History for ready reference, Volume 6

by J. N. Larned

[Transcriber's Notes: These modifications are intended to provide
continuity of the text for ease of searching and reading.
1. To avoid breaks in the narrative, page numbers (shown in curly
brackets "{1234}") are usually placed between paragraphs. In this
case the page number is preceded and followed by an empty line.
To remove page numbers use the Regular Expression:
"^{[0-9]+}" to "" (empty string)
2. If a paragraph is exceptionally long, the page number is
placed at the nearest sentence break on its own line, but
without surrounding empty lines.
3. Blocks of unrelated text are moved to a nearby break
between subjects.
5. Use of em dashes and other means of space saving are
replaced with spaces and newlines.
6. Subjects are arranged thusly:
---------------------------------
MAIN SUBJECT TITLE IN UPPER CASE
Subheading one.
Subheading two.
Subject text.
See CROSS REFERENCE ONE.
See Also CROSS REFERENCE TWO.
John Smith,
External Citation Title,
Chapter 3, page 89.---------------------------------
Main titles are at the left margin, in all upper case
(as in the original) and are preceded by an empty line.
Subheadings (if any) are indented three spaces and
immediately follow the main title.
Text of the article (if any) follows the list of subtitles
(if any) and is preceded with an empty line and indented
three spaces.
References to other articles in this work are in all upper
case (as in the original) and indented six spaces. They
usually begin with "See", "Also" or "Also in".
Citations of works outside this book are indented six spaces
and in italics (as in the original). The bibliography in
Volume 1, APPENDIX F on page xxi provides additional details,
including URLs of available internet versions.
----------Subject: Start--------
----------Subject: End----------
indicates the start/end of a group of subheadings or other
large block.
To search for words separated by an unknown number of other
characters, use this Regular Expression to find the words
"first" and "second" separated by between 1 and 100 characters:
"first.{1,100}second"
A list of all words used in this work is found at the end of
this file as an aid for finding words with unusual spellings
that are archaic, contain non-Latin letters, or are spelled
differently by various authors. Search for:
"Word List: Start".
I use these free search tools:
Notepad++ -- https://notepad-plus-plus.org
Agent Ransack or FileLocator Pro -- https://www.mythicsoft.com
Several tables are best viewed using a fixed spacing font such
Courier New.
End Transcriber's Notes.]
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Spine

Map of Asia

HISTORY FOR READY REFERENCE.
FROM THE BEST HISTORIANS, BIOGRAPHERS, AND SPECIALISTS
THEIR OWN WORDS IN A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF HISTORY
FOR ALL USES, EXTENDING TO ALL COUNTRIES AND SUBJECTS,
AND REPRESENTING FOR BOTH READERS AND STUDENTS THE BETTER
AND NEWER LITERATURE OF HISTORY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
BY
J. N. LARNED
WITH NUMEROUS HISTORICAL MAPS FROM ORIGINAL
STUDIES AND DRAWINGS BY
ALAN O. REILEY
REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION
IN SIX VOLUMES
VOLUME VI—RECENT HISTORY
1894-5 TO 1901
A to Z
SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
THE C. A. NICHOLS CO., PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1901,
BY J. N. LARNED.
The Riverside Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U. S. A.
Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company.
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH VOLUME.
The six years that have passed since the original five volumes
of this compilation were published, in 1894-5, have been
filled with events so remarkable and changes so revolutionary
in political and social conditions that the work has seemed to
need an extension to cover them. The wish for such an
extension, expressed by many people, led to the preparation of
a new volume, in which all the lines of the historical record
are taken from the points at which they were dropped in the
early volumes, and are carried to the end of the Nineteenth
Century, and beyond it, into the opening months of the present
year.
In plan and arrangement this additional volume is uniform with
the preceding ones; but the material used in it is different
from that dealt with before, and a quite different character
is given consequently to the book. The former compilation
represented closet-studies of History—perspective views of a
past more or less remote from those who depicted it. This one,
on the contrary, exhibits History in the making,—the day by
day evolution of events and changes as they passed under the
hands and before the eyes and were recorded by the pens of the
actual makers and witnesses of them. If there is crudeness in the
story thus constructed, there is life in it, to quite make good
the lack of literary finish; and the volume is expected to
prove as interesting and as useful as its predecessors. It
sets forth, with the fulness which their present-day interest
demands, all the circumstances that led to the
Spanish-American war; the unforeseen sequences of that war, in
the Philippine Islands, in Cuba, in Porto Rico, and in
American politics; the whole controversy of Great Britain with
the South African Boers and the resulting war; the shameful
dealings of western nations with China, during late years,
which provoked the outbreak of barbaric hostility to
foreigners, and the dreadful experiences of the siege and
relief of Peking; the strange Dreyfus agitations in France;
the threatening race-conflicts in Austria; the change of
sovereign in England; the Peace Conference at The Hague and
its results; the federation of the Australian colonies; the
development of industrial combinations or trusts in the United
States; the archæological discoveries of late years in the
East, and the more notable triumphs of achievement in the
scientific world. On these and other occurrences of the period
surveyed, the record of fact is quoted from sources the most
responsible and authentic now available, and always with the
endeavor to present both sides of controverted matters with
strict impartiality.
For purposes of reference and study, a large number of
important documents—laws, treaties, new constitutions of
government, and other state papers—are given in full, and, in
most instances, from officially printed texts.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK; May, 1901.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
I am indebted to the following named authors, editors, and
publishers, for permission kindly given me to quote from books
and periodicals, all of which are duly referred to in
connection with the passages severally borrowed from them:
The manager of The American Catholic Quarterly Review;
the editor of The American Journal of Archæology;
the editor of The American Monthly Review of Reviews;
General Thomas F. Anderson;
Messrs. D. Appleton & Company;
Messrs. Wm. Blackwood's Sons (Blackwood's Magazine);
Mr. Andrew Carnegie;
Messrs. Chapman & Hall (The Fortnightly Review);
Mr. Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain);
Hon. W. Bourke Cockran;
the editor of The Contemporary Review;
Prof. John Franklin Crowell;
the G. W. Dillingham Company;
Messrs. Dodd, Mead & Company;
Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Company;
The Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions;
Mr. J. Foreman;
The Forum Publishing Company;
Harper & Brothers (Harper's Magazine);
Mr. Howard C. Hillegas;
Prof. H. V. Hilprecht;
Hon. Frederick W. Holls;
Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Company (The Atlantic Monthly);
Mr. George Iles;
the editor of The Independent;
Prof. John H. Latané;
Messrs. Longmans, Green & Company (The Edinburgh Review);
Mr. Charles F. Lummis;
Messrs. McClure, Philips & Company (The Popular Science Monthly);
Messrs. MacMillan & Company (London);
The New Amsterdam Book Company;
the editor of The Nineteenth Century Review;
the editor of The North American Review;
the editors of The Outlook;
the managing editor of The Political Science Quarterly;
Mr. Edward Porritt;
Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons;
Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons;
George M. Sternberg, Surgeon-General, U. S. A.;
The Frederick A. Stokes Company;
the managing editor of The Sunday School Times;
Prof. F. W. Taussig;
Prof. Elihu Thomson;
the manager of The Times, London;
The University Press, Cambridge;
Mr. Herbert Welsh; the editors of The Yale Review.
