History for ready reference, Volume 6

by J. N. Larned

forthcoming negotiations after the customary verification of
powers:
(1) The punishment of the chief culprits, who will be
designated by the representatives of the Powers in Peking.
(2) The maintenance of the embargo on the importation of arms.
(3) Equitable indemnity for the States and for private
persons.
(4) The establishment in Peking of a permanent guard for the
Legations.
(5) The dismantling of the Ta-ku forts.
(6) The military occupation of two or three points on the
Tien-tsin-Peking route, thus assuring complete liberty of
access for the Legations should they wish to go to the coast
and to forces from the sea-board which might have to go up to
the capital.
It appears impossible to the Government of the Republic that
these so legitimate conditions, if collectively presented by
the representatives of the Powers and supported by the
presence of the international troops, will not shortly be
accepted by the Chinese Government."
On the 17th of October, the French Embassy at Washington
announced to the American government that "all the interested
powers have adhered to the essential principles of the French
note," and added: "The essential thing now is to show the
Chinese Government, which has declared itself ready to
negotiate, that the powers are animated by the same spirit;
that they are decided to respect the integrity of China and
the independence of its Government, but that they are none the
less resolved to obtain the satisfaction to which they have a
right. In this regard it would seem that if the proposition
which has been accepted as the basis of negotiations were
communicated to the Chinese plenipotentiaries by the Ministers
of the powers at Peking, or in their name by their Dean, this
step would be of a nature to have a happy influence upon the
determinations of the Emperor of China and of his Government."
The government of the United States approved of this
suggestion from France, and announced that it had "instructed
its Minister in Peking to concur in presenting to the Chinese
plenipotentiaries the points upon which we are agreed." Other
governments, however, seem to have given different
instructions, and some weeks were spent by the foreign
Ministers at Peking in formulating the joint note in which
their requirements were to be presented to Prince Ching and
Earl Li.
The latter, meantime, had submitted, on their own part, to the
allied plenipotentiaries, a draft of what they conceived to be
the just preliminaries of a definitive treaty. They prefaced
it with a brief review of what had occurred, and some remarks,
confessing that "the throne now realizes that all these
calamities have been caused by the fact that Princes and high
Ministers of State screened the Boxer desperados, and is
accordingly determined to punish severely the Princes and
Ministers concerned in accordance with precedent by handing
them over to their respective Yamêns for the determination of
a penalty." The "draft clauses" then submitted were as
follows:
"The siege of the Legations was a flagrant violation of the
usages of international law and an utterly unpermissible act.
China admits the gravity of her error and undertakes that
there shall be no repetition of the occurrence. China admits
her liability to pay an indemnity, and leaves it to the Powers
to appoint officers who shall investigate the details and make
out a general statement of claims to be dealt with
accordingly.
"With regard to the subsequent trade relations between China
and the foreign Powers, it will be for the latter to make
their own arrangements as to whether former treaties shall be
adhered to in their entirety, modified in details, or
exchanged for new ones. China will take steps to put the
respective proposals into operation accordingly.
"Before drawing up a definitive treaty it will be necessary
for China and the Powers to be agreed as to general
principles. Upon this agreement being arrived at, the
Ministers of the Powers will remove the seals which have been
affixed to the various departments of the Tsung-li-Yamên and
proceed to the Yamên for the despatch of business in matters
relating to international questions exactly as before.
"So soon as a settlement of matters of detail shall have been
agreed upon between China and the various nations concerned in
accordance with the requirements of each particular nation,
and so soon as the question of the payment of an indemnity
shall have been satisfactorily settled, the Powers will
respectively withdraw their troops. The despatch of troops to
China by the Powers was undertaken with the sole object of
protecting the Ministers, and so soon as peace negotiations
between China and the Powers shall have been opened there
shall be a cessation of hostilities.
{140}
"The statement that treaties will be made with each of the
Powers in no way prejudices the fact that with regard to the
trade conventions mentioned the conditions vary in accordance
with the respective powers concerned. With regard to the
headings of a definitive treaty, questions of nomenclature and
precedence affecting each of the Powers which may arise in
framing the treaty can be adjusted at personal conferences."
Great Britain and Germany were now acting in close accord,
having, apparently, been drawn together by a common distrust
of the intentions of Russia. On the 16th of October, Lord
Salisbury and Count Hatzfeldt signed the following agreement,
which was made known at once to the other governments
concerned, and its principles assented to by all:
"Her Britannic Majesty's Government and the Imperial German
Government, being desirous to maintain their interests in
China and their rights under existing treaties, have agreed to
observe the following principles in regard to their mutual policy
in China:—
"1. It is a matter of joint and permanent international
interest that the ports on the rivers and littoral of China
should remain free and open to trade and to every other
legitimate form of economic activity for the nationals of all
countries without distinction; and the two Governments agree
on their part to uphold the same for all Chinese territory as
far as they can exercise influence.
"2. The Imperial German Government and her Britannic Majesty's
Government will not, on their part, make use of the present
complication to obtain for themselves any territorial
advantages in Chinese dominions, and will direct their policy
towards maintaining undiminished the territorial condition of
the Chinese Empire.
"3. In case of another Power making use of the complications
in China in order to obtain under any form whatever such
territorial advantages, the two Contracting Parties reserve to
themselves to come to a preliminary understanding as to the
eventual steps to be taken for the protection of their own
interests in China.
"4. The two Governments will communicate this Agreement to the
other Powers interested, and especially to Austria-Hungary,
France, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States of
America, and will invite them to accept the principles
recorded in it."
The assent of Russia was no less positive than that of the
other Powers. It was conveyed in the following words: "The
first point of this Agreement, stipulating that the ports
situated on the rivers and littoral of China, wherever the two
Governments exercise their influence, should remain free and
open to commerce, can be favorably entertained by Russia, as
this stipulation does not infringe in any way the 'status quo'
established in China by existing treaties. The second point
corresponds all the more with the intentions of Russia, seeing
that, from the commencement of the present complications, she
was the first to lay down the maintenance of the integrity of
the Chinese Empire as a fundamental principle of her policy in
China. As regards the third point relating to the eventuality
of an infringement of this fundamental principle, the Imperial
Government, while referring to their Circular of the 12th
(25th) August, can only renew the declaration that such an
infringement would oblige Russia to modify her attitude
according to circumstances."
On the 13th of November, while the foreign plenipotentiaries
at Peking were trying to agree in formulating the demands they
should make, the Chinese imperial government issued a decree
for the punishment of officials held responsible for the Boxer
outrages. As given the Press by the Japanese Legation at
Washington, in translation from the text received there, it
was as follows;
"Orders have been already issued for the punishment of the
officials responsible for opening hostilities upon friendly
Powers and bringing the country into the present critical
condition by neglecting to suppress and even by encouraging
the Boxers. But as Peking and its neighborhood have not yet
been entirely cleared of the Boxers, the innocent people are
still suffering terribly through the devastation of their
fields and the destruction of their houses, a state of affairs
which cannot fail to fill one with the bitterest feelings
against these officials. And if they are not severely
punished, how can the anger of the people be appeased and the
indignation of the foreign Powers allayed?
"Accordingly, Prince Tuan is hereby deprived of his title and
rank, and shall, together with Prince Chwang, who has already
been deprived of his title, be delivered to the Clan Court to
be kept in prison until the restoration of peace, when they
shall be banished to Sheng-King, to be imprisoned for life.
Princes Yi and Tsai Yung, who have both been already deprived
of their titles, are also to be delivered to the Clan Court
for imprisonment, while Prince Tsai Lien, also already
deprived of title and rank, is to be kept confined in his own
house, Duke Tsai Lan shall forfeit his ducal salary, but may
be transferred with the degradation of one rank. Chief Censor
Ying Nien shall be degraded two ranks and transferred. As to
Kang Yi, Minister of the Board of Civil Appointment, upon his
return from the commission on which he had been sent for the
purpose of making inquiries into the Boxer affair he
memorialized the Throne in an audience strongly in their
favor. He should have been severely punished but for his death
from illness, and all penalties are accordingly remitted. Chao
Shuy Yao, Minister of the Board of Punishment, who had been
sent on a mission similar to that of Kang Yi, returned almost
immediately. Though such conduct was a flagrant neglect of his
duties, still he did not make a distorted report to the
Throne, and therefore he shall be deprived of his rank, but
allowed to retain his present office. Finally, Yu Hsien,
ex-Governor of Shan-Se, allowed, while in office, the Boxers
freely to massacre the Christian missionaries and converts.
For this he deserves the severest punishment, and therefore he
is to be banished to the furthermost border of the country, and
there to be kept at hard labor for life.
{141}
"We have a full knowledge of the present trouble from the very
beginning, and therefore, though no impeachment has been brought
by Chinese officials at home or abroad against Princes Yi,
Tsai Lien and Tsai Yung, we order them to be punished in the
same manner as those who have been impeached. All who see this
edict will thus perceive our justice and impartiality in
inflicting condign penalties upon these officials," It was not
until the 20th of December that the joint note of the
plenipotentiaries of the Powers, after having been submitted
in November to the several governments represented, and
amended to remove critical objections, was finally signed and
delivered to the Chinese plenipotentiaries. The following is a
precis of the requirements set forth in it:
"(1) An Imperial Prince is to convey to Berlin the Emperor's
regret for the assassination of Baron von Ketteler, and a
monument is to be erected on the site of the murder, with an
inscription, in Latin, German, and Chinese, expressing the
regret of the Emperor for the murder.
"(2) The most severe punishment fitting their crimes is to be
inflicted on the personages designated in the Imperial decree
of September 21, whose names—not mentioned—are Princes Tuan
and Chuang and two other princes, Duke Lan, Chao Shu-chiao,
Yang-yi, Ying-hien, also others whom the foreign Ministers
shall hereafter designate. Official examinations are to be
suspended for five years in those cities where foreigners have
been assassinated or cruelly treated.
"(3) Honourable reparation is to be made to Japan for the
murder of M. Sugiyama.
"(4) Expiatory monuments are to be erected in all foreign
cemeteries where tombs have been desecrated.
"(5) The importation of arms or 'materiel' and their
manufacture are to be prohibited.
"(6) An equitable indemnity is to be paid to States,
societies, and individuals, also to Chinese who have suffered
injury because of their employment by foreigners. China will
adopt financial measures acceptable to the Powers to guarantee
the payment of the indemnity and the service of the loans.
"(7) Permanent Legation guards are to be maintained, and the
diplomatic quarter is to be fortified.
"(8) The Ta-ku forts and those between Peking and the sea are
to be razed.
"(9) There is to be a military occupation of points necessary
to ensure the safety of the communications between Peking and
the sea.
"(10) Proclamations are to be posted during two years
throughout the Empire threatening death to any person joining
an anti-foreign society and enumerating the punishment
inflicted by China upon the guilty ringleaders of the recent
outrages. An Imperial edict is to be promulgated ordering
Viceroys, Governors, and Provincial officials to be held
responsible for anti-foreign outbreaks or violations of
treaties within their jurisdiction, failure to suppress the
same being visited by the immediate cashiering of the
officials responsible, who shall never hold office again.
"(11) China undertakes to negotiate a revision of the
commercial treaties in order to facilitate commercial
relations.
"(12) The Tsung-li-Yamên is to be reformed, and the Court
ceremonial for the reception of foreign Ministers modified in
the sense indicated by the Powers.
"Until the foregoing conditions are complied with ('se
conformer à') the Powers can hold out no expectation of a
limit of time for the removal of the foreign troops now
occupying Peking and the provinces."
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (November).
Russo-Chinese agreement relating to Manchuria.
See (in this volume)
MANCHURIA.
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (December).
Russo-Chinese agreement concerning the Manchurian
province of Fêng-tien.
See (in this volume)
MANCHURIA: A. D. 1900.
CHINA: A. D. 1900-1901 (November-February).
Seizure of grounds at Peking for a large Legation Quarter.
Extensive plans of fortification.
In February, 1901, the following from a despatch written in
the previous November by Mr. Conger, the American Minister at
Peking, was given to the Press by the State Department at
Washington: "I have the honor to report that in view of the
probability of keeping large legation grounds in the future,
and because of the general desire on the part of all the
European representatives to have extensive legations, all of
the Ministers are taking possession of considerable areas
adjoining their legations—property belonging either to the
Chinese Government or to private citizens, and having been
abandoned by the owners during the siege—with the intention to
claim them as conquest, or possibly credit something for them
on their account for indemnity. I have as yet not taken formal
possession of any ground for this purpose, nor shall I without
instructions, but I shall not for the present permit any of the
owners or other persons to reoccupy any of the property
between this legation and the canal to the east of it. While
this area will be very small in comparison with the other
legations, yet it will be sufficient to make both the legation
personnel and the guard very comfortable, and will better
comport with our traditional simplicity vis-a-vis the usual
magnificence of other representatives.
"It is proposed to designate the boundaries of a legation
quarter, which shall include all the legations, and then
demand the right to put that in a state of defence when
necessary, and to prohibit the residence of Chinese there,
except by permission of the Ministers. If, therefore, these
ideas as to guards, defence, etc:., are to be carried out, a
larger legation will be an absolute necessity. In fact, it is
impossible now to accommodate the legation and staff in our
present quarters without most inconvenient crowding.
"There are no public properties inside the legation quarter
which we could take as a legation. All the proposed property
to be added, as above mentioned, to our legation, is private
ground, except a very small temple in the southeast corner,
and I presume, under our policy, if taken, will be paid for
either to the Chinese owners or credited upon account against
the Chinese Government for indemnity, although I suspect most
of the other Governments will take theirs as a species of
conquest. The plot of ground adjoining and lying to the cast
of the legation to which I have made reference is about the
size of the premises now occupied by us."
Before its adjournment on the 4th of March, 1901, the Congress
of the United States made an appropriation for the purchase of
grounds for its Legation at Peking, and instructions were sent
to make the purchase.
{142}
By telegram from Peking on the 14th of February it was
announced that a formidable plan of fortification for this
Legation Quarter had been drawn up by the Military Council of
the Powers at Peking, and that work upon it was to begin at
once. The correspondent of the "London Times" described the
plan and wrote satirically of it, as follows; "From supreme
contempt for the weakness of China armed we have swayed to
exaggerated fear of the strength of China disarmed. The
international military experts have devised a scheme for
putting the Legation quarter in a state of defence which is
equivalent to the construction of an International fortress
alongside the Imperial Palace. The plan requires the breaching
of the city wall at the Water-gate, the levelling of the Ha-ta
Mên and Chien Mên towers, the demolition of the ramparts
giving access to them, the sweeping clear of a space 150 to
300 yards wide round the entire Legation area, and the
construction of walls, glacis, moats, barbed wire defences,
with siege guns, Maxims, and barracks capable of holding 2,000
troops, with military stores and equipment sufficient to
withstand a siege of three months. All public buildings,
boards, and civil offices between the Legations and the
Imperial walls are to be levelled, while 11,000 foreign troops
are to hold the communications between Peking and the sea, so
that no Chinese can travel to Peking from the sea without the
knowledge of the foreign military authorities.
"The erection of the defences is to begin at once, before the
return of the Court to Peking. They are no doubt devised to
encourage the Court to return to Peking, it being apparently
the belief of the foreign Ministers that an Imperial Court
governing an independent empire are eager to place themselves
under the tutelage of foreign soldiers and within the reach of
foreign Maxims.
"Within the large new Legation area all the private property
of Chinese owners who years before sought the advantages of
vicinity to the Legations has been seized by the foreign
Legations. France and Germany, with a view to subsequent
commercial transactions, have annexed many acres of valuable
private property for which no compensation is contemplated,
while the Italian Legation, which boasts a staff of two
persons, carrying out the scheme of appropriation to a logical
absurdity, has, in addition to other property, grabbed the
Imperial Maritime Customs gardens and buildings occupied for
so many years by Sir Robert Hart and his staff."
CHINA: A. D. 1901 (January-February).
Famine in Shensi.
A Press telegram from Peking, late in January, announced a
fearful famine prevailing in the province of Shensi, where
thousands of natives were dying. The Chinese government was
distributing rice, and there was reported to be discrimination
against native Christians in the distribution. Mr. Conger, Sir
E. Satow, and M. Pichon protested to Prince Ching and Li
Hung-chang against such discrimination. A Court edict was
therefore issued on the 26th instant ordering all relief
officials and Chinese soldiers to treat Christians in exactly
the same way as all other Chinese throughout the Empire, under
penalty of decapitation. Another despatch, early in February,
stated: "Trustworthy reports received here from Singan-fu [the
temporary residence of the fugitive Chinese court] all agree
that the famine in the provinces of Shen-si and Shan-si is one
of the worst in the history of China. It is estimated that
two-thirds of the people are without sufficient food or the
means of obtaining it. They are also suffering from the bitter
cold. As there is little fuel in either province the woodwork
of the houses is being used to supply the want. Oxen, horses,
and dogs have been practically all sacrificed to allay hunger.
Three years of crop failures in both provinces and more or less
of famine in previous seasons had brought the people to
poverty when winter began. This year their condition has
rapidly grown worse. Prince Ching stated to Mr. Conger, the
United States Minister, that the people were reduced to eating
human flesh and to selling their women and children.
Infanticide is alarmingly common."
CHINA: A. D. 1901 (January-February).
Submission to the demands of the Powers
by the Imperial Government.
Punishments inflicted and promised.
A new Reform Edict.
With no great delay, the Chinese plenipotentiaries at Peking
were authorized by the Emperor and Empress to agree to the
demands of the Powers, which they did by formally signing the
Joint Note. Prince Ching gave his signature on the 12th of
January, 1901, and Li Hung-chang, who was seriously ill,
signed on the following day. Discussion of the punishments to
be inflicted on guilty officials was then opened, and went on
for some time. On the 5th of February, the foreign Ministers
submitted the names of twelve leading officials, against whom
formal indictments were framed, and who were considered to be
deserving of death. Three of them, however (Kang Yi, Hsu Tung,
and Li Ping Heng), were found to be already deceased. The
remaining nine were the following: Prince Chuang,
commander-in-chief of the Boxers; Prince Tuan, who was held to
be the principal instigator of the attack on foreigners; Duke
Lan, the Vice-President of Police, who admitted the Boxers to
the city; Yu Hsien, who was the governor of Shan-Si Province,
promoter of the Boxer movement there, and director of the
massacres in that province; General Tung Fu Siang, who led the
attacks on the Legations, Ying Nien, Chao Hsu Kiao, Hsu Cheng
Yu, and Chih Siu, who were variously prominent in the
murderous work. In the cases of Prince Tuan and Duke Lan, who
were related to the Imperial family, and in the case of
General Tung Fu Siang, whose military command gave him power
to be troublesome, the Chinese court pleaded such difficulties
in the way of executing a decree of death that the Ministers
at Peking were persuaded to be satisfied with sentences of
exile, or degradation in rank, or both. On the 21st of
February the Ministers received notice that an imperial edict
had been issued, condemning General Tung Fu Siang to be
degraded and deprived of his rank; Prince Tuan and Duke Lan to
be disgraced and exiled; Prince Chuang, Ying Nien and Chao Hsu
Kiao to commit suicide; Hsu Cheng Yu, Yu Hsien and Chih Siu to
be beheaded. Hsu Cheng Yu and Chih Siu were then prisoners in
the hands of the foreign military authorities at Peking, and
the sentence was executed upon them there, on the 26th of
February, in the presence of Japanese, French, German and
American troops. A despatch from Peking reporting the
execution stated that, while it was being carried out, "the
ministers held a meeting and determined on the part of the
majority to draw a curtain over further demands for blood.
United States Special Commissioner Rockhill sided strongly
with those favoring humane methods, who are Sir Ernest Satow
and MM. Komura, De Cologan and De Giers, respectively British,
Japanese, Spanish and Russian ministers. Others believe that
China has not been sufficiently punished, and that men should
be executed in every city, town and village where foreigners
were injured."
{143}
While the subject of punishments was pending, and with a view,
it was said, of quickening the action of the Chinese
government, Count von Waldersee, the German Field-Marshal
commanding the allied forces in China, ordered preparations to
be made for an extensive military expedition into the
interior. The government of the United States gave prompt
directions that its forces at Peking should not take part in
this movement, and the remonstrances of other Powers more
pacifically inclined than the Germans caused the project to be
given up.
Meantime, three Imperial edicts of importance, if faithfully
carried out, had been issued. One, on the 5th of February,
commanded new undertakings of reform, accounting for the
abandonment of the reform movement of 1898 by declaring that
it was seditionary and would have resulted in anarchy, and
that it was entered upon when the Emperor was in bad health;
for all which reasons he had requested the Empress Dowager to
resume the reins of government. Now, it was declared, since
peace negotiations were in progress, the government should be
formed on a basis for future prosperity. Established good
methods of foreign countries should be introduced to supply
China's deficiencies. "China's greatest difficulty," said the
edict, "is her old customs, which have resulted in the
insincere dispatch of business and the promoting of private
gain. Up to the present time those who have followed the
Western methods have had only superficial knowledge, knowing
only a little of foreign languages and foreign inventions,
without knowing the real basis of the strength of foreign
nations. Such methods are insufficient for real reform."
In order to obtain a true basis, the Emperor commanded a
consultation between the ministers of the privy council, the
six boards, nine officers, the Chinese ministers to foreign
countries and all the viceroys and governors. Those were
instructed to recommend reforms in the seven branches of
government, namely, the central government, ceremonies,
taxation, schools, civil-service examinations, military
affairs and public economies. They were also to recommend what
part of the old system can be used and what part needs changing.
Two months were given them in which to prepare their report.
On the following day, two edicts, in fulfilment of demands
made in the Joint Note of the Powers, were promulgated. The
first provided, in accordance with article 3 of the Joint
Note, for the suspension of official examinations for five
years in places where foreigners are killed. The second edict
forbade anti-foreign societies, recited the punishment of
guilty parties and declared that local officials will be held
responsible for the maintenance of order. If trouble occurs
the officials would be removed without delay and never again
allowed to hold office.
CHINA: A. D. 1901 (March).
The murdered Christian missionaries and native converts.
Varying statements and estimates of their number.
To the time of this writing (March, 1901), no complete
enumeration of the foreign Christian missionaries and members
of missionary families who were killed during the Boxer
outbreak of the past year has been made. Varying estimates
have appeared, from time to time, and it is possible that one
of the latest among these, communicated from Shanghai on the
1st of March, may approach to accuracy. It was published in
the "North China Daily News," and said to be founded on the
missionary records, according to which, said the "News," "a
total of 134 adults and 52 children were killed or died of
injuries in the Boxer rising of 1899 and 1900."
On the 13th of March, the "Lokal Anzeiger," of Berlin,
published a statistical report from its Peking correspondent
of "foreign Christians killed during the troubles, exclusive
of the Peking siege," which enumerated 118 Englishmen, 79
Americans, Swedes and Norwegians, 26 Frenchmen, 11 Belgians,
10 Italians and Swiss, and 1 German. The total of these
figures is largely in excess of those given by the "North
China Daily News," but they cover, not missionaries alone, but
all foreign Christians. It is impossible, however, not to
doubt the accuracy of both these accounts. Of native
Christians, the German writer estimated that 30,000 had
perished. In September, 1900, the United States Consul-General
at Shanghai, Mr. Goodnow, "after making inquiries from every
possible source," placed the number of British and American
missionaries who had probably been killed at 93, taking no
account of a larger number in Chih-li and Shan-si whose fate
was entirely unknown. Of those whose deaths he believed to be
absolutely proved at that time, 34 were British, including 9
men, 15 women and 10 children, and 22 were American, 8 of
these being men, 8 women and 6 children.
In December, 1900, a private letter from the "Association for
the Propagation of the Faith, St. Mary's Seminary," Baltimore,
Maryland, stated that up to the end of September 48 Catholic
missionaries were known to have been murdered. A pastoral
letter issued in December by Cardinal Vaughan, in London,
without stating the numbers killed, declared that all work of
the Catholic church, throughout the most of China, where 942
European and 445 native priests had been engaged, was
practically swept away.
A private letter, written early in January, 1901, by the
Reverend Dr. Judson Smith, one of the corresponding
secretaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions, contains the following statement: "The American
Board has lost in the recent disturbances in China 13
missionaries, 6 men and 7 women, and 5 children belonging to
the families who perished. The number of native converts
connected with the mission churches of the American Board who
have suffered death during these troubles cannot be stated
with accuracy. It undoubtedly exceeds 1,000; it may reach a
much larger figure; but some facts that have come to light of
late imply that more of those who were supposed to be lost
have been in hiding than was known. If we should reckon along
with native converts members of their families who have
suffered death, the number would probably be doubled."
There seems to be absolutely no basis of real information for
any estimate that has been made of the extent of massacre
among the native Christian converts. Thousands perished,
without doubt, but how many thousands is yet to be learned. As
intimated by Dr. Smith, larger numbers than have been supposed
may have escaped, and it will probably be long before the true
facts are gathered from all parts of the country.
{144}
In any view, the massacre of missionaries and their families
was hideous enough; but fictions of horror were shamefully
added, it seems, in some of the stories which came from the
East. At Pao-Ting Fu, where women were said to have suffered
indescribable brutalities before being slain, investigation by
an American military officer convinced him that "there is no
evidence of any peculiar atrocities committed upon the persons
of those who were slain"; and the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions has publicly announced:
"While forced to believe that our missionaries in Shan Si and
at Pao Ting Fu were put to death by the Chinese, we have never
credited the published reports concerning atrocities connected
with their slaughter."
CHINA: A. D. 1901 (March).
Withdrawal of American troops, excepting a Legation guard.
The following order was sent by cable from the War Department
at Washington to General Chaffee, commanding the United States
forces in China, on the 15th of March: "In reply to your
telegram Secretary of War directs you complete arrangements
sail for Manila with your command and staff officers by end
April, leaving as legation guard infantry company composed of
150 men having at least one year to serve or those intending
re-enlist, with full complement of officers, medical officer,
sufficient hospital corps men and, if you think best, field
officer especially qualified to command guard. Retain and
instruct officer quartermaster's department proceed to erect
necessary buildings for guard according to plan and estimates
you approve."
CHINA: A. D. 1901 (March-April).
Discussion of the question of indemnity.
Uneasiness concerning rumored secret negotiations of
Russia with the Chinese government relative to Manchuria.
As we write this (early in April), the reckoning of
indemnities to be demanded by the several Powers of the
Concert in China is still under discussion between the
Ministers at Peking, and is found to be very difficult of
settlement. There is understood to be wide differences of
disposition among the governments represented in the
discussion, some being accused of a greed that would endeavor
to wring from the Chinese government far more than the country
can possibly pay; while others are laboring to reduce the
total of exactions within a more reasonable limit. At the
latest accounts from Peking, a special committee of the
Ministers was said to be engaged in a searching investigation
of the resources of China, in order to ascertain what sum the
Empire has ability to pay, and in what manner the payment can
best be secured and best made. It seems to be hoped that when
those facts are made clear there may be possibilities of an
agreement as to the division of the total sum between the
nations whose legations were attacked, whose citizens were
slain, and who sent troops to crush the Boxer rising.
Meantime grave anxieties are being caused by rumors of a
secret treaty concerning Manchuria which Russia is said to be
attempting to extort from the Chinese government [see, in this
volume, MANCHURIA], the whispered terms of which would give
her, in that vast region, a degree of control never likely to
become less. The most positive remonstrance yet known to have
been made, against any concession of that nature, was
addressed, on the 1st of March, by the government of the
United States, to its representatives at St. Petersburg,
Berlin, London, Paris, Vienna, Rome, and Tokio, as follows:
"The following memorandum, which was handed to the Chinese
Minister on February 19, is transmitted to you for your
information and communication to the government to which you
are accredited: "The preservation of the territorial integrity
of China having been recognized by all the powers now engaged in
joint negotiation concerning the injuries recently inflicted
upon their ministers and nationals by certain officials and
subjects of the Chinese Empire, it is evidently advantageous
to China to continue the present international understanding
upon this subject. It would be, therefore, unwise and
dangerous in the extreme for China to make any arrangement or
to consider any proposition of a private nature involving the
surrender of territory or financial obligations by convention
with any particular power; and the government of the United
States, aiming solely at the preservation of China from the
danger indicated and the conservation of the largest and most
beneficial relations between the empire and other countries,
in accordance with the principles set forth in its circular
note of July 3, 1900, and in a purely friendly spirit toward
the Chinese Empire and all the powers now interested in the
negotiations, desires to express its sense of the impropriety,
inexpediency and even extreme danger to the interests of China
of considering any private territorial or financial
arrangements, at least without the full knowledge and approval
of all the powers now engaged in negotiation.
HAY."
----------CHINA: End--------
CHINESE TAXES.
See (in this volume)
LIKIN.
CHING, Prince:
Chinese Plenipotentiary to negotiate with the allied Powers.
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).
CHITRAL: A. D. 1895.
The defense and relief of.
See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1895 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).
CHITRAL:A. D. 1901.
Included in a new British Indian province.
See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).
CHOCTAWS, United States agreements with the.
See (in this volume)
INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1893-1899.
CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR, The Young People's Society of.
The nineteenth annual international convention of Young
People's Societies of Christian Endeavor was held in the
Alexandra Palace, London, England, from the 13th to the 20th
of July, 1900, delegates being present from most countries of
the world. Reports presented to the convention showed a total
membership of about 3,500,000, in 59,712 societies, 43,262 of
which were in the United States, 4,000 in Canada, some 7,000
in Great Britain, 4,000 in Australia, and smaller numbers in
Germany, India, China, Japan, Mexico, and elsewhere.
{145}
The first society, which supplied the germ of organization for
all succeeding ones, was formed in the Williston
Congregational Church of Portland, Maine, on the 2d of
February, 1881, by the Reverend Francis E. Clark, the pastor
of the church. The object, as indicated by the name of the
society, was to organize the religious energies of the young
people of the church for Christian life and work. The idea was
caught and imitated in other churches—Congregational,
Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and others—very rapidly,
and the organization soon became, not only widely national,
but international. In 1898, it was reported that Russia then
remained the only country in the world without a Christian
Endeavor Society, and the total was 54,191. In the next year's
report Russia was announced to have entered the list of
countries represented, and the number of societies had
advanced to 55,813. In 1900, the numbers had risen to the
height stated above. The Epworth League is a kindred
organization of young people in the Methodist Church.
See (in this volume)
EPWORTH LEAGUE.
CHRISTIANS AND MOSLEMS:
Conflicts in Armenia.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1895.
CONFLICTS IN CRETE.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).
CHUNGKING.
"Chungking, which lies nearly 2,000 miles inland, is, despite
its interior position, one of the most important of the more
recently opened ports of China. Located at practically the
head of navigation on the Yangtze, it is the chief city of the
largest, most populous, and perhaps the most productive
province of China, whose relative position, industries,
population, and diversified products make it quite similar to
the great productive valley of the upper Mississippi. The
province of Szechuan is the largest province of China, having
an area of 166,800 square miles, and a population of
67,000,000, or but little less than that of the entire United
States. Its area and density of population may be more readily
recognized in the fact that its size is about the same as that
of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky combined,
but that its population is six times as great as that of those
States. Its productions include wheat, tobacco, buckwheat,
hemp, maize, millet, barley, sugar cane, cotton, and silk."
United States, Bureau of Statistics,
Monthly Summary, March, 1899, page 2196.
CHURCH OF ENGLAND: A. D. 1896.
Papal declaration of the invalidity of its ordinations.
See (in this volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1896 (SEPTEMBER).
CIVIL CODE: Introduction in Germany.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (JANUARY).
-------CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: Start-----
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1893-1896.
Extensions of the Civil-Service rules by President Cleveland.
"Through the extensions of the Federal classification during
President Cleveland's second administration, the number of
positions covered by the civil-service rules was increased
two-fold. On March 3, 1893, the number classified was 42,928.
By a series of executive orders ranging from March 20, 1894,
to June 25. 1895, 10,000 places were added to the list,
bringing the total, approximately, to 53,000. Meanwhile, the
Civil Service Commission had recommended to the President a
general revision that would correct the imperfections of the
original rules and extend their scope to the full degree
contemplated by the Pendleton Act. After much correspondence
and consultation with department officers, and careful work on
the part of the Commission, the rules of May 6 [1896] were
promulgated. They added to the classification about 29,000
more places, and by transferring to the control of the
Commission the system of Navy Yard employment, established by
Secretary Tracy, brought the total number in the classified
service to 87,117. The positions in the Executive branch
unaffected by these orders included those classes expressly
excluded by the statute—persons nominated for confirmation by
the Senate and those employed 'merely as laborers or
workmen'—together with the fourth-class postmasters, clerks in
post-offices other than free delivery offices and in Customs
districts having less than five employees, persons receiving
less than $300 annual compensation, and about 1,000
miscellaneous positions of minor character, not classified for
reasons having to do with the good of the service—91,600 in
all. Within the classified service, the list of positions
excepted from competitive examination was confined to the
private secretaries and clerks of the President and Cabinet
officers, cashiers in the Customs Service, the Internal
Revenue Service and the principal post-offices, attorneys who
prepare cases for trial, principal Customs deputies and all
assistant postmasters—781 in all. The new rules provided for a
general system of promotion, based on competitive examinations
and efficiency records, and gave the Commission somewhat
larger powers in the matter of removals by providing that no
officer or employee in the classified service, of whatever
station, should be removed for political or religious reasons,
and that in all cases like penalties should be imposed for like
offenses. They created an admirable system, a system founded
on the most sensible rules of business administration, and
likely to work badly only where the Commission might encounter
the opposition of hostile appointing officers. President
Cleveland's revised rules were promulgated before the
Convention of either political party had been held, and before
the results of the election could be foreshadowed. The
extensions were practically approved, however, by the
Republican platform, which was adopted with full knowledge of
the nature of the changes, and which declared that the law
should be 'thoroughly and honestly enforced and extended
wherever practicable.' … Mr. McKinley, in his letter of
acceptance and in his inaugural address, repeated the pledge
of the Republican party to uphold the law, and during the two
months of his administration now past he has consistently done
so. He has been beset by many thousands of place-seekers, by
Senators and Representatives and by members of his own
Cabinet, all urging that he undo the work of his predecessor,
either wholly or in part, and so break his word of honor to
the nation, in order that they may profit. … At least five
bills have been introduced in Congress, providing for the
repeal of the law. … Finally, the Senate has authorized an
investigation, by the Committee on Civil Service and
Retrenchment, with the view of ascertaining whether the law
should be 'continued, amended or repealed,' and sessions of
this Committee are now in progress. … Mr. McKinley, by
maintaining the system against these organized attacks, will
do as great a thing as Mr. Cleveland did in upbuilding it."
Report of the Executive Committee of the New York
Civil Service Reform Association, 1897.
{146}
In his annual Message to Congress, December, 1896, President
Cleveland remarked on the subject:
"There are now in the competitive classified service upward of
eighty-four thousand places. More than half of these have been
included from time to time since March 4, 1893. … If
fourth-class postmasterships are not included in the
statement, it may be said that practically all positions
contemplated by the civil-service law are now classified.
Abundant reasons exist for including these postmasterships,
based upon economy, improved service, and the peace and quiet
of neighborhoods. If, however, obstacles prevent such action
at present, I earnestly hope that Congress will, without
increasing post-office appropriations, so adjust them as to
permit in proper cases a consolidation of these post-offices,
to the end that through this process the result desired may to
a limited extent be accomplished. The civil-service rules as
amended during the last year provide for a sensible and
uniform method of promotion, basing eligibility to better
positions upon demonstrated efficiency and faithfulness."
United States, Message and Documents (Abridgment),
1896-1897, page 33.
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1894.
Constitutional provision in New York.
See (in this volume)
CONSTITUTION OF NEW YORK.
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1897-1898.
Onslaught of the spoils-men at Washington.
Failure of the Congressional attack.
"During the four months following the inauguration [of
President McKinley] the onslaught of place-seekers was almost
unprecedented. Ninety-nine out of every hundred of them
discovered that the office or position he desired was
classified and subject to competitive examination. The tenure
of the incumbent in each case was virtually at the pleasure of
the department officers; removals might easily be made; but
appointments to the places made vacant could be made only from
the eligible lists, and the lists were fairly well filled. It
is true that the rules permitted the reinstatement without
examination of persons who had been separated from the service
without personal fault within one year, or of veterans who had
been in the service at any time, and that some removals were made
to make room for these. But the appointments in such cases
went but a very little way toward meeting the demand. The
result was that almost the whole pressure of the
office-hunting forces and of their members of Congress was
directed for the while toward one end—the revocation or
material modification of the civil service rules. President
McKinley was asked to break his personal pledges, as well as
those of his party, and to take from the classified service
more than one half of the 87,000 offices and positions it
contained. … But the President yielded substantially nothing.
… The attack of the spoils-seekers was turned at once from the
President to Congress. It was declared loudly that the desired
modifications would be secured through legislation, and that
it might even be difficult to restrain the majority from
voting an absolute repeal. In the House the new movement was
led by General Grosvenor of Ohio; in the Senate by Dr.
Gallinger of New Hampshire. … The first debates of the session
dealt with civil service reform. The House devoted two weeks to
the subject in connection with the consideration of the annual
appropriation for the Civil Service Commission. … The effort
to defeat the appropriation ended in the usual failure. It was
explained, however, that all of this had been mere preparation
for the proposed legislation. A committee was appointed by the
Republican opponents, under the lead of General Grosvenor, to
prepare a bill. The bill appeared on January 6, when it was
introduced by Mr. Evans of Kentucky, and referred to the
Committee on Reform in the Civil Service. It limited the
application of the civil service law to clerical employees at
Washington, letter carriers and mail clerks, and employees in
principal Post Offices and Customs Houses, proposing thus to
take from the present classified service about 55,000
positions. A series of hearings was arranged by the Civil
Service Committee, at which representatives of this and other
Associations, and of the Civil Service Commission, were
present. A sub-committee of seven, composing a majority of the
full committee, shortly afterward voted unanimously to report
the bill adversely. About the same time, the Senate Civil
Service Committee, which had been investigating the operation
of the law since early summer, presented its report. Of the
eight members, three recommended a limited number of
exceptions, amounting in all to probably 11,000; three
recommended a greatly reduced list of exceptions, and two
proposed none whatever. All agreed that the President alone
had authority to act, and that no legislation was needed. …
The collapse of the movement in Congress has turned the
attention of the spoilsmen again toward the President. He is
asked once more to make sweeping exceptions."
Report of the Executive Committee of the
New York Civil Service Reform Association, 1898.
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES:A. D. 1897-1899.
Temporary check in New York.
Governor Black's law.
Restoration of the merit system under Governor Roosevelt.
"In June [1897]—after the Court of Appeals … had declared that
the constitutional amendment was self-executing, and that
appointments made without competitive examination, where
competitive examinations were practicable, must be held to be
illegal—steps were taken to secure a reduction of the exempt
and non-competitive positions in the State Service. A letter
was addressed to Governor Morton, by the officers of the
Association, on June 8, asking that the service be
reclassified, on a basis competitive as far as practicable.
The Governor replied that he had already given the subject
some thought, and that he would be glad to give our
suggestions careful consideration. On the 4th of August he
instructed the Civil Service Commission to prepare such a
revision of the rules and classification as had been proposed.
