History for ready reference, Volume 7 (part 8 of 11)

History for ready reference, Volume 7 (part 8 of 11)

"If we accept the conclusion that with our finest telescopes, in the best climates, on the average one star in twenty-five is visually double, it will follow from Campbell’s work on some three hundred stars that five times that number are spectroscopically double. Thus, although over a million stars have been examined visually, and some five thousand interesting systems disclosed by powerful telescopes, the concluded ratio would give us, at last analysis, four million visual systems among the hundred million objects assumed to compose the stellar universe. On the other hand, the large ratio of spectroscopic binaries to the total number of stars examined by Campbell would lead us to conclude that in the celestial spaces there exist in reality no less than twenty million spectroscopic binary stars! Could anything be more impressive than the view thus opened to the human mind? …

"It may indeed well be that the dark and unseen portion of the universe is even greater than that which is indicated by our most powerful telescopes. Half a century ago Bessel remarked:

‘There is no reason to suppose luminosity an essential quality of cosmical bodies. The visibility of countless stars is no argument against the invisibility of countless others.’"

_T. J. J. See, Recent Progress in Astronomy (Atlantic Monthly, January, 1902)._

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Biological: Mendel’s Law of Variation in Species.

"Gregor Mendel was Abbot of Brünn in Moravia when Darwin was at work on the Origin. He does not appear to have had any unusual interest in the problem of evolution; indeed, his main concern was with an essentially pre-Darwinian question,—the nature of plant hybrids. With this problem as an avocation from his serious clerical duties, the abbot busied himself in the garden of his cloister; a leisurely, clear-headed, middle-aged churchman in whom a great scientist was spoiled. For eight years he experimented with varieties of the common pea, and in 1865 communicated to the Society of Naturalists in Brünn the substance of the discovery which is hereafter to be known as Mendel’s law, ‘the greatest discovery in biology since Darwin.’ Unfortunately, at that time, the Brünn Society, like the rest of the world, had other things on its mind. … Somehow or other, Mendel’s discovery escaped attention until four years ago [1900], when De Vries reached it independently. Two years later Mr. Bateson, who had been among the first to realize its significance, made a translation of the two original papers. … Since then, Mendel’s Law has been found to hold for a considerable number of cases, both among animals and plants, but most unaccountably not to work for a few others; so that, as yet, no one knows how nearly universal it may prove to be, nor how it is to be reconciled with the older Law of Ancestral Heredity of Galton. …

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"One illustration will serve to make clear the practical workings of Mendel’s principle. If a single rough-coated guinea-pig of either sex be introduced into a colony of normal smooth-coated individuals, all its offspring of the first generation will be rough-coated like itself. In the next generation, if one of the parents is smooth and the other rough, the young will be half of one sort and half of the other, but if both parents are rough, three quarters will take the ‘dominant’ rough coat. In the next, and all subsequent generations, one half of these rough-coated individuals which had one smooth-coated grandparent, and one-third of those which had two smooth-coated grandparents, which were not mated, will drop out the 'recessive' smooth-coatedness, and become, in all respects, like their original rough-coated progenitor, even to having only rough-coated young, no matter what their mates may have. Thus Mendel’s law, though by no means simple, is very precise. The essential part of his great discovery is that in each generation of plants or animals of mixed ancestry, a definite proportion lose one half of their mingled heritage, and revert, in equal numbers, to one or other of the pure types."

_E. T. Brewster, Some Recent Aspects of Darwinism (Atlantic Monthly, April, 1904)._

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Carnegie Institution of Washington. Promotion of Original Research.

The following information relative to the founding, the plan and the work of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is derived from the, authorities of the Institution:

The Institution was founded by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, January 28, 1902, when he gave to a board of trustees $10,000,000 in registered bonds, yielding 5 per cent annual interest. To this endowment fund an addition of $2,000,000 was made by Mr. Carnegie on December 10, 1907. The Institution was originally organized under the laws of the District of Columbia as the Carnegie Institution. Subsequently, however, it was incorporated by an act of Congress, approved April 28, 1904, under the title of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The articles of incorporation declare, in general, "that the objects of the corporation shall be to encourage in the broadest and most liberal manner investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind." By the act of incorporation the Institution was placed under the control of a board of twenty-four trustees, all of whom had been members of the original board referred to above.

The President of the Institution is Dr. Robert S. Woodward, formerly of the faculty of Columbia University. The Chairman of its Board of Trustees is Dr. John S. Billings, Director of the New York Public Library. The Board includes such notable members as William H. Taft, Elihu Root, Seth Low, Andrew D. White, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, Henry L. Higginson and President Henry S. Pritchett.

Since the object of the Institution is the promotion of investigation "in the broadest and most liberal manner," many projects in widely different fields of inquiry have been considered, or are under consideration, by the Executive Committee. These projects are chiefly of three classes, namely:

First, large projects or departments of work whose execution requires continuous research by a corps of investigators during a series of years. Ten such departments have been established by the Institution. …

Secondly, minor projects which may be carried out by individual experts in a limited period of time. Many grants in aid of this class of projects have been made.

Thirdly, research associates and assistants. Under this head aid has been given to a considerable number of investigators possessing exceptional abilities and opportunities for research work.

An annual appropriation is made for the purpose of publishing the results of investigations made under the auspices of the Institution, and for certain works which would not otherwise be readily printed. Its publications are not distributed gratis, except to a limited list of the greater libraries of the world. Other copies are offered for sale at prices only sufficient to cover the cost of publication and transportation to purchasers. Lists are furnished on application.

Since its organization in 1902, about one thousand individuals have been engaged in investigations under the auspices of the Institution and there are at present nearly five hundred so engaged. Ten independent departments of research, each with its staff of investigators and assistants, have been established. In addition to these larger departments of work, organized by the Institution itself, numerous special researches, carried on by individuals, have been subsidized. Seven laboratories and observatories, for as many different fields of investigation and in widely separated localities, have been constructed and equipped. A building in Washington, D. C., for administrative offices and for storage of records and publications, is now approaching completion. A specially designed ship for ocean magnetic work has just been completed and started on her first voyage.

Mr. George Iles, in his "Inventors at Work," describes and characterizes the aims and guiding principles of the Institution as follows: "In its grants for widely varied purposes the policy of the Institution is clear: only those inquiries are aided which give promise of fruit, and in every case the grantee requires to be a man of proved ability, care being taken not to duplicate work already in hand elsewhere, or to essay tasks of an industrial character. Experience has already shown it better to confine research to a few large projects rather than to aid many minor investigations with grants comparatively small.

"One branch of work reminds us of Mr. Carnegie’s method in establishing public libraries—the supplementing of local public spirit by a generous gift. In many cases a university or an observatory launches an inquiry which soon broadens out beyond the range of its own small funds; then it is that aid from the Carnegie Institution brings to port a ship that otherwise might remain at sea indefinitely. Let a few typical examples of this kind be mentioned;—Dudley Observatory, Albany, New York, and Lick Observatory, California, have received aid toward their observations and computations; Yerkes Observatory, Wisconsin, has been helped in measuring the distance of fixed stars. Among other investigations promoted have been the study of the rare earths and the heat-treatment of some high-carbon steels. The adjacent field of engineering has not been neglected: funds have been granted for experiments on ship resistance and propulsion, for determining the value of high pressure steam in locomotive service. {597} In geology an investigation of fundamental principles has been furthered, as also the specific problem of the flow of rocks under severe pressure. In his remarkable inquiry into the economy of foods, Professor W. O. Atwater, of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, has had liberal help. In the allied science of preventive medicine a grant is advancing the study of snake venoms and defeating inoculations.

"At a later day the Institution may possibly adopt plans recommended by eminent advisers of the rank of Professor Simon Newcomb, who points out that analysis and generalization are to-day much more needed than further observations of a routine kind. He has also had a weighty word to say regarding the desirability of bringing together for mutual attrition and discussion men in contiguous fields of work, who take the bearings of a great problem from different, points of view."

_George Iles, Inventors at Work Chapter XIX, page 276 Doubleday, Page & Co., New York https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48454_

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Electrical: A New Electric Phenomenon.

Writing recently in the London Times, Professor Silvanus P. Thompson has described a discovery of effects which "appear to point to a true electric momentum." "To two men, Professor Nipher, of St. Louis, and Dr. Mathias Cantor, of Würzburg, the question seems to have occurred whether, if a flow of electricity is caused abruptly to turn its path round a sharp corner, anything is observable in the neighbourhood of the sharp corner, that would suggest a momentum of the electric corpuscles. Nipher employed as conductor a sharply-bent splinter of bamboo, carrying a high-tension discharge from a large influence machine. Cantor used a thin metallic film of gold or platinum formed by deposition on the faces of a glass plate bevelled to a sharp edge; the current being provided by a battery. Nipher, investigating by photographic plates, discovered that the current passing the sharp corner emitted radiations akin to the X-rays, and capable of giving shadow pictures, even through ebonite 3/16 of an inch thick. He has also used thin metal wires bent into a series of sharp corners, and finds that at every corner some of the electrons leave the wire, tending to persevere in their original direction of movement rather than undergo a sudden change of direction. Cantor, exploring electrically with a wire attached to a charged insulated electrometer, found the electrometer discharged by the emanations (or radiations) from the acute angle of his conducting film. Later, but without knowledge of what Nipher had accomplished, Cantor also exposed a photographic plate to the angle of the film, and found it marked with streaks as if charged particles had left the angle in a particular direction. Both experimenters had already made numerous observations under different circumstances before publishing their results. Nipher’s discovery was communicated to the American Philosophical Society in the early summer, and an account of his work appeared in Science of July 17 last [1909] . Cantor’s observations were announced to the German ‘Naturforscher’ meeting at Cologne on September 23.

"If," remarks Professor Thompson, "we accept the modern doctrine that all inertia in what we call matter is due to the magnetic field surrounding a moving charge of electricity, this newly-discovered effect takes its natural place beside the other known effects."

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: TELEGRAPHY: The Printer System.

The Electrical Review of January 2, 1909, gave the following account of the extent to which the "printer system" of telegraphy had then come into use in the United States: "Over fifty printer circuits are now in regular operation on the Western Union lines, between leading business centres of the United States, and additional wires are being equipped as fast as the printer apparatus can be installed. This is a system of rapid automatic telegraphy by which telegrams are transmitted at a high rate of speed and received at their destination printed on the regular message forms by a typewriter automatically operated by the electrical impulses transmitted over the wire. The appearance of the message as received is identical with a message turned out by the most expert typewriter operator on Morse circuits. The messages are ready for delivery as soon as they come off the wire, and the only attention required by the typewriter as it receives the messages from the wire is that of removing the blank when the message is completed and supplying a fresh, sheet to the machine for the next message."

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Wireless Telegraphy. Statement from Marconi.

"Up to the commencement of 1902 the only receivers that could be practically employed for the purposes of wireless telegraphy were based on what may be called the coherer principle—that is, the detector, the principle of which is based on the discoveries and observations made by S. A. Varley, Professor Hughes, Calsecchi Onesti, and Professor Branly. Early in that year the author was fortunate enough to succeed in constructing a practical receiver of electric waves, based on a principle different from that of the coherer. … The action of this receiver is in the author’s opinion based upon the decrease of magnetic hysteresis, which takes place in iron when under certain conditions this metal is exposed to high frequency oscillations of Hertzian waves. …

"This detector is and has been successfully employed for both long and short distance work. It is used on the ships of the Royal Navy and on all trans-Atlantic liners which are carrying on a long-distance news service. It has also been used to a large extent in the tests across the Atlantic Ocean. … The adoption of this magnetic receiver was the means of bringing about a great improvement in the practical working conditions of wireless telegraphy by making it possible to do away with the troublesome adjustments necessary when using coherers, and also by considerably increasing the speed at which it is possible to receive, the speed depending solely on the ability of the individual operators. Thus a speed of over 30 words a minute has been easily attained. …

"In the spring of 1903 the transmission of news messages from America to the London Times was attempted, and the first messages were correctly received and published in that newspaper. A breakdown in the insulation of the apparatus at Cape Breton made it necessary, however, to suspend the service, and, unfortunately, further accidents made the transmission of messages unreliable, especially during the spring and summer. {598} In consequence of this, the author’s company decided not to attempt the transmission of any more public messages until such time as a reliable and continuous service could be maintained and guaranteed under all ordinary conditions. … In October, 1903, it was found possible to supply the Cunard steamship Lucania during her entire crossing from New York to Liverpool with news transmitted direct to that ship from Poldhu and Cape Breton."

G. Marconi, Recent Advances in Wireless Telegraphy (Annual Report Smithsonian Institution, 1905-1906, pages 137-142).

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Real Problem.

"It is well to remember that the year 1903 is the earliest date at which radio-telegraphy could be regarded as really workable, and of material practical utility. Previous to then, ‘wireless ’ working was very uncertain, but in that year tuning devices were introduced, the principle of which was originally due to Sir Oliver Lodge; and it is these that have made so much difference in the application of Hertzian waves for the purposes of telegraphy. Practical success in radio-telegraphy should not, in fact, be judged from the point of view of the distance at which signals can be sent—or received—but rather from the standpoint of non-interference and secrecy. The essential element in wireless telegraphy—above all others—is, indeed, a discriminating or selective method. For the main purposes of radio-telegraphy, immunity from interference by syntony is essential. Thus a selective system in time of war would be invaluable; a non-selective system almost worse than useless. Syntonic wireless telegraphy entails in the first place, a similar rate of oscillation, or time—i. e., a similar wave length—at the sending and receiving ends. Indeed, the real problem in wireless telegraphy is to arrange the receiving apparatus so that it is alive to notes of one definite frequency, or pitch, but deaf to any other notes, even though of but slightly different pitch. This is effected by the proper adjustment of inductance and capacity, as first shown by Sir Oliver Lodge. … It is, however, at present, impossible to secure really complete secrecy from any method of open wave radiation. A radio-telegraphist, with the right apparatus and a knowledge of the tune, could upset any system of Hertzian wave telegraphy. It should, therefore, be clearly understood that there are, as yet, definite limits to the practical results of tuning for securing absolute selectivity and secrecy."

_Charles Bright, The Useful Sphere for Radio-Telegraphy (Westminster Review, April, 1908)._

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Singular Unexplained Phenomena.

Speaking at Stockholm, Sweden, on the occasion of his receiving the Nobel Prize, in December, 1909, Mr. Marconi gave the following account of some unexplained phenomena that are experienced in the working of radio-telegraphy. He said that "a result of scientific interest which he first noticed during the tests on the steamship Philadelphia and which was a most important factor in long distance radio-telegraphy was the very marked and detrimental effect of daylight on the propagation of electric waves at great distances, the range by night being usually more than double that attainable during daytime. He did not think that this effect had yet been satisfactorily investigated or explained. … He was now inclined to believe that the absorption of electric waves during the daytime was due to the ionization of the gaseous molecules of the air effected by ultra-violet light, and as the ultra-violet rays which emanated from the sun were largely absorbed in the upper atmosphere of the earth, it was probable that the portion of the earth’s atmosphere which was facing the sun would contain more ions or electrons than that portion which was in darkness, and therefore, as Sir J. J. Thomson had shown, this illuminated and ionized air would absorb some of the energy of the electric waves. Apparently the length of wave and amplitude of the electrical oscillations had much to do with this interesting phenomenon, long waves and small amplitudes being subject to the effect of daylight to a much smaller degree than short waves and large amplitudes. …

"For comparatively short waves, such as were used for ship communication, clear sunlight and blue skies, though transparent to light, acted as a kind of fog to these waves. … It often occurred that a ship failed to communicate with a near-by station, but could correspond with perfect ease with a distant one. … Although high power stations were now used for communicating across the Atlantic, and messages could be sent by day as well as by night, there still existed short periods of daily occurrence during which transmission from England to America, or vice versa, was difficult."

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Transatlantic Service.

"The Transatlantic wireless service was inaugurated in October, 1907, between Ireland and Canada, the charges being reduced from 1s. per word for business and private messages and 5d. per word for Press messages to 5d. and 2½d. respectively, these charges not including the land line charges on both sides of the Atlantic. …

"The first wireless messages across the Atlantic were sent from the Canadian station at Table Head, in Cape Breton, in 1902. This station was afterwards removed to its present site, five miles inland, and there greatly enlarged. Ever since 1902 Mr. Marconi has been conducting experiments and making new discoveries and improvements until, at the present day, wireless telegraphy across the Atlantic, over a distance of 2000 miles, is an assured success. … Press traffic … was started on October 17, 1907. On February 3, 1908, the service was extended to private and business telegrams between Montreal and London. The number of words transmitted during the past year is in the neighbourhood of 300,000."

_Correspondence of the London Times, June 25, 1909._

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Equipments at Sea. Extent of the Service. Compulsory Legislation Pending.

"Although an installation was carried on the St. Paul for one trip in 1899, the credit of being the pioneers in the use of wireless telegraphy on the ocean belongs to the North-German Lloyd and Cunard Companies. The first vessel fitted was the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, and the lead of the Germans was immediately followed by the English company. Both vessels were fitted by the Marconi Company, which has the distinction of being the first company to equip vessels on a commercial basis. … The Marconi Company alone has up to the present fitted nearly 200 merchant ships, while the United Wireless Telegraph Company has fitted nearly 170 ships. …

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"A very large number of vessels engaged in the coasting trade of America and on the Great Lakes are fitted with wireless telegraphy; the American list shows that 133 vessels are equipped, while a statement issued by the United Wireless Telegraph Company shows 31 other vessels to have been fitted up to April 2, besides 15 Great Lake steamers either fitted or in course of equipment. …

"Nearly 500 warships belonging to nine different countries have been fitted, or are in course of equipment, with radio-telegraphy. According to the American list the United States Navy has been foremost among the navies of the world in the use of ‘wireless.’ On October 1 last 173 United States warships were fitted with various systems. The Berne lists, issued up to May 1 last, show Great Britain to have 157 vessels equipped, Germany 80, Netherlands 11, Denmark 9, and Spain 5.

"In February last the United States House of Representatives passed a Bill providing that ‘every ocean passenger steamer certified to carry 50 passengers or more, before being granted a clearance for a foreign or domestic port 100 miles or more distant from the port of her departure from the United States, shall be equipped with an efficient radio-telegraph installation, and shall have in her employ and on board an efficient radio-telegrapher.’ … The Bill, it is understood, will be considered by the Senate in the autumn, and will it is thought be passed after it has undergone some slight modification. Following the example of the United States Congress a Bill has been introduced in the Canadian House of Commons. … An Italian Royal Decree dated March 14 last provides that all vessels of whatever nationality clearing from Italian ports with emigrants shall carry a wireless installation. So far as this country [Great Britain] is concerned no legislative action is likely to take place, at least for the present."

_Correspondence of the London Times, July 2, 1909._

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Cry that brought Help to the Steamship "Republic."

On the 23d of January, 1909, the service of the wireless telegraph to imperilled ships was illustrated by an incident which thrilled the world. In a dense fog, off the island of Nantucket, 26 miles distant, the steamship "Republic," of the White Star Line, was struck amidships by an Italian liner, the "Florida." Two passengers on the former were killed and two were seriously injured, while four sailors of the other were killed. Both steamers were shattered to the sinking point, but the state of the "Republic" was the worse. Fortunately she was equipped with the wireless apparatus for telegraphy, and its operator, "Jack" Binns, was a man equal to the emergency. His appealing signals, "C. Q. D." ("Come Quick! Danger"), were flashed out into all surrounding space, and brought many responses from sea and shore; but then came the difficulty of finding the sinking ships in the black fog. The first rescuing vessel to reach their vicinity was the "Baltic" of the "White Star Line," and she was helped in her groping to them, not only by the ceaseless exchange of wireless messages, but by the sounding of the submarine bell of the Nantucket lightship. The "Baltic" was fitted with receivers for taking guidance from these bells, as her Captain described afterwards in a published account of his search. "On my ship," he said, "there are two apertures on either side of the bow, which you might call submarine ears. They are connected by wires with a telephone receiver on the bridge. By listening at this telephone and switching the instrument from the starboard ‘ear’ to the port ‘ear’ and back again, you can hear the faint tones of the lightship’s submarine bell when you get in range of it. If the tone is louder through the starboard ‘ear’ than through the port ‘ear,’ you know the lightship is on your starboard side. If the tone is exactly the same through both ‘ears,’ you know the lightship is dead ahead. This apparatus helped me greatly."

Nevertheless, the "Baltic’s" search for the "Republic" went on through twelve hours, like that of "a hound on the scent," as the Captain described it. Meantime, the passengers of the "Republic" had been transferred to the "Florida," which seemed well afloat, and the "Baltic" now took everybody from both, the total exceeding 1500. The "Republic" was then towed toward Martha’s Vineyard, but sank a few miles from land, her Captain remaining until the last minute on board. The conduct of all connected with the peril and the rescue was fine, and none more so than that of the sleepless and tireless operator of the wireless telegraph.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Marconi Coast Stations in Great Britain taken over by the British Government.

The following announcement was made by the British Postmaster General in the House of Commons on the 30th of September, 1909:

"I am glad to say that arrangements have been completed with the Marconi Company for the transfer to the Post Office of all their coast stations for communication with ships, including all plant, machinery, buildings, land, and leases, &c., and for the surrender of the rights which they enjoy under their agreement with the Post Office of August, 1904, for licences or facilities in respect of coast stations intended for such communication.

"In addition, the Post Office secures the right of using, free of royalty, the existing Marconi patents and any future patents or improvements, for a term of 14 years, for the following purposes:—Communication for all purposes between stations in the United Kingdom and ships, and between stations on the mainland of Great Britain and Ireland on the one hand and outlying islands on the other hand, or between any two outlying islands; and (except for the transmission of public telegrams) between any two stations on the mainland; and on board Post Office cable ships. The inclusive consideration to be paid to the company is £15,000.

"The arrangement is in no sense an exclusive one. All the stations will, under the International Radio-Telegraphic Convention, be open for communication equally to all ships, whatever system of wireless telegraphy they may carry; and the Post Office will be free to use or to experiment with any system of wireless telegraphy at its discretion. All inland communication of messages by wireless telegraphy will be entirely under the control of the Post Office. The company will retain the licence for their long-distance stations at Poldhu and Clifden, which are primarily intended for shore-to-shore communication with America. Arrangements have also been made with Lloyd’s for the transfer to the Post Office of their wireless stations for communication with ships, and for the surrender of all claims to licences for such communication."

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SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Notes of Recent Progress.

A despatch from Seattle, March 5, 1909, reported that "the steamship Aki Maru of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha fleet accomplished her recent passage from Yokohama, Japan, to Puget Sound, a distance of 4,240 miles, without losing communication with wireless stations on either the Japanese or American coasts. The accomplishment was made possible by relaying messages through other vessels of the company, which were picked up between the Aki Maru and the coast. The Aki Maru was able to communicate directly with the Japanese coast stations, when she was 1,400 miles away."

According to Paris correspondence of the London Daily Telegraph, quoted in the New York Evening Post of August 21, "wireless messages from New York are now received or intercepted almost daily by the military station on the Eiffel Tower. Occasionally radio telegrams have also been received from Canada, which, it is believed, forms a record in wireless telegraphy. The communications are at present only of a desultory nature, but the officer, Commandant Ferie, who is in charge of the station, hopes to be able soon to organize a regular service for government, and, perhaps, also for commercial, purposes. The new apparatus which is now being set up in the underground office on the Champ de Mars will be more powerful than any preceding ones, and will be ready probably by the end of next month. Wireless messages will then be exchanged regularly between Paris and the eastern coast of the United States, and perhaps also with Canada."

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Electro-Chemistry: The Study of the Infinitely Little.

"A new branch of physical chemistry has lately been developed from the study of the infinitely little which promises to be the most important science of the future; for it deals most intimately with the problems of life. This subject is called electro-chemistry. It is based upon the effect of electricity in revealing the important reactions and motions of the smallest particles of matter. The literature of this subject in current periodicals already exceeds that of any other department of physical science. Until a comparatively late day, heat and light were considered the principal agents which chemists employed to study the reactions of matter. In the new subject of electro-chemistry, electricity occupies the first place, as a destroyer and a readjuster; and heat and light are merely subordinate parts of its manifestations, differing from it only in length of waves in the ether. The to-and-fro motion, which is our incontestable fact, is an electrical vibration. When we consider the investigations in electro-chemistry, we perceive that the most important actions of electricity are not those we are conscious of in their great practical applications; it is rather in subtle and silent effects that it works its greatest changes on life and matter."

_John Trowbridge, The Study of the Infinitely Small (Atlantic Monthly, May, 1902)._

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Entomological Study: What we Owe to it? Practical Affairs.

"The insect friends and enemies of the farmer are getting attention. The enemy of the San José scale was found near the Great Wall of China, and is now cleaning up all our orchards. The fig-fertilizing insect imported from Turkey has helped to establish an industry in California that amounts to from fifty to one hundred tons of dried figs annually, and is extending over the Pacific coast. A parasitic fly from South Africa is keeping in subjection the black scale, the worst pest of the orange and lemon industry in California."

Message of President Roosevelt to Congress, 1904.

"The business man, always on the outlook for a dividend, has sometimes complained that some of our inquiries do not seem to him practical, but he must have patience and faith. A few years ago no knowledge could seem so useless to the practical man, no research more futile than that which sought to distinguish between one species of a gnat or tick and another; yet to-day we know that this knowledge has rendered it possible to open up Africa and to cut the Panama canal."

A. E. Shipley, on Research in Zoology, at Meeting of British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1909.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Esperanto.

Dr. Zamenhof, a Russian physician, inventor of the proposed international language called Esperanto, published his first pamphlet on the subject in 1887; but it was not until ten years later that the prospect of its extensive use as such began to be realized. "It was well received, first in Russia, then in Norway and Sweden. Then it was taken up in France, by M. de Beaufront. The latter had himself invented an artificial language, but gave it up as soon as he became acquainted with the admirable work of his Russian competitor. He is the man who forced the world at large to stop and seriously consider Esperanto as the solution of the great problem proposed by men like Roger Bacon, Descartes, Pascal, Leibnitz, Locke, Condillac, Voltaire, Diderot, and so many others. From France it went to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and finally to England, where thirty societies of Esperantists were created within a little over a year. …

"The general principle upon which Dr. Zamenhof has worked is this: to eliminate all that is accidental in our national languages, and to keep what is common to all. In consequence, and strictly speaking, he invents nothing; he builds entirely with material that has been in existence for a long time. Here, then, is the way in which he proceeds regarding the various elements that are necessary to the formation of a language.

"The Sounds. Sounds that are peculiar to one language are eliminated. The English th and w are not found in French or German, therefore they are dropped. On the other hand, the French u, the German ü, and the French nasals do not exist in English; they too are dropped. The Spanish ñ and j, and the German ch, have the same fate. Thus, only sounds which are found everywhere are kept, and no one will have any difficulty about pronunciation, no matter to what country he belongs. Spelling is of course phonetic: one and the same sound for one letter. There are no mute letters, as in French; neither are there double letters. …

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"The Accent is always on the penultimate syllable. Esperanto reminds one of Italian, when spoken, and has proved extremely melodious for singing.

"The Vocabulary. The principle of internationalism is applied here in a most ingenious fashion. Dr. Zamenhof proceeded thus: he compared the dictionaries of the different languages, and picked out first those words which are common to them all. He spelled them according to the phonetic system, dropped the special endings in each idiom, and adopted them as root-words in his proposed language. … Then he picked out those which appear in most languages, although not in all. … For the remaining words,—and there are comparatively few left,—which are never the same in the different languages, Dr. Zamenhof selected them in such a manner as to make the task of acquiring Esperanto equally difficult or equally easy for all concerned."

_A. Schinz, Esperanto: the Proposed Universal Language (Atlantic Monthly, January, 1906)._

The sixth international Congress of teachers and promoters of Esperanto is appointed to be held at Washington in 1910. An influential Esperanto Association has been organized in the United States, under the presidency of Dr. D. O. S. Lowell, of the Boston Latin School.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Eugenics: The Science and Art of being Well-born.

"We know that the old rule, ‘Increase and multiply,’ meant a vast amount of infant mortality, of starvation, of chronic disease, of widespread misery. In abandoning that rule, as we have been forced to do, are we not now left free to seek that our children, though few, should be at all events fit, the finest, alike in physical and psychical constitution, that the world has seen?

"Thus has come about the recent expansion of that conception of eugenics—or the science and art of being well-born, and of breeding the human race a step nearer towards perfection—which a few among us, and more especially Mr. Francis Galton, have been developing for some years past. Eugenics is beginning to be felt to possess a living actuality which it was not felt to possess before. Instead of being a benevolent scientific fad, it begins to present itself as the goal to which we are inevitably moving. … Human eugenics need not be, and is not likely to be, a cold-blooded selection of partners by some outside scientific authority. But it may be, and is very likely to be, a slowly growing conviction—first among the more intelligent members of the community, and then by imitation and fashion among the less intelligent members—that our children, the future race, the torch-bearers of civilisation for succeeding ages, are not the mere result of chance or Providence, but that, in a very real sense, it is within our grasp to mould them, that the salvation or damnation of many future generations lies in our hands, since it depends on our wise and sane choice of a mate. …

"Eventually, it seems evident, a general system, whether private or public, whereby all personal facts, biological and mental, normal and morbid, are duly and systematically registered, must become inevitable if we are to have a real guide as to those persons who are most fit or least fit to carry on the race. Unless they are full and frank, such records are useless. But it is obvious that for a long time to come such a system of registration must be private. … Through the munificence of Mr. Galton and the co-operation of the University of London the beginning of the attainment of these eugenic ideals has at length been rendered possible. The senate of the University has this year appointed Mr. Edgar Schuster, of New College, Oxford, to the Francis Galton Research Scholarship in Natural Eugenics. It will be Mr. Schuster’s duty to carry out investigations into the history of classes and of families, and to deliver lectures and publish memoirs on the subject of his investigations. It is a beginning only, but the end no man can foresee."

_Havelock Ellis, Eugenics and St. Valentine (Nineteenth Century, May, 1906)._

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Gasoline Engine.

Writing in 1905, in an article entitled "The Age of Gasoline," contributed to the American Review of Reviews, Mr. F. K. Grain, M. E., gave this brief account of the rapid development of its use as a producer of power, threatening to supersede coal: "About fifteen years ago we first began to hear much of the gasoline engine, which was then in a very crude state. Its possibilities, however, were so attractive, and the field for its use so large,—practically unlimited,—that inventors and manufacturers at once bent their energies to its development, with the result that the gasoline engine has reached a degree of perfection in the past few years that is surprising in view of the fact that the designers were working out a new problem in a practically unknown field, and consequently had no data, theoretical or practical, of any value to assist. … As a motive power, utilized by means of the internal-combustion engine, gasoline is at this time revolutionizing travel, through the automobile. The automobile, in turn, has been the means of adapting gasoline to propulsion of railway trains, as this form of power is found especially useful on short lines where the traffic is light. Several railroads are now building gasoline motor cars of considerable size. …

"The gasoline engine as now made is an adaptation of the steam engine, employing the gas produced by gasoline as a means of energy. Contrary to the general understanding, the gas or gasoline engine is but a high-pressure caloric motor. The power in the gasoline motor is derived by igniting the gas produced in the cylinder, which in turn by its heat expands, the atmosphere imparting energy to the piston by its expansion. A common error is the supposition that the explosion of the gas produces the power, the same as a blow from a hammer, whereas it is the heat generated by the ignition of the compressed gases acting expansively."

One of the speakers at a Congress of Applied Chemistry held in London in May, 1909, said that it seemed almost certain that for most purposes on land the internal combustion engine would before long replace the steam engine, at any rate for moderate powers; for whereas the best types of the latter furnish only about 12 per cent, of the energy of the fuel in the form of work, the former can ordinarily be made to yield 25 per cent., and in the case of the Diesel engine the return is as much as 37 per cent.

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SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Interferometer, The: Principle of the Invention of Professor Michelson for Infinitesimal Measurements. Suggestion of an Unvarying Unit of Measurement.

"In the measurement of length or motion a most refined instrument is the interferometer, devised by Professor A. A. Michelson, of the University of Chicago. It enables an observer to detect a movement through one five-millionth of an inch. The principle involved is illustrated in a simple experiment. If by dropping a pebble at each of two centres, say a yard apart, in a still pond, we send out two systems of waves, each system will ripple out in a series of concentric circles. If, when the waves meet, the crests from one set of waves coincide with the depressions from the other set, the water in that particular spot becomes smooth because one set of waves destroys the other. In this case we may say that the waves interfere. If, on the other hand, the crests of waves from two sources should coincide, they would rise to twice their original height. Light-waves sent out in a similar mode from two points may in like manner either interfere, and produce darkness, or unite to produce light of double brilliancy. These alternate dark and bright bands are called interference fringes. When one of the two sources of light is moved through a very small space, the interference fringes at a distance move through a space so much larger as to be easily observed and measured, enabling an observer to compute the short path through which a light-source has moved. … Many diverse applications of the interferometer have been developed, as, for example, in thermometry. The warmth of a hand held near a pencil of light is enough to cause a wavering of the fringes. A lighted match shows contortions. … When the air is heated its density and refractive power diminish: it follows that if this experiment is tried under conditions which show a regular and measurable displacement of the fringes, their movement will indicate the temperature of the air. This method has been applied to ascertain very high temperatures, such as those of the blast furnace. Most metals expand one or two parts in 100,000 for a rise in temperature of one degree centigrade. When a small specimen is examined the whole change to be measured may be only about 1/10000 inch, a space requiring a good microscope to perceive, but readily measured by an interferometer. It means a displacement amounting to several fringes, and this may be measured to within of a fringe or less; so that the whole displacement may be measured to within a fraction of one per cent. Of course, with long bars the accuracy attainable is much greater.

"The interferometer has much refined the indications of the balance. In a noteworthy experiment Professor Michelson found the amount of attraction which a sphere of lead exerted on a small sphere hung on an arm of a delicate balance. The amount of this attraction when two such spheres touch is proportional to the diameter of the large sphere, which in this case was about eight inches. The attraction on the small ball on the end of the balance was thus the same fraction of its weight as the diameter of the large ball was of the diameter of the earth,—something like one twenty-millionth. So the force to be measured was one twenty-millionth of the weight of this small ball. In the interferometer the approach of the small ball to the large one produced a displacement of seven whole fringes."

George Iles, Inventors at Work, pages 214-218 (Doubleday, Page & Co., New York).

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: International Congresses of Science.

The most notable of the gatherings at St. Louis in 1904, connected with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, was the Congress of Arts and Science.

See (in this Volume) ST. LOUIS: A. D. 1904.

Hardly less important from some points of view was the meeting of the First Pan-American Scientific Congress, at Santiago, Chile, beginning on the 25th of December, 1908. It had been preceded by three scientific congresses of the Latin-American states, at Buenos Aires in 1898, at Montevideo in 1901, and at Rio de Janeiro in 1905. The Pan-American comprehensiveness was given to a fourth one by an official invitation from the Chilean Government to the Government of the United States to send delegates to the meeting, and a further invitation from the Chilean Committee of Organization to fifteen of the prominent universities of the United States to do the same. The response to the invitation was cordial, and both of the American continents were well represented at the Congress. The programme of topics for discussion included a number of historically and politically scientific questions of specially American interest, such, for example, as the following:

"An explanation of the reasons why the colonies of English America were able to unite into a single state after they had attained their independence, while those of Spanish America never succeeded in establishing a permanent union.

"The extent to which America has come to possess a civilization, as well as interests and problems, different from those of Europe.

"Given the special circumstances of the states of the New World, would it be feasible to create an American international law? and if so, upon what bases should it rest, and how should it be composed?"

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Moving Picture Show. The Millions entertained by it in the United States.

In 1908, in the United States, "the moving-picture show drew an attendance of 4,000,000 daily, a total attendance of more than a billion; or an average of one visit a month to this form of amusement for every man, woman, and child in the whole country. Already this infant industry has developed to a point where $50,000,000 is invested in it, and 7,000 moving-picture houses are scattered over the country. Of the larger cities, Chicago has at present 313 moving-picture shows, and probably will have 500 before the end of the present year. New York has 300, St. Louis 205, Philadelphia 186, San Francisco 131, Pittsburgh 90, and Boston 31. Hundreds of smaller cities and towns have from one to a dozen, and the craze has extended to Mexico, Central and South America, and the Panama Canal Zone. Nearly 1,000,000 feet, or 190 miles, of films are shown every day in the United States. … Making of these films is in itself an enormous business. The organization which controls them not only has agents photographing scenes in every part of the world, but maintains theatres and out-of-door establishments, where complete plays and all sorts of other activities are presented before the camera."

New York Evening Post.

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SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Opsonins: A remarkable new Discovery in Biology.

Discovery of the functions of the white corpuscles found in the blood of animals was begun, it is said, by Dr. Augustus Waller, in 1843, and continued in much later years by Professor Metchnikoff, who was associated with the work of Pasteur. The latter determined the surprising and extremely important fact that the white corpuscles or cells are essentially minute living creatures, which serve the larger creature they inhabit as a sanitary guard, defending it against the invasion of microbes that are hostile to its health. They pursue and devour these malignant invaders; whence the name that has been given to them, of "phagocytes," or "eating cells."

"When we study the process familiarly known as ‘inflammation,’ we find the most perfect illustration at once of the duties of the white blood-cells and of the new phase and meaning of a common occurrence which are revealed by research. ‘Inflammation’ is a process which follows upon a large variety of injuries, and which marks the onset and course of many diseases, from a scratch on the finger to an inflammation of the lungs. … Given a simple scratch and the phagocytes stimulated by the injury to the tissues will come hurrying to the scene of the accident like ambulance men, eager to assist in the removal of any deleterious matter, and to give their aid in the healing process and in the formation of the new tissue, the production of which will complete the cure. But given a scratch that inoculates the finger with ‘dirt,’ which is only another name for microbes, and the nature of inflammation becomes clearer to us. In a few hours the finger will begin to feel painful; its temperature will rise; it will appear red and ‘inflamed,’ and it will exhibit swelling. Later on, if we puncture the swelling, we shall find a yellow fluid, which we name ‘pus,’ or ‘matter,’ escaping from the puncture. Now to what are the symptoms of inflammation due? The plain answer is, that they represent the results of a great migration of phagocytes from the blood-vessels, destined to attack, and if possible remove, the infective particles which threaten to do us injury. The inflammation, in this view, is the evidence of a battle being fought in our favour, and often with very long odds against us. If our phagocytes gain a complete victory, we escape the suppuration which we saw to result in the shape of the ‘festering’ finger. If, on the other hand, they sustain defeat, they will fight on, leaving their dead behind. It is the dead white blood-cells, which have fallen in the fray, which constitute the ‘pus’ or ‘matter’ we find in wounds. … These dead cells, like the corpses of soldiers who fall in battle, later become hurtful to the organism they in their lifetime were anxious to protect from harm, for they are fertile sources of septicaemia and pyaemia (blood-poisoning)—the pestilence and scourge so much dreaded by operative surgeons.

"Such is the story which forms the natural prologue to the history of ‘Opsonins.’ For many a day after the publication of Metchnikoff’s discoveries regarding the germ-killing power of the phagocytes, it was held that these living cells alone accomplished the duty of disposing of troublesome invaders. Later on, other opinions were advanced to the effect that while the phagocytes did undoubtedly accomplish their work in the direction indicated, they demanded aid to that end from an outside source. This source was indicated and represented by the plasma or blood-fluid itself. The fluid part of the blood had long been known to possess germ-killing properties, but the extent of its powers in this direction had not been duly determined, nor had the important point been settled whether the plasma as a whole or only part thereof aided the white blood-cells in their forays on microbes. … Researches made prior to the year 1903 gave cause for the belief in the importance of the blood-plasma in whole or in part, but it was in the year just named that very important investigations were undertaken with the view to determining the exact status of the blood-fluid in work of bactericidal kind. Drs. Wright and Douglas of St. Mary’s Hospital, London, undertook a piece of research conducted on lines somewhat different from those on which previous work of this nature had been carried on. They proceeded first of all by the aid of delicate processes to separate the blood-corpuscles from the blood-fluid. The white blood-cells were thus kept in a medium or fluid of neutral kind, while the blood-fluid itself on the other hand was obtained free from its corpuscles. Next in order an emulsion of certain microbes capable of producing disease was made in a solution of salt. When the phagocytes, alive, of course, in their neutral fluid, were allowed access to the germs they did not attack them. It was as if two contending armies had been brought face to face, waiting to attack, but restrained by some negotiations proceeding between the commanders. The case was at once altered, and the battle began, when the experimenters brought the separated blood-fluid into the field. Added to the germs and to the phagocytes these elements, which had been ‘spoiling for a fight,’ joined issue, and the white blood-cells performed their normal work of microbe-baiting. There was but one inference to be drawn from these facts. Clearly, the addition of the blood-fluid supplied some condition or other, necessary for the development of the fighting powers of the cells. … Our investigators are of the opinion that the real source of the power possessed by the blood-fluid or ‘plasma’ is to be sought and found in substances contained therein and called ‘Opsonins.’ We can now appreciate the meaning of this term. It is derived from the classic verb for catering, for preparing food or for providing food. The view taken of opsonic action justifies the use of the word, for it is believed that these substances perform their share of the germ-destroying work, not by urging on or stimulating the phagocytes to the attack, but, on the contrary, by acting on the microbes, by weakening their powers of resistance and by rendering them the easy prey of the white blood-cells. The ‘Opsonins’ are carried by the blood-stream everywhere, and it is when they come in contact with any microbe-colonies in the body that they exert their specific action on the germs. … The idea that the more active our white blood-cells are, and the more extensive and complete their work, the greater the amount of ‘Opsonins’ present, is one which seems to be founded on a rational basis. This view regards these substances as the real cause of phagocytic activity. That ‘Opsonins’ furthermore appear to possess definite degrees of power seems proved by the observation that a person’s blood may contain sufficient to deal with one disease in the way of stimulating the phagocytes to work, while the same quantity would not equal half that required to effect a satisfactory attack on another and different disease. What has been called the ‘opsonic index ’ of a person is the standard, if so we may call it, or measure of his germ-killing power, in so far as the amount of ‘Opsonins’ contained in his blood is concerned. By a technical procedure and calculation the experimenter can compute the opsonic power of a given specimen of blood."

_Andrew Wilson, About Opsonins (Cornhill, January, 1907)._

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SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Medical.

See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Physical: The New Conceptions of Electricity, Matter and Ether. Statement by Madame Curie. Sir Joseph Thomson’s Address to the British Association at Winnipeg. Sir Oliver Lodge on the Ether of Space.

"One point which appears to-day to be definitely settled is a view of atomic structure of electricity, which goes to confirm and complete the idea that we have long held regarding the atomic structure of matter, which constitutes the basis of chemical theories. At the same time that the existence of electric atoms, indivisible by our present means of research, appears to be established with certainty, the important properties of these atoms are also shown. The atoms of negative electricity which we call electrons, are found to exist in a free state, independent of all material atoms, and not having any properties in common with them. In this state they possess certain dimensions in space, and are endowed with a certain inertia, which has suggested the idea of attributing to them a corresponding mass.

"Experiments have shown that their dimensions are very small compared with those of material molecules, and that their mass is only a small fraction, not exceeding one one-thousandth of the mass of an atom of hydrogen. They show also that if these atoms can exist isolated, they may also exist in all ordinary matter, and may be in certain cases emitted by a substance such as a metal without its properties being changed in a manner appreciable by us.

"If, then, we consider the electrons as a form of matter, we are led to put the division of them beyond atoms and to admit the existence of a kind of extremely small particles able to enter into the composition of atoms, but not necessarily by their departure involving atomatic destruction. Looking at it in this light, we are led to consider every atom as a complicated structure, and this supposition is rendered probable by the complexity of the emission spectra which characterize the different atoms. We have thus a conception sufficiently exact of the atoms of negative electricity.

"It is not the same for positive electricity, for a great dissimilarity appears to exist between the two electricities. Positive electricity appears always to be found in connection with material atoms, and we have no reason, thus far, to believe that they can be separated. Our knowledge relative to matter is also increased by an important fact. A new property of matter has been discovered which has received the name of radioactivity. Radioactivity is the property which the atoms of certain substances possess of shooting off particles, some of which have a mass comparable to that of the atoms themselves, while the others are the electrons. This property, which uranium and thorium possess in a slight degree, has led to the discovery of a new chemical element, radium, whose radioactivity is very great. Among the particles expelled by radium are some which are ejected with great velocity, and their expulsion is accompanied with a considerable evolution of heat. A radioactive body constitutes, then, a source of energy.

"According to the theory which best accounts for the phenomena of radioactivity, a certain proportion of the atoms of a radioactive body is transformed in a given time, with the production of atoms of less atomic weight, and in some cases with the expulsion of electrons. This is a theory of the transmutation of elements, but differs from the dreams of the alchemists in that we declare ourselves, for the present at least, unable to induce or influence the transmutation. Certain facts go to show that radioactivity appertains in a slight degree to all kinds of matter. It may be, therefore, that matter is far from being as unchangeable or inert as it was formerly thought; and is, on the contrary, in continual transformation, although this transformation escapes our notice by its relative slowness."

Madame Curie, Modern Theories of Electricity and Matter (Annual Report, Smithsonian Institution, 1905-1906, pages 103-104).

A remarkable summary of recent advances in physical science, by Sir Joseph Thomson, in his presidential address at the opening (August 25, 1909) of the seventy-ninth annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Winnipeg, Canada, contains what is, without doubt, the most successful of endeavors to give some understanding of the new conceptions of matter, ether and electricity, with which scientists are now working, to minds that have not been scientifically trained. Sir Joseph treats the subject at more length than can be given to it here, but abridgment seems possible without robbing it of the more important parts of its rich content of information:

"The period which has elapsed since the Association last met in Canada [1897] has been," said the President, "one of almost unparalleled activity in many branches of physics, and many new and unsuspected properties of matter and electricity have been discovered. The history of this period affords a remarkable illustration of the effect which may be produced by a single discovery; for it is, I think, to the discovery of the Röntgen rays that we owe the rapidity of the progress which has recently been made in physics. A striking discovery like that of the Röntgen rays acts much like the discovery of gold in a sparsely populated country; it attracts workers who come in the first place for the gold, but who may find that the country has other products, other charms, perhaps even more valuable than the gold itself. The country in which the gold was discovered in the case of the Röntgen rays was the department of physics dealing with the discharge of electricity through gases, a subject which, almost from the beginning of electrical science, had attracted a few enthusiastic workers, who felt convinced that the key to unlock the secret of electricity was to be found in a vacuum tube. {605} Röntgen, in 1895, showed that when electricity passed through such a tube the tube emitted rays which could pass through bodies opaque to ordinary light; which could, for example, pass through the flesh of the body and throw a shadow of the bones on a suitable screen. … It is not, however, to the power of probing dark places, important though this is, that the influence of Röntgen rays on the progress of science has mainly been due; it is rather because these rays make gases, and, indeed, solids and liquids, through which they pass, conductors of electricity. … The study of gases exposed to Röntgen rays has revealed in such gases the presence of particles charged with electricity; some of these particles are charged with positive, others with negative, electricity. The properties of these particles have been investigated; we know the charge they carry, the speed with which they move under an electric force, the rate at which the oppositely charged ones recombine, and these investigations have thrown a new light, not only on electricity, but also on the structure of matter. We know from these investigations that electricity, like matter, is molecular in structure, that just as a quantity of hydrogen is a collection of an immense number of small particles called molecules, so a charge of electricity is made up of a great number of small charges, each of a perfectly definite and known amount. … Nay, further, the molecular theory of matter is indebted to the molecular theory of electricity for the most accurate determination of its fundamental quantity, the number of molecules in any given quantity of an elementary substance.

"The great advantage of the electrical methods for the study of the properties of matter is due to the fact that whenever a particle is electrified it is very easily identified, whereas an uncharged molecule is most elusive; and it is only when these are present in immense numbers that we are able to detect them. …

"We have already made considerable progress in the task of discovering what the structure of electricity is. We have known for some time that of one kind of electricity—the negative—and a very interesting one it is. We know that negative electricity is made up of units all of which are of the same kind; that these units are exceedingly small compared with even the smallest atom. … The size of these corpuscles is on an altogether different scale from that of atoms; the Volume of a corpuscle bears to that of the atom about the same relation as that of a speck of dust to the Volume of this room. Under suitable conditions they move at enormous speeds, which approach in some instances the velocity of light. The discovery of these corpuscles is an interesting example of the way Nature responds to the demands made upon her by mathematicians. Some years before the discovery of corpuscles it had been shown by a mathematical investigation that the mass of a body must be increased by a charge of electricity. This increase, however, is greater for small bodies than for large ones, and even bodies as small as atoms are hopelessly too large to show any appreciable effect; thus the result seemed entirely academic. After a time corpuscles were discovered, and these are so much smaller than the atom that the increase in mass due to the charge becomes not merely appreciable, but so great that, as the experiments of Kaufmann and Bucherer have shown, the whole of the mass of the corpuscle arises from its charge.

"We know a great deal about negative electricity; what do we know about positive electricity? Is positive electricity molecular in structure? Is it made up into units, each unit carrying a charge equal in magnitude though opposite in sign to that carried by a corpuscle? … The investigations made on the unit of positive electricity show that it is of quite a different kind from the unit of negative; the mass of the negative unit is exceedingly small compared with any atom; the only positive units that up to the present have been detected are quite comparable in mass with the mass of an atom of hydrogen; in fact they seem equal to it. This makes it more difficult to be certain that the unit of positive electricity has been isolated, for we have to be on our guard against its being a much smaller body attached to the hydrogen atoms which happen to be present in the vessel. … At present the smallest positive electrified particles of which we have direct experimental evidence have masses comparable with that of an atom of hydrogen.

"A knowledge of the mass and size of the two units of electricity, the positive and the negative, would give us the material for constructing what may be called a molecular theory of electricity, and would be a starting point for a theory of the structure of matter; for the most natural view to take, as a provisional hypothesis, is that matter is just a collection of positive and negative units of electricity, and that the forces which hold atoms and molecules together, the properties which differentiate one kind of matter from another, all have their origin in the electrical forces exerted by positive and negative units of electricity, grouped together in different ways in the atoms of the different elements. As it would seem that the units of positive and negative electricity are of very different sizes, we must regard matter as a mixture containing systems of very different types, one type corresponding to the small corpuscle, the other to the large positive unit. Since the energy associated with a given charge is greater the smaller the body on which the charge is concentrated, the energy stored up in the negative corpuscles will be far greater than that stored up by the positive. The amount of energy which is stored up in ordinary matter in the form of the electrostatic potential energy of its corpuscles is, I think, not generally realized. … This energy is fortunately kept fast bound by the corpuscles; if at any time an appreciable fraction were to get free the earth would explode and become a gaseous nebula. The matter of which I have been speaking so far is the material which builds up the earth, the sun, and the stars, the matter studied by the chemist, and which he can represent by a formula; this matter occupies, however, but an insignificant fraction of the universe; it forms but minute islands in the great ocean of the ether, the substance with which the whole universe is filled.

