{313}
{314}
MODUS VIVENDI, Alaskan Boundary.
See (in this volume)
ALASKA BOUNDARY QUESTION.
MODUS VIVENDI, The Newfoundland.
See (in this volume)
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1899-1901.
MOMBASA-VICTORIA RAILWAY, The.
See (in this volume)
UGANDA RAILWAY.
----------MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: Start--------
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1895.
The situation of the Treasury of the United States.
Contract for replenishing its gold reserve.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1895 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1895-1896.
The gold reserve in the U. S. Treasury again imperilled.
Refusal of relief by the Senate.
See (in this volume)
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1895-1896 (DECEMBER-FEBRUARY).
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1896-1900.
The Silver Question in the United States
Presidential elections.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER); and
1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1896-1898.
Movements for monetary reforms in the United States.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896-1898.
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1897.
Renewal of the privileges of the Bank of France.
The privileges of the Bank of France, as the fiscal agent of
the French Government, expired with the close of the year
1897, and renewal of them was opposed by the Radicals and
Socialists, who demanded the creation of a State Bank. The
government succeeded, however (June, 1897), in carrying the
measure necessary for continuing the existing system, on terms
somewhat more favorable to the state than before.
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1897 (March).
Adoption of the gold standard in Japan.
By a law of the Japanese Parliament, passed in March, 1897, to
come into force October 1, a gold monetary standard was
adopted, at the ratio of 32½ to 1, the silver dollar to be
legal tender until six months after notice given of its
withdrawal.
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1897 (April-October).
Negotiation by American Commissioners in Europe for an
international bi-metallic agreement.
In fulfilment of the pledge given by the Republican party, at
its national convention, in 1896, that it would use efforts to
bring about an international agreement for free coinage of
gold and silver at some common ratio, the following Act was
passed by the two Houses of Congress in January and February,
1897: "That whenever after March 4, 1897, the president of the
United States shall determine that the United States should be
represented at any international conference called by the
United States or any other country with a view to securing by
international agreement a fixity of relative value between
gold and silver as money by means of a common ratio between
these metals, with free mintage at such ratio, he is hereby
authorized to appoint five or more commissioners to such
international conference; and for compensation of said
commissioners, and for all reasonable expenses connected
therewith, to be approved by the secretary of state, including
the proportion to be paid by the United States of the joint
expenses of any such conference, the sum of $100,000, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated. That
the president of the United States is hereby authorized, in
the name of the government of the United States, to call, in
his discretion, such international conference, to assemble at
such point as may be agreed upon. And he is further
authorized, if in his judgment the purpose specified in the
first section hereof can thus be better attained, to appoint
one or more special commissioners or envoys to such of the
nations of Europe as he may designate, to seek by diplomatic
negotiations an international agreement for the purpose
specified in the first section hereof. And in case of such
appointment so much of the appropriation herein made as shall
be necessary shall be available for the proper expenses and
compensation of such commissioners or envoys." Pursuant to
this Act, President McKinley, on the 12th of April, appointed
Senator Edward O. Wolcott; of Colorado, ex-Vice-President
Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois, and General Charles J. Paine,
of Massachusetts, to be commissioners for the purpose which
the bill describes. The commissioners first visited Paris, and
there obtained assurances from the French government of
cordial cooperation and support. They then proceeded to
London, for negotiation with the British authorities, on whose
attitude towards the movement for international action in the
matter its success was well known to depend. Some members of
the British government, conspicuously Mr. Balfour, were
outspoken advocates of bi-metallism, and much was hoped from
the discussion to be opened with them. The American
commissioners were cordially received, and they were invited
to a formal meeting, on the 12th of July, with Lord Salisbury,
the Prime Minister, Mr. Balfour, First Lord of the Treasury, Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lord
George Hamilton, Secretary of State for India. The American
Ambassador, Mr. Hay, accompanied them to the conference, which
was held at the Foreign Office. A memorandum of the
conversation at this meeting, and at a second one held on the
15th, together with a correspondence which followed, were
published later in a parliamentary "blue book," from which the
following account is drawn. Mr. Wolcott explained the wish of
the American envoys to obtain the views of several
governments, preliminary to the inviting of an international
bi-metallic conference. He added that they expected to have,
in England, the full cooperation of the Ambassador of the
French Republic, who happened, for the moment, to be absent
from the country, but who had requested them to proceed with
the meeting in his absence. "Mr. Wolcott then presented some
reasons which, in the opinion of the Special Envoys, rendered
it desirable that some international agreement for the
restoration of bimetallism should be reached, and explained
why, in their opinion, the success of this effort depended
upon the attitude which England would take regarding the
question. He then stated that the Special Envoys requested
that England should agree to open English mints as its
contribution to an attempt to restore bimetallism by
international agreement, and dwelt upon the importance of the
fact that France and the United States were together engaged
in an attempt to bring about such an agreement, and were
cooperating together to that end. Lord Salisbury desired to
know if the French Government would co-operate upon the basis
of opening their mints to the free and unlimited coinage of
silver.
{315}
Mr. Wolcott answered in the affirmative. Lord Salisbury then
asked at what ratio, and was informed by Mr. Wolcott that the
French Government preferred the ratio of 15½ to 1, and that
the United States were inclined to yield this point and accept
this as a proper ratio. Considerable discussion on the
question of the ratio and the method by which it should be
settled then took place. … It was then suggested that further
proceedings should be deferred until the French Ambassador
might be also present. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in
further conversation, said that if the suggestion of opening
the English mints was to be made, he thought an answer in the
negative would undoubtedly be given. The First Lord of the
Treasury asked whether, assuming this request for opening
English mints to be refused, it was desired that the subject
be discussed upon the basis of something different and less
than the opening of English mints. Upon a mutual understanding
that in the absence of the French Ambassador, anything said
should be considered as said informally, a discussion then
took place as to the concessions that England might make
towards an international solution of the question, if it
should refuse to open English mints. Mr. Wolcott, for the
Special Envoys, presented the following as a list of
contributions which, among others, England might make towards
bimetallism if an international agreement could be effected:
1. Opening of the Indian mints. Repeal of the order making the
sovereign legal tender in India.