On the 11th of November this revision, prepared by
Commissioner Burt, was adopted by the full Commission, and on
the 9th of December the new rules were formally promulgated by
the Governor and placed in immediate operation. … The
Governor, earlier in the year, had reversed his action in the
case of inspectors and other employees of the new Excise
Department, by transferring them from the non-competitive to
the competitive class. … This marked the beginning of a
vigorous movement against the competitive system led by
chairmen of district committees, and other machine
functionaries.
{147}
Governor Morton's sweeping order of December completed the
discomfiture of these people and strengthened their purpose to
make a final desperate effort to break the system down. The
new Governor, of whom little had been known prior to his
unexpected nomination in September, proved to be in full
sympathy with their plan. In his message to the legislature,
Mr. Black, in a paragraph devoted to 'Civil Service,' referred
to the system built up by his predecessor in contemptuous
language, and declared that, in his judgment, 'Civil service
would work better with less starch.' He recommended
legislation that would render the examinations 'more
practical,' and that would permit appointing officers to
select from the whole number on an eligible list and not
confine them to selections 'from among those graded highest.'
Such legislation, he promised; would 'meet with prompt
executive approval.' Each house of the legislature referred
this part of the message to its Judiciary Committee, with
instructions to report a bill embodying the Governor's ideas.
… Within a few days of the close of the legislative session,
the measure currently described as 'Governor Black's bill was
Introduced. … The bill provided that in all examinations for
the State, county or municipal service, not more than 50 per
cent. might be given for 'merit,' to be determined by the
Examining Boards, and that the rest of the rating,
representing 'fitness,' was to be given by the appointing
officer, or by some person or persons designated by him. All
existing eligible lists were to be abolished in 30 days, and

the new scheme was to go into operation at once. … A hearing
was given by the Senate Committee on the following day, and
one by the Assembly Committee a few days later. … The bill,
with some amendments, was passed In the Senate, under
suspension of the rules, and as a party measure. … It was
passed in the Assembly also as a caucus measure."
Report of the Executive Committee of the
New York Civil Service Reform Association, 1897.
"Early [in 1898] after time had been allowed for the act to
prove its capabilities in practice, steps were taken toward
commencing a suit to test its constitutionality in the courts.
… Pending the bringing of a test suit, a bill was prepared for
the Association and introduced in the Legislature on March
16th, last, one of the features of which was the repeal of the
unsatisfactory law. … The bill … was passed by the Senate on
March 29th. On the 31st, the last day of the session, it was
passed by the Assembly. … On the same date it was signed by
the Governor and became a law. This act has the effect of
exempting the cities from the operation of the act of 1897,
restoring the former competitive system in each of them."
Report of the Executive Committee of the
New York Civil Service Reform Association, 1898.
"As a result of the confusing legislation of [1897 and 1898]
at least four systems of widely differing character had come
into existence by the first of [1899]. New York city had its
charter rules, … the state departments were conducted under
two adaptations of the Black law, and in the smaller cities
the plan of the original law of 1883 was followed. In his
first annual message, Governor Roosevelt directed the
attention of the Legislature to this anomalous condition and
strongly urged the passage of an act repealing the Black law
and establishing a uniform system, for the state and cities
alike, subject to state control. Such an act was prepared with
the co-operation of a special committee of the Association. …
After some discussion it was determined to recast the measure,
adopting a form amounting to a codification of all previously
existing statutes, and less strict in certain of its general
provisions. … The bill was … passed by the Senate by a
majority of two. … In the Assembly it was passed with slight
amendments. … On the … 19th of April the act was signed by the
Governor, and went into immediate effect. … The passage of
this law will necessitate the complete recasting of the civil
service system in New York, on radically different lines."
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1899.
Modification of Civil Service Rules by President McKinley.
Severe criticism of the order by the National Civil
Service Reform League.
On the 29th of May, 1899, President McKinley was persuaded to
issue an order greatly modifying the civil service rules,
releasing many offices from their operation and permitting
numerous transfers in the service on a non-competitive
examination. This presidential order was criticised with
severity in a statement promptly issued by the Executive
Committee of the National Civil Service Reform League, which
says: "The National Civil Service Reform League, after mature
consideration, regards the order of President McKinley, of May
29, changing the Civil Service rules, as a backward step of
the most pronounced character. The order follows a long
succession of violations, of both the spirit and the literal
terms of the law and rules, in various branches of the
service, and must be considered in its relations to these. Its
immediate effects, which have been understated, may be set
forth as follows:
(1) It withdraws from the classified service not merely 3,000
or 4,000 offices and positions, but, as nearly as can be now
estimated, 10,109. It removes 3,693 from the class of
positions filled hitherto either through competitive
examination or through an orderly practice of promotion, and
it transfers 6,416 other positions in the War Department,
filled hitherto through a competitive registration system,
under the control of the Civil Service Commission, to a system
to be devised and placed in effect by the present Secretary of
War.
(2) It declares regular at least one thousand additional
appointments made temporarily, without examination—in many
cases in direct disregard of the law—in branches that are not
affected by the exceptions, but that remain nominally
competitive.
(3) It permits the permanent appointment of persons employed
without examination, for emergency purposes during the course
of war with Spain, thus furnishing a standing list of many
thousands which positions in the War Department may be filled,
without tests of fitness, for a long time to come.
(4) It alters the rules to the effect that in future any
person appointed with or without competitive examination, or
without any examination, may be placed by transfer in any
classified position without regard to the character or
similarity of the employments interchanged, and after
non-competitive examination only.
{148}
(5) It permits the reinstatement, within the discretion of the
respective department officers, of persons separated from the
service at any previous time for any stated reason.
The effect of these changes in the body of the rules will be
of a more serious nature than that of the absolute exceptions
made. It will be practicable to fill competitive positions of
every description either through arbitrary reinstatement—or
through original appointment to a lower grade, or to an
excepted position without tests of any sort, or even by
transfer from the great emergency force of the War Department,
to be followed in any such case by a mere 'pass' examination.
As general experience has proven, the 'pass' examinations, in
the course of time, degenerate almost invariably into farce.
It will be practicable also to restore to the service at the
incoming of each new administration those dismissed for any
cause during the period of any administration preceding. That
such a practice will lead to wholesale political reprisals,
and, coupled with the other provisions referred to, to the
re-establishment on a large scale of the spoils system of
rotation and favoritism, cannot be doubted."
In his next succeeding annual Message to Congress the
President used the following language on the subject: "The
Executive order [by President Cleveland] of May 6, 1896,
extending the limits of the classified service, brought within
the operation of the civil-service law and rules nearly all of
the executive civil service not previously classified. Some of
the inclusions were found wholly illogical and unsuited to the
work of the several Departments. The application of the rules to
many of the places so included was found to result in friction
and embarrassment. After long and very careful consideration
it became evident to the heads of the Departments, responsible
for their efficiency, that in order to remove these
difficulties and promote an efficient and harmonious
administration certain amendments were necessary. These
amendments were promulgated by me in Executive order dated May
29, 1899. All of the amendments had for their main object a
more efficient and satisfactory administration of the system
of appointments established by the civil-service law. The
results attained show that under their operation the public
service has improved and that the civil-service system is
relieved of many objectionable features which heretofore
subjected it to just criticism and the administrative officers
to the charge of unbusinesslike methods in the conduct of
public affairs. It is believed that the merit system has been
greatly strengthened and its permanence assured."
United States, Message and Documents
(Abridgment), 1890-1900, volume 1.
At its next annual meeting, December 14, 1900, in New York,
the National Civil Service Reform League reiterated its
condemnation of the order of President McKinley, declaring:
"The year has shown that the step remains as unjustified in
principle as ever and that it has produced, in practical
result, just the injuries to the service that were feared, as
the reports of our committee of various branches of the
service have proved. The league, therefore, asserts without
hesitancy that the restoration of very nearly all places in
every branch of the service exempted from classification by
this deplorable order is demanded by the public interest and
that the order itself should be substantially revoked."
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1900.
Civil Service Rules in the Philippine Islands.
"An Act for the establishment and maintenance of an efficient
and honest civil service in the Philippine Islands" was
adopted, on the 19th of September, by the Commission which now
administers the civil government of those islands. The bill is
founded on the principles of the American civil service in
their stricter construction, and its provisions extend to all
the executive branches of the government. The framing of rules
and regulations for the service are left to the Civil Service
Board provided for in the act. A correspondent of the "New
York Tribune," writing from Manila on the day after the
enactment, states: "W. Leon Pepperman, who has long been
connected with the civil service in the United States, and who
has made a personal study of the systems maintained by Great
Britain, France, and Holland in their Eastern colonies, will
be on this board, as will be F. W. Kiggins of the Washington
Civil Service Commission. The third member probably will be a
Filipino. President Taft had selected for this post Dr.
Joaquin Gonzalez, an able man, but that gentleman's untimely
death on the eve of his appointment has forced President Taft
to find another native capable of meeting the necessary
requirements. Mr. Kiggins probably will act as Chief Examiner,
and Mr. Pepperman as Chairman of the board:" According to the
same correspondent: " Examinations for admittance to the
service will be held in Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu, in the
Philippines, and in the United States under the auspices and
control of the Federal Civil Service Commission." At the
annual meeting of the National Civil Service Reform League of
the United States held in New York, December 13, 1900, the
above measure was commended highly in the report of a special
committee appointed to consider the subject of the civil
service in our new dependencies, as being one by which, "if it
be persevered in, the merit system will be established in the
islands of that archipelago, at least as thoroughly and
consistently as in any department of government, Federal,
State or municipal, in the Union. This must be, in any case,
regarded as a gratifying recognition of sound principles of
administration on the part of the commission and justifies the
hope that, within the limits of their jurisdiction at least,
no repetition of the scandals of post-bellum days will be
tolerated. The ruling of the several departments that the
provisions of the Federal offices established in the
dependencies which would be classified if within the United
States is also a matter to be noted with satisfaction by the
friends of good government."
{149}
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901.
The "spoils system" of service in the House of Representatives.
The "spoils system" maintained by Congressmen among their own
immediate employees, in the service of the House of
Representatives, was depicted in a report, submitted February
28, 1901, by a special committee which had been appointed to
investigate the pay of the House employees. The report,
presented by Mr. Moody, of Massachusetts, makes the following
general statements, with abundance of illustrative instances,
few of which can be given here: "The four officers elected by
the House, namely, the Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper,
and Postmaster, appoint the employees of the House, except the
clerks and assistant clerks of members and committees, four
elevator men, the stenographers, and those appointed by House
resolutions. The appointments, however, are made on the
recommendation of members of the House, and very largely,
though not entirely, of members of the dominant party in the
House. If a member upon whose recommendation an appointment is
made desires the removal of his appointee and the substitution
of another person, the removal and substitution are made without
regard to the capacity of either person. In case a member upon
whose recommendation an appointment has been made ceases to be
a member of the House, an employee recommended by him
ordinarily loses his place. Thus the officers of the House,
though responsible for the character of the service rendered
by the employees, have in reality little or no voice in their
selection, and, as might reasonably be expected, the results
obtained from the system which we have described are in some
cases extremely unsatisfactory. This method of appointing
House employees has existed for many years, during which the
House has been under the control of each party alternately. We
believe that candor compels us to state at the outset that
some of the faults in administration which we have observed
are attributable to the system and to the persistence of
members of the House in urging upon the officers the
appointment of their constituents and friends to subordinate
places, and that such faults are deeply rooted, of long
standing, and likely to continue under the administration of
any political party as long as such a system is maintained."
The committee found nothing to criticise in the
administration of the offices of the House Postmaster or
Sergeant-at-Arms. With reference to the offices of the Clerk
and the Doorkeeper they say: "We have found in both
departments certain abuses, which may be grouped under three
heads, namely: Transfers of employees from the duties of the
positions to which they were appointed to other duties,
unjustifiable payments of compensation to employees while
absent from their posts of duty, and divisions of salary.
"First. Transfers of employees from the duties to which they
were appointed to other duties.—Some part of this evil is
doubtless attributable to the fact that the annual
appropriation acts have not properly provided for the
necessities of the House service. An illustration of this is
furnished by the case of Guy Underwood, who is carried on the
rolls as a laborer at $720 per annum, while in point of fact
he performs the duty of assistant in the Hall Library of the
House and his compensation is usually increased to $1,800 per
annum by an appropriation of $1,080 in the general deficiency
act. Again, a sufficient number of messengers has not been
provided for the actual necessities of the service, while more
folders have been provided than are required. As a result of
this men have been transferred from the duties of a folder to
those of a messenger, and the compensation of some has been
increased by appropriation in deficiency acts. But evils of
another class result from transfers, some examples of which we
report. They result in part, at least, from an attempt to
adjust salaries so as to satisfy the members that their
appointees obtain a just share of the whole appropriation,
instead of attempting to apportion the compensation to the
merits of the respective employees and the character of the
services which they render. …
"Second. Payments of compensation to employees while
absent.—The duty of many of the employees of the House ceases
with the end of a session, or very soon thereafter. Such is
the case with the reading clerks, messengers, enrolling
clerks, and many others who might be named. Their absence from
Washington after a session of Congress closes and their duties
are finished is as legitimate as the absence of the members
themselves. But many employees who should be at their posts
have been from time to time absent without justification, both
during sessions and between sessions. In the absence of any
record it is impossible for the committee to ascertain with
anything like accuracy the amount of absenteeism, but in our
opinion it is very considerable.
"Some of those employed in the library service have been
absent for long periods between the sessions of Congress,
although the House library is in a condition which demands
constant attention for years to come in order to bring it up
to a proper condition of efficiency. The pay roll of the
librarian, his assistants, and those detailed to the library
service, including deficiency appropriations, amounts to
$9,200 per annum. No one of the employees of the library, with
the exception of a $600 deficiency employee and Guy Underwood,
who in his freshman year at college was librarian part of one
session at the Ohio State University, has ever had any library
experience, although they all appear to be capable,
intelligent men. The House library is said to consist of
300,000 volumes, many of which are duplicates, and is
scattered from the Dome to the basement of the Capitol, in
some instances, until recently, books being piled in unused
rooms, like so much wood or coal. The present librarian
testified as follows:
'Q. It would be difficult to describe a worse condition than
existed?'
'A. It would, for the condition of books. It would be all
right for a barnyard, but for books it was terrible.' It is
just to say that under the present administration of the
library some attempt has been made at improvement, but the
effect of fifty years' neglect can not be remedied in a day.
We can not think that any absenteeism, beyond a reasonable
vacation, on the part of those employed in the library is
justifiable in view of the foregoing facts.
"The folders, taking the orders of members rather than those
of the Doorkeeper, are absent a great deal during the
vacation, and in some cases persons are employed by resolution
to do their work. The Doorkeeper testified as follows:
'I think Mr. Lyon told me where members requested they had
three months at home during this last Congress.'
'Q. Drawing their pay in the meantime?'
'A. Yes, sir; they had three months'.'
'Q. That is not in the interest of your service, is it?'
'A. No, sir.'
'Q. Have you been able to prevent it?'
'A. No, sir.'
'Q. Why?'
'A. They would go to the superintendent of the folding room
and say to him, "My man has got to go home."'
'Q. You mean the members would go?'
'A. Yes, sir. I do not like to criticise members, but that is
the situation. They go and say, "I have got to have my man
home, and he must go home; it is absolutely necessary;" and he
has been permitted to go.'
{150}
"We have been unable to inquire as much into specific
instances of absenteeism as we desired, but it may be said
generally that absenteeism on the folders' force is very
general. …
"Third, division of salaries.—According to the testimony of
Thomas H. McKee, the Journal clerk, the custom of dividing
salaries is an old one and has existed for at least twenty
years. We are satisfied that we are unable to report all the
instances of divisions of salaries which have occurred: but we
submit the following facts, which were clearly proved before
us: On the organization of the House in the Fifty-fourth
Congress it appears that more places, or places with higher
salaries, were promised than the officers of the House were
able to discover under the law. It does not appear by whom
these promises were made. There began at once a system whereby
the employees agreed to contribute greater or less portions of
the salaries they received for the purpose either of paying
persons not on the roll or of increasing the compensation of
persons who were on the roll. Of the latter class, the
increases were not proportioned to the character of the
services rendered or the merit of the employees, but to the
supposed rights of the States or Congressional districts from
which the recipients came. Some of these contributions were
made voluntarily and cheerfully; others we believe to have
been made under a species of moral duress."
Congressional Record,
February 28, 1901, page 3597.
CLERICAL PARTY: Austria.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897, and after.
CLERICAL PARTY: Belgium.
See (in this volume)
BELGIUM: A. D. 1899-1900.
CLEVELAND, Grover:
President of the United States.
See (in volume 5 and in this volume.)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1893, to 1897.
CLEVELAND, Grover:
Extensions of Civil Service Rules.
See (in this volume)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1893-1896.
CLEVELAND, Grover:
Message to Congress on the Boundary Dispute between
Great Britain and Venezuela.
See (in this volume)
VENEZUELA: A. D. 1895 (DECEMBER).
CLEVELAND, Grover:
On Cuban affairs.
See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1896-1897.
CLEVELAND, OHIO: A. D. 1896.
The centennial anniversary of the founding of the city was
celebrated with appropriate ceremonies on the 22d of July,
1896, and made memorable by a gift to the city, by Mr. John D.
Rockefeller, of 276 acres of land for a public park.
COAL MINERS, Strikes among.
See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES.
COAMO, Engagement at.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST: PORTO RICO).
COLENSO, Battle of.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).
COLLEGES.
See (in this volume)
EDUCATION.
COLOMBIA: A. D. 1893-1900.
Resumption of work on the Panama Canal.
Revolutionary movements.
Prolonged Civil War.
Boundary dispute with Costa Rica.
Panama Canal concession twice extended.
In 1893 the receiver or liquidator of the affairs of the
bankrupt Panama Canal Company of De Lesseps (see, in volume 4,
PANAMA CANAL) obtained from the government of Colombia an
extension of the terms of the concession under which that
company had worked, provided that work on the canal should be
resumed before November 1, 1894. He succeeded in forming in
France a new company which actually made a beginning of work
on the canal before the limit of time expired. But this
attempted revival of the undertaking was quickly harassed,
like everything else in Colombia, by an outbreak of revolt
against the clerical control of government under President
Caro. The revolutionary movement was begun late in 1894,
receiving aid from exiles and sympathizers in Venezuela,
Ecuador and Central America. It had no substantial success,
the revolutionists being generally defeated in the pitched
battles that were fought; but after a few months they were
broken into guerilla bands and continued warfare in that
method throughout most of the year 1895. They were still
threatening in 1896, but the activity and energy of President
Caro prevented any serious outbreak. A boundary dispute
between Colombia and Costa Rica, which became considerably
embittered in 1896, was finally referred to the President of
the French Republic, whose decision was announced in
September, 1900.
Colombia began a fresh experience of civil war in the autumn
of 1899, when an obstinate movement for the overthrow of
President Saclemente (elected in 1898) was begun. General
Herrera was said, at the outset, to be in the lead, but, as
the struggle proceeded, General Rafael Uribe-Uribe seems to
have become its real chief. It went on with fierce fighting,
especially in the isthmus, and with varying fortunes, until
near the close of 1900, when the insurgents met with a defeat
which drove General Uribe-Uribe to flight. He made his escape
to Venezuela, and thence to the United States, arriving at New
York early in February, 1901. In conversation with
representatives of the Press he insisted that there was no
thought in his party or in his own mind of abandoning the
revolutionary attempt. The cause of the revolution, he said,
was due to the oppression of the government, which was in the
hands of the Conservative party. "They have not governed
according to the constitution," he said, "and while taxing the
Liberals, will not allow them to be adequately represented in
the government. For fifteen years the Liberal party has been
deprived of all its rights. I have been the only
representative of the party in Congress. We tried every
peaceable method to obtain our rights before going to war, but
could not get anything from the government. The government did
not want to change anything, because it did not want to lose
any of its power. I, as the only representative of the Liberal
party, made up my mind to fight, and will fight to the end."
By what is said to have been a forced resignation, some time
in the later part of the year 1900, President Saclemente, a
very old man, retired from the active duties of the office,
which were taken in hand by the Vice-President, Dr. Manoquin.
During the year 1900, the government signed a further
extension of the concession to the Panama Canal Company,
prolonging the period within which the canal must be completed
six years from April, 1904.
{151}
COLORADO: A. D. 1897.
Abolition of the death penalty.
By an Act of the Legislature of Colorado which became law in
March, 1897, the death penalty was abolished in that state.
COLORADOS.
See (in this volume)
URUGUAY: A. D. 1896-1899.
COLUMBUS, Christopher:
Removal of remains from Havana to Seville.
See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1898 (DECEMBER).
COMBINATIONS, Industrial.
See (in this volume)
TRUSTS.
COMMANDO.
Commandeering.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1894.
COMMERCIAL CONGRESS, International.
See (in this volume)
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONGRESS.
COMMERCIAL MUSEUM, Philadelphia.
See (in this volume)
PHILADELPHIA: A. D. 1897.
COMPULSORY INSURANCE:
The State System in Germany.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1897-1900.
COMPULSORY VOTING.
See (in this volume)
BELGIUM: A. D. 1894-1895.
CONCERT OF EUROPE.
Concert of the Powers.
"We have heard of late so much about 'the Concert' that the
man in the street talks of it as if it were a fact of nature
like the Bosphorus or the Nile; and he assumes that he and all
his neighbours understand exactly what it means. Yet it may be
doubted whether even persons so omniscient as the politician
and the journalist could describe it with any approach to
truth or even to common sense. An energetic newspaper lately
described the Concert as 'Three Despots, two Vassals, and a
Coward.' This doubtless was a libel. An Olympian
Under-Secretary called it 'the Cabinet of Europe.' Lord
Salisbury himself, impatient of facile caricatures, insisted
that it was a 'Federation.' It has also, to Sir William
Harcourt's wrath, been spoken of as an 'Areopagus' having
'legislative' powers. All these phrases are mere nonsense; and
yet they have profoundly influenced the action of this country
and the course of recent history. The patent fact of the hour
is that six powerful States are pleased to interest themselves
in the Eastern Question—which is the question of the dissolution
of Turkey.
See, in this volume,
TURKEY: A. D. 1895, and after.
They base their claim to take exceptional steps in the matter
on the plea that there is imminent risk of a general European
war if they do not act. … What is the Concert of Europe? It is
not a treaty, still less a federation. If it is anything, it
is a tacit understanding between the 'six Powers' that they
will take common action, or abstain from 'isolated action,' in
the Eastern question. Whether it is even that, in any rational
sense of the word 'understanding,' is more than doubtful. For
there has been much and very grave 'isolated action,' even in
pending troubles."
See, in this volume,
TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY-MARCH); and 1897-1899]
The Concert of Europe
(Contemporary Review, May, 1897).
The joint action of the leading European Powers in dealing
with Turkish affairs, between 1896 and 1899, which took the
name of "The Concert of Europe," was imitated in 1900, when
the more troublesome "Far Eastern Question" was suddenly
sprung upon the world by the "Boxer" rising in China. The
United States and Japan were then associated in action with
the European nations; and the "Concert of Europe" was
succeeded by a larger "Concert of the Powers."
See, in this volume,
CHINA: A. D. 1900, JANUARY-MARCH, and after.
CONCESSIONS, The battle of, in China.
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY-DECEMBER).
CONDOMINIUM, Anglo-Egyptian, in the Sudan.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1899 (JANUARY).
CONFEDERATE DISABILITIES, Removal of.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (MARCH).
CONGER, Edwin H.: United States Minister to China.
See (in this volume) CHINA.
CONGO FREE STATE: A. D. 1897.
Mutiny of troops of Baron Dhanis's expedition.
See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (CONGO FREE STATE).
CONGO FREE STATE: A. D. 1899.
Results of the King of Belgium's attempt to found
an African Empire.
Contradictory representations.
"The opening in the first few days of July [1898] of the
railway through the District of the Cataracts, from Matadi to
Stanley Pool, has turned public attention to Central Africa,
where the genius and courage of the King of the Belgians have
created a Black Empire within the short space of twelve years.
It is the special pride of its founder that the vast state of
the Congo has been formed without bloodshed, except at the
cost of the cruel Arab slave-hunters, and of the not less
cruel cannibals like Msiri or the Batetelas, that a thousand
treaties have been signed without a gunshot, and that from the
commencement the highest ideals of modern civilisation have
been aimed at, and, considering the stupendous difficulties of
the task, practically attained in the administration. The
standard of humanity and progress has been firmly planted in
the midst of a population of thirty millions, the decadence of
those millions has been arrested, peace exists where there was
only slaughter and savagery, and prosperity is coming in the
train of improved communications, and of the development of
the natural resources of a most promising region. In the
history of Empires that of the Congo State is unique. …
"The Berlin Conference did nothing for the Congo State beyond
giving it a being and a name.
See, in volume 1,
CONGO FREE STATE.
On the other hand it imposed upon it some onerous conditions.
There was to be freedom of trade—an excellent principle, but
not contributory to the State exchequer—it was to employ all
its strength in the suppression of the slave trade—'a
gigantic task, undertaken with the resources of pygmies,' as
some one has said—and the navigation of the Congo was to be
free to all the world without a single toll. The sufficiently
ample dimensions marked out for the State in the Conventional
limits attached to the Berlin General Act had to be defined
and regulated by subsequent negotiation with the neighbouring
Powers.
{152}
France attenuated the northern possessions of the State at
every possible opportunity, but at length, in February, 1895,
she was induced to waive in favour of Belgium the right of
pre-emption which the Congo Association had given her in
April, 1884, over its possessions, at the moment when the
Anglo-Portuguese Convention threatened that enterprise with
extinction. … Four years after the meeting at Berlin it was
found necessary to convene another conference of the Powers,
held on this occasion at Brussels, under the presidency of
Baron Lambermont, whose share in the success of the earlier
conference had been very marked and brilliant. The chief
object set before the new Conference was to devise means for
the abolition of the Slave Trade in Central Africa. … The
Conference lasted more than seven months, and it was not until
July, 1890, that the General Act bearing the signatures of the
Powers was agreed upon. It increased the obligations resting
on the State; its decisions, to which the Independent State
was itself a party, made the task more onerous, but at the
same time it sanctioned the necessary measures to give the
State the revenue needed for the execution of its new
programme. …
"Fresh from the Brussels Conference the Congo State threw
itself into the struggle with the Arabs. … Thanks to the skill
and energy with which the campaign was conducted the triumph
of the State was complete, and the downfall of the Arabs
sounded the knell of the slave trade, of which they were the
principal, and indeed the sole, promoters. The Arab campaign
did not conclude the military perils that beset the nascent
State. The Batetela contingent of the Public Force or native
army of the Congo mutinied in January, 1897, while on the
march to occupy the Lado district of the Upper Nile, and the
episode, ushered in in characters of blood by the
assassination of many Belgian officers, seemed to shake the
recently-constructed edifice to its base. But if the ordeal
was severe, the manner in which the authorities have triumphed
over their adversaries and surmounted their difficulties,
furnishes clear evidence of the stability of their power. The
Batetela mutineers have been overthrown in several signal
encounters, a mere handful of fugitives still survive, and
each mail brings news of their further dispersal. Even at the
moment of its occurrence the blow from the Batetela mutiny was
tempered by the success of the column under Commandant Chaltin in
overthrowing the Dervishes at Redjaf and in establishing the
State's authority on the part of the Nile assigned to it by
the Anglo-Congolese Convention of 1894. The triumphs of the
Congo State have, however, been those of peace and not of war.
With the exception of the operations named and the overthrow
of the despotism of the savage Msiri, the State's record is
one of unbroken tranquillity. These wars, little in magnitude
but great in their consequences, were necessary for the
suppression of the slave trade as well as for the legitimate
assertion of the authority of the Congo Government. But their
immediate consequence was the effective carrying out of the
clauses in the Penal Code making all participation in the
capture of slaves or in cannibalism a capital offence. That
was the primary task, the initial step, in the establishment
of civilisation in Central Africa, and of the credit for this
the Congo State cannot be deprived. When this was done there
remained the still more difficult task of saving the black
races from the evils which civilisation brings in its train
among an ignorant population incapable of self-control. The
import of firearms had to be checked in order to prevent an
untamed race indulging in internecine strife, or turning their
weapons upon the mere handful of Europeans engaged in the task
of regenerating the negroes. The necessary measures inspired
by the double motives of self-preservation and the welfare of
the blacks have been taken, and the State controls in the most
complete and effectual manner the importation of all weapons
and munitions of war. Nor has the success of the
administration been less clear or decisive in its control of
the liquor traffic."
Demetrius C. Boulger,
Twelve Years' Work on the Congo
(Fortnightly Review, October, 1898).
To a considerable extent this favorable view of the work of
the Belgians in the Congo State is sustained by the report
which a British Consul, Mr. Pickersgill, made to his
government in 1898. He wrote admiringly of the energy with
which the Belgians had overcome enormous difficulties in their
undertaking, and then asked: "Has this splendid invasion
justified itself by benefiting the aborigines? Equatorial
Africa is not a white man's country. He can never prove his
claim to sole possession of it by surviving as the fittest;
and without the black man's co-operation it can serve no
useful purpose to anybody. Has the welfare of the African,
then, whose prosperous existence is thus indispensable, been
duly cared for in the Congo State?" By way of answer to these
questions, his report sets forth, with apparently strict
fairness, the conditions produced in the country as he
carefully observed them. He found that much good had been done
to the natives by restrictions on the liquor trade, by an
extensive suppression of inter-tribal wars, and by a
diminution of cannibalism. Then comes a rehearsal of facts
which have a different look.
"The yoke of the notorious Arab slave-traders has been broken,
and traffic in human beings amongst the natives themselves has
been diminished to a considerable degree. Eulogy here begins
with a spurt and runs out thin at the end. But there is no
better way of recording the facts concisely. To hear, amidst
the story's wild surroundings, how Dhanis and Hinde, and their
intrepid comrades, threw themselves, time after time, upon the
strongholds of the banded men-stealers, until the Zone Arabe
was won in the name of freedom, is to thrill with admiration
of a gallant crusade. … But it is disappointing to see the
outcome of this lofty enterprise sink to a mere modification
of the evil that was so righteously attacked. Like the
Portuguese in Angola, the Belgians on the Congo have adopted
the system of requiring the slave to pay for his freedom by
serving a new master during a fixed term of years for wages
merely nominal. On this principle is based the 'serviçal'
system of the first-named possession, and the 'libéré' system
of the latter; the only difference between the two being that
the Portuguese Government permits limited re-enslavement for
the benefit of private individuals, but does not purchase on
its own account; while the Government of the Independent State
retains for itself an advantage which it taboos to everybody
else.
{153}
"The State supports this system because labour is more easily
obtainable thereby than by enforcing corvee amongst the free
people, and less expensively than by paying wages. The slave
so acquired, however, is supposed to have undergone a change
of status, and is baptized officially as a free man. After
seven years' service under the new name he is entitled to his
liberty complete. In Angola the limit is five years. The
natives are being drilled into the habit of regular work. …
The first Europeans who travelled inland of Matadi had to rely
entirely on porters from the coast, and it was not until the
missionaries had gained the confidence of the people, and
discovered individuals amongst them who could be trusted as
gangers, that the employment of local carriers became
feasible. The work was paid for, of course, and it is to the
credit of the State that the remuneration continued,
undiminished, after compulsion was applied. But how, it cannot
fail to be asked, did the necessity for compulsion arise? In
the same way that it has since arisen in connection with other
forms of labour: the State wished to get on faster than
circumstances would permit. Accordingly the Government
authorities prohibited the missionaries from recruiting where
porters were most easily obtained, and under the direction of
their military chief, the late Governor-General Wahis,
initiated a rigorous system of corvee. In spite of the
remuneration this was resisted, at first by the men liable to
serve absenting themselves from home, and afterwards, when the
State Officers began to seize their women and children as
hostages, by preparations for war. Deserting their villages,
the people of the caravan route took to the bush, and efforts
were made by the chiefs to bring about a general uprising of
the entire Cataract district. Things were in so critical a
condition that Colonel Wahis had to leave unpunished the
destruction of a Government station and the murder of the
officer in charge. Mainly through the influence of the
missionaries the general conflagration was prevented, but the
original outbreak continued to smoulder for months, and
transport work of all kinds had to be discontinued until means
were devised of equalising the burden of the corvee, and of
enlisting the co-operation of the chiefs in its management.
That was in 1894. Three years later the system appeared to be
working with remarkable smoothness. … Whatever views may be
held respecting the influence of the State at the present
stage of its schoolmaster task, there can be no doubt that the
condition, a year or two hence, of those sections of the
population about to be relieved from the transport service,
will afford conclusive evidence, one way or the other, of the
Government's civilising ability. … It needs no great knowledge
of coloured humanity to foresee that such pupils will quickly
relapse into good-for-nothingness more than aboriginal, unless
their education be continued. …
"One of the most obvious duties of an European Government
standing in 'loco parentis' to savage tribes, and exercising
'dominatio parentis' with an unspared rod, is to educate the
juvenile pagan. Since 1892 the Congo State has disbursed,
according to the published returns, taking one year with
another, about 6,000l. per annum, on this department of its
enterprise. It cannot be said, therefore, to have neglected
the duty entirely. A school for boys has been established at
Boma, and another at Nouvelle Anvers; while large numbers of
children of both sexes have been placed with the Roman
Catholic missionaries, in the same and other districts. Except
in one direction, however, the movement has not been very
successful. The young Africans thus blessed with a chance of
becoming loyal with intelligence are all waifs and strays, who
have been picked up by exploring parties and military
expeditions. Their homes are at the points of the compass, and
their speech is utter bewilderment. …
"A word must be said as to the employment of what are known as
'sentries.' A 'sentry' on the Congo is a dare-devil
aboriginal, chosen, from troops impressed outside the district
in which he serves, for his loyalty and force of character.
Armed with a rifle and a pouch of cartridges, he is located in
a native village to see that the labour for which its
inhabitants are responsible is duly attended to. If they are
India rubber collectors, his duty is to send the men into the
forest and take note of those who do not return with the
proper quantity. Where food is the tax demanded, his business
is to make sure that the women prepare and deliver it; and in
every other matter connected with the Government he is the
factotum, as far as that village is concerned, of the officer
of the district, his power being limited only by the amount of
zeal the latter may show in checking oppression. When
Governor-General Wahis returned from his tour of inspection he
seemed disposed to recommend the abolition of this system,
which is open to much abuse. But steps have not yet been taken
in that direction."
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: No. 459,
Miscellaneous Series, 1898, pages 7-12).
From this account of things it would seem that Mr. Boulger, in
the view quoted above from his article on the work of King
Leopold in the Congo country, had chosen to look only at what
is best in the results. On the other hand, the writer of the
following criticism in the "Spectator" of London may have
looked at nothing but the blacker side:
"King Leopold II., who, though he inherits some of the Coburg
kingcraft, is not a really able man, deceived by confidence in
his own great wealth and by the incurable Continental idea
that anybody can make money in the tropics if he is only hard
enough, undertook an enterprise wholly beyond his resources,
and by making revenue instead of good government his end,
spoiled the whole effect of his first successes. The Congo
Free State, covering a million square miles, that is, as large
as India, and containing a population supposed to exceed
forty-two millions, was committed by Europe to his charge in
absolute sovereignty, and at first there appeared to be no
resistance. Steamers and telegraphs and stations are trifles
to a millionaire, and there were any number of Belgian
engineers and young officers and clerks eager for employment.
The weak point of the undertaking, inadequate resources, soon,
however, became patent to the world. The King had the disposal
of a few white troops, but they were only Belgians, who suffer
greatly in tropical warfare, and his agents had to form an
acclimatised army 'on the cheap.' They engaged, therefore, the
fiercest blacks they could find, most of them cannibals, paid
them by tolerating license, and then endeavoured to maintain
their own authority by savage discipline.
{154}
The result was that the men, as events have proved, and as the
King seems in his apologia to admit, were always on the verge
of mutiny, and that the native tribes, with their advantages
of position, numbers, and knowledge of the forest and the
swamps, proved at least as good fighters as most of the forces
of the Congo State. So great, however, is the intellectual
superiority of white men, so immeasurable the advantage
involved in any tincture science, that the Belgians might
still have prevailed but for the absolute necessity of
obtaining money. They could not wait for the growth of
resources under scientific taxation such as will follow Mr.
Mitchell Innes's financial reforms in Siam, but attempted to
obtain them from direct taxation and monopolies, especially
that of rubber. Resistance was punished with a savage cruelty,
which we are quite ready to believe was not the original
intention of the Belgians, but which could not be avoided when
the only mode of punishing a village was to let loose black
cannibals on it to work their will, and which gradually
hardened even the Europeans, and the consequence was universal
disloyalty. The braver tribes fought with desperation, the
black troops were at once cowed and attracted by their
opponents, the black porters and agriculturists became secret
enemies, all were kept in order by terror alone, and we all
see the result. The Belgians are beaten; their chiefs, Baron
Dhanis and Major Lothaire, are believed to be prisoners; and
the vast territories of the far interior, whence alone rubber
can now be obtained, are already lost. … The administration on
the spot is tainted by the history of its cruelties and its
failures, and there are not the means in Brussels of replacing
it by competent officials, or of supplying them with the
considerable means required for what must now be a deliberate
reconquest."
Spectator (London),
February 4, 1899.
CONGO FREE STATE: A. D. 1900.
Expiration of the Belgian Convention of 1890.
King Leopold's will.
Three days after the close of the year 1900, the Convention of
1890, which regulated for a period of ten years the relations
between Belgium and the Congo State, expired by lapse of time,
but was likely to be renewed. The chief provisions of the
Convention were
(1) that Belgium should advance to the Congo State a loan of
25,000,000f. (£1,000,000), free of interest, of which
one-fifth was payable at sight and the balance in ten yearly
instalments of 2,000,000f. each;
(2) Belgium acquired within six months of the final payment
the option of annexing the Congo State with all the rights and
appurtenances of sovereignty attaching thereto; or
(3) if Belgium did not avail herself of this right the loan
was only redeemable after a further period of ten years, but
became subject to interest at the rate of 3, per cent. per
annum.
The will of King Leopold, executed in 1889, runs as follows:
"We bequeath and transmit to Belgium, after our death, all our
Sovereign rights to the Congo Free State, such as they have been
recognized by the declarations, conventions, and treaties,
drawn up since 1884, on the one hand between the International
Association of the Congo, and on the other hand the Free State,
as well as all the property, rights, and advantages, accruing
from such sovereignty. Until such time as the Legislature of
Belgium shall have stated its intentions as to the acceptation
of these dispositions, the sovereignty shall be exercised
collectively by the Council of three administrators of the
Free State and by the Governor-General."
----------CONGO FREE STATE: End--------
CONGRESS: Of the United States.
Reapportionment of Representatives.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).
CONSTANTINOPLE: A. D. 1896.
Attack of Armenian revolutionists on the Ottoman Bank,
and subsequent Turkish massacre of Armenians.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1896 (AUGUST).
----------CONSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA.: Start--------
The following is the "Act to constitute the Commonwealth of
Australia," as passed by the Imperial Parliament, July 9, 1900
(63 & 64 Vict. ch. 12)—see (in this volume) AUSTRALIA: A. D.