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"The ether is not a fantastic creation of the speculative philosopher; it is as essential to us as the air we breathe. For we must remember that we on this earth are not living on our own resources; we are dependent from minute to minute upon what we are getting from the sun, and the gifts of the sun are conveyed to us by the ether. It is to the sun that we owe not merely night and day, springtime and harvest, but it is the energy of the sun, stored up in coal, in waterfalls, in food, that practically does all the work of the world. … On the electro-magnetic theory of light, now universally accepted, the energy streaming to the earth travels through the ether in electric waves; thus practically the whole of the energy at our disposal has at one time or another been electrical energy. The ether must, then, be the seat of electrical and magnetic forces. We know, thanks to the genius of Clerk Maxwell, the founder and inspirer of modern electrical theory, the equations which express the relation between these forces, and although for some purposes these are all we require, yet they do not tell us very much about the nature of the ether.

"Let us consider some of the facts known about the ether. When light falls on a body and is absorbed by it, the body is pushed forward in the direction in which the light is travelling, and if the body is free to move it is set in motion by the light. Now it is a fundamental principle of dynamics that when a body is set moving in a certain direction, or, to use the language of dynamics, acquires momentum in that direction, some other mass must lose the same amount of momentum; in other words, the amount of momentum in the universe is constant. Thus, when the body is pushed forward by the light, some other system must have lost the momentum the body acquires, and the only other system available is the wave of light falling on the body; hence we conclude that there must have been momentum in the wave in the direction in which it is travelling. Momentum, however, implies mass in motion. We conclude, then, that in the ether through which the wave is moving there is mass moving with the velocity of light. The experiments made on the pressure due to light enable us to calculate this mass. …

"The place where the density of the ether carried along by an electric field rises to its highest value is close to a corpuscle, for round the corpuscles are by far the strongest electric fields of which we have any knowledge. We know the mass of the corpuscle, we know from Kaufmann’s experiments that this arises entirely from the electric charge, and is therefore due to the ether carried along with the corpuscle by the lines of force attached to it. … Around the corpuscle ether must have an extravagant density; whether the density is as great as this in other places depends upon whether the ether is compressible or not. If it is compressible, then it may be condensed round the corpuscles, and there have an abnormally great density; if it is not compressible, then the density in free space cannot be less than the number I have just mentioned. With respect to this point we must remember that the forces acting on the ether close to the corpuscle are prodigious. … I do not know at present of any effect which would enable us to determine whether ether is compressible or not. And although at first sight the idea that we are immersed in a medium almost infinitely denser than lead might seem inconceivable, it is not so if we remember that in all probability matter is composed mainly of holes. We may, in fact, regard matter as possessing a bird-cage kind of structure in which the Volume of the ether disturbed by the wires when the structure is moved is infinitesimal in comparison with the Volume enclosed by them. If we do this, no difficulty arises from the great density of the ether; all we have to do is to increase the distance between the wires in proportion as we increase the density of the ether."

Some English journals, in discussing Sir Joseph Thomson’s address at Winnipeg, spoke doubtingly of its scientific soundness, regarding it as too speculative, representing conclusions in advance of what physical science had obtained a real warrant to draw. These newspaper critics were called sharply to account by Sir Oliver Lodge, and told that they were suspicious of Sir Joseph’s statements only because they knew nothing of the data on which he founded them.

In a magazine article of the previous year, Sir Oliver Lodge had already traversed part of the ground covered by the impressive review of Sir Joseph Thomson. In that article he said of the present conception of the ether of space, as accepted among the leaders of physical science:

"When a steel spring is bent or distorted, what is it that is really strained? Not the atoms—the atoms are only displaced; it is the connecting links that are strained—the connecting medium—the ether. Distortion of a spring is really distortion of the ether. All strain exists in the ether. Matter can only be moved. Contact does not exist between the atoms of matter as we know them; it is doubtful if a piece of matter ever touches another piece, any more than a comet touches the sun when it appears to rebound from it; but the atoms are connected, as the planets, the comets and the sun are connected, by a continuous plenum without break or discontinuity of any kind. Matter acts on matter solely through the ether. But whether matter is a thing utterly distinct and separate from the ether, or whether it is a specifically modified portion of it—modified in such a way as to be susceptible of locomotion, and yet continuous with all the rest of the ether,—which can be said to extend everywhere, far beyond the bounds of the modified and tangible portion called matter—are questions demanding, and I may say in process of receiving, answers.

"Every such answer involves some view of the universal, and possibly infinite, uniform, omnipresent connecting medium, the ether of space."

_Oliver Lodge, The Ether of Space (North American Review, May, 1908)._

[Transcriber's Note: The Michelson-Morley experiment 21 years earlier had cast doubt on the ether concept. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70888]

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Radium and Radio-activity: The Discovery by Professor and Madame Curie. The Light it throws on many Scientific Problems. Faraday’s Prophetic Anticipation. The Dissolution of Atoms.

"In his first treatise on the X-rays, Röntgen [see in Volume VI.] drew attention to the fact that they proceeded from those parts of the Röntgen tubes where the glass, under the influence of the impinging cathode rays, showed the most fluorescence. It therefore seemed possible that the existence of these mysterious rays was in some way dependent on previously acquired fluorescence, and many physicists tried to ascertain with the well-known Balmain dyes, which become luminous after exposure to the light, if results could be obtained resembling those with a Röntgen tube.

{607}

"Similar attempts by the French physicist, Henri Becquerel, were crowned with success in an unexpected direction. He exposed a uranium salt to the light, and then placing it in a dark room on a photographic plate covered with opaque paper he demonstrated the action of these rays on the plate through the paper, thin sheets of metal, etc. But the supposed and sought-for relation of the rays to the previous fluorescence was not evident, for Becquerel obtained precisely the same results with preparations of uranium which had not only not been previously exposed directly to the light, but had purposely been kept some time in darkness and could therefore display no stored-up luminescence. He had, however, discovered the uranium or Becquerel rays. …

"At Becquerel’s suggestion Madame Curie undertook a systematic investigation of all the chemical elements and established the fact that with none of them, excepting uranium and thorium, could an appreciable effect indicating rays be obtained with her apparatus. On the other hand, she found that many of the minerals investigated showed noticeable action in this direction. The fact that a few of them, the uranium pitchblende, for example, from Joachimsthal, Bohemia, emitted rays three or four times stronger than those of pure uranium, and which could not therefore be announced as uranium rays, led her to suppose that in the pitchblende itself, apart from the uranium, there must exist a still more powerful radioactive substance. It is a matter of record how, in this research, which might serve as a model for such work, she and her husband, so soon afterwards to lose his life by a deplorable accident, succeeded in tracing this supposed substance more and more accurately, and finally in obtaining it pure. Madame Curie thus became the discoverer of radium, a new element possessed of wonderful, of fabulous qualities.

"Besides Madame Curie no other investigator but Professor Braunschweig, so far as I know, has yet succeeded in obtaining pure radium."

_Franz Himstedt, Radioactivity (Annual Report, Smithsonian Institution, 1905-1906, pages 117-118)._

"The phenomena of radio-activity revive interest in the prophetic views of Michael Faraday. In 1816, when he was but twenty-four years of age, he delivered a lecture at the Royal Institution in London on Radiant Matter. In the course of his remarks there occurs this passage:—‘If we now conceive a change as far beyond vaporization as that is above fluidity, and then take into account the proportional increased extent of alteration as the changes arise, we shall perhaps, if we can form any conception at all, not fall short of radiant matter; and as in the last conversion many qualities were lost, so here also many more would disappear. It was the opinion of Newton, and of many other distinguished philosophers, that this conversion was possible, and continually going on in the processes of nature, and they found that the idea would bear without injury the applications of mathematical reasoning—as regards heat, for instance. If assumed, we must also assume the simplicity of matter; for it would follow that all the variety of substances with which we are acquainted could be converted into one of three kinds of radiant matter; which again may differ from each other only in the size of their particles or their form. The properties of known bodies would then be supposed to arise from the varied arrangements of their ultimate atoms, and belong to substances only as long as their compound nature existed; and thus variety of matter and variety of properties would be found co-essential.’"

George Iles, Inventors at Work, pages 204-205 (Doubleday, Page & Co., New York).

"An ascertained commercial value of £4 per milligramme (equivalent to £114,000 per ounce) has been placed upon radium by a contract just entered into between the British Metalliferous Mines (Limited) and Lord Iveagh and Sir Ernest Cassel for the supply of 7½ grammes (rather more than a quarter of an ounce) of pure radium bromide. This very large order for radium will be supplied from the above named company’s mine near Grampound Road in Cornwall."

London Times, June 21, 1909.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Mono-Rail Gyroscopic System.

A mechanical invention not yet developed, but which seems more than likely to count among the most important of the next few years, is that known as the Brennan mono-rail system, which balances cars and trains of cars on a single rail by use of the principle of the gyroscope. It was first exhibited by its English inventor, Mr. Louis Brennan, in model form, before the Royal Society, in 1907, and won so much confidence in its possibilities that the British War Office and the India Office gave financial assistance to meet the cost of the long experiments that were necessary for adapting the system to service on a large practical scale. The result of these experiments was exhibited in public trials at New Brompton, England, and, subsequently, at New York, in the later part of 1909. The following account of the exhibition at New Brompton was given by The Times:

"The car with which the test runs were carried out is 40 ft. in length and 10 ft. in width; its weight is 22 tons, and it is designed for a load of 10 to 15 tons. The weight of the gyroscopes, of which there are two, is 1½ tons, each having a diameter of 3 ft. 6 in. The speed of rotation is 3,000 r. p. m., or considerably less than it was in the 6 ft. model exhibited before the Royal Society. It would be possible for the car to obtain the necessary power by collecting current from an overhead wire with a consequent saving of weight, but in the present example the motive power is provided by two Wolseley petrol engines, one of 80 h. p., and the other of 20 h. p., driving two direct-current shunt-wound motors of the Siemens type. It is not necessary that the car should be propelled electrically, and steam or other motive power could be employed; but in any case it would be necessary to spin the gyroscopes electrically, this method being ideal for the purpose. The air is exhausted from the gyroscope cases, the pressure in them being equivalent to from ½ in. to 5/8 in. of mercury. It is hoped in future installations to design the gyroscopes for higher speeds, and in that case it would be possible to reduce the size and weight of the equipment. In this first car the gyroscopes run in the vertical plane, but that is merely for convenience, the essential feature being that the trunnions should be at right angles to the track. …

{608}

"Several experimental trips were made on the factory circular track as well as on the straight, and the car travelled with remarkable steadiness throughout. It is not likely that the Brennan mono-rail will find any wide field of application in this country, but there would appear to be great advantages in the system for mountain railways in India and elsewhere, and, indeed, it seems suitable for adoption in any country where new railways are being planned. The inventor lays stress on the absolute safety of the system at speeds ranging up to about 150 miles per hour."

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Sanitary.

See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: Submarine Signal Bells.

In May, 1909, it was announced from Washington that "the Government, recognizing the substantial service rendered to shipping by submarine bells, has decided to extend their installation from time to time to light vessels and stations on both coasts and upon the great lakes. At present forty-six of the light vessels are thus equipped, and the signals which they send out are of undoubted aid to deep-water navigation. Canada, England, Germany, Holland, France, Sweden, and Denmark are following suit. The bells operate during fogs and at night and the sound waves emitted by the bell under water have been known to travel as far as twenty-seven miles. These sound waves are picked up by the receiving microphones on board ships, and by the code signal of each station the vessel’s navigator is able to tell where he is."

See (in this Volume) above, ELECTRICAL: WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY: THE CRY THAT BROUGHT HELP.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Turbine Steam Engine. Its Successful Development. First Use on Ocean Steamers. The "Lusitania" and "Mauretania."

"For a long time and well into the nineteenth century, water was lifted by pistons moving in cylindrical pumps. Meantime the turbine grew steadily in favor as a water motor, arriving at last at high efficiency. This gave designers a hint to reverse the turbine and use it as a water lifter or pump: this machine, duly built, with a continuous instead of an intermittent motion, showed much better results than the old-fashioned pump. The turbine-pump is accordingly adopted for many large waterworks, deep mines and similar installations. This advance from to-and-fro to rotary action extended irresistibly to steam as a motive power. It was clear that if steam could be employed in a turbine somewhat as water is, much of the complexity and loss inherent in reciprocating engines would be brushed aside. A pioneer inventor in this field was Gustave Patrich De Laval, of Stockholm, who constructed his first steam turbine along the familiar lines of the Barker mill. Steam is so light that for its utmost utilization as a jet a velocity of about 2,000 feet a second is required, a rate which no material is strong enough to allow. De Laval by using the most tenacious metal for his turbines is able to give their swiftest parts a speed of as much as 1400 feet a second. His apparatus is cheap, simple and efficient; it is limited to about 300 horse-power. Its chief feature is its divergent nozzle, which permits the outflowing steam to expand fully with all the effect realized in a steam cylinder provided with expansion valve gear. Another device of De Laval which makes his turbine a safe and desirable prime mover is the flexible shaft which has a little, self-righting play under the extreme pace of its rotation.

"Of direct action turbines the De Laval is the chief; of compound turbines, in which the steam is expanded in successive stages, the first and most widely adopted was invented by the Honourable Charles A. Parsons of Newcastle-on-Tyne. … In 1894 Mr. Parsons launched his Turbinia, the first steamer to be driven by a turbine. Her record was so gratifying that a succession of vessels, similarly equipped, were year by year built for excursion lines, for transit across the British Channel, for the British Royal Navy, and for mercantile marine service. The thirty-fifth of these ships, the Victorian of the Allan Line, was the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean, arriving at Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 18, 1905. She was followed by the Virginian of the same line which arrived at Quebec, May 8, 1905. Not long afterward the Cunard Company sent from Liverpool to New York the Carmania equipped with steam turbines, and in every other respect like the Caronia of the same owners, which is driven by reciprocating engines of the best model. Thus far the comparison between these two ships is in favor of the Carmania. The new monster Cunarders, the Lusitania and the Mauretania, each of 70,000 horse power, are to be propelled by steam turbines. The principal reasons for this preference are thus given by Professor Carl C. Thomas:—Decreased cost of operation as regards fuel, labor, oil, and repairs. Vibration due to machinery is avoided. Less weight of machinery and coal to be carried, resulting in greater speed. Greater simplicity of machinery in construction and operation, causing less liability to accident and breakdown. Smaller and more deeply immersed propellers, decreasing the tendency of the machinery to race in rough weather. Lower centre of gravity of the machinery as a whole, and increased headroom above the machinery. According to recent reports, decreased first cost of machinery."

George Iles, Inventors at Work, pages 452-456 (Doubleday, Page & Co., New York).

In August, 1908, the Lusitania made the voyage from Queenstown to New York in 4 days and 15 hours; again in February, 1909, in 4 days, 17 hours and 6 minutes. In September, 1909, the Mauretania crossed from New York to Queenstown in 4 days, 13 hours and 41 minutes.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Washington Memorial Institution. Extension of the Usefulness of Scientific Work in Departments of the Government.

See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901.

SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: The Nobel Prizes.

See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES. See also EARTHQUAKES.

----------SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: End--------

----------SCOTLAND: Start--------

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1901 (March). Census.

According to the returns of the decennial enumeration made on the night of the 31st of March, 1901, the population of Scotland that day, "including those in the Royal Navy, and belonging to the Mercantile shipping in Scottish Ports or on Scottish waters, number 4,472,000 persons, of whom 2,173,151 are males, and 2,298,849 females.

"When compared with the corresponding population as enumerated at the Census of 1891, a total increase of 446,353 is found to have occurred; the male increase being 230,434, and the female 215,919. {609} The percentage rate of increase of both sexes during the decennial period is 11.09—that of the males being 11.86, and of the females 10.37. The corresponding total rate of increase during the preceding decennium, 1881-1891, was 7.77 per cent. … The rate at the present Census for Scotland is, with the exception of that at 1881, the highest since the decennial period 1821-1831. …

"In 19 Counties an increase in the population has taken place, in 14 a decrease. The highest rate of increase—both sexes combined—is in Linlithgow, 24.4 per cent.; followed by Lanark with an increase of 21.1 per cent.; Stirling with one of 20.6 per cent.; Renfrew with one of 16.5 per cent.; Dumbarton with one of 16.2 per cent.; Kincardine with one of 15.3 per cent.; Fife with one of 15.0 per cent. The greatest falling off occurs in Berwick, 4.6 per cent.; in Orkney, 5.7 per cent.; in Roxburgh, 8.8 per cent.; in Caithness 8.9 per cent.; in Wigtown, 9.4 per cent.; and in Selkirk 15.8 percent. Inverness stands almost as it was, having increased but 0.1 per cent., and the minimum rate of falling off as to population is in Banff, 0.3 per cent., and Argyll, 0.6 per cent. …

"Among the larger Burghs the increase of population varies not a little. Thus, in Motherwell, which heads the list, the increase during the decennial period 1891-1901, is at the rate of 62.5 per cent. Partick follows with a rate of increase of 48.6 per cent.; Wishaw with one of 36.8 percent.; Hamilton with one of 31.8 per cent.; Kirkcaldy with one of 25.5 percent.; Falkirk with one of 24.3 per cent.; Govan with one of 24.2 per cent.; Coatbridge with one of 21.3 per cent.; Aberdeen with one of 22.9 per cent.; Kilmarnock with one of 20.1 per cent.; Paisley with one of 19.5 per cent.; Airdrie with one of 16.5 per cent.; Glasgow with one of 15.5 per cent.; Ayr with one of 15.1 per cent.; Edinburgh with one of 14.8 per cent.; Dunfermline with one of 14.1 percent.; Leith with one of 12.6 per cent.; Inverness with one of 10.3 per cent.; Perth with one of 9.9 per cent.; Greenock with one of 7.4 per cent.; and Dundee with one of 4.5 percent.; while Arbroath indicates a decrease at the rate of 1.9 per cent."

Preliminary Report to Parliament.

The division of population between town districts and rural districts is shown in the following table:

Groups of Districts. Males. Females. Total.

Town Districts 1,404,382 1,520,698 2,925,080 (Pop. 2,000 and upwards)

Mainland-Rural Districts 479,009 495,172 974,841

Insular-Rural Districts 58,666 67,060 125,726

Total 1,942,717 2,082,930 4,025,647

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1901. Mr. Carnegie’s great Gift to Universities and Students.

See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: SCOTLAND: A. D. 1901.

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1904-1905. Decision of the House of Lords against the Union, in 1900, of the Free Church with the United Presbyterian. All Property given to the Opposing Remnant.

"In 1900, the United Free Church was formed by the union of the majority of the Free Church with the entire body of the United Presbyterians, …

See, in Volume VI. of this work, SCOTLAND: A. D. 1900)

A new organisation placed in the field of Church politics in Scotland almost equals in respect of numbers and resources to the Established Church. The small minority opposed to this union inside the Free Church seceded, held some of the churches and manses by force, defying authority to the extent, in one instance, of a month’s imprisonment, and retained the denomination of ‘The Free Church of Scotland.’ As their fathers left a ‘vitiated’ Establishment on purpose to preserve the freedom and purity of the National Church, so they refused to enter the new union, in order, by standing out, to save the principles, doctrines, and purposes identified with the Disruption of 1843. This minority of not more than twenty-seven ministers and as many congregations, mostly located in fastnesses beyond the Grampians, is now the Free Church of Scotland, with Presbytery, Assembly, Moderator—in short, with the offices and institutions, on a condensed scale, which are essential in Presbyterian polity. These few determined people claim to be the faithful remnant of the Disruptionists. Like Milton’s Abdiel, ‘unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,’ nor moved to ‘swerve from truth’ or ‘change their constant mind,’ they claim to have kept their loyalty, their love, their zeal in the cause of the Disruption through all the temptations of an age in thought Pyrrhonist, in morality lax, and in religion Latitudinarian. On the assumption that they alone were the Free Church, they invoked the aid of the Civil Courts in their defence. The Court of Session—both the Ordinary and the Inner Courts—decided in favour of the United Free Church. Home-made law could not satisfy the minority, and, on appeal, the House of Lords reversed the judgment of the Court of Session, declaring the remnant to be the Free Church of Scotland, and finding that the United Free Church was a modern composite body which, on the evidence of its ambidextrous and Latitudinarian constitution, had abandoned the fundamental doctrines and principles held by the Disruptionists. In consequence of this decision, the property of the Free Church, as it existed prior to the union of 1900, now belongs to the remnant of the Disruptionists.

"From the side of the losing United Free Church a bitter cry has arisen against this finality in law. The decision is formally accepted, yet denounced as unjust and incompetent, as denying toleration and the right to change its creed to an autonomous body; and there are murmurs about of the necessity of an appeal to Parliament. … It seems the rankest injustice to transfer more than one million in invested funds, nearly a thousand church buildings, three superior colleges devoted to the training of Divinity students (one in Edinburgh, another in Glasgow, and a third in Aberdeen), the magnificent Assembly Hall in Edinburgh, with the offices attached, probably also much property in foreign missions, from the United Free Church to this remnant of Disruptionists, the custodians of the dying embers of Obscurantism in Scotland."

_J. M. Sloan, The Scottish Free Church (Fortnightly Review, September, 1904)._

{610}

To consider the situation created by the decision of the House of Lords, a Royal Commission was appointed, which investigated all the questions involved and reported its findings in April, 1905. In the judgment of the Commission, the Free Church (the "Wee Frees," as that body was now commonly dubbed) had neither the numbers nor the resources for putting to their proper use the enormous endowment which it claimed. At the same time there would be no justice in delivering those endowments unconditionally to the United Free Church. It was recommended, accordingly, that a Commission be constituted by Act of Parliament to take charge of the whole property and funds involved, and to arrange for the allocation of the same, to the end of securing "adequate provision for the due performance of the purposes for which the funds were raised and the trusts on which they are held." A Bill in accordance with this recommendation was passed during the next session of Parliament.

On the request of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the same Act enabled the Church to change the formula of subscription required from its ministers, under the Act of 1693, so that, on being ordained, a minister shall only make a "declaration of his faith in the sum and substance of the doctrine of the Reformed Churches therein contained, according to such formula as may from time to time be prescribed by the General Assembly."

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1904-1909. Peace followed by Threatened Conflict in the Coal Mining Industry.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: SCOTLAND.

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1909. Working of the Old Age Pensions Act.

See (in this Volume) POVERTY, PROBLEMS OF: PENSIONS.

----------SCOTLAND: End--------

SCOTT, James Brown: Technical Delegate to the Second Peace Conference.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.

SCOTT, Captain K. T.: Commander of Antarctic Expedition.

See (in this Volume) POLAR EXPLORATION.

SEAL FISHERY NEGOTIATIONS.

"Negotiations for an international conference to consider and reach an arrangement providing for the preservation and protection of the fur seals in the North Pacific are in progress with the governments of Great Britain, Japan, and Russia. The attitude of the governments interested leads me to hope for a satisfactory settlement of this question as the ultimate outcome of the negotiations."

Message of the President of the United States to Congress, December 6, 1909.

SEATTLE: A. D. 1909. The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

"The fair at Seattle," said The World's Work of August, 1909, "is beautiful; that goes without saying, for the best of man’s art is fitted to the best of Nature’s workmanship to make a balanced and blended picture never excelled in the long list of great exhibitions. But better than that, the fair at Seattle is a definite commercial lesson—and lessons in commerce last forever. Primarily, the fair is teaching the people of the United States to know the Pacific coast; secondarily, it is teaching them a little of Alaska, a little of Japan, and a little of the Philippines. And the distinctive feature of this particular fair is the determined effort to make those lessons true." This seems to describe the impression which the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition made generally on the visitors who went to it with an intelligent purpose in going. It gave them what they went to see, with fidelity, with fulness, and in most attractive forms of display. Like its Northwestern predecessor, at Portland, four years before, it was an almost startling revelation of the possibilities of planting and ripening in cities, states, and their social institutions, that lie within trivial spaces of time in this wonderful present age.

The Exposition was on the grounds of Washington University, and seven of the principal buildings erected for it were of permanent construction and remain for the use of the University. Again, as at Portland, the most interesting of these buildings architecturally was that for the forestry exhibit, built of logs and other timber in a state as nearly natural as it could be kept.

The Exposition was open from June 1st until October 16, and registered about 3,740,000 visitors.

SEBAHEDDIN.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY).

SECTARIAN SCHOOL QUESTION.

See (in this Volume) FRANCE: A. D. 1903; also CANADA: A. D. 1905.

SEDDON, Richard J.: Prime Minister of New Zealand. His Death.

See (in this Volume) NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1906-1909.

SEGNATURA, The.

See (in this Volume) PAPACY: A. D. 1908.

SEIYU-KAI.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1902 (August); 1903 (June), and 1909.

SELFRIDGE, Lieutenant T. E.

See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: AERONAUTICS.

SENATORS, United States: Proposed Election by Direct Popular Vote.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES SENATORS.

SENEGAMBIA: A. D. 1904. Cession of a portion of territory by England to France.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1904 (APRIL).

SENUSSIA, SENOUSSI: The Pan-Islamic Movement in Africa. Sidi Mahomed bin Ali es Senussia and his Sect. His Doctrine and its Aim.

"We have recently heard, principally apropos of the disturbances in Egypt, a considerable amount concerning Pan-Islamism. Taking into consideration how much has been written on this subject, it is surprising to find how little has been said concerning one of the principal organisations for the propagation of Pan-Islamism. I refer to the sect known as Senussia. … At this present moment there is throughout Africa very general discontent among the native population, not only in Mohammedan countries, but universally over the length and breadth of the entire continent. …

"It is a comparatively easy matter to so influence any warlike Moslem people to religious enthusiasm that they are instantly ready in arms to strike a blow for the faith. But the most significant and sinister symptom of this anti-Christian crusade is that the message carried by the Senussia agents is, ‘Wait, for the time is not yet ripe. Rest now, but when the hour arrives, rise, slay, and spare not.’ Taking into consideration the fact that the Senussia sect was founded in 1835, that its rise has been enormously rapid, and that its propaganda has been actively and diligently preached in British possessions for many years past, with scarcely one definite item of intelligence concerning it being known, it shows clearly that the motive power and organising intelligence must be something considerably above the average. …

{611}

"The sect was founded in 1835 by Sidi Mahomed bin Ali es Senussia, otherwise known as Sheikh Senussi, an Algerian Arab born near Mostaganem towards the end of the Turkish dominion. A lineal descendant of the prophet Mahomed, he first gained a reputation for sanctity at Fez. He then proceeded to Mecca, where he commenced preaching. However his success, which was remarkably rapid, caused great local jealousy and he had perforce to fly to Egypt. He started a zawia or monastery at Alexandria, but being excommunicated by the Sheikh el Islam at Cairo, he was again compelled to seek safety in flight. This time he fled across the Lybian desert to Jebel el Akhdar near Benghazi on the north coast, where he again established a zawia, and in a short time had obtained a considerable following. There he lived and preached, and died in 1859 or 1860, having firmly established the Senussia sect. He was succeeded by his son Mahomed.

"The doctrine preached by the Sheikh Senussi, and which still comprises the doctrines and aims of his disciples, was as follows: To free the Mahommedan religion from the many abuses which have crept into it. To restore, under one universal leader, the former purity of faith. Finally, and most especially, to free all Moslem countries, more particularly those in Africa, from the dominion of the infidel."

_H. A. Wilson, The Moslem Menace (Nineteenth Century, September, 1907)._

"The growth of the Senoussi has been one of the most striking developments of modern Islam. They have adopted an active missionary policy and have spread southwards through heathen Africa, while their organization has been framed with the idea of including and coordinating all existing brotherhoods. The Senoussi have established in all countries where the Moslem is governed by an alien race a system of occult government side by side, and coinciding in its boundaries, with the state administration. This occult government exists in Algeria, Egypt, and India, and its emissaries are at work in Nigeria. The Senoussi now include within their brotherhood practically all the Sunnis, that is the majority of Moslems in Arabia, Turkey, North Africa, Turkestan, Afghanistan and East Asia. The Shiites, who predominate in Persia, are alone prevented by their conception of orthodoxy from being Senoussi.

"The Senoussi had their headquarters at Djarboub, but some twenty years ago it was decided to send their official representative to Constantinople, and the venerable Mokkadem who occupies this position is even more powerful in councils than the Sheik ul Islam, who, nominated by the Sultan, occupies in the hierarchy the place of Expounder of the Law, second only to that of the Caliph, the ‘Shadow of God on Earth.’"

_A. R. Colquhoun, Pan-Islam (North American Review, June, 1906)._

See, also, in Volume VI., page 835.

SERGIUS, Grand Duke, Assassination of.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1904-1905.

SERVIA.

See (in this Volume) BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: SERVIA.

SEVASTOPOL: Riot and Naval Mutiny.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (FEBRUARY-NOVEMBER).

SHACKLETON, LIEUTENANT ERNEST H.: Antarctic Explorations.

See (in this Volume) POLAR EXPLORATION.

SHA-HO, BATTLE OF THE.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (SEPTEMBER-MARCH).

SHANGHAI: A. D. 1902. Withdrawal of Foreign Troops.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1902.

SHANGHAI: A. D. 1905. Boycott of Americans and American Goods.

See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1908.

SHANGHAI: A. D. 1909. International Opium Commission.

See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM.

SHAW, LESLIE M.: Secretary of the Treasury.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1905, and 1905-1909.

SHEIKH-UL-ISLAM, The: His Authority and Function at Constantinople.

See (in this Volume) SENUSSIA.

SHEIKH-UL-ISLAM, The: His Part in the Turkish Constitutional Revolution.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY; A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER), and after.

SHEMSI PASHA, Assassination of.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER).

SHERIAT, The.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY).

SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT, of 1890.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1890-1902.

SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT, of 1890. Action of National Civic Federation on its Amendment.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908-1909.

SHERMAN, James S.: Elected Vice-President of the United States.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (APRIL-NOVEMBER).

SHEVKET PASHA, Mahmud: Commander of the Turkish Constitutional Forces.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY).

SHIPBUILDING AGREEMENT (BRITISH) OF 1908, THE.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: ENGLAND: A. D. 1908.

SHIPPING COMBINATION, North Atlantic.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: INTERNATIONAL.

SHIRÉ HIGHLANDS: Their Suitability for European Colonization.

See (in this Volume) AFRICA.

SHIRTWAIST-MAKERS’ STRIKE, THE.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909-1910.

SHONTS, Theodore P.: Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission.

See (in this Volume) PANAMA CANAL: A. D. 1905-1909.

SHOOA-ES-SULTANEH.

See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1905-1907.

SHORT BALLOT REFORM.

See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: UNITED STATES.

SIA-GU-SHAN HILL, CAPTURE OF.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (May-January).

SIAM: A. D. 1902. Treaty with France.

By a fresh treaty with Siam, secured in October, 1902, France won from that kingdom another piece of territory to add to her Indo-China domain. The new acquisition is between the Rolnos and Piek Kompong Tiam rivers, on the Great Lake. In return France restores the port of Chantabun, which she has held for a long time without right, and which she agreed to restore in 1899.

See (in Volume VI.) SIAM.

{612}

SIAM: A. D. 1904. Declaration of England and France touching Influence in Siam.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1904 (APRIL).

SIAM: A. D. 1905. Suppression of Gambling and Edict for the Extinction of Slavery.

An official notification of the suppression of gambling and a royal edict decreeing the abolition of the last remnants of slavery in the Kingdom of Siam were communicated to the American Government, through its Minister at Bangkok, in March and April, 1905. In part, the former stated:

"His Majesty has long been impressed by the fact that although the revenue derived from gambling is an important factor in the finances of the Kingdom the evils resulting therefrom are much greater than the benefits. People expend in gambling not only their own wealth but the wealth of others. They devote to gambling time during which they should be attending to their work. Under present conditions large sums of money which come into the hands of the gambling farmers are sent out of the kingdom. Gambling is also responsible for much of the crime that is committed. The abolition of gambling would, therefore, not only result in an improvement in the morals of the people and in increased industry, but money now expended therein would remain in circulation within the country, thereby adding to the wealth of the community. In order, however, to replace the loss of the revenue derived from gambling, some taxes must be increased and new taxes devised. In the increase of certain of these taxes it will be necessary to enter upon negotiations with foreign powers. Gambling cannot, therefore, be suppressed at once, but must be gradually abolished. His Majesty, therefore, has been pleased to order the abolition of gambling within the period of three years."

The decree concerning slavery opens thus:

"Although slavery in our realm is very different from slavery as it has existed in many other countries—most slaves being persons who have become so voluntarily and not by force and the powers of the master over the slaves being strictly limited—yet we have always considered that the institution, even in this modified form, is an impediment to the progress of our country. We have, therefore, from the commencement of our reign, taken steps, by the enactment of laws and otherwise, for the abolition of slavery. … We now deem it time to take more sweeping measures which will gradually result in the entire disappearance of slavery from Siam." Accordingly, a law is decreed as follows: "All children born of parents who are slaves shall be free without the execution of the condition stated in the law of Pee Chau. No person now free can be made a slave. If any person now a slave shall hereafter become free he cannot thereafter again become a slave. Wherever any person is now held a debt slave, the master shall credit upon the principal of the debt for which he is held a slave the sum of four (4) tieals for each month after the 1st of April, 124, provided that no credit shall be allowed for any time during which the slave may desert his master. If a slave changes his master, no increase shall be made in the debt for which he is actually held."

SIAM: A. D. 1909. Treaty with Great Britain, Ceding three States in the Malay Peninsula.

By a treaty with Siam, signed on the 10th of March, 1909, Great Britain added 15,000 square miles to her dominion in the Malay Peninsula. Siam renounced, in favour of Great Britain, her suzerain rights over the native States of Kelantan, Trengganu, and Kedah, and perhaps other districts, in the Peninsula. In return the British Government consented to certain modifications in the extra-territorial rights enjoyed by British subjects in Siam. The Government of the Federated Malay States will advance to Siam the capital, about £4,000,000, required for the construction of railways in Southern Siam, by which it is hoped that direct railway communication will soon be established between Bangkok and Singapore. Kelantan lies 374 miles distant from Singapore and about 500 from Bangkok, on the shore of the China Sea. It is a purely Malay State under the rule of a Rajah, who has not, like his predecessors, adopted the higher title of Sultan, but who claims to be an independent Sovereign, though he has been compelled to acknowledge the King of Siam as his suzerain. This condition of affairs has led to the transfer of his allegiance, very much, it is said, against his wish.

SIENKIEWICZ, HENRY K.

See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES.

SIFTON, CLIFFORD: CANADIAN MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR. How he started the "American Invasion" of the Canadian Northwest.

See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1896-1909.

SIGANANDA.

See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: NATAL: A. D. 1906-1907.

SILVER: Suspension of Free Coinage in Mexico.

See (in this Volume) MEXICO: A. D. 1904-1905.

SILVER EXCHANGE, WITH THE ORIENT.

See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: ASIA: A. D. 1909.

SIMON, GENERAL ANTOINE: President of Haiti.

See (in this Volume) HAITI: A. D. 1908.

SIMPLON TUNNEL.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1903.

SINHA, Satyendra Prasanna: Appointment as a Member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India.

See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1908-1909.

SINN FEIN, THE.

See (in this Volume) IRELAND: A. D. 1905.

SIOUX INDIANS: Colony in Nicaragua.

See (in this Volume) CENTRAL AMERICA: NICARAGUA.

SIPAHDAR, The.

See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1908-1909.

SIPIAGIN, M.: Assassination of.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1901-1904.

SLAVERY: In Portuguese Africa.

See (in this Volume) AFRICA: PORTUGUESE: A. D. 1905-1908.

SLAVERY: Abolition in Siam.

See (in this Volume) SIAM: A. D. 1909.

SLAVERY: Legal, but not Practical Ending in Zanzibar.

See (in this Volume) ZANZIBAR: A. D. 1905.

SLEEPING SICKNESS.

See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH.

SLOCUM, CONSUL-GENERAL C. R.: Report on Affairs in the Congo State.

See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1906-1909.

"SLOCUM," BURNING OF THE.

See (in this Volume) "GENERAL SLOCUM."

SMALL HOLDINGS ACT.

See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1907-1908.

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SMIRNOFF, GENERAL.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-AUGUST).

SMITH, CHARLES E.: Postmaster-General.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1905.

SMITH, GOLDWIN: On Discontent in India.

See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1907-1909.

SMITH, CONSUL-GENERAL JAMES A.: Report on Affairs in the Congo State.

See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1906-1909.

SMITH, JAMES F.: Governor-General of the Philippine Islands.

See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1906-1907.

SYNDER, R. M.: Municipal "Boodler" of St. Louis.

See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: ST. LOUIS.

SOCIAL BETTERMENT: ENGLAND: A. D. 1909. The Housing and Town-Planning Act.

A Housing and Town Planning Bill, brought over from the previous session of Parliament, was introduced anew in April, 1909, by Mr. John Burns, President of the Local Government Board. It passed the Commons and went in November to the Lords, who gave it amendments which were thought to have brought it to wreck. The House of Commons would not accept them; but many in both Houses were keenly anxious for legislation on the subject, and private negotiation brought about a compromise of their differences, securing the enactment in a fairly satisfactory form.

The first part of the Act aims at improving the dwelling accommodation of the working classes, both by making it obligatory on all local authorities to provide new housing where required, and also by elaborate provisions for sanitary inspection. Every county council is required to appoint a public health and housing committee and also a medical officer of health, who shall devote his whole time to the supervision of the county area. Almost all working class dwellings in the country are covered by provisions ensuring that they shall be kept fit for human habitation throughout their tenancy. Enlarged powers of compulsory purchase, of closing and of demolition are also conferred upon local authorities or their authorized agents.

The provisions of the Act relating to town-planning are commended by The Times as marking "a new departure in legislation in this country. Hitherto new centres of population have been allowed to grow up, and existing urban areas have been allowed to expand, without control or prevision. The result has too often been that the haphazard development of land in the vicinity of urban centres has produced slums, prevented the orderly growth of towns, and involved enormous expenditure in clearing sites, widening streets, and providing necessary open spaces. The Bill aims at securing in the future sanitary conditions, amenity, and convenience by enabling schemes to be made under which building land will be developed with due regard to future requirements. With this end in view the Local Government Board are empowered to authorize local authorities to prepare town planning schemes in connexion with land likely to be used for building purposes, or to adopt any such schemes proposed by owners of land. The schemes are to have effect, however, only if approved by the Local Government Board. The Bill provides for the payment of compensation to any person whose property is injuriously affected by the making of a town planning scheme, and, on the other hand, the local authority is empowered to recover from any person whose land is increased in value by the making of the scheme a proportion of the amount of that increase."

In anticipation of the passage of this important Act, a party of eighty representatives of municipalities and other bodies in Great Britain who would be concerned in its administration passed the Easter holidays of 1909 in some of the German cities which are most famous for the manner in which they have dealt with the problems of town-growth. The four cities selected were Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, and Wiesbaden, each of which has formulated its own way of dealing with the problem and offers a different point of view.

SOCIAL BETTERMENT: PRUSSIA: A. D. 1905. A Government Bureau of Charities.

In 1905 a law passed by the Prussian Diet created a national Charity Bureau, the duties of which are stated as follows:

(1) To follow the development of charity work and keep the government informed of this development;

(2) to advise the state of conditions which justify change in existing laws or the passing of new laws, or which suggest change in government methods;

(3) to draw up opinions and make proposals which will help in framing laws for the benefit of the people;

(4) to take general control of relief stations in case of great calamities.

It will also be the duty of the department

(1) to establish relations between different charity organizations, suggest improvements in the methods of these organizations, and economize the forces of the various bodies;

(2) to follow the progress of charitable work and make an index and collection of all literature relating to the subject;

(3) to give information and advice in reference to philanthropic endeavor when requested to do so;

(4) to make reports to the state at short intervals in reference to the development and progress of the work in the nation at large;

(5) to draw up opinions and make proposals for the improvement or better organization of the charity propaganda in part or as a whole;

(6) to take charge of the development of the work in any section;

(7) to assist in putting in operation any suggestions or plans which may be made or worked out for the improvement of social conditions.

SOCIAL BETTERMENT: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1900-1909. The National Civic Federation. Its Origin. Its Purposes. Its Organization. Its Work.

The Federation was organized in 1900, in Chicago, after a succession of national conferences had been held upon such subjects as Primary Election Reform, Foreign Policy and Trusts and Combinations. It consisted of an advisory council of five hundred members and an Executive Committee. On the Executive Committee were several of the members of the present National Executive Committee, including Franklin MacVeagh, Archbishop Ireland, Samuel Gompers, John Mitchell, D. J. Keefe, John W. Stahl, and Benjamin Ide Wheeler. The prospectus, published at the time, stated the purpose of the organization to be as follows:

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"… To organize the best brains of the nation in an educational movement toward the solution of some of the great problems related to social and industrial progress; to provide for study and discussion of questions of national import; to aid thus in the crystallization of the most enlightened public opinion; and, when desirable, to promote legislation in accordance therewith."

"Fifteen national subjects were named, and it was expected that from time to time the formation of committees would result having as their special province the consideration of the subjects suggested.

"By vote, it was decided to take up for discussion, through national conferences, the three subjects of industrial arbitration, taxation and municipal ownership. The first conference, that on industrial arbitration, was held at Chicago, in December, 1900, and resulted in the organization of the Industrial Department, with A. C. Bartlett, of Chicago, chairman. In the following June a national conference on taxation was held in Buffalo, resulting in the formation of the Department on Taxation, with Edwin R. A. Seligman as chairman. It was the intention to hold the Conference on Municipal Ownership in New York the following December, but in the meantime a number of large strikes, especially the Steel Strike, the National Machinists’ strike and a threatened Anthracite Coal Strike absorbed so much of the energy and attention of the active members of the Federation at that time that the Public Ownership Conference was postponed for the time being.

"Through the work done by the committee in connection with the coal and steel strikes, Senator Hanna became interested in the organization, and in December of that year was made President of the organization. His selection for that office, together with the appointment of other men of national reputation on the committee, attracted the attention of the country to the organization. For two years following that department was the only one prominent before the public, and its work in the prevention of strikes and lockouts was naturally regarded as the only purpose of the organization. The conferences held during this period were naturally confined to the subject of conciliation and collateral phases of the work. As national labor disturbances then became less frequent after two years of this special work the organization was able to resume its original programme, holding itself, however, in readiness to concentrate its energies on the industrial work at any time the need might arise.

"It was at this time that the national conference on immigration was called, and the Department of Immigration organized. After that a national commission on Municipal Ownership was formed, and by that time the public began to take interest in the broader aspects of the organization. Later came the establishment of the Industrial Economics Department, which has taken up some of the most important problems of the day, including Socialism and Trusts and Combinations. The holding of a national conference on Political Reform resulted in the organization of a department especially devoted to these subjects.

"While the subjects to be taken up by the organization are determined by the Executive Committee, the fact is here emphasized that in devoting itself to other matters than questions relating to strikes and lockouts, the organization has not deviated from, but has returned to, its original lines."

_The National Civic Federation Review, March, 1909._

The following additional particulars of the organization and operations of the Federation are drawn from a pamphlet statement of 1909:

"The membership of the Federation is drawn from practical men of affairs, whose acknowledged leadership in thought and action makes them typical representatives of the various elements that voluntarily work together for the general good. Its National Executive Committee is constituted of three factors: the general public, represented by the church, the bar, the press, statesmanship and finance; employers, represented by large manufacturers and the heads of great corporations, and employers’ organizations; and labor, represented by the principal officials of national and international organizations of wage-earners in every important industry.

"There are useful organizations of farmers, manufacturers, wage-earners, bankers, merchants, lawyers, economists and other distinct but interacting elements of society, which hold meetings for discussion of affairs peculiar to their own pursuits and callings. The Federation, in addition to its Departments for the accomplishment of specific purposes, provides a forum where representatives of all these elements of society may meet to discuss national problems in which they have a common interest.

"Twelve national conferences have thus been held upon such subjects as Primary Election and Ballot Reforms, Foreign Policy, Trusts, Conciliation and Arbitration, Taxation, and Immigration. These conferences have usually been attended by delegates appointed by Governors of States and by representatives selected by various commercial, industrial, and educational bodies.

"The present activities of the Federation are exercised through the following agencies:

"Trade Agreement Department, "Industrial Conciliation Department, "Industrial Economics Department, "Industrial Welfare Department, "Public Employés’ Welfare Department, "The Woman’s Department, "Public Ownership Commission, "Immigration Department, "Political Reform Department.

"The Trade Agreement Department [John Mitchell, Chairman] consists of employers and representatives of workingmen, who make agreements as to hours, wages and conditions of employment. The membership of the department is equally divided between employers and labor leaders, the employers being officers of steam and street railway companies, coal operators, the publishers of large daily papers, building contractors, brewers, stove manufacturers, shippers’ associations, while labor is represented by officials in corresponding crafts. …

"The Conciliation Department [Seth Low, Chairman] deals entirely with strikes, lock-outs and arbitration. The services of this department have been enlisted in about five hundred cases, involving every conceivable phase of a problem interwoven with or underlying an industrial controversy. Its membership extends to every industrial centre, and includes representatives of leading organizations of employers and of wage-earners. Through this membership information of any threatened trouble between capital and labor usually reaches the headquarters, from one side or the other, in advance of any public rupture. …

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"The Department of Industrial Economics [Nicholas Murray Butler, Chairman] was formed to promote discussion of practical economic problems. Its membership is composed of leading economists, including the heads of the departments of political economy in universities, lecturers and economic and legal authors; editors of the daily press, of politico-social magazines, of trade papers and of labor journals; representatives of the pulpit; large employers and representatives of labor. This department has arranged a programme for the discussion, by the ablest experts to be procured, of each of the vital and frequently irritating questions that arise in the Conciliation Department in connection with the prevention or settlement of controversies. …

"The Industrial Welfare Department [the work of which is conducted by a number of sub-committees, at the head of one of which is the President of the United States, William H. Taft, as Chairman of the committee which studies the welfare of the Public Employés of the country, and the general Chairman of which is William H. Willcox] is composed of employers of labor in stores, factories, mines and on railroads. It is devoted to interesting employers in improving the conditions under which employés in all industries work and live. In extending the practice of Welfare Work the department has found of especial value conferences of employers, held under its auspices in different parts of the country, for the interchange of experiences. Illustrated literature is widely distributed, and stereopticon lectures are given. A bureau of exchange is maintained at headquarters, where descriptive matter, plans and photographs relating to betterments in different industries may be obtained by employers.

"Some of the subjects involved are;

"Sanitary Work Places: Systems for providing pure drinking water; for ventilation, including the cooling of super heated places, and devices for exhausting dust and removing gases; for lighting work places; and for guarding machinery; wash rooms with hot and cold water, towels and soap; shower baths for molders and stationary firemen; emergency hospitals; locker rooms; seats for women; laundries for men’s overalls or women’s uniforms; the use of elevators for women, and luncheon rooms.

"Recreation: The social hall for dancing parties, concerts, theatricals, billiards, pool or bowling; the gymnasium, athletic field, roof garden, vacations and summer excursions for employés, and rest rooms or trainmen’s rest houses.

"Educational: Classes for apprentices; in cooking, dressmaking, millinery; first aid to the injured; night classes for technical training; kindergartens and libraries.

"Housing: Homes rented or sold to employés, and boarding houses.

"Provident Funds: For insurance, pensions, savings or lending money in times of stress.

"The Woman’s Department [of which Mrs. William H. Taft is Honorary Chairman, Mrs. Horace Brock, Chairman, and which has a strong corps of other officers] "is composed largely of women who are themselves stockholders or who are financially interested in industrial organizations (including railroads, mills, factories, mines, stores and other work places) through family relationships, and who therefore naturally should be interested in the welfare of workers in enterprises from which they draw their incomes; there are also, among other influential members, the wives of public officials.

"The object of this department is: ‘To use its influence in securing needed improvements in the working and living conditions of women and men wage-earners in the various industries and governmental institutions, and to co-operate, when practicable, in the general work of the Federation.’ …

"The Public Ownership Commission [Melville E. Ingalls, Chairman], appointed by the Executive Council of the Federation, is composed of one hundred prominent men representing practically every shade of opinion on the subject. …

"The Department of Immigration [Franklin MacVeagh, Chairman] is composed of men selected to represent every locality in the Union affected by the admission of aliens.

"This Department was organized at the request of the National Immigration Conference, held in New York City, December 6-8, 1905, this conference being attended by more than five hundred delegates appointed by Governors of States, leading commercial, agricultural, manufacturing, labor and economic organizations, and by prominent ecclesiastical and educational institutions. It undertook an investigation of all important phases of the immigration problem, the Department being organized into seven distinct committees. …

"Largely through the work of the Immigration Department, Congress was induced to appoint a Commission on Immigration, which commission has, with unlimited funds at its disposal, undertaken a large part of the work that had been planned by the Federation’s department. In fact, two members of that department are on the commission and have utilized all the material gathered by the Federation’s experts, relating to both white and Oriental immigration. …

"The organization of a Political Reform Department was the practical outcome of a National Conference on that subject held in New York City, March 6 and 7, 1906, under the auspices of The National Civic Federation. The Conference was attended by delegates from all parts of the country, appointed by congressmen, governors, mayors, municipal and political reform bodies, and representing all shades of political opinion.

"It is the purpose of the Political Reform Department to teach practical politics, and especially to organize the young men of the country and induce them to participate actively, through their respective party organizations, in governmental affairs--Federal, State and municipal."

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SOCIAL BETTERMENT: A. D. 1904-1909. The American Civic Association.

"Organized effort for the systematic making of a beautiful America did not manifest itself until within comparatively recent years. Prior to 1904 there had been various short-lived state associations, a few interstate societies and two national organizations, working with the same general objects in view. But at St. Louis, in 1904, the year of the great exposition, a merger of the two national organizations brought forth the American Civic Association which, since that time, has carried on with increasing success and popular support the greatly needed work for a 'More Beautiful America’; and since that time it has been recognized as the one great national agency for the furtherance of that work. With its purpose as stated in its constitution clearly before it, it has constantly widened the circle of its usefulness until recently they were grouped under fifteen general departments, each department headed by an expert in his or her particular specialty.

"In classifying its varied activities, the Association announces that it aims ‘to make American living conditions clean, healthful, attractive; to extend the making of public parks; to promote the opening of gardens and playgrounds for children and recreation centers for adults; to abate public nuisances—including objectionable signs, unnecessary poles and wires, unpleasant and wasteful smoking factory chimneys; to make the buildings and the surroundings of railway stations and factories attractive; to extend the practical influence of schools; to protect existing trees and to encourage intelligent tree planting; to preserve great scenic wonders (such as Niagara Falls and the White Mountains) from commercial spoliation.’

"So vigorously has it pursued these activities that it has seen some of them develop to such proportions that they were ready to swing off from the parent circle into spheres of their own. Such was the case with the playground movement, which for years was fostered most energetically by the American Civic Association until it grew into an independent organization known as the National Playground Association, and which is now an agency of splendid achievements in its one specialized function."

_Richard B. Watrous, The American Civic Association (The American City, October, 1909)._

SOCIAL BETTERMENT: A. D. 1907. The Sage Foundation for the Improvement of Social and Living Conditions.

One of the most notable of gifts from private wealth for the endowment of undertakings to promote the general welfare of mankind was made by Mrs. Russell Sage, in 1907, when she placed a fund of $10,000,000 in the hands of trustees, to be administered under the name of The Russell Sage Foundation. On the announcement of this endowment, Mrs. Sage, through her counsel, Mr. Henry W. de Forest, authorized the following statement, which explains clearly and fully the purposes contemplated:

"I have set aside $10,000,000 for the endowment of this foundation. Its object is ‘the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.’ The means to that end will include research, publication, education, the establishment and maintenance of charitable and beneficial activities, agencies, and institutions, and the aid of any such activities, agencies and institutions already established.