2. Placing one-fifth of the bullion in the Issue Department of
the Bank of England in silver.
3.
(a.) Raising the legal tender limit of silver to, say, £10.
(b.) Issuing the 20s. notes based on silver, which shall be
legal tender.
(c.) Retirement, gradual or otherwise, of the 10s. gold
pieces, and substitution of paper based on silver.
4. Agreement to coin annually £ … of silver [present silver
coinage average for five years about £1,000,000, less annual
withdrawal of worn and defaced coin for recoinage, £350,000].
5. Opening of English mints to coinage of rupees, and for
coinage of British dollar, which shall be full tender in
Straits Settlements and other silver standard Colonies, and
tender in the United Kingdom to the limit of silver legal
tender.
6. Colonial action, and coinage of silver in Egypt.
7. Something having the general scope of the Huskisson plan.
Some general conversation followed in regard to the preceding
suggestions, and the interview terminated, to be resumed on
the 15th July, 1897, when it was understood that the French
Ambassador would also be present."
At the second meeting, July 15, Baron de Courcol, Ambassador
of the French Republic, and M. L. Geoffray, French Minister
Plenipotentiary, were present, and the former spoke at length,
stating the position of the French government on the question
of the free coinage of silver. He said: "'Our population,
notably the agricultural population, finds that it has not at
its disposition sufficient resources in currency, in metallic
money. On the other hand, if the Government in the actual
state of affairs reopens the mints to the free coinage of
silver, we would be flooded by the abundance of this metal
coming from all other countries of the world, and we could not
resist the even greater evil of the inevitable depreciation of
one of our precious metals, that is to say, of the effective
destruction of the legal ratio upon which our monetary system
is based. … In other words, we think that the production of
silver, more active in certain quarters of the globe in the
last quarter of a century, is not of itself considerable
enough to change in an enduring manner the normal ratio
between gold and silver after these two metals will have been
scattered over the entire surface of the world among all
nations who are called upon to absorb them. There is, then, in
our eyes, a need which is perhaps transitory, but which is
actually common to all the commercial nations, of taking
measures adequate for assuring, by a common understanding, the
re-establishment of the normal ratio of 15½ between silver and
gold. If measures of this kind should be adopted by all the
commercial nations, we would be able to reopen our mints to
the free coinage of silver without fear of being submerged by
an excessive influx of this metal. The reopening of the mints
of all the commercial countries to the free coinage of silver
in the ratio of 15½ with gold would be the most natural and
the most efficacious means of arriving at the result sought
for. This is the desideratum which I am instructed to bring
forward here, and which I am particularly to urge upon the
English Government as a primordial condition of the success of
the common understanding. If the Government of the Queen, even
in consenting to reopen the mints in India, should refuse to
adopt the same measure for England, at least would they not be
able to take certain measures which would be, up to a certain
point, equivalent, in order to maintain the full value of
silver, and to prevent India from being the victim of a
depreciation of this metal in consequence of an unlimited
coinage? … By way of suggestion, I would indicate, as one of
the measures which the English Government might usefully
adopt, the annual purchase of a certain quantity of silver
metal, which might afterwards be disposed of as seemed
best-either it might be preserved in ingots, or it might be
used for regular consumption, or it might be sent to India.
This quantity might be fixed approximately, at least, for a
number of years, at a sum of £10,000,000 in nominal value.
This is, perhaps, only a palliative; it is, in any event, only
one of the expedients which would be deemed necessary. But I
am to urge strongly that the English Government determine to
take measures of this kind, or other equivalent measures, if,
as I believe, it recognizes with us the necessity of improving
the monetary situation in a great part of its Empire—I may
say, in a great part of the entire world.' Lord Salisbury then
asked whether the French Government would decline to open its
mints unless England would also open her mints. The French
Ambassador replied that he preferred to discuss the subject
upon the basis that France would go to open mints if England
would consent to open her mints, but that he would not exclude
from his view the question of contributions by England towards
maintaining the value of silver, short of open mints. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer, in response to this, stated
definitely that the English Government would not agree to open
English mints to the unlimited coinage of silver, and that,
whatever views he and his colleagues might separately hold on
the question of bimetallism, he thought he could say they were
united upon this point. …
{316}
The suggestions made by the Special Envoys at the interview on
the 12th July were again read, and the Special Envoys accepted
also as important and desirable the proposal that the English
Government should purchase annually, say, £10,000,000 of
silver, with proper safeguards and provisions as to the place
and manner of its use. The French Ambassador expressed his
approval generally of the suggestions of the Special Envoys,
as being serviceable in the consideration of the question. It
was then understood that the proposals submitted by the French
Ambassador and by the Special Envoys of the United States
should be considered, and due notice given when a reply could
be made."
The proposal for the reopening of the Indian mints to silver
was submitted at once by the home authorities of the India
Office, at London, to the government of India, and the reply
of the latter was not received until the following October.
When the reply came, it extinguished hopes of the arrangement
which the American and French governments desired. In a long
despatch, the Indian government explained with clearness the
monetary situation in that country, and discussed the effect
which a return to the unrestricted mintage of silver would
have upon it, under the circumstances and prospects of the
time. "The currency system of India," said the despatch, "is
in a transition state; the Government of India in 1893 decided
to establish a gold standard, and the first step towards that
object was the closing of the mints to silver by Act VIII of
1893. The silver rupee is still the sole legal tender coin,
though the Government has by Executive orders undertaken to
receive gold and sovereigns under certain restrictions, … the
rate of exchange adopted being 16d. the rupee or 15 rupees=£1.
