go much further and enable us to enter your home market on terms of greater equality." On the subject of imperial defence, the result of the Conference was an agreement from Australia and New Zealand to increase their contribution towards an improved Australasian squadron and the establishment of a branch of the Royal Naval Reserve to £200,000 a year for the former and £40,000 for the latter; an agreement from Cape Colony and Natal to contribute £50,000 and £35,000 per annum respectively toward the general maintenance of the Navy, and a pledge from Newfoundland of £3000 per annum toward a branch of the Royal Naval Reserve. From Canada no agreement was reported. In a "Memorandum by the First Lord of the Admiralty" of interviews held with the several Premiers it is said: "Sir Wilfrid Laurier informed me that His Majesty’s Government of the Dominion of Canada are contemplating the establishment of a local Naval force in the waters of Canada, but that they were not able to make any offer of assistance analogous to those enumerated above." Concerning preferential trade, the following resolutions were adopted: "1. That this Conference recognises that the principle of preferential trade between the United Kingdom and His Majesty’s Dominions beyond the seas would stimulate and facilitate mutual commercial intercourse, and would, by promoting the development of the resources and industries of the several parts, strengthen the Empire. "2. That this Conference recognises that, in the present circumstances of the Colonies, it is not practicable to adopt a general system of Free Trade as between the Mother Country and the British Dominions beyond the seas. "3. That with a view, however, to promoting the increase of trade within the Empire, it is desirable that those Colonies which have not already adopted such a policy should, as far as their circumstances permit, give substantial preferential treatment to the products and manufactures of the United Kingdom. "4. That the Prime Ministers of the Colonies respectfully urge on His Majesty’s Government the expediency of granting in the United Kingdom preferential treatment to the products and manufactures of the Colonies either by exemption from or reduction of duties now or hereafter imposed. "5. That the Prime Ministers present at the Conference undertake to submit to their respective Governments at the earliest opportunity the principle of the resolution and to request them to take such measures as may be necessary to give effect to it." The Prime Ministers of the Colonies also stated the extent to which they were prepared to recommend to their several Parliaments a preferential treatment of British goods: The Premier of Canada would propose to continue the existing preference of 33 1/3 per cent., and an additional preference on lists of selected articles— (a) by further reducing the duties in favor of the United Kingdom; (b) by raising the duties against foreign imports; (c) by imposing duties on certain foreign imports now on the free list. In New Zealand the recommendation would be of a general preference by 10 per cent., or an equivalent in respect of lists of selected articles on the lines proposed by Canada. At the Cape and Natal a preference of 25 per cent. would be advised, or its equivalent given by increasing duties on foreign imports. The recommendation in Australia would be of a preferential treatment not yet defined. A resolution was adopted favoring future Conferences at intervals not exceeding four years. Other resolutions recommended that a preference be given to products of the Empire in all Government contracts, Imperial or Colonial; that the privileges of coastwise trade within the Empire be refused to countries in which the corresponding trade is confined to ships of their own nationality; that a mutual protection of patents within the Empire be devised; that the principle of cheap postage between the different parts of the Empire on all newspapers and periodicals published therein be adopted; that the metric system of weights and measures be adopted throughout the Empire. These were the mainly important conclusions derived from the Conference, and it was difficult to regard them as quite satisfactory. THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1903. Mr. Chamberlain’s declaration for preferential trade with the Colonies. Its political effects in Great Britain. His resignation from the Cabinet. Disclosures of the correspondence. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (MAY-SEPTEMBER). THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907. Conference of Imperial and Colonial Ministers at London. Formulation of the Constitution of the Conference, to be known as the Imperial Conference. Discussion of preferential trade, imperial defence, and other subjects. Resolutions adopted. According to the resolution adopted by the Colonial Conference of 1902, the next Conference should have been held in 1906, but by agreement of all parties it was deferred until the following year. In the interval, a protracted correspondence occurred between the Colonial Office and the Governments of the several States federated in the Commonwealth of Australia, each of which claimed representation in the Conference by its own Ministers, and protested against the sufficiency of the representation that would be given to it by the General Government of the Commonwealth. The "State Rights" doctrine received no encouragement, however, and only the Premier of the Commonwealth, Mr. Deakin, and one of the members of his Cabinet, took part in the Conference, which held its first meeting in London on the 15th of April and its final one on the 14th of May. {54} At the first meeting there were present, as representatives of the Imperial Government, the Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Earl of Elgin, in the Chair, and several other Members of the Cabinet and officials of the Administration. The Premiers of the self-governing colonies, excepting Sir Robert Bond, of Newfoundland, who arrived a few days later, were all in attendance,—namely, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, of Canada, the Honorable Alfred Deakin, of Australia, the Honorable Sir J. G. Ward, of New Zealand, Dr. L. S. Jameson, of Cape Colony, the Honorable F. R. Moor, of Natal, and General Louis Botha, of the Transvaal. The Conference was first addressed by the Prime Minister, and responses to his remarks were made by the several colonial premiers. It was then agreed that the constitution of the Conference and the question of military defence should be the subjects first considered. Before ending this preliminary sitting it was decided, as one ruling on the constitution of the Conference, that any Ministers accompanying their Prime Ministers, should be at liberty to attend its meetings. At the second session of the Conference resolutions brought forward by the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, proposing to give the character of an Imperial Council to the Conference, and a resolution from the Government of Cape Colony on the subject of Imperial Defence, together with a draft resolution concerning the constitution of the Conference which the Chairman, Lord Elgin, submitted, were discussed, without action taken. The discussion was continued at the third and fourth meetings, and the resolution proposed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, being amended in some particulars, was adopted at the end, as follows: "That it will be to the advantage of the Empire if a Conference to be called the Imperial Conference is held every four years at which questions of common interest may be discussed and considered as between His Majesty’s Government and his Governments of the self-governing Dominions beyond the seas. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will be ex officio President, and the Prime Ministers of the self-governing Dominions ex officio members of the Conference. The Secretary of State for the Colonies will be an ex officio member of the Conference and will take the chair in the absence of the President. He will arrange for such Imperial Conferences after communication with the Prime Ministers of the respective Dominions. "Such other Ministers as the respective Governments may appoint will also be members of the Conference—it being understood that, except by special permission of the Conference, each discussion will be conducted by not more than two representatives from each Government, and that each Government will have only one vote. "That it is desirable to establish a system by which the several Governments represented shall be kept informed during the periods between the Conferences in regard to matters which have been or may be subjects for discussion, by means of a permanent secretarial staff charged under the direction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies with the duty of obtaining information for the use of the Conference, of attending to its resolutions, and of conducting correspondence on matters relating to its affairs. "That upon matters of importance requiring consultation between two or more Governments which cannot conveniently be postponed until the next Conference, or involving subjects of a minor character or such as call for detailed consideration, subsidiary conferences should be held between representatives of the Governments concerned specially chosen for the purpose." On the subject of Imperial Defence, which was then taken up, and in the discussion of which the Secretary of State for War took part, the following resolutions were approved: "That the Colonies be authorized to refer to the Committee of Imperial Defence through the Secretary of State for advice any local questions in regard to which expert assistance is deemed desirable. "That whenever so desired, a representative of the colony which may wish for advice should be summoned to attend as a member of the Committee during the discussion of the questions raised. "That this Conference welcomes and cordially approves the exposition of general principles embodied in the statement of the Secretary of State for War, and, without wishing to commit any of the Governments represented, recognizes and affirms the need of developing for the service of the Empire a General Staff, selected from the forces of the Empire as a whole, which shall study military science in all its branches, shall collect and disseminate to the various Governments military information and intelligence, shall undertake the preparation of schemes of defence on a common principle, and without in the least interfering in questions connected with command and administration, shall at the request of the respective Governments advise as to the training, education, and war organization of the military forces of the Crown in every part of the Empire." At subsequent meetings the following resolutions were adopted or accepted: On the subject of Emigration: "That it is desirable to encourage British emigrants to proceed to British colonies rather than foreign countries. That the Imperial Government be requested to cooperate with any colonies desiring immigrants in assisting suitable persons to emigrate." On the subject of Judicial Appeals: The Conference "agreed to the following finding: The resolution of the Commonwealth of Australia, ‘That it is desirable to establish an Imperial Court of Appeal,’ was submitted and fully discussed. "The resolution submitted by the Government of Cape Colony was accepted, amended as follows: ‘This Conference, recognizing the importance to all parts of the Empire of the appellate jurisdiction of His Majesty the King in Council, desires to place upon record its opinion— "‘(1) That in the interests of His Majesty’s subjects beyond the seas it is expedient that the practice and procedure of the Right Honourable the Lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council be definitely laid down in the form of a code of rules and regulations. "‘(2) That in the codification of the rules regard should be had to the necessity for the removal of anachronisms and anomalies, the possibility of the curtailment of expense, and the desirability of the establishment of courses of procedure which would minimize delays. {55} "‘(3) That, with a view to the extension of uniform rights of appeal to all colonial subjects of His Majesty, the various Orders in Council, instructions to Governors, charters of justice, ordinances and proclamations upon the subject of the appellate jurisdiction of the Sovereign should be taken into consideration for the purpose of determining the desirability of equalizing the conditions which gave right of appeal to His Majesty. "‘(4) That much uncertainty, expense, and delay would be avoided if some portion of His Majesty’s prerogative to grant special leave to appeal in cases where there exists no right of appeal were exercised under definite rules and restrictions.’ "The following resolutions, presented to the Conference by General Botha and supported by the representatives of Cape Colony and Natal, were accepted: "‘(1) That when a Court of Appeal has been established for any group of colonies geographically connected, whether federated or not, to which appeals lie from the decisions of the Supreme Courts of such colonies, it shall be competent for the Legislature of each such colony to abolish any existing right of appeal from its Supreme Court to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. "‘(2) That the decisions of such Court of Appeal shall be final, but leave to appeal from such decisions may be granted by the said Court in certain cases prescribed by the statute under which it is established. "‘(3) That the right of any person to apply to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for leave to appeal to it from the decision of such Appeal Court shall not be curtailed.’" And now, at last, on the 30th of April, the Conference came to the discussion of the question which had been dominant in all minds from the first,—the question of preferential trade. Essentially it was a settled question already,—settled, that is, by the voters of the United Kingdom a year and a half before, when they took the administration of their Government away from the party which had approved the fiscal proposals of Mr. Chamberlain. The commercial negotiation of the colonies now was with a Ministry that stood pledged against the preferential tariff arrangements they desired. On their side they had committed their fortunes to the stimulant working of protective tariffs, against which the judgment and experience of England was still firm. The preferential tariffs which preferential trade involved were in the line of their policy, but directly antagonistic to hers. How impossible this made an arrangement of reciprocity on that line was intimated gently by the Prime Minister when he spoke to the Conference at its first sitting, but set forth later in plain words by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Asquith, and by the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. David Lloyd-George. "If the Colonies," said Mr. Asquith, "thought it their duty to foster industries by protective tariffs their action would not evoke remonstrance or even criticism from him. He noted that various self-governing Colonies gave preference to the Mother Country, but it was a fact that these preferential tariffs did not admit the manufactures of the Mother Country to compete on equal terms with the local product. Doubtless the Colonies held this to be vital to their interests, and in the same way His Majesty’s Government held that free trade was vital in the interests of the United Kingdom. Reference had been made to the fact that Cobden advocated free trade here as a part of a universal system of free trade, but the official author of the policy, Sir Robert Peel, defended it on the ground of its necessity to this country alone. His Majesty’s Government held that it was more necessary now than it was in his day. He pointed out the position now existing. We had a population of 44,000,000 bearing the whole weight of an enormous debt largely contracted in building up the Empire, and of the cost of Imperial diplomacy and Imperial defence. That population was dependent for food and raw materials on external sources of supply. This is the essential point for consideration. He asked how the supremacy of Great Britain was maintained. He thought it must be attributed to our special productive activity, to the profits which we obtain from keeping the biggest open market in the world, and to the enormous earnings of our shipping. All these were based in the long run on keeping our food and our raw materials on the same basis and as nearly as possible at the same price. Free trade was no shibboleth, but a principle maintained because it was a matter of vital national interest. He drew attention to the tariff reform campaign, and observed that, after the fullest examination and discussion, the people of England had declared in favour of free trade by a majority of unexampled size. As spokesman for the people, His Majesty’s Government could not accept any infringement of that policy, even by way of such an experiment as Dr. Jameson had suggested. It was necessary to state that fact fully and frankly at the outset. … "For these reasons His Majesty’s Government, speaking for the people of this country, could not accept the principle of preferential trade by way of tariff preference. He thought, however, that the discussion had thrown light on other methods by which inter-imperial trade relations might be improved. Reference had been made to the improvement of means of communication, especially steamer services, to the increase in the number of commercial agents in the Colonies, to the desirability of removing or reducing the Suez Canal dues, and of establishing mail communication with the Australasian Colonies via Canada. All these were matters on which His Majesty’s Government would be fully ready to consider and cooperate with any practical proposals, and he said this the more earnestly as he felt that in the performance of his duty it had been necessary for him to enunciate a general policy which was not in accord with the views of the Colonial representatives." Mr. Lloyd-George was equally plain spoken. "He had hoped," he said, "it might have been possible for those present, acknowledging the limitations imposed on them by the convictions they respectively held on fiscal issues, to see whether it might not be possible to find other means of attaining the object in view. The Colonies regard a tax on our foods as necessary both for raising revenue and also for the protection of their own industries. Mr. Deakin acknowledged that the late election in Australia was fought on the issue of protection and preference. It was open for the representatives of the Imperial Government to have ignored the mandate given to Mr. Deakin and to have endeavoured to commit their colleagues here to a policy of free trade within the Empire, to which those colleagues would not assent without being false to the trust reposed in them by their own people. Sir William Lyne the other day had urged the commercial union of the whole Empire, quoting the consolidation of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Federation of South Africa and Australia. In these cases all tolls and tariffs were removed. {56} "Had a free-trade resolution been pressed by His Majesty’s Government and refused, it might have been said by the Press that the Colonies had refused to listen to the appeal of the Mother Country to be put on equal terms with her children, and later that the door had been slammed in the old mother’s face by her ungrateful progeny. His Majesty’s Government had not taken this course, recognizing the unfairness of ignoring local conditions and exigencies. They were not here to attempt to manoeuvre each other into false positions, but to discharge the practical business of the Empire. They were in perfect accord as to the objects they could strive to promote. His Majesty’s Government were in favour of any scheme for the development of inter-imperial trade which did not inflict sacrifices on any individual community so as to create a sense of grievance deep enough to introduce the elements of discontent and discord, and thus impair the true unity of the Empire. … "He agreed that this federation of free commonwealths is worth making some sacrifice for. He differed only on ways and means. He was convinced that to tax the food of our people is to cast an undue share of sacrifice on the poorest part of the population, and that a tax on raw material would fetter us in the severe struggle with our foreign competitors. This, therefore, was a sacrifice which would weaken our power to make further sacrifices, and we ought not to be called upon to make it. In Mr. Deakin’s resolution the Government were asked to do what no protectionist country in the world would do—viz., to tax necessaries of either life or livelihood which we cannot produce ourselves, and of which the Colonies cannot supply us with a sufficiency for many years. "He wished to acknowledge the considerable advantage conferred upon the British manufacturer by the preference recently given to him in colonial markets. The Canadian tariff had produced a satisfactory effect on our export trade, and apparently had also benefited Canada, for our purchases from Canada had also increased. The South African and New Zealand tariffs had not yet been put to, the test by much actual experience, but would no doubt have a similarly happy result. The same applied to Australia, and Great Britain felt grateful, not merely for the actual concessions, but for the spirit of comradeship and affection which inspired the policy. But it was said, ‘What are you prepared to do in return?’ His first answer was that Great Britain was the best customer the Colonies have got for their products. To illustrate this he gave the following figures: In 1905, the last year for which the information was available, the exports from the self-governing Colonies to all foreign countries only amounted to 40½ millions, while the exports to the United Kingdom amounted to 65¾ millions, exclusive of bullion and specie (21¾ millions)." The outcome of the discussion was a simple reaffirmation of the five resolutions on the subject that were adopted at the Conference of 1902, and which will be found in the report of that Conference, preceding this. Before putting those resolutions to vote Lord Elgin stated that His Majesty’s Government could not assent to them so far as they implied that it is necessary or expedient to alter the fiscal system of the United Kingdom. They were agreed to, subject to that reservation. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who moved their readoption, said in doing so: "Free trade within the Empire had been suggested, just as there was free trade within the boundaries of the United States, Germany, and France. For the British Empire this was impossible for two reasons—the United Kingdom was not prepared to limit free trade to the Empire, and the Colonies were not prepared to accept free trade even within its boundaries. In Canada the policy of free trade within the Empire was impracticable, as it was necessary for her to have Customs duties as a main source of revenue. Canada had given the British preference deliberately, and had no cause to regret it; she had from time to time increased it, and in the last tariff had maintained it generally at the increased amount of 33 1/3 per cent. Canadian opinion had been almost unanimous in favour of preference, for Canada felt that she would as a result of the preference sell more to Great Britain and buy more from her. Mr. Asquith had not given Canada all the credit to which he thought she was entitled in making a comparison which showed no great advantage to British goods. He dwelt on the effect of the proximity of a nation like the United States, of their own stock, enormous in numbers, and most enterprising in trade; it was not a matter for surprise that their trade with that country had increased. But, so far as they could, they had done everything to keep trade within the Empire. They had built canals and railways from east to west of Canada, and they had taken care to assist the principle of mutual trade so far as legislation could do it. … He explained that in the recent revision of the Canadian tariff they had adopted a new principle in providing an intermediate tariff for negotiation. They were prepared to negotiate with nations like France or Italy on the basis of that tariff, but their lower preference tariff remained reserved for the British Empire." Other resolutions adopted or accepted during the last two sessions of the Conference were as follows: "That it is desirable that the attention of the Governments of the Colonies and the United Kingdom should be called to the present state of the navigation laws in the Empire, and in other countries, and to the advisability of refusing the privileges of coastwise trade, including trade between the Mother Country and its Colonies and possessions, and between one colony or possession and another, to countries in which the corresponding trade is confined to ships of their own nationality, and also to the laws affecting shipping, with a view of seeing whether any other steps should be taken to promote Imperial trade in British vessels." (This was voted by the representatives of the Colonies only, "His Majesty’s Government dissenting.") {57} "That it is desirable that His Majesty’s Government, after full consultation with the Colonies, should endeavour to provide for such uniformity as may be practicable in the granting and protection of trade marks and patents." "That it is desirable, so far as circumstances permit, to secure greater uniformity in the trade statistics of the Empire, and that the Note prepared on this subject by the Imperial Government be commended to the consideration of the various Governments represented at this Conference." "That it is desirable, so far as circumstances permit, to secure greater uniformity in Company Laws of the Empire, and that the memorandum and analysis prepared on this subject by the Imperial Government be commended to the consideration of the various Governments represented at this Conference." "That, in view of the social and political advantages and the material commercial advantages to accrue from a system of international penny postage, this Conference recommends to His Majesty’s Government the advisability, if and when a suitable opportunity occurs, of approaching the Governments of other States, members of the Universal Postal Union, in order to obtain further reductions of postage rates, with a view to a more general and if possible a universal adoption of the penny rate." "That, with a view to attain uniformity so far as practicable, an inquiry should be held to consider further the question of naturalization, and in particular to consider how far, and under what conditions, naturalization in one part of His Majesty’s dominions should be effective in other parts of those dominions, a subsidiary conference to be held, if necessary, under the terms of the resolution adopted by this Conference on April 20 last." "That in the opinion of this Conference the interests of the Empire demand that in so far as practicable its different portions should be connected by the best possible means of mail communication, travel, and transportation; That to this end it is advisable that Great Britain should be connected with Canada, and through Canada with Australia and New Zealand by the best service available within reasonable cost; That for the purpose of carrying the above project into effect such financial support as may be necessary should be contributed by Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in equitable proportions." THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1909. The total of its prospective Military Strength when present Imperial plans are carried out. In a speech made in March, 1909, Mr. Haldane, Minister for War, summed up the total of defensive military strength which the Empire might count on when recent plans for Imperial defence are carried out. He said: "With the divisions between the Cape and Malta and those which Lord Kitchener had in India, the Regular Army had for overseas work 16 divisions, equivalent to eight army corps, which was larger than any other nation had for overseas work, the reason being that we, unlike others, were responsible for 12 million square miles and 400 millions of human beings. The second line, what one might call the local line of home defence, consisted of the 14 divisions of the Territorial Army. Supposing Canada, the population of which was very rapidly increasing, were to build on the foundations laid at the Conference, by the new proposals which Canada had accepted she might easily add five or six Territorial divisions of her own. Those would be for her own defence, but they knew that in 1899, when a supreme emergency arose, she did not scruple to send forth her strength to help the Mother Country. In Australia there was a remarkable movement for the organization of the forces of the Crown, which might easily produce five Australian Territorial divisions. New Zealand might produce another division, and South Africa could rapidly produce four or five. … If they could add to the 14 second line divisions at home 16 for the second line Army of the Empire there would be 30 divisions altogether, and these, added to the 16 Regular first line divisions for use overseas, would give us an army for war conceivably and practicably of 46 divisions, equivalent to 23 army corps. The army of Germany had 23 army corps, and no other army in the world had an organization so great. He was speaking of possibilities." THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1909 (June). The Imperial Press Conference in England. Among the many endeavors of late years in England to draw the distant peoples of the great British Empire into closer relations with its sovereign Mother Country, and into the feeling of stronger ties of unity among themselves and with her, none seems to have been wiser or more surely of effect than that which brought about the Imperial Press Conference of June, 1909. It assembled sixty representatives of the Newspaper Press of every part of the Empire and of every shade of political opinion. It entertained them delightfully and impressively for three weeks. It made all England and its colonies and dependencies listen to their discussion of many questions, all bearing on the fundamental desire to make the most and best that can be made of the great political organism which extends its law to every continent and its influence to all the world. It brought before them its most distinguished and eloquent men to address them at meetings and feasts. It assembled at Spithead its stupendous central fleet of battleships, to pass it in review before them. It filled their minds with an undoubtedly new realization of what the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland—the sovereign, the seat, the center of greatness in their Empire—is to it; and they went back to Canada, to Australia, to South Africa, to New Zealand, even to India, to propagate that realization in other minds. A Western Australian editor, speaking at one of the banquets of the Conference, referred to this result, saying: "The influence that had been brought to bear upon the overseas delegates could not fail to have very great effects upon their writings in the future. Coming as they did from isolated parts of the Empire, it was an agreeable surprise to them to find that they had all been thinking Imperially, and thinking in much the same way. While the spirit of nationalism was growing up very strongly, they felt that the spirit of nationalism was in no way out of harmony with the true spirit of Imperialism; and it had been a revelation to the delegates to find the unanimity that existed, not only among the English-speaking people of the Empire, but among those who came from different races. They had been helped to strengthen that feeling of Imperial unity in the certain hope that eventually the highest ideals of the best form of Imperialism would be realized. That form of Imperialism was not associated with a policy of aggrandisement, but was associated with the policy that would tend to promote the peace of the world, and the prosperity and the betterment of humanity generally." {58} A writer in The Times, reviewing the Conference after it closed, quoted the above and added: "The speaker just quoted travelled for seven days across Australia before he reached the capital of the State where he joined his fellow-delegates from the Commonwealth. The Australian party, when once it had left Sydney, was three weeks on the ocean before it reached the Pacific coast of Canada. A Canadian delegate, speaking at a banquet in Glasgow, declared that when at home he was as remote from one of his Canadian colleagues as Egypt is from London, and as remote from another, in the opposite direction, as London is from Russia. It might have been supposed that distances like those just indicated would have had the effect of causing some estrangement between men so widely separated; but the contrary proved to be the case. The Australians, following the All-Red route, which was defined as the official route, were greeted on their arrival on Canadian soil with an enthusiasm which both surprised and touched them. Wherever they went they found themselves among friends, anxious and eager to exchange views and ideas on all sorts of subjects affecting the common interests of the two peoples. They were banqueted by many representative men, from the Governor-General downwards, and, having been welcomed with the utmost heartiness at Victoria on the Pacific coast, were given a not less hearty ‘God-speed’ from Quebec on the St. Lawrence. "Among the indirect results of the Conference must be mentioned the knowledge gained from such experiences. When in Canada the Australians were able to see how far their own trade interests were identical with those of the people among whom they had come, how the Canadians are facing the same problems both of politics and material development, of commerce and agriculture. And when, the feastings over, they found themselves on board the steamer with their Canadian fellow-delegates, a community of interests was at once established, and lasting friendships were formed. "Similarly, when the delegates had all assembled in England there arose a spirit of comradeship which subsisted without a jarring note from the beginning of the Conference to the end. Nor must it be forgotten that the men who formed part of this company of editors and writers of the overseas Press were not wholly of British race. From Canada came representatives of the French-Canadians, from South Africa some of Boer and Dutch extraction, from India one delegate at least of Indian blood. The welding together of all these men in a spirit of loyalty to the Empire in which they as well as we have a share has been one of the most significant features of the Conference." The practical object for which the Press Conference strove most earnestly was a cheapening of telegraphic communication, by cable or wireless, between the distant parts of the Empire, to the end that there may be an ampler publication of news from each division of it in every other. It received strong assurances of coöperation from the Imperial Government in its efforts to accomplish this end. To a deputation which waited on him, the Premier, Mr. Asquith, said: "Your Conference, if I may venture to say so, has very wisely appointed a standing committee to deal with that matter. The Post Office and other Government departments concerned will be anxious to assist and to keep themselves in touch with this committee by information and intercommunication and in all other ways that may be practicable. I think it will be the solid and substantial result of your deliberations on this very great Imperial necessity that in regard to the development of electric communication between different parts of the Empire we shall now have on the side of the Press a body formally organized and constantly existing with which we can enter into necessary communication, and by mutual discussion and reference, having regard to the various considerations to which I have already adverted, we may accelerate the developments of what we all agree to be one of the first requisites of an Empire such as ours—a cheap, a certain, a constant, a convenient, and a universally accessible system of electric communication." THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1909 (July-August). Imperial Defence Conference. See (in this Volume) War, The Preparations for: Military and Naval. THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1909 (September). Congress of Empire Chambers of Commerce. A Congress of Chambers of Commerce, representing all parts of the Empire, which was assembled at Sydney, New South Wales, on the 14th of September, 1909, gave much of its discussion to the proposition that the several parts of the Empire should afford preferential treatment to each other in their several markets, on a basis of reciprocity, and adopted resolutions to the effect that the Congress "urges upon the Governments of the Empire that they should treat this matter as of present practical importance, and that the organizations represented at this Congress pledge themselves to press their respective Governments to take such action at the next Imperial Conference as will give effect to the principle advocated in this resolution." This was carried on individual voting, by 81 votes to 31. On voting by chambers, the resolution was passed with 60 for, 8 against, and 11 neutral. Among the other resolutions of the Congress were the following: "That this Congress urges upon his Majesty’s Government and upon the Governments of the Colonies the appointment of an Advisory Imperial Council to consider questions of Imperial interest, especially those tending to promote trade between the various parts of the Empire." "That the settlement in adequate Volume of the Anglo-Saxon race in the British Dominions is deserving of the constant solicitude of the Home and Colonial Governments, who are hereby urged to consider what further or better steps than those at present existing should be taken to elaborate a general State-aided scheme at reduced rates to encourage emigration of suitable settlers under well-considered conditions." "This Congress is of opinion that it is desirable to complete the Imperial route between the Motherland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand by State-owned electric communication across Canada to Great Britain and that the postal departments of the various Governments of the Empire should be requested to frame a combined scheme of substantial reductions in telegraphic rates." {59} BRITISH GUIANA: A. D. 1904. Settlement of Brazilian boundary dispute. See (in this Volume) Brazil: A. D. 1904. BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA. See SOUTH AFRICA BROWNSVILLE AFFAIR, The. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906 (August). BRYAN, William Jennings: Suggestion at the Peace Congress in New York. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907. BRYAN, William Jennings: Nominated for President of the United States. See UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908(April-November). BROTHERHOODS OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND OF RAILWAY TRAINMEN. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES. BRUSSELS: A. D. 1902-1907. Sugar Bounty Conference and Convention, 1902, and Additional Act, 1907. See (in this Volume) SUGAR BOUNTY CONFERENCE. BRYCE, James: Chief Secretary for Ireland. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906. BUBONIC PLAGUE. See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH. BUCHANAN, William I.: Delegate to Second and Third International Conferences of American Republics. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. BUCHANAN, William I.: Diplomatic Service in Venezuela. See VENEZUELA: A. D. 1907-1909. BUCHANAN, William I.: Commissioner Plenipotentiary to the Second Peace Conference. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907. BUCHANAN, William I.: Death, October 16, 1909. BUCHNER, Eduard. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. BUCKS STOVE COMPANY CASE. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908-1909. BUDGET OF 1909, The British. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1909 (April-December). BUFFALO: A. D. 1901. The Pan-American Exposition. Assassination of President McKinley. Vice-President Roosevelt becomes President of the United States. In Volume VI. of this work, which went to press in the spring of 1901, an account was given of the plan and preparations made for the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, then just at the point of being opened, on the 1st of May. The following characterization of the Exposition by a visitor is sufficient to add what was then said of it: "They have staged electricity at Buffalo this summer, and they call it the Pan-American Exposition. It took a rectangle of 350 acres for the stage, and over $10,000,000 for the settings. The result, baldly stated, is the most glorious night scene the world has ever had the fortune to witness. The staging of Niagara is the one unforgettable thing about the affair. The Pan-American is, however, much more than this. … "It may be well to say that the original generic scheme for the Exposition, that of joining the three Americas in a unified attempt to show one another their trade resources, seems to be in results far less prominent than was hoped at first. For one reason or another,—I have heard European influences in South America given as a chief cause,—the Latin Americas did not cooperate as was expected. The great trade idea upon which the Pan-American was originally based gradually faded, and gave place to the idea of an electrical beatification—for which the spectator will perhaps be thankful. There are exhibits, to be sure, from most of the South American countries, but the United States occupies industrially foreground, background, and middle distance. The other countries fill in the odd corners. The ardent patriot will see no lack of proportion in this; and as there is a hint of Mexico and the Argentine, and very creditable exhibits by Chile and Honduras, we have enough of the sister continent to justify the name. Most of the southern republics are represented in one way or another. It is hard, however, to explain the insufficiency of Canada’s exhibit. It is upon much too small a scale to do credit to her great resources. It is worthy of note that when the other countries realized the importance and beauty of the Pan-American, they set about vigorously to retrieve themselves. "So the staging of electricity was undertaken. There was Buffalo to start with, and Buffalo is backed in the great race of American cities by the power of Niagara and the commerce of the Lakes. It is delightfully accessible and pleasing. Here was the psychological place. It was also the psychological moment,—a period of general prosperity, a time when America had set about her great task of making commercial vassals of the Old World countries. The psychological idea came with electricity, and under this happy triad of influences conspiring for success the work was begun. "The managers took a big rectangle of unused land to the north of a beautiful park, and welded with it the most attractive portion of that park for their groundwork. Then they charted an effect. They put millions into an attempt to please, and did more, for they have both pleased and startled,—an effect peculiarly delightful to Americans." E. R. White, Aspects of the Pan-American Exposition (Atlantic Monthly, July, 1901). The Pan-American Exposition may be said to have been paralyzed in the first week of its fifth month by the awful tragedy of the wanton murder of President McKinley, while it entertained him as its guest. Mr. McKinley, with Mrs. McKinley, had arrived in Buffalo on the 4th of September, for a long planned visit to the Exposition, and had accepted the hospitality of its President, Mr. John G. Milburn. On the afternoon of the 6th he held a public reception in the Temple of Music, on the Exposition grounds, and it was there that the brutal assassin found his opportunity for the deed. The following graphic narrative of the tragedy is from the pen of Mr. Walter Wellman in the American Review of Reviews: "Usually a secret-service agent is stationed by the President’s side when he receives the public, but on this occasion President Milburn stood at the President’s left. Secretary Cortelyou was at his right, and a little to the rear. Opposite the President was Secret-Service Officer Ireland. {60} Eight or ten feet away was Officer Foster. When all was ready, the line of people was permitted to move, each one pausing to shake the hand of the President. He beamed upon them all in his courtly way. When one stranger timidly permitted himself to be pushed along without a greeting, the President called out, smilingly, ‘Hold on, there; give me your hand.’ Mr. McKinley would never permit any one to go past him without a handshake. He was particularly gracious to the children and to timid women. Here, as we have often seen him in Washington and elsewhere, he patted little girls or boys on the head or cheek and smiled at them in his sweet way. A woman and a little girl had just passed, and were looking back at the President, proud of the gracious manner in which he had greeted them. Next came a tall, powerful negro—Parker. After Parker, a slight, boyish figure, a face bearing marks of foreign descent, a smooth, youthful face, with nothing sinister to be detected in it. No one had suspected this innocent-looking boy of a murderous purpose. He had his right hand bound up in a handkerchief, and this had been noticed by both of the secret-service men as well as by others. But the appearance in a reception line of men with wounded and bandaged hands is not uncommon. In fact, one had already passed along the line. Many men carried handkerchiefs in their hands, for the day was warm. "So this youth approached. He was met with a smile. The President held out his hand; but it was not grasped. Supporting his bandaged right hand with his left, the assassin fired two bullets at the President. The first passed through the stomach and lodged in the back. The second, it is believed, struck a button on the President’s waistcoat and glanced therefrom, making an abrasion upon the sternum. The interval between the two shots was so short as to be scarcely measurable. As the second shot rang out, Detective Foster sprang forward and intercepted the hand of the assassin, who was endeavoring to fire a third bullet into his victim. The President did not fall. He was at once supported by Mr. Milburn, by Detective Geary, and by Secretary Cortelyou. Before turning, he raised himself on tiptoe and cast upon the miserable wretch before him, who was at that moment in the clutches of a number of men, a look which none who saw it can ever forget. It appeared to say, ‘You miserable, why should you shoot me? What have I done to you?’ It was the indignation of a gentleman, of a great soul, when attacked by a ruffian. A few drops of blood spurted out and fell on the President’s waistcoat. At once the wounded man was led to a chair, into which he sank. His collar was removed and his shirt opened at the front. Those about him fanned him with their hats. Secretary Cortelyou bent over his chief, and Mr. McKinley whispered, ‘Cortelyou, be careful. Tell Mrs. McKinley gently.’ "A struggle ensued immediately between the assassin and those about him. Detective Foster not only intercepted the arm of the murderer, and prevented the firing of a third shot from the revolver concealed in the handkerchief, but he planted a blow square upon the assassin’s face. Even after he fell, Czolgosz endeavored to twist about and fire again at the President. Mr. Foster threw himself upon the wretch. Parker, the colored man, struck him almost at the same instant that Foster did. Indeed, a half-dozen men were trying to beat and strike the murderer, and they were so thick about him that they struck one another in their excitement. A private of the artillery corps at one moment had a bayonet-sword at the neck of Czolgosz, and would have driven it home had not Detective Ireland held his arm and begged him not to shed blood there before the President. Just then the President raised his eyes, saw what was going on, and with a slight motion of his right hand toward his assailant, exclaimed: ‘Let no one hurt him.’" As soon as possible, the wounded President was removed to the Exposition Hospital, and surgeons were quickly in attendance. The medical director of the Exposition, Dr. Roswell Park, President of the American Society of Surgeons, chanced to be absent, at Niagara Falls, where he was performing an operation at the time. The necessary operation upon the President was performed by Dr. Matthew D. Mann, assisted by Dr. Herman Mynter, Dr. Eugene Wasdin, of the Marine Hospital service, and others. The one fatal bullet of the two that were fired was found to have passed through both walls of the stomach, and its further progress was not traced. Dr. Park arrived on the scene before the operation was finished and took part in the subsequent consultations. From the hospital Mr. McKinley was removed to Mr. Milburn’s house, where Mrs. McKinley, being an invalid, had remained that day. There he received all possible care during the eight days in which the nation hoped against hope that he might be saved. Dr. Charles McBurney was called from New York to join the attending physicians and surgeons, and approved all that had been done. For a week there seemed good ground for believing that the sound constitution of the President would defeat the assassin’s attempt; but on Friday the 13th the signs underwent a rapid change, and at fifteen minutes past two o’clock of the morning of Saturday he breathed his last. Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt, who was then at a camp in the Adirondacks, was summoned at once, and arrived in the city that afternoon. At the house of Mr. Ansley Wilcox (whose guest he became), in the presence of the members of the late President’s cabinet and of a few friends and newspaper correspondents, he took the oath of office as President, administered by Judge Hazel, of the United States District Court. Before taking the oath he said: "I wish to say that it shall be my aim to continue, absolutely unbroken, the policies of President McKinley for the peace, the prosperity, and the honor of our beloved country." The assassin, who called himself Nieman at first, was identified as Leon Czolgosz, a Pole, having reputable parents at Cleveland, Ohio. He had come under anarchist influences and been taught to believe that all heads of government were enemies of the people and ought to be slain. There was no other motive discoverable for his crime. He was arraigned in the County Court, before Justice Emory, on the 17th of September, three days after his victim’s death, and, having no counsel, two former Justices of the Supreme Court of the State, Loran L. Lewis and Robert C. Titus, consented to be assigned for his defence. {61} On the 23d he was tried in the Supreme Court, Justice Truman C. White presiding, the only defence possible being that on the question of sanity, and his guilt was pronounced by the verdict of the jury. On the 26th he was sentenced to be executed, in the State Prison at Auburn, within the week beginning October 28. See, also, (in this Volume) under UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901 (SEPTEMBER). BU HAMARA, the Mahdi. See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1903-1904, and 1909. BULGARIA. See (in this Volume) BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES. BÜLOW, Bernhard, Count von: Chancellor of the German Empire: Action on the Morocco question. See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906. BÜLOW, Bernhard, Count von: On German Navy-building. See WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL. BÜLOW, Bernhard, Count von: Defeat in the Reichstag on attempted financial reform. His resignation. See GERMANY: A. D. 1908-1909. BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS, INTERNATIONAL. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: NEW YORK CITY. BURGER, SCHALK W. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1901-1902. BURLEY TOBACCO SOCIETY. See (in this Volume) KENTUCKY: A. D. 1905-1909. BURNS, John: President of the Local Government Board. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906, 1905-1909, and 1909. BURNS, William J. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: SAN FRANCISCO. BURTON, Joseph R.: United States Senator. Convicted of having received $2500 from a fraudulent concern, which had been debarred from using the United States mails, in return for his efforts to have embargo removed; sentenced to a fine of $2500 and nine months imprisonment, May, 1909. BUTLER, Charles Henry: Technical delegate to the Second Peace Conference. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907. BUTLER, Edward: Political "Boss" of St. Louis, as seen in the confessions of Charles F. Kelly. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. BUTLER, Nicholas Murray: President of Columbia University. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1909. BUTLER, Nicholas Murray: Arrangement of professorial interchanges with German universities. See EDUCATION: INTERNATIONAL INTERCHANGES. BUXTON, Sidney C.: Postmaster-General (British). See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906. C. CACERES, Ramon. See (in this Volume) SAN DOMINGO: A. D. 1904-1907. CADETS, Russian. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905-1907. CAJAL, Ramon y. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. CALABRIA: Destructive earthquake in 1905. See (in this Volume) EARTHQUAKES. CALAMITIES, Recent extraordinary. See (in this Volume) EARTHQUAKES, FAMINES, FIRE, FLOODS, VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1900-1909. Growth. Industries. Products. Railway facilities, etc. "Within the past decade numerous events have tended to direct the attention of the United States and of the world to the importance of the Pacific ocean and the lands bordering upon it, as the field of great activities in the near future. The Spanish-American war, and particularly the voyage of the battleship Oregon around South America hastened the movement for an inter-oceanic canal. The development of the Alaskan gold fields gave a great impetus to shipping and trade in staple supplies in Pacific coast cities. The war between Russia and Japan revealed the maritime enterprise and established the naval prestige of Japan. "Since the earliest days of American occupation California has been steadily filling up with people. These later movements in Pacific coast history, together with the steady development of natural resources, have greatly accelerated the advance in population, especially in cities as the centers of industrial and commercial activity. The census of 1900 showed a total population of 1,485,053. At the beginning of 1909 the number is estimated by the State Board of Trade at 2,564,363. The growth of cities in the same period is shown by the following instances,—the first figure being the population by the census of 1900, the second the State Board of Trade estimate for 1909.1900. 1909. Alameda 16,464 25,000 Berkeley 13,214 40,000 Fresno 12,470 32,000 Los Angeles 102,479 305,000 Oakland 66,960 200,000 Sacramento 29,282 55,000 San Francisco 342,782 500,000 San Jose 21,500 45,000 Stockton 17,506 25,000
"Two features characterize the recent development of California agriculture,—the increased value of the products, and a greater variety of crops. Originally wheat was the staple crop, but now sugar beets, hops, beans, alfalfa, and garden seeds must be added to the common cereals to make the list of staples. In 1908 the wheat crop was valued at $18,894,961, and the barley at $26,841,394. "Orchards and vineyards furnish one of the best records of advancing wealth. Shipments out of the state by rail and by sea are given by the State Board of Trade as follows:1898. 1908. Tons. Tons. Green Deciduous Fruits 69,732 161,224 Citrus Fruits 180,658 399,094 Dried Fruits 76,662 133,846 Raisins 47,796 29,601 Nuts 5,815 10,887 Canned Fruits 52,219 85,135
{62} "About ninety per cent of all the citrus fruits go from the southern part of the State (south of Tehachapi mountains) and substantially all the fresh deciduous fruits go from the northern and central portions, Sacramento being one of the largest shipping points. Nearly all the dried fruits, raisins, canned fruits, wine and brandy, go from the northern and central portions. Most of the walnuts are grown in the south, and most of the almonds in the northern and central parts of the state. Olives are grown in about equal quantities, north and south. General farming, including stock raising, is much more widely pursued north of Tehachapi than south, and the same is true of the mining industry. The principal forests of the state are in the Sierra region and in the Coast Range Mountains north of Sonoma county. "Formerly wool was an important product of California. The industry reached its maximum about thirty years ago,—the wool clip of 1876 amounting to 56,550,973 pounds. Since that date the wool product steadily declined till 1906, when the total amount was 24,000,000 pounds. Since 1906 the decline has been swift, as shown by the total of 15,000,000 pounds for 1908. "In the production of the precious metals the record of California is very steady in recent years,—the gold output for 1900 being valued at $15,863,355, and for 1907 at $16,727,928. On the other hand the oil industry shows a marvelous advance. The output of petroleum from California oil wells was 4,000,000 barrels in 1900, and 48,300,758 barrels in 1908. Since 1906 the oil product of California has amounted to over twenty-five per cent of the total production of the United States. California petroleum now exceeds in value the output of her gold mines. "For a long time the high cost of fuel retarded the growth of manufactures in California. Recently, however, the production of fuel oil and the introduction of electrical power developed from the water power in the streams of the Sierras have given a great impetus to manufacturing industries. The use of electricity is certain to be greatly increased in the near future and for this reason the people of California are tremendously interested in the policy of the federal government in the preservation of the mountain streams and in the disposition of water-power sites. The value of the products of manufacturing enterprises in the state for 1908 is estimated at about $500,000,000, of which the sum of $175,000,000 is credited to San Francisco, $62,000,000 to Los Angeles, $52,000,000, to Oakland, with Sacramento, San Jose, Stockton and Fresno following in the order of naming. "California is a state of magnificent dimensions and it is quite in keeping with the size of the state to find that in 1907, with but two per cent, of the total population of the United States she had three per cent. of the total railway mileage of the country. New construction was almost entirely suspended in 1908, but has been resumed in 1909. The most important new road is the Western Pacific which enters the state by the Beckwith Pass to the north of the line of the Central Pacific route, from Sacramento to Ogden, and with the advantage of crossing the Sierras at 2000 feet less elevation. It reaches the Sacramento Valley by the canyon of the Feather River and opens up a large area of rich country to railway communication. It will be completed through to San Francisco in 1910, and will be the fifth trans continental line terminating on San Francisco Bay. "Another great work of railway construction in progress in 1909 is the rebuilding upon an improved grade of the Central Pacific road through the Sierras. The extreme elevation of the present road at the summit of the range (7000 feet) is to be diminished by a lengthy tunnel. Other work of construction soon to be brought to completion is the extension of the Northwestern Pacific, a coast road north from San Francisco Bay to Eureka on Humboldt Bay, and the extension of the Ocean Shore Railway south along the coast to Santa Cruz. "The records of the State Railroad Commission show in 1909 a total mileage in the state of 6744.54 miles. "The lines operated by the principal companies measure up as follows:MILES. Southern Pacific System. 3,582 Santa Fé System. 978 Northwestern Pacific. 404 San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake. 341 Western Pacific. 237 Yosemite Valley Railroad. 79
"Suburban electric railways have reached a high stage of development and utility in Southern California, in the Santa Clara Valley, connecting numerous cities and towns in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, and in the Sacramento Valley. The increase of electric power by the further utilization of the water power of the Sierra Nevada streams will certainly bring about in the near future a great extension of electrical transportation for freighting as well as in passenger traffic." Frederick H. Clark, Head of History Department, Lowell High School, San Francisco. CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1900-1909. Constitutional changes. "Amendments to the state constitution originate with the legislature, and are placed before the voters of the state at the biennial state elections. Dissatisfaction with parts of the state constitution is manifested by an increasing number of proposed amendments. So long as property interests are not antagonized, the voters show a willingness to make changes by ratifying a large majority of the amendments proposed. Among the important subjects upon which amendments have been adopted within the past ten years are the following: authorization of legislation for the control of primary elections; providing for the use of voting machines; the establishment of a system of state highways; increasing the salaries of judges and of state executive officers; changing the pay of members of the legislature from $8.00 per diem for a period not to exceed 60 days to the sum of $1000 for the regular session; authorizing the legislature to provide a state tax for the support of high schools; permitting exemption from taxation of various forms of property, such as buildings used exclusively for religious purposes and the endowments of the Leland Stanford Junior University, the California School of Mechanical Arts, and the Cogswell Polytechnical College, —also personal property at the will of the owner to the amount of $100; eight hours made a legal day’s work on all public work throughout the state; authorization for the depositing of public funds in banks. {63} An important change in the state judiciary was made in 1904 by the creation of district courts of appeal for the relief of the congested condition of the business of the State Supreme Court. The state was divided into three judicial districts, in each of which was established a court of appeal consisting of three judges elected from within the district for a term of twelve years. "A plan for the reorganization of the revenue system of the state was placed before the voters in 1908, but failed of adoption. The proposed amendment was the outcome of a movement that began in 1905 with the appointment of a special commission on taxation. This commission employed expert assistance and made a thorough study of the subject of public revenues. Its work was placed before the next meeting of the legislature from which came the proposed amendment. Its central object was to discover new sources of revenue for the state treasury, leaving the direct property tax for the maintenance of local government alone." Frederick H. Clark, Head of History Department, Lowell, High School, San Francisco. CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1904-1909. Anti-Japanese agitation. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904-1909. CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1906. The earthquake of April 18. Destruction at San Francisco by fire following the shock. Cause of the occurrence. See (in this Volume) SAN FRANCISCO: A. D. 1906. CALIPHATE, The Mohammedan: The Turkish Sultan’s title disputed. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1905. CAMPBELL, H. W. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION: AGRICULTURE. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN, SIR HENRY: Prime Minister of the British Government. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN, SIR HENRY: Address at Colonial Conference. See BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN, SIR HENRY: DEATH, April 22, 1908. ----------CANADA: Start-------- CANADA: A. D. 1896-1909. The interchange of people between Canada and the United States. The "American Invasion." Rapid settlement of the Canadian Northwest. Immigration in the last decade. "Nature is healing the schism of the race by her own slow but efficacious methods. Hundreds of families of the United Empire stock have gone back to the United States, in some instances to the very place of their origin. Upwards of a million native Canadians are now living in the States, the great majority as naturalised Americans; whilst American farmers, attracted by cheap land and good laws, are entering the Canadian North-West at the rate of 50,000 a year. The exodus, as migration across the line is called, is a heavy drain on Canada; like an ancient conqueror, it sweeps away the flower of both sexes, leaving the unfittest to survive. During the last 30 years we have spent $10,000,000 on immigration work in Europe, yet our population has not held its natural increase, has not, that is, grown as fast as the population of an old and over-crowded country like England. The Canadian lad thinks no more of transferring himself to Buffalo or Chicago than a Scotch youth of going up to London, perhaps not so much. On the other hand, American tourists, ‘drummers,’ lecturers, sportsmen and investors come and go in Canada precisely as if this were a State of the Union. When we produce a champion athlete, a clever journalist or eloquent divine, they annex him and advertise him next day as a Yankee. Marrying and giving in marriage is going on without the slightest regard for the doctrines of the Loyalists. There are said to be 200 college professors of Canadian birth in the United States. I am acquainted with some of them, and in their opinion, whatever it may be worth, Canada can best serve herself by becoming politically independent, and could best serve England by joining the American Union, where her presence and vote would offset the Anglophobia latent or active in other elements. "The influence of the Canadian-Americans, to say nothing of that of the Americans proper, is visible on every side in English Canada; they are constantly visiting the old home, in many cases paying the interest of the mortgage on it. The French Canadians in New England have taught those in Quebec that the priest has no business to interfere unduly in elections, or to make war on Liberalism; that the Press ought to be free, and the State, not the Church, supreme within the sphere she defines as her own. Every day the French Canadian papers publish columns of correspondence from the French settlements in the factory towns across the line, but of British affairs editors and readers know little, and, apparently, care less. I mention this not to sneer at the French Canadian Press, but to show those Englishmen who urge us to cultivate the Imperialist spirit how difficult it would be for Mrs. Partington to keep out the Atlantic. "In English Canada, our newspapers supply us with British news filtered through American channels; we read American books, are interested in American politics, frequent their watering-places and race tracks, imitate their tariffs, play baseball and poker, live under local institutions fashioned after theirs, think like them, speak like them, eat like them, dress like them; when we visit England, we find ourselves taken for them and treated well in consequence, better than if we confessed ourselves Colonials." E. Farrer, Canada and the new Imperialism (Contemporary Review, December, 1903). "Some ten years since there began to trickle into the vast wastes of the West the tiny rivulet of immigration which has now become a great stream. Many influences have gone toward widening this current of immigration, but the initial impulse which set it in motion came from the courage of one man. In 1896 Clifford Sifton, a young man, thirty-five years of age, who had already played a considerable rôle in the politics of Manitoba, became Minister of the Interior in the Dominion Government. He was equipped with a genius for organization, an almost unequaled capacity for persistent hard work, and, above all, a faith in the West which knew neither wavering nor questioning. {64} He threw himself with immense energy into the task of advertising the Canadian West to the world and inducing immigration. His conception of the problem and its solution was Napoleonic; for he saw what others could not see and even scouted as absurd, that the people who could be induced most easily to lead the procession into the vacant prairies lived in the adjoining States of the American Union. A new generation had grown up in these States on the farms secured as free grants by their fathers in the ’70's, and he saw that when they looked for lands for themselves there would be none available at all comparable with those of Western Canada. Therefore, he argued, to acquaint them with the opportunities and possibilities of the new land to the north would be to insure such a migration as he desired, and if the stream once began flowing it would widen by its own velocity. This was the great idea which, given effect to by an organization called into being by first-class executive talent, operating with limitless resources, broke forever the great silence of the prairies and made them the Mecca of the world’s landless folk. "There had been for years Canadian immigration agencies at various places in the United States, but they had been administered in a spirit of perfunctory hopelessness. These offices were reorganized; new ones opened; tens of thousands of dollars were expended in advertising and in the distribution of printed literature; enterprising drummers were sent abroad throughout the Western States to preach up the opportunities of Western Canada; representative farmers were induced to take trips through the Canadian West, all expenses paid by the government,—in fact, everything that trained business talent could suggest was done. "The result? In the first year of the new order of things 2412 Americans came to Canada, and thereafter the number mounted yearly. By 1899 the figures had reached 11,945; 1901, 17,987; 1902, 26,388; 1903, 49,473; 1904, 45,171; 1905, 43,652; 1906, 57,919. During the ten years ending June 30, 1906, no less than 272,609 persons left the United States to become residents of Western Canada. These people came from all parts of the United States. The government homestead records for 1906 show applications from persons coming from every State and Territory of the United States, including the District of Columbia and Alaska. North Dakota led in the applications, with Minnesota a close second; then came Iowa, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Illinois, tapering to two from Alabama and one from Georgia. … "It has given Canada over a quarter of a million of settlers with the highest average of efficiency. They, almost without exception, have sufficient capital to make a good start, a most important consideration in a new country where money is scarce and dear. Akin to the Canadians in race, language, political and social customs, they become a part of the community just as naturally as one stream flows into another at the same level. These settlers have also brought with them fifty years’ experience in prairie farming, and by their example have enormously affected agricultural methods. … "More important, however, was the advertisement which the ‘American invasion’ gave Western Canada. It was precisely what the country needed—indeed there could have been no substitute for it in effectiveness. The Eastern Canadian was rather out of conceit with his own West; and if a migratory instinct drove him onward he went to the United States. In Great Britain Western Canada could get no hearing at all,—her emigrants went to Australia, the United States, New Zealand, or even to alien lands in preference to Canada. It is doubtful whether any possible exertions by the Government could have turned the attention of these people to Canada had not the influx of Americans to the prairies, loudly announced by all controllable agencies of publicity, challenged their attention and pricked their national pride. Once the fact was driven into their consciousness they began to hold that if Western Canada was good enough for ‘Yankees’ it was good enough for them. British newspapers in particular showed a belated but very real interest. "The result has been a heavily increasing immigration from the British Isles, until it now exceeds by many thousands every year the arrivals from the United States. For the ten-year period specified above there were 311,747 immigrants from Great Britain, compared with 272,609 from the United States; with 248,250 from ‘other countries,’ chiefly continental Europe. The Scandinavian, Teutonic, and Slavic peoples are all strongly represented in Western Canada. The most numerous non-British people are the Ruthenians, or little Russians. In addition there is a large yearly influx of Canadian settlers from the older provinces, of whom there is no record excepting in the homestead applications. These figures showed that out of 41,869 applications for homesteads last year 27 per cent. were Canadians, 29 per cent. Americans, 20 per cent. from the British Isles, while the remaining 24 per cent. comprised persons of eighteen different nationalities. These statistics show that Western Canada is overwhelmingly English-speaking." John W. Dafoe, Western Canada: Its Resources and Possibilities (American Review of Reviews, June, 1907). Writing from Toronto, June 24, 1909, the regular Correspondent of the London Times took the subject of Canadian immigration, especially that from the United States, for extended treatment. Part of his remarks were as follows: "So long as the American States had free, fertile lands, it was natural that population should flow into the Republic. America, in the mind of Europe, was the land of promise and the home of freedom, and the United States was America. Canada was but a fringe of inhospitable British territory, where the spring came late and summer was brief, and winter was long and stern. The first great impulse to settlement came with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, but an even more material factor in Canadian development was the comparative exhaustion of the free land of the Western States and the increasing reputation of the Canadian West as a wheat-growing country. If the 20th century belongs to Canada, as Sir Wilfrid Laurier has said, it is primarily because the American Republic has become a far less formidable competitor for British and European immigration, and because thousands of American farmers have discovered that they can sell their improved farms at good prices and secure lands of equal value in Canada for themselves and their sons with a very small investment of capital. {65} "The total immigration since 1901 is estimated at 1,200,000. In that year it was 49,149. It rose in 1902 to 67,379. Thence there was a steady increase until 1907, when the figures were 262,469. In 1908 the total immigration was between 140, 000 and 142,000, and for this year the estimate is 200,000. British immigrants began to come in considerable Volume in 1901, when there were 17,269 arrivals. The best year was 1907, when the number reported was 120,182, as compared with 83,975 from the Continent of Europe and 58,312 from the United States. The decline in 1908 was chiefly in British and European immigration. Between 50,000 and 55,000 came from across the border, which was a greater number than came from either Britain or Europe. This year it is estimated that 70,000 Americans will come into the country. They will take up between 20,000 and 25,000 homesteads, and as it is considered that they bring property to the average value of $1,000 each this would give a total new capital of $70,000,000. In 1907, the year in which we had our greatest Volume of immigration, there were 178,500 British and Americans as compared with 84,000 from the Continent of Europe. For the last year there were 100,000 British and Americans and not a third as many from Europe. "It is apparent that, even with the best business management the Empire can apply to the direction of its population, the American immigration to Canada will continue to exceed that from Great Britain. One of the most careful and soberminded of our public men with whom I talked a few days ago, a man who knows the West and for years has had intimate official knowledge of the movements of population on both sides of the border, believes that in the next ten or twelve years five millions of Americans will come into Canada. Upon this I pronounce no opinion, save to agree that the overflow from the United States is bound to increase in Volume. Naturally there are those amongst us who regard ‘the American invasion’ with uneasiness, and fear the ultimate effect upon our institutions and upon the relation of Canada to the Empire. In this connexion I can only say that for some years I have been at pains to consult men from all parts of the West who should know the mind of these American settlers and their general disposition towards the social and political institutions of the country, and as yet I have not found a single Western Canadian to express apprehension. They all agree that, while the Americans have a natural affection for ‘Old Glory’ and as yet may confuse the Fourth with the First of July, they pay ready allegiance to the flag under which they have come to live, and very generally agree that the impartial and inflexible administration of justice in Canada is in itself sufficient reason for the permanence of the British allegiance and an honest loyalty to Canadian institutions. What may be hidden in the womb of the future, when many of these Americans sit in the Legislatures and in the Federal Parliament, and become powerful in moulding public policy, we cannot know, but at least it is seldom that the seeds of revolution thrive amongst a prosperous agricultural population. "But it is to one particular phase of the movement of population that I desire chiefly to call attention. The migration to the West has had a marked effect on the older Canadian provinces. Many farms in the long settled districts have been almost deserted. The old remain; the young have gone. The only compensation is that the sons prosper in the West." According to a despatch from Ottawa in September, 1909, "the annual Immigration Report states that the total arrivals in Canada during the last fiscal year were 146,908. For the first time in Canadian history immigrants from the United States exceeded those from the United Kingdom; the figures are respectively 59,832 and 52,901. The total immigration during the 13 years which the present Government has been in office was 1,366,658. American immigrants in that period have brought to Canada £12,000,000 in cash and effects. Immigration from France and Belgium declined last year and Japanese immigration fell off by 7,106. Only six Hindus entered Canada, compared with 2,623 in the previous year; 3,803 immigrants were rejected at ocean ports, of whom 1,748 were deported. The total deportations since 1902, when the system was first inaugurated, were 3,149, of whom 2,607 were English." Two months later it was reported from Ottawa that during the first six months of 1909 "homestead entries were made by 27,296 bona fide settlers, representing free grants of Dominion lands of 4,367,360 acres. This is an increase of 939 entries and of 150,200 acres as compared with the corresponding period of 1908. In September the total number of homestead entries was 2,902; of these 926 were American, 325 English, 109 Scotch, 54 Irish, 336 Canadians from Ontario, and 83 Canadians from Quebec." Previously, in August, it had been stated that "German capitalists have interested Toronto men in a big plan to colonize the lands of Alberta and Saskatchewan on a time-payment system. The scheme includes advances to settlers for the purchase of implements and for help in house building. The expectation is that 20,000 Germans will avail themselves of the scheme." CANADA: A. D. 1898-1903. German retaliation for the tariff discrimination in favor of British goods. See (in this Volume) TARIFFS. CANADA: A. D. 1901-1902. The Census of the Dominion. New apportionment of parliamentary representation.The census of the Dominion, taken in 1901, showed a total population of 5,370,000, of which Ontario contained 2,182,947; Quebec, 1,648,898; Nova Scotia, 459,574; New Brunswick, 331,120; Manitoba, 254,947; British Columbia, 177,272; Prince Edward Island, 103,259; The Northwest Territories, Yukon included, 211,649.