1900. The text is from the official publication of the Act:
Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South
Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on the
blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one
indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the
Constitution hereby established: And whereas it is expedient
to provide for the admission into the Commonwealth of other
Australasian Colonies and possessions of the Queen: Be it
therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by
and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled,
and by the authority of the same, as follows:-
1. This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth of Australia
Constitution Act.
2. The provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall
extend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors in the
sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
3. It shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the
Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that, on and after a
day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the
passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales, Victoria,
South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also, if Her
Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have
agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a
Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of
Australia. But the Queen may, at any time after the
proclamation, appoint a Governor-General for the Commonwealth.
4. The Commonwealth shall be established, and the Constitution
of the Commonwealth shall take effect, on and after the day so
appointed. But the Parliaments of the several colonies may at
any time after the passing of this Act make any such laws, to
come into operation on the day so appointed, as they might
have made if the Constitution had taken effect at the passing
of this Act.
{155}
5. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the
Commonwealth under the Constitution, shall be binding on the
courts, judges, and people of every State and of every part of
the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any
State; and the laws of the Commonwealth shall be in force on
all British ships, the Queen's ships of war excepted, whose
first port of clearance and whose port of destination are in
the Commonwealth.
6. "The Commonwealth" shall mean the Commonwealth of Australia
as established under this Act. "The States" shall mean such of
the colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland,
Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia,
including the northern territory of South Australia, as for
the time being are parts of the Commonwealth, and such
colonies or territories as may be admitted into or established

by the Commonwealth as States; and each of such parts of the
Commonwealth shall be called "a State." "Original States"
shall mean such States as are parts of the Commonwealth at its
establishment.
7. The Federal Council of Australasia Act, 1885, is hereby
repealed, but so as not to affect any laws passed by the
Federal Council of Australasia and in force at the
establishment of the Commonwealth. Any such law may be
repealed as to any State by the Parliament of the
Commonwealth, or as to any colony not being a State by the
Parliament thereof.
8. After the passing of this Act the Colonial Boundaries Act,
1895, shall not apply to any colony which becomes a State of
the Commonwealth; but the Commonwealth shall be taken to be a
self-governing colony for the purposes of that Act.
9. The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as follows:
THE CONSTITUTION.
This Constitution is divided as follows:-
Chapter I.—The Parliament:
Part I.—General:
Part II.—The Senate:
Part III.—The House of Representatives:
Part IV.—Both Houses of the Parliament:
Part V.—Powers of the Parliament:
Chapter II.—The Executive Government:
Chapter III.—The Judicature:
Chapter IV.—Finance and Trade:
Chapter V.—The States:
Chapter VI.—New States:
Chapter VII.—Miscellaneous:
Chapter VIII.—Alteration of the Constitution.
The Schedule.
CHAPTER I. THE PARLIAMENT:
PART I.—GENERAL.
1. The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested
in a Federal Parliament, which shall consist of the Queen, a
Senate, and a House of Representatives, and which is
herein-after called "The Parliament," or "The Parliament of
the Commonwealth."
2. A Governor-General appointed by the Queen shall be Her
Majesty's representative in the Commonwealth, and shall have
and may exercise in the Commonwealth during the Queen's
pleasure, but subject to this Constitution, such powers and
functions of the Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign
to him.
3. There shall be payable to the Queen out of the Consolidated
Revenue fund of the Commonwealth, for the salary of the
Governor-General, an annual sum which, until the Parliament
otherwise provides, shall be ten thousand pounds. The salary
of a Governor-General shall not be altered during his
continuance in office.
4. The provisions of this Constitution relating to the
Governor-General extend and apply to the Governor-General for
the time being, or such person as the Queen may appoint to
administer the Government of the Commonwealth; but no such
person shall be entitled to receive any salary from the
Commonwealth in respect of any other office during his
administration of the Government of the Commonwealth.
5. The Governor-General may appoint such times for holding the
sessions of the Parliament as he thinks fit, and may also from
time to time, by Proclamation or otherwise, prorogue the
Parliament, and may in like manner dissolve the House of
Representatives. After any general election the Parliament
shall be summoned to meet not later than thirty days after the
day appointed for the return of the writs. The Parliament
shall be summoned to meet not later than six months after the
establishment of the Commonwealth.
6. There shall be a session of the Parliament once at least in
every year, so that twelve months shall not intervene between
the last sitting of the Parliament in one session and its
first sitting in the next session.
PART II.—THE SENATE.
7. The Senate shall be composed of senators for each State,
directly chosen by the people of the State, voting, until the
Parliament otherwise provides, as one electorate. But until
the Parliament of the Commonwealth otherwise provides, the
Parliament of the State of Queensland, if that State be an
Original State, may make laws dividing the State into
divisions and determining the number of senators to be chosen
for each division, and in the absence of such provision the
State shall be one electorate. Until the Parliament otherwise
provides there shall be six senators for each Original State.
The Parliament may make laws increasing or diminishing the
number of senators for each State, but so that equal
representation of the several Original States shall be
maintained and that no Original State shall have less than six
senators. The senators shall be chosen for a term of six
years, and the names of the senators chosen for each State
shall be certified by the Governor to the Governor-General.
8. The qualification of electors of senators shall be in each
State that which is prescribed by this Constitution, or by the
Parliament, as the qualification for electors of members of
the House of Representatives; but in the choosing of senators
each elector shall vote only once.
9. The Parliament of the Commonwealth may make laws
prescribing the method of choosing senators, but so that the
method shall be uniform for all the States. Subject to any
such law, the Parliament of each State may make laws
prescribing the method of choosing the senators for that
State. The Parliament of a State may make laws for determining
the times and places of elections of senators for the State.
{156}
10. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to
this Constitution, the laws in force in each State, for the
time being, relating to elections for the more numerous House
of the Parliament of the State shall, as nearly as
practicable, apply to elections of senators for the State.
11. The Senate may proceed to the despatch of business,
notwithstanding the failure of any State to provide for its
representation in the Senate.
12. The Governor of any State may cause writs to be issued for
elections of senators for the State. In case of the
dissolution of the Senate the writs shall be issued within ten
days from the proclamation of such dissolution.
13. As soon as may be after the Senate first meets, and after
each first meeting of the Senate following a dissolution
thereof, the Senate shall divide the senators chosen for each
State into two classes, as nearly equal in number as
practicable; and the places of the senators of the first class
shall become vacant at the expiration of the third year, and the
places of those of the second class at the expiration of the
sixth year, from the beginning of their term of service; and
afterwards the places of senators shall become vacant at the
expiration of six years from the beginning of their term of
service. The election to fill vacant places shall be made in
the year at the expiration of which the places are to become
vacant. For the purposes of this section the term of service
of a senator shall be taken to begin on the first day of
January following the day of his election, except in the cases
of the first election and of the election next after any
dissolution of the Senate, when it shall be taken to begin on
the first day of January preceding the day of his election.
14. Whenever the number of senators for a State is increased
or diminished, the Parliament of the Commonwealth may make
such provision for the vacating of the places of senators for
the State as it deems necessary to maintain regularity in the
rotation.
15. If the place of a senator becomes vacant before the
expiration of his term of service, the Houses of Parliament of
the State for which he was chosen shall, sitting and voting
together, choose a person to hold the place until the
expiration of the term, or until the election of a successor
as hereinafter provided, whichever first happens. But if the
Houses of Parliament of the State are not in session at the
time when the vacancy is notified, the Governor of the State,
with the advice of the Executive Council thereof, may appoint
a person to hold the place until the expiration of fourteen
days after the beginning of the next session of the Parliament
of the State, or until the election of a successor, whichever
first happens. At the next general election of members of the
House of Representatives, or at the next election of senators
for the State, whichever first happens, a successor shall, if
the term has not then expired, be chosen to hold the place
from the date of his election until the expiration of the
term. The name of any senator so chosen or appointed shall be
certified by the Governor of the State to the
Governor-General.
16. The qualifications of a senator shall be the same as those
of a member of the House of Representatives.
17. The Senate shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any
other business, choose a senator to be the President of the
Senate; and as often as the office of President becomes vacant
the Senate shall again choose a senator to be the President.
The President shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to
be a senator. He may be removed from office by a vote of the
Senate, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing
addressed to the Governor-General.
18. Before or during any absence of the President, the Senate
may choose a senator to perform his duties in his absence.
19. A Senator may, by writing addressed to the President, or
to the Governor-General if there is no President or if the
President is absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place,
which thereupon shall become vacant.
20. The place of a senator shall become vacant if for two
consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he,
without the permission of the Senate, fails to attend the
Senate.
21. Whenever a vacancy happens in the Senate, the President,
or if there is no President or if the President is absent from
the Commonwealth the Governor-General, shall notify the same
to the Governor of the State in the representation of which
the vacancy has happened.
22. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the presence of
at least one-third of the whole number of the senators shall
be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the
exercise of its powers.
23. Questions arising in the Senate shall be determined by a
majority of votes, and each senator shall have one vote. The
President shall in all cases be entitled to a vote; and when
the votes are equal the question shall pass in the negative.
PART III.—THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
24. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members
directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth, and the
number of such members shall be, as nearly as practicable,
twice the number of the senators. The number of members chosen
in the several States shall be in proportion to the respective
numbers of their people, and shall, until the Parliament
otherwise provides, be determined, whenever necessary, in the
following manner:—
(i.) A quota shall be ascertained by dividing the number of
the people of the Commonwealth, as shown by the latest
statistics of the Commonwealth, by twice the number of the
senators.
(ii.) The number of members to be chosen in each State
shall be determined by dividing the number of the people of
the State, as shown by the latest statistics of the
Commonwealth, by the quota; and if on such division there
is a remainder greater than one-half of the quota, one more
member shall be chosen in the State. But notwithstanding
anything in this section, five members at least shall be
chosen in each Original State.
25. For the purposes of the last section, if by the law of any
State all persons of any race are disqualified from voting at
elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of the
State, then, in reckoning the number of the people of the
State or of the Commonwealth, persons of that race resident in
that State shall not be counted.
{157}
26. Notwithstanding anything in section twenty-four, the
number of members to be chosen in each State at the first
election shall be as follows:—
New South Wales, twenty-three;
Victoria, twenty;
Queensland, eight;
South Australia, six;
Tasmania, five;
provided that if Western Australia is an Original State, the
numbers shall be as follows:—
New South Wales, twenty-six;
Victoria, twenty-three;
Queensland, nine;
South Australia, seven;
Western Australia, five;
Tasmania, five.
27. Subject to this Constitution, the Parliament may make laws
for increasing or diminishing the number of the members of the
House of Representatives.
28. Every House of Representatives shall continue for three
years from the first meeting of the House, and no longer, but
may be sooner dissolved by the Governor-General.
29. Until the Parliament of the Commonwealth otherwise
provides, the Parliament of any State may make laws for
determining the divisions in each State for which members of
the House of Representatives may be chosen, and the number of
members to be chosen for each division. A division shall not
be formed out of parts of different States. In the absence of
other provision, each State shall be one electorate.
30. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the qualification
of electors of members of the House of Representatives shall
be in each State that which is prescribed by the law of the
State as the qualification of electors of the more numerous
House of Parliament of the State; but in the choosing of
members each elector shall vote only once.
31. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to
this Constitution, the laws in force in each State for the
time being relating to elections for the more numerous House
of the Parliament of the State shall, as nearly as
practicable, apply to elections in the State of members of the
House of Representatives.
32. The Governor-General in Council may cause writs to be
issued for general elections of members of the House of
Representatives. After the first general election, the writs
shall be issued within ten days from the expiry of a House of
Representatives or from the proclamation of a dissolution
thereof.
33. Whenever a vacancy happens in the House of
Representatives, the Speaker shall issue his writ for the
election of a new member, or if there is no Speaker or if he
is absent from the Commonwealth the Governor-General in
Council may issue the writ.
34. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the
qualifications of a member of the House of Representatives
shall be as follows:—
(i.) He must be of the full age of twenty-one years, and
must be an elector entitled to vote at the election of
members of the House of Representatives, or a person
qualified to become such elector, and must have been for
three years at the least a resident within the limits of
the Commonwealth as existing at the time when he is chosen:
(ii.) He must be a subject of the Queen, either
natural-born or for at least five years naturalized under a
law of the United Kingdom, or of a Colony which has become
or becomes a State, or of the Commonwealth, or of a State.
35. The House of Representatives shall, before proceeding to
the despatch of any other business, choose a member to be the
Speaker of the House, and as often as the office of Speaker
becomes vacant the House shall again choose a member to be the
Speaker. The Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he
ceases to be a member. He may be removed from office by a vote
of the House, or he may resign his office or his seat by
writing addressed to the Governor-General.
36. Before or during any absence of the Speaker, the House of
Representatives may choose a member to perform his duties in
his absence.
37. A member may by writing addressed to the Speaker, or to
the Governor-General if there is no Speaker or if the Speaker
is absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which
thereupon shall become vacant.
38. The place of a member shall become vacant if for two
consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he,
without the permission of the House, fails to attend the
House.
39. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the presence of
at least one-third of the whole number of the members of the
House of Representatives shall be necessary to constitute a
meeting of the House for the exercise of its powers.
40. Questions arising in the House of Representatives shall be
determined by a majority of votes other than that of the
Speaker. The Speaker shall not vote unless the numbers are
equal, and then he shall have a casting vote.
PART IV.—BOTH HOUSES OF THE PARLIAMENT.
41. No adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at
elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a
State shall, while the right continues, be prevented by any
law of the Commonwealth from voting at elections for either
House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth.
42. Every senator and every member of the House of
Representatives shall before taking his seat make and
subscribe before the Governor-General, or some person
authorised by him, an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the
form set forth in the schedule to this Constitution.
43. A member of either House of the Parliament shall be
incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the
other House.
44. Any person who—
(i.) Is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or
adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or
entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen
of a foreign power: or
(ii.) Is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is
under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence
punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by
imprisonment for one year or longer: or
(iii.) Is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent: or
(iv.) Holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any
pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of
the revenues of the Commonwealth: or
(v.) Has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any
agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth
otherwise than as a member and in common with the other
members of an incorporated company consisting of more than
twenty-five persons: shall be incapable of being chosen or of
sitting as a senator or a member of the House of
Representatives. But sub-section iv. does not apply to the
office of any of the Queen's Ministers of State for the
Commonwealth, or of any of the Queen's Ministers for a State,
or to the receipt of pay, half pay, or a pension by any person
as an officer or member of the Queen's navy or army, or to the
receipt of pay as an officer or member of the naval or
military forces of the Commonwealth by any person whose
services are not wholly employed by the Commonwealth.
{158}
45. If a senator or member of the House of Representatives—
(i.) Becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in
the last preceding section: or
(ii.) Takes the benefit, whether by assignment, composition,
or otherwise, of any law relating to bankrupt or insolvent
debtors: or
(iii.) Directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take any fee
or honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth, or
for services rendered in the Parliament to any person or
State: his place shall thereupon become vacant.
46. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any person
declared by this Constitution to be incapable of sitting as a
senator or as a member of the House of Representatives shall,
for every day on which he so sits, be liable to pay the sum of
one hundred pounds to any person who sues for it in any court
of competent jurisdiction.
47. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any question
respecting the qualification of a senator or of a member of
the House of Representatives, or respecting a vacancy in
either House of the Parliament, and any question of a disputed
election to either House, shall be determined by the House in
which the question arises.
48. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, each senator and
each member of the House of Representatives shall receive an
allowance of four hundred pounds a year, to be reckoned from
the day on which he takes his seat.
49. The powers, privileges, and immunities of the Senate and
of the House of Representatives, and of the members and the
committees of each House, shall be such as are declared by the
Parliament, and until declared shall be those of the Commons
House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and of its members
and committees, at the establishment of the Commonwealth.
50. Each House of the Parliament may make rules and orders
with respect to—
(i.) The mode in which its powers, privileges, and immunities
may be exercised and upheld:
(ii.) The order and conduct of its business and proceedings
either separately or jointly with the other House.
PART V.—POWERS OF THE PARLIAMENT.
51. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have
power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government
of the Commonwealth with respect to:—
(i.) Trade and commerce with other countries, and among the
States;
(ii.) Taxation; but so as not to discriminate between States
or parts of States:
(iii.) Bounties on the production or export of goods, but so
that such bounties shall be uniform throughout the
Commonwealth:
(iv.) Borrowing money on the public credit of the
Commonwealth:
(v.) Postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services:
(vi.) The naval and military defence of the Commonwealth and
of the several States, and the control of the forces to
execute and maintain the laws of the Commonwealth:
(vii.) Lighthouses, lightships, beacons and buoys:
(viii.) Astronomical and meteorological observations:
(ix.) Quarantine:
(x.) Fisheries in Australian waters beyond territorial limits:
(xi.) Census and statistics:
(xii.) Currency, coinage, and legal tender:
(xiii.) Banking, other than State banking; also State banking
extending beyond the limits of the State concerned, the
incorporation of banks, and the issue of paper money:
(xiv.) Insurance, other than State insurance; also State
insurance extending beyond the limits of the State concerned:
(xv.) Weights and measures:
(xvi. ) Bills of exchange and promissory notes:
(xvii.) Bankruptcy and insolvency:
(xviii.) Copyrights, patents of inventions and designs, and
trade marks:
(xix.) Naturalization and aliens:
(xx.) Foreign corporations, and trading or financial
corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth:
(xxi.) Marriage:
(xxii.) Divorce and matrimonial causes; and in relation
thereto, parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of
infants:
(xxiii.) Invalid and old-age pensions:
(xxiv.) The service and execution throughout the Commonwealth
of the civil and criminal process and the judgments of the
courts of the States:
(xxv.) The recognition throughout the Commonwealth of the
laws, the public Acts and records, and the judicial
proceedings of the States:
(xxvi.) The people of any race, other than the aboriginal race
in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special
laws:
(xxvii.) Immigration and emigration:
(xxviii.) The influx of criminals:
(xxix.) External affairs:
(xxx.) The relations of the Commonwealth with the islands of
the Pacific:
(xxxi.) The acquisition of property on just terms from any
State or person for any purpose in respect of which the
Parliament has power to make laws:
(xxxii.) The control of railways with respect to transport for
the naval and military purposes of the Commonwealth:
(xxxiii.) The acquisition, with the consent of a State, of any
railways of the State on terms arranged between the
Commonwealth and the State:
(xxxiv.) Railway construction and extension in any State with
the consent of that State:
(xxxv.) Conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and
settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits
of any one State:
(xxxvi.) Matters in respect of which this Constitution makes
provision until the Parliament otherwise provides:
(xxxvii.) Matters referred to the Parliament of the
Commonwealth by the Parliament or Parliaments of any State or
States, but so that the law shall extend only to States by
whose Parliaments the matter is referred, or which afterwards
adopt the law:
(xxxviii.) The exercise within the Commonwealth, at the
request or with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all the
States directly concerned, of any power which can at the
establishment of this Constitution be exercised only by the
Parliament of the United Kingdom or by the Federal Council of
Australasia:
(xxxix.) Matters incidental to the execution of any power
vested by this Constitution in the Parliament or in either
House thereof, or in the Government of the Commonwealth, or in
the Federal Judicature, or in any department or officer of the
Commonwealth.
52. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have
exclusive power to make laws for the peace, order, and good
government of the Commonwealth with respect to—
(i.) The seat of government of the Commonwealth, and all
places acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes:
(ii.) Matters relating to any department of the public service
the control of which is by this Constitution transferred to the
Executive Government of the Commonwealth:
(iii.) Other matters declared by this Constitution to be
within the exclusive power of the Parliament.
{159}
53. Proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys, or imposing
taxation, shall not originate in the Senate. But a proposed
law shall not be taken to appropriate revenue or moneys, or to
impose taxation, by reason only of its containing provisions for
the imposition or appropriation of fines or other pecuniary
penalties, or for the demand or payment or appropriation of
fees for licences, or fees for services under the proposed
law. The Senate may not amend proposed laws imposing taxation,
or proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys for the
ordinary annual services of the Government. The Senate may not
amend any proposed law so as to increase any proposed charge
or burden on the people. The Senate may at any stage return to
the House of Representatives any proposed law which the Senate
may not amend, requesting, by message, the omission or
amendment of any items or provisions therein. And the House of
Representatives may, if it thinks fit, make any of such
omissions or amendments, with or without modifications. Except
as provided in this section, the Senate shall have equal power
with the House of Representatives in respect of all proposed
laws.
54. The proposed law which appropriates revenue or moneys for
the ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only
with such appropriation.
55. Laws imposing taxation shall deal only with the imposition
of taxation, and any provision therein dealing with any other
matter shall be of no effect. Laws imposing taxation, except
laws imposing duties of customs or of excise, shall deal with
one subject of taxation only; but laws imposing duties of
customs shall deal with duties of customs only, and laws
imposing duties of excise shall deal with duties of excise
only.
56. A vote, resolution, or proposed law for the appropriation
of revenue or moneys shall not be passed unless the purpose of
the appropriation has in the same session been recommended by
message of the Governor-General to the House in which the
proposal originated.
57. If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law,
and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with
amendments to which the House of Representatives will not
agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of
Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes
the proposed law with or without any amendments which have
been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the
Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with
amendments to which the House of Representatives will not
agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the Senate and the
House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution
shall not take place within six months before the date of the
expiry of the House of Representatives by effluxion of time.
If after such dissolution the House of Representatives again
passes the proposed law, with or without any amendments which
have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the
Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with
amendments to which the House of Representatives will not
agree, the Governor-General may convene a joint sitting of the
members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives. The
members present at the joint sitting may deliberate and shall
vote together upon the proposed law as last proposed by the
House of Representatives, and upon amendments, if any, which
have been made therein by one House and not agreed to by the
other, and any such amendments which are affirmed by an
absolute majority of the total number of the members of the
Senate and House of Representatives shall be taken to have
been carried, and if the proposed law, with the amendments, if
any, so carried is affirmed by an absolute majority of the
total number of the members of the Senate and House of
Representatives, it shall be taken to have been duly passed by
both Houses of the Parliament, and shall be presented to the
Governor-General for the Queen's assent.
58. When a proposed law passed by both Houses of the
Parliament is presented to the Governor-General for the
Queen's assent, he shall declare, according to his discretion,
but subject to this Constitution, that he assents in the
Queen's name, or that he withholds assent, or that he reserves
the law for the Queen's pleasure. The Governor-General may
return to the house in which it originated any proposed law so
presented to him, and may transmit therewith any amendments
which he may recommend, and the Houses may deal with the
recommendation.
59. The Queen may disallow any law within one year from the
Governor-General's assent, and such disallowance on being made
known by the Governor-General by speech or message to each of
the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, shall annul
the law from the day when the disallowance is so made known.
60. A proposed law reserved for the Queen's pleasure shall not
have any force unless and until within two years from the day
on which it was presented to the Governor-General for the
Queen's assent the Governor-General makes known, by speech or
message to each of the Houses of the Parliament, or by
Proclamation, that it has received the Queen's assent.
CHAPTER II. THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT.
61. The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the
Queen and is exerciseable by the Governor-General as the
Queen's representative, and extends to the execution and
maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the
Commonwealth.
62. There shall be a Federal Executive Council to advise the
Governor-General in the government of the Commonwealth, and
the members of the Council shall be chosen and summoned by the
Governor-General and sworn as Executive Councillors, and shall
hold office during his pleasure.
63. The provisions of this Constitution referring to the
Governor-General in Council shall be construed as referring to
the Governor-General acting with the advice of the Federal
Executive Council.
64. The Governor-General may appoint officers to administer
such departments of State of the Commonwealth as the
Governor-General in Council may establish. Such officers shall
hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General. They
shall be members of the Federal Executive Council, and shall
be the Queen's Ministers of State for the Commonwealth. After
the first general election no Minister of State shall hold
office for a longer period than three months unless he is or
becomes a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.
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65. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the Ministers of
State shall not exceed seven in number, and shall hold such
offices as the Parliament prescribes, or, in the absence of
provision, as the Governor-General directs.
66. There shall be payable to the Queen, out of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Commonwealth, for the
salaries of the Ministers of State, an annual sum which, until
the Parliament otherwise provides, shall not exceed twelve
thousand pounds a year.
67. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the appointment
and removal of all other officers of the Executive Government
of the Commonwealth shall be vested in the Governor-General in
Council, unless the appointment is delegated by the
Governor-General in Council or by a law of the Commonwealth to
some other authority.
68. The command in chief of the naval and military forces of
the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor-General as the
Queen's representative.
69. On a date or dates to be proclaimed by the
Governor-General after the establishment of the Commonwealth
the following departments of the public service in each State
shall become transferred to the Commonwealth:—Posts,
telegraphs, and telephones: Naval and military defence:
Lighthouses, lightships, beacons, and buoys: Quarantine. But
the departments of customs and of excise in each State shall
become transferred to the Commonwealth on its establishment.
70. In respect of matters which, under this Constitution, pass
to the Executive Government of the Commonwealth, all powers
and functions which at the establishment of the Commonwealth
are vested in the Governor of a Colony, or in the Governor of
a Colony with the advice of his Executive Council, or in any
authority of a Colony, shall vest in the Governor-General, or
in the Governor-General in Council, or in the authority
exercising similar powers under the Commonwealth, as the case
requires.
CHAPTER III. THE JUDICATURE.
71. The judicial power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in
a Federal Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of
Australia, and in such other federal courts as the Parliament
creates, and in such other courts as it invests with federal
jurisdiction. The High Court shall consist of a Chief Justice,
and so many other Justices, not less than two, as the
Parliament prescribes.
72. The Justices of the High Court and of the other courts
created by the Parliament—
(i.) Shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council:
(ii.) Shall not be removed except by the Governor-General in
Council, on an address from both Houses of the Parliament in
the same session, praying for such removal on the ground of
proved misbehaviour or incapacity:
(iii.) Shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament may
fix; but the remuneration shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.
73. The High Court shall have jurisdiction, with such
exceptions and subject to such regulations as the Parliament
prescribes, to hear and determine appeals from all judgments,
decrees, orders, and sentences—
(i.) Of any Justice or Justices exercising the original
jurisdiction of the High Court:
(ii.) Of any other federal court, or court exercising federal
jurisdiction; or of the Supreme Court of any State, or of any
other court of any State from which at the establishment of
the Commonwealth an appeal lies to the Queen in Council:
(iii.) Of the Inter-State Commission, but as to questions of
law only: and the judgment of the High Court in all such cases
shall be final and conclusive. But no exception or regulation
prescribed by the Parliament shall prevent the High Court from
hearing and determining any appeal from the Supreme Court of a
State in any matter in which at the establishment of the
Commonwealth an appeal lies from such Supreme Court to the
Queen in Council. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the
conditions of and restrictions on appeals to the Queen in
Council from the Supreme Courts of the several States shall be
applicable to appeals from them to the High Court.
74. No appeal shall be permitted to the Queen in Council from
a decision of the High Court upon any question, howsoever
arising, as to the limits inter se of the Constitutional
powers of the Commonwealth and those of any State or States,
or as to the limits inter se of the Constitutional powers of
any two or more States, unless the High Court shall certify
that the question is one which ought to be determined by Her
Majesty in Council. The High Court may so certify if satisfied
that for any special reason the certificate should be granted,
and thereupon an appeal shall lie to Her Majesty in Council on
the question without further leave. Except as provided in this
section, this Constitution shall not impair any right which
the Queen may be pleased to exercise by virtue of Her Royal
prerogative to grant special leave of appeal from the High
Court to Her Majesty in Council. The Parliament may make laws
limiting the matters in which such leave may be asked, but
proposed laws containing any such limitation shall be reserved
by the Governor-General for Her Majesty's pleasure.
75. In all matters—
(i.) Arising under any treaty:
(ii.) Affecting consuls or other representatives of other
countries:
(iii.) In which the Commonwealth, or a person suing or being
sued on behalf of the Commonwealth, is a party:
(iv.) Between States, or between residents of different
States, or between a State and a resident of another State:
(v.) In which a writ of Mandamus or prohibition or an
injunction is sought against an officer of the Commonwealth:
the High Court shall have original jurisdiction.
76. The Parliament may make laws conferring original
jurisdiction on the High Court in any matter—
(i.) Arising under this Constitution, or involving its
interpretation:
(ii.) Arising under any laws made by the Parliament:
(iii.) Of Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction:
(iv.) Relating to the same subject-matter claimed under the
laws of different States.
77. With respect to any of the matters mentioned in the last
two sections the Parliament may make laws—
(i.) Defining the jurisdiction of any federal court other than
the High Court:
(ii.) Defining the extent to which the jurisdiction of any
federal court shall be exclusive of that which belongs to or
is invested in the courts of the States:
(iii.) Investing any court of a State with federal
jurisdiction.
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78. The Parliament may make laws conferring rights to proceed
against the Commonwealth or a State in respect of matters
within the limits of the judicial power.
79. The federal jurisdiction of any court may be exercised by
such number of judges as the Parliament prescribes.
80. The trial on indictment of any offence against any law of
the Commonwealth shall be by jury, and every such trial shall
be held in the State where the offence was committed, and if
the offence was not committed within any State the trial shall
be held at such place or places as the Parliament prescribes.
CHAPTER IV. FINANCE AND TRADE.
81. All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive
Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated
Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the
Commonwealth in the manner and subject to the charges and
liabilities imposed by this Constitution.
82. The costs, charges, and expenses incident to the
collection, management, and receipt of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund shall form the first charge thereon; and the
revenue of the Commonwealth shall in the first instance be
applied to the payment of the expenditure of the Commonwealth.
83. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the
Commonwealth except under appropriation made by law. But until
the expiration of one month after the first meeting of the
Parliament the Governor-General in Council may draw from the
Treasury and expend such moneys as may be necessary for the
maintenance of any department transferred to the Commonwealth
and for the holding of the first elections for the Parliament.
84. When any department of the public service of a State
becomes transferred to the Commonwealth, all officers of the
department shall become subject to the control of the
Executive Government of the Commonwealth. Any such officer who
is not retained in the service of the Commonwealth shall,
unless he is appointed to some other' office of equal
emolument in the public service of the State, be entitled to
receive from the State any pension, gratuity, or other
compensation, payable under the law of the State on the
abolition of his office. Any such officer who is retained in
the service of the Commonwealth shall preserve all his
existing and accruing rights, and shall be entitled to retire
from office at the time, and on the pension or retiring
allowance, which would be permitted by the law of the State if
his service with the Commonwealth were a continuation of his
service with the State. Such pension or retiring allowance
shall be paid to him by the Commonwealth: but the State shall
pay to the Commonwealth a part thereof, to be calculated on
the proportion which his term of service with the State bears
to his whole term of service, and for the purpose of the
calculation his salary shall be taken to be that paid to him
by the State at the time of the transfer. Any officer who is,
at the establishment of the Commonwealth, in the public
service of a State, and who is, by consent of the Governor of
the State with the advice of the Executive Council thereof,
transferred to the public service of the Commonwealth, shall
have the same rights as if he had been an officer of a
department transferred to the Commonwealth and were retained
in the service of the Commonwealth.
85. When any department of the public service of a State is
transferred to the Commonwealth—
(i.) All property of the State of any kind, used exclusively
in connexion with the department, shall become vested in the
Commonwealth; but, in the case of the departments controlling
customs and excise and bounties, for such time only as the
Governor-General in Council may declare to be necessary:
(ii.) The Commonwealth may acquire any property of the State,
of any kind used, but not exclusively used in connexion with
the department: the value thereof shall, if no agreement can
be made, be ascertained in, as nearly as may be, the manner in
which the value of land, or of an interest in land, taken by
the State for public purposes is ascertained under the law of
the State in force at the establishment of the Commonwealth:
(iii.) The Commonwealth shall compensate the State for the
value of any property passing to the Commonwealth under this
section; if no agreement can be made as to the mode of
compensation, it shall be determined under laws to be made by
the Parliament:
(iv.) The Commonwealth shall, at the date of the transfer,
assume the current obligations of the State in respect of the
department transferred.
86. On the establishment of the Commonwealth, the collection
and control of duties of customs and of excise, and the
control of the payment of bounties, shall pass to the
Executive Government of the Commonwealth.
87. During a period of ten years after the establishment of
the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise
provides, of the net revenue of the Commonwealth from duties
of customs and of excise not more than one-fourth shall be
applied annually by the Commonwealth towards its expenditure.
The balance shall, in accordance with this Constitution, be
paid to the several States, or applied towards the payment of
interest on debts of the several States taken over by the
Commonwealth.
88. Uniform duties of customs shall be imposed within two
years after the establishment of the Commonwealth.
89. Until the imposition of uniform duties of customs—
(i.) The Commonwealth shall credit to each State the revenues
collected therein by the Commonwealth.
(ii.) The Commonwealth shall debit to each State—
(a) The expenditure therein of the Commonwealth
incurred solely for the maintenance or continuance, as at
the time of transfer, of any department transferred from
the State to the Commonwealth;
(b) The proportion of the State, according to the
number of its people, in the other expenditure of the
Commonwealth.
(iii.) The Commonwealth shall pay to each State month by month
the balance (if any) in favour of the State.
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90. On the imposition of uniform duties of customs the power
of the Parliament to impose duties of customs and of excise,
and to grant bounties on the production or export of goods,
shall become exclusive. On the imposition of uniform duties of
customs all laws of the several States imposing duties of customs
or of excise, or offering bounties on the production or export
of goods, shall cease to have effect, but any grant of or
agreement for any such bounty lawfully made by or under the
authority of the Government of any State shall be taken to be
good if made before the thirtieth day of June, one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-eight, and not otherwise.
91. Nothing in this Constitution prohibits a State from
granting any aid to or bounty on mining for gold, silver, or
other metals, nor from granting, with the consent of both
Houses of the Parliament of the Commonwealth expressed by
resolution, any aid to or bounty on the production or export
of goods.
92. On the imposition of uniform duties of customs, trade,
commerce, and intercourse among the States, whether by means
of internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely
free. But notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, goods
imported before the imposition of uniform duties of customs
into any State, or into any Colony which, whilst the goods
remain therein, becomes a State, shall, on thence passing into
another State within two years after the imposition of such
duties, be liable to any duty chargeable on the importation of
such goods into the Commonwealth, less any duty paid in
respect of the goods on their importation.
93. During the first five years after the imposition of
uniform duties of customs, and thereafter until the Parliament
otherwise provides—
(i.) The duties of customs chargeable on goods imported into a
State and afterwards passing into another State for
consumption, and the duties of excise paid on goods produced
or manufactured in a State and afterwards passing into another
State for consumption, shall be taken to have been collected
not in the former but in the latter State:
(ii.) Subject to the last subsection, the Commonwealth shall
credit revenue, debit expenditure, and pay balances to the
several States as prescribed for the period preceding the
imposition of uniform duties of customs.
94. After five years from the imposition of uniform duties of
customs, the Parliament may provide, on such basis as it deems
fair, for the monthly payment to the several States of all
surplus revenue of the Commonwealth.
95. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the
Parliament of the State of Western Australia, if that State be
an Original State, may, during the first five years after the
imposition of uniform duties of customs, impose duties of
customs on goods passing into that State and not originally
imported from beyond the limits of the Commonwealth; and such
duties shall be collected by the Commonwealth. But any duty so
imposed on any goods shall not exceed during the first of such
years the duty chargeable on the goods under the law of
Western Australia in force at the imposition of uniform
duties, and shall not exceed during the second, third, fourth,
and fifth of such years respectively, four-fifths, three-fifths,
two-fifths, and one-fifth of such latter duty, and all duties
imposed under this section shall cease at the expiration of
the fifth year after the imposition of uniform duties. If at
any time during the five years the duty on any goods under
this section is higher than the duty imposed by the
Commonwealth on the importation of the like goods, then such
higher duty shall be collected on the goods when imported into
Western Australia from beyond the limits of the Commonwealth.
96. During a period of ten years after the establishment of
the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise
provides, the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any
State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks
fit.
97. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the laws in force
in any Colony which has become or becomes a State with respect
to the receipt of revenue and the expenditure of money on
account of the Government of the Colony, and the review and
audit of such receipt and expenditure, shall apply to the
receipt of revenue and the expenditure of money on account of
the Commonwealth in the State in the same manner as if the
Commonwealth, or the Government or an officer of the
Commonwealth, were mentioned whenever the Colony, or the
Government or an officer of the Colony, is mentioned.
98. The power of the Parliament to make laws with respect to
trade and commerce extends to navigation and shipping, and to
railways the property of any State.
99. The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of
trade, commerce, or revenue, give preference to one State or
any part thereof over another State or any part thereof.
100. The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of
trade or commerce, abridge the right of a State or of the
residents therein to the reasonable use of the waters of
rivers for conservation or irrigation.
101. There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such
powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament
deems necessary for the execution and maintenance, within the
Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating
to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder.

102. The Parliament may by any law with respect to trade or
commerce forbid, as to railways, any preference or
discrimination by any State, or by any authority constituted
under a State, if such preference or discrimination is undue
and unreasonable, or unjust to any State; due regard being had
to the financial responsibilities incurred by any State in
connexion with the construction and maintenance of its
railways. But no preference or discrimination shall, within
the meaning of this section, be taken to be undue and
unreasonable, or unjust to any State, unless so adjudged by
the Inter-State Commission.
103. The members of the Inter-State Commission—
(i.) Shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council:
(ii.) Shall hold office for seven years, but may be removed
within that time by the Governor-General in Council, on an
address from both Houses of the Parliament in the same session
praying for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour
or incapacity:
(iii.) Shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament may
fix; but such remuneration shall not be diminished during
their continuance in office.
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104. Nothing in this Constitution shall render unlawful any
rate for the carriage of goods upon a railway, the property of
a State, if the rate is deemed by the Inter-State Commission
to be necessary for the development of the territory of the
State, and if the rate applies equally to goods within the
State and to goods passing into the State from other States.
105. The Parliament may take over from the States their public
debts as existing at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or
a proportion thereof according to the respective numbers of
their people as shown by the latest statistics of the
Commonwealth, and may convert, renew, or consolidate such
debts, or any part thereof; and the States shall indemnify the
Commonwealth in respect of the debts taken over, and
thereafter the interest payable in respect of the debts shall
be deducted and retained from the portions of the surplus
revenue of the Commonwealth payable to the several States, or
if such surplus is insufficient, or if there is no surplus,
then the deficiency or the whole amount shall be paid by the
several States.
CHAPTER V. THE STATES.
106. The Constitution of each State of the Commonwealth shall,
subject to this Constitution, continue as at the establishment
of the Commonwealth, or as at the admission or establishment
of the State, as the case may be, until altered in accordance
with the Constitution of the State.
107. Every power of the Parliament of a Colony which has
become or becomes a State, shall, unless it is by this
Constitution exclusively vested in the Parliament of the
Commonwealth or withdrawn from the Parliament of the State,
continue as at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or as at
the admission or establishment of the State, as the case may
be.
108. Every law in force in a Colony which has become or
becomes a State, and relating to any matter within the powers
of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, shall, subject to this
Constitution, continue in force in the State; and, until
provision is made in that behalf by the Parliament of the
Commonwealth, the Parliament of the State shall have such
powers of alteration and of repeal in respect of any such law
as the Parliament of the Colony had until the Colony became a
State.
109. When a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the
Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall,
to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid.