The measures to be taken when the transition period has passed
have not been laid down, but it is probable that the Indian mints
will be opened to gold, and gold coins will be made legal
tender to an unlimited amount; silver rupees would also
continue to be legal tender to an unlimited amount, and the
ratio between the rupee and the gold coins as legal tender
would at the same time be finally settled. The system towards
which India is moving is thus a gold standard of the same kind
as that which now exists in France and the United States, but
with a different ratio for legal tender; but for the present
the mints are closed both to gold and silver. The transition
period has lasted for more than four years, but there is
ground for hope that it is now drawing to a close. The changes
which are involved in the arrangements proposed to Her
Majesty's Government are the following. France and the United
States are to open their mints to the free coinage of silver,
continuing the free coinage of gold and the unlimited legal
tender of coins of both metals, the ratio remaining unchanged
in France and being altered to the French ratio of 15½ to 1 in
the United States. India is to open her mints to silver, to
keep them closed to gold, and to undertake not to make gold
legal tender. France and the United States would thus be
bimetallic: India would be monometallic (silver); while most
of the other important countries of the world would be
monometallic (gold). The object which the proposers have in
view is the establishment of a stable relation between the
values of gold and of silver. This would include the
establishment of a stable exchange between the rupee and
sterling currency, which was the object of the Government of
India in the proposals made in our financial despatch of the
21st June, 1892, which proposals ultimately resulted in the
adoption, in view to the attainment of that object, of the
policy of a gold standard, and in the closing of the mints to
the free coinage of silver. If, then, it were certain that the
suggested measures would result in the establishment of a
stable ratio, the Government of India might well consider
whether their adoption would not be preferable to the policy
to which they committed themselves in 1893 in the hope of
attaining the same result by isolated action on the part of
India alone. The principal questions therefore for us to
consider are whether the measures are more likely to succeed
than the policy of 1893, and what consequences to India may be
apprehended if the measures should fail of success after being
brought into operation. … The first result of the suggested
measures, if they even temporarily succeed in their object,
would be an intense disturbance of Indian trade and industry
by the sudden rise in the rate of exchange, which, if the
ratio adopted were 15½ to 1, would be a rise from about 16d.
to about 23d. the rupee. Such a rise is enough to kill our
export trade, for the time at least. If the public were not
convinced that the arrangement would have the effect intended,
or believed that it would not be permanent, the paralysis of
trade and industry would be prolonged and accompanied by acute
individual suffering, none of the advantages expected would be
attained, and the country would pass through a critical period
which would retard its progress for years. How long the crisis
would last before normal or stable conditions were restored it
is not possible to conjecture. It would be long even if the
mercantile and banking community saw that silver was being
steadily maintained at the prescribed ratio, while any
indication of unsteadiness would greatly prolong the period by
giving foundation for doubt. If the doubt should happen to be
justified by the results, the position would be disastrous
alike to the State, to individuals, and to trade generally. …
We cannot help seeing that if the policy of 1893 is now
abandoned, and if the triple union now proposed as a
substitute should fail in its operation or should terminate,
and in its failure subject Indian trade to the violent shocks
we have described, the Government of India could not, as a
responsible Government, call upon the commercial public to
face another prolonged period of doubt, suspense, agitation,
and difficulties. For it must be clearly and fully recognized
that if India joins in the proposed measures, we shall be left
dependent, as the sole means of attaining stability in
exchange, on the success of those measures, and that if they
should fail, India must be content to remain permanently under
the silver standard with all its admitted disadvantages. … We
have given very careful consideration to the question whether
France and the United States are likely, with the help of
India, to be able to maintain the relative value of gold and
silver permanently at the ratio they intend to adopt, and have
come to the conclusion that while we admit a possibility of
the arrangements proposed resulting in the permanent
maintenance of the value of gold and silver at the ratio of
15½ to 1, the probability is that they will fail to secure
that result, and that it is quite impossible to hold that
there is anything approaching a practical certainty of their
doing so.
{317}
One reason for this conclusion is, that the arrangement would
rest on too narrow a basis. A union consisting of two
countries, with a third lending assistance, is a very
different thing from the general international union of all or
most of the important countries of the world, which was
advocated by the Government of India in the despatches of
March and June 1892 and of February and September 1886. To
afford a hope that a monetary union will succeed in
establishing stability in the relative value of gold and
silver, it is essential that the nations adhering to it should
be of such number and importance that the metallic currency of
the whole body shall be of sufficient extent to allow of the
exercise of adequate influence on the value of the two metals.
We doubt whether any two, or even three, nations in the world,
unless, indeed, one of them was Great Britain, could comply
with this condition, and we have no hesitation in saying that
France and the United States and India certainly could not. …
We have no hesitation in recommending your Lordship to refuse
to give the undertaking desired by the Governments of France
and the United States. We are quite clearly of opinion that
the interests of India demand that her mints shall not be
opened as part of an arrangement to which two or three
countries only are parties, and which does not include Great
Britain." Immediately on receiving this reply, Lord Salisbury
informed Ambassador Hay that "Her Majesty's Government feel it
their duty to state that the first proposal of the United States
Representatives is one which they are unable to accept," and
expressing a wish to know "how far the views of the American
and French Governments are modified by the decision now
arrived at, and whether they desire to proceed further with
the negotiations at the present moment."
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: Commercial, Number 8, 1897).
In the view of the American envoys, it seemed useless to
proceed, with no hope of cooperation from Great Britain, and
they returned to America with a discouraging report.
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1897 (December).
Adoption of the gold standard in Russia.
An imperial ukase declared the adoption of the gold standard
in Russia, authorizing the issue of a new five-rouble gold
piece.
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1900.
Settlement of the monetary system in the United States.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1900 (MARCH-DECEMBER).
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1900 (November).
Withdrawal of legal tender silver coins in Germany.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (NOVEMBER).
----------MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: End--------
MONGOLIA.