My acknowledgments are likewise due to the Hon. D. S.
Alexander, Representative in Congress, and to many officials
at Washington, for courteous assistance in procuring
publications of the national government for my use.
LIST OF MAPS.
Map of Asia, Preceding the title page
Map of Africa, Following page 2
Map of Alaska, Following page 8
Map of Australia, Following page 30
Map of Central America,
showing the Isthmian Canal routes, Following page 66
Map of the East Coast of China, Following page 76
Map of Cuba and the West Indies, Following page 170
Map of Hawaii, Following page 254
Map of the Philippine Islands,
and of the seat of war in Luzon, Following page 368
Map of Porto Rico, Following page 410
Map of the Boer Republics
and their surroundings, Following page 492
Map illustrating the Santiago campaign
in the Spanish-American war, On page 603
LIST OF TABLES.
The descendants of Queen Victoria, Page 215
Protestant foreign missions
and missionary societies, Pages 311-313
Navies of the Sea Powers, Page 318
Philippine Islands, area and population, Pages 367-369
The Shipping of the World in 1900, Page 452
British military forces in South African war, Pages 509-510
Statistics of the Spanish-American War, Pages 628-631
Twelfth Census of the United States (1900), Pages 645-646
Revenues and expenditures of the government
of the United States for the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1900, Page 666
Losses from all causes in the armies
of the United States from
May 1, 1898, to May 20, 1900, Pages 666-667
Qualifications of the elective franchise
in the several States of the United States, Pages 676-677
Military and naval expenditures of
the greater Powers, Pages 694-697
Chronological record of events, 1895 to 1901, Pages 702-720

{1}
HISTORY FOR READY REFERENCE.
ABORIGINES, American.
See (in this volume)
INDIANS, AMERICAN.
ABRUZZI, the Duke of: Arctic expedition.
See (in this volume) POLAR EXPLORATION, 1899-1900, 1901.
ABYDOS, Archæological exploration at.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: EGYPT: RESULTS.
ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1895-1896.
Successful war with the Italians.
See (in this volume) ITALY: A. D. 1895-1896.
ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1897.
Treaty with Great Britain.
A treaty between King Menelek of Abyssinia and the British
Government was concluded in May, 1897. It gives to British
subjects the privileges of the most favored nations in trade;
opens the port of Zeyla to Abyssinian importations; defines
the boundary of the British Somali Protectorate, and pledges
Abyssinia to be hostile to the Mahdists.
ACETYLENE GAS, Production of.
See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS.
ADOWA, Battle of.
See (in this volume) ITALY; A. D. 1895-1896.
AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1893-1895.
Relinquishment of claims over Swat, Bajaur and Chitral.
See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1895 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).
AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1894.
The Waziri War.
See (in this volume) INDIA: A. D. 1894.
AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1895.
Anglo-Russian Agreement.
Determination of the northern frontier.
The joint Anglo-Russian Commission for fixing the northern
frontier of Afghanistan, from Zulfikar on the Heri-Rud to the
Pamirs, finished its work in July, 1895. This was consequent
upon an Agreement between the governments of Great Britain and
Russia which had been reduced to writing on the previous 11th
of March. In part, that Agreement was as follows:
"Her Britannic Majesty's Government and the Government of His
Majesty the Emperor of Russia engage to abstain from
exercising any political influence or control, the former to
the north, the latter to the south, of the above line of
demarcation. Her Britannic Majesty's Government engage that
the territory lying within the British sphere of influence
between the Hindu Kush and the line running from the east end
of Lake Victoria to the Chinese frontier shall form part of
the territory of the Ameer of Afghanistan, that it shall not
be annexed to Great Britain, and that no military posts or
forts shall be established in it. The execution of this
Agreement is contingent upon the evacuation by the Ameer of
Afghanistan of all the territories now occupied by His
Highness on the right bank of the Panjah, and on the
evacuation by the Ameer of Bokhara of the portion of Darwaz
which lies to the south of the Oxus, in regard to which Her
Britannic Majesty's Government and the Government of His
Majesty the Emperor of Russia have agreed to use their
influence respectively with the two Ameers."
Great Britain, Papers by Command: Treaty Series,
Number 8, 1895.
AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1896.
Conquest of Kafiristan.
By the agreement of 1893, between the Ameer of Afghanistan and
the government of India (see, in this volume, INDIA. A. D.
1895-MARCH-SEPTEMBER), the mountain district of Kafiristan was
conceded to the former, and he presently set to work to
subjugate its warlike people, who had never acknowledged his
yoke. By the end of 1896 the conquest of these Asiatic Kafirs
was believed to be complete.
AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1897-1898.
Wars of the British with frontier tribes.
See (in this volume) INDIA: A. D. 1897-1898.
AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1900.
Russian railway projects.
See (in this volume) RUSSIA-IN-ASIA: A. D. 1900.
----------AFRICA: Start--------
AFRICA: A. D. 1891-1900
(Portuguese East Africa).
Delagoa Bay Railway Arbitration.
See (in this volume)
DELAGOA BAY ARBITRATION.
AFRICA: A. D. 1893 (Niger Coast Protectorate).
Its growth.
See (in this volume)
NIGERIA: A. D. 1882-1899.
AFRICA: A. D. 1894 (The Transvaal).
The Commandeering question.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1894.
AFRICA: A. D. 1894 (The Transvaal).