110. The provisions of this Constitution relating to the
Governor of a State extend and apply to the Governor for the
time being of the State, or other chief executive officer or
administrator of the government of the State.
111. The Parliament of a State may surrender any part of the
State to the Commonwealth; and upon such surrender, and the
acceptance thereof by the Commonwealth, such part of the State
shall become subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the
Commonwealth.
112. After uniform duties of customs have been imposed, a
State may levy on imports or exports, or on goods passing into
or out of the State, such charges as may be necessary for
executing the inspection laws of the State; but the net
produce of all charges so levied shall be for the use of the
Commonwealth; and any such inspection laws may be annulled by
the Parliament of the Commonwealth.
113. All fermented, distilled, or other intoxicating liquids
passing into any State or remaining therein for use,
consumption, sale, or storage, shall be subject to the laws of
the State as if such liquids had been produced in the State.
114. A State shall not, without the consent of the Parliament
of the Commonwealth, raise or maintain any naval or military
force, or impose any tax on property of any kind belonging to
the Commonwealth, nor shall the Commonwealth impose any tax on
property of any kind belonging to a State.
115. A State shall not coin money, nor make anything but gold
and silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts.
116. The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing
any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for
prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no
religious test shall be required as a qualification for any
office or public trust under the Commonwealth.
117. A subject of the Queen, resident in any State, shall not
be subject in any other State to any disability or
discrimination which would not be equally applicable to him if
he were a subject of the Queen resident in such other State.
118. Full faith and credit shall be given, throughout the
Commonwealth to the laws, the public Acts and records, and the
judicial proceedings of every State.
119. The Commonwealth shall protect every State against
invasion and, on the application of the Executive Government
of the State, against domestic violence.
120. Every State shall make provision for the detention in its
prisons of persons accused or convicted of offences against
the laws of the Commonwealth, and for the punishment of
persons convicted of such offences, and the Parliament of the
Commonwealth may make laws to give effect to this provision.
CHAPTER VI. NEW STATES.
121. The Parliament may admit to the Commonwealth or establish
new States, and may upon such admission or establishment make
or impose such terms and conditions, including the extent of
representation in either House of the Parliament, as it thinks
fit.
122. The Parliament may make laws for the government of any
territory surrendered by any State to and accepted by the
Commonwealth, or of any territory placed by the Queen under
the authority of and accepted by the Commonwealth, or
otherwise acquired by the Commonwealth, and may allow the
representation of such territory in either House of the
Parliament to the extent and on the terms which it thinks fit.
123. The Parliament of the Commonwealth may, with the consent
of the Parliament of a State, and the approval of the majority
of the electors of the State voting upon the question,
increase, diminish, or otherwise alter the limits of the
State, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed on, and
may, with the like consent, make provision respecting the
effect and operation of any increase or diminution or
alteration of territory in relation to any State affected.
124. A new State may be formed by separation of territory from
a State, but only with the consent of the Parliament thereof,
and a new State may be formed by the union of two or more
States or parts of States, but only with the consent of the
Parliaments of the States affected.
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CHAPTER VII. MISCELLANEOUS.
125. The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be
determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory
which shall have been granted to or acquired by the
Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the
Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales,
and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.
Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one
hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall
consist of Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth
without any payment therefor. The Parliament shall sit at
Melbourne until it meet at the seat of Government.
126. The Queen may authorise the Governor-General to appoint
any person, or any persons jointly or severally, to be his
deputy or deputies within any part of the Commonwealth, and in
that capacity to exercise during the pleasure of the
Governor—General such powers and functions of the
Governor-General as he thinks fit to assign to such deputy or
deputies, subject to any limitations expressed or directions
given by the Queen; but the appointment of such deputy or
deputies shall not affect the exercise by the Governor-General
himself of any power or function.
127. In reckoning the numbers of the people of the
Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth,
aboriginal natives shall not be counted.
CHAPTER VIII. ALTERATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.
128. This Constitution shall not be altered except in the
following manner:—The proposed law for the alteration thereof
must be passed by an absolute majority of each House of the
Parliament, and not less than two nor more than six months
after its passage through both Houses the proposed law shall
be submitted in each State to the electors qualified to vote
for the election of members of the House of Representatives.
But if either House passes any such proposed law by an
absolute majority, and the other House rejects or fails to
pass it or passes it with any amendment to which the first
mentioned House will not agree, and if after an interval of
three months the first-mentioned House in the same or the next
session again passes the proposed law by an absolute majority
with or without any amendment which has been made or agreed to
by the other House, and such other House rejects or fails to
pass it or passes it with any amendment to which the
first-mentioned House will not agree, the Governor-General may
submit the proposed law as last proposed by the
first-mentioned House, and either with or without any
amendments subsequently agreed to by both Houses, to the
electors in each State qualified to vote for the election of
the House of Representatives. When a proposed law is submitted
to the electors the vote shall be taken in such manner as the
Parliament prescribes. But until the qualification of electors
of members of the House of Representatives becomes uniform
throughout the Commonwealth, only one-half the electors voting
for and against the proposed law shall be counted in any State
in which adult suffrage prevails. And if in a majority of the
States a majority of the electors voting approve the proposed
law, and if a majority of all the electors voting also approve
the proposed law, it shall be presented to the
Governor-General for the Queen's assent. No alteration
diminishing the proportionate representation of any State in
either House of the Parliament, or the minimum number of
representatives of a State in the House of Representatives, or
increasing, diminishing, or otherwise altering the limits of
the State, or in any manner affecting the provisions of the
Constitution in relation thereto, shall become law unless the
majority of the electors voting in that State approve the
proposed law.
----------CONSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA: End--------
CONSTITUTION OF AUSTRIA: Parliamentary reform of, 1896.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1895-1896.
CONSTITUTION OF BELGIUM:
The working of its' electoral provisions.
See (in this volume)
BELGIUM: A. D. 1894-1895; and 1899-1900.
CONSTITUTION OF CUBA:
The grant of autonomous government by Spain in 1897.
See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1897 (NOVEMBER);
and 1897-1898 (NOVEMBER-FEBRUARY).
CONSTITUTION OF CUBA:
Outline of the draft reported to the Convention of 1900-1901.
See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).
CONSTITUTION OF DELAWARE, New.
See (in this volume)
DELAWARE: A. D. 1897.
CONSTITUTION OF IDAHO:
Adoption of Woman Suffrage.
See (in this volume)
IDAHO: A. D. 1896.
CONSTITUTION OF LOUISIANA:
Its discriminating educational qualification.
See (in this volume)
LOUISIANA: A. D. 1898.
CONSTITUTION OF MEXICO: Amendments.
The text of the constitution of Mexico, as published in 1891,
will be found in volume 1 [page 558] of this work, under the
same heading as above. In 1896, the Constitution received two
amendments promulgated by decrees published in the "Diario
Official" on the 24th of April and the 1st of May in that
year. Translations of these decrees were transmitted to the
State Department at Washington by the United States Minister
to Mexico and published in U. S. Consular Reports, July, 1896,
from which source they are copied below. That of April 24 was
as follows:
The Congress of the United Mexican States, in the exercise of
the power which article 127 of the federal constitution
concedes to it, and with the previous approbation of the
majority of the legislatures of the States, declares articles
79, 80, 82, and 83 of the constitution to be amended and an
addition to article 72 of the same, in the following tenor:
ARTICLE. 72. Congress has power:
XXXI. To appoint, both houses of Congress being assembled for
such purpose, a President of the Republic, either with the
character of substitute or with that of ad interim, to act in
the absolute or temporary defaults of the constitutional
President. Likewise, to replace in the respective cases and in
equal form the substitute as well as the ad interim, if these
in their turn should default.
XXXII. To qualify and to decide upon the petition for leave of
absence that the President of the Republic may make. It is the
exclusive faculty of the House of Deputies—II. To qualify and
decide upon the resignations of the President of the Republic
and of the magistrates of the supreme court of justice.
{165}
ARTICLE 79.
I. In the absolute defaults of the President, excepting that
arising from resignation, and in the temporary defaults,
excepting that proceeding from permission, the Secretary of
Foreign Relations, and in case there be none or if there
exists an impediment, the Secretary of Government shall take
immediate charge of the Executive power.
II. The Congress of the union shall assemble in an
extraordinary session the following day, in the Chamber of
Deputies, more than half of the total number of members of
both houses being present, the officers of the House of
Deputies acting. If no session can be had on account of no
quorum or for other cause, those present shall compel, from
day unto day, the presence of the absentees, in accordance
with the law, so as to hold the session as soon as possible.
III. In this session, the substitute President shall be
elected by the absolute majority of those present, and in a
nominal and public vote, without any proposition being
discussed therein nor anything else done but to take in the
votes, publish them, and make a close examination and publish
the name of the one elected.
IV. If no one of the candidates should have received the
absolute majority of the votes, the election shall be repeated
as to the two who had the greater number of votes, and the one
receiving the majority will be elected. If the competitors
should have received an equal number of votes, and on a
repetition of the election an equal result shall be obtained,
then the drawing of lots shall decide the one who must be
elected.
V. If there be an equality of votes for more than two
candidates, the election as to which of these shall be made,
but if at tho same time there is another candidate who may
have obtained a majority of votes, he shall be considered as
first competitor, and the second shall be chosen by votes out
of the first mentioned.
VI. If Congress be not in session, it shall meet, without the
necessity of a convocation, on the fourteenth day following
that of the default, under the direction of the board of
permanent commission which may be in duty, and shall proceed
as already stated.
VII. In case of absolute default caused by the renouncement of
the President, Congress shall convene in the form set forth
for the appointment of the substitute, and the resignation
shall not take effect until the appointment of the substitute
and of the legal protest by him.
VIII. In relation to temporary defaults, from whatever cause,
Congress shall appoint an ad interim President, observing for
this purpose the same procedure as prescribed for the cases of
absolute default. Should the President ask for leave of absence,
he will, at the time of so doing, propose the citizen who must
take his place; the permission being granted, it will not take
effect until the ad interim (president) shall have protested,
it being within the President's faculty to make use or not of
said leave, or to lessen its duration. The ad interim shall
only exercise the functions during the time of temporary
default. The petition for permission shall be addressed to the
House of Deputies, who shall at once deliver it to the proper
commission for its perusal, at the same time summoning the
Senate for an extraordinary session of Congress, before which
the commission shall render its decision. The proposition with
which the decision may end, if favorable, shall comprise in a
decree of a sole article the granting of the permission and
the approval of the proposition, which shall be decided upon
only by one ballot.
IX. If, on the day appointed by the constitution, the people's
President-elect shall not enter into the discharge of his
office, Congress shall at once appoint an ad interim
President. If the cause of the impediment be transitory, the
ad interim shall cease in the Presidential functions when said
cause ceases and the President-elect enters into the discharge
of his functions. But, should the cause be of that kind that
produces absolute impossibility, so that the President-elect
cannot enter into the exercise of power during the four years,
Congress, after appointing the ad interim President, shall,
without delay, convoke the extraordinary elections. The ad
interim President shall cease in his functions as soon as the
new President-elect protests, and this shall complete the
constitutional period. Should the impediment arise from the
fact that the election be not made or published on the 1st of
December, a President ad interim shall also be appointed, who
will discharge the Presidential duties until those requisites
are complied with and the President-elect takes due protest.
X. The defaults of the substitute President and those of the
ad interim shall also be remedied in the manner prescribed,
except in regard to the second, in the case when the
constitutional President, who, having temporarily separated
himself, may again assume the exercise of his duties.
ARTICLE 80.
Should the default of the President be absolute, the
substitute appointed by Congress shall terminate the
constitutional period.
ARTICLE 82.
The President, upon taking possession of his office, shall
swear before Congress under the following formula:
"I protest to perform loyally and patriotically the functions
of President of the United Mexican States; to keep and cause
to be kept, without any reserve, the constitution of 1857,
with all its additions and reforms, the laws of reform, and
all those laws emanating therefrom, watching everything for
the good and prosperity of the union." The Secretary of
Department, who may take provisional charge of the Executive
power, in its case, is exempted from this requisite.
The decree of May 1, 1896, was as follows:
The Congress of the Union has decreed the following: The
General Congress of the United Mexican States, in conformity
with the provisions of article 127 of the federal
constitution, and with the previous approbation of the State
legislatures, declares articles 111 and 124 of said
constitution amended and an addition made to same in the
following terms:
First.
Section III. of article 111 of the federal constitution is
amended, and an addition made to the said article in the
following terms: The States shall not—
III. Coin money, issue paper money, stamps, or stamped paper.
IV. Obstruct the transit of persons or goods crossing its
territory.
V. Prohibit or molest, either directly or indirectly, the
entrance or exit, to or from its territory, of national or
foreign merchandise.
{166}
VI. Obstruct the circulation or consumption of national or
foreign goods by means of imposts or taxes that may be exacted
through local custom-houses, by requiring the inspection or
registration of packages, or by requiring the documentation to
accompany the merchandise.
VII. Decree or maintain in force laws or fiscal decrees which
may cause differences of taxes or requisites, by reason of the
source of national or foreign merchandise, whether these
differences be established in regard to a like production in
that locality or on account of like production from different
sources.
Second.
Article 124 of the federal constitution is amended in the
following terms:
ARTICLE 124.
It is the exclusive faculty of the federation to obstruct
merchandise, imported or exported, or which passes in transit
through the national territory, likewise to regulate at all
times, and even to prohibit for reasons of policy and
security, the circulation within the Republic of all
merchandise from whatever source; but the said federation
cannot establish or decree in the district or federal
territories the taxes and laws expressed in Sections VI. and
V. of Article 111.
Transitory article.
These amendments and additions shall take effect on the 1st of
July, 1896.
CONSTITUTION OF MINNESOTA: Amendments.
See (in this volume)
MINNESOTA: A. D. 1896.
CONSTITUTION OF MISSISSIPPI: Amendment.
See (in this volume)
MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1890-1892.
CONSTITUTION OF NEW JERSEY: Proposed Amendments.
See (in this volume)
NEW JERSEY: A. D. 1897.
CONSTITUTION OF NEW YORK.
The constitution of the State of New York, as revised by the
Convention of 1894 (see, in volume 4, NEW YORK: A. D. 1894)
[transcriber's note: volume 3, page 2350], was submitted to
the people at the election in November that year and adopted.
The important features of the revision were set forth in an
address by the Convention to the people, as follows:
"We seek to separate, in the larger cities, municipal
elections from State and national elections to the end that
the business affairs of our great municipal corporations may
be managed upon their own merits, uncontrolled by national and
State politics. … We have provided further safeguards against
abuses in legislative procedure, by requiring that all bills
shall be printed in their final form at least three days
before their passage, prohibiting riders on appropriation
bills, providing for notice to municipal authorities before
special acts relating to the larger cities can take effect,
prohibiting the issue of passes by railroad, telegraph and
telephone companies to public officers, enlarging the express
constitutional powers of the President of the Senate. … We
have extended the prohibition against lotteries so as to
include all pool-selling, book-making and other forms of
gambling. … We have sought to throw greater safeguards around
the elective franchise by prescribing a period of ninety
instead of ten days of citizenship before that right can be
exercised, so that naturalization may be taken out of the
hands of campaign committees and removed from the period
immediately before election. … We have modified the language
relating to election so that if any mechanical device for
recording and counting votes is so perfected as to be superior
to the present system, the Legislature may make trial of it. We
have established in the Constitution the well-tried and
satisfactory system of registration of votes, forbidding,
however, any requirement of personal attendance on the first
day of registration in the thinly-settled regions outside of
the cities and large villages, where voters would have long
distances to travel to the place of registration, and we have
provided for securing an honest and fair election by requiring
that on all election boards election officers shall equally
represent the two principal political parties of the State. We
have provided for a new appointment of Senate and Assembly
districts. … Attack has been made upon two rules laid down in
the proposed measure for the guidance of the Legislature in
future apportionments. One of these is the rule that no county
shall have more than three Senators unless it shall have a full
ratio for each Senator, although smaller counties may receive
a Senator or an additional Senator on a major fraction of a
ratio. … The other rule attacked is that no one county shall
have more than one-third of all the Senators, and that New
York and Kings county together shall not have more than
one-half of all the Senators. … We have declared in the
Constitution the principle of civil service reform, that
appointments and promotions are to be based upon merit and
ascertained so far as practicable by competitive examination.
We have sought by this to secure not merely the advantage
derived from declaring the principle, but the practical
benefit of its extension to the State prisons, canals and
other public works of the State, to which, under the existing
Constitution, the court of last resort has decided that civil
service rules cannot be applied. … We have prohibited the
contract system of convict labor. … We have authorized the
Legislature to provide for the improvement of the canals,
without, however, borrowing money for that purpose unless the
people expressly authorize it. … We have required the
Legislature to provide for free public schools, in which all
the children of the State may be educated, and we have
prohibited absolutely the use of public money in aid of
sectarian schools. … We have so amended the present
Constitution as to provide for a naval as well as a land force
of militia. … In order to allow every voter to exercise a
choice in voting on some of the important proposed amendments,
we have provided that the Revised Constitution shall be
submitted to the people in three parts, viz.:
1. That making an apportionment of Senators and members of the
Assembly.
2. That pertaining to the improvements of the canals.
3. All the remainder of the proposed amendments as a whole."
Journal of the Constitutional Convention,
State of New York, 1894, pages 839-846.
CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA:
Amendment qualifying the suffrage.
See (in this volume)
NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1900.
{167}
--CONSTITUTION (GRONDWET) OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.: Start--
The following are the Articles of main importance in the
Grondwet or Constitution of the South African Republic:
ARTICLE 1.
This State shall bear the name of the South African Republic.
ARTICLE 2.
The form of government of this State shall be that of a
republic.
ARTICLE 3.
It desires to be recognized and respected by the civilized
world as an independent and free people.
ARTICLE 4.
The people seek for no extension of territory, and desire it
only in accordance with just principles, when the interest of
the Republic makes such extension desirable.
ARTICLE 5.
The people desire to retain and maintain their territory in
South Africa unimpaired. The boundaries thereof are fixed by
proclamation.
ARTICLE 6.
Its territory is open for every foreigner who obeys the laws
of this Republic. All who are within the territory of this
Republic have equal claims to protection of person and
property.
ARTICLE 7.
The land or farms situate in this territory which have not yet
been given out, are declared to be the property of the State.
ARTICLE 8.
The people claim the utmost social freedom, and expect the
result from the maintenance of their religious belief, from
the observance of their obligations, from submission to law,
order and right, and the maintenance of the same. The people
permit the spread of the Gospel among the heathen under fixed
precautions against deceit or misleading.
ARTICLE 9.
The people will not allow any equalization of the coloured
inhabitants with the white.
ARTICLE 10.
The people will not suffer any slave trade or slavery in this
Republic.
ARTICLE 11.
The people reserve to themselves the protection and defence of
the independence and inviolability of the State, subject to
the laws.
ARTICLE 12.
The people entrust the legislation to a Volksraad—the highest
authority in the land—consisting of representatives or
deputies of the people, chosen by the enfranchised burghers;
but with the reservation that a period of three months shall
be left to the people to enable them if they so wish to
communicate to the Volksraad their verdict on a proposed law;
except those laws which can suffer no delay.
ARTICLE 13.
The people charge the President with the task of proposing and
executing the laws; he also brings before the Volksraad the
appointments of all civil servants for ratification.
ARTICLE 14.
The people entrust the maintenance of order to the military
force, the police, and other persons appointed by the law for
that purpose.
ARTICLE 15.
The people place the judicial power in the hands of a Supreme
Court, Circuit Court, Landrosts, Juries, and such other
persons as shall be entrusted with judicial powers, and leave
all these free to discharge their function according to their
judgment and consciences, according to the laws of the land.
ARTICLE 16.
The people shall receive from the Volksraad an estimate of the
general income and expenses of the State, and learn therefrom
how much every man's taxes shall amount to.
ARTICLE 17.
Potchefstrom, situated on the Mooi River, shall be the capital
of the Republic, and Pretoria the seat of Government.
ARTICLE 18.
All services rendered on behalf of the public are remunerated
by the public.
ARTICLE 19.
Freedom of the press is granted provided the printer and
publisher remain responsible for all the documents which
contain defamation, insult, or attacks against anyone's
character.
ARTICLE 20.
The people shall only appoint as representatives in the
Volksraad those who are members of a Protestant Church.
ARTICLE 21.
The people desire the growth, prosperity, and welfare of the
State, and with this view provision for suitable school
teachers.
ARTICLE 22.
Providing also that in time of peace precautionary measures
are taken to enable the State to wage or withstand a war.
ARTICLE 23.
In case of a hostile attack from outside, everyone, without
distinction, shall be held bound to lend his assistance on the
promulgation of martial law. …
ARTICLE 26.
The Volksraad shall be the highest authority of the country,
and the legislative power.
ARTICLE 27.
No civil servants are to be representatives of the people.
ARTICLE 28.
The Volksraad shall consist of at least twelve members, who
must possess the following qualifications:-They must have
attained the age of thirty years, and be born in the Republic,
or have for fifteen consecutive years been burghers entitled
to vote, be members of a Protestant Church, reside, and
possess immovable property, in the Republic. No persons of
notoriously bad character, or who have had a dishonouring
sentence pronounced against them, and no uncertified or
unrehabilitated insolvents shall be eligible. They may not be
related to each other in the relationship of father and son or
stepson. No coloured persons or bastards shall be admitted
into our Assemblies. In like manner no military officer or
official of the State, who draws a fixed annual or monthly
salary, shall be eligible as member of the Volksraad.
ARTICLE 29.
The members of the Volksraad are elected by a majority of
votes from among the electors of each district. No one shall
be considered as elected who has not obtained at least sixty
votes. Everyone who is born in the country and has attained
the age of twenty-one years, or has become naturalized, shall
be a burgher qualified to vote. The members of the Volksraad
are elected for the period of four years. … [The above
provisions of the Constitution, relating to the Volksraad and
the representation of the people, were modified by the
following among other provisions of an Act of the Volksraad
passed in 1891:
ARTICLE 1.
The legislative power shall rest with a representation of the
people, which shall consist of a First Volksraad and a Second
Volksraad.
{168}
ARTICLE 2.
The First Volksraad shall be the highest authority in the
State, just as the Volksraad was before this law came into
operation. The First Volksraad shall be the body named the
Volksraad until this law came into operation. From the period
of this law coming into operation, the name of that body shall
be altered from the Volksraad to the First Volksraad. The
persons forming that body as members shall, however, remain
the same, only they shall, from the said period, be named
members of the First Volksraad instead of members of the
Volksraad. All laws and resolutions having reference to the
Volksraad and the members thereof shall remain in force and
apply to the First Volksraad and the members thereof, except
in so far as a change is or shall be made by this and later
laws. …
ARTICLE 4.
The number of the members of the Second Volksraad shall be the
same as of the First Volksraad. This number shall be fixed
later by the First Volksraad for both Volksraads. …
ARTICLE 9.
The members of the First Volksraad are chosen by those
enfranchised burghers who have obtained the burgher right,
either before this law came into operation, or thereafter by
birth, and have reached the age of sixteen years. The
franchise for the First Volksraad can besides also be obtained
by those who have during ten years been eligible for the
Second Volksraad, by resolution of the First Volksraad, and
according to rules to be fixed later by law.
ARTICLE 10.
The members of the Second Volksraad are chosen by all
enfranchised burghers who have reached the age of sixteen
years. …
ARTICLE 27.
The Second Volksraad shall have the power to pass further
regulations on the following subjects as is necessary, either
by law or resolution:
(1) The department of mines.
(2) The making and support of wagon and post roads.
(3) The postal department.
(4) The department of telegraphs and telephones.
(5) The protection of inventions, samples and trademarks.
(6) The protection of the right of the author.
(7) The exploitation and support of the woods and salt-pans.
(8) The prevention and coping with contagious diseases.
(9) The condition, the rights, and obligations of companies.
(10) Insolvency.
(11) Civil procedure.
(12) Criminal procedure.
(13) Such other subjects as the First Volksraad shall decide
later by law or resolution, or the First Volksraad shall
specially refer to the Second Volksraad.
ARTICLE 28.
All laws or resolutions accepted by the Second Volksraad are
as soon as possible, that is to say at the outside within
forty-eight hours, communicated both to the First Volksraad
and to the President.
ARTICLE 29.
The President has the right, when he has received notice from
the Second Volksraad of the adoption of a law or a resolution,
to bring that law or resolution before the First Volksraad for
consideration within fourteen days after the receipt of such
notice. The President is in any case bound, after the receipt
of such a notice, to communicate it to the First Volksraad
within the said time.
ARTICLE 30.
If the President has not brought the law or resolution as
communicated before the First Volksraad for consideration, and
the First Volksraad has not on its own part thought it
necessary to take said law or resolution into consideration,
the President shall, unless with the advice and consent of the
Executive Council he thinks it undesirable in the interests of
the State, be bound to have that law or resolution published
in the first succeeding Volksraad, unless within the said
fourteen days the First Volksraad may be adjourned, in which
case the publication in the "Stasts Courant" shall take place
after the lapse of eight days from the commencement of the
first succeeding session of the First Volksraad.
ARTICLE 31.
The law or resolution adopted by the Second Volksraad shall
have no force, unless published by the President in the
"Staats Courant."
ARTICLE 43.
The President shall bring forward for discussion the proposals
for laws which have come in before the Volksraad, whether the
latter have been made known to the public three months before
the commencement of the session, or whether the same have come
in during the session of the Volksraad.
ARTICLE 44.
When the notices of laws and Government notices to the public
have not been given in time, the President shall examine with
whom the blame of that delay lies. A Landrost found guilty
hereof shall have a fine of Rds. 50 inflicted and a
Field-Cornet or lesser official of Rds. 25. …
ARTICLE 56.
The executive power resides in the State President, who is
responsible to the Volksraad. He is chosen by a majority of
the burghers entitled to vote, and for the term of five years.
He is eligible for reelection. He must have attained the age of
thirty years, and need not be a burgher of the State at the
time of his nomination, and must be a member of a Protestant
Church, and have no dishonouring sentence pronounced against
him. [By a subsequent law the President must be chosen from
among the burghers.]
ARTICLE 57.
The President is the first or highest official of the State.
All civil servants are subordinate to him; such, however, as
are charged with exercise of the judicial power are left
altogether free and independent in its exercise.
ARTICLE 58.
As long as the President holds his position as such he shall
fill no other, nor shall he discharge any ecclesiastical
office, nor carry on any business. The President cannot go
outside the boundaries of the State without consent of the
Volksraad. However, the Executive Council shall have the power
to grant him leave to go outside the boundaries of the State
upon private affairs in cases of necessity. …
ARTICLE 60.
The President shall be discharged from his post by the
Volksraad after conviction of misconduct, embezzlement of
public property, treachery, or other serious crimes, and be
treated further according to the laws.
ARTICLE 61.
If in consequence of transgression of the Constitution or
other public misdemeanors the Volksraad resolve that the
President shall be brought to trial, he shall be tried before
a special court composed of the members of the High Court, the
President and another member of the Volksraad, while the State
Attorney acts as Public Prosecutor. The accused shall be
allowed to secure assistance of a lawyer at his choice.
ARTICLE 62.
The President is charged with the proposing of laws to the
Volksraad, whether his own proposals or others which have come
in to him from the people; he must make these proposals known
to the public by means of the "Staats Courant" three months
before presenting them to the Volksraad, together with all
such other documents as are judged useful and necessary by
him.
{169}
ARTICLE 63.
All proposals for a law sent in to the President shall, before
they are published, be judged by the President and Executive
Council as to whether publication is necessary or not.
ARTICLE 64.
The President submits the proposals for laws to the Volksraad,
and charges the official to whose department they belong first
and foremost, with their explanation and defence.
ARTICLE 65.
As soon as the President has received the notice of the
Volksraad that the proposed law is adopted, he shall have that
law published within two months, and after the lapse of a
month, to be reckoned from the publication, he shall take
measures for the execution of the same.
ARTICLE 66.
Proclamation of martial law, as intended in Article 23, shall
only be made by the President with the assent of the members
of the Executive Council. …
ARTICLE 67.
The President, with advice of the Executive Council, declares
war and peace, with reference to Article 66 of the
Constitution; the Government having first, if possible,
summoned the Volksraad before the declaration of war. Treaties
of peace require the ratification of the Volksraad, which is
summoned as soon as possible for that purpose. …
ARTICLE 70.
The President shall submit, yearly, at the opening of the
Volksraad, estimates of general outgoings and income, and
therein indicate how to cover the deficit or apply the
surplus.
ARTICLE 71.
He shall also give a report during that session of that
Volksraad, of his actions during the past year, of the
condition of the Republic and everything that concerns its
general interest. …
ARTICLE 75.
The President and one member of the Executive Council shall,
if possible, visit the towns and villages of the Republic
where Landrost's officers are, once in the year; he shall
examine the state of those offices, inquire into the conduct
of the officials, and on these circuits give the inhabitants
during their stay an opportunity to bring before him anything
they are interested in. …
ARTICLE 82.
The President exercises his power along with the Executive
Council. An Executive Council shall be joined to the
President, consisting of the Commandant-General, two
enfranchised burghers, a Secretary, and a Notekeeper
(notulenhouder), who shall have an equal vote, and bear the
title of members of the Executive Council. The Superintendent
of Native Affairs and the Notekeeper shall be ex-officio
members of the Executive Council. The President and members of
the Executive Council shall have the right to sit, but not to
vote, in the Volksraad. The President is allowed, when
important affairs arise, to invite the head official to be
present in the Executive Council whose department is more
directly concerned with the subject to be treated of. The said
head official shall then have a vote in the Executive Council,
be equally responsible for the resolution taken, and sign it
along with the others.
ARTICLE 83.
According to the intention of Article 82 the following shall
be considered "Head Officials": The State Attorney, Treasurer,
Auditor, Superintendent of Education, Orphan-Master, Registrar
of Deeds, Surveyor-General, Postmaster-General, Head of the
Mining Department, Chief Director of the Telegraph Service,
and Chief of Public Works.
ARTICLE 84.
The President shall be Chairman of the Executive Council, and
in case of an equal division of votes have a casting vote. For
the ratification of sentences of death, or declarations of
war, the unanimous vote of the Executive Council shall be
requisite for a decision. …
ARTICLE 87.
All resolutions of the Executive Council and official letters
of the President must, besides being signed by him, also be
signed by the Secretary of State. The latter is at the same
time responsible that the contents of the resolution, or the
letter, is not in conflict with the existing laws.
ARTICLE 88.
The two enfranchised burghers or members of the Executive
Council contemplated by Article 82 are chosen by the Volksraad
for the period of three years, the Commandant-General for ten
years; they must be members of a Protestant Church, have had
no sentence in a criminal court to their discredit, and have
reached the age of thirty years.
ARTICLE 89.
The Secretary of State is chosen also by the Volksraad, but is
appointed for the period of four years. On resignation or
expiration of his term he is re-eligible. He must be a member
of a Protestant Church, have had no sentence in a criminal
court to his discredit, possess fixed property in the
Republic, and have reached the age of thirty years. …
ARTICLE 93.
The military force consists of all the men of this Republic
capable of bearing arms, and if necessary of all those of the
natives within its boundaries whose chiefs are subject to it.
ARTICLE 94.
Besides the armed force of burghers to be called up in times
of disturbance or war, there exists a general police and corps
of artillery, for which each year a fixed sum is drawn upon
the estimates.
ARTICLE 95.
The men of the white people capable of bearing arms are all
men between the ages of sixteen and sixty years; and of the
natives, only those which are capable of being made
serviceable in the war.
ARTICLE 96.
For the subdivision of the military force the territory of
this Republic is divided into field-cornetcies and districts.
…
ARTICLE 97.
The men are under the orders of the following officers,
ascending in rank: Assistant Field-Cornets, Field-Cornets,
Commandants, and a Commandant-General.
Selected Official Documents of the South African Republic
and Great Britain (Supplement to the Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science,
July, 1900).
--CONSTITUTION (GRONDWET) OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.: End--
CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA: The revision of 1895-6.
Disfranchisement provision.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1896.
CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Amendment introducing the Initiative and Referendum.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH DAKOTA: A. D. 1898.
CONSTITUTION OF SWITZERLAND:
Amendments.
See (in this volume)
SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1897.
{170}
CONSTITUTION OF UTAH.
See (in this volume)
UTAH: A. D. 1895-1896.
CONWAY, Sir W. Martin:
Explorations of Spitzbergen.
See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1896, 1897.
COOK, or HERVEY ISLANDS:
Annexation to New Zealand.
See (in this volume)
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1900 (OCTOBER).
COOMASSIE,
KUMASSI:
Occupation by the British.
Siege and relief.
See (in this volume)
ASHANTI.
COPTIC CHURCH:
Authority of the Pope re-established.
See (in this volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1896 (MARCH).
COREA.
See (in this volume)
KOREA.
CORNWALL AND YORK, The Duke of.
See (in this volume)
WALES, THE PRINCE OF.
COSTA RICA.
See (in this volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA.
COTTON-MILL STRIKE, New England.
See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES: A. D. 1898.
COTTON STATES EXPOSITION, The.
See (in this volume)
ATLANTA: A. D. 1895.
COURT OF ARBITRATION, The Permanent.
See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
CREEKS, United States agreement with the.
See (in this volume)
INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1893-1899.
CRETE:
Recent archæological explorations.
Supposed discovery of the Palace of Minos and
the Cretan Labyrinth.
Fresh light on the origin of the Alphabet.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: CRETE.
CRETE: A. D. 1896.
Conflict between Christians and Mussulmans,
and its preceding causes.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1896.
CRETE: A. D. 1897.
Fresh conflicts.
Reports of the British Consul-General and others.
Greek interference and demands for annexation to Greece.
Action of the Great Powers.
Blockade of the island.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).
CRETE: A. D. 1897.
Withdrawal of Greek troops.
Acceptance of autonomy by the Greek government.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).
CRETE: A. D. 1897-1898.
Prolonged anarchy, and blockade by the Powers.
Final departure of Turkish troops and officials.

Government established under Prince George of Greece.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1897-1899.
CRETE: A. D. 1901.
Successful administration of Prince George of Greece.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1901.
CRISPI, Signor:
Ministry.
See (in this volume)
ITALY: A. D. 1895-1896.
CRISPI, Signor:
Parliamentary investigation of charges against.
See (in this volume)
ITALY: A. D. 1898 (MARCH-JUNE).
CROKER, "Boss."
See (in this volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1894-1895; and 1897.
CROMER, Viscount:
Administration in Egypt.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898.
CROMWELL, Oliver, Proposed statue of.
A proposal in the English House of Commons, in 1895, to vote
£500 for a statue of Cromwell was so violently opposed by the
Irish members that the government was compelled to withdraw
the item from the estimates.
CRONJE, General Piet:
In the South African war.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER);
and 1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).
CROZIER, Captain William:
American Commissioner to the Peace Conference at The Hague.
See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
----------CUBA: Start--------

Map of Cuba and West Indies.
CUBA: A. D. 1868-1885.
Ten years of insurrection.
The United States and Spain.
The Affair of the Virginius.
End of Slavery.
"The abolition of slavery in the southern states left the
Spanish Antilles in the enjoyment of a monopoly of slave
labor, which, in the production of sugar, especially, gave
them advantages which overcame all competition. This led to
the formation of a strong Spanish party, for whom the cause of
slavery and that of Spanish dominion were identical. These
were known as Peninsulars or Spanish immigrants. They were the
official class, the wealthy planters and slave-owners, and the
real rulers of Cuba. Their central organization was the Casino
Espagñol of Havana, which was copied in all the towns of the
island, and through these clubs they controlled the
volunteers, who at times numbered 60,000 or 70,000. … These
volunteers never took the field, but held possession of all
the cities and towns, and thus were able to defy even the
captain-general. They were obedient to his orders only so long
as he was acting in close accord with the wishes of their
party. On the other hand, there was a party composed of
Creoles, or native Cubans, whose cry was 'Cuba for the
Cubans!' and who hoped to effect the complete separation of
the island from Spain, either through their own efforts or
through the assistance of the United States. …
"The Spanish revolution of September, 1868, was the signal for
an uprising of the native or Creole party in the eastern part
of the island under the leadership of Cespedes. This movement
was not at first ostensibly for independence, but for the
revolution in Spain, the cries being, 'Hurrah for Prim!'
'Hurrah for the Revolution!' Its real character was, however,
apparent from the first, and its supporters continued for a
period of ten years, without regard to the numerous
vicissitudes through which the Spanish Government passed—the
provisional government, the regency, the elective monarchy,
the republic, and the restored Bourbon dynasty—to wage a
dogged, though desultory warfare against the constituted
authorities of the island. This struggle was almost
conterminous with President Grant's Administration of eight
years."
{171}
President Grant made early offers of mediation between Spain
and the insurgents, but no agreement as to terms could be
reached. An increasing sympathy with the Cubans raised demands
in the United States for their recognition as belligerents,
with belligerent rights, and the President is said to have
been ready to yield to the demand, but was deterred by the
influence of his Secretary of State, Mr. Fish, who contended
that the insurgents had established no government that could
claim such rights. The Cuban sympathizers in Congress were
accordingly checked by an opposing message (June 13, 1870),
and no interference occurred.
"In February, 1873, when King Amadeus resigned his crown and a
republic was proclaimed in Spain, the United States made haste to
give the new government recognition and support, which led to
friendly relations between the two countries for a time, and
promised happy results. The Spanish republicans were being
urged to give the Cubans self-government and end slavery in
the whole Spanish domain, and they were lending, at least, a
considerate ear to the advice. But negotiation on that topic
was soon disturbed. On October 31, 1873, the steamer
'Virginius,' sailing under American colors and carrying a
United States registry, was captured on the high seas by the
'Tornado,' a Spanish war vessel, and on the afternoon of the
first of November taken into the port of Santiago de Cuba. The
men and supplies she bore were bound for the insurgents, but
the capture did not occur in Cuban waters. General Burriel,
the commandant of the city, summoned a court-martial, and, in
spite of the protests of the American consul, condemned to
death—at the first sitting—four of the passengers—General W.
A. C. Ryan, an Irish patriot, and three Cubans. They were shot
on the morning of November 4. On the 7th twelve other
passengers were executed, and on the 8th Captain Fry and his
entire crew, numbering 36, making the total number of
executions 53." This barbarous procedure caused hot excitement
in the United States, and demands for reparation were made so
sharply that the two countries came near to war. In the end it
was shown that the "Virginius" was sailing under the American
flag without right, being owned by Cubans and controlled by
them. The vessel was surrendered, however, but foundered off
Cape Fear, while being conveyed to the United States. Her
surviving passengers were released, and an indemnity was paid
for all who were put to death. The brutal officer who took
their lives was never brought to justice, though his
punishment was promised again and again. On the settlement of
the Virginius question, the government of the United States
resumed its efforts to wring concessions to the Cubans from
Spain, and sought to have its efforts supported by Great
Britain and other European powers. Cold replies came from all
the cabinets that were approached. At the same time, the
Spanish government met the demand from America with promises
so lavish (April, 1876), going so far in appearance towards
all that had been asked, that no ground for intervention
seemed left. The act of Secretary Fish, in proposing
intervention to foreign powers, was sharply criticised as a
breach of the Monroe doctrine; but he made no defense.