See (in this volume)
MANCHURIA AND MONGOLIA.
MONOPOLIES.
See (in this volume)
TRUSTS: UNITED STATES.
MONROE DOCTRINE, The:
As emphasized in the Treaty of International Arbitration.
See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
MONROE DOCTRINE, The:
Its discussion as involved in the Venezuela Boundary Question.
See (in this volume)
VENEZUELA; A. D. 1895 (JULY) and (NOVEMBER).
MONTAUK POINT, Removal of troops from Santiago de Cuba to.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST: CUBA).
MONTENEGRO.
See (in this volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES.
MOROS, The.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS; THE NATIVE INHABITANTS;
and A. D. 1899 (MAY-AuGUST).
MORTMAIN, Proposed restrictions on, in France.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).
MOSLEMS AND CHRISTIANS:
Conflicts in Armenia.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1895.
MOSLEMS AND CHRISTIANS:
Conflicts in Crete.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).
MOSQUITO, The, as a carrier of disease.
See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: MEDICAL, AND SURGICAL.
MUKDEN.
See (in this volume)
MANCHURIA AND MONGOLIA; also,
RUSSIA IN ASIA: A. D. 1891-1900.
MUNICIPAL EVENTS, Notable.
See (in this volume)
BOSTON, CHICAGO, NEW YORK, TOLEDO, LONDON.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS:
Institution in Cuba.
See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1900 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS:
Institution in the Philippines.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (MARCH).
MUSIC: In the Nineteenth Century.
See (in this volume)
NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE MUSICAL CENTURY.
N.
NABONIDOS, Discovery of an inscription of.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA:
DISCOVERY OF AN INSCRIPTION.
NANSEN'S EXPEDITION, Return of.
See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1896.
NASHVILLE EXPOSITION.
See (in this volume)
TENNESSEE: A. D. 1897.
NATAL.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA.
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF 1896.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER.)
NATIONAL PARTY, The.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER); and
1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
NATIONAL SILVER PARTY.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
{318}
NATIONAL STEEL COMPANY, The.
See (in this volume)
TRUSTS: UNITED STATES.
NATIONALISTS, FRENCH, Revolutionary conspiracy of.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1899-1900 (AUGUST-JANUARY).
NAVAL POLICY, German.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (FEBRUARY-JUNE).
NAVIES OF THE SEA POWERS: A. D. 1900.
The following tables are compiled from a return issued by the
British Admiralty in the spring of 1900, showing the state of
the fleets of Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Italy,
the United States, and Japan, including vessels then built and
in progress of construction.
Of battle-ships, there were built and building in the several
navies: Count with a displacement of Of armored and protected cruisers, there were built and
Great Britain. 70 821,605
France. 35 339,599
Russia. 24 262,912
Germany. 25 191,259
Italy. 19 193,001
United States. 16 184,144
Japan. 7 92,420
building: Count with a displacement of Of unprotected cruisers, armored coast-defence vessels,
Great Britain. 147 827,430
France. 60 297,486
Russia. 23 144,673
Germany. 22 107,844
Italy. 25 93,673
United States. 26 140,274
Japan. 23 114,479
and special vessels there were built and building: Count with a displacement of Of torpedo vessels and torpedo-boat destroyers
Great Britain. 31 104,250
France. 29 93,385
Russia. 26 66,886
Germany. 35 59,617
Italy. 3 13,821
United States. 30 77,150
Japan. 13 24,065
the number built and building was: Count with a displacement of A consolidation of the above figures shows a
Great Britain. 238 70,311
France. 305 34,002
Russia. 233 37,735
Germany. 130 20,094
Italy. 180 24,863
United States. 50 12,121
Japan. 71 9,537
total of ships in the principal navies as follows: Great Britain, 486; A writer in the "Fortnightly Review," discussing the above
France, 429;
Russia, 306;
Germany, 212;
Italy, 227;
United States, 122;
Japan, 114.
returns, points out the imperfectness of the representation
which such gross figures give of the actual naval strength of
the several Powers, and he has undertaken to correct them by a
calculation of what he calls the "fighting weight" of the
ships, based on the age of each and its displacement in tons.
He says: "The scale of depreciation for age that I have used
is as follows: Ships, built and now building, that were
launched, or which will be launched, during 1895-1899 (and
later), are reckoned at their full value of fighting weight;
i. e., at 100 per cent. Ships launched during 1890 1894 are
reckoned as now worth only 80 per cent. of their fighting
weight. The other depreciations being: Ships launched
1885-1889 are valued at 60 per cent. of their nominal fighting
weight; 1880-1884, at 40 per cent.; before 1880, at 20 per
cent."
By this mode of reckoning, the table of battleships is
converted to the following exhibit of estimated "naval
strength": Count adjusted fighting weight This method of depreciating the tonnage on the basis of the
Great Britain. 70 604,141
France. 35 220,635
Russia. 24 221,988
Germany. 25 152,929
Italy. 19 112,899
United States. 16 176,708
Japan. 7 88,088
age of a ship causes the respective proportions of Great
Britain, France and Italy, in battle-ships, to become smaller,
while the respective proportions of Russia, Germany, United
States and Japan become larger. The United States lose but 4
per cent. of the nominal value of their battle-ships; Japan, 5
per cent.; Russia, 16; Germany, 20; Great Britain, 26; France,
35; Italy, 42.
Applying the same arithmetic to the returns of armored and
protected cruisers, the writer shows that Japan suffers a loss
of 10 per cent. of their nominal fighting weight, France 14,
United States 14, Italy 18, Great Britain 21, Russia 23,
Germany 24.