Dissatisfaction of the Boers with the
London Convention of 1884.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1884-1894.
AFRICA: A. D. 1894-1895 (British South Africa Company).
Extension of charter and enlargement of powers.
Influence of Cecil J. Rhodes.
Attitude towards the Transvaal.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA
(BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY): A. D. 1894-1895.
AFRICA: A. D. 1894-1895 (Rhodesia).
Extended territory and enlarged powers of the British
South Africa Company.
Ascendancy of Cecil J. Rhodes.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA
(BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY): A. D. 1894-1895.
AFRICA: A. D. 1894-1898
(British Central Africa Protectorate: Nyassaland).
Administrative separation from British South Africa Company's
territory.
Conflicts with natives.
Resources and prospects.
See (in this volume)
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA PROTECTORATE.
{2}
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (Bechuanaland).
Partial conveyance to British South Africa Company.
Several Bechuana chiefs visited England to urge that their
country should not be absorbed by Cape Colony or the British
South Africa Company. An agreement was made with them which
reserved certain territories to each, but yielded the
remainder to the administration of the British South Africa
Company.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (British East Africa).
Transfer of territory to the British Government.
The territories previously administered by the Imperial
British East Africa Company (excepting the Uganda
Protectorate, which had been transferred in 1894) were finally
transferred to the British Government on the 1st of July. At
the same time, the dominion of the Sultan of Zanzibar on the
mainland came under the administrative control of the British
consul-general at Zanzibar.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (Cape Colony).
Annexation of British Bechuanaland.
Proceedings for the annexation of British Bechuanaland to Cape
Colony were adopted by the Cape Parliament in August.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (French West Africa).
Appointment of a Governor-General.
In June, M. Chaudie was appointed Governor-General of French
West Africa, his jurisdiction extending over Senegal, the
Sudan possessions of France, French Guinea, Dahomey, and other
French possessions in the Gulf of Benin.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (Orange Free State).
Proposed federal union of the Free State with the Transvaal.
A resolution making overtures for a federal union with the
Transvaal was passed by the Volksraad of the Orange Free State
in June.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (Sierra Leone).
Establishment of a British Protectorate over the
Hinterland of Sierra Leone.
Anglo-French boundary agreement.
See (in this volume)
SIERRA LEONE PROTECTORATE.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (Transvaal).
Action in Swaziland.
By a proclamation in February, the Transvaal Government
assumed the administration of Swaziland and installed King
Buna as paramount chief.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (The Transvaal).
Closing of the Vaal River Drifts.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1895 (SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER).
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (The Transvaal).
Discontent of the Uitlanders.
The Franchise question.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1895 (NOVEMBER).
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (The Transvaal).
Opening of Delagoa Bay Railway.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1895 (JULY).
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (Zululand).
Extension of Boundary.
A strip of territory west of Amatongaland, along the Pondoland
River to the Maputa was formally added to Zululand in May, the
South African Republic protesting.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895-1896 (Portuguese East Africa).
War with Gungunhana.
The Portuguese were involved in war with Gungunhana, king of
Gazaland, which lasted from September, 1895, until the
following spring, when Gungunhana was captured and carried a
prisoner, with his wives and son, to Lisbon.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895-1896 (The Transvaal).
Revolutionary conspiracy of Uitlanders at Johannesburg.
The Jameson raid.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1895-1896.
AFRICA: A. D. 1895-1897 (British East Africa Protectorate).
Creation of the Protectorate.
Territories included.
Subjugation of Arab chiefs.
Report of commissioner.
See (in this volume)
BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE:
A. D. 1895-1897.
AFRICA: A. D. 1896 (Ashanti).
British conquest and occupation.
See (in this volume)
ASHANTI.
AFRICA: A. D. 1896 (British South Africa Company).
Resignation of Mr. Rhodes.
Parliamentary movement to investigate.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1896 (JUNE); and (JULY).
AFRICA: A. D. 1896 (Cape Colony).
Investigation of the Jameson raid.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (CAPE COLONY): A. D. 1896 (JULY).
AFRICA: A. D. 1896 (Rhodesia).
Matabele revolt.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (RHODESIA):
A. D. 1896 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).
AFRICA: A. D. 1896 (Zanzibar).
Suppression of an usurper by the British.
On the sudden death (supposed to be from poison) of the Sultan
of Zanzibar, August 25, his cousin, Said Khalid, seized the
palace and proclaimed himself sultan. Zanzibar being an
acknowledged protectorate of Great Britain, the usurper was
summoned by the British consul to surrender. He refused, and
the palace was bombarded by war vessels in the harbor, with
such effect that the palace was speedily destroyed and about
500 of its inmates killed. Khalid fled to the German consul,
who protected him and had him conveyed to German territory. A
new sultan, Said Hamud-bin-Mahomed was at once proclaimed.
AFRICA: A. D. 1896-1899 (The Transvaal).
Controversies with the British Government.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1896 (JANUARY-APRIL), to 1899 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER).
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (Congo Free State).
Mutiny of troops.
The Congo troops of an expedition led by Baron Dhanis mutinied
and murdered a number of Belgian officers. Subsequently they
were attacked in the neighborhood of Lake Albert Edward Nyanza
and mostly destroyed.
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (Dahomey and Tongoland).
Definition of boundary.
By a convention concluded in July between Germany and France,
the boundary between German possessions in Tongoland and those
of France in Dahomey and the Sudan was defined.
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (Nigeria).
Massacre at Benin.
British expedition.
Capture of the town.
See (in this volume)
NIGERIA: A. D. 1897.
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (Nigeria).
Subjugation of Fulah slave-raiders.
In January and February, the forces of the Royal Niger Company
successfully invaded the strong Fulah states of Nupé and
Ilorin, from which slave raiding in the territory under
British protection was carried on. Bida, the Nupé capital, was
entered on the 27th of January, after a battle in which 800
Hausa troops, led by European officers, and using heavy
artillery, drove from the field an army of cavalry and foot
estimated at 30,000 in number. The Emir of Nupé was deposed,
another set up in his place, and a treaty signed which
established British rule. The Emir of Ilorin submitted after
his town had been bombarded, and bowed himself to British
authority in his government. At the same time, a treaty
settled the Lagos frontier. Later in the year, the stronghold
at Kiffi of another slave-raider, Arku, was stormed and
burned.