"It will be within the scope of such a foundation to investigate and study the causes of adverse social conditions, including ignorance, poverty and vice, to suggest how these conditions can be remedied or ameliorated, and to put in operation any appropriate means to that end. It will also be within the scope of such a foundation to establish any new agency necessary to carry out any of its conclusions, and equally to contribute to the resources of any existing agencies which are doing efficient and satisfactory work, just as the present General Education Board, organized to promote higher education, is aiding existing colleges and universities. While its scope is broad, it should preferably not undertake to do within that scope what is now being done or is likely to be effectively done by other individuals or by other agencies with less resources. It will be its aim to take up the larger and more difficult problems, and to take them up so far as possible in such a manner as to secure co-operation and aid in their solution. In some instances it may wisely initiate movements with the expectation of having them maintain themselves unaided after once being started. In other instances it may start movements with the expectation of carrying them on itself. Income only will be used for its charitable purposes, because the foundation is to be permanent and its action continuous. It may, however, make investments for social betterment, which themselves produce income.

"While having headquarters in New York city, where I and my husband have lived and where social problems are most pressing and complicated, partly by reason of its extent and partly because it is the port of entry for about a million immigrants a year, the foundation will be national in its scope and in its activities. I have sought to select as my trustees men and women who are familiar with social problems and who can bring to their solution not only zeal and interest, but experience and judgment.

"The bill for incorporation of the endowment further provides: The corporation hereby formed shall have power to take and hold, both by bequest, devise, gift, purchase, or lease, either absolutely or in trust, for any of its purposes, any property, real or personal, without limitation as to amount or value, except such limitation, if any, as the legislature shall hereinafter impose, to convey such property and to invest and reinvest any principal, and deal with, and expend the income of the corporation in such manner as in the judgment of the trustees will best promote its objects."

SOCIAL BETTERMENT: A. D. 1907-1908. The Pittsburg Survey. A remarkable Investigation of Living Conditions in a great Industrial Center.

"Under the name of the Pittsburgh Survey, Charities Publication Committee has carried on a group of social investigations in this great steel district. In a sense we have been blue-printing Pittsburgh. Our findings will be published in a series of special numbers … covering in order:

"I.—The People; "II.—The Place; "III.—The Work.

"Full reports are to be published later in a series of Volumes by the Russell Sage Foundation, and, throughout, the text will be reinforced with such photographs, pastel, maps, charts, diagrams and tables as will help give substance and reality to our presentations of fact. …

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"The Pittsburgh Survey has been a rapid, close range investigation of living conditions in the Pennsylvania steel district. It has been carried on by a special staff organized under the national publication committee which prints this magazine. It has been financed chiefly by three grants, of moderate amount, from the Russell Sage Foundation for the Improvement of Living Conditions. It has been made practicable by co-operation from two quarters,—from a remarkable group of leaders and organizations in social and sanitary movements in different parts of the United States, who entered upon the field work as a piece of national good citizenship; and from men, women and organizations in Pittsburgh who were large-minded enough to regard their local situation as not private and peculiar, but a part of the American problem of city building.

"The outcome has been a spirited piece of interstate co-operation in getting at the urban fact in a new way. …

"The main work was set under way in September, 1807, when a company of men and women of established reputation as students of social and industrial problems spent the month in Pittsburgh. On the basis of their diagnosis, a series of specialized investigations was projected along a few of the lines which promised significant results. The staff has included not only trained investigators but also representatives of the different races who make up so large a share of the working population dealt with. Limitations of time and money set definite bounds to the work, which will become clear as the findings are presented. The experimental nature of the undertaking, and the unfavorable trade conditions which during the past year have reacted upon economic life in all its phases, have set other limits. Our inquiries have dealt with the wage-earners of Pittsburgh (a) in their relations to the community as a whole, and (b) in their relation to industry. Under the former we have studied the genesis and racial make-up of the population; its physical setting and its social institutions; under the latter we have studied the general labor situation; hours, wages, and labor control in the steel industry; child labor, industrial education, women in industry, the cost of living, and industrial accidents.

"From the first, the work of the investigations has been directed to the service of local movements for improvement. For, as stated in a mid-year announcement of the Survey, we have been studying the community at a time when nascent social forces are asserting themselves. Witness the election of an independent mayor three years ago, and Mr. Guthrie’s present fight to clear councils of graft. Within the field of the Survey and within one year, the Pittsburgh Associated Charities has been organized; the force of tenement inspectors has been doubled and has carried out a first general housing census, and a scientific inquiry, under the name of the Pittsburgh Typhoid Commission, has been instituted into the disease which has been endemic in the district for over a quarter of a century. A civic improvement commission, representative in membership and perhaps broader in scope than any similar body in the country, is now in process of formation.

"A display of wall maps, enlarged photographs, housing plans, and other graphic material was the chief feature of a civic exhibit held in Carnegie Institute in November and December, following the joint conventions in Pittsburgh of the American Civic Association and the National Municipal League. The local civic bearings of the Survey were the subject of the opening session of these conventions. Its economic aspects were brought forward at a joint session of the American Economic Association and the American Sociological Society at Atlantic City in December."

_P. U. Kellogg, The Pittsburgh Survey (Charities and the Commons, January 2, 1909)._

See (in this Volume), CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY; CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW; LABOR PROTECTION, ETC.; MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT; PUBLIC HEALTH; POVERTY, PROBLEMS OF; ENGLAND: A. D. 1907-1908.

SOCIAL DEMOCRATS.

See (in this Volume) SOCIALISM: ENGLAND, AND FRANCE; also GERMANY: A. D. 1903; RUSSIA: A. D. 1905-1907; DENMARK: A. D. 1906.

SOCIAL REVOLUTIONISTS.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905-1907, and 1906-1907.

SOCIALISM: AT LARGE: A. D. 1909. The Socialist Press in all Countries.

According to a list of the Socialist Press, in the world at large, published in November, 1909, by the International Bureau of Socialists, at Brussels, fifty-seven Socialist daily newspapers are published in Germany. English Socialists have three weekly publications, and one that appears monthly. There is a daily Socialist journal in the Argentine Republic, a weekly review in Australia, and in Austria two daily publications and a bi-weekly review. The Socialists in Belgium publish four daily organs; those of Bulgaria support two bi-weekly reviews; and those of Canada one weekly review. One daily Socialist newspaper circulates in Denmark, and four weekly publications in Spain. In the United States there are four daily and eight weekly publications and a monthly magazine. France has two daily Socialist newspapers and ten weekly Socialist periodicals. In Greece the Socialists support a weekly publication, in Holland a daily one, and in Hungary both a daily and a weekly one. In Italy there are four daily Socialist newspapers; and a single one in Norway, Poland, and Sweden respectively. Socialists living in Switzerland have three daily and three weekly organs; while those in Russia have 20 monthly or bi-monthly ones, most of which are published secretly. In Rumania and Sweden there are also Socialist publications.

SOCIALISM: AUSTRALIA: Government Ownership of Railways.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: AUSTRALIA.

SOCIALISM: AUSTRIA: A. D. 1903. Adoption of a Resolution against Alcoholic Drinking by the National Convention of the Social Democracy.

See (in this Volume) ALCOHOL PROBLEM: AUSTRIA.

SOCIALISM: BELGIUM: A. D. 1904. Socialist Losses in the Belgium Elections.

See (in this volume) BELGIUM: A.D. 1904.

SOCIALISM: DENMARK: A. D. 1905-1909. Socialists Contending for Disarmament.

See (in this Volume) DENMARK: A. D. 1905-1909.

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SOCIALISM: ENGLAND: A. D. 1909. The Principal Socialist Organizations of the Present Day. --

"There are four principal organizations actively engaged in gaining adherents to the cause of Collectivism as a practical policy, all over the kingdom. They are: (1) The Social Democratic Party, formerly Social Democratic Federation, and familiarly known as S. D. F.; (2) the Fabian Society; (3) the Independent Labour Party or I. L. P.; (4) the Clarion Fellowship and Scouts.

There are several others of minor importance, though not to be ignored, for they all represent the spread of the central idea of Socialism. Among them is the Church Socialist League, which is significant as being a society of convinced Socialists within the Church of England holding that the ‘community should own the land and capital collectively and use them co-operatively for the good of all.’"

The oldest organization "began as the Democratic Federation in 1881, became the Social Democratic Federation in 1883, and has recently changed its name to the Social Democratic Party. Its object, according to the programme as revised in 1906, is:

"‘The socialization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, to be controlled by a democratic State in the interests of the entire community, and the complete emancipation of labour from the domination of capitalism and landlordism, with the establishment of social and economic equality between the sexes.’

"It demands a large number of ‘immediate reforms,’ including the following:

"Abolition of the Monarchy. Abolition of the House of Lords. Payment of members of Parliament and administrative bodies. Adult suffrage. Referendum. Legislative and administrative independence for all parts of the Empire. Repudiation of the National Debt. Abolition of indirect taxation and a cumulative tax on all incomes exceeding £300. Elementary education to be free, secular, industrial, and compulsory for all classes. Age for school attendance to be raised to 16. State maintenance of all school children. Abolition of school rates. Nationalization of land, of trusts, railways, docks, and canals. Public ownership of gas, electric light, water supply, tramways, omnibuses, &c., food and coal supply; State and municipal banks, pawnshops, restaurants, public ownership of hospitals, cemeteries, and the drink traffic. A legal eight-hours day; no employment under 16 years; public provision of work for unemployed at trade union rates; free State insurance against sickness, accident, old age, and disability; a minimum wage of 30s. a week; equal rates of pay for both sexes. Compulsory construction of healthy dwellings by public bodies. Free administration of justice and legal advice. Judges to be ‘chosen by the people.’ Abolition of capital punishment. Disestablishment and disendowment of all State Churches. Abolition of standing armies and establishment of national citizen forces. …

"The Social Democratic Party is the most downright and straightforward of the larger Socialist organizations. It is more outspoken and consistent, less hazy and opportunist, than the Independent Labour Party or the Fabian Society. It derives its inspiration from the Social Democrats of Germany and boldly upholds the ideal of revolutionary Socialism."

The Fabian Society, which comes next "in point of age, is at the opposite end of the scale in regard to policy. It was founded in 1884, on American inspiration, as a sort of mutual elevation society, but adopted Socialistic principles from Germany. Its ‘basis’ is thus stated:

"‘The Fabian Society consists of Socialists. It therefore aims at the reorganization of society by the emancipation of land and industrial capital from individual and class ownership and the vesting of them in the community for the general benefit. In this way only can the natural and acquired advantages of the country be equitably shared by the whole people.

"‘The society accordingly works for the extinction of private property in land and of the consequent individual appropriation, in the form of rent, of the price paid for permission to use the earth, as well as for the advantages of superior soils and sites.

"‘The society further works for the transfer to the community of the administration of such industrial capital as can conveniently be managed socially.’

"It is not surprising that thorough-going Socialists denounce the Fabians as make believe, Socialism-and-water ‘comrades,’ and hardly worthy to be called ‘comrades’ at all, an honour which the Fabians, for their part, show no desire to claim. Nevertheless, the Fabians are a very influential element in the Socialist movement. … The Fabian Society is numerically small, but growing rapidly, and that largely by the formation of provincial branches. The headquarters are in London, where it had in March last [1908] 1085 members out of a total of 2015. … Eleven Fabians are members of Parliament, and the society supports the Labour party; but its real work lies outside of politics, and is carried on chiefly by the distribution of literature and by lectures. It contains several well-known writers, and may almost be called a literary society. The output of tracts and leaflets sold and distributed last year was over 250,000. … Among the best-known Fabians are Mr. Granville Barker, the Reverend R. J. Campbell, the Reverend Stewart D. Headlam, Mr. Chiozza-Money, M. P., Mr. Bernard Shaw, Mr. Sidney Webb, and Mr. H. G. Wells, who has, however, recently seceded. Many members belong also to other Socialist organizations. …

"The third large organization on the list is the Independent Labour Party. It is considerably younger than the Social Democratic Party and the Fabian Society, but much larger and politically far more powerful than either or both together. In character it comes between them, being more opportunist and supple than the former, less nebulous and elusive than the latter. It was formally inaugurated at Bradford in 1893, under the leadership of Mr. Keir Hardie. The following are the principal [demands] in the official prospectus, revised for 1908-1909:

"‘1. A maximum of 48 hours working week, with the retention of all existing holidays and Labour Day, May 1, secured by law.

"‘2. The provision of work to all capable adult applicants at recognized trade union rates, with a statutory minimum, of sixpence per hour.

{619}

"‘In order to remuneratively employ the applicants, parish, district, borough, and county councils to be invested with powers to

(a) Organize and undertake such industries as they may consider desirable.

(b) Compulsorily acquire land; purchase, erect, or manufacture buildings, stock, or other articles for carrying on such industries,

(c) Levy rates on the rental values of the district and borrow money on the security of such rates for any of the above purposes.

"‘3. State pensions for every person over 50 years of age, and adequate provision for all widows, orphans, sick, and disabled workers.

"‘4. Free secular, moral, primary, secondary, and University education, with free maintenance while at school or University.

"‘5. The raising of the age of child labour, with a view to its ultimate extinction.

"‘6. Municipalization and public control of the drink traffic.

"‘7. Municipalization and public control of all hospitals and infirmaries.

"‘8. Abolition of indirect taxation and gradual transference of all public burdens on to unearned incomes with a view to their ultimate extinction.

"‘The Independent Labour Party is in favour of adult suffrage, with full political rights and privileges for women, and the immediate extension of the franchise to women on the same terms as granted to men; also triennial Parliaments and second ballot.’ …

"The most prominent individuals in the Independent Labour Party are Mr. Keir Hardie, M. P., its father and guide; Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, M. P., who pulls the political strings; Mr. Philip Snowdon, M. P., who is an active pamphleteer; and Mr. Bruce Glasier, who edits the Labour Leader. This organization, by far the most important in Great Britain, takes much less part in international Socialism than the Social Democratic Federation, with which it has never agreed very well. …

"The ‘Clarion’ organizations, - which make the fourth of the more important Socialist organizations, need only a brief mention here. They are not regular societies, like the others, but merely propagandist agencies organized by the Clarion newspaper and manned by Socialists who belong to other bodies or to none. … The agencies include the Clarion vans, which travel round the country and proselytize; the Clarion fellowship societies, which are social bodies, and the Clarion scouts, who are young recruits, organized for special purposes."

From a series of Articles on "The Socialist Movement in Great Britain," in the London Times, January, 1909.

SOCIALISM: Work of the Anti-Socialist Union.

An Anti-Socialist Union in Great Britain is conducting a training school for speakers and workers whom the union sends into the constituencies to controvert the arguments of Socialist orators. Of the 175 students who entered the training school soon after the inauguration of the union in 1908 about 50 were reported the next year as qualified to take an active part in the anti-Socialist campaign. In reply to an appeal for volunteers, nearly 2,000 applications were received from men and women who were anxious to enter the training school.

SOCIALISM: FRANCE: The Trade Union Version of Socialism.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION; FRANCE: A. D. 1884-1909.

SOCIALISM: A. D. 1909. The Classes to which the Socialist Principle appeals. Strength of Socialist Political Parties. Their Leadership.

"The agriculturist loves the land which he usually owns, and would scout the idea of becoming a farmer under the State, which would be his position under a Socialistic regime; he is frugal, hard-working, and thrifty to the point of avarice, but intolerably narrow, suspicious and bigoted. Among this class Socialism can hardly make proselytes, nor can it do so to any great extent among tradesmen and commercial men, who are either their own masters or who hope to set up for themselves when they have amassed a small capital. We therefore find ourselves reduced to two classes, the artisans and the professions, and it is among these that we must seek the Socialist voters of France. … In France, thanks to the fact that members of Parliament are paid, the professional classes are available for the recruiting of labour leaders; indeed the younger section is naturally attracted to the Socialist standard. As regards this particular class, we can find in Great Britain no parallel. … Young Britons appear to be too busy with their sports or social pleasures to study political questions, so that we can hardly compare them with the continental ‘Intellectuals.’ The ‘Intellectual’ is essentially a product of modern Europe and is principally to be found in France, Germany and Russia. He is almost invariably highly educated, in sympathy with foreign progress, a humanitarian and imbued with ideas either somewhat or very much ahead of his time. The French ‘Intellectual’ is at his best in the twenties; he may then be quixotic, but he generally knows his subject and is fired with generous enthusiasms. … This curious factor must never be lost sight of when the Socialist movement in any European country is examined. In Great Britain members of the educated classes almost invariably belong to one of the two great political parties; but in France they are willing to join hands with the masses, not only as leaders, but with a view to the true enthronement of the people. It is probably for this reason that the Socialist party has made so much headway in France. Such being the soldiers and officers who march under the Red Flag, it is not surprising that their political organisation should have grown so powerful. The Socialist party has hardly suffered from the ups and downs of political life; every election has sent it back to power with a greater number of seats to its credit; at the present time the party has 74 representatives in the Chamber of Deputies, to whom we must add, in certain cases, 135 Radical Socialists. … The ‘Unified Socialists’ of the uncompromising type hold 53 seats, and the Independent Socialists 21; if we add these two figures to the 135 Radical Socialists, we find that they form a considerable portion of the 591 members. Though they have not an absolute majority, the weight of these 209 advanced votes is such as to colour very strongly modern legislation, and there is no reason to doubt that their progress will continue up to a certain point."

W. L. George, France in the Twentieth Century, chapter 8 (John Lane Co., New York, 1909).

SOCIALISM: Germany: A. D. 1902. The Socialist Congress on Alcoholic Drinks.

See (in this Volume) ALCOHOL PROBLEM: GERMANY.

SOCIALISM: A. D. 1903. Gains of the Socialists in Elections to the Reichstag.

See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1903, and 1906-1907.

{620}

SOCIALISM: A. D. 1903. Opposition among Workmen.

A great Congress of 200 delegates from bodies of German workingmen opposed to Socialism, said to represent a total of 620,000, was held in October, 1903, at Frankfort-on-the Main. Its object was to promote effective organization of workmen, to which end it appealed to "all unorganized German workmen to join those industrial organizations which do not make enmity between the classes their principle."

SOCIALISM: A. D. 1908. Socialists win Seats in the Prussian Diet for the First Time.

See (in this Volume) PRUSSIA: A. D. 1908.

SOCIALISM: A. D. 1909. Statistics reported to the Socialist Congress.

The annual report to the Socialist Congress at Leipzig stated that the German Social Democratic party has a membership of 571,050 men and 62,259 women—total 633,309. The number of men had increased during the past year by 13,172, and the number of women by 32,801. There are said to be now only 20 Reichstag constituencies in which there is no Socialist organization.

See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1909 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).

SOCIALISM: Italy: A. D. 1904. Gains in the Election claimed by the Socialists.

See (in this Volume) ITALY: A. D. 1904 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).

SOCIALISM: A. D. 1909. Gains in Italian Elections.

See (in this Volume) ITALY: A. D. 1909 (MARCH).

SOCIALISM: NEW ZEALAND. Government Ownership of Land. Graduated Taxation. Public Loans to Farmers.

See (in this Volume) NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1905.

SOCIALISM: SPAIN: A. D. 1909. Socialist-Republican Alliance.

See (in this Volume) SPAIN: A. D. 1907-1909.

SOCIALISM: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902. Socialist Platform adopted by the Western Federation of Miners.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D). 1899-1907.

SOCIALISTIC POLITICAL PARTIES.

See (in this Volume) PARTIES, POLITICAL.

SOKOTO: British, Capture and Occupation.

See (in this Volume) AFRICA: A. D. 1903 (NIGERIA).

SOMALILAND.

See (in this Volume) AFRICA: SOMALILAND.

SONE, Viscount: Japanese Resident-General in Korea.

See (in this Volume) KOREA: A. D. 1905-1909.

SONNINO, BARON: PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY.

See (in this Volume) ITALY: A. D. 1906-1909.

SOUDAN.

See (in this Volume) SUDAN.

SOUFFRIÈRE, LA: VOLCANIC ERUPTION OF.

See (in this Volume) VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS: WEST INDIES.

----------SOUTH AFRICA: Start--------

SOUTH AFRICA: Suitable and Unsuitable Parts of South Africa for European Settlement.

See (in this Volume) AFRICA.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1901-1902. The Last Year of the Boer-British War. The Concentration Camps. Kitchener’s Block-house System and Protected Areas. The Opening of Negotiations for Peace. Text of the Treaty concluded.

When Volume VI. of this work went to press, in April, 1901, and its record of events was closed, the dreadful Boer-British War had still a little more than another year to be prolonged through; but it was to be, as it had been throughout the past year, a sheerly destructive prosecution of guerrilla warfare by separate bands of the indomitable Boers. The operations of such warfare,—its raids, its counter "drives," its little battles and skirmishes, its captures and recaptures, its breaking of railway lines, and the like,—cannot be detailed in a work like this. Nothing of any decisive effect was done at any time, on either side, to constitute an important event in the war. There was simply a wearing process in operation which went on, in an inexorable and horrible slow way, till the country on which it worked was a desert, and the endurance of its surviving people was worn out.

In November, 1900, Lord Kitchener had succeeded Lord Roberts in the British command. He decided to empty the contested regions of their non-combatant population, by gathering it into "concentration camps," thus resorting to a measure which the Spaniards had employed in Cuba, and which the Americans had copied from them in the Philippines. Accordingly, on the 21st of December, 1900, he had issued to general officers a "Memorandum" in which he said:

"Lord Kitchener desires that General Officers will, according to the means at their disposal, follow this system in the Districts which they occupy or may traverse. The women and children brought in should be camped near the railway for supply purposes, and should be divided in two categories, viz.: 1st. Refugees, and the families of Neutrals, non-combatants, and surrendered Burghers. 2nd. Those whose husbands, fathers, and sons are on Commands. The preference in accommodation, &c., should of course, be given to the first class. The Ordnance will supply the necessary tents and the District Commissioner will look after the food on the scale now in use.

"It should be clearly explained to Burghers in the field, that, if they voluntarily surrender, they will be allowed to live with their families in the camps until it is safe for them to return to their homes."

In "The Times History of the War in South Africa" it is remarked on this order: "The policy was inspired by two motives. In the first place, it was supposed that the removal of the families would induce fighting Boers to surrender, and would thus shorten the War. In the second place, it was a measure of humanity towards the unprotected occupants of lonely farms. The decision was taken somewhat lightly. In its primary object it failed absolutely. Far from providing an inducement to surrender, it lifted from the fighting burghers a load of embarrassment. To the British, military consequences were disastrous. To the Boers the gain was twofold. On the shoulders of their enemy lay the heavy tasks of removal and maintenance, involving enormous expense and a grave hindrance to military operations, while they themselves, relieved of all responsibility for their women and children, were free to devote their energies with a clear conscience to the single aim of fighting. {621} While one of the British aims was signally defeated, the other, that of humanity, was at first only partially attained. The scheme for the concentration camps was lacking in foresight. Adequate provision was not made for the hosts of refugees requiring shelter. The regular medical and sanitary staff were already fully occupied with the needs of the army, and men were lacking for the organisation and supervision of the camps. Sites chosen on purely military grounds often proved wholly unsuitable. Too much reliance was placed on the capacity for self-help to be shown by the Boers themselves, and the Boers proved to be helpless, utterly averse to cleanliness and ignorant of the simplest elements of medicine and sanitation. The result was that for a certain period there was a very high rate of mortality among these unfortunate people."

_The Times History of the War in South Africa, Volume v., chapter 3 (Low, Marston & Co., London)._

With better success Kitchener adopted and steadily perfected a block-house system, by which lines of barrier were drawn across the country in different directions, and protected areas were formed. The system and its working are thus described in the history quoted above:

"One of the first reforms undertaken by Kitchener when he assumed command in South Africa was the strengthening of the railways. At that time the defences of the lines were of the simplest description, consisting almost wholly of open trenches at stations, bridges and culverts, while the line itself was patrolled by small parties of mounted men. In laying out these trench defences, the principal object kept in view was to render them inconspicuous and thus immune from artillery fire. The system required enormous numbers of men both for patrol work and for manning the long lines of trenches. … It was clear that some form of permanent or semi-permanent defence must be adopted, if security was to be gained and the railway guards reduced. Early in January, accordingly, the first blockhouses were constructed. …

"Planted at first only at stations, bridges, culverts, important cuttings and curves—at the points, in fact, which experience had proved to be most vulnerable—blockhouses came to be established at regular intervals of about a mile and a half down the whole extent of a line. This interval was steadily lessened. Ultimately it became as small as 400 yards on the Delagoa line and was reduced even to 200 yards on some portions of the Cape railways. A continuous fencing of barbed wire ran along the line; elaborate entanglements surrounded each blockhouse, and the telephone linked up the whole system. A somewhat later development was a deep trench bordering the line of barbed wire and running to within 100 yards of each blockhouse. …

"Until July the system was confined to the railways; but in July the idea first took definite shape of throwing blockhouse lines across country, and thus creating fenced areas of manageable size within which the Boers could be dealt with piece-meal. It is important to note that these lines almost invariably followed roads, which thus became to all intents and purposes as safe as railways. In other words, a great number of additional lines of communication were opened up and secured, and the striking power of the army proportionately increased. …

"While a thousand yards, or thereabouts, was the usual interval between cross-country blockhouses, the rule was invariably followed that each must be in sight of its neighbour on either side. The wire fence spanning this interval always ran in the form of an obtuse angle, so that fire could be directed along it from both ends without risk to either blockhouse. In order to secure accurate fire in the dark, rests were provided for the correct alignment of rifles. Ordinary barbed wire was used at first, but the Boers became such adepts at cutting it that a quarter-inch unannealed steel wire, specially manufactured in England, had to be substituted. In Cape Colony, an eight-strand cable, manufactured in special 'rope walks' established at Naauwpoort, was largely used. Not to be daunted, the Boers took to uprooting the stays and levelling the fence bodily. The stays, accordingly, had to be anchored securely to heavy rocks sunk deep in the ground. As on the railways, alarms of all sorts were devised to give the garrisons notice of an attempt to tamper with the fence. A spring-gun would fire, dangling biscuit tins would rattle, a weight would drop in the blockhouse, and on any such signal the garrison would fire down the line of the fence. But, when all precautions were taken, it was impossible, on dark nights, to prevent determined bodies of Boers from passing the barrier. The passage could be made dangerous and difficult; that was all. … Exaggerated hopes were built on the efficacy of the lines as barriers to determined men. … The Boers, for a long time to come, viewed with disdain the eruption of tiny forts. It was only by degrees that they awoke to the realization that they were taken like flies in a spider’s web. … Communication between commanders became more and more difficult; concentrations on a large scale impossible.

"The ramifications of the blockhouse system and the slow formation of protected areas were not the only signs that the day of conquest was approaching. Within these areas, under the able and energetic administrations of Lord Milner, who returned to South Africa in August, and, in the Orange River Colony, of the Deputy Administrator, Sir H. Goold-Adams, marked progress was beginning to be made in the establishment of civil industry and in administrative reconstruction. …

"With regard to the Boer non-combatant population, an important modification of policy was initiated in December. Orders were issued to all columns that no more families, save those in actual danger of starvation and those belonging to a privileged class, … were to be brought into the concentration camps. Since most of the accessible farms had already been emptied, the order applied mainly to the women and children who had preferred, in defiance of hardship, to accompany the commandos and who lived in nomadic laagers. The Boers, however much they had railed in the past against the inhumanity of the camps, were soon to realise and admit the essential humanity of the concentration system. The embarrassment and anxiety caused by the helpless non-combatants in their midst was to grow day by day. {622} Finally, at the Vereeniging Conference, the truth received frank and undisguised expression. ‘To-day,’ said Botha, ‘we are only too glad to know that our women and children are under British protection.’ The wretchedness of those who remained on the veld became, indeed, a powerful argument for submission."

The Times History of the War in South Africa, chapters 10, 11, 14 (London, Low, Marston & Co.).

It was not until March, 1902, that the men of authority on both sides of the war began to give tokens of a mutual disposition to discuss terms of peace. In the previous January, the government of the Netherlands had offered to act as intermediary between Great Britain and the Boers, and the proffer had been declined, the British government repeating its determination to accept no foreign intervention. At the same time it was suggested that, inasmuch as Mr. Steyn and Mr. Schalk Burger, the chiefs of the Orange Free State and of the Transvaal burghers, respectively, were understood to be invested with full powers of government, including the power of negotiation, those gentlemen could open, if they wished, direct communication with Lord Kitchener, who had already been instructed to forward to his government any offers that he might receive. On the 7th of March this correspondence was sent by Lord Kitchener, without comment, to the Transvaal government, then established at Stroomwater. The suggestion in it was rightly taken as an invitation, and acting President Schalk Burger at once asked for a safe-conduct for himself and the other members of his government into the British lines, with intimations of a wish for opportunity to meet the members of the Free State government, in order that they might concert proposals for peace. His wishes were readily complied with. On the 22d he entered the British lines, and all possible aid was given him in getting together the men whom he wished to consult. Some were brought away from active fighting, which went on without them, no pause on the military side being permitted for a single day, while the parleying of a month went on.

The Transvaal and Free State governments met on the 9th of April, at Klerksdorp, under British safe-conduct, and, after debate among themselves on that day and the next, sent a telegram to Lord Kitchener, requesting him to meet them and receive from them a proposal of peace. He replied promptly, inviting them to his headquarters at Pretoria, and there they were received on April 12th. Their proposal was on the basis of political independence for the two Boer states, under "an enduring treaty of friendship and peace" with the British government, as well as a customs, postal and railway union with the adjoining British colonies, and with concessions of the franchise to Uitlanders in the Transvaal. Kitchener could give no consideration to a proposal of this nature; but consented, after much discussion to cable it to London. At, a second meeting on the 14th (when Lord Kitchener was joined by Lord Milner, the British High Commissioner in South Africa) he had the answer of the British government to produce. It declared with emphasis that the government could not "entertain any proposals based on the continued independence of the former republics, which have been formally annexed to the British Crown." To this the Boer officials replied that they had no power to negotiate on any other basis than that of independence, and they asked for an armistice, to enable them to consult their people. This was refused, but, after some parleying, it was arranged that they should have free use of the railway and telegraph, and that military operations should be so conducted as to allow opportunities for meetings in all parts of the country, at which thirty burghers from each re- public should be elected, with authority to act for the people. These representatives were to meet on the 15th of May, at Vereeniging, to determine the answer they would give. Between the 11th and the 15th of May immunity was promised to all commandos whose leaders should be chosen as representatives, and this practically operated as an armistice during those days.

"History records no precedent," says The Times History of the War, "for the state of affairs which existed in South Africa between April 18 and May 15, 1902. War went on, but, to borrow a metaphor from football, the ball of war was continually rolling into ‘touch.’ Kitchener loyally carried out his undertaking to the Boer leaders. Commandos were allowed to assemble and confer unmolested; officers and messengers scoured the country by road and railway with free passes, passing through British outpost lines, receiving the unstinted hospitality of their foes, and occasionally, to the chagrin of a junior British officer, undergoing accidental capture, followed by immediate release on the production of the magic pass. Steyn, indeed, was too ill to take part in all this activity and had retired to a farm near Wolmaransstad. But De Wet, with amazing energy, travelled over the whole of the Free State, inspiring the burghers with his leader’s fiery spirit. At eight successive meetings he personally addressed practically the whole of the commandos and secured unanimous resolutions against any surrender of independence. The Transvaal leaders were scarcely less active, though the purport of their activity was by no means the same." These chiefs of the Transvaal, Louis Botha and others, were disposed to end the struggle for independence; those of the Free State, inspired by their unconquerable President, were not.

On the 15th of May the officials of the two Boer governments met the sixty delegates from the burghers at Vereeniging, and the question between surrender and a hopeless continuation of war was threshed out. The Free State delegates and a few of the Transvaalers had been bound by pledges to vote against any surrender of independence; but in the end they were persuaded by their own legal advisers that such a restriction on the free action of a delegate was contrary to the principles of law; and gradually the question of independence gave place to other matters of consideration in the discussion of terms. On the 19th a sub-committee was appointed to consider those details, and several days of bargaining with Kitchener and Milner, at Pretoria, ensued. There was much use of the cable meantime, to secure assent in London to what might be done. The result was a draft treaty which Lord Milner assured the Boer Commissioners was absolutely final, and must be accepted or rejected without any change, on or before the 31st of May. {623} They took it to the convention at Vereeniging on the 29th, and there, in two days of stormy debate, the no-surrender party, led by Steyn and De Wet, made their last stand. When the decisive vote was taken, their ranks were reduced to six, against fifty-four. The Boer commissioners returned at once to Pretoria, with the accepted draft-treaty, and it was signed on the night of the 31st, a little less than an hour before the expiration of the fixed term of grace. The following is the text of this treaty, which ended one of the worst of modern wars:

"General Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, Commander-in-Chief, and His Excellency Lord Milner, High Commissioner, on behalf of the British Government;

"Messrs. S. W. Burger, F. W. Reitz, Louis Botha, J. H. De la Rey, L. J. Meyer, and J. Krogh on behalf of the Government of the South African Republic and its burghers;

"Messrs. M. T. Steyn, W. J. C. Brebner, C. R. de Wet, J. B. M. Hertzog, and C. H. Olivier, on behalf of the Government of the Orange Free State and its burghers, being anxious to put an end to the existing hostilities, agree on the following points:

"Firstly, the burgher forces now in the Veldt shall at once lay down their arms, and surrender all the guns, small arms, and war stores in their actual possession, or of which they shall have cognizance, and shall abstain from any further opposition to the authority of his Majesty King Edward VII., whom they shall acknowledge as their lawful sovereign.

"The manner and details of this surrender shall be arranged by Lord Kitchener, Commandant-General Botha, Assistant Commandant-General J. H. De la Rey, and Commander-in-Chief de Wet.

"Secondly, burghers in the Veldt beyond the frontiers of the Transvaal and of the Orange River Colony, and all prisoners of war who are out of South Africa, who are burghers, shall, on their declaration that they accept the status of subjects of His Majesty King Edward VII., be brought back to their homes, as soon as transport and means of existence can be assured.

"Thirdly, the burghers who thus surrender, or who thus return, shall lose neither their personal freedom nor their property.

"Fourthly, no judicial proceedings, civil or criminal, shall be taken against any of the burghers who thus return for any action in connexion with the carrying on of the war. The benefit of this clause shall, however, not extend to certain deeds antagonistic to the usages of warfare, which have been communicated by the Commander-in-Chief to the Boer generals, and which shall be heard before a court-martial immediately after the cessation of hostilities.

"Fifthly, the Dutch language shall be taught in the public schools of the Transvaal and of the Orange River Colony when the parents of the children demand it; and shall be admitted in the Courts of justice, whenever this is required for the better and more effective administration of justice.

"Sixthly, the possession of rifles shall, on taking out a licence in accordance with the law, be permitted in the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony to persons who require them for their protection.

"Seventhly, military administration in the Transvaal and in the Orange River Colony shall, as soon as it is possible, be followed by civil government; and, as soon as circumstances permit it, a representative system lending towards autonomy shall be introduced.

"Eighthly, the question of granting a franchise to the natives shall not be decided until a representative constitution has been granted.

"Ninthly, no special tax shall be laid on landed property in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony to meet the expenses of the war.

"Tenthly, as soon as circumstances permit there shall be appointed in each district in the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony a Commission, in which the inhabitants of that district shall be represented, under the chairmanship of a magistrate or other official, with a view to assist in the bringing back of the people to their farms, and in procuring for those who, on account of losses in the war, are unable to provide for themselves food, shelter, and such quantities of seed, cattle, implements, etc., as are necessary for the resuming of their previous callings.

"His Majesty’s Government shall place at the disposal of these Commissions the sum of £3,000,000 for the above-mentioned purposes, and shall allow that all notes issued in conformity with Law No. 1, 1900, of the Government of the South African Republic, and all receipts given by the officers in the Veldt of the late Republics, or by their order, may be presented to a judicial Commission by the Government, and in case such notes and receipts are found by this Commission to have been duly issued for consideration in value, then they shall be accepted by the said Commission as proof of war losses suffered by the persons to whom they had originally been given. In addition to the above-named free gift of £3,000,000, His Majesty’s Government will be prepared to grant advances, in the shape of loans, for the same ends, free of interest for two years, and afterwards repayable over a period of years with three per cent. interest. No foreigner or rebel shall be entitled to benefit by this clause."

The following military statistics of the War, as conducted on the British side, were published in a Parliamentary paper soon after its close:

The garrison in South Africa on August 1st, 1899, consisted of 318 officers and 9,622 men; reinforcements sent between then and the outbreak of hostilities, October 11th, 1899, totaled 12,546. Thereafter the troops sent up to May 31st, 1902, reached the great total of 386,081, besides 52,414 men raised in South Africa. The final casualty figures are: Killed, 5,774; wounded, 23,029; died of wounds or disease, 16,168.

A return made to Parliament in April, 1902, of the estimated amount of war charges in South Africa that had been and would be incurred up to the 31st of March, 1903, gave the following figures:

For the first year of the war (1899-1900), £23,217,000; for the second year, £65,120,000; for the third year, £71,037,000; for the year in which it ended, £63,600,000. Total, £222,974,000.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1902. Cape Colony and Natal at the Colonial Conference, London.

See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE.

{624}

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1902-1903. Repatriation and Resettlement of the Boers in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. Work of the first Eight Months of Restored Peace.

The following passages from a report dated March 14, 1903, made by Governor Viscount Milner to Mr. Chamberlain, British Secretary for the Colonies, will give some intimation of the task of reconstruction and restoration which the war had imposed on the victors, and the vigor with which it was performed:

"The Terms of Surrender were signed at Pretoria on the 31st May, 1902, but the Civil Government could not really begin to take over the administration of the new Colonies, and especially the country districts, for nearly a month after that date. At Lord Kitchener’s request no attempt was made to enter into possession of those districts until after the surrender of the Commandos, and though that surrender was accomplished with extraordinary celerity and smoothness, something like three weeks elapsed before any Civil officer could even set out for the house or tent, generally a tent, allotted to him in the wilderness which we were about to take over, devoid, as it was, of crops, of stock, of population, and, to a large extent, of habitable dwellings. The period over which this review extends is, therefore, one of about eight months—from the end of June, when the work of restoration commenced, till the end of February. …

"To begin with the Prisoners of War. The Vereeniging Terms entitled something over 33,000 people to be restored to liberty, and if they happened to be burghers imprisoned out side South Africa, to be brought back to their homes as soon as transports could be provided and their means of subsistence assured. Of this large number upwards of 24,000 were in prisoners’ camps in St. Helena, Bermuda, India and Ceylon; upwards of 1,000 were in a prisoners’ camp, at Simons Town, and about 1,200 were prisoners elsewhere in South Africa. Of the rest the great majority had been allowed to live in Concentration Camps, while the balance were on parole in different parts of South Africa and a few in Europe. The principal difficulty in connection with the prisoners was, of course, the bringing back and distribution of the 24,000 odd, who were at prisoners’ camps oversea. …

"The prisoners of war, on their return to South Africa, were, in the first place, with few exceptions, sent to the Concentration Camps of their respective districts, there to rejoin their families, if they had them, and to return together with them to their homes. They thus, in the majority of cases, helped to swell the enormous number of people for whom the Repatriation Departments of the two colonies had to provide the means of transport to their homes, and, as a general rule, the means of subsistence for months after such return, as well as the seeds, instruments and animals necessary to enable them to raise a crop. … In the eight and a half months that we have been at work, we have restored about 200,000 of the old Burgher population in the two Colonies to their homes, including all the inhabitants in the Concentration Camps in the Transvaal, the Orange River Colony, the Cape Colony and Natal, and the Prisoners of War. …

"By hook or by crook we had succeeded by the end of 1902, in enabling the people to sow a fairly large mealie crop, besides a considerable amount of forage, potatoes and other vegetables. The change in the attitude of the farming population, about that time, was very noticeable. The extreme depression which characterised them two or three months earlier had almost completely passed away, and they were looking forward to the future with much more hopefulness. I may say that almost the whole time, even when the outlook was blackest, their attitude towards the Government was not otherwise than a friendly one. They showed, with few exceptions, great patience under hardships, and much energy and resourcefulness in making the best of the small means at their disposal."

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1902-1904. Death of Cecil Rhodes. Survival of his Influence and his Policy. Dr. Jameson, as his representative, made Premier of Cape Colony.

On the 26th of March, 1902, two months before the end of the British-Boer war, Cecil J. Rhodes died at Cape Town, and his death removed the most powerful of the personal influences that would have been reckoned on for determining the results of the war. He had been the master-spirit in South Africa for nearly thirty years. Indications of the part he had taken in the expansion of the British dominion in that part of the world, and in the conflict of British with Dutch ambitions which produced the war, will be found in Volume VI. of this work (see, especially, pages 460-466, 470-471, and 475-477, in that Volume).

Had he lived and been in health there can be no doubt that he would have been a leading actor in the political reconstruction of British South Africa since the war. He had been the Premier of Cape Colony from 1890 to the end of 1895; then his career was clouded by the "Jameson raid" into the Transvaal, and he was forced to resign. But the cloud would have cleared, as it has cleared from Jameson. Indeed, the new career of Dr. Jameson, since 1904, when a general election in Cape Colony brought the party of the Progressives into power, and put the former chief lieutenant of Cecil Rhodes in the place of Sir J. Gordon Sprigg as Prime Minister of the colonial Government, is indicative of the new career that would have opened to Rhodes. It is the Rhodes policy and the Rhodes influence that has prevailed, as was said by Mr. Edward Dicey in an article written at the time:

"When Rhodes’ life came to a sudden and melancholy end, Jameson felt the best way he could show his respect for his dead friend was to carry on the work of his lifetime. Amongst the Progressives there were several public men who, in normal circumstances, might have been selected as leaders of the party, but there was a well-grounded conviction that the man who could best carry on Rhodes’ policy, with the least breach of continuity, was Jameson. Even the few British colonists who had not altogether condoned the Raid, felt that there was no one so qualified to lead the Progressive Party as the author of the Raid. The result was that Jameson was appointed, by acclamation, the political successor of Rhodes. It was under the new leader that the battle of the general election in the Cape Colony has been fought and won. {625} The Progressive majority in the Cape Parliament is small; but, in spite of all disintegrating influences, it may be trusted to hold together till a Redistribution Bill has been passed. When the influence of the Bond was supreme in the Cape Parliament, the electoral divisions were manipulated in such a manner as to give thinly populated, rural constituencies equal representation with that enjoyed by the comparatively densely populated urban constituencies. This arose from the fact that in the country the Dutch settlers outnumbered the British, while in the town the British composed the vast majority of the electorate. The simplest way to rectify this abuse was to remodel the existing electoral system, by making population the basis of representation. This reform, however, was open to the objection that it practically disfranchised a large number of rural constituencies in which the Boers were in a majority. On Jameson being appointed Prime Minister, after Sir Gordon Sprigg’s compulsory retirement, his first step was to introduce a new Redistribution Bill based on a less invidious principle than its predecessor."

_Edward Dicey, The New Cape Premier (Fortnightly Review, April, 1904)._

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1903-1904. The Labor Question. Investigation and opposing Reports by a Commission. Adoption of Ordinance to admit Unskilled Non-European Laborers. Beginning of Importation of Chinese Coolies. The Political Side of the Question. Debate in the British Parliament.

Early in 1903 Lord Milner appointed a Commission to investigate and report on the labor question in South Africa, which is a question between the mining people, who maintain that the needful supply of labor for profitable mine-working is not procurable, at rates which mine-owners can afford, from any other than an Asiatic source, and their opponents who deny the need of bringing either Chinese or East Indian coolies into the mining fields. In November the Labor Commission produced a majority and a minority report, the former agreeing substantially with the mine-owners, the latter in contention with them. The signatures to the majority report were ten in number, the latter were but two. In the discussion of the reports which took place in the Legislative Council of the Transvaal late in the year, one speaker made the statement that he was authorized by General Louis Botha to say that he and all the Dutch he represented were opposed to the introduction of Asiatics. A resolution favoring the introduction of Chinese was adopted in the Council by a vote of 22 to 4.

Ultimately, against the protests of a great majority of the Boer population, an ordinance to regulate the introduction into the Transvaal of unskilled non-European laborers was adopted by the Legislative Council. It applied to males of other races than those indigenous to Africa south of 12 degrees north of the Equator. The ordinance was to be administered by an official superintendent; the laborers were to be brought in by licensed persons only; they were to be employed only in the Witwatersrand district, and only in unskilled labor connected with the production of minerals, and they were to be sent back to the country of their origin, at the expense of their importer, at once on the termination of their contract, which should not be for a longer term than three years, renewable for two more. Provisions as to their treatment, their passport identification, their restricted residence, etc., were very precise and minute. The importation of Chinese coolies under the provisions of this ordinance began in June, 1904. At the end of the year over 20,000 had been brought in.

That the question has its political as well as its industrial side, and is one which concerns democracy no less than labor, is shown in the following: "The political and industrial position of the Rand, and, in some degree of the Transvaal as a whole, is almost unique. The only parallel that comes to mind is that of the town and district of Kimberly. A considerable European community is dependent—on the Rand entirely, throughout the Transvaal very largely—on a single industry for the maintenance of its prosperity. This dependence necessarily places great power in the hands of the small group of men who are the owners, or represent the owners, of the capital by which the industry has been created and is now worked. Their influence is supreme. No law which threatened their interests could be placed on the Statute Book. Men who offer any effective opposition to their wishes—like Mr. Wybergh, the Commissioner of Mines, Mr. Creswell, the manager of the Village Main Reef Mine, Mr. Moneypenny, the editor of the chief Johannesburg newspaper—find it impossible to retain their positions. Two dangers, and two only, threaten the permanency of this supremacy—the Trade Union and the ballot, the combination of the men employed and the possibility of an unsympathetic majority in the legislature when a system of self government is restored. Both these dangers would be increased in degree, and brought nearer in time, by a large and rapid growth of the white population.

"‘If 200,000 native workers were to be replaced by 100,000 whites,’ said Mr. Rudd, one of the directors of the Consolidated Goldfields Company, ‘they would simply hold the Government of the country in the hollow of their hand, and, without any disparagement to the British labourer, I prefer to see the more intellectual section of the community at the helm!’ ‘ With reference to your trial of white labour for surface work on the mines,’ wrote Mr. Tarbutt, another director of the same important company and the chairman of the Village Main Reef Company, in an often-quoted letter to Mr. Creswell, 'I have consulted the Consolidated Goldfields people, and one of the members of the board of the Village Main Reef has consulted Messrs. Wernher, Beit and Co., and the feeling seems to be one of fear that if a large number of white men are employed on the Rand in the position of labourers, the same troubles will arise as are now prevalent in the Australian Colonies, i. e., that the combination of the labouring classes will become so strong as to be able to more or less dictate, not only on questions of wages, but also on political questions, by the power of the votes when a Representative Government is established.’ {626} There have been other declarations of the same tenour; and, indeed, no one who is acquainted with the views that prevail among the circles of South African finance would seek to deny that this dread of a second Australian democracy influencing the political and economic future of the Rand is one of the chief motives that direct the policy of the more far-sighted men among those groups. …

"White labour, coupled with improved mechanical appliances, stands established as the feasible remedy for the admitted shortage in the number of Kaffir workers. To reject it in favour of the introduction of Chinese is a policy which has natural attractions for the owners of the mines. It is a policy which should not have won the support of the representatives of the British people."

_Herbert Samuel, The Chinese Labour Question (Contemporary Review, April, 1904)._

The bringing of Asiatic laborers into the mines was resisted as strenuously in Cape Colony as by the Boer burghers and the non-mining interests in general of the Transvaal. The leading colony addressed a petition on the subject personally to King Edward, saying: "Such an immigration, hampered and restricted as it is proposed to be by stringent regulations, would, even if it were possible to enforce such regulations, which is doubtful, introduce a servile element, alien to the country, destitute of rights, or interests, either in the present or future of South Africa, and worked for the benefit of masters, in many cases non-resident, thus constituting what would practically be a slave state, in close contact with the other free communities of South Africa. Your petitioners feel that the introduction of such a class of labour would place an obstacle in the way of the natural growth alike of European and native elements in the population. …

"Such an importation would decide whether South Africa is in future to constitute one of those great free communities under the British flag, the growth of which shed so much lustre on the reign of your august predecessor, or whether it is to be ranked as a mere plantation worked in the interest and for the benefit of foreign holders. Your petitioners therefore most earnestly pray that your Majesty may be pleased to withhold your sanction from any measure having for its object the importation of Asiatics into South Africa, and by so doing save them and those who may come after them from consequences that will be fatal to their peace and prosperity."

_Parliamentary Papers, 1904 (Cd. 1895), page 133._

Mr. Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, returned to England in March, 1903, from a visit to South Africa, and made an extended statement in Parliament soon afterwards of his observations and his conclusions from what he had seen. On the labor question, then the subject of greatest agitation in South Africa, he stoutly supported the mine-owners in their contention that native labor, and supplies from beyond the Zambesi, to supplement the Kaffir supply, is a necessity of the mining industry; that white labor is impossibly expensive, and that the feeling against the introduction of Asiatic labor seemed invincibly strong. There was not, he maintained, the slightest foundation for the charge that the mine-owners wanted forced labor or slavery in any shape or form, but that they must have cheap labor if the mines were to be worked.

A few days later Lord Lansdowne, the Foreign Secretary, received a deputation from various missionary societies to protest against a proposed exportation of native labor from Central to South Africa. In reply to them he said that the Government had no more in view at present than an experiment with 1000 laborers, who would be taken from British Central Africa to the Rand District of the Transvaal and employed there under regulations very carefully framed. If objectionable results were found the experiment would be carried no farther. This was followed by warm debate on the subject in the House of Commons, where Sir William Harcourt and others denounced the greed of the mining companies, insisting that the mines could not pay fair wages simply because the rich mines were over-capitalized and the low-grade mines had been developed only for sale. Mr. Chamberlain again championed the mine-owners, and defended the policy of the Government, which sought, he said, to promote the general prosperity of the country by getting as many of the mines as possible into working order. The debate had no practical result.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1903-1908. Hostility to British Indian Immigration.

See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: A. D. 1903-1908.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1904. Census of all British South Africa. Whites and Natives.

A general census taken in 1904 showed a total white population in all British South Africa--south of Zambesi—of 1,135,655, and a colored population of 5,169,338. The distribution of this in the several colonies was as follows; Cape Colony, 580,380 white, 1,825,172 colored; the Transvaal and Swaziland, 300,225 white, 1,030,029 colored; Natal, 97,109 white, 1,011,645 colored; Rhodesia, 12,623, white, 593,141 colored; Orange River Colony, 143,419 white, 241,626 colored; Basutoland, 895 white, 347,953 colored; Bechuanaland, 1,004 white, 119,772 colored.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1905. Importation of Chinese Coolies Suspended by orders from London.

The Liberal Ministry in Great Britain, under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, which succeeded the Conservative-Unionist Ministry of Mr. Balfour on the 10th of December, 1905, had been seated but twelve days when a despatch was cabled by Lord Elgin, Secretary for the Colonies, to Lord Selborne, the High Commissioner in South Africa, that "the experiment of the introduction of Chinese laborers should not be extended farther until they could learn the opinion of the colony through an elected and really representative Legislature, and they had accordingly decided that the recruiting, embarking and importation of Chinese coolies should be arrested pending a decision as to the grant of responsible government to the Colony"—that is, the Transvaal.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1905-1907. Fulfillment by the British Government of the Promises of the Treaty of the Vereeniging Treaty. Representative Government restored to the Boer States.