Reducing in like manner all the remaining returns, he arrives
at the following summary of "the seven navies arranged in the
order of their strength"—taking the navy of Japan as the unit: Degree of strength. Stated in "tons of fighting weight," his comparison stands:
Great Britain, 6.38
France, 2.57
Russia, 1.88
United States, 1.65
Germany, 1.34
Italy, 1.03
Japan, 1.00. Great Britain, 1,347,000 Turning next to the consideration of armaments, the writer has
France, 543,000
Russia, 397,000
United States, 349,000
Germany, 282,000
Italy, 218,000
Japan, 211,000.
compiled the following table, which shows "for each class of
gun separately, and for all classes of guns combined, the
number of these guns that are possessed by the seven naval
powers": POWER Breech Quick Muzzle Torpedo All Classes In this comparison the United States drops from the fourth
Loading Firing Loading Tubes of Guns
Guns Guns Guns
Great Britain. 912 7,454 340 1,534 10,240
France. 471 3,653 - 928 5,052
Russia. 393 2,589 - 625 3,607
Germany. 258 1,995 - 611 2,864
Italy. 140 1,791 4 573 2,508
United States. 303 1,791 - 230 2,324
Japan. 110 1,168 - 314 1,592
----------
All the Powers
combined. 2,587 20,441 344 4,815 28,187
rank to the sixth. For a comparison of the naval expenditure
of the Powers,
See (in this volume)
WAR BUDGETS.
NEBUCHADREZZAR, Exploration of the ruins of the palace of.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA; GERMAN EXPLORATION.
NEELY EXTRADITION CASE, The.
See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1900-1901.
{319}
NEGRITOS.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THE NATIVE INHABITANTS.
NEGRO, Disfranchisement of the.
See (in this volume)
MARYLAND, MISSISSIPPI, NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1900;
SOUTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1896;
LOUISIANA: A. D. 1898; and
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).
NEGROS, The island of:
American occupation.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899 (JANUARY-NOVEMBER).
Acceptance of American sovereignty.
Establishment of provisional government.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899 (MARCH-JULY).
NEMI, Lake: Sunken Roman vessels found in.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: ITALY.
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): A. D. 1894.
War in Lombok.
See (in this volume)
DUTCH EAST INDIES: A. D. 1894.
-------NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): Start------
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): A. D. 1896.
Electoral Reform Act.
A notable extension of the franchise was accomplished by an
Act passed this year by the States General, to have effect in
the elections of 1897. It made voters of all Dutch citizens
not under 25 years of age who present "certain outward and
positive signs of capacity and well-being. The chief sign is
the fact of payment of one or more direct State taxes (for the
land tax an amount of 1 florin is sufficient). Besides these,
the Reform Act admits as electors all those who can prove that
they are householders, and have paid rent of houses or
lodgings during a fixed term, or that they are owners or
tenants of boats of not less than 24 tons capacity, or that
they have been during a fixed term in employment with an
annual wage or salary of at least £22 18s. 4d., or possess a
certificate of State interest of at least 100 florins, or a
State savings bank deposit of at least 50 florins, or the
legal qualifications for any profession or employment."
Statesman's Year-Book,
1899, page 807.
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): A. D. 1897.
First election under the new Franchise Law.
The first election in Holland under the new franchise law,
held June 15-25, 1897, returned to the Chamber 47 Liberals, 22
Catholics, 22 Protestant anti-Revolutionists, 4 Radicals, and one
deputy who is styled an Historic Christian.
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland):A. D. 1898.
Enthronement of Queen Wilhelmina.
Queen Wilhelmina, who succeeded to the crown on the death of
her father, William III., in 1890, reached the age of 18 on
the 31st of August, 1898, and received the reins of government
from her mother, Queen Emma, who had acted as Regent until
that time. The young Queen was enthroned September 6 in the
New Church at Amsterdam, where she delivered, with a
simplicity and fervor which impressed those present, her
address to the States-General and took her oath of allegiance
to the Constitution. "I am happy and thankful," the Queen
said, "to rule over the people of the Netherlands, who,
although small in numbers, are great in virtue and strong by
nature and character. I esteem it a great privilege that it is
my life's task and duty to dedicate all my powers to the
prosperity and interests of my dear fatherland; and I adopt
the words of my beloved father,—'Yes, Orange can never do
enough for the Netherlands.'" After the Queen and the
Queen-Mother, the most striking figures at the ceremony were
the Princes from the Dutch Indies.
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): A. D. 1898 (June).
The Sugar Conference at Brussels.
See (in this volume)
SUGAR BOUNTIES.
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): A. D. 1899 (April).
Invitation to the Peace Conference to be held at The Hague.
See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): A. D. 1899 (May-July).
Representation in the Peace Conference at The Hague.
See,(in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): A. D. 1899 (May-August).
Advice to President Kruger of the South African Republic.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1899 (MAY-AuGUST).
NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland):A. D. 1901.
Marriage of Queen Wilhelmina.
Queen Wilhelmina was married, on the 7th of February, to Duke
Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who received the title of
Prince of the Netherlands by proclamation on the same day.
Both civil and religious ceremonies of marriage were
performed.
--------NETHERLANDS, The Kingdom of the (Holland): End------
NEW BRUNSWICK.
See (in this volume)
CANADA.
NEWEL, Stanford:
American Commissioner to the Peace Conference at The Hague.
See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1895.
Union with Canada refused.
Terms proposed for the union of Newfoundland with the Dominion
of Canada were rejected, and negotiations abandoned.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1897.
Conference of colonial premiers with the
British Colonial Secretary.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1897 (JUNE-JULY).
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1897-1900.
The Reid contract.
The question in politics.