The new distribution of parliamentary representation, determined this year, gave the House of Commons a total membership of 214, apportioned as follows; Quebec 65 (as guaranteed by the Confederation Act); Ontario 86; Nova Scotia 18; New Brunswick 13; Manitoba 10; British Columbia 7; Northwest Territories 10; Prince Edward Island 4; the Yukon 1. The basis was one representative for each 2500 people. Ontario lost 6 seats, Nova Scotia 2, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island 1 each; all the other provinces gained, British Columbia to the extent of 7 seats, the Northwest Territories 4, and Manitoba 3. CANADA: A. D. 1902. Colonial Conference at London. See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE. {66} CANADA: A. D. 1903. Discovery of the cobalt silver mines in Ontario. Ore bodies carrying values in silver, cobalt, nickel, and arsenic were discovered in 1903, during the building of the Temiskaming and North Ontario Railway near the town of Haileybury, at a distance of about 103 miles from North Bay. The railway line ran over the most important vein that has been found, and signs of the latter were noticed in the spring of the year named. Prospecting was begun in the fall with quick results of important discovery, and the rapid attraction of a large mining population to what has become famous as the Cobalt District. The production of silver in the district increased from $111,887 in 1904 to $9,500,000 in 1908. The ores are said to be unique among those of North America. 16th Annual Report of Ontario Bureau of Mines. CANADA: A. D. 1903 (May). Adoption of "Empire Day" in Great Britain. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (May). CANADA: A. D. 1903 (October). Settlement of the Alaskan boundary question. See (in this Volume) ALASKA: A. D. 1903. CANADA: A. D. 1903-1904. Measures to establish sovereignty over land and sea of Hudson Bay region. "The agreement by Britain and America to arbitrate at The Hague the Newfoundland Fishery Question will probably pave the way for a similar solution of another entanglement, as threatening and complicated as that respecting the Alaskan Boundary, apparently now imminent between Canada and the United States over the sovereignty of Hudson Bay. This has a special relation to the Newfoundland problem, being also based on the treaty of 1818. The Canadian Government in August, 1903, despatched the Newfoundland sealing steamer ‘Neptune’ (one of the type of wood-built ships suited for the work) to the region, with an official expedition whose three-fold object was: (1) to reassert British sovereignty over all the land and seas there; (2) to expel or subject to Canadian authority the United States whalers who fish there, illegally, it is held; and (3) to secure further data tending to determine the navigability of the waters for an ocean grain route and justify subsidising or discouraging the construction of railways from the north-west to the shores of Hudson Bay. "In the summer of 1904, in anticipation of the ‘Neptune’s’ return, the Canadian Government purchased from Germany the Antarctic exploring steamer ‘Gauss,’ re-named her the ‘Arctic,’ and sent her to Hudson Bay as an official cruiser, she conveying also Major Moodie, of the North-West Mounted Police, who was commissioned as ‘Governor of Hudson Bay ’ and was accompanied by a body of that famous force, to assist him in the administration of this extensive province, they to build posts there and establish themselves at the most important points. … The undisguised purpose of the Dominion is to take all possible steps to prevent the United States from securing any advantage, territorial or diplomatic, which would enable her to put forward pretensions such as have been advanced by her with respect to the Alaskan Boundary. "The similarity of this question to that of the Alaskan Boundary is quite striking. Geographically, the Hudson Bay region is to the Northeastern portion of the continent what Alaska is to the North-western. In the variety and value of natural resources both have much in common. The development of the Hudson Bay region, while not as advanced as that of Alaska, seems destined to be much accelerated in the near future in every department of industrial endeavour. The United States whalers, voyaging from New Bedford into Hudson Bay, and from San Francisco into Alaskan seas, penetrate to the very confines of the Arctic zone itself. To proceed against them now, after their having enjoyed for over seventy years an unrestricted access to Hudson Bay, whether entitled thereto or not, is a step which may provoke a repetition of the difficulties which were recently experienced over the Alaskan Boundary. … "[Canada] contends that from the entrance to Hudson Strait, which she says is in a line drawn from Cape Chidley, the northern projection of Labrador, to Resolution Island, the southern extremity of Baffin Land, all the waters and lands to the west, including the numerous islands of Arctic America, are her exclusive possession. She bases this contention on the following grounds:— "1. Discovery (the waters, coastline and hinterland having been discovered and charted by British explorers). "2. Occupation (the region having been occupied only by the Hudson Bay Company). "3. Treaty cession (the British rights to the region having been admitted by the French in 1713). "4. Acquiescence (the United States having acknowledged the Hudson Bay Company’s rights in 1818). "5. Purchase (Canada having bought out the Company in 1870). "But Americans are indisposed to acquiesce in any such conclusion as regards the waters of the Bay. They contend that the British had originally no rights beyond the three-mile limit, that the French in 1713 could cede them no more, and that the American concurrence in 1818 could apply only to the same territorial waters. In other words, they question the right of the British Monarch to grant such a Charter as he did, and it may be observed here that the same point has frequently been made in England also in the past by opponents of the Company and by legal critics." P. T. McGrath, The Hudson Bay Dispute (Fortnightly Review, January, 1908). CANADA: A. D. 1903-1905. Attitude of the Canadian Manufacturers’ Association toward Great Britain and the United States on the Tariff question. "The attitude of the Canadian Manufacturers’ Association toward both the United States and Britain has been very frequently misrepresented by opponents of tariff reform in Canada and England. … The views of the Association were clearly set forth in the recommendations made by the Tariff Committee at the annual meeting in September, 1903, and adopted by the Association after full discussion. The attendance was very large, and the meeting was practically unanimous, only one member dissenting. The resolutions were as follows: {67} "'(1) That we reaffirm the tariff resolution passed at the last annual meeting in Halifax, as follows: Resolved, That in the opinion of this Association, the changed conditions which now obtain in Canada demand the immediate and thorough revision of the tariff, upon lines which will more effectually transfer to the workshops of our Dominion the manufacture of many of the goods which we now import from other countries; that, in any such revision, the interests of all sections of the community, whether of agriculture, mining, fishing, or manufacturing, should be fully considered, with a view, not only to the preservation, but to the further development, of all these great natural industries; that, while such a tariff should primarily be framed for Canadian interests, it should nevertheless give a substantial preference to the Mother Country, and also to any other part of the British Empire with which reciprocal preferential trade can be arranged, recognizing always that under any conditions the minimum tariff must afford adequate protection to all Canadian producers. (2) That, except in very special cases, we are opposed to the granting of bounties in Canada as a substitute for a policy of reasonable and permanent protection. (3) That we are strongly opposed to any reciprocity treaty with the United States affecting the manufacturing industries of Canada. (4) We recommend that the Dominion Government establish in Canada a permanent tariff commission of experts, who shall have constant supervision of tariff policy and changes, and shall follow closely the workings of the Canadian tariff with a view to making such recommendations to the Government as will best conserve and advance the interests of the Dominion.’ "These resolutions were reaffirmed at the annual conventions in 1904 and 1905, meeting with no opposition." Watson Griffin, Canadian Manufacturers' Tariff Campaign (North American Review, August, 1906). CANADA: A. D. 1903-1909. New transcontinental railway project. The Grand Trunk Pacific. "The project for a new transcontinental railway made the year 1903 industrially significant. The scheme when finally presented to Parliament by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, on July 31st, provided for the building of a new line from Moncton, New Brunswick, through Quebec to Winnipeg and the Pacific Coast at a terminus then not fixed, but now known to be Prince Rupert. The road is to be divided into two parts; the Eastern from Moncton to Winnipeg, which is to be built by the Government, and the Western from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert, to be built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company. Provision was made for a lease of the Eastern section by the company and its purchase after fifty years. This company is practically the same as the Grand Trunk Railway Company. Sir Wilfrid estimated the cost at $13,000,000. There were provisions for Government assistance in the guaranteeing of the bonds of the new company." F. B. Tracy, Tercentenary History of Canada, Volume 3, page 1034 (Macmillan Company, New York, 1908). At the half yearly meeting of the Grand Trunk Company in London, October 21, 1909, the President, Sir C. Rivers Wilson, who had recently returned from Canada, spoke of the present state and prospects of the transcontinental line, partly as follows: "They were, he remarked, under an obligation to complete their road through to Prince Rupert by December 1, 1911, but, owing to the want of labour, he feared there was very little chance of their succeeding in doing so. … They had built through to Winnipeg on the one hand and to Lake Superior on the other, but there remained an unfortunate link of 245 miles to complete their junction with Lake Superior. … After what had happened he was very chary of making any prediction, but he should think that, after all that had taken place, and after the great pressure which was now being put on the contractors, the road would be finished by next summer. Their great object, of course, was to link up the west with their eastern system. That would be done during the summer by the road coming down to Lake Superior, which would enable them to communicate by water with their Georgian Bay port, and during the winter, when navigation was closed, by way of land north of Lake Superior by the line the Government was to build to a place called Cochrane, about 540 miles distant, where they would obtain communication with North Bay and put themselves in contact with their own Ontario road." CANADA: A. D. 1904. General Election. Continuance of the Laurier Ministry. The Earl of Minto succeeded as Governor-General by Earl Grey. The general election in 1904 resulted in a parliamentary majority of 64 for the Liberals, thus firmly reseating the Laurier Ministry. The Conservatives carried Ontario, but were beaten heavily in the Maritime Provinces, in Quebec, and in the West. The general prosperity of the country gave a backing to the Liberals which no political criticism could overcome. The Earl of Minto was succeeded as Governor-General, in 1904, by Earl Grey, grandson of the Earl Grey who, as Prime Minister of England in 1832, carried through the first Reform of Parliament, extinguishing the "rotten boroughs," transferring political power from the land-owning aristocracy to the middle class of English people, and beginning the democratizing of government, which two later reforms have made nearly complete. "There can be no doubt," said a Canadian correspondent of one of the London journals lately, "that the present Governor-General is more widely popular in Canada than any of his predecessors in that high office were, or could have been. Happy in his personality, happier still in his opportunities, he is known and liked by all sorts and conditions of Canadians in every part of the country; whereas more than one of those who have represented the Sovereign there since the creation of the Canadian Confederacy were regarded as august functionaries forming the ‘dignified part’ of the constitutional mechanism (to use Bagehot’s phrase), and as sedulously avoiding close contact with the people at large." Within the past year it has been announced officially from Ottawa that Lord Grey will fill out his full period of six years in the office of Governor-General, expiring in December, 1910. CANADA: A. D. 1904. Creation of the Board of Railway Commissioners. Its large regulative powers. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: CANADA. CANADA: A. D. 1904-1909. Race problems. Restriction of Chinese Immigration. Labor hostility. Riotous attacks on Japanese, Chinese, and Hindu laborers. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: CANADA. {68} CANADA: A. D. 1905. New Provinces created. Alberta and Saskatchewan. Revival of the Separate School controversy. The compromise settlement. By Bills brought into the Dominion Parliament by the Premier, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, on the 21st of February, 1905, and subsequently passed, the four Northwest Territories ceded to the Dominion by Great Britain in 1870 were reorganized as two provinces, and admitted to membership in the Canadian Federal Union, bearing the names of Alberta and Saskatchewan, with Edmonton for the capital of the former and Regina for the latter. See, in Volume IV. of this work, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES OF CANADA. Saskatchewan includes the territories of Saskatchewan, Assiniboia, and one-half of Athabasca, and Alberta the territory of Alberta and the remainder of Athabasca. The entire area of the two provinces is 550,345 square miles, and it extends from Manitoba west to the 110th meridian, and from the United States boundary to 60 north latitude. The population of each province was reckoned at 250,000, and was rapidly increasing. The Dominion Government retains control of the public lands. Each of the new provinces received at the beginning five representatives in the Dominion House of Commons and four in the Senate. A single Legislative Chamber of twenty-five members was provided for each; each has a Lieutenant-Governor, with a Cabinet of responsible Ministers. The Dominion Treasury contributes $250,000 yearly to the revenue of each. A provision in these bills for conceding separate schools to religious minorities revived the controversy which raged in Canada for many years, after the Province of Manitoba, in 1890, had abolished denominational schools and established a free, compulsory, unsectarian school system. See, in Volume VI. of this work, CANADA: A. D. 1890-1896, and A. D, 1898 (JANUARY). The Government was forced to amend the provision, devising a compromise which cannot be said to have satisfied either party to the dispute, but which saved the Government from a probable defeat. This affords a half hour of religious teaching, by denominational teachers, at the end of school hours, the denominational character of the instruction determined by the majority in attendance, and its reception to be optional. As explained at the time by a writer in The Outlook, the working of the system is as follows. "The half-hour is the only noteworthy feature of the separate schools. They are liable for no other school taxation than that which is necessary to support those schools. In all other respects, in every detail of government control and oversight, they are exactly like the schools of the majority. From nine o’clock in the morning until three o’clock in the afternoon the order of lessons is the same for all; so are the textbooks, the standards of efficiency, and the qualifications of the teachers. There cannot be any control of the school by any clerical or sectarian body. There cannot be any sectarian teaching between nine o’clock in the morning and three o’clock in the afternoon. The Normal schools of the new provinces will give a uniform normal training for all teachers, and there will be uniform curricula and courses of study for all schools of the same grade. There will be complete and absolute control of all schools as to their government and conduct by the central school authority created by the new provincial Legislature. The distribution of the legislative grant to all schools will be according to educational efficiency, a wise provision which did not apply to separate schools of the old type. To recapitulate, all the schools are alike, except that where the trustees are Protestant there is Protestant religious teaching from half-past three to four, and where the trustees are Roman Catholic there is Roman Catholic teaching during the half-hour. That is the only distinction, and neither Protestant nor Roman Catholic children, when they are in the minority, need remain to hear any religious teaching against their parents’ wishes." CANADA: A. D. 1906. Dominion Forest Reserves Act. See (in this Volume) Conservation of Natural Resources. CANADA: A. D. 1906. Passage of the "Lord’s Day Act." See (in this Volume) SUNDAY OBSERVANCE. CANADA: A. D. 1906. Prisons and Reformatory Act. See (in this Volume) CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS OFFENDERS. CANADA: A. D. 1906 (May). Departure of the last British garrison. On the 1st of May, 1906, the last British garrison in the Dominion was withdrawn from Esquimault, in British Columbia, under an arrangement which leaves the Canadian Government in undivided control of all military posts. CANADA: A. D. 1906-1907. Political experiments in Ontario. Broadening the functions of government. The Canadians of their Middle West, who used to be the most conservative of Britons, have manifested lately a new spirit, wafted, perhaps, from adventuresome New Zealand, and are trying governmental experiments that would stagger Oklahoma,—trying them, too, with what looks like success. For the development of the rich cobalt and silver mining region on its eastern border, and for the encouragement of colonization farther northward on the same border, the Ontario Government has not hesitated to construct and own and operate officially an important line of railway, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario, which is reported to have been profitable from the start. The road may possibly be extended to James Bay, the southward projection of Hudson Bay. The progressive government of Ontario has also undertaken to work for its own benefit the mines in a large lately opened block of the Cobalt mining territory, covering about 100 square miles. In somewhat the same line of economic policy, it determined in 1906 to control the development and transmission of electric power at and from Niagara Falls, and accomplished its purpose by a contract with the Ontario Power Company, which secures power to municipalities in Ontario at an extremely reasonable rate. This adventurous policy in economic directions is less surprising, however, than an absolutely novel experiment in the officializing of political parties, as agencies in representative government, which has been put on trial in Ontario during two parliamentary sessions. For the first time in constitutional history, the opposition leader in a legislature has been made a recognized functionary and salaried by the Government to the extent of $7,000 a year. Theoretically, the importance of an effectively critical opposition to the majority party in a legislature is always acknowledged. Is there not good sense, then, theoretically at least, in a policy of government which aims to increase the efficiency of that criticism and give it a responsible character, in the mode which the Ontarians are trying? {69} After between two and three years trial of this last named experiment, with a salaried leader of the Opposition, the Toronto correspondent of the London Times wrote, in June, 1909, to that paper as follows: "This is an experiment in Parliamentary government which has not been attempted elsewhere. It has both advantages and disadvantages. There are few men of wealth or leisure in Canadian public life, and generally a private party fund has been provided for the support of the leader of the Opposition. The charge was commonly made that as this fund was likely to be provided by the few wealthy men of the party they would exact compensation in the form of official appointment or legislative favour when the Opposition leader became the head of the Government. It was decided, therefore, to give a salary, equal to the emoluments of a Minister of the Crown, to the leader of the Opposition. Mr. Borden [leader of the Opposition in Ontario for some time past] sanctioned this legislation and accepted the remuneration provided. It was argued that he thus became a pensioner on the Government, and that a servile consideration for his salary would affect his independence and restrain his criticism of the paymasters on the Treasury benches. Mr. Borden, while disposed more than once to relinquish the salary, felt that this criticism was unjust, and, knowing the grave financial distresses which some of his predecessors had experienced, waited patiently for the attack to exhaust itself and for opportunity to prove that he was not a dependent of the Treasury. At length his course seems to be justified, and the appropriation of a salary for the leader of the Opposition seems likely to become a settled feature of the Canadian Parliamentary system. The real test will come, however, if the system of Parliamentary groups should ever replace the established two-party system in Canada. But for the time the experiment has been justified, and under the conditions which so often obtain in Canada it may even be said that the official salary enhances the independence and dignity of the Opposition leader in Parliament." CANADA: A. D. 1906-1908. The Canada Temperance Act. See (in this Volume) ALCOHOL PROBLEM: CANADA. CANADA: A. D. 1907. The founding of Macdonald College. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: CANADA: A. D. 1907. CANADA: A. D. 1907 (March). The "Industrial Disputes Investigation Act," to aid in the prevention and settlement of Strikes and Lockouts. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: CANADA: A. D. 1907-1908. CANADA: A. D. 1907 (April-May). Imperial Conference at London. See (in this Volume) British Empire: A. D. 1907. CANADA: A. D. 1907-1909. Convention respecting commercial relations with France and its amendment. A Convention which greatly liberalized the tariff regulations affecting trade between Canada and France was concluded between the British and French Governments and signed at Paris on the 19th of September, 1907. It gave "the benefit of the minimum tariff and of the lowest rates of customs duty applicable to like products of other foreign origin," reciprocally, in each country to certain enumerated products of the other; with mutual pledges that every reduction granted by either to any foreign country should apply to similar products of the other. In January, 1909, an amended Convention was negotiated which liberalized still further this commercial agreement, enlarging the schedules of favored products, especially the agricultural schedules, giving important advantages to Canada in the French market. The amended Convention was ratified in France on the 13th of July, and in Canada early in December. CANADA: A. D. 1908. Child Labor legislation. See (in this Volume) CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS WORKERS. CANADA: A. D. 1908. Governmental undertaking of a railway to Hudson Bay. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: CANADA: A. D. 1908-1909. CANADA: A. D. 1908 (April). Convention for the preservation and propagation of Food Fishes in waters contiguous to the United States and Canada. See (in this Volume) FOOD FISHES. CANADA: A. D. 1908 (April). Treaty respecting the demarcation of the International Boundary between the United States and Canada. A Treaty "providing for the more complete definition and demarcation of the international boundary between the United States and the Dominion of Canada," negotiated by Ambassador Bryce and Secretary Root, appointed Plenipotentiaries of the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, respectively, was signed at Washington on the 4th of June, 1908. The Treaty provides for parcelling the boundary line in eight sections, for the determination in each of which each Government "shall appoint, without delay, an expert geographer or surveyor to serve as Commissioner." Its first article prescribes with minuteness the procedure to be followed and the consideration to be given to former surveys and determinations of the boundary line "in the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay from the mouth of the St. Croix River to the Bay of Fundy." The second article defines similarly the task appointed to the Commissioners who shall determine the "line drawn along the middle of the River St. Croix from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source." The third article instructs the Commissioners who shall fix the line from the source of the St. Croix to the St. Lawrence. The fourth deals in like manner with the next section of the line, from "the point of its intersection with the St. Lawrence River near the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, as determined under articles I. and VI. of the Treaty of August 9, 1842, between Great Britain and the United States, and thence through the Great Lakes and communicating waterways to the mouth of Pigeon River, at the western shore of Lake Superior." The fifth pursues the line from "the mouth of Pigeon River to the northwestern-most point of the Lake of the Woods." The sixth traces the work to be done on the line from that point of the Lake of the Woods to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. The seventh relates to the section of boundary "along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, from the summit of the Rocky Mountains westward to the eastern shore of the Gulf of Georgia, as defined in article I. of the Treaty of June 15, 1846, between Great Britain and the United States and as marked by monuments along its course,"—for the renewing and completing of which monuments commissioners were appointed by concurrent action of the two Governments in 1902 and 1903. The eighth article has to do with the western terminal section of the task, carrying the boundary line "from the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude along the middle of the channel which separates Vancouver’s Island from the mainland and the Haro Channel and of Fuca’s Straits to the Pacific Ocean, as defined in article I. of the Treaty of June 15, 1846, between Great Britain and the United States, and as determined by the award made on October 21, 1872, by the Emperor of Germany as arbitrator. {70} In articles one and two there are provisions for the arbitration of disagreements; and the concluding article contains the following: "If a dispute or difference should arise about the location or demarcation of any portion of the boundary covered by the provisions of this Treaty and an agreement with respect thereto is not reached by the Commissioners charged herein with locating and marking such portion of the line, they shall make a report in writing jointly to both Governments, or severally each to his own Government, setting out fully the questions in dispute and the differences between them, but such Commissioners shall, nevertheless, proceed to carry on and complete as far as possible the work herein assigned to them with respect to the remaining portions of the line. "In case of such a disagreement between the Commissioners, the two Governments shall endeavor to agree upon an adjustment of the questions in dispute, and if an agreement is reached between the two Governments it shall be reduced to writing in the form of a protocol, and shall be communicated to the said Commissioners, who shall proceed to lay down and mark the boundary in accordance therewith, and as herein provided, but without prejudice to the special provisions contained in Articles I and II regarding arbitration. "It is understood that under the foregoing articles the same persons will be appointed to carry out the delimitation of boundaries in the several sections aforesaid, other than the section covered by Article IV, unless either of the Contracting Powers finds it expedient for some reason which it may think sufficient to appoint some other person to be Commissioner for any one of the above-mentioned sections." CANADA: A. D. 1908 (July). Tercentenary Celebration of the Founding of Quebec. The three hundredth anniversary of the founding of Quebec by Champlain was celebrated at that city in July, 1908, with remarkable spirit and success. The Government of the Dominion took an active and important part in the preparations, nationalizing the battle-field of Wolfe’s victory over Montcalm, on the Plains of Abraham, and converting it into a park, where the principal pageants and ceremonies of the occasion were performed. The Imperial Government interested itself warmly in the undertaking, the Prince of Wales, Lord Roberts, the Duke of Norfolk, and other distinguished personages from Great Britain coming as guests of the festivity and to bear a part. Living descendants of Wolfe and Montcalm were also invited guests, and the Governments of France and the United States were officially represented. Battleships from the fleets of these nations and from Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan and the Argentine Republic were brought to a friendly concourse in the harbor of Quebec, for participation in the brilliant spectacles of the féte. These included a military representation of the armies of Wolfe and Montcalm, on the field where they fought; a representation of the landing of Champlain, from a ship which duplicated the structure and equipment of his own, and a number of other historical pageants, all admirably planned and executed, and offering a rare entertainment to the many thousands of visitors who were attracted to Quebec from all parts of the Dominion and the United States. The celebration began on the 19th of July and continued through two weeks. CANADA: A. D. 1908 (September). Act to amend Civil Service Act. See (in this Volume) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: CANADA. CANADA: A. D. 1909. The projected Georgian Bay Canal. Present state of the project. "The scheme for a canal to give through transport for ocean-going steamers from Montreal to the Great Lakes may now be said to have emerged from the field of idealism into that of practical politics, the need for such a waterway having been generally recognized by Canadian politicians. In commercial circles there is the strongest feeling that the canal works should be put in hand at once, and at the end of April last a powerful deputation representing 20 Canadian Boards of Trade and 54 municipalities pressed this point of view upon the Government. At the present time questions of finance alone prohibit the practical adoption of the enterprise. … When the work is started, it will probably be found that the contract will be entrusted to private enterprise under Government supervision. … The present position of the negotiations between the Government and the canal company is that the latter corporation having matured its scheme, the Government engineers have made a report, and a compromise has now to be effected on those points where the recommendations of the Government engineers differ from the scheme of construction drawn up by the Georgian Bay Canal Company. "The total distance of the route planned by the canal company engineers between Georgian Bay on Lake Huron to Montreal, the head of ocean navigation on the St. Lawrence River, is 440 miles. The project is essentially a river and lake canalization scheme, and for the greater part of its course the projected route follows the course of the French River and the Ottawa. River and its lakes. From Georgian Bay to the summit level it is proposed to utilize the middle channel of French River to Lake Nipissing. From the northern side of this lake to the summit level, a distance of over 80 miles from Georgian Bay, it would be mainly an artificial waterway. From the summit level, 677 ft. above sea level, there is a long fall to Montreal, and the route proposed by the canal company engineers is via Trout and Turtle Lakes, the little Mattawa River into Talon Lake to Sand Bay, a distance of 21 miles. A canal three miles long would carry the waterway to the Mattawa River, 13 miles of which would be utilized, and a short canal cut would give access to the Ottawa River, which would then be followed for a distance of 293 miles. Thence the St. Lawrence River or a branch of the Ottawa River, known as the Back River, would form the new waterway for the last 25 miles. The difference in elevation of 659 ft. between Montreal and the summit level, and 99 ft. between the summit and Georgian Bay would be bridged by 27 locks, ranging in lift from 5 ft. to 50 ft. These locks would be designed for a length of 940 ft., with a width of 70 ft. and with 22 ft. of water upon the lock sills, the proposed depth of the canal being 24 ft. {71} The total length of canal cutting for the route is estimated at from 28 to 34 miles, and in all about 108 miles out of the total length of 440 miles would require excavation work for lock approaches, canals, and submerged channels. "The plans of the Government engineers, as embodied in a report to the Department Of Public Works, do not differ materially from those of the canal company. The latter proposes a 24 ft. waterway, with 22 ft. upon the lock sills; the Government plans provide for a 22 ft. waterway, which, it is pointed out, would more than equal the conditions as they exist to-day in the channels connecting the waters of the Great Lakes, which govern the draught of boats on the Lakes. … The opening up of the Great Lakes for the first time to ocean-going traffic would be an event of the first commercial magnitude. It is not generally recognized that the trade of the Lakes is greater than the coasting trade of England, of France, and of Germany put together. The statistical reports of Lake commerce passing through the canals at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Ontario, show that the tonnage passing through these canals increased during 1897 to 1907 from 18,982,755 to 58,217,214. "Reference should also be made to the water powers which would be created by the present plans for the construction of the canal. The report of the Government engineers states that nearly 1,000,000 h. p. could be secured along the Ottawa and French rivers and it is estimated that 100,000 h. p. would be available within almost a mile of the city of Montreal. "The question yet to be decided is when can the country afford to start the work. Sir Robert Perks, M. P., who has been intimately associated with the scheme, recently submitted an offer to the Government on behalf of the canal company, who own the charter, to provide £5,000,000 at a 3 per cent. guarantee, with ½ per cent. sinking fund, for the construction of the French River section of the canal, a distance of about 86 miles, and to build docks and warehouses at North Bay on Lake Nipissing. … It is estimated that it would take ten years from the inception of the work before the canal would be open for navigation, and that the total cost would be about £20,000,000." Engineering Correspondence London Times, August 18, 1909. CANADA: A. D. 1909. The Great Mackenzie Basin. The Newest Canadian West. A report on the agricultural possibilities of the great Mackenzie Basin, prepared by a select committee of the Dominion Senate, was made public in the summer of 1909. "Basing their calculations upon the testimony of witnesses, the Committee calculate that some two million square miles between the northern limits of Saskatchewan and Alberta and the Arctic Circle can be used for pasturage and for the cultivation of wheat, barley, potatoes, and other vegetables. Until a few years ago not only the Mackenzie basin but the valley of Peace rivers were on account of their high latitudes considered to be unfit for cultivation. The comparatively mild climate, which, as the report shows, they in reality enjoy, is said to be due to the proximity of large bodies of water such as the Great Slave and Great Bear lakes and to the chinook wind, the warm current of air that blows across the Rocky Mountains from the Pacific. The shortness of the sub-Arctic summer appears to be offset by the proportionate length of the days and by the clearness of the air. In regard to the future of the district with which it deals the report points out that in 1870 the representatives of the people of Eastern Canada were anxious to obtain in regard to what is now the prosperous province of Manitoba exactly the same information as the Committee has been engaged in collecting about Canada’s ‘newest west.’" CANADA: A. D. 1909. The opposition in Newfoundland to union with the Dominion. See (in this Volume) NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1909. CANADA: A. D. 1909 (January). The Waterways Treaty between the United States and Great Britain, concerning the waters between the former and Canada. Resulting from the labors of an International Waterways Commission, appointed four years before, a Waterways Treaty, having reference to the lakes and rivers that lie along the boundary between Canada and the United States, was concluded by Ambassador Bryce, on the part of the British Government, and Secretary of State Root, on the part of the United States, in January, 1909. The Treaty was ratified by the Senate of the United States in the closing hours of the Congressional session which ended March 4, but with a proviso, in the form of a resolution attached. The following is a summary of the provisions of the Treaty as it went to the Senate: "A preliminary article defines the Canadian and American boundary waters. "Article I. enacts that the navigation of these waters, including Lake Michigan and the canals connecting them, shall for ever continue free and open for the purposes of commerce to the inhabitants of both countries. Regulations affecting canals in the territory of either country shall apply equally to inhabitants of the other who may wish to make use thereof. "Article II. reserves to the signatories and to the State and provincial Governments exclusive control over the use, diversion, &c., of such waters in their territory as flow into the boundary waters or across the frontier. Any inhabitant of either country injured by the use of this privilege will be entitled to the legal remedies he would have if he were a native of the defendant country. The contracting parties, however, reserve the right of objection whenever navigation on their own side of the boundary is imperilled by any diversion of water across it. "Articles III. and IV. provide that no works shall be undertaken on either side of the line, if such works would be likely to affect the level of the waters on the other side, without agreement between the contracting parties and the sanction of the Joint Commission. Pollution of the waters is also forbidden. "Article V., which relates to the diversion of the waters of Niagara, the control of the level of Lake Erie, and the flow of the Niagara River, has a clause which states that it is the desire of both parties to accomplish these objects with the least possible injury to the investments which have already been made in the construction of power plants on the United States side of the Niagara River under grants of authority from the State of New York, and on the Canadian side of the river under licenses authorized by the Dominion of Canada and the Province of Ontario. {72} "Article VI. apportions the uses of the St. Mary’s and Milk rivers and their tributaries in the west. "Article VII. provides for the creation of an International Joint Commission, consisting of three representatives of Canada and three of the United States. "Article VIII. provides that the Commission shall have jurisdiction over, and shall decide all cases involving, the waterways where, under articles III. and IV., their approval is required, and gives principles for their guidance. The contracting parties are to have equal and similar rights. The uses of the water are to be considered in the following order:—First, domestic and sanitary purposes; secondly, purposes of navigation; third, purposes of power and irrigation. The Commission is invested with some discretion with regard to departure from the principle of equal division, &c. In case of a tie vote each Commissioner is to make a separate report to his Government; whereupon the two Governments shall attempt to reach an agreement. "The two following articles, IX. and X., requiring that all disputes shall be referred to the Commission, stand out as the most important provisions of the treaty. Article IX., after stating that matters of difference shall be referred to the Commission whenever either Government desires, goes on to authorize the Commission in each case so referred to examine into and report upon the facts and circumstances of the particular questions referred, together with such conclusions and recommendations as may be appropriate, subject, however, to any restrictions or exceptions which may be imposed with respect thereto by the terms of reference. Such reports of the Commission are in no way to have the character of an arbitral award. The Commission shall make joint report to both Governments in all cases wherein all or a majority of the Commissioners agree, and in case of disagreement the minority may make joint report to both Governments, or separate reports to their respective Governments. In case the Commission is evenly divided upon any question referred to it, separate reports shall be made by the Commissioners, one on each side to their own Government. "Article X. extends the powers of the Commission by providing that other matters of difference affecting the rights of either country may be referred to the Commission. In each case so referred the Commission is authorized to examine into and report upon the facts and circumstances of the particular questions and matters referred, together with such conclusions and recommendations as may be appropriate, subject, however, to any restrictions or exceptions which may be imposed with respect thereto by the terms of reference. A majority of the Commission shall have power to render a decision or finding upon any of the questions or matters so referred. "In the event of a failure of the Commission to agree upon the issues submitted to them for decision or report, the article requires the Commissioners to make a joint report to both Governments, or separate reports to their respective Governments, showing the different conclusions arrived at with regard to matters or questions so referred, which shall thereupon be submitted for decision by the high contracting parties to an umpire chosen in accordance with procedure prescribed in the fourth, fifth, and sixth paragraphs of Article XLV. of The Hague Convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes, dated October 18, 1907. Such umpire, the article concludes, shall have power to render a final decision on matters whereon the Commission have failed to agree." The resolution attached to the Treaty by the Senate of the United States related to the use of waters flowing at the rapids of St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie, and was introduced by Senator Smith of Michigan. It is as follows: "Resolved—As part of this ratification, the United States approves this treaty, with the understanding that nothing in the treaty shall be construed as affecting or changing any existing territorial or riparian right in the water, or the rights of owners of lands under water, on either side of the international boundary, at the rapids of St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie, in the use of waters flowing over such lands, subject to the requirements of navigation in the boundary waters and of the navigation of canals, and without prejudice to the existing right of the United States and Canada, each to use the waters of St. Mary’s River within its own territory; and that this interpretation will be mentioned in the ratification of this treaty as conveying the true meaning of the treaty, and will in effect form part of the treaty." This stipulation was objectionable to Canada, and the consent of the Dominion Government to a ratification of the Treaty on the part of Great Britain was withheld. It has been understood, however, that the objection will be substantially removed if the Government of the United States acquires possession of the lands and riparian property concerned, which was provided for by an Act of Congress passed in March. The necessary proceedings will consume some time. CANADA: A. D. 1909 (February). The institution of a Department of External Affairs. An Associated Press despatch from Ottawa, on the 18th of February, 1909, made known that "the Canadian Government has announced its intention of creating a portfolio of external affairs. Heretofore all of the foreign business of Canada has been carried on through the channel of the British colonial and foreign office. Even after the external affairs branch is created by Canada this will be the principal avenue for such business. That method is cumbersome. In the case of negotiations with the United States, papers have to cross the Atlantic twice in passing from Washington to Ottawa, being sent first to the colonial office and then back to Canada. The process has been much criticised and both the prime minister and the opposition leader have declared themselves in favor of a modification. The creation of the external department is regarded as the first step. The most radical proposal is the intimation that in negotiations with the United States there will hereafter be direct communication between Washington and Canada, through the medium of the British Ambassador." {73} In the British Parliament, on the 4th of March, the Prime Minister, Mr. Asquith, replied to a question on the subject, as follows: "It is understood that the Canadian Government propose to establish a Department of External Affairs. This department is merely intended—like the corresponding department of the Com [Commonwealth?] wealth Government—to conduct correspondence with the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and his Majesty’s Ambassador at Washington, and with the several departments of the Canadian Government. At present delay occurs in dealing with the correspondence, as there is no department to conduct the work. No suggestion has been made by the Canadian Government for the increase of their powers in dealing with external affairs." CANADA: A. D. 1909 (February). Participation in a North American Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources. See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: NORTH AMERICA. CANADA: A. D. 1909 (April). Statistics of the Budget speech. Revenue. Trade. No increase of taxation. The following was reported in a despatch from Ottawa, April 20, 1909: "Notwithstanding the financial stringency of the past year, which reduced the revenue of Canada by $11,500,000, Mr. Fielding, Minister of Finance, in his Budget speech today made the gratifying announcement that there was a surplus of $1,500,000 for the year ended March 31. The increase in the net debt was $46,029,000, of which $32,000,000 was for the National Transcontinental Railway and the Quebec Bridge. The total trade of the country during the past year was $553,737,000, a decrease of $97,000,000, principally in imports. The estimated expenditures for the current year were $80,078,624. In the judgment of the Government there was no necessity for increased taxation, but the situation should be met by a substantial reduction in expenditures." CANADA: A. D. 1909 (June). Important ruling by the Railway Commission affecting American Railways. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: CANADA: A. D. 1909. CANADA: A. D. 1909 (July-August). Imperial Defence Conference. Its agreements. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: MILITARY AND NAVAL. CANADA: A. D. 1909 (August). Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: PHYSICAL. CANADA: A. D. 1909 (August). Proposed union of the Maritime Provinces. A Press despatch of August 19, from Ottawa, reported: "At a conference of the Boards of Trade of the Maritime Provinces at Charlottetown a resolution was adopted in favour of the union of the Maritime Provinces. The Governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island were asked to appoint a committee to draft terms of union. The general opinion is that only union can avert the overwhelming influence of the West in future." CANADA: A. D. 1909 (December). Convention relating to obstructions in the St. John River. "Commissioners have been appointed on the part of the United States to act jointly with commissioners on the part of Canada in examining into the question of obstructions in the St. John River, between Maine and New Brunswick, and to make recommendations for the regulation of the uses thereof, and are now engaged in this work." Message of the President of the United States to Congress, December 6, 1909. CANADA: A. D. 1909-1910. As affected by the new tariff of the United States. See (in this Volume) TARIFFS: UNITED STATES. CANADA: A. D. 1910. Anti-Trust Bill in the Dominion Parliament. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: CANADA. CANADA: A. D. 1910 (January). Announcement of naval programme. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL. ----------CANADA: End-------- CANADA STEEL CORPORATION. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: CANADA: A. D. 1909. CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY STRIKE, 1908. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: CANADA: A. D. 1907-1908. CANAL ZONE. See (in this Volume) PANAMA CANAL. CANALS. See (in this Volume) PANAMA, GEORGIAN BAY, and (for Barge Canal) NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1898-1909. CAMPANILE OF ST. MARK’S, at Venice. Its fall. See (in this Volume) VENICE: A. D. 1902. CANBERRA, YASS-CANBERRA. Chosen site of the Capital of Australia. See (in this Volume) AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1905-1906. CANCER RESEARCH. See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH. CANDAMO, PRESIDENT MANUEL. See (in this Volume) PERU. CAPE COLONY. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA. CAPITALISTIC COMBINATIONS. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.; also RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES. CAPUCHINS: Forbidden to teach in France. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1903. CARDUCCI, Giosue. See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. CARLOS I., King of Portugal. His assassination. See (in this Volume) Portugal: A. D. 1906-1909. CARMEN SYLVA: Queen of Roumania. See (in this Volume) BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: ROUMANIA: A. D. 1866-1906. CARNEGIE, ANDREW: Gift to Scottish universities and students. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: SCOTLAND: A. D. 1901. CARNEGIE, ANDREW: Gift of a building at Washington for the Bureau of the American Republics. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS, INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF. CARNEGIE, ANDREW: Gift of a court house and library for the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1903. CARNEGIE, ANDREW: At Peace Congress in New York. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907. CARNEGIE FOUNDATION, FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF TEACHING. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1908. CARNEGIE HERO FUNDS. April 15, 1904, a letter from Andrew Carnegie was made public announcing that he had set apart a fund of $5,000,000 to be known as "The Hero Fund." In this letter Mr. Carnegie said: "We live in an heroic age. Not seldom are we thrilled by deeds of heroism where men or women are injured or lose their lives in attempting to preserve or rescue their fellows; such are the heroes of civilization. {74} The heroes of barbarism maimed or killed. I have long felt that the heroes and those dependent upon them should be freed from pecuniary cares resulting from their heroism and as a fund for this purpose I have transferred to a commission $5,000,000 of collateral 5 per cent bonds of the United States Steel Corporation." Only such as follow peaceful vocations on sea or land in the United States or Canada are eligible to receive money or medals for heroic deeds. The commission which has charge of the fund has its headquarters in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. A similar fund in Great Britain was created soon afterward by Mr. Carnegie, and in May, 1909, he placed, for the same purpose, $1,000,000 of the bonds of the United States Steel Corporation in the hands of trustees in France, under the sanction of the French Government. CARNEGIE INSTITUTE, The, at Pittsburg: Its enlargement and re-dedication. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907. CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION: CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. CARTAGO, COSTA RICA: Institution of the Central American Court of Justice. Gift of a building by Mr. Carnegie. See (in this Volume) Central America: A. D. 1908. CARTELS. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL (IN GERMANY). CASABLANCA: Bombardment by French and Spanish fleets. The Casablanca incident. See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1907-1909. CASEMENT, ROGER: British consul in the Congo State. His reports. See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1903-1905. CASTRO, CIPRIANO: President of Venezuela. See in this Volume) VENEZUELA, also COLOMBIA: 1898-1902. CASTRO, Luciano de. See (in this Volume) PORTUGAL: A. D. 1906-1909. CATALONIA: A. D. 1902. Disorders. See (in this Volume) SPAIN: A. D. 1905-1906, and 1907-1909. CATHOLIC DISABILITIES, IN ENGLAND: Majority vote in Commons for removing. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1909 (May). CATHOLIC PEOPLE’S PARTY. See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1904. CATSKILL AQUEDUCT. See (in this Volume) NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1905-1909. CATTLE DRIVING. See (in this Volume) IRELAND: A. D. 1902-1908. CAUCASUS, The: Conflict of Tartars and Armenians. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (February-November). CENSORSHIP. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1909. CENSUS BILL, PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT’S VETO OF THE. See (in this Volume) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: UNITED STATES. CENSUS BUREAU, CREATION OF A PERMANENT. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902 (March). CENTER, or CENTRUM PARTY. See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1906-1907. ----------CENTRAL AMERICA: Start-------- CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1906. Participation of all the states in the Second and Third International Conferences of American republics. Their signature of an obligatory arbitration convention. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1902. Treaty of compulsory arbitration and obligatory peace between the five republics. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1902. CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1903. Honduras: Revolution, establishing General Bonilla in the Presidency. In the spring of 1903 a rising in Honduras against the Government was reported to be in progress, under General Bonilla. Early in March the situation was stated by the American consular agent at Amapala as follows: "A great part of the members of the Congress that was in session in Tegucigalpa, amongst them the President of the Congress, fled from the capital to the frontier of Salvador the 30th of January, so that Congress was de facto dissolved on that date. It seems that the council of ministers formed a new Congress out of the remaining deputies and the substitutes of the fugitives. The new Congress proclaimed Dr. Juan Angel Arias president, and General Maximo B. Rosales vice-president of the Republic. The new Government was recognized by Nicaragua, but I do not know if it was recognized by the other Central American Republics. In the meantime General Bonilla has gone ahead with his military operations against the new government. His forces have taken the fortified towns of Ocotepeque, Santa Rosa, and Gracias, near the frontier of Nicaragua. On the 22d of February General Bonilla was as attacked in El Aceituno by General Sierra, the ex-president, who was completely defeated and escaped with several hundred men, the remainder of his troops, to the fortified town of Nacaome, where he still is. General Bonilla has now an army of about 4,500 men." In despatches of the 15th and 24th of April, Minister Combs, who represented the United States in transactions with both Guatemala and Honduras, advised the State Department that General Bonilla was in possession of Tegucigalpa; that ex-President Arias was a prisoner; that peace was restored, and that Bonilla should be recognized as President. Accordingly the recognition was given. CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1904. Nicaragua, Honduras, Salvador, and Guatemala: Peace Conference. A despatch, August 31, 1904, from the American Minister at San José, Costa Rica, to the State Department at Washington, was as follows: "I have the honor to advise that on the 21st instant, at Corinto, Nicaragua, the Presidents of Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador, and a special delegate representing the President of Guatemala, held a conference ostensibly for the purpose of securing the peace of Central America. … The parties holding the conference have issued a lengthy manifesto, which indicates nothing of interest to our Government except that the four governments represented are controlled by parties who will aid each other by military force, if necessary, in maintaining the status quo, and that the peace of Central America is thus reasonably assured by making revolutionary efforts more difficult and less liable to achieve success." {75} CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1904. Nicaragua and Honduras: Agreement to arbitrate boundary dispute. In October, 1904, the United States Government was informed that Nicaragua and Honduras had agreed to submit a boundary dispute to the King of Spain. CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1905. Nicaragua: Treaty with Great Britain concerning the Mosquito Territory. The following treaty between Great Britain and the Republic of Nicaragua was signed at Managua, Nicaragua, April 19, 1905: Article I. The High Contracting Parties agree that the Treaty of Managua of January 28, 1860, is and shall remain abrogated. Article II. His Britannic Majesty agrees to recognize the absolute sovereignty of Nicaragua over the territory that constituted the former Mosquito Reserve, as defined in the aforesaid Treaty of Managua. Article III. In consideration of the fact that the Mosquito Indians were at one time under the protection of Great Britain, and in view of the interest that His Majesty’s Government and the Nicaraguan Government take in their welfare, the Nicaraguan Government agree to grant them the following concessions: (a) The Government will submit to the National Assembly a law exempting, for fifty years from the date of the ratification of this Treaty, all the Mosquito Indians and the Creoles born before the year 1894, from military service, and from all direct taxation on their persons, property, possessions, animals, and means of subsistence. (b) The Government will allow the Indians to live in their villages enjoying the concessions granted by this Convention, and following their own customs, in so far as they are not opposed to the laws of the country and to public morality. (c) The Nicaraguan Government will concede a further period of two years for them to legalize their rights to the property acquired in conformity with the Regulations in force before 1894 in the Reserve. The Government will make no charge to the said inhabitants either for the lands or the measurement thereof, or for the grant of title-deeds. For this purpose the title-deeds in the possession of the said Indians and Creoles before 1894 will be renewed in conformity with the laws, and, in cases where no such title-deeds exist, the Government will give to each family, at their place of residence, eight manzanas of land, if the members of the family do not exceed four in number, and two manzanas for each person if the family exceeds that number. (d) Public pasture lands will be reserved for the use of the inhabitants in the neighbourhood of each Indian village. (e) In the event of any Mosquito Indians or Creoles proving that the lands which they held in conformity with the Regulations in force before 1894 have been claimed by and allotted to other persons, the Government will indemnify them by the grant of suitable public lands of approximate value as near as possible to their present residences. Article IV. The ex-Chief of the Mosquito Indians, Robert Henry Clarence, will be permitted by the Nicaraguan Government to reside in the Republic of Nicaragua and to enjoy full protection so long as he does not transgress the laws, and provided his acts do not tend to incite the Indians against Nicaragua. Article V. The Mosquito Indians, and other inhabitants of the former Reserve, will enjoy the same rights as are secured by the laws of Nicaragua to other Nicaraguan citizens. CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1906. Honduras, Guatemala, and Salvador: War, ended by mediation of the United States and Mexico. Neither the Convention of Peace and Compulsory Arbitration signed at Corinto in 1902 by the presidents of all five of the Central American republics, nor the peace agreement between four of them two years later, sufficed to prevent an outbreak of war in 1906 which involved the three states of Honduras, Guatemala, and Salvador. President Roosevelt, in his annual Message to Congress that year, referred to the war as having arisen from "trouble which had existed for some time"; but does not indicate the nature of the "trouble"; nor is any light thrown on it in a long diplomatic correspondence between the parties to it and the governments of the United States and Mexico, which appears in the American report of Foreign Relations for 1906. Probably nobody outside of the belligerents ever learned definitely why they felt called upon to fight, or what they had to settle when peace was made. Seemingly Honduras was the aggressor; but the affair seems hardly worth the trouble of any deep investigation. Its chief importance is in the successful mediation that was undertaken jointly by the governments of the United States and Mexico, of which President Roosevelt made report in the Message referred to above: "The thoroughly good understanding which exists between the United States and Mexico," said the President, "enabled this Government and that of Mexico to unite in effective mediation between the warring Republics; which mediation resulted, not without long-continued and patient effort, in bringing about a meeting of the representatives of the hostile powers on board a United States warship as neutral territory, and peace was there concluded; a peace which resulted in the saving of thousands of lives and in the prevention of an incalculable amount of misery and the destruction of property and of the means of livelihood. The Rio Conference passed the following resolution in reference to this action: "‘That the Third International American Conference shall address to the Presidents of the United States of America and of the United States of Mexico a note in which the conference which is being held at Rio expresses its satisfaction at the happy results of their mediation for the celebration of peace between the Republics of Guatemala, Honduras, and Salvador.’ "This affords an excellent example of one way in which the influence of the United States can properly be exercised for the benefit of the peoples of the Western Hemisphere; that is, by action taken in concert with other American republics and therefore free from those suspicions and prejudices which might attach if the action were taken by one alone." {76} The resulting "General Treaty of Peace and Amity, Commerce, etc., between the Republics of Costa Rica, Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras," signed September 25, 1906, involved solemn engagements in its first four articles, as follows: "ARTICLE 1. There shall be perpetual peace and a frank, loyal, and sincere friendship among the Republics of Costa Rica, Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, each and every one of the aforesaid Governments being in duty bound to consider as one of their principal obligations the maintenance of such peace and the preservation of such friendship, by endeavoring to contribute every means to procure the desired end, and to remove, as far as lies in their power, any obstacles, whatever their nature, which might prevent it. In order to secure such ends they shall always unite when the importance of the case demands it, to foster their moral, intellectual, and industrial progress, thus making their interests one and the same, as it becomes sister countries. "ARTICLE 2. In the event, which is not to be expected, that any of the high contracting parties should fail to comply with or cause any deviation from any of the subjects agreed to in the present treaty, such event, as well as any particular difficulty which may arise between them, shall necessarily be settled by the civilized means of arbitration. "ARTICLE 3. The Governments of Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, in conformity with the stipulations of the treaty executed on board the Marblehead, hereby appoint as umpires, Their Excellencies the Presidents of the United States of America and of the United Mexican States, to whom all particular difficulties arising among said Governments shall be submitted for arbitration. "For the purpose of agreeing on the manner to effect such arbitration, the above-mentioned Republics shall accredit, at the latest within three months from this date, their respective legations near the Governments of the United States of America and Mexico, and in the meanwhile arbitration shall be ruled according to the stipulations of the treaty of compulsory arbitration concluded in Mexico on the 29th of January, 1902. "ARTICLE 4. Guatemala not having subscribed to the Corinto convention of January 20, 1902, Costa Rica, Salvador, and Honduras do hereby respectively declare, that said Corinto convention is to continue in force, and that any particular difference which may arise among them shall be settled in conformity with the aforesaid convention and with the regulations established by the Central American court of arbitration on the 9th of October of that year." Notwithstanding these grave pledges to each other, three of the parties to this treaty were at war the next year. CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1907. Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador: War. Mexican and American Mediation. The Washington Peace Conference. General Treaty of Peace and Amity. Central American Court of Justice. In February, 1907, a fresh outbreak of Central American war occurred, originally between Nicaragua and Honduras, but involving Salvador, presently, in alliance with Honduras. The arbitration convention of 1904 had not accomplished a specific settlement of the boundary disputes between Honduras and Nicaragua, and President Zelaya, of the latter republic, accused the former of encroachments. Mexico and the United States had endeavored to pacify the disputants before hostilities began, but without success. The quarrel was fought out, and a complete victory won by Nicaragua, whose forces captured the Honduran capital and drove President Bonilla from the country. A provisional government was established in Honduras and terms of peace arranged, April 24th. Then the good offices of President Roosevelt and President Diaz were employed again, with the result which the former communicated to Congress in his Message of December 3, 1907, as follows: "The effort to compose this new difficulty has resulted in the acceptance of the joint suggestion of the Presidents of Mexico and of the United States for a general peace conference between all the countries of Central America. On the 17th day of September last a protocol was signed between the representatives of the five Central American countries accredited to this Government agreeing upon a conference to be held in the City of Washington 'in order to devise the means of preserving the good relations among said Republics and bringing about permanent peace in those countries.’ The protocol includes the expression of a wish that the Presidents of the United States and Mexico should appoint ‘representatives to lend their good and impartial offices in a purely friendly way toward the realization of the objects of the conference.’ The conference is now in session and will have our best wishes and, where it is practicable, our friendly assistance." The first regular session of the Conference was held on the 14th of November, the place of meeting being the building of the International Bureau of the American Republics. In addition to the delegates present from the States of Costa Rica, Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, the Republic of Mexico designated Señor Don Enrique C. Creel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States, and the United States designated Honorable William I. Buchanan, as representatives from Mexico and the United States at the conference. The Honorable Elihu Root, Secretary of State of the United States, was present, also, at the first session, over which he presided until the organization of the Conference had been effected. His opening address to the Conference included these wise and impressive remarks: "We cannot fail, gentlemen, to be admonished by the many failures which have been made by the people of Central America to establish agreement among themselves which would be lasting, that the task you have before you is no easy one. The trial has often been made and the agreements which have been elaborated, signed, ratified, seem to have been written in water. Yet I cannot resist the impression that we have at last come to the threshold of a happier day for Central America. "It would ill become me to attempt to propose or suggest the steps which you should take, but I will venture to observe that the all-important thing for you to accomplish is that while you enter into agreements which will, I am sure, be framed in consonance with the most peaceful aspirations and the most rigid sense of justice, you shall devise also some practical methods under which it will be possible to secure the performance of those agreements. {77} The mere declaration of general principles, the mere agreement upon lines of policy and of conduct are of little value unless there be practical and definite methods provided by which the responsibility for failing to keep the agreement may be fixed upon some definite person, and the public sentiment of Central America brought to bear to prevent the violation. The declaration that a man is entitled to his liberty would be of little value with us in this country were it not for the writ of habeas corpus that makes it the duty of a specific judge, when applied to, to inquire into the cause of his detention, and set him at liberty if he is unjustly detained. The provision which declares that a man should not be deprived of his property without due process of law would be of little value were it not for the practical provision which imposes on specific officers the duty of nullifying every attempt to take away a man’s property without due process of law. "To find practical definite methods by which you shall make it somebody’s duty to see that the great principles you declare are not violated, by which if an attempt be made to violate them the responsibility may be fixed upon the guilty individual—those, in my judgment, are the problems to which you should specifically and most earnestly address yourselves." The address of Secretary Root was followed by one of excellent counsel from the Mexican Ambassador, and a reply to both was made, on behalf of the Conference, by Señor Don Luis Anderson, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica. The Conference then elected its officers, choosing Minister Anderson for its President, and proceeded to the transaction of business. Fourteen sessions were held between November 14 and December 20, resulting from which eight conventions were agreed to and signed on the latter date. These conventions are: General Treaty of Peace and Amity; Additional Convention to the General Treaty; Establishing a Central American Court of Justice; Extradition; On Future Conferences (Monetary); On Communications; Establishing an International Central American Bureau; and Establishing a Pedagogical Institute. The essential provisions of the General Treaty of Peace and Amity are in the following articles: "ARTICLE I. The Republics of Central America consider as one of their first duties in their mutual relations, the maintenance of peace; and they bind themselves to always preserve the most complete harmony, and decide every difference or difficulty that may arise amongst them, of whatsoever nature it may be, by means of the Central American Court of Justice, created by the Convention which they have concluded for that purpose on this date." "Article III. Bearing in mind the central geographical position of Honduras and the facilities which this circumstance has afforded in order that its territory should have been most often the theatre of Central American conflicts, Honduras declares from now on its absolute neutrality in any event of conflict amongst the other Republics; and the latter, in their turn, provided such neutrality be observed, bind themselves to respect it and in no case to violate the Honduranean territory. "ARTICLE IV. Bearing in mind the advantages which must be gained from the creation of Central American institutions for the development of their most vital interests, besides the Pedagogical Institute and the International Central American Bureau which have been established according to the Conventions celebrated to that end by this Conference, the creation of a practical Agricultural School in the Republic of Salvador, one of Mines and Mechanics in that of Honduras, and another of Arts and Trades in that of Nicaragua, is especially recommended to the Governments. "ARTICLE V. In order to cultivate the relations between the States, the contracting parties obligate themselves each to accredit to the others a permanent Legation. "ARTICLE VI. The citizens of one of the contracting parties, residing in the territory of any of the others, shall enjoy the same civil rights as nationals, and shall be considered as citizens in the country of their residence if they fulfill the conditions which the respective constituent laws provide. Those that are not naturalized shall be exempt from obligatory military service, either by sea or land, and from every forced loan or military requirement, and they shall not be obliged on any account to make more contributions or ordinary or extraordinary imposts than those which nationals pay." "ARTICLE X. The Governments of the contracting Republics bind themselves to respect the inviolability of the right of asylum aboard the merchant vessels of whatsoever nationality anchored in their ports. Therefore, only persons accused of common crimes and by order of the competent judge, after due legal procedure, can be taken from them. Those prosecuted on account of political crimes or common crimes in connection with political ones, can only be taken therefrom in case they have embarked in a port of the State which claims them, whilst they may remain in its jurisdictional waters, and after the requirements hereinbefore exacted in the case of common crime have been fulfilled." "ARTICLE XIV. Public instruments executed in one of the contracting Republics shall be valid in the others, provided they shall have been properly authenticated and in their execution the laws of the Republic whence they proceed shall have been observed." "ARTICLE XVI. Desiring to prevent one of the most frequent causes of disturbances in the Republics, the contracting Governments shall not permit the head men or principal chiefs of political emigrations, nor agents thereof, to reside in the departments fronting on the countries whose peace they might disturb. "Those who may have been actually established in a permanent manner in a frontier department shall be able to remain in the place of their residence under the immediate surveillance of the Governments affording them an asylum, but from the moment when they become a menace to public order they shall be included in the rule of the preceding paragraph. "ARTICLE XVII. Every person, no matter what his nationality, who, within the territory of one of the contracting parties, shall initiate or foster revolutionary movements against any of the others, shall be immediately brought to the capital of the Republic, where he shall be submitted to trial according to law." "ARTICLE XIX. The present Treaty shall remain in force for the term of ten years counted from the day of the exchange of ratifications. Nevertheless, if one year before the expiration of said term, none of the contracting parties shall have given special notice to the others concerning its intention to terminate it, it shall remain in force until one year after such notification may have been made." {78} The "Additional Convention to the General Treaty "is in three articles, as follows: "ARTICLE I. The Governments of the High Contracting Parties shall not recognize any other Government which may come into power in any of the five Republics as a consequence of a coup d’Etat, or of a revolution against the recognized Government, so long as the representatives of the people, freely elected, have not constitutionally reorganized the country. "ARTICLE II. No Government of Central America shall in case of civil war intervene in favor of or against the Government of the country where the struggle may take place. "Article III. The Governments of Central America, in the first place, are recommended to endeavor to procure by the means at their command a constitutional reform in the sense of prohibiting the reëlection of the President of a Republic, where such prohibition does not exist, in the second place to adopt all measures necessary to effect a complete guarantee of the principle of alternation in power." The "Convention for the Establishment of a Central American Court of Justice" contains thirty-eight articles, with a "Provisional Article" and an "Annexed Article" appended. The more important provisions are in the following: "ARTICLE I. The High Contracting Parties agree by the present Convention to constitute and maintain a permanent tribunal which shall be called the ‘Central American Court of Justice,’ to which they bind themselves to submit all controversies or questions which may arise among them, of whatsoever nature and no matter what their origin may be, in case the respective Departments of Foreign Affairs should not have been able to reach an understanding. "ARTICLE II. This Court shall also take cognizance of the questions which individuals of one Central American country may raise against any of the other contracting Governments, because of the violation of Treaties or Conventions, and other cases of an international character; no matter whether his own Government supports said claim or not; and provided that the remedies which the laws of the respective country provide against such violation shall have been exhausted and that a denial of justice shall be shown. "ARTICLE III. It shall also take cognizance of the cases which by common accord contracting Governments may submit to it, no matter whether they arise between two or more of them or between one of said Governments and individuals. [Footnote: After signing the treaties an omission was discovered in this Article. An additional protocol was thereupon signed by all the delegates adding to this Article, and to be considered as an integral part of the Convention, the following words: "It shall also have jurisdiction over cases arising between any of the contracting Governments and individuals, when by common accord they may have been submitted to it.] "Article IV. The Court may likewise take cognizance of the international questions which by special agreement any one of the Central American Governments and a foreign Government may have determined to submit to it. "ARTICLE V. The Central American Court of Justice shall sit at the City of Cartago in the Republic of Costa Rica, but it shall be authorized to transfer its residence to another point in Central America when it may deem it proper to do so for reasons of health, of guaranteeing the exercise of its functions, or of the personal security of its members. "ARTICLE VI. The Central American Court of Justice shall consist of five Justices named, one from each Republic and selected from among the jurists who possess the qualifications which the laws of each country may exact for the exercise of high judicial functions, and enjoy the highest consideration, not only because of their moral character but also on account of their professional ability. The vacancies shall be filled by substitute Justices, named at the same time and in the same manner as the regular ones and who shall unite the same qualifications as the former. The attendance of the five Justices who constitute the Tribunal is indispensable in order to have a legal quorum in the judgments of the Court. "ARTICLE VII. The legislative power of each one of the five contracting Republics shall name one regular and two substitutes as their respective Justices. The salary of each Justice shall be eight thousand dollars, gold, per annum, which shall be paid by the Treasury of the Court. The salary of the Justice of the place where the Court resides shall be designated by the respective Government. Besides, each State shall contribute two thousand dollars, gold, annually for the ordinary and extraordinary expenses of the Tribunal. The Governments of the contracting Republics bind themselves to include their respective contributions in their budgets of expenses and to remit quarterly in advance to the Treasury of the Court the proportion which corresponds to them on account of such expenditures." "ARTICLE XIII. The Central American Court of Justice represents the national conscience of Central America, wherefore the Justices who compose the Tribunal shall not consider themselves prohibited from the exercise of their functions because of the interest which the Republics, whence they derive their appointment, may have in any case or question. With regard to implications and challenges, the rules of procedure which the Court may fix shall make proper provision." "ARTICLE XXII. The Court is authorized to determine its jurisdiction, interpreting the Treaties and Conventions germane to the matter in dispute, applying the principles of international law. "ARTICLE XXIII. Every final or interlocutory decision shall be rendered in accordance with the agreement of at least three of the Justices of the Court. In case of disagreement, one of the substitute Justices shall be chosen by lot, and if still a majority of three be not obtained other Justices shall continue to be chosen by lot until three votes in the same sense shall have been obtained. "ARTICLE XXIV. The decisions must be in writing and shall contain a statement of the reasons upon which they are based. They must be signed by all the Justices of the Court and countersigned by the Secretary. Once they have been published they cannot be altered on any account; but, at the request of any of the parties, the Tribunal may decide the interpretation which must be given to its judgment. {79} "Article XXV. The judgments of the Court shall be communicated to the five Governments of the Contracting Republics. The interested parties solemnly bind themselves to submit to said judgment; and they all agree to lend every moral support that may be necessary in order that they may be properly fulfilled, in this manner constituting a real and positive guarantee of respect for this Convention and for the Central American Court of Justice." "Article XXVII. The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare that for no motive nor in any case will they consider the present Convention as lapsed; and that, therefore, they will consider it as being always in force during the term of ten years counted from last ratification. In the event that the political entity of one or more of the Contracting Republics is changed or altered, the attributes of the Central American Court of Justice created by this Convention shall be suspended ipso facto; and a conference to adjust the constitution of said Court and the new order of things shall be forthwith convoked by the respective Governments; in case they do not unanimously agree the present Convention shall be considered as rescinded." "PROVISIONARY ARTICLE. As a recommendation of the five Delegations an Article is annexed which contains an amplification of the Central American Court of Justice, in order that the Legislatures that may deem it proper may see fit to include it upon ratifying this Convention." "ANNEXED ARTICLE. The Central American Court of Justice shall also have jurisdiction over the conflicts which may arise between the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Powers, and when as a matter of fact the judicial decisions and congressional resolutions are not respected." CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1908. Inauguration of the Central American Court of Justice. Gift of a building for its use by Mr. Carnegie. The Central American Court of Justice, contemplated in the treaty of 1907, quoted above, was formally instituted, at Cartago, Costa Rica, with appropriate ceremony, in the last week of May, 1908. The Honorable William I. Buchanan, in attendance as Commissioner from the United States, added interest to the occasion by announcing the proffer of a gift of $100,000 by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, for the erection of a building to be dedicated to the exclusive use of the Court. CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1909. Financial undertakings in New York. Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. In the summer of 1909 various financial undertakings by great banking houses in New York were announced, involving some handling of the debts of Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. It was thought that these operations were in line with efforts of the State Department at Washington and the Bureau of American Republics to bring about the establishment of a chain of American banking houses in the Latin-American countries, for the advancement of American trade and the promotion of more intimate Pan-American relations. CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1909. Nicaragua. Establishment of a colony of Sioux Indians from the United States. A dispatch to the Press from Boston, November 17, 1909, made the following statement: "To save the remnant of the Sioux tribe of Indians from extinction by consumption and other diseases, a colony of the Indians will be established in Nicaragua early in the new year. Chief Little Bison, a full-blooded Sioux, sailed from Boston on the steamship Esparta to-day for Nicaragua, where he will receive the deeds to 16,000 acres of land granted by the Nicaraguan government for the establishment of the colony. The project is supported financially by F. S. Dellenbaugh, head of the American Geographical Society, and several wealthy New York people. The emigration of the Indians is expected to begin in January." CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1909. President Zelaya a menace to peace. His conduct trying the patience of the United States. In the early spring of 1909 the disturbing attitude and conduct of the Nicaraguan President, Zelaya, not only towards his near neighbors of Salvador and Honduras, but also in the relations of his Government with that of the United States, had caused the latter to enter again into consultation with the Mexican Government, as to joint action to preserve peace. For some years the United States had been trying to bring about the settlement of a claim against the Nicaraguan Government preferred by an American company. This Emery claim, as it was known, arose in connection with a concession granted in 1898 for cutting and exporting mahogany. The concession provided that any differences which should arise between the Government and the company should be arbitrated by a tribunal of three members, one to be selected by the Government, one by the company, and the third by these two arbitrators. In 1903 an accusation of smuggling was brought against the company, and the questions raised were submitted to the stipulated tribunal. This decided that, inasmuch as the company had paid taxes to the Government three years in advance, amounting to $30,000, the concession could not be annulled, as President Zelaya wished to have done. Nevertheless Zelaya declared it annulled, and caused proceedings to be instituted for stopping the company’s exportations. This led the American Government to interpose. Under instructions from Washington, its Minister at Managua, Mr. Merry, addressed the following note to the Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Affairs, December 15, 1906: "I have the honor to inform you that I have received instructions from my Government to make an urgent and firm request that your Excellency’s Government will settle the Emery company controversy by an international arbitration, and that until a decision has been given thereby, your Excellency’s Government will restore to the Emery company all its property, dismissing all legal prosecutions in the case, and permitting the company to resume its work under its concession, as if no controversy had arisen." This communication secured a promise of the desired international arbitration, and the stopping meantime of proceedings of interference with the company’s business. But when the protocol of arbitration was to be drawn the Nicaraguan Government refused to have any question of damages to the company included. On this contention the settlement was blocked for more than two years, and the patience of the Washington Government was about worn out. In just what wrappings of diplomatic language it made that fact apparent has not yet been disclosed to the public; but evidently the understanding of Señor Zelaya was duly penetrated. {80} On the 26th of May last (1909) his representative at Washington signed a protocol which provided that the questions at issue between the Government of Nicaragua and the Emery Company should be submitted to arbitration, unless the parties could make their own settlement within four months. This, however, did not end troubles with Nicaragua,—or, rather, with its presidential dictator. Revolutionary attempts in the republic to unseat him gave rise to new offenses on his part against the United States, which President Taft, in his Message to Congress, December 6, 1909, recounted as follows: "Since the Washington conventions of 1907 were communicated to the government of the United States as a consulting and advising party, this government has been almost continuously called upon by one or another, and in turn by all of the five Central American republics, to exert itself for the maintenance of the conventions. Nearly every complaint has been against the Zelaya government of Nicaragua, which has kept Central America in constant tension or turmoil. The responses made to the representations of Central American republics, as due from the United States on account of its relation to the Washington conventions, have been at all times conservative and have avoided, so far as possible, any semblance of interference, although it is very apparent that the considerations of geographic proximity to the Canal Zone and of the very substantial American interests in Central America give to the United States a special position in the zone of these republics and the Caribbean Sea. "I need not rehearse here the patient efforts of this government to promote peace and welfare among these republics, efforts which are fully appreciated by the majority of them who are loyal to their true interests. It would be no less unnecessary to rehearse here the sad tale of unspeakable barbarities and oppression alleged to have been committed by the Zelaya government. Recently two Americans were put to death by order of President Zelaya himself. They were officers in the organized forces of a revolution which had continued many weeks and was in control of about half of the republic, and as such, according to the modern enlightened practice of civilized nations, they were entitled to be dealt with as prisoners of war. "At the date when this message is printed this government has terminated diplomatic relations with the Zelaya government, for reasons made public in a communication to the former Nicaraguan chargé d’affaires, and is intending to take such future steps as may be found most consistent with its dignity, its duty to American interests, and its moral obligations to Central America and to civilization. It may be necessary for me to bring this subject to the attention of the Congress in a special message." Some days previous to the date of the President’s Message, the Secretary of State, Mr. Knox, had addressed a letter of extreme severity to the Nicaraguan Chargé d’Affaires at Washington, Mr. Rodriguez, reviewing the conduct of the Nicaraguan Government, and saying: "In these circumstances the President no longer feels for the government of President Zelaya that respect and confidence which would make it appropriate hereafter to maintain with it regular diplomatic relations, implying the will and the ability to respect and assure what is due from one State to another." The conclusion of the letter was as follows: "To insure the future protection of legitimate American interests, in consideration of the interests of the majority of the Central American republics, and in the hope of making more effective the friendly offices exerted under the Washington conventions, the government of the United States reserves for further consideration at the proper time the question of stipulating also that the constitutional government of Nicaragua obligate itself by convention for the benefit of all the governments concerned as a guarantee for its future loyal support of the Washington conventions and their peaceful and progressive aims. "From the foregoing it will be apparent to you that your office of charge d’affaires is at an end. I have the honor to enclose your passports for use in case you desire to leave tins country. I would add at the same time that, although your diplomatic quality is terminated, I shall be happy to receive you as I shall be happy to receive the representative of the revolution, each as the unofficial channel of communication between the government of the United States and the de facto authorities to whom I look for the protection of American interests pending the establishment in Nicaragua of a government with which the United States can maintain diplomatic relations." President Zelaya at once protested against this arraignment, telegraphing to Secretary Knox that his sources of information had been prejudiced, and asking that the United States send a commission of investigation, proposing to resign if his administration was shown to be detrimental to Nicaragua. Receiving no reply, he resigned the presidency of Nicaragua on the 16th of December, announcing the fact by cable to President Taft in these words: "To avoid harm to my country, and desiring that it shall renew friendly relations with the United States, I have to-day sent my resignation to Congress. As my opponents consider my presence a disturbing factor, I propose to show my good faith by leaving Nicaragua. I stand ready to account for my acts." The vacant presidential office was filled by the Congress of Nicaragua, which elected Dr. Madriz, the choice having been dictated, it was believed, by Zelaya. The revolutionists with whom Zelaya had been contending since October, and who had, on their part, elected and proclaimed their leader, General Juan Estrada, Provisional President of Nicaragua, refused to recognize this Congressional election, and continued, against the government of Madriz, the revolt they had organized against Zelaya, determined to secure for Estrada the power to order a presidential election by the people. On Christmas Eve Zelaya left Nicaragua for Mexico, being conveyed by a Mexican gunboat from Corinto to Salina Cruz. A few weeks later he migrated to Europe and is understood to have taken up his residence in Belgium. The revolt led by General Estrada is still in progress at the time this writing goes into print (early in March, 1910), but the latest reports do not warrant expectations of its success. ----------CENTRAL AMERICA: End-------- {81} CENTRAL AMERICAN REPUBLICS. See, (in this Volume) also, AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CENTRAL BANK QUESTION. See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909-1910. CENTRO CATOLICO. See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1907. CHAFFEE, Major-General Adna R.: Military Governor of the Philippines. See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901. CHAFIN, Eugene W.: Nominated for President of the United States. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (APRIL-NOVEMBER). CHAMBERLAIN, Austen: Postmaster-General in the English Ministry. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (JULY). CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph: Address at opening of Colonial Conference of 1902. See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE. CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph: On a State-rights question in Australia. See (in this Volume) AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1902. CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph: Declaration for Preferential Trade with the Colonies. His resignation from the Cabinet. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (MAY-SEPTEMBER). CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph: Visit to South Africa. Views on the Labor question. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1903-1904. CHAMPLAIN TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION. See (in this Volume) NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1909. CHANG CHIH-TUNG: Measures as viceroy to check the use of opium. See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM. CHANTABUN: Restored to Siam. See (in this Volume) SIAM: A. D. 1902. CHANUTE, OCTAVE. See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: AERONAUTICS. CHARITIES. See (in this Volume) POVERTY, PROBLEMS OF; SOCIAL BETTERMENT; and CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW. CHARLES I., King of Roumania. What he has done for his kingdom. See (in this Volume) BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: ROUMANIA. CHARLES, Prince, of Denmark: Election to the Norwegian Throne. Assumes the name of Haakon VII. See (in this Volume) NORWAY: A. D. 1902-1905. CHARLESTON: A. D. 1901. The "South Carolina and Interstate and West Indian Exposition." Under this name, a very beautiful and successful exhibit of the progress of Southern industry and art, and of the possibilities of West Indian and Spanish-American trade, was opened at Charleston on the 1st of December, 1901. The site of the exposition was a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of ground, only two and a half miles from the business section of the city, embracing the famous old Lowndes estate, with its historic mansion, which the present owner permitted to be used as the Women’s Building of the occasion. Fine taste and a high public spirit entered into the making of this very interesting Fair. CHARTREUX MONKS. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1904 (June-July). CHEMULPHO. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY) and (FEBRUARY-AUGUST). CHICAGO: A. D. 1896-1909. Institution and work of the Municipal Voters’ League. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: CHICAGO. CHICAGO: A. D. 1899. Institution of the first Juvenile Court. See (in this Volume) CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS OFFENDERS. CHICAGO: A. D. 1903. The burning of the Iroquois Theater. Chicago has now two of the most painful memories of fire that are in the past of any city. The second was added on the afternoon of December 30, 1903, when 588 people perished in the burning of the Iroquois Theater. The audience was made up principally of women and children, many of whom belonged to prominent families. The whole city was plunged in grief, and the whole world shared in the sorrow and manifested its sympathy. The theater was a new one, and was regarded as the best of any in the city in its method of construction. But inquiry soon proved that it was defective in its provisions for safety. Further examination, moreover, showed a similar condition in other places of assembly, with the result that all the theaters, with many churches and halls in Chicago, were closed by order of the mayor, pending their compliance with certain provisions of the law. CHICAGO: A. D. 1905. Strike of the Teamsters’ Union. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905 (APRIL-JULY). CHICAGO: A. D. 1905-1908. Struggle for a better charter. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. CHICAGO: A. D. 1906. Packing-House Investigation. See (in this Volume) Public Health: PURE FOOD LAWS: UNITED STATES. CHICAGO: A. D. 1907. National Conference on Trusts. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907. CHICAGO: A. D. 1909. Population, and race mixture. The City Statistician of Chicago, in his manual for 1909, gives the number of the inhabitants of the city as 2,572,835, of whom 699,554 are Americans or persons whose parents are not foreign born. The Germans rank second, with a population of 563,708; the Irish third, with a population of 240,560. Next come the Poles, with 173,409; the Swedes, with 143,307; the Russians, with 123,238; the Bohemians, with 116,549. Thirty other foreign countries given are all below the 100,000 mark. The Chinese population is given as 1,801, the Japanese as 257. The Albanians are the lowest, with a population of 39. CHICAGO: A. D. 1909. "The Chicago Plan." Systematizing the future development. "Early in 1906 the Merchants’ Club, comprising a group of the younger business and professional men of the city, arranged for the preparation of a complete project for the future development of Chicago. The next year the Merchants’ Club was merged with the Commercial Club under the name of the latter organization, and the city-planning work was continued under the auspices of that body." The resulting "Plan of Chicago" was reported in the course of the summer of 1909. "The report represents about thirty months’ work by men whose thoughts for years have dwelt upon the subject of city building and beautification. The work was in charge of Daniel H. Burnham, chief architect and director of works of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, who gave his services to his city without compensation for the purpose of this report. Even so, the expense of preparing and publishing the report has approximated $75,000, all raised by voluntary subscriptions from the business men of Chicago." George C. Sikes, The New Chicago (The Outlook, August 28, 1909). {82} CHICAGO: A. D. 1909 (May). The Second National Peace Congress. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1909. CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE AND ST. PAUL TRANSCONTINENTAL LINE. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909. CHI-KUAN-SHAN, Fort, Capture of. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY). ----------CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: Start-------- CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: As Dependents: England: The Poor Law Children. The following is from a speech in Parliament June 17, 1909, by Mr. John Burns, President of the Local Government Board, which administers the Poor Laws and the Public Health Laws: "In England and Wales there were 235,000 children supported by the rates either inside or outside Poor Law institutions, and of these 70,000 were in cottage homes, barrack schools, scattered homes, and similar institutions. The cost per child maintained in cottage homes varied from 12s. 9d. to 25s. 2d. per week, and in scattered homes from 8s. 6d. to 11s. 2d. At this moment the number of children in workhouse schools, which in 1870 was 29,000, was only from 500 to 600; 19,000 of the Poor Law children were being educated in elementary schools outside. … With regard to sick children he was delighted to hear the almost unanimous chorus of appeal that the Local Government Board should do a great deal by administration. They had, in fact, transferred 1,000 out of the 2,500 sick children from the London workhouses and infirmaries to an institution on the healthy and breezy downs of Surrey at Carshalton, where they could be better treated, and where they would recover much more quickly than in any of the workhouses and infirmaries in London. If he could find more buildings or institutions available he would transfer more children. He should not rest until all the sick children throughout the country were transferred from workhouses and infirmaries to institutions in the country where they would recover health more rapidly." CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: United States: Proposed Federal Child Bureau. Transmitting to Congress, on the 5th of February, 1909, the proceedings of a conference held at Washington on the care of dependent children, President Roosevelt accompanied it with a message, in which he urged the establishment of a Bureau in one of the Departments of the Federal Government, to centralize attention to the subject; with the enactment of such legislation as will bring the laws and practices in regard to the care of dependent children in all Federal territory into harmony, and certain legislation in behalf of dependent children in the District of Columbia. The President maintained that such legislation is important not only for the welfare of the children immediately concerned, but "as setting an example of a high standard of child protection by the National Government to the several States of the Union, which should be able to look to the nation for leadership in such matters." Statistics showing the large number of dependent children in the country were presented by Mr. Roosevelt. "Each of these children, he said, represents either a potential addition to the productive capacity and the enlightened citizenship of the nation, or, if allowed to suffer from neglect, a potential addition to the destructive forces of the community. The ranks of criminals and other enemies of society are recruited in an altogether undue proportion from children bereft of their natural homes and left without sufficient care. The interests of the nation are involved in the welfare of this army of children no less than in our great material affairs." In urging a Children’s Bureau, one of whose duties will be to investigate and report upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life, the President pointed out that "the National Government is the only agency which can effectively conduct such general inquiries as are needed for the benefit of all our citizens." CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: As Dependents and as Offenders: England: The Children Act of 1908. Infant Life Protection. Reformatory and Industrial Schools. Treatment of Youthful Criminals. No death-sentence for them. Special "Places of Detention." Juvenile Courts. An act entitled The Children Act, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in December, 1908, and which came into effect April 1, 1909, has such importance that it has been described as "The Children’s Charter." According to its full title it is "An Act to consolidate and amend the Law relating to the Protection of Children and Young Persons, Reformatory and Industrial Schools and Juvenile Offenders, and otherwise to amend the Law with respect to Children and Young Persons." It gathers into one great enactment nearly everything in which the guardianship of Law can be specially extended to them, except the matters of education and child labor, which are subjects of distinct legislation. It repeals wholly twenty-one previous enactments and amends more or less seventeen more. It contains 134 sections and fills a so-called Parliamentary "White Book" of 93 pages. As used in the Act, the word "child" means a person under 14 years; the expression "young person" means one above that age, but under sixteen. The Act is divided into six parts, which are concerned with the following main subjects: (1) Infant Life Protection. (2) The Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Young Persons. (3) Juvenile Smoking. (4) Reformatory and Industrial Schools. (5) Juvenile Offenders. (6) Miscellaneous and General. The provisions for "infant life protection" have to do mainly with the supervision of "baby-farming." Foster parents are forbidden to insure the life of a nurse-child and insurance companies are forbidden to accept any such insurance. Juvenile smoking is dealt with very drastically, the penalties for selling cigarettes or the material for making them to persons under sixteen years of age being sharp, and both policemen and park-keepers in uniform being empowered to take such materials from the persons of Juvenile smokers. {83} The part of the Act which relates to reformatory and industrial schools enables the Courts to deal effectively with youthful offenders without subjecting them to the prison taint. Boys or girls between the ages of 12 and 16 who are convicted of offences punishable in the case of adults with penal servitude or imprisonment may be sent to a certified reformatory school. In certain defined cases, children may be taken from depraved or drunken parents and consigned to a certified industrial school. In these cases the child may be brought before the Court by any person in order that the provisions of the Act may be set in force. Parents who are unable to control their children may themselves take advantage of the Act, and in these cases the Court may place the children under the supervision of a probation officer instead of sending them to an industrial school. In all cases of children who are liable to be consigned to an industrial school, there is given to the Courts the alternative power of committing them to the care of relatives or other fit persons with or without the supervision of the probation officer. The most important part of the Act, perhaps, is that relating to juvenile offenders. It allows no young person under sixteen years of age to be sentenced to death. "Sentence of death," says this Law, "shall not be pronounced on or recorded against a child or young person, but in lieu thereof the Court shall sentence the child or young person to be detained during his Majesty’s pleasure." In future, also, no child may be sentenced to imprisonment or penal servitude for any offence, or committed to prison in default of payment of a fine, damages, or costs. No young person may be sentenced to penal servitude for any offence, nor may he be sentenced to imprisonment or committed to prison in default of payment of a fine or costs, unless the Court certifies that he is of so unruly a character or so depraved that it is not desirable to send him to a "place of detention" provided under the Act. These provisions relating to the substitution of "detention" for imprisonment did not come into force until January 1, 1910. This part of the Act makes elaborate arrangements for the treatment of youthful criminals, both before and after trial. Special "places of detention" are to be opened in all petty sessional divisions. Here children will be placed on arrest (if for some special reason they cannot be released on a recognizance), or after being remanded or committed for trial. Here they may be kept in custody instead of being lodged in gaol if they are sentenced to terms of imprisonment of less than one month. Persons under 16 years of age must also be tried in special "juvenile Courts," unless they are charged jointly with adult offenders. A "juvenile Court" must sit "either in a different building or room from that in which the ordinary sittings of the Court are held, or on different days or at different times from those at which the ordinary sittings are held." Only the Court officials, those directly interested in the case, and the representatives of the Press may be admitted to these Courts, unless the special leave of the magistrate is obtained. Every effort is to be made, both before and after trial, to prevent the association of children with adult criminals. Finally, parents and guardians are to be required to attend the hearing of charges against their children or wards, and may be ordered to pay any fines, damages, or costs imposed. The miscellaneous provisions of the Act include a number of importance, to prevent the giving of intoxicating liquors to children, to exclude them from drinking places, to safeguard them at entertainments, and to make the Act applicable to Scotland and Ireland. CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: As Offenders: Canadian provision for Separate Detention, Reformatory Imprisonment, etc. The Canadian Prisons and Reformatory Act of 1906 provides that—"Young persons apparently under the age of sixteen years who are, (a) arrested upon any warrant; or, (b) committed to custody at any stage of a preliminary inquiry into a charge for an indictable offence; or, (c) committed to custody at any stage of a trial, either for an indictable offence or for an offence punishable on summary conviction; or, (d) committed to custody after such trial, but before imprisonment under sentence; shall be kept in custody separate from older persons charged with criminal offences and separate from all persons undergoing sentences of imprisonment, and shall not be confined in the lock-ups or police stations with older persons charged with criminal offences or with ordinary criminals." Other sections of the Act confer discretionary authority on courts and magistrates to sentence convicted offenders whose age does not exceed sixteen years, and whose offence is punishable by imprisonment, to reformatory prisons, for not less than two nor more than five years; also, in certain cases, to commit such offenders to a certified industrial school, from which they may sometimes be permitted to be taken for apprenticeship to any respectable and trustworthy person. CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: The George Junior Republic. Much attention has been turned from many directions, within the last few years, upon the reformatory experiment which bears the name of The George Junior Republic. From an ordinary undertaking to give a few summer weeks of country fresh air to a group of neglected, roughly-bred boys, out of the slums of the City of New York, it has grown into a unique institution, which remolds character and refashions life for hundreds of the young of both sexes, who had been given wrong startings in the world by the circumstances into which they were born. It has done this by the simple method of organizing them into a self-governing community,—a republic in which they are citizens, invested with all the responsibilities, duties, and cares that go with republican citizenship in its larger spheres. They make and administer its laws, conduct its public business and its politics, manage its institutions, generate and have experience of its public opinion. The moral and social influence of this training has now been proved by more than a decade of success. This remarkable organization was not framed up by its architect, Mr. William R. George, on the lines of a preconceived theory, but took its shape slowly from suggestions of experience as they came. {84} He began in 1890 to take companies of boys of the hoodlum class from New York City to his place of summer residence, at Freeville, a few miles from Ithaca and not far from Auburn, New York. He found it hard to rule them, and no satisfactory corrections of wrong-doing and bad behavior could be devised. Physically they were bettered by their summer outings, but he could not see much gain in other ways. This continued for some seasons before his experiments with them began. The first to be applied was a rule that such articles of clothing and the like as had formerly been given to the boys must be paid for in work. At the outset they resented the idea; but before the summer was over they were all cheerfully at work, and the tone of the party was much improved. In the next year culprits, who robbed orchards and committed other misdemeanors, were arraigned before the whole community, for a hearing and a public verdict as to their guilt. Hard labor at stone-breaking and the building of a road now became the penalty for wrong-doing, and, presently, there was a boy constable to see that they did their work. So, step by step, from year to year, the fabric of self-government and self-supporting industry was constructed, until the Junior Republic emerged, with its President and other executive officers, its representative legislature, its courts, its police, its own monetary system and bank,—a political and industrial commonwealth of boys and girls (for both sexes have been included), taken out of a derelict class for treatment by this simple inoculation with social responsibilities. Writing of the George Junior Republic in 1908, Dr. Lyman Abbott said: "It now has as a territory a hundred and fifty acres of land owned by the Board of Trustees, and the practical use of a hundred and fifty more belonging to Mr. George and some other friends of the Republic who have made their home here because such residence affords them an opportunity to give guidance and inspiration to the boys and girls. The citizens, i. e. the boys and girls in the Republic, number upwards of a hundred and fifty. They are in some cases signed over to the Republic by the parents, in other cases practically committed on suspended sentences by the courts. They are extraordinarily free within the territory, but are not free to leave it. Laundry, baking, carpentry, and printing are the principal trades indoors; road-making and land improvement the principal industries out-of-doors. There are two jails, one for the boys, one for the girls; a library, a school-house, a chapel, bank, and a well-organized banking and currency system. There is a court, and there is a judge, who is elected every year by the citizens. From this court an appeal lies in certain cases to a Supreme Court chosen by the boys from the Board of Trustees, but this court only passes on the regularity of the proceedings in the court below, that is, on what might be regarded as equivalent to constitutional and jurisdictional questions. There are a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary of State, and a Secretary of the Treasury, all of whom are elected annually; the three latter officers constituting the Police Commissioners, the Board of Health, and the President’s Cabinet. There are both a girl and a boy District Attorney, who are appointed by the President, and certain police officers and prison keepers. All citizens of the Republic, both boys and girls, over fourteen years of age, are voters; no one can remain a citizen after twenty-one. The legislature has been abolished by the citizens themselves, and all laws are made in town meeting, which is held once a month. … "The Republic has been in existence long enough to give the experiment a fair trial, and the results justify the expectations of its friends. In round numbers, about five hundred have gone out from the Republic into life, most of them taken from the class of boys and girls whose environment was fruitful of crime and whose tendency was toward a criminal career. Of these five hundred two or three are known to have returned to crime, and five or six have disappeared entirely. But of these eight or ten failures not one was in the Republic more than a few months—not long enough to get the benefit of the training. The other four hundred and ninety are known to be earning an honest livelihood by honorable labor; and of these four hundred and ninety, twenty have either graduated from college, are now in college, or are just preparing to enter college. At this writing two new Republics are about being organized, one in Georgia and one in California, and a movement is on foot for the organization of a National Association." Some months later than the above account of the Junior Republic there were reported to be kindred organizations modelled upon it in Connecticut and Maryland, with movements to the same end in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, as well as in some countries abroad. Mr. Thomas M. Osborne, of Auburn, who has been from an early day the chief supporter of Mr. George in his work, said recently in a published letter: "I believe that the success of the Junior Republic idea, as we have worked it out during the last fourteen years, is no longer dependent upon Mr. George, its originator, or upon any one man. Its established principles will now live on into the far future, and work the sure righting of thousands of youngsters gone wrong in every section of the greater republic." But it may work much more than "the sure righting of thousands of youngsters gone wrong." It may, if its working widens and roots itself among the institutions of the future, as it seems likely to do, have a very potent and positive political influence in the world. If men and women representative of a class that is now troublesome to democracy, politically as well as otherwise, should by and by be brought in large numbers yearly from graduation in the Young Republic training schools of imitative citizenship, to be joined with their elders in larger spheres of more entire self-government, are they not likely to introduce a profounder change in the operation of republican institutions than can now be foreseen? CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: Juvenile Courts. Their origin and development. A collection of reports on "Children’s Courts in the United States," prepared for the International Prison Commission and edited by Mr. Samuel J. Barrows, Commissioner for the United States, was published in 1904 as House Document No. 701 of the 58th Congress, 2d Session. The following account of the origin of the now widely established Juvenile Courts of America and Europe, and of their development in the United States during the first four years of their existence, is derived from those reports. {85} Commissioner Barrows opens his introduction to the collected reports with the following remarks: "If the question be asked, 'What is the most notable development in judicial principles and methods in the United States within the last five years?’ the answer may unhesitatingly be, ‘The introduction and establishment of juvenile courts.’ Never perhaps has any judicial reform made such rapid progress. Beginning in Chicago in 1899, this institution has sprung up in city after city and State after State until it is now established in eight States and eleven large cities. This progress has been made not merely by changes in procedure or legal technique, nor by the introduction of a new method; it is most of all by the introduction of a new spirit and a new aim. … It must not be supposed that the juvenile court is only a smaller court for smaller offenders or simply a court holding separate sessions for such offenders; it represents an altogether different principle. The juvenile court is a life-saving institute in society. "It is scarcely necessary to say that child-saving methods, institutions, and organizations have long flourished in the United States. The Northern States have regarded juvenile reformatories as a part of their correctional equipment, and the courts have served as vestibules for such institutions; but they have only been incidentally a part of the process. We have not before realized what the court might be and do before resorting to institutions. The children’s court still maintains relations with the reform school, but it represents in itself active and vital forces and invokes a whole range of influence and motives which are personal and formative. It appeals to the reform school not as the first, but only as the last resort. The juvenile court has discovered that the child is a child, and, as Judge Hurley says, ‘The child should be treated as a child. Instead of reformation, the thought and idea in the judge’s mind should always be formation. No child should be punished for the purpose of making an example of him.’ … "The methods of children’s courts, or juvenile courts, as they are termed in some States, differ in different places. In some States the judge is detailed from some other court; in some courts but one judge is assigned to this work. In New York several judges from the court of special sessions act successively in turn as judges of the children’s court. In Maryland and Indiana the judges of the children’s courts exercise this function only, and it is claimed that it is better than the method of rotation, since the judge who confines himself to juvenile court cases becomes a specialist in this work. In Colorado Judge Lindsey is not only judge of the juvenile court, but also of the county court. He finds advantage in the fact that in his first capacity he can protect the child, while as judge of the county court he can also sentence the guardian or parent who is responsible for the child’s delinquency. "An essential feature of every juvenile court is the probation system and probation officers. Their duty is to investigate the case before trial, and, if the child is placed on probation, to exercise watchcare over them until the period of probation is closed. It is in this way that the parental care of the State is exerted." The City of Chicago and the Legislature of Illinois have the honors of the origination of the Children’s Court as a distinct creation of law. The Visitation and Aid Society of Chicago had been laboring since 1891 to secure various measures of advanced legislation bearing on child-saving, without much success, until, as related in a report by Mr. Hurley, of that Society, the Bar Association of Chicago took the matter in hand, in 1899, and appointed a committee to press it. This committee drafted the first juvenile court law ever planned distinctly to that end and secured its enactment by the Legislature of the State. The law went into force on the 1st of July, 1899. The Court was soon opened, and Judge Tuthill, of the Circuit Court of Illinois, who presided in it from the first, has stated the principles of its constitution and action in these following words: "The basic principle of the law is this: That no child under 16 years of age shall be considered or be treated as a criminal; that a child under that age shall not be arrested, indicted, convicted, imprisoned, or punished as a criminal. It of course recognizes the fact that such children may do acts which in an older person would be crimes and be properly punishable by the State therefor, but it provides that a child under the age mentioned shall not be branded in the opening years of its life with an indelible stain of criminality, or be brought, even temporarily, into the companionship of men and women whose lives are low, vicious, and criminal. "The law divides children into two classes, the ‘dependent’ and the ‘delinquent.’ A dependent child, in the language of the law, is a child—‘who for any reason is destitute or homeless or abandoned, or has not proper parental care or guardianship, or who habitually begs or receives alms, or who is found living in any house of ill fame or with any vicious or disreputable person, or whose home, by reason of neglect, cruelty, or depravity on the part of the parents, guardian, or other person in whose care it may be, is an unfit place for such a child.’ A ‘delinquent child’ is defined to be—‘any child under the age of 16 who violates any law of this State or any city or village ordinance, or who is incorrigible, or who knowingly associates with thieves, vicious, or immoral persons, or who is growing up in idleness or crime, or who knowingly frequents a house of ill fame, or who knowingly patronizes any policy shop or place where any gaming device is or shall be operated.’ "The law places its enforcement upon the judges of the circuit court, who are required to select one of their number to perform these duties as a part of the judicial work of such judge. … The circuit court is a court of original and unlimited jurisdiction, the highest in the State, and the duty of holding the juvenile court was placed in the circuit court (which for convenience is designated the ‘juvenile court’) as an indication by the legislature of the importance to the State of the work to be done. "The case of each child brought into court, whether dependent or delinquent, becomes of record, and every step taken in the case is shown upon the court record." Interest in the Illinois Law was awakened quickly in many parts of the country, and requests for copies of it, says Mr. Hurley in his historical sketch, "began to pour in from all directions. These requests were promptly answered and copies of the Juvenile Court Record, published by the Visitation and Aid Society, containing the necessary information, were sent to applicants. {86} Agitation began in other States for a law similar to the one passed in Illinois, and those who helped to form the Illinois law were invited to visit other States to explain the measure and the method of administering the law in Cook County. "The Illinois law proved so satisfactory that many judges throughout the country, not wishing to await the action of a legislature, established branches in their several courts for children cases only, and in the treatment of the cases applied the probate and chancery powers of the court. This was the case especially in Denver, Colorado, where Judge Ben D. Lindsey had a complete and well-equipped juvenile court and probation system before the legislature took any action whatever. A like court was subsequently adopted in Indianapolis by George W. Stubbs. The two latter courts were carried on practically in the same way that they have been since laws were adopted by these States. In most of the States the probation officers are volunteers." Judge Lindsey, of Denver, has won celebrity among the presiding magistrates of the Juvenile Courts by the kindly shrewdness of the methods by which he has won the confidence, the admiration and devotion of the boys and girls of his city, within the classes with which he has to deal. The scene which his court-room presents on the appointed days when the delinquents on probation come in a body to report to him and to be talked to by him has been often described, and it seems to exemplify a kind of influence that would go farther than any other in resistance to the vitiating conditions which surround masses of the young in all cities. Judge Lindsey’s extended report of his work and experience in the Denver Juvenile Court, published in the collection referred to above, is a paper of remarkable interest. As stated already, the Juvenile Court is now an established institution in nearly every part of the United States, and in many countries abroad. It was established in Great Britain by the notable "Children Act" of 1908 (see above), and was instituted that year in several of the German cities. A Press despatch from Berlin, March 15, 1909, reported the opening of a congress in that city, under the auspices of the German Association for the Care of the Young, which aims at the extension of this important reform. "The labors of the society," says the despatch, "seem to have been stimulated by the passing of the English Children Act of 1908, a German translation of which has been distributed to members of the congress. The movement for the establishment of special Courts for juvenile offenders was taken up in Germany later than in some other countries, but has recently made rapid progress. The first children’s Courts were established on January 1, 1908, at Cologne, Stuttgart, and Breslau, and there are now 26 such Courts in Prussia. Official statistics, however, indicate that in recent years the total number of juvenile offenders in Germany has grown about three times as fast as the total number of offenders of all ages. During 1906, 55,211 persons under the age of 18 were sentenced, as compared with 51,232 in 1905 and 49,993 in 1904." At the meeting of the International Prison Commission, at Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1907, it was significant of the deep interest which the children’s court has awakened in Europe that nineteen societies in France, including the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, the General Society of Prisons, and the faculties of law of Paris, Lille, and Montpellier, and several of the most prominent tribunals in France, asked to have the whole subject of the organization of children’s courts elucidated and discussed. A similar interest was shown in Switzerland and Germany. In an extended letter to the London Times, published August 19, 1909, Miss Florence Davenport-Hill traced the origin of children’s courts to Massachusetts, and gave the following account of their introduction from that source of suggestion into Australia, and thence, to some extent, into Great Britain. Miss Davenport-Hill’s statements on the subject are, in part, as follows: "Although we hear little now from our earliest exemplar, Massachusetts—possibly because she has, I believe, cleared away the class to be dealt with—it is desirable to remember it was she who evolved the then new principle of absolute separation of child from adult, and devised its potent supporter, the probation system—a system affording watchful and kindly help to strong and maybe wilful weaklings. Thus did Massachusetts become a noble example, making the way plain for her successors. Mr. Joseph Sturge, attracted early in the eighties by reports of the ‘plan,’ visited Boston to investigate its methods. He describes in a pithy narrative subsequently published how his highest expectations were fulfilled; and it is interesting to learn from his pen that ‘the probation system by which juvenile offenders are saved from imprisonment has been so successful, economically and morally, that the city of Boston now employs a probation agent to deal with suitable adult cases in a corresponding manner.’ "A copy of Mr. Sturge’s narrative reached, by good fortune, the Chief Justice of South Australia, then presiding at a Royal Commission of inquiry concerning adult and juvenile dependents on the State. He recognized, and in his forthcoming report expounded, the value of the Massachusetts plan in its application to children. The result was the creation by the South Australian Government of a department, entitled the State Children’s Council, consisting of 12 ladies and gentlemen nominated by the State as honorary members, to deal with erring and neglected children on the lines of that plan. … "Nineteen years ago the Children’s Court was opened in Adelaide, and in October, 1903, thanks, Sir, to your sympathetic courtesy, the reproduction in The Times of a letter describing it in the Melbourne Argus from Miss Alice Henry made known among us its scope, methods, and success. Gradually Benches of Magistrates in various parts of Great Britain and of Ireland who led the way tried the experiment, which was then discovered to be already existing among us here and there, and in a more or less developed form, as at Greenwich, Hull, &c." CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: As Workers: Canada: Child Labor Legislation. "There is not in any province a comprehensive act dealing with the subject of child labor as a whole, and even in Ontario, which has its Factories Act, its Shops Act, its Mines Act, its Municipal Act, its Truancy Act—all bearing on the matter more or less directly—it is still possible for young children to be kept at work by their parents for mercilessly long hours under sweat-shop conditions. {87} Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, and Alberta have neither Shops nor Factories Acts. Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and British Columbia have both; Quebec and New Brunswick have Factories Acts, and six of the provinces have Mines Acts. The several Factories Acts resemble one another closely. In general, they prohibit the employment of girls under eighteen and boys under sixteen in factories where the work is dangerous or unhealthy; forbid the employment of children under fourteen in any manufacturing establishment (except canning factories) in three provinces; limit the hours of labor for women and children to ten hours a day and sixty hours a week; and specify the amount of overtime permissible for these classes of workers. The Shops Acts, upon the whole, allow greater latitude to the employers of children; thus the hours of labor are longer and the conditions often not less injurious than those in factories. Except in Ontario, no age limit is set under which a child may not begin work in a shop. Again by the Mines Acts of British Columbia, children of twelve may be employed above ground, and by those of Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia boys of twelve may work under ground. The enforcement of the laws restricting child labor has, from various causes, proved somewhat inadequate. For instance, Nova Scotia has had a Factories Act since 1901, but no inspector of factories till the present year; while Ontario, with a Truancy Act that, if enforced, would prevent many children from engaging in unsuitable labor, has vested the appointment of truancy officers in the municipalities, and these, in many instances, have neglected to make appointments." The Outlook, November 14, 1908. Recent changes in child labor laws in Canada are as follows: In Ontario the Factories Act limits the working time of boys under sixteen to ten hours, forbids the employment of children under twelve within doors, and restricts the privileges extended to canning factories. The Shops Act is amended by raising the age limit from ten to twelve years. Manitoba forbids the employment of minors as bartenders. Alberta has raised the age limit of children employed in mines from twelve to sixteen years. British Columbia prohibits the employment of boys under fourteen and girls under fifteen except in the canning of fish. CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: England: The Employment of Children Act, 1903. An Act "to make Better Provision for Regulating the Employment of Children" became law in August, 1903. Most of the responsibility for a proper protective regulation of child labor was imposed by this enactment on the local authorities of the Kingdom. Among its provisions were the following: "1. Any local authority may make byelaws— (i) prescribing for all children, or for boys and girls separately, and with respect to all occupations or to any specified occupation,— (a) the age below which employment is illegal; and (b) the hours between which employment is illegal; and (c) the number of daily and weekly hours beyond which employment is illegal: (ii) prohibiting absolutely or permitting, subject to conditions, the employment of children in any specified occupation. "2. Any local authority may make byelaws with respect to street trading by persons under the age of sixteen. … "3. (1) A child shall not be employed between the hours of nine in the evening and six in the morning: Provided that any local authority may, by byelaw, vary these hours either generally or for any specified occupation. (2) A child under the age of eleven years shall not be employed in street trading. (3) No child who is employed half-time under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, shall be employed in any other occupation. (4) A child shall not be employed to lift, carry, or move anything so heavy as to be likely to cause injury to the child. (5) A child shall not be employed in any occupation likely to be injurious to his life, limb, health or education, regard being had to his physical condition. … "4. (1) A byelaw made under this Act shall not have any effect until confirmed by the Secretary of State, and shall not be so confirmed until at least thirty days after the local authority have published it in such manner as the Secretary of State may by general or special order direct. … "13. In this Act—The expression ‘child’ means a person under the age of fourteen years: "The expression ‘guardian,’ used in reference to a child, includes any person who is liable to maintain or has the actual custody of the child: "The expression ‘employ’ and ‘employment,’ used in reference to a child, include employment in any labour exercised by way of trade or for the purposes of gain, whether the gain be to the child or to any other person: … "The expression ‘street trading’ includes the hawking of newspapers, matches, flowers, and other articles, playing, singing, or performing for profit, shoe-blacking, and any other like occupation carried on in streets or public places." CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: Germany: Child Labor Legislation and its operation. The Reichstag, in 1903, passed a new law for the protection of children, concerning the operation of which a well known English student of social conditions in Germany wrote as follows in 1908: "Several significant facts may be noted in relation to the protection of childhood in Germany. The legal age of admission to full employment in factories and workshops is fourteen years, though on the production of efficiency certificates children may be employed for not more than six hours daily at the age of thirteen, yet of the 5,607,657 industrial workers subject to inspection in 1905 only 10,245, or under 0.2 per cent., were below fourteen years, and in some States there were none. To show the progress which has been made in this respect it may be stated that in 1875 10 per cent. (88,000 out of a total of 880,500) of the factory workers were between twelve and fourteen years of age. … At the same time there is reason to believe that a serious exhaustion of juvenile strength takes place in the unregulated home industries of Germany. Further, from the age of six the child of the people attends the primary school for seven or eight years, and in many cases he is required to attend a continuation school several years longer. In most of the large towns the scholar from first to last receives free systematic medical care at the hands of the school doctors. It begins with a thorough examination on admission, and the health record thus opened is continued throughout the whole period of school life, so that the child is under constant medical supervision until it reaches the working age. Many towns have gone further, and have established dental surgeries, and attached eye and ear specialists to the primary schools." W. H. Dawson, The Evolution of Modern Germany, page 327 (Unwin, London; Scribner’s, New York). {88} CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: United States: Child Labor Laws of the several States in 1908, and as amended since. The requirements of an effective child labor law are set forth in Pamphlet No. 60 of the National Child Labor Committee as resting "primarily upon certain definite prohibitions, among which are the following: Labor is prohibited (1) for all children under the age of fourteen years; labor is prohibited (2) for all children under sixteen years of age who do not measure sixty inches and weigh eighty pounds; labor is prohibited (3) for all children under sixteen years of age who cannot read fluently and write legibly simple sentences in the English language; labor is prohibited (4) for all children under the age of sixteen years, between the hours of 7 p. m. and 7 a. m. or longer than eight hours in any twenty-four hours, or longer than forty-eight hours in any week; labor is prohibited (5) for all children under the age of sixteen years in occupations dangerous to life, limb, health or morals." Further prescriptions of the Committee relate to the regulations and agencies of authority requisite to an effective enforcement of the Law. In Bulletin Number 62 of the United States Bureau of Labor published in January, 1906, there is published a compilation of the laws relating to child labor in each State of the Union, as amended and in force at the close of the year 1905. An examination of them shows that the proposed standard had not then been measured up to in any State, or approached even nearly by more than a few. In not one had the law prescribed a test by weight or measure of the bodily development of a child that should mark Nature’s consent to his employment in any kind of work. Thirteen States, namely, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, prohibited in general terms the employment of children under fourteen years in mechanical, manufacturing or mercantile establishments, or to that apparent effect. New York did the same, with the proviso that children over twelve might have employment during school vacation times. Rhode Island, likewise, excepted the vacation time for children under fourteen. The State of Washington allowed certain judges to make exemptions from a similar prohibition, for the needed support of helpless parents. Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin fixed the age under which no child may be employed in wage-earning labor at twelve. Louisiana appointed it at twelve for a boy and fourteen for a girl. Colorado placed it at twelve for labor in mines only. Florida raised it to fifteen, but only as prohibitory without consent of "those having legal control" of the child. Alabama and Nebraska had it lowered to ten years. South Carolina had kept it at ten until 1903, at eleven until 1904, and at twelve until May, 1905. In the Massachusetts law no absolute prohibition of child labor within any age line appeared. Educational requirements, conditioning the employment of children, were in most of the State laws, as they stood at the end of 1905, and many of them satisfied the third rule propounded by the National Child Labor Committee, as given above. In the next three years after the Bureau of Labor’s compilation of child labor laws, great reforms in them were brought about, as shown by comparison with the "Handbook 1908" of "Child Labor Legislation" compiled by Josephine Goldmark for the National Consumers’ League, and published originally as a Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May, 1908. Some statements from this are given below: "The age below which child labor is prohibited varies from sixteen to ten years. The number of employments prohibited also varies greatly—from all employment during school hours to mine work only. … Eleven states prohibit work to the sixteenth birthday in either mines or specific occupations injurious to health, or both. These are, for mines, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania (inside anthracite mines), Texas; for specific occupations, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin; for both, Illinois and Montana." The fifteen year age limit is prescribed in only one State, South Dakota, which forbids it in mines, factories, hotels, laundries, theatres, bowling alleys, elevators, messenger service, or places where liquors are sold. The age limit of fourteen years is prescribed differently in different States. With various qualifications, employment below that age in factories, stores, offices, laundries, hotels, theatres, bowling alleys, is prohibited in California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In factories or stores it is forbidden in Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. In factories it is not permitted in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin. In messenger service it is made unlawful in California, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin. Children under this age are excluded from mines in Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming. In all the prohibitions above cited many and various exceptions are allowed in the laws of different States—as for school-vacation periods, for children of widows and disabled fathers, etc. In like manner, the following State laws which, on general principles, forbid all employment of children under fourteen years during school hours, provide for numerous and different exceptional circumstances: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin. {89} The thirteen year age limit is fixed only in North Carolina, which excepts apprentices. The twelve year limit is applied (with exceptions for the vacation months) to factories or stores in California, to most descriptions of regular employment in Maryland, and to factories in West Virginia. It is applied to factories, with varied exceptions, in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas. It applies to factories, quarries, railroads, and messenger service in Vermont, and to factories, stores, and mines in Virginia. To mines distinctly it applies in Alabama, Florida, Maryland (if the twelve-year child is not wholly illiterate), North Carolina, North Dakota (in school hours), Pennsylvania (in bituminous mines only), South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia (vacation excepted). The ten year old limit for labor to be lawful was only in Georgia factories, with exceptions for the babes of widows and disabled fathers. As to hours of labor, "six states limit employment to 9 hours in one day and 54 in one week:—California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, and New York (applying to children under 16 in stores and as messengers). "Twenty-four states restrict work to 10 hours in one day and either 55, 58 or 60 hours in one week. "Five states, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee allow more than 10 hours work in one day," in the hours per week they permit. "Those states which fail to restrict the hours of labor allowed in one week as well as in one day invite the possibility of seven days’ labor. In Washington, for example, women and girls may not only work ten hours at night, they may do this every night, including Sunday. "Work at night is effectively restricted to the 16th birthday in 18 states. Twelve states set an early closing hour for children under 16 years, New York fixing 5 p. m.; Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Wisconsin 6 p. m., and Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri and New Jersey (in stores) fixing 7 p. m. Of these, the Ohio law is the most comprehensive, since it includes girls to the 18th birthday." "Children have no positive immunity from night work unless the hours are explicitly stated between which it is unlawful to employ them. … The District of Columbia, 4 territories and 20 states fail to prohibit work at night after a definite closing hour. The sinister feature of this list is the presence of Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Tennessee and West Virginia, all of them important manufacturing states having industries in which children are employed." Since the compilation of the above several states have made important changes in or additions to their child labor laws, as follows: In Kentucky the age limit is raised to 14 years during school terms, children between 14 and 16 not to be employed without certificate from school authorities. The hours of labor are limited to ten hours a day and sixty hours a week, and night work is prohibited for children under 16 years. In Louisiana a fourteen-year age limit is established, with a 9 hour working day, and night work is prohibited for boys under 16 and girls under 18 years. Mississippi has established a twelve-year limit, applicants under sixteen being required to furnish a certificate of age and educational advantages, and one from county health officer showing physical condition. The time limit is ten hours daily, 58 hours a week. "New Jersey enacted a compulsory education law, requiring school attendance of all children between the ages of seven and seventeen, except that children of fifteen who have completed the grammar grades and are regularly employed may be excused. This places the age limit for employment during the school period at fifteen years. "In New York a law was passed transferring the enforcement of the mercantile child labor law from local boards of health in cities of the first class to the State Labor Department, and providing for the creation of a bureau of mercantile inspection. This law became effective October 1st, 1908." It made important changes, affecting dangerous employments, which became effective October 1st, 1909. "In Ohio an important measure was passed limiting the hours for boys under sixteen and girls under eighteen to eight per day and forty-eight per week." National Child Labor Committee (General Secretary’s Annual Report). An act to regulate the employment of child labor in the District of Columbia was passed by Congress on May 28, 1908. This law prescribes an age limit of fourteen years, and prohibits employment during school hours. Exceptions may be made for children in the service of the Senate, or for those whose labor is necessary for the support of a disabled or widowed parent. Street trades are forbidden to boys under ten and girls under sixteen years of age. The time limit for children under sixteen is eight hours a day and forty-eight hours a week. The report of the National Child Labor Committee, for the year ending September 30, 1909, gives the following additional changes: In South Carolina a system of factory inspection was adopted. The hours of labor, however, were changed from 10 to 11 hours a day. In Maine an educational test was adopted, and the hours reduced from 60 to 58 per week. Rhode Island reduced the hours for women and children from 60 to 56 per week. Pennsylvania enacted a law requiring adequate proof of age of children seeking employment, and requiring school certificate. Hours of labor have been reduced in the following States: Michigan to 54 hours a week for all women and for males under 18; Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota to 8 hour day and 48 hour week; Delaware to 9 hour day and 54 hour week; Maine to 10 hour day and 58 hour week for boys under 16, and girls under 18; Rhode Island to 56 hour week for minors under 16 and all women. Night work has been prohibited in the following additional States: Delaware, Kansas, North Dakota, Michigan, Oklahoma, California. Compulsory education laws have been passed in Arkansas and Tennessee, and revised and improved in New Jersey, New York, and Missouri. See, also. LABOR PROTECTION: HOURS OF LABOR. ----------CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: End-------- {90} CHILDREN, Public Playgrounds for. See (in this Volume) PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT. CHILDS, RICHARD S. See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: UNITED STATES. ----------CHILE: Start-------- CHILE: A. D. 1901-1906. Participation in Second and Third International Conferences of American Republics, at Rio de Janeiro. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CHILE: A. D. 1902. Noble Peace Agreements between Chile and the Argentine Republic. Treaty for Arbitration of all Disputes. Limitation of Armaments. See (in this Volume) War, The Revolt against: A. D. 1902. CHILE: A. D. 1903. Sale of war vessels to Great Britain. Pursuant to her Convention with Argentina, for the reduction of armaments, Chile, in this year, sold two newly built war vessels to Great Britain. CHILE: A. D. 1906. Installation of President Montt. His prospective difficulties. Don Pedro Montt, elected President of Chile in June, 1906, was installed in office on the 10th of September following—the anniversary of Chilean independence. United States Minister Hicks, reporting the ceremony to his Government, added the following remarks on the political situation: "The new President takes office while enjoying great personal popularity. He is the son of Don Manuel Montt, who was President of Chile from 1851 to 1862. His reputation is that of a calm, well-balanced man, of unimpeachable integrity, strong and self-reliant, but conciliatory and far-seeing. He begins his career with many difficulties on his hands. One question left over from the last administration—that of the rectorship of the university—is already causing considerable trouble. Under the law the President appoints the rector from three persons named by the doctors of the university itself. Señor Letelier has been so named, but as he is said to be a liberal and even a freethinker, the church party and the conservatives generally are fighting him. The new President selected a cabinet last week entirely different from the one now in office, but owing to the rectorship question and some other things it failed and a new one had to be appointed hurriedly. "Among other difficulties to be met by the new President is the opposition of the Senate. It is understood that there is a majority in that body against him, and it is liable to operate unfavorably to him. Still his friends have full confidence that he will succeed in quieting opposition and will retain the unlimited confidence of the people. "Under the Chilean constitution much of the power delegated to the President under the American Constitution is retained by Congress. That body really dictates to the President the appointment or removal of his cabinet and thus his functions are quite different from those of the President of the United States." CHILE: A. D. 1906. Destructive earthquake. See (in this Volume) EARTHQUAKES: CHILE. CHILE: A. D. 1907. Diplomatic relations with Peru reestablished. Diplomatic relations with Peru were reestablished in 1907; but the old sore question between the two countries, concerning the interpretation of the peace treaty of Ancón (1884), relative to the provinces of Tacna and Arica, which Chile took from Peru in the preceding war, remains open. See (in Volume VI.) CHILE. CHILE: A. D. 1909. Contract given for the Arica-La Paz Railway. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: CHILE-BOLIVIA. CHILE: A. D. 1909. Arbitration of the Alsop Claim of the United States. "Many years ago diplomatic intervention became necessary to the protection of the interests in the American claim of Alsop and Company against the government of Chili. The government of Chili had frequently admitted obligation in the case, and had promised this government to settle it. There had been two abortive attempts to do so through arbitral commissions, which failed through lack of jurisdiction. Now, happily, as the result of the recent diplomatic negotiations, the governments of the United States and Chili, actuated by the sincere desire to free from any strain those cordial and friendly relations upon which both set such store, have agreed by a protocol to submit the controversy to definitive settlement by his Britannic Majesty, Edward VII." Message to Congress of President Taft, December, 1909. The claim referred to is that of "the Alsop Company of New York and Connecticut which advanced large sums of money to the Bolivian government in exchange for the right to valuable guano deposits in that country and other concessions. The government contracted further to return a part of the loan from the receipts of customs at the port of Arica. Before her contract could be fulfilled Bolivia lost Arica and the adjoining districts to Chili in war. In 1885, following representations by the American State Department, Chili agreed to assume the obligations of Bolivia to the Alsop Company. She has never, however, made good her promise, and the matter has been the subject of diplomatic negotiations ever since. The claim now amounts to more than $1,500,000." CHILE: A. D. 1909. Building of the Transandine Railway Tunnel. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: ARGENTINA-CHILE. CHILE: A. D. 1909 (October). Naval plans. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL: CHILEAN. ----------CHILE: End-------- ----------CHINA: Start-------- CHINA: A. D. 1887-1907. Increase of Christian Mission Schools. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: CHINA. CHINA: A. D. 1900-1905. Sudden and rapid upspringing of newspapers. "Without giving actual statistics, it may be mentioned that Peking, which had no newspaper up to the time of the Boxer rising—except a short-lived weekly started by the Peking Reform Club and suppressed by the Empress Dowager—has now three daily newspapers and two fortnightly ones, some of these being partly illustrated. Tientsin has at least three dailies, one of these, the ‘Ta-kung Pao’ ('The Impartial’), having the very respectable circulation of twenty thousand. The official organ which calls itself the ‘Times’ (the ‘Shih Pao’), although not so widely circulated, is well written under European auspices and has considerable influence. {91} In Shanghai there are now sixteen daily papers (price, eight to ten cash each), some of which have circulations of as much as ten thousand, and besides these there are many journals published there. Further south (at Foochow, Soochow, and Canton), there are in all some six or seven daily papers, and at Hong-Kong five, while Kiaochow has one, which is supported by the local German government. In addition to these, several papers are now published in the interior, but the majority, for various reasons, flourish in the treaty ports." A. R. Colquhoun The Chinese Press of To-day (North American Review, January, 1906). CHINA: A. D. 1900-1906. Progressive tariff and internal taxation measures to check the consumption of opium. See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM. CHINA: A. D. 1901-1902. The Russian grip on Manchuria. Coercive negotiations with China. Protests from other Powers. The Manchurian Treaty of 1902 and its impotence. Early in December, 1901, the American Minister to China, Mr. Conger, reported to Secretary Hay, at Washington, an impending treaty which Russia seemed likely to force on the Chinese Government, which would practically secure to that aggressive Power, through a prolonged agreement of China with the Russo-Chinese Bank, exclusive railway and mining concessions in Manchuria, and which would protract the Russian evacuation of that country through three years. England and Japan were using all their influence at Peking to prevent the signing of the treaty, and Mr. Hay entered a vigorous protest on the part of the Government of the United States, "animated now, as heretofore, by the sincere desire to insure to the whole world full and fair intercourse with China on equal footing." The pressure from Russia on China was so potent, however, that Mr. Conger, on the 29th of January, 1902, reported to Mr. Hay that Prince Ch’ing, who acted with authority from his Government in the negotiation with Russia, had informed him "that the latter has done the best he could and has held out as long as possible, but that Russian possession of Manchuria has become intolerable, and that China must at once sign the convention or lose everything; that he has therefore agreed to sign the convention [modified in some particulars] and will also sign the separate agreement with the Russo-Chinese Bank, which practically gives exclusive privileges of industrial development in Manchuria." Nevertheless the consummation of the Russian project of coercive diplomacy was delayed until the 8th of April, and the terms of the treaty then signed were considerably moderated from the original design. Its provisions of interest to others than the contracting parties were as follows: "ARTICLE I. His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, desiring to give a fresh proof of his love of peace and his sentiments of friendship for His Majesty the Emperor of China, notwithstanding the fact that the first attacks upon the peaceable Russian population were made from various points of Manchuria, which is situated on the frontier, consents to the reestablishment of the authority of the Chinese Government in the aforesaid province, which remains an integral part of the Empire of China, and restores to the Chinese Government the right to exercise governmental and administrative powers there as before its occupation by the Russian troops. "ARTICLE II. In resuming possession of governmental and administrative powers in Manchuria, the Chinese Government confirms, as well in regard to the terms as to all the other articles, the engagement strictly to observe the stipulations of the contract concluded with the Russo-Chinese Bank on the 27th of August, 1896, and assumes, according to article 5 of said contract, the obligation to protect the railroad and its personnel by every means, and also pledges itself to guarantee the security in Manchuria, of all Russian subjects in general who reside there and the enterprises established by them. The Russian Government, in view of the assumption of this obligation by the Emperor of China, consents on its part, in case there shall be no agitations of any sort, and if the action of the other powers shall offer no obstacle thereto, gradually to withdraw all its troops from Manchuria so as (a) To withdraw, in the course of six months from the signing of the convention, the Russian troops from the southwest portion of the province of Moukden, as far as the Liao-he River, and again to place China in control of the railways; (b) To withdraw, in the course of the six months following, the Imperial Russian troops from the remaining portion of the province of Moukden and the province of Kirin; and (c) To withdraw, in the course of the six months following, the remainder of the Imperial Russian troops now in the province of Hei-lung Kiang. "ARTICLE. III. In view of the necessity of obviating in future a repetition of the disturbances of 1900, in which the Chinese troops quartered in the provinces adjacent to Russia took part, the Russian Government and the Chinese Government agree to order the Russian military authorities and the dzian-dziuns, to come to an understanding for the purpose of regulating the number and determining the places of cantonment of the Chinese troops in Manchuria until the Russian troops shall have been withdrawn therefrom. The Chinese Government further pledges itself not to organize any other troops above the number thus agreed upon by the Russian military authorities and the dzian-dziuns which shall be sufficient to exterminate the brigands and to pacify the country. After the complete evacuation of the country by the Russian troops, the Chinese Government shall have the right to make an examination of the number of troops in Manchuria which are subject to increase or diminution, giving timely notice of such examination to the Imperial Government, for the maintenance of troops in the aforesaid province in superfluous numbers would manifestly lead to the increase of the Russian military forces in the adjacent districts, and would thus occasion an increase of military expenses, to the great disadvantage of both countries. For police service and the maintenance of internal order in this region outside of the territory ceded to the Chinese Eastern Railway Company, there shall be formed, near the local dzian-dziun governors, a police force, both on foot and mounted, composed exclusively of subjects of the Emperor of China "ARTICLE IV. The Russian Government consents to restore to their owners the railway lines of Shan-hai-kwan—Yin-kow—Simminting, which have been occupied and protected by the Russian troops since the end of the month of September, 1900. In consideration of this the Government of the Emperor of China pledges itself: {92} "1. That in case it shall become necessary to insure the security of the aforesaid railway lines it will itself assume that obligation, and will not request any other power to undertake or participate in the defense, construction, or exploitation of these lines, and will not permit foreign powers to occupy the territory restored by Russia. "2. That the above-mentioned railway lines shall be completed and exploited on the precise bases of the agreement made between Russia and England April 16, 1899, and on those of the contract concluded September 28, 1898, with a private company, relative to a loan for the construction of the aforesaid lines, and, moreover, in observance of the obligations assumed by the company, especially: Not to take possession of the Shan-hai-kwan—Yin-kow—Simminting line or to dispose of it in any manner whatever. "3. That if a continuation of the railway lines in the south of Manchuria, or the construction of branch lines connecting with them, and the construction of a bridge at Yin Kow or at the transfer of the terminus of the Shan-hai-kwan Railroad, which is situated there, shall hereafter be undertaken, it shall be done after a previous understanding between the Government of Russia and that of China." Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1902, pages 271-281. During the next two years Russia was accused from all sides of infidelity to the engagements of this treaty, and her conduct, which seemed especially menacing to Japan, gave rise to the Russo-Japanese War. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1901-1904. CHINA: A. D. 1901-1902. Edicts for educational reform. Modernizing examinations for literary and military degrees. Establishing universities, colleges, and schools. Sending students abroad. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: CHINA: A. D. 1901-1902. CHINA: A. D. 1901-1904. Persistent occupation of Manchuria by the Russians. Remonstrances of the Japanese. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1901-1904. CHINA: A. D. 1901-1908. Settlement of the indemnity to be paid to fourteen Powers on account of the Boxer Rising. Remission of part of it by the United States. In April, 1901, when the record of events connected with the Boxer rising against foreigners in China was closed in Volume VI. of this work, the Chinese government had promised satisfaction and indemnity to the fourteen Powers whose subjects had suffered from the barbarous attack and whose forces had overcome it, and the measure of indemnity to be paid was then being discussed. The discussion and the reckonings involved were prolonged till September. The final protocol was signed September 7, but it was not until the 30th of that month that the formulated claims of the Powers concerned were accepted by China, and the responsibility of payment assumed by an imperial decree. The total was 450,000,000 taels, equivalent to $334,000,000, divided between Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. The sum was not reckoned solely for the covering of losses and expenses, consequent on the Boxer outrages, but was intended to be, in some degree, a penalty imposed on the Chinese nation; and some of the claimant nations were said to be more exacting on this score than others were. The amount for which the United States stipulated was $24,440,000, and the American government received an indemnity bond for that sum. But when the expenses of the American relief expedition had been accurately ascertained, and all losses and destruction of property belonging to American claimants had been settled, it was found that they would be largely overpaid. It was possible, according to common practice in international dealings, to regard the excess as justly punitive; but a different view was dictated by the wish to show friendliness to China, and a return of the overpayment was proposed. Recommended by President Roosevelt, the necessary sanction was given by Congress, and on the 11th of July, 1908, the American Minister to China addressed the following communication to the Prince of Ch’ing, President of the Wai-Wu-Pu, or Board of Foreign Affairs, at Peking: "Your Highness: "It is with great satisfaction that I have the honor to inform your Highness, under direction of the Secretary of State of the United States, that a bill has passed the Congress of the United States authorizing the President to modify the indemnity bond given the United States by China under the provisions of Article VI. of the final protocol of September 7, 1901, from twenty-four million, four hundred and forty thousand dollars ($24,440,000), United States gold currency, to thirteen million, six hundred and fifty-five thousand, four hundred and ninety-two dollars and twenty-nine cents ($13,655,492.29), with interest at four per cent (4%) per annum. Of this amount two million dollars ($2,000,000) are held pending the result of hearings on private claims presented to the Court of Claims of the United States within one year. Any balance remaining after such adjudication is also to be returned to the Chinese Government, in such manner as the Secretary of State shall decide. "The President is further authorized under the Bill to remit to China the remainder of the indemnity as an act of friendship, such payments and remissions to be made at such times and in such a manner as he may deem just. "I am also directed by the Secretary of State to request the Imperial Government kindly to favor him with its views as to the time and manner of the remissions. "Trusting that your Imperial Highness will favor me with an early reply to communicate to my Government, I avail myself of this occasion to renew to your Highness the assurance of my highest consideration —W. W. ROCKHILL." In his reply, after reciting the statements conveyed to him by Mr. Rockhill, the Prince wrote (as translated) the following: "On reading this despatch I was profoundly impressed with the justice and great friendliness of the American government, and wish to express our sincerest thanks. "Concerning the time and manner of the return of the amounts to be remitted to China, the Imperial Government has no wishes to express in the matter. It relies implicitly on the friendly intentions of the United States Government, and is convinced that it will adopt such measures as are best calculated to attain the end it has in view. {93} "The Imperial Government, wishing to give expression to the high value it places on the friendship of the United States, finds in its present action a favorable opportunity for doing so. Mindful of the desire recently expressed by the President of the United States to promote the coming of Chinese students to the United States to take courses in the schools and higher educational institutions of the country, and convinced by the happy results of past experience of the great value to China of education in American schools, the Imperial Government has the honor to state that it is its intention to send henceforth yearly to the United States a considerable number of students there to receive their education. The Board of Foreign Affairs will confer with the American Minister in Peking concerning the elaboration of plans for the carrying out of the intention of the Imperial Government. "A necessary despatch. "SEAL OF THE WAI-WU-PU." Simultaneously with the note from Prince Ch’ing, the Wai-Wu-Pu as a body addressed the following to Mr. Rockhill: "To his Excellency W. W. Rockhill, American Minister, Peking: "Referring to the despatch just sent to your Excellency regarding sending students to America, it has now been determined that from the year when the return of the indemnity begins, one hundred students shall be sent to America every year for four years, so that four hundred students may be in America by the fourth year. From the fifth year and throughout the period of the indemnity payments a minimum of fifty students will be sent each year. "As the number of students will be very great, there will be difficulty in making suitable arrangements for them. Therefore, in the matter of choosing them, as well as in the matters of providing suitable homes for them in America and selecting the schools which they are to enter, we hope to have your advice and assistance. The details of our scheme will have to be elaborated later, but we take this occasion to state the general features of our plan, and ask you to inform the American Government of it. We sincerely hope that the American Government will render us assistance in the matter. "Wishing you all prosperity, (Signed) PRINCE OF CH’ING, YUAN-SHIH-K’AI, NA-TUNG LIEN-FANG LIANG-TUN-YEN." The remittance of somewhat more than $10,000,000 of the indemnity did not involve a repayment of that sum of money to the Chinese government, for the reason that payments on the original indemnity bond were to be in annual instalments, running until 1940, certain revenues being pledged to secure them. The remittance is effected, accordingly, by a readjustment of those payments hereafter. Writing in The Outlook of this transaction, and of the impression it has made in China, Mr. George Marvin, who has been for some time in official connection with the Chinese Government, says: "In pledging itself to the American educational mission the Chinese Government has given the fullest evidence of its appreciation. According to estimates made in Peking last summer, it was calculated that by and after the fourth year of the proposed educational foundation the investment necessary to finance the Chinese students in America would amount to $500,000 annually, a sum nearly equivalent to the entire yearly revenue remitted. Already, and quite apart from the scheme proposed in the note of the Wai-Wu-Pu, there are maintained in the United States by Imperial and Provincial funds one hundred and fifty-five Chinese students, picked boys and young men, sons of officials and prominent and wealthy merchants, chosen often by competitive examinations. The students now to be sent annually by the Imperial Government will be still more carefully selected. These are the men destined for positions of responsibility and influence in that ‘Awakening China’ of which we hear so much." G. Marvin, in The Outlook, November 14, 1908. A Special Ambassador from China, bearing a letter of thanks from the Emperor, presented it to the President on the 2d of December, 1908. CHINA: A. D. 1902. Return to Peking of the Emperor, Empress-Dowager, and Court. Receptions to foreign representatives. Withdrawals of foreign troops. Recurrence of Boxer outbreaks. The Emperor, Empress Dowager, and their suite reentered Peking on the 7th of January, 1902. On the 22d the foreign representatives were admitted to audience with the Emperor; on the 28th the Emperor and Empress-Dowager, together, gave a reception to the diplomatic body, the Empress-Dowager being throned on a higher seat than the Emperor; on the 1st of February the Empress-Dowager entertained the ladies of the foreign legations at a banquet, where presents of jewelry were made to all the guests. Sorrow for the misdoings from which the foreigners in China had suffered was expressed on all these occasions, and there seemed to be an earnest desire to make amends for them. Foreign troops were withdrawn from Tien-tsin on the 15th of August, 1902, and the city delivered to the Chinese Viceroy. Many improvements in streets, bridges, and public grounds had been made by the provisional government which the Allies instituted in 1900. Shanghai was evacuated by the allied forces at the end of the year 1902. Some recurrence of Boxer movements and insurrections occurred in different parts of the Empire during 1902. Several missionaries and a number of native converts were murdered, chapels were burned, and other outrages committed; but in general there was a restoration of order in the country, and considerable building of railways and forwarding of other enterprises went on. CHINA: A. D. 1902. Russo-Chinese Treaty concerning Tibet. See (in this Volume) TIBET: A. D. 1902. CHINA: A. D. 1902 (January). Agreement respecting China between Great Britain and Japan. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1902. CHINA: A. D. 1902 (February). Wei-hai-wei found to be strategically worthless by the British Government. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (FEBRUARY). CHINA: A. D. 1902-1904. The British opening of Tibet by force. See TIBET: A. D. 1902. {94} CHINA: A. D. 1903 (MAY-OCTOBER). Treaty with the United States. Opening of two ports in Manchuria. Rights and privileges enlarged. "In the protocol of September 7, 1901, China had agreed to extend the scope of her commercial treaties with the powers. See, (in this Volume) above, A. D. 1901-1908. When the negotiation of a new treaty was begun by Consul-General Goodnow at Shanghai, the United States demanded that at least two new ports in Manchuria be opened to foreign trade and residence. The Chinese commissioners declined to discuss this subject, on the alleged ground that they had no instructions to do so. It was evident that there was secret opposition somewhere, and on May 7, 1903, Mr. Conger reported that it came from the Russian charge d'affaires. Later he secured a written acknowledgment from the Chinese government that such was the case. … Mr. Hay then appealed with the utmost directness to the Russian government. … On July 14 a definite answer was at length received from Russia, in which she declared that it had never entered into her views to oppose the opening of certain cities in Manchuria to foreign commerce, but that this declaration did not apply to Harbin, one of the cities selected by the United States, which was situated within the railway zone, and therefore was not under the complete jurisdiction of China. A copy of this note was shown to the Chinese government; which finally agreed to insert in the treaty on October 8 (the date on which Russia had agreed to completely withdraw from Manchuria) a provision for the opening of two ports. The United States agreed to this arrangement, and on October 8 the treaty was signed, and Mukden and Antung named as the open ports." John H. Latané, America as a World Power, chapter 6 (Harper & Bros., New York, 1907). The further scope of the treaty was announced by President Roosevelt in his Message to Congress, December 7, 1903, as follows: "It provides not only for the ordinary rights and privileges of diplomatic and consular officers, but also for an important extension of our commerce by increased facility of access to Chinese ports, and for the relief of trade by the removal of some of the obstacles which have embarrassed it in the past. The Chinese Government engages, on fair and equitable conditions, which will probably be accepted by the principal commercial nations, to abandon the levy of ‘liken’ and other transit dues throughout the Empire, and to introduce other desirable administrative reforms. Larger facilities are to be given to our citizens who desire to carry on mining enterprises in China. We have secured for our missionaries a valuable privilege, the recognition of their right to rent and lease in perpetuity such property as their religious societies may need in all parts of the Empire." CHINA: A. D. 1904. Railways and Chinese travel on them. Unused British Concessions. "It may not have passed out of the public mind that in February, 1899, Mr. Balfour came down to the House of Commons and paraded before it and the country the magnificent triumph England had won in China in respect of Railway Concessions. See, in Volume VI., CHINA: A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY-DECEMBER.). They totalled up to 2,800 miles! The House cheered, the country indulged in a fit of self-complacency, and the critic who asked questions was an ignoramus or a nuisance. Well, five years have gone by, and not one mile of those railways is in existence except the Chinese Northern State Railway, which has passed out of our hands. Of the rest the two great trunk lines, one from Hankow to Canton, and the other in Yunnan, have been abandoned, while among those of shorter length the only one that still remains in active force is the subject of this paper. … "In more than one recently published consular dispatch attention has been drawn to the fact that the Chinese, backward or hesitating in the adoption of every other European or Western innovation, have shown no reluctance to avail themselves of improved means of locomotion. The Northern Railway is used by several million passengers every year; the sections already open of the German railway in Shantung and of the Belgian in Shansi can complain of no lack of traffic. The fears of an earlier period as to what the Chinese would do with regard to railways have been dissipated by experience." D. C. Boulger, The Shanghai-Nanking Railway (Contemporary Review, June, 1904). CHINA: A. D. 1904. The Russo-Japanese War in Manchuria. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY) and after. CHINA: A. D. 1904-1909. The Hankau Sze-chuen Railway Loan. The question of American participation. In 1904 the American Minister at Peking concluded an agreement with the Chinese Government to the effect that, when loans for the construction of a projected railway into the western province of Sze-chuen, from Hankau, should be negotiated, Americans should have an opportunity to subscribe to it. Nearly five years passed before arrangements for the loan were made, and then, in the spring of 1909, it was found that terms had been concluded with a group of British, German, and French bankers for the whole sum sought, of $27,500,000, while American capitalists had not been given the promised opportunity. On behalf of the latter the Government of the United States intervened, claiming fulfilment of the agreement of 1904. The matter was regarded as being both politically and financially important. "A precedent is what we want to establish," said Mr. Crane, the newly appointed Minister to China, in an interview on the subject at New York. "The task of this Government to maintain its position with the European Powers in the East will be less difficult. We are looking twenty years ahead." As the result of communications in July from Washington to Peking, in which President Taft took part personally, the loan arrangement was readjusted, and American capitalists became participant in it to the extent of one-fourth. According to a despatch from Peking, August 17, the matter was settled definitely that day, on the following terms: "The loan to be increased from $27,500,000 to $30,000,000, and of this latter amount American bankers to get one-quarter, the other three-quarters going to British, French, and German interests. Americans are to have equal opportunity with the other nations to supply material for both the Sze-chuen and the Canton lines and the branches; they will appoint subordinate engineers, and they will have also one-half of all future loans of the Sze-chuen Railroad and its branches with the corresponding advantages." {95} Subsequently, however, some difficulty in the readjustment of business details in the matter arose, which delayed the final settlement. The motives of the American Government in claiming a participation in the enterprise were stated as follows by President Taft in his Message to Congress, December 6, 1909: "By the treaty of 1903 China has undertaken the abolition of likin with a moderate and proportionate raising of the customs tariff along with currency reform. These reforms being of manifest advantage to foreign commerce as well as to the interests of China, this government is endeavoring to facilitate these measures with the needful acquiescence of the treaty Powers. When it appeared that Chinese likin revenues were to be hypothecated to foreign bankers in connection with a great railway project, it was obvious that the governments whose nationals held this loan would have a certain direct interest in the question of the carrying out by China of the reforms in question. Because this railroad loan represented a practical and real application of the open-door policy through coöperation with China by interested Powers, as well as because of its relations to the reforms referred to above, the Administration deemed American participation to be of great national interest. Happily, when it was as a matter of broad policy urgent that this opportunity should not be lost, the indispensable instrumentality presented itself when a group of American bankers, of international reputation and great resources, agreed at once to share in the loan upon precisely such terms as this government should approve. The chief of those terms was that American railway material should be upon an exact equality with that of the other nationals joining in the loan in the placing of orders for this whole railroad system. After months of negotiation the equal participation of Americans seems at last assured. It is gratifying that Americans will thus take their share in this extension of these great highways of trade, and to believe that such activities will give a real impetus to our commerce, and will prove a practical corollary to our historic policy in the Far East." CHINA: A. D. 1905 (August). New agreement respecting China between Great Britain and Japan. See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1905 (AUGUST). CHINA: A. D. 1905 (December). Treaty with Japan relative to Manchuria. By a treaty with Japan, concluded December, 1905, China consented to lease to Japan the Kwangtung peninsula, at the southern extremity of which are Port Arthur and Dalny, formerly held by Russia under lease from China, and concede to Japan the control of the railway on the peninsula northward as far as Changchin. China also conceded to Japan the right to build a railway from Antung on the Yalu River to Mukden, the ancient capital of Manchuria, provided, however, that at the end of a certain period the road may be purchased by China. More important is the fact that China agreed in the treaty to open to the world’s commerce and trade sixteen principal ports and cities in Manchuria, including Harbin, or Kharbin, the modern Russian capital of the province and its most important railway center. CHINA: A. D. 1905-1908. The stir of new ideas. Imperial Commission to study Representative Systems of Government. Signs of fruit from it. Reformative movements. The Constitutional Programme set forth in August, 1908. Nine years of approach to a Promised Constitution. A significant token of the dawning in China of a changed state of mind respecting the western world of Europe and America, and its very different development of scientific knowledge and of social institutions, was afforded in the fall of 1905, when an imperial commission, headed by Prince Tsai-Tse, was sent abroad to study representative systems of government. The Commission returned in the following July, and in August a committee of high dignitaries, with Prince Ch’ing for its chairman, was appointed to consider the report it had submitted on administrative reforms. The outcome, soon afterwards, was an imperial edict which recognized a "lack of confidence between the highest and the lowest, between the throne and ministers and the masses," and went so far as to say that "foreign countries become wealthy and powerful by granting a constitution to the masses and allowing suffrage to all." While intimating that China must look forward to a similar admission of the masses to some voice in the government, the edict set forth the prior need of many reforms, in the official system, in the laws, in education, in the finances, and in the army and police. To begin the undertaking of such reforms, Prince Tsai-Tse was put at the head of a committee for dealing with the official system, and before the year closed there were several changes of importance introduced, tending towards more simplicity of methods in public business and more centering of responsibilities. Examinations in Western subjects of knowledge began to replace the old conventional examinations in classic Chinese literature, as tests for admission and promotion in official service, and eagerness was shown in the opening of schools and colleges that approached the European and American type. Simultaneously with these stirrings of a new consciousness and purpose in China, a great moral reform was taken in hand. This was no less than an attempt to rescue the nation from its opium curse. Some account of the opium edict issued in September, 1906, will be found elsewhere. See, (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM. That these reformative steps were actually taken with a view to the ultimate granting of "a constitution to the masses and allowing suffrage to all" was proved in the summer of 1908, when a programme of gradual approach to constitutional government, by stages which extend through the next nine years, was promulgated at Peking on August 27th. According to Western ideas the document lacks definiteness, but it is not difficult to believe in the sincerity of its intent. There may be great wisdom of sincerity in the serial planning of successive measures that are to unfold and introduce a constitution at the end of nine years. The edict of August 27 was summarized and partially translated in a communication to the New York Tribune, as follows: "The preamble alone fills twenty large pages and is written in an incongruous mixture of Chinese Classical terms and new Japanese terminology invented to fit Western meanings. The efforts of the authors have been aimed at conveying to the Chinese mind an understanding of things hitherto beyond its comprehension. The explanations often convey nothing to the Western mind. {96} "The subject is approached in an almost prayerful attitude. The fact that China obtains this constitution ‘by the imperial will’ is reiterated again and again. It is set forth that the imperial government, under the constitution, shall not be criticised, on the principle that the ‘sacred majesty of the sovereign may not be offended against,’ and that the leaders of the political parties are to be appointed by the throne. Full government under this constitution will become effective at the end of nine years. While the proposed system is called constitutional, it is far removed from Western constitutional government. "Broadly speaking, the document follows the constitution of Japan. Some of its most striking clauses follow: "‘We beg, as the condition of the country is perilous, and the hearts of the people are uneasy—trouble within and calamity from without, danger threatening, and no parliament at the side to investigate matters—that urgent measures may be taken to overcome half-heartedness and procrastination, that there may be peace above and completion below. "‘We have therefore laid down the general principles of the constitution and the programme for the work of getting everything in readiness in nine years. These may not be changed in the least particular. "‘There will be boundless daily improvement. May the "silken sounds" descend to inform the empire and fix the road for ten thousand years, comforting the hopes of the myriads who long for peace.’ "Fourteen laws are then submitted, as follows: "1. The Ta Ch’ing Emperor will rule supreme over the Ta Ch’ing Empire for one thousand generations in succession, and be honored forever. "2. Majesty of the sovereign. "3. Right of promulgating laws. "4. Convocation, suspension, extension and dissolution of parliament. "5. Appointment, payment, promotion, degradation of officials. "6. Command over army and navy. "7. Power to make war, peace, treaties; to receive and appoint ambassadors. "8. Martial law. "9. Rewards and pardons. "10. Right over judges and the administration of laws. "11. Injunction. " 12. Right of raising funds when parliament is not in session. "13. Right of fixing the expenses of the imperial household. "14. Respecting authority over the imperial clan. "‘We look to our Empress Dowager and Emperor and see that they take the measure of heaven and earth as their measure and the heart of the people as their heart. The officials and people within the wide seas are reverently grateful. "‘The people should earnestly fulfil all the duties without selfish reservations, which would hinder the public welfare, and without rash impatience, which would confuse the regulation; not looking on the matter as too easy, so that the deliberations become empty wrangling, not failing to understand the limitation of powers, so as to make laws which overstep authority. "‘The sovereign has absolute power, which he exercises in constitutional form.’ "It is then set forth that on the dissolution of parliament the people shall be called on to elect a new parliament, and the document continues: "‘Mercy is from above; officials, below, may not arrogate it to themselves. "‘Officers and people who keep within the law will have freedom of speech, of the press and of assembly. They shall not be disturbed without cause in their possession of property, nor interfered with in their dwellings; and they have the obligation to pay taxes and render military service and the duty of obedience to the law of the land. "‘Members of parliament shall not speak disrespectfully of the court or slander others. Violation of this law will be punished.’ "The nine year programme is as follows: "‘Thirty-fourth year of Kwang Hsu, or 1908—Local self-government; rules for reorganization of finance; fusion of the Manchu and Chinese military; revision of criminal code. "‘Thirty-fifth year, or 1909—Election of provincial assemblymen; election to constitutional commission; local self-government bureaus established; census; provincial budgets; determination of functions of Peking officials; issuing of school books. "‘Thirty-sixth year, or 1910—Provincial assemblies opened; local self-government established; census reports; tax rate fixed; organization of provincial officials; courts of law at provincial capitals and treaty ports; publishing criminal code; extension of schools; preparation for organization of sub-prefecture; department and district police. "‘Thirty-seventh year, or 1911—Local self-government continued; public account; imperial budget; rules on imperial taxation; rules governing appointments and salaries of civil officials; extension of schools; codes of municipal and commercial laws and civil and criminal procedure drawn up. "‘Thirty-eighth year, or 1912—Completion of general arrangement of urban self-government; census reports; publication of taxation laws of empire; perfection of arrangements for provincial and lesser courts; extension of schools. "‘Thirty-ninth year, or 1913—Police registration; imperial trial budget of variable expenses; Supreme Court; courts of law in prefectures, sub-prefectures, departments and districts; criminal code promulgated; urban self-government established; rules for rural self-government; rules for urban police. "‘Fortieth year, or 1914—Imperial trial budget of fixed expenses; publication of system of national accounts; rural self-government established; rules for lower courts. "‘Forty-first year, or 1915—Imperial household expenses fixed; organization of the Banners’ controller’s office; public accounting enforced; lower courts established; municipal and commercial laws and civil and criminal procedure rules established; police system complete. "‘Forty-second year, or 1910—Promulgation of full constitution and the laws of the imperial clan; parliamentary rules and rules for parliamentary elections; budget for consideration of parliament; reorganized official system; appointment of a premier.’ "The document concludes with these words: {97} "'In the forty-third year of Kwang Hsu, or 1917, China will be, by following this plan, a parliamentary country like Japan or Russia.'" China's Constitution (New York Tribune, October 19, 1908). Prince Ito, the veteran statesman of Japan, regards the constitutional experiment in China with more anxiety than hopefulness. Speaking on the subject in August, 1909, he expressed doubt of its success, and thought failure would imperil peace in the Far East. His reasoning in brief was this: "First—the enormous area of the Empire and the defective facilities for communication would greatly impede the assembling of a Parliament, especially in time of emergency. Secondly, the immovable character of Chinese conservatism forbade a change even of the system of taxation, notwithstanding the State’s urgent need of funds, and there was, therefore, still greater difficulty in effecting the radical alterations required by a constitutional system. Thirdly, the Chinese were untrained in local administration, the institution of which was an essential prelude to a national Assembly. He said he was astonished at the silence of Occidental publicists on this question so vital to the peace of the Orient." CHINA: A. D. 1905-1908. Chinese Exclusion Laws of the United States. Boycott of American goods in the Empire. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1908. CHINA: A. D. 1905-1909. Disputes with Japan. The Fa-ku-menn Railway and the Antung-Mukden Railway questions. Settlement of the latter by Japanese ultimatum. It could hardly have been possible for cordially friendly relations to be maintained between China and Japan, in the circumstances which transferred to the latter the extensive rights and privileges in Southern Manchuria, which Russia had acquired in that Chinese province by treaty and lease. By a protocol of December, 1905, after the closing of the Russo-Japanese War, there was an attempt, between Peking and Tokyo, to define the effects of the Treaty of Portsmouth, especially in the bearings of that article of the Treaty which ceded to Japan, "with the consent of the Government of China, the lease of Port Arthur, of Talien, and of the adjacent territories and territorial waters, as well as the rights, privileges and concessions connected with this lease or forming part thereof," and likewise, of "all the public works and property within the territory over which the above lease extends"; but misunderstandings and differences of opinion were sure to arise. Whether it has been more by the fault of Japan than of China that they arose and increased until, in the past year, they became a serious estrangement, is a question on which the judgment of foreign observers is conflicting. The veteran representative of the London Times at Peking, whose friendship for the Chinese is fast-fixed by long residence among them, lays the greater weight of responsibility on Japan, though he finds a lack of reasonableness on both sides. Japan, he says (writing July 19, 1909), was welcomed in China with open arms after her victorious war. "No nation ever had a greater opportunity, and faulty must have been the policy which in so short a time has wrought so great a change. Japan is now regarded with a comprehensive distrust that is most disquieting. Not long ago more than 1,000 Japanese of different classes were employed in China, in schools and colleges, in the army and police, in law and prison reform, in agriculture and sericulture, in telephone and electric light companies, on railways, and in many other capacities. At present there are fewer than 400, 52 of whom are in Peking, and these numbers will be further reduced as existing contracts expire. Similar reductions are noted in the number of Chinese being educated in Japan. Three years ago there were more than 20,000; last year there were more than 10,000. The number now is 5,125, and only yesterday it was arranged that in the case of a body of 300 Government students just returned to China, only 88 would be sent to take their places." "At present each country, through its Press, is protesting against the unreasonableness of the other. Contradictory statements on questions of fact are made on almost every point at issue." The main contention has related to the projected extension by China of a railway to Fa-ku-menn from the terminus of an existing line at Hsin-min-tun, west of Mukden. It was in the agreement of December, 1905, that no railways in competition with the South Manchurian line, which Japan took from Russia, should be built. The Japanese assert that they had in view this very Fa-ku-menn extension when that stipulation was inserted. The Chinese declare that the negotiation on their part had reference solely to the area east of the Liao River. Japan made two alternative proposals for the settlement of this question: "One that the Chinese should build a railway from Fa-ku-menn to the South Manchurian Railway instead of to Hsin-min-tun, or that the Japanese should build a railway from the South Manchurian line to Fa-ku-menn and thence to the North, in which case Japan would withdraw her objection to the Fa-ku-menn-Hsin-min-tun railway, provided that China undertook not to extend the line beyond Fa-ku-menn without a previous agreement with Japan." China is said to have declined discussion of these proposals, but offered arbitration of the whole matter. Japan objected to arbitration without previous discussion of her new proposals. And so the dispute seemed deadlocked. Another dispute turned on the interpretation of a clause in the Agreement of December, 1905, which reads: "China agrees that Japan has the right to improve the Antung-Mukden Railway so as to make it fit for the conveyance of commercial and industrial goods of all nations." Japan undertook, as a necessary "improvement" of the road, to reconstruct it, with a change of gauge to connect it with the standard gauge of the South Manchuria and Korean roads. China denied that the agreement gave a right to reconstruction. Several other questions arising between the two peoples have helped to raise hard feeling on both sides; but these have seemed to be at the front. At length on the 6th of August, 1909, Japan brought discussion of the Antung-Mukden Railway question to a summary ending, by a note to the Chinese Government which announced that "the Imperial Government is now compelled to take independent action, and to proceed to carry out the necessary work of reconstruction and improvement according to treaty rights." {98} Before taking this decisive step, the Japanese Government is said to have consulted Great Britain and other powers, and to have had approval of her action from London, if not from elsewhere. China yielded to the ultimatum, and this leading cause of quarrel between the great nations of the East was removed on the 4th of September by the signing, at Mukden, of a memorandum of agreement, reported in substance as follows: China agrees, first, not to construct the Hsin-min-tum-Fa-ku-men Railroad without consulting Japan; second, that half the capital required to extend the Kirin Railroad shall be borrowed in Japan; third, that Japan will be permitted to extend the Yinkow and improve and modernize the Antung-Mukden Railroads, to which China was bitterly opposed; fourth, that Japan may work the mines in the Fushun and Yentai districts, and have joint exploitation of the mines reached by the Antung and Manchurian Railroad lines. In the Chientao boundary dispute Japan agrees to recognize China’s sovereignty, while China agrees to open four trade marts in the district. In a letter to a London journal, a few days before this settlement of the Antung-Mukden Railway question, Lord Stanhope said: "The Chinese have surely deeper reasons for opposing this scheme than the mere fact of reconstruction. They well realize that this railway, crossing narrow valleys, can have no commercial future, but is virtually a strategic railway to strengthen the Japanese grip on Manchuria." CHINA: A. D. 1906. A Commission sent to America and Europe for the study of political and other institutions. The new spirit astir in China was manifested in the early months of 1906 by the sending of a large Commission of carefully chosen men to the United States and Europe, for observations that would be helpful toward reforms in their own country. It was headed by two High Commissioners of distinction, Tai Hung-chi and Tuan Fang, and they were attended by thirty-five scholars and functionaries of note. They received much attention during their stay of five weeks in the United States, and were placed by the Government under the special charge of Professor J. W. Jenks. Writing subsequently of their mission Professor Jenks said: "The purpose of the commission is, primarily, to make such a study of the political institutions of the various countries visited that they will be able, on their return, to offer valuable suggestions for the improvement of their own. There is even serious talk among the high officials in China of some form of a constitution. In consequence, the commissioners are as eager to learn regarding the working of some of our institutions as regarding their form of organization. Inasmuch as political reform necessarily involves social reform, even as a condition precedent, the commission is devoting special attention to the study of education, in universities and schools, and to methods of social amelioration, in prisons and asylums for the insane and the poor. They, however, are not neglecting the study of our large manufacturing plants, and have clearly in mind, also, the improvement of the industrial conditions of China. It is a matter of peculiar interest that the Empress-Dowager charged them to inquire especially into the education of girls in the United States, since she hoped, on their return, to be able to found a school for the education of the daughters of the princes." CHINA: A. D. 1906. Sixty cities being opened to foreign settlement. A memorandum on the subject of the foreign settlements at the open ports of China, prepared by the Chinese Secretary of the American Legation at Peking, was transmitted to the State Department at Washington in December, 1906. It conveyed the following information: "In China proper and in Manchuria 46 cities and towns have been thrown open already to foreign residence and international trade. This does not include Dalny, in Manchuria, leased to Japan; Wei-hai-wei, in Shantung, leased to Great Britain; Kiaochow, in Shantung, leased to Germany; Kowloon, in Kuangtung, leased to Great Britain; nor Kuang-chou-wan, in Kuangtung, leased to France. Besides the above, there are 3 cities in Tibet thrown open to trade, making 49 ports in the Empire. In addition to these already declared open, there are 13 cities whose opening in the immediate future is arranged for, and 3 others whose opening depends upon the acceptance by other treaty powers of the provisions of Article VIII. of the last commercial treaty between China and Great Britain. No account is taken of the cities of Turkestan, Mongolia, and the Amur region, in which Russian subjects have for many years enjoyed privileges of trade and consular jurisdiction. It will be seen, therefore, that in the immediate future foreigners will enjoy the right of residence for purposes of trade at more than 60 cities of the Chinese Empire." CHINA: A. D. 1906. Edict against the use of opium. See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM. CHINA: A. D. 1906 (January). Chinese students in Japan. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: CHINA: A. D. 1906. CHINA: A. D. 1906-1907. Flood and famine in the region traversed by the Grand Canal. One of the frequent destructive floods in China which produce famine befell the region that is traversed by the Grand Canal in the summer of 1906. Heavy rains covered its vast plains with lakes of water, which drowned out the crops throughout an area estimated at 40,000 square miles. From ten to fifteen millions of people were reduced to famine, and could only be kept alive until the harvests of another year by the generosity of the outside world. It was not vainly appealed to; but the suffering and death in the afflicted country were appallingly great. CHINA: A. D. 1906-1907. Christian Missions. See (in this Volume) MISSIONS: CHINA. CHINA: A. D. 1907-1909. Restriction on Chinese immigration to Canada. Labor hostility. Riotous attacks. Lately modified regulations. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: CANADA. CHINA: A. D. 1908. Expansion of the Postal Service. According to a report from Peking on the working of the Imperial Chinese Post Office in 1908, "the operations show an unprecedented expansion." The postal routes cover 88,000 miles, of which 68,000 are courier lines. The number of post offices open in 1901 was 176. There were 2,803 open in 1907, and 3,493 in 1908. The number of postal articles handled in 1901 was 10,000,000. The number was 168,000,000 in 1907, and 252,000,000 in 1908. The number of parcels was 127,000, weighing 250 tons, in 1901; 1,920,000, weighing 5,509 tons, in 1907; and 2,445,000, weighing 27,155 tons, in 1908. CHINA: A. D. 1908. Administration of the Department of Education. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: CHINA: A. D. 1908. {99} CHINA: A. D. 1908. Chinese students in the United States. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: CHINA: A. D. 1908. CHINA: A. D. 1908 (November). Death of the Emperor, Kuang-hsu, and of the Empress-Dowager, Tze-Hsi. Accession of the child-Emperor, Hsuan-Tung (Pu-Yi). The circumstances of the death, almost simultaneously, of the late Emperor, Kuang-hsu, and of the Dowager-Empress, Tze-Hsi, who had been the real ruler of the Empire, are involved in considerable obscurity. The Emperor is said to have died on the 14th of November, 1908, and the Empress on the following day. The announcement of their decease was preceded by the publication of two imperial edicts, one of which made Prince Chun, of the royal family, Regent of the Empire, while the other named Pu-Yi, the Prince’s son, three years old, as the heir presumptive to the throne. As communicated later to foreign governments, the Regent was given, by another imperial rescript, full power over the civil and military departments of government, and the entire appointment and dismissal of officials. The promised creation of a Parliament was anticipated in the prescription of his duties, among which were the following: "When a Parliament has been established the Prince Regent shall attend the same in place of the Emperor, but he need not attend the ordinary sessions. When the Constitutional Commission meets, the Prince Regent shall likewise represent the Emperor there. "The Prince Regent shall have full authority in negotiating treaties and in appointing representatives abroad. "The Prince Regent shall enter and leave his chair at the Ch’ien Ch’ing gate. The yamens, according to their duty, shall draw up and report on regulations modelled on the precedent established by Prince Jui-Chung regarding the equipage, escort, and general preparations for movements of the Prince Regent outside the palace. "Every year the Board of Finance shall transfer to the Department of the Imperial Household the sum of taels 150,000 for disbursement. When the Emperor comes of age, his studies being completed, and his marriage takes place, the official body shall unite in asking him to assume personal direction of the government." On the 21st of November the members of the Diplomatic Corps at Peking were received in a body at the palace, to present the condolences of the Governments they represent on the deaths of the late Emperor and Empress. As reported to the Associated Press, there were present on the occasion "every official or member of the imperial family who recently has been reported ill, dead by his own hand or estranged from the government, and the desired impression of official stolidity at Pekin which, it was most evident, this occasion was intended to convey, was imparted successfully. This was the answer of the government to the rumors of suicides and deaths current in Pekin for the last week. "Prince Ching, for the first time since the passing away of their majesties, appeared officially as the head of the foreign board. The heads of the various governmental departments were present, with the members of the imperial clan, and, in addition, several thousand minor officials, all in white, had assembled at imperial command. At the conclusion of the functions, in honor of the dead, the diplomats paid homage to Prince Chun, the regent." On the 2d of December the strict mourning observed at Peking was suspended briefly, to permit the ceremonies attending the ascension of the dragon throne by the child-Emperor, Pu-Yi, who, as Emperor, took the name of Hsuan-Tung. The ceremonies, described to the Associated Press, lasted but half an hour. "The function began by the princes of the imperial family and the high officials of the empire kowtowing to the memorial tablets of their late majesties. After this they all kowtowed in turn to Pu-Yi: Pu-Yi then offered a sacrifice before the tablets of the Emperor and the Dowager Empress. After this he was relieved of his dress of mourning and clad with much care in a diminutive imperial garment, embroidered with the imperial dragon. His nurses performed this duty with great attention and care. Thus arrayed, the toddling Emperor ascended the throne amid a fanfare of drums, bells and firecrackers. He made his way alone and showed no need of the assistance which willing hands would have given him had his little feet faltered. From the throne Pu-Yi kowtowed to his stepmother, the Dowager Empress Yiahonala. He then received the kowtows, while still on the throne, of all the princes and officials present. This over, he descended from the throne and was again clad in his little dress of mourning. "The ceremony took place in the throne hall of the Forbidden City. The officials present were selected with great care and were the highest men in the empire. According to an old established custom, a number of humble coolies, men from the lowest walks of life, were brought into the sacred precincts of the Forbidden City to act as witnesses. The soldiery played but an inconspicuous part in the proceedings." Following the ceremony, an imperial edict proclaiming the ascension was issued. This edict grants amnesty for certain specified offences; rewards all the imperial princes, princesses, and dukes; promotes all officials by one degree and bestows honors on their parents; erases the demerits entered against minor officials; advances the degree of scholars; dismisses all pending petty criminal cases; excuses certain liabilities, and grants bounties to the soldiers in the service of the empire. CHINA: A. D. 1908 (December). Decree reaffirming the Constitutional Programme of the late Empress Dowager. An imperial edict reaffirming the determination of the new government of China to carry out in its entirety the Constitutional programme laid down by the late Empress Dowager of China in August, 1908, was promulgated on the 4th of December. A literal translation was made public at Washington in January as follows: "On the first day of the 8th moon (August 27, 1908), the late Emperor reverently received the excellent decree of the late great Empress Dowager strictly ordering the officials and people of Peking and of the provinces to carry out completely by the ninth year all the preparatory work, so that at the appointed time the Constitution may be proclaimed. Also proclamations for the members of Parliament to assemble, and other decrees brightly manifested the sacred instructions, and all between the seas applauded. {100} From ourselves down to the officials and people high and low all must sincerely obey the excellent decree previously issued. The eighth year of Hsuan T’ung [whose first year dates from January 22, 1909] is the limit of time. Let there be no ‘reabsorption of sweat’ in this matter. Our hope is that this will certainly be carried out. Let the officials of Peking and the provinces on no account look idly on, and procrastinate, delaying the opportune time. Let patriotism be shone forth. Exert yourselves that constitutional government may be established. And court and ‘wilds’ (people) may have peace; and so we may comfort the spirits of the late great Empress Dowager and the late Emperor in heaven, and make firm the foundations of countless years of peaceful government." CHINA: A. D. 1909. Progress in the opium reform. See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM. CHINA: A. D. 1909. Progress in technical education. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: CHINA: A. D. 1909. CHINA: A. D. 1909. Existing treaties with United States and existing laws in the latter country relative to the admission of Chinamen. The question of their consistency with each other. Present status of the question. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: IN THE UNITED STATES. CHINA: A. D. 1909 (January). Abrupt dismissal of Viceroy Yuan Shih-kai from his offices. Much disturbance of feeling and apprehension of a troublesome reaction in Chinese policy was excited among the foreign representatives in China, on the 2d of January, 1909, by the sudden dismissal of the able and powerful Viceroy of Chi-li, Yuan Shih-kai, from all his offices. He had been looked upon as the great leader of progress in China,—the statesman to be counted on for the most and best influence in the government of the Empire for some years to come. He had the confidence of foreign powers, and was supposed to have acquired a sure footing in the councils at Peking. Latterly, however, it is said to have become known in Peking that "a powerful Manchu cabal was working for his downfall, led by Tieh-liang, the Minister of War, and supported by the aged doctrinaire and Chinese ex-Viceroy, Chang Chih-tung," and the stroke which overthrew him at the beginning of the new year was ascribed to that source. "The cabal has been successful," was the wired message of the Peking correspondent of the London Times to his paper; and he summarized the merits of the fallen statesman thus: "No man in China deserved better of his country. He has been in the forefront of progress, and is the best administrator China has produced in this generation. When Governor of Shantung in 1900 his action in resisting the Boxer insurrection and in safeguarding foreigners really saved the Empire from disruption. He created China’s modern army and was the leader of the modern educational movement in China, and his famous memorial of September 2, 1905, urging the summary abolition of the antiquated system of literary examination was epoch-making. Under his Viceroyalty the Metropolitan province became the most advanced in the Empire. With Tang Shao-yi he led the anti-opium movement. Since he entered the Ministry for Foreign Affairs China has attained a measure of respect among the Powers which was unknown before." Some weeks after the blow had fallen, and when the peculiarly Oriental manner of its infliction had been learned, a letter from Peking to the New York Evening Post told of it as follows: "At 11 a. m. on Saturday, January 2, the grand councillors were summoned by the regent. Prince Ching had evidently heard a whisper of what was to come, and he pleaded illness. The other grand councillors answered the summons promptly, but when Yuan reached the door of the council chamber he was told that he was not wanted. Three grand councillors therefore went in and found the regent awaiting them with the edict dismissing Yuan Shih-kai already drawn up. ‘I want no discussion. Sign this edict!’ said the regent. Chang Chih-tung turned to reply. The regent repeated his words impressively, and the edict was signed without further demur. "Within the next hour, while Yuan Shih-kai was hastily making plans for his personal safety, the news flew around Peking and the city throbbed with excitement. Every one but his immediate councillors was astounded at Prince Chun’s temerity. Never in the history of China had such a man as Yuan been thrown out of office at such short notice. To the Western mind, however, there was nothing very harsh in the edict; it said simply: "‘Yuan Shih-kai, a member of the Grand Council and president of the Waiwupu, formerly received repeated offices and advancement under the late Emperor. After our enthronement we gave him great honors, because we considered that his talent certainly was one that could be made use of, if he exerted himself in the public service. Unexpectedly Yuan Shih-kai has now contracted rheumatism in the foot, which makes it hard for him to walk and difficult for him to attend to the duties of his offices. Yuan Shih-kai, therefore, is ordered to vacate his posts and return to his native place to nurse his disorder. Thus is our great mercy to him manifested.’" Yuan Shih-kai left Peking in haste, evidently in fear of his life, and it was expected that his whole following of friends and supporters would be swept out of their offices and employments. But no such result followed, and credit began to be given to the assurances of the Imperial Government that the dismissal of Yuan meant no reversal of policy or reaction whatever. He was distrusted, it was intimated, because he had been disloyal to the late Emperor in 1898, when the latter attempted great reforms. See, in Volume VI. of this work, CHINA: A. D. 1898 (JUNE-SEPTEMBER), and after. Yuan Shih-kai was then the chief agent and instrument of the Dowager-Empress in overcoming the well-meaning but weak sovereign and annulling his reformative work. Hence, it was claimed, the present Government’s distrust of him. The Ministers of Great Britain and the United States had ventured some questions as to the significance of the act, but their colleagues did not join them, and no further discussion of the matter diplomatically took place. CHINA: A. D. 1909 (February). Meeting of the International Opium Commission at Shanghai. See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM. CHINA: A. D. 1909 (May). New Russo-Chinese Agreement concerning the Chinese Eastern Railway. Municipalities on the Line. The Kharbin question. The Chinese Eastern Railway, so named, is the line which Russia, by Convention with China in August, 1896, obtained permission to construct, from a point on her Trans-Siberian Railway, through Northern Manchuria, to Vladivostok. {101} Under that agreement the Russian authorities claimed a right to institute certain organizations of municipal administration at Kharbin and other towns of rising importance on the line. This right was challenged in 1908 by the American Consul at Kharbin (sometimes written Harbin), Mr. Fisher, who refused to recognize some ordinances of the Russian administration, on the ground that he was accredited to China, only, and could know no other sovereignty in Manchuria than the Chinese. This led to a new Russo-Chinese Agreement, signed at Peking on the 10th of May, 1909, distinctly authorizing the "organization of municipalities on the lands" of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The "sovereign rights of China" are "not to be prejudiced in any way," says the new Agreement; but "municipal bodies are to be established in the commercial centres of a certain importance situated on the lands of the railway. The inhabitants of these commercial centres, according to the importance of the localities and the number of the residents, shall elect delegates by vote, who shall choose an Executive Committee; or else the residents themselves shall take part in the business of the municipality and a representative shall be elected from amongst them who will take upon himself to carry out the resolutions decided upon by meeting of all the residents. "No difference shall be made on the lands of the railway between the Chinese population and that of other nationalities; all residents shall enjoy the same rights and be subject to the same obligations. "The right to vote shall belong to every member of the community who owns real estate of a fixed value or who pays a fixed annual rental and taxes." Reading no farther in the Agreement than this, imperial Russia and China would seem to have jointly planted a seed of democratic municipalities in Manchuria; but that impression is destroyed by qualifying provisions, such as this: "The President of the Chiao-She-Chu [a Mixed Russo-Chinese Court, formerly created] and the director of the railway, occupying a position superior to the Presidents of the assemblies of delegates and of committees, have a right of control and personal revision, which they may exercise whenever they think fit. … in the event of decisions by the assembly of delegates not being approved by the President of the Chiao-She-Chu or the director of the railway, these decisions shall be returned to the assembly for further consideration. If the original decision is adopted by a majority of three-quarters of the members present, it becomes binding." The effect of the whole agreement would undoubtedly be to give the Russian railway officials supreme authority in the so-called municipalities. Remonstrances against it by the Government of the United States have been supported by Great Britain, Germany, and Austria. The question remains open and troublesome. Dr. Morrison, of The Times, wrote of the situation in November as follows: "The situation in Manchuria is receiving close attention from the Legations because of the increasing difficulty of the problems created by Russian and Japanese claims to territorial and administrative jurisdiction in connexion with their respective railways, claims which conflict with China’s unimpaired sovereignty and with the treaty rights of other nations. A tentative proposal was recently submitted to the consideration of the Diplomatic Body, with the approval of the Wai-wu-pu and M. Korostovetz, to create an international settlement at Kharbin on a separate site adjoining the railway settlement. The proposal was unacceptable to the Powers interested because it implied a fundamental discrimination in favour of the railway company, leaving it to exercise, in an important trade centre, powers which are incompatible with treaties and which are not conferred by its charter. … "The Chinese Government entirely fails to avail itself of its opportunities at this juncture. The local authorities are unable, and the Peking Government is unwilling, to take any initiative. The Wai-wu-pu adheres to its policy of shifting opportunism, as shown by its proposal to the Russian Minister to cancel, in deference to the protests of the Powers, the agreement with regard to the Kharbin municipal regulations concluded on May 10, a proposal unaccompanied by any practical alternative whereby political requirements might be reconciled with the undeniable vested interests of the railway. In this connexion it is interesting to note that, whereas England, America, France, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary refused an unqualified assent to the Kharbin agreement, yet no exception has been taken to the regulations of the Japanese railway settlements, although, without any reference to China, they confer the widest powers on the Japanese authorities, including the right of arbitrary taxation and forcible expulsion." The Russian side of the question was presented in a semi-official statement, made public in October, 1909, as follows: "The representatives of certain Powers which have trade interests in China have, both in Peking and St. Petersburg, expressed doubts as to the rights of authority exercised by the Kharbin municipality. These representatives have endeavoured, in notes presented to the Chinese and Russian Governments on the matter, and in verbal communications, to prove that certain paragraphs of the treaty which was signed at Peking on May 10, 1909, violated the extra-territorial rights granted to their nationals by treaty with China, and further that some of the measures taken by the Kharbin authorities were opposed to the regulations of the international concession which, in their opinion, has been recently established at Kharbin. "It is easy to demonstrate that such a point of view is based on a misunderstanding. Extra-territorial rights, so far as they are secured by treaty, comprise exclusively the right of every foreigner to be judged by his own Consul. They do not, however, in any way exempt him from the obligation to pay town and other taxes, or to submit to established regulations. The difference between the pure Chinese open ports where there are no foreign concessions and places which lie in the territorial zone of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and are open to foreign trade, consists solely in the fact that in the former the Chinese authorities have the power to make administration rules at their own discretion, while in places in the territorial zone of the Eastern Railway the Chinese Government has, by the concession agreement signed on August 28, 1896, and the convention of May 10, 1909, transferred the rights of administration to the Chinese Eastern Railway Company, as a private concession, so that the company acts as the agent of the Chinese Government in supervising the administration of Kharbin and other places. {102} "Another misunderstanding has evidently given rise to the statement that Kharbin has recently been converted into an international concession. The contracting parties never had any such intentions. By reason of legal acts, as well as of traditions and conditions of a local character, under which Kharbin originated, it is clear that this is a special kind of concession, which is distinguished from other concessions by its exceptionally liberal and exceedingly hospitable regulations in regard to foreigners." CHINA: A. D. 1909 (October). Naval plans. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL: CHINESE. CHINA: A. D. 1909 (October). Opening of the Peking-Kalgan Line of Railway. A purely Chinese undertaking. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: CHINA. CHINA: A. D. 1909 (October). Death of Chang Chih-Tung. Chang Chih-Tung, Grand Councillor of the Empire of China, died on the 4th of October, 1909, and Tai Hung-tze, President of the Board of Justice, was appointed his successor in office. CHINA: A. D. 1909 (October-November). Election and opening of Provincial Assemblies. Beginnings of the institution of Constitutional and Representative Government. The following, from the Peking reports to The Times, London, narrates the actual beginning of the series of proceedings planned and promised for the gradual institution of representative constitutional government. The first is of the date of October 14, 1909: "To-day marks an era in the establishment of constitutional government in China. In obedience to the Imperial decrees of October 19, 1907, and of July 22, 1908, ordering the establishment, within one year of the latter date, in each of the 22 provinces of China proper and in Manchuria and the New Dominion of provincial deliberative assemblies, elections have been in progress for some time past, and the assemblies meet in accordance with the regulations for the first time to-day, the first day of the ninth moon. … "The elections have taken place according to the regulations, and halls have been erected for the assemblies to sit wherever a Viceroy or a Governor has his seat. The number of members varies from 140 in Chih-li, 114 in Che-kiang, to 30 each in Kirin, Lchlun-chiang, and Hsin-kiang. The incomplete returns which have been published show nearly 1,000 voters for each representative. "For weeks past reports have been coming in from provincial authorities asking for instructions and information concerning this new departure. An edict issued last night renews the Imperial admonitions to members of the assemblies as to their deliberations, and to Viceroys and Governors as to their supervision of the deliberations, and exhorts all to display a loyal patriotism so that the country may attain strength and prosperity. The event may be one of great historical importance." The next was sent from Peking on the 6th of the following November: "Already, in the opening debates of these Provincial Assemblies, one apprehends the coming chaos, one hears the first whispering of the approaching storm. Peking, panoplied in ignorance and petrified in medieval statecraft, trifles with Demos at its doors, evidently hoping that the Assemblies will consume their own smoke, and that the Mandarin may be preserved by the time-honoured device of holding the balance between contending classes. But the spirits which the Vermilion Pencil has called from the Celestial deep, though elected with all possible precautions of ‘silkcoated’ franchise, and under the close direction of Viceroys and Governors, show signs of scant respect for the Central Government and of little sympathy for its difficulties. Already, within a fortnight of their birth, many of the Assemblies have passed resolutions denouncing several of the Government’s pet proposals—e. g., the opium monopoly, the stamp tax, and the foreign loan for the Hankau-Canton and Hankau-Szechuan Railways. In the case of the stamp tax, 15 provinces have expressed the opinion, and have induced the local officials in many cases to endorse it, that the proposed levy is impracticable, so that, in the words of the native Press, 'its imposition is deferred and the Ministry of Finance is at its wits’ end.’ Concerning the vexed question of the railway loan, the Hupei Assembly is reported to have endorsed, without a dissentient, their chairman’s declaration that the Government’s scheme should be resisted ‘to the death.’ "The spirit which animates these Assemblies is evidently very similar to that which speaks through the vernacular Press; iconoclastic, patriotic—in the sense that it denounces everything foreign—but lacking, so far, in intelligent leadership and constructive policy. Their attitude towards the Central Government is generally one of scarcely veiled contempt. I cannot illustrate better its general tendency than in the words of a native journalist who, in a recent criticism of the Grand Council, congratulated these rulers of China on their remarkable longevity, but observed that ‘there is little hope of longevity for an Empire that is governed by such incompetent survivals.’" A few weeks later, after the forty days’ session of the new Provincial Assemblies had ended, this writer had changed his view. Writing on the 22d of December, he said: "A study of the reports of the proceedings so far available of the first session of the Provincial Assemblies supports the contention that the Throne has been justified in granting the subjects of the Empire a limited right of speech through their chosen representatives. The programmes of debate have been strictly in accordance with the Imperial edict, and the proceedings have been marked with dignity and decorum. The net result justifies the declaration made by a high authority, who has been given special opportunity of forming a judgment, that the ‘members have fulfilled their appointed task of working in harmony with the executive authorities in the interests of their respective provinces.’" CHINA: A. D. 1909-1910. Proposal of the United States for the neutralization of Manchurian Railways. Proposed Chinchow-Aigun Railway. Late in December, 1909, the United States Government submitted to that of China, and to the interested Powers, a proposition which contemplated the neutralization of the railways in Manchuria, now partly under Russian and partly under Japanese control, and which looked, also, to an international undertaking of the construction of a Chinchow-Aigun line, to tap the Russian Trans-Siberian road at Tsitshar. {103} In a published statement subsequently, the American Secretary of State, Mr. Knox, explained that his Government, during the recent railway loan negotiations, had pointed out to the interested Powers that the greatest danger to the policy of the open door in China and the development of her foreign trade arose from disagreements among the great Western nations, and had expressed the opinion that nothing would afford so impressive an object-lesson to China and the world as the spectacle of the four great capitalist nations—Great Britain, Germany, France, and the United States—standing together for equality of commercial opportunity. The American Government believed that one of the most effective steps to this end in order to secure for China the enjoyment of all political rights in Manchuria and to promote the normal development of the Eastern provinces was to take the Manchurian railroads out of Eastern politics and to place them under an economic and impartial administration by vesting in China herself the ownership of the railways. Such a policy would require the cooperation, not only of China, but of Russia and Japan, both of whom it would enable to shift their onerous responsibilities in connexion with those railways on to the shoulders of the combined Powers, including themselves, and would effect a complete commercial neutralization of Manchuria. The proposal of a neutralization of the existing Manchurian railways was not received with favor in either Japan or Russia, and the other Powers concerned have manifested a disposition to defer to the view taken by those two Governments, which are most immediately touched by it. The position of the Japanese Government on the question was stated publicly in an address to the Diet on the 27th of January by Baron Komura, Minister for Foreign Affairs, who said: "The United States government recently proposed a plan regarding the neutralization of Manchurian railways. The Imperial government, in view of the important Japanese interests involved, and considering that the proposal came from a friendly Power with which the empire was on terms of close intimacy, submitted the question to the most careful examination. While determined to adhere scrupulously to the policy of the open door and equal opportunity, it should be recognized that the realization of the proposed plan would involve radical changes in the condition of affairs in Manchuria which were established by the treaties of Portsmouth and Peking. The change must be attended by serious consequences. In the region affected by the South Manchurian Railway numerous undertakings have been promoted in the belief that the railway would remain in our possession. As a consequence, the Imperial government, with regret, was obliged to announce its inability to consent to the proposal. I trust that the United States will appreciate our position and that the other Powers will equally recognize the justice of Japan’s attitude." The Russian Government is understood to have taken substantially the same ground, on the general question of a neutralization of Manchurian railways. There and elsewhere, however, there is said to be a readiness to consider the incidental proposition of an internationally financed Chinchow-Aigun road. ----------CHINA: End-------- CHINA EMERGENCY APPEAL COMMITTEE. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: CHINA: A. D. 1909. CHINCHOW-AIGUN RAILWAY, Proposed. See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1909-1910. CHINESE HIGHBINDER ASSOCIATIONS: Their dangerous character. See (in this Volume) SAN FRANCISCO: A. D. 1902. CHINESE IMMIGRATION: The Resistance to it in America, Australia, and South Africa. See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS. CH’ING, Prince of. See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1901-1908. CHOATE, Joseph H.: Commissioner Plenipotentiary to the Second Peace Conference. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907. CHRISTENSEN, Jens Christian. See (in this Volume) DENMARK: A. D. 1901, and 1905-1909. CHRISTIAN IX., King of Denmark: Death. See (in this Volume) DENMARK: A. D. 1906. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. See (in this Volume) MISSIONS, CHRISTIAN. CHUN, Prince: Regent of China. See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1908 (NOVEMBER). CHURCH OF SCOTLAND: Act of Parliament authorizing change of the Formula of Subscription required from its ministers. See (in this Volume and Volume 4.) SCOTLAND: A. D. 1904-1905. CHURCH, Roman Catholic. See (in this Volume and Volume 4.) PAPACY. CHURCH AND STATE: The French Separation Law and its execution. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1905-1906, 1906, and 1907; also, PAPACY. CHURCH AND STATE: Russia: Emancipation of the Church urged by M. Witte. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (APRIL-AUGUST). CHURCH SCHOOL CONTROVERSIES. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1903; ENGLAND: A. D. 1902, and 1906; CANADA: A. D. 1905. CHURCHILL, Winston L.: Under Secretary for the Colonies. See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906. CHURCHILL, Winston L.: President of the Board of Trade. See ENGLAND: A. D. 1908 (April). CHURCHILL, Winston L.: To the British Suffragettes. See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: WOMAN SUFFRAGE. CHURCHILL, Winston L.: On the Budget of 1909 and the House of Lords. See ENGLAND: A. D. 1909 (APRIL-DECEMBER). CITIZENSHIP, American: Principles of Naturalization defined. The New Law. See (in this Volume) NATURALIZATION. CITY GOVERNMENT. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. CITY PLANNING. See (in this Volume) SOCIAL BETTERMENT; also, CHICAGO: A. D. 1909. CIVIC FEDERATION, The National. See (in this Volume) SOCIAL BETTERMENT: UNITED STATES; also, NATIONAL CIVIC FEDERATION. {104} CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: CANADA: A. D. 1908. Introduction of Competitive Examinations and the Merit System of appointment and promotion. An "Act to Amend the Civil Service Act," which came into force September 1, 1908, divides the Civil Service of the Dominion into the Inside Service and the Outside Service, the former embracing "that part of the public service in or under the several departments of the Executive Government of Canada and in the offices of the Auditor General, the Clerk of the Privy Council, and the Governor-General’s Secretary, employed at the City of Ottawa, or at the Experimental Farm Station or the Dominion Astronomical Observatory near Ottawa." The employés of this Inside Service are required to be classified according to their salaries, in three divisions, and all appointments to positions in it are (except as otherwise provided in the Act) to "be by competitive examination, which shall be of such a nature as will determine the qualifications of candidates for the particular positions to which they are to be appointed, and shall be held by the Commission from time to time in accordance with the regulations made by it and approved by the Governor in Council." For the administration of the Act a Civil Service Commission is created, consisting of two members appointed by the Governor in Council, who are to have no other office or employment, and who may employ necessary assistance for the examinations they conduct. The following are provisions of the Act: "No person shall be admitted to such an examination unless he is a natural-born or naturalized British subject, and has been a resident of Canada for at least three years, and is, at the time of the examination, of the full age of eighteen years and not more than thirty-five years, and presents the required certificates as to health, character and habits. "Before holding any such examination the Commission shall require each head of a department to furnish it with the number of additional permanent officers or clerks likely to be required in his department within the next six months. "On this basis, and having regard also to the requirement of the several departments for temporary services, a computation shall be made by the Commission of the number of competitors to be selected at the next ensuing examination. "If there remain from a previous examination successful competitors who have not received appointments, their number shall be deducted in making the computation, and their names, in the order of merit, shall be placed at [the top of the list] to be prepared in accordance with section 17 of this Act. "Thereupon due notice of the examination shall be given by the Commission, stating the character and number of the positions to be competed for. "Immediately after the examination the Commission shall make out a list of the successful competitors thereat for each position, in the order of merit, up to the number computed in accordance with Section 15. "From the said list the Commission, on the application of the deputy head, with the approval of the head, of any department, shall supply the required clerks, whether for permanent or temporary duty. … "The selections shall be, so far as practicable, in the order of the names on the list, but the Commission may select any person who in his examination shows special qualifications for any particular subject. … "The cause of the rejection shall be reported by the deputy head to the Commission, who shall thereupon select another person to take the place of the one rejected, and decide whether the latter shall be struck off the list or allowed a trial in another department. "After a person so selected has served a probationary term of six months, [he shall be deemed] to be permanently accepted for the service. … "The head of the department, on the report in writing of the deputy head, may, at any time after two months from the date of assignment, and before the expiration of six months, reject any person assigned to his department. … "Promotion, other than from the third to the second division, shall be made for merit by the Governor in Council upon the recommendation of the head of the department, based on the report in writing of the deputy head and accompanied by a certificate of qualification by the Commission to be given with or without examination, as is determined by the regulations of the Commission. "Except as herein otherwise provided, vacancies in the first division shall be filled by promotions from the second division." Regulations prepared by the Civil Service Commission appointed under the Act require fees, ranging from $2 to $10 to be paid by the candidates for examination. CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: United States: A. D. 1901-1909. Progress of reform under President Roosevelt. At the close of the administration of President Roosevelt, the journal published by the National Civil Service Reform League, entitled Good Government, bore the following testimony to the fidelity with which the principles of the reform had been upheld and promoted by the retiring executive: "One of the first acts of President Roosevelt was the reorganization of the civil service commission, which, under the administration of President McKinley, had become lax and ineffective. Since then the enforcement of the law and rules by the commission has been sincere, vigorous and impartial. Particularly strict has been the enforcement of the prohibition against political assessments. Twice in the midst of political campaigns has the President ordered the removal of prominent officials for levying assessments on their subordinates. "During his administration President Roosevelt has extended the scope of competition to many new and important offices. Notable among these extensions have been the restoration of the field service of the War Department (withdrawn by President McKinley) and the classification of the rural free delivery service (now numbering some 40,000), the forestry service, deputy collectors of internal revenue, deputy collectors of customs, deputy naval officers, and cashiers and finance clerks in post offices. Prevented by the civil service law from ‘classifying’ unskilled laborers, President Roosevelt, under general executive authority, has prescribed a system of examination for laborers in Washington and the principal cities. By executive order of June 27, 1906, he provided a system of examination and promotion for the consular service which has done away with the more flagrant evils of that service. His latest and most striking extension has been the classification of over 15,000 fourth-class postmasters, thereby taking them out of politics. {105} "He has prohibited the participation of competitive officials in politics further than to vote as they please and to express privately their opinions, and has made this prohibition effective by incorporating it in the civil service rules, thus giving to the commission the power to investigate. He has by vetoing the Crumpacker census bill defeated the attempt by Congress to obtain as spoils some 4,000 clerkships for the next census. "This is a brief record of President Roosevelt’s service to civil service reform during his administration. In considering the criticisms of his course which have been made from time to time by the League and the press, this service should be kept in mind and carefully weighed. For instance, against this record of constant advancement, the suspension of the rules in individual cases—in all about 370—although in our opinion arbitrary and dangerous as precedents, are of comparatively minor importance. A few have been made for political reasons; the far greater number, however, were acts of charity or personal impulse, and President Roosevelt himself realized the danger in this practice and took steps to curtail it. "In passing on the justice of the other criticisms of President Roosevelt’s course regarding the civil service one should keep in mind the distinction which he has so sharply drawn between the classified and the unclassified service. This is clearly set forth in a reply to a letter from the civil service commission calling his attention to the omission from the postal regulations of President Cleveland’s ‘pernicious activity’ order, and quoting a passage from the 11th report of the commission. President Roosevelt said: ‘I personally drew the paragraph which you quote. The paragraph was drawn with a view to making a sharp line between the activity allowed to public servants within the classified service and those without the classified service—the latter under our system are as a rule chosen largely with reference to political considerations, and as a rule are, and expect to be, changed with the change of parties. … It seemed to me at the time, and I still think, that the line thus drawn was wise and proper.’ "In considering such appointments to positions in the unclassified service as that of James C. Clarkson as surveyor of the Port of New York for instance, a just analysis must take into account these frankly expressed views. President Roosevelt drew a line between the classified and unclassified service, and as to the latter recognized and availed himself to some extent of existing conditions. He believed that so long as positions remained in the unclassified service it was impractical to eliminate political considerations and that any attempt to do so led to hypocrisy. His remedy was to place the positions in the classified service, wherever practicable. And he has extended the line of the classified service higher than ever before. The League does not believe this theory is ideal, but in carrying it out the President has certainly not set the reform back. Criticism based only on the fact that one who has rendered great service to a cause has not accomplished all that its ardent supporters wish to accomplish can be properly set down as captious. "In performing its duty to the public, the League has at various times during his administration frankly criticised certain acts of President Roosevelt, which in its opinion were not in line with the best interests of the service. But this does not prevent us from recognizing that during his entire administration President Roosevelt has been loyal to the reform with which he has been so prominently identified. We do not believe that any act of his was intended to injure the reform. Wherever he has thought it practicable to extend the reform he has done so. A President less devoted to the reform would not have been criticised for what President Roosevelt has failed to do." Good Government, March, 1909. The following exhibit of the whole progress in civil service reform, from its beginning to the end of 1908, was made in the annual report of the Council of the National Civil Service Reform League, presented at the meeting of the League, on the 17th of December in that year: "The whole United States civil service, in 1883, consisted of 110,000 persons, and of these 14,000 were put under the civil service law. Now the federal civil service has grown to 352,000 positions, and, including the last extension, those under the competitive system have increased from 14,000 to about 222,000. Not only in numbers but in proportion to the total has the competitive service increased from 12.7% in 1883 to 63% now." CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1902-1903. Extension of classification to the Rural Free Delivery Service. Order concerning unclassified laborers. "During the year ended June 30 [1903], 25,566 persons were appointed through competitive examinations under the civil-service rules. This was 12,672 more than during the preceding year, and 40 per cent of those who passed the examinations. This abnormal growth was largely occasioned by the extension of classification to the rural free-delivery service and the appointment last year of over 9,000 rural carriers. A revision of the civil-service rules took effect on April 15 last, which has greatly improved their operation. … Executive orders of July 3, 1902; March 26, 1903, and July 8, 1903, require that appointments of all unclassified laborers, both in the Departments at Washington and in the field service, shall be made with the assistance of the United States Civil Service Commission, under a system of registration to test the relative fitness of applicants for appointment or employment. This system is competitive, and is open to all citizens of the United States qualified in respect to age, physical ability, moral character, industry, and adaptability for manual labor: except that in case of veterans of the civil war the element of age is omitted. This system of appointment is distinct from the classified service and does not classify positions of mere laborer under the civil-service act and rules. Regulations in aid thereof have been put in operation in several of the Departments and are being gradually extended in other parts of the service. The results have been very satisfactory, as extravagance has been checked by decreasing the number of unnecessary positions and by increasing the efficiency of the employees remaining." President’s Message, December 7, 1903. {106} CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1906. Excellent legislation in Pennsylvania. See (in this Volume) PENNSYLVANIA. CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1906-1909. The Reform of the Consular Service. A great and greatly needed reformation of the consular service of the United States was begun in 1906, by the passage of an Act of Congress, approved April 5, which provided for the reorganization of the service, primarily by the classifying and grading of the consuls-general and the consuls, and the fixing of salaries in each class. Consuls-general were placed by the Act in seven classes, with salaries as follows: Class one, twelve thousand dollars. London, Paris. Class two, eight thousand dollars. Berlin, Habana, Hongkong, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai. Class three, six thousand dollars. Calcutta, Cape Town, Constantinople, Mexico City, Montreal, Ottawa, Vienna, Yokohama. Class four, five thousand five hundred dollars. Antwerp, Barcelona, Brussels, Canton, Frankfort, Marseilles, Melbourne, Panama, Saint Petersburg, Seoul, Tientsin. Class five, four thousand five hundred dollars. Auckland, Beirut, Buenos Ayres, Callao, Chefoo, Coburg, Dresden, Guayaquil, Halifax, Hankau, Mukden, Munich, Niuchwang, Rome, Rotterdam, Saint Gall, Singapore. Class six, three thousand five hundred dollars. Adis Ababa, Bogota, Budapest, Guatemala, Lisbon, Monterey, San Salvador, Stockholm, Tangier. Class seven, three thousand dollars. Athens, Christiania, Copenhagen. Consuls were divided among nine classes, receiving salaries that range from $8000 in the first class and $6000 in the second, down to $2000 in the ninth. The first and second classes hold but one incumbent each, at Liverpool and Manchester, respectively. There are eight places in the third class, twelve in the fourth, and then the numbers mount rapidly, up to the sixty-nine included in the ninth class. All fees allowed to be collected for services rendered in connection with the duties of the consular office (which the President may prescribe) are directed by the Act to be accounted for thereafter and paid into the Treasury of the United States. All consular officers whose salaries exceed $1000 are forbidden to be interested in or to transact any business as a merchant, factor, broker, or other trader, or a clerk or other agent of one, or to practice as a lawyer for compensation, or to be interested in the fees or compensation of any lawyer. The whole service is placed under inspection by five inspectors, to be appointed from the members of the consular service; and each consular office must be inspected at least once in every two years. In June following this important enactment, the Secretary of State, Mr. Root, submitted to President Roosevelt the draft of a recommended executive order, which prescribed new rules to be followed in filling the consular offices, as classified by the recent Act. In doing so, the Secretary made this explanation: "The main features of the order were embodied in the early forms of the Consular Reorganization Bill passed at this session of Congress, but they were dropped out, largely for the reason that their enactment by Congress would appear to be an infringement upon the President’s constitutional power to appoint consuls. Your adoption of these rules by executive order will be free from that objection, and judging from the very positive commendation which many members of both Houses have expressed for the proposed change in the method of appointing consuls, I do not doubt that the new system will receive the hearty approval of the Senate and of Congress whenever occasion may arise for an expression upon the subject." The recommended order was approved and issued by the President. "Subject to the advice and consent of the Senate," it declared in substance as follows: (1) Vacancies in the office of Consul-General and in the office of Consul above class 8 (salary, $2500) shall be filled by promotion from the lower grades of the service, based upon "ability and efficiency, as shown in the service"; (2) vacancies in the office of Consul of these two remaining classes, 8 and 9, are to be filled (a) by promotion, "on the basis of ability and efficiency, as shown in the service," of consular clerks, vice-consuls, and consular agents, and (b) by new appointments from candidates who have passed an examination; (3) officials in the service of the Department of State, with salaries of $2000 or upward, shall be eligible for promotion, always on the basis of ability and efficiency, as shown in the service, to any grade of the consular service above the eighth class; (4) the board of examiners for admission to the service shall consist of the Secretary of State (or such other officer of the department as the President shall designate), the chief of the Consular Bureau, and the chief examiner of the Civil Service Commission (or such other officer, as this commission shall designate); (5) this board of examiners shall formulate the rules for examinations; (6) among the compulsory subjects shall be at least one modern language other than English, the natural industrial and commercial resources and commerce of the United States, political economy, and the elements of international, commercial, and maritime law; (7) 80 per cent. shall be necessary for eligibility; (8) candidates must be over twenty-one and under fifty years of age, citizens of the United States, and of good character and physique. They must also have been specially designated by the President for examination. Other significant provisions of the order are to the effect that no promotion shall be made except for efficiency and conduct, that "neither in the designation for examination or certification or appointment will the political affiliations of the candidate be considered"; and that "due regard should be had to the rule that, as between candidates of equal merit, appointments should be made so as to secure in the service proportional representation of all the States and Territories." The first examination of candidates for appointment under this order was held on the 14th and 15th of March, 1907, since which time no one has entered the consular service of the United States without satisfying that test. In June, 1908, Secretary Root announced the promotion or transfer of nearly sixty consular offices, setting in motion the desirable advancement of these officials from post to post, to make the best use of their proved capacity and acquired experience. About a year later, Mr. Root’s successor, Secretary Knox, made public the promotion of twenty-seven incumbents of consular office, and the appointment of twenty-three new recruits to the service from his eligible list. So the long striven-for reform of the American consular service may safely be said to have arrived. {107} A bill introduced in the Senate, providing for a permanent consular service, based on competitive examinations, was decided by the Committee on Foreign Relations to be unconstitutional, for the reason that the Constitution itself confers the power of appointment of consular officers upon the President, and that Congress has no right to limit this power in any way. President Taft, by an executive order, has practically put the scope of the proposed bill into effect, thereby, in part, limiting the power conferred upon himself. This, in the opinion of the Senators, is all that can be done legally. CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1908. Extension of the Merit System to nearly one-third of the Fourth Class Postmasters of the country. In the Annual Report of the Council of the National Civil Service Reform League, presented at the annual meeting of the League in December, 1908, it was said: "The great event of the year, which so aptly commemorates the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Pendleton bill, is the extension of the competitive system to all fourth class postmasters in the part of the country north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, that is, in the New England States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This is an extension covering more positions than suggested by the civil service commission. It is an extension large enough to be of present advantage, is made in the more thickly settled portions of the country, where it is easiest to carry it out, and yet it is not on so large a scale as to invite mistakes or perhaps partial failure. This extension covers about 15,000 positions. The order of President Cleveland of May 26, 1896, covered about 31,000 places; and yet, from the point of political significance, this present extension is the most important, we believe, in the history of civil service reform since January 16, 1883, and when its purpose is fully carried out it will include some 53,000 places." See, in Volume VI. of this work, Civil Service Reform: United States. The report then reviewed the efforts that had been in progress since 1889, with the support of Presidents Cleveland and Roosevelt, to bring about the inclusion of this class of postmasters, at the least, under the rule of appointment subject to competitive examination. President Roosevelt, in his annual Message of 1907, had said: "The fourth-class postmasters’ convention has passed a very strong resolution in favor of placing the fourth-class postmasters under the civil-service law. The Administration has already put into effect the policy of refusing to remove any fourth-class postmasters save for reasons connected with the good of the service; and it is endeavoring so far as possible to remove them from the domain of partisan politics. It would be a most desirable thing to put the fourth-class postmasters in the classified service. It is possible that this might be done without Congressional action, but, as the matter is debatable, I earnestly recommend that the Congress enact a law providing that they be included under the civil-service law and put in the classified service." Congress refused the desired legislation. The law committee of the League was unanimous in the opinion that the President held authority already to make the change by Executive Order, and Mr. Roosevelt gave a hearing on the subject to Messrs. McIlhenny and Greene, of the National Civil Service Commission, and the Honorable Richard Henry Dana, Chairman of the Council of the League. Evidently he became persuaded that his authority was sufficient, and was prepared to act accordingly. About the middle of November, 1908, the National League of Postmasters of the United States, which had been organized in 1905, sent a Committee, with its President, Mr. A. K. Hoag, of Orchard Park, New York, to present to the authorities at Washington their claim to a footing of non-political appointment under civil service rules. By good fortune they met at Washington Mr. Dana and Mr. Goodrich, of the National C. S. R. League, who were visiting the Capital on the same errand, and the doubled appeal had quick success. In an interview with President Roosevelt, the Committee of the Postmasters’ League received assurances that he would issue an order on the subject, provided that the President-elect, Mr. Taft, would approve his taking that step. The Committee went at once to the Hot Springs in Virginia, where the President-elect was then sojourning, received his ready endorsement of the plan, and conveyed it to the President in power. A fortnight later, on the 1st day of December, the memorable order was proclaimed. On the 1st of the following February a plan of filling vacancies was put into effect. It was wise, no doubt, to apply the extension of the reform in post-office appointments to one large and important section of the country, and obtain a showing of practical results, before attempting to overturn the old system as a whole. That more will follow in due time is reasonably sure. Mr. Hoag, the President of the National League of Postmasters, in a private note, remarks: "It is already evident that the change is to redound to a better service. Scores of new buildings, new quarters and new equipments are being installed by the emancipated postmasters; which shows that postmasters of this class dare, for the first time, to invest their money in better equipment, feeling that they are likely to remain postmasters long enough to make the investment a paying one, now that their tenure of office does not depend upon their relations to a political faction or boss." CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1909. The Census Bill. Inveteracy of Spoils-seeking in Congress. Veto of the bill in its first form by the President. The Amended Bill which became law. The greatness of the advance of civil service reform in the United States, within the quarter century since its beginning, is one of the most hopefully inspiring facts in recent American history. But, by the side of it stands the warning and shaming fact, that it has been achieved, from first to last, by forces outside of Congress, and outside of all other legislative bodies which supposedly represent the political will of the people. Every measure of legislation that has promoted it has been wrung from unwilling majorities in those bodies,—yielded only when they feared to refuse. That Congress, in both Houses, would wreck with eagerness, to-day, if it dared, the bettered public service of the nation, to recover for its members and their party henchmen the old "spoils" of office and place, was shown unmistakably, within the last year of this record, by its action on the bill to provide for the taking of the Census of 1910. {108} The President, and every responsible official connected with the Census Bureau, had borne testimony to the inefficiency and wasteful costliness of previous census-taking under the old system of appointment, and had besought Congress to provide in the bill for an effective test of qualification for the employment by competitive examination. Considerable majorities in both House and Senate turned an equally deaf ear to all considerations of public interest in the matter, and passed a bill which enabled Senators and Representatives to parcel out between themselves the large number of appointments to be made. President Roosevelt did not hesitate to veto the bill, and gave it a thorough dissection in the Message which explained his disapproval. In part, his comments on the Act offered to him were as follows: "Section 7 of the act provides in effect that appointments to the census shall be under the spoils system, for this is the real meaning of the provision that they shall be subject only to non-competitive examination. The proviso is added that they shall be selected without regard to political party affiliations. But there is only one way to guarantee that they shall be selected without regard to politics and on merit, and that is by choosing them after competitive examination from the lists of eligibles provided by the Civil Service Commission. The present Director of the Census in his last report states the exact fact about these non-competitive examinations when he says: ‘A non-competitive examination means that every one of the many thousands who will pass the examinations will have an equal right to appointment, and that personal and political pressure must in the end, as always before, become the determining factor with regard to the great body of these temporary employments. I cannot too earnestly urge that the Director of the Census be relieved from this unfortunate situation.’ "To provide that the clerks and other employés shall be appointed after non-competitive examination, and yet to provide that they shall be selected without regard to political party affiliations, means merely that the appointments shall be treated as the perquisites of the politicians of both parties, instead of as the perquisites of the politicians of one party. I do not believe in the doctrine that to the victor belongs the spoils; but I think even less of the doctrine that the spoils shall be divided without a fight by the professional politicians on both sides; and this would be the result of permitting the bill in its present shape to become a law. Both of the last censuses, the eleventh and the twelfth, were taken under a provision of law excluding competition; that is, necessitating the appointments being made under the spoils system. Every man competent to speak with authority because of his knowledge of and familiarity with the work of those censuses has stated that the result was to produce extravagance and demoralization." The veto went to Congress on the 5th of February, 1909, one month before the expiration of President Roosevelt’s term of office. His successor-to-be was well known to be in sympathy with his views of the public service, and no attempt was made either to pass the bill over the veto, or to proffer its spoils-seeking provisions to the new occupant of the Presidency when he came in. Congress was compelled, in this case, as in many before, to surrender its cherished spoils of salaried public employment to civil service reform, simply because public interests and public sentiment are better represented, as a rule, in the White House than in the Capitol, which is not a pleasing fact. During the extra session that was called by President Taft, in March, an amended bill was passed which came near to satisfying the demands of reform. It kept a little opening for political favoritism, in a proviso, that the director of the Census may, "when the exigencies of the service require," make his selections from the list of eligibles, not by the candidates’ rating, but on the ground of "immediate availability" or previous experience in census work; but this was so small a loophole that the President’s signing of the bill was generally approved. "The act empowers the director of the census to appoint special agents to whom will be assigned principally the work of obtaining statistics from manufacturing establishments, mines and quarries. While no qualifying test is required by law for the appointment of these agents, Director Durand has nevertheless provided for their selection subject to a carefully worked out scheme of competitive examinations, to be conducted by the United States civil service commission. In rating the candidates the experience declaration and practical test are to be given equal credit. All candidates who receive a combined rating of 70 will be placed on an eligible list, from which selection will be made as the needs of the service require. Eligibility, according to the instructions, ‘is not of itself a guarantee of appointment, but selection will be made solely with reference to equipment and availability for appointment.’" Good Government, October, 1909. CIVIL VETO, in Papal Elections. See (in this Volume) PAPACY: A. D. 1904. CIVILISTAS, The. See (in this Volume). PERU. CLANRICARDE ESTATE, Evicted tenants of the. See (in this Volume) IRELAND: A. D. 1907. CLARION FELLOWSHIP. See (in this Volume) SOCIALISM: ENGLAND: A. D. 1909. CLARK, Edgar E.: On the Anthracite Coal Strike Arbitration Commission. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902-1903. CLEMENCEAU, Eugene: In the Sarrien-Clemenceau Ministry, and as Prime Minister. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1906, and after. CLEMENCEAU, Eugene: Disclaims for France the desire to revenge the German conquest of Alsace. See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907-1908. CLEMENCEAU, Eugene: Triumph in the senatorial elections of 1909. See FRANCE: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY). CLEMENCEAU, Eugene: His downfall from Premiership produced by an intemperate speech. See (in this Volume) FRANCE. A. D. 1909 (JULY). CLERICAL PARTY. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1903; BELGIUM: A. D. 1904; GERMANY: A. D. 1906-1907. CLEVELAND, Grover: Trustee of stock controlling the Equitable Life Assurance Society. See (in this Volume) INSURANCE, LIFE. {109} CLEVELAND, Ohio: A. D. 1901-1908. The Farm Colony Experiment. See (in this Volume) CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY, PROBLEMS OF. COAL, Wasteful mining and use of. See (in this Volume) Conservation of Natural Resources. COAL AND COKE CARTELS. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL (IN GERMANY). COAL COMBINATION, Alleged Anthracite: Proceedings of Government against it. See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907-1909, AND RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906-1909. COAL MINES EIGHT HOURS ACT. See (in this Volume) LABOR PROTECTION: HOURS OF LABOR: ENGLAND. COAL MINING STRIKES. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION. COBALT SILVER MINES. See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1903, and 1906-1907. COLLECTIVISM. See (in this Volume) SOCIALISM. COLLEGES. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION. COLOGNE: Insurance against unemployment. See (in this Volume) POVERTY, PROBLEMS OF: UNEMPLOYMENT. COLOMBIA: A. D. 1898-1902. Castro, of Venezuela, and the Liberals (Yellows) of Colombia. How they helped one another. The following passages are from an article in the American Review of Reviews on "South American War Issues," by Edwin Emerson, Jr., who spent some time with the Colombian insurgents in 1902 and acquired a good knowledge of the troubled political conditions in that republic and its near neighbors. It adds something to what is told in Volume VI. of this work concerning the revolt started in 1899 by Rafael Uribe-Uribe, and about its relation to the beginnings of the career of Cipriano Castro, in Venezuela See, in Volume VI, COLOMBIA, and VENEZUELA). "At the time when Spain was losing Cuba, the last Congress of Colombia sat in Bogota. The Liberal party had but one spokesman in the Congress—to wit, Rafael Uribe-Uribe. The government majority championed the cause of Spain. Many of the more ardent Liberals were fighting in the field for ‘Cuba Libre.’ Uribe-Uribe was the only man in the Congress who spoke for America as against Spain. He was hissed down. Next, the Panama Canal question came up. The French concession was to be extended for ten years. Again Uribe-Uribe spoke for America as against France. The project was voted down. The Congress was dissolved. President San Clemente, on his own motion, extended the French concession. For this he is said to have received one million dollars, cash. Then the revolution broke out, and Uribe-Uribe took the field, in Santander, the richest coffee-growing state of Colombia. He fell upon the town of Cúcuta and took it, only to be driven out again after a disastrous rout at Palo Negro. To make things worse for the rebels, the Bishop of Santander ordered the excommunication of those who would not renounce liberalism or all connection with Liberals. It was a crushing blow, aimed at the wives and daughters of the fighting insurgents. "While affairs were thus disturbed in Santander, Cipriano Castro, a Venezuelan exile living in Cúcuta, profited by the occasion to lead a small band of Colombian Liberals into Venezuela. They dashed across the border by night, and fell into Castro’s native town, Capachio Viejo. Castro’s father and five brothers, with other townsfolk, joined his standard and helped him win his first battle over a small detachment of Venezuelan government troops. Now the number of his adherents grew, especially as he won battle after battle or bought over his rival leaders. After a crushing defeat at Valencia, President Andrade fled the country, and Castro entered Caracas in triumph. His early Colombian adherents got Venezuelan government jobs. "All went well for a while, especially after the prompt suppression of a counter-revolution, until Castro’s sympathies with the Colombian Liberals in the field began to tell on his foreign policy. Uribe-Uribe had been badly beaten in Colombia. He was made welcome by Castro in Venezuela, and was intrusted with the command of a division on the Colombian frontier. The command was recruited from Colombians across the border. At the same time, Castro arbitrarily stopped all navigation on the Zulia and Catacumbo rivers, running from Colombian Cordillera to the Lake of Maracaibo, in Venezuela. This was a death-blow to the coffee industry of the Colombian state of Santander, which has no other outlet to the sea. Cúcuta was ruined. A German house failed for half a million dollars, an American hacienda lost $200,000, and other foreign merchants suffered in proportion. All commerce in Cúcuta and Maracaibo coffee almost came to a standstill. Then it was that the government forces in Santander, to bring relief to the stricken district, tried to open the closed rivers by a sudden armed invasion into that region. For the sake of appearances, they were led by Ranjel Garbiras, a Venezuelan revolutionist. They made for the prosperous town of San Cristobal, but Uribe-Uribe had managed to gather his corps of insurgents, and beat off the attack in a three days’ battle. Some two thousand men fell on both sides. Uribe-Uribe promptly prepared a counter invasion. He was aided in this by Castro, who practically put all Venezuelan forces in the Cordillera at his disposal. "President Castro, who was furious at so overt an act of war on the part of his old enemies, the Colombian Clericals, furthermore sent another expedition across the Goajira desert to aid his Colombian insurgent friends in that peninsula to take the Colombian port of Rio Hacha. Venezuelan gunboats appeared before Rio Hacha to do their part in the capture. Unfortunately for the Liberal cause, the Venezuelan army in the Goajira was taken unawares while on the march, and was all but annihilated. The gunboats chose to retire without firing a shot. Castro never recovered from this reverse. The expenses of his various armed expeditions ate up all his ready finances. When he could no longer maintain Uribe-Uribe’s troops, Uribe cut loose and recrossed the border, to join forces with other insurgent leaders in the interior of Colombia. Uribe’s cousin proceeded to Panama, and the civil war there broke out with fresh vigor. By their recent brilliant stroke in the harbor of Panama, the Colombian Liberals have won the command of the sea on the Pacific side. To assist them in doing the same on the Atlantic side, Castro has now supplied them with a torpedo-boat and a small gunboat." {110} These last mentioned successes of Uribe-Uribe had no permanent effectiveness, for his surrender, with 1300 men and 10 pieces of artillery, was announced presently as having occurred on the 25th of October, 1902. It seemed unfortunate that he did not succeed in overthrowing the Conservatives, or "Blues," who held the government, since most accounts of their rule represented it as hopelessly bad; but a change for the better came without revolution after no long time. The state of civil war was closed by a treaty of peace, signed on board the United States battleship Wisconsin, November 21. COLUMBIA: A. D. 1901-1906. Participation in Second and Third International Conferences of American Republics, at Rio de Janeiro. See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS. COLUMBIA: A. D. 1903. Rejection of Treaty with the United States for the building of the Panama Canal. Revolt and independence of Panama. See (in this Volume ) PANAMA CANAL. COLUMBIA: A. D. 1903-1906. Feeling toward the United States. Of the feeling in Colombia toward the United States, consequent on what occurred in Panama, Mr. Barrett, American Minister at Bogota, reported in 1906 as follows: "The question is continually asked me: What is the attitude of the Colombian Government and people toward Americans and American interests on account of the Panama affair? Without entering upon any political discussion, I wish, in answering this pertinent inquiry, to take advantage of the opportunity to pay a just and frank tribute to Colombia. Speaking in the first place for myself as minister, I can truthfully say that, ever since my arrival here seven months ago, I have been treated with a generous kindness and sincere hospitality that have made a deep impression on me and increased my respect for Colombians in particular and Latin Americans in general. The United States minister has been extended invitations official and personal, and the United States legation in turn has been continually frequented by leading men of all parties, as if nothing had ever happened to mar the entente cordiale of the two countries. "In the granting of concessions and in the hearing of claims the Government has treated Americans with as much consideration as Europeans. During my stay here, and up to this writing, there has not been one complaint lodged by Americans in this legation of unkind treatment by Colombians due to any political anti-American feeling. In my own travels in various parts of the country, officials and peons alike have everywhere accorded me polite and even gracious attention. To let it be known that I was United States minister has always led to extra courtesies rather than to any lack of them. "I could not, however, have it understood abroad that there is not still strong feeling against the United States. It does exist, but the passing of years, and generous, fair treatment of Colombia and Colombians by the United States and its citizens, in international relations and friendly social and commercial intercourse, can effect its gradual disappearance. Such feeling does not take the attitude of personal enmity toward Americans. The Colombians, high and low, are too polite and sensible for that. It is a feeling in the minds and hearts, based on high political and patriotic grounds, which, however, with commendable philosophy, recognizes the inevitable and now turns to the future to bring blessings that will counterbalance the losses and sorrows of the past. The very courage and nobility of this attitude of Colombia is one of the chief reasons why I predict for her a magnificent future. Already this policy—if I may call it a policy—is bearing fruit in the development of a greater and more friendly and sympathetic interest throughout the United States in Colombia, which is destined to lead to a mutually favorable understanding and settlement of all differences in the near future." COLUMBIA: A. D. 1904. Arbitration of boundary dispute with Equador. A treaty for the arbitration of boundary questions with Equador was concluded November 4, 1904 . COLUMBIA: A. D. 1905. Arbitration Treaties with Peru. See (in this Volume) PERU: A. D. 1905. COLUMBIA: A. D. 1905-1906. A New Era, under President Reyes. "The New Era in Colombia" is the title of an article in the American Review of Reviews, May, 1906, by Francis P. Savinien, writing from the country in question. "By judicious, if not generous, action," says the writer, "President Rafael Reyes [who became President in the previous year] has succeeded in harmonizing nearly all elements of the population. His administration is neither Liberal nor Conservative. It is Nationalist. Placed in power by Conservatives and sustained by Liberals, his favors to the former preserve order in the center of the country, and his implicit trust in the latter insures peace on the frontiers. He has made General Uribe-Uribe minister to Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, and General Herrera commander along the Venezuelan border, thus bestowing the highest diplomatic and military honors on Liberals. From Conservatives he chose all his ministers (except Dr. Modesto Garees, of the Department of Public Works), the governor of the capital district, and other high officials for the center of government. His government is like that of Panama, the secession of which made a policy of reconciliation predominant in both countries. … The Colombian army has become a body of laborers. Troops are converted into sappers and employed in building or improving ways of communication. Idleness, as well as agitation, is beginning to receive general condemnation. It is true that there is little liberty. There is, however, less persecution than formerly. Journals are abject and individuals mute. There is no free speech or press. But there are few persons in prison or exile for political reasons. The policy of the government has become that of abstention rather than restraint." General Reyes had represented Colombia at the Pan-American Conference in the City of Mexico, in 1902, and had made a most favorable impression on the delegates from the United States. Referring to the occasion long afterwards, Mr. Sylvester Baxter said of him: "It is notable that in that Conference Colombia was represented by General Rafael Reyes, a high type of man—gentleman by birth and education, of scientific attainments, a natural leader, one of the strong characters of Spanish America; a man whose existence makes things seem hopeful when else they might look hopeless; a soldier-statesman in whom many see the potentialities of a second Diaz." {111} A similar expression of admiration appears in an interesting special report, entitled "Colombia, a Land of Great Possibilities," made in June, 1906, by the Honorable John Barrett, then American Minister to Colombia, more recently the Director of the International Bureau of American Republics. "Great credit," wrote Mr. Barrett, "is due to General Rafael Reyes, President of this Republic, for his untiring efforts to restore the prosperity of his country to the position it occupied before the last civil war and the loss of Panama. If he succeeds, he will deserve a place in history like that of President Diaz in Mexico. He has so far effectually stopped revolutions, and, if his life and health are spared, Colombia would seem to be assured of peace at least during his administration." COLUMBIA: A. D. 1905-1909. Troubles with Venezuela over the navigation of rivers flowing through both countries. The arbitrary action begun by the ill-tempered and arrogant Castro, of Venezuela, in 1902, when he stopped navigation on the rivers which flow from Colombia to Lake Maracaibo, in Venezuela, and thus open communication to the sea (see above), was continued or resumed in subsequent years, and was a distressing trouble to his Colombian neighbors. In July, 1905, the Colombian Government appealed to that of the United States for its good offices in maintaining the principle of free navigation on rivers that are common to neighboring countries. "From the time of the award which decided the boundary dispute between the two countries," said the Colombian Minister to the United States, in a communication to the American Secretary of State, "the policy of Venezuela in matters relating to the transit trade of Colombia and the navigation of the common rivers, has been marked by a conspicuous spirit of hostility. … Neither logical arguments nor historic precedents, such as those submitted by the Colombian chancellery to the Government of Venezuela for the recognition by the latter of the principle of free trade over the natural waterways placed by God at the disposal of all nations, have availed." The writer then reviewed at considerable length the arguments with which the Government of the United States had contended in the past with Spain and Great Britain for the free navigation of the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence, and said in conclusion: "It would be desirable, and I would ask that it be done if this note were favorably received by the Government of the United States, that the American minister at Caracas be appropriately instructed in the sense of declaring on behalf of the commercial interests of the citizens of the United States his desire that the Government of Venezuela make the navigation of the Zulia and Orinoco rivers free, and urging, by persuasion, that the principle be solemnly consecrated in its public treaties. My Government will join in such an action, which comes within its traditional policy in the matter, and will interpose no obstacle or delay to the meeting of an international mixed commission for the framing of regulations concerning the use of the above-named rivers without detriment to the legitimate interests of the countries through which they flow." To this request the then Acting Secretary of State, Mr. Adee, made a favorable reply, August 5, saying: "The principle of the free navigation of rivers has been advocated by the United States and maintained in its relations with its neighbors for many years. This government is ready, therefore, to use its good offices in the sense requested, and Mr. Russell has been instructed upon arriving at his new post in Venezuela to take advantage of fitting occasion to express to the minister for foreign affairs the great satisfaction with which the United States would view the adoption and proclamation by Venezuela of the general principle of the free navigation of rivers and fluvial arteries of communication common to neighboring countries. "It is of course to be understood that in touching upon this matter this government does not seek to intervene or mediate in any way in the relations between Colombia and Venezuela, but is merely interested in the universal recognition of a policy beneficial to the commerce of the world." In the following December, the endeavor seemed promising; for the American Minister to Colombia was able to report the signing, at Bogota, of a protocol, preparatory to a new treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, to be concluded at Caracas. Four months later, on the 27th of April, 1906, Minister Russell, at Caracas, announced the arrival there of the Colombian plenipotentiary, General Benjamin Herrera, appointed for the negotiation of the treaty agreed upon, but reported further that the Venezuelan Government had refused to receive him, demanding that somebody else be sent. No settlement of the matter could be obtained while Castro controlled Venezuela. Since his elimination it has been reported that President Gomez, his successor, has annulled his decrees of hostility to Colombian commerce. COLUMBIA: A. D. 1906-1909. Efficient but arbitrary Government produces discontent. Opposition to treaty with Panama and the United States. Vacation of President Reyes which ends in resignation. Revolt. Elections. While the Government organized under President Reyes was undoubtedly efficient and effective in restoring order and prosperity to the country, it was not satisfactory to the people; and perhaps it speaks well for them that they showed discontent. It was not a representative government, the existing Congress not being an elective body, but a provisional legislature made up by appointment. As admitted in the quotation above from a friendly Colombian writer, the citizens under it were tongue-tied subjects, having no free speech or Press. The political situation and the differing states of feeling produced by it were discussed in April, 1909, by a special correspondent of the New York Evening Post, who wrote from Bogotá: "It seems to be confessed by the great majority of the people here that the country has not entered on that stage of political development in which the people can govern themselves by parliamentary methods. The history of their nearly one hundred years of independent national life has been that of almost continual civil strife, and of frequent civil wars, which have interrupted and almost destroyed all efforts at self-government; so that the present system of government by executive decrees, to be ratified by an appointed ‘Constitutional and Legislative Assembly,’ is about the only one that can preserve the peace and direct the country into the line of prosperity and progress. {112} "Under this system of government the country has enjoyed almost perfect internal peace during the year. This is the political theory that is most widely accepted at the present time in Colombia. Of course, there are those who do not agree with this theory, which they consider as the natural action of men who are more anxious to preserve order than they are to establish truth and justice, and there are not lacking those who say that in the long run it will be found to be a foolish system. "It is pointed out that the idea that grievances can be done away with by forbidding men to complain, or that the criticisms can be met by excommunicating the critics, or that changes can be prevented by putting the troublers to silence, is contradicted by the experience of the rest of the world. The kind of effort that is being made in Colombia to prevent the liberty of the press, of public speech, and of personal opinion, is like the effort to prevent the escape of steam by the safety valve, and is very likely to result in an explosion." The state of public feeling in Colombia became further complicated, no doubt, when, early in January, 1909, a tripartite treaty was negotiated, with Panama and the United States, for the settlement of questions connected with the secession of Panama in 1903. Panama, in this treaty, agreed to pay Colombia the sum of $3,500,000, as her share of the Colombian public debt, receiving recognition of her independence in return. The treaty was submitted to the Colombian Congress by President Reyes on the 24th of February, with a special message of recommendation; but public feeling was said to be bitterly against it, for the reasons that no wrongfulness in the transaction was recognized and the indemnity was insufficient. Disturbances which broke out at Bogota and in the provinces about the middle of March were attributed mostly to this cause of discontent. For some reason of discouragement or disgust, the President was reported to have resigned his office on the 13th, but was persuaded to resume it next day. It was now decided to suspend consideration of the tripartite treaty, until it could be submitted to an elected National Congress, the election for which would be held on the 20th of the coming July. In June, a few weeks before the appointed election, President Reyes made a sudden departure for Europe. Rumors that he had gone because tired of political strife and would not return were contradicted by the Colombian Consul at New York, in a published note which said: "His departure, the causes of which are well known throughout Colombia, was due to the fact that after five years’ strenuous labor he desired a rest, and last March to the National Assembly expressed his desire to retire temporarily from the Presidency, but, owing to the opposition of public sentiment and the strong desire of the people to have him remain, he determined not to leave the Presidency until elections to the coming Congress had been made. To this Congress, about to be convened, and in which all parties are represented, President Reyes confides many of the cares of government, left by law under his jurisdiction until Congress should assemble, and withdraws, temporarily only, from the discharge of his Presidential duties, leaving in his stead General Jorge Holguin, his most intimate friend and former minister of war, who will continue to pursue in all matters the same policy as that adopted by his predecessor. General Reyes during his stay in Europe, whence he has gone, will perfect plans for developing railroad and other industries in Colombia. There is absolute peace and tranquillity in all parts of the country." But the "absolute peace and tranquillity" of the country was shaken in the first week of July by a revolutionary outbreak at Barranquilla, soon suppressed, and the resignation of President Reyes was received soon thereafter, from abroad. The election of his successor now devolved on the new National Congress, elected by the people on the 20th of July. It gave the office, for the remainder of the unfinished term (which expires August 7, 1910) to Señor Gonzales Valencia, who had been proclaimed by the Barranquilla revolutionists the month before, though he disavowed their movement. COLONIAL CONFERENCES, British. See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE. COLONIAL DOMINION, The passing of the age of. See (in this Volume) WORLD MOVEMENTS. COLONIZATION: The colonizable regions of Africa. See (in this Volume) AFRICA. COLORADOS. See (in this Volume) PARAGUAY: A. D. 1902. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Interchange of Professors with German and Scandinavian universities. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: INTERNATIONAL INTERCHANGES. COMBES, Justin Louis Émile: Head of French Ministry. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1902 (April-October; also 1903, and 1905-1906. COMBES, Justin Louis Émile: Vindication under scandalous charges. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1904 (JUNE-JULY). --------COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL: Start------ COMBINATIONS: AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1909. Decision of the Federal High Court on the Anti-Trust Law. Prosecutions by the Government. "The first case brought under the Federal Anti-Trust Law ended in June last in a decision of the High Court to the effect that two important sections of the Act were ultra vires, as the Constitution only empowered the Commonwealth to regulate foreign and inter-State trade and gave it no authority to interfere with trade within a State. The Federal Government is now instituting proceedings against 27 firms which are alleged to belong to a coal combine trading with other countries and among the States of the Commonwealth. Each firm has been called upon to answer certain questions under the Act in question." Reuter Telegram, Melbourne, September 27, 1909. {113} COMBINATIONS: Canada: A. D. 1909. Merger of Dominion Iron, Steel, and Coal Companies. Cement Combination. The following is a Press despatch from Halifax, Nova Scotia, November 13, 1909: "The formation of the Canada Steel Corporation, the proposed $70,000,000 merger of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company and the Dominion Coal Company, was made possible by the agreement of James Ross of Montreal, president of the Dominion Coal Company, to transfer to a syndicate of Toronto capitalists a portion of his holdings of the coal company stock. Final arrangements regarding the stock transfer will be made here to-day. President Ross owns coal company stock of a par value of $5,000,000, and, although he does not dispose of all this, he is to transfer enough to give control of the coal company to the Toronto capitalists, who have already acquired a controlling interest in the steel company. The plants of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company and the Dominion Coal Company are in Cape Breton, where they give employment to thousands of men, and where they have caused little fishing villages to spring up into flourishing cities." Announcement of the completion of the merger was made in December. COMBINATIONS: CANADA: A. D. 1910. Anti-Trust Bill in the Dominion Parliament. A strongly constructed measure for controlling and regulating commercial and industrial combinations, to check restraints of trade and undue enhancement of prices, was brought into the Dominion House of Commons on the 18th of January, 1910, by the Minister of Labor, Mr. Mackenzie King, and its passage was said to be assured. Mr King’s explanation of the Bill, as summarized for the Associated Press, was as follows: "The Bill, Mr. King stated, was not designed to interfere with trade, but to protect the public from the operation of monopolies. The bill provides that if six or more persons show prima facie evidence to a superior court judge that a combine exists, which has unduly enhanced the price of a manufactured article, unduly limited the production of any commodity, or unduly restricted trade in any way, the judge shall order the minister of labor to have an investigation made. This shall be done by a board of three, one member to be appointed by those who complain, one by those complained against, and a chairman by the first two, and if they fail to select the judge who has heard the complaint shall act. "This board has the full powers of a court to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence. The board must report to the minister and he must give the report the fullest publicity. "Two remedies are provided where a combination is reported to exist. The government may withdraw the tariff protection from the articles produced by the combine and bring the manufacturers into competition with the world. "The other remedy is a provision that if the combine persists in its course after ten days there shall be a fine of $1,000 a day imposed until the abuse is remedied. There is also provision that when a patentee makes use of the protection of the patent act to restrict trade or unduly enhance prices his patent may be revoked. "The act provides for its expeditious and thorough enforcement, and all expenses of investigation are to be borne by the government. "Where question is raised as to the scope of the investigation, the board shall make it as thorough and complete as public interest requires. Boards are to conduct their investigations in public and the decision of two members shall be the decision of the board. Whenever the minister of labor believes that counsel should aid the investigation, the board may retain the services of a lawyer upon the consent of the minister of justice. Witnesses are to be allowed the same fees and traveling expenses allowed at the present in civil suits. With the consent of the minister of labor a board may employ experts to examine books and to report upon technical questions." COMBINATIONS: GERMANY: Corporation Reform as the Germans have handled it. "Thirty years ago the German people went through corporation experiences much like our own. There, as here, the corporation, as originally designed, was a mere shell. There, as here, under the shelter of that shell, the property of the country was being transferred from the German people at large, even the little they had, to the few. There, thirty years ago, as here now, great corporate scandals were exposed. And there, as here, the human nature that is everywhere behind civilization eventually began to recoil. It began there before it began here, only because conditions reached a climax there earlier than here, and because we as a people were too prosperous and too busy to look even a little way beneath the surface of things. "But when the work of reform did come there, it was a genuine reform. It did not content itself with indiscriminate denunciation, or with mere lawsuits. Nor did it die out, leaving the door still open to every character of corporation the cunning of men might conceive. Before a corporation can be organized in that country, it must prove, as in a court proceeding, its rightful title to a corporate existence. In the same way it must establish the amount and the character of the capitalization it is allowed to put out. When property is turned in, its value must be judicially ascertained. Upon officers and directors is not conferred supreme power; in the German corporation the shareholders’ meeting is the counterpart of our New England town meetings—a genuine assembly intended to do something more than pass resolutions of approval. And every violation of trust, not merely to the public, but to the shareholder as well, is quickly punished with punishment that smarts. There is in the German corporation no room for one to do, with impunity, in his capacity as a corporation officer or promoter, what if done individually would land him in the penitentiary." Judge Peter S. Grosscup, The Corporation and the People (The Outlook, January 12, 1907). COMBINATIONS: The Cartels. Industrial combinations, quite as effective as the Trusts of the United States, have been created in Germany on a wholly different plan. The constituent organizations in them, of capital and industry, are simply knitted or tied together by hard and fast agreements, instead of being fused into huge corporations, as the Trusts are. For the kind of covenant which unites them a military term has been borrowed, and they are called Cartels. The difference between the Cartel and the Trust is described by a Scottish writer, D. H. Macgregor, in his work on Industrial Combinations, as follows: {114} "The Cartel is an agreement for a time, the Trust is a permanent structure; the former is therefore a factor in industry full of speculative possibilities, both as regards its actual operation, and because the 'residual' competition of parties who break away at the end of the period is considerably to be feared. … The principle of the pure Cartel is compensatory action. It is an organization in which certain producers deal with themselves, and exist for that purpose in a double relation; they are producers of goods, and purchasers of their own produce. What they stand to lose in one aspect they stand to gain in the other. … "The operation is broadly as follows. The members of the Cartel, meeting as producers in general assembly, determine a price for their product which covers cost of production, being in fact practically a competitive price. This is the base or normal price (Richtpreis). Thus they assure themselves, in this capacity, of adequate remuneration. They then sell to the Syndicate, that is to themselves as members of the Syndicate, for what is called the ‘taking over’ or ‘accounting’ price (Verrechnungspreis) which is usually on the average higher than the base price, so that they have now created for themselves as producers a ‘Cartel advantage.’ The Syndicate then resells to the consumer, for a price which will be as high as it can get, but which varies with the competition to be met in different parts of the market; this price (Verkaufspreis) may not in some cases be so high as the taking-over price, or may not exceed it by more than the margin necessary to cover the Syndicate’s expenses of management. … It is the Syndicate which figures in the public eye; and while it itself offers no sign of monopoly profit it shelters the companies which gain by its handling of their goods. It conceals monopoly dividends." D. H. Macgregor, Industrial Combination (G. Bell & Sons, London, 1906). COMBINATIONS: The Coal and Coke Cartels. Their influence. An elaborate history and description of the "Monopolistic Combinations in the German Coal Industry," by Francis Walker, was published for the American Economic Association in 1904. These are treated as representative, because, says Mr. Walker, "the most important and fundamental of all German castellated industries" are those in mining and metallurgy. He traces their development from a beginning in 1858, when an association of the mining interests of the mining district of Dormund was founded. In part, his conclusions as to the effect of the coal cartels are as follows: "The German coal cartels have not had an injurious influence, in general, on the production of coal. More particularly they cannot be accused, justly, of unduly limiting production among themselves. Nor have they attempted to accomplish the same end by crushing outside competition, by unfair methods. It would be preposterous to say that they have hindered technical progress. The cost of production, on the other hand, probably has been somewhat increased by the preservation of weak and costly mines through participation in the cartels. In regard to prices, the policy of the coal cartels, on the whole, has been moderate, taking circumstances into consideration, while the policy of the coke cartel may be fairly pronounced extortionate. The prices of coal have been more stable than they would have been under free competition; during the hausse they were not screwed up so high as they might easily have been, but, on the other hand, they have not declined so quickly with the baisse. The like may be said of the coke prices, but, at the same time, they were exorbitant considered from the point of view of costs and profits. … The déroute of the iron industry was not due to the coal or coke cartels in any important degree, i. e., even with low prices, disaster to the iron industry would have been inevitable. No other industry was affected so much as iron, and it is at least very questionable whether the cartels in general (excluding the coal cartels in particular) are to be blamed for the crisis. … That they are to be blamed for the ill-judged over-development of certain industries, which was apparently the real cause of the crisis, does not seem to be a just conclusion. On the other hand, the cartels may be accused, with more probability of truth, of retarding the convalescence of German industry by not reducing prices, and if this is true, the coal and coke cartels are specially to blame." F. Walker, Monopolistic Combinations in the German Coal Industry (American Economic Association), 1904. COMBINATIONS: Growing magnitude of companies. Industrial concentration. "The tendency to industrial concentration is shown by the returns of public companies, which point to the growing domination of large undertakings. Of 4,749 registered public companies in 1895, 13.6 per cent. had a share capital not exceeding £5,000, but in 1906, of 5,000 such companies, only 9.6 per cent. had a capital of that amount; the companies with a capital of from £5,000 to £12,500 decreased from 14.0 to 10.4 per cent., and those with a capital of from £12,500 to £25,000 decreased from 16.9 to 14.2 per cent. On the other hand the companies with a capital of from £25,000 to £50,000 increased from 20.7 to 21.3 percent.; those with a capital of from £50,000 to £250,000 increased from 28.5 to 35.0 per cent.; those with a capital of from £250,000 to £500,000 increased from 3.4 to 5.4 per cent., and those with a capital exceeding £500,000 increased from 2.9 to 4.1 per cent. In 1896 there were only two companies with a capital exceeding five millions; in 1906 there were nine such companies, and their combined capital was over seventy millions, having been more than doubled since 1896. In spite of this tendency towards the concentration of capital and the multiplication of large undertakings, however, Germany is still an interesting illustration of an industrial country which has not yet entirely gone over to the factory system of production. The handicrafts, the characteristic feature of which is the small, independent master-workman, surrounded by his handful of journeymen and apprentices, contend tenaciously, yet unfortunately with only partial success, against the on-coming tide of ‘great capitalism’ (private joint stock, and cooperative), and the house industries continue to afford employment to a multitude of workers of both sexes, estimated at half a million." William H. Dawson, The Evolution of Modern Germany, pages 59-60 (Unwin, London; Scribner's, New York, 1909). {115} "Among the home interests of the country nothing loomed up so large last year [1904] as the subject of industrial combinations. The process of consolidating industries and banks into powerful organizations again made gigantic strides; and the public mind, dazed and disquieted, is wondering what will be its final outcome. All the largest steel manufacturers have united in an association that shall have complete control of the steel and iron products of the country; and it is already effecting agreements with manufacturers of other countries for parceling out the world’s markets. At the same time the Coal Syndicate was reorganized to include all the independent producers of the West; and in connection with it, a great shipping and selling company was formed for the purpose of controlling the retail trade and eliminating recalcitrant dealers. These steel and coal combinations are working in complete harmony, and no independent manufacturer can exist against their will. "In that great industrial region many large iron companies had come into possession of coal mines. In order to induce these to put their mines into the Syndicate, they were given the right to produce, over and above their allotments, all the coal that they might need for their own furnaces. A new impetus was thus given to the process of consolidation. Strong coal companies hastened to absorb iron establishments, in order to earn larger profits by consuming their own coal in indefinite quantities. Furthermore, as the allotments were fixed absolutely for a long period, the strongest companies proceeded to buy weaker, less economically worked collieries, in order to shut them down and produce their allotments elsewhere at lower cost. This movement assumed large proportions. Miners by the thousand had to betake themselves to other parts of the country, and entire communities were threatened with depopulation. Industrial towns held indignation meetings, to protest, and to demand the nationalization of the mines; and excited operatives are still holding conferences to discuss a general strike. The Government has sent a commission to inquire into the movement; and the Minister of Commerce has urged the coal magnates to proceed as mildly as possible. "This powerful concentric movement of industries has taken a strong hold upon the thoughts of people and Government alike. The public is deeply concerned at the growth of private monopolies, and many persons who had hitherto favored letting economic development take its own course now call for drastic measures of prevention and repression. Country squires of the most conservative type advocate the nationalization of all coal deposits; and it is already asserted that a majority of the Prussian Diet would vote for such a measure. This convergence of the views of extreme Conservatism and radical Socialism is certainly one of the oddest results of the movement under discussion,—and one of the most instructive. The natural trend of events is unquestionably in the direction of some form of socialism. The Social Democracy clearly perceives this, and so hails every industrial consolidation as but another milestone on the way to state collectivism." W. C. Dreher, Recent Events in Germany (Atlantic Monthly, March, 1905). COMBINATIONS: International: Of Transatlantic Shipping Companies. Agreements with the British Government. Announcement was made in October, 1902, of the incorporation on the 1st of that month, under a New Jersey charter, of the International Mercantile Marine Company, with a capital of $120,000,000, and an issue of 4½ per cent. bonds to the amount of $75,000,000. The combination included the American, the Red Star, the White, the Atlantic Transport, the Leyland and the Dominion lines. Both American and British capitalists were represented in the board of directors, the former in the majority. Several partners in the firm of J. Pierpont Morgan & Company were included, and Mr. Morgan was understood to be the architect of the combination; but he did not appear personally in its organization. The first step towards such a shipping combination had been taken sixteen years before, when the British Inman steamship line was taken over by the International Navigation Company, made up of Americans, at the head of whom was Mr. Clement A. Griscom, of Philadelphia. "The British Government promptly withdrew the liberal subsidy which it had been paying to the Inman liners; but Mr. Griscom and his comrades brought the New York and Paris beneath the Stars and Stripes, built the St. Louis and St. Paul, secured a subsidy from the United States and gave the first-class British lines a most formidable competitor. Indeed, commercial rivalry in high grade ships on the North Atlantic soon became too keen to permit of reasonable dividends and Mr. Griscom found British ship-owners in a responsive mood when he broached anew the great idea of an international combination. "This union was made all the easier by the fact that meanwhile another important British steamship concern, the Leyland line, had been acquired by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan in the spring of 1901. This line, itself the fruit of several consolidations, controlled the largest British tonnage in the North Atlantic trade. It owned no fast mail ships, no greyhounds. But it did possess forty or fifty good, useful steamships of moderate speed, many of them of large tonnage, and fit for passengers as well as freight. The main Leyland service lay between Boston or New York on this side, and Liverpool or London on the other, and the business of the company had been so profitable for a long term of years that its shares were quoted at a handsome premium. Mr. Morgan paid a generous price for his maritime investment. It is said that he gave £14 10s. for each £10 share, or a bonus of 45 per cent. But amazement at Mr. Morgan’s ‘liberality’ ceased when the next stage in the great, far-sighted negotiation was unfolded. "This was the dramatic uniting of the Leyland line with the American and Red Star lines of the International Navigation Company, and the Atlantic Transport line, another British steam fleet owned by American capital. Later still it transpired that the famous White Star line of fast mail, passenger, and freight ships and the smaller but excellent Dominion line were embraced in the huge consolidation. The White Star was one of the two lines—the Cunard was the other—which performed the British mail service between Queenstown and New York. Its fleet included the great liners Oceanic and Celtic, the swift Teutonic and Majestic, and the favorite Britannic and Germanic which had held ocean records in their day, together with a considerable number of large and efficient freighters. The American purchase of the White Star line was long disputed, and when it was finally confirmed, something like consternation seized the British press and people, for the White Star fleet had been regarded as distinctively a British institution as the Bank of England. Its fast ships received not only the mail pay of the post-office, but the subventions of the Admiralty, and were enrolled on the ‘merchant cruiser’ list." Winthrop L. Marvin, The Great Ship "Combine" (American Review of Reviews, December, 1902). {116} The anxieties with which the combination was regarded at first in Great Britain were allayed materially by Mr. G. Balfour, President of the Board of Trade, who made public, in a speech at Sheffield, the terms of an arrangement that had been made by the Government with the Cunard Company, on one hand, and the Combination on the other. The Cunard Company, he said, "pledged themselves to remain in every respect a British company, managed by British directors—the shares not to be transferred to any but British subjects. Their ships were to be officered by British officers. They also engaged to construct two vessels of twenty-four to twenty-five knots which, as well as the entire Cunard fleet, the Admiralty would have the right to charter or purchase at any time on terms fixed in the agreement. The money for the construction of the fast steamers would be advanced to the company at the rate of 2¾ per cent. interest, while in lieu of the present Admiralty subvention—£28,000 a year for the contingent use of three ships—the company would receive £150,000 a year. With Mr. Pierpont Morgan, the head of the Shipping Combination, who had shown the utmost readiness to meet the wishes of His Majesty’s Government, it had been agreed that the British companies in the Combination should remain British, not merely in name but in reality. The majority of their directors were to be British subjects. All their ships now flying the British flag were to continue to fly it, and at least one-half of those hereafter to be built for the Combination would likewise fly British colours, be commanded by British officers, and manned in reasonable proportion by British sailors. On the other hand, the combined companies would continue to be treated, as heretofore, on a footing of equality with other British companies in respect of any services, whether postal, or military, or naval, which His Majesty’s Government might require from the British mercantile marine. It had been further stipulated that in the event of the Combination pursuing a policy hostile to our mercantile marine or to British trade, the King’s Government should have the right to terminate the agreement." COMBINATIONS: United States: A. D. 1900. Definition of the term Industrial Combination formulated at the Census Bureau. Statistics as collected in 1900. "The officials of the Census Office, in order to prevent misconceptions and insure consistency in the plan and system of tabulation, formulated the following definition of the term ‘industrial combination’: "‘For the purpose of the Census, the rule has been adopted to consider no aggregation of mills an industrial combination, unless it consists of a number of formerly independent mills which have been brought together into one company under a charter obtained for that purpose. We therefore exclude from this category many large establishments comprising a number of mills, which have grown up, not by combination with other mills, but by the erection of new plants or the purchase of old ones.’ … "So far as can be ascertained from the data in the Census Office, the number of these industrial consolidations is 183. They control 2203 separate plants, scattered throughout the United States, 2029 being active and 174 idle during the census year. For 56 of the idle plants no returns could be obtained, making the total number of reporting plants 2147. The 183 combinations extend to almost all lines of industry, producing articles of luxury, materials essential to the upbuilding and growth of the country, and even the very necessities of life. Fully 50 per cent. of these combinations were chartered just prior to or during the census year; and it is noteworthy that the epidemic of industrial consolidation, as far as the so-called monopolies are concerned, has been practically confined to the past four years. It is evident, therefore, that the disease—if it be regarded as such—has spread very rapidly. "Naturally enough, iron and steel, with 69 combinations, heads the list. The number of reporting plants engaged in this industry is 469, and the capital invested, consisting of land, buildings, machinery, tools and implements, and cash and sundries, is valued at $348,000,000." W. R. Merriam, "Trusts" in the Light of Census Returns (Atlantic Monthly, March, 1902). COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1901-1903. The question of Federal Control and Regulation. Urgency of President Roosevelt for effective legislation. In his first Message to Congress, three months after his succession to the Presidency, President Roosevelt expressed his mind frankly and clearly on the then increasing demand in the country for more stringent measures of government, to control and regulate the exercise of the power which great aggregations of incorporated capital have created in recent times. In part, he then said: "The tremendous and highly complex industrial development which went on with ever accelerated rapidity during the latter half of the nineteenth century brings us face to face, at the beginning of the twentieth, with very serious social problems. The old laws, and the old customs which had almost the binding force of law, were once quite sufficient to regulate the accumulation and distribution of wealth. Since the industrial changes which have so enormously increased the productive power of mankind, they are no longer sufficient. The growth of cities has gone on beyond comparison faster than the growth of the country, and the up building of the great industrial centers has meant a startling increase, not merely in the aggregate of wealth, but in the number of very large individual, and especially of very large corporate, fortunes. … The process has aroused much antagonism, a great part of which is wholly without warrant. It is not true that as the rich have grown richer the poor have grown poorer. On the contrary, never before has the average man, the wage-worker, the farmer, the small trader, been so well off as in this country and at the present time. There have been abuses connected with the accumulation of wealth; yet it remains true that a fortune accumulated in legitimate business can be accumulated by the person specially benefited only on condition of conferring immense incidental benefits upon others. … {117} The captains of industry who have driven the railway systems across this continent, who have built up our commerce, who have developed our manufactures, have on the whole done great good to our people. Without them the material development of which we are so justly proud could never have taken place. … It cannot too often be pointed out that to strike with ignorant violence at the interests of one set of men almost inevitably endangers the interests of all. … Much of the legislation directed at the trusts would have been exceedingly mischievous had it not also been entirely ineffective. In accordance with a well-known sociological law, the ignorant or reckless agitator has been the really effective friend of the evils which he has been nominally opposing. "All this is true; and yet it is also true that there are real and grave evils, one of the chief being over-capitalization because of its many baleful consequences; and a resolute and practical effort must be made to correct these evils. There is a widespread conviction in the minds of the American people that the great corporations known as trusts are in certain of their features and tendencies hurtful to the general welfare. This springs from no spirit of envy or uncharitableness, nor lack of pride in the great industrial achievements that have placed this country at the head of the nations struggling for commercial supremacy. … It is based upon sincere conviction that combination and concentration should be, not prohibited, but supervised and within reasonable limits controlled; and in my judgment this conviction is right. … The first essential in determining how to deal with the great industrial combinations is knowledge of the facts—publicity. In the interests of the public, the Government should have the right to inspect and examine the workings of the great corporations engaged in interstate business. … "When the Constitution was adopted, at the end of the eighteenth century, no human wisdom could foretell the sweeping changes, alike in industrial and political conditions, which were to take place by the beginning of the twentieth century. At that time it was accepted as a matter of course that the several States were the proper authorities to regulate so far as was then necessary, the comparatively insignificant and strictly localized corporate bodies of the day. The conditions are now wholly different and wholly different action is called for. I believe that a law can be framed which will enable the National Government to exercise control along the lines above indicated; profiting by the experience gained through the passage and administration of the Interstate-Commerce Act. If, however, the judgment of the Congress is that it lacks the constitutional power to pass such an act, then a constitutional amendment should be submitted to confer the power." President’s Message to Congress, December 3, 1901. In the following summer, during a tour which he made through some of the New England States the President gave prominence to the same subject in his addresses, emphasizing the necessity of federal legislation to arm the General Government with more effective authority for regulating the action of corporations engaged in interstate trade. In speaking at Providence especially, his remarks caused a great stir of feeling in the country, and seem to have signalled the beginning of an open array of hostile corporate interests against him. On that occasion he spoke partly as follows: "Those great corporations containing some tendency to monopoly, which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts, are the creatures of the State, and the State not only has the right to control them, but is in duty bound to control them wherever the need for such control is shown. There is clearly a need of supervision—need to exercise the power of regulation on the part of the representatives of the public, wherever, as in our own country at the present time, business corporations become so very strong, both for beneficent work and for work that is not always beneficent. It is idle to say that there is no need for such supervision. A sufficient warrant for it is to be found over and over again in any of the various evils resulting from the present system, or, rather, lack of system. "There is in our country a peculiar difficulty in the way of exercising such supervision and control because of the peculiar division of governmental power. When the industrial conditions were simple, very little control was needed, and no trouble was caused by the doubt as to where power was lodged under the constitution. Now the conditions are complicated, and we find it difficult to frame national legislation which shall be adequate, while as a matter of practical experience State action has proved entirely insufficient, and in all human probability cannot or will not be made sufficient, to meet the needs of the case. Some of our States have excellent laws—laws which it would be well indeed to have enacted by the national legislature. But the wide differences in these laws, even between adjacent States, and the uncertainty of the power of enforcement result practically in altogether insufficient control. "I believe that the nation must assume this power of control by legislation, and if it becomes evident that the constitution will not permit needed legislation, then by constitutional amendment. The immediate need of dealing with trusts is to place them under the real, not nominal, control of some sovereign to which, as its creature, the trusts shall owe allegiance, and in whose courts the sovereign’s orders may with certainty be enforced. That is not the case with the ordinary so-called 'trust’ to-day, for the trust is a large State corporation, generally doing business in other States also, and often with a tendency to monopoly. Such a trust is an artificial creature not wholly responsible to or controllable by any legislature, nor wholly subject to the jurisdiction of any one court. Some governmental sovereign must be given full power over these artificial and very powerful corporate beings. In my judgment this sovereign must be the national government. When it has been given full power, then this full power can be used to control any evil influence, exactly as the government is now using the power conferred upon it under the Sherman Anti-Trust law. "Even when the full power has been conferred it would be highly undesirable to attempt too much or to begin by stringent legislation. The mechanism of modern business is as delicate and complicated as it is vast, and nothing would be more productive of evil to all of us, and especially to those least well off in this world’s goods, than ignorant meddling with this mechanism, and, above all, if the meddling was done in a spirit of class or sectional rancor. {118} It is desirable that this power should be possessed by the nation, but it is quite as desirable that the power should be exercised with moderation and self-restraint. The first exercise of that power should be the securing of publicity among all great corporations doing an interstate business. The publicity, though non-inquisitorial, should be real and thorough as to all important facts with which the public has concern. The full light of day is a great discourager of evil. Such publicity would by itself tend to cure the evils of which there is just complaint, and where the alleged evils are imaginary, it would tend to show that such is the case. When publicity is attained it would then be possible to see what further should be done in the way of regulation. "Above all, it behooves us to remember not only that we ought to try to do what we can, but that our success in doing it depends very much upon our neither attempting nor expecting the impossible. … "I see no promise of a complete solution for all the problems we group together when we speak of the trust question. But we can make a beginning in solving these problems, and a good beginning if only we approach the subject with a sufficiency of resolution, of honesty and of that hard common sense which is one of the most valuable, and, unfortunately, not one of the most common, assets in the equipment of any people. I think the national administration has shown its firm intention to enforce the laws as they now stand on the statute books without regard to persons, and I think that good has come from this enforcement. I think, furthermore, that additional legislation should be had, and can be had, which will enable us to accomplish much more than has been accomplished along these same lines." Theodore Roosevelt, Address at Providence, August 23, 1902 (New York Tribune, August 24, 1902). In his next Message to Congress, President Roosevelt renewed his urgency for the needed legislation. "No more important subject can come before the Congress," he said, "than this of the regulation of interstate business. This country cannot afford to sit supine on the plea that under our peculiar system of government we are helpless in the presence of the new conditions, and unable to grapple with them or to cut out whatever of evil has arisen in connection with them. The power of the Congress to regulate interstate commerce is an absolute and unqualified grant, and without limitations other than those prescribed by the Constitution. The Congress has constitutional authority to make all laws necessary and proper for executing this power, and I am satisfied that this power has not been exhausted by any legislation now on the statute books." President’s Message to Congress, December 2, 1902. A year later, when the President addressed his Message to the next Congress, at the opening of its first session, he was able to say: "The country is especially to be congratulated on what has been accomplished in the direction of providing for the exercise of supervision over the great corporations and combinations of corporations engaged in interstate commerce. The Congress has created the Department of Commerce and Labor, including the Bureau of Corporations, with for the first time authority to secure proper publicity of such proceedings of these great corporations as the public has the right to know. It has provided for the expediting of suits for the enforcement of the Federal anti-trust law; and by another law it has secured equal treatment to all producers in the transportation of their goods, thus taking a long stride forward in making effective the work of the Interstate Commerce Commission." President’s Message to Congress, December 1, 1903. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1901-1906. A summary of governmental action against corporate wrongdoers, by Elihu Root. Legislation. Litigation. Court decisions. "The act creating the bureau of corporations, the act expediting the trial of trust cases, the anti-rebate act, the act for the regulation of railroad rates, have made possible redress which was impossible before. Under the direction of two successive Attorney Generals of the first order of ability, sincerity and devotion, in hundreds of courts, incessant warfare has been waged and is being waged under the federal laws against corporate wrongdoers. "The Northern Securities Company, which sought to combine and prevent competition between two great continental railroads, has been forced to dissolve by the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States. The methods of the Beef Trust in combining to suppress competition in the purchase of livestock and the sale of meat have been tried and condemned, and the trust has been placed under injunction to abandon these practices by judgment of the Supreme Court. The combination of paper manufacturers in the territory from Chicago to the Rocky Mountains has been dissolved by the judgment of the Supreme Court, and the combination has been abandoned, and the price of white paper in that territory has gone down 30 per cent. The Retail Grocers’ Association in this country has been dissolved by decree of the court. The elevator combination in the West has been dissolved in like manner. The salt combination west of the Rocky Mountains has been dissolved by decree of the court. The Wholesale Grocers’ Association in the South, the meat combination and the lumber combination in the West, the combination of railroads entering the city of St. Louis to suppress competition between the bridges and ferries reaching that city; the Drug Trust, which suppresses competition all over the country, are being vigorously pressed in suits brought by the federal government for their dissolution. The salt combination has been indicted and convicted and fined for failing to obey the judgment of dissolution. The Beef Trust has been indicted for failing to obey the injunction against them, and have been saved so far only by a decision that they had secured temporary immunity by giving evidence against themselves. One branch of the Tobacco Trust is facing an indictment of its corporations and their officers in the federal court in New York, and the other branches are undergoing investigation. The lumber combination in Oklahoma is under indictment. The Fertilizer Trust, a combination of thirty-one corporations and twenty-five individuals to support and fix prices, has been indicted, the indictments have been sustained by the courts, and the combination has been dissolved. The ice combination of the District of Columbia is facing criminal trial. Special counsel are investigating the coal combination, and special counsel are investigating the Standard Oil combination. {119} "Three of the causes won in the Supreme Court of the United States have furnished decisions of the utmost importance. In the Tobacco Trust case of Hale agt. Henkel, the Supreme Court denied the claim of the trust corporations to be exempt under the Constitution from furnishing testimony against themselves by the production of their books and papers before a federal grand jury. Thus, the protection of secrecy for corporate wrongdoing is beaten down. In the Northern Securities case the Supreme Court held that a wrong accomplished by means of incorporating in accordance with the express provision of the New Jersey statute was just as much a violation of federal law as if there had been no incorporation. Thus, the state rights defence of protection from favoring state statutes is beaten down. In the Beef Trust case the Supreme Court held that, although the business of manufacture was carried on within the limits of a single state, yet the purchase of the raw material in different states and the sale of the finished product in different states brought the business within the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution and gave the federal government authority over it. Thus, the defence that the state alone can deal with manufacturing corporations, however widespread their business, is beaten down. "The obstacles to the enforcement of the federal anti-trust act thus removed are obstacles which stood in the way of all proceedings, and they had to be cleared away before any proceedings of the same character against the same classes of corporations could be successfully maintained. They have been removed, not by newspaper headlines and denunciation, but by skill, ability, and energy of the highest order. "After the Elkins anti-rebate law was passed by Congress in 1903 it was supposed, and the Interstate Commerce Commission reported, that the railroads had substantially abandoned giving rebates. Their good resolutions do not seem, however, to have lasted. The struggle for business enabled the shippers soon to secure a renewal of rebates, or, by ingenious devices advantages equivalent to rebates. Thereupon the Department of Justice began active prosecutions for the enforcement of the law. Fifty-three indictments have been found against hundreds of defendants and covering many hundreds of transactions. There have been fourteen criminal convictions. Fourteen individuals have been fined, to the gross amount of $66,125. Nine corporations have been fined to the amount of $253,000. Thirty-five indictments are ready for trial in their regular order upon the court calendar. The original statute provided only for punishment by fine. Last winter it was amended by providing for punishment by imprisonment, and, if the lines imposed under the original law shall not prove to have stopped the practice, we shall see whether fear of the penitentiary under the amendment will not do so. "Under this statute also it was necessary to sweep away defences which stood as barriers to general prosecution, and in the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad case, decided by the Supreme Court February 19 of this year, and the Milwaukee Refrigerator Transit case, decided in the Seventh Circuit on May 31 of this year, the courts have held that the substance and not the form is to control in the application of the statute, and that, however the transaction may be disguised, an unlawful discrimination can be reached and punished. The way is therefore cleared for all other prosecutions. "The Railroad Rates act, which was the subject of such excited discussion during the last session of Congress, has already justified itself. Since the passage of the act, less than five months ago, there have been more voluntary reductions of rates by our railroads than during the entire nineteen years of the previous life of the Interstate Commerce Commission. On the single day of the 29th of August, 1906, two days before the act went into force, over five thousand notices of voluntary reduction of rates were filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission by the railroads of the United States." Elihu Root, Speech at Utica, November 1, 1906 (New York Tribune, November 2, 1906). COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1903-1906. The "Beef Trust" suits and investigations. The United States v. Swift & Co. et al. Commissioner Garfield’s investigation. Indictment of Armour & Co. and others. Immunity decision of Judge Humphrey. Fines for receiving rebates from railways. In the case known as that of the United States v. Swift & Company et al., the defendants were seven corporations, one copartnership, and twenty-three other persons (commonly styled "the Beef Trust"), charged with violations of the anti-trust law, by combination in restraint of the trade which they conducted, namely, the buying of live stock, slaughtering the same in different states and selling the meats thus produced. It was affirmed by the Government that they, together, controlled about sixty per cent. of the total Volume of that trade in the country, and that if the alleged combination among them did not exist they "would be and remain in competition with each other"; but that by such "unlawful combination and conspiracy" they were directing and requiring their agents (1) not to bid against one another in the live-stock markets of the different States; (2) to bid up prices for a few days so as to induce cattlemen to send their stock to the stock-yards; (3) to fix prices at which they would sell, and hence, when necessary, to restrict shipments of meat; (4) to establish a uniform rule of credit to dealers and to keep a blacklist; (5) to make uniform and improper charges for cartage; and (6) to obtain less than lawful rates from the railways to the exclusion of all competitors. The case, on motion for injunction, was tried first in the Circuit Court of the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Peter S. Grosscup. The Opinion of the Court, given April 18, 1903, held that, under the definition of the term by the Supreme Court in the Trans-Missouri Freight Association Case (see, in this Volume, Railways: United States: A. D. 1890-1902), "there can be no doubt that the agreement of the defendants to refrain from bidding against each other in the purchase of cattle is combination in restraint of trade: so also their agreement to bid up prices to stimulate shipments, intending to cease from bidding when the shipments have arrived. {120} The same result," continued the judge, "follows when we turn to the combination of defendants to fix prices upon and restrict the quantities of meat shipped to their agents or their customers. Such agreements can be nothing less than restriction upon competition, and, therefore, combination in restraint of trade; and thus viewed, the petition, as an entirety, makes out a case under the Sherman Act. … The demurrer is overruled, and the motion for preliminary injunction granted." On appeal, the case went to the Supreme Court, where it was argued in January, 1905, and decided on the 30th of the same month. The Opinion of the Court, rendered by Justice Holmes, with no dissent, affirmed, but modified, the decree of injunction issued by Judge Grosscup; the aim of the modifications being to give more definiteness to the decree. "The defendants," said Justice Holmes, for example, "cannot be ordered to compete, but they properly can be forbidden to give directions or to make agreements not to compete. The injunction follows the charge. No objection was made on the ground that it is not confined to the places specified in the bill. It seems to us, however, that it ought to set forth more exactly the transactions in which such directions and agreements are forbidden. The trade in fresh meat referred to should be defined somewhat as it is in the bill, and the sales of stock should be confined to sales of stock at the stock-yards named, which stock is sent from other States to the stock-yards for sale or is bought at those yards for transport to another State." Federal Anti-Trust Decisions, 1900-1906, Volume 2, prepared and edited by James A. Finch, by direction of the Attorney-General (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907). COMBINATIONS: Investigation by the Commissioner of Corporations. On the 7th of March, 1904, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution requesting the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to "investigate the causes of the low prices of beef cattle in the United States since July 1st, 1903, and the unusually large margins between the prices of beef cattle and the selling prices of fresh beef, and whether the said conditions have resulted in whole or in part from any contract, combination, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of commerce among the several States and Territories or with foreign countries; also, whether said prices have been controlled in whole or in part by any corporation, joint stock company, or corporate combination engaged in commerce among the several States or with foreign nations; and, if so, to investigate the organization, capitalization, profits, conduct and management of the business of such corporations, companies, and corporate combinations, and to make early report of his findings according to law." In compliance with this resolution, the Commissioner of Corporations, Mr. James R. Garfield, went to Chicago in April and began the requested investigation, which was prosecuted throughout most of the ensuing year. "The inquiries of the Bureau of Corporations were naturally concerned chiefly with the six great concerns which, by the injunction of 1902, were grouped together, and which were popularly considered as the Beef Trust. The ‘Big Six,’ in the approximate order of their magnitude as indicated by the number of animals slaughtered, are: Swift & Company, with seven large plants; Armour & Company, and the Armour Packing Company, which have the same stockholders, and which together operate five packing-houses; the National Packing Company, with eight comparatively large plants and two or three minor ones; Morris & Company, operating three plants; the Cudahy Packing Company, with three plants in the middle West and a minor one at Los Angeles; and the Schwarzschild & Sulzberger Company, operating three plants. Nearly all of the important packing-houses of these six companies are situated in the eight great live-stock markets,—Chicago, Kansas City, South Omaha, East St. Louis, South St. Joseph, Fort Worth, South St. Paul, and Sioux City." As for the National Packing Company, it grew, apparently, out of an abortive scheme for the consolidation of the other five concerns which was rumored in 1902. "Shortly prior to the formation of this company the Armour interests had acquired control of the G. H. Hammond Company and the Omaha Packing Company, the Swifts had secured the Anglo-American Provision Company and the Fowler Packing Association, and the Morris family had become dominant in the United Dressed Beef Company of New York. The National Packing Company, organized in 1903, took over the control of the various corporations thus previously acquired by the three packing interests named, and has since absorbed two or three other smaller concerns. The directorate of the National Company consists almost wholly of representatives of the Armour, Swift, and Morris companies. Aside from this community of interest, the bureau finds that there is no important inter-ownership of securities among the six leading packing companies." "The ‘Big Six’ are by no means the only slaughterers of cattle in the United States. They, with a few minor affiliated concerns, killed 5,521,697 cattle in 1903, while, from the best available data, the Bureau of Corporations computes the total slaughter of the country at about 12,500,000. But the proportion of 45 per cent. thus indicated by no means measures the full economic significance of the six great packers. Their importance lies in the fact that they are the only concerns which do an extensive business in shipping dressed beef. … The ‘Big-Six’ kill about 98 percent, of the cattle slaughtered at the eight leading Western markets above named." Edward Dana Durand, The Beef Industry and the Government Investigation (American Review of Reviews, April, 1905). Early in March, 1905, just before the adjournment of Congress, his report of it, in part, was transmitted by the President to Congress. The following summary of important facts set forth in the extended report was published in The Outlook of the following week: "The report as sent to Congress deals with the prices of cattle and dressed beef, the margins between such prices, and the organization, conduct, and profits of the corporations engaged in the beef-packing business. In some respects the conclusions presented are distinctly favorable to the packers; in others, quite as unfavorable. It appears that the profits of the six great companies whose operations were covered by the investigation were very much smaller during the years 1902 and 1903 than the public had been led to suppose,—that, in fact, for a part of that period the business was conducted at an actual loss. {121} The percentage of profit on the gross Volume of business during the years 1902-1904 was comparatively low. That realized by Swift & Company is placed at two per cent. This, however, we repeat, is the percentage on total sales, which is a very different thing from profit on the investment. It is a well-known fact that the actual capitalization of the packing companies is very much less than the annual Volume of business. From statements made by the six companies to the Bureau of Corporations it appears that their gross business is not less than $700,000,000 per year, while their nominal capitalization is only $88,000,000, exclusive of $5,000,000 bonds of Swift & Company. On the other hand, it is practically impossible, as the report shows, to determine accurately just what proportion of the total investment represents plants and properties concerned with the beef industry exclusively. Still, it is obvious that Swift & Company’s net profit of two per cent. on their sales would amount to very much more than two per cent, on their investment. The report makes an approximate estimate of twelve per cent. "On one other count the report is favorable to the companies. It declares that they are apparently not overcapitalized. This conclusion, it is true, is robbed of some of its exculpatory force when the private-car system is taken into consideration. It is shown that the companies’ profits on refrigerator cars, derived from mileage paid by the railroads, has ranged from 14 to 22 per cent. The report gives clear and definite information as to the trust’s field of operations. It shows that the six companies slaughtered in 1903 only about 45 per cent. of all the cattle killed in that year, but that these companies slaughter nearly 98 per cent. of all the cattle killed in the leading Western packing centers, and that they control a large percentage of the trade in beef in many large cities—75 per cent. in New York, 85 per cent. in Boston, 95 per cent. in Providence, and in a number of other important cities from 50 to 90 per cent. In all these centers of population the consumer is now paying more for meats than ever before, while the cattle-grower on the Western plains is receiving less for his beeves. These two facts are doubtless capable of explanation, but the published results of the investigation ordered by Congress throw little light on the matter." COMBINATIONS: Case of the United States v. Armour & Company et al. Soon after the publication of the report of the Bureau of Corporations a special Federal Grand Jury at Chicago began the investigation of charges brought by the Attorney-General of the United States against five of the corporations engaged in the meat-packing business and seventeen of their officials. An indictment was returned by the Grand Jury on the 1st of July, 1905, charging, in a number of counts, persistent violation of the injunction laid on these corporations and their officials by Judge Grosscup with affirmation by the Supreme Court, and continued combination in restraint of trade,—by requiring their purchasing agents to refrain from bidding in good faith against one another; by agreements that fixed the prices of beef; by restricting sales to maintain prices, etc. On the trial of the indictment, which was begun on the 29th of January and concluded on the 21st of March, 1906, the defendants claimed immunity, under that clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States which reads: "Nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." Their claim for immunity under this constitutional prescription was founded on the fact that "upon the lawful requirement of the Commissioner of Corporations" they "had furnished evidence, documentary and otherwise, of and concerning the matters charged in the indictment"; and that a section of the Act creating the Department of Commerce and Labor provides that persons testifying or producing evidence before the Commissioner shall be entitled to the immunities conferred by the Act in relation to testimony before the Interstate Commerce Commission of February 11, 1893. Judge Humphrey, of the United States District Court, before whom the case was tried, sustained the plea in his charge to the jury, so far as concerned the individual defendants, saying: "Under the law of this case, the immunity pleas filed by the defendants will be sustained as to the individual defendants, the natural persons, and denied as to the corporations, the artificial persons, and your verdict will be in favor of the defendants as to the individuals, and in favor of the Government as to the corporations." COMBINATIONS: Fines for accepting rebates. The same Federal Grand Jury at Chicago which returned the indictments dealt within the case mentioned above brought another indictment against four men in the employ of one of the meat-packing companies, who were accused of unlawfully combining and agreeing to solicit rebates for their corporation from the Michigan Central, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, the Grand Trunk Western, the Lehigh Valley, the Boston and Maine, and the Mobile and Ohio railroads. It was charged that the defendants conspired with one another in presenting to the railroad companies pretended claims for damages which were in fact claims for rebates. They were brought for trial before Judge Humphrey in September, 1905, and pleaded guilty. The Judge then pronounced sentence on them as follows: "Punishment for this offense as fixed by Congress has a wide range, giving the Court unusual latitude, ranging from a nominal fine without imprisonment to a heavy fine and two years’ imprisonment, all in the discretion of the Court. I am disposed to consider this case with reasonable moderation. The sentence of the Court in the case of the defendant Weil will be a fine of $10,000 and costs, and commitment to the county jail until the fine is paid, and in the cases of Todd, Skipworth, and Cusey a fine of $5,000 and costs, with the same provision in regard to payment." COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1904-1909. The Standard Oil Company. Federal Government investigation of its methods of business. Criminal prosecutions for violation of the law against rebates. The $29,000,000 fine and its annulment. Acquittal of the Company. After a dozen years or more of slight oil production in Kansas, that state became quite suddenly, in 1904, one of the important sources of petroleum supply. The Standard Oil Company had taken care to be prepared for whatever development might occur, and had organized its operations in this western field under the name of the Prairie Oil and Gas Company, of Kansas. {122} Its refineries were ready to furnish a market to the Kansas producers of crude oil, and they had no other. Independent enterprises in oil refining were made quite impossible, and the Prairie Oil and Gas Company was complete master of the situation. The Kansas oil producers were soon writhing under its dictation of prices and rules of dealing, as the Pennsylvanians had been years before, and the Kansas Legislature came promptly to their rescue. In the winter of 1904-1905 it passed five vigorous acts; authorizing the establishment of a State oil refinery; making pipe lines common carriers within the State; placing them under the jurisdiction of the State board of railroad commissioners; fixing maximum rates for the transportation of oil by freight or pipe line; and, finally, prohibiting discrimination between localities in the sale of any commodities. Furthermore, the anti-trust laws of the State were brought into action against the Standard Oil Company and the railroads accused of giving it special rates and privileges. At the same time, the Kansas situation was brought to the attention of Congress and the Federal Executive. On motion of a Kansas representative, the lower House of Congress, in February, adopted a resolution calling on the President for an investigation of the methods of business pursued by the Standard Oil Company. The desired investigation was conducted in the following year by Commissioner Garfield, the head of the Bureau of Corporations, and his report was communicated to Congress on the 5th of May, 1906, with an accompanying special message, by the President. Nothing of the detail of facts in the report can be given here; but the conclusions drawn from them by the Commissioner were summed up by him, as follows: "Upon the request of its attorney, all the essential facts discovered by this Bureau were presented to the company at the close of the investigation, and an exhaustive statement relating thereto was made by its chief traffic officer. There was no denial of the facts found, but explanations of particular situations were offered, and it was urged that the facts did not show any violation by the Standard of the letter or spirit of the interstate-commerce law. A most careful review of the facts and the explanations leads to the following conclusions: "The Standard Oil Company has habitually received from the railroads, and is now receiving, secret rates and other unjust and illegal discriminations. "During 1904 the Standard saved about three-quarters of a million dollars through the secret rates discovered by the Bureau of Corporations, and of course there may be other secret rates which the Bureau has not discovered. This amount represents the difference between the open rates and the rates actually paid. Many of these discriminations were clearly in violation of the interstate-commerce law, and others, whether technically illegal or not, had the same effect upon competitors. On some State business secret rates were applied by means of rebates. "These discriminations have been so long continued, so secret, so ingeniously applied to new conditions of trade, and so large in amount as to make it certain that they were due to concerted action by the Standard and the railroads. "The Standard Oil Company is receiving unjust discriminations in open rates. "The published rates from the leading Standard shipping points are relatively much lower than rates from the shipping points of its competitors. The advantage to the Standard over its competitors from such open discriminations is enormous, probably as important as that obtained through the secret rates. "If an unfair discrimination be obtained by one shipper through a device which in itself is seemingly not prohibited by law, that fact shows that the law is defective and should be strengthened; it does not show that the discrimination is proper or just. "The following are a few of the most important discriminations and the methods by which they were obtained: "(1) For about ten years the New England territory has been in control of the Standard Oil Company by reason of the refusal of the New York, New Haven and Hartford road and of the Boston and Maine road, on all but a few divisions, to pro-rate—i. e., to join in through rates—on oil shipped from west of the Hudson River, and by means of the adjustment of published rates. … "(2) The Standard Oil Company has been able to absolutely control for many years the sale of oil in the northeastern part of New York and in a portion of Vermont by means of secret rates from its refineries at Olean and Rochester. … "The saving to the Standard during 1904 by the secret rate from Olean to Rochester alone was $115,000. This and other less important rates from Olean were unknown to the independent refiners, and were not published on the ground that they were wholly State rates; yet in fact they were used for oil consigned to points beyond the State boundary of New York. Furthermore, all shipments from Olean on these secret rates were blind-billed—i. e., the rates were not shown on the waybills. "(3) The Standard Oil Company has maintained absolute control of almost the whole section of the country south of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi by means of secret rates and open discriminations in rates from Whiting, Indiana. … "(4) The Standard Oil Company has for at least ten years shipped oil from Whiting to East St. Louis, Illinois, at a rate of 6 or 6¼ cents on three of the five railroads running between those places, while the only duly published rate on all roads has been 18 cents during all that period! This discrimination saved the Standard about $240,000 in 1904. … "Whiting is located in Indiana, about two miles from the Illinois line. East St. Louis is in Illinois, just across the river from St. Louis. The secret low rates were given by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, Chicago and Alton, and Chicago and Eastern Illinois railroads. They were not published, on the ground that they were State rates. … "(5) In the Kansas-Territory field there were some unfair open rates. … "(6) In California direct rebates, as well as discriminations by the use of secret rates, have been given on oil. … "(7) Open published rates from Whiting into a large part of the United States have given the Standard Oil Company an unfair advantage of from 1 to 20 cents per hundred pounds. {123} "This discrimination seriously limits independent refiners in some markets, and shuts them out completely from other markets. It is accomplished by the use of commodity rates—that is, rates which apply only to petroleum and its products—and by refusal to pro-rate." Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on the Transportation of Petroleum, May 2, 1906, Letter of Submittal, pages xxi-xxv. (59th Congress, 1st Session House Document. number 812). Consequent on the information secured by this investigation, criminal proceedings against the Standard Oil Company in its various State organizations were instituted in 1906-1907. The number and character of the indictments found in these cases are set forth in tabular form, in an article on "The Oil Trust and the Government," by Francis Walker, published in the Political Science Quarterly, March, 1908. The following statement of them is summarized from that table: In the Northern District of Illinois, August 27, 1906, against the Standard Oil Co. of Indiana, 1903 and 134 indictments on shipments over the Chicago and Alton Railway, from Whiting, Indiana, to East St. Louis, Illinois, and from Chappell, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri. In same District, same date, against same Company, 2124 and 220 indictments on shipments over the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway, from Whiting to East St. Louis and St. Louis. In same District, same date, against same Company, 1318 and 597 indictments on shipments over the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and the Evansville and Terre Haute railways, from Whiting to Evansville. In same District, same date, against same Company, 103 indictments, on shipments over the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and the Evansville and Terre Haute railways from Whiting, via Grand Junction, Tennessee, to various points in the South. In the Eastern Division of the Western District of Tennessee, October 16, 1906, against the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, 1524 indictments, on shipments over the Illinois Central and Southern railways, from Evansville, via Grand Junction, to various points. In the Eastern District of Missouri, November 18, 1906, against the Waters-Pierce Oil Company, 76 indictments, on shipments over the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, to various points. In the Western District of Louisiana, January 28, 1907, against the Waters-Pierce Oil Company, 32 indictments, on shipments over the St. Louis, Iron Mountain. and S. Railway, to various points. In the Western District of New York, August 10, 1907, against the Vacuum Oil Company, 23 indictments, on shipments from Olean to Vermont. In the Western District of New York, August 24, 1906, against the Standard Oil Company of New York, 23 and 123 indictments, on shipments from Olean to Vermont. In same District, August 9, 1907, against same Company, 188 and 40 indictments, on shipments from Olean, New York, to Burlington, Vermont, over New York Central and Rutland and Vermont Central railways. In same District, same date, against the Vacuum Oil Company, 188 and 40 indictments on shipments from Olean to Burlington and to Rutland and Burlington. In same District, September 6, 1907, against the Standard Oil Company of New York, 54 indictments, on shipments from Olean and Rochester to points in Vermont. The most notable of these criminal prosecutions has been the one described first in the list above. The opening chapter of its history is sketched as follows by Mr. Walker, in the article already referred to: "The only important case which, up to December, 1907, had come to trial, was the indictment against the Standard Oil Company of Indiana for accepting a secret rate on shipments over the Chicago and Alton Railway, from Whiting, Indiana, to East St. Louis, Illinois, and from Chappell, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri. The published rate on this traffic was eighteen cents per hundred pounds (as far as East St. Louis, a bridge toll of one and a half cents being added on shipments to St. Louis); while the rate paid by the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, during the period of about three years covered by the indictment and for many years before, was only six cents per hundred pounds. On this rate, the Standard had transported, as charged in the indictment, 1903 carloads of oil, each carload being made the subject of a distinct count and separate proof. The trial of this case began in Chicago, on March 4, 1907. "The defence not only exhausted every device of technical objection and obstruction but also attacked the constitutionality of the ‘Elkins’ law forbidding rate discrimination, alleging the right of the railroads and shippers to make private contract rates, an impudent assertion which the court justly characterized as an ‘abhorrent heresy.’ The question of guilt in the matter of technical proof depended to a large extent on the requirements of the law that carriers must file rates, and the argument of the prosecution was that shippers must be charged with the knowledge as to whether such rates were lawfully filed or not. The defendant pretended ignorance of the fact that the six-cent rate had not been filed by the Alton and alleged that it was an unreasonable requirement to charge it with such knowledge. On this point the court said in rendering judgment: "‘The honest man who tenders a commodity for transportation by a railway company will not be fraudulently misled by that company into allowing it to haul his property for less than the law authorizes it to collect. For the carrier thus to deceive the shipper would be to deliberately incriminate itself, to its own pecuniary detriment, which it may safely be trusted not to do. The only man liable to get into trouble is he who, being in control of the routing of large Volumes of traffic, conceives a scheme for the evasion of the law, and connives with railway officials in its execution.’ "The jury returned a verdict of guilty on 1462 counts, on April 14, 1907: a considerable number of counts, namely 441, were thrown out on technical grounds. In the matter of penalty, the Standard’s counsel argued (1) that there were only three offences shown, namely, one for each year in which the rate was in force; (2) that there were only 36 offences shown, namely, one for each monthly settlement of freight charges; and (3) that each train load constituted a separate offence. The court held, however, that the unlawful rate was made on a carload basis, and that each carload unlawfully transported constituted a distinct offence. {124} In considering the amount of the fine to be levied, the court demanded information from the officials of the Standard Oil Company regarding the net earnings and dividends of the chief holding company of the trust—the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. Their attendance and testimony were obtained only by writ of subpoena; and it was admitted that the net profits during the years 1903 to 1905 (when these rebates existed) amounted to $81,336,994, $61,570,110, and $57,459,356 respectively. "In view of the fact that the counsel of the defendant openly maintained the right of the railways and shippers to make private contracts for rates, the court declared that it was ‘unable to indulge the presumption that in this case the defendant was convicted of its virgin offence.’ The defendant also claimed that, as there were no other shippers of oil over the Chicago and Alton Railway, no one was injured by the secret rate. On this matter the court said: "‘It is novel, indeed, for a convicted defendant to urge the complete triumph of a dishonest course as a reason why such a course should go unpunished. "‘Of course, there was no other shipper of oil, nor could there be, so long as, by secret arrangement, the property of the Standard Oil Company was hauled by railway common carriers for one-third of what anybody else would have to pay.’ "Moved by these considerations, the court adjudged, on August 3, 1907, that the defendant should pay the maximum penalty and fined the Standard Oil Company $20,000 for each offence, that is, for each of the 1462 counts in the indictment upon which conviction was obtained. The total fine, therefore, amounted to $29,240,000." Francis Walker, The Oil Trust and the Government (Political Science Quarterly, March, 1908). On a writ of error the case went now to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, where it was argued at the April session, 1908, and the opinion, by Judge Peter S. Grosscup, Circuit Judge, delivered on the 22d of the following July. In this opinion the District Court was held to have erred in deciding that each single carload of oil was to be dealt with as a separate offence, and that it reasoned erroneously in determining the fine imposed. On this latter point Judge Grosscup said: "Did the court, in the fine imposed, abuse its discretion? The defendant indicted, tried, and convicted, was the Standard Oil Company, a corporation in Indiana. The capital stock of this corporation is one million dollars. There is nothing in the record, in the way of evidence, either before conviction, or after conviction and before sentence, that shows that the assets of this corporation were in excess of one million dollars. There is nothing in the record, either before conviction, or after conviction and before sentence, that shows that the defendant, before the court, had ever before been guilty of an offence of this character. It may, therefore, be safely assumed, that but for the relation of the defendant before the court to another corporation, not before the court—a relation to be presently stated—the court would have measured out punishment on the basis of the facts just stated. "That under such circumstances the punishment would have been the maximum punishment, does not seem possible; for the maximum sentence, put into execution against the defendant before the court, would wipe out, many times, and for its first offence, all the property of the defendant. … "Briefly stated, the reason of the trial court for imposing this sentence was because, after conviction and before sentence, it was brought out, on an examination of some of the officers and stockholders of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, that the capital stock of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, the defendants before the court, was principally owned by the New Jersey corporation, a corporation not before the court—the trial court adding (upon no evidence however to be found in the record, and upon no information specially referred to) that in concessions of the character for which the defendant before the court had been indicted, tried, and convicted, the New Jersey corporation was not a ‘virgin’ offender. "Is a sentence such as this, based on reasoning such as that, sound? Passing over the fact that no word of evidence or other information supporting the trial court’s comment is to be found in the record, would the comment, if duly proven, justify a sentence such as this—one that otherwise would not have been imposed? Can a court, without abuse of judicial discretion, wipe out all the property of the defendant before the court, and all the assets to which its creditors look, in an effort to reach and punish a party that is not before the court—a party that has not been convicted, has not been tried, has not been indicted even? Can an American judge, without abuse of judicial discretion, condemn any one who has not had his day in court? " That, to our mind, is strange doctrine in Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence. … "The judgment of the District Court is reversed and the case remanded with instructions to grant a new trial, and proceed further in accordance with this opinion." The Government failed in attempts to secure a rehearing before the Appellate Court, as well as in an application for the reviewing of the case by the Supreme Court. On the new trial to which the case was remanded Judge Landis, whose judgment had been set aside, declined to sit, and Judge A. B. Anderson, of Indianapolis, was called to Chicago to occupy his bench. The trial was opened on the 23d of February, 1909. On the 2d of March Judge Anderson sustained the motion of the defence that the government must proceed on the theory that there were thirty-six alleged offences—that is, that each settlement on which an alleged rebate was paid instead of each carload, constituted a separate offence. This made it impossible to claim a penalty beyond $720,000, being at the rate of $20,000 for each offence. But even that was put out of the question by the ultimate decision of the Judge, that the law, as laid down by the United States Court of Appeals, required him to direct the jury to find the Standard Oil Company not guilty on the charge of accepting rebates from the Chicago and Alton Railroad. This instruction he gave on the 10th of March, thus bringing the case to an end. {125} The outcome in this case was said to mean that all but two of the pending indictments against the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, as recapitulated above, are void and would be abandoned by the Government. The two cases not affected are cases involving the shipment of 1915 carloads of oil from Whiting, Indiana, to Evansville, Indiana, via Dolton Junction, over the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad. On the 15th of March, five days after the acquittal of the Company in Illinois, a fine of $20,000 was imposed upon it by the United States District Court of the Western District of New York, on one of the indictments founded on shipments from Rochester and Olean to points in Vermont. Previously, the New York Central Railroad had paid a heavy fine for granting rebates on those shipments. Numerous State prosecutions, under State laws in Missouri, Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, and elsewhere, had been assailing the monopolistic corporation simultaneously with the proceedings of the General Government against it, and some of them with greater seriousness of effect than the Federal prosecutors had accomplished. The more important of these were in Texas, against the subsidiary Waters-Pierce Oil Company of Missouri, and in Missouri, against that Company in association with the Standard of Indiana, and with another of the same Trust family. The Texas suit, after making its slow way through the State courts and to the United States Supreme Court, came to its conclusion early in 1909, with the result of a fine of $1,623,500, and the exclusion of the Company from business in the State. The suit in Missouri, as decided at about the same time by the Supreme Court of the State, resulted in an order for the dissolution of the Waters-Pierce Company and for the perpetual exclusion of the other companies, chartered elsewhere, from operations within the State. The outcome of this vindication of the law of the State is understood to have been an arrangement under which the business of the Waters-Pierce Company is taken over by a new company, the stock of which is held by trustees approved by the Supreme Court of the State and acting as officers of the Court. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1905-1906. The Tobacco Trust Case of Hale v. Henkel. Denial by the Supreme Court of the claim of corporations to be exempt from the production of books and papers before a Grand Jury. A proceeding begun by the Government of the United States, in the spring of 1905, to ascertain the lawfulness or unlawfulness of the methods of business pursued by the so-called Tobacco Trust, was embarrassed by the refusal of a witness to give evidence for which he was summoned before the grand jury of the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. The case pending was between the United States and the American Tobacco Company and MacAndrews & Forbes Company. The witness, Hale, was secretary and treasurer of the MacAndrews & Forbes Company. He refused to answer any questions that were put to him concerning the business of that company, or to produce any of the books, accounts, contracts, correspondence, etc., that were demanded, being advised by counsel that he was under no legal obligation to do so, and that the evidence given or produced by him might tend to incriminate himself. He was held to be in contempt of Court and was committed to the custody of the United States Marshal. Being then, on a writ of habeas corpus, brought before another judge of the same Court, after a hearing, the writ was discharged and he was remanded to custody (June 18, 1905). An appeal to the Supreme Court followed, which was argued in the early days of January, 1906, and decided on the 12th of March following. The decision of the Court, rendered by Justice Brown, was on two issues which it found to be presented in the case: The first involving "the immunity of the witness from oral examination; the second the legality of his action in refusing to produce the documents called for by the subpœna duces tecum." The witness justified his refusal to answer questions, "1st upon the ground that there was no specific ‘charge’ pending before the grand jury against any particular person; 2d that the answers would tend to criminate him." On the first point the Court found it "entirely clear that under the practice in this country, at least, the examination of witnesses need not be preceded by a presentment or indictment formally drawn up, but that the grand jury may proceed, either upon their own knowledge or upon the examination of witnesses, to inquire for themselves whether a crime cognizable by the Court has been committed." As to the plea of an apprehended self-incrimination, the Court held that the witness was protected by the act which provides that no person shall be prosecuted on account of anything concerning which he may testify or produce evidence. But it was further insisted that while the immunity statute may protect individual witnesses it would not protect the corporation of which the appellant was the agent and representative. "This is true," says the Court, "but the answer is that it was not designed to do so. The right of a person under the Fifth Amendment to refuse to incriminate himself is purely a personal privilege of the witness. It was never intended to permit him to plead the fact that some third person might be incriminated by his testimony, even though he were the agent of such person." On the second issue in the case, the substance of the decision is in the following passages from it: "Having already held that, by reason of the immunity act of 1903, the witness could not avail himself of the Fifth Amendment, it follows that he cannot set up that Amendment as against the production of the books and papers, since in respect to these he would also be protected by the immunity act. … We are of the opinion that there is a clear distinction in this particular between an individual and a corporation, and that the latter has no right to refuse to submit its books and papers for an examination at the suit of the State. … The individual may stand upon his constitutional rights as a citizen. He is entitled to carry on his private business in his own way. … Among his rights are a refusal to incriminate himself, and the immunity of himself and his property from arrest or seizure except under a warrant of the law. … Upon the other hand, the corporation is a creature of the State. It is presumed to be incorporated for the benefit of the public. … Its rights to act as a corporation are only preserved to it so long as it obeys the laws of its creation. There is a reserved right in the Legislature to investigate its contracts and to find out whether it has exceeded its powers. … The defense amounts to this: That an officer of a corporation, which is charged with a criminal violation of the statute, may plead the criminality of such corporation as a refusal to produce its books. {126} To state this proposition is to answer it. While an individual may lawfully refuse to answer incriminating questions unless protected by an immunity statute, it does not follow that a corporation, vested with special privileges and franchises, may refuse to show its hand when charged with an abuse of such privileges." Taking note of the fact that the franchises of the corporation in this case were derived from one of the States, the Court proceeds to say: "Such franchises, so far as they involve questions of inter-State commerce, must also be exercised in subordination to the power of Congress to regulate such commerce, and in respect to this the General Government may also assert a sovereign authority to ascertain whether such franchises have been exercised in a lawful manner, with due regard to its own laws. … The powers of the General Government in this particular, in vindication of its own laws, are the same as if the corporation had been created by an act of Congress." Justices Harlan and McKenna dissented from some of the views set forth in the opinion of the majority, as declared by Justice Brown, but concurred in the final judgment, which affirmed the order of the Circuit Court, remanding the prisoner to the custody of the Marshal. Justice Brewer and the Chief Justice dissented from the conclusions relative to corporations, and from the judgment, holding that "the order of the Circuit Court should be reversed and the case remanded with instructions to discharge the petitioner, leaving the grand jury to initiate new proceedings not subject to the objections to this." Federal Anti-Trust Decisions, 1900-1906, prepared and edited by James A. Finch by direction of the Attorney-General, Volume 2, page 874 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907). COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1906-1910. The Standard Oil Company. Suit of the Government for its dissolution. Decree for its dissolution by the Circuit Court. Appeal to the Supreme Court. Entirely distinct from the criminal prosecutions of the Standard Oil Company by the United States Government, as reviewed above was a suit begun in November, 1906, in the United States Circuit Court for the Eastern Division of Missouri. The former actions were to penalize the Company for violations of the Elkins Act, by the procuring of railway rebates. The later suit was to dissolve the combination in restraint of trade which the Company was alleged to be, and therefore illegally existing, in the view of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. The complaint was directed against the parent organization, known as the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, with its various subsidiary corporations. It was also directed against seven individuals namely, John D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, Henry M. Flagler, Henry H. Rogers (now deceased), John D. Archbold, Oliver H. Payne, and Charles M. Pratt. The main company, its branches, and these individuals were charged in the complaint with having entered into an agreement, combination, and conspiracy to restrain trade and commerce among the several States, to monopolize the trade in petroleum, both in its purchase and its shipment and transportation by pipe-line, steamships and by rail, also in the manufacture and refining of petroleum. One of the evidences of its monopoly adduced by the Government was the enormity of its earnings which were summarized thus: The Standard Oil Trust and the Standard Oil Company, on an investment of $69,024,480, had earned up to the end of 1906, $838,783,783. Adding the estimated profits of 1907 and 1908, we have substantially, the brief states, a billion dollars earned by this company in twenty-seven years, with an original investment of about $69,000,000. The United States asked for a perpetual injunction, and for the dissolution of the Standard Oil combination. Hearings were held in New York, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, and St. Louis, about four hundred witnesses being examined. It was not until the 5th of April, 1909, that the case reached the stage of argument, before Judges Walter H. Sanborn, Willis Van Devanter, William C. Hook and Elmer B. Adams, constituting the United States Circuit Court at St. Louis. The decision of the Court was announced on the 20th of the following November, the four judges concurring in the opinion, written by Judge Sanborn, which held the Standard Oil Company to be an illegal corporation and decreed its dissolution. The character of the decision appears from the syllabus of Judge Sanborn’s opinion, which reads: "Congress has power under the commercial clause of the Constitution to regulate and restrict the use in commerce among the several States, and with foreign nations, of contracts, of the method of holding title to property and of every other instrumentality employed in that commerce, so far as it may be necessary to do so, in order to prevent the restraint thereof denounced by the Anti-Trust Act of July 2, 1890 (26 Stat. 29). "Test of the legality of a combination under this act is its necessary effect upon competition in commerce among the States or with foreign nations. If its necessary effect is only incidentally or indirectly to restrict the competition, while its chief result is to foster the trade and increase the business of those who make and operate it, it does not violate that law. But if its necessary effect is to stifle or directly and substantially to restrict free competition in commerce among the States, or with foreign nations, it is illegal within the meaning of that statute. "The power to restrict competition in commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, vested in a person or an association of persons by a combination, is indicative of the character of the combination, because it is to the interest of the parties that such a power should be exercised, and the presumption is that it will be. "The combination in a single corporation or person, by an exchange of stock, of the power of many stockholders holding the same proportions, respectively, of the majority of the stock of each of the several corporations engaged in commerce in the same articles among the States, or with foreign nations, to restrict competition therein, renders the power thus vested in the former greater, more easily exercised, more durable, and more effective than that previously held by the stockholders, and it is illegal. {127} "In 1899 the stockholders of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey owned a majority of the stock of nineteen other corporations in the same proportions that they owned the stock of the Standard Company, and those twenty corporations controlled by the owners of the majority of their stock or otherwise many other corporations. Each of these corporations was engaged in some part of the business of producing, buying, refining, transporting, and selling petroleum and its products, and they were conducting about 30 per cent. of the production of the crude oil and more than 75 per cent. of the business of the purchasing, refining, transporting, and selling petroleum and its products in this country. Many of them were engaged in commerce in these articles among the several States and with foreign nations, and were naturally competitive. "During the ten years prior to 1879 the seven individual defendants had acquired control of many corporations, partnerships, and refiners that had been competing in this business, had placed the majority of the stock of those corporations and the interests in property in business thus obtained in various trustees to be held and operated by them for the stockholders of the Standard Oil Company, one of the nineteen companies in which the individual defendants were principal stockholders, and had thereby suppressed competition among these corporations and partnerships. "In 1879, they and their associates caused all the trustees to convey their interests in the stock, property and business of these corporations to five trustees, to be held, operated and distributed by them for the stockholders of the Standard Company of Ohio. From 1879, until 1892, they prevented these corporations and others engaged in this business, of which they secured control, from competing in this commerce by causing the control of their operations and generally of a majority of their stocks, to be held in trust for the stockholders of the Standard Company of Ohio, and, from 1892, until 1899, they accomplished the same result by a similar stock-holding device, and by the joint equitable ownership of the majority of the stocks of the corporations." Appeal from the decree has been taken to the Supreme Court, where it was preceded by the appeal of the Tobacco Trust from a similar decree, involving substantially the same questions, according to what seems to be the general view of the Bar. On the 17th of January, 1910, the Supreme Court of the United States granted the motion of the Government for the advancement on the docket of the Standard Oil case, and set the hearing for March 14. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1907. The chief existing combinations. Their operation through stock ownership. "Passing the matter of railroad combinations, as to which it may be said that through stock ownership the control of all American lines is now concentrated in seven groups of parent properties, we are chiefly concerned with the practical use that has been made of the new corporate power by the largest and strongest of our manufacturing and industrial enterprises. "The United States Steel Corporation, organized under the laws of New Jersey, with a capital stock of $1,100,000,000 owns a majority of the stock of eleven subsidiary companies, and controls industries scattered over the entire country under different styles and corporate names. This corporation owns or manages 213 manufacturing and transportation plants and forty-one mines located in eighteen different States; it has more than 1,000 miles of railroad tracks to ore, coke and manufacturing properties, and a lake fleet of 112 vessels. This stock ownership gives it control of hundreds of millions of capital that is not represented by its own billion dollars of stock. "The Amalgamated Copper Company, incorporated in New Jersey, has no asset whatever except the stocks of other corporations. It owns all the stock of four operating companies and a controlling interest in seven others, and has taken them over by an issue of $155,000,000 of its own stock. "The American Smelting and Refining Company, organized under the laws of New Jersey, controls the business of thirteen corporations, in which it either owns the entire stock or a majority interest. Associated with it are the American Linseed Company, the National Lead Company and the United Lead Company, and they together control twenty-eight concerns and ninety-three affiliated corporations. "The Standard Oil Company, incorporated in New Jersey, with a capital stock of $110,000,000, controls, directs and manages more than seventy corporations through its possession of a majority of their stock. Some of these companies own stock in still other corporations, and all together the combine operates more than 400 separate and distinct properties, thus monopolizing 90 per cent, of the export oil trade and 84 per cent. of the domestic trade. The market value of its capitalization is about $650,000,000, and all this vast property was brought together under one head without the payment of a single dollar of cash, the whole consolidation being effected through the issue of stock in the holding company in payment of stock in the companies that are held. "The United Gas Improvement Company, incorporated in Pennsylvania, own stock in thirty corporations doing the character of business for which it was organized, and in addition to this is interested in numerous street railway properties, including the New York City surface railways. With it is allied the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey and the Rhode Island Securities Company, which last named owns all the stock of the Rhode Island Company, which again has leased for 999 years several of the most important railroad companies doing business in that State. The power of this corporation, through this system of stock ownership, is scarcely calculable, and the value of properties controlled would equal hundreds of millions, although its own capital stock is but $36,000,000. "The American Tobacco Company, organized under the laws of New Jersey, with a capital stock of $40,000,000, practically controls the whole market through its ownership of the stock of innumerable other corporations. "The International Harvester Company, incorporated in New Jersey, with a capital stock of $120,000,000, while probably not a holding company, maintains most, if not all, the corporations which it has bought out, and they are operated as if they were distinct and competing concerns. "The American Sugar Refining Company, incorporated in New Jersey, with a common stock of $40,000,000, controls fifty-three other corporations. {128} "The American Telegraph and Telephone Company, incorporated in New York, with a capital stock of $250,000,000 controls, through stock ownership, thirty-five subsidiary corporations. "The Western Union Telegraph Company owns stock in twenty-four other corporations; the Distillers’ Security Company owns 90 per cent. of the stocks of the Distilling Company of America, and has acquired ninety-three plants, representing 60 per cent. of the industry; the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company owns the stock of twelve elevated and street railway companies; the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company owns the stock of seven others; the Metropolitan Securities Company of New York owns the stock of many traction companies, and the controlling interest in others; the Inter-State Railways of New Jersey own all the stock of the United Power and Transportation Company, which latter company controls the capital and franchises of about forty other projected companies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania; while the International Mercantile Marine Company of New Jersey owns a majority of the shares of many of the most important steamship companies whose vessels cross the Atlantic Ocean. "These are but a few instances of the promotion of combinations through stock ownership." Wade H. Ellis, Attorney-General of Ohio, Paper read at National Conference on Trusts and Combinations, Chicago, October 22, 1907. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1907. National Conference on the Trust Question, invited by the National Civic Federation. A remarkably representative and impressive assembly at Chicago, of delegates from all parts of the country, and voicing all interests, was brought about by the invitation of the National Civic Federation, in October, 1907, for a thorough discussion of the questions which troubled the country and confused its attitude toward Trusts and Combinations, as subjects of regulation by law. There had been a similar conference at Chicago in 1899, at the call of the Civic Federation of that city; but no common ground of agreement could then be found. The subject, as was afterwards said, "was too new, too vaguely understood for men to be of one mind in regard to it." But eight years later, in 1907, "it appeared to the leaders of the National Civic Federation not improbable that a new conference might lead to some definite pronouncement of opinion. … Leaders of opinion in all walks of life gave the project their hearty endorsement. … The matter was taken up with great interest by the Governors of the several States and by the presidents of commercial bodies, who named delegates in response to the invitation of the National Civic Federation. A significant evidence of this greater interest is found in the larger number of delegations appointed in 1907 than in 1899. The records show the following:Delegations. 1899. 1907. Appointed by Governors 33 39 Appointed by national and State organizations 22 33 Appointed by labor organizations 7 14 Appointed by local commercial bodies 33 58 Total 95 144
"Furthermore, the attendance of 492 delegates in 1907 might be contrasted with that of 238 delegates at the earlier conference. "The conference of 1907, though larger in numbers, was much more of a unit in sentiment. It developed at an early stage of the discussion that there was no important element antagonizing the trust and combination as such. There were few speakers who failed to dwell upon the advantages which had accrued to the nation from some combinations, and from the spirit of association which, after all, cannot be separated from them. On the other hand, there was no lack of emphasis in dwelling upon the evils which had been disclosed among trusts and combinations. "The resolutions of the conference, adopted by a unanimous vote, reveal these tendencies. They are a call for further examination and more light, but a call for such examination along certain pretty well-defined lines. They should receive the attention of Congress as an expression of the popular will on this pressing question." The Conference held nine sessions, extending over four days, focusing the thought of the best minds of the country, and the counsels of the largest practical experience, on all points in the many-sided problem before it. On all that appear most important among those points it came to a full and clear agreement in its conclusions, as embodied in the following resolutions, which were adopted by unanimous vote, a committee being appointed to present them to Congress and to the President: "After twenty years of Federal legislation as interpreted by the courts, directed against the evils of trusts and combinations, and against railroad rebates, beginning with the interstate commerce act of 1887 and the anti-trust act of 1890, a general and just conviction exists that the experience gained in enforcing these federal acts and others succeeding them demonstrates the necessity of legislation which shall render more secure the benefits already gained and better meet the changed conditions which have arisen during a long period of active progress, both in the enforcement of statute law and in the removal of grave abuses in the management of railroads and corporations. These changes now demanded are: "First—Immediate legislation is required, following the recommendation of President Roosevelt and the Interstate Commerce Commission, permitting agreements between railroad corporations on reasonable freight and passenger rates, subject in all respects to the approval, supervision, and action of the Interstate Commerce Commission. "Second—The enforcement of the Sherman act and the proceedings under it during the administrations of Presidents Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, and Roosevelt have accomplished great national results in awakening the moral sense of the American people and in asserting the supremacy and majesty of the law, thus effectually refuting the impression that great wealth and large corporations were too powerful for the impartial execution of law. This great advance has rendered more secure all property rights, resting, as they must, under a popular government, on universal respect for and obedience to law. But now that this work is accomplished, it has revealed the necessity for legislation which shall maintain all that the Sherman act was intended to secure and safeguard interests it was never expected to affect. {129} "As the next step in executing the determination of the American people to secure in all industrial and commercial relations justice and equality of opportunity for all, with full sympathy and loyal support for every effort to enforce the laws in the past, we urge upon Congress without delay to pass legislation providing for a non-partisan commission, in which the interests of capital, of labor, and of the general public shall be represented. This commission, like a similar commission, which proved most successful in Germany in 1870, shall consider the entire subject of business and industrial combinations and report such proposals, as to the formation, capitalization, management and regulation of corporations (so far as the same may be subject to federal jurisdiction) as shall preserve individual initiative competition, and the free exercise of a free contract in all business and industrial relations. Any proposed legislation should also include modification of the prohibition now existing upon combinations on the following subjects: "1. National and local organizations of labor and their trade agreements with employers relating to wages, hours of labor, and conditions of employment. "2. Associations made up of farmers, intended to secure a stable and equitable market for the products of the soil free from fluctuations due to speculation. "3. Business and industrial agreements of combinations whose objects are in the public interest as distinguished from objects determined to be contrary to the public interest. "4. Such commission should make a thorough inquiry into the advisability of inaugurating a system of federal license or incorporation as a condition for the entrance of certain classes of corporations upon interstate commerce and also into the relation to the public interest of the purchase by one corporation of the franchises or corporate stock of another. "On no one of these subjects must what has been gained be sacrificed until something better appears for enactment. On each, this conference recognizes differences between good men. On all, it asks a national non-partisan commission to be appointed next winter to consider the question and report at the second session of the approaching Congress for such action as the national legislature, in the light of this full investigation, may enact. "Third—The examination, inspection and supervision of great producing and manufacturing corporations, already begun by the Department of Commerce and Labor and accepted by these corporations, should be enlarged by legislation requiring, through the appropriate bureaus of the Department of Commerce and Labor, complete publicity in the capitalization, accounts, operations, transportation charges paid, and selling prices of all such producing and manufacturing corporations whose operations are large enough to have a monopolistic influence. This should be determined and decided by some rule and classification to be devised by the commission already proposed. "Fourth—The conflicts between State and Federal authorities raised in many States over railroad rates being now under adjudication and under way to a final and ultimate decision by the Federal Supreme Court, this conference deems the expression of an opinion on these issues unfitting, and confidently leaves this great issue to a tribunal which for 118 years has successfully preserved the balance between an indissoluble union and indestructible State, defining the supreme and national powers of the one and protecting the sovereign and individual powers of the other." Proceedings of the National Conference on Trusts and Combinations, Chicago, October 22-25, 1907 (New York: National Civic Federation, 1908). COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1907-1909. Thievery of the Sugar Trust. In the fall of 1907 disclosures were made to the Government which led to an investigation of the methods whereby imports of raw sugar for the American Sugar Refining Company, known commonly as the Sugar Trust, were weighed for the payment of Customs duties, at the Company’s docks in Williamsburgh and Jersey City. The result of the investigation was to prove that this enormously wealthy corporation, not satisfied with extortions of profit from the public by its monopoly of the vast sugar trade of the country, had stooped to practices of systematic theft from the Government, by devices that would almost shame the professional players of a thimble rigging game. Several ingenious inventions of trickery with the weighing scales had been employed at the sugar docks prior to 1904, but the crowning one appears to have been brought to use in that year. "This," said the New York Evening Post of April 29, 1909, in a full rehearsal of the story of the Sugar Trust larcenies, "consisted of a thin steel corset spring, which was inserted through a hole drilled in the uprights or stanchions supporting the scales. If inserted at a time when there was a load on the platform, its pressure against the walking beam of the scale resulted in creating a false balance, and in making the load appear considerably lighter than it really was. This little device proved to be so satisfactory for the purposes for which it was designed that it was fitted to all the seventeen government scales at the Havemeyer & Elder refinery. Holes were drilled in the stanchions of each of the scales—hence the ‘case of the seventeen holes’ to which Mr. Stimson called attention. So successful was the operation of this mechanism that it was used constantly down to the very day, November 20, 1907, when a United States Treasury agent found it in use. "The method of use was simple. The scales were placed with the stanchions in a dark corner, next to the wall, and close beside this stanchion sat the company’s checker, whose ostensible duty it was to record in a little book the weight of each load as it was read off to him by the government weigher standing at the other end of the scale. The checker’s really important duty seems to have been, however, to manipulate the steel spring through the hole in the stanchion, so that on each truck load, the company which employed him was saved the payment of duty on some fourteen pounds of sugar. "Evidence was adduced at the subsequent trial to show that the company considered this special service on the part of its checkers worthy of additional compensation. For although there were seventeen scales, all of which could be used for this purpose, practically all the weighing was done on six, and the six reliable checkers who, year in and year out, operated the little steel springs, all received extra pay in their weekly pay envelopes for this service." {130} Consequent on the discovery of these facts, "several indictments were found against the Sugar Trust’s employees, and with that discovery as a basis the government began to work up its case. … When the government came to work up its case and to fix approximately the amount out of which it had been defrauded, it was found possible to present a piece of evidence which so thoroughly clinched the case that defence, when it came to be made, was so weak as to be negligible. This evidence consisted of a tabulation comparing the weights of sugar on which duty was paid and the weights for which the company paid the planters between the time the first cargo of sugar of December, 1901, arrived at the refinery and the discovery of the fraud in November, 1907. "It took a score or more of accountants working steadily for six months to complete the tabulation, but when it was finished the astonishing corroborative story it told made it well worth all the time and trouble expended. Never was there a better example of the deadly parallel. For every entry the weights on which duties were levied was set alongside of the weights for which the company paid the planters." The first result of the proceedings of the Government against the thievish Trust was a pecuniary settlement with it, concerning which the following official statement was given out at Washington, by Attorney-General Wickersham, on the 29th of April, 1909: "The Attorney-General, with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Treasury, has just approved a settlement between the American Sugar Refining Company and the United States Government of all the claims which the latter has against it arising out of the fraudulent weighing on the docks of its refineries at Brooklyn and Jersey City. In making this settlement the sugar company pays in full the recent judgment for the penalty in the amount of $134,411.03, which was awarded against it by the jury in the case tried in the federal court last March, with interest, and agrees to take no appeal from the judgment. "In addition to this, it pays into the United States treasury $2,000,000 more, representing the duties which have been unpaid during the last twelve years, owing to the fraudulent practices, $1,239,088.97 of this amount has already been paid in under protest to Collector Loeb on his reliquidation, as a result of the trial above mentioned, of the duties upon the cargoes entered at the Havemeyer & Elder refineries between the years 1901 and 1907, when the frauds were discovered. "The sugar company abandons its protests on these payments and gives up its right to appeal from Mr. Loeb’s reliquidation and in addition to this pays into the United States treasury the above judgment and over $760,000 more to cover the duties unpaid at the Havemeyer & Elder docks prior to 1901 and at the Jersey City refinery between 1896 and 1906. "This settlement with the sugar company in nowise affects the criminal prosecution of the individuals who are responsible for the perpetration of these frauds, and such prosecutions will be pressed to a finish by the government." [Soon after this settlement with the Government by the Sugar Trust for shortage in payment of duties, the firm of Arbuckle Brothers made a similar settlement, paying $695,573.19.] A few days after the above announcement of a pecuniary settlement with the American Sugar Refining Company, the Grand Jury of the Circuit Court in the New York District presented indictments against Oliver Spitzer, who was superintendent on the company’s docks, Thomas Kehoe, Eugene M. Voelker, Edward A. Boyle, J. R. Coyle, J. M. Halligan, Jr., and Patrick J. Hennessy. In November, further indictments were found against these employees of the company, and James F. Bendernagel, general superintendent of the Williamsburgh refinery for many years past, was arrested on an indictment found by the same grand jury. The trial of the accused, in the United States District Court, was opened on the 30th of November. On the 17th of January, 1910, Charles R. Heike, secretary and treasurer of the American Sugar Refining Company, was arraigned before Judge Hough in the criminal branch of the United States Circuit Court, charged with making false entries and conspiring to defraud the government. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1907-1909. Suit of the Government against the Tobacco Trust. Decree of Circuit Court restraining the combined companies from interstate and foreign trade. On the 10th of July, 1907, the Government began suit at New York against the so-called Tobacco Trust. The defendants in the case included 65 corporations and 27 individuals, the principals, however, being six companies, namely, the American Tobacco Company, the British-American Tobacco Company, the Imperial Tobacco Company, the American Snuff Company, the American Cigar Company, and the United American Cigarette Company. Of these the parent organization, dominating all the others, is the American Tobacco Company, which began the finally gigantic combination in a small way in 1890. The object sought in the Government’s suit was an injunction to restrain the combination as such from engaging in interstate and foreign trade, or for the appointment of receivers to take the management of the business concerned. The case was argued before the Second Circuit Court of the United States in May, 1908, and the decision of the Court was announced on the 7th of November following, Judges Lacombe, Noyes, and Coxe agreeing and Judge Ward dissenting. The Court found that an injunction should issue against some, but not all, of the principal defendants, to prevent the continuance of their violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. It acquitted the Trust, however, of the charge of dishonest and oppressive practices, and it denied the application for receiverships. The final decree of the Court was filed on the 15th of December, 1908. Appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States were taken, both by the Government and by the defendants, and the case was pending in that Court at the close of the year 1909. Mean time the decree has been in suspense. {131} COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1907-1909. Suit to dissolve the alleged Anthracite Coal Combination. The following statements were made in an Associated Press despatch from Philadelphia, March 8, 1909: "Testimony of the Government in its suit against the anthracite coal-carrying railroads and several coal companies, to dissolve a so-called Trust agreement, alleged to be existing among them, has been filed in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. "Suit was begun here on June 12, 1907, and in the course of three months all the defendants made answer, denying the allegations of the Government. Subsequently, the court appointed an examiner to take testimony, and a great part of last year was taken up in hearing witnesses, sessions being held mainly in Philadelphia and New York. "The Government closed its case in New York several weeks ago, having taken more than its allotted time, and the next move will be for the Government to file a motion apportioning a certain amount of time for the defendant companies to present their witnesses for examination. Much of the testimony thus far has been documentary, and it is believed this will be the case with the defendants. After all the testimony is filed with the court for review, arguments will be had on the case. "It is impossible at this time to indicate when the case will be ended, but it seems probable that a year or more will have elapsed before it is legally decided whether a hard coal monopoly, as alleged, exists in Pennsylvania." See, also, proceedings under the "Commodities Clause" of the Hepburn Act, and decision of United States Supreme Court, in this Volume, under RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906-1909. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1908. Declarations in Party Platforms on Trusts. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (APRIL-NOVEMBER). COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1908-1909. Amending the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. Action of the National Civic Federation. The resolutions adopted at the great National Conference of 1907 on the Trust Question, as recited above, were duly presented to Congress at its next session, and to the President, with results which were stated at the annual meeting of the National Civic Federation in December, 1908, by its President, the Honorable Seth Low, as follows: "When these resolutions were presented to the two Houses, the Conference Committee was asked to submit a definite Bill in legislative form to carry out its proposals. The Conference itself had given no such authority to any Committee; but, in view of the situation as it had developed, the Executive Committee of the Federation took the matter up. The result of its action was the preparation of a Bill, which was submitted in due time to Congress, and which became the subject of numerous hearings before the Judiciary Committees both of the House and of the Senate, but especially of the House. The Bill of last spring was based upon the belief that at that time, and before the approaching Presidential election, it would be impossible to change the substantive law as embodied in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This being taken for granted, it became impossible to do more than propose a method by which, without changing the law, certain restraints of trade, if not disapproved in advance by some government authority, might be assured freedom from prosecution. The hearings before the Congressional Committees made it evident that no relief from the embarrassments caused by the Sherman Anti-Trust Law can be looked for along this line of procedure. Perhaps it ought also to be said that none ought to be looked for, because the situation really calls for a change in the substantive provisions of the law. Let no one imagine, however, that it is an easy thing to say what such changes in the law ought to be. Your Committee last spring began its work in the hope that it would be able to submit a law which would command very large support, not only from employers but also from organized labor. After working upon the subject for many weeks, the Bill which it actually presented commanded no large measure of support from either. The mercantile classes favor amendments to the law which, instead of forbidding all restraints of trade, will forbid only unreasonable restraints of trade; and which will provide amnesty for the past, (1) on the theoretical ground that what has been done has often been done without any realization that it was contrary to the law; and (2) on the practical ground that to attempt to rip up what has already been done will destroy the industry of the country. The representatives of organized labor, on the other hand, ask to be omitted altogether from the provisions of the Sherman Act. It is evident to your Committee that the changes desired by the mercantile classes are going to meet with very serious objection, unless they are combined with some positive legislation which will provide some effective method of assuring to the country, in the future, the power to protect itself in advance from new combinations in the industrial sphere, such as have been made in the past, and which originally created the sentiment which placed the Sherman Anti-Trust Law upon the statute books. "In other words, precisely as a city may desire to limit the height of buildings, for the future, without taking down those that are already erected, so many persons believe that the right to make commercial combinations, in the future, should be under some sort of governmental control, even though those already formed be left unmolested; and such persons, also, believe that there is the same inherent right in the body politic to do the one as the other. On the other hand, the demand of organized labor to be exempted altogether from the operations of this Act has been objected to in the past, and is likely to be objected to in the future, as class legislation of a kind that has no place on American soil, because organized labor is believed to be capable of exercising restraint of trade no less than commercial corporations. "These being the terms of the problem, it is apparent, on the face of things, that the effort to amend the Sherman Anti-Trust Law in any effective way is beset by difficulties at every turn. … The whole subject is made infinitely difficult by the Constitutional limitations upon the power of Congress, which have led the United States Supreme Court to decide, in effect, that Congress can regulate inter-State commerce, but cannot regulate the corporation that does it; because the corporation that does inter-State commerce is a creature of the State and not of the United States. The separate States, on the other hand, can regulate the corporations that do inter State commerce, because they create them; but the States cannot regulate the inter-state commerce that is done, because under the United States Constitution, inter-State commerce is under National control. It cannot be too clearly apprehended that the effect of this situation is, that neither sovereignty—neither the National sovereignty nor the State sovereignty—can regulate both the agent that does inter-State commerce and the inter-State commerce that is done." {132} In the National Civic Federation Review of March, 1909, it was announced that "the Executive Council of the National Civic Federation has appointed a committee to draft proposed amendments to the Sherman Anti-Trust act. By request of the lawyers upon the committee Seth Low will serve as chairman. The other members are Frederick P. Fish, of Boston; Frederick N. Judson, of St. Louis; Reuben D. Silliman, of New York, and Henry W. Taft, of New York. "No attempt will be made to submit anything to the present session of Congress. It is proposed to draft a tentative bill as soon as a careful study of the problems will permit. This will then be submitted for examination and suggestion to various representative bodies in all parts of the country, and with the aid of the comments thus received the final draft of the bill to be submitted will be prepared." COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1909. Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on the Tobacco Combination, or so-called Trust. Parts of an elaborate report on the organization of the Tobacco Combination were published in February, 1909, by the Commissioner of Corporations, Herbert Knox Smith. It showed the combination to be composed of "the American Tobacco Company and its three great subsidiary combinations, the American Snuff Company, the American Cigar Company, and the British-American Company, besides eighty two other subsidiary concerns doing business in the United States, Porto Rico, and Cuba. The combination represents a total net capitalization of over $316,000,000. A very small group of ten stockholders controls 60 per cent. of the outstanding voting stock of the American Tobacco Company, through which company the entire combination is controlled." A list of the subsidiary companies controlled, "including over twenty hitherto secretly controlled, so-called ‘bogus independent concerns,'" is given in the report. It is shown also that the combination is practically the only important exporter of tobacco manufactures from this country. In 1891 the combination controlled 89 per cent. of the business of cigarette manufactures, and this proportion practically is maintained. In cigars its output increased from 4 per cent. of the business in 1897 to 14.7 per cent, in 1906; while in manufactured tobacco (chewing, smoking, fine-cut, and snuff) "the combination’s output increased from 7 per cent. of the total in 1891 to 77 per cent. in 1906. Finally, in 1906, the combination controlled of these separate products, respectively, plug, 82 per cent.; smoking, 71 per cent.; fine-cut, 81 per cent., and snuff, 96 per cent." In the year 1906 the combination used in the manufacture of its various products nearly 300,000,000 pounds of leaf tobacco. The report adds: "An idea of the absorption of competing plants and of the changes through combination within the last decade may be had from the fact that in 1897 the combination had ten plants, each producing over 50,000 pounds of manufactured tobacco or snuff per year, while there were 243 independent plants of the same class. In 1906, on the other hand, the combination had 45 plants of this class, and independent manufacturers 140. Especially conspicuous has been the absorption of the large plants. In 1897 the combination had eight plants, each producing over 1,000,000 pounds of these products per year, while its competitors had forty-six such plants. In 1906 the combination had thirty-four plants of this size, and independent concerns only seventeen." COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1909. Merger of Telephone and Telegraph Corporations. Announcement of one of the most important financial mergers of recent years was made November 16, 1909, when the American Telephone and Telegraph Company disclosed its acquirement of control of the Western Union Telegraph Company. "The American Telephone and Telegraph Company has obtained the control of a substantial minority interest in the shares of the Western Union Telegraph Company," was the wording of the official statement, but it became known that sufficient voting rights of other stock had been obtained to give the telephone interests control of the telegraph company. According to a statement issued on May 1, 1909, the total capital and outstanding interest-bearing obligations of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and allied systems was $592,475,400. This amount included capital stock aggregating $361,636,800, subdivided as follows: American Telephone and Telegraph Company, $208,393,500; associated operating companies in the United States and Canada, about thirty-five in number, $142,674,400; associated holding and manufacturing companies, $10,668,900. "The Western Union has a capitalization of $125,000,000 in stock and $40,000,000 in bonds. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1909. Threatened combination to control the Water Power of the country. Speaking at the National Irrigation Congress, convened at Spokane, Washington, in August, 1909, the National Forester, Gifford Pinchot, declared that, notwithstanding the contradictions issued by the parties in interest, a gigantic combination was forming to seize the sources of the country’s water power, and be in a position later to dominate all industry. "There could be no better illustration," he said, "of the eager, rapid, unwearied absorption by capital of the rights which belong to all the people than the Water Power Trust, not yet formed, but in rapid progress of formation. This statement is true, but not unchallenged. We are met at every turn by the indignant denial of the water power interests. They tell us that there is no community of interest among them, and yet they appear year after year at these Congresses by their paid attorneys, asking for your influence to help them remove the few remaining obstacles to their perpetual and complete absorption of the remaining water powers. They tell us it has no significance that the General Electric interests are acquiring great groups of water powers in various parts of the United States, and dominating the power market in the region of each group. And whoever dominates power, dominates all industry. … The time for us to agitate this question is now, before the separate circles of centralized control spread into the uniform, unbroken, nation-wide covering of a single gigantic Trust. There will be little chance for mere agitation after that. No man at all familiar with the situation can doubt that the time for effective protest is very short." {133} The same warning has been given by others who are in a position to speak with knowledge, and heed has been given to them by the Government. The annual report of the Secretary of the Interior, the Honorable Richard A. Ballinger, made public November 28, 1909, contained the following important announcement: "In anticipation of new legislation by Congress to prevent the acquisition of power sites on the public domain by private persons or corporations with the view of monopolizing or adversely controlling them against the public interest, there have been temporarily withdrawn from all forms of entry approximately 603,355 acres, covering all locations known to possess power possibilities on unappropriated lands outside of national forests. Without such withdrawals these sites would be enterable under existing laws, and their patenting would leave the general government powerless to impose any limitations as to their use. "If the Federal government desires to exercise control or supervision over water-power development on the public domain, it can only do so by limitations imposed upon the disposal of power and reservoir sites upon the public lands, the waters of the streams being subject to State jurisdiction in their appropriation and beneficial use. I would, therefore, advise that the Congress be asked to enact a measure that will authorize the classification of all lands capable of being used for water-power development, and to direct their disposal, through this department. … "Unreasonable or narrow restrictions beyond the necessity of public protection against monopoly, or extortion in charges, will, of course, defeat development and serve no useful purpose. The statute should, therefore, while giving full protection against the abuses of the privileges extended, so far as consistent, encourage investment in these projects; and it must always be borne in mind that excessive charges for the franchise will fall upon the consumer. Legislation of this character proceeds upon the theory that Congress can impose such contractual terms and conditions as it sees fit in the sale or use permitted of government lands so long as such limitations do not conflict with the powers properly exercised by the State wherein they may be situated." COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1909. The Sugar Trust settles a conspiracy charge. While the American Sugar Refining Company, in the spring of 1909, was being forced to make good to the Government its long cheating of the Custom House, it was being compelled, at the same time, to indemnify a competitor in business, whom it had ruined by means which the Sherman Anti-Trust Law forbade. Its victim was the Pennsylvania Sugar Refining Company, whose refinery had been established by Mr. Adolph Segal, of Philadelphia, in 1903. Segal became financially embarrassed, and was lured into taking a loan of $1,250,000, from a person who acted secretly in the transaction for the American Sugar Refining Company. The loan was made on terms which gave the lender control of a majority of the stock of the Pennsylvania Sugar Refining Company, and Mr. Segal found, when too late, that the real lender was the Sugar Trust. It used its power to shutdown the plant, which was said to be the most perfect of its kind, and the Pennsylvania Company was wrecked. It brought a suit for damages to the amount of $30,000,000, inflicted upon it in contravention of the Anti-Trust Law. Before the trial ended, the defendants found so much reason to fear its outcome that negotiations were opened which resulted (June 8, 1909) in a settlement of the claim outside of court. The settlement was said to involve a cash payment by the American Company to the Pennsylvania Company of $750,000, the cancellation of the $1,250,000 loan made by the trust to Adolph Segal, of Philadelphia, and the return of the securities given by Segal as collateral for the loan. Subsequently the Government procured indictments of certain of the officials of the American Sugar Refining Company for their participation in the conspiracy; but the prosecution was blocked in October by a decision from Judge Holt, of the United States Circuit Court, that the acts charged were outlawed by the statute of limitations. Later, in November, it was reported that the Government was preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1909. Dissolution of a Paper-making Combination. By a decree of the United States Circuit Court, Judge Hough, at New York, in May, 1909, the Fiber and Manila Association, a combination of 25 paper manufacturers, located in many parts of the country, East and West, was adjudged to be an illegal combination in restraint of trade, and perpetually enjoined from further operations in such combination. The members were enjoined further from fixing prices or the qualities that shall be manufactured or to maintain any pool or fund made up of contributions from its members. Counsel for the Association announced that no appeal would be made. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1909. Chartering of the United Dry Goods Companies. "Details of the greatest dry goods combination ever attempted in this country were available to-day for the first time since the United Dry Goods Companies took out a Delaware charter last Friday [April 21, 1909], The concern will control many of the largest dry goods stores in this city and at important commercial centres of the South and West, acting first as a holding company and later possibly as an operating concern, with headquarters here. John Claflin will be the head of the combination. The present managers of the various absorbed stores will be continued. J. P. Morgan & Co. are financing the deal, and public announcement will be made immediately. "The United Dry Goods Companies will have a capital of $51,000,000. Of this only $20,000,000 will be immediately issued in the form of $10,000,000 7 per cent. cumulative preferred stock and $10,000,000 common stock. The preferred stock has preference as to both assets and dividends. The new combination will purchase $8,650,000 of the outstanding $17,250,000 capital stock of the Associated Merchants’ Company. … "John Claflin said this afternoon that the new company would not buy any mills, as it was not the purpose of the combination to control the sources of production. All the stores—there are more than forty, which the United Companies and its allies will own in whole or in part—will be free to purchase from whatever interests they wish, without being restricted to any one market or to the product of any special mills. The general business will be directed from the city, but resident directors at different centres will have full charge of the detail work." New York Evening Post, May, 25-26, 1909. {134} COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1909. The illegality of a Trust invalidates a debt to it. In a suit brought by the Continental Wall Paper Company to recover a debt, payment of which was resisted on the ground that the Company was an illegal combination in restraint of trade, the Supreme Court of the United States, on the 1st of February, 1909, affirmed a judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals which had dismissed the suit. The case was so decided by a bare majority of one. The opinion of the majority, delivered by Justice Harlan, held that a judgment in favor of the Company would give effect to agreements constituting the illegal combination. "Upon the whole case," said Justice Harlan, "and without further citation of authority, we adjudge upon the admitted facts that the combination represented by the plaintiff in this case was illegal under the anti-trust act of 1890; is to be taken as one intended, and which would have the effect, directly to restrain and monopolize trade among the several states and with foreign states; and that the plaintiff cannot have a judgment for the amount of the account sued on because such a judgment would, in effect, be in aid of the execution of agreements constituting that illegal combination. We consequently hold that the circuit court of appeals properly sustained the third defense in the case and rightly dismissed the suit." In the dissenting opinion by Justice Holmes and others it was set forth that "whenever a party knows that he is buying from an illegal trust, and still more when he buys at a price that he thinks unreasonable, but is compelled to pay in order to get the goods he needs, he knows that he is doing an act in furtherance of the unlawful purpose of the trust, which always is to get the most it can for its wares. But that knowledge makes no difference, because the policy of not furthering the purposes of the trust is less important than the policy of preventing people from getting other people’s property for nothing when they purport to be buying it." COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1909-1910. Morgan & Co. Banking Combination. See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: UNITED STATES. COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1910. Special Message of President Taft on Legislation touching "Trusts." An important special Message, recommendatory of legislation on the two subjects of interstate commerce and the combinations called "Trusts," was addressed to Congress by President Taft on the 7th of January, 1910. It had been expected that the Executive would advise amendments to the Sherman Anti-Trust Law, so-called, but he did not. On the contrary he favored the policy of leaving that law untouched, on the ground that its defects have been cured already to a great extent by judicial decisions, and that it is safer and better for the business interests of the country to trust the law to the gradual molding which the courts are giving it, than to undertake amendments which would start anew series of judicial interpretations. But the President’s conclusions on this point were supplemented by the advocacy of an enactment to provide for the federal chartering of corporations engaged in interstate commerce, as a means of substituting continuous regulation of such organizations for the spasmodic and disturbing investigations which the Government is now compelled frequently to institute. In part, the President’s discussion of these questions is as follows:— "The statute has been on the statute book now for two decades, and the Supreme Court in more than a dozen opinions has construed it in application to various phases of business combinations and in reference to various subjects-matter. It has applied it to the union under one control of two competing interstate railroads, to joint traffic arrangements between several interstate railroads, to private manufacturers engaged in a plain attempt to control prices and suppress competition in a part of the country, including a dozen States, and to many other combinations affecting interstate trade. The value of a statute which is rendered more and more certain in its meaning by a series of decisions of the Supreme Court furnishes a strong reason for leaving the act as it is, to accomplish its useful purpose, even though if it were being newly enacted useful suggestions as to change of phrase might be made. "It is the duty and the purpose of the Executive to direct an investigation by the Department of Justice, through the grand jury or otherwise, into the history, organization, and purposes of all the industrial companies with respect to which there is any reasonable ground for suspicion that they have been organized for a purpose, and are conducting business on a plan which is in violation of the Anti-Trust law. The work is a heavy one, but is not beyond the power of the Department of Justice, if sufficient funds are furnished, to carry on the investigations and to pay the counsel engaged in the work. But such an investigation and possible prosecution of corporations whose prosperity or destruction affects the comfort not only of stockholders, but of millions of wage-earners, employees, and associated tradesmen, must necessarily tend to disturb the confidence of the business community, to dry up the now flowing sources of capital from its places of hoarding, and produce a halt in our present prosperity that will cause suffering and strained circumstances among the innocent many for the faults of the guilty few. The question which I wish in this message to bring clearly to the consideration and discussion of Congress is whether in order to avoid such a possible business danger something cannot be done by which these business combinations may be offered a means, without great financial disturbance, of changing the character, organization, and extent of their business into one within the lines of the law under Federal control and supervision, securing compliance with the anti-trust statute. "Generally, in the industrial combinations called ‘Trusts,’ the principal business is the sale of goods in many States and in foreign markets; in other words, the interstate and foreign business far exceeds the business done in any one State. This fact will justify the Federal government in granting a Federal charter to such a combination to make and sell in interstate and foreign commerce the products of useful manufacture under such limitations as will secure a compliance with the Anti-Trust law. It is possible so to frame a statute that while it offers protection to a Federal company against harmful, vexatious, and unnecessary invasion by the States, it shall subject it to reasonable taxation and control by the States, with respect to its purely local business. {135} "Many people conducting great businesses have cherished a hope and a belief that in some way or other a line may be drawn between ‘good Trusts’ and ‘bad Trusts,’ and that it is possible, by amendment to the Anti-Trust law, to make a distinction under which good combinations may be permitted to organize, suppress competition, control prices, and do it all legally, if only they do not abuse the power by taking too great profit out of the business. … Now, the public, and especially the business public, ought to rid themselves of the idea that such a distinction is practicable or can be introduced into the statute. Certainly under the present Anti-Trust law no such distinction exists. It has been proposed, however, that the word ‘reasonable’ should be made a part of the statute, and then that it should be left to the court to say what is a reasonable restraint of trade, what is a reasonable suppression of competition, what is a reasonable monopoly. I venture to think that this is to put into the hands of the court a power impossible to exercise on any consistent principle which will insure the uniformity of decision essential to just judgment. It is to thrust upon the courts a burden that they have no precedents to enable them to carry, and to give them a power approaching the arbitrary, the abuse of which might involve our whole judicial system in disaster. "In considering violations of the Anti-Trust law, we ought, of course, not to forget that that law makes unlawful, methods of carrying on business which before its passage were regarded as evidence of business sagacity and success, and that they were denounced in this act, not because of their intrinsic immorality, but because of the dangerous results toward which they tended, the concentration of industrial power in the hands of the few, leading to oppression and injustice. In dealing, therefore, with many of the men who have used the methods condemned by the statute for the purpose of maintaining a profitable business, we may well facilitate a change by them in the method of doing business. … "To the suggestion that this proposal of Federal incorporation for industrial combinations is intended to furnish them a refuge in which to continue industrial abuses under Federal protection, it should be said that the measure contemplated does not repeal the Sherman Anti-Trust law, and is not to be framed so as to permit the doing of the wrongs which it is the purpose of that law to prevent, but only to foster a continuance and advance of the highest industrial efficiency without permitting industrial abuses. … "A Federal compulsory license law, urged as a substitute for a Federal incorporation law, is unnecessary except to reach that kind of corporation which, by virtue of the considerations already advanced, will take advantage voluntarily of an incorporation law, while the other State corporations doing an interstate business do not need the supervision or the regulation of a Federal license and would only be unnecessarily burdened thereby. "The attorney-general, at my suggestion, has drafted a Federal incorporation bill embodying the views I have attempted to set forth, and it will be at the disposition of the appropriate committees of Congress." COMBINATIONS: A. D. 1910. Renewed investigation of the Beef Trust. A renewed investigation of the business methods of the great meat-packing concerns at Chicago, by the grand jury of the United States District Court, Judge K. M. Landis, was begun on the 24th of January, 1910. It is understood to have special reference to the causes of the rising prices of meats. The firms against which the Government is thus preparing to proceed are: Swift & Co., Armour & Co., and Morris & Co., who, it is alleged, control the National Packing Company, for their common benefit. ----------COMBINATIONS: End-------- COMMERCE AND LABOR, The United States Department of. See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903 (FEBRUARY). COMMERCIAL UNIVERSITIES, in Germany: Their recent rise. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: GERMANY: A. D. 1898-1904. "COMMISSION PLAN," of City Government. See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED. See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH. COMMITTEE OF UNION AND PROGRESS. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER), and after. COMMODITIES CLAUSE, of the Hepburn Act: Supreme Court decision on. See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906-1909. COMMUNAL SYSTEM, Russian: Its modification. See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1906 AND 1909 (APRIL). CONCENTRATION CAMPS. See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1901-1902. CONCILIATION BOARDS, Canadian. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: CANADA: A. D. 1907-1908. CONCILIATION COMMITTEE, of National Civic Federation. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902. CONCORDAT OF 1802, The. See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1905-1906. CONFÉDÉRATION GÉNÉRALE DU TRAVAIL. See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1884-1909. CONFERENCE OF STATE GOVERNORS. See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES. CONFERENCES FOR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH, Annual. See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1898-1909. CONGER, Edwin H.: U. S. Minister to China. See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1903 (MAY-OCTOBER). CONGESTED ESTATES. See (in this Volume) IRELAND: A. D. 1909. {136} ----------CONGO STATE: Start-------- CONGO STATE: How the natives have been enslaved and oppressed. The "Domaine Privé." "The Berlin Conference laid it down that no import dues should be established in the mouth of the Congo for twenty years. But in 1890 King Leopold, alleging the heavy expenses to which he had been put by the campaign against the Arabs in the Upper Congo, applied for permission to levy import duties. It was the first disillusionment; and the British Chambers of Commerce began to wonder whether their opposition to the Anglo-Portuguese Convention had not been mistaken. The King’s request was granted (the Powers merely reserving to themselves the right to revert to the original arrangement in fifteen years), but not without the bitter opposition of the Dutch, who had very important commercial interests in the Congo, backed by the British Chambers of Commerce and all the traders in the Congo, irrespective of nationality. A representative gathering was held in London on November 4th, 1900, presided over by Sir Albert Rollit, to protest against the imposition of import duties and to denounce the hypocrisy which attributed to philanthropic motives the desire on the part of the Congo State so to impose upon them. … "They were able to show that … King Leopold, notwithstanding his formal assurances to the commercial world that the Congo State would never directly or indirectly itself trade within its dominions, was buying, or rather stealing, ivory from the natives in the Upper Congo and retaining the proceeds of the sale on the European market. They proved that, profiting by the silence of the Berlin Treaty on the subject of export duties, the Congo State had already imposed taxes amounting to 17½ per cent. on ivory, 13 per cent, on rubber and 5 per cent. on palm kernels, palm-oil and ground-nuts, the total taxation amounting to no less than 33 per cent. of the value of the whole of the trade. Finally they had no difficulty in demonstrating that, with all his professed wish to stamp out the slave-raiding carried on by the half-caste Arabs in the Upper Congo, His Majesty was himself tacitly encouraging the slave trade by receiving tribute from conquered Chiefs in the shape of slaves, who were promptly enrolled as soldiers in the State army. … "Five months after the termination of the Berlin Conference King Leopold issued a decree (July, 1885) whereby the State asserted rights of proprietorship over all vacant lands throughout the Congo territory. It was intended that the term vacant lands should apply in the broadest sense to lands not actually occupied by the natives at the time the decree was issued. By successive decrees, promulgated in 1886, 1887 and 1888, the King reduced the rights of the natives in their land to the narrowest limits, with the result that the whole of the odd 1,000,000 square miles assigned to the Congo State, except such infinitesimal proportions thereof as were covered by native villages or native farms, became ‘terres domaniales.' On October 17th, 1889, the King also issued a decree ordering merchants to limit their commercial operations in rubber to bartering with the natives. This decree was interesting merely as a forewarning of what came later, because at that time the rubber trade was very small. In July, 1890, the same year as the Brussels Conference, the Congo State went a step further. A decree issued in that month confirmed all that was advanced in November of the same year by the speakers at the London Conference held to protest against the imposition of import duties by the State. By its terms King Leopold asserted that the State was entitled to trade on its own account in ivory—the first open violation of his pledges. Moreover the decree imposed sundry extra taxes upon all ivory bought by merchants from the natives, which, since the State had become itself a trading concern, constituted an equally direct violation of the Berlin Act, by establishing differential treatment in matters of trade. Such were the plans King Leopold made, preparatory to obtaining from the Powers the power to impose import duties. Everything was ready for the great coup, which should also inaugurate the Fifth Stage of His Majesty’s African policy. "The Brussels Conference met. The Powers with inconceivable fatuity allowed themselves to be completely hoodwinked, and within a year the greatest injury perpetrated upon the unfortunate natives of Africa since the Portuguese in the XVth century conceived the idea of expatriating them for labour purposes had been committed, and committed too by a Monarch who had not ceased for fifteen years to pose as their self-appointed regenerator. On September 21st, 1891, King Leopold drafted, in secret, a decree which he caused to be forwarded to the Commissioners of the State in the Uban-ghi-Welle and Aruwimi-Welle districts, and to the Chiefs of the military expeditions operating in the Upper Ubanghi district. This decree never having been published in the official Bulletin of the State, its exact terms can only be a matter of conjecture, but we know that it instructed the officials to whom it was addressed ‘to take urgent and necessary measures to preserve the fruits of the domain to the State, especially ivory and rubber.’ By ‘fruits of the domain’ King Leopold meant the products of the soil throughout the ‘vacant lands’ which he had attributed to himself, as already explained, by the decree of 1885. The King’s instructions were immediately followed, and three circulars, dated respectively Bangala, 15th December, 1891, Basankusu, 8th May, 1892, and Yokoma, 14th February, 1892, were issued by the officials in question. Circular Number 1 forbade the natives to hunt elephants unless they brought the tusks to the State’s officers. Circular Number 2 forbade the natives to collect rubber unless they brought it to the State’s officers. Circular Number 3 forbade the natives to collect either ivory or rubber unless they brought the articles to the State’s officers, and added that ‘merchants purchasing such articles from the natives, whose right to collect them the State only recognised provided that they were brought to it, would be looked upon as receivers of stolen goods and denounced to the judicial authorities.’ Thus did the Sovereign of the Congo State avail himself of the additional prestige conferred upon him by the Brussels Conference. … {137} "In theory, then, the decrees of September, 1891, and October, 1892, made of the native throughout the Domaine Privé a serf. In theory a serf he remained, for a little while. But as the grip of Africa’s regenerator tightened upon the Domaine Privé, as the drilled and officered cannibal army, armed with repeating rifles, gradually grew and grew until it was larger than the native forces kept up by any of the great Powers of Europe on African soil, as the radius of the rubber taxes was extended, as portions of the country began to be farmed out to so-called 'Companies' whose agents were also officials of the King, the native of the Domaine Privé became a serf not in theory only but in fact, ground down, exploited, forced to collect rubber at the bayonet’s point, compelled to pay onerous tribute to men whose salaries depend upon the produce returns from their respective stations—the punishment for disobedience, slothfulness or inability to comply with demands ever growing in extortion, being anything from mutilation to death, accompanied by the destruction of villages and crops." E. D. Morel, The Belgian Curse in Africa (Contemporary Review, March, 1902). CONGO STATE: A. D. 1903-1905. The alleged oppressiveness, barbarity, and rapacity of its administration under King Leopold. Observations of Lord Cromer on the Nile border. Reports of a British Consular Officer, and of King Leopold’s Belgian Commission. Action of the British Government. Serious accusations of oppression and barbarity in the exploiting of the natural wealth of the so-called Independent Congo State, under the administration of its royal proprietor, King Leopold, of Belgium, were beginning to be made a dozen years ago, as will be seen by reference to the subject in Volume VI. of this work. The King and the companies which operated in the region under his grants were reputed to be taking enormous profits from it. Of one of those concessionaire companies, sometimes referred to as the A. B. I. R. Co. and sometimes as "the Abir," it was stated in 1901 that its £40,000 of shares could have been sold for £2,160,000, and that half of its profits went to Leopold. But, as was said later by a member of the British Parliament, who wrote on the subject in one of the reviews, "meanwhile Europe was becoming aware of the price that was being paid in Africa for these profits in Belgium. Travellers, missionaries of various nationalities, administrators in the neighbouring territories belonging to England and France, sent home graphic reports of the cruel oppression that was being practised on the helpless population. In England especially, through the efforts of Sir Charles Dilke, of Mr. Fox-Bourne, the secretary of the Aborigines Protection Society, of Mr. E. D. Morel and of other disinterested men, public opinion was informed of the truth. In May, 1903, a resolution, which I had the honor of moving in the House of Commons, calling upon the Government to take action with a view to the abatement of the evils prevalent in the Congo Free State, was accepted by Mr. Balfour and unanimously passed. A diplomatic correspondence ensued between the two governments. The British Consul in the Lower Congo, Mr. Roger Casement, was sent on a tour of inquiry into the interior, and his lengthy and detailed report fully confirmed—in some respect extending—the indictment that had been drawn. A Congo Reform Association was founded, and immediately secured influential support. … At last King Leopold, pressed by the despatches of the British Government and bowing to the storm of public opinion, yielded so far as to authorise further inquiry into the charges that had been made. The investigation by an International Commission, which had been proposed, he rejected. He nominated three Commissioners of his selection, one a legal officer in the service of the Belgian Government, one a judge in the service of the Congo State, and the third a Swiss jurist of repute. In October, 1904, the Commission reached the Congo. It stayed for five months and made an extended journey into the interior. After an unexplained delay of eight months its report was published on the 6th of November of this year [1905]. … "Had the report embodied an acquittal of the Congo State it would not, under the circumstances, have been surprising. The Commissioners, however, have to a great degree risen superior to their natural prepossessions. … It is most regrettable … that they present no minutes of the evidence taken before them—a circumstance which deprives the report of actuality and force, and prevents outside observers from drawing their own conclusions from the facts which had been ascertained. But the inquiry was painstaking. The case was fairly tried. The judgment is an honest judgment. "Being honest, it is necessarily a condemnation. The Belgian defenders of the Congo Government, who were led by a conception of patriotic duty as profoundly false as that of the anti-Dreyfusards in France to deny everything and to meet the critics merely with unceasing torrents of abuse, now have their answer. A tribunal, not of our choosing, selected by the defendant in their cause, has shown that those who denounced Congo misrule were in the right, that the atrocities were not imaginary, that a cruel oppression of the natives has been proceeding unchecked for years." Herbert Samuel, The Congo State (Contemporary Review, December, 1905). Before this report appeared many witnesses had testified for and against the impeached Government and its commercial monopoly of the Congo State. Atrocities of slaughter, mutilation and flogging, committed by the soldiery, the sentries and other extortioners of a labor tax from the helpless natives, were asserted and denied. It is best, perhaps, to drop these blackest counts from the Congo indictment, because of the controversy over them; and enough remains in the Report of the King’s own Commission of Inquiry, and in general conditions which are flagrantly in evidence, to convict King Leopold and his agents of soulless rapacity, in their treatment of the vast African country that was entrusted to him by the Conference of Powers assembled at Berlin in 1884-1885. There is great weight of meaning, for example, in a few words that were written, in January, 1903, by Lord Cromer, while returning from a long trip up the Nile, in which his steamer passed along about eighty miles of Congolese shore. Before reaching that border of Leopold’s domain he had traversed 1100 miles of the country lately wrested by the British from dervishes and slave dealers, where, he remarks, "it might well have been expected that much time would be required to inspire confidence in the intentions of the new Government." But, "except in the uninhabitable ‘Sudd’ region," he wrote, "numerous villages are dotted along the banks of the river. {138} The people, far from flying at the approach of white men, as was formerly the case, run along the banks, making signs for the steamer to stop. It is clear that the Baris, Shilluks, and Dinkas place the utmost trust and confidence in the British officers with whom they are brought in contact. … "The contrast when once Congolese territory is entered is remarkable. From the frontier to Gondokoro is about 80 miles. The proper left, or western, bank of the river is Belgian. The opposite bank is either under the Soudanese or the Uganda Government. There are numerous islands, and as all these are under British rule—for the thalweg which, under Treaty, is the Belgian frontier, skirts the western bank of the river—I cannot say that I had an opportunity of seeing a full 80 miles of Belgian territory. At the same time, I saw a good deal, and I noticed that, whereas there were numerous villages and huts on the eastern bank and on the islands, on the Belgian side not a sign of a village existed. Indeed, I do not think that any one of our party saw a single human being in Belgian territory, except the Belgian officers and men and the wives and children of the latter. Moreover not a single native was to be seen either at Kiro or Lado. I asked the Swedish officer at Kiro whether he saw much of the natives. He replied in the negative, adding that the nearest Bari village was situated at some distance in the interior. The Italian officer at Lado, in reply to the same question, stated that the nearest native village was seven hours distant. The reason of all this is obvious enough. The Belgians are disliked. The people fly from them, and it is no wonder they should do so, for I am informed that the soldiers are allowed full liberty to plunder, and that payments are rarely made for supplies. The British officers wander, practically alone, over most parts of the country, either on tours of inspection or on shooting expeditions. I understand that no Belgian officer can move outside the settlements without a strong guard." This is in line with some parts of the experience of Mr. Casement, the British Consular Officer referred to in the article quoted above, who travelled for about ten weeks on the Upper Congo in 1903, and whose report of what he saw includes such accounts as the following, of conditions around Lake Matumba: "Each village I visited around the lake, save that of Q. and one other, had been abandoned by its inhabitants. To some of these villages the people have only just returned; to others they are only now returning, In one I found the bare and burnt poles of what had been dwellings left standing, and at another —that of R—the people had fled at the approach of my steamer, and despite the loud cries of my native guides on board, nothing could induce them to return, and it was impossible to hold any intercourse with them. At the three succeeding villages I visited beyond R., in traversing the lake towards the south, the inhabitants all fled at the approach of the steamer, and it was only when they found whose the vessel was that they could be induced to return." An incident related by Mr. Casement is this: "Steaming up a small tributary of the Lulongo, I arrived, unpreceded by any rumour of my coming, at the village of A. In an open shed I found two sentries of the La Lulanga Company guarding fifteen native women, five of whom had infants at the breast, and three of whom were about to become mothers. The chief of these sentries, a man called S—who was bearing a double-barrelled shot-gun, for which he had a belt of cartridges—at once volunteered an explanation of the reason for these women’s detention. Four of them, he said, were hostages who were being held to insure the peaceful settlement of a dispute between two neighbouring towns, which had already cost the life of a man. … The remaining eleven women, whom he indicated, he said he had caught and was detaining as prisoners to compel their husbands to bring in the right amount of india-rubber required of them on next market day. When I asked if it was a woman’s work to collect india-rubber, he said, ‘No; that, of course, it was man’s work.’ ‘Then why do you catch the women and not the men?’ I asked. ‘Don’t you see,’ was the answer, ‘if I caught and kept the men, who would work the rubber? But if I catch their wives, the husbands are anxious to have them home again, and so the rubber is brought in quickly and quite up to the mark.’ When I asked what would become of these women if their husbands failed to bring in the right quantity of rubber on the next market day, he said at once that then they would be kept there until their husbands had redeemed them." Parliamentary Papers, Africa, Number 1 (1904), Cd. 1933. But the facts which condemn the Congo administration most conclusively are found in the report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed by King Leopold himself,—especially in what it represents of the heartless oppression of the labor tax, or labor imposed on the natives, in their compulsory carrying of goods or collection of rubber, food and wood, for the State and for the companies that operate under the King’s grants. As to the labor tax exacted in food, for example, the Commission expresses itself as follows: "The decree fixes at forty hours per month the work which each native owes to the State. This time, considered as a maximum, is certainly not excessive, especially if one takes account of the fact that the work ought to be remunerated; but as in the immense majority of cases … it is not precisely the work which is demanded of the native, but rather a quantity of products equivalent to forty hours of work, the criterion of time disappears in reality and is replaced by an equivalent established by the Commissioner of the district after diverse methods. … "Chikwangue (kwanga)is nothing but manioc bread. … The preparation of this food requires many operations: the clearing of the forest, the planting of manioc, the digging up of the root and its transformation into chikwangue, which comprises the operations of separating the fibers and stripping the bark, pulverizing, washing, making it into bundles, and cooking it. All these operations, except clearing the land, fall to the women. The chikwangues so prepared are carried by the natives to the neighboring post and served for the food supply of the personnel of the State—soldiers and laborers. … As the chikwangue keeps only a few days, the native, even by redoubling his activity, cannot succeed in freeing himself from his obligations for any length of time. {139} The requirement, even if it does not take all his time, oppresses him continually by the weight of its recurrent demands, which deprive the tax of its true character and transform it into an incessant corvée. … Doubtless the adage, ‘time is money,’ cannot be applied to the natives of the Congo; it is none the less inadmissible that a taxpayer should be obliged to travel over ninety-three miles to carry to the place of collection a tax which represents about the value of twenty-nine cents. … "Natives inhabiting the environs of Lulonga were forced to journey in canoes to Nouvelle-Anvers, which represents a distance of forty to fifty miles, every two weeks, to carry their fish; and taxpayers have been seen to submit to imprisonment for delays which were perhaps not chargeable to them, if we take into account the considerable distances to be covered periodically to satisfy the requirements of the tax." As applied to the collection of rubber, the so-called labor tax was found by the commission to consume so much of the time of the natives subjected to it that it practically made slaves of them, and nothing less. When the abused native is pretendedly paid for his labor or its product, it is by some trifle in metal or flimsy woven stuff, which costs the State and its tributary companies next to nothing and is next to worthless to the recipient. And not only does the State exercise over the unfortunate subjects that were delivered to it an authority of Government which appears to be little else than a power of extortion, but it has taken all their lands from them, substantially, and left them next to nothing on which to perform any labor for themselves. It has decreed to itself the ownership of all land not included in the native villages or not under cultivation. Concerning which decree the Commission remarks: "As the greater part of the land in the Congo has never been under cultivation, this interpretation gives to the State a proprietary right, absolute and exclusive, to almost all the land, and as a consequence it can grant to itself all the product of the soil and prosecute as robbers those who gather the smallest fruit and as accomplices those who buy the same. … It thus happens sometimes that not only have the natives been prohibited from moving their villages, but they have been refused permission to go, even for a time, to a neighboring village without a special permit." In the summer of 1903 the British Government was moved to address a formal communication to all the Powers which had been parties to the Act of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, whereby the Congo State was created and entrusted to King Leopold, asking them to consider whether the system of government and of trade monopoly established in that State was in conformity with the provisions of the Act. The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, in his despatch (August 8, 1903), rehearsed at length the charges that were brought against the Congo administration, concerning its extortion of labor from the natives by a method "but little different from that formerly employed to obtain slaves," saying: "His Majesty’s Government do not know precisely to what extent these accusations may be true; but they have been so repeatedly made, and have received such wide credence, that it is no longer possible to ignore them, and the question has now arisen, whether the Congo State can be considered to have fulfilled the special pledges, given under the Berlin Act, to watch over the preservation of the native tribes, and to care for their moral and material advancement." At the same time, the dispatch called the attention of the Powers to the question of rights of trade in the Congo, saying: "Article I of the Berlin Act provides that the trade of all nations shall enjoy complete freedom in the basin of the Congo; and Article V provides that no Power which exercises sovereign rights in the basin shall be allowed to grant therein a monopoly or favour of any kind in matters of trade. In the opinion of His Majesty’s Government, the system of trade now existing in the Independent State of the Congo is not in harmony with these provisions. … In these circumstances, His Majesty’s Government consider that the time has come when the Powers parties to the Berlin Act should consider whether the system of trade now prevailing in the Independent State is in harmony with the provisions of the Act; and, in particular, whether the system of making grants of vast areas of territory is permissible under the Act if the effect of such grants is in practice to create a monopoly of trade." Parliamentary Papers, Africa, Number 14 (1903), Cd. 1809. CONGO STATE: A. D. 1904. Feeling in Belgium concerning the charges of oppression and inhumanity to the natives. See (in this Volume) BELGIUM: A. D. 1904. CONGO STATE: A. D. 1906-1909. Reform Decrees and their small effect. Continued reports of rapacious exploitation. Concession secured by American capitalists. Annexation of the State by Belgium. Recognition of the annexation withheld by Great Britain and the United States. Apparently the endeavor of the British Government to set in motion some action of the Powers which had been parties to the creation of the Congo State, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of the Berlin Act were being complied with in the administration of that great trust, had no practical result. During the next two years the Congo Government was persistent in denying and attempting to refute some parts of the reports sent home by British consular officers in the Congo; but after the publication of the report of its own investigating Commission, in 1905, there seems to have been more reticence observed. In June, 1906, a series of new decrees, supposed to embody the recommendations of the Reforms Commission, was sanctioned by the King. But the Consuls who reported to London from the Congo country do not seem to have found the wretched natives much relieved by these decrees. Vice-Consul Armstrong, writing from Boma December, 1907, after a prolonged journey through rubber-collecting regions, declared his conviction that "the people worked from twenty to twenty-five days a month" to satisfy their labor tax. He added: "The improvement that has been made by the application of the Reform Decrees of June 1906 is solely in the withdrawal of armed sentries, a reform which the serious decimation of the population by the sentries demanded. … I saw nothing which led me to view the occupation of this country in the light of an Administration. {140} The undertakings of the Government are solely commercial, with a sufficient administrative power to insure the safety of its personnel and the success of its enterprise. … The following is an estimate of the profits of the State on their rubber tax. I take the village of N’gongo as being a large one, and one of the few villages that supply the amount actually assessed:—Amount assessed yearly. 1,440 kilograms of rubber. £ s. d. 1,440 kilograms of rubber at 10 fr. 576 0 0 Amount paid to natives at 50 c. per kilogram 28 16 0
"I calculate the rubber at 10 fr. per kilogram, the value placed upon it by the State in the Commercial Report issued this year. The market value in Antwerp is from 12 fr. to 13 fr. per kilogram. From this amount of 576£. must be deducted the cost of transport, which cannot be more than 2 fr. per kilogram rendered at Antwerp, so that the net profits derived from this one village would be a little more than 456£. per annum. One hundred and twenty natives, together with their wives and children, which would bring the population of the town to about 400 souls, share this amount of 28£ 16s., and as this is paid in cloth at 7½d. per yard and salt at 1s. 7½d. per kilogram, it is evident that they cannot receive very much each, and that they complain of their remuneration." These were not the only official witnesses now testifying to the barbarities of commercial exploitation that were perpetrated in the Congo country under pretences of administering the Government of a State. Reports to the same effect were coming to the Government of the United States from its Consuls in the Congo. Consul-General C. R. Slocum wrote on the 1st of December, 1906, to the Department of State at Washington: "I have the honour to report that I find the Congo Free State, under the present regime, to be nothing but a vast commercial enterprise for the exploitation of the products of the country, particularly that of ivory and rubber. Admitted by Belgian officials and other foreigners here, the State, as I find it, is not open to trade in the intended sense of article 5 of the Berlin Act under which the State was formed." A year later, the succeeding Consul-General of the United States in the Congo State, Mr. James A. Smith, made a similar report: "In excluding the native," he wrote, "from any proprietary right in the only commodities he possessed which would serve as a trade medium—that is, the products of the soil—and in claiming for itself and granting to a few concessionary companies in which it holds an interest exclusive ownership of these products, the Administration, in its commercial capacity, has effectively shut the door to free trade and created a vast monopoly in all articles the freedom of buying and selling which alone could form a proper basis for legitimate trade transactions between the native and independent purchasers. Competition, by which alone can a healthy condition of trade be maintained, has been entirely eliminated. The Government is but one tremendous commercial organization; its administrative machinery is worked to bar out all outside trade and to absolutely control for its own benefit and the concessionary companies the natural resources of the country." In the same report Mr. Smith gave details of an experiment he had made, in conjunction with the chef de secteur at Yambata, to test the truth of the assertions made by the natives as to the length of time necessary to gather the rubber which they are compelled to furnish. The place for the experiment was selected by the chef de secteur, and he chose the five natives who were employed in the experiment, and who were promised rewards as an incentive to do their best. The men worked for four hours, and although Mr. Smith vouches for the fact that they did not lose a minute, they only succeeded in gathering 650 grammes. From this, as Mr. Smith argues, the amount of time they would have to spend in collecting the rubber tax works out at 93 hours a month, or, counting eight hours a day, at 140 days a year. This did not include the time spent in travelling to and from the rubber-bearing districts. Before this time, American interest in the Congo State had become more than humanitarian, and more than a commercial interest in the general opportunities of trade; for heavy American capitalists had secured concessions from King Leopold in a large territory for the development of railways, rubber production and mines. The fact was announced in the fall of 1906, and the names of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Thomas F. Ryan, Harry Payne Whitney, Edward B. Aldrich and the Messrs. Guggenheim were mentioned as prominent in the group to which the grant was made. Under the Convention of 1890 between King Leopold and the Congo State, as one party, and the Kingdom of Belgium as the other, it became the right of the latter, on the expiration of ten years, in 1900, to annex the Congo State to itself. See, in Volume VI. of this work, CONGO STATE: A. D. 1900. The right was not then exercised; but the question of taking over the sovereignty of that great African domain came under warm discussion in Belgium before many years, and, finally, in 1908, it reached the point of a keen negotiation of terms with the King, attended by lively conflicts in the Belgian Chambers. While the question was thus pending in Belgium, the British Government took occasion to express its views to the Belgian Government, as to the obligations which such an annexation would involve. This was done on the 27th of March, 1908, in a despatch from the Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, communicating an extended "Memorandum respecting Taxation and Currency in the Congo Free State." The language of the despatch, in part, was as follows: "His Majesty’s Government fully recognize that the choice of the means by which the administration of the Congo may be brought into line by the Berlin Act rests exclusively with Belgium. Nevertheless, while disclaiming all idea of interference, His Majesty’s Government feel that in fairness they should leave the Belgian Government in no doubt that in their opinion the existing administration of the Congo State has not fulfilled the objects for which the State was originally recognized, or the conditions of Treaties, and that changes are therefore required, which should effect the following objects: 1. Relief of the natives from excessive taxation. 2. The grant to the natives of sufficient land to ensure their ability to obtain not only the food they require, but also sufficient produce of the soil to enable them to buy and sell as in other European Colonies. 3. The possibility for traders whatever their nationality may be to acquire plots of land of reasonable dimensions in any part of the Congo for the erection of factories so as to enable them to establish direct trade relations with the natives. … {141} "Taking the three points enumerated above in order, it appears to His Majesty’s Government that— "1. As regards the question of taxation in labour, the abuses to which the system has given rise have only been rendered possible by the absence of a proper standard of value. They believe, therefore, that the only sure and efficacious means of precluding the existence of such abuses in the future is the introduction of currency throughout the State at the earliest possible date. Both the Reports of the Commission of Inquiry and the experience of His Majesty’s Consular officers agree in the conclusion that the native has learnt the use of money, and that currency would be welcomed by all classes, native and European alike. "2. The natives in the concessionary areas should not be compelled, by either direct or indirect means, to render their labour to the Companies without remuneration. The introduction of currency should contribute greatly to the protection of the native against the illicit and excessive exactions on the part of private individuals. Such protection, however, cannot be adequately secured unless the latter be compelled to pay the native in specie at a fair rate to be fixed by law. "3. They would urge that a large increase should be made in the land allotted to the natives." The exceptional failure of the Congo State, among African colonies, to introduce the use of currency in transactions with the natives, and the connection of this failure with the state of things existing there, is discussed at length in the Memorandum, with a practical summing up in these sentences: "The Secretaries-General said the native in the Congo had no specie. True, but why has he no specie? Because, as already explained, during the twenty-three years that the Congo State has been in existence no serious attempt, in spite of all assertions to the contrary, has ever been made by the State to introduce currency on a sufficiently large scale. In every other European Colony in Africa has the native come to learn the practical value of a medium of exchange. What are the reasons that the Congo State should stand in an exceptional position in this respect? They are unfortunately obvious enough. The truth is that it is precisely owing to the absence of a proper standard of value that the Congo Government and the Concessionary Companies have been able to abuse the system of taxation in labour, and realize enormous profits out of the incessant labour wrung from the population in the guise of taxation." This communication from Great Britain to the Belgian Government was followed soon (in April) by memoranda from the Government of the United States, setting forth the hopes and expectations of administrative reform with which it contemplated the proposed annexation of the Congo State. A few months later the treaty of annexation was agreed upon, and the annexation consummated by an Act of the Belgian Parliament, promulgated on the 20th of October, 1908. To an announcement of the fact by the Belgian Minister at Washington, Secretary Root replied at considerable length, in a communication which bears the date of June 11, 1909: "The Government of the United States," said the Secretary, "has observed with much interest the progress of the negotiations looking to such a transfer, in the expectation that under the control of Belgium the condition of the natives might be beneficially improved and the engagements of the treaties to which the United States is a party, as well as the high aims set forth in the American memoranda of April 7 and 16, 1908, and declared in the Belgium replies thereto, might be fully realized. "The United States would also be gratified by the assurance that the Belgian Government will consider itself specifically bound to discharge the obligations assumed by the Independent State of the Congo in the Brussels Convention of July 2, 1890, an assurance which the expressions already made by the Government of Belgium in regard to its own course as a party to that convention leave no doubt is in entire accordance with the sentiments of that Government. Among the particular clauses of the Brussels Convention which seem to the United States to be specially relevant to existing conditions in the Congo region are the clauses of Article II., which include among the objects of the convention: "‘To diminish intestine wars between tribes by means of arbitration; to initiate them in agricultural labour and in the industrial arts so as to increase their welfare; to raise them to civilization and bring about the extinction of barbarous customs. … "‘To give aid and protection to commercial enterprises; to watch over their legality by especially controlling contracts for service with natives; and to prepare the way for the foundation of permanent centres of cultivation and of commercial settlements.’ "The United States has been forced to the conclusion that in several respects the system inaugurated by the Independent State of the Congo has, in its practical operation, worked out results inconsistent with these conventional obligations and calling for very substantial and even radical changes in order to attain conformity therewith." Moreover, it renders nugatory the provisions of the successive declarations and conventions, cited by the Secretary, which have given such rights in the Congo State to citizens of the United States and others as must be maintained. "It should always be remembered," wrote Mr. Root, "that the basis of the sovereignty of the Independent State of the Congo over all its territory was in the treaties made by the native Sovereigns who ceded the territory for the use and benefit of free States established and being established there under the care and supervision of the International Association, so that the very nature of the title forbids the destruction of the tribal rights upon which it rests without securing to the natives an enjoyment of their land which shall be a full and adequate equivalent for the tribal rights destroyed." Referring to a statement made in the Belgian reply given to his memorandum of April 16, which he quotes as in these words:— {142} "When it annexes the possessions of the Independent State Belgium will inherit its obligations as well as its rights; it will be able to fulfil all the engagements made with the United States by the declarations of April 22, 1884"—Mr. Root closes his letter with these remarks: "It would be gratifying to the United States to know that the last clause of the statement just quoted is not intended to confine the rights of the United States in the Independent State to the declarations of the Commercial Association which preceded the creation of the Congo State as a sovereign power, but includes the conventional rights conferred upon the United States by the treaty concluded with the Independent State immediately after its recognition. "In the absence of a fuller understanding on all these points, I confine myself for the present to acknowledging your note of November 4 last and taking note of the announcement therein made." Thus no recognition was given to the Belgian annexation. Recognition was held in abeyance, awaiting further information and evidence of reform in the administration of the Congo State. And this is the attitude assumed by the British Government, which waited long and with growing impatience for assurances from Belgium, with proceedings that would give sign of making them good. On the 24th of February, 1909, the subject came up in Parliament, with assertions that "oppression of the natives was still going on just as before the annexation," and that "Great Britain had waited for months while the cruelties against which she had protested still continued." In the debate, Sir Charles Dilke referred to the harmony of action in the matter by the United States and Great Britain, and expressed his conviction that "the cooperation of two such powerful Governments in the cause of humanity would be irresistible." Sir Edward Grey, speaking for the Ministry, said: "I am glad that in the course of the debate it has been emphasized that this attitude is not ours alone, but that the United States has spoken with equal emphasis and taken up the same position. I am sorry that no other Power has taken up the same position so strongly; but as there is only one Power which has declared itself so definitely on the question as ourselves, I should like to say that I am glad it is the United States." Alluding to a remark made by one of the speakers in the debate, that the Government might have prevented the annexation of the State by Belgium, Sir Edward said: "I do not think we should have prevented the annexation, but in any case I should not have tried to prevent the annexation. And for this reason among others—that if Belgium was not going to take the Congo State in hand and put it right, who was? I have never been able to answer that question. Certainly not ourselves, because we have always denied the intention of assuming any responsibility over an enormous tract of land where we have sufficient responsibility already." The Foreign Secretary concluded his speech by saying: "If Belgium makes the administration of the Congo humane and brings it into accord, in practice and spirit, with the administration which exists in our own and neighbouring African colonies, no country will more cordially welcome that state of things than this or more warmly congratulate Belgium. But we cannot commit ourselves to countersign, so to say, by recognition a second time, the system of administration which has existed under the old regime." Again, in May, the question came up in Parliament, with impatient criticism of the Government for not taking peremptory measures to compel a reformation of Belgian rule in the Congo State, one speaker suggesting a "peaceful blockade" of the mouth of the Congo. Sir Edward Grey replied: "If this question were rashly managed it might make a European question compared to which those which we have had to deal with in the last few months might be child’s play. Take, for instance, the question of peaceful blockade. It is no good talking of peaceful blockade. Blockade is blockade. It is the use of force. If you are to have blockade you must be prepared to go to war, and a blockade of the mouth of the Congo means blockading a river which is not the property of the Congo or Belgian Government. They have one bank of the river. It is a river which by international treaty must be opened to navigation, and if you are to blockade to any effect you must be prepared to stop every ship going in or out of the Congo, whether under the French, Belgian, German, or whatever flag it is. Surely if you are going to pledge yourself to take steps of that kind, and to accept the responsibility for them, it is not too much to say that you must be prepared to raise a European question which would be of the gravest kind. I do not say there are not circumstances which might justify a question of that kind, but do not let the House think that by smooth words, such as by applying the adjective ‘peaceful’ to blockade, you are going to minimize what will be the ultimate consequences of the step you are taking." CONGO STATE: A. D. 1909 (October). Programme of reforms promised by the Belgian Government. The programme of long promised reforms to be instituted by the Belgian Government in its administration of the now annexed Congo State was announced in the Belgian Chamber on the 28th of October, 1909, by the Minister for the Colonies, M. Renkin. "He repeated his solemn assurance that the charges of cruelty or oppression made against the Belgian Colonial Administration were false. He had questioned missionaries, officials, chiefs, and other natives during his visit, and heard nothing to justify the accusation. Individual breaches of the law might possibly have occurred, but every abuse brought to the notice of the authorities was immediately made the object of inquiry. "It was useless, he said, to refer to the past; the situation had been radically altered by the annexation. As regards the land system, the assignment of vacant lands to the State was juridically unassailable, but they must also have regard to the development of the natives. The natives would therefore be granted the right to take the produce of the soil in the Domain. This would be accomplished in three stages. On July 1, 1910, the Lower Congo, Stanley Pool, Ubangi, Bangala, Kwango, Kasai, Katanga, the southern portion of the Eastern Province, Aruwimi, and the banks of the river as far as Stanleyville would be opened to freedom of trade. On July 1, 1911, the Domain of the Crown, and on July 1, 1912, the Welle district would also be thrown open. Furthermore, the Government would levy taxes in money, and the system of the provisioning of the agents would be abolished." {143} M. Renkin said furthermore that in regard to the territories held by concessionnaires in the Congo the Government would make an investigation with a view to ascertaining whether it would not be advisable to make fresh arrangements in agreement with the persons interested. Writing from Brussels a mouth later, an English correspondent represents the Belgian Reformers, who had most bitterly denounced the atrocities of the Leopold regime in the Congo State, as believing that M. Renkin's scheme is on the whole a reasonable and satisfactory scheme, and above all a practical scheme, that the Belgian Government are sincerely determined to carry it through, and that, even if there were any sufficient reason for doubting their sincerity, the Belgian nation is in earnest and has the means of enforcing the execution of the reforms by the exercise of the Parliamentary control with which it is now for the first time invested over the affairs of the Congo as a consequence of annexation. On the other hand, English opinion, which had been roused to much heat on the Congo question, is far from satisfied with the Belgian proposals, and criticises them with a sharpness which the Belgians resent. ----------CONGO STATE: End-------- ----------CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Start-------- CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Australia: Undertakings of Irrigation and Forestry. During a brief visit to the United States in 1902, Sir Edmund Barton, then Premier of the Commonwealth of Australia, contributed to The Independent an article on "Australia and her Problems," in which he wrote: "Another great problem with which we are struggling is that of irrigation, and a joint irrigation scheme is afoot for using the waters of the Murray, our greatest river, to fertilize lands in New South Wales and Victoria. The Murray forms the boundary of those two States and afterward flows through South Australia. It is to the interest of New South Wales and Victoria to use the waters of the Murray for irrigation purposes, and it is to the interest of South Australia to use the Murray for navigation. We hope to harmonize those interests and are working to that end. "Just before I left Australia I attended a conference, held on the border, between representatives of the various States as a result of which each has appointed a hydraulic engineer to a joint commission on irrigation. These will make an investigation and report their opinion in regard to the best practicable system for conserving, storing and distributing the Murray’s waters without interfering with its navigation. We have good reason to believe that by means of a system of locks and weirs it is quite possible to irrigate a very large extent of dry country by means of the Murray without injuring its navigability. Later we will take up the problem of using the waters of the Darling in a similar way. It is a very long river, which during the rainy season sends an immense Volume of water into the Murray. "Another of our problems is in regard to forestry. We have planted some trees but not nearly enough of them, and cannot yet tell anything about results. Along with this tree planting, also, denudation of our timber has been going on, for Australian hard woods, being impervious to water, are now used all over the world for street paving purposes. Great harm has been done, and the waste is still going on, for our national Government cannot interfere in the matter, and the land owners are in many instances reckless. The remedy must come from the common sense of the people." Since the above was written, progress has been made in carrying out the projects of irrigation, as was stated in a speech by Lord Northcote after his return to England, in the autumn of 1909, from five years of service as Governor-General of Australia. "Both in New South Wales and Victoria," he said, "very large irrigation works are in progress, and will be completed in a very short time, adding enormously to the acreage of land fit for cultivation." CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Canada: The Dominion Forest Reserves Act. Irrigation in the Northwest. A Dominion Act of 1906, thus short-titled, provides as follows: "All Dominion lands within the respective boundaries of the reserves mentioned in the schedule to this Act are hereby withdrawn from sale, settlement and occupancy under the provisions of the Dominion Lands Act, or of any other Act, or of any regulations made under the said Act or any such Act, with respect to mines or mining or timber or timber licenses or leases or any other matter whatsoever; and after the passing of this Act no Dominion lands within the boundaries of the said reserves shall be sold, leased or otherwise disposed of, or be located or settled upon, and no person shall use or occupy any part of such lands, except under the provisions of this Act or of regulations made thereunder." The schedule referred to lists 21 Forest Reserves in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. They are placed under the management of the Superintendent of Forestry, for the maintenance and protection of the growing timber, the animals and birds in them, the fish in their waters and their water supply, the Governor in Council to make the needed regulations. In a paper read before the Royal Colonial Institute at London, England, in January, 1910, Mr. C. W. Peterson, Manager of the Canadian Pacific Irrigation Colonization Company, gave the following account of what is being done in the Arid Belt, so called, near Calgary, in the Canadian Northwest: "The irrigated land in Alberta and Saskatchewan nearly equalled half of the total irrigated area of the United States. In the year 1894 the Dominion Government withdrew from sale and homestead entry a tract of land containing some millions of acres located east of the city of Calgary, along the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The object of that reservation was to provide for the construction, ultimately, of an irrigation scheme to cover the fertile Bow River Valley. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company undertook to construct the gigantic irrigation system in question, and selected as part of its land grant a block comprising three million acres of the best agricultural lands. It had now been opened for colonization, and this project—the greatest of the kind on the American continent—was being pushed to its completion. The tract had an average width of forty miles from north to south, and extended eastwards from Calgary 150 miles." {144} CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Egypt: A. D. 1909. Completion of the Esneh Barrage. An important addition to the irrigation works in Egypt, supplementing the great dam at Assouan and the Assiout barrage, was completed in February, 1909, when the Esneh barrage was formally opened, on the 9th of that month. Esneh is a town of some 25,000 inhabitants, situated in Upper Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile, and the work now completed will, even in the lowest of floods, ensure a plentiful supply of water to a great tract of land in the Nile valley from Esneh northwards. In deciding to undertake the construction of this latest barrage, at a point about 100 miles north of the Assouan reservoir, the Government were influenced by the great success of the Assiout barrage, but that work differs from the new barrage in being designed as a low-water summer regulator, whereas the function of the Esneh barrage is to hold up the water in low floods. CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Germany: The work begun a century ago, and its result. "Germany, a century ago, faced just such a situation as now confronts us [the United States]. Then there began the work which we must now undertake. New forests were planted, wherever the land was unsuitable for other purposes. This planting was done year after year, so that each year a new tract would come to maturity. Forest wardens watched for fires, and laws forbade careless hunters setting fires in the woods. Timbermen were forced to gather and burn what twigs from the slashings could not be used in the still or burned for charcoal, and broad lanes were left through the forests as stops for fires. In this way there arose those magnificent German forests which now return the empire an average net annual profit of two dollars and a half for each acre, on land which is otherwise unusable; and, besides, give their services free for the storage of water and for the retention of the soil. "In our own land something of this sort has already been done. New York has nearly two million acres of land in forest reserves which are being carefully tended. Pennsylvania has half as much. Minnesota is already securing considerable profit from the management of its white pine reserves and is seeding down large areas; and the other lake states are also moving, but all this is being done slowly, and lacks much of the energy and cooperation which should accompany it." J. L. Mathews, The Conservation of our National Resources (Atlantic Monthly, May, 1908). CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Great Britain: Outline of undertakings by the Government in 1909. Development and Road Improvement Act. In his Budget speech to the House of Commons April 29, 1909, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. David Lloyd-George, gave a broad indication of undertakings contemplated by the Government, in forestry work (afforestation, or reafforestation) and on other lines directed toward a more effective preservation and development of the natural resources of the country. In the afforestation of the waste lands of the country, he said, "We are far behind every other civilized country in the world. I have figures which are very interesting on this point. In Germany, for instance, out of a total area of 133 million acres, 34 millions, or nearly 26 per cent., are wooded; in France, out of 130 million acres, 17 per cent.; even in a small and densely-populated country such as Belgium, 1,260,000 acres are wooded, or 17 per cent. In the United Kingdom, on the other hand, out of 77 million acres, only 3 millions, or 4 per cent., are under wood. Sir Herbert Maxwell, who has made a study of this question for a good many years, and whose moderation of statement is beyond challenge, estimates that, in 1906, ‘eight millions were paid annually in salaries for the administration, formation, and preservation of German forests, representing the maintenance of about 200,000 families, or about 1,000,000 souls; and that in working up the raw material yielded by the forests wages were earned annually to the amount of 30 millions sterling, maintaining about 600,000 families, or 3,000,000 souls.’ The Committee will there perceive what an important element this is in the labour and employment of a country. Any one who will take the trouble to search out the census returns will find that the number of people directly employed in forest work in this country is only 16,000. And yet the soil and the climate of this country are just as well adapted for the growth of marketable trees as that of the States of Germany. Recently we have been favoured with a striking report of a Royal Commission, very ably presided over by my honourable friend the member for Cardiff. A perusal of the names attached to that report will secure for it respectful and favourable consideration. It outlines a very comprehensive and far-reaching scheme for planting the wastes of this country. The systematic operation which the Commission recommend is a gigantic one, and, before the Government can commit themselves to it in all its details, it will require very careful consideration by a body of experts skilled in forestry. I am informed by men whom I have consulted, and whose opinion on this subject I highly value, that there is a good deal of preliminary work which ought to be undertaken in this country before the Government could safely begin planting on the large scale indicated in that report. … I am also told that we cannot command the services in this country of a sufficient number of skilled foresters to direct planting. … "I doubt whether there is a great industrial country in the world which spends less money directly on work connected with the development of its resources than we do. Take the case of agriculture alone. Examine the Budgets of foreign countries—I have done it with great advantage in other directions—examine them from this particular point of view, and honourable members, I think, will be rather ashamed at the contrast between the wise and lavish generosity of countries much poorer than ours and the short-sighted and niggardly parsimony with which we dole out small sums of money for the encouragement of agriculture in our country. … "I will tell the House what we propose. There is a certain amount of money, not very much, spent in this country in a spasmodic kind of way on what I will call the work of national development—in light railways, in harbours, in indirect but very meagre assistance to agriculture. {145} I propose to gather all these grants together into one grant that I propose to call a development grant, and this year to add a sum of £200,000 to that grant for these purposes. … The grant will be utilized in the promotion of schemes which have for their purpose the development of the resources of the country, and will include such objects as the institution of schools of forestry, the purchase and preparation of land for afforestation, the setting up of a number of experimental forests on a large scale, expenditure upon scientific research in the interests of agriculture, experimental farms, the improvement of stock—in respect of which I have had a good many representations from the agricultural community—the equipment of agencies for disseminating agricultural instruction, the encouragement and promotion of co-operation, the improvement of rural transport so as to make markets more accessible, the facilitation of all well-considered schemes and measures for attracting labour back to the land by small holdings or reclamation of wastes." In realization of this programme an important "Development and Road Improvement Funds Act" was introduced by Mr. Lloyd-George in August, and passed, after considerable amendment of its administrative details in Committee of the Commons and in the House of Lords. It is divided into two parts, the first dealing with development, or the aiding and encouraging of agriculture and other rural industries, inclusive of forestry, reclamation and drainage of land, improvement of rural transport, construction and improvement of inland navigation and harbors, and the development and improvement of fisheries. The Act enables the Treasury to make free grants and loans, from a Development Fund fed by an annual Parliamentary vote and by a charge on the Consolidated Fund. An independent Development Commission is to be appointed by the Treasury, consisting of five members appointed for ten years, whose recommendation for the rejection of applications shall be final, though not that for their acceptance. The second part of the Act sets up a Road Board to carry out schemes of road improvement, either under its own direct control or through the existing highway authorities. CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: North America: International Conference of Delegates from Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The movement instituted in the United States for a better conservation of the natural resources of the country was broadened, early in 1909, into a continental and international movement, by an invitation from President Roosevelt to the Governments of Canada and Mexico to send delegates to a general conference on the subject at Washington, for the purpose of arranging some cooperative and harmonious plans of action in the three countries. The invitation was cordially accepted in both of the neighboring countries, and the delegates sent were met, on the 18th of February, by many of the leaders of the conservation movement in the United States, including the National Conservation Commission. After being received and addressed by the President at the White House, a two days session of the Conference was held in the diplomatic room of the State Department, with good results. CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Turkey: A. D. 1909. Reclamation projects in the Tigris-Euphrates Delta. See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (OCTOBER). CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: United States: The Great Movement for an Arresting of Waste. An organized National care-taking of Forests, Waters, Lands, and Minerals. Forest Service, Irrigation, Development of Waterways. It is more than possible that the administration of Government in the United States under President Roosevelt will be distinguished, in the judgment of coming generations, most highly by the impulse and the organization it gave to measures for conserving the natural resources of the country, in woods, water sources, mineral deposits and fertile or fertilizable soils,—rescuing them from a hitherto unrestrained recklessness of waste. The key-note of a new determination in governmental policy, pointed to this end, was sounded by the President in his first Message to Congress, on the 3d of December, 1901, when he opened the subject largely and earnestly, saying, among other things, this: "The preservation of our forests is an imperative business necessity. We have come to see clearly that whatever destroys the forest, except to make way for agriculture, threatens our well-being. At present the protection of the forest reserves rests with the General Land Office, the mapping and description of their timber with the United States Geological Survey, and the preparation of plans for their conservative use with the Bureau of Forestry, which is also charged with the general advancement of practical forestry in the United States. These various functions should be united in the Bureau of Forestry, to which they properly belong. The present diffusion of responsibility is bad from every standpoint. It prevents that effective cooperation between the Government and the men who utilize the resources of the reserves, without which the interests of both must suffer. The scientific bureaus generally should be put under the Department of Agriculture. The President should have by law the power of transferring lands for use as forest reserves to the Department of Agriculture. He already has such power in the case of lands needed by the Departments of War and the Navy. … "The wise administration of the forest reserves will be not less helpful to the interests which depend on water than to those which depend on wood and grass. The water supply itself depends upon the forest. In the arid region it is water, not land, which measures production. The western half of the United States would sustain a population greater than that of our whole country to-day if the waters that now run to waste were saved and used for irrigation. The forest and water problems are perhaps the most vital internal questions of the United States. … "The forests alone cannot, however, fully regulate and conserve the waters of the arid region. Great storage works are necessary to equalize the flow of streams and to save the flood waters. Their construction has been conclusively shown to be an undertaking too vast for private effort. Nor can it be best accomplished by the individual States acting alone. Far-reaching interstate problems are involved; and the resources of single States would often be inadequate. It is properly a national function. at least in some of its features. … {146} "The reclamation of the unsettled arid public lands presents a different problem. Here it is not enough to regulate the flow of streams. The object of the Government is to dispose of the land to settlers who will build homes upon it. To accomplish this object water must be brought within their reach. … Whatever the Nation does for the extension of irrigation should harmonize with, and tend to improve, the condition of those now living on irrigated land. We are not at the starting-point of this development. Over two hundred millions of private capital have already been expended in the construction of irrigation works, and many million acres of arid land reclaimed. A high degree of enterprise and ability has been shown in the work itself; but as much cannot be said in reference to the laws relating thereto. The security and value of the homes created depend largely on the stability of titles to water; but the majority of these rest on the uncertain foundation of court decisions rendered in ordinary suits at law. With a few creditable exceptions, the arid States have failed to provide for the certain and just division of streams in times of scarcity. Lax and uncertain laws have made it possible to establish rights to water in excess of actual uses or necessities, and many streams have already passed into private ownership, or a control equivalent to ownership." President's Message to Congress, December 3, 1901. CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: The Nationalizing of Irrigation Works. The highest quality of statesmanship is represented by such recommendations as these. So far as concerned the proposed nationalization of irrigation works, to reclaim the arid lands of the West, they bore fruit within a year, in the passage by Congress of the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902. It devoted most of the proceeds of the sale of public lauds, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North and South Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, to a special Reclamation Fund in the Treasury, for the creation and maintenance of irrigation works. This was a measure for which the late Major John W. Powell, Director of the United States Geological Survey, had labored incessantly for many years. In his book on "The Lands of the Arid Regions" he was the first to show the possibility of redemption for most of the wide spaces of land then supposed to be hopeless desert, and he pleaded with Congress, session after session, for some national undertaking to store and distribute the waters from the mountains that would give life to their soil. In 1888 he succeeded so far as to win authority and means for investigating the water supply for the region, and from that time he had kept an efficient small corps of engineers at work in the survey and measurement of streams, accumulating information that was ready for immediate use when actual constructive work was taken in hand. At once, on the passage of the Reclamation Act, the Director of the Geological Survey, acting under the Secretary of the Interior, began the execution of plans already well matured, for irrigation in Arizona and Nevada; and was able three years later to report similar undertakings in progress within three of the ten Territories and thirteen States. In May, 1908, the following statement of the reclamation work then in progress appeared in The Outlook: "The work as a whole rivals the Panama Canal in the labor and expense involved. The employment of 16,000 men and the expenditure of $1,250,000 every month are but incidents in the service. Already the canals completed reach a total of 1,815 miles—as far as from New York to Denver. Homes have been made for ten thousand families where before was desert. In the past five years $33,000,000 has been spent, and the enterprises already planned will add more than a hundred millions to this sum. Nor is this money spent in one locality. In New Mexico one of the largest dams in the world is being constructed. In California and Nevada great reservoirs and irrigation plants are being built. In western Kansas the beet-sugar raisers are to have a $250,000 plant for pumping the ‘underflow,’ or the sheet water found a few feet beneath the top-soil, of the Arkansas River Valley to the surface, that ditches may be filled and crops made certain. On seven great projects, involving the expenditure of $51,000,000 and the reclamation of over a million acres, the benefit is directly to the Northwest. These projects lie in North and South Dakota, Montana, and Washington. In these States lands that have been considered as worthless except for the coarsest kind of grazing are being transformed into productive farms. In South Dakota the largest earth dam in the world is being constructed, that ninety thousand acres of land may be made fertile; while just east of the Yellowstone Park is being built a solid wall of masonry 310 feet high to hold back the waters of the Shoshone River until a reservoir of ten square miles, capable of irrigating a hundred thousand acres, is formed. The production of these irrigated lands is marvelous." The latest official statistics that are available represent the total of acres irrigated at the end of the year 1907 as being 11,000,000, in 167,200 farms, at an average cost (of constructive work) of $13.46 per acre. CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: A National Forest Policy. Less promptitude of action followed the President's urging of measures for forest preservation, and his warnings to Congress and the country, against the consequences of this inaction, were repeated from year to year. His Message of December, 1904, carried a specially urgent plea for legislation to unify the national forest work. "I have repeatedly," he said, "called attention to the confusion which exists in Government forest matters because the work is scattered among three independent organizations. The United States is the only one of the great nations in which the forest work of the Government is not concentrated under one department, in consonance with the plainest dictates of good administration and common sense. The present arrangement is bad from every point of view. Merely to mention it is to prove that it should be terminated at once. As I have repeatedly recommended, all the forest work of the Government should be concentrated in the Department of Agriculture, where the larger part of that work is already done, where practically all of the trained foresters of the Government are employed, where chiefly in Washington there is comprehensive first-hand knowledge of the problems of the reserves acquired on the ground, where all problems relating to growth from the soil are already gathered, and where all the sciences auxiliary to forestry are at hand for prompt and effective coöperation." {147} During its following session Congress took the desired action, and the whole forest service was transferred to the Department of Agriculture in February, 1905. Early in June of that year the efforts of the President to waken attention to the seriousness of the forest destruction in the country were greatly helped by a notable convention at Washington of about twelve hundred men, having both interest and knowledge in the matter, who came together to discuss the problems involved. They were mostly practical foresters, intelligent lumbermen, railway men, ranch-owners, engineers and miners, and their urgency of a systematic conservative treatment of the surviving forest wealth of the country carried great weight. The convention was under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, and was addressed by the President. During a journey through parts of the Southern States, in October, 1905, the President took occasion, in some of his speeches, to urge that a large part, at least, of the rapidly disappearing forests on the Atlantic side of the country should be nationalized, for preservation in the manner of the forest reserves of the Far West. In his Message of 1906 he submitted this to Congress, as a specific recommendation, saying that the forests of the White Mountains and the Southern Appalachian regions need to be preserved, and "cannot be unless the people of the States in which they lie, through their representatives in the Congress, secure vigorous action by the National Government." This proposal encountered strong opposition from selfish interests, and Congress was prevailed upon with difficulty to authorize a survey of the forests of the White Mountains and the Southern Appalachians, which resulted in a recommendation by the Secretary of Agriculture that 600,000 acres in the former region and 5,000,000 in the latter be purchased for a National Reserve. A bill responsive to this recommendation was passed by the Senate, but rejected by the House, which appointed a commission, instead, to make further investigations in the matter. Meantime, in the White Mountains alone, busy slaughterers of the forests were said to be stripping three hundred acres per day. On the eve of the adjournment of Congress in March, 1907, the President issued a proclamation adding some seventeen millions of acres of forest lands to the National Forest Reserves already established. This was just before he signed an Act of Congress which abridged his authority to create reserves in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. It was a characteristic proceeding, for which the President had ample power under a statute of 1891, and it simply held the forests designated in safety from destruction until the question of their treatment was more carefully considered. The next Congress, or the next President, could give them up to private ownership, in whole or in part, if the one or the other found reason for doing so. Meantime they were sheltered from the axeman, while undergoing study. As a matter of fact, Mr. Roosevelt’s successor, President Taft, did conclude that some of the lands reserved should be released for sale, and so ordered soon after he entered the executive office. CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: The Inland Waterways Commission. In his annual Message of December, 1907, the President enlarged the range of considerations that connect themselves with the question of economic forestry, by directing attention to the importance of the waterways of the country and their claim to a more systematic development. "For the last few years," he said, "through several agencies, the Government has been endeavoring to get our people to look ahead, and to substitute a planned and orderly development of our resources in place of a haphazard striving for immediate profit. Our great river systems should be developed as National water highways; the Mississippi, with its tributaries, standing first in importance, and the Columbia second, although there are many others of importance on the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Gulf slopes. The National Government should undertake this work, and I hope a beginning will be made in the present Congress; and the greatest of all our rivers, the Mississippi, should receive especial attention. From the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi there should be a deep waterway, with deep waterways leading from it to the East and the West. Such a waterway would practically mean the extension of our coast line into the very heart of our country. It