The seventh stipulation in the Vereeniging Treaty of May 81, 1902, which ended the Boer-British War (see above, A. D. 1901-1902), contained the promise, on the part of the British Government, that "military administration in the Transvaal and in the Orange River Colony shall, as soon as possible, be followed by civil government; and, as soon as circumstances permit it, a representative system tending towards autonomy shall be introduced." {627} On the 31st of March, 1905, the first step toward the fulfillment of this pledge was taken, by the issue of letters patent from the crown (without action of Parliament, inasmuch as the Boer States, in the eye of the law, had been under the suzerainty of the British sovereign, had been in revolt, had been subjugated, and were directly subject to the crown, as conquered territory), conferring a Constitution of Civil Government on the Transvaal. It gave popular representation in a legislature of a single chamber, styled the Legislative Assembly. Not exceeding thirty-five of the members of this body were to be elected, and from six to nine others were to be appointed by the High Commissioner of South Africa,—in which office Lord Milner had been succeeded of late by Lord Selborne. Every burgher of the former Transvaal Republic not disqualified by conviction for treason since May 31, 1902, was to be entitled to vote in the election of representatives; and so were all white males of British birth occupying premises at an annual rental of not less than $50, or possessed of capital to the value of $500. The debates in the Assembly were to be in English—not in English or Dutch, like the English or French of the Parliament of Canada; but there is a provision that the Speaker may permit a member to use the Dutch language. No bill passed by the Legislative Assembly which should subject the natives to disabilities or restrictions could become law until it had received the sanction of the Colonial Office in London.

This organization of a partially representative colonial government extended only to the Transvaal. The Orange River Colony remained still under the Crown Colony system, which had been the status hitherto of both the Boer states since the close of the war.

This limited realization of the promise of representative government to the Boers was undoubtedly all that could be expected from the Conservative Ministry in England, which went out of power soon after it had conferred the Transvaal Constitution. Its successors, of the British Liberal party, soon broadened the basis of self-government in the Transvaal, by a new constitutional instrument, which was outlined to Parliament on the 1st of August, and issued December 6th, 1906. This made the legislature a bicameral body, having, for the time being, an upper Council of 15 appointed members, which, however, it was said to be the intention of the Government to extinguish at no distant day. The elective Assembly was to be composed of sixty-nine members, elected by secret ballot for terms of five years. Every adult male of twenty-one years of age who had been a resident for six months, except members of the British garrison, was entitled to vote. The general lines of the old Boer magisterial districts were followed, and, on the basis of the census figures of 1904 the Rand would have 32 members, Pretoria 6, Krugersdorp 1, and the rest of the country 30. The constitution prohibited Chinese contract labor, and no more coolies could be imported into the country after November 15. Either the English or the Dutch language could be used for public business, and naturalization was made easy, but the Boers’ request for woman suffrage was denied.

A Constitution framed on similar lines was given to the Orange River Colony within the same year.

In the first elections for the Transvaal Assembly there were, besides Socialists and labor organizations, three parties engaged in a somewhat embittered contest. "The Progressives are the party of the great mining houses on the Rand; the Nationalist party is composed of British electors opposed to the enormous political influence which the mining houses have hitherto exercised; while the Boers at Johannesburg and Pretoria and in the rural constituencies are organized in Het Volk. There was a coalition between the Nationalists and Het Volk. These two parties united against the Progressives, and adopted as the chief plank in their platform a declaration that the one question on which the election must turn was, ‘Who shall control the Transvaal—the people or the mining houses?’ The Progressives on their part insisted that the question was, ‘Shall the Transvaal be governed by the people of the Transvaal, or from Downing Street?’ They were aggrieved by the action of the British Government in making legislation concerning non-European labor subject to review in London, and in the campaign they made no attempt to conceal their hostility to the Campbell-Bannerman Government. In this way the question of Chinese labor was forced to the front. The Nationalists and Het Volk coalition was successful," and General Lotus Botha, who has been the leading spirit and guiding mind among the Boers since the war ended, became the Prime Minister of the Transvaal Government then organized.

It has been fortunate for the Transvaal, and no less for South Africa at large, that so large-minded and strong a leader of the subjugated race was found for the trying period in which victors and vanquished were to have peace and friendship established between them.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1906-1907. Revolt of the Zulus in Natal. Their Grievances.

An extensive and determined revolt of the Zulus living within the Colony of Natal broke out late in January, 1906, as the consequence of an attempt to collect a poll-tax levied on them by the colonial Parliament. A police sergeant and two or three native policemen were killed in the first melée, and from that time until near the end of the following summer there was war. That it was prosecuted with fierceness, if not actual ferocity, by the whites of the Colony, is made manifest by the fact that about 3500 Zulus are said to have been slain and 2000 taken prisoners. The principal Zulu leader, a chief named Bambaata, was killed in a battle fought in June, and the revolt declined from that time. Sigananda, another chief, was condemned to death, and twelve prisoners, convicted by court-martial of complicity in the original murder of police officers, were executed; while thirty-eight others were sentenced to imprisonment for two years.

A serious question between the colony and the Imperial-Government arose in connection with these military trials. The sentences to death, confirmed by the governor and the Natal ministry, were about to be carried out, when Mr. Winston Churchill, with the approval of Lord Elgin, Colonial Secretary, cabled to the Natal premier ordering the suspension of the execution pending an investigation by the Liberal government, on the contention that the natives should have been tried in a civil court. {628} Premier Smyth refused to obey, but the governor postponed the executions, whereupon the Natal ministry resigned. Much indignation was evident in England, as well as in the colony, against what was regarded as an unwarrantable interference in colonial affairs by the Imperial government. The matter was concluded by Lord Elgin cabling to the governor of Natal that the home government had no intention of interfering in colonial matters, and that, upon the receipt of full information, it recognized the right and competency of the Natal ministry to decide the question at issue.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1907 (April-May). Imperial Conference at London.

See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1908-1909. Formation of the Legislative Union of South Africa. The Framing of the Constitution. Compromise on the Race Question of Franchise. British Imperial Assent. The Royal Proclamation of Union.

Very quickly after the placing of the Boer colonies on a footing of political equality with their English neighbors a fresh desire for South African Union, in which they, who had fought to the death for its prevention only six years before, now shared, began to be earnestly voiced. Its genesis was explained clearly by a correspondent of the London Times of May 24, 1909, who wrote "Economic causes of a special character assisted the process. A great wave of commercial depression, following hard upon the golden expectations of the peace, passed over the whole country, but made itself specially felt in the coast colonies. Here the situation was painful in the extreme. It was a tale of deficit, of retrenchment, of heroic Budgets. But far beyond the rolling hills of the Karoo and the flat tableland of the Orange River there was a wealthy State, a State with a surplus. The Transvaal, possessing in Johannesburg the principal centre of opulence and the chief market for produce, was in a position to exert economic pressure upon colonies whose principal source of revenue was derived from the profits upon their railways and from the sale of their goods to the great city on the high veld. The poorer colonies lived, so to speak, upon the custom of the Transvaal, and were unable to ignore, however much they might dislike, their position of dependence. A rate war or a tariff war between the Transvaal and the coast colonies could hardly end with a victory for Cape Town or Durban, and so by a process of reasoning which was not always pleasantly illustrated the coast colonies came to accommodate themselves to the view that some form of arrangement as to railways and Customs was desirable in their own interests. Other causes contributed to illumine and enlarge the horizon. A Zulu rebellion in Natal brought home the common danger to the white community from native unrest or from mistakes made by a weak colonial Government in its native policy; the grant of responsible government to the two conquered Colonies tended, not only to bring the English and Dutch leaders into habitual communion, but to give to the progressive section of the community a pressing interest in the construction of a Government which should be strong enough to resist the influences of the back veld."

The first action taken to transform the desire for Union into a movement to that end was early in May, 1908, by a convention of officials from the several colonies, assembled at Pretoria to negotiate a new customs agreement and to arrange intercolonial railway rates. The railway situation was nearly, if not quite, the most serious one that brought pressure to bear on some of the colonies, forcing them to seek a union in which conflicts of interest would be overcome. It was a situation which the High Commissioner, Lord Selborne, described briefly, in a review of the many reasons for Union which he addressed to the Governors and Lieutenant-Governors of the several colonies, on the 7th of January, 1907:

"Of all the questions fruitful in divergence of opinion or of interest to the Colonies of South Africa, there is none so pregnant with danger," he wrote, "as the railway question. It is not an exaggeration to say that a field more thickly sown with the seed of future quarrel and strife than the [State-owned] railway systems of South Africa does not exist. As long as the Governments of the five British Colonies in South Africa are wholly separated from, and independent of, each other, their railway interests are not only distinct but absolutely incompatible. There is a competitive struggle between the ports of Cape Colony and of Natal to snatch from each other every ton of goods which can be snatched. The Orange River Colony desires as many tons of goods as possible to be passed to the Transvaal through its territory, but it is to the interest of Cape Colony that no such tons of goods should pass into the Transvaal through the Orange River Colony. … In the same way it is to the interest of Natal to pass the goods consigned to the Transvaal from Durban into the Transvaal at Volksrust, and not at Vereeniging through the Orange River Colony. Thus the interests of Cape Colony, of Natal, and of the Orange River Colony conflict the one with the other. But when it comes to considering the railway interests of the Transvaal, then it will be found that the interest of the Transvaal is diametrically opposed to the interests of Cape Colony, of Natal, and of the Orange River Colony. The Transvaal loses revenue on every ton of goods which enters the Transvaal by any other route than that from Delagoa Bay [on the Portuguese coast]. … If the [Transvaal Government] were as indifferent to the welfare of the three sister Colonies as every State in Europe is to the welfare of every other State, the Transvaal would see that all the trade to the Transvaal came exclusively through Delagoa Bay. And what then would be the position of the railways and the finances of the three sister Colonies and of the ports of Cape Colony and of Natal? This divergence, this conflict of railway interests, this cloud of future strife, would vanish like a foul mist before the sun of South African Federation, but no other force can dissipate it."

That a railway and customs convention should start the action which united the colonies of South Africa happened as logically, therefore, as the happenings which derived the American Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787 from a River and Harbor Convention at Annapolis in 1786.

{629}

The South African Railway convention, before adjourning, adopted a resolution recommending the appointment of delegates from each colony to a convention for the framing of a Constitution of United Government. Cape Colony led off in approving the proposal, followed within a day or two by the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, and a week later by Natal, where the strongest opposition was developed. The apportionment of delegates to the Convention was, for Cape Colony 12, for the Transvaal 8, for Orange River and Natal 5 each. On the 12th of October these delegates assembled at Durban, in Natal, under the presidency of Sir Henry de Villiers and were in session there until the 5th of November, when they adjourned to meet again at Cape Town, November 23. Their labors were not concluded until the 3d of February, 1909, when all differences had been harmonized or compromised and a draft Constitution approved, which every delegate signed that day.

The Constitution was officially published on the 9th of February, with a recommendation that the several Parliaments should meet on March 30 to consider the draft, and that the Convention should meet again in May on a day to be fixed by the president of the Convention and the Premiers in consultation. The final draft to be submitted to the Parliaments in June. Then a committee of delegates appointed by the Governments to proceed to England to facilitate the passing of the Act.

This programme was successfully carried through. Cape Colony and Natal contended for certain amendments to the draft Constitution, but the Transvaal and Orange River colonies approved the instrument and instructed their delegates to support it as a whole. The General Convention was reassembled at Bloemfontein, capital of the Orange River Colony, on the 3d of May, when it discussed the proposed amendments and agreed to eight of them. As thus amended the draft was adopted in June by the parliaments of each of the four colonies, and sent with that endorsement to the Imperial Government for the seal of Sovereign Law. It was followed by an official mission, composed of nineteen members, who represented, as a London journal remarked, "almost the whole of the driving power in South African politics," including, of course, such former antagonists as General Botha and Dr. Jameson, now shoulder to shoulder in powerful leadership of the movement for South African Union.

One feature of the Constitution, as framed by the four colonies and presented for the imperial approval, was profoundly repugnant to English feeling. It was the product of a compromise in the colonial convention, which ran a curious parallel to that in the American constitutional convention of 1787, which gave the Southern States a representation in Congress for their slaves. The question of elective franchises and legislative representation for the colored natives had troubled the South African union-making, just as the slavery question had troubled the American. Cape Colony had conferred the suffrage on its qualified colored citizens, and refused to disfranchise them; the other colonies had disfranchised all races but the white, and refused to allow a possible election from the Cape Colony to the Union Parliament of any other than members of European descent. The necessary compromise which secured the Union left the Cape franchise undisturbed for the present, but exposed to a future chance of being overruled; and it barred all but European humanity from both houses of the general Parliament.

This compromise was opposed with unyielding resolution by a strong party in Cape Colony, led by two former premiers, Mr. W. P. Schreiner and Sir J. Gordon Sprigg. Mr. Schreiner went to England to appeal there to the Imperial Parliament against the sanctioning of these provisions of the proposed Constitution.

Mr. Schreiner found in Great Britain almost universal sympathy with the feeling that he represented. In Parliament and out, it was expressed by all parties; but there went with it a prevailing opinion that the matter in question and the attending circumstances were such that the Imperial Parliament ought not to refuse assent to the action of the colonies. The Prime Minister, Mr. Asquith, set forth the reasoning to this conclusion very clearly and concisely, when, on the 19th of August, he moved, in the House of Commons, the third reading of the South Africa Bill. "I wish," he said, "in submitting this motion to the House, to take the opportunity of putting on record the fact that this Bill, consisting of over 150 clauses and a very complicated schedule, has, after the most careful consideration by this House, been passed without amendment. It would, however, be a totally false impression were it suggested that as regards all provisions of this Bill there is unanimity of opinion in the House. In particular as regards some of the clauses which deal with the treatment of natives—the access of native members to the Legislature—as everybody who has followed the debate can see, there is not only no difference of opinion, but absolute unanimity in the way of regret that those particular provisions should have been inserted in the Bill. I wish before the Bill leaves the Imperial Parliament to make it perfectly clear that we here have exercised, and I think wisely and legitimately exercised, not only restraint of expression, but reserve of judgment in regard to matters of this kind, simply because we desire that this great experiment of establishing free self-government in South Africa should start on the lines and in accordance with the ideas of our fellow-citizens there which they have deliberately and after long consideration come to.

"It is perfectly true that the Imperial Government cannot divest itself of responsibility in this matter. We do not do so. I think that if we have yielded, as we have, on points of detail—on some points on which many of us feel very strongly—to the considered and deliberate judgment of South Africa, it has been because we thought it undesirable at this, the last, stage in the completion of an almost unprecedentedly difficult task to put forward anything that could be an obstacle to the successful working of the Bill. Speaking for myself and the Government, I venture to express not only the hope, but the expectation, that in some of these matters that have been discussed in this House, both on the second reading and in the Committee stage, the views which have been so strongly expressed, and practically without any dissent, will be sympathetically considered by our fellow-citizens in South Africa. {630} For my part I think, as I have said throughout, that it would be far better that any relaxations of what almost all of us regard as unnecessary restrictions upon the electoral rights and eligibility of our native fellow-subjects there should be carried out spontaneously and on the initiative of the South African Parliament rather than that it should appear to be forced on them by the Imperial Parliament here."

The Bill had already passed the House of Lords. It received the royal approval on the 20th of September; and, on the 2d of December, the Union of South Africa was proclaimed, to be of effect on and after the 31st of May, 1910.

Soon after the passage of the Bill, announcement was made that the Prince of Wales would visit South Africa to open the Union Parliament, as he had done on the opening of the Parliament of the Australian Commonwealth, in 1901.

In December it was made known that the Right Honourable Herbert Gladstone would be the first Governor-General of United South Africa.

For the text of the South African Constitution:

See (in this Volume) CONSTITUTION OF THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1909. The Native Protectorates. Their Condition and Circumstances on the Eve of the Inauguration of the Union of South Africa.

"It should not be forgotten that the protectorates are in being to-day not because this particular arrangement of protection was economically necessary or inevitable, nor even because the general relationship of the native tribes of South Africa made it the best that could be devised. The fact is that they came into existence at different times and as definite and probably expedient results of various fortuitous crises in a chaotic native political history, which is at least characteristic of South Africa. …

"To-day the protectorates are to a considerable degree isolated native communities, so far at any rate as they are concerned with any possible united feeling among the other native tribes of South Africa. They are carefully guarded by their responsible officials from interference and possible harm from outside their own territories—that is from taking any considerable interest or partnership in the real or fancied troubles of neighbouring states. They are in a sense—and more than a political sense—inside a ring fence.

"As regards the relationship between the native inhabitants and the white settlers of the several protectorates, there are no striking points of difference. In Basutoland no land is held under white ownership. Such white residents as there are, apart from officials and missionaries, are there as traders and storekeepers. No land rights have been alienated to white men. In the Bechuanaland Protectorate certain areas are held by white men, but at the same time very large areas are reserved entirely for native uses. In Swaziland the relationship was, until a few months ago, upon a very different basis—a position surely unique in the history of the British colonial possessions. I have not space to describe even briefly the extraordinary intricacy of the concessions troubles or the heroic measures found necessary to effect a settlement at once just to the concessionaire and the native. It must be sufficient to say that today about half the area of the country is held in white ownership, while rather more than one-third is reserved for the exclusive use and benefit of the natives. In Zululand certain areas of land are held by whites, but the bulk of land is held in native possession. In each case, however, it is not probable that any more land will be alienated for purposes of sale or settlement by whites. It may be accepted without doubt, I think, that the natives will retain in perpetuity the land they hold at present. It will be seen that the material interests of the natives, at any rate as regards land, have been well guarded in the three protectorates."

_R. T. Coryndon, The Position of the Native Protectorates (The State, South Africa, September, 1909)._

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1909. Introduction of Proportional Representation.

See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: SOUTH AFRICA.

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1909. Native Labor Supplanting the Chinese.

See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: SOUTH AFRICA. A. D. 1909.

----------SOUTH AFRICA: End--------

SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS.

See (in this Volume) American Republics.

SOUTH CAROLINA, and Interstate and West Indian Exposition.

See (in this Volume) CHARLESTON: A. D. 1901.

SPAIN: A. D. 1870-1905. Increase of Population compared with other European Countries.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1870-1905.

SPAIN: A. D. 1898-1906. Gains from the Loss of Cuba and the Philippines. Growth of Close Relations with the Spanish-American States.

"In many a war it has been the vanquished, not the victor, who has carried off the finest spoils. Cuba and the Philippines have been like a tumor in the side of Spain, dragging her down in the race of civilization. They have drained her life-blood and disturbed all her national activities. Only a serious surgical operation could remove this exhausting excrescence; and Spaniards themselves have been the first to recognize that the operation, though painful, was in the highest degree beneficial. Not even the most Quixotic of Spaniards dreams of regaining these lost possessions. The war has been beneficial in at least two different ways. It has had a healthy economic influence, because, besides directing the manhood of Spain into sober industrial channels, it has led to the removal of artificial restrictions in the path of commercial activity. It has been advantageous morally, because it has forced even the most narrow and ignorant Spaniard to face the actual facts of the modern world.

"The war has had a further result in leading to a movement, for a closer sympathy between Spain and the Spanish states of South America. The attitude of these states towards the mother country has hitherto been somewhat unsympathetic; they have regarded her as hopelessly opposed to all reform; the hostility of Spain to the aspirations of Cuba and their own earlier struggles for freedom amply accounted for such an attitude. Now there is nothing to stand in the way of a movement towards approximation which has already begun to manifest itself, and may ultimately possess a serious significance."

_Havelock Ellis, The Spirit of Present-Day Spain (Atlantic Monthly, December, 1900)._

{631}

"Thoughtful Spaniards will tell you that a change has come over their country with the close of last century, and that this change has been developing since the accession of their young King. The starting-point of this evolution in national life was the close of the short struggle with the United States and the loss of what remained of their colonial empire. That turning-point in the modern annals of Spain caused a deep impression in the minds, not only of the governing classes of the country, but of the hard-working middle classes and of the masses themselves. … Almost immediately after conclusion of the peace treaty, first a few and then more and more Spaniards dared to speak out what at heart they felt, however sore and resentful—namely, that foreign and colonial foes had rendered Spain a service by ridding her of the colonies that hampered her revival in Europe and in fields of action and enterprise nearer home. This feeling spread widely among the masses and middle classes when they perceived the first-fruits of the concentration of the resources and energies of the nation in Spain between 1899 and 1905. Much capital had flowed back from the former colonies, especially from Cuba and the Philippines, and promoted a rapid increase in enterprises of every kind—banks, financial establishments, mines, industries, syndicates, trusts, shipping-interests that, developing, perhaps, too rapidly, were led to overproduction, and thus gave rise to local crises at Bilbao, Barcelona, Santander, Cadiz, Malaga. The rebound of the last year of the nineteenth century and of the first few years of the twentieth was a consequence also of the recovery of Spanish credit, effected by a vigorous reorganization of Spanish finance and budgets by the late Señor Villaverde, and by the gallant resolution with which Governments and Parliaments, backed by the press and public opinion, undertook to honor both the domestic engagements of Spain herself, and the engagements that resulted from saddling her treasury and budget with the debts of Cuba and the Philippines, and with the cost of the last and previous civil wars in the lost colonies. The restoration of Spain’s credit abroad and at home, the successful levelling of her budgets with a surplus revenue annually of several millions of dollars since 1900, dispelled the fears of her native capitalists; and they too, large and small, came forward to invest in mines, banks, companies and railways."

_World-Politics (North American Review, November, 1905)._

SPAIN: A. D. 1901-1904. Four Years of Political Shuffling in the Government. End of the Queen Dowager Regency. Coronation of the Young King, Alfonso XIII. Death of Sagasta.

A New Ministry, of Liberals, was formed in March, 1901, with the veteran leader, Praxedes Mateo Sagasta, at its head; but the military party was represented in the Government by General Weyler, as Secretary for War. Measures undertaken by the Government against unauthorized religious orders, to bring them under surveillance, gave rise to anti-clerical disturbances in some parts of the Kingdom, and were defiantly opposed by the Church. Legislative elections held in June gave the Government 280 seats, leaving but 70 to the Opposition; but any party controlling the conduct of elections in Spain was said to be able to secure whatever majority it desired.

The general condition of confusion and disturbance was continued in 1902, and constant recourse was had, in one region or another, to declarations of a "state of siege," involving martial law. General Weyler fought a battle of a week’s duration in February at Barcelona, with rioting consequent on a general strike.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: SPAIN.

On the 17th of May, his sixteenth birthday, Alfonso XIII., whose father, Alfonso XII., died before he was born, and who, consequently, had been, nominally and constitutionally, King of Spain since his birth, entered on the actual exercise of royal functions. He was crowned that day, and the regency of his mother came to an end. The coronation ceremonies were splendid; the oath taken by the young King was very simple: "I swear by God upon the Holy Bible to maintain the constitution and laws. If so I do, may God regard me; if I do not, may he call me to account." There is reason to believe that he took this oath with a serious sense of the responsibilities he assumed; but influences at Court, military, clerical, and otherwise reactionary, were stronger than the influence of his constitutional advisers for a few years, and the political distractions of the time were increased. The attempted action of Government against unauthorized religious orders ended in a compromise which gave authorization to every order demanding it.

On the 3d of December, 1902, Sagasta and his Cabinet resigned, and a Conservative Ministry, under Señor Silvela, was formed. On the 5th of January following Sagasta died. The liberalism he represented had no substantial unity left, nor were the opposing groups in a condition to give more consistency or strength to the Government. A new Ministry under Senor Villaverde succeeded that of Silvela in May, and was succeeded in turn by another in December, with Señor Maura at its head. Premier Maura, formerly of Sagasta’s party, but latterly more Conservative, held the reins for a full year, escaping two attempted assassinations in 1904, and giving place to General Azcarraga on the 14th of December in that year. The General was less fortunate, for he enjoyed the honors of the prime ministry but six weeks.

SPAIN: A. D. 1903. Agreement for Settlement of Claims against Venezuela.

See (in this Volume) VENEZUELA: A. D. 1902-1904.

SPAIN: A. D. 1904 (April). Declarations of England and France touching Spanish interests in Morocco.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1904 (APRIL).

SPAIN: A. D. 1905-1906. Unsatisfactory State of the Kingdom. Rapid Succession of Changes in the Government. Disorders in Catalonia. The King’s Marriage. Attempted Assassination of the King. Proposed Anti-Clerical Law, which came to naught.

In the character of its political parties, in the condition of its finances and in the general circumstances of the country, Spain appeared to be in an increasingly unsatisfactory state. Four changes of Ministry occurred within the year 1905, and no Government was found able to project any policy that promised permanency and definiteness of line. {632} Don Ramon Villaverde succeeded General Azcarraga as Premier in January, and was succeeded in the following June by Don E. Montero Rios, who had Don Jose Echegaray, the eminent poet, dramatist, novelist, and banker, for his Minister of Finance. In turn, Señor Montero Rios, after a reconstruction of his Cabinet in October with the help of the King, gave way at the end of November to Señor Moret. The Azcarraga and Villaverde Ministries had been Conservative; those of Montero Rios and Moret were of the Liberal type. The Parliament, which should have been convened early in the year, but was not called together until the middle of June, contained no majority which any Ministry could trust, and all the leaders in Spanish politics were afraid of it. Fresh elections in September gave the Montero Rios Ministry a decided majority; but it had quarrels within itself, and threatening disorders had arisen in many parts of the country, especially in half-rebellious Catalonia, which it seems to have lacked courage to face. An arrogant, insubordinate temper had been developed among the officers of the army, who disputed the supremacy of civil over military authority; and in many ways the conditions in the kingdom gave cause for grave anxiety to thoughtful minds.

Not much, if any, quieting of the disturbed conditions in Spain came during the next year. The Government stooped to a compromise with the insolent military faction, so far as to allow press offenses against officers of the army to be dealt with by courts-martial. On the 31st of May, 1906, King Alfonso was married to the English Princess Ena of Battenberg, who previously entered the Roman Catholic Church, much to the disturbance of Protestant feeling in England. The wedding festivities at Madrid were nearly made tragical by an anarchist attempt to kill the royal pair. As they returned from the marriage ceremony to the palace a wretch named Matteo Morales threw a bomb into the midst of the procession of carriages, killing a number of attendant people, but missing those for whom it was intended. The coolness and readiness of mind shown by the young king, and by his bride, excited general admiration, and indicated a strength of character that augured well for Spain.

In July the Moret Ministry found it expedient to resign, and the administration of Government passed to a new Cabinet, under Captain-General Lopez Dominguez. Then a strange change of attitude toward the Church of Rome was given for a brief time to the Spanish Government, as though it had caught the temper of France. There had been signs of a disposition toward some independence of secular policy a few years before, when the strenuous opposition of the Church failed to prevent the passage of a Spanish law which authorized civil marriage between persons legally qualified, whatever their creed might be. The Church continued its hostility to this law until it succeeded, in 1900, in securing an amendment which restricted the right of civil marriage to parties one of whom should not be a Catholic. Public opinion does not seem to have approved that concession, and the original provisions of the law were now restored. This drew on the Government a fierce clerical attack; in the face of which it brought forward, in October, a project of law which seems to have been modelled very closely on that French Associations Law, of 1901, by which all religious orders, along with other associations, were brought under surveillance and regulation by the State.

See in Volume VI. of this work, FRANCE: A. D. 1901, and, in this Volume, FRANCE: A. D. 1903.

This Spanish measure proposed to allow no religious order to be established in the kingdom without parliamentary authorization. It would empower the Government to withdraw the authorization of any order or association that it found dangerous to public tranquility or morals; it would permit any member of an order to renounce his or her vows; it would dissolve any order whose members were foreigners or whose directors lived abroad; it would command monasteries and convents to open their doors to representatives of the proper civil authority at any time; it would limit the property held by religious orders to the need of the objects for which they were instituted and put a limit on the gifts and bequests they could receive.

This seemed an extraordinary measure to come even under discussion in Spain. Some of the Liberal leaders were prompt in declaring opposition to it, and its passage through the Cortes was probably impossible; but it came to no vote. Debate on it, opened on the 27th of November, was brought soon to an abrupt and not well-explained end. The Prime Minister resigned suddenly, in consequence of alleged intrigues; Señor Moret, recalled to office, was forced to retire again almost at once; a new Ministry was formed by the Marquis Vega de Armijo, and nothing more appears to have been heard of the proposed Associations Law.

SPAIN: A. D. 1906. At the Algeciras Conference on the Morocco question.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906.

SPAIN: A. D. 1907. Franco-Spanish Bombardment of Casablanca.

See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1907-1909.

SPAIN: A. D. 1907-1909. The Maura Conservative Ministry. Unpopularity of the War in Morocco. Insurgency in Barcelona. The Ferrer Case. The Moret Ministry. Municipal Reform. Present Parties.

The Ministry of Marquis Armijo de la Vega held the Government little more than a month, giving way to Señor Maura and his party, who returned to power in January, 1907. Five changes of administration had occurred within a year and a half. Elections in April yielded the Government a majority, and the birth of an heir to the throne on the 10th of May gave much satisfaction to the country. The Liberals, however, were so indignant at the manipulation of the elections to the lower chamber that, on the advice of their leader, Señor Moret, they took no part in the senatorial elections which followed, later in May; and this proved singularly embarrassing to the Government. Bomb explosions and other anarchist outrages, centering in Barcelona, but not confined to that turbulent city, were being dreadfully increased, and a ministerial Bill was brought before the Cortes in January, 1908, providing measures of suppression so drastic, especially in its dealing with the Press, that a most formidable opposition was stirred up. The Government stood stoutly by the Bill for months, until its control of the Cortes was shaken by the coalition that took form against it. {633} In the end it withdrew the Anarchist Bill, but raised another obstinate and threatening storm by the proposal of a Local Administration Bill, quite startlingly revolutionary in its plans for giving more independence to municipalities and provincial councils. Contest over this Bill went on till early in February, 1909, when Premier Maura came to an understanding with Señor Moret, leader of one of the Liberal groups, which enabled a part of the extensive measure, relating to municipalities, to be passed. Among other things, this new enactment made voting in the municipalities compulsory, and elections held since are reported to have shown a heavy increase of vote, proving effectiveness in the law. The other section of the Bill, dealing with provincial councils, was held over for subsequent action in the Cortes, and had not been disposed of when Premier Maura and his Cabinet were driven to resign, in October, 1909.

The causes of the overthrow of the Maura Ministry came primarily from the serious war with the tribesmen of the Riff, Morocco, into which Spain had been drawn in the midsummer of 1909.

See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1909).

The war was exceedingly unpopular from the beginning, and made more so by early reverses in its prosecution. Riotous outbreaks and labor strikes occurred in several parts of the Kingdom, but most fiercely at the turbulent city of Barcelona, where they were suppressed with a severity which embittered feeling against the Government. This feeling was excited to a climax in October by the military trial and execution, at Barcelona, of Professor Francisco Ferrer. Professor Ferrer was a teacher of high standing and wide acquaintance in Europe, extremely radical in his political opinions, and accused of disseminating seditious doctrines in the school which he conducted at Barcelona. The military authorities there put him under arrest on the charge of having been a principal instigator of the revolutionary rising in July. He was tried by court-martial, without just opportunity for defence, according to common belief, and summarily shot, the Government disregarding many appeals from all parts of Europe for its intervention in the case. An extraordinary excitement throughout the world was produced by this tragedy, and it was felt in Spain with reverberant effect. After violent speeches in the Chamber of Deputies, October 20, Señor Maura felt it necessary to resign, and the Liberal leader, Señor Moret y Prendergast, was called by the King to take the Government in hand.

The Moret Ministry made a speedy good beginning in domestic policy, by reviving, in some degree, the further undertaking of reform in local administration which Señor Maura had attempted two years before. This was now done by a decree, designed to clear away the mass of ordinances and special decrees by which the existing municipal law has been gradually choked since it was enacted in 1877, and to restore to municipal bodies the liberty and initiative that they were originally supposed to possess. Señor Moret and his party had supported Premier Maura’s Local Administration Bill in 1907; but it had been opposed and defeated by the class of politicians who are trained to a distaste for any sort of political reform. According to all accounts, the Moret Ministry, with a much mixed and uncertain support in the Cortes, has thus far done well.

Municipal elections were held throughout Spain December 12, and the introduction of compulsory voting brought out an unprecedented vote, from which the Republicans and Liberals drew most. Altogether, there are said to have been chosen 481 Republicans, Liberals, and Democrats, 253 Conservatives, and over a hundred Radicals of various shades. Madrid elected 12 Republican councillors, 2 Liberals, 1 Democrat, and 7 Conservatives, thus giving the Republicans an absolute majority. Valencia chose 15 Republicans, against 10 of all other parties. In Valladolid, 12 Liberals, 6 Republicans, and 3 Conservatives were elected; in La Coruña, 7 Republicans, 3 Liberals, and 3 others; in Córdoba, 10 Republicans, 6 Liberals, and 6 Conservatives.

In present politics the Republicans are said to have gone into alliance with the Socialist or Labor party; the alliance having its leader in a Señor Lerroux, of Barcelona, who returned lately from a long political exile, and who has had warm receptions in a number of the chief cities, where he made stirring speeches. "Señor Lerroux," says a correspondent, writing from Madrid in December, "preaches neither anarchism nor atheism nor anti-militarism. But he asks for the abolition of the Monarchy and of the religious orders. He would make the army the humble servant of the State, promote lay education and local autonomy, and do away with indirect taxation. And he looks for the realization of this programme to a well-timed revolution. Such are the ideas with which the bulk of the Republican-Socialist coalition will go to the polls at the next general election. Between these two extremes—the Conservatives, representing the Monarchy, the aristocracy, and the Church, and the Republican-Socialist alliance, representing revolution—we see the present Government balancing itself uneasily, with a foot in each camp, amenable to pressure from both, and without any independent means of support, save that which it enjoys in virtue of its temporary control of the political machine."

----------SPAIN: End--------

SPALDING, Bishop John L.: On the Anthracite Coal Strike Arbitration Commission.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902-1903.

SPANISH AMERICA: A. D. 1906. Growth of Close Relations with Spain.

See (in this Volume) SPAIN: A. D. 1898-1906.

SPERRY, Rear-Admiral Charles S.: Commissioner Plenipotentiary to the Second Peace Conference.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.

SPERRY, Rear-Admiral Charles S.: Commanding the American Battleship Fleet.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL.

SPHAKIANAKIS, Dr.

See (in this Volume) CRETE: A. D. 1905-1906.

SPIERS, Bishop: Murder of.

See (in this Volume) AFRICA: A. D. 1905.

{634}

SPITZBERGEN CONFERENCE.

"The Norwegian government, by a note addressed on January 26, 1909, to the Department of State, conveyed an invitation to the government of the United States to take part in a conference which, it is understood, will be held in February or March, 1910, for the purpose of devising means to remedy existing conditions in the Spitzbergen Islands. This invitation was conveyed under the reservation that the question of altering the status of the islands as countries belonging to no particular State, and as equally open to the citizens and subjects of all States, should not be raised.

"The European Powers invited to this conference by the government of Norway were Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

"The Department of State, in view of proofs filed with it in 1906, showing the American possession, occupation, and working of certain coal-bearing lands in Spitzbergen, accepted the invitation under the reservation above stated, and under the further reservation that all interests in those islands already vested should be protected, and that there should be equality of opportunity for the future. It was further pointed out that membership in the conference on the part of the United States was qualified by the consideration that this government would not become a signatory to any conventional arrangement concluded by the European members of the Conference which would imply contributory participation by the United States in any obligation or responsibility for the enforcement of any scheme of administration which might be devised by the conference for the islands."

Message of the President of the United States to Congress, December 6, 1909.

SPOILS SYSTEM: Cause of Corruption in the United States Customs Service.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER).

See (in this Volume) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.

SPRECKELS, Rudolph.

See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: SAN FRANCISCO.

SPRIGGS, SIR J. GORDON.

See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1902-1904.

SPRIGGS, SIR J. GORDON. Opposition to the Disfranchisement of Blacks in South Africa.

See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1908-1909.

SPRING-RICE, SIR C.: British Minister to Persia.

See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1907 (JANUARY-SEPTEMBER).

STACKELBERG, General.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY), and after.

STANDARD OIL COMPANY: Suit by the Government for its Dissolution. Decree of the U. S. Circuit Court. Appeal to the Supreme Court.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906-1909.

STATE LEGISLATION, Need of Unity in.

See (in this Volume) LAW AND ITS COURTS: UNITED STATES.

"STATE RIGHTS": The question in Australia.

See (in this Volume) AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1902.

STEUNENBERG, EX-GOVERNOR FRANK, OF IDAHO: His assassination.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1899-1907.

STEVENS, DURHAM WHITE: Adviser to the Korean Foreign Office, by Japanese Selection. His assassination.

See (in this Volume) KOREA; A. D. 1905-1909.

STEVENS, JOHN L.: Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal.

See (in this Volume) PANAMA CANAL: A. D. 1905 and 1905-1909.

STEYN, PRESIDENT M. T.

See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1901-1902.

STOCK EXCHANGE, NEW YORK: Report on its Operations.

See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909.

STOCKHOLM: A. D. 1909. Lockout and attempted General Strike.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: SWEDEN.

STOLYPIN, P. A.: Premier of the Russian Government.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1906, 1907, and after.

STONE, ELLEN M.: Capture by Brigands in Turkey and Ransom paid for Release.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1901-1902.

STÖSSEL, GENERAL.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY); (FEBRUARY-AUGUST), and A. D. 1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY).

STRAUS, OSCAR S.: Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1909.

STRAUS, OSCAR S.: On the Chinese Exclusion Laws and their Administration.

See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1908.

STRIKE, A GENERAL: THE IDEA OF IT.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1884-1909.

STRIKES.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION.

STUNDISTS, POLITICAL IDEAS OF THE.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1902.

SUBMARINE SIGNAL BELLS.

See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION: SUBMARINE SIGNAL BELLS.

SUBWAYS, NEW YORK.

See (in this Volume) NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1900-1909.

SUCCESSION DUTIES: Treaty concerning, between England and France.

See (in this Volume) DEATH DUTIES.

SUGAR TRUST, THE FRAUDS OF THE.

See (in this Volume) Combinations, Industrial, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907-1909, and 1909.

SUDAN, THE WESTERN: A. D. 1903. English Ascendancy established in Nigeria.

See (in this Volume) AFRICA: A. D. 1903 (NIGERIA).

SUDAN, THE WESTERN: A. D. 1907. Great Changes wrought in Ten Years. The new Khartoum.

"After Khartoum had fallen the palace was looted and demolished, but on its ruins another stately pile has arisen wherein Gordon’s memory is kept green by a tablet marking the fatal spot where on the 26th of January, 1885, he was done to death. And even as a new palace sprang up on the ashes of the old, so likewise after a thorough clearing away of the ruins of Gordon’s city, a new Khartoum has been planned and built on the ancient site. This new city lies at an altitude of 1263 feet above sea level, has a moderate yearly rainfall of but some forty inches, and a mean annual temperature of 84° Fahrenheit; by water it is 1560 miles from the source of the Nile at Ripon Falls, and 1920 miles from the Rosetta mouth of that fertilising river. Slowly but surely vaccination is reducing the small-pox mortality among the Soudanese; the old mosquito-breeding pools have been filled up, and the mosquito brigade is still doing good work. Thus the new Khartoum may be said to enjoy a fairly salubrious climate, which, moreover, should yearly become more and more healthy. …

{635}

"South of Khartoum proper, across the desert race-course and golf-links, and hard by what remains of Gordon’s fortifications, dwell, each in their own settlement with its distinctive huts, the divers native tribes who make up the city’s indigenous population. Probably the new Khartoum of to-day, with Omdurman and the near villages, totals nearly one hundred thousand souls, and, considering that its geographical situation so admirably adapts itself to fostering the expansion of trade, I venture to predict that in another fifty years Khartoum will contain half a million inhabitants. …

"The material condition of the people is improving; indeed, it is already prosperous. For the first time in their history the Soudanese are an absolutely free people, living under a Government anxious to protect them from injustice and to promote their welfare; it is hard for stay-at-home Britishers to realise adequately how far-reaching is this change in a land ‘where slavery in one form or another has been for thousands of years a permanent and universal institution.’ …

"To Lord Cromer’s wise counsel and untiring efforts the new Soudan owes much, and in 1901 the Shillook and Dinka representatives fully recognised this, when, using for the simple ceremony a sort of dark green fez, they crowned him their king. In the name of his own great Sovereign, whose ensign holds sway on every continent and on all known seas, his Lordship promised that the sacred law of Islam shall be respected; and the very remarkable agreement of the 19th of January, 1899, gave to this hitherto down trodden people their Magna Charta, for Article II. stipulates that ‘the British and Egyptian flags shall be used together, both on land and water, throughout the Soudan.’"

_W. F. Miéville, The New Khartoum (Nineteenth Century, January, 1908)._

SUEZ CANAL: Renewed Agreements between England and France.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1904 (APRIL).

SUFFRAGE, Political.

See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.

SUFFRAGETTES.

See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

SUGAR-BOUNTY CONFERENCE, AND CONVENTION.

As the result of a Conference, at Brussels, in which Germany, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway were represented, a Convention was framed and signed March 5, 1902, the occasion for which is set forth in these words:

"Desiring, on one hand, to equalize the conditions of competition between beet and cane sugars from different sources, and, on the other hand, to promote the development of the consumption of sugar; considering that this double result can only be attained by the suppression of bounties as well as by limiting the surtax"—the high contracting parties concluded a convention, the first article of which binds them as follows:

"to suppress the direct and indirect bounties by which the production or export of sugar may benefit, and they agree not to establish bounties of this kind during the whole duration of the said convention. In view of the execution of this provision, sweetmeats, chocolates, biscuits, condensed milk, and all other analogous products which contain in a notable proportion sugar artificially incorporated, are to be classed as sugar. The above paragraph applies to all advantages resulting directly or indirectly, for the different categories of producers, from the fiscal legislation of the States, notably:

(a) The direct bounties granted to exports.

(b) The direct bounties granted to production,

(c) The total or partial exemptions from taxation granted for a part of the manufactured output.

(d) The profits derived from surplusages of output,

(e) The profits derived from the exaggeration of the drawback.

(f) The advantages derived from any surtax in excess of the rate fixed" in a subsequent article.

Further articles elaborate the programme of measures for carrying out this agreement. It was to come into force from September 1, 1903; to remain in force during five years from that date, and if none of the high contracting parties should have notified the Belgium Government, twelve months after the expiration of the said period of five years, of its intention to have its effects cease, it should continue for one year, and so on from year to year.

Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, page 80.

Under this Convention, a Permanent Commission was established at Brussels. In July, 1907, this Commission gave attention to a suggestion from the Government of Great Britain, "to the effect that if Great Britain could be relieved from the obligation to enforce the penal provisions of the Convention they would be prepared not to give notice on the first of September next of their intention to withdraw on the 1st of September, 1908, a notice which they would otherwise feel bound to give at the appointed time." The ensuing discussion and correspondence resulted in the signing, on the 28th of August, 1907, of "An Additional Act to the Sugar Convention of March 5, 1902," renewing it for a fresh period of five years from September 1, 1908, with the privilege to any one of the contracting parties to withdraw after September 1, 1911, on one year’s notice, "if the Permanent Commission, at the last meeting held before the 1st September, 1910, have decided by a majority of votes that circumstances warrant such power being granted to the contracting States. The request of Great Britain was granted in the following article of the Additional Act:

"Notwithstanding Article I, Great Britain will be relieved, after the 1st September, 1908. from the obligation contained in Article IV of the Convention. After the same date the Contracting States may demand that, in order to enjoy the benefit of the Convention, sugar refined in the United Kingdom and thence exported to their territories shall be accompanied by a certificate stating that none of this sugar comes from a country recognized by the Permanent Commission as granting bounties for the production or exportation of sugar."

_Parliamentary Papers, 1907, Commercial, Number 10 (Cd. 3780)._

SULLY-PRUDHOMME, RENÉ FRANÇOIS ARMAND.

See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES.

SULTAN AHMED MIRZA, The young Shah of Persia.

See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1908-1909.

SUMATRA: A. D. 1909 (June). Earthquake in Upper Padang.

See (in this Volume) EARTHQUAKES: SUMATRA.

{636}

SUNDAY OBSERVANCE: Legal institution of a weekly Rest Day. Recent Legislation in Europe. The Canadian Lord’s Day.

A British Parliamentary Paper, published in the spring of 1909, gave information, gathered by the diplomatic representatives of the Government, relative to legislation in many foreign countries bearing on the observance of Sunday, or otherwise prescribing a weekly Day of Rest. The facts presented in these reports were discussed editorially by the London Times in an article from which the following is quoted.

"Within quite recent years the principle of the weekly rest-day has been enforced, with various practical modifications, in most of the chief Continental countries. It forms, indeed, a striking vindication of the claim for the observance of one day’s rest in seven—which was recognized among Eastern races long before the days of Moses—that while Sunday work has shown a regrettable, if in some ways scarcely avoidable, tendency to increase in this country, steps to restrict it have been widely taken elsewhere. While the English Sunday has been becoming in some respects more ‘Continental,’ the actual Continental Sunday has shown a distinct tendency to approximate to our own. … The review provided by the present report of the legislation already in force in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, and other leading industrial States gives plenty of examples of the way in which the general principle of making Sunday a day of rest has been accommodated to the necessities of a modern community. The case of France is particularly interesting, since the French method of observing Sunday has traditionally provided the English public with the most familiar contrast with its own. In France the law establishing a statutory weekly day of rest, and making that day Sunday, was passed so recently as in 1906. In common with the similar legislation passed in other countries, it allows partial and carefully regulated exceptions, to provide for the necessary sale of food, and for such uninterrupted attention as is required, for example, by foundries. But the application of the law is both thorough and extensive, while supplementary legislation is to be introduced, with the support of the Government, to extend its benefits to all servants of the State and to all other workers on railways, tramlines, and steamboat services who do not already enjoy it. On the other hand, while the report bears decided witness to the efficiency and success with which the law has been enforced, it notes certain points on which concession is being made by the Government in deference to the strong demands of certain interests which claimed that they were being unjustly sacrificed. …

"The law seems at first to have aroused opposition among many shopkeepers, especially those who were handicapped by competition with rivals whose business was carried on by members of the family, and therefore was not affected by it. … The difficulty is now said to be settling itself, as the public is gradually learning to restrict its shopping to week-days, when there is a wider field of choice. The encouraging evidence provided by the operation of the law of 1906 in France is supported more or less explicitly by the reports forwarded by His Majesty’s representatives in other parts of Europe. The aim and method of the various enactments show a prevailing similarity, and where they have already been sufficiently long in operation for a fair estimate to be made, their success seems to be recognized with but few exceptions. Material is not available in every case for forming a full opinion of the completeness with which the law of rest has been enforced. In Vienna, however, it is expressly reported that its administration is effective; and although no such statement is expressly made in the case of Germany, it appears improbable that the regulations, though less stringent than those of some other States, are lightly disregarded."

The Canadian "Lord’s Day Act" of 1906 is a measure of much stringency. Making numerous well-defined and carefully guarded exceptions for "works of necessity and mercy," and for such railway service as is subject to provincial regulation, the prohibitions of the Act include the following:

"To sell or offer for sale or purchase any goods, chattels, or other personal property, or any real estate, or to carry on or transact any business of his ordinary calling, or in connection with such calling, or for gain to do, or employ any other person to do, on that day, any work, business, or labour." "To require any employee engaged in any work of receiving, transmitting, or delivering telegraph or telephone messages, or in the work of any industrial process, or in connection with transportation, to do on the Lord’s Day the usual work of his ordinary calling, unless such employee is allowed during the next six days of such week twenty-four consecutive hours without labour." "To engage in any public game or contest for gain, or for any prize or reward, or to be present thereat, or to provide, engage in, or be present at any performance or public meeting, elsewhere than in a church, at which any fee is charged, directly or indirectly." "To run, conduct, or convey by any mode of conveyance any excursion on which passengers are conveyed for hire, and having for its principal or only object the carriage on that day of such passengers for amusement or pleasure." "To shoot with or use any gun, rifle or other similar engine, either for gain, or in such a manner or in such places as to disturb other persons in attendance at public worship or in the observance of that day." "To bring into Canada for sale or distribution, or to sell or distribute within Canada, on the Lord’s Day, any foreign newspaper or publication classified as a newspaper."

----------SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Start--------

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Summary of Decisions (1901-1906) touching the Governmental Regulation of Corporations.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1906.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Decision in the Case of the Trans-Missouri Freight Association.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1890-1902.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: On Constitutionality of Utah Law restricting Hours of Adult Labor in Mines.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the Northern Securities Case.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D). 1901-1905.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the "Beef Trust" Cases, so-called.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903-1906.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: On Interstate Commerce Act of 1887.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1870-1908.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Limiting Police Power to regulate Hours of Labor.

See (in this Volume) LABOR PROTECTION: HOURS OF LABOR.

{637}

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the Tobacco Trust Case of Hale vs. Henkel.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1906.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Concerning the Isle of Pines.

See (in this Volume) CUBA: A. D. 1907 (APRIL).

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Case of Virginia Railroads vs. the State Corporation Commission of Virginia.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (NOVEMBER).

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: On the Constitutionality of the "Commodities Clause" of the Hepburn Act.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906-1909.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: On the Right of a State to Specially Limit the Hours of Labor for Women.

See (in this Volume) LABOR PROTECTION: HOURS OF LABOR.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Limiting State Authority in matters touching Interstate Commerce.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907-1908.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: On Law against Rebating in Armour Packing Company Case.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Invalidating Debts to an Illegal Combination.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Affirming Fines on the New York Central Railroad Company.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909.

----------SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: End--------

SUTTNER, BARONESS BERTHA VON.

See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES.

SWADESHI MOVEMENT.

See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1905-1909.

SWALLOW, SILAS E.: Nomination for President of the United States.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904 (MARCH-NOVEMBER).

SWARAJ. The Hindu term for self government.

SWAZILAND.

See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1909.

"SWEATING," ENGLISH ACT TO SUPPRESS. The Trade Boards Bill.

See (in this Volume) LABOR REMUNERATION: WAGES REGULATION.

----------SWEDEN: Start--------

SWEDEN: A. D. 1901. Unveiling of Monument to John Ericsson. The Nobel Prizes. The First Awarding of them.

A monument to the memory of John Ericsson, the Swedish-American inventor, was unveiled at Stockholm with impressive ceremonies on the 14th of September, 1901, that being the date of the reception of his remains at Stockholm eleven years before.

The first award of the munificent prizes for beneficial services to mankind, instituted by the will of Alfred Bernard Nobel, the eminent Swedish engineer and inventor, was made on the 10th of December, 1901.

See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES.

SWEDEN: A. D. 1903. Agreement for Settlement of Claims against Venezuela.

See (in this Volume) VENEZUELA: A. D. 1902-1904.

SWEDEN: A. D. 1905. Secession of Norway from the Union of Crowns. Acceptance by King Oscar of his Practical Deposition.

See (in this Volume) NORWAY: A. D. 1902-1905.

SWEDEN: A. D. 1906. At the Algeciras Conference on the Morocco Question.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906.

SWEDEN: A. D. 1908. Municipal Office opened to Women.

See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

SWEDEN: A. D. 1908 (April). Treaty with Denmark, England, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, for maintenance of the Status Quo on the North Sea.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1907-1908.