Map of Africa

{3}
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (Orange Free State and Transvaal).
Treaty defensive between the two republics.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (ORANGE FREE STATE AND TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1897 (APRIL).
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (Sudan).
Beginning of the Anglo-Egyptian conquest.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896.
A. D. 1897 (Zanzibar).
Abolition of slavery.
Under pressure from the British government, the Sultan of
Zanzibar issued a decree, on the 6th or April, 1897,
terminating the legal status of slavery, with compensation to
be awarded on proof of consequent loss.
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (Zululand).
Annexation to Natal.
By act of the Natal Parliament in December, 1897, Zululand
(with Amatongaland already joined to it) was annexed to Natal
Colony, and Dinizulu, son of the last Zulu king, was brought
from captivity in St. Helena and reinstated.
AFRICA: A. D. 1897-1898 (Sudan).
Completion of the Anglo-Egyptian conquest.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1897-1898.
AFRICA: A. D. 1897-1898 (Uganda).
Native insurrections and mutiny of Sudanese troops in Uganda.
See (in this volume)
UGANDA: A. D. 1897-1898.
AFRICA: A. D. 1898 (Abyssinia).
Treaty of King Menelek with Great Britain.
See (in this volume)
ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1898.
AFRICA: A. D. 1898 (British South Africa Company).
Reorganization.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (RHODESIA):
A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY).
AFRICA: A. D. 1898 (Egypt).
The Nile question between England and France.
Marchand's expedition at Fashoda.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER).
AFRICA: A. D. 1898 (Nigeria and the French Sudan).
Definition of French and English possessions in
West and North Africa.
See (in this volume)
NIGERIA: A. D. 1882-1899.
AFRICA: A. D. 1898 (Rhodesia).
Reorganization of the British South Africa Company and
the administration of its territories.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA
(RHODESIA AND THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY).
AFRICA: A. D. 1898 (Tunis).
Results of the French Protectorate.
See (in this volume)
TUNIS: A. D. 1881-1898.
AFRICA: A. D. 1899.
Railway development.
"Railroad development in Africa has been rapid in the past few
years and seems but the beginning of a great system which must
contribute to the rapid development, civilization, and
enlightenment of the Dark Continent. Already railroads run
northwardly from Cape Colony about 1,400 miles, and
southwardly from Cairo about 1,100 miles, thus making 2,500
miles of the 'Cape to Cairo' railroad complete, while the
intermediate distance is about 3,000 miles. Mr. Rhodes, whose
recent visit to England and Germany in the interest of the
proposed through line from the Cape to Cairo is a matter of
record, and whose visit to Germany was made necessary by the
fact that in order to pass from the southern chain of British
territory to the northern chain he must cross German or
Belgian territory, is reported as confident that the through
line will be completed by the year 1910. Certainly it may
reasonably be assumed that a continuous railway line will be
in operation from the southern to the northern end of Africa
in the early years of the twentieth century. Toward this line,
present and prospective, which is to stretch through the
eastern part of the continent, lateral lines from either coast
are beginning to make their way. A line has already been
constructed from Natal on the southeast coast: another from
Lourenço Marquez in Portuguese territory and the gold and
diamond fields: another from Beira, also in Portuguese
territory, but considerably farther north, and destined to
extend to Salisbury in Rhodesia, where it will form a junction
with the 'Cape to Cairo' road; still another is projected from
Zanzibar to Lake Victoria Nyanza, to connect, probably, at
Tabora, with the transcontinental line; another line is under
actual construction westward from Pangani just north of
Zanzibar, both of these being in German East Africa; another
line is being constructed northwestwardly from Mombasa, in
British territory, toward Lake Victoria Nyanza, and is
completed more than half the distance, while at the entrance
to the Red Sea a road is projected westwardly into Abyssinia,
and is expected to pass farther toward the west and connect
with the main line. At Suakim, fronting on the Red Sea, a road
is projected to Berber, the present terminus of the line
running southwardly from Cairo. On the west of Africa lines
have begun to penetrate inward, a short line in the French
Sudan running from the head of navigation on the Senegal
eastwardly toward the head of navigation on the Niger, with
the ultimate purpose of connecting navigation on these two
streams. In the Kongo Free State a railway connects the Upper
Kongo with the Lower Kongo around Livingstone Falls; in
Portuguese Angola a road extends eastwardly from Loanda, the
capital, a considerable distance, and others are projected
from Benguela and Mossamedes with the ultimate purpose of
connecting with the 'Cape to Cairo' road and joining with the
lines from Portuguese East Africa, which also touch that road,
thus making a transcontinental line from east to west, with
Portuguese territory at either terminus. Farther south on the
western coast the Germans have projected a road from Walfisch
Bay to Windhoek, the capital of German Southwest Africa, and
this will probably be extended eastwardly until it connects
with the great transcontinental line from 'Cape to Cairo,'
which is to form the great nerve center of the system, to be
contributed to and supported by these branches connecting it
with either coast. Another magnificent railway project, which
was some years ago suggested by M. Leroy Beaulieu, has been
recently revived, being no less than an east and west
transcontinental line through the Sudan region, connecting the
Senegal and Niger countries on the west with the Nile Valley
and Red Sea on the east and penetrating a densely populated
and extremely productive region of which less is now known,
perhaps, than of any other part of Africa. At the north
numerous lines skirt the Mediterranean coast, especially in
the French territory of Algeria and in Tunis, where the length
of railway is, in round numbers, 2,250 miles, while the
Egyptian railroads are, including those now under
construction, about 1,500 miles in length.
{4}
Those of Cape Colony and Natal are nearly 3,000 miles, and
those of Portuguese East Africa and the South African Republic
another thousand. Taking into consideration all of the roads
now constructed, or under actual construction, their total
length reaches nearly 10,000 miles, while there seems every
reason to believe that the great through system connecting the
rapidly developing mining regions of South Africa with the
north of the continent and with Europe will soon be pushed to
completion. A large proportion of the railways thus far
constructed are owned by the several colonies or States which
they traverse, about 2,000 miles of the Cape Colony system
belonging to the Government, while nearly all that of Egypt is
owned and operated by the State."
United States Bureau of Statistics,
Monthly Summary, August, 1899.
See, also, (in this volume),
RAILWAY, CAPE TO CAIRO.