"The Cuban struggle continued for two years longer. In
October, 1877, several leaders surrendered to the Spanish
authorities and undertook the task of bringing over the few
remaining ones. Some of these paid for their efforts with
their lives, being taken and condemned by court-martial, by
order of the commander of the Cuban forces. Finally, in
February, 1878, the terms of pacification [under an agreement
called the Treaty of El Zanjon] were made known. They embraced
representation in the Spanish Cortes, oblivion of the past as
regarded political offences committed since the year 1868, and
the freedom of slaves in the insurgent ranks. In practice,
however, the Cuban deputies were never truly representative,
but were men of Spanish birth, designated usually by the
captain-general. By gradual emancipation, slavery ceased to
exist in the island in 1885. The powers of the
captain-general, the most objectionable feature of Spanish
rule, continued uncurtailed."
J. H. Latané,
The Diplomatic Relations of the United States
and Spanish America,
chapter 3.
CUBA: A. D. 1895.
Insurrection renewed.
Early in 1895 a new uprising of the oppressed Cubans was
begun, and on the 7th of December, in that year, T. Estrada
Palma, writing as their authorized representative, presented
to the State Department at Washington a statement setting
forth the causes of the revolt and describing its state of
organization at that time. The causes, he wrote, "are
substantially the same as those of the former revolution,
lasting from 1868 to 1878, and terminating only on the
representation of the Spanish Government that Cuba would be
granted such reforms as would remove the grounds of complaint
on the part of the Cuban people. Unfortunately the hopes thus
held out have never been realized. The representation which
was to be given the Cubans has proved to be absolutely without
character; taxes have been levied anew on everything
conceivable; the offices in the island have increased, but the
officers are all Spaniards; the native Cubans have been left
with no public duties whatsoever to perform, except the
payment of taxes to the Government and blackmail to the
officials, without privilege even to move from place to place
in the island except on the permission of the governmental
authority. Spain has framed laws so that the natives have
substantially been deprived of the right of suffrage. The
taxes levied have been almost entirely devoted to support the
army and navy in Cuba, to pay interest on the debt that Spain
has saddled on the island, and to pay the salaries of the vast
number of Spanish officeholders, devoting only $746,000 for
internal improvements out of the $26,000,000 collected by tax.
No public schools are within reach of the masses for their
education. All the principal industries of the island are
hampered by excessive imposts. Her commerce with every country
but Spain has been crippled in every possible manner, as can
readily be seen by the frequent protests of shipowners and
merchants. The Cubans have no security of person or property.
The judiciary are instruments of the military authorities.
Trial by military tribunals can be ordered at any time at the
will of the Captain-General. There is, beside, no freedom of
speech, press, or religion. In point of fact, the causes of
the Revolution of 1775 in this country were not nearly as
grave as those that have driven the Cuban people to the
various insurrections which culminated in the present
revolution. …
{172}
"Years before the outbreak of the present hostilities the
people within and without the island began to organize, with a
view of preparing for the inevitable revolution, being
satisfied, after repeated and patient endeavors, that peaceful
petition was fruitless. In order that the movement should be
strong from the beginning, and organized both as to civil and
military administration, the Cuban Revolutionary party was
founded, with José Marti at its head. The principal objects
were by united efforts to obtain the absolute independence of
Cuba, to promote the sympathy of other countries, to collect
funds with these objects in view, and to invest them in
munitions of war. The military organization of this movement
was completed by the election of Maximo Gomez as commander in
chief. This election was made by the principal officers who
fought in the last revolution. The time for the uprising was
fixed at the solicitation of the people in Cuba, who protested
that there was no hope of autonomy, and that their deposits of
arms and ammunition were in danger of being discovered and
their leaders arrested. A large amount of war material was
then bought by Marti, and vessels chartered to transport it to
Cuba, where arrangements were made for its reception in the
provinces of Santiago, Puerto Principe, and Santa Clara; but
at Fernandina, Florida, it was seized by the United States
authorities. Efforts were successfully made for the
restitution of this material; nevertheless valuable time and
opportunity was thus lost. The people in Cuba clamored for the
revolution to proceed immediately, and in consequence the
uprising was not further postponed. The date fixed for the
uprising was the 24th of February. The people responded in
Santiago, Santa Clara, and Matanzas. The provinces of Puerto
Principe and Pinar del Rio did not respond, owing to lack of
arms. In Puerto Principe rigorous search had previous to the
24th been instituted, and all arms and ammunition confiscated
by the Government. The leaders in the provinces of Matanzas
and Santa Clara were imprisoned, and so the movement there was
checked for the time being. … In the province of Santiago the
revolution rapidly increased in strength under the leadership
of Bartolome Masso; one of the most influential and respected
citizens of Manzanillo; Guillermo Moncada, Jesus Rabi, Pedro
Perez, Jose Miro, and others. It was characterized by the
Spanish Government as a negro and bandit movement, but many of
the most distinguished and wealthy white citizens of the
district flocked to the insurgent camp. …
On the 1st of April, Generals Antonio and José Maceo, Flor
Crombet, and Augustin Cebreco, all veteran leaders in the
former revolt, landed at Duaba, in the province of Santiago,
and thousands rose to join them. Antonio Maceo then took
command of the troops in that province, and on the 11th of
April a detachment received Generals Maximo Gomez, José Marti,
Francisco Borrerro, and Angel Guerra. Captain-General Calleja
was, on the 16th of April, succeeded by General Arsenio
Martinez Campos, the present commander in chief of the Spanish
forces, who has the reputation of being Spain's greatest living
general. … The military organization of the Cubans is ample
and complete. Major General Maximo Gomez is the commander in
chief, as we have said, of all the forces, a veteran of the
last revolution, as indeed are all the generals almost without
exception. Major General Antonio Maceo is second in command of
the army of liberation, and was, until called upon to
cooperate with the commander in chief in the late march to the
western province, in command of Santiago. The army is at
present divided into five corps—two in Santiago, one in Puerto
Principe, and two in Santa Clara and Matanzas. …
"As above indicated, Jose Marti was the head of the
preliminary civil organization, and he, immediately upon
landing with Gomez in Cuba, issued a call for the selection of
representatives of the Cuban people to form a civil
government. His death [in an engagement at Boca de Dos Rios,
May 19] postponed for a time the selection of these men, but
in the beginning of September the call previously issued was
complied with. Representatives from each of the provinces of
Santiago, Puerto Principe, Santa Clara, and the western part
of the island, comprising the provinces of Matanzas and
Havana, making twenty in all, were elected to the constituent
assembly, which was to establish a civil government,
republican in form. … A constitution of the Republic of Cuba
was adopted on the 16th of September. … On the 18th of
September … officers of the Government were elected by the
constituent assembly in accordance with the terms of the
constitution. …
"The Spaniards charge, in order to belittle the insurrection,
that it is a movement of negroes. It should be remembered that
not more than one-third of the entire population are of the
colored race. As a matter of fact, less than one-third of the
army are of the colored race. Take, for instance, the generals
of corps, divisions, and brigades; there are but three of the
colored race, namely, Antonio and José Maceo and Augustin
Cebreco, and these are mulattoes whose deeds and victories
have placed them far above the generals of those who pretend
to despise them. None of the members of the constituent
assembly or of the government are of the colored race. The
Cubans and the colored race are as friendly in this war as
they were in times of peace. …
"The subject … which has caused probably the most discussion
is the order of General Gomez to prevent the grinding of sugar
cane and in case of the disobedience of said order the
destruction of the crop. … The reasons underlying this measure
are the same which caused this country to destroy the cotton
crop and the baled cotton in the South during the war of the
secession. The sugar crop is a source of large income to the
Spanish Government, directly by tax and export duty, as well
as indirectly. The action of the insurgents is perfect]y
justified, because it is simply a blockade, so to speak, on
land—a prevention of the gathering, and hence the export, of
the commodity with, naturally, a punishment for the violation
thereof. …
{173}
"In view of the history of this revolution as herein stated,
in view of the causes which led to it, its rapid growth, its
successes in arms, the establishment, operation, and resources
of the Government of the Cuban Republic, the organization,
number, and discipline of its army, the contrast in the
treatment of prisoners to that of the enemy, the territory in
its control and subject to the carrying out of its decrees, of
the futility of the attempts of the Spanish Government to crush
the revolution, in spite of the immense increase of its army
in Cuba and of its blockade and the many millions spent for
that purpose, the cruelties which on the part of the Spanish
have especially characterized this sanguinary and fiercely
conducted war, and the damage to the interests of the citizens
of this country under the present conditions, I, as the duly
accredited representative, in the name of the Cuban people in
arms who have fought singly and alone against the monarchy of
Spain for nearly a year, in the heart of a continent devoted
to republican institutions, in the name of justice, in the
name of humanity, in the name of liberty, petition you, and
through you the Government of the United States of America, to
accord the rights of belligerency to a people fighting for
their absolute independence."
United States, 54th Congress, 1st Session,
Senate Document Number 166.
CUBA: A. D. 1896-1897.
Captain-General Campos succeeded by General Weyler.
Weyler's Concentration Order and other edicts.
Death of Antonio Maceo.
Weyler succeeded by Blanco.
In January, 1896, Governor and Captain-General Campos, whose
policy had been as humane and conciliatory as his Spanish
surroundings would permit it to be, was recalled, and Don
Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Teneriffe, and lately
Captain-General of Catalonia, was sent to take his place.
General Weyler arrived at Havana on the 10th of February, and
six days later, before he could possibly have acquired any
personal knowledge of the conditions with which he had to
deal, he issued three military edicts, in which a policy of
merciless ruin to the island was broadly set forth. The first
of these edicts or proclamations commanded as follows:
"Article 1.
All inhabitants of the district of Sancti Spiritus and the
provinces of Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba will have to
concentrate in places which are the headquarters of a
division, a brigade, a column, or a troop, and will have to be
provided with documentary proof of identity, within eight days
of the publication of this proclamation in the municipalities.
"Article 2.
To travel in the country in the radius covered by the columns
in operation, it is absolutely indispensable to have a pass
from the mayor, military commandants, or chiefs of
detachments. Anyone lacking this will be detained and sent to
headquarters of divisions or brigades, and thence to Havana,
at my disposition, by the first possible means. Even if a pass
is exhibited, which is suspected to be not authentic or granted
by authority to person with known sympathy toward the
rebellion, or who show favor thereto, rigorous measures will
result to those responsible.
"Article 3.
All owners of commercial establishments in the country
districts will vacate them, and the chiefs of columns will
take such measures as the success of their operations dictates
regarding such places which, while useless for the country's
wealth, serve the enemy as hiding places in the woods and in
the interior.
"Article 4.
All passes hitherto issued hereby become null and void."
The order of "concentration" contained in the first article of
this decree was slowly executed, but ultimately it produced
horrors of suffering and death which words could hardly
describe. The second of Weyler's edicts delegated his own
unlimited "judicial attributes," for the enforcement of the
"military code of justice," to certain subordinate commanders,
and gave sharp directions for their exercise. The third
specified a large number of offenses as being "subject to
military law," including in the category every use of tongue
or pen that could be construed as "favorable to the
rebellion," or as injurious to the "prestige" of the Spanish
army, or "the volunteers, or firemen, or any other force that
co-operates with the army." It is said to have been nearly a
year before the Weyler policy of "concentration" was generally
carried out; but even before that occurred the misery of the
country had become very great. Both parties in the war were
recklessly laying waste the land. The insurgent leaders had
published orders for a total destruction of sugar factories
and plantations, because the product supplied revenues to
Spain; and now the Spanish governor struck all traffic and
industry down in the rural districts, by driving the
inhabitants from their homes and fields, to concentrate and
pen them up in certain prescribed places, with practically no
provision for employment, or shelter or food. At the close of
the year 1896 the state of suffering in the island was not yet
at its worst; but already it was riveting the attention of the
neighboring people of the United States, exciting a hot
feeling against Spain and a growing desire for measures on the
part of the American government to bring it to an end.
Repeated attempts had already been made by frothy politicians
in Congress to force the country into an attitude toward Spain
that would challenge war; but the Executive, supported by a
congressional majority, and by the better opinion of the
American public, adhered with firmness to a policy which aimed
at the exhausting of pacific influences in favor of the Cuban
cause. In his annual message to Congress at the opening of the
session in December, 1896, President Cleveland set forth the
situation in the following words:
"It is difficult to perceive that any progress has thus far
been made towards the pacification of the island. … If Spain
still holds Havana and the seaports and all the considerable
towns, the insurgents still roam at will over at least
two-thirds of the inland country. If the determination of
Spain to put down the insurrection seems but to strengthen
with the lapse of time, and is evinced by her unhesitating
devotion of largely increased military and naval forces to the
task, there is much reason to believe that the insurgents have
gained in point of numbers, and character, and resources, and
are none the less inflexible in their resolve not to succumb,
without practically securing the great objects for which they
took up arms. If Spain has not yet re-established her
authority, neither have the insurgents yet made good their
title to be regarded as an independent state. Indeed, as the
contest has gone on, the pretense that civil government exists
on the island, except so far as Spain is able to maintain it,
has been practically abandoned. Spain does keep on foot such a
government, more or less imperfectly, in the large towns and
their immediate suburbs. But, that exception being made, the
entire country is either given over to anarchy or is subject
to the military occupation of one or the other party. … In
pursuance of general orders, Spanish garrisons are now being
withdrawn from plantations and the rural population required
to concentrate itself in the towns. The sure result would seem
to be that the industrial value of the island is fast
diminishing, and that unless there is a speedy and radical
change in existing conditions, it will soon disappear
altogether. …
{174}
"The spectacle of the utter ruin of an adjoining country, by
nature one of the most fertile and charming on the globe,
would engage the serious attention of the Government and
people of the United States in any circumstances. In point of
fact, they have a concern with it which is by no means of a
wholly sentimental or philanthropic character. It lies so near
to us as to be hardly separated from our territory. Our actual
pecuniary interest in it is second only to that of the people
and Government of Spain. It is reasonably estimated that at
least from $30,000,000 to $50,000,000 of American capital are
invested in plantations and in railroad, mining, and other
business enterprises on the island. The volume of trade
between the United States and Cuba, which in 1889 amounted to
about $64,000,000, rose in 1893 to about $103,000,000, and in
1894, the year before the present insurrection broke out,
amounted to nearly $96,000,000. Besides this large pecuniary
stake in the fortunes of Cuba, the United States finds itself
inextricably involved in the present contest in other ways
both vexatious and costly. … These inevitable entanglements of
the United States with the rebellion in Cuba, the large
American property interests affected, and considerations of
philanthropy and humanity in general, have led to a vehement
demand in various quarters, for some sort of positive
intervention on the part of the United States. …
"It would seem that if Spain should offer to Cuba genuine
autonomy—a measure of home rule which, while preserving the
sovereignty of Spain, would satisfy all rational requirements
of her Spanish subjects—there should be no just reason why the
pacification of the island might not be effected on that
basis. Such a result would appear to be in the true interest
of all concerned. … It has been objected on the one side that
Spain should not promise autonomy until her insurgent subjects
lay down their arms; on the other side, that promised
autonomy, however liberal, is insufficient, because without
assurance of the promise being fulfilled. … Realizing that
suspicions and precautions on the part of the weaker of two
combatants are always natural and not always
unjustifiable—being sincerely desirous in the interest of both
as well as on its own account that the Cuban problem should be
solved with the least possible delay—it was intimated by this
Government to the Government of Spain some months ago that, if
a satisfactory measure of home rule were tendered the Cuban
insurgents, and would be accepted by them upon a guaranty of
its execution, the United States would endeavor to find a way
not objectionable to Spain of furnishing such guaranty. While
no definite response to this intimation has yet been received
from the Spanish Government, it is believed to be not
altogether unwelcome, while, as already suggested, no reason
is perceived why it should not be approved by the insurgents. …
"It should be added that it can not be reasonably assumed that
the hitherto expectant attitude of the United States will be
indefinitely maintained. While we are anxious to accord all
due respect to the sovereignty of Spain, we can not view the
pending conflict in all its features, and properly apprehend
our inevitably close relations to it, and its possible
results, without considering that by the course of events we
may be drawn into such an unusual and unprecedented condition,
as will fix a limit to our patient waiting for Spain to end
the contest, either alone and in her own way, or with our
friendly co-operation."
President Cleveland's Message to Congress,
December 7, 1896.
Just at this time (December 7, 1896) the Cuban insurgents
suffered a serious calamity, in the death of Antonio Maceo,
the heroic mulatto, who seems to have been the most soldierly
and inspiring of their leaders. He had broken through the
"trocha," or fortified line across the island, by which the
Spaniards were endeavoring to hold its western part, and had
been troubling them in the province of Pinar del Rio for some
months. At length he was killed in an unimportant skirmish,
and much of the vigor of the insurrection appears to have gone
out of it when he died. The obstinacy of spirit remained,
nevertheless, and all the merciless energy of Weyler only
spread death and misery, without opening any prospect of an
end to the state of war. Spain was being utterly exhausted by
the immense cost of the struggle; Cuba was being ruined and
depopulated; yet neither would yield. The oppressors would not
set their victims free; the oppressed would not submit. But,
politically, the situation continued for another year as it
had been when described by President Cleveland at the close of
1896. The only visible authority was that which the Spaniards
maintained here and there. The revolutionists established no
government that could reasonably be given the name, and their
"Republic of Cuba," which foolish people in the United States
were clamoring to have recognized, existed on paper alone. To
concede "belligerent rights" to the scattered bands of
insurgents would only bring them under crippling rules of
international law, and do no good to their cause. President
McKinley, who succeeded President Cleveland in March, 1897,
made no change in the policy which the latter had pursued. He
continued the insistent pressure by which it was sought to
persuade the Spanish government to give a satisfying measure
of free government to its great dependency. After some months
there appeared to be a fair promise of success. The Liberal
party had come into power at Madrid, with Sagasta at its head.
In October, Weyler was recalled, General Blanco took his place,
and a new constitution for Cuba was announced, giving the
colony what seemed to be a fairly autonomous government, under
a parliament of its own. In his message to Congress the
following December, President McKinley was able to meet the
continued clamor for more violent measures of interference by
saying: "It is honestly due to Spain, and to our friendly
relations with Spain, that she should be given a reasonable
chance to realize her expectations, and to prove the asserted
efficacy of the new order of things to which she stands
irrevocably committed. She has recalled the commander whose
brutal orders inflamed the American mind and shocked the
civilized world. She has modified the horrible order of
concentration, and has undertaken to care for the helpless and
permit those who desire to resume the cultivation of their
fields to do so, and assures them the protection of the
Spanish Government in their lawful occupations."
{175}
But the awful tragedy of suffering among the
"reconcontrados" had excited lookers-on to such a pitch that
the conduct of Spain in any new line of policy could no longer
be fairly judged. There had been attempts on the part of the
Spanish authorities to give some relief to the starved and
perishing multitude, and help to that end had been accepted
from the United States. The American Red Cross Society, with
Miss Clara Barton at its head, entered the island in December,
with vast stores of food and hospital supplies, and a strong
force of generous workers; but the need was far beyond their
means. The tale of death and misery in the stricken country
seemed to grow more sickening every day.
CUBA: A. D. 1897 (November).
Constitution establishing self-government in the islands of
Cuba and Porto Rico, promulgated by Royal Decree.
The following is a translation of the text of the Constitution
establishing self-government in the islands of Cuba and Porto
Rico which was promulgated by royal decree at Madrid on the
25th of November, 1897:
Upon the proposition of my Prime Minister, and with the
concurrence of the Council of Ministers in the name of my
august son, King Alfonso XIII, and as Queen Regent of the
Kingdom, I hereby decree as follows:
[Footnote Start]
EXPLANATORY NOTE.
To facilitate the understanding of this decree and to avoid
confusion as to the legal value of the terms employed therein
the following definitions are to be observed:
Central Executive Power: The King with his Council of Ministers.
The Spanish Parliament: The Cortes with the King.
The Spanish Chambers: The Congress and the Senate.
The Central Government: The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom.
The Colonial Parliament: The two Chambers with
the Governor-General.
The Colonial Chambers: The Council of Administration
and the Chamber of Representatives.
Colonial Legislative Assemblies: The Council of Administration
and the Chamber of Representatives.
Governor-General in Council: The Governor-General
with the Secretaries of his Cabinet.
Instructions of the Governor-General: Those which he may have
received when named for his office.
Statute: Colonial measure of a legislative character.
Colonial Statutes: Colonial Legislation.
Legislation or General Laws: Legislation or laws of the Kingdom.
[Footnote End]
TITLE I.
GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL ADMINISTRATION IN THE ISLANDS
OF CUBA AND PORTO RICO.
ARTICLE 1.
The system of government and civil administration in the
islands of Cuba and Porto Rico shall hereafter be carried on
in conformity with the following provisions:
ARTICLE 2.
Each island shall be governed by an insular parliament,
consisting of two chambers, and by the Governor-General,
representing the mother country, who shall exercise supreme
authority.
TITLE II.
THE INSULAR CHAMBERS.
ARTICLE 3.
The legislative power as to colonial matters in the shape and
manner prescribed by law, shall be vested in the insular
chambers conjointly with the Governor-General.
ARTICLE 4.
Insular representation shall consist of two bodies of equal
powers, which shall be known as chamber of representatives and
council of administration.
TITLE III.
COUNCIL OF ADMINISTRATION.
ARTICLE 5.
The council shall be composed of thirty-five members, of whom
eighteen shall be elected in the manner directed by the
electoral law and seventeen shall be appointed by the
Governor-General acting for the Crown, from among such persons
as have the qualifications specified in the following
articles:
ARTICLE 6.
To be entitled to sit in the council of administration it is
necessary to be a Spanish subject; to have attained the age of
thirty-five years; to have been born in the island, or to have
had four years' constant residence therein; not to be subject
to any pending criminal prosecution; to be in the full
enjoyment of his political rights; to have his property free
from attachment; to have had for two or more years previous an
annual income of four thousand dollars; to have no interest in
any contract with either the insular or the home government.
The shareholders of a stock company shall not be considered as
government contractors, even if the company has a contract
with the government.
ARTICLE 7.
Persons are also qualified to serve as councilors who, besides
the above-stated requirements, have any of the following
qualifications:
1. To be or to have been a senator of the Kingdom, or to
possess the requirements for being a senator, in conformity
with Article III of the constitution.
2. To have held for a period of two years any of the following
offices: President, or prosecuting attorney of the pretorian
court of Havana; rector of the University of Havana; councilor
of administration in the council formerly thus designated;
president of the Havana Chamber of Commerce; president of the
Economic Society of Friends of the Country; president of the
Sugar Planters' Association; president of the Tobacco
Manufacturers' Union; president of the Merchants, Tradesmen's,
and Agriculturalists' League; dean of the bar of Havana; mayor
of Havana; president of the provincial assembly of Havana
during two terms or of any provincial assembly during three
terms; dean of either of the chapters of the two cathedrals.
3. Likewise may be elected or appointed as councilor any
property owner from among the fifty taxpayers paying the
highest taxes, either on real estate or on industries,
commerce, arts, and the professions.
ARTICLE 8.
The councilors appointed by the Crown shall be appointed by
special decrees, stating the qualification entitling the
appointee to serve as councilor. Councilors thus appointed
shall hold office for life. One-half the number of elective
councilors shall be elected every five years, and the whole
number shall be elected whenever the council of administration
shall be dissolved by the Governor-General.
ARTICLE 9.
The qualifications required in order to be appointed or
elected councilor of administration may be changed by a
national law, at the request or upon the proposition of the
insular chambers.
ARTICLE 10.
No councilor shall, during the session of the council, accept
any civil office, promotion (unless it be strictly by
seniority), title, or decoration; but any councilor may be
appointed by either the local or the home government to any
commission within his own profession or category, whenever the
public service shall require it. The secretaries of the
insular government shall be excepted from the foregoing rule.
{176}
TITLE IV.
THE CHAMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES.
ARTICLE 11.
The chamber of representatives shall be composed of members
named by the electoral boards in the manner prescribed by law
and in the proportion of one for every twenty-five thousand
inhabitants.
ARTICLE 12.
To be elected as representative the candidate must have the
following requirements: To be a Spanish citizen, to be a
layman, to have attained his majority, to be in full enjoyment
of civil rights, to have been born in the island or to have
had four years' constant residence therein, and not to be
subject to any pending criminal prosecution.
ARTICLE 13.
Representatives shall be elected every five years, and any
representative may be re-elected any number of times. The
insular chamber shall determine what classes of offices are
incompatible with the office of representative, as well as the
cases governing re-election.
ARTICLE 14.
Any representative upon whom either the local or home
government shall confer a pension, or any employment,
promotion (unless it be by strict seniority), paid commission,
title, or decoration, shall cease to be such without necessity
of any declaration to that effect, unless he shall within fifteen
days of his appointment notify the chamber of his having
declined the favor. The provisions of the preceding paragraph
shall not include the representatives who shall be appointed
members of the cabinet.
TITLE V.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSULAR CHAMBERS AND THEIR RELATIONS
TO EACH OTHER.
ARTICLE 15.
The chambers will meet every year. The King, the
Governor-General acting in his name, shall convene, suspend,
and adjourn the sessions and dissolve the chamber of
representatives and the council of administration, either
separately or simultaneously, under the obligation to call
them together again or renew them within three months.
ARTICLE 16.
Each of the two legislative bodies shall determine the rules
of their proceedings and shall be the judges of the
qualifications of their respective members and the legality of
their election. Until the chamber and the council shall pass
their own rules, they shall be governed by the rules of the
national house of representatives and of the senate,
respectively.
ARTICLE 17.
Each chamber shall choose its president, vice-president and
secretaries.
ARTICLE 18.
Neither chamber shall sit unless the other be sitting also,
except when the council exercises judicial functions.
ARTICLE 19.
The two insular chambers shall not deliberate together nor in
the presence of the Governor-General. The sessions shall be
public, but either chamber may hold secret sessions whenever
business of a private nature shall require it.
ARTICLE 20.
To the Governor-General, through his secretaries, as well as
to either of the two chambers, belongs the power to initiate
and propose colonial statutes.
ARTICLE 21.
All colonial statutes in regard to taxes and the public credit
shall originate in the chamber of representatives.
ARTICLE 22.
Resolutions may be passed by either chamber by a plurality of
votes; but in order to pass a measure of a legislative
character a majority of all the members constituting the body
must be present. Nevertheless, one-third of the members shall
constitute a quorum for deliberation.
ARTICLE 23.
No resolution or law shall be considered passed by the insular
parliament unless it has had the concurrence of the chamber of
representatives and the council of administration.
ARTICLE 24.
Every colonial statute, as soon as it has been approved in the
form prescribed in the preceding article, shall be presented
to the Governor-General by the officers of both chambers for
his sanction and proclamation of the same.
ARTICLE 25.
Members of the council and the chamber of representatives
shall have immunity for any speech or vote in either chamber.
ARTICLE 26.
No councilor of administration shall be indicted or arrested
without a previous resolution of the council, unless he shall
be found "in flagranti" or the council shall not be in
session, but in every case notice shall be given to that body
as soon as possible, that it may determine what should be
done. Nor shall the representatives be indicted or arrested
during the sessions without the permission of the chamber
unless they are found "in flagranti," but in this last case,
or in case of indictment or arrest when the chamber is not
sitting, notice shall be given as soon us possible to the
chamber of representatives for its information and action. All
proceedings against councilors and representatives shall be
brought before the pretorian court at Havana in the cases and
manner that shall be prescribed by colonial statutes.
ARTICLE 27.
The guarantees established in the foregoing section shall not
apply to a councilor or representative who shall himself admit
that he is the author of any article, book, pamphlet, or
printed matter wherein military sedition is incited or
invoked, or the Governor-General is insulted and maligned, or
national sovereignty is assailed.
ARTICLE 28.
The relations between the two chambers shall be governed,
until otherwise provided, by the act of July 19, 1837,
regulating the relations between the two legislative houses of
the Cortes.
ARTICLE 29.
Besides the power of enacting laws for the colony the insular
chambers shall have power:
1. To receive the oath of the Governor-General to preserve the
constitution and the laws which guarantee the autonomy of the
colony.
2. To enforce the responsibility of the secretaries of the
executive, who shall be tried by the council, whenever
impeached by the chamber of representatives.
3. To address the home government through the
Governor-General, proposing the abrogation or modification of
existing laws of the Kingdom; to invite the home government to
present bills as to particular matters, or to ask a decision
of an executive character on matters which interest the
colony.
ARTICLE 30.
The Governor-General shall communicate to the home government
before presenting to the insular parliament any bill
originating in the executive government of the island
whenever, in his judgment, said bill may affect national
interests. Should any such bill originate in the insular
parliament, the government of the island shall ask for a
postponement of the debate until the home government shall
have given its opinion. In either case the correspondence
passing between the two governments shall be laid before the
chambers and published in the official Gazette.
{177}
ARTICLE 31.
All differences of jurisdiction between the several municipal,
provincial, and insular assemblies, or between any of them and
the executive, which by their nature may not be referred to
the home government, shall be submitted to the courts of
justice in accordance with the rules herein prescribed.
TITLE VI.
POWERS VESTED IN THE INSULAR PARLIAMENT.
ARTICLE 32.
The insular chambers shall have power to pass upon all matters
not specially and expressly reserved to the Cortes of the
Kingdom or to the central government as herein provided, or as
may be provided hereafter, in accordance with the prescription
set forth in additional Article 2. In this manner, and without
implying that the following enumeration presupposes any
limitation of their power to legislate on other subjects, they
shall have power to legislate on all matters and subjects
concerning the departments of justice, interior, treasury,
public works, education, and agriculture.
They shall likewise have exclusive cognizance of all matters
of a purely local nature which may principally affect the
colonial territory; and to this end they shall have power to
legislate on civil administration; on provincial, municipal,
or judicial apportionment; on public health, by land or sea,
and on public credit, banks, and the monetary system. This
power, however, shall not impair the powers vested in the
colonial executive according to the laws in connection with
the matters above mentioned.
ARTICLE 33.
It shall be incumbent upon the colonial parliament to make
regulations under such national laws as may be passed by the
Cortes and expressly intrusted to it. Especially among such
measures parliament shall legislate, and may do so at the
first sitting, for the purpose of regulating the elections,
the taking of the electoral census, qualifying electors, and
exercising the right of suffrage; but in no event shall these
dispositions affect the rights of the citizens, as established
by the electoral laws.
ARTICLE 34.
Notwithstanding that the laws governing the judiciary and the
administration of justice are of a national character, and
therefore obligatory for the colony, the insular parliament
may, within the provisions of said laws, make rules or propose
to the home government such measures as shall render easier
the admission, continuance, or promotion in the local courts
of lawyers, natives of the island, or practicing therein.
The Governor-General in council shall have, as far as the
island of Cuba is concerned, the same power that has been
vested heretofore in the minister for the colonies for the
appointment of the functionaries and subordinate and auxiliary
officers of the judicial order and as to the other matters
connected with the administration of justice.
ARTICLE 35.
The insular parliament shall have exclusive power to frame the
local budget of expenditures and revenues, including the
revenue corresponding to the island as her quota of the
national budget. To this end the Governor-General shall
present to the chambers every year before the month of January
the budget for the next fiscal year, divided in two parts, as
follows: The first part shall state the revenues needed to
defray the expenses of sovereignty, and the second part shall
state the revenues and expenditures estimated for the
maintenance of the colonial administration. Neither chamber
shall take up the budget of the colonial government without
having finally voted the part for the maintenance of
sovereignty.
ARTICLE 36.
The Cortes of the Kingdom shall determine what expenditures
are to be considered by reason of their nature as obligatory
expenses inherent to sovereignty, and shall fix the amount
every three years and the revenue needed to defray the same,
the Cortes reserving the right to alter this rule.
ARTICLE 37.
All treaties of commerce affecting the island of Cuba, be they
suggested by the insular or by the home government, shall be
made by the latter with the co-operation of special delegates
duly authorized by the colonial government, whose concurrence
shall be acknowledged upon submitting the treaties to the
Cortes. Said treaties, when approved by the Cortes, shall be
proclaimed as laws of the Kingdom and as such shall obtain in
the colony.
ARTICLE 38.
Notice shall be given to the insular government of any
commercial treaties made without its participation as soon as
said treaties shall become laws, to the end that, within a
period of three months, it may declare its acceptance or
nonacceptance of their stipulations. In case of acceptance the
Governor-General shall cause the treaty to be published in the
Gazette as a colonial statute.
ARTICLE 39.
The insular parliament shall also have power to frame the
tariff and fix the duties to be paid on merchandise as well
for its importation into the territory of the island as for
the exportation thereof.
ARTICLE 40.
As a transition from the old regime to the new constitution,
and until the home and insular governments may otherwise
conjointly determine hereafter, the commercial relations
between the island and the metropolis shall be governed by the
following rules:
1. No differential duty, whether fiscal or otherwise, either
on imports or exports, shall be imposed to the detriment of
either insular or peninsular production.
2. The two governments shall make a schedule of articles of
direct national origin to which shall be allowed by common
consent preferential duty over similar foreign products. In
another schedule made in like manner shall be determined such
articles of direct insular production as shall be entitled to
privileged treatment on their importation into the peninsula
and the amount of preferential duties thereon. In neither case
shall the preferential duty exceed 35 per cent. Should the
home and the colonial government agree upon the schedules and
the preferential duties, they shall be considered final and
shall be enforced at once. In case of disagreement the point
in dispute shall be submitted to a committee of
representatives of the Cortes, consisting of an equal number
of Cubans and Peninsulars. The committee shall appoint its
chairman, and in case of disagreement the eldest member shall
preside. The chairman shall have the casting vote.
3. The valuation tables concerning the articles in the
schedules above mentioned shall be fixed by mutual agreement,
and shall be revised after discussion every two years. The
modifications which may thereupon become necessary in the
tariff duties shall be carried out at once by the respective
governments.
{178}
TITLE VII.
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL.
ARTICLE 41.
The supreme authority of the colony shall be vested in a
Governor-General, appointed by the King on the nomination of
the council of ministers. In his capacity he shall have as
vice-royal patron the power inherent in the patronate of the
Indies; he shall have command of all military and naval forces
in the island; he shall act as delegate of the departments of
state, war, navy, and the colonies; all other authorities in
the island shall be subordinate to his, and he shall be
responsible for the preservation of order and the safety of
the colony. The Governor-General shall, before taking
possession of his office, take an oath in the presence of the
King to discharge his duties faithfully and loyally.
ARTICLE 42.
The Governor-General, representing the nation, will discharge
by himself and with the aid of his secretaries all the
functions indicated in the preceding articles and such others
as may devolve upon him as direct delegate of the King in
matters of a national character. It shall be incumbent upon
the Governor-General as representing the home government:
1. To appoint without restriction the secretaries of his
cabinet.
2. To proclaim, execute, and cause to be executed in the
island all laws, decrees, treaties, international covenants,
and all other acts emanating from the legislative branch of
the government, as well as all decrees, royal commands, and
other measures emanating from the executive which shall be
communicated to him by the departments of which he acts as
delegate. Whenever in his judgment and in that of his
secretaries he considers the resolutions of the home
government as liable to injure the general interests of the
nation or the special interests of the island, he shall have
power to suspend the publication and execution thereof, and
shall so notify the respective department, stating the reasons
for his action.
3. To grant pardons in the name of the King, within the
limitations specially prescribed to him in his instructions
from the government, and to stay the execution of a death
sentence whenever the gravity of the circumstances shall so
demand or the urgency of the case shall allow of no time to
solicit and obtain His Majesty's pardon; but in either case he
shall hear the counsel of his secretaries.
4. To suspend the guarantees set forth in articles 3, 5, 6,
and 9, and in the first, second, and third paragraphs of
article 13 of the constitution; to enforce legislation in
regard to public order, and to take all measures which he may
deem necessary to preserve the peace within and the safety
without for the territory entrusted to him after hearing the
counsel of his cabinet.
5. To take care that in the colony justice be promptly and
fully administered, and that it shall always be administered
in the name of the King.
6. To hold direct communication on foreign affairs with the
ministers, diplomatic agents, and counsels of Spain throughout
America. A full copy of such correspondence shall be
simultaneously forwarded to the home Department of State.
ARTICLE 43.
It behooves the Governor-General, as the superior authority in
the colony and head of its administration:

1. To take care that the rights, powers, and privileges now
vested or that may henceforth be vested in the colonial
administration be respected and protected.
2. To sanction and proclaim the acts of the insular
parliament, which shall be submitted to him by the president
and secretaries of the respective chambers. Whenever, in the
judgment of the Governor-General, an act of the insular
parliament goes beyond its powers or impairs the rights of the
citizens as set forth in Article I of the constitution, or
curtails the guarantees prescribed by law for the exercise of
said rights, or jeopards the interest of the colony or of the
nation, he shall forward the act to the council of ministers
of the Kingdom, which, within a period that shall not exceed
two months, shall either assent to it or return it to the
Governor-General with the objections to its sanction and
proclamation. The insular parliament may, in view of the
objections, reconsider or modify the act, if it deems fit,
without a special proposition. If two months shall elapse
without the central government giving any opinion as to a
measure agreed upon by the chambers which has been transmitted
to it by the Governor-General, the latter shall sanction and
proclaim the same.
3. To appoint, suspend, and discharge the employees of the
colonial administration, upon the suggestion of the
secretaries of the departments and in accordance with the
laws.
4. To appoint and remove, without restriction, the secretaries
of his cabinet.
ARTICLE 44.
No executive order of the Governor-General, acting as
representative and chief of the colony, shall take effect
unless countersigned by a secretary of the cabinet, who by
this act alone shall make himself responsible for the same.
ARTICLE 45.
There shall be five secretaries of department, to wit:
Grace and justice and interior;
finance;
public education, public works and posts and telegraphs;
agriculture, industry, and commerce.
The Governor-General shall appoint the president of the
cabinet from among the secretaries, and shall also have power
to appoint a president without a secretaryship. The power to
increase or diminish the number of secretaries composing the
colonial cabinet, and to determine the scope of each
department, is vested in the insular parliament.
ARTICLE 46.
The secretaries of the cabinet may be members of either the
chamber of representatives or the council of administration
and take part in the debates of either chamber, but a
secretary shall only vote in the chamber of which he is a
member.
ARTICLE 47.
The secretaries of the cabinet shall be responsible to the
insular parliament.
ARTICLE 48.
The Governor-General shall not modify or abrogate his own
orders after they are assented to by the home government, or
when they shall declare some rights, or when a sentence by a
judicial court or administrative tribunal shall have been
based upon said orders, or when they shall deal with his own
competency.
ARTICLE 49.
The Governor-General shall not turn over his office when
leaving the island except by special command from the home
government. In case of absence from the seat of government
which prevents his discharging the duties of his office or of
disability to perform such duties, he can appoint one or more
persons to take his place, provided the home government has
not previously done so or the method of substitution shall not
be stated in his instructions.
{179}
ARTICLE 50.
The supreme court shall have the sole power to try the
Governor-General when impeached for his responsibilities as
defined by the Penal Code. The council of ministers shall take
cognizance of his other responsibilities.
ARTICLE 51.