In the fall of 1897 a line of narrow-gauge railway, with
branches over six hundred miles in total length, was completed
and opened to traffic. The main line of rail extends from the
capital, St. Johns, to Port aux Basques, at the southwestern
extremity of the island, and is expected to produce an
important development of resources from the forests and mines,
as well as from agricultural lands. The railway was
constructed by a contractor, Mr. Reid, who agreed to operate
it for seven years at his own expense, receiving therefor a
land grant of 5000 acres per mile. In 1898 a new contract was
made with Mr. Reid, which placed most of the resources of the
island under his control. For an additional land-grant of 2500
acres per mile of road he undertook to operate the road for
fifty years. By a present cash payment of $1,000,000 to the
colony treasury, he purchased the reversion of its right to
the possession of the road at the end of that period. At the
same time he secured the right to purchase from the government
its telegraph lines and the dry-dock at St. Johns, for half a
million of dollars, and was given a monopoly for 30 years of
the coast mail steam service, with an annual subsidy of
$150,000, he undertaking to maintain in it eight steamers,
well equipped. This remarkable contract was bitterly denounced
by a large party in the island, and the Imperial government was
strongly petitioned to nullify the whole transaction: but the
British Colonial Secretary, Mr. Chamberlain, while he
characterized the contract as representing "the most
unparalleled abrogation of its functions by a responsible
government," decided that he could not properly interfere.
{320}
The "Reid Deal," as it was known, then became a burning issue
in Newfoundland politics, and the Ministry responsible for it,
led by Sir James Winter, was ousted from the government in
February, 1900. Mr. Reid was then arranging to transfer his
Newfoundland contract and franchises to a company, which
required the sanction of the colonial government. The new
(Liberal) Ministry, of which Mr. Robert Bond was Premier,
refused consent to the transfer unless Mr. Reid would amend
his bargain with the colony in several very important
particulars. He offered some concessions, but not to the
extent demanded; and so the question between him and the Bond
Ministry went into the canvass of 1900, for the election of a
new Assembly, and the Conservatives, heavily backed by Mr.
Reid, were defeated overwhelmingly, winning but 4 seats out of
36 in the Lower House of the Legislature. On this result of
the elections the "London Times" of November 26, 1900,
comments as follows: "The course which the victorious Bond
Ministry will now take must be awaited with interest. … A
policy of compromise would certainly appear to be the wisest
and the safest for all parties. Mr. Reid, it seems to be
acknowledged, has carried out his part of the bargain of 1898
fully and even generously, and the colony, it is stated, has
profited largely in consequence. In the absence of actual
fraud or corruption it would be difficult in these
circumstances to justify the rescission or even the material
modification of the agreement, on the faith of which he has
spent his money, without his assent. A repeal of the Act of
1898 against his will would savour of repudiation. It would
assuredly damage the credit of the colony very seriously."
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1899-1901.
The French Shore Question.
The Modus Vivendi.
"At the period of the negotiation of the Treaty of Utrecht, in
1713, by which the rights of the French fishermen were regulated
[see, in volume 4, NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1713], thousands of
French fishing vessels availed themselves of the inshore
fisheries about the island; and that they might be not
altogether without facilities for the drying and curing of
their fish, they were granted under the Treaty the 'right to
use a strip of the coast seven hundred miles long and half a
mile wide.' Accompanying the Treaty, but, be it noted, not a
part of it, was a declaration of King George, that British
subjects on the island were not to interfere with these French
coast rights by erecting permanent structures upon it,
calculated to obstruct the operations of the French fishermen.
This Royal declaration was harmless and unimportant when the
population of the island was very small, and the French
fishermen resorted to the inshore fisheries of Newfoundland.
But to-day, a different condition exists. The French fishermen
no longer use the inshore fisheries of the island, but
prosecute, instead, their fishing operations on the Grand
Banks, several hundred miles distant, drying their product
either at the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, which
are more adjacent to the Banks, or transporting the fish
direct to France. … The need for which the French shore right
was granted has practically ceased to exist; and inasmuch as
the prohibition to the people of the island from erecting
permanent structures on the island was merely a mandate
emanating from the King, and not an integral part of the
Treaty itself; and because the reason for the observance of
the mandate has thus ceased to exist, it is imperative that,
in the interests of the prosperity of the island, this Royal
concession should be revoked. … But what, it may be asked, on
a perusal of the whole case, has caused the Newfoundland
question to suddenly become paramount? Why is its urgency
greater in 1899 than it was in 1889? Is there not some
concentrated force, some propelling power, at work behind the
scenes? There is—and that power is a millionaire. The name of
this millionaire is Robert Gillespie Reid, who, having
voluntarily assumed, by means of the measure known as the Reid
contract, the responsibility of developing the island's
resources, finds himself, at the outset, confronted by a
situation which precludes all present enterprise. This
gentleman has acquired, in fee simple, some three or four
million acres of land in Newfoundland; and where the islanders
were content to wait patiently for justice, he, as a
business-man, eager to exploit his mines and timber, can
hardly be expected to pin his faith to assurances so frail,
and of fulfilment so remote."
B. Wilson,
Newfoundland's Opportunity
(Fortnightly Review, February, 1899).
A royal commission which lately investigated the situation of
affairs on the Treaty Coast of Newfoundland found that the
coast "is 800 miles in extent, with a permanent population of
13,300, all but 76 of whom are native-born, while the total of
French frequenting the territory during the fishing season
does not exceed 600 men. The French, last year, according to
the official reports furnished to the Admiralty, occupied only
eight cod and nine lobster stations, with a personnel as
above, while their catch of cod was but 18,000 qtls., worth
about 36,000 dollars, and their pack of lobsters about 7,000
cases, of about equal value. And is it not monstrous that, in
order to satisfy vexatious French claims and perpetuate
obsolete treaty claims, the people of the Treaty Coast should
he coerced and victimised, and the development of the whole
colony retarded, as has been the case? The Commissioners
found that, despite the liberal bounties given by France for
fishing on the Treaty Coast, the allowance of 50 francs per
head by the St. Pierre municipality for the same purpose, and
the special appropriation the past two seasons in the French
colonial grant 'for extending operations on the Newfoundland
coast, 4,000 francs,' the number of men frequenting there and
the number of stations operated are steadily declining every
year, and in ten years' time it is doubtful if there would be
a Frenchman on the coast. Still, so powerful is the French
fetish that the shore is tabooed as far as industrial
development is concerned, and the hinterland likewise. No
grant of land can be given there except with the stipulation
that it is subject to French rights. No permanent building can
be erected within half a mile of high-water mark, because the
French claim the strand for drying their fish. No wharves can
be built by which to load minerals, because they will
interfere with the French fishery. (Only last year they
stopped the erection of one which was twenty-two miles from
their nearest station, and Mr. Reid, the railway contractor,
when he wanted to build a wharf at Bay St. George to land
construction materials, had to seize the opportunity of the
French warship in the Bay leaving to coal and renew stores,
and put an army of men to work, who built it in seventeen
days, so that it was completed when the Frenchmen returned.)