AFRICA: A. D. 1899 (June).
International Convention respecting the liquor traffic.
Representatives of the governments of Great Britain, Germany,
Belgium, Spain, the Congo State, France, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Norway, and Turkey,
assembled at Brussels, in June, 1899, with due authorization,
and there concluded an international convention respecting the
liquor traffic in Africa. Subsequently the governments of
Austria-Hungary, the United States of America, Liberia and
Persia, gave their adhesion to the Convention, and
ratifications were deposited at Brussels in June, 1900. The
Convention is, in a measure, supplemental to what is known as
"the General Act of Brussels," relative to the African slave
trade, which was framed at a conference of the representatives
of European, American, African, and Asiatic states, at
Brussels. The treaty known as the General Act of Brussels was
signed July 2, 1890, but did not come into force until April
2, 1894. The text of it may be found in (United States) House
Doc. Number 276, 56th Congress, 3d Session. The Convention of
1899 provides:
"Article I.
From the coming into force of the present Convention, the
import duty on spirituous liquors, as that duty is regulated
by the General Act of Brussels, shall be raised throughout the
zone where there does not exist the system of total
prohibition provided by Article XCI, of the said General Act,
to the rate of 70 fr. the hectolitre at 50 degrees centigrade,
for a period of six years. It may, exceptionally, be at the
rate of 60 fr. only the hectolitre at 50 degrees centigrade in
the Colony of Togo and in that of Dahomey. The import duty
shall be augmented proportionally for each degree above 50
degrees centigrade; It may be diminished proportionally for
each degree below 50 degrees centigrade. At the end of the
above-mentioned period of six years, the import duty shall be
submitted to revision, taking as a basis the results produced
by the preceding rate. The Powers retain the right of
maintaining and increasing the duty beyond the minimum fixed
by the present Article in the regions where they now possess
that right.
Article II.
In accordance with Article XCIII of the General Act of
Brussels, distilled drinks made in the regions mentioned in
Article XCII of the said General Act, and intended for
consumption, shall pay an excise duty. This excise duty, the
collection of which the Powers undertake to insure as far as
possible, shall not be lower than the minimum import duty
fixed by Article I. of the present Convention.
Article III.
It is understood that the Powers who signed the General Act of
Brussels, or who have acceded to it, and who are not
represented at the present Conference, preserve the right of
acceding to the present Convention."
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publication.
(Papers by Command: Treaty Series, Number 13, 1900).
AFRICA: A. D. 1899.
Progress of the Telegraph line from the Cape to Cairo.
See (in this volume)
TELEGRAPH, CAPE TO CAIRO.
AFRICA: A. D. 1899 (German Colonies).
Cost to Germany, trade, etc.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1899 (JUNE).
AFRICA: A. D. 1899 (Nigeria).
Transfer of territory to the British Crown.
See (in this volume)
NIGERIA: A. D. 1899.
AFRICA: A. D. 1899 (Orange Free State).
Treaty of alliance with the Transvaal.
Making common cause.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (ORANGE FREE STATE):
A. D. 1897 (APRIL); and 1899 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER).
AFRICA: A. D. 1899 (The Sudan).
Anglo-Egyptian Condominium established.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1899 (JANUARY).
AFRICA: A. D. 1899 (Transvaal and Orange Free State).
Outbreak of war with Great Britain.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (TRANSVAAL AND ORANGE FREE STATE):
A. D. 1899 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER).
AFRICA: A. D. 1899 (West Africa).
Definition of British and German frontiers.
See (in this volume)
SAMOAN ISLANDS.
AFRICA: A. D. 1899 (Zanzibar).
Renunciation of rights of extra-territoriality by Germany.
See (in this volume)
SAMOAN ISLANDS.
AFRICA: A. D. 1899-1900.
Summary of the partition of the Continent.
"Seven European nations, as before remarked, now control
territories in Africa, two of them having areas equal in each
case to about the entire land area of the United States, while
a few small territories remain as independent States.
Beginning at the northeast, Egypt and Tripoli are nominally at
least tributaries of Turkey, though the Egyptian Government,
which was given large latitude by that of Turkey, has of late
years formed such relations with Great Britain that, in
financial matters at least, her guidance is recognized; next
west, Algeria, French; then Morocco on the extreme northwest,
an independent Government and an absolute despotism; next on
the south, Spain's territory of Rio de Oro; then the Senegal
territories, belonging to the French, and connecting through
the desert of Sahara with her Algeria; then a group of small
divisions controlled by England, along the Gulf of Guinea;
then Liberia, the black Republic; Togoland, controlled by the
Germans; Dahomey, a French protectorate; the Niger territory,
one-third the size of the United States, controlled by
England; Kamerun, controlled by Germany; French Kongo; then
the Kongo Free State, under the auspices of the King of
Belgium, and occupying the very heart of equatorial Africa;
then Portuguese Angola; next, German South west Africa; and
finally in the march down the Atlantic side, Cape Colony,
British.
{5}
Following up the eastern side comes the British colony of
Natal; then just inland from this the two Boer Republics, the
Orange Free State and the South African Republic, both of
which are entirely in the interior, without ocean frontage;
next, Portuguese Africa, and west of this the great territory
known as 'Rhodesia'; then German Africa, which extends almost
to the equator; north of these, British East Africa, fronting
on the Indian Ocean, and merging northwardly with the Egyptian
Sudan, which was recently recovered from the Mahdi by the joint
operation of British and Egyptian troops, and the British flag
placed side by side with that of Egypt; next north, upon the
coast, Italian territory and a small tract opposite the
entrance to the Red Sea controlled by England; and a few
hundred miles west of the entrance to the Red Sea, the
independent Kingdom of Abyssinia. This division of African
territory, nearly all of it made within the memory of the
present generation, forms the present political map of Africa.
With England and France controlling an area equal in each case
to that of the United States; Germany, a territory one-third
the size of the United States; Portugal, with an area somewhat
less; the Kongo Free State in the great equatorial basin, but
having a frontage upon the Atlantic with an area nearly
one-third that of the United States; Italy and Spain, each
with a comparatively small area of territory; Egypt, with
relations quite as much British as Turkish; Tripoli, Turkish,
and the five independent States of Morocco, Liberia,
Abyssinia, and the two Boer Republics—nothing remains
unclaimed, even in the desert wastes, while in the high
altitudes and subtropical climate of southeast Africa
civilization and progress are making rapid advancement."