The Governor-General shall have the power, in spite of the
provisions of the different articles of this decree, to act
upon his own responsibility, without consulting his
secretaries, in the following cases:
1. When forwarding to the home government a bill passed by the
insular parliament, especially when, in his opinion, it shall
abridge the rights set forth in Article 1 of the constitution
of the monarchy or the guarantees for the exercise thereof
vouchsafed by the laws.
2. When it shall be necessary to enforce the law or public
order, especially if there be no time or possibility to
consult the home government.
3. When enforcing the national laws that shall have been
approved by the Crown and made applicable to all of the
Spanish or to the colony under his government. The proceedings
and means of action which the Governor-General shall employ in
the above cases shall be determined by a special law.
TITLE VIII.
MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.
ARTICLE. 52.
Municipal organization shall be compulsory for every group of
population of more than one thousand inhabitants. Groups of
less number of inhabitants may organize the service of their
community by special covenants. Every legally constituted
municipality shall have power to frame its own laws regarding
public education; highways by land, river, and sea; public
health; municipal finances, as well as to freely appoint and
remove its own employees.
ARTICLE 53.
At the head of each province there shall be an assembly, which
shall be elected in the manner provided for by the colonial
statutes, and shall be composed of a number of members in
proportion to the population.
ARTICLE 54.
The provincial assembly shall be autonomous as regards the
creation and maintenance of public schools and colleges;
charitable institutions and provincial roads and ways by land,
river, or sea; also as regards their own budgets and the
appointment and removal of their respective employees.
ARTICLE 55.
The municipalities, as well as the provincial assemblies,
shall have power to freely raise the necessary revenue to
cover their expenditures, with no other limitation than to
make the means adopted compatible with the general system of
taxation which shall obtain in the island. The resources for
provincial appropriations shall be independent of municipal
resources.
ARTICLE 56.
The mayors and presidents of boards of aldermen shall be
chosen by their respective boards from among their members.
ARTICLE 57.
The mayors shall discharge without limitation the active
duties of the municipal administration, as executors of the
resolutions of the board of aldermen or their representatives.
ARTICLE 58.
The aldermen and the provincial assemblymen shall be civilly
responsible for the damages caused by their acts. Their
responsibility shall be exacted before the ordinary courts of
justice.
ARTICLE 59.
The provincial assemblies shall freely choose their respective
presidents.
ARTICLE 60.
The elections of aldermen and assemblymen shall be conducted
in such manner as to allow for a legitimate representation of
the minorities.
ARTICLE 61.
The provincial and municipal laws now obtaining in the island
shall continue in vogue, wherever not in conflict with the
provisions of this decree, until the insular parliament shall
legislate upon the matter.
ARTICLE 62.
No colonial statute shall abridge the powers vested by the
preceding articles in the municipalities and the provincial
assemblies.
TITLE IX.
AS TO THE GUARANTEES FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF
THE COLONIAL CONSTITUTION.
ARTICLE 63.
Whenever a citizen shall consider that his rights have been
violated or his interests injured by the action of a
municipality or a provincial assembly he shall have the right
to apply to the courts of justice for redress. The department
of justice shall, if so required by the agents of the
executive government of the colony, prosecute before the
courts the boards of aldermen or provincial assemblies charged
with breaking the laws or abusing their power.
ARTICLE 64.
In the cases referred to in the preceding article, the
following courts shall have jurisdiction: The territorial
audiencia shall try all claims against municipalities; and the
pretorian court of Havana shall try all claims against
provincial assemblies. Said courts, when the charges against
any of the above-mentioned corporations shall be for abuse of
power, shall render their decisions by a full bench. From the
decision of the Territorial audiencia an appeal shall be
allowed to the pretorian court of Havana, and from the
decisions of the latter an appeal shall be allowed to the
supreme court of the Kingdom.
ARTICLE 65.
The redress of grievances which Article 62 grants to any
citizen can also be had collectively by means of public
action, by appointing an attorney or representative claimant.
ARTICLE 66.
Without in any way impairing the powers vested in the
Governor-General by Title V of the present decree, he may,
whenever he deems fit, appear before the pretorian court of
Havana in his capacity as chief of the executive government of
the colony, to the end that said court shall finally decide
any conflict of jurisdiction between the executive power and
the legislative chambers of the colony.
ARTICLE 67.
Should any question of jurisdiction be raised between the
insular parliament and the Governor-General in his capacity as
representative of the home government, which shall not have
been submitted to the council of ministers of the Kingdom by
petition of the insular parliament, either party shall have
power to bring the matter before the supreme court of the
Kingdom, which shall render its decision by a full bench and
in the first instance.
ARTICLE 68.
The decisions rendered in all cases provided for in the
preceding articles shall be published in the collection of
colonial statutes and shall form part of the insular
legislation.
ARTICLE 69.
Every municipal measure for the purpose of contracting a loan
or a municipal debt shall be without effect, unless it be
assented to by a majority of the townspeople whenever
one-third of the number of aldermen shall so demand. The
amount of the loan or debt which, according to the number of
inhabitants of a township, shall make the referendum
proceeding necessary, shall be determined by special statute.
{180}
ARTICLE 70.
All legislative acts originating in the insular parliament or
the Cortes shall be compiled under the title of colonial
statutes in a legislative collection, the formation and
publication of which shall be entrusted to the
Governor-General as chief of the colonial executive.
ADDITIONAL ARTICLES.
ARTICLE 1.
Until the colonial statutes shall be published in due form,
the laws of the Kingdom shall be deemed applicable to all
matters reserved to the jurisdiction of the insular
government.
ARTICLE 2.
When the present constitution shall be once approved by the
Cortes of the Kingdom for the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico,
it shall not be amended except by virtue of a special law and
upon the petition of the insular parliament.
ARTICLE 3.
The provisions of the present decree shall obtain in their
entirety in the island of Porto Rico; they shall, however, be
ordained by special decree in order to conform them to the
population and nomenclature of said island.
ARTICLE 4.
Pending contracts for public services affecting in common the
Antilles and the Peninsula shall continue in their present
shape until termination, and shall be entirely governed by the
conditions and stipulations therein made. As regards other
contracts already entered into, but not yet in operation, the
Governor-General shall consult the home government, or the
colonial chambers, as the case may be, and the two governments
shall by mutual accord decide as between themselves the final
form of such contract.
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 1.
With a view to carry out the transition from the present
regime to the system hereby established with the greatest
possible dispatch and the least interruption of the public
business, the Governor-General shall, whenever he deems it
timely and after consulting the home government, appoint the
secretaries of the executive office as per Article 45 of this
decree, and with their aid he shall conduct the local
government of the island until the insular chambers shall have
been constituted. The secretaries thus appointed shall vacate
their offices as soon as the Governor-General shall take his
oath of office before the insular chambers, and the
Governor-General shall immediately appoint as their successors
the members of parliament who, in his judgment, most fully
represent the majorities in the chamber of representatives and
the council of administration.
ARTICLE 2.
The manner of meeting the expenditures occasioned by the debt
now weighing upon the Spanish and Cuban treasuries, and the
debt that may be contracted until the termination of the war,
shall be determined by a law fixing the share that shall be
borne by each treasury, and the special ways and means for the
payment of the interest, and the sinking fund, and for
refunding the principal in due time. Until the Cortes of the
Kingdom shall decide this point no changes shall be made in
the conditions under which said debts were contracted, nor in
the payment of the interest, nor provisions for a sinking
fund, nor in the guarantees which they enjoy, nor in the
actual terms of payment. When the Cortes shall have
apportioned the shares, each of the two treasuries shall take
upon itself the payment of the share allotted. In no event
shall the obligations contracted towards the lenders on the
faith of the Spanish nation cease to be scrupulously
respected.
Issued in the Palace,
Madrid, November 25, 1897.
MARIA CHRISTINA.
The President of the Council of Ministers,
PRÁXEDES MATEO SAGASTA.
CUBA: A. D. 1897-1898 (November-February).
The experiment of autonomy or home rule.
It cannot be said that the Constitution of 1897 was given a
fair trial. In the circumstances, one may doubt whether a fair
trial of its working was possible. It came too late for
advantageous testing or unprejudiced judging of its
practicability. The autonomist party, which might once have
been able to make Cuba a constitutional dependency, like
Canada, had been discouraged and broken up. Weyler's policy
had excited a feeling in the United States which was too
impatient to wait for new experiments in Spanish dealing with
Cuba to be worked out, or to estimate reasonably the chances
of their success. The first showing of results from the scheme
of autonomy was unpromising, as it could hardly have failed to
be, and that was readily taken as conclusive in condemnation
of it. The judgment of General Fitzhugh Lee, Consul-General of
the United States at Havana, had great influence in America,
and he saw nothing to expect from the Constitution. In an
article contributed subsequently to the "Fortnightly Review,"
June, 1898, he wrote:
"It [the Constitution) was an elaborate system of 'Home Rule'
with a string to every sentence; so that I soon became
satisfied that, if the insurrection against the Spanish throne
on the island ceased, the condition of the Cubans would
speedily be the same as it was at the commencement of the war.
I gave the reasons therefor in a paper now on file in the
State Department which clearly proved that the Spaniards could
easily control one of the legislative chambers, and that
behind any joint action on the part of both was the veto of
the Governor-General, whose appointment was made from the
throne in Madrid.
"This system of autonomy, however, was gravely proceeded with.
An Autonomistic Cabinet was seriously formed, composed in part
of Cubans who, though at one time in favour of a government of
the island free from Spanish control, had given satisfactory
intimations that, if they were appointed to cabinet offices,
their former opinions could be modified to suit existing
circumstances. Blanco's Autonomistic Government was doomed to
failure from its inception. The Spanish soldiers and officers
scorned it, because they did not desire Cuban rule, which such
autonomy, if genuine, would insure. The Spanish merchants and
citizens were opposed to it, because they too were hostile to
the Cubans having control of the island, and if the question
could be narrowed down to Cuban control or annexation to the
United States, they were all annexationists, believing that
they could get a better government and one that would protect,
in a greater measure, life and property under the United States
flag than under the Cuban banner. On the other hand, the
Cubans in arms would not touch it, because they were fighting
for Free Cuba; and the Cuban citizens and sympathizers, or the
non-arm-bearing population, were distinctly opposed to it also;
while those in favour of it seemed to consist of the
Autonomistic Cabinet, General Blanco, his Secretary-General
and Staff, and a few followers elsewhere."
{181}
Fitzhugh Lee,
Cuba and her Struggle for Freedom
(Fortnightly Review, June, 1898).
CUBA: A. D. 1897-1898 (December-March).
Condition of the Reconcentrados.
On the 14th of December, 1897, General Fitzhugh Lee,
Consul-General of the United States at Havana, reported to the
Department of State as follows:
"I have the honor to report that I have received information
that in the Province of Havana reports show that there have
been 101,000 'Reconcentrados,' and that out of that 52,000
have died. Of the said 101,000, 32,000 were children. This
excludes the city of Havana and seven other towns from which
reports have not yet been made up. It is thought that the
total number of 'Reconcentrados' in Havana Province will
amount to 150,000, nearly all women and children, and that the
death rate among their whole number from starvation alone will be
over 50 per cent. For the above number of 'Reconcentrados'
$12,500, Spanish silver, was set aside out of the $100,000
appropriated for the purpose of relieving all the
'Reconcentrados' on the island. Seventy-five thousand of the
150,000 may be still living, so if every dollar appropriated
of the $12,500 reaches them the distribution will average
about 17 cents to a person, which, of course, will be rapidly
exhausted, and, as I can hear of no further succor being
afforded, it is easy to perceive what little practical relief
has taken place in the condition of these poor people."
On the 8th of January, 1898, General Lee made another report
on the same subject as follows:
"I have the honor to state, as a matter of public interest,
that the 'reconcentrado order' of General Weyler, formerly
Governor-General of this island, transformed about 400,000
self-supporting people, principally women and children, into a
multitude to be sustained by the contributions of others or die
of starvation or of fevers resulting from a low physical
condition and being massed in large bodies without change of
clothing and without food. Their houses were burned, their
fields and plant beds destroyed, and their live stock driven
away or killed. I estimate that probably 200,000 of the rural
population in the Provinces of Pinar del Rio, Havana,
Matanzas, and Santa Clara have died of starvation, or from
resultant causes, and the deaths of whole families almost
simultaneously, or within a few days of each other, and of
mothers praying for their children to be relieved of their
horrible sufferings by death, are not the least of the many
pitiable scenes which were ever present. In the Provinces of
Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba, where the 'reconcentrado
order' could not be enforced, the great mass of the people are
self-sustaining. A daily average of ten cents' worth of food
to 200,000 people would be an expenditure of $20,000 per day,
and of course the most humane efforts upon the part of our
citizens can not hope to accomplish such a gigantic relief,
and a great portion of these people will have to be abandoned
to their fate."
A little later, Senator Proctor, of Vermont, visited Cuba, for
personal observation of the condition of things in the island,
and, on his return, made a statement of what he had seen and
learned, in a speech to the Senate, which made an impression
on the country much deeper than any previous testimony on the
subject that had reached the public eye or ear. The following
is a part of the account that he gave:
"My observations were confined to the four western provinces,
which constitute about one-half of the island. The two eastern
ones are practically in the hands of the insurgents, except
the few fortified towns. These two large provinces are spoken
of to-day as 'Cuba Libre.' Outside Habana all is changed. It
is not peace nor is it war. It is desolation and distress,
misery and starvation. Every town and village is surrounded by
a 'trocha' (trench), a sort of rifle pit, but constructed on a
plan new to me, the dirt being thrown up on the inside and a
barbed-wire fence on the outer side of the trench. These
trochas have at every corner and at frequent intervals along
the sides what are there called forts, but which are really
small blockhouses, many of them more like large sentry boxes,
loopholed for musketry, and with a guard of from two to ten
soldiers in each.
"The purpose of these trochas is to keep the Reconcentrados in
as well as to keep the insurgents out. From all the
surrounding country the people have been driven in to these
fortified towns and held there to subsist as they can. They
are virtually prison yards, and not unlike one in general
appearance, except that the walls are not so high and strong;
but they suffice, where every point is in range of a soldier's
rifle, to keep in the poor reconcentrado women and children.
Every railroad station is within one of these trochas and has
an armed guard. Every train has an armored freight car,
loopholed for musketry and filled with soldiers, and with, as
I observed usually, and was informed is always the case, a
pilot engine a mile or so in advance. There are frequent
blockhouses inclosed by a trocha and with a guard along the
railroad track. With this exception there is no human life or
habitation between these fortified towns and villages, and
throughout the whole of the four western provinces, except to
a very limited extent among the hills where the Spaniards have
not been able to go and drive the people to the towns and burn
their dwellings. I saw no house or hut in the 400 miles of
railroad rides from Pinar del Rio Province in the west across
the full width of Habana and Matanzas provinces, and to Sagua
La Grande on the north shore, and to Cienfuegos on the south
shore of Santa Clara, except within the Spanish trochas.
"There are no domestic animals or crops on the rich fields and
pastures except such as are under guard in the immediate
vicinity of the towns. In other words, the Spaniards hold in
these four western provinces just what their army sits on.
Every man, woman, and child, and every domestic animal,
wherever their columns have reached, is under guard and within
their so-called fortifications. To describe one place is to
describe all. To repeat, it is neither peace nor war. It is
concentration and desolation. This is the 'pacified' condition
of the four western provinces. West of Habana is mainly the
rich tobacco country; east, so far as I went, a sugar region.
Nearly all the sugar mills are destroyed between Habana and
Sagua. Two or three were standing in the vicinity of Sagua,
and in part running, surrounded, as are the villages, by
trochas and 'forts' or palisades of the royal palm, and fully
guarded. Toward and near Cienfuegos there were more mills
running, but all with the same protection.
{182}
… All the country people in the four western provinces, about
400,000 in number, remaining outside the fortified towns when
Weyler's order was made were driven into these towns, and
these are the Reconcentrados. They were the peasantry, many of
them farmers, some landowners, others renting lands and owning
more or less stock, others working on estates and cultivating
small patches; and even a small patch in that fruitful clime
will support a family. It is but fair to say that the normal
condition of these people was very different from what
prevails in this country. Their standard of comfort and
prosperity was not high, measured by ours. But according to
their standards and requirements their conditions of life were
satisfactory. They lived mostly in cabins made of palms or in
wooden houses. Some of them had houses of stone, the blackened
walls of which are all that remain to show the country was
ever inhabited.
"The first clause of Weyler's order [renewing that of February
16, 1896] reads as follows: 'I Order and Command. First. All
the inhabitants of the country or outside of the line of
fortifications of the town shall, within the period of eight
days, concentrate themselves in the towns occupied by the
troops. Any individual who, after the expiration of this
period, is found in the uninhabited parts will be considered a
rebel and tried as such.' … Many, doubtless, did not learn of
this order. Others failed to grasp its terrible meaning. Its
execution was left largely to the guerrillas to drive in all
that had not obeyed, and I was informed that in many cases the
torch was applied to their homes with no notice, and the
inmates fled with such clothing as they might have on, their
stock and other belongings being appropriated by the
guerrillas. When they reached the towns, they were allowed to
build huts of palm leaves in the suburbs and vacant places
within the trochas, and left to live, if they could.
"Torn from their homes, with foul earth, foul air, foul water,
and foul food or none, what wonder that one-half have died and
that one-quarter of the living are so diseased that they
cannot be saved? … Deaths in the streets have not been
uncommon. I was told by one of our consuls that they have been
found dead about the markets in the morning, where they had
crawled, hoping to get some stray bits of food from the early
hucksters, and that there had been cases where they had
dropped dead inside the market surrounded by food. These
people were independent and self-supporting before Weyler's
order. … I went to Cuba with a strong conviction that the
picture had been overdrawn; that a few cases of starvation and
suffering had inspired and stimulated the press
correspondents, and that they had given free play to a strong,
natural, and highly cultivated imagination. … I could not
believe that, out of a population of 1,600,000, 200,000 had
died within these Spanish forts, practically prison walls,
within a few months past from actual starvation and diseases
caused by insufficient and improper food. My inquiries were
entirely outside of sensational sources. They were made of our
medical officers, of our consuls, of city alcaldes (mayors),
of relief committees, of leading merchants and bankers,
physicians, and lawyers. Several of my informants were Spanish
born, but every time the answer was that the case had not been
overstated. What I saw I cannot tell so that others can see it.
It must be seen with one's own eyes to be realized. …
"The dividing lines between parties are the most straight and
clear cut that have ever come to my knowledge. The division in
our war was by no means so clearly defined. It is Cuban
against Spaniard. It is practically the entire Cuban
population on one side and the Spanish army and Spanish
citizens on the other. I do not count the autonomists in this
division, as they are so far too inconsiderable in numbers to
be worth counting. General Blanco filled the civil offices
with men who had been autonomists and were still classed as
such. But the march of events had satisfied most of them that
the chance for autonomy came too late. … There is no doubt
that General Blanco is acting in entire good faith; that he
desires to give the Cubans a fair measure of autonomy, as
Campos did at the close of the ten-year war. He has, of
course, a few personal followers, but the army and the Spanish
citizens do not want genuine autonomy, for that means
government by the Cuban people. And it is not strange that the
Cubans say it comes too late."
Congressional Record,
March 17, 1898.
CUBA: A. D. 1898 (February).
Destruction of the United States Battleship Maine in Havana harbor.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).
CUBA: A. D. 1898 (March-April).
Discussion of Cuban affairs between Spain and the United States.
Message of the President to Congress asking for authority
to intervene.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (MARCH-APRIL).
CUBA: A. D. 1898 (April).
Demand of the United States Government for the withdrawal of
Spain from the island, and its result in a state of war.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (APRIL).
CUBA: A. D. 1898 (April-December).
Operations of war between the United States and Spain.
Suspension of hostilities.
Negotiation of treaty of peace.
Relinquishment of sovereignty by Spain.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (APRIL) to 1898 (JULY-DECEMBER).
CUBA: A. D. 1898 (December).
Removal of the remains of Columbus to Spain.
The remains of Columbus were taken from the Cathedral in
Havana, on the 12th of December, for transfer to the cathedral
at Seville, in Spain.
CUBA: A. D. 1898-1899 (December-October).
Organization of military government under
United States authority.
Report of the military governor, on conditions prevailing,
measures adopted, and results obtained.
On the 13th of December, 1898, the following General Order was
issued by the Secretary of War:
"By direction of the President, a division to be known as the
Division of Cuba, consisting of the geographical departments
and provinces of the island of Cuba, with headquarters in the
city of Habana, is hereby created, under command of Major
General John R. Brooke, U. S. A., who, in addition to command
of the troops in the division, will exercise the authority of
military governor of the island. Major General Fitzhugh Lee,
U. S. V., commanding the Seventh Army Corps, is assigned to
the immediate command of all the troops in the province of
Habana. Major General William Ludlow, U. S. V., is designated
as the military governor of the city of Habana, and will
report direct to the division commander. He is charged with
all that relates to collection and disbursement of revenues of
the port and city, and its police, sanitation, and general
government, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the
President."
{183}
General Brooke arrived at Havana on the 28th of December and
assumed the command of the troops and the military
governorship of the island. In his subsequent report (October
1, 1899) of conditions then existing, proceedings taken,
events occurring and results attained, he wrote: "It was found
that considerable confusion incident to the withdrawal of the
Spanish troops and replacing them with the United States
troops existed, but no untoward event occurred, however, as
every precaution was taken to maintain order. The gradual
withdrawal of the Spanish troops and the advance of the United
States troops continued, until the morning of the 1st of
January, 1899, found but few Spanish troops in the city, and
these went on board transports, which movement was completed
about 12.30 p. m. Outside of the principal towns the retiring
Spanish army was closely followed by the Cuban army, which
took charge of the towns and country, maintaining order, and,
generally, performing police duty. This state of affairs
continued, substantially, until the final disbandment of that
army. The disbandment of the Cuban army was commenced in
November, 1898, but only such as could procure work, or were
anxious to resume their former vocations, seem to have taken
advantage of the 'licencia' (furlough) which was given to
many. A large part of the army was held together on various
pretexts until the distribution of the $3,000,000 [allotted
for distribution to the Cuban army, to enable the soldiers to
return to their homes], and the giving up of their arms
effected a final disbandment. During the time the army was
held together as an organized body the police duties performed
seemed to be well done and order was preserved. The spectacle
of an army of, according to the rolls, 48,000 men being
peacefully dispersed among the people has for its prototype
the disappearance of the great volunteer army of the United
States in 1865. In neither case has there been any great
disturbance, as was feared in both cases, and particularly so
as regards the Cuban army. The small attempts at brigandage
were quickly suppressed, the lawbreakers placed in prison, and
the courts are now hearing their cases.
"On January 1, 1899, a division of the Seventh Army Corps,
under the command of General Fitzhugh Lee, General Keifer's
division, was brought to the city, and, with the regiments on
duty in Habana under the command of General William Ludlow,
were so placed as to insure good order during the ceremonies
of the relinquishment of sovereignty by Spain, which occurred
in the Governor-General's palace at 12 o'clock noon, where
were assembled the Captain-General and his staff, the United
States commission with its officers, the American military
governor with his staff, Major General Fitzhugh Lee, Major
General William Ludlow, Major General J. Warren Keifer, and
their staffs, and nine Cuban generals as his guests. This
ceremony was simple in its character, though very impressive,
consisting of a formal speech by the Spanish Governor-General,
which was replied to by General Wade, the chairman of the
United States evacuation commission, who, in concluding his
remarks, turned to the military governor and transferred the
island of Cuba to him, who, thereupon, entered upon the full
exercise of his duty as the military governor of Cuba. Of
course, the gathering into his hands of all the duties of his
office took time. The desire of a large body of the Cuban army
to take part on the 1st of January in the ceremonies of the
relinquishment of sovereignty by Spain was reported verbally,
by General Ludlow, and he was informed that the danger to life
and property was too great, and that the celebration must be
postponed to a time when the excitement had cooled off and the
passions of the people could be under control. This
celebration afterwards took place on the arrival in the city
of General Maximo Gomez, Commander in Chief of the Cuban
forces, on February 24. General Ludlow was directed to meet
General Gomez at the city limits and show him every courtesy
possible. The Quinta de los Molinos, the summer residence of
the Governor-General, was placed at his disposal, and for
several months he, with his staff and escort, occupied the
houses and grounds as the guests of this Government. The civil
bureaus of the Governor-Generalcy were taken over by officers
of the military governor's staff, and held by them until the
proper civil officials could be selected and appointed. …
"In reaching this stage on the highway of progress toward the
establishment of government through civil channels, many
obstacles have been overcome, the most serious being the very
natural distrust of the people, which was born and nurtured
under the system of the preceding government, and was
particularly the effect of the wars which these people waged
in their effort to improve their condition. It is believed
that this distrust has given way to confidence in the minds of
a majority of the people, and that they are generally
beginning to see that the government, as administered by the
United States, is for them and for their benefit. It is proper
at this time to speak of the condition of the people and the
country as it existed at the time of the relinquishment of
sovereignty by Spain. A large number of the people were found
to be actually starving. Efforts were immediately made to
supply food, which the War Department sent, all told,
5,493,500 Cuban rations, in addition to the 1,000,000 rations
distributed by Mr. Gould, and these were sent into the country
and distributed under the direction of the commanding generals
of departments, through such agencies as they established;
while in the cities the distribution was generally conducted
by an officer of the Army. The result of this action was the
immediate lowering of the death rate, the restoration to
health of the sick, and a general change for the better was
soon apparent. Medicines were also supplied for the sick with
most beneficial results. Employment was given to those who
could work, and they were paid weekly, so that they might have
money to buy food. In fact, no effort was spared to relieve the
terrible condition in which so many thousand people were
found. …
{184}
"Turning to the present conditions, we have in view such a
change that the progress seems incredible. A great part of the
improvement dates from the month of May, when the muster out
of the Cuban army removed a great source of distrust. The
extent to which have been carried the cultivation of the
fields, the reconstruction of homes, the re-establishment of
order and public service, especially in the matter of hygiene
in the towns, is something wonderful. … The question of
finance, as relates to the restoration of crippled and
destroyed agricultural industries, is one which has occupied a
great deal of attention on the part of this government. It is
evident that assistance in the way of repairing the roads and
bridges, as well as to municipalities in their present
impoverished conditions, is a necessity, and the most pressing
wants in this direction have been met by granting money from
the revenues of the island. There is every reason to hope that
the municipal revenues will meet all requirements as soon as
agriculture is again on its feet, and there will, doubtless,
be some changes in the present tax law made. In this
connection, it is well to know that planters and small farmers
in the tobacco growing districts are rapidly recovering from
their forlorn condition. The quick growing crop and the
remunerative prices have enabled them to restore, in a
measure, the lost cattle, mules, and implements necessary to
the farmers. There is, also, a desire to use labor-saving
devices, which are now being slowly introduced. …
"The quiet severance of church and state has been effected by
the fact of the Government of the United States being in
control. Certain changes have already been made in the laws,
and others will follow in due course; this without violating
the legal rights of the Roman Catholic Church, which was the
only religious denomination tolerated in the island, except a
small body of Baptists. The important subject of schools is
now approaching a solution. The present system will be
improved upon, but it will require time to develop fully a
good school system throughout the island. There are no
school-houses, and under present conditions there can be none
built for some time to come. It is hoped that a manual
training school will be opened as soon as certain repairs and
changes can be made in the Spanish barracks at Santiago de las
Vegas, a short distance south of Habana, in which about 600 of
both sexes can receive instruction at one time. This form of
instruction is more important, under the conditions found to
exist, than the ordinary instruction given in the other
schools. As conditions improve, an opportunity can be given to
increase the number of these schools, and by their means
introduce modern methods more rapidly than by other systems."
General John R. Brooke,
Civil Report, October 1, 1899
(Message and Documents: Abridgment, 1899-1900,
volume 2, pages 1266-1276).
General Fitzhugh Lee reported, September 19, 1899, on the
state of things in the province of Havana, as follows: "I
assumed command of the department of the province of Habana
January 1, 1899, and of the province of Pinar del Rio April
19, 1899. The deplorable condition of the island after it was
evacuated by the Spanish is well known. Business of all sorts
was suspended. Agricultural operations had ceased; large sugar
estates, with their enormous and expensive machinery, were
destroyed; houses burned: stock driven off for consumption by
the Spanish troops, or killed. There was scarcely an ox left
to pull a plow, had there been a plow left. Not a pig had been
left in the pen, nor a hen to lay an egg for the poor,
destitute people who still held on to life, most of them sick,
weary, and weak. Miles and miles of country uninhabited either
by the human race or domestic animals was visible to the eye
on every side. The great fertile island of Cuba in some places
resembled an ash pile; in others, the dreary desert. The
'reconcentrado' order of the former Captain-General Weyler, it
will be remembered, drove from their houses and lands all the
old men, women, and children who had remained at their homes
because they were not physically able to bear the burdens of
war. The wheels of the former government had ceased to
revolve. Chaos, confusion, doubt, and uncertainty filled with
apprehension the minds of the Cubans, who, for the first time,
had been relieved of the cruel care of those who for centuries
controlled their country and their destiny. … The railroads on
the island were in bad order, having been used to the extent
of their endurance conveying Spanish troops and Spanish
supplies over them, while the great calzadas or turnpikes were
filled with holes, for the war prevented repairs to either
railroads or roads. Municipalities were all greatly in debt.
None of the civil officers had been paid, and school-teachers
had large amounts of back salary due. Judicial officers were
discharging their duties as far as they could—for there was
really no law in the island except the mandate of the
Captain-General—without pay, and many months of back pay was
due to the professors in the colleges of the largest cities.
The whole framework of the government had to be rebuilt, and
its machinery carefully and gradually reconstructed. Important
government problems had to be promptly solved, which involved
social, economic, commercial, agricultural, public
instruction, support of eleemosynary institutions of all
kinds, means of communications, reorganization of
municipalities, with the necessary town and city police,
including a mounted force to patrol the adjoining rural
districts within the limits, and subject to the authorities of
the mayors and council of their respective municipalities; the
appointment of new alcaldes and other officers to replace
those left in authority by the Spanish Government, and who
would be more in accord with the inhabitants whose local
affairs they directed. Many trying and troublesome questions
arose, and many difficulties environed on either side of the
situation.
"Of the Cuban rural population, less than 20 per cent of them
were able to read and write, resembling children awaking the
first time to the realities of life. They were in the main
obedient, docile, quiet, and inoffensive, and anxious to adapt
themselves as soon as possible to the new conditions which
confronted them. The Cuban soldiers, black and white, who had
been in the fields and woods for four years defying the
Spanish banner, still kept their guns, and were massing around
the cities and towns, producing more or less unrest in the
public mind with the fear that many of them, unaccustomed to
work so long, would be transformed into brigands, and not
become peaceful, law-abiding citizens.
{185}
In eight months wonderful progress has been made. The arms of
the Cuban soldiers have been stacked, and they have quietly
resumed peaceful vocations. Brigandage, which partially
flourished for a time, has been stamped out, tillage
everywhere has greatly increased, many houses rebuilt, many
huts constructed, fences are being built, and more and more
farming lands are gradually being taken up, and municipalities
reorganized with new officers representing the wishes of the
majority of the inhabitants. Municipal police have been
appointed who are uniformed and under the charge of, in most
cases, efficient officers."
General Fitzhugh Lee,
Report, September 19, 1899.
General Leonard Wood, commanding in the province of Santiago,
reported at the same time as follows: "On the assumption of
control by the American Government, July 17, 1899, of that
portion of the province of Santiago included in the
surrendered territory, industries were practically at a
standstill. In the rural districts all industries were at an
end. The estates, almost without exception, have been
destroyed, and no work is being done. … In the towns the
effect of reconcentration was shown by large crowds of women
and children and old men who were practically starving. They
were thin, pale, and barely able to drag themselves about. The
merchants and a few planters were the only prosperous people
in the province. … A feeling of bitter hostility existed
between the Cubans and Spaniards, and also a very ugly feeling
between the Cubans who had acted in harmony with the
autonomists in the latter days of the Spanish occupation and
those who had been in the Cuban army. At first there was a
good deal of talk of a threatening character in regard to what
the Cubans would do to the Spaniards, now that they were in a
position to avenge themselves for some of the many injuries
received in the past. This, however, soon passed over, and
much more friendly and sensible ideas prevailed. There were no
schools and no material for establishing them. All officers of
the civil government had resigned and left their posts, with
the exception of one judge of the first instance and several
municipal judges and certain police officers. The prisons were
full of prisoners, both Spanish and Cuban, many of them being
Spanish military and political prisoners. The administration
of justice was at a standstill. The towns all presented an
appearance of greatest neglect, and showed everywhere entire
disregard of every sanitary law. The amount of clothing in the
possession of the people was very limited, and in many of the
interior villages women were compelled to keep out of sight
when strangers appeared, as they had only skirts and waists
made of bagging and other coarse material. Many of the
children were absolutely without clothing. Evidences of great
suffering were found on every hand. A very large proportion of
the population was sick in the country districts from malaria
and in the seaboard towns from lack of food and water. …
"The first two and a half months after the surrender were
devoted almost entirely to the distribution of food and to
supplying hospitals and charities with such limited quantities
of necessary material as we were able to obtain. Commanding
officers in all parts of the island were busily engaged in
cleaning up towns and carrying out all possible sanitary and
administrative reforms. Schools were established, some 60 in
the city of Santiago and over 200 in the province as a whole.
Affairs have continued to improve slowly but surely, until at
the present time we find the towns, generally speaking, clean,
the death rate lower than the people have known before, some
public improvements under way in all the large towns, the
amount of work done being limited only by the amount of money
received. … Industries of all kinds are springing up. New
sugar plantations are being projected; hospitals and
charitable institutions are being regularly supplied, and all
are fairly well equipped with necessary articles. The death
rate among the native population is very much lower than in
former years. The people in the towns are quiet and orderly,
with the exception of a few editorial writers, who manage to
keep up a certain small amount of excitement, just enough to
give the papers in question a fair sale. The people are all
anxious to work. The present currency is American currency. A
condition of good order exists in the rural districts. The
small planters are all out on their farms and a condition of
security and good order prevails. The issue of rations has
been practically stopped and we have few or almost no
applications for food."
General Leonard Wood;
Report, September 20, 1899.
CUBA: A. D. 1899 (October).
Census of the Island.
Statistics of population, nativity, illiteracy, etc.
"The total population of Cuba on October 16, 1899, determined
by the census taken [under the direction of the War Department
of the United States] as of that date, was 1,572,797. This was
distributed as follows among the six provinces:
Habana, 424,804;
Matanzas, 202,444;
Pinar del Rio, 173,064;
Puerto Principe, 88,234;
Santa Clara, 356,536;
Santiago, 327,715.
The latest census taken under Spanish authority was in 1887.
The total population as returned by that census was 1,631,687,
and the population by provinces was as follows:
Habana, 451,928;
Matanzas, 259,578;
Pinar del Rio, 225,891;
Puerto Principe, 67,789;
Santa Clara, 354,122;
Santiago, 272,379.
Whether that census was correct may be a matter of discussion,
but if incorrect, the number of inhabitants was certainly not
overstated. Comparing the total population at these two
censuses, it is seen, that the loss in the 12 years amounted
to 58,890, or 3.6 per cent of the population in 1887. This
loss is attributable to the recent civil war and the
reconcentration policy accompanying it, but the figures
express only a part of the loss from this cause. Judging from
the earlier history of the island and the excess of births
over deaths, as shown by the registration records, however
imperfect they may be, the population probably increased from
1887 up to the beginning of the war and at the latter epoch
reached a total of little less than 1,800,000. It is probable,
therefore, that the direct and indirect losses by the war and
the reconcentration policy, including a decrease of births and
of immigration and an increase of deaths and of emigration
reached a total of approximately 200,000. …
"The area of Cuba is approximately 44,000 square miles, and
the average number of inhabitants per square mile 35.7, about
the same as the State of Iowa. … Habana, with the densest
population, is as thickly populated as the State of
Connecticut, and Puerto Principe, the most sparsely populated,
is in this respect comparable with the State of Texas. …
{186}
"The total number of males of voting age in Cuba was 417,993,
or 26 per cent of the total population. This is a little less
than the proportion, in 1890, in the United States, where it
was 27 per cent. … Classifying the potential voters of Cuba by
birthplace and race, it is seen that 44.9 per cent were
whites, born in Cuba; that 30.5 per cent were colored, and as
nearly all the colored were born in the island it is seen that
fully seven-tenths of the potential voters of Cuba were native
born, 23 per cent were born in Spain, and 1.6 per cent in
other countries. Classifying the whole number of potential
voters by citizenship it is seen that 70 per cent were Cuban
citizens, 2 per cent were Spanish citizens, 18 per cent were
holding their citizenship in suspense, and 10 per cent were
citizens of other countries, or their citizenship was unknown.
…
"The Cuban citizens, numbering 290,905, were composed almost
entirely of persons born in Cuba, there being among them but
220 white persons, and probably not more colored, of alien
birth. The white Cuban citizens, who were natives of the
island, numbered 184,471, and of these 94,301, or 51 per cent,
were unable to read. The colored Cuban citizens numbered
106,214, of which not less than 78,279, or 74 per cent, were
unable to read. The people of Cuba who claimed Spanish
citizenship numbered 9,500, and of these nearly all were born
in Spain, there being but 159 born elsewhere. Those whose
citizenship was in suspense numbered 76,669. These also were
nearly all of Spanish birth, the number born elsewhere being
but 1,420. The number of persons of other or unknown
citizenship was 40,919. Of these fully one-half were colored,
most of them being Chinese, and much the larger proportion of
the remaining half were of Spanish birth.
"Summing up the situation, it appears that the total number of
males of voting age who could read was 200,631, a little less
than half the total number of males of voting age. Of these
22,629 were of Spanish or other foreign citizenship or unknown
citizenship. The number whose citizenship was in suspense was
59,724, and the number of Cuban citizens able to read was
118,278, or 59 per cent of all Cuban citizens of voting age."
Census of Cuba,
Bulletins Numbers I and III.
CUBA: A. D. 1899 (December).

Appointment of General Leonard Wood to the
military command and Governorship.
On the 6th of December General Leonard Wood was commissioned
major-general of volunteers, and was assigned to command of
the Division of Cuba, relieving General Brooke as division
commander and military governor of Cuba. On the 30th, Governor
Wood announced the appointment of the following Cuban
ministers to form his cabinet:
Secretary of State and Government, Diego Tamayo;
Secretary of Justice, Luis Estevoz;
Secretary of Education, Juan Bautista Hernandez;
Secretary of Finance, Enrique Varona;
Secretary of Public Works, Jose Ramon Villalon;
Secretary of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce, Rius Rivera.
CUBA: A. D. 1900.
Organization of a school system.
Teachers at Harvard Summer School.
"Especial attention has been given by the military government
to the development of primary education. The enrollment of the
public schools of Cuba immediately before the last war shows
36,306 scholars, but an examination of the reports containing
these figures indicates that probably less than half the names
enrolled represented actual attendance. There were practically
no separate school buildings, but the scholars were collected
in the residences of the teachers. There were few books, and
practically no maps, blackboards, desks or other school
apparatus. … Even these poor apologies for public schools
were, to a great extent, broken up by the war, and in
December, 1899, the entire public-school enrollment of the
island numbered 21,435. The following table shows the advance
in school facilities during the half year ending June 30 last:
School rooms. Enrollment.