{321}
No mineral developments are permitted because they may hamper
the French. Competition on near-by fishing grounds is
prohibited for the same reason. Illicit (?) lobster packers
are hunted like malefactors for disregarding a 'modus vivendi'
as unjust as it is ridiculous. Bait-selling is only possible
by permission of the French and on their terms. The railway
was deflected 120 miles out of its proper course because of
French objection to a terminus on the shore. In fact, fishing
is only pursued with the greatest difficulty, while the land
is closed to agricultural settlement and mining enterprise.
And that, too, in the face of the fact that the French 'army
of occupation' consists of about one vessel, one station, and
about sixty fishermen on every 100 miles of coast, whose
annual catch is worth about 10,000 dollars."
P. T. McGrath, France in Newfoundland
(Nineteenth Century, January, 1899).
In 1890, a temporary agreement ("modus vivendi") concerning
the lobster packing and other questions, was arranged between
the British and French governments, which has been extended
from time to time, very much to the dissatisfaction of the
Province. The last extension expired at the end of the year
1900, and the Newfoundlanders showed a strong disposition to
resist any renewal of it. A letter from St. Johns, in
December, 1900, stated the feeling of the colony as follows:
"Last year the term of the 'modus vivendi' was allowed to run
out, and a deadlock, such as now seems inevitable, would
doubtless have been created; but when the end of December came
the reverses in South Africa appealed to our patriotism as the
oldest British colony, and the Legislature unanimously passed
at one sitting a Bill renewing the arrangement for another
year. The colony was unable to afford any more substantial aid
at the time, as her naval reserve had not then been
inaugurated, but this course on her part testified to her
sympathy with the Imperial mother, and her readiness to
relieve her from other difficulties. This year Newfoundland is
taking the bit between her teeth, and the result must be a
complication which, however unwelcome to the Imperial Cabinet,
cannot but have been regarded as inevitable sooner or later.
If our case is as strong as we are led to believe that the
Royal Commission represents it to be, there is certainly good
ground for our insisting upon remedial measures. It must not
be forgotten that the French now keep up less than 15 cod and
lobster stations altogether on the treaty coast, and that
about 550 men is the number they had there last season. As
against this the resident population is nearly 14,000, and the
objections which they urged against the 'modus vivendi' in its
early days apply with equal strength now. These people are
shamefully treated, the colony as a whole is humiliated, and
the recognition of such conditions by England without making
an attempt to get rid of them is a cause of reproach which she
should remove without delay."
Much newspaper discussion of the subject has been going on in
both England and France, with an apparent showing of readiness
on the part of the latter country to bargain with the British
for cessions in West Africa or elsewhere. How much of a price
Great Britain is willing to pay for release from the treaty of
Utrecht is a question the answer to which cannot be forever
postponed.
Despite its reluctance, the Newfoundland Legislature was
prevailed upon, in February, 1901, to pass an Act renewing the
"modus vivendi" for another year. Several members who
supported the measure declared that they did so for the last
time, and only because of an unwillingness to embarrass the
British government during the continuance of the South African
war.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1901.
Change of Government.
Early in the year, Sir Henry McCallum was transferred from the
governorship of Newfoundland to that of Natal, and Sir
Cavendish Boyle was appointed to succeed him.
NEW JERSEY: A. D. 1897.
Constitutional Amendments.
On the 28th of September, several proposals of constitutional
amendment were voted on in New Jersey. One prohibitory of
gambling was adopted by a small majority. Another, that would
give the suffrage in school elections to women, was rejected
by about 10,000 majority.
NEW SOUTH WALES.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRALIA; and CONSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1894-1895.
The Lexow Investigation of Tammany government.
Election of Mayor Strong.
"On the second Sunday in February 1892 the minister of a
wealthy Presbyterian church, Dr. Charles Parkhurst, startled
his congregation by preaching an outspoken political sermon,
in which he attacked the Tammany administration in most
unmeasured language. 'The mayor and those associated with him
are polluted harpies [he declared]. Under the pretence of
governing this city they are feeding day and night on its
quivering vitals. They are a lying, perjured, rum-soaked, and
libidinous lot. … Every effort to make men respectable,
honest, temperate, and sexually clean is a direct blow between
the eyes of the mayor and his whole gang of lecherous
subordinates, in the sense that while we fight iniquity they
shield and patronise it; while we try to convert criminals
they manufacture them, and they have a hundred dollars
invested in the manufacturing business to every one invested
in converting machinery. … Police and criminals all stand in
with each other. It is simply one solid gang of criminals, one
half in office and the other half out.' This sermon was the
starting point of the new anti-Tammany movement. Dr. Parkhurst
was called before the grand jury to prove his words, but he
was obliged to admit that all he knew was the repeated
accusations that appeared in almost every local newspaper.
Thereupon the grand jury publicly rebuked him, and sent a
formal presentment to the Recorder declaring their
'disapproval and condemnation' of the sermon. Everyone at once
concluded that no more would be heard of Parkhurst in
politics, but they did not know the man. The clergyman called
a couple of detectives to his aid, and personally visited the
lowest resorts, to obtain the necessary evidences of
corruption. A month later he preached a second political
sermon, and this time he took into the pulpit with him a
bundle of affidavits. He repeated and emphasised his former
accusations, and again he was summoned before the grand jury.