United States Bureau of Statistics,
Monthly Summary, August, 1899.
The following table, given in an article in "The Forum,"
December, 1899, by Mr. O. P. Austin, Chief of the United
States Bureau of Statistics, shows the area, total population,
foreign population, and imports and exports of the territory
in Africa held by each European Government and by the
independent States of that continent, at the time of its
compilation so far as could be ascertained; but the statistics
of area and population, especially the latter, are in many
cases necessarily estimates:
POP.
TOTAL FOREIGN PER SQ.
AREA. POPULATION. POPULATION MILE IMPORTS. EXPORTS.
French Africa. 3,028,000 28,155,000 922,000 9.3 $70,116,000 $69,354,000
British Africa. 2,761,000 35,160,000 455,000 12.8 131,398,000 131,835,000
Turkish Africa. 1,760,000 21,300,000 113,000 12.2 54,091,000 62,548,000
German Africa. 944,000 11,270,000 4,000 12.0 4,993,000 2,349,000
Belgian Africa. 900,000 30,000,000 2,000 33.3 4,522,000 3,309,000
Portuguese Africa. 790,000 8,059,000 3,000 10.2 11,863,000 6,730,000
Spanish Africa. 243,000 36,000 … 0.5 … …
Italian Africa. 188,000 850,000 … 4.5 … …
Independent States.
Morocco. 219,000 5,000,000 … 22.8 6,402,000 6,261,000
Abyssinia. 150,000 3,500,000 … 23.3 … …
South African Republic. 120,000 1,096,000 346,000 9.2 104,703,000 53,532,000
Orange Free State. 48,500 208,000 78,000 4.3 5,994,000 8,712,000
Liberia. 48,000 1,500,000 25,000 31.3 1,217,000 1,034,000
Total. 11,189,500 146,133,000 1,948,000 … $395,299,000 $345,714,000

According to a statistical table in the twentieth volume of
Meyer's Konversations-Lexicon (third annual supplement), based
upon the latest data furnished by the boundary treaties
between the Powers, it would appear that all but about
one-seventh of the African continent is now (A. D. 1900)
included in some "protectorate" or "sphere of influence." The
French sphere is the largest, comprising about 3,700,000
square miles (about the extent of Europe) out of a total area
of 11,600,000. England comes next with 2,400,000 (including
the Boer territories). Then follow in order Germany, Belgium
(Congo Free State), and Portugal, each with somewhat less than
a million square miles. The Egyptian sphere (about 400,000
square miles) may properly be regarded as part of the British.
The extent of the French sphere will appear less imposing on
consulting the map of Africa here given, which shows that it
takes in the greater part of the sands of the Sahara. The
British sphere (including Egypt and her dependencies) is
estimated to contain in round numbers about 50,000,000 souls;
the French, 35,000,000; the Belgian, 17,000,000; the German,
9,000,000; the Portuguese, 8,000,000.
AFRICA: A. D. 1900 (Ashanti).
Revolt of the tribes.
Siege and relief of Kumasai.
See (in this volume)
ASHANTI.
AFRICA: A. D. 1900 (Togoland and Gold Coast).
Demarcation of the Hinterland.
Late in November it was announced from Berlin that conferences
regarding the British and German boundaries in West Africa
were then in progress in the Colonial Department of the German
Foreign Office, their principal object being the demarcation
of the Hinterland of Togoland and of the Gold Coast, and in
particular the partition of the neutral zone of Salaga as
arranged in Article 5 of the Samoa Agreement between Great
Britain and Germany.
See (in this volume)
SAMOAN ISLANDS.
AFRIDIS, British Indian war with the.
See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1897-1898.
AFRIKANDER BUND, The.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (CAPE, COLONY):
A. D. 1881-1888; 1898; and 1898 (MARCH-OCTOBER).
AFRIKANDER CONGRESS.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (Cape Colony): A. D. 1900 (DECEMBER).
AFRIKANDERS:
Joining the invading Boers.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER.).
AFRIKANDERS:
Opposition to the annexation of the Boer Republics.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (CAPE COLONY): A. D. 1900 (MAY).
{6}
AGRARIAN PROTECTIONISTS, The German.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1895-1898; 1899 (AUGUST); and 1901 (FEBRUARY).
AGRICULTURAL LAND BILL, The.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1896.
AGUINALDO y FAMY, Emilio.
First appearance in the Filipino insurrection.
His treaty with the Spaniards and departure from the Islands.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1896-1898.
AGUINALDO y FAMY, Emilio.
Circumstances in which he went to Manila to co-operate with
American forces.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (APRIL-MAY: PHILIPPINES).
AGUINALDO y FAMY, Emilio.
Arrival at Manila, May 19, 1898.
His organization of insurgent forces.
His relations with Admiral Dewey.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-JULY).
AGUINALDO y FAMY, Emilio.
Correspondence with General Anderson.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST: PHILIPPINES).
AGUINALDO y FAMY, Emilio.
Relations with American commander at Manila.
Declared President of the Philippine Republic.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).
AGUINALDO y FAMY, Emilio.
Conflict of his army with American forces.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS:
A. D. 1898 (AUGUST-DECEMBER), and after.
ALABAMA: A. D. 1899.
Dispensary Laws.
Acts applying the South Carolina "dispensary" system of
regulation for the liquor traffic to seventeen counties, but
not to the State at large, were passed by the Legislature.
See, in this volume,
SOUTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1892-1899.
ALASKA: A. D. 1898-1899.
Discovery of the Cape Nome gold mining region.
"The Cape Nome mining region lies on the western coast of
Alaska, just beyond the military reservation of St. Michael
and about 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle. It can be
reached by an ocean voyage of ten or twelve days from Seattle.
It has long been known that gold exists in the general vicinity
of Cape Nome, and during the last five or six years a few
adventurous miners have done more or less prospecting and
claim staking throughout the district lying between Norton and
Kotzebue sounds. During the winter of 1898-99, a large number
of miners entered the Kotzebue country, while others spent the
season in the vicinity of Golofnin Bay." On the 15th of
October, 1898, a party of seven men reached Snake River in a
schooner. "Between that date and the 18th a miners' meeting
was held, the boundaries of a district 25 miles square were
established, local mining regulations were formulated, and Dr.