SWEDEN: A. D. 1909. Franchise Reform Legislation.

During many successive years, earnest attempts by the Swedish Government, strongly backed by liberal majorities in the Second or popular Chamber of the Riksdag, to answer the public demand for a broadening of the suffrage, were defeated in the First Chamber, whose members are elected by the provincial Landstings and by municipal corporations. Success was not attained until 1909, when a Franchise Reform Bill, establishing universal suffrage and proportional representation, was passed by the Riksdag on the 10th of February, by larger majorities. According to a Press report from Stockholm, "the leader of the Liberals declared in the Lower House that, though his party had originally opposed it, they would now vote for the Bill, as the country demanded a solution of this long pending question. The Social Democrats and a few extremists of the Liberal party voted against it, considering it unacceptable in principle and inadequate because it excluded female suffrage. In the Upper House the Bill was opposed by a few uncompromising Conservatives, to whom it seemed too democratic."

SWEDEN: A. D. 1909. Lockout and Attempted General Strike.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: SWEDEN.

SWEDEN: A. D. 1909 (October). Arbitration of Frontier Dispute with Norway.

See (in this Volume) NORWAY: A. D. 1909 (OCTOBER).

----------SWEDEN: End--------

SWIFT & COMPANY et al., THE CASE OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903-1906.

SWITZERLAND: Backwardness of Woman Suffrage.

See (in this Volume) ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1870-1905. Increase of Population compared with other European Countries.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1870-1905.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1902. General Election.

The general election, in October, of representatives in the Federal Assembly, returned 97 Radicals, 35 Catholic Conservatives, 25 Moderate Liberals, 9 Socialists, and 1 Independent, being a total of 167. The previous Chamber had contained but 147, the increase of population having raised the number of representatives.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1902. Use of the Referendum and Initiative down to that time.

See (in this Volume) REFERENDUM.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1905. Rupture between Radicals and Socialists. Completion of the Simplon Tunnel.

The coalition hitherto maintained between Radical and Socialist parties was broken entirely in the elections of October, 1905, because of the anti-military attitude of the latter, who sought to have all national feeling and policy sunk in international sentiments and principles. The Socialists elected but two representatives in the National Council. In April the completion of the Simplon Railway Tunnel, furnishing a second passage through the Alps, was celebrated with much rejoicing. The work of boring this twelve-mile length of tunnel had been begun in 1898.

See, also, (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: SWITZERLAND.

SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1909. Acquisition of the St. Gothard Tunnel and Railway by the Government.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: SWITZERLAND.

{638}

SYDOW, REINHOLD.

See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1908-1909.

SYNDICATES, German.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL (in Germany).

SYNDICATS AND SYNDICALISM, French.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1884-1909.

SZELL MINISTRY.

See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1902-1903.

T.

TABAH INCIDENT, THE.

See (in this Volume) EGYPT: A. D. 1905-1906.

TABRIZ, SIEGE OF.

See (in this Volume) PERSIA: A. D. 1908-1909.

TACNA AND ARICA QUESTIONS.

See (in this Volume) CHILE: A. D. 1907.

TAFF-VALE DECISION.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: ENGLAND: A. D. 1900-1906.

----------TAFT, WILLIAM H.: Start--------

TAFT, WILLIAM H. President of the Second Philippine Commission. Civil Governor of the Philippines.

See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901.

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Secretary of War.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1905, and 1905-1909.

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Report on the Purchase of the Friars’ Lands.

See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1902-1903.

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Organization of Provisional Government in Cuba.

See (in this Volume) CUBA: A. D. 1906 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Special Report on the Philippine Islands.

See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1907.

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Elected President of the United States.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (APRIL-NOVEMBER).

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Inauguration and Inaugural Address. Cabinet Appointments.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (MARCH).

TAFT, WILLIAM H. On the Tariff.

See (in this Volume) TARIFFS: UNITED STATES.

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Statement, as President, relative to the Tariff Maximum and Minimum Clause.

See (in this Volume) TARIFFS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908-1909.

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Tour of the United States. Meeting with President Diaz, of Mexico.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER).

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Legislation Recommended for the Conservation of Natural Resources.

See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION, &c.: UNITED STATES.

TAFT, WILLIAM H. On Injunctions in Labor Disputes and on the Expediting of Civil and Criminal Procedure.

See (in this Volume) LAW AND ITS COURTS: UNITED STATES.

TAFT, WILLIAM H. Special Message on "Trusts" and on Interstate Commerce.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1910, and RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1910.

----------TAFT, WILLIAM H.: End--------

TAI HUNG CHI.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1906.

TAI HUNG-TZE: GRAND COUNCILLOR OF CHINA.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1909 (October).

TAIREN.

See (in this Volume) DALNY.

TAI-TZE-HO, BATTLES AT THE.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).

TAKAHIRA KOGORO: Japanese Minister at Washington and Plenipotentiary for negotiating Treaty of Peace with Russia.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1905 (JUNE-OCTOBER).

TAKUSHAN HILL, CAPTURE OF.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY).

TALIENWAN, Re-named Dalny. Later named Tairen, by the Japanese.

TAMMANY HALL: Struggles with it.

See (in this Volume) NEW YORK CITY.

TANG SHAO YI.

See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM: CHINA.

TANGIER: A. D. 1905. The German Emperor’s Speech.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906.

----------TARIFFS: Start--------

TARIFFS: Australia: The question in the First Parliament.

See (in this Volume) AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1901-1902.

TARIFFS: Tariff Excise Act.

See (in this Volume) LABOR REMUNERATION: THE NEW PROTECTION.

TARIFFS: Austria-Hungary: A. D. 1907. Settlement of the Austro-Hungarian Tariff Question.

See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1907.

TARIFFS: Balkan States: A. D. 1905. Serbo-Bulgarian Customs Union.

See (in this Volume) BALKAN STATES: BULGARIA AND SERVIA.

TARIFFS: British Empire: A. D. 1909. Resolutions of Empire Congress of Chambers of Commerce.

See (in this Volume) BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1909 (SEPTEMBER).

TARIFFS: Canada: Attitude of Canadian Manufacturers’ Association toward Great Britain and the United States on Tariff Questions.

See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1903-1905.

TARIFFS: Canada and Germany: German retaliation for Discriminating Duties in Favor of British Goods.

Consequent on the discrimination in favor of British goods which was granted in the Canadian tariff of 1897, Germany took action which is explained in the following, from the Canadian side of the official correspondence that ensued:

"Prior to July 31, 1898, Canada, as a portion of the British Empire, received the most favourable tariff treatment in Germany, under the terms of the treaty which had long existed between that country and Great Britain. On the date named, that treaty, having been denounced by the British Government, ceased to have effect. Provisional agreements have since been entered into from time to time between Great Britain and Germany. Canada, however, has been excluded from the benefit of such agreements. The products of Canada are no longer admitted into Germany on the favoured terms known in the German tariff as 'conventional duties,' but are specially excluded therefrom and made subject to the higher duties of the general tariff. The reason assigned by the German Government for this discrimination against Canada is the enactment by the Dominion of legislation granting preferential tariff rates to the products of Great Britain. {639} The undersigned desires to point out that the policy of the Canadian Government was not designed to give to any foreign nation more favoured treatment than was to be allowed to Germany. The Canadian policy has been confined to a readjustment of the commercial relations of the Dominion with the British Empire of which it is a part, a domestic affair which could hardly be open to reasonable objection by any foreign government. It would therefore seem that the action of Canada afforded no just ground for complaint by Germany. The undersigned is of opinion that there has been some misconception of the Canadian policy in this respect, and hopes that upon further consideration the German Government will see that Canada, in taking the step referred to, did not forfeit her claim to the advantages accorded by Germany to the most-favoured nations."

The German Government, however, maintained with firmness the ground it had taken; but eleven years later, in 1909, a German Canadian Economic Association at Berlin sent delegates to Canada to confer with chambers of commerce and solicit efforts for bettering commercial relations between them. The Montreal Board of Trade declined to take any action, saying, substantially: "the reprisals against Canada were commenced by Germany on account of the granting of preference by the Dominion to Great Britain. If Germany now finds that she has made a mistake the Montreal Board holds that she should restore Canadian products to the conventional tariff, when the Canadian surtax on German goods will be automatically removed."

Finally, an agreement was reached which ended this tariff war between Germany and Canada. Announcement of it was made in the Canadian Parliament on the 15th of February, 1910, and it went into effect on the 1st of March.

TARIFFS: FRANCE: A. D. 1910.

A revision of the tariff, on which the French Parliament had long been engaged, was completed and became law on March 29, 1910, going into effect April 1.

TARIFFS: France-Canada: Commercial Convention with Great Britain concerning Canada.

See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1907-1909.

TARIFFS: Germany: A. D. 1902-1906. The New Tariff Law and seven Special Tariff Treaties with European Countries. A changed Commercial Policy.

In the Diet of the Empire the committee which had been laboring long and arduously on a tariff bill reported the measure in October, and its increase of duties, which the government did not favour, was stoutly opposed by Socialists, Radicals, and Liberals; but the Conservatives, representing the protected interests, constrained the government to withdraw its opposition and the bill was carried through as a whole, without change.

"How deliberately the Germans go about their tariff policy; how thoroughly they study all the strong and weak points in their adversaries’ positions; with what scientific care they measure their own manifold interests; how carefully they guard, in their work of tariff legislation, against disturbing the stability of existing business conditions may best be seen from the way in which the new tariff has been adopted. As early as 1898—i. e., more than five years before the expiration of the old tariff treaties—a Commission of government experts and leading representatives of the industrial and commercial interests was organized to make a detailed study of the needs of every industry whose products were in any way affected by the tariff. After five years of incessant work of that character, in which more than 2,000 experts took part, the new general or so-called ‘autonomous’ tariff was enacted into law (but not put into effect) by the German Reichstag.

"The new tariff law adopted on December 25, 1902, with rates considerably raised, formed the basis of diplomatic bargaining, of which it took more than two years to conclude commercial treaties with the following seven countries: Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Roumania and Servia. These treaties, which considerably reduce some of the rates provided for in the tariff of 1902, were enacted into law on February 22d of this year, [1905], and together form the new so-called ‘conventional’ tariff, which will be applied to all countries enjoying ‘most favored nation’ privileges. Deliberate and cautious as these steps have been, the new tariff is not to be thrust upon the business community of the Empire on short notice, but the country is given one full year in which to adjust itself to the new rates. Hence the date for giving effect to the new tariff law has been set for March 1, 1906."

_N. I. Stone, The New German Customs Tariff (North American Review, September, 1905)._

The chief point of interest for the United States in this law is to be found, not so much in the high rates adopted, as in the statement made in the Reichstag foreshadowing a changed policy on the part of Germany in making new commercial treaties. On the final day of the tariff debate Dr. Paasche, one of the leaders of the majority, asserted that the government had promised that it would no longer extend treaty advantages to other countries than those that reciprocate with corresponding concessions. ‘We expect,’ said Dr. Paasche, ‘that the government will undertake a thorough revision of all the treaties containing the most favored-nation clause. Promises of this kind were made to us in committee. We have absolutely no occasion to concede anything to such nations as are glad to take what we give by treaty to other countries without making us any concessions in return. The United States has introduced a limitation of the most-favored-nation clause; we have every reason to act in precisely the same manner."

_W. C. Dreher, A Letter from Germany (Atlantic Monthly, March, 1903)_.

In March, 1905, a few weeks after the conclusion of the last of the seven special tariff treaties referred to above, which modify the general German tariff of 1902-1906, in favor of the nations which became parties to them, the Consul-General of the United States at Berlin sent to the State Department at Washington the following table, showing, with reference to forty-six of the principal articles of German import from America (1) the then maximum or autonomous duty as paid under the tariff of 1879; (2) the same duties as modified and reduced by then existing treaty concessions; (3) the new autonomous duties that were to go into effect in 1906, and (4) the amounts to which each of these rates of duty would be reduced on merchandise coming from certain of the seven European countries which had just concluded treaties of commerce with Germany.

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The figures show in all cases, unless otherwise specified, the amount in American currency of duty per double centner (100 kilograms or 220.4 pounds):

Merchandise. Tariff New tariff law of Difference. 1902 (to go into (adopted in 1879). effect in 1906).

Maximum. Reduced Autonomous. Reduced by treaty. by treaty.

Wheat $1.19 $0.83 $1.78 $1.30 $0.58

Rye 1.19 .83 1.66 1.19 .47

Oats .95 .67 1.66 1.19 .47

Barley .53 .47 1.66 .95 .71

Corn .47 .38 1.19 .71 .48

Wheat Flour 2.50 1.74 4.36 2.42 1.94

Malt .95 .85 2.44 1.37 1.07

Potatoes Free. Free. .59 1.24 (a)

Hops 4.76 3.38 16.66 4.76 11.90

Dried apples, pears, apricots, peaches .96 .95 2.38 .95 1.43

Dried Prunes 2.38 1.19 1.19

Fresh apples in barrels Free. Free. 2.38 1.19 1.19

Sausages 4.76 4.04 16.66 9.52 7.14

Lard 2.38 2.38 2.97 2.38 .59

Salted Meats 4.76 4.04 10.71 8.33-9.25 2.38-1.46

Butter 4.76 3.80 7.14 4.76 2.38

Cheese 4.76 4.76 7.14 3.57-4.76 3.57-2.38

Eggs .71 .47 1.42 .71 .71

Margarine 4.76 3.80 7.14 4.76 2.38

Wood Alcohol Free Free 4.76 Free. 4.76

Cows and oxen, per head 2.14 2.14 4.28 1.90 2.38

Horses, per head 4.76 4.76 21.42-85.68 7.14-28.56 14.28-57.12

Hogs, per head 1.42 1.19 4.28 2.14 2.14

Shoes, coarse 11.90 11.90 20.23 20.23 …

Shoes, medium 16.66 15.47 28.86 23.80 5.06

Shoes, fine 16.66 15.47 42.84 30.70 7.14

Lumber, rough … … 1.42 .47 .95

Lumber, dressed 2.38 2.38 2.38 2.38 …

Sewing machines 5.71 5.71 8.33 2.85 5.48

Sewing machines, power 5.71 5.71 4.76 1.90 2.86

Electrical machinery

a. Under 500 kilograms ( 1,102 pounds) per 100 kilograms 2.14 2.14 …

b. 500 to 3,000 kilograms (1,102 to 6,614 pounds) 1.66 1.42 .24

c. More than 3,000 kilograms 1.42 .95 .47

Machine tools:

a. 250 kilograms (551 pounds or less), per 100 kilograms. 4.76 2.85 1.91

b. 250 to 1,000 kilograms (551 to 2,205 pounds) 2.85 1.90 .95

c. 1,000 to 3,000 kilograms (2,205 to 6,614 pounds) 1.90 1.42 .48

d. 3,000 to 10,000 kilograms (6,614 to 22,046 pounds) 1.42 1.19 .23

Over 10,000 kilograms .97 .97 …

Telegraph instruments, telephones, electric lighting and power apparatus. 14.28 (b).95-9.52 (b)

Railway and street cars 2.38 .71 1.67

Motor cars and motor bicycles, each:

a. 50 kilograms (110 pounds) or less, each 35.70 … …

b. 50 to 100 kilograms (110 to 220 pounds), each 28.56 … …

c. 100 to 250 kilograms (220 to 550 pounds), each 21.42 … …

d. 250 to 500 kilograms (550 to 1,110 pounds) 14.28 9.52 4.76

e. 500 to 1,000 kilograms (1,110 to 2,220 pounds) 9.52 5.95 3.57

f. 1,000 kilograms and over 4.76 3.57 1.19

(a) Free from August 1 to February 14.

(b) According to weight.

"It needs but a glance at this list," said Consul-General Mason, "to show how important will be the concessions granted to one or more of the seven treaty nations, and how formidable will be their competition in the German market against similar goods coming from countries which, for want of a reciprocal treaty or other convention, will be subject to the autonomous or unmodified tariff in exporting goods into Germany."

On the 1st day of March, 1906, this tariff came into effect, and the tariff arrangements of Germany with the United States, under which the latter had enjoyed important concessions, secured by the "most favored nation" agreement in its commercial treaty with Germany, came to an end.

TARIFFS: A. D. 1909. Economic Results of the Protective System.

See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1009 (APRIL).

TARIFFS: Great Britain: A. D. 1909. List of articles on which Import Duties are collected.

The following is a complete list of the articles enumerated in the British tariff as subject to import duties:

Beer; Cards, Playing; Chicory; Cocoa; Coffee; Fruit, dried or otherwise preserved without sugar; Spirits and Strong Waters (including all alcoholic liquors, cordials and other alcoholic preparations); Sugar (including all confectionery, sugar-preserved fruits, and other sugared preparations); Tea; Tobacco, in all forms; Wine.

TARIFFS: A. D. 1909. Question of Preferential Trade raised by Mr. Chamberlain.

See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (MAY-SEPTEMBER).

TARIFFS: The United States: A. D. 1908-1909. The Demand for Tariff Revision. Its Expression in the Presidential Election. The Action of Congress and the President. The Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act.

For more than a decade prior to the presidential election of 1908 the popular demand for a revision of the exorbitantly protective duties imposed by the so-called Dingley Tariff of 1897 had been steadily rising in the United States, and making itself heard by men in public life. It had penetrated the mind of the great captain-general of the protectionist forces. {641} President McKinley, as early as 1901, and his last public utterance, addressed to a multitude at the Pan American Exposition, in Buffalo, on the 5th of September, the day before he was struck down by a murderous anarchist, contained this wise admonition on the subject:

"We have a vast and intricate business, built up through years of toil and struggle, in which every part of the country has its stake, which will not permit of either neglect or of undue selfishness. No narrow, sordid policy will subserve it. The greatest skill and wisdom on the part of manufacturers and producers will be required to hold and increase it. … Our capacity to produce has developed so enormously, and our products have so multiplied, that the problem of more markets requires our urgent and immediate attention. Only a broad and enlightened policy will keep what we have. No other policy will get more. … We must not repose in fancied security that we can forever sell everything and buy little or nothing. If such a thing were possible, it would not be best for us or for those with whom we deal. We should take from our customers such of their products as we can use without harm to our industries and labor. Reciprocity is the natural outgrowth of our wonderful industrial development under the domestic policy now firmly established. What we produce beyond our domestic consumption must have a vent abroad. … If perchance some of our tariffs are no longer needed for revenue or to encourage and protect our industries at home, why should they not be employed to extend and promote our markets abroad?"

TARIFFS: The Party-Platform Promises of 1908.

But President McKinley’s words fell on deaf ears, among those to whom he had been leader and guide in this department of economic policy hitherto. They gave no heed to his new counsels of moderation for seven years. Even treaties of commercial reciprocity, which he had learned to appreciate since his own tariff-making was done, were negotiated in vain by the executive department of Government, to be scorned and rejected by the Senate. By 1908, however, the claim of the many-millioned consumers of the nation, for some relief from the intolerable cost to which almost every necessary of living had been worked up by the protective tariff lever, had risen to a pitch which compelled some attention from the managers of political parties and drew from them promises in the "platforms" prepared for the presidential and congressional canvassing of that year.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908, APRIL-NOVEMBER)

The National Republican Convention at Chicago, which nominated Mr. Taft for the presidency, made this distinct and emphatic pledge:

"The Republican party declares unequivocally for a revision of the tariff by a special session of Congress, immediately following the inauguration of the next President, and commends the steps already taken to this end, in the work assigned to the appropriate committees of Congress, which are now investigating the operation and effect of existing schedules. In all tariff legislation the true principle of protection is best maintained by the imposition of such duties as will equal the difference between the cost of production at home and abroad, together with a reasonable profit to American industries. We favor the establishment of maximum and minimum rates to be administered by the President under limitations to be fixed in the law, the maximum to be available to meet discriminations by foreign countries against American goods entering their markets, and the minimum to represent the normal measure of protection at home."

The National Convention, at Denver, of the Democratic party, supposedly confirmed in opposition to the whole theory of tariff protection by all its doctrinal history, made this declaration:

"We favor immediate revision of the tariff by the reduction of import duties. Articles entering into competition with trust-controlled products should be placed upon the free list, and material reductions should be made in the tariff upon the necessaries of life, especially upon articles competing with such American manufactures as are sold abroad more cheaply than at home, and graduated reductions should be made in such other schedules as may be necessary to restore the tariff to a revenue basis."

The Republican Party elected its candidate for the presidency, with a majority in Congress, and was given the greater opportunity to redeem its pledge, while the Democratic Party obtained sufficient representation in both branches of Congress to aid and influence the promised revision with important effect. President Taft, in his inaugural address, spoke impressively of the urgent duty thus laid on Congress, saying:

"A matter of most pressing importance is the revision of the tariff. In accordance with the promises of the platform upon which I was elected, I shall call Congress into extra session, to meet on the fifteenth day of March, in order that consideration may be at once given to a bill revising the Dingley act."

TARIFFS: The Making of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff.

The new Congress, as called by the President, was convened on the 15th of March, 1909, and a provisional tariff bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on the 18th by Chairman Payne of its Ways and Means Committee. This Bill was a product of the work of the House Committee of the preceding Congress, which had been giving hearings on successive tariff schedules since November. Naturally the protected interests swarmed to Washington, with attorneys and technical experts, and their side of every argument for and against existing duties was heard in its most persuasive form. Naturally, too, the unprotected consumers, less able to combine, were represented at the hearings in no such potent way, and their side of most arguments, according to all accounts, was but feebly pressed. Mr. Charles Francis Adams, who has the habit of plain speech, wrote a letter to Congressman McCall, of Massachusetts, while these hearings were in progress, in which he characterized a conspicuously greedy part of the clamorers for high duties in terms that were savagely rough, but not entirely undeserved. "Speaking after the fashion of men," he said, "they are either thieves or hogs. I myself belong to the former class. I am a tariff thief, and I have a license to steal. It bears the broad seal of the United States and is what is known as the ‘Dingley Tariff.’ I stole under it yesterday; I am stealing under it today; I propose to steal under it to-morrow. {642} The Government has forced me into this position, and I both do and shall take full advantage of it. I am therefore a tariff thief with a license to steal. And—what are you going to do about it? The other class come under the hog category; that is, they rush, squealing and struggling, to the great Washington protection trough, and with all four feet in it they proceed to gobble the swill. … To this class I do not belong. I am simply a tariff thief. … But, on the other hand, I am also a tariff reformer. I would like to see every protective schedule swept out of existence, my own included. Meanwhile, what inducement have I to go to Washington on a public mission of this sort? A mere citizen, I represent no one. … Meanwhile, have it well understood that my position is exactly the position of tens of thousands of others scattered throughout the country; to ask us to put aside our business affairs and at our own expense to go to Washington on a desperate mission is asking a little too much."

The Bill introduced by Mr. Payne was under debate in the House for three weeks, and passed on the 10th of April. In the Senate it was then nominally taken into consideration by the Finance Committee of that body, but that Committee, in fact, under the dominating lead of its chairman, Senator Aldrich, framed a new and protectively stiffened Bill, changed in 847 particulars from that of the House. A little more than twelve weeks were required for this more arduous labor of Mr. Aldrich, which the Senate approved by the passage of the Bill on the 8th of July. On the 9th it went to a conference committee of the two Houses; and there the President’s influence, not much exerted, apparently, until now, wrung a few important concessions to the great public of consumers, which the special interests guarded by a majority in Congress had been determined not to yield. The American people owe it to President Taft’s insistence that their shoes may be cheapened by a free importation of hides, and that lumber for their houses and coal for warming them may come from Canada at a slightly lower rate of duty than before; but he failed to loosen the grip of the woolen and cotton interests on the protected prices at which they are clothed.

After twenty days of battle the conferees reached agreement, July 29; the House adopted their report on the 31st, the Senate on the 5th of August. It was signed at once by the President, and went into effect the next day.

In the House the Bill was adopted by a vote of 195 to 183, twenty Republicans voting against it and two Democrats in its favor. In the Senate the vote stood 47 to 31, the negative including seven Republicans, and one Democratic senator recording himself on the side of the Bill. The opposing Republicans in both Houses were stigmatized as "insurgents," and the autocratic Speaker of the House, Cannon, of Illinois, presumed, so far as the powers of his office would stretch, to "read them out" of their party. In their struggle to secure a more honest fulfilment of the election promises of both parties, and more loyalty to the welfare of the people at large, the Republican "insurgents" had no such compact and earnest support from the Democrats of Congress as even party considerations gave reason to expect.

After signing the Bill, the President gave out a statement for publication, in part as follows:

"I have signed the Payne tariff bill because I believe it to be the result of a sincere effort on the part of the Republican party to make a downward revision, and to comply with the promises of the platform as they have been generally understood, and as I interpreted them in the campaign before election.

"The bill is not a perfect tariff bill or a complete compliance with the promises made, strictly interpreted, but a fulfilment free from criticism in respect to a subject matter involving many schedules and thousands of articles could not be expected. It suffices to say that, except with regard to whiskey, liquors, and wines, and in regard to silks and as to some high classes of cottons—all of which may be treated as luxuries and proper subjects of a revenue tariff—there have been very few increases in rates.

"There have been a great number of real decreases in rates, and they constitute a sufficient amount to justify the statement that this bill is a substantial downward revision, and a reduction of excessive rates.

"This is not a free trade bill. It was not intended to be. The Republican party did not promise to make a free trade bill.

"It promised to make the rates protective, but to reduce them when they exceeded the difference between the cost of production abroad and here, making allowance for the greater normal profit on active investments here. I believe that while this excess has not been reduced in a number of cases, in a great majority, the rates are such as are necessary to protect American industries, but are low enough, in case of abnormal increase of demand, and raising of prices, to permit the possibility of the importation of the foreign article, and thus to prevent excessive prices."

"The administrative clauses of the bill and the customs court are admirably adapted to secure a more uniform and a more speedy final construction of the meaning of the law. The authority to the President to use agents to assist him in the application of the maximum and minimum section of the statute, and to enable officials to administer the law, gives a wide latitude for the acquisition, under circumstances favorable to its truth, of information in respect to the price and cost of production of goods at home and abroad, which will throw much light on the operation of the present tariff and be of primary importance as officially collected data upon which future executive action and executive recommendations may be based.

"The corporation tax is a just and equitable excise measure, which it is hoped will produce a sufficient amount to prevent a deficit, and which, incidentally, will secure valuable statistics and information concerning the many corporations of the country, and will constitute an important step toward that degree of publicity and regulation which the tendency in corporate enterprises in the last twenty years has shown to be necessary."

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TARIFFS: New Apparatus of Tariff Administration.

The President’s remarks in the next to the last paragraph of the above statement have reference to an important section of the Tariff Act, which authorized the creation of a Board of General Appraisers, a Customs Court of Appeals, and an agency for the collection of information. The Board is to consist of nine general appraisers of merchandise, the salary of each to be $9,000 per annum, who shall possess all the powers of a Circuit Court of the United States. To these general appraisers all cases of dissatisfaction with the amount and rates of duties levied by the appraisers and assistant appraisers at the various ports would be referred; the board to exercise both judicial and inquisitorial functions. The Customs Court was to be composed of a presiding Judge and four associate Judges appointed by the President, each to receive a salary of $10,000 per annum; to be a Court of Record, with jurisdiction limited to Customs cases, and to have several judicial circuits, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, New Orleans and Galveston, Chicago, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, and such other places as may be found necessary.

More important, however, than either of these creations was the third one, embodied in a brief clause of the Act, which reads:

"To secure information to assist the President in the discharge of the duties imposed upon him by this section, and the officers of the Government in the administration of the customs laws, the President is hereby authorized to employ such persons as may be required."

The President availed himself promptly of this permission to have assistance from a commission or bureau of tariff information, and on the 11th of September it was announced that he had chosen for the service three well-qualified gentlemen, namely: Professor Henry C. Emery, of Yale, chairman; James B. Reynolds, of Massachusetts, assistant secretary of the treasury, and Alvin H. Sanders, of Chicago, editor and proprietor of the Breeders’ Gazette. In announcing the selection of the board, the following statement was made at the Executive Offices: "The President and the secretary of the treasury have agreed upon the plan that these three gentlemen are to constitute the board and are to be given authority to employ such special experts as may be needed in the investigation of the foreign and domestic tariff."

The important direction that was given at once by President Taft to this Tariff Board, as he has named it, was explained in his Message to Congress, December 6, 1909, as follows:

"An examination of the law and an understanding of the nature of the facts which should be considered in discharging the functions imposed upon the Executive show that I have the power to direct the tariff board to make a comprehensive glossary and encylopædia of the terms used and articles embraced in the tariff law, and to secure information as to the cost of production of such goods in this country and the cost of their production in foreign countries. I have therefore appointed a tariff board consisting of three members, and have directed them to perform all the duties above described. This work will perhaps take two or three years, and I ask from Congress a continuing annual appropriation equal to that already made for its prosecution. I believe that the work of this board will be of prime utility and importance whenever Congress shall deem it wise again to readjust the customs duties. If the facts secured by the tariff board are of such a character as to show generally that the rates of duties imposed by the present tariff law are excessive under the principles of protection as described in the platform of the successful party at the late election, I shall not hesitate to invite the attention of Congress to this fact, and to the necessity for action predicated thereon. Nothing, however, halts business and interferes with the course of prosperity so much as the threatened revision of the tariff, and until the facts are at hand, after careful and deliberate investigation, upon which such revision can properly be undertaken, it seems to me unwise to attempt it. The amount of misinformation that creeps into arguments pro and con in respect to tariff rates is such as to require the kind of investigation that I have directed the tariff board to make, an investigation undertaken by it wholly without respect to the effect which the facts may have in calling for a readjustment of the rates of duty."

TARIFFS: The Corporation Tax.

The Corporation Tax mentioned in the final paragraph of the President’s statement is one imposed by an incongruous section of the Tariff Act, designed for revenue additional to the expected yield of import duties. It exacts one per cent. of the net earnings in excess of $5000 of all corporations, joint stock companies, and associations organized for profit and having a capital stock represented by shares, and all insurance companies. Foreign corporations are liable for the tax to the extent of their business in the United States. The net income upon which the tax is paid is to be ascertained by deducting from the gross income of the corporation all ordinary and necessary expenses of operation and maintenance; all uncompensated losses actually paid within the year on its bonded or other indebtedness not exceeding the paid-up capital stock; all Federal and State taxes already paid and all amounts received by it as dividends upon stock of other corporations subject to the tax hereby imposed.

Holding corporations were exempted in the original Bill. That exemption was struck out, but the Conference Committee adopted the original clause. Corporations exempted from the tax are:—Labour organizations, fraternal beneficiary societies, orders or associations operating under the lodge system, and providing for the payment of life, sick, accident, and other benefits to their members and dependents; domestic building and loan associations organized and operated exclusively for the mutual benefit of their members, and any corporation or association organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes, no part of the profits of which inures to the benefit of any private stockholder, or individual, but all the profit of which is in good faith devoted to these purposes.

TARIFFS: Two Opposite Views of the new Tariff.

The Payne-Aldrich Tariff has been and will long be a subject of bitterly contentious discussion, from opposite standpoints of disgusted disappointment and happy satisfaction, before a large indifferent audience, which takes such legislation as belonging to an established order of conditions in the United States. For a fair presentation of the conflicting judgments, two carefully chosen reviews of the Act, from the two points of view, by unquestionably representative writers, are quoted below. The first is from President Woodrow Wilson, of Princeton University, as follows:

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"The methods by which tariff bills are constructed have now become all too familiar and throw a significant light on the character of the legislation involved. Debate in the Houses has little or nothing to do with it. The process by which such a bill is made is private, not public; because the reasons which underlie many of the rates imposed are private. The stronger faction of the Ways and Means Committee of the House makes up the preliminary bill, with the assistance of ‘experts’ whom it permits the industries most concerned to supply for its guidance. The controlling members of the Committee also determine what amendments, if any, shall be accepted, either from the minority faction of the Committee or from the House itself. It permits itself to be dictated to, if at all, only by the imperative action of a party caucus. The stronger faction of the Finance Committee of the Senate, in like fashion, frames the bill which it intends to substitute for the one sent up from the House. It is often to be found at work on it before any bill reaches it from the popular chamber. The compromise between the two measures is arranged in private conference by conferees drawn from the two committees. What takes place in the committees and in the conference is confidential. It is considered impertinent for reporters to inquire. It is admitted to be the business of the manufacturers concerned, but not the business of the public, who are to pay the rates. The debates which the country is invited to hear in the open sessions of the Houses are merely formal. They determine nothing and disclose very little. …

"One extraordinary circumstance of the debates in the Senate should receive more than a passing allusion. The Republican party platform had promised that the tariff rates should be revised and that the standard of revision should be the differences between the cost of producing the various articles affected in this country and in the countries with which our manufacturers compete. One of our chief industrial competitors is now Germany, with its extraordinary skill in manufacture and the handicrafts and its formidable sagacity in foreign trade; and the Department of State, in order to enable Congress the more intelligently to fulfil the promises of the party, had, at the suggestion of the President, requested the German Government to furnish it with as full information as possible about the rates of wages paid in the leading industries of that country,—wages being known, of course, to be one of the largest items in the cost of production. The German Government of course complied, with its usual courtesy and thoroughness, transmitting an interesting report, each portion of which was properly authenticated and vouched for. The Department of State placed it at the disposal of the Finance Committee of the Senate. But Senators tried in vain to ascertain what it contained. Mr. Aldrich spoke of it contemptuously as ‘anonymous,’ which of course it was not, as ‘unofficial,’ and even as an impertinent attempt, on the part of the German Government, to influence our tariff legislation. It was only too plain that the contents of the report made the members of the controlling faction of the Finance Committee very uncomfortable indeed. … It would have proved that the leaders of the party were deliberately breaking its promise to the country. It was, therefore, thrown into a pigeonhole and disregarded. It was a private document.

"In pursuance of the same policy of secrecy and private management, the bill was filled with what those who discovered them were good-natured or cynical enough to call ‘jokers,’ —clauses whose meaning did not lie upon the surface, whose language was meant not to disclose its meaning to the members of the Houses who were to be asked to enact them into law, but only to those by whom the law was to be administered after its enactment. This was one of the uses to which the ‘experts’ were put whom the committees encouraged to advise them. They knew the technical words under which meanings could be hidden, or the apparently harmless words which had a chance to go unnoted or unchallenged. Electric carbons had been taxed at ninety cents per hundred; the new bill taxed them at seventy cents per hundred feet;—an apparent reduction if the word feet went unchallenged. It came very near escaping the attention of the Senate, and did quite escape the attention of the general public, who paid no attention at all to the debates, that the addition of the word feet almost doubled the existing duty.

"The hugest practical joke of the whole bill lay in the so-called maximum and minimum clause. The schedules as they were detailed in the bill and presented to the country, through the committees and the newspapers,—the schedules by which it was made believe that the promise to the country of a ‘downward’ revision was being kept by those responsible for the bill, were only the minimum schedules. There lay at the back of the measure a maximum provision about which very little was said, but the weight of which the country may come to feel as a very serious and vexatious burden in the months to come. In the case of articles imported from countries whose tariff arrangements discriminate against the United States, the duties are to be put at a maximum which is virtually prohibitive. The clause is a huge threat. Self-respecting countries do not yield to threats or to ‘ impertinent efforts on the part of other Governments, to affect their tariff legislation.’ Where the threat is not heeded we shall pay heavier duties than ever, heavier duties than any previous Congress ever dared impose.

"When it is added that not the least attempt was made to alter the duties on sugar by which every table in the country is taxed for the benefit of the Sugar Trust, but just now convicted of criminal practices in defrauding the Government in this very matter; that increased rates were laid on certain classes of cotton goods for the benefit, chiefly, of the manufacturers of New England, from which the dominant party always counts upon getting votes, and that the demand of the South, from which it does not expect to get them, for free cotton bagging was ignored; that the rates on wool and woollen goods, a tax which falls directly upon the clothing of the whole population of the country, were maintained unaltered; and that relief was granted at only one or two points,—by conceding free hides and almost free iron ore, for example,—upon which public opinion had been long and anxiously concentrated; and granted only at the last moment upon the earnest solicitation of the President,—nothing more need be said to demonstrate the insincerity, the uncandid, designing, unpatriotic character of the whole process. It was not intended for the public good. It was intended for the benefit of the interests most directly and selfishly concerned."

_Woodrow Wilson, The Tariff Make-Believe (North American Review, October, 1909)._

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The second quotation is from an article in The Atlantic Monthly, by Honorable Samuel W. McCall, Congressman from Massachusetts, setting forth reasons for a moderate satisfaction with the Act:

"The certain method of determining just what the Payne Act does, is, as I have said, to take its paragraphs in detail and scrutinize the new duties in comparison with those which they have supplanted. Such a course will show the exact character and number of the increases and decreases. Those who have no other means of comparison at hand may safely take the table prepared by the Honorable Champ Clark of Missouri, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, and produced by him July 31 last, in his speech in the House of Representatives against the Conference Report on the bill. It is true that in commenting upon it he showed that he was a trifle rusty on his Cobden, and made the amount of actual revenue the test,—a method only less weird than that based upon the average ad valorem, for it is demonstrable that a purely free-trade tariff after the British model would provide us a greater revenue than does the Payne Act. While the table given by Mr. Clark exaggerates in some cases the extent of the increases, it will clearly appear from it that on the whole the decreases so vastly outnumber the increases as to make the new law seem almost revolutionary in character. If one takes the schedules in their order, he will find in the first schedule, which relates to chemicals, that the increases are a bare half-dozen in number, and include fancy soaps and alkaloids of opium and cocaine, while the decreases are more than fifty, and include many of the articles which are in general consumption, such as sulphur, various forms of soda, potash, lead, and sulphate of ammonia, the last of which is put on the free list.

"The second schedule shows a slight increase upon the smaller sizes of plate glass, and this increase is many times offset by decreases upon fire and other brick, gypsum, various kinds of window-glass, nearly all the grades of marble, and other important articles.

"In the metal schedule there is an increase in fabricated structural steel, zinc ore, and a very few other items, some of which relate to articles not manufactured when the Dingley law was passed; but, on the other hand, the basic article of iron ore is reduced from forty to fifteen cents per ton, the lowest ad valorem that it has had in the history of the country; pig iron is reduced from four dollars to two dollars and a half per ton, scrap iron and steel from four dollars to one dollar per ton, bar iron from six-tenths to three-tenths of a cent a pound, cotton ties from five-tenths to three-tenths of a cent per pound, steel rails from seven dollars and eighty-four cents to three dollars and ninety-two cents per ton. There are nearly a hundred other reductions in the metal schedule: in fact, the reductions in this schedule are so general, and in some cases so drastic, that it may be said, practically, that these duties have been cut in two.

"The lumber schedule shows but two unimportant increases, while the schedule generally is cut nearly forty per cent. One grade of sawed boards is reduced from one dollar to fifty cents per thousand feet, and all other sawed lumber from two dollars to a dollar and a quarter per thousand. Fence posts are put on the free list. Dressed lumber, telephone poles, railroad ties, and other important products of wood, are very much reduced.

"Notwithstanding the attempt that is being made to create a sectional feeling in the West, the only schedule covering necessary articles in which increases predominate is the agricultural schedule. The duties are also increased upon champagnes and other wines, brandy, ale, beer, tobacco, silks, high-priced laces, and various other articles, which for want of a better term, are called luxuries.

"Bituminous coal is reduced from sixty-seven cents to forty-seven cents per ton, which with the exception of a very brief period, is in value the lowest duty we have ever imposed upon it.

"Agricultural implements are reduced, and a provision added admitting them free of duty from any country which admits our agricultural machinery free.

"Works of art more than twenty years old are put on the free list.

"Hides of cattle are put on the free list, and an enormous reduction made, not merely on all the products of these hides, but on nearly all articles of leather. Sole leather is cut from twenty to five per cent ad valorem, upper leather from twenty to seven and a half per cent, and boots and shoes from twenty-five to fifteen per cent, and, on important kinds, to ten per cent. … The two great textile schedules are practically unchanged. The wool duty is politically the most powerful of any in the tariff. The farmers of the country have been pretty thoroughly educated to the belief, whether rightly or wrongly, that the free-wool agitation, culminating in the tariff of 1894, was responsible for the slaughter of their flocks. Their representatives formed the strongest single element behind the passage of the Dingley law; and, in the session just ended, their strength was so great as to discourage any assault upon the wool duties. These duties range from forty to more than one hundred per cent of the value, and so long as they are maintained at such a high point it is idle to talk of any very material reduction on woolens or worsteds. The centre of the entire schedule is the duty upon wool. … Every duty in this schedule from top to bottom might have been cut ten per cent without trenching upon the necessary amount of protection.

"The Dingley duties upon cottons were greatly less than those in the woolen schedule. This was doubtless due to the fact that we are the great cotton-producing nation, and our manufacturers are at no disadvantage in raw material with any of their foreign competitors. … These duties are so complicated that it is difficult for one who is not an expert to understand them; but according to the best experts, they are, at least, no higher in the Payne Act than the Dingley duties were intended to be, and were interpreted to be for four years after the passage of the act."

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The following is from an article in the American Review of Reviews, September, 1909:

"Summing up the changes made in the tariff as shown in the various Senate documents, the new act has increased the Dingley rates in 300 instances, while reducing them in 584 cases. The increases affect commodities imported in 1907 to the value of at least $105,844,201, while the reductions affect not more than $132,141,074 worth of imports. Four hundred and forty-seven million dollars’ worth of imports (on the basis of 1907) remain subject to the same duties as under the Dingley tariff. That is to say, 65 per cent of the total imports remain subject to the old rates, more than fifteen per cent of the total will be subject to higher duties, the average increase amounting to 31 per cent. over the Dingley rates; and less than 20 per cent. of the imports are to be subject to lower duties, the reduction being estimated about 23 per cent. below the Dingley rates. All of these figures greatly underestimate the increases of duty for the following reasons: First they do not take into account the numerous changes (nearly all increases of duty) due to classification, similar to the instances cited in the case of sawn wood, structural iron, and cotton cloth; second a large part of the imports subject to ad valorem duties will now be assessed on the basis of domestic prices instead of the prices in foreign markets (with due allowance for freight and duty), as has hitherto been the case; and, finally, the possibility, even if remote, of the application of maximum rates to imports from some of the foreign countries, which will amount on the average to an increase of more than 50 per cent. over the new rates. The real increase of duty will not be accurately known for a year, until we have full returns of the imports and duties actually levied under the new law under the decisions of the Board of General Appraisers and the new Customs Court."

TARIFFS: Certain Outside Effects.

As between the United States and France, the situation produced by the new Tariff Act, which caused existing commercial agreements between the two countries to be abrogated on the 31st of October, 1909, was explained as follows in a Press despatch of September 22 from Washington:

"The State Department has received from Consul-General Mason at Paris the text of the announcement by the French government of the abrogation of the several commercial agreements with the United States by the action of President Taft in conformity with the provisions of our new tariff act.

"‘Under and in consequence of these conditions,’ the French announcement says, ‘there is reason to decide that the decrees dated July 7, 1893, May 28, 1898, and February 21, 1903, which constitute the measure of the application of the Franco-American agreement for merchandise produced in the United States and the Island of Porto Rico shall cease to be enforced on October 31, 1909.’

"On that date the articles produced in the United States and exported to France will pay what is known in France as its general tariff, but which in effect is its maximum rates of duty. The principal articles of export from the United States under this agreement are mineral oils and coffee from Porto Rico. At the same time articles imported from France into the United States under these agreements will pay our regular or highest rate. These include canned meats, fresh and dried fruits, manufactured and prepared pork meats, lard, and a few other articles of less importance."

The effect of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act on trade between the United States and Canada was left an open question, dependent on a decision which President Taft must make on or before April 1, 1910. Section 2 of the Law expressly provides the President with power to treat "any dependency, colony, or other political subdivision having authority to adopt and enforce tariff legislation" as a separate fiscal entity. The question for the President to decide is whether Canada, by reason of her preferential treatment of the Mother Country or by reason of the commercial treaty which she is about to conclude with France, will be judged guilty of "undue discrimination" and unworthy of the minimum rates.

Looked at from the English standpoint, it is thought that he "can hardly declare so natural a relationship as the existing British preference to be ‘unduly’ discriminatory when a similar relationship exists between Cuba and the United States, and when Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines actually enjoy reciprocal free trade with America and with America alone."

A more practical consideration in the matter, however, is that suggested in the following, from a Boston newspaper, which remarks:

"According to the Department of Commerce and Labor, there are now 147 branch factories in Canada, representing a capital of $125,000,000, established by United States concerns which formerly supplied their Canadian trade with the product of industry on this side the national border. This is the result of retaliatory legislation in Canada invited by our own tariff against Canadian imports. If further tariff war is invited by the imposition of the maximum schedules against Canada, still more United States capital will go over the line to provide employment and wages for Canadian workmen."

The Monetary Times, of Toronto, made an exhaustive inquiry on this subject late in 1909, and found 168 American manufacturing concerns in Canada, representing an estimated investment of $226,000,000.

The spirit in which President Taft will interpret the maximum and minimum clause of the Act, and exercise his discretion in applying it, was indicated by him in his Message to Congress, December 6, 1909, when he said: "By virtue of the clause known as the ‘Maximum and Minimum’ clause, it is the duty of the Executive to consider the laws and practices of other countries with reference to the importation into those countries of the products and merchandise of the United States, and if the Executive finds such laws and practices not to be unduly discriminatory against the United States, the minimum duties provided in the bill are to go into force. Unless the President makes such a finding, then the maximum duties provided in the bill, that is, an increase of 25 per cent. ad valorem over the minimum duties, are to be in force. Fear has been expressed that this power conferred and duty imposed on the Executive is likely to lead to a tariff war. I beg to express the hope and belief that no such result need be anticipated.

{647}

"The discretion granted to the Executive by the terms ‘unduly discriminatory’ is wide. In order that the maximum duty shall be charged against the imports from a country, it is necessary that he shall find on the part of that country not only discrimination in its laws or the practice under them against the trade of the United States, but that the discriminations found shall be undue; that is, without good and fair reason. I conceive that this power was reposed in the President with the hope that the maximum duties might never be applied in any case, but that the power to apply them would enable the President and the State Department through friendly negotiation to secure the elimination from the laws and the practice under them of any foreign country of that which is unduly discriminatory. No one is seeking a tariff war or a condition in which the spirit of retaliation shall be aroused."

On the 19th of January, 1910, the President issued the first of his proclamations relative to the operation of the maximum and minimum rates of duty. Six countries, namely Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey, were designated as entitled to the minimum rates. Negotiations with Germany and France were understood to be still in progress, which might, it was hoped, clear away the differences that obstructed a similar concession to those countries. In the case of Germany, the difficulty related to the exclusion of American meats.

A second proclamation, February 7, announced the conclusion of an agreement with Germany which gave to each country the minimum rates of the other. This agreement had been ratified by the Reichstag on the 5th.

Negotiations with France and with Canada occupied more time, being protracted in the latter case almost to the limit of the period prescribed in the Act. Terms of agreement were arrived at in both instances, and, in the end, the President was not called on to apply the maximum rates to any country.

----------TARIFFS: End--------

TARSUS: Moslem attack on Armenians.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY).

TARTARS: Holy War against Armenians in the Caucasus.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (FEBRUARY-NOVEMBER).

TASHINCHIAO, Battle of.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN; A. D. 1904 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).

TAVERA, DR. T. H. PARDO DE.

See (in this Volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901.

TAXATION: Graduated Taxation of Land.

See (in this Volume) NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1905.

TAXATION: Progressive Taxation of Fortunes.

See (in this Volume) WEALTH, THE PROBLEMS OF.

TAYLOR, EDWARD R.

See (in this Volume) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: SAN FRANCISCO.

TEACHERS: English and American Interchange of Visits.

See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: INTERNATIONAL INTERCHANGES.

TEAMSTERS’ UNION: Strike at Chicago.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905 (APRIL-JULY).

TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

See (in this Volume) EDUCATION.

TEHERAN: TEHRAN: Revolutionary events in.

See (in this Volume) PERSIA.

TELEGRAPHERS’ STRIKE: In France.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1909 (MARCH-MAY).

TELEGRAPHERS’ STRIKE: In Russia.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1904-1905.

TELEGRAPHERS’ STRIKE: In the United States.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907.

TELEGRAPHY.

See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION: ELECTRICAL.

TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH MERGER, United States.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909.

TELISSU, Battle of.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY).

TELLES, Sebastião.

See (in this Volume) PORTUGAL: A. D. 1906-1909.

TEMPERANCE.

See (in this Volume) ALCOHOL PROBLEM.

TENEMENT HOUSE REFORM.

See (in this Volume) NEW YORK: A. D. 1900-1903.

TERRITORIAL FORCE, THE BRITISH.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: MILITARY.

TEWFIK PASHA.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER), and after.

TEXAS: A. D. 1906-1909. Successful Prosecution of the Waters-Pierce Oil Company.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &C.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904-1909.

THEOTOKIS MINISTRY.

See (in this Volume) GREECE: A. D. 1906, and 1909.

THIBET.

See TIBET.

THOMSON, Sir Joseph: Presidential Address to British Association for the Advancement of Science, at Winnipeg.

See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION: RECENT: PHYSICAL.

THOMSON, J. J.

See (in this Volume) NOBEL PRIZES.

TIBET: A. D. 1902. Russo-Chinese Treaty for Control of the Country.

"A Russo-Chinese treaty concerning Tibet was negotiated [in the later months of 1902] … by Yung-lu. And as it had to be notified to the Chief-Lamas of the different Buddhist countries, it became possible to obtain the confidential communication of its text immediately on its conclusion. This text, which I published a month ago in the Frankfurter Zeitung, and which has since been admitted as correct by Russian semi-official papers, runs as follows:

"Article 1st. Tibet being a territory situated between Central China and Western Siberia, Russia and China are mutually obliged to care for the maintenance of peace in that country. In case troubles should arise in Tibet, China, in order to preserve this district, and Russia, in order to protect her frontiers, shall despatch thither military forces on mutual notification.

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"Article 2nd. In case of apprehension of a third Power’s contriving, directly or indirectly, troubles in Tibet, Russia and China oblige themselves to concur in taking such measures as may seem advisable for repressing such troubles.

"Article 3d. Entire liberty in what concerns Russian orthodox as well as Lamaist worship will be introduced in Tibet; but all other religious doctrines will be absolutely prohibited. For this purpose, the Grand-Lama and the Superintendent of the Orthodox Peking Mission are bound to proceed amicably and by mutual assent, so as to guarantee the free propagation of both religions and take all necessary measures for avoiding religious disputes.

"Article 4th. Tibet shall be made, gradually, a country with an independent inner administration. In order to accomplish this task, Russia and China are to share the work. Russia takes upon herself the reorganisation of the Tibetan military forces on the European model, and obliges herself to carry into effect this reform in a good spirit and without incurring blame from the native population. China, for her part, is to take care of the development of the economic situation of Tibet, and especially of her progress abroad."

_Alexander Ular, England, Russia, and Tibet (Contemporary Review, December, 1902)._

TIBET: A. D. 1902-1904. British Enforcement of Unfulfilled Promises. The Peaceful Mission of Colonel Younghusband which forced its way to Lhasa.