January, 1900 635 37,995
February, 1900 1,338 69,476
March, 1900 3,126 127,881
April, 1900 3,126 127,426
May, 1900 3,313 139,616
June, 1900 3,500 143,120
"This great development was accomplished under the Cuban
secretary of public instruction and the Cuban commissioner of
public schools, with the able and experienced assistance of
Mr. Alexis E. Frye as superintendent. It is governed by a
school law modeled largely upon the law of Ohio. … The schools
are subject to constant and effective inspection and the
attendance is practically identical with the enrollment.
"The schools are separated from the residences of the
teachers, and each schoolroom has its separate teacher. The
courses and methods of instruction are those most approved in
this country. The text-books are translations into Spanish of
American text-books. For the supply of material $150,000 were,
in the first instance, appropriated from the insular treasury,
and afterwards, upon a single order, 100,000 full sets of
desks, text-books, scholars' supplies, etc., were purchased
upon public advertisement in this country at an expense of
about three-quarters of a million dollars. All over the island
the old Spanish barracks, and barracks occupied by the
American troops which have been withdrawn, are being turned
into schoolrooms after thorough renovation. The pressure for
education is earnest and universal. The appropriations of this
year from the insular treasury for that purpose will amount to
about four and a half million dollars; but great as the
development has been it will be impossible, with the resources
of the island for a long time yet to come, to fully meet the
demand for the learning so long withheld. The provincial
institutions and high schools and the University of Habana
have been reorganized.
"During the past summer, through the generosity of Harvard
University and its friends, who raised a fund of $70,000 for
that purpose, 1,281 Cuban teachers were enabled to attend a
summer school of instruction at Cambridge, designed to fit
them for their duties. They were drawn from every municipality
and almost every town in the island. They were collected from
the different ports of the island by five United States
transports, which carried them to Boston, and, at the
expiration of their visit, took them to New York and thence to
Habana and to their homes. They were lodged and boarded in and
about the University at Cambridge, and visited the libraries
and museums and the educational institutions and manufacturing
establishments in the neighborhood of Boston. Through the
energy of Mr. Frye money was raised to enable them to visit
New York and Washington. They were returned to their homes
without a single accident or loss, full of new ideas and of
zeal for the educational work in which they had found so much
sympathy and encouragement."
United States, Secretary of War, Annual Report,
November 30, 1900, pages. 32-33.
{187}
CUBA: A. D. 1900 (June-November).
Municipal elections and election
of a Constitutional Convention.
Meeting of the Convention.
Statement of the Military Governor.
"The census having been completed and the period given for
Spanish residents to make their election as to citizenship
having expired on the 11th of April, 1900, steps were
immediately taken for the election of municipal governments by
the people. In view of the fact that 66 per cent of the people
could not read and write, it was not deemed advisable that
absolutely unrestricted suffrage should be established, and,
after very full conference with leading Cubans, including all
the heads of the great departments of state, a general
agreement was reached upon a basis of suffrage, which provided
that every native male Cuban or Spaniard who had elected to
take Cuban citizenship, of full age, might vote if he either
could read and write, or owned real estate or personal
property to the value of $250, or had served in and been
honorably discharged from the Cuban army; thus according a
voice in the government of the country to everyone who had the
intelligence to acquire the rudiments of learning, the thrift
to accumulate property, or the patriotism to fight for his
country. On the 18th of April an election law, which aims to
apply the best examples of our American election statutes to
the existing conditions of Cuba, was promulgated for the
guidance of the proposed election. On the 16th of June an
election was held throughout the island in which the people of
Cuba in all the municipalities, which include the entire
island, elected all their municipal officers. The boards of
registration and election were composed of Cubans selected by
the Cubans themselves. No United States soldier or officer was
present at or in the neighborhood of any polling place. There
was no disturbance. After the newly elected municipal officers
had been installed and commenced the performance of their
duties an order was made enlarging the powers of the municipal
governments and putting into their hands as much of the
government of the people as was practicable.
"As soon as the new municipal governments were fairly
established the following call for a constitutional convention
was issued:
'Habana, July 25, 1900.
The military governor of Cuba directs the publication of the
following instructions:
Whereas the Congress of the United States by its joint
resolution of April 20, 1898, declared That the people of the
island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and
independent; That the United States hereby disclaims any
disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty,
jurisdiction, or control over said island except for the
pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that
is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the
island to its people; And whereas the people of Cuba have
established municipal governments, deriving their authority
from the suffrages of the people given under just and equal
laws, and are now ready, in like manner, to proceed to the
establishment of a general government which shall assume and
exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, and control over the
island: Therefore
"'It is ordered,
That a general election be held in the island of Cuba on the
third Saturday of September, in the year nineteen hundred, to
elect delegates to a convention to meet in the city of Habana,
at twelve o'clock noon on the first Monday of November, in the
year nineteen hundred, to frame and adopt a constitution for
the people of Cuba, and, as a part thereof, to provide for and
agree with the Government of the United States upon the
relations to exist between that Government and the Government
of Cuba, and to provide for the election by the people of
officers under such constitution and the transfer of
government to the officers so elected.
"'The election will be held in the several voting precincts of
the island under and pursuant to the provisions of the
electoral law of April 18, 1900, and the amendments thereof.
The people of the several provinces will elect delegates in
number proportionate to their populations as determined by the
census, viz: The people of the province of Pinar del Rio will
elect three (3) delegates. The people of the province of
Habana will elect eight (8) delegates. The people of the
province of Matanzas will elect four (4) delegates. The people
of the province of Santa Clara will elect seven (7) delegates.
The people of the province of Puerto Principe will elect two
(2) delegates. The people of the province of Santiago de Cuba
will elect seven (7) delegates.'
"Under this call a second election was held on the 15th of
September, under the same law, with some slight amendments,
and under the same conditions as the municipal elections. The
election was wholly under the charge of Cubans, and without
any participation or interference whatever by officers or
troops of the United States. The thirty-one members of the
constitutional convention were elected, and they convened at
Habana at the appointed time. The sessions of the convention
were opened in the city of Habana on the 5th of November by
the military governor, with the following statement: 'To the
delegates of the Constitutional Convention of Cuba. Gentlemen:
As military governor of the island, representing the President
of the United States, I call this convention to order. It will
be your duty, first, to frame and adopt a constitution for
Cuba, and, when that has been done, to formulate what, in your
opinion, ought to be the relations between Cuba and the United
States. The constitution must be adequate to secure a stable,
orderly, and free government.
"'When you have formulated the relations which, in your
opinion, ought to exist between Cuba and the United States,
the Government of the United States will doubtless take such
action on its part as shall lead to a final and authoritative
agreement between the people of the two countries for the
promotion of their common interests.
{188}
"'All friends of Cuba will follow your deliberations with the
deepest interest, earnestly desiring that you shall reach just
conclusions, and that, by the dignity, individual self-restraint,
and wise conservatism which shall characterize your
proceedings, the capacity of the Cuban people for
representative government may be signally illustrated. The
fundamental distinction between true representative government
and dictatorship is that in the former every representative of
the people, in whatever office, confines himself strictly
within the limits of his defined powers. Without such
restraint there can be no free constitutional government.
Under the order pursuant to which you have been elected and
convened you have no duty and no authority to take part in the
present government of the island. Your powers are strictly
limited by the terms of that order.'"
United States, Secretary of War,
Annual Report, November 30, 1900, pages 24-32.
CUBA: A. D. 1900 (December).
Measures for the destruction of the mosquito,
as a carrier of yellow fever.
See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: MEDICAL AND SURGICAL.
CUBA: A. D. 1900-1901.
Frauds by American officials in the Havana post office.
Question cf the extradition of C. F. W. Neely.
Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States as to the
independent status of Cuba in its relations
to the United States.
In the spring of 1900 a discovery was made of extensive frauds
committed by American officials who had been placed, by U. S.
military authority, in the post office at Havana. One of the
persons accused, named C. F. W. Neely, having returned to the
United States, his extradition, for trial in Cuba, was
demanded, and a question thereon arose as to the status of the
island of Cuba in its relations to the United States. The case
(Neely vs. Henkel) was taken on appeal to the Supreme Court of
the United States, and Neely was subjected to extradition by the
decision of that tribunal, rendered in January, 1901. The
status of Cuba, as an independent foreign territory, was thus
defined in the opinion of the Court:
"The legislative and executive branches of the Government, by
the joint resolution of April 20, 1898, expressly disclaimed
any purpose to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control
over Cuba, 'except for the pacification thereof,' and asserted
the determination of the United States, that object being
accomplished, to leave the government and control of Cuba to
its own people. All that has been done in relation to Cuba has
had that end in view, and so far as the court is informed by the
public history of the relations of this country with that
island, nothing has been done inconsistent with the declared
object of the war with Spain. Cuba is none the less foreign
territory, within the meaning of the act of Congress, because
it is under a military governor appointed by and representing
the President in the work of assisting the inhabitants of that
island to establish a government of their own, under which, as
a free and independent people, they may control their own
affairs without interference by other nations. The occupancy
of the island by troops of the United States was the necessary
result of the war. That result could not have been avoided by
the United States consistently with the principles of
international law or with its obligations to the people of
Cuba. It is true that as between Spain and the United
States—indeed, as between the United States and all foreign
nations—Cuba, upon the cessation of hostilities with Spain and
after the treaty of Paris, was to be treated as if it were
conquered territory. But—as between the United States and
Cuba, that island is territory held in trust for the
inhabitants of Cuba, to whom it rightfully belongs and to
whose exclusive control it will be surrendered when a stable
government shall have been established by their voluntary
action."
CUBA: A. D. 1901 (January).
Draft of Constitution reported to the Convention
by its Central Committee.
Public sessions of the Constitutional Convention were not
opened until the middle of January, 1901, when the draft of a
Constitution was reported by its Central Committee, and the
text given to the Press. By subsequent action of the
Convention, various amendments were made, and the instrument,
at this writing (early in April), still awaits finish and
adoption. The amendments have been reported imperfectly and
the text of the Constitution, even in its present state,
cannot be authentically given. It is probable, however, that
the structure of government provided for in the draft reported
to the Convention stands now and will remain substantially
unchanged. An outline of its features is the most that we will
venture to give in this place.
The preamble is in these words:
"We, the delegates of the Cuban people, having met in assembly
for the purpose of agreeing upon the adoption of a fundamental
law, which, at the same time that it provides for the
constitution into a sovereign and independent nation of the
people of Cuba, establishes a solid and permanent form of
government, capable of complying with its international
obligations, insuring domestic tranquillity, establishing
justice, promoting the general welfare, and securing the
blessings of liberty to the inhabitants, we do agree upon and
adopt the following constitution, in pursuance of the said
purpose, invoking the protection of the Almighty, and prompted
by the dictates of our conscience."
The form of government is declared to be republican. The
guarantees of the Constitution, defined with precision and at
length, include "equal rights under the law," protection from
arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, freedom of thought, speech,
writing and publication, freedom of worship, freedom of
association and meeting, freedom of teaching, freedom of
travel, inviolability of private dwellings and private papers,
"except by order of a competent authority and with the
formalities prescribed by the laws."
Legislative powers are to be exercised by two elective bodies,
to be named House of Representatives and Senate, and
conjointly known as Congress. The Senate to be composed of six
senators elected from each of the six departments of the
republic; the boundaries and names of the departments to be
those of the present provinces "as long as not modified by the
laws."
{189}
The terms of the senators to be six years, one third of their
number to be elected every two years. The House of
Representatives to be composed of "one representative for
every 25,000 inhabitants or fraction of more than 12,000,
elected for a period of four years, by direct vote, and in the
manner prescribed by law "; one half to be elected every two
years. Representatives and Senators not to be held responsible
for opinions expressed in the exercise of their duties, and not
to be arrested nor tried without the consent of the body to
which they belong, "except in case of being discovered in the
act of committing some crime." Congress to meet in regular
session every year on the first Monday in November, and to
remain in session for at least ninety consecutive days,
excepting holidays and Sundays. Its powers to be substantially
the same as those exercised by the Congress of the United
States.
The executive power to be exercised by the President of the
republic, who "shall be elected by direct votes, and an
absolute majority thereof, cast on one single day, in
accordance with the provisions of the law." The term of the
President to be four years, and none to be elected for three
consecutive terms. A Vice-President to be elected "in the same
manner as the President, conjointly with the latter and for a
like term."
The judicial power to be "exercised by the Supreme Court of
Justice and such other courts as may be established by law."
The Supreme Court, like that of the United States, "to decide
as to the constitutionality of legislative acts that may have
been objected to as unconstitutional," and to have an
appellant jurisdiction corresponding to that of the Supreme
Court of the United States.
Over each of the six departments or provinces it is provided
that there shall be a governor, "elected by a direct vote for
a period of three years," and a Departmental Assembly, "to
consist of not less than eight or more than twenty, elected by
direct vote for a like period of three years." The
Departmental Assemblies to "have the right of independent
action in all things not antagonistic to the constitution, to
the general laws nor to international treaties, nor to that
which pertains to the inherent rights of the municipalities,
which may concern the department, such as the establishment
and maintenance of institutions of public education, public
charities, public departmental roads, means of communication
by water or sea, the preparation of their budgets, and the
appointment and removal of their employés."
The "municipal terminos" are to be governed by
"Ayuntamientos," composed of Councilmen elected by a direct
vote in the manner prescribed by law, and by a Mayor, elected
in like manner. The Ayuntamientos to be self-governing, free
to "take action on all matters that solely and exclusively
concern their municipal termino, such as appointment and
removal of employés, preparation of their budgets, freely
establishing the means of income to meet them without any
other limitation than that of making them compatible with the
general system of taxation of the republic."
The provision for amendment of the Constitution is as follows:
"The constitution cannot be changed in whole or part except by
two-thirds vote of both legislative bodies. Six months after
deciding on the reform, a Constitutional Assembly shall be
elected, which shall confine itself to the approval or
disapproval of the reform voted by the legislative bodies.
These will continue in their functions independently of the
Constitutional Assembly. The members in this Assembly shall be
equal to the number of the members in the two legislative
bodies together."
CUBA: A. D. 1901 (February-March).
Conditions on which the government of the island will
be yielded to its people prescribed by the Congress
of the United States.
In the call for a Constitutional Convention issued by the
military governor on the 25th of July, 1900 (see above), it
was set forth that the duty of the Convention would be "to
frame and adopt a constitution for the people of Cuba, and, as
a part thereof, to provide for and agree with the government
of the United States upon the relations to exist between that
government and the government of Cuba." This intimated an
intention on the part of the government of the United States
to attach conditions to its recognition of the independent
government for which the Convention was expected to provide.
The intimation was conveyed still more plainly to the
Constitutional Convention by Military Governor Wood, at the
opening of its sessions, when he said: "When you have
formulated the relations which, in your opinion, ought to
exist between Cuba and the United States, the government of
the United States will doubtless take such action on its part
as shall lead to a final and authoritative agreement between
the two countries for the promotion of their common
interests." The Convention, however, gave no sign of a
disposition to act as desired by the government of the United
States, and seemed likely to finish its work, either without
touching the subject of relations between the Cuban and
American Republics, or else offering proposals that would not
meet the wishes of the latter. Those wishes were made known to
the Convention in flat terms, at length, by the military
governor, and its prompt action was urged, in order that the
judgment of the Congress of the United States might be
pronounced on what it did. But the day on which the session of
Congress would expire drew near, and still nothing came from
the Cubans, who seem to have understood that they were
exempted from such dictation by the resolution which Congress
adopted on the 18th of April, 1898, when it took up the Cuban
cause [see (in this volume)) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D.
1998 (APRIL)], declaring that "the United States hereby
disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise
sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island [of
Cuba], except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its
determination when that is accomplished to leave the
government and control of the island to its people."
Unwilling to be left to deal, alone, with the question thus
arising between the Cubans and their liberators, President
McKinley caused it to be understood that he should call an
extra session of Congress, if no Congressional expression on
the subject of Cuban relations was found practicable before
the 4th of March. This stimulated action in the expiring
Congress, and the Army Appropriation Bill, then pending in the
Senate, was made the vehicle of legislation on the subject, by
the hasty insertion therein of the following amendment,
offered by Senator Platt, of Connecticut:
{190}
"In fulfillment of the declaration contained in the joint
resolution approved April 20, 1898, entitled 'For the
recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba,
demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its
authority and government in the island of Cuba, and to
withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters,
and directing the President of the United States to use the land
and naval forces of the United States to carry these
resolutions into effect,' the President is hereby authorized
to 'leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to
its people,' so soon as a government shall have been
established in said island under a constitution which, either
as a part thereof or in an ordinance appended thereto, shall
define the future relations of the United States with Cuba,
substantially as follows;
I.
"That the government of Cuba shall never enter into any treaty
or other compact with any foreign power or powers which will
impair or tend to impair the independence of Cuba, nor in any
manner authorize or permit any foreign power or powers to
obtain by colonization or for military or naval purposes or
otherwise, lodgment in or control over any portion of said
island.
II.
"That said government shall not assume or contract any public
debt, to pay the interest upon which, and to make reasonable
sinking fund provision for the ultimate discharge of which,
the ordinary revenues of the island, after defraying the
current expenses of government, shall be inadequate.
III.
"That the government of Cuba consents that the United States
may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of
Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate
for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty,
and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba
imposed by the treaty of Paris on the United States, now to be
assumed and undertaken by the government of Cuba.
IV.
"That all acts of the United States in Cuba during its
military occupancy thereof are ratified and validated, and all
lawful rights acquired thereunder shall be maintained and
protected.
V.
"That the government of Cuba will execute, and as far as
necessary extend, the plans already devised or other plans to
be mutually agreed upon, for the sanitation of the cities of
the island, to the end that a recurrence of epidemic and
infectious diseases may be prevented, thereby assuring
protection to the people and commerce of Cuba, as well as to
the commerce of the Southern ports of the United States and
the people residing therein.
VI.
"That the Isle of Pines shall be omitted from the proposed
constitutional boundaries of Cuba, the title thereto being
left to future adjustment by treaty.
VII.
"That to enable the United States to maintain the independence
of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its
own defence, the government of Cuba will sell or lease to the
United States lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at
certain specified points, to be agreed upon with the President
of the United States.
VIII.
"That by way of further assurance the government of Cuba will
embody the foregoing provisions in a permanent treaty with the
United States."
The Platt Amendment, as it is known, was adopted by the Senate
on the 27th of February (yeas 43, nays 20, not, voting 25),
and concurred in by the House on the 1st of March (yeas 161,
nays 136, not voting 56). The opponents of the amendment were
weakened by their dread of an extra session of Congress, and
by their knowledge that the party of the administration would
be still stronger in the new Congress than in that which
expired on the 4th of March. Otherwise, no vote on the measure
could have been reached before that date.
At the time of this writing, the effect in Cuba of the
declarations of the Congress of the United States remains in
doubt. The Constitutional Convention has taken no action upon
them.
----------CUBA: End--------
CULEBRA.
See (in this volume)
PORTO RICO: AREA AND POPULATION.
CUMULATIVE VOTING.
See (in this volume)
BELGIUM: A. D. 1894-1895.
CURTIS ACT, The.
See (in this volume)
INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1893-1899.
CURZON, George N., Baron:
Appointed Viceroy of India.
See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1898 (SEPTEMBER).
CZECH PARTIES.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
D.
DAHOMEY: A. D. 1895.
Under a Governor-General of French West Africa.
See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (FRENCH WEST AFRICA).
DAHOMEY: A. D. 1897.
Settlement of Tongaland boundary.
See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (DAHOMEY AND TONGALAND).
DAMASCUS, Railway to.
See (in this volume)
JEWS: A. D. 1899.
DARGAI, Battle of.
See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1897-1898.
"DARKEST ENGLAND" SCHEME, Results from General Booth's.
See (in this volume)
SALVATION ARMY.
DAVIS, General George W.:
Military Governor of Porto Rico.
See (in this volume)
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898-1899 (OCTOBER-OCTOBER).
DAVIS, General George W.:
Report on the Civil Government of Porto Rico.
See (in this volume)
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898-1899 (AUGUST-JULY).
DAWES COMMISSION, The work of the.
See (in this volume)
INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1893-1899.
{191}
DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINING COMPANY:
Complicity in the Jameson Raid.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (CAPE COLONY): A. D. 1896 (JULY).
DECLARATION AGAINST TRANSUBSTANTIATION, The English King's.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).
DELAGOA BAY, and the railway to Pretoria.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1895 (JULY) and (SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER).
DELAGOA BAY ARBITRATION.
"On December 11th, 1875, Portugal concluded a treaty with the
Transvaal Government under which the latter Government bound
itself to continue the line of railway—which the Portuguese
Government proposed to build from Lourenço-Marques to the
Transvaal frontier—'up to a centre of production and
consumption which should insure the traffic of the line and
the development of international commerce.' The Portuguese
Government then began to look about for a concessionaire and
contractor for this line, and after some research, eventually
came to terms with one Colonel Edward McMurdo, a citizen of
the United States of America, who undertook to build the line
without any Government subvention,—a matter of some importance
to the Portuguese Government,—but upon certain conditions, of
which the most important was that the concessionaire should
have the right to fix the tariffs without any State
interference. A contract … was drawn up and executed in Lisbon
on December 14th, 1883." The government bound itself to grant
no concession for a rival railway from the coast to the
Transvaal boundary, and gave the contractor certain valuable
mining rights and grants of land. On his part he was to
complete the road within three years. He formed a Portuguese
company for the purpose, and seems to have been prepared for
success in his undertaking, when rumors began to circulate
that the Transvaal government had secured from that of
Portugal the right to build a steam tramway from the eastern
terminus of its own line to the coast. These rumors were
contradicted by the Portuguese government: but are said to
have been eventually confirmed. Five months after the signing
of the contract with Colonel McMurdo, the Portuguese
authorities, it seems, had actually violated it in the manner
described. Henceforth the contractor appears to have had every
possible embarrassment thrown in his way by combined action of
the Portuguese and Boer governments. His Portuguese company
was broken down, but he organized another in England, which
struggled on with the enterprise until 1880, when a decree
from Lisbon rescinded the concession, declared the railway
forfeited, and ordered military possession of it to be taken.
The sufferers in the matter, being British and American
citizens, appealed then to their respective governments, and
both intervened in their behalf. The result was a reference of
the matter to the arbitration of Switzerland. So much was
settled in June, 1891; but it was not until March, 1900, that
the judgment of the arbitrators was pronounced. They awarded
to the Delagoa Bay Company, as its due on the railway,
13,980,000 francs. "To this is added a sum of fr. 2,000,000 as
an indemnity for the land grant, which brings the total award
(less £28,000 paid by Portugal on account in 1890) to fr.
15,314,000 (or about £612,560), with interest at 5 per cent.
from June 25th, 1889, to the date of payment. The amount of
this award came as a considerable shock to the claimants, as
well it might. It was insufficient to pay even the bonds in
full (including interest at 7 per cent.), and left nothing
whatever for the shareholders, while even the expenses are to
be borne by each party equally."
M. McIlwraith,
The Delagoa Bay Arbitration
(Fortnightly Review, September, 1900).
DELAWARE: A. D. 1897.
A new Constitution.
A new constitution for the State of Delaware, which went into
effect June 10, 1897, provides that after January 1, 1900, no
citizen shall vote who cannot write his name and read the
constitution in the English language. It also provides a
registration fee of one dollar as a qualification to vote.
DEMOCRACY: In the Nineteenth Century.
See (in this volume)
NINETEENTH CENTURY; THE TREND.
DEMOCRACY: In the Nineteenth Century.
Pope Leo's Encyclical concerning.
See (in this volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1901.
DEMOCRATIC EXPERIMENTS, New Zealand.
See (in this volume)
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1891-1900.
DEMOCRATIC PARTY, and the Silver Question in the United States.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
DENMARK: A. D. 1899.
Complaints from Danish Sleswick of German treatment.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1899.
DENMARK: A. D. 1899.
Representation in the Peace Conference at The Hague.
See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
DÉROULÈDE, Paul:
Trial and conviction for treasonable conspiracy.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1890 (FEBRUARY-JUNE);
and 1899-1900 (AUGUST-JANUARY).
DERVISHES, of the Sudan, The.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896; 1897-1898; and 1899-1900.
DEVIL'S ISLAND.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1897-1899.
DEWEY, Admiral George:
Destruction of Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-JULY).
DIAMOND JUBILEE, Queen Victoria's.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND; A. D. 1897 (JUNE).
DIAZ, Porfirio:
The results of twenty years of his Presidency in Mexico.
See (in this volume)
MEXICO: A. D. 1898-1900.
DINGLEY TARIFF, The.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1897 (MARCH-JULY); and 1899-1901.
DIPHTHERIA: Discovery of antitoxine treatment of.
See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: MEDICAL AND SURGICAL.
DIR: Inclusion in a new British Indian province.
See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).
{192}
DISCOVERIES, Scientific:
Comparison of the Nineteenth Century with preceding ages.
See (in this volume)
NINETEENTH CENTURY; COMPARISON.
DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE NEGRO.
See (in this volume)
MISSISSIPPI; LOUISIANA; NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1900;
SOUTH CAROLINA; A. D. 1896;
MARYLAND;
and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).
DISPENSARY LAWS.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1892-1899;
NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1897-1899;
SOUTH DAKOTA: A. D. 1899;
and ALABAMA: A. D. 1899.
DIVINE RIGHT, Kingship by:
German revival of the doctrine.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1894-1899.
DOMINICA: Condition and relief measures.
See (in this volume))
WEST INDIES, THE BRITISH: A. D. 1897.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: A. D. 1899.
Assassination of President Heureaux.
Revolution.
Election of President Jiminez.
General D. Ulises Heureaux, President of the Republic, was
shot through the heart by an assassin and instantly killed, on
the 26th of July. "He was in his fourth consecutive term as
president, and had occupied that position for fifteen years,
although still a young man. San Domingo had been more free
from revolution, more prosperous, better inclined toward
outside capital and enterprise, and more disposed toward the
ways of modern civilization under Heureaux, than at any
previous time for many decades. Although nominally a republic,
San Domingo was ruled by this iron-willed and resolute negro
with a stern despotism hardly matched by any other
contemporary government on earth. He was superior to all law.
He constantly made use of the practice of executing officials,
generals, and well-known public men with his own hand whenever
dissatisfied with them. Still more frequently, when the
objects of his disapproval were not within easy traveling
distance, he gave orders to some officer or subordinate,
dependent upon his favor, to undertake an assassination.
Failure to comply promptly and successfully with such a
mandate meant death to the men who failed. These statements
convey no exaggerated impression of the way in which Heureaux
has ruled San Domingo, nipped insurrection in the bud, and
kept himself in power. … He always excused his ruthlessness on
the ground of public necessity. Of course, it was inevitable
that such a man should sooner or later be assassinated
himself."
American Review of Reviews,
September, 1899.
According to the provisions of the constitution, the
Vice-President, General Figuereo, succeeded to the presidency;
but an insurrection against his government was so rapidly
successful that he resigned his office on the 31st of August,
and a provisional government was created, pending arrangements
for an election. The recognized leader of the revolutionary
movement was Juan Isidro Jiminez, who had been compelled, some
years before, to quit San Domingo, on account of his
opposition to Heureaux, leaving a large property behind. Since
that time he had been a successful and well-known merchant in
New York. Latterly, Jiminez had established himself in Cuba,
whence he attempted to assist as well as direct the revolution
in the neighboring island; but the United States authorities
objected to such use being made of neutral territory, and he
was placed for a time under arrest. When released, however, he
was permitted to proceed to San Domingo, without men or arms,
and there he was elected President, assuming the office on the
14th of November.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: A. D. 1900.
Commercial Convention with the United States.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1899-1901.
DOMOKO, Battle of.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).
DONGOLA, Expedition to.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896.
DREYFUS AFFAIR, The.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1897-1899.
DREYFUS AFFAIR, The
Closed by the Amnesty Bill.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1900 (DECEMBER).
DRIEFONTEIN, Battle of.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR): A. D. 1900 (MARCH-MAY).
DRIFTS, Closing of the Vaal River.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1895 (SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER).
DUM-DUM BULLET, The.
The dum-dum bullet, about which there was much discussion at
The Hague Peace Conference, is constructed to spread slightly
at the point. All modern rifle bullets have an outer jacket of
hard metal, to take the grooving of the gun-barrel.
"Originally the jacket was thickest at the point, and so
strong that, while penetration was enormous, stopping power
was wanting; in other words, one bullet might easily go
through half a dozen men, yet, unless it happened to hit a
vital spot or a bone, they need not be disabled, and might
therefore continue to fight. This was amply illustrated in the
Chitral campaign, during which our soldiers began to lose
confidence in their weapon, while the enemy, quick to
recognize the different effect of volleys, were inclined to
attack British infantry armed with the Lee-Metford rather than
native infantry armed with the Martini-Henry. The Indian
military authorities at once set about designing a bullet
which, while maintaining range, should have the required
stopping power. The result was the dum-dum bullet—so named
after the place near Calcutta where it is made—of which much
has been heard. The difference in appearance between it and
the original pattern is comparatively slight. The shape is
exactly the same, but the jacket is differently arranged;
instead of having its greatest strength at the point, it is
weakest there—indeed, at the apex a small part of the core is
uncovered, but does not project."
Quarterly Review, July, 1899.
{193}
DUTCH EAST INDIES: A. D. 1894.
Revolt in Lombok.
A rising in the island of Lombok, one of the Lesser Sunda
group, which began in August, proved a troublesome affair.
"The cause of the rebellion was the concession made to the
Sassaks, to be henceforth governed by their own chiefs,
instead of by the Balinian chiefs, who had hitherto been
all-powerful. During the continuance of the hostilities, the
Sassaks remained constantly faithful to the Dutch, and fought
against the Balinians, who, although far inferior in numbers,
had, nevertheless, oppressed their fellow-islanders for many
years; but the courage, energy and audacity of the Balinians
were well known, and as early as 1868 the Dutch troops had
been in serious conflict with them. The news of this disaster
aroused in Holland great excitement, and public opinion was
unanimous in its demand for speedy and energetic reprisals.
Several severe and bloody encounters took place, but finally
the Dutch troops, under the orders of General Vetter,
succeeded in making the Rajah of Lombok prisoner, his immense
wealth falling at the same time into the hands of the
victors."
Annual Register,
1894, page 308.
DYNAMITE MONOPOLY, The Boer.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1895 (NOVEMBER).
E.
EAGAN, General Charles P.: The case of.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1899 (JANUARY).
EAST AFRICA, German: Trade, etc.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1899 (JUNE).
EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, British.
See (in this volume)
BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE: A. D. 1895-1897.
EAST INDIES, Dutch.
See (in this volume)
DUTCH EAST INDIES.
ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS, The Hungarian.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1894-1895.
ECUADOR: A. D. 1894-1899.
Successful Revolution.
Government measures against the Church.
In the fall of 1894 the government of Chile sold ostensibly to
that of Ecuador a war vessel, which the latter at once
transferred to Japan, then at war with China. The round about
transaction was regarded with suspicion, the Ecuadorian
government being accused of a corrupt agency in it, to cover
the Chilian breach of neutrality. Much feeling on the subject
was excited in the country, and this gave to the Radical party
an opportunity to stir up revolt. They improved it with
success. After an obstinate civil war of more than six months
the government of President Cordero was overthrown, and
General Aloy Alfaro, the revolutionist leader, was inaugurated
Executive Chief of the Republic on the 4th of November, 1895.
The defeated Conservatives, stimulated by the clergy, were
quickly in arms again, in the summer of 1896, but again they
were overcome, and the government of Alfaro began to deal
severely with the religious orders and the Church. Much of the
Church property was confiscated, and the inmates of religious
houses are said to have fled in considerable numbers to other
countries. In October, 1896, a National Convention was held
and the constitution revised. Among other changes, it imposed
limitations on the former power of the Church, and extended
religious freedom to other sects. In 1897 the Indians who had
supported Alfaro two years before were admitted to
citizenship. A renewed attempt at revolution, that year,
organized and armed in Colombia, was suppressed with the help
of the Colombian government. The same fate attended another
undertaking of rebellion in January, 1899; but it was overcome
only after a hard fought battle.
ECUADOR: A. D. 1900.
Commercial Convention with the United States.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1899-1901.
ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE ON MISSIONS.
See (in this volume)
MISSIONS.
EDUCATION: Australia and New Zealand.
Progress of educational work.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRALIA: RECENT EXTENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY.
EDUCATION:
Birth of educational systems in the Nineteenth Century.
See (in this volume)
NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE TREND.
EDUCATION: Canada: A. D. 1890-1896.
The Manitoba School Question.
See (in this volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1890-1896.
EDUCATION: Canada: A. D. 1898.
Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XIII. on the
Manitoba School Question.
See (in this volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1898 (JANUARY).
EDUCATION: Belgium: A. D. 1895.
Religious teaching restored.
A new school law was carried in Belgium, against fierce
opposition from the Liberals and Socialists, which restores
obligatory religious teaching in both public and private
schools. Parents are permitted, however, to withhold their
children from the instruction that is given during school
hours by Catholic priests, on attesting in writing that it is
their wish to do so.
EDUCATION: Congo State:
The Belgian provision of schools.
See (in this volume)
CONGO FREE STATE: A. D. 1899.
EDUCATION: Cuba: A. D. 1898.
As left by the Spaniards.
See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1898-1899 (DECEMBER-OCTOBER).
EDUCATION: Cuba: A. D. 1900.
Organization of public schools.
See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1900.
EDUCATION: Egypt:
Gordon Memorial College at Khartoum.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898-1899.
EDUCATION: England: A. D. 1896-1897.
"The Voluntary Schools Act" and "The Elementary Education Act."
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1896-1897.
EDUCATION: England: A. D. 1899.
Creation of a Board of Education.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1899 (AUGUST).
EDUCATION: England: A. D. 1900.
Age at which children may leave school
raised from eleven to twelve years.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1900 (FEBRUARY).
EDUCATION: Hawaii:
Progress of educational work.
See (in this volume)
HAWAII: A. D. 1900.
EDUCATION: Japan: 1897.
Restriction of religious teaching.
See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1899 (AUGUST).
EDUCATION: Japan: A. D. 1899.
A Japanese injunction to students concerning
behavior to foreigners.
See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1899 (JULY).
EDUCATION: Mexico:
Progress of educational work.
See (in this volume)
MEXICO: A. D. 1898-1900.
{194}
EDUCATION: Philippine Islands: A. D. 1898.
Schools and colleges under the Spanish regime.
"The only educational advantages attainable by the common
people of the archipelago are those afforded by the primary
schools. The Spanish regulations provided that there should be
one male and one female primary school teacher for each 5,000
inhabitants, instruction being given separately to the two
sexes. This wretchedly inadequate provision was, as a matter
of fact, never carried out. … From relation between number of primary school teachers and
population in the several provinces, etc.] it appears that the
number of teachers of each sex required by law for a

population of 6,709,810 is 1,342, making a total of 2,684
teachers, whereas there are in reality but 991 male teachers
and 923 female teachers, giving a total of 1,914. Disregarding
the question of sex, we see that while there should be one
teacher for each 2,500 inhabitants, there is in reality but
one to each 3,500, even if we include only that portion of the
population sufficiently civilized to be taken account of in
the above enumeration. Taking the entire population at
8,000,000, we find that there is but one teacher to each 4,179
individuals. Examination of the … table further shows that in
many instances the lack of teachers is greater in those
provinces which are most thickly populated and whose people
are most highly civilized. …
"While most of the small towns have one teacher of each sex,
in the larger towns and cities no adequate provision is made
for the increased teaching force necessary; so that places of
30,000 or 40,000 inhabitants are often no better off as
regards number of teachers than are other places in the same
province of but 1,500 or 2,000 souls. The hardship thus
involved for children desiring a primary education will be
better understood if one stops to consider the nature of the
Philippine 'pueblo,' which is really a township, often
containing within its limits a considerable number of distinct
and important villages or towns, from the most important of
which the township takes its name. The others, under distinct
names, are known as 'barrios,' or wards. It is often quite
impossible for small children to attend school at the
particular town which gives its name to the township on
account of their distance from it. …
"The character and amount of the instruction which has
heretofore been furnished is also worthy of careful
consideration. The regulations for primary schools were as
follows: 'Instruction in schools for natives shall for the
present be reduced to elementary primary instruction and shall
consist of—
1. Christian doctrine and principles of morality and sacred
history suitable for children.
2. Reading.
3. Writing.
4. Practical instruction in Spanish, including grammar
and orthography.
5. Principles of arithmetic, comprising the four rules for
figures, common fractions, decimal fractions, and instruction
in the metric system with its equivalents in ordinary weights
and measures.
6. Instruction in general geography and Spanish history.
7. Instruction in practical agriculture as applied to the
products of the country.
8. Rules of deportment.
9. Vocal music.'
"It will be noted that education in Christian doctrine is
placed before reading and writing, and, if the natives are to
be believed, in many of the more remote districts instruction
began and ended with this subject and was imparted in the
local native dialect at that. It is further and persistently
charged that the instruction in Spanish was in very many cases
purely imaginary, because the local friars, who were formerly
'ex officio' school inspectors, not only prohibited it, but
took active measures to enforce their dictum. … Ability to
read and write a little of the local native language was
comparatively common. Instruction in geography was extremely
superficial. As a rule no maps or charts were available, and
such information as was imparted orally was left to the memory
of the pupil, unaided by any graphic method of presentation.
The only history ever taught was that of Spain, and that under
conventional censorship. The history of other nations was a
closed volume to the average Filipino. … The course as above
outlined was that prescribed for boys. Girls were not given
instruction in geography, history, or agriculture, but in
place of these subjects were supposed to receive instruction
'in employments suitable to their sex.'
"It should be understood that the criticisms which have been
here made apply to the provincial schools. The primary
instruction given at the Ateneo Municipal at Manila, under the
direction of the Jesuits, fulfilled the requirements of the
law, and in some particulars exceeded them. … The only
official institution for secondary education in the
Philippines was the College of San Juan de Letran, which was
in charge of the Dominican Friars and was under the control of
the university authorities. Secondary education was also given in
the Ateneo Municipal of Manila, by the Jesuit Fathers, and
this institution was better and more modern in its methods
than any other in the archipelago. But although the Jesuits
provided the instruction, the Dominicans held the
examinations. … There are two normal schools in Manila, one
for the education of male and the other for the education of
female teachers. … The only institutions for higher education
in the Philippines have been the Royal and Pontifical
University of Santo Tomas, and the Royal College of San José,
which has for the past twenty-five years been under the
direction of the university authorities."
Report of the Philippine Commission,
January 1, 1900, volume 1, part 3.
EDUCATION: Porto Rico: A. D. 1898.
Spanish schools and teachers.
See (in this volume)
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898-1899 (AUGUST-JULY).
EDUCATION: Porto Rico: A. D. 1900.
First steps in the creation of a public school system.
See (in this volume)
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).
EDUCATION: Russia:
Student troubles in the universities.
See (in this volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1899 (FEBRUARY-JUNE); 1900; and 1901.
EDUCATION: Tunis:
Schools under the French Protectorate.
See (in this volume)
TUNIS: A. D. 1881-1898.
EDUCATION: United States:
Indian schools.
See (in this volume)
INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1899-1900.