Kittleson was elected recorder for a term of two years. After
organizing the district natives were hired to do the necessary
packing, and a camp was established on Anvil Creek. The
prospecting outfits were quickly brought into service. In one
afternoon $76 was panned out on Snow Creek. Encouraged by this
showing lumber was carried up from the schooner and two
rockers were constructed. … In four or five days over $1,800
was cleaned up with these two rockers. … The weather turned
cold and the water was frozen up. As it was impossible to do
any more work with the rockers the party broke camp on the 3d
of November and returned to the schooner, which they found
frozen solid in 2 feet of ice. They then made their way in a
small boat to an Indian village, near Cape Nome, where they
obtained dogs and sleds, and a little farther on they were met
by reindeer from the Swedish Mission, with which they returned
to Golofnin Bay.
"The lucky miners had agreed among themselves that their
discovery should be held secret, but the news was too good to
keep, and soon leaked out. A general stampede commenced at
once and continued all winter. Every available dog and
reindeer was pressed into the service, and they were soon
racing with each other for the valuable claims which had been
left unstaked in the vicinity of Anvil Creek. As soon as that
creek had been all taken up the stampede extended to the
neighboring streams and gulches, and Glacier and Dexter
creeks, as well as many others which have not proved equally
valuable, were quickly staked and recorded. By the 25th of
December a large party armed with numerous powers of attorney
had entered the district, and as the local regulations allowed
every man to stake on each creek one claim of the full legal
dimensions (660 by 1,320 feet), it was not long until the
whole district had been thoroughly covered, and nearly every
stream had been staked with claims, which in some cases were
'jumped' and the right of possession disputed.
"The news of a rich strike at Nome worked its way up the Yukon
River during the winter, and as soon as the ice broke in June
a large crowd came down from Rampart City, followed by a
larger crowd from Dawson. The 'Yukoners,' as these people were
called, were already disgusted with the hardships,
disappointments, and Canadian misgovernment which they had met
with on the upper river. … Those to whom enough faith had been
given to go over to Cape Nome were disgusted and angered to
find that pretty much the whole district was already staked,
and that the claims taken were two or three times as large as
those commonly allowed on the upper river. Another grievance
was the great abuse of the power of attorney, by means of
which an immense number of claims had been taken up, so that
in many cases (according to common report) single individuals
held or controlled from 50 to 100 claims apiece. …
"A miners' meeting was called by the newcomers to remedy their
grievances. Resolutions were prepared, in which it was
represented that the district had been illegally organized by
men who were not citizens of the United States and who had not
conformed with the law in properly defining the boundaries of
the district with reference to natural objects, in enacting
suitable and sufficient mining regulations, and in complying
with any of the details of organization required by law. It
was intended by the promoters of this meeting to reorganize
the district in such a way as would enable them to share the
benefits of the discovery of a new gold field with the men who
had entered it the previous winter, and, as they expressed it,
'gobbled up the whole country.' It is, of course, impossible
to say what would have been the result if their attempt had
not been interfered with. … On the 28th of June Lieutenant
Spaulding and a detachment of 10 men from the Third Artillery
had been ordered to the vicinity of Snake River, and on the
7th of July their numbers were increased by the addition of 15
more.
{7}
As soon as it was proposed to throw open for restaking a large
amount of land already staked and recorded an appeal was made
to the United States troops to prevent this action by
prohibiting the intended meeting, which was called to assemble
July 10. It was represented to them that if the newcomers
should attempt, under the quasi-legal guise of a miners'
meeting, to take forcible possession of lands already claimed
by others, the inevitable consequence would be a reign of
disorder and violence, with the possibility of considerable
bloodshed. On the strength of this representation and appeal
the army officers decided to prevent the adoption of the
proposed resolutions. The miners were allowed to call their
meeting to order, but as soon as the resolutions were read
Lieutenant Spaulding requested that they be withdrawn. He
allowed two minutes for compliance with his request, the
alternative being that he would clear the hall. The
resolutions were not withdrawn, the troops were ordered to fix
bayonets, and the hall was cleared quietly, without a
conflict. Such meetings as were subsequently attempted were
quickly broken up by virtue of the same authority. The light
in which this action is regarded by the people at Nome
depends, of course, upon the way in which their personal
interests were affected. …
"The great discontent which actually did exist at this time
found sudden and unexpected relief in the discovery of the
beach diggings. It had long been known that there was more or
less gold on the seashore, and before the middle of July it
was discovered that good wages could be taken out of the sand
with a rocker. Even those who were on the ground could hardly
believe the story at first, but its truth was quickly and
easily demonstrated. Before the month was over a great army of
the unemployed was engaged in throwing up irregular
intrenchments along the edge of the sea, and those who had
just been driven nearly to the point of desperation by the
exhaustion of all their resources were soon contentedly
rocking out from $10 to $50 each per day and even more than
that. This discovery came like a godsend to many destitute
men, and was a most fortunate development in the history of
the camp.
"Meantime the men who were in possession of claims on Anvil
and Snow creeks were beginning to sluice their ground and
getting good returns for their work, while others were
actively making preparations to take out the gold which they
knew they had discovered. More sluice boxes were constructed
and put into operation as rapidly as possible. A town site was
laid off at the mouth of Snake River, and on the 4th of July a
post-office was established. The town which has sprung so
suddenly into existence is called 'Nome' by the Post-Office
Department, but at a miners' meeting held February 28, it was
decided to call it 'Anvil City,' and this is generally done by
the residents of the district, as well as in all official
records. At a meeting held in September, however, the name was
again changed to 'Nome.'"
United States, 56th Congress, 1st session,
Senate Document Number 357, pages. 1-4.
"A year ago [that is, in the winter of 1898-1899] a few Eskimo
huts and one or two sod houses of white men were the only
human habitations along 60 miles of the present Nome coast.
Last June [1899] a dozen or score of tents contained the whole
population. By October a town of 5,000 inhabitants fronting
the ocean was crowded for a mile or more along the beach.
Hundreds of galvanized-iron and wooden buildings were
irregularly scattered along two or three thoroughfares,
running parallel with the coast line. There is every
description of building, from the dens of the poor
prospectors, built of driftwood, canvas, and sod, to the large
companies' warehouses, stores, and the army barracks—a city,
as it were, sprung up in the night, built under the most
adverse circumstances on the barren seacoast, a coast without
harbor, all the supplies being landed through the surf. … The
country contributes nothing toward the support of the
population except a few fish and a limited supply of
driftwood.