For a dozen years prior to 1902 there had been unfulfilled promises from China to India of a settlement of trade relations between Tibet and the latter, so far as the nominal suzerain at Peking had power to settle them. In that year the Chinese Government proposed to send a Commissioner to the Tibetan frontier to discuss matters there, and the Viceroy of India, assenting promptly to the proposal, commissioned Colonel Younghusband, in June, 1903, to proceed, with the British Political Officer in Sikkim, to Khamba Jong, for a meeting with Chinese and Tibetan representatives. The mission was escorted by 200 native troops, and reached the meeting place in July, but found no Chinese or Tibetan envoys on the spot. It remained encamped at the appointed place for six months or more, Colonel Younghusband returning personally meantime to Simla to report the situation and receive instructions. A reserve force was stationed in Sikkim to protect the mission in case of need.

Early in 1904 the mission moved forward, over the Tang Pass, to Tuna, where it halted again until the end of March, no envoys appearing, but many marks of hostility shown. Then, after being reinforced,—as the intention of Tibetans to oppose its further advance had become plain,—its march was resumed. Thrice attacked within the next few days and forced to severe fighting, it reached Gyangtse on the 11th of April, where it was halted again until near the end of June, in a camp established on the plain. There Colonel Younghusband received a communication from the Chinese Resident or Amban at Lhasa, promising to meet him in three weeks. This was followed immediately however by a fierce attack of the Tibetans on the British camp. The assault was repelled, but bombardment of the camp was opened from a neighboring fort. The Mission now abandoned attempts to maintain its peaceful character, and with approval of the governments behind it, both in India and Great Britain, prepared to force its way to Lhasa and extort fulfilment of the promises on the strength of which it had been sent. General Macdonald, who held the military command, brought up further reinforcements, and the expedition, now numbering about 1000 British and 2000 native troops, after capturing the fort at Gyangtse which had harassed it, set forth on its march to Lhasa July 14th. It met with slight resistance in the Karola Pass, across which a wall had been built; but otherwise it found little but the natural obstacles of the mountain country to overcome. Lhasa was reached, but not entered in force, on August 3d. The Dalai Lama had left the city, but had appointed an intelligent monk to act as regent in his place. With him and with the Chinese Amban Colonel Younghusband succeeded in negotiating the treaty desired, which was signed September 7th. As soon as possible thereafter the expedition started on its return, but suffered severely from the cold and snows of the mountains before India was reached. Its total death roll was 411, of which only 37 officers and men had died from battle-wounds.

By the treaty secured, the Tibetan Government was pledged to carry out former agreements concerning the marking of boundaries and the opening of trade at three marts; to arrange a fixed tariff; to maintain certain roads from the frontier; and to make no territorial, political, or commercial concession to any foreign Power without granting similar or equivalent concessions to Great Britain. It also undertook to pay an indemnity for the cost of the British expedition, pending the payment of which the Chumbi Valley should be held by a British force.

TIBET: A. D. 1907. Convention between Great Britain and Russia relative to Tibet.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1907 (AUGUST).

TIBET: A. D. 1910. Chinese Authority strengthened in Tibet. Flight of the Dalai Lama. His formal Deposition.

The Dalai Lama, who had fled from Lhasa in 1904, on the approach of the British expeditionary force under Colonel Younghusband, did not return to Tibet until more than five years later. Meantime he had visited Peking, where he was coldly received, and seems to have wandered widely through the Empire. During his absence the Chinese authority in Tibet had been strengthened, and his return was followed by a considerable reinforcement of troops to support the Ambans who represent the Chinese Government at Lhasa. Exactly what friction arose then has not yet been made clear; but, in February, 1910, the Lama fled again from his capital, into India, and on the 25th he was solemnly deposed from his sacred office by an imperial decree.

TIEN-TSIN: Delivered to the Chinese Viceroy.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1902.

TIGER HILL.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY).

TILAK, BAL GANGADHAR: His Trial and Imprisonment.

See (in this Volume) INDIA: A. D. 1907-1908.

TIRPITZ, Admiral: On German Navy-building.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL.

TISZA MINISTRY.

See (in this Volume) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1902-1903; 1905-1906.

{649}

TITTONI MINISTRY.

See (in this Volume) ITALY: A. D. 1905-1906.

TOBACCO FARMERS’ UNION, IN KENTUCKY: Its Night-Riders.

See (in this Volume) KENTUCKY: A. D. 1905-1909.

TOBACCO TRUST: Suit of the Government against it. Report of Commissioner of Corporations.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1906; 1905-1906; 1907-1909; and 1909.

TOGO, Admiral: In the Russo-Japanese War.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY), and after.

TOLSTOI, COUNT LYOFF: His Challenge to the Russian Government.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1909.

TOMUCHENG.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).

TORONTO: A. D. 1909. Meeting of International Council of Women.

See (in this Volume) WOMEN, INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF.

TOWN-PLANNING LEGISLATION.

See (in this Volume) SOCIAL BETTERMENT: ENGLAND; A. D. 1909.

TRADE BOARDS BILL, THE ENGLISH.

See (in this Volume) LABOR REMUNERATION: WAGES REGULATION.

TRADE UNIONS. Disputes. Agreements:

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION.

TRANSANDINE RAILWAY TUNNEL.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: ARGENTINE-CHILE.

_en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transandine_Railway_

TRANS-MISSOURI FREIGHT ASSOCIATION, The Case of the.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1890-1902.

TRANSVAAL, THE.

See (in this Volume) SOUTH AFRICA.

TREPOFF.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1904-1905.

TRIPLE ALLIANCE, THE: A. D. 1902. Renewal.

The Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, originally negotiated in 1879, was renewed in June, 1902, for twelve years from May, 1903.

TRIPLE ALLIANCE, THE: A. D. 1905. Effect of the Defeat of Russia in the War with Japan.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1904-1909.

TROUBETZKOI, PRINCE S. N.

See (in this Volume) RUSSIA: A. D. 1905-1907.

TRUSTS.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.

TSAI-TSE, PRINCE: HIS MISSION ABROAD.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1905-1908.

TSONTSHEFF, GENERAL: Operations in Macedonia.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1902-1903.

TSUSHIMA, NAVAL BATTLE OF.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (OCTOBER-MAY).

TUBERCULOSIS, THE CRUSADE AGAINST.

See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH.

TUNG FANG.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1906.

TURBINE ENGINE.

See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT.

----------TURKEY: Start--------

TURKEY: A. D. 1901. The Bulgarian Committee which directs Revolutionary Operations in Macedonia. Its Instructions to the Bands and Control of their Murders.

"The Committee which was originally formed at Sofia for the purpose of conducting the nationalist campaign among the Macedonians has been the dominant factor in the later developments of the Macedonian problem, and is directly responsible for all the periodical outbreaks which students of Eastern politics have been accustomed to look for at the approach of spring during the last few years. The nature of this Society will be clearly appreciated from the following document, which sets forth in unequivocal terms both the Committee’s mission and the means resorted to for its fulfilment. This document was seized on the Bulgarian conspirators who in the spring of 1901 were arrested at Salonica, tried, sentenced to fifteen years’ incarceration at Rhodes, and permitted to escape a few months after. I obtained a literal translation of it from an official source at the time …:

"‘Each armed band to consist of Bulgarians belonging to each particular district. Their duty is to carry out secretly the orders given by the president of the committee. The bands are armed with weapons furnished by the Committee. These bands are formed by the revolutionary committees of each district or village, and receive the military training necessary for their purpose. These bands depend on the committees, and in their turn distribute arms among those whom they enrol or gain over to the cause. … The armed bands are placed under the command of the local committees in accordance with the following rules:

"‘To obey received instructions. By means of persuasion or intimidation to place new recruits at the committees’ disposal. To put to death the persons indicated by the committees. … Each band, under the command of the revolutionary committee established in the district, to be ready to raise the standard of revolt on being so ordered by the local committee, which cannot act except by the order of the president of the Sofia committee. … The bands shall also commit political crimes: that is to say, they shall kill and put out of the way any person who will attempt to hinder them from attaining their ends, and shall immediately inform the Sofia committee of the crimes committed. The instructions of the bands must be kept quite secret, as the least indiscretion may lead to great disaster. … "Acts of personal vengeance, attacks on villages, and generally all kinds of unauthorised attempts to raise a revolution are strictly forbidden, and those who are guilty of such acts will be sentenced to death. No murder shall be committed by the bands without a previous decision taken by the committee, except those which are inevitable in an accidental encounter.’

"The reports of the action of the Committee in Macedonia during the last twelve months alone form a dossier which leaves little doubt to the reader of average candour that the regulations printed above are not allowed to remain a dead letter, but that practice goes hand in hand with, or rather outstrips, precept. The exploits of the Committee and its brigands in the country may be classed under three heads: extortion, intimidation, provocation. …

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"Cases of wanton massacre, though not so numerous as the atrocities committed with a material object in view, are not uncommon. The victims in these cases are generally Mohammedans. … The motive of these outrages is purely to provoke reprisals—that is, a general massacre—and then pose as the victims of Turkish cruelty and fanaticism, a cry which never fails to move the nations of Europe to sympathy and their Governments to intervention."

_G. F. Abbott, The Macedonian Question (Nineteenth Century, March, 1903)._

TURKEY: A. D. 1901-1902. Abduction of Miss Ellen M. Stone, by Brigands. The Ransom paid for her Release.

In a communication to the President of the United States, March 24, 1908, the Secretary of State, Mr. Root, recited the circumstances which attended the abduction by brigands, in 1901, of Miss Ellen M. Stone, an American missionary to Turkey, as she travelled the highway from Raslog to Djumabala in the Turkish Empire, and the necessary payment of a ransom to her captors, to secure her release. In the judgment of Mr. Root the Government should refund the ransom money to the citizens from whom it was obtained by subscription at the time, and his communication, as follows, was to that end:

"Our diplomatic and consular representatives in Turkey, in correspondence with the Department of State, shortly after the capture, indicated their belief that the motive therefor was to obtain a ransom, and stated that they had requested the Turkish officials to abstain from too close pursuit of the brigands, lest the death of the captured might result. From later correspondence with our representatives it appeared that the brigands had retired to the mountains with the captive, probably over the border into Bulgaria. The exact location of the party during the captivity, however, is not established by any evidence in the possession of the Department of State, nor does it appear clearly of what government the bandits were subjects.

"About October 1, 1901, the bandits opened negotiations for a ransom, demanding £25,000, and transmitting a letter from Miss Stone, asking that the sum demanded be paid and that pursuit of the brigands by the Turkish troops be stopped. Our diplomatic representatives were of the opinion that Miss Stone’s release could only be obtained by the payment of the ransom, and the State Department shared this view. Miss Stone’s friends, of course, entered into correspondence with the Department regarding the payment of the ransom, and were told that it must be raised by private means.

"On October 3, 1901, the State Department wrote to the Reverend Judson Smith, of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Boston, Massachusetts, as follows: ‘It seems imperative that the amount (of the ransom) should be raised or pledged, so as to be available by your treasurer at Constantinople in season to save Miss Stone. Statutory prohibitions make it impossible for this Government to advance the money or guarantee its payment. If paid by Miss Stone’s friends, every effort will be made to obtain reimbursement from whichever government may be found responsible under international law and precedent. In the event of its proving impossible to hold any foreign government responsible for the capture and to secure the repayment of the money, this Government is willing in the last resort to urge upon Congress as strongly as possible to appropriate money to repay the missionaries.’

"It is claimed that this assurance given by the Department in its letter to Mr. Smith, to the effect that, as a last resort, a recommendation would be made to Congress looking toward the appropriation of a sum sufficient to pay the donors, was largely instrumental in enabling Miss Stone’s friends to secure the sum of $66,000, which was raised through public subscription in this country by October 23, 1901, for the purpose of effecting Miss Stone’s release. After negotiations of considerable length, the brigands finally consented to accept the amount raised and arrangements were made by United States Minister Leishman for the payment of the money at a point near Bansko, Macedonia, the Turkish authorities consenting to withhold their troops from the vicinity of the place in order that the negotiations might have a successful issue. The release of the captive was not obtained so soon as expected, but was finally reported by Minister Leishman on February 23, 1902.

"After careful consideration of all the facts my predecessor, Mr. Hay, decided on January 19, 1905, that it was not advisable to attempt to hold the Turkish Government responsible for the capture and to secure the repayment of the money. Upon the subsequent application for reconsideration of this decision Mr. Hay again, on April 11, 1905, reaffirmed the judgment which he had originally expressed. Upon a further review of the same subject I have come to the conclusion that it is not advisable to reverse or change the conclusion which Mr. Hay reached.

"It would seem, therefore, that the Executive Department is bound to make good its promise to recommend to Congress that money be appropriated to repay the ransom money, a promise which was probably relied upon by many of those who contributed of their private means to save the life of an American citizen believed to be in the gravest peril. Accordingly I have the honor to advise that Congress be recommended to appropriate an amount sufficient to repay the contributors."

60th Congress 1st Session, Senate Document No. 408.

TURKEY: A. D. 1902-1903. Conventions for Building the Bagdad Railway.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: TURKEY: A. D. 1899-1909.

TURKEY: A. D. 1902-1903. Insurgent operations in Macedonia. Horrible Retaliatory Atrocities. Misery of the Macedonian Peasants. Contradictory Reports and Views of the Situation.

Insurgent operations in Macedonia were opened in the fall of 1902 and continued the following year, and into 1904. Besides an activity of insurgent bands and collisions with Turkish soldiery, there were many dynamite explosions, wrecking a bank at Salonica, blowing up a railway train, a passenger steamer, and other outrages of that kind. Then came confused and revolting accounts of a terrible retaliation by the Turks. According to Dr. Dillon, the monthly reviewer of "Foreign Politics" for The Contemporary Review, the substantial facts of what occurred were these:

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"The insurrection in Macedonia planned by outsiders and fixed for last autumn [1902] proved abortive. The first shot should have been fired in August, but the members of the revolutionary agencies which organised the scheme quarrelled among themselves at the Congress held during that month in Sofia, and then split up into hostile factions. In the committee of one of these sections, General Tsontsheff occupied the foremost position, and he resolved on his own initiative to stir up the Macedonians to rebellion. Now it should be borne in mind that all these committees are composed of so-called outsiders—that is to say, mainly Macedonian refugees in Bulgaria, and that whether their aim be to get the provinces annexed to Bulgaria or Servia, or to demand simple autonomy, they meet with but little sympathy and less active support in Macedonia itself, where there is a very intelligent native organisation in favour of self-government. Tsontsheff was therefore left largely to his own resources. On the 23rd of September his adjutant, Nikoloff, crossed the frontier, but owing to the Shipka festivities, it was not until the 15th of October that Tsontsheff himself, who had meanwhile escaped from prison, took the field. The scene of action was the valley of the Struma, which a week later was wholly occupied by the Turks, and the insurrection, which had hardly even flashed, suddenly fizzled and went out. The natives warned by their own committee had generally held aloof. But there were people among them who, not content with holding back, resolved to act in the spirit of the admonitions vouchsafed to them by the Great Powers, and ordered the revolutionary bands to quit the country, and when the latter refused, actually drove them off with arms in their hands. …

"When the people had gone home the Turks came to search for arms. The peasants denied that they possessed any, and then the work of torture began. All who could, ran away, and, owing to the height of the mountain passes and the enormous snowdrifts, had to leave their wives and children behind. Before this calamity overtook the place, the district of Razlog had twelve hamlets and 3,665 Bulgarian houses containing about 25,000 inmates. Of these Madame Bakhmetieff, the American wife of the Russian minister in Sofia, counted 961 fugitives, besides some hundreds who found a refuge in the Peshtshersky district. The entire number of able-bodied men driven away from Razlog alone is about 1,500!

"In that loyal and well-conducted district there were fourteen churches with twenty-two priests; of the latter eight escaped to Bulgaria, one was killed, one arrested, and the fate of the remainder is unknown. According to the statement of the priest who, having made good his escape, found an asylum in the Principality, their churches were defiled and destroyed by the Turks. A considerable number of the remaining peasants are said to have perished on the way over the mountains. Over one-third, therefore, of the male population of the best behaved district of Macedonia has been thus forced to flee the country. …

"We have the authority of Madame Bakhmetieff—who travelled about in the deep snow with the thermometer at 22 Celsius below freezing point, to bring succour to the fugitives—for saying that two priests of the villages of Oranoff and Padesh were tortured in a manner which suggests the story of St. Lawrence’s death. They were not exactly laid on gridirons, but they were hung over a fire and burned with red hot irons. In the Djumaisk District six churches were destroyed, and the Church of St. Elias was turned into a stable, while the shrine dedicated to the same saint in Shelesnitza was converted into a water closet. The churches of Padesh, Troskoff and Serbinoff were razed to the ground; the school buildings in the Djumaisk District were used as barracks, and the teachers put in prison or obliged to flee. The horror of the situation is intensified, Madame Bakhmetieff says, by the fact that large numbers of fugitives have been driven back by the Turks into the interior southwards towards Seres, where their horrible sufferings and their miserable end will be hidden from all who might give them help or pity."

_E. J. Dillon, The Reign of Terror in Macedonia (Contemporary Review, March, 1903)._

Another view of the Macedonian situation is presented in the following, from another of the English reviews:

"The Macedonian problem is desperate mainly because it has been overlaid with abstractions. We talk of trouble in the Balkans, of insurgent excesses, and Turkish atrocities, without realising that these occasional and startling phenomena are the product of a misery that is as constant as it is uninteresting—and unbearable. We think of Turkish misrule as an isolated and irrational fact, without comprehending that it is a highly organised and quite intelligent system, designed to promote the profit of a small minority of officials, tax farmers, and landlords. It rests on a substantial basis of corrupt and anti-social interest. The political mismanagement is the least of all the evils it produces. The reality behind the whole muddle of racial conflicts, beyond the Chauvinism of the Balkan peoples and the calculations of the greater Powers, is the unregarded figure of the Macedonian peasant, harried, exploited, enslaved, careless of national programmes, and anxious only for a day when he may keep his warm sheepskin coat upon his back, marry his daughter without dishonour, and eat in peace the bread of his own unceasing labour. All our efforts might fail to bestow upon him an ideal government—there are not the makings of a harmonious nation in Macedonia. But politics are, after all, a mere fraction of life. While Servia earns the contempt of the civilised world, the Servian peasant sows in hope and reaps in peace, keeping for winter evenings the tale of murdered forbears and ravished ancestors. The Macedonian villager is ignorant. But his leaders have heard of a far-off England which twenty-five years ago flung them back under the heels of the Turk, after Russia had won their freedom at San Stefano. The tale runs that this same England then guaranteed them, at Berlin, the amplest of reforms. And thereupon these simple men will talk about their rights. It is for these they are fighting."

_H. N. Brailsford, The Macedonian Revolt (Fortnightly Review, September, 1903)._

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And still a third view in this which follows:

"The Turks are honestly doing their best to administer justice indifferently. Again and again during my travels in Macedonia I have admired the energy of Valis and Kaimakams, who hold thankless posts with courage and determination. If the Albanians could be kept in order and Bulgarian anarchism could be suppressed, there would be no grievances in Macedonia to-day. The Albanians are turbulent sportsmen, engaging as individuals, but intolerable as neighbours. They must be made to understand that no further nonsense will be permitted. The Porte would be quite capable of reducing them to order if they had not a powerful protector at hand. The Porte could also reduce the Bulgarian conspirators if she did not fear to arouse prejudice in Europe. The echo of former Bulgarian ‘atrocities’ (as resolute government was dubbed), paralyses effective action. The Turks cannot punish Christian criminals so long as Exeter Hall is on the qui vive to defend them. Give the Sultan a free hand, and the Macedonian conspiracy may be ended in a few weeks."

_Herbert Vivian, The Macedonian Conspiracy (Fortnightly Review, May, 1903)._

The British Government received the following representation of facts from its Minister to Bulgaria, Mr. Elliott, in a despatch dated May 19, 1903.

"There are some points which appear to me to be too frequently lost sight of in apportioning responsibilities for occurrences in Macedonia. In the first place, the term ‘Bulgarian’ is applied indiscriminately to subjects of the Principality and to Macedonians of Bulgarian race, and the former are made to bear the blame for the actions of the latter. In the same way, it appears to be believed that the ‘Bulgarian bands’ which make incursions into Macedonia from the territory of the Principality are composed of Bulgarian subjects, whereas the latter probably do not contribute more than 10 per cent, of the number of incursionists, the remainder being all Macedonians, of whom there are some 200,000 in the Principality."

The same Minister wrote from Sophia on the 1st of July: "All the reports received concur in stating that every Turkish official, civil and military, from Hilmi Pasha downwards, look to war as the only means of escape from a situation which is becoming intolerable. It is obvious that in such a war both sides would have much to lose and little material advantage to gain; but the Turks argue that if they could administer a crushing defeat to Bulgaria, of which they have no doubt, they would, even if they were afterwards obliged to withdraw, obtain some years’ peace in Macedonia, by the destruction of what they have been taught to believe, with some justification in the past, is the centre of disaffection, though the real cause of it is to be sought in their own maladministration. The Bulgarians, although believing that the conquest of Bulgaria would not prove the easy matter that the Turks seem to imagine, are, for the most part, under no illusions as to their ability to hold out single-handed against the Ottoman Empire; they are unprepared, and they have apparently been deserted by their protectors. They are, therefore, sincere in their desire to do everything to avoid a conflict. But it does not rest with them to avoid it. The Macedonian agitators will naturally do all they can to provoke a war. It is therefore of the most urgent importance that an attempt should be made by the Turkish Government to restore the conditions of life in Macedonia to something like their normal state. If the persecutions of the last few weeks continue, it will be impossible for the Government to restrain the Macedonians established in this country."

Parliamentary Papers, Cd. 1875.

The condition of suffering in the region of country tormented by this inhuman strife is indicated by such despatches as the following, from the British Vice-Consul at Monastir, writing September 23, 1903:

"According to the best data actually available, the number of persons now wandering on the mountains homeless and destitute cannot be estimated at less than 40,000, while the number of Christians massacred may be safely put down at 3,000. Some of my colleagues, notably the Austrian, French, and Italian Consuls, have sent even higher figures to their embassies."

_Parliamentary Papers (Turkey, No. 2, 1904), Cd. 1879._

TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1904. The Mürzsteg Programme of Reforms in the Administration of Macedonia.

During a meeting of the Emperors of Austria-Hungary and Russia, in 1903, at Mürzsteg, in the Austrian Alps, a plan of supervised administration in Macedonia (known since as the Mürzsteg Programme), to be pressed on the Turkish Government, was agreed upon by the two sovereigns and their advisers. With the assent and support of the other Powers in Europe this was submitted to the Porte, and was accepted in principle on the 25th of November; but it was not until the following May that it could be said to have been brought at all into action. Turkey "agreed

(1) to the appointment, for two years only, of Austrian and Russian civil agents, with a limited staff of dragomans and secretaries, to reside in the same place as the Inspector-General, and to make tours in the interior, accompanied by a Turkish official, to question the inhabitants as to their grievances;

(2) to the appointment of an Italian general to reorganize the gendarmerie;

(3) to consider the question of altering the administrative districts so as to establish a more regular grouping of the various nationalities;

(4) that neither race nor religion shall be a hindrance to official employment;

(5) that an amnesty shall be granted to all persons implicated in the insurrection, except those guilty of dynamite outrages; and

(6) to exempt the inhabitants of destroyed villages from all taxation for one year."

Annual Register, 1904, page 318.

General De Giorgis, of Italy, was appointed to the command of the gendarmerie. Hostility to the arrangements of the Mürzsteg programme in Albania was carried to the extent of open warfare, and a number of serious engagements between Turkish and Albanian forces occurred. Other collisions between the various quarreling races—Greek, Bulgarian and Servian—were not stopped by the reorganized gendarmerie. Turkish action and inaction afforded about equal occasion for Bulgarian complaints; but in April the Bulgarian and Turkish governments came to mutual agreements, that the former would stop the work of revolutionary committees within her territory, and that the latter would carry out the reforms of the Mürzsteg programme in good faith. No effective performance of either engagement appears to have been secured.

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TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1904. Incursions of Armenian Revolutionists from Russia and Persia into Asiatic Turkey. Exaggerated accounts of retaliatory Massacre.

Many bands of revolutionary Armenians who crossed the frontiers from Russia and Persia during 1903 and 1904, making incursions into Armenian Turkey, and bringing upon the inhabitants there the tender mercies of Turkish troops, appear to have been acting generally in cooperation with the Bulgarian revolutionists in Macedonia. The consequent barbarities were dreadful enough, no doubt, but were found to be greatly exaggerated in the reports current at the time. This was the conclusion of the British Ambassador to Turkey, derived from investigations made on the ground by a consular officer who traversed it with care. In a despatch dated August 16, 1904, the Ambassador, Sir N. O’Conor, related a conversation on the subject that he had had with the Armenian Patriarch, Mgr. Ormanian, as follows:

"In the course of conversation I told his Beatitude that I had heard with deep concern the statements he had made to several newspaper correspondents, to the effect that he believed that between 6,000 and 9,000 persons had been massacred in the Sasun and Talori districts during the late troubles, and that I deeply regretted that upon my applying for precise information which would enable me to make earnest representations to the Grand Vizier, his Beatitude has sent me word that he was unable to indicate the places at which these massacres had taken place or to affirm that his reports were based on really trustworthy information. His Beatitude replied that he had had no means of controlling these reports, and that he had communicated them to others as he had received them. I said that, judging from the reports of His Majesty’s Consul at Van, who had visited many of the districts in question, the numbers of victims mentioned by his Beatitude was grossly exaggerated. Captain Tyrrell was more inclined to estimate the number at 900 than 9,000, and he had, moreover, been unable to confirm the statements in the public press that there had been any massacre of Armenians in the ordinary sense of these words, although, no doubt, many innocent persons had been killed both by the insurgents and the troops. … I did not despair of following to the end the investigations which had been set on foot by the Grand Vizier. If, however, his Beatitude could now furnish me with more definite information, I would do all in my power, in conjunction with my French and Russian colleagues, to bring about a searching investigation on the spot. Mgr. Ormanian replied that he was not in a position to give me this information."

TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1905. A "Holy War" in Arabia. The Sheik Hamid Eddin contesting the Caliphate with the Sultan.

"Under the obscure heading of ‘Rebellion in the Yemen,’ a series of brief telegrams has recently appeared in the British and American press, describing in skeleton language the exploits of Sheik Hamid Eddin, the Sovereign of Hadramaut, against the troops of the Turkish Sultan. Absorbed in the contemplation of the Far-Eastern struggle, neither the writers nor readers of the newspapers have yet found leisure to reflect upon the meaning of the movement, which the Lord of the Land of Frankincense is leading. … But the Government in Constantinople, though it would fain throw dust in the eyes of Europe, is itself painfully conscious of the menacing character of the challenge which has gone forth from Arabia. It is, indeed, impossible for it any longer to doubt that Hamid Eddin, the namesake of Abdul Hamid, is contesting not only the possession of Yemen, but also the spiritual supremacy of Islam. A Holy War, in fact, has started in Arabia, and upon its issue depend the fate of Mecca and the title of Caliph. …

"For several years, the propaganda proceeded on comparatively peaceful lines. Only occasionally it was marked by collisions with the Turkish troops. But, towards the end of 1903, the Sheik entered the northern district of the Yemen and laid siege to the Turkish garrison of Assyr. The engagement ended disastrously for the Turks. … For a whole year the Turks refrained from attempting any serious resistance to the Arabian movement. In February of this year, however, they succeeded in inflicting on Hamid Eddin a slight reverse, which the authorities in Constantinople, for political reasons, at once magnified into a disaster."

_W. F. Bullock, The Fight for the Caliphate (North American Review, August, 1905)._

TURKEY: A. D. 1905-1906. Demand in Crete for Union with Greece. Resignation of Prince George as High Commissioner. Appointment of M. Zaimis.

See (in this Volume) CRETE: A. D. 1905-1906.

TURKEY: A. D. 1905-1906. Anti-British agitation in Egypt. Encroachments on the Sinai Frontier. The Tabah Incident.

See (in this Volume) EGYPT: A. D. 1905-1906.

TURKEY: A. D. 1905-1908. Continued Reign of Terror in Macedonia. Financial Reform forced on Turkey by a Naval Demonstration. Barbaric Warfare of Greek and Bulgarian Bands. Efforts of Great Britain to secure further action by the Powers.

On the 17th of January, 1905, the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Governments proposed to supplement the Mürzsteg Programme by a measure of financial reform, which would empower the agencies of the Imperial Ottoman Bank to "act as Treasurer and Paymaster-General in the three vilayets of Salonika, Kossovo and Monastir," to receive the net revenues of those vilayets, and to "be intrusted with the issue of payments of whatever nature and in whatever form." The Turkish Government submitted a counter proposition, somewhat to the same purpose, on the 5th of March; and, after much discussion between the six great Powers, of Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy, they joined in a note to the Sublime Porte, on the 8th of May, accepting the Turkish project of financial reform, provided the Porte would consent to complete it by adding the following:

"To supervise the execution of the financial reforms and the application of the preceding Regulation, and to insure its observation, the Governments will each nominate a financial Delegate. These Delegates of the four Powers will act in concert with the Inspector-General and the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Civil Agents, whose functions were defined in the Mürzsteg programme. The Commission thus formed will have all the powers necessary for the accomplishment of its task, and particularly for the supervision of the regular collection of taxes, including also the tithe. {654} Before being finally settled, the budgets must be submitted to the Commission, which will have the right to amend, under the head of receipts and expenditure, any provision which may be inconsistent with the existing laws or unsuited to the economic and financial requirements of the country. With a view to facilitating its task, the Commission will have the power of nominating for each vilayet an inspector charged with the supervision of the agents employed in the different services of the Treasury."

The Porte declined to acquiesce in a proposal which it declared to be "contrary to the essential principles of the maintenance of the rights and independence of the Imperial Government." The demand was persisted in by the six Powers, inflexibly, and resisted as determinedly by the Sultan and his Ministers, during more than six months of parley. By that time the Powers had arranged for a joint naval demonstration, and landed forces at Mytilene on the 26th of November. This brought the Turkish Government to terms; details of the financial reform were settled on the 16th of December, 1905, and the international fleet was withdrawn.

Meantime conditions in the wretched country for which these attempted reforms of government were being so deliberately and laboriously prepared do not seem to have been much improved, if at all. On the 4th of September, the British Ambassador, Sir N. O’Conor, forwarded to his Government "a statistical résumé of the despatches recording occurrences in Macedonia" sent to him "by His Majesty’s Consuls at Salonica, Uskup, and Monastir between the 1st of January and the 27th of August," giving "the number of deaths for which the various nationalities and organizations are responsible" in those eight months of the year. The statistics were as follows:

Christians killed by Bulgarian Komitajis [Committees], 69; Moslems killed by Bulgarian Komitajis, 60; Christians killed by Greek Komitajis, 211; Moslems killed by Servian Komitajis, 12; Christians killed by Servian Komitajis, 10: total, 362.

Troops killed by various bands, 60; Bulgar Komitajis killed by troops, 145; Greek Komitajis killed by troops, 38; Serb Komitajis, killed by troops, 83; total 326.

Christians murdered by Moslems, 43; Christians killed during military operations, 54; total 97.

Throughout the next two years the monthly reports of British consular officers and the despatches of the Ambassador at Constantinople, as published in the British Blue Books, are monotonous in their sickening enumeration of single murders, wholesale massacres, destruction of villages, flights to the mountains of starving refugees,—outrages and miseries beyond description. On the 10th of June, 1906, the Consul-General at Salonika wrote:

"The general state of insecurity in the disturbed areas tends to grow worse rather than better, chiefly owing to the increase in the numbers and activity of the Greek bands and a slight recrudescence of Moslem crime, the most remarkable cases of which are attributed to a band of fifteen Albanians, who at the beginning of the month infested the forest country north of Niausta, where they robbed and murdered with impunity. The fact that their victims were nearly all Greeks has given rise to the belief in Greek circles that they have been acting in the interests of the Vlach and Bulgarian propagandas, though, so far as I know, there is no evidence whatever in support of this theory. The operations of Turkish troops have been on the whole very successful as against the small Bulgarian and Servian bands which still kept the field. Four of the former and two of the latter were totally destroyed, with comparatively small loss to the soldiery. It will be seen that the loss of life by violence again amounts to over 200 during the month. Of armed revolutionaries, about 40 Bulgarians, 19 Servians and 26 Greeks were accounted for, at a loss to the Turkish army of 23 killed. The great majority of the unarmed victims were Bulgarians, of whom 33 were killed by Greek bands, 15 by soldiers or in operation by the troops, about 15 by the Moslems, and 12 by Bulgarian Komitajis of rival factions; while 11 Vlachs were killed by Greek bands, 14 Greeks by Albanian brigands, 1 Greek by Bulgarian Komitajis, and 6 Mussulmans by Greek revolutionaries."

Conditions were still the same at the end of another year, and in December, 1907, the British Government addressed a memorandum on the subject to France and similarly to the other Powers, reciting some of the recent facts reported by its consular officers, and saying: "These facts and the circumstances of the outrages committed afford striking evidence of the manner in which the gradual extermination of the Christian inhabitants is being tolerated in Macedonia, where the Ottoman authorities have displayed an utter incapacity to maintain public tranquility. It therefore devolves upon the Powers to suggest the adoption of measures which will put an end to such a condition of affairs, and His Majesty’s Government earnestly hope that the French Government will give their most serious consideration to the proposals which they are about to put forward. … His Majesty’s Government are profoundly convinced that the time has now arrived when General Degiorgis and the foreign Staff Officers should be intrusted with a full measure of executive control, and when the force under his command should be properly qualified for effective action by a substantial increase in numbers and an adequate equipment."

To this communication there was no encouraging response from any other Government; and on the 3d of March, 1908, the British Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, reopened the subject, expressing the regret with which His Majesty’s Government had received the replies made to their proposals.

"The situation is not beyond remedy, but it cannot be remedied by half-measures. Were a Governor of Macedonia to be appointed who would be given a free hand and be irremovable for a term of years except with the consent of the Powers, and were an adequate force of gendarmerie and European officers placed at his disposal, His Majesty’s Government are convinced that the country might be cleared of bands and pacified in a short time."

{655}

The measure proposed to other Powers by the British Government, in this communication of the 3d of March, 1908, obtained the assent of none, but it opened a discussion of the subject between London and St. Petersburg which brought Great Britain and Russia together, in joint action that gave promise of effective results. The negotiations ensuing, between the two Governments led to the drafting of two schemes of further reform in Macedonia, to be pressed upon the Porte. Great Britain accepted the Russian scheme, submitted in the form of an aide mémoire, dated July 2, 1908. Some inkling of this new programme, which the European Concert of Powers was about to be asked to support, had been given to the public by this time, and it seems to have precipitated a revolutionary conspiracy for the self-reformation of Turkish Government, which had been in the process of organization for many years, and which had now drawn near to the point of open action.

TURKEY: A. D. 1906. A Troublesome Punctilio removed. The United States represented at Constantinople by an Ambassador.

"According to usage in Constantinople, an Ambassador may obtain an audience at any time with the Sultan, and force many items through even against the influence of both the Palace and the Porte. But every representative lower than an Ambassador can never appear before the Sultan except when called for by His Gracious Majesty. This invitation can be secured sometimes by indirect means; but when, for any reason, the Sultan does not wish to see a Minister of any foreign Power, the Palace officials can baffle him, if necessary, for years. Now, the American representative is called ‘Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,’ and is outranked by every Ambassador to Turkey. Hence, he lacks the all-important privilege of approaching the Sultan uninvited."

Americus, Some Phases of the Issues between the United States and Turkey (North American Review, May, 1906).

The obstacle to American influence with the Turkish Government which is explained in the statement above was removed in 1906, by raising the diplomatic representative of the United States at Constantinople to the rank of Ambassador.

TURKEY: A. D. 1907-1909. The Cretan Situation as dealt with by the Four Protecting Powers.

See (in this Volume) CRETE: A. D. 1907-1909.

TURKEY: A. D. 1908. Building the Damascus to Mecca Railway.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: ASIATIC: A. D. 1908.

TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (March). The Races in Macedonia. Struggle for Political Predominance. The Bulgarian Propaganda.

"Macedonia, although a country of numerous tribes and tongues, has a population of which the chief ethnic elements are Serbs, Bulgarians, and Greeks. The last-named are numerically the most important, while the Turks are, so to say, intruders. Between Bulgarians and Serbs, a bitter struggle has been waged for political predominance, each party being supported more or less effectively by its kindred in the kingdom of Servia or the Principality of Bulgaria. Both races in Macedonia speak almost the same language, profess the same religion, and inter-marry, so that the need of distinguishing between them did not arise until the Bulgarian Church, freeing itself from the Greek Patriarch, established an exarchate. Then all the flock of the Exarchate was deemed to consist of Bulgarians, although in reality many were Serbs; and the vigorous proselytising campaign carried on by agents from the Principality was successful in gathering many thousands more into the true fold.

"Bulgaria had luck from the outset. Before this people had been freed from the Mohammedan yoke the Turkish Government favoured them because it hated the Serbs, who were believed to be trying to gather together all Slavs and to found a powerful Slav state. After the creation of the Bulgarian Principality the Turks continued to wink at the Bulgarian propaganda in Macedonia, because of Stambuloff’s anti-Russian and Turcophile policy. And in this way crowds of Macedonians were won over to the Bulgarian Exarchate. Moreover, the Prince’s Government warmly seconded the efforts of its agents. Money was spent liberally and judiciously. Many Macedonians who distinguished themselves at school were sent to finish their education at Sofia, where the most gifted among them received high places in the civil service or the army. In time, however, peaceful agitation gave way to filibustering expeditions, culminated in bloodshed, and drove the Turks to repressive measures against the Bulgarian element in Macedonia."

_E. J. Dillon, Foreign Affairs (Contemporary Review, March, 1908)._

TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (July-December). The Young Turk party and its Revolutionary organization. Its Plans hurried by the Anglo-Russian project of a new Macedonian Intervention. Beginning and Rapid Spread of Revolt. Proclamation of the Constitution of 1876. Yielding of the Sultan. Intense Joy in the Empire. Election of a Parliament.

Until July 3, 1908,—the day after M. Isvolsky, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, had dated (as stated above) his aide mémoire of Macedonian Reform, which he and Sir Edward Grey were about to submit to the Powers,—the Turkish party since famous under the name of "the Young Turks" had attracted not much general attention, and, even in diplomatic circles, there does not seem to have been much known of the extraordinary work of revolutionary propagandism and organization it had done. Its leadership, seated at Salonika, had been in a Committee, named formerly the Committee of Liberty, but styled in later years the Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress. Of the rise and origin of this Young Turk party, the following account was written some years before it leaped into public fame, by the veteran apostle of political liberty, Karl Blind:

"I remember its rise and origin in the sixties, when, between 1867 and 1868, a small group of Turkish exiles—namely, Zia Bey, Ali Suavi, and Aghaia Effendi—lived in London. They published here and in Paris an ably conducted journal, called the Mukhbir (the ‘Advertiser’), copies of which are still in my library. That paper came out under the auspices of Mustafa Fazil Pasha, the well-known statesman who contributed so much to the spread of public instruction and of Liberal ideas by sending young students and others—among them, a distinguished poet, Kemal—to Paris and London. In the Mukhbir, parliamentary institutions and all other desirable reforms were advocated.

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"In 1876, the Sofia rising at Constantinople at last brought about the introduction of a Charter under the young Sultan, who had just come to the throne—the present Abdul Hamid the Second. It was a popular movement, officered by the better educated class of Mohammedans. In a famous rescript, the Sultan said that ‘if his sire had lived longer, a constitutional era would have been inaugurated under him. Providence, however, had reserved for him (the son) the task of accomplishing this happy transformation, which is the highest guarantee of the welfare of his subjects.’ He went on to denounce ‘the abuses which are the result of the arbitrary rule of one or of some individuals.’ He then enumerated the various reforms to be accomplished by the National Assembly: responsibility of ministers; parliamentary right of control; independence of the courts of justice; equilibrium of the budget.

"All races and all creeds were represented in that Parliament, which sat during 1877-1878: Turks and Armenians, Bulgars, Greeks, Albanese, Syrians, and Arabs; Mohammedans, Greco-Catholics, Armenian Christians, Protestants, and Jews. Its debates, through the whole of which I went carefully at the time in the French text of the Constantinople press, exhibited a remarkable degree of ability. I learnt afterwards, from men conversant with Turkish, and who had repeatedly been present at the sittings, that these official reports had even considerably toned down the liveliness of the discussions.

"I need not refer to the activity of Midhat Pasha, nor go into the many useful reforms then debated, including freedom of the press; equality before the law; liberty in matters of public instruction; admission of all citizens, irrespective of race and creed, to the various public employments; an equal imposition of taxes; free exercise of every religious cult, and so forth. …

"How did that Assembly come to grief? When the Russian army arrived before the gates of Constantinople [in 1878], the Sultan, pressed close by the Czar, and being at issue with the representatives of the people on account of the exile of Midhat and about budget questions, suddenly prorogued Parliament. Alexander the Second, the ‘Divine Figure from the North,’ was thus freed from the danger of hearing Liberal subjects of his own uttering the cry: ‘Let us, by way of reward for our sacrifices in blood and money in this war, have parliamentary government as in Turkey!’

"Prorogued the Turkish National Assembly was, let it well be remembered—not abolished; not dissolved even. Ever since, the Young Turkish party has called for its restoration."

_Karl Blind, Macedonia and England’s Policy (Nineteenth Century, November, 1903)._

When it came to be known, in the spring or early summer of 1908, that Great Britain and Russia were concerting a fresh proposal to the Powers of more thorough going intervention in Macedonian affairs, the Young Turk leaders are said to have been driven to a hurried rearrangement of their own plans. They had not expected, it seems, to be in readiness for a decisive movement until some months or a year hence; but they could not afford to have the Concert of Europe as well as the despotism of the Sultan to deal with in their revolutionary undertaking, contemplating as that did a state of government for Turkey which outside nations would have no right or need to be meddlesome with. Hence they hastened preparations for an explosion of the revolt they had organized so patiently, and its first outbreaks chanced to occur just as M. Isvolsky had signed and dated the statement of his scheme of intervention for communication to other Powers.

The beginnings, on the 3d of July, were in the vilayet of Monastir, where the officers and soldiers of two battalions, at Resna and Presba, with some officials of the district, formed themselves openly into a "Young Turk" band, seized arms and the military chest, and went into the mountains. Similar movements in the Kossovo and Salonika vilayets followed quickly. On the 7th, at the city of Monastir, General Shemsi Pasha, when setting forth to take command of operations against the insurgents, was shot, and the soldiers of his escort were reported to have allowed the assassins to escape by firing in the air. Other murders of officers who showed activity against the rebels were soon announced. The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress had now issued a manifesto, announcing that the object of their League was to secure the restoration of the Constitution of 1876, and appealing to the Great Powers "to show their good will towards the peoples of Turkey by earnestly urging His Majesty, the Sultan, to yield to the legitimate demands of his subjects, who are loyal, though in revolt against the shameful situation of their country." The Committee protested solemnly that the League entertained no hostility to non-Moslems; that it would avoid useless bloodshed, and employ "energetic methods" only in extreme cases against the enemies of liberty.

By the 22d of the month the Sultan had become sufficiently alarmed to dismiss his Grand Vizier, Ferid Pasha, and call Kiamil Pasha, the former Grand Vizier, to his council again. Kiamil exacted conditions which his master was slow in yielding to, and he seems to have been Grand Vizier de facto for a short time before he accepted the responsible title. Change of Ministry, however, did not check the deepening and spreading of revolt. On the 23d of July the Young Turks, having complete possession of the cities of Monastir and Salonica, and of several lesser towns, made solemn proclamation of the Constitution, with popular demonstrations and ceremonies of prayer and speech in which Moslems and Christians were joined. That night the Sultan held long counsel with his Ministers, at the Palace, and before morning the reestablishment of the suspended Constitution of 1876 was decided.

See (in this Volume) CONSTITUTION OF TURKEY.

The morning papers of the 24th gave the decree to the public of Constantinople and the news of it was flashed throughout the Empire and to the ends of the earth. This was the message that went from the Grand Vizier to Hilmi Pasha, Inspector General at Salonika:

"In compliance with the wish expressed by the people and by order of His Majesty the Sultan, the Constitution promulgated on the 11th (23d) December, 1876, which had for various reasons been withdrawn, has been again enforced. The General Assembly (Senate and Chamber of Deputies) may assemble on the terms prescribed by law. I beg you to convey this news to the public."

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According to all accounts of the time, the feeling evoked by the announcement of a constitutionalized government—as soon as the long oppressed people could be persuaded of its actuality —was quite extraordinary, and it swept away temporarily, at least, the enmities of religion and race to a remarkable extent. What occurred, for example, at Beirut, in Syria, as described by a missionary, was probably not exceptional in that place. "Men gathered," he says, "in large groups. Audiences and orators sprung up like mushrooms. The torrent of eloquence that poured forth there was such as would put Niagara to shame. There were people mingling together there who during the past years had been bitterly antagonistic to each other, but who now were showing their friendship in public; Greek Orthodox and Mohammedan priests were embracing each other; branches were cut down from the trees; rugs were brought out from the houses; the streets were lined with people offering their hospitality to their new-found brothers; everywhere, even among the criminal classes, there were these evidences of good fellowship."

_Howard S. Bliss, Address to National Geographic Society, December 18, 1908._

On the night of the 26th of July the Sultan received a deputation, headed by the Sheikh-ul-Islam, who petitioned for the removal of certain obnoxious favorites of the "Palace camarilla," and especially for the dismissal of the notorious Izzet Pasha, one of his secretaries, who was hated and feared above all. Abdul Hamid refused at first; but three days later he ordered Izzet Pasha into exile and disgraced Ismail Pasha, his Aide-de-camp, who was said to be the chief spy of the military schools. Izzet succeeded, a few days later, in escaping from the country, and so, undoubtedly, saved his life.

On the 29th of July the British Ambassador at Constantinople, Sir G. Lowther, sent the following telegram to Sir Edward Grey:

"The Sultan has sworn on the Koran, as Caliph, not to repeal the Constitution, and the Sheikh-ul-Islam has officially notified the oath, which was registered at his Department, to the people. It religiously binds not only Abdul Hamid but also his successors in the Caliphate to govern in accordance with the Constitution, and becomes part of the Sheri law. This step was demanded by the Young Turkey and Constitutional party, in order to prevent the Constitution being put aside, as was that of 1876." On the 31st, announcement was made in the morning papers of Constantinople that "a Hatti Humayun which is binding on the successors of the Sultan will be publicly read at the Porte confirming the Constitution." Subsequently, on sending a copy of this instrument to his Government, Sir G. Lowther remarked that "a Hatti Humayun is the most binding form of legislation in the Ottoman Empire." In the present case it seems to have supplemented as well as confirmed the original Constitution, pledging equality of freedom and of rights to all subjects of every race and religion; supremacy of law; inviolability of the individual domicile; inviolability of the Post; freedom of the Press; freedom of Education, etc., etc.

The ministers and spies of the old regime of despotism and corruption were now proceeded against with celerity and vigor. Some escaped, some were imprisoned, some were killed by enraged crowds of people. The latter was the fate of Fehim Pasha, who had been at the head of the secret police. At the same time exiles of an opposite character were returning to their country and meeting with excited welcomes as they came.

Kiamil Pasha took his proper place as Grand Vizier on the 7th of August, and formed a new Cabinet, with Tewfik Pasha as President of the Council of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In announcing the composition of the Cabinet, Ambassador Lowther remarked: "Kiamil Pasha appears very wisely to have taken the League of Union and Progress into his counsels in forming his Ministry, all of whom were incorruptible opponents of the old regime, while two of them are Christians, in accordance with the principles of the Constitution."

While practically dominating the Imperial Government on one hand, the ruling Committee of the League was likewise bringing to terms the lawless Bulgarian, Greek, and other bands which had tortured and terrorized Macedonia so long, and was respectfully but plainly intimating its expectation that foreign management of the gendarmerie and the finances of that region would soon be withdrawn. Already, as early as the 25th of July, M. Isvolsky had withdrawn, for the time being, at least, his project of further intervention, saying that "Russia will follow with the most sympathetic attention the efforts of Turkey to insure the working of the new regime. She will abstain, for her part, from all interference calculated to complicate this task, and will exercise all her influence in order to obviate and prevent all disturbing action on the part of the Balkan States." Of course the British Government was moved by the same feeling, and, as the new order in Turkey gave more and more promise of stability, the willingness to suspend the foreign organization of gendarmerie in the Macedonian provinces became general among the Powers. A collective note, accordingly, was addressed to the Sublime Porte in September, asking if the Imperial Government had any objection to a provisional suspension of its contract with foreign officers, with leave of absence to them sine die. The Porte promptly acquiesced and the Macedonian intervention came to an end.

Preparations for the election of representatives in the new Parliament became active in October, the League of Union and Progress sending agents into the provinces to give much-needed instructions to officials and people as to what they must do and how. The elections were conducted under a complicated electoral law. Excepting foreign residents, natives in foreign service, soldiers not on furlough, bankrupts, criminals, and a few other classes, all male tax-payers twenty-five years of age were made "electors in the first degree." By their vote they chose, not the parliamentary representative, but "electors in the second degree" who would meet subsequently and make that choice. At the preliminary elections 250 to 750 voters were entitled to one elector; 750 to 1250 to two, and so on. The representation in Parliament was by one Deputy for 25,000 to 75,000 electors of the first degree; two for 75,000 to 125,000,—and further at that rate. Candidates for Parliament were to be not less than thirty years of age.

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According to the Constitution the chosen Deputies to Parliament were to assemble at Constantinople on the 30th of October, old style; but inevitable delays in the elections postponed the meeting of Parliament until the 17th of December, on which day it was opened by the Sultan in person, good order prevailing in the city. In a written Speech from the Throne, read by his First Secretary, he offered as an explanation of the long suspension of the Constitution of 1876, that, in consequence of the difficulties encountered in operating the parliamentary system thirty years ago, it was thought best that "the execution of the said Constitution should be postponed until, by the progress of instruction in my Empire, the capacity of my people should be brought up to the desired level." As this was now believed to have been accomplished, he had "proclaimed the Constitution anew without hesitation, in spite of those who hold views and opinions opposed thereto." With marked abruptness the Sultan’s speech was then turned to some recent occurrences which have not yet been touched in this narrative of events. Its reference to them was in these words: "Whilst the Ministry formed under the Presidency of Kiamil Pasha, to whom the office of Grand Vizier was intrusted upon this change in the system of administration, was occupied with organizing the new Constitutional Administration, Prince Ferdinand, Prince of Bulgaria and Vali of the Province of Eastern Roumelia, departing, for whatever reason, from the loyalty due to our Empire, proclaimed the independence of Bulgaria; and immediately after this the Government of Austria-Hungary also announced to the Porte and to the Cabinets of the other Great Powers that it had decided to annex to the sphere of its dominion Bosnia and Herzegovina, which were subject to the temporary occupation and administration of Austria in accordance with the Treaty of Berlin. These two important events, which are prejudicial to existing legal rights and relations, are occurrences which have moved me to very great regret, and our Ministers have been intrusted with the task of taking the necessary action consequent on these encroachments and of safeguarding (he rights of the State. In regard to this matter, and under all circumstances, the help and support of Parliament are desired."

The concluding words of the Sultan’s brief speech were these:

"I open the Chamber of Deputies to-day with prayers for the happiness and prosperity of our Empire and country. I am happy to see in my presence the Deputies of my nation. My intention to govern our country under the Constitution is absolute and unalterable. Please God our Chamber of Deputies will accomplish good work for our Empire and our nation, and our fatherland will attain to happiness of every kind. May God make us all the objects of His divine grace!"