EDUCATION: United States: A. D. 1896.
Princeton University.
The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of
the institution at Princeton, New Jersey, which had borne the
name of "The College of New Jersey," was celebrated on the
20th, 21st, and 22d of October, 1896, with ceremonies in which
many representatives from famous seats of learning in Europe
and America took part. The proceedings included a formal
change of name, to Princeton University.
{195}
EDUCATION: United States: A. D. 1900.
Women as students and as teachers.
See (in this volume)
NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE WOMAN'S CENTURY.
EDWARD VII., King of England.
Accession.
English estimate of his character.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).
Opening of his first Parliament.
The Royal Test Oath.
EDWARD VII., King of England.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).
----------EGYPT: Start--------
EGYPT:
Recent Archæological Explorations and their result.
Discovery of prehistoric remains.
Light on the first dynasties.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: EGYPT: RESULTS.
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896.
Abandonment of the Egyptian Sudan to the Dervishes.
Death of the Mahdi and reign of the Khalifa.
Beginning of a new Anglo-Egyptian movement for
the recovery of the Sudan.
The expedition to Dongola.
After the failure to rescue General Gordon from the Mahdists
at Khartoum (see, in volume 1, EGYPT: A. D. 1884-1885), the
British government, embarrassed in other quarters, felt
compelled to evacuate the Sudan. Before it did so the Mahdi
had finished his career, having died of smallpox in June,
1885, and one of his three chief commanders, styled khalifas,
had acquired authority over the Dervish army and reigned in
his place. This was the Khalifa Abdullah, a chieftain of the
Baggara tribe. Khartoum had been destroyed, and Omdurman, on
the opposite side of the river, became his capital. The rule
of the Khalifa was soon made so cruelly despotic, and so much
in the interest of his own tribe, that incessant rebellions in
many parts of his dominions restrained him from any vigorous
undertaking of the conquest of Egypt, which was the great
object of Dervish desire. But his able and energetic
lieutenant in the Eastern Sudan, Osman Digna, was a serious
menace to the Egyptian forces holding Suakin, where Major
Watson, at first, and afterwards Colonel Kitchener, were
holding command, under General Grenfell, who was then the
Egyptian Sirdar, or military chief. Osman Digna, however, was
defeated in all his attempts. At the same time the Khalifa was
desperately at war with the Negus. John, of Abyssinia, who
fell in a great battle at Galabat (March, 1889), and whose
death at the crisis of the battle threw his army into
confusion and caused its defeat. Menelek, king of the
feudatory state of Shoa, acquired the Abyssinian crown, and
war with the Dervishes was stopped. Then they began an advance
down the Nile, and suffered a great defeat from the British
and Egyptian troops, at Toski, on the 17th of August, 1889.
From that time, for several years, "there was no real menace
to Egypt," and little was heard of the Khalifa. "His
territories were threatened on all sides: on the north by the
British in Egypt; on the south by the British in Uganda: on
the west by the Belgians in the Congo Free State, and by the
French in the Western Soudan; whilst the Italians held Kassala
on the east; so that the Khalifa preferred to husband his
resources until the inevitable day should arrive when he would
have to fight for his position."
A crisis in the situation came in 1896. The Egyptian army,
organized and commanded by British officers, had become a
strong fighting force, on which its leaders could depend. Its
Sirdar was now Major-General Sir Herbert Kitchener, who
succeeded General Grenfell in 1892. Suddenly there came news,
early in March, 1896, of the serious reverse which the
Italians had suffered at Adowa, in their war with the
Abyssinians (see, (in this volume) ITALY: A. D. 1895-1896).
"The consternation felt in England and Egypt at this disaster
deepened when it became known that Kassala, which was held by
the Italian forces, was hemmed in, and seriously threatened by
10,000 Dervishes, and that Osman Digna was marching there with
reinforcements. If Kassala fell into the hands of the
Dervishes, the latter would be let loose to overrun the Nile
valley on the frontier of Egypt, and threaten that country
itself. As if in anticipation of these reinforcements, the
Dervishes suddenly assumed an offensive attitude, and it was
rumoured that a large body of Dervishes were contemplating an
immediate advance on Egypt. … A totally new situation was now
created, and immediate action was rendered imperative.
Everything was ripe for an expedition up the Nile. Whilst
creating a diversion in favour of the Italians besieged at
Kassala, it afforded an opportunity of creating a stronger
barrier than the Wady Halfa boundary between Egypt and the
Dervishes, and it would moreover be an important step towards
the long-wished-for recovery of the Soudan. The announcement
of the contemplated expedition was made in the House of
Commons on the 17th of March, 1896, by Mr. Curzon,
Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs. It came as a great
surprise to the whole country, which, having heard so little
of the Dervishes of late years, was not prepared for a
recrudescence of the Soudan question. [But a vote of censure
on the Egyptian policy of the government, moved by Mr. John
Morley in the House of Commons, was rejected by 288 to 145.] …
"An unexpected difficulty arose in connection with the
financing of the expedition. This is explained very plainly
and concisely in the 'Annual Register,' 1896, which we quote
at length:—
'In order to defray the cost of the undertaking, it being
obviously desirable to impose as little strain as possible on
the slowly recovering finances of Egypt, it was determined by
the Egyptian Government to apply for an advance of £500,000
from the General Reserve Fund of the Caisse de la Dette, and
the authorities of the Caisse obligingly handed over the
money. … However, the French and Russian members of the Caisse
de la Dette protested against the loan which the Caisse had
made. … In December (1896) the International Court of Appeal
required the Egyptian Government to refund to the Caisse the
£500,000 which they had secured. The very next day Lord Cromer
offered an English loan to make good the advance. The Egyptian
Government accepted his offer, and repaid immediately the
£500,000 to the Caisse, and the result of this somewhat absurd
transaction is that England has thus strengthened her hold in
another small point on the Government of Egypt.'"
H. S. L. Alford, and W. D. Sword,
The Egyptian Soudan, its Loss and Recovery,
chapter 4 (London: Macmillan & Company).
{196}
On the 21st of March, the Sirdar left Cairo for Assouan and
Wady Halfa, and various Egyptian battalions were hurried up
the river. Meantime, the forces already on the frontier had
moved forward and taken the advanced post of the Dervishes, at
Akasheh. From that point the Sirdar was ready to begin his
advance early in June, and did so with two columns, a River
Column and a Desert Column, the latter including a camel corps
and a squadron of infantry mounted on camels, besides cavalry,
horse artillery and Maxim guns. Ferket, on the east bank of
the Nile, 16 miles from Akasheh, was taken after hard fighting
on the 7th of June, many of the Dervishes refusing quarter and
resisting to the death. They lost, it was estimated, 1,000
killed and wounded, and 500 were taken prisoners. The Egyptian
loss was slight. The Dervishes fell back some fifty miles, and
the Sirdar halted at Suarda during three months, while the
railroad was pushed forward, steamers dragged up the cataracts
and stores concentrated, the army suffering greatly, meantime,
from an alarming epidemic of cholera and from exhausting
labors in a season of terrific heat. In the middle of
September the advance was resumed, and, on the 23d, Dongola
was reached. Seeing themselves outnumbered, the enemy there
retreated, and the town, or its ruins, was taken with only a
few shots from the steamers on the river. "As a consequence of
the fall of Dongola every Dervish fled for his life from the
province. The mounted men made off across the desert direct to
Omdurman, and the foot soldiers took the Nile route to Berber,
always being careful to keep out of range of the gunboats,
which were prevented by the Fourth Cataract from pursuing them
beyond Merawi."
C. Hoyle,
The Egyptian Campaigns, new and revised edition,
to December, 1899, chapter 70-71.
The Emir who commanded at Dongola was a comparatively young
man, Mohammed Wad el Bishara, who seems to have been possessed
by a very genuinely religious spirit, as shown in the
following letter, which he had written to the Dervish
commander at Ferket, just before the battle there, and which
was found by the British officers when they entered that
place:
"You are, thank God, of good understanding, and are thoroughly
acquainted with those rules of religion which enjoin love and
unison. Thanks be to God that I hear but good reports of you.
But you are now close to the enemy of God, and have with you,
with the help of God, a sufficient number of men. I therefore
request you to unite together, to have the heart of a single
man founded on love and unity. Consult with one another, and
thus you will insure good results, which will strengthen the
religion and vex the heathen, the enemies of God. Do not move
without consulting one another, and such others, also, in the
army who are full of sense and wisdom. Employ their plans and
tricks of war, in the general fight more especially. Your
army, thank God, is large; if you unite and act as one hand,
your action will be regular: you will, with the help of God,
defeat the enemies of God and set at ease the mind of the
Khalifa, peace be on him! Follow this advice, and do not allow
any intrigues to come between you. Rely on God in all your
doings; be bold in all your dealings with the enemy; let them
find no flaw in your disposition for the fight. But be ever
most vigilant, for these enemies of God are cunning, may God
destroy them! Our brethren, Mohamed Koku, with two others,
bring you this letter; on their return they will inform me
whether you work in unison or not. Let them find you as
ordered in religion, in good spirits, doing your utmost to
insure the victory of religion. Remember, my brethren, that
what moves me to urge on you to love each other and to unite
is my love for you and my desire for your good. This is a
trial of war; so for us love and amity are of utmost
necessity. You were of the supporters of the Mahdi, peace be
on him! You were as one spirit occupying one body. When the
enemy know that you are quite united they will be much
provoked. Strive, therefore, to provoke these enemies of
religion. May God bless you and render you successful."
EGYPT: A. D. 1895.
New anti-slavery law.
A convention to establish a more effective anti-slavery law in
Egypt was signed on the 21st of November, 1895, "by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, representing the Khedival
Government, and the British diplomatic agent and
consul-general. … This new convention will supplant that of
August 4, 1877, which … was found to be defective, inasmuch as
it provided no penalty for the purchaser of a slave, but for
the seller only. An Egyptian notable, Ali Pasha Cherif, at
that time president of the Legislative Council, was tried for
buying slaves for his household, but escaped punishment
through a technicality of the law hitherto escaping notice. …
Under the existing regulations, every slave in the Egyptian
dominions has the right to complete freedom, and may demand
his certificate of manumission whenever he chooses. Thus, all
domestic slaves, of whom there are thousands in Cairo,
Alexandria, and the large towns, may call upon their masters
to set them free. Many choose to remain in nominal bondage,
preferring the certainty of food and shelter to the hardships
and uncertainty of looking after themselves."
United States, Consular Reports,
March, 1896, page 370.
EGYPT: A. D. 1897.
Italian evacuation of Kassala, in the eastern Sudan.
See (in this volume)
ITALY: A. D. 1897.
EGYPT: A. D. 1897 (June).
Census.
A census of Egypt, taken on the 1st of June, 1897, showed a
population of 9,700,000, the area being Egypt up to Wady
Haifa. In 1882 an imperfect census gave six and three-quarter
millions. Twelve per cent. of the males can write, the rest
are totally illiterate. There are, it is said, about 40,000
persons not really Egyptians, but who come from other parts of
the Ottoman Empire. The Bedouin number 570,000, but of these
only 89,000 are really nomads, the rest being semi-sedentary.
Of foreign residents there are 112,500, of whom the Greeks,
the most numerous, number 38,000. Then come the Italians, with
24,500. The British (including 6,500 Maltese and 5,000 of the
Army of Occupation) are 19,500; and the French (including
4,000 Algerians and Tunisians), 14,000. The Germans only
number 1,300.
{197}
The classification according to religion shows nearly
9,000,000 Moslems, 730,000 Christians, and 25,000 Jews, The
Christians include the Coptic race, numbering about 608,000.
Only a very small proportion profess the Roman Catholic and
Protestant faiths. Amongst the town populations Cairo contains
570,000, Alexandria 320,000.
EGYPT: A. D. 1897-1898.
The final campaigns of the Anglo-Egyptian conquest
of the Eastern Sudan.
Desperate battles of the Atbara and of Omdurman.
"The winter of 1896-1897 was passed, undisturbed by the enemy.
The extended and open front of the Egyptian army imperatively
called for fresh guarantees against a Dervish invasion. The
important strategic position of Abu Hamed was then held by the
enemy, to dislodge whom was the objective of the 1897 campaign.
The railway was boldly launched into the Nubian Desert; the
rail-head crept rapidly and surely towards the Dervish post,
until within striking distance of Abu Hamed: when the
river-column, by a forced march, through difficult country,
delivered an attack on 7th August. Abu Hamed was taken by the
Egyptian army under Major-General (now Sir Archibald) Hunter,
with trifling loss: and the effect of this victory caused the
precipitate evacuation of Berber. The Dervishes withdrew: the
Egyptians—not to lose so favourable an opening—advanced.
Berber, the key to the Sudan, was promptly re-occupied. The
railway was hastened forward; reinforcements were detrained,
before the close of the year, at a short distance from Berber:
and the Anglo-Egyptian authorities gathered force for the last
heat. British troops were called up. In this final struggle
[1898] nothing could be risked. An Egyptian reverse would have
redoubled the task on the accomplishment of which, having
deliberately accepted it, we had pledged our honour. Mahmud,
the Dervish emir, and that ubiquitous rascal Osman Digna, with
their united forces, were marching on Berber. They, however,
held up at the confluence of the Atbara, and comfortably
intrenched themselves in a 'zariba.' Here the Sirdar came out
to have a look at them. The Dervish force numbered about
19,000 men. The Anglo-Egyptian army was composed of 13,000
men. The odds were good enough for the Sirdar: and he went for
them. Under the demoralization created by some sharp artillery
practice, the Anglo-Egyptians stormed the 'zariba,' killed
three-fourths of the defenders, and chased the remainder away.
This victory [April 8, 1898], which cost over 500 men in
killed and wounded, broke the Dervish power for offence and
seriously damaged the Khalifa's prestige. With reinforcements,
bringing his army up to 22,000 men, including some picked
British regiments, the Sirdar then advanced slowly up the
river. It was a pilgrimage to the Mahdi's tomb, in sight of
which Cross and Crescent combined to overthrow the false
prophet. This sanguinary and decisive engagement [before
Omdurman] took place on 2nd September, 1898. The Khalifa was
put to flight; his forces were scattered and ridden down. On
the same evening, the Sirdar entered Omdurman, and released
the European captives. Subsequently, the British and Egyptian
flags were hoisted together at Khartum; and divine service was
celebrated at the spot where Gordon fell."
A. S. White,
The Expansion of Egypt,
pages 383-384
(New York: New Amsterdam Book Company).
"The honour of the fight [at Omdurman] must still go with the
men who died. Our men were perfect, but the dervishes were
superb—beyond perfection. It was their largest, best, and
bravest army that ever fought against us for Mahdism, and it
died worthily of the huge empire that Mahdism won and kept so
long. Their riflemen, mangled by every kind of death and
torment that man can devise, clung round the black flag and
the green, emptying their poor, rotten, homemade cartridges
dauntlessly. Their spearmen charged death at every minute
hopelessly. Their horsemen led each attack, riding into the
bullets till nothing was left but three horses trotting up to
our line, heads down, saying, 'For goodness' sake, let us in
out of this.' Not one rush, or two, or ten—but rush on rush,
company on company, never stopping, though all their view that
was not unshaken enemy was the bodies of the men who had
rushed before them. A dusky line got up and stormed forward:
it bent, broke up, fell apart, and disappeared. Before the
smoke had cleared, another line was bending and storming
forward in the same track.
"It was over. The avenging squadrons of the Egyptian cavalry
swept over the field. The Khalifa and the Sheikh-ed-Din had
galloped back to Omdurman. Ali Wad Helu was borne away on an
angareb with a bullet through his thigh-bone. Yakub lay dead
under his brother's banner. From the green army there now came
only death-enamoured desperadoes, strolling one by one towards
the rifles, pausing to shake a spear, turning aside to
recognise a corpse, then, caught by a sudden jet of fury,
bounding forward, checking, sinking limply to the ground. Now
under the black flag in a ring of bodies stood only three men,
facing the three thousand of the Third Brigade. They folded
their arms about the staff and gazed steadily forward. Two
fell. The last dervish stood up and filled his chest; he
shouted the name of his God and hurled his spear. Then he
stood quite still, waiting. It took him full; he quivered,
gave at the knees, and toppled with his head on his arms and
his face towards the legions of his conquerors. Over 11,000
killed, 16,000 wounded, 4,000 prisoners,—that was the
astounding bill of dervish casualties officially presented
after the battle of Omdurman. Some people had estimated the
whole dervish army at 1,000 less than this total: few had put
it above 50,000. The Anglo-Egyptian army on the day of battle
numbered, perhaps, 22,000 men: if the Allies had done the same
proportional execution at Waterloo, not one Frenchman would
have escaped. … The dervish army was killed out as hardly an
army has been killed out in the history of war. It will shock
you, but it was simply unavoidable. Not a man was killed
except resisting—very few except attacking. Many wounded were
killed, it is true, but that again was absolutely unavoidable.
… It was impossible not to kill the dervishes: they refused to
go back alive."
{198}
The same brilliant writer gives the following description of
Omdurman, as the British found it on entering the town after
the victory: "It began just like any other town or village of
the mean Sudan. Half the huts seemed left unfinished, the
other half to have been deserted and fallen to pieces. There
were no streets, no doors or windows except holes, usually no
roofs. As for a garden, a tree, a steading for a beast—any
evidence of thrift or intelligence, any attempt at comfort or
amenity or common cleanliness,—not a single trace of any of
it. Omdurman was just planless confusion of blind walls and
gaping holes, shiftless stupidity, contented filth and
beastliness. But that, we said, was only the outskirts: when
we come farther in we shall surely find this mass of
population manifesting some small symbols of a great dominion.
And presently we came indeed into a broader way than the
rest—something with the rude semblance of a street. Only it
was paved with dead donkeys, and here and there it disappeared
in a cullender of deep holes where green water festered. …
Omdurman was a rabbit-warren—a threadless labyrinth of tiny
huts or shelters, too flimsy for the name of sheds.
Oppression, stagnation, degradation, were stamped deep on
every yard of miserable Omdurman.
"But the people! We could hardly see the place for the people.
We could hardly hear our own voices for their shrieks of
welcome. We could hardly move for their importunate greetings.
They tumbled over each other like ants from every mud heap, from
behind every dung-hill, from under every mat. … They had been
trying to kill us three hours before. But they salaamed, none
the less, and volleyed, 'Peace be with you' in our track. All
the miscellaneous tribes of Arabs whom Abdullahi's fears or
suspicions had congregated in his capital, all the blacks his
captains had gathered together into franker
slavery—indiscriminate, half-naked, grinning the grin of the
sycophant, they held out their hands and asked for backsheesh.
Yet more wonderful were the women. The multitude of women whom
concupiscence had harried from every recess of Africa and
mewed up in Baggara harems came out to salute their new
masters. There were at least three of them to every man. Black
women from Equatoria and almost white women from Egypt,
plum-skinned Arabs and a strange yellow type with square, bony
faces and tightly-ringleted black hair, … the whole city was a
huge harem, a museum of African races, a monstrosity of
African lust."
G. W. Steevens,
With Kitchener to Khartum,
chapter 32-34
(copyright, Dodd, Mead & Company, quoted with permission).
"Anyone who has not served in the Sudan cannot conceive the
state of devastation and misery to which that unfortunate
country has been brought under Dervish rule. Miles and miles
of formerly richly cultivated country lies waste; villages are
deserted; the population has disappeared. Thousands of women
are without homes or families. Years must elapse before the
Sudan can recover from the results of its abandonment to
Dervish tyranny; but it is to be hoped and may be confidently
expected, that in course of time, under just and upright
government, the Sudan may be restored to prosperity; and the
great battle of September will be remembered as having
established peace, without which prosperity would have been
impossible; and from which thousands of misguided and wretched
people will reap the benefits of civilization."
E. S. Wortley,
With the Sirdar
(Scribner's Magazine, January, 1899).
EGYPT: A. D. 1898.
The country and its people after 15 years
of British occupation.
"The British occupation has now lasted for over fifteen years.
During the first five, comparatively little was accomplished,
owing to the uncertain and provisional character of our
tenure. The work done has been done in the main in the last
ten years, and was only commenced in earnest when the British
authorities began to realise that, whether we liked it or not,
we had got to stay; and the Egyptians themselves came to the
conclusion that we intended to stay. … Under our occupation
Egypt has been rendered solvent and prosperous; taxes have
been largely reduced; her population has increased by nearly
50 per cent.; the value and the productiveness of her soil has
been greatly improved; a regular and permanent system of
irrigation has been introduced into Lower Egypt, and is now in
the course of introduction into Upper Egypt; trade and
industry have made giant strides; the use of the Kurbash
[bastinado] has been forbidden; the Corvée has been
suppressed; regularity in the collection of taxes has been
made the rule, and not the exception; wholesale corruption has
been abolished; the Fellaheen can now keep the money they
earn, and are better off than they were before; the landowners
are all richer owing to the fresh supply of water, with the
consequent rapid increase in the saleable price of land;
justice is administered with an approach to impartiality;
barbarous punishments have been mitigated, if not abolished;
and the extraordinary conversion of Cairo into a fair
semblance of a civilised European capital has been repeated on
a smaller scale in all the chief centres of Egypt. To put the
matter briefly, if our occupation were to cease to-morrow, we
should leave Egypt and the Egyptians far better off than they
were when our occupation commenced.
"If, however, I am asked whether we have succeeded in the
alleged aim of our policy, that of rendering Egypt fit for
self-government, I should be obliged honestly to answer that
in my opinion we have made little or no progress towards the
achievement of this aim. The one certain result of our
interference in the internal administration of Egypt has been
to impair, if not to destroy, the authority of the Khedive; of
the Mudirs, who, as the nominees of the Effendina, rule over
the provinces; and of the Sheiks, who, in virtue of the favour
of the Mudirs, govern the villages. We have undoubtedly
trained a school of native officials who have learnt that it
is to their interest to administer the country more or less in
accordance with British ideas. Here and there we may have
converted an individual official to a genuine belief in these
ideas. But I am convinced that if our troops were withdrawn,
and our place in Egypt was not taken by any other civilised
European Power, the old state of things would revive at once,
and Egypt would be governed once more by the old system of
Baksheesh and Kurbash."
E. Dicey,
Egypt, 1881 to 1897
(Fortnightly Review, May, 1898).
{199}
Reviewing the report, for 1898, of Lord Cromer, the British
Agent and Consul-General, who is practically the director of
the government of Egypt, "The Spectator" (London) has noted
the principle of Lord Cromer's administration to be that of
"using English heads but Egyptian hands. In practice this
means the policy of never putting an Englishman into any post
which could be just as well filled by a native. In other
words, the Englishman is only used in the administration where
he is indispensable. Where he is not, the native, as is only just
and right, is employed. The outcome of this is that Lord
Cromer's work in Egypt has been carried out by 'a body of
officials who certainly do not exceed one hundred in number,
and might possibly, if the figures were vigorously examined,
be somewhat lower.' Lord Cromer adds, however, that 'these
hundred have been selected with the greatest care.' In fact,
the principle has been,—never employ an Englishman unless it
is necessary in the interests of good government to do so, but
then employ a first-class man. The result is that the
inspiring force in every Department of the Egyptian State is a
first-class English brain, and yet the natives are not
depressed by being deprived of their share of the
administration. The Egyptians, that is, do not feel the
legitimate grievance that is felt by the Tunisians and
Algerians when they see even little posts of a couple of
hundred a year filled by Frenchmen."
Spectator,
April 15, 1899.
EGYPT: A. D. 1898 (September-November).
The French expedition of M. Marchand at Fashoda.
On the 10th of September, eight days after destroying the
power of the Khalifa at Omdurman, the Sirdar, Lord Kitchener,
left that fallen capital with five gunboats and a considerable
force of Highlanders, Sudanese and Egyptians, to take possession
of the Upper Nile. At Fashoda, in the Shilluk country, a
little north of the junction of the Sobat with the White Nile,
he found a party of eight French officers and about a hundred
Senegalese troops, commanded by M. Marchand, entrenched at the
old government buildings in that place and claiming occupation
of the country. It had been known for some time that M.
Marchand was leading an expedition from the French Congo
towards the Nile, and the British government had been seeking
an explanation of its objects from the government of France,
uttering warnings, at the same time, that England would
recognize no rights in any part of the Nile Valley except the
rights of Egypt, which the evacuation of the Egyptian Sudan,
consequent on the conquests of the Mahdi and the Dervishes,
had not extinguished. Even long before the movements of M.
Marchand were known, it had been suspected that France
entertained the design of extending her great possessions in
West Africa eastward, to connect with the Nile, and, as early
as the spring of 1895, Sir Edward Grey, speaking for the
British Foreign Office, in reply to a question then asked in
the House of Commons, concerning rumors that a French
expedition from West Africa was approaching the Nile, said
with unmistakable meaning: "After all I have explained about
the claims we consider we have under past Agreements, and the
claims which we consider Egypt may have in the Nile Valley,
and adding to that the fact that those claims and the view of
the Government with regard to them are fully and clearly known
to the French Government, I cannot think it is possible that
these rumors deserve credence, because the advance of a French
expedition under secret instructions right from the other side
of Africa into a territory over which our claims have been
known for so long would be not merely an inconsistent and
unexpected act, but it must be perfectly well known to the
French Government that it would be an unfriendly act, and
would be so viewed by England." In December, 1897, the British
Ambassador at Paris had called the attention of the French
government to Sir Edward Grey's declaration, adding that "Her
Majesty's present Government entirely adhere to the language
that was on this occasion employed by their predecessors."
As between the two governments, then, such was the critical
situation of affairs when the Sirdar, who had been already
instructed how to act if he found intruders in the Nile
Valley, came upon M. Marchand and his little party at Fashoda.
The circumstances and the results of the meeting were reported by
him promptly as follows: "On reaching the old Government
buildings, over which the French flag was flying, M. Marchand,
accompanied by Captain Germain, came on board. After
complimenting them on their long and arduous journey, I
proceeded at once to inform M. Marchand that I was authorized
to state that the presence of the French at Fashoda and in the
Valley of the Nile was regarded as a direct violation of the
rights of Egypt and Great Britain, and that, in accordance
with my instructions, I must protest in the strongest terms
against their occupation of Fashoda, and their hoisting of the
French flag in the dominions of His Highness the Khedive. In
reply, M. Marchand stated that as a soldier he had to obey
orders; the instructions of his Government to occupy the
Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Mudirieh of Fashoda were precise, and,
having carried them out, he must await the orders of his
Government as to his subsequent action and movements. I then
pointed out that I had the instructions of the Government to
re-establish Egyptian authority in the Fashoda Mudirieh, and I
asked M. Marchand whether he was prepared—on behalf of the
French Government—to resist the execution of these orders; he
must be fully aware, I said, that the Egyptian and British
forces were very much more powerful than those at his
disposal, but, at the same time, I was very averse to creating
a situation which might lead to hostilities. I therefore
begged M. Marchand to most carefully consider his final
decision on this matter. I further informed him that I should
be pleased to place one of the gun-boats at his disposal to
convey him and his expedition north. In answer to this, M.
Marchand did not hesitate to admit the preponderating forces
at my disposal, and his inability to offer effective armed
resistance; if, however, he said, I felt obliged to take any
such action, he could only submit, to the inevitable, which
would mean that he and his companions would die at their
posts. He begged, therefore, that I would consider his
position, and would allow the question of his remaining at
Fashoda to be referred to his Government, as, without their
orders, he could not retire from his position or haul down his
flag; at the same time, he said he felt sure that, under the
circumstances, the orders for his retirement would not be
delayed by his Government, and that then he hoped to avail
himself of the offer I had made him. I then said to him: 'Do I
understand that you are authorized by the French Government to
resist Egypt in putting up its flag and reasserting its
authority in its former possessions—such as the Mudirieh of
Fashoda?' M. Marchand hesitated, and then said that he could
not resist the Egyptian flag being hoisted. I replied that my
instructions were to hoist the flag, and that I intended to do
so. … The Egyptian flag was hoisted … at 1 P. M. with due
ceremony in the presence of the British and Egyptian troops,
and a salute of twenty-one guns was fired.
{200}
I should add that, in the course of the conversation, I
informed M. Marchand that, in addition to my verbal protest, I
intended to make a formal protest in writing, and this I duly
handed him before leaving Fashoda. During these somewhat
delicate proceedings nothing could have exceeded, the
politeness and courtesy of the French officers. Having
officially appointed Major Jackson Commandant of the Fashoda
district, and leaving with him a battalion of infantry, four
guns, and a gun-boat, I proceeded south with the remainder of
the troops and four gun-boats. …
"I had no opportunity for a further interview with M.
Marchand, who, I venture to think, holds at Fashoda a most
anomalous position—encamped with 120 men on a narrow strip of
land, surrounded by marshes, cut off from access to the
interior, possessing only three small boats without oars or
sails and an inefficient steam-launch which has lately been
dispatched on along journey south, short of ammunition and
supplies, his followers exhausted by years of continuous
hardship, yet still persisting in the prosecution of his
impracticable undertaking in the face of the effective
occupation and administration of the country I have been able
to establish. It is impossible not to entertain the highest
admiration for the courage, devotion, and indomitable spirit
displayed by M. Marchand's expedition, but our general
impression was one of astonishment that an attempt should have
been made to carry out a project of such magnitude and danger
by the dispatch of so small and ill-equipped a force which—as
their Commander remarked to me, was neither in a position to
resist a second Dervish attack nor to retire—indeed, had our
destruction of the Khalifa's power at Omdurman been delayed a
fortnight, in all probability he and his companions would have
been massacred. The claims of M. Marchand to have occupied the
Bahr-el-Ghazal and Fashoda Provinces with the force at his
disposal would be ludicrous did not the sufferings and
privations his expedition endured during their two years'
arduous journey render the futility of their efforts
pathetic."
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: Egypt, Numbers 2 and 3, 1898).
The "Fashoda incident," as it was described, caused great
excitement in both England and France, and threatened for some
weeks to involve the two countries in war. Both army feeling
and popular feeling in France very nearly forced the
government to persist in what was plainly an ill-considered
and inopportune movement, and to hold untenable ground. But
better sense prevailed, and, on the 2d of November, when the
Sirdar, Lord Kitchener, who had visited England, was being
feasted and given the freedom of London, at Guildhall, Lord
Salisbury was able to make a dramatic announcement of the
closing of the dispute. "I received," he said, speaking at the
banquet, "from the French ambassador this afternoon the
information that the French Government had come to the
conclusion that the occupation of Fashoda was of no sort of
value to the French Republic, and they thought that, under
those circumstances, to persist in an occupation which only
cost them money and did them harm, merely because some
people—some bad advisers—thought it might be disagreeable to
an unwelcome neighbor, would not show the wisdom with which, I
think, the French Republic has been uniformly guided, and they
have done what I believe many other governments would have
done in the same position—they have resolved that the
occupation must cease."
EGYPT: A. D. 1898-1899.
The Gordon Memorial College at Khartoum.
On an appeal from Lord Kitchener, funds were raised in Great
Britain for the founding of a Gordon Memorial College at
Khartoum, to be, in the first instance, a school for
elementary instruction to the sons of the heads of districts
and villages.
EGYPT: A. D. 1898-1901.
The Barrage and Reservoir works on the Nile.
In February, 1898, the Khedive in Council approved a contract
concluded with the British firm of John Aird & Company, for
the construction of a dam or "barrage" across the Nile at
Assouan, drowning the cataracts and turning the river above
into a vast storage reservoir; with another dam at Assiout,
for the irrigation of Middle Egypt and the Fayum. In the
report of Lord Cromer for 1898, Sir William Garstein, at the
head of the Egyptian Public Works Department, gave the
following description of the plan of the works, then fairly
under way: "The dam which is to form the reservoir will be
built at the first cataract, a few miles south of Assouan. It
is designed to hold up water to a level of 106 metres above
mean sea level, or rather more than 20 metres above the
low-water level of the Nile at site. Its total length will be
2,156 yards with a width at crest of 26.4 feet. The width of
base at the deepest portion will be 82.5 feet, and the height
of the work at the deepest spot will be 92.4 feet. The dam
will be pierced by 180 openings, or under-sluices (140 of
which are 23.1 feet by 6.6 feet and 40 are 18.2 feet by 6.6
feet) provided with gates. These sluices will pass the flood
and surplus water through the dam, and by them the reservoir
will be emptied when water is required for irrigation in
Middle and Lower Egypt. Three locks will be built, and a
navigation channel made on the west of the river to enable
boats to pass up and down.
"The dam at Assiout will be what is called an open Barrage,
and will be similar in construction to the existing Barrages
on the Rosetta and Damietta branches. The new work will
consist of 111 bays or openings, each 16.5 feet wide, and each
bay will be provided with regulating gates. The total length
of the work will be 903 yards. A lock 53 feet in width will be
constructed on the west bank, large enough to pass the largest
tourist boat plying on the river. By regulating on this
Barrage water will be supplied in spring and summer to the
Ibrahimieh Canal, which irrigates Middle Egypt. At present
this canal has to be dredged to a depth of some 2 metres below
the lowest summer level in the river, and even with these the
crops suffer in years of low summer supply. A regulation
bridge with a lock will be built at the head of the Ibrahimieh
Canal in order to allow of the supply being reduced, if
necessary, in flood."
Great Britain, Papers by Command: Egypt,
Number 3, 1899.
By a singular happening, the Nile flood of 1899 was the lowest
recorded in the century, and gave an opportunity for the
barrage and irrigation works, barely begun as they were, to
give a convincing foretaste of their value. According to the
report of that year, "the distress was enormously less than on
all previous occasions of a failure of the flood. The area of
'sharaki,' or land unirrigated and therefore untaxed, which
had been 900,000 feddans in 1877 was only one-third of this in
1899.
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Even in this area, which lay principally in Upper Egypt,
'distress,' says Sir William Garstein, 'was hardly felt at all
by the people. The immense amount of contract work in progress
in the country enabled them to obtain a good daily wage and
tided over the interval between the two crops.' In Lower Egypt
'the situation was saved by the Barrage, which, for the first
time in its history, was regulated upon throughout the flood.
Had it not been for the work done by this structure, there is
little doubt that large areas of crop would have been lost. As
it is, the cotton crop is very nearly the largest on record,
and the maize crop was up to the average.'" Of the progress of
the work at Assouan it is said: "After nearly a year had been
spent in accumulation of material and various preparations,
the foundation stone of the dam was laid by H. R. H. the Duke
of Connaught on February 12; and from that date the work was
carried on with less interruption than must have been
necessitated by a normal flood. Beginning on the east bank,
masonry was carried on throughout a length of 620 metres, and
of these, 360 metres were brought up to within two metres of
their full height. … Not less satisfactory progress was made
with the weir at Assiut, although the original design had to
be considerably altered."
On the 7th of February, 1901, a Press despatch from Cairo
reported: "Sir John Aird and Sir Benjamin Baker start for
England on Sunday next, having completed their visit of
inspection to the great engineering works at Assuan, where the
immense dam to hold up the waters of the Nile is being
constructed. The total extent of the dam is one mile and a
quarter, of which one mile and an eighth of the foundation is
finished. Temporary dams enabling the remaining section to be
put in are now carried across the channel. Pumps for getting
in the permanent dam foundations will be started next week.
The whole of the granite masonry required for the dam is cut
and ready to be laid in its place. The parapet alone remains
to be prepared. The portion of the dam remaining to be built
is that across the well-known deep western channel. The work
is of considerable difficulty, but the experience gained last
season in dealing with other channels has rendered the
engineers and contractors confident that equal success will be
obtained this year in the western channel. The dam is pierced
with 180 openings, about 23 feet high and 7 feet wide, which
openings are controlled by steel sluices. The work for the
latter is now well advanced. The discharge through these
sluices at high Nile may reach 15,000 tons of water per
second. The navigation channel and chain of locks are equally
advanced with the dam itself, and the lock gates will also be
in course of construction in about three months. Unless
anything unforeseen occurs the reservoirs will be in operation
for the Nile flood of 1903. This will be well within the
contract time, although owing to the increased depth of the
foundations the work done by the contractors has been largely
increased.
"At Assiut the great regulating dam across the Nile approaches
completion, the foundations being practically all in position,
leaving a portion of the superstructure to be completed. The
sluice openings here number 119, all 16 feet wide. This dam is
somewhat similar in principle to the well-known barrage near
Cairo, but the details of construction are entirely different,
as the foundations are guarded against undermining by a
complete line of cast iron and steel-piling above and below
the work. The barrage itself is constructed of high-class
masonry instead of brickwork as at the old barrage. Although
the Assiut barrage is overshadowed by the greater magnitude of
the Assuan dam, it will, doubtless, rank second as the
monumental work of Egypt."
EGYPT: A. D. 1899 (January).
The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium established in the Sudan.
The following agreement between the British government and
that of the Khedive of Egypt, relative to the future
administration of the Sudan, establishing a condominium or
joint dominion therein, was signed at Cairo on the 19th of
January, 1899, and made public the same day:
Whereas certain provinces in the Sudan which were in rebellion
against the authority of His Highness the Khedive have now
been reconquered by the joint military and financial efforts
of Her Britannic Majesty's Government and the Government of
His Highness the Khedive; and whereas it has become necessary
to decide upon a system for the administration of and for the
making of laws for the said reconquered provinces, under which
due allowance may be made for the backward and unsettled
condition of large portions thereof, and for the varying
requirements of different localities; and whereas it is
desired to give effect to the claims which have accrued to Her
Britannic Majesty's Government by right of conquest, to share
in the present settlement and future working and development
of the said system of administration and legislation; and
whereas it is conceived that for many purposes Wadi Haifa and
Suákin may be most effectively administered in conjunction
with the reconquered provinces to which they are respectively
adjacent; now, it is hereby agreed and declared by and between
the Undersigned, duly authorized for that purpose, as follows:
ARTICLE I.
The word "Sudan" in this Agreement means all the territories
South of the 22nd parallel of latitude, which:
1. Have never been evacuated by Egyptian troops since the year
1882; or
2.
Which, having before the late rebellion in the Sudan been
administered by the Government of His Highness the Khedive,
were temporarily lost to Egypt, and have been reconquered by
Her Majesty's Government and the Egyptian Government acting in
concert; or
3. Which may hereafter be reconquered by the two Governments
acting in concert.
ARTICLE II.
The British and Egyptian flags shall be used together, both on
land and water, throughout the Sudan, except in the town of
Suákin, in which locality the Egyptian flag alone shall be
used.
ARTICLE III.
The supreme military and civil command in the Sudan shall be
vested in one officer, termed the "Governor-General of the
Sudan." He shall be appointed by Khedivial Decree on the
recommendation of Her Britannic Majesty's Government, and
shall be removed only by Khedivial Decree, with the consent of
Her Britannic Majesty's Government.
{202}
ARTICLE IV.
Laws, as also Orders and Regulations with the full force of
law, for the good government of the Sudan, and for regulating
the holding, disposal, and devolution of property of every
kind therein situate, may from time to time be made, altered,
or abrogated by Proclamation of the Governor-General. Such
Laws, Orders, and Regulations may apply to the whole of any
named part of the Sudan, and may, either explicitly or by
necessary implication, alter or abrogate any existing Law or
Regulation. All such Proclamations shall be forthwith notified
to Her Britannic Majesty's Agent and Consul-General in Cairo, and