"The city is of the most cosmopolitan type and contains
representatives of almost every nationality on the globe:
Germans, Canadians, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Russians, Swedes,
Norwegians, Poles, Chinese, negroes, Italians, Spaniards,
Greeks, Jews, and Americans. The dominant type is the
American, through whose efforts, with that inherent talent of
the Anglo-Saxon race for self-government, this isolated
community at once organized a city government. Before the
close of the summer Nome had a mayor, councilmen, a police
force, a deputy United States marshal, a United States
post-office, a fire department with town well, a board of
health, a hospital corps, and charitable organizations. A
majority of the people consists of the shifting population of
the Yukon country, which, upon hearing the news of the
discovery of gold, poured itself into Nome. … Along with the
shifting population of the Yukon from Dawson and other camps
came also many would-be explorers, adventurers, and especially
gamblers, but good order prevails throughout. Drunkenness,
disorderly conduct, and theft are promptly tried before the
police justice and punished by fine and imprisonment. Copies
of the official rules and regulations are kept posted before
the city hall and in other conspicuous places, as a warning to
all: 'Ignorance of the law is no excuse.' Some of the well-known
'toughs' and most undesirable characters are reported to have
been rounded up by the authorities late in the fall and
exported to the States. … There are several printing presses
and three newspapers—the Nome News, Nome Herald, and Nome Gold
Digger. … There are at least 2,500 people now [February, 1900]
wintering at Nome, and, by estimate, at least several thousand
are on their way there by winter routes. …
"Since, according to the conservative estimate of those who
are best situated to judge, it is believed that the Nome
region will have a population of at least 30,000 or 40,000
people this year (1900), some public improvements there seem
not only commendable but urgently necessary. Among these the
most important are: Some municipal form of government, water
supply, land-office service, and harbor facilities. As the
General Government had never made provision for any form of
municipal government in Alaska, the people of Nome, in
response to the urgency of the hour, called a mass meeting,
and organized the present government of Nome, with a complete
corps of city officers, as aforesaid, though they were
conscious at the time that it was without authority from the
United States Government."
F. C. Schrader and A. H. Brooks,
Preliminary Report on the Cape Nome Gold Region, Alaska
(United States Geological Survey), pages 45-47.
{8}
ALASKA: A. D. 1900.
Civil Government.
Better provision for the civil government of Alaska was made
by an Act which passed Congress after much debate and was
approved by the President on the 6th of June, 1900. It
constitutes Alaska a civil and judicial district, with a
governor who has the duties and powers that pertain to the
governor of a Territory, and a district court of general
jurisdiction, civil and criminal, and in equity and admiralty,
the court being in three divisions, each with a district
judge. The act provides a civil code for the district.
ALASKA: A. D. 1900.
Exploration of Seward peninsula.
See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1900.
ALASKA BOUNDARY QUESTION, The.
The boundary between Alaska, when it was Russian territory,
and the British possessions on the western side of the
American continent, was settled by an Anglo-Russian treaty in
1825. The treaty which ceded the Russian territory to the
United States, in 1867, incorporated the definition of
boundary given in Articles III. and IV. of the above-mentioned
convention, which (translated from French to English) read as
follows:
"III.
The line of demarcation between the possessions of the High
Contracting Parties upon the Coasts of the Continent and the
Islands of America to the North-West, shall be drawn in the
following manner: Commencing from the southernmost point of
the Island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in
the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, North Latitude, and
between the 131st and 133d Degree of West Longitude (Meridian
of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the North along
the Channel called Portland Channel, as far as the Point of
the Continent where it strikes the 56th Degree of North
Latitude; from this last mentioned Point the line of
demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated
parallel to the coast, as far as the point of intersection of
the 141st Degree of West Longitude (of the same meridian),
and, finally, from the said point of intersection, the said
Meridian Line of the 141st Degree, in its prolongation as far
as the Frozen Ocean, shall form the limit between the Russian
and British Possessions on the Continent of America to the
North West.
"IV.
With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the
preceding Article, it is understood:
1st.
That the Island called Prince of Wales Island shall belong
wholly to Russia.
2d.
That wherever the summit of the mountains which extend in a
direction parallel to the Coast, from the 56th Degree of North
Latitude to the point of intersection of the 141st Degree of
West Longitude, shall prove to be at the distance of more than
ten marine leagues from the Ocean, the limit between the
British Possessions and the line of Coast which is to belong
to Russia, as above mentioned, shall be formed by a line
parallel to the windings of the Coast, and which shall never
exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom."
When attempts to reduce this description in the treaty to an
actually determined boundary-line were begun, disagreements
arose between Canada and the United States, which became
exceedingly troublesome after the Klondike gold discoveries
had given a new importance to that region and to its
communications with the outside world. The Alaska boundary
question proved, in fact, to be considerably the most
difficult of settlement among all the many subjects of
disagreement between the United States and Canada which a
Joint High Commission was created in 1898 (see—in this
volume—CANADA: A. D. 1898-1900) to adjust. It was the one
question on which no ground of compromise could then be found,
and which compelled the Commission to adjourn in February,
1899, with its labors incomplete. The disputable points in the
definition of the boundary by the Anglo-Russian treaty of 1825
are explained as follows by Professor J. B. Moore,
ex-Assistant Secretary of State, in an article contributed to
the "North American Review" of October, 1899: "An examination
of the boundary defined in Articles III. and IV. of the
convention of 1825 shows," says Professor Moore, "that it is
scientifically divisible into two distinct sections, first,
the line from the southernmost point of Prince of Wales
Island, through Portland Channel and along the summit of the
mountains parallel to the coast, to the point of intersection
of the 141st meridian of longitude; and, second, the line from
this point to the Arctic Ocean. With the latter section, which
is merely a meridian line, and as to which the United States
and Canadian surveys exhibit no considerable difference, we
are not now concerned. The section as to which material
differences have arisen is the first. The principal
differences in this quarter are two in number, first, as to
what channel is meant by Portland Channel (sometimes called
Portland Canal); and, second, as to what is the extent of the
line or strip of coast (la lisière de côte) which was assigned
to Russia."