TURKEY: A. D. 1909. American Mission Schools.

See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: TURKEY AND THE NEAR EAST.

TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (January-May). Wise Moderation of the Young Turks. Gathering of Opposition to them. The Counter-Revolution of April 13. Treacherous Agency of the Sultan in it. Quick Recovery of Power by the Young Turks. Battle in Constantinople. Moslem attack on Armenians in Asiatic Turkey. Deposition of Abdul Hamid. Mohammed V. placed on the Throne.

The declaration of Bulgarian independence and the Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, protested against by the Sultan in his Speech from the Throne at the opening of the new Parliament, on the 17th of December, are recounted at some length in another place, with notice of the prolonged anxieties they produced in Europe at large.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1908-1909 (OCTOBER-MARCH).

In Turkey itself the feeling roused by these offensive proceedings was overborne to a great extent by increasing excitements in home politics at the time. The first unity of welcome and support to the revolution, as organized by the League of Union and Progress, was now being broken, as always happens in such movements, by conflicts of ambition and differences of opinion and aim. In other words, contentions of party and faction were coming into play. The Young Turk leaders of the League had manifestly conducted the whole movement of revolution with extraordinary ability, self-effacement, and restraint. The President of Robert College, at Constantinople, Dr. C. Frank Gates, who must be accounted a trustworthy observer of events in the Ottoman capital, writing in The Outlook, November 7, 1908, of "Turkey under the New Regime," paid this high tribute to its chiefs:

"One of the most striking features of this movement to those who have lived long in the country is the moderation shown by the Young Turks. The regime which has been overthrown was oppressive in the extreme, and all the people had suffered terribly from it. The Turks have often said, ‘We suffer more than the Christians.’ Many have predicted a day of terrible retribution, when the old regime should fall into the hands of its victims. But there have been no reprisals. Officers of the army were killed in order to gain control of the army, a few spies fell into the hands of the people and were killed, the notorious Fehim Pasha was torn to pieces by the mob at Broussa, but most of the rascals have been held for regular trial, and the leaders of the new movement have firmly insisted that it is no time for vengeance or for the gratification of personal animosities; only one consideration can be admitted, and that is the good of the country. Their eyes are upon the future, not upon the past. This is wonderful. If one could have expected a reign of terror anywhere, here was the place to expect it, but it has not come.

"The Young Turks have shown a practical wisdom in dealing with the various parties and in solving the questions which have arisen which commands the admiration of all. A friend who is very well acquainted with the leaders in this movement said the other day, ‘The most wonderful thing of all is the committees.’ Properly speaking, there are no committees and no tangible organization. There are men who stand behind the present Government and practically guide and control it, but they are content to be unknown and to work in silence. They say, ‘It is the work of God,’ 'Do not congratulate us: thank God.’

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"The difficulties which these men have to face are enormous. There is the difficulty of financing the Government, which is aggravated by the fact that some of the provinces have understood liberty as meaning freedom from taxes. Then there is the difficulty of forming a programme for the new regime. There have been two parties among the Young Turks, the Committee of Union and Progress, and the Party of Decentralization headed by Sebaheddin. … Sebaheddin has been explaining his programme to popular audiences. His plan is to have local assemblies in the provinces, to which shall be relegated many of the functions which have been centralized in Constantinople under the old regime."

The working of the new machinery of government went smoothly, in appearance, for some weeks after this was written. On the 1st of January the Sultan gave a banquet to the Deputies of Parliament at the Yildiz Kiosk, sitting with them at table and speaking to them with eloquent piety and patriotism; subsequently permitting a general kissing of his hands, which performance of affectionate reverence was much disapproved by some of the Turkish journals next day. A fortnight later Mr. Hagopian, special correspondent at Constantinople of the New York Evening Post, seemingly intimate in acquaintance with the inner circles of parties, began to be sharply critical of the Committee of Union and Progress, saying that their "arrogant programme" "has led more enlightened Turks to organize a new party, the Sons of Liberal Ottomans." Then he speaks of what appears to be another party, "the association of ‘Fedakiarans’ (Confederates), composed of all former political exiles and prisoners who became free after the establishment of the new regime. On the surface their aim is said to be to assist all their unfortunate members who have been brought to poverty, or disabled by the tortures of prison and exile. Their membership within the last four months has reached twenty thousand. …

"The mistake which the Young Turks committed in opposing Kiamil Pasha, and in persecuting the Confederates," this writer goes on to say, "has strengthened the cause of Sabakheddin Bey and his followers. All the oppressed Christian races, who welcomed the inauguration of a liberal government in Turkey, were alarmed when a part of the young Turks came forward as champions of Panislamism, and to-day they are inclined to be in the rank and file of this new liberal movement. The Young Turkish Parliament has shown a tendency to be a Moslem institution."

A fortnight later Kiamil Pasha, the Grand Vizier, or Prime Minister, as he preferred, it is said, to be called, dropped Ali Riza Pasha, Minister of War, and Aarif Pasha, Minister of Marine, from his Cabinet, appointing them to other posts, which they declined; and this completed his breach with the Committee of Union and Progress. Mr. Hagopian, in his next letter to the Evening Post, averred that the Grand Vizier had discovered a plot, organized by the Young Turks, to dethrone the Sultan and proclaim Youssuf-Izeddin, elder son of Abdul Aziz, the murdered former Sultan, and that he defeated their project by the sudden change he made in the Ministries of War and Marine. Other reporters from Constantinople to the Press do not seem to have given credit to this explanation. Whatever the inner facts may have been, the Young Turk Committee proved stronger than the Grand Vizier, and they forced his resignation on the 13th of February, by an overwhelming vote in the Chamber of Deputies, 198 to 8, that he "no longer possesses its confidence." He had commanded foreign confidence more, perhaps, than any other Turkish statesman, and his overthrow gave a serious shock for the moment to the hopefulness with which the Turkish constitutional experiment had come to be quite generally regarded.

Hilmi Pasha, who had been Minister of the Interior under Kiamil, was now called by the Sultan to be Grand Vizier, and a new Cabinet was formed, Ali Riza Pasha resuming the portfolio of the Ministry of War, and with it that of the Marine. The administration was now entirely in harmony with the Committee of Union and Progress. During the next two months there was not much in Turkish affairs to command attention abroad. But political hostility to the Committee of Union and Progress was evidently increasing. The correspondent of the London Times wrote to his paper from Constantinople in March that "one of the most perplexing and disquieting features of the situation since the fall of the late Cabinet has been the persistent manner in which the Committee have denied that any extra-Parliamentary pressure was employed to effect that change, or that, since it was accomplished, extra-Parliamentary forces have exercised any influence on the conduct of affairs. Had they frankly admitted that such influences had been, and were still, brought to bear—as, indeed, the speech of the President of the Chamber implicitly acknowledges—but that such interference was justified by circumstances and would continue to be exercised until the country had safely emerged from the critical period through which it is passing, many who are now falling away from them would have been found to agree, and few persons capable of forming an unbiased opinion would have ventured to declare that their contention was altogether unreasonable and unjustifiable. By adopting a different course they have alienated much of the sympathy and confidence they hitherto commanded, and given rise to suspicions, quite possibly unfounded, as to the purity of their motives, with the result that the country, which needs and will long continue to need the united energies of all its ablest and most enlightened citizens, for the tremendous task of regeneration and reorganization, is now weakened by a fierce party struggle, and that many competent observers regard a fresh Ministerial crisis as an event which cannot be delayed for many weeks."

The anticipated crisis came about four weeks after this had been written, in a form much more serious than that of a mere Ministerial collapse. It was precipitated by excitements that followed the murder, on the 6th of April, of a political journalist, Hassan Fehmi Effendi, editor of the Serbesti, the organ of the Liberal party. As the murdered man had been a vigorous critic and opponent of the Committee of Union and Progress, that organization was accused at once of having brought about his death. {660} This gave the start to agitations and demonstrations that were secretly pushed for several days, until they culminated, on the 13th, in an outbreak of soldiers and city mobs which reversed for a time the Young Turk revolution of the previous July. That the crafty Abdul Hamid had more than lent his hand to the reactionary outbreak was universally believed; but when it had accomplished the overthrow of Hilmi Pasha and his Ministry the Sultan did not venture to call creatures of his own to take their place. On the contrary, he gave the office of Grand Vizier to Tewfik Pasha, one of the most respected and independent of the elder officials of the Empire, charging him, in an imperial rescript, "to form a Cabinet to conform more directly to the sacred law and to maintain the Constitution and guard public order." These words are indicative of the nature of the hostility to the regime of the Young Turks which had been worked up. Formerly, as appears in one of the quotations above from Mr. Hagopian, the Young Turks had been accused of being "champions of Pan-Islamism," and their Parliament of showing "a tendency to be a Moslem institution." Latterly, Moslem orthodoxy had been appealed to against them on the charge that they were unfaithful to "the sacred law" (the Sheriat), and that they were making the Constitution a mere cover for designs that boded evil to Islam. A fair inference from the contradictoriness of the charges brought against them is decidedly favorable to the party of the Young Turks.

At the outset of the revolutionary riot in Constantinople a few murders were committed and some fatal shooting at random was done, the victims including the Minister of Justice, an Albanian Deputy and a few officers of the riotous soldiery; but the mob-rising, as a whole, appears to have been kept under singular restraint. No important members of the League of Union and Progress are reported to have been killed. Those who were in Constantinople escaped, and their ruling Committee was soon established in activity at Salonika again, taking measures which resulted quickly in the recovery of more than the power that they had seemed for the moment to have lost.

That no reaction of substantial influences at Constantinople against constitutional and representative government was signified by what had occurred there was made plain by an important proclamation, issued on the 16th of April, by the Committee of the Ulema, the Moslem Doctors of the Sacred Law. It was addressed to the Deputies and the Nation, in these words:

"We are informed that certain Deputies, fearing for their lives, wish to resign, while, on the other hand, the public fears the return of despotic rule. The Committee of the Ulema, which has never doubted that the Constitution is in entire conformity with sacred law, and has not forgotten the burning of Islamic books at Gulhaneh in the days of absolutism, will defend the Constitution, which is in conformity with the Sheriat, to the last, aided by the army and Parliament. Its members consider it to be a religious duty to sacrifice their lives for this end. They and the nation preserve the confidence of Deputies, Moslem and non-Moslem alike, save such as have resigned, or have fled and are thereby considered to have resigned. Deputies, therefore, are informed that henceforth those who resign will be considered traitors. Let them do their duty justly and honourably, and they may be sure of the support of the nation and the spiritual aid of the Prophet. We beg the glorious army to maintain order and discipline, following the counsels of the Ulema, for it is thus that the Almighty will grant salvation to the country and happiness in this world and the next."

But Asiatic Turkey was easily made distrustful and suspicious of a change in government which appeared to lower the authority and dignity of the Sultan-Caliph; and news of the seeming triumph of that sacred sovereign in what had happened at Constantinople must have had not a little to do with the sudden outburst, on the 15th of April, of Moslem hostility to the Armenian Christians in parts of Asia Minor and Syria. The fighting and massacre then begun, and which continued for many days, was most fiercely carried on within a circle of towns at the corner where Syria and Asia Minor touch, and where the Gulf of Iskanderun runs far into the land. On the northern and western side, this piece of the Turkish dominion was the ancient province of Cilicia, which Pompey added to the empire of Rome; in which St. Paul was born, and which received its modern name of Adana from Haroun al Raschid, the most famous of the Caliphs of Bagdad,—thanks to "The Arabian Nights." In and around its three principal towns, of Adana, Mersina, and Tarsus, the first and worst of the atrocities occurred.

The League of Union and Progress had given way for an instant, only, to the outbreak at Constantinople, which must have taken its leaders by surprise. But the momentary reverse was a gift of opportunity, in fact, to prove the astonishing energy of ability that was in this remarkable body of men. They had been betrayed by a considerable part, at least, of the division of the army which garrisoned Constantinople, and which is said to have been heavily bribed with money that must have come from the Sultan’s purse. But the Second and Third Corps of the army in Macedonia were unshaken in fidelity to them and their cause. It was on Tuesday, the 13th of April, that their opponents at the capital had their triumph; on Wednesday, the 14th, the two trusted corps were under orders from Salonika to march on Constantinople. Nine days later Mahmud Shevket Pasha, who commanded the movement, was in full possession of the city, with the Sultan a prisoner, and the victorious general was about to publish the following brief report of what had been done in the interval:

"Our Second and Third Army Corps," he wrote, "being the nearest to Constantinople, undertook as the executive power of the whole Ottoman nation to shed the last drop of their blood in defence of the Constitutional régime. Having therefore taken counsel together and organized a force sufficient for the purpose, they marched to Constantinople, in order to counteract the effects of the despotic blow recently struck at that régime, to subdue and chastise the guilty, and to take the necessary measures for the prevention of similar attempts in the future. Leaving Salonika on Wednesday, I arrived the following day at San Stefano and gave orders for a general movement preparatory to entering the capital on Friday. {661} The troops quartered at the Ministry of War were compelled to surrender before they had time to defend themselves. Only the mutinous troops at Taslikishla and other barracks in Pera offered any resistance to the army of occupation. These barracks were accordingly bombarded and destroyed, their garrisons being disabled or forced to surrender. As our heroic army began operations at night and entered the town at dawn, and as the inhabitants remained in their houses and the shops were closed, there were no deaths in the civil population and no disorder took place. The losses on both sides were heavy, but the numbers are not yet known. I pray God that the hearts of all Ottomans may rejoice at the news of this great victory and that it may prove the dawn of a great future for our country."

Military observers who accompanied Shevket Pasha and his army are said to have been profoundly impressed by the masterly handling of the whole operation, from start to finish. His fellow Constitutionalists were equally impressed by the qualities that he had revealed. A Press despatch to New York, from Constantinople, April 26, reported:

"Schefket Pasha, commander of the Constitutional army, is the man of the hour. The leading civilian members of the Committee of Union and Progress desire him to be grand vizier in succession to Tewfik Pasha, and he has been assured that a majority of Parliament would gladly support a ministry under his leadership in succession to the Tewfik ministry, which resigned to-day. In reply to these proposals Schefket Pasha said that the premiership afforded such a splendid opportunity to assist in the political development of the country that he would have rejoiced to accept the honor had it come to him under any other circumstances, but that he could not accept it while still leader of the army. To do so would not accord with his ideas of civil and political liberty of action." This seems to have been a true exhibit of the fine spirit and intelligent patriotism of the man, and it added much to the hopefulness of the regenerative undertaking of the Young Turks. Shevket is an Arab, from Bagdad, who had his training as a soldier in Germany and had lived in Europe twelve years.

What to do with Abdul Hamid was a question over which the Committee of Union and Progress wasted very little time. He became their captive on the 24th. On the 26th it was known that he would be deposed and exiled to Salonika. His falsity in all that he had professed of a willing adoption of constitutional government, and his treacherous engineering of the conspiracy against it, were believed to be open to no doubt. It was probably not easy to save him from the doom of death which he feared: but the men of calmly tempered mind and will who had ruled the revolution from its beginning were still in control. On the morning of the 27th a fetva or formal decision by the Sheik-ul-Islam, authorizing the deposition of Abdul Hamid from the Ottoman throne, was sent to the National Assembly and read. It was in the form of a question from that body, answered tersely by the supreme judge of the law of Islam,—as follows:

"What becomes of an Imam [the title of the Sultan of Turkey as head of the Orthodox faith] who has destroyed certain holy writings, who has seized property in contravention to the Sheri laws, who has committed cruelties in ordering the assassination and imprisonment of exiles without any justification under the Sheri laws, who has squandered the public money, who, having sworn to govern according to the Sheriat, has violated his oath, who, by gifts of money, has provoked internecine bloodshed and civil war, and who no longer is recognized in the provinces?" To this the Sheik-ul-Islam replied: "He must abdicate or be deposed." At once, by unanimous vote, the deposition of Abdul Hamid and the succession of his younger brother, Mohammed Reschad Effendi was pronounced by the National Assembly. The new Sultan was proclaimed with impromptu ceremony in the afternoon, at the Seraskierat, to which he went in the plain costume of a Turkish gentleman. He was received by Mahmud Shevket Pasha and his staff in the central court. The Grand Vizier, the Sheikh-ul-Islam, Said Pasha, President of the Senate, and Ahmed Riza, President of the Chamber, stood at the foot of the stairs. All kissed hands, and the whole group, headed by his Majesty, proceeded to a reserved chamber, the gallery above the court being in the meantime crowded with Senators, Deputies, officers, journalists, and ordinary sightseers. The Deputies and Senators were then admitted to kiss hands, and a prayer was recited. This ended the simple ceremony of the day; but one of more solemnity occurred on the 10th of May, when the Sultan received the sword of Osman—the equivalent of a coronation—in the Mosque Ayub, which Christians are never permitted to enter, and was conducted in an imposing procession through the streets of the city.

Mohammed Reschad Effendi, who reigns as Mohammed V., was in his sixty-fifth year when he came to the throne. Until the revolution of the previous July he had been practically a prisoner in one of the palaces on the Bosporus, surrounded by the creatures of his jealous and suspicious brother, without whose permission he could not leave the palace grounds. Latterly he had enjoyed some degree of personal freedom, for the first time in his life. An anonymous contributor to the London Times, who had had an opportunity to meet him since the revolution broke his bonds, wrote thus of the interview:

"I had the privilege of a long conversation with Reschad when I was in Constantinople in the autumn, on condition that the visit should be conducted with some secrecy and should remain secret until the return of Hamidianism was beyond the range of possibility. I believe I was the first European whom he had seen since the revolution of July mitigated the severity of the reclusion enforced for 30 years by Abdul Hamid. The Heir Apparent was still living in the Palace adjoining Dolma Baghche, which had been his prison throughout the reign, jealously guarded by the Sultan’s Pretorians at the entrances from the main road, and by a gunboat moored in the Bosporus opposite the water approach. …

"His Highness talked slowly and hesitatingly, often lowering his voice to a whisper and casting furtive glances round the room as if he was still haunted by the fear of spies, but he listened eagerly while I told him of my own many journeyings in Turkey, whose people I had known since the beginning of the Hamidian régime, occasionally interrupting me with an apposite remark, or asking for an explanation which showed both interest and intelligence. {662} There was something strangely pathetic in this desire for information about his own country, over which his Highness was soon destined to reign. A full hour’s conversation left the impression that, given favourable circumstances and good advisers, the Prince was well qualified to preside over a period of peaceful transition."

Punishment of the authors of the counter-revolution followed quickly on the reestablishment of constitutional authority, and it was sternly meted out. As Mr. Hagopian expressed the feeling of the Young Turks, in his letter of April 26 to the New York Evening Post, they "could not afford to be lenient. The conspiracy of April 13," he added, "was no longer a secret. In the last two days 15,000 soldiers and 6,000 hodjas and spies had been arrested. In their possession over half a million dollars had been found. Where had this money come from? Who could deny any longer that Abdul Hamid drew from his bank about ten million dollars a month ago? His favored son, Burhaneddin Effendi, went from barrack to barrack and distributed the money among the soldiers. Former spies, disguised in Turkish clergymen’s garments, went among the troops and won them over with the Sultan’s bribes. Soldiers, when arrested, were found to have an average of one hundred dollars; some had two hundred, three hundred, and even five hundred. Indeed, Abdul Hamid was the head of the conspiracy, and the massacre in Adana was instigated by his emissaries sent from Constantinople. The old and the new Yildiz cliques were not less responsible." By the 12th of May thirty-eight executions had been reported, most of them by hanging in public places. "A member of the court-martial that sentenced these men to death explained the reason of the public hangings by saying that Constantinople was such a city of rumor and traditions of corruption that, had the announcement been made that these men had been executed in private, it would not have been believed by the masses. It was desired to impress the people with the fact that the guilty had been punished."

TURKEY: April-December. Outbreak of Massacre in Southeastern Asia Minor.

The first news of the outbreak of massacre in southeastern Asia Minor came to Europe and America in a telegram from Constantinople, dated April 15, saying: "A massacre of Armenians is in progress to-day at Mersina, a seaport of Asia Minor on the Mediterranean." In this report the outbreak was ascribed to the provocation of a murder of two Moslems by an Armenian; but nothing that appeared subsequently gave any confirmation to this. The Sultan has been accused of having instigated the rising, as a means of starting complications which might check the Young Turks; but that remains unproved.

Mersina, from which the first report of massacre came, is thirty-six miles by railway from Adana, the capital of the vilayet of that name and an important missionary station of several American missionary organizations. Adana was a city of about 45,000 inhabitants, mostly Mohammedans, but with Armenians in considerable numbers and a few Greeks. The Christian missions included important schools. In this city the murderous mob had begun its work on the 14th of April, a day prior to the Mersina report, and it is found to have been the center of the deadly outbreak throughout. The Moslem fury was directed against the Armenians, and, though two missionaries were among the killed, they do not appear to have been objects of attack, but to have suffered incidentally to the efforts they made for the protection of their Armenian neighbors and their schools. There were Turkish troops in the city from the beginning of the slaughter, but they did nothing to stop it for five days. According to some accounts the vali, or governor, kept them shut up in quarters; according to others they took part in the massacre. The Reverend Stephen Trowbridge, who was in Adana during these terrible days, declared a little later: "One man is responsible for the disorders here. This is the vali himself. He had it in his power to suppress lawlessness and massacre, but deliberately refrained from doing so. He said simply: ‘We are not responsible.’ The better class of Turks in Adana," Mr. Trowbridge continued, "the members of the Committee of Union and Progress, are deeply grieved and saddened at these dreadful events. Some of them are ready to join us in relief work for the Armenians. One Bey already has opened his house to refugees." This gives color to the belief that the outbreak was not mere mob-madness, but captained in some way from a higher center of Turkish authority. Such, indeed, was the firm conviction of many who were witnesses of what occurred. Writing on the 24th of April from Tarsus, which bore its share of the widespread attack, another missionary said: "The massacres all began on the same day, Wednesday, the 14th, showing, were there no other proof, that they were inaugurated by telegraphic orders from Adana, probably from Constantinople. The only places where the Christians took up arms for a short time to defend themselves were Adana, Hadjin, and near the battle-field of Issus; at the latter place they are still holding out. The statement by Turkish officials that there was an Armenian insurrection, that Turks were massacred, and houses burned by the Christians, etc., etc., are simply abominable lies. This cannot be put too strongly. … During fifty long hours, while battle and murder and burnings were going on all around our school and residence in Adana, the vali, though he had hundreds of soldiers at the Konak, sent not one to protect us and our property."

According to a report made some months later, after investigations under the new Turkish regime, and quoted from a Turkish newspaper, the number killed in all parts of the province was 20,008; 620 were Moslems, and the remaining 19,400 were non-Moslems. Of the non-Moslems killed, 418 were Old Chaldeans, 163 Chaldeans, 210 Armenian Catholics, 655 Protestants, 99 Greeks, and the remainder Gregorian Armenians. The same report estimated the destruction of property as having been equal to two-thirds of the entire wealth of the province. The appearance of Adana and of the surrounding country after the massacres were stopped was described by one who made the journey from Tarsus to Adana, and who wrote:

{663}

"Leaving behind us the ruins of Tarsus, and the hundreds of weeping widows and orphans there, we came by train to Adana. Near the city the road runs for miles through vineyards and gardens, in former days a beautiful sight. But now it is a waste of desolation; all the houses of the Christians are heaps of ruins; in and around those houses more than five hundred were slain during the three terrible days of April. The houses of Moslems have not been injured. We noted a like contrast as respects the numerous farms on the plain between Tarsus and Adana. And yet the charge is made, and believed, that the Armenians were the aggressors!

"In the once prosperous Adana, nothing but ruins; it is like the pictures I have seen of Pompeii. The wretched survivors wander by twos and threes around the places where once stood their happy homes; they look more like ghosts than human beings, these pale, dejected, barefooted widows and orphans."

On the 12th of May, after the Young Turks had recovered power at Constantinople, the Turkish Embassy at London gave out the following announcement: "Order and tranquillity prevail throughout the Sanjak of Djebel-i-Bereket. Troops are arriving gradually and are being distributed according to the necessities of each place. The local authorities at Adana are about to proceed at once to confiscate stolen property and to disarm Musulmans and non-Musulmans alike. This measure will be adopted generally in the other parts of the vilayet as soon as the troops which are coming from the various places have reached the positions to which they have been assigned. The authorities are very busily engaged in finding homes for people who are without shelter and in supplying them with food. A Commission for that purpose has been appointed at Adana."

A Court Martial and a Parliamentary Commission were now sent to Adana to investigate the massacre and punish the guilty. Their work was soon showing results. On the 24th of May a report came from Constantinople that "Ferid Pasha has informed a representative of the Tanin that several of the soldiers who took part in the recent massacres in Cilicia have been arrested. Nine persons have already been condemned to death by the Court-martial. With regard to the responsibility for the outbreak, the Minister said that, while he could not definitely ascribe it to official promptings, certain officials had failed to do their duty, among them the Mutesarrif of Jebel Bereket, who had been imprisoned pending an inquiry into his conduct. The reactionaries had certainly played a part in fomenting the outbreak, but other elements—which the Minister did not specify—had contributed thereto."

On the 13th of July it was reported that "an Imperial Iradeh has been issued ordering the arrest of the ex-Governors of Adana and Djebel Bereket, the commander of the Adana garrison, and a number of notables of Cilicia, among whom is the editor of the Itidal, the notorious Baghdadi."

Two days later it was said that "the ex-Governors of Adana and Djebel Bereket have been sent to Adana under a strong escort. Some 20 leading Moslem notables of Adana who have been arrested will be immediately brought before a Court-Martial. The Grand Vizier has given orders for a manifesto to be prepared by the Sheikh-ul-Islam, demonstrating by means of texts from the Koran and the Traditions that the duty of all good Moslems is to treat Christians with justice and to regard them as fellow-citizens with equal rights. It is to be distributed by the kadis, muftis, and hodjas in every town and village of the empire, and the most learned ulema are to take it as their text in the sermons to be preached during next Ramazan."

July 18th the court-martial was stated to have made a report which concluded as follows:

"‘Fifteen persons have been already hanged, 800 deserve death, 15,000 deserve hard labour for life, and 80,000 deserve minor sentences. If it is decided to proceed with the punishment, we will draw a cordon around the town and deal expeditiously with the matter.’ In view, however, of the general reconciliation between the various elements, the Court-martial recommends a general amnesty on the occasion of the National Fête."

The 11th of August brought accounts of the publication of a declaration by a Commission of three ministers in the Turkish Cabinet appointed to prepare it, acquitting the Armenians of all responsibility for the outbreak at Adana. This declaration, drawn up after a careful examination of the reports of the members of the Parliamentary Commission on the massacres and approved by the Council of Ministers, ascribes the massacre to the ignorance of the population. "In the reign of Abdul Hamid the people had become imbued with the idea that every Armenian was a separatist at heart, and were therefore averse from equality with the Armenian community. They had become in consequence the tools of religious or political agitators. The declaration censures severely the local officials for their failure, not only to quell the outbreak, but to warn the Government that the situation in Cilicia was critical."

One of the Deputies of the Parliamentary Commission which investigated matters at Adana gave, perhaps, a more distinct idea of the causes that worked to produce the massacres, in an interview published during August, when he said:

"The massacre in Adana had two strong causes: reaction and tyranny. The joy of the July demonstrations [of 1908] had scarcely passed when, at the beginning of August, tyrannical tendencies began to appear. The former Mufti of Bakhcheh went hither and thither declaring that liberty and the constitution were the work of the Christians, that the constitution was contrary to the Sheriat. In this way he stirred up Moslems against the Christians and the constitution. In place of the joy which appeared among all classes during the first days of the constitution, a spirit of revenge and enmity against non-Moslems began to spread."

Evidently the amnesty recommended by the Court-martial in July was not granted; for the following telegram was sent from Constantinople on the 12th of December to the London Times: "Twenty-six Moslems, who were sentenced to death in connexion with the Adana massacres in April last, were executed at Adana yesterday and to-day. Order was maintained, although the population was much moved, the women relatives of the condemned publicly manifesting their grief. One Armenian is awaiting execution."

{664}

Nevertheless the Armenians have not been satisfied with the punishments inflicted, and the Armenian Patriarch resigned in September, as a mark of protest, maintaining that the real instigators of the massacres went unpunished.

TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (May-December). Hilmi Pasha, Grand Vizier. Parliament opened by the new Sultan. Constitutional Amendments on Religion and Education. The Committee of Union and Progress. Change of Ministry.

From the 1st to the 5th of May Tewfik Pasha was Grand Vizier, by appointment from the new Sultan. Then, as had been expected, Hilmi Pasha was called to his place, and remained at the head of the Government until the last week of the year. On the 20th of the month the Sultan in person opened the session of Parliament, and, after a speech from the throne had been read by the Grand Vizier, pronounced the following words: "I have sworn to respect the Sheriat and the Constitution in its entirety, and not to transgress for one instant from safeguarding the national rights and interests of the country. You must now in return take the necessary oath." The oath was then taken by the Senators and Deputies in turn, his Majesty watching the proceedings from the Imperial box. On the 24th the Grand Vizier announced the programme of measures and general policy to be undertaken by his Ministry, and received, after debate, a vote of confidence by 190 to 5. The reconstituted Government was now a fully organized fact.

Questions concerning the attitude of the State towards religion and education, as it should be defined in the Constitution, were among the earliest of high importance to be brought before the Parliament. On the 8th of June it adopted an amendment to the article in the Constitution of 1876 reading as follows:

See, (in this Volume) CONSTITUTION OF TURKEY.

"Islam is the State religion.

"The State, while safeguarding this principle, guarantees the free exercise of all cults recognized in the Empire, and maintains the religious privileges granted to divers communities, provided public order and morality be not infringed."

On the subject of education the Constitution was amended to read:

"Education is free.

"All schools are placed under the control of the Government. The necessary measures shall be taken to assure to every Ottoman subject a uniform system of education. There shall be no interference with the religious education of the different communities."

The Christian communities, especially the Greek, objected strenuously to this, fearing that governmental control would be found to mean the imposition of the Turkish language in all schools, as an instrument of nationalization.

Another proposed amendment, making members of the Chamber of Deputies eligible for the posts of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, failed to secure the requisite two-thirds majority, and this was regarded as a defeat of the civilian leaders of the "Young Turk" Committee of Union and Progress, who were supposed to be desirous of holding the posts in question, while sitting also in the Chamber.

The firm control of affairs which the Committee in question had exercised throughout the revolutionary movement, while keeping itself mysteriously anonymous in the background, had been extraordinarily successful, indicative of high wisdom and a very genuine public spirit. But the forces thus handled by the Committee, especially in the military element of the revolution, were growing restive, it would appear, under the feeling of too much subordination, and gave increasing signs of discontent with the invisibility of the wires by which they were pulled. Without doubt, it was evidence of this which led the Committee, at a meeting at Salonika, in October, to resolve and announce that their organization should no longer be a secret society, but open to public knowledge and directed henceforth by a responsible executive. Whether the Committee did or did not strengthen itself by thus coming into the open, it has maintained its ascendancy and still exercises a controlling power.

The second session of Parliament was opened by the Sultan, on the 14th of November, with a speech of roseate contentedness in its contemplation of Turkish affairs. Late in December a change of Ministry occurred, in somewhat obscure connection with a consolidation of steamer lines on the Euphrates. A British line of steamers, known as the Lynch Line, which had been running on that river since 1860, was being consolidated with a Turkish line that the Turkish Government controlled, and something in the transaction which raised an issue between Parliament and the Grand Vizier. Hilmi Pasha, led the latter to resign December 28. Nobody seems to have doubted, however, that the real cause of his leaving office was in the willingness of the Committee that he should do so. General Mahmud Shevket, the able military leader of the Revolution, was invited to form a Cabinet, but declined, as he is said to have done before. The high office was then conferred on Hakki Bey, Turkish Ambassador at Rome, and Mahmud Shevket Pasha accepted office in his Cabinet as Minister of War.

TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (October). Railway and Irrigation Projects in the Tigris-Euphrates Delta.

Sir William Willcocks, the British engineer who has been engaged for some time past in surveys for the Turkish Government, having reference to irrigation and railway improvements for the reclamation of the great Mesopotamian region, made a report to the Ministry of Public Works at Constantinople in October, 1909, of which the following account was given to the Press through Reuter’s Agency:

"Sir William Willcocks advocates the construction of a railway from Baghdad to the Mediterranean. The proposed railway would start from Baghdad, cross the Euphrates at Feludia, and follow the Valley to Hit. At Hit the line would take the Euphrates Valley and traverse the flat desert in a straight line to El Kaim, near Abu Kemal, the northern limit of the cataracts. From El Kaim to Der Zor, the Euphrates has no cataracts, and the river Khabour, which joins the Euphrates at Mayadin, the ancient Rehoboth, is, like the Euphrates, navigable during the whole year. These parts of the Euphrates and Khabour could be extensively developed and all their products transported to El Kaim by boat and thence by rail. From El Kaim the railway would proceed to Tidmor (Palmyra) and follow the old trade route over a flat desert supplied with water. From Palmyra the line would go either to Homs or Damascus. The total length of the railway from Baghdad to Damascus is placed at 880 kilometres.

{665}

"The report next deals with the works of irrigation to be undertaken at once. These consist of barrages of the Hindich canal, dams on the Habbania and Sakhlawia, and works for the navigation on the Tigris. The total cost of the entire works on the Euphrates is estimated at £T1,034,000, while that of the works on the Tigris is placed at £T1,110,480. The cost of the works to be undertaken forthwith attains the following figures:—

On the Euphrates, £T822,700; on the Tigris, £T710,000; total, £T1,532,700.

The railway could be built in two years, while the irrigation works would take eight years to complete. To begin with, one million hectares of land would be restored to its former prosperity out of five million hectares which comprise the Tigris-Euphrates delta."

----------TURKEY: End--------

TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE: Its Twenty-fifth Anniversary.

See (in this Volume) EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906.

TWEEDMOUTH, LORD: First Lord of the Admiralty.

See (in this Volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906.

TWO-HUNDRED-AND-THREE METRE HILL.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY).

TWO POWER STANDARD, NAVAL.

See (in this Volume) War, The PREPARATIONS for.

TURNEY, DANIEL BRAXTON: Nominated for President of the United States.

See (in this Volume) UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (APRIL-NOVEMBER).

TYRREL, Father George: Writer of a Famous Letter on Questions of Religion. His death.

The Reverend George Tyrrel, widely known as Father Tyrrel, died on the 15th of July, 1909, at Storrington, Sussex, England. He was the writer of a letter which gave a notable impulse to the movement of thought in the Roman Catholic Church known as "Modernism," which Pope Pius X. condemned as heretical in his encyclical of 1907. The letter was addressed to an English man of science (supposed to have been Professor Mivart) who, being a Roman Catholic, found difficulty in reconciling his scientific convictions with the tenets of his Church. Parts of the letter obtained publication in Italy, and led to the expulsion of Father Tyrrel from the Society of Jesus. He then gave publication to the full text of the letter, under the title of "A Much Abused Letter." On the appearance of the encyclical against Modernism he criticised it with keenness, and was virtually excommunicated from the Church. The fact that on his death-bed, when stricken with speechlessness, he received the sacraments of the Church, gave rise to much controversy, as to his volition in the matter and as to the justification of the priest who ministered to him.

Father Tyrrel had entered the Roman Church in 1879, under the influence of the writings of Cardinal Newman.

TZE-HSI: Dowager-Empress of China. Her death.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1908 (NOVEMBER).

U.

UGANDA: Its habitability by Whites.

See (in this Volume) AFRICA.

ULEMA, THE.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY).

UNDERFED SCHOOL CHILDREN.

See (in this Volume) POVERTY, THE PROBLEMS OF.

UNEMPLOYMENT, THE PROBLEM OF.

See (in this Volume) POVERTY, THE PROBLEMS OF.

UNIFORM STATE LAWS.

See (in this Volume) LAW AND ITS COURTS: UNITED STATES.

UNITED DRY GOODS COMPANIES.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &C.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909.

UNITED FREE CHURCH, OF SCOTLAND.

See (in this Volume) SCOTLAND: A. D. 1904-1905.

UNITED MINE-WORKERS, OF AMERICA.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES.

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, OF SCOTLAND.

See (in this Volume) SCOTLAND: A. D. 1904.

----------UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Start--------

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901 (September). The Assassination of President McKinley.

"On the sixth of September, President McKinley was shot by an anarchist while attending the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, and died in that city on the fourteenth of that month. Of the last seven elected Presidents, he is the third who has been murdered, and the bare recital of this fact is sufficient to justify grave alarm among all loyal American citizens. Moreover, the circumstances of this, the third assassination of an American President, have a peculiarly sinister significance. Both President Lincoln and President Garfield were killed by assassins of types unfortunately not uncommon in history; President Lincoln falling a victim to the terrible passions aroused by four years of civil war, and President Garfield to the revengeful vanity of a disappointed office-seeker. President McKinley was killed by an utterly depraved criminal belonging to that body of criminals who object to all governments, good and bad alike, who are against any form of popular liberty if it is guaranteed by even the most just and liberal laws, and who are as hostile to the upright exponent of a free people’s sober will as to the tyrannical and irresponsible despot.

"It is not too much to say that at the time of President McKinley’s death he was the most widely loved man in all the United States; while we have never had any public man of his position who has been so wholly free from the bitter animosities incident to public life. His political opponents were the first to bear the heartiest and most generous tribute to the broad kindliness of nature, the sweetness and gentleness of character, which so endeared him to his close associates. {666} To a standard of lofty integrity in public life he united the tender affections and home virtues which are all-important in the make-up of national character. A gallant soldier in the great war for the Union, he also shone as an example to all our people because of his conduct in the most sacred and intimate of home relations. There could be no personal hatred of him, for he never acted with aught but consideration for the welfare of others. No one could fail to respect him who knew him in public or private life. The defenders of those murderous criminals who seek to excuse their criminality by asserting that it is exercised for political ends, inveigh against wealth and irresponsible power. But for this assassination even this base apology cannot be urged. …

"The blow was aimed not at this President, but at all Presidents; at every symbol of government. President McKinley was as emphatically the embodiment of the popular will of the Nation expressed through the forms of law as a New England town meeting is in similar fashion the embodiment of the law-abiding purpose and practice of the people of the town. On no conceivable theory could the murder of the President be accepted as due to protest against ‘inequalities in the social order,’ save as the murder of all the freemen engaged in a town meeting could be accepted as a protest against that social inequality which puts a malefactor in jail."

_Message of President Roosevelt to Congress, December 3, 1901._

See (in this Volume) Buffalo: A. D. 1901.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901 (September). Settlement of Boxer Indemnity from China.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1901-1908.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901 (December). Communication of German Claims and Complaints against Venezuela. The President’s Reply. Interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine.

See (in this Volume) VENEZUELA: A. D. 1901.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1902. The "Boom Years" in Trade and Investment of Capital.

See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: A. D. 1901-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1902. Efforts of Secretary Hay to maintain the "Open Door" in Manchuria.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1901-1902.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1902 (October-January). The Second International Conference of American Republics.

See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1902 (November-February). Negotiation and Ratification of the Second Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, relative to a Ship Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

See (in this Volume) PANAMA CANAL: A. D. 1901-1902.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1903. Urgency of President Roosevelt for more Effective Legislation to control the Operation of so-called Trusts.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS: INDUSTRIAL, &c.: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1903.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1903. Purchase of Franchises and Property of French Panama Canal Co. Failure of Canal Treaty with Colombia. Secession and recognized Independence of Panama. Treaty with the Republic of Panama. Undertaking of the Canal.

See (in this Volume) PANAMA CANAL.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1905. The Cabinet of President Roosevelt during his First Term.

On succeeding the murdered President McKinley, to fill the unexpired term, President Roosevelt retained his predecessor’s Cabinet, three members of which remained in it throughout the term. These were John Hay, Secretary of State, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, and James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury, resigned in 1902 and was succeeded by Leslie M. Shaw. Elihu Root, Secretary of War, was succeeded by William H. Taft in 1904. John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy, retired in 1902, to be succeeded by William H. Moody, who went two years later to the Department of Justice, as Attorney-General, taking the place of Philander C. Knox, and being followed in the Navy Department by Paul Morton. Charles E. Smith, Postmaster-General, left the Cabinet in 1902, and his place was taken by Henry C. Payne, who was succeeded in turn by Robert J. Wynne in 1904. The Department of Commerce and Labor, created in February, 1903, was filled first by George B. Cortelyou, until 1904, then by Victor H. Metcalf.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1905. Urgency of President Roosevelt for more effective Railway Rate Legislation.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1870-1908.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1906. Governmental Action against Corporate Wrongdoing. A summary of Legislation, Litigation, and Court Decisions.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1906.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1909. Progress of Civil Service Reform under President Roosevelt.

See (in this Volume) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1909. The great National Movement for an organized Conservation of Natural Resources.

See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902. Arbitration at The Hague of the Pious Fund Dispute with Mexico.

See (in this Volume) MEXICO: A. D. 1902.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (August). Assertion to Germany of Principles involved in the Right of Expatriation.

See (in this Volume) NATURALIZATION.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (January). Founding of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

See (in this Volume) SCIENCE AND INVENTION: CARNEGIE INSTITUTION.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (February-March). Visit of Prince Henry of Prussia.

A visit by Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of the German Emperor, was an event of considerable importance, in what it signified of friendly relations between Germany and the United States. The Prince arrived on the 22d of February and remained in the country until the 11th of March, visiting and being entertained at Washington (and Mt. Vernon), Annapolis, West Point, Philadelphia, New York, and making a six days trip into the West.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (March). Creation of a Permanent Census Bureau.

After long urging, Congress, in February, 1902, passed a bill authorizing the organization of a permanent Census Bureau in the Department of the Interior.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (May). Unveiling of a Monument to Marshal de Rochambeau.

A joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress, in the following words, was approved by the President on the 21st of March, 1902:

"That the President be, and is hereby, authorized and requested to extend to the Government and people of France and the family of Marshal de Rochambeau, commander in chief of the French forces in America during the war of independence, and to the family of Marquis de Lafayette, a cordial invitation to unite with the Government and people of the United States in a fit and appropriate dedication of the monument of Marshal de Rochambeau to be unveiled in the city of Washington on the twenty-fourth day of May, nineteen hundred and two; and for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this resolution the sum of ten thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the same, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of State."

The invitation was conveyed to the President of France by an autograph letter from President Roosevelt, while Secretary Hay, at the same time, communicated it officially, through the American Ambassador at Paris, to representatives of the families of Marshal de Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette. France, in response, sent a battleship, the Gaulois, bearing a general and an admiral, with two aids each, and two officials from the foreign office. The invitation was accepted by the present Count and Countess de Rochambeau; and, as explained by Ambassador Porter in a despatch, "Mr. Gaston de Sahune de Lafayette and his wife, not being able to proceed to the United States, the invitation is accepted for Mr. Paul de Sahune de Lafayette, who has been living in the United States for the last two years and who speaks English. He is the brother of Mr. Gaston de Sahune de Lafayette."

The ceremonies of the unveiling of the monument took place at Washington on the 24th of May, and were followed by official hospitalities to the guests of the occasion at Washington, Annapolis, West Point, New York, Newport, and Boston. With the sailing of the Gaulois, on the 1st of June, the formalities of the visit came to an end.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (May). Establishment of the Republic of Cuba. Transfer of Executive Authority from U. S. Military Governor to President-elect Palma.

See (in this Volume ) CUBA: A. D. 1901-1902.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (May-November). The Restoration of the White House.

Until 1902 the residence and the executive offices of the President of the United States were crowded together in the historic White House, with increasing inconvenience and impropriety. Many projects for their separation had been discussed, involving generally the erection of a new mansion for the chief magistrate; but they had no result until President Roosevelt, with characteristic resolution, took the matter in hand. His emphatic pronouncement that "under no circumstances should the President live elsewhere than in the historic White House" appealed strongly to a very common public feeling, and smoothed the way for an undertaking which speedily cleared the White House of its secretarial and clerical offices and made it a fit and worthy residence for the chief citizen of the Republic and his family.

On consultation with the Park Commission of Washington, and especially with the architect, Mr. McKim, who was one of its members, as to the expenditure of the annual appropriations of Congress for repairs to the White House, it was decided to be thriftless policy "to patch a building that needed thorough reconstruction. When asked for his ideas as to such reconstruction, Mr. McKim advised that a temporary one-story building be located west of the White House, nearly on the site once occupied by Thomas Jefferson’s offices, and be distinctly subordinate to the main building; and that the White House be restored to its original uses as a residence. This solution commended itself to the President, but lateness in the session of Congress seemed to make the project impossible of immediate execution.

"The discussion was still in the academic stage when, one day [in May, 1902], Mr. McKim outlined his ideas to the late Senator McMillan, who straightway asked the cost of the proposed changes. Pressed for an immediate answer, Mr. McKim made a rough estimate. The Sundry Civil Appropriation Bill was then pending in the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and within an hour from the time the figures were given that committee agreed to insert an item for the restoration of the White House and for the construction of temporary executive offices. To Senators Allison and Hale the President afterward submitted the architect’s scheme; and when the item was reached during the passage of the bill in the Senate, the plan was received with favor, and the appropriation was agreed to without objection."

It passed the House with equal promptitude. The President then stipulated that "the work should be completed in time for the next social season, and that the executive offices and the living portion of the White House should be ready in November, 1902. That meant a campaign. Stones for floors and stairways must be selected piece by piece at the distant quarry; steel must be found to replace the over-tired wooden floor-beams; velvets and silks must be woven; hardware must be fashioned; and a thousand and one details must be looked after, because in less than six months the White House was to be made over from cellar to garret, and every piece of woodwork, every item of furniture, each ceiling and panel and moulding, must be both architecturally correct and also befitting a house of the latter part of the eighteenth century. Such was the task which the architects, Messrs. McKim, Mead & White, took upon themselves. …

"The total amount which Congress placed in President Roosevelt’s hands for both the executive offices and the White House was $530,641, and he might expend the money either by contract or otherwise in his discretion. This amount was based on estimates furnished by the architects, with the understanding that any portion saved on one item might be used on others, a very happy proviso, as it turned out, because the electric wiring had to be entirely renewed, new heating apparatus provided, and even a new roof put on the house--all unforeseen requirements. …

"At the outset the architects discovered that simply by carrying out completely the early plans as to the exterior, and by making certain rearrangements in the interior, the … White House problems could be solved, at least for the immediate future, without destroying one single feature of the historic building. …

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"By the restoration of the east and west terraces the White House now rises from a stylobate 460 feet in length, thus greatly enhancing the dignity of the structure. The roofs of these terraces (which are level with the ground on the north) are surrounded with stone balustrades bearing electric lamps."

_Charles Moore, The Restoration of the White House (Century Magazine, April, 1903)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (June). Reclamation (Irrigation) Act of Congress.

See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (October). Failure of Projected Purchase of the Danish West Indies.

See (in this Volume) DENMARK: A. D. 1902.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902-1903. Friendly course of Germany in undertaking Proceedings, with Great Britain and Italy, against Venezuela. Recognition of the Monroe Doctrine. Intermediation of the United States.

"If any proof were needed of Germany’s purpose to maintain good relations with our country [the United States], her course in the Venezuela matter has amply supplied it.

See (in this Volume) VENEZUELA: A. D. 1902-1904]

Indeed, the fact that Germany came to an understanding with our government before taking forcible measures against Venezuela is of most momentous significance. Why? Because this was the first explicit recognition of the Monroe Doctrine by any Continental Power. It is a notable milestone passed in the history of our country and its relations with European governments. It gives the Monroe Doctrine a validity no longer to be disputed. All this was instantly recognized in Germany. ‘America for the Americans,’ said a great Berlin daily, ‘has become an irreversible fact.’ German Jingo organs were dazed, and angrily exclaimed, ‘Must we ask permission at Washington to collect our claims from Venezuela?’ Papers of more rational temper, however, accepted Germany's course, as not only without detriment to her dignity, but as in harmony with her political interests. Indeed, this saner section of the German press was even pleased that the government had thus made such an emphatic disavowal of the aims and dreams of the noisy, fantastic Pan-Germans."

_W. C. Dreher, A Letter from Germany (Atlantic Monthly, March, 1902)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902-1903. Extension of Civil Service Classification to Rural Free Delivery Service. Order concerning Unclassified Laborers.

See (in this Volume) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902-1903.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902-1905. Negotiation and Senatorial Destruction of the Hay-Bond Reciprocity Treaty with Newfoundland.

See (in this Volume) NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1902-1905.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1902 (February). Creation of the Department of Commerce and Labor in the National Government. The Bureau of Corporations.

"The establishment of the Department of Commerce and Labor, with the Bureau of Corporations thereunder, marks a real advance in the direction of doing all that is possible for the solution of the questions vitally affecting capitalist and wage-workers. The act creating the Department was approved on February 14, 1903, and two days later the head of the Department was nominated and confirmed by the Senate. Since then the work of organization has been pushed as rapidly as the initial appropriations permitted, and with due regard to thoroughness and the broad purposes which the Department is designed to serve. After the transfer of the various bureaus and branches to the department at the beginning of the current fiscal year, as provided for in the act, the personnel comprised 1,289 employees in Washington and 8,836 in the country at large. The scope of the Department’s duty and authority embraces the commercial and industrial interests of the Nation. It is not designed to restrict or control the fullest liberty of legitimate business action, but to secure exact and authentic information which will aid the Executive in enforcing existing laws, and which will enable the Congress to enact additional legislation, if any should be found necessary, in order to prevent the few from obtaining privileges at the expense of diminished opportunities for the many.

"The preliminary work of the Bureau of Corporations in the Department has shown the wisdom of its creation. Publicity in corporate affairs will tend to do away with ignorance, and will afford facts upon which intelligent action may be taken. Systematic, intelligent investigation is already developing facts the knowledge of which is essential to a right understanding of the needs and duties of the business World. The corporation which is honestly and fairly organized, whose managers in the conduct of its business recognize their obligation to deal squarely with their stockholders, their competitors, and the public, has nothing to fear from such supervision. The purpose of this Bureau is not to embarrass or assail legitimate business, but to aid in bringing about a better industrial condition—a condition under which there shall be obedience to law and recognition of public obligation by all corporations, great or small."

_Message of the President to Congress, December 7, 1903._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903 (February). Passage of the Act to further regulate Commerce with Foreign Nations and among the States, known commonly as the Elkins Anti-Rebate Law.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903 (FEBRUARY).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903 (October). Settlement of the Alaska Boundary Question.

See (in this Volume) ALASKA: A. D. 1903.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903 (October). Lease from Cuba of two Coaling and Naval Stations.

See (in this Volume) CUBA: A. D. 1903.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903 (October). New Treaty with China. Two Ports in Manchuria opened to Foreign Trade.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1903 (MAY-OCTOBER).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903 (October). Commercial Relations with Germany as affected by the new German Tariff Law.

See (in this Volume) GERMANY: A. D. 1902 (OCTOBER).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903-1904. The Financial Crisis.

See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: A. D. 1901-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903-1904. Contention against Canadian claims to Sovereignty over Land and Sea in Hudson Bay Region. Canadian Measures to establish it.

See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1903-1904.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903-1905. Investigation and Prosecution of the "Beef Trust," so called.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903-1906.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1903-1906. Unearthing of Extensive Frauds in the Land Office.

Late in December, 1902, the Secretary of the Interior Department, the Honorable Ethan Allen Hitchcock, received information which led him, with the President’s approval, to demand the resignation of the Commissioner of the Land Office, Binger Hermann, of Oregon. Mr. Hermann was a man of importance in the Republican party, and he rallied powerful influences to his support. They could not anchor him durably in the Land Office, but they did delay his departure from it for about a mouth, during which time he is said to have destroyed thousands of letters and documents bearing on land frauds which he was under suspicion of having protected and promoted. Returning to Oregon from Washington he sought and obtained from his party an election to Congress, to fill a vacancy which death had caused opportunely, and this seemed to augment his political power. But agents of the Interior Department were in Oregon and other Western States at the same time, gathering evidence which soon removed all doubt of the huge conspiracy of fraud which Commissioner Hermann had been a party to, and which had wide ramifications wherever public lands of value were open to entry, under the Homestead Act, the Desert Land Act, or the Timber and Stone Act.

The frauds were carried on under false appearances of compliance with the requirements of law, and the dismissal of Hermann had not cleared from the General Land Office all the treacherous connivance which made them possible. Other allies of the land-thieves were tracked to their official desks, some at Washington, some in the Interior Department, some in Congress, and some out in the land offices at the West. Then the Federal Grand Jury at Portland, Oregon, began to turn out indictments, on evidence handled by Francis J. Heney, now entering on a famous career, as special prosecutor for the Government. Mr. Heney was appointed by the President on the recommendation of Secretary Hitchcock and Attorney-General Knox, with neglect of advice from Oregon Senators and Congressmen. One of the first of the indictments found struck an Oregon Senator, John H. Mitchell, and brought him to a prison sentence, which death rescued him from. Another put a member of the House of Representatives, J. H. Williamson, on trial; a third put its brand on a recently removed United States District Attorney, John H. Hall. Binger Hermann, a State Senator, and several special agents of the Land Office were among the other subjects of prosecution, besides a large number of private operators in the land-thieves’ ring.

These proceedings were at the beginning of vigorous measures which have gone far towards, if not fully to the end of arresting the frauds which were rapidly robbing the nation of the last of its valuable public lands.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1904. Representation in the Interparliamentary Union.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1904-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1904 (May). Kidnapping of Mr. Ion Perdicaris at Tangier, for Ransom.

See (in this Volume) MOROCCO: A. D. 1904-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1904 (May-October). The Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

See (in this Volume) ST. LOUIS: A. D. 1904.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1904 (May-November). The Presidential Election. Parties, Candidates, and Platforms. Election of President Roosevelt.

The questions of leading interest and influence in the canvass preliminary to the Presidential election of 1904 were undoubtedly those relating to the governmental regulation of interstate railways and of the capitalistic combinations called "trusts"; but those questions had not yet acquired the height of importance in the public mind which they reached before the next quadrennial polling of the nation occurred. The question of tariff revision and a moderated protective system, in the interest of the great mass of consumers, was rising in interest, especially at the West; but that, too, was but mildly influential in the campaign. As for the imperialistic ambitions that had been excited for a time by the conquests of 1898, they had cooled to so great a degree as to offer no longer much challenge to opposition; opinion in the country now differing on little more than the length of time to which American guardianship over the Philippine Islands should be allowed to run. The voters of the United States, in fact, made their election between the men who were offered to it as candidates, far more than between the parties and the policies whom the candidates represented; and President Roosevelt was reelected on personal grounds, in the main, because the kind of vigorous character he had shown was greatly to the liking of a large part of the people.

The first nominating convention to be held was that of the Socialist party, whose delegates met at Chicago, May 2, and nominated for President Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana; for Vice-President Benjamin Hanford, of New York.

On the same day the United Christian Party, whose declaration of principles appears below, met at St. Louis.

The Convention of the Republican Party, also held at Chicago, came next in time, June 21, and, with Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, for reëlection as President, it named for Vice-President Charles Warren Fairbanks, of Indiana.

The Prohibition Party, in convention at Indianapolis, June 29, named Silas C. Swallow, of Pennsylvania, for President, and George W. Carroll, of Texas, for Vice-President.

On the 4th of July the People’s or Populist Party held convention at Springfield, Illinois, and nominated Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, for President, with Thomas H. Tibbles, of Nebraska, for Vice-President.

Meeting two days earlier, in New York City, but in session some days longer, the Socialist Labor Party named for President Charles Hunter Corregan, of New York, and for Vice-President William Wesley Cox, of Illinois.

The convention of the Democratic Party opened its session, at St. Louis, on the 6th of July. Its nominee for President was Alton B. Parker, of New York; for Vice-President Henry G. Davis, of West Virginia.

The National Liberty Party met at St. Louis on the 7th of July and put forth its platform of principles.

The last of the nominations were presented on the 31st of August, at Chicago, by a convention representing a new party, the Continental, whose candidates then named declined and were subsequently replaced by Austin Holcomb, of Georgia, for President, and A. King, of Missouri, for Vice-President.

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With some abridgment, the declarations of principles and pledges of party policy adopted by these several conventions on the main questions at issue are given conveniently for comparison in the following arrangement by subjects:

Trusts.

The Republican Party contented itself with a brief boast of "laws enacted by the Republican party which the Democratic party failed to enforce," but which "have been fearlessly enforced by a Republican President," and of "new laws insuring reasonable publicity as to the operations of great corporations and providing additional remedies for the prevention of discrimination in freight rates."

The Democratic Party condemned with vigor the failure of Republicans in Congress to prohibit contracts with convicted trusts; declared that "gigantic trusts and combinations" "are a menace to beneficial competition and an obstacle to permanent business prosperity;" denounced "rebates and discrimination by transportation companies as the most potent agency in promoting and strengthening these unlawful conspiracies against trade," demanded "an enlargement of the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission," "a strict enforcement of existing civil and criminal statutes against all such trusts, combinations and monopolies," and "the enactment of such further legislation as may be necessary to effectually suppress them."

The People’s Party set forth the proposition that, "to prevent unjust discrimination and monopoly the Government should own and control the railroads and those public utilities which in their nature are monopolies." It should "own and operate the general telegraph and telephone systems and provide a parcels post." Corporations "should be subjected to such governmental regulations and control as will adequately protect the public," and demand was made for "the taxation of monopoly privileges, while they remain in private hands, to the extent of the value of the privileges granted."

The Continental Party contended for a guarded chartering by Congress of "all railroad and other corporations doing business in two or more States," and for having the "creating of ‘corners’ and the establishing of exorbitant prices for products necessary to human existence … made a criminal offence."

The United Christian Party declared that "Christian government through direct legislation will regulate the trusts and labor problem according to the golden rule."

The Tariff.

The Republican Party declared "Protection" to be its "cardinal policy," maintenance of the principles of which policy is insisted upon; wherefore "rates of duty should be readjusted only when conditions have so changed that the public interest demands their alteration," and "this work cannot safely be committed to any other hands than those of the Republican party."

The Democratic Party, on the contrary, denounced "protection as a robbery of the many to enrich the few," favored "a tariff limited to the needs of the Government, economically administered," and called for a "revision and gradual reduction of the tariff by the friends of the masses, for the commonwealth, and not by the friends of its abuses, its extortions and its discriminations."

The People’s Party declared for a change in our laws that "will place tariff schedules in the hands of an omni-partisan commission."

The Continental Party limited its declaration on this subject to one pronouncing for an "adherence to the principles of reciprocity advocated by that eminent statesman, James G. Blaine, as applied to Canada and all American Republics."

Capital and Labor. Public Ownership. Socialism.

The Republican Party recognized "combinations of capital and labor" as "being the results of the economic movements of the age," but "neither must be permitted to infringe upon the rights and interests of the people"; "both are subject to the laws, and neither can be permitted to break them."

The Democratic Party expressed similar impartiality, in favoring "the enactment and administration of laws giving labor and capital impartially their just rights."

The People’s Party pledged its effort to "preserve inviolate" "the right of labor to organize for the benefit and protection of those who toil." It would seek "the enactment of legislation looking to the improvement of conditions for the wage-earners, the abolition of child labor, the suppression of sweat shops and of convict labor in competition with free labor"; also the "exclusion from American shores of foreign pauper labor," and "the shorter work day."

The Continental Party adopted these expressions of the People’s Party, in identical words.

The National Liberty Party asked "that the General Government own and control all public carriers in the United States."

The Prohibition Party declared itself "in favor of … the safeguarding of the people’s rights by a rigid application of the principles of justice to all combinations and organizations of capital and labor."

The United Christian Party pronounced simply for "Government ownership of coal mines, oil wells and public utilities."

The Socialist Party pledged itself "to watch and work, in both the economic and the political struggle, for each successive immediate interest of the working class": for "shortened days of labor and increases of wages"; for "insurance of the workers against accident, sickness and lack of employment"; for pensions; for "public ownership of the means of transportation, communication and exchange"; for graduated taxation of incomes, etc.; for "complete education of children and their freedom from the workshops"; for "free administration of justice"; for "the initiative, referendum, proportional representation, equal suffrage for men and women," etc.; and for "every gain or advantage for the workers that may be wrested from the capitalist system and that may relieve the suffering and strengthen the hands of labor"; but in so doing it proclaims that it is "using these remedial measures as means to the one great end of the co-operative commonwealth."

The Socialist Labor Party declared that "the existing contradiction between the theory of democratic government and the fact of a despotic economic system … perverts government to the exclusive benefit of the capitalist class"; wherefore, "against such a system the Socialist Labor Party raises the banner of revolt, and demands the unconditional surrender of the capitalist class."

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Nomination and Election. Initiative and Referendum.

The Democratic Party declared for the election of United States Senators by direct popular vote.

he People’s Party demanded "that legal provision be made under which people may exercise the initiative and referendum, and proportional representation, and direct vote for all public officers, with the right of recall."

The Continental Party demanded "the enactment by the several States of a primary election law"; the "elimination of the party ‘boss’"; "direct legislation by the method known as the initiative and referendum," and the possession by each State of "the sole right to determine by legislation the qualifications required of voters within its jurisdiction, irrespective of race, color or sex."

The Prohibition Party expressed itself in favor of the popular election of United States Senators; of "a wise application of the principle of the initiative and referendum," and of making the right of suffrage "depend upon the mental and moral qualifications of the citizen."

Natural Resources. Land. Reclamation. Waterways.

The Republican Party pointed simply to the fact that it had "passed laws which will bring the arid lands of the United States within the area of cultivation."

The Democratic Party congratulated "our western citizens upon the passage of the law known as the Newlands Irrigation Act," claiming it as "a measure framed by a Democrat, passed in the Senate by a non-partisan vote, and passed in the House against the opposition of almost all Republican leaders, by a vote the majority of which was Democratic." It declared for "liberal appropriations for the improvement of waterways of the country," and pronounced its opposition to "the Republican policy of starving home development in order to feed the greed for conquest and the appetite for national prestige."

The People’s Party asserted that "Land, including all the natural sources of wealth, is a heritage of all the people, and should not be monopolized for speculative purposes; and alien ownership of land should be prohibited."

Each of the party platforms was fluent on many other topics, such as the protection of citizens at home and abroad, the Panama Canal, territories and dependencies, injunctions, public economy, taxation, monetary questions, pensions, the civil service, army and navy, merchant marine, liquor-licensing and prohibition (the specialty of the Prohibition Party), divorce, polygamy, etc.; but these entered so little into the canvass that the party declarations on them had small effect, if any, on the popular vote.

At the election, in November, the votes given to the Republican nominees numbered 7,623,486; to Democratic, 5,077,971; to Socialist, 402,283; to Prohibition, 258,536; to People’s, 117,183; to Socialist Labor, 31,249.

The electoral votes cast were 336 for Roosevelt and Fairbanks; 140 for Parker and Davis.

The States which gave Republican majorities were California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,—32.

Democratic majorities were given in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,—12.

In Maryland, where the electors are chosen by the Legislature, 6 votes were given to the Democratic candidates and 2 to the Republican.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1904 (October). Initial invitation by the President to the holding of a Second Peace Conference.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1904 (November). President Roosevelt’s Renunciation of any Third Term Candidacy.

On the evening of the day of election, as soon as the result was known to have given him a second term in the presidential office, President Roosevelt issued the following acknowledgment and announcement to the country:

"I am deeply sensible of the honor done me by the American people in thus expressing their confidence in what I have done and have tried to do. I appreciate to the full the solemn responsibility this confidence imposes upon me, and I shall do all that in my power lies not to forfeit it. On the Fourth of March next I shall have served three and one-half years, and this three and one-half years constitutes my first term. The wise custom which limits the President to two terms regards the substance and not the form. Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for or accept another nomination."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1904-1905. Beginning and Organization of Work on the Panama Canal.

See (in this Volume) PANAMA CANAL: A. D. 1904-1905.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1904-1909. Progress of State, County, and Town Prohibition.

See (in this Volume) ALCOHOL PROBLEM: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905. Arbitration Treaty with Mexico.

See (in this Volume) MEXICO: A. D. 1904-1905.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905. Reopened Controversy over American Fishing Rights on the Newfoundland coast.

See (in this Volume) NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1905-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905. Assistance to San Domingo against threatening Creditors.

See (in this Volume) SAN DOMINGO: A. D. 1904-1907.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905 (February). Concentration of Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture.

See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905 (February-June). Recovery from France of the body of Admiral John Paul Jones.

On the 13th of February, 1905, President Roosevelt addressed a Message to Congress which gave the following information:

"For a number of years efforts have been made to confirm the historical statement that the remains of Admiral John Paul Jones were interred in a certain piece of ground in the city of Paris then owned by the Government and used at the time as a burial place for foreign Protestants. These efforts have at last resulted in documentary proof that John Paul Jones was buried on July 20, 1792, between 8 and 9 o’clock P. M., in the now abandoned cemetery of St. Louis, in the northeastern section of Paris. About 500 bodies were interred there, and the body of the admiral was probably among the last hundred buried. It was encased in a leaden coffin, calculated to withstand the ravages of time.

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"The cemetery was about 130 feet long by 120 feet wide. Since its disuse as a burial place the soil has been tilled to a level and covered almost completely by buildings, most of them of an inferior class. The American ambassador in Paris, being satisfied that it is practical to discover and identify the remains of John Paul Jones, has, after prolonged negotiations with the present holders of the property and the tenants thereof, secured from them options in writing which give him the right to dig in all parts of the property during a period of three months for the purpose of making the necessary excavations and searches, upon condition of a stated compensation for the damage and annoyance caused by the work. The actual search is to be conducted by the chief engineer of the municipal department of Paris having charge of subterranean works at a cost which has been carefully estimated. The ambassador gives the entire cost of the work, including the options, compensation, cost of excavating and caring for the remains as not exceeding 180,000 francs, or $35,000, on the supposition that the body may not be found until the whole area has been searched. If earlier discovered, the expense would be proportionately less."

The President recommended an appropriation of the sum named, "or so much thereof as may be necessary for the purposes above described, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of State."

On the 14th of April following a telegram from the Ambassador at Paris, General Horace Porter, announced that his "six years’ search for the remains of Paul Jones" had resulted in success, and described the identification of the body. This had been verified by Doctors Capitan and Papillault, distinguished professors of the School of Anthropology, who had ample particulars of information from which to judge. Arrangements were made at once for sending a naval squadron, under Admiral Sigsbee, to France, to bring the remains to the United States. This was done in the following June, when the relics of the first of American naval heroes received the high honors that were due to his exploits. They were deposited in a vault on the grounds of the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905 (June-October). Mediation by the President between Russia and Japan. The Peace Treaty of Portsmouth.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1905 (JUNE-OCTOBER).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905 (July). Proclamation of the Death of John Hay, Secretary of State.

"John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States, died on July 1st. His death, a crushing sorrow to his friends, is to the people of this country a national bereavement; and it is in addition a serious loss to all mankind, for to him it was given to stand as a leader in the effort to better world conditions by striving to advance the cause of international peace and justice. He entered the public service as the trusted and intimate companion of Abraham Lincoln, and for well nigh forty-five years he served his country with loyal devotion and high ability in many positions of honor and trust, and finally he crowned his life work by serving as Secretary of State with such far-sighted reading of the future and such loyalty to lofty ideals as to confer lasting benefits not only upon our own country, but upon all the nations of the earth.

"As a suitable expression of national mourning, I direct that the diplomatic representatives of the United States in all foreign countries display the flags over their embassies and legations at half-mast for ten days; that for a like period the flag of the United States be displayed at half-mast at all forts and military posts and at all naval stations and on all vessels of the United States. I further order that on the day of the funeral the Executive Departments in the city of Washington be closed, and that on all public buildings throughout the United States the national flag be displayed at half-mast.

"Done at the city of Washington this third day of July, A. D. 1905, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and twenty-ninth. Theodore Roosevelt."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905-1906. American Claims against Venezuela.

See (in this Volume) VENEZUELA: A. D. 1905-1906, and 1907-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905-1906. Part taken in the organization of the International Institute of Agriculture.

See (in this Volume) AGRICULTURE.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905-1906. The new Period of Inflated Exploitation of Capital. Increased Cost of Living.

See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: A. D. 1901-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905-1907. Receivership of San Domingo Revenues. The "Modus Vivendi" and the Treaty.

See (in this Volume) SAN DOMINGO: A. D. 1905-1907.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1905-1909. The Cabinet of President Roosevelt during his Second Term.

During the second term of President Roosevelt his Cabinet underwent the following changes: On the death of John Hay, in July, 1905, Elihu Root became Secretary of State, and continued in the office until January, 1909, when he resigned, and was succeeded by the Assistant Secretary of State, Robert Bacon. Leslie M. Shaw left the Treasury Department in 1907, and the secretaryship was given to George B. Cortelyou. William H. Taft continued in charge of the War Department until his nomination for President, in 1908, when General Luke E. Wright was called to his place. Charles J. Bonaparte, appointed Secretary of the Navy at the beginning of the President’s new term, was transferred in 1907 to the Department of Justice, succeeding Attorney-General Moody, appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court, and being succeeded in the Navy Department by Victor H. Metcalf, previously Secretary of Commerce and Labor. In the Department of the Interior, Secretary Hitchcock resigned in 1907, and James R. Garfield, previously Commissioner of Corporations, came into his place. George B. Cortelyou had been called to the Post Office Department at the beginning of the new presidential term, and transferred thence to the Treasury Department in 1907. His place in the Post Office was then filled by George von L. Meyer. The Secretary of Agriculture, James Wilson, remained at the head of that Department throughout the term. On the transfer of Mr. Metcalf from the Department of Commerce and Labor to that of the Treasury, in 1907, his place in the former was taken by Oscar S. Straus.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906. Joint Action with Mexico in Central American Mediation.

See (in this Volume) CENTRAL AMERICA.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906. Act for the Preservation of the Scenic Grandeur of Niagara Falls.

See (in this Volume) NIAGARA FALLS.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906. Dealings with Turkey facilitated by making the American Minister an Ambassador.

See (in this Volume) TURKEY: A. D. 1906.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906. Enactment of a National Pure Food Law.

See (in this Volume) PUBLIC HEALTH.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (January-April). Represented at the Algeciras Conference on the Morocco Question. Instructions to the Delegates. Declaration made on signing the Act of the Conference.

See (in this Volume) EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (March). Supreme Court Decision enforcing the Demand of the Government for the production of Books and Papers by the so-called Tobacco Trust before a Federal Grand Jury.

See (in this Volume) COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1906.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (April). Laying the Corner Stone of an Office Building for Congressmen.

On the 14th of April, 1906, the corner stone of a building designed to supply each member of the House of Representatives with an office was laid with ceremony, the President delivering an address. Besides 410 distinct offices, the design of the building contemplated a large assembly room for public hearings before committees of the House. Its estimated cost was something over $3,000,000. A corresponding office building for the Senate was also in view.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (April). Convention with British Government for Determining and Marking the Alaska Boundary Line.

See (in this Volume) ALASKA: A. D. 1906.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (April-July). Long and Widespread Suspension of Coal Mining, both Anthracite and Bituminous.

See (in this Volume) LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (June). The Joint Statehood Act.

By the Joint Statehood Bill, approved by the President June 16, 1906, Indian Territory and Oklahoma were united to form the State of Oklahoma, the people being authorized to adopt a constitution. Arizona and New Mexico were proffered a similar union, in a State to be called Arizona. On the question of such union the Bill provided for a vote to be taken in each Territory, following which, if a majority in each should be found to favor the union, delegates to be chosen at the same election should meet and frame a constitution for submission to the people. The contemplated vote was taken at the election of November 6, and resulted in the rejection of the proposal by Arizona, while New Mexico gave assent. The project was thus defeated.

The plan of union was successful, however, in the creation of the State of Oklahoma. Delegates to a convention for framing its Constitution were elected November 6, 1906; the convention began its session on the 20th of the same month, and finished its labors on the 16th of July, 1907. By proclamation of the President the new State,—the 46th of the Federal family,—was admitted to the Union on the 16th of November following, under the Constitution which had been ratified by vote of a majority of the citizens of each of the Territories now united in it. For some account of the Constitution;

See (in this Volume) CONSTITUTION OF OKLAHOMA.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (July-August). The Third International Conference of American Republics, at Rio de Janeiro.

See (in this Volume) AMERICAN REPUBLICS.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (August). The Brownsville Affair.

On the 13th of August, 1906, a riotous affair of a much-disputed nature occurred at Brownsville, Texas, in which one man was killed and two, at least, were wounded. The shooting was alleged to have been done by colored soldiers who formed part of a battalion of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, United States Army, stationed at Brownsville. An investigation of the affair convinced the President that some few soldiers of the battalion were guilty of what had been done, and that their comrades knew of their guilt, but were shielding them, by assertions to the contrary. On this belief he ordered the entire battalion to be discharged from the service, and angry controversy over his action arose at once. The negro soldiers were championed by a considerable part of the Press of the country, and by a section of Congress when it met. The evidence of their guilt was declared to be more than doubtful, and the authority of the President to issue the order of discharge was challenged.

In the annual report of the then Secretary of War, now President Taft, the action of President Roosevelt was firmly sustained. Secretary Taft’s version of the circumstances of the affair was substantially to the following effect: Some number of men, from a battalion of 170, formed a preconcerted plan to revenge themselves upon the people of a town for insults which they resented. They left their barracks about midnight and fired into the houses of the town for the purpose of killing those against whom they had a grievance. They did kill one man, wound another, and seriously injure the chief of police. There can be no doubt, therefore, that this squad of men were guilty; the purpose of one was the purpose of all. Within a few minutes after the crime was committed, the men returned to their places in the ranks (a call to arms having been sounded), and must have been among the last to take their places, for the firing continued after the formations had begun. The absence of their rifles from the racks could not have escaped the attention of the sergeants who had the keys; yet all the sergeants swear that the rifles were in the racks, untouched. It is impossible that many of the battalion who did not take part as active members of the conspiracy were not made aware, by one circumstance or another, of the identity of the persons who committed the offense, instead of giving to their officers or the inspectors the benefit of anything which they knew tending to lead to a conviction of the guilty men, there was a conspiracy of silence on the part of many who must have had some knowledge of importance. "These enlisted men," said Secretary Taft, "took the oath of allegiance to the Government, and were to be used under the law to maintain its supremacy. Can the Government properly, therefore, keep in its employ for the purpose of maintaining law and order any longer a body of men, from five to ten per cent. of whom can plan and commit murder, and rely upon the silence of a number of their companions to escape detection? "

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Mr. Taft then called attention to the fact that "when a man enlists in the army he knows that, for the very purpose of protecting itself, the Government reserves to itself the absolute right of discharge, not as a punishment, but for the public safety or interest." He thus corrected the supposition that the discharge was a punishment either of the innocent or the guilty. He said further: "The discharge ‘without honor’ is merely the ending of a contract and separation from the service under a right reserved in the statute for the protection of the Government, which may work a hardship to the private discharged, but which, in the public interest, must sometimes be arbitrarily exercised."

Of the repeated investigations, Congressional and military, that ensued, and of the protracted disputation, led in Congress by Senator Foraker, and echoed in the newspapers, it is needless to attempt an account; for no greater certainty as to the facts in the case can be recognized to-day than when Secretary Taft's report was made.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (August-October). Insurrection in Cuba. American Intervention called for. The Cuban Government dissolved. Provisional Government established by Secretary-of-War Taft.

See (in this Volume) CUBA: A. D. 1906 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906 (October-November). Segregation of Orientals in San Francisco Schools. Resentment of the Japanese.

See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906-1909. The Provisional Government of Cuba. Reinstatement of the Republic.

See (in this Volume) CUBA: A D. 1906-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1906-1909. The Reform of the Consular Service.

See CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1907. Monetary Panic. Distress among the Speculative Great Capitalists. Industrial Paralysis. Unemployment for Labor.

See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: A. D. 1901-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1907. Enactment of a new Law of Citizenship.

See (in this Volume) NATURALIZATION.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1907 (January). Act to prohibit Corporations from making Contributions in connection with Political Elections.

The following Act of Congress was approved by the President, January 26, 1907.

"That it shall be unlawful for any national bank, or any corporation organized by authority of any laws of Congress, to make a money contribution in connection with any election to any political office. It shall also be unlawful for any corporation whatever to make a money contribution in connection with any election at which Presidential and Vice-Presidential electors or a Representative in Congress is to be voted for or any election by any State legislature of a United States Senator. Every corporation which shall make any contribution in violation of the foregoing provisions shall be subject to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and every officer or director of any corporation who shall consent to any contribution by the corporation in violation of the foregoing provisions shall upon conviction be punished by a fine of not exceeding one thousand and not less than two hundred and fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court."

According to a statement presented to the Senate in February, 1908, the laws of the following nineteen States and Territories contain provisions for the publicity of election contributions or expenditures originally enacted at the dates given:

Alabama, 1903; Arizona, 1895; California, 1893 Colorado, 1891; Connecticut, 1895; Iowa, 1907; Massachusetts, 1892; Minnesota, 1895; Missouri, 1893; Montana, 1895; Nebraska, 1897; New York, 1890; Pennsylvania, 1906; South Carolina, 1905; South Dakota, 1907; Texas, 1905; Virginia, 1903; Washington, 1907; Wisconsin, 1897.

The laws of the three following States, which contain no publicity provisions, forbid corporations to contribute in any manner for political purposes: Florida, 1897; Kentucky, 1897; Tennessee, 1897.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1907 (April). First National Peace Congress.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1907 (June-October). Represented at the Second Peace Conference.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1907-1909. The World-round Cruise of the Battleship Fleet.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908. Supreme Court Decision affirming right to specially limit the Hours of Labor for Women.

See (in this Volume) LABOR PROTECTION: HOURS OF LABOR.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (April). Conditional Ratification, by the Senate of the Peace Conference Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes.

See (in this Volume) WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (April). Treaty with Great Britain respecting the Demarcation of the International Boundary between the United States and Canada.

See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1908 (APRIL).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (April). Passage of Act relating to the Liability of Common Carriers by Railroad to their Employees.

See (in this Volume) LABOR PROTECTION: EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (April-November). The Presidential Election. Parties, Candidates, and Platforms. Election of President Taft.

In the interval between the presidential elections of 1904 and 1908 the Trust and the Tariff questions had both received an increase of attention and of real study, and were factors of more influence in the latter than in the former election. The energy with which President Roosevelt had pressed both legislative and executive action, towards a more effective restraint and regulation of monopolistic combinations, had greatly strengthened his party in public favor. His extraordinary personal force, moreover, had made itself felt in many quickenings and stimulations of public spirit and of governmental action, which gave a cheering experience to the country. {675} The various ends to which this worked, and especially on the lines which looked to the rescuing of the rich natural resources of the country from private monopoly and reckless waste became associated in thought with the President, and widely talked of as belonging to "the Roosevelt policies." Popular satisfaction with these policies and their champion would have given Mr. Roosevelt a renomination by his party, if he had not emphatically reiterated his pledge of four years before, that "under no circumstances" would he "be a candidate for or accept another nomination." There were some who strove to persuade him to be false to that pledge; but they were not the people who esteemed him most truly. Naturally the nomination that would have gone again to Mr. Roosevelt if he had been free to accept it sought a candidate so closely identified with what he had stood for and labored for that no departure from the favored "policies" need be feared. Quite as naturally that candidate won a large majority of the popular votes.

The first nominating convention held in 1904 was that of the People’s or Populist Party, which sat in St. Louis April 2-3, and again named its old leader, Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, for President, with Samuel W. Williams, of Indiana, for the second place.

Reverend Daniel Braxton Turney, of Illinois, was the next to be named for President, and L. S. Coffin, of Iowa, for Vice-President, by the United Christian Party, at Rock Island, Illinois, May 1.

On the 10th of May the Socialist Party met in convention at Chicago and was in session until the 18th, again nominating Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, and Benjamin Hanford, of New York, for President and Vice-President.

The Republican convention was assembled at Chicago, June 16-19, and its nominees were William Howard Taft, of Ohio, for President, and James Schoolcraft Sherman, of New York, for Vice-President.

The Socialist Labor Party, at New York, July 24, nominated, for President, August Gillhaus, of New York; for Vice-President, Donald L. Munro, of Virginia.

At Denver, July 7-10, the Convention of the Democratic Party named, for the third time, William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, for President, and for Vice-President John Worth Kern, of Indiana.

The Prohibitionists convened at Columbus, Ohio, July 15-16, and the candidates named by them for President and Vice President were Eugene W. Chafin, of Illinois, and Aaron S. Watkins, of Ohio.

The last of the parties to meet in convention was that organized by William R. Hearst and named the Independence Party. The candidates put forward were Thomas L. Hisgen, of Massachusetts, and John Temple Graves, of Georgia.

Of the eight political parties which offered candidates to the voters of the nation, four presented them on special grounds, aside from which their standing on other questions of public policy was but slightly and incidentally made known. The "platforms" of the remaining four were of the scope of general politics, defining positions taken on all or most of the political discussions of the time. The declarations of these latter on the questions which enlisted real interest in the country will be given, as in the treatment of the party platforms of 1904, under a dissected arrangement, by subjects, for convenient comparison; while the former cannot easily be dealt with in that analytic way. In both cases the distinctly declaratory text of the platforms, only, will be given, with some abridgment, as follows:

Trusts.

"The Republican Party," it asserted, "passed the Sherman anti-trust law over Democratic opposition, and enforced it after Democratic dereliction. … But experience has shown that its effectiveness can be strengthened and its real objects better attained by such amendments as will give to the Federal Government greater supervision and control over, and secure greater publicity in, the management of that class of corporations engaged in interstate commerce having power and opportunity to effect monopolies."

The Democratic Party demanded "the enactment of such additional legislation as may be necessary to make it impossible for a private monopoly to exist in the United States." Among the additional remedies required it specified three:

(1) "A law preventing a duplication of directors among competing corporations";

(2) requirement of a federal license for a manufacturing or trading corporation, "before it shall be permitted to control as much as 25 per cent. of the product in which it deals, the license to protect the public from watered stock, and to prohibit the control by such corporation of more than 50 per cent. of the total amount of any product consumed in the United States"; and

(3) " a law compelling such licensed corporation to sell to all purchasers in all parts of the country on the same terms, after making due allowance for the cost of transportation."

The People’s Party declared that "the Government should own and control the railroads and those public utilities which in their nature are monopolies," including the telegraph and telephone systems, and should provide a parcels post. From those trusts and monopolies which are not public utilities or national monopolies it demanded a withdrawal of the special privileges they enjoy; taxation of all such privileges while they remain in private hands, and "a general law uniformly regulating the powers and duties of all incorporated companies doing interstate business."

The Independence Party denounced all combinations which "are not combinations for production, but for extortion," and demanded "the enforcement of a prison penalty against the guilty and responsible individuals controlling the management of the offending corporations." It advocated, "as a primary necessity for sounder business conditions and improved public service, the enactment of laws, State and National, to prevent watering of stock, dishonest issues of bonds and other forms of corporation frauds."

Tariff.

The declarations of the Republican and Democratic national conventions touching a revision of the tariff have been quoted already in this Volume.

See (in this Volume) TARIFFS: UNITED STATES.

The Independence Party, like the Democratic, demanded a revision of the tariff, not by its friends, but by the friends of the people, and declared for a gradual reduction of tariff duties.

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Capital and Labor. Injunctions.

The Republican Party recited the enactments of the existing Congress in the interest of labor, and pledged "its continued devotion to every cause that makes for safety and the betterment of conditions among those whose labor contributes to the progress and welfare of the country." On the burning question of the interference of courts of law, by writ of injunction, with labor "strikes," it declared that, while "the Republican Party will uphold at all times the authority and integrity of the courts," it believes "that the rules of procedure in the writ of injunction should be more accurately defined by statute, and that no injunction or temporary restraining order should be issued without notice, except where irreparable injury would result from delay, in which case a speedy hearing thereafter should be granted."

The Democratic Party gave expression to the same desire to maintain the dignity of the courts, but had seen that "experience has proven the necessity of a modification of the present law relating to injunctions," and added: "we reiterate the pledges of our national platforms of 1896 and 1904 in favor of the measure which passed the United States Senate in 1896, but which a Republican Congress has ever since refused to enact, relating to contempts in Federal courts and providing for trial by jury in cases of indirect contempt. … We deem … that injunctions should not be issued in any case in which injunctions would not issue if no industrial dispute were involved." Its further declarations were against any "abridgment of the right of wage-earners and producers to organize for the protection of wages and the improvement of labor conditions"; for "the eight hour law on all government work"; for the enactment by Congress of a "general employers’ liability act," and for the creation of "a department of labor, represented separately in the President’s cabinet."

The Independence Party denounced "the so-called labor planks of the Republican and Democratic platforms as political buncombe and contemptible clap trap," and asserted "that in all actions growing out of a dispute between employers and employees concerning terms and conditions of employment no injunction should issue until after a trial upon the merits; that such trial should be held before a jury, and that in no case of alleged contempt should any person be deprived of liberty without a trial by jury." In further declarations the party indorsed "those organizations among farmers and workers which tend to bring about a just distribution of wealth," and favored legislation to "remove them from the operation of the Sherman anti-trust law"; endorsed the eight-hour work day, and would have it applied to all work done for the Government; called for legislation to prohibit "any combination or conspiracy to blacklist employees"; demanded "protection for workmen through enforced use of standard safety appliances and provision of hygienic conditions"; advocated State and Federal inspection of railways to secure a greater safety for employees and the travelling public; condemned the manufacture and sale of prison-made goods; favored a Federal department of labor, with its chief in the Cabinet; and called for a Federal inspection of grain.

The People’s Party condemned "all unwarranted assumption of authority by inferior Federal courts in annulling by injunction the laws of the States," and demanded legislation to "restrict to the Supreme Court of the United States the exercise of power in cases involving State legislation"; condemned the "attempt to destroy the power of trades unions through the unjust use of the Federal injunction"; demanded the abolition of child labor in factories and mines, suppression of sweat shops, exclusion of foreign pauper labor, the enactment of an employers’ liability act and measures against carelessness in the operation of mines; opposed the use of convict labor; favored the eight-hour work-day, and "legislation protecting the lives and limbs of workmen through the use of safety appliances"; declared that when working men are thrown into enforced idleness works of public improvement should be inaugurated.

Banking and Currency.

The Republican Party approved "the emergency measures adopted by the government during the recent financial disturbances" and declared the party to be "committed to the development of a permanent currency system, responding to our greater needs." It favored the establishment of a postal savings bank system.

The Democratic Party pointed to the panic of 1907, "coming without any legitimate excuse," as furnishing additional proof that the Republican party "is either unwilling or incompetent to protect the interests of the general public," having "so linked the country to Wall Street that the sins of the speculators are visited upon the whole people." It declared the belief that "in so far as the needs of commerce require an emergency currency, such currency should be issued, controlled by the Federal Government and loaned on adequate security to National and State banks." It pledged itself "to legislation under which the national banks should be required to establish a guarantee fund for the prompt payment of the depositors of any insolvent national bank under an equitable system which shall be available to all State banking institutions wishing to use it." It favored a postal savings bank "if the guaranteed bank can not be secured, and believed that it should be so constituted as to keep the deposited money in the community where the depositors live."

The People’s Party reiterated its belief that "the issuance of money is a function of government and should not be delegated to corporation or individual." It therefore demanded "that all money should be issued by the Government direct to the people, without the intervention of banks, and shall be a full legal tender for all debts, public and private, and in quantities sufficient to supply the needs of the country." It also demanded postal savings banks.

The Independence Party made a similar declaration, "that the right to issue money is inherent in the Government," and it favored "the establishment of a central governmental bank, through which the money so issued shall be put into general circulation." It also called for an extension of the parcels post system and for postal savings banks, the deposits in which should "be loaned to the people in the locality of the several banks."

Railroads.

The Republican Party approved the railroad rate law and "the vigorous enforcement by the present administration of the statutes against rebates and discriminations"; believing, "however, that the interstate commerce law should be further amended so as to give railroads the right to make and publish traffic agreements subject to the approval of the commission." It declared for legislation and supervision to "prevent the future overissue of stocks and bonds by interstate carriers."

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The Democratic Party asserted "the right of Congress to exercise complete control over interstate commerce, and the right of each State to exercise like control over commerce within its borders"; and it demanded a needed enlargement of the powers of the interstate commerce commission. It recommended a valuation of railroads by the commission. It favored legislation to "prohibit the railroads from engaging in business which brings them into competition with their shippers"; to prevent the overissue of stocks and bonds, and to "assure such reduction in transportation rates as conditions will permit." It approved the laws prohibiting the pass and the rebate. It favored giving to the interstate commerce commission "the initiative with reference to rates and transportation charges," also permitting it, "on its own initiative to declare a rate illegal," and otherwise enhancing its efficiency.

The Independence Party advocated "a bill empowering shippers in time of need to compel railroads to provide sufficient cars for freight and passenger traffic and other railroad facilities through summary appeal to the courts." It also favored "the creation of an Interstate Commerce Court, whose sole function it shall be to review speedily and enforce summarily the orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission," and it urged that the Commission "should proceed at once with a physical valuation of railroads engaged in interstate commerce."

Natural Resources. Public Lands. Waterways.

The Republican Party indorsed "the movement inaugurated by the administration for the conservation of natural resources"; commended "the work now going on for the reclamation of arid lands"; reaffirmed "the Republican policy of the free distribution of the available … public domain to the landless settler," and declared it to be "the further duty, equally imperative, to enter upon a systematic improvement, upon a large and comprehensive plan, just to all portions of the country, of the water harbors and Great Lakes."

The Democratic Party repeated "the demand for internal development and for the conservation of our national resources contained in previous platforms," covering lines of policy the same as above, and adding "the development of water power and the preservation of electric power generated by this natural force from the control of monopoly." It insisted upon "a policy of administration of our forest reserve which shall … enable homesteaders as of right to occupy and acquire title to all portions thereof which are especially adapted to agriculture, and which shall furnish a system of timber sales available as well to the private citizen as to the larger manufacturer and consumer." It called for regulations "in relation to free grazing upon the public lands outside of forest or other reservations until the same shall eventually be disposed of." It favored the "immediate adoption of a liberal and comprehensive plan for improving every water course in the Union which is justified by the needs of commerce," with "the creation of an ample fund for continuous work."

The People’s Party declared that the public domain is a sacred heritage of all the people, and should be held for homesteads for actual settlers only; alien ownership should be forbidden.

The Independence Party rejoiced "in the adoption in both the Democratic and Republican platforms of the demand of the Independence party for improved national waterways." It declared for the reclamation of arid lands and generally for the conservation of the country’s natural resources. It called for provision to be made for free grazing on public lands outside of forest or other reservations. It protested against the sale of water and electric light power derived from public works to private corporations.

On other subjects touched in their platforms the declarations of these parties varied little from those of 1904, and cannot be regarded as having much historical significance.

Of the remaining parties, which are organizations with special objects, the Socialist set forth the most elaborate programme of demands, under three headings,—General, Industrial, and Political. The first included "immediate Government relief for the unemployed" by public works of many descriptions; collective ownership of railroads, telegraphs, etc., and all lands; "collective ownership of all industries which are organized on a national scale and in which competition has virtually ceased to exist"; inclusion of mines, quarries, oil wells, forests and water-power in the public domain. Industrial demands included improved industrial conditions; shortened work days; a weekly rest-period of not less than a day and a half; effective inspection of factories and shops: no child labor under sixteen years of age; no interstate transportation of products of child labor; substitution of compulsory insurance against unemployment, illness, age, etc., for all official charity. Political demands were for extended and graduated inheritance taxes; a graduated income tax; equal suffrage for men and women; the initiative, referendum, recall, and proportional representation; abolition of the Senate; abolition of power in the Supreme Court to pass on the constitutionality of legislation; amendability of the Constitution by a majority vote, election of all judges for short terms; free administration of justice; further measures for general education and conservation of health.

The Socialist Labor Party repeated in substantially the same words its general declarations of 1904, against a "despotic economic system," as quoted above, under the heading "Capital and Labor."

The Prohibition Party embodied its fundamental object in demands for the submission of a constitutional amendment prohibiting the manufacture, sale, etc., of alcoholic liquors for beverage purposes; suppression of the liquor traffic in all places under the jurisdiction of the National Government, and repeal of the internal revenue tax on alcoholic liquors. To this it added demands for a popular election of United States Senators; graduated income and inheritance taxes; postal savings banks; guarantee of deposits in banks; regulation of corporations doing an interstate business; a permanent tariff commission; uniform marriage and divorce laws; enforcement of law against the social evil; an equitable employers’ liability act; court review of post office decisions; prohibition of child labor in mines, workshops and factories; suffrage based on ability to read and write the English language; preservation of the resources of the country, and improvement of highways and waterways.

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The United Christian Party, basing its platform, as before, on the ten commandments and the golden rule, favored "direct primary elections, the initiative, referendum, recall, uniform marriage and divorce laws, equal rights for men and women, government ownership of coal mines, oil wells and public utilities; the regulation of trusts and the election of the president and vice-president and senators of the United States by the direct vote of the people."

The votes cast at the popular election, November 3, numbered 7,637,676 for the Republican nominees; 6,393,182 for the Democratic; 420,464 for the Socialist; 231,252 for the Prohibitionist; 83,183 for the Independence; 33,871 for the Populist; 15,421 for the Socialist Labor. The total of votes polled, including a few thousands to other than party nominees, was reported to be 14,863,711.

The States which gave Republican majorities were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,—29.

The States which gave Democratic majorities were Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,—16.

Maryland, where the electors are chosen by the Legislature, divided its vote, giving 6 to the Democratic nominees and 2 to the Republican.

The total vote in the Electoral College was 326 for Taft and Sherman and 157 for Bryan and Kern.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (May). The Emergency Currency Act.

See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE; UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (July). Remission to China of Part of Boxer Indemnity.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1901-1908.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (October). Reply of Secretary Root to the announcement from Belgium of the Annexation of the Congo State. Recognition of the Annexation reserved.

See (in this Volume) CONGO STATE: A. D. 1906-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (November). Supreme Court Decision in Case of Virginia Railroads vs. the State Corporation Commission of Virginia.

See (in this Volume) RAILWAYS. UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (NOVEMBER).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (November). Exchange of Notes with Japan embodying a Declaration of Common Policy in the East.

See (in this Volume) JAPAN: A. D. 1908 (NOVEMBER).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (December). Extension of the Competitive System of Appointment to Fourth Class Postmasters in a large section of the Country.

See (in this Volume) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908 (December). Relief for the Survivors of the Earthquake at and around Messina.

See (in this Volume) EARTHQUAKES: ITALY.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908-1909. Diminished Consumption of Whiskey and Beer.

See (in this Volume) ALCOHOL PROBLEM: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908-1909. The Government giving attention to Liberian Affairs.

See (in this Volume) LIBERIA: A. D. 1907-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908-1909 (August-February). The Country Life Commission, and its Report.

On the 10th of August, 1908, President Roosevelt addressed a letter to five gentlemen whom he asked to serve upon a Commission on Country Life. The five thus addressed were Professor L. H. Bailey, New York State College of Agriculture, Ithaca (named as Chairman of the Commission); Mr. Henry Wallace, of Wallace’s Farmer, Des Moines, Iowa; President Kenyon L. Butterfield, Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst; Mr. Gilford Pinchot, of the United States Forest Service; Mr. Walter H. Page, of The World's Work, New York. Subsequently, Mr. Charles S. Barrett, of Georgia, and Mr. William A. Beard, of California, were added to the Commission.

In his letter to the original appointees the President wrote: "I doubt if any other nation can bear comparison with our own in the amount of attention given by the Government, both Federal and State, to agricultural matters. But practically the whole of this effort has hitherto been directed toward increasing the production of crops. Our attention has been concentrated almost exclusively on getting better farming. In the beginning this was unquestionably the right thing to do. The farmer must first of all grow good crops in order to support himself and his family. But when this has been secured the effort for better farming should cease to stand alone, and should be accompanied by the effort for better business and better living on the farm. It is at least as important that the farmer should get the largest possible return in money, comfort, and social advantages from the crops he grows as that he should get the largest possible return in crops from the land he farms. Agriculture is not the whole of country life. The great rural interests are human interests, and good crops are of little value to the farmer unless they open the door to a good kind of life on the farm. … The farmers have hitherto had less than their full share of public attention along the lines of business and social life. There is too much belief among all our people that the prizes of life lie away from the farm."

The Commission entered promptly on its task, of obtaining wide and exact information as to the existing conditions of farm life and work in the country, as to homes and schools; means of communication and intercourse, by postal service, telephone, highway, electric railway and other railways; neighborhood organizations to promote mutual advantages in buying and selling; profitable sale of products; supply of labor; facilities for business in banking, credit, insurance; sanitary conditions; social entertainment; meetings for mutual improvement, etc., etc.

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This was sought, in the first instance, by a circular of questions, about 550,000 copies of which were sent to names supplied by the United States Department of Agriculture, state experiment stations, farmers’ societies, women’s clubs, to rural free deliverymen, country physicians and ministers, and others. To these inquiries about 115,000 persons have replied before the report of the Commission was made, "mostly with much care and with every evidence of good faith."

In addition to the replies given to the circular questions, a great number of persons sent carefully written letters and statements that were invaluable. At thirty places, in all sections of the country, the Commission, or part of it, held appointed hearings in November and December, and obtained much light from those. Its report of the conclusions to which it had been led was presented to the President on the 23d of January, 1909, and transmitted by him to Congress on February 9th.

The Commission found an unquestionable lack in the country of a well organized rural society, and came to clear conclusions concerning the many causes therefor, which are fully discussed in its report. The leading specific causes are summarized with brevity at the outset, as follows.

"A lack of knowledge on the part of farmers of the exact agricultural conditions and possibilities of their regions;

"Lack of good training for country life in the schools;

"The disadvantage or handicap of the farmer as against the established business systems and interests, preventing him from securing adequate returns for his products, depriving him of the benefits that would result from unmonopolized rivers and the conservation of forests, and depriving the community, in many cases, of the good that would come from the use of great tracts of agricultural land that are now held for speculative purposes;

"Lack of good highway facilities;

"The widespread continuing depletion of soils, with the injurious effect on rural life;

"A general need of new and active leadership.

"Other causes contributing to the general result are: Lack of any adequate system of agricultural credit, whereby the farmer may readily secure loans on fair terms; the shortage of labor, a condition that is often complicated by intemperance among workmen; lack of institutions and incentives that tie the laboring man to the soil; the burdens and the narrow life of farm women; lack of adequate supervision of public health."

To this summary of main deficiencies the Commission adds the following, of chief remedies:

"Congress can remove some of the handicaps of the farmer, and it can also set some kinds of work in motion, such as:

"The encouragement of a system of thorough-going surveys of all agricultural regions, in order to take stock and collect local fact, with the idea of providing a basis on which to develop a scientifically and economically sound country life;

"The encouragement of a system of extension work in rural communities, through all the land-grant colleges, to the people at their homes and on their farms;

"A thorough investigation by experts of the middleman system of handling farm products, coupled with a general inquiry into the farmer’s disadvantages in respect to taxation, transportation rates, cooperative organizations and credit, and the general business system;

"An inquiry into the control and use of the streams of the United States, with the object of protecting the people in their ownership and of saving to agricultural uses such benefits as should be reserved for these purposes;

"The establishing of a highway engineering service, or equivalent organization, to be at the call of the States in working out effective and economical highway systems;

"The establishing of a system of parcel posts and postal savings banks;

"Providing some means or agency for the guidance of public opinion toward the development of a real rural society that shall rest directly on the land. …

"Remedies of a more general nature are: A broad campaign of publicity, that must be undertaken until all the people are informed on the whole subject of rural life, and until there is an awakened appreciation of the necessity of giving this phase of our national development as much attention as has been given to other phases or interests; a quickened sense of responsibility in all country people, to the community and to the State, in the conserving of soil fertility, and in the necessity for diversifying farming in order to conserve this fertility and to develop a better rural society, and also in the better safe-guarding of the strength and happiness of the farm women; a more widespread conviction of the necessity for organization, not only for economic but for social purposes, this organization to be more or less cooperative, so that all the people may share equally in the benefits and have voice in the essential affairs of the community; a realization on the part of the farmer that he has a distinct natural responsibility toward the laborer in providing him with good living facilities and in helping him in every way to be a man among men; and a realization on the part of all the people of the obligation to protect and develop the natural scenery and attractiveness of the open country.

"Certain remedies lie with voluntary organizations and institutions. All organized forces, both in town and country, should understand that there are country phases as well as city phases of our civilization, and that one phase needs help as much as the other."

In his Message communicating the reports of the Commission to Congress the President focussed attention on four "great general and immediate needs of country life" which stand out of the exhibit before all others:

"First, effective coöperation among farmers, to put them on a level with the organized interests with which they do business.

"Second, a new kind of schools in the country, which shall teach the children as much outdoors as indoors and perhaps more, so that they will prepare for country life, and not as at present, mainly for life in town.

"Third, better means of communication, including good roads and a parcels post, which the country people are everywhere, and rightly, unanimous in demanding.

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"To these may well be added better sanitation: for easily preventable diseases hold several million country people in the slavery of continuous ill health.

"The commission points out, and I concur in the conclusion, that the most important help that the Government, whether National or State, can give is to show the people how to go about these tasks of organization, education, and communication with the best and quickest results. This can be done by the collection and spread of information."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908-1909. Spasmodic Process of Recovery from the Financial Crisis of 1907.

See (in this Volume) FINANCE AND TRADE: A. D. 1901-1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1908-1909. Second Conference of State Governors and Report of National Conservation Commission. Its Inventory of Natural Resources.

See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909. Existing Treaties with China and existing Enactments relative to the Admission of Chinamen to the United States. The Question of their Consistency with each other. Chinese Complaints. The present Status of the Question.

See (in this Volume) RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909. The Census Bill and the President’s Veto. he Amended Bill, which became Law.

See (in this Volume) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909. Protest against the Russo-Chinese Agreement of May, relative to Municipalities on the line of the Chinese Eastern Railway.

See (in this Volume) CHINA: A. D. 1909 (MAY).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909. Trouble with Nicaragua.

See (in this Volume) CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1909.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909 (January). The Waterways Treaty with Great Britain, concerning Waters between the United States and Canada.

See (in this Volume) CANADA: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909 (February). Anti-Opium Act.

See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909 (February). Initiative in securing International Opium Commission at Shanghai.

See (in this Volume) OPIUM PROBLEM.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909 (February). Invitation of Canada and Mexico to a Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources.

See (in this Volume) CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: NORTH AMERICA.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1909 (March). The Inauguration of President Taft. Intimations of Policy in his Inaugural Address. His Cabinet.

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