This time the result was different. 'The police are either
incompetent or corrupt,' the jury declared, and citizens
generally agreed. …
{322}
"In 1894, the State Senate … appointed a committee, this time
under Senator Lexow, to inquire into New York municipal
affairs. Soon after the committee was appointed Mr. Croker
found it convenient to hastily resign the leadership of
Tammany and go to Europe. The worst accusations of the
bitterest enemies of Crokerism were almost all more than
substantiated by the evidence given before the committee. It
was found that the police were utterly corrupt, that they
extorted blackmail from gambling house keepers, women of ill
fame, saloon keepers, and others, and in return gave them
their protection. Even thieves, in some instances, were found
to be regularly paying their police dues in return for
immunity from arrest. One police justice had to admit that he
received a hundred dollars from a keeper of a disorderly
house. Everywhere that the Lexow Committee probed, or that
other competent critics examined, the same thing was found.
For several years New York had been living under a system of
universal blackmail. Saloon keepers had to pay Tammany to be
allowed to evade the Sunday closing law, merchants to be
granted the simplest conveniences for getting their goods into
their premises. But in the case of Mr. Croker no dishonesty
could be proved. It was known that he had in a few years risen
from a poor man to a millionaire, but in no instance could it be
shown that he had acquired this wealth by corruption. His
friends said he had made his money by horse-racing and real
estate speculation, but unfortunately Mr. Croker did not go
before the witness stand to finally clear up the matter. While
the committee was sitting he remained in Europe.
"The usual storm of indignation followed the 'Lexow' exposure,
and most reputable citizens united once more to overthrow
Tammany. Colonel Strong, a well-known banker, was chosen
reform candidate for mayor, and secured a majority of fifty
thousand. In 1895 he began his administration, and initiated a
vigorous reform movement. The police force was entirely
reorganised; municipal offices were given for merit rather
than political reward; the streets, for the first time in the
memory of the oldest inhabitant, were really kept clean, and
the whole local government was taken out of politics. Mayor
Strong's time of office has not been without its faults, but
among those faults dishonesty has not been one. Rather the
mistake has been to enforce all laws too rigidly, and make too
few allowances for the weaknesses of human nature in a
cosmopolitan resort. Police President Roosevelt's strict
enforcement of the Sunday closing and social purity laws was
only his duty, but yet it cost the reformers many votes.
Although the report of the 'Lexow' Committee did Tammany much
temporary harm, it recovered quickly. After the mayoral defeat
of 1894 it pulled its forces together again, and rallied
around it all the ambitions men who were disappointed in Mayor
Strong's bestowal of his patronage. In the autumn of 1895 it was
able to score a minor victory at the polls, and it carefully
nursed its strength for the election of November 1897. Mr.
Croker, notwithstanding his repeated declarations that he was
'out of politics,' came back to New York, and at once took
over command of his party."
F. A. McKenzie,
Tammany
(Nineteenth Century, December, 1897).
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1895.
Consolidation of the Astor, Lenox and Tilden foundations
to form the New York Public Library.
See (in this volume)
LIBRARY, NEW YORK PUBLIC.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1896-1897.
Consolidation of New York, Brooklyn, and neighboring towns,
in the Greater New York.
"The project of uniting the cities of New York, Brooklyn, and
the cities, towns and villages contiguous to the same, into
one great municipality, although long mooted before 1890,
first took definite form in that year, by the passage on May
8th, by the Legislature, of Laws 1890, Chapter 11, entitled
'An Act to create a commission to inquire into the expediency
of consolidating the various municipalities in the State of
New York, occupying the several islands in the harbor of New
York.' …
Pursuant to the provisions of this act, a commission
consisting of the following members was appointed, viz.:
Andrew H. Green, Frederick W. Devoe, John L. Hamilton, J.
Seaver Page of New York; J. S. T. Stranahan, Edward F. Linton,
William D. Veeder of Brooklyn; John H. Brinkerhoff of Queen's
county; George G. Greenfield of Richmond county; Charles P.
McClelland of Westchester county; and Campbell W. Adams, State
Engineer and Surveyor, ex officio, and Albert E. Henschel
acting as secretary. In 1893, the commission presented to the
Legislature a bill providing for the submission of the
question of consolidation to a vote of the residents of the
various municipalities proposed to be united into one city.
The following year the Legislature provided for the referendum
suggested by the commission. … The following vote was cast
upon the question of consolidation in the ensuing election on
November 6, 1894: for consolidation; against; At the opening of the Legislature in 1895, the Commission of
New York, 96,938; 59,959;
Kings, 64,744; 64,467;
Queens, 7,712; 4,741;
Richmond, 5,531; 1,505;
Mount Vernon, 873; 1,603;
Eastchester, 374; 260;
Westchester, 620; 621;
Pelham, 261; 153.
Municipal Consolidation Inquiry presented a report with a
proposed bill declaring the entire district before mentioned
(with the exception of the city of Mount Vernon) consolidated
with the city of New York. The bill, however, failed of
passage because of the addition of an amendment of referendum
in the last hours of the session of 1895, too late for further
action. The Legislature, as a result no doubt of this vote on
consolidation, did annex to New York city the towns of
Westchester, Eastchester, Pelham and other parts of
Westchester county.
"Early in January, 1896, the Legislature appointed a joint
sub-committee of the Cities Committees of both Houses to
inquire into the subject of the proposed consolidation and
report March 1, 1806. The committee made a report and
submitted a bill favoring consolidation. The bill as reported
was passed by the Legislature and was submitted to the Mayors
of the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and to the Mayor and
Common Council of Long Island City pursuant to the provisions
of the Constitution.
{323}
The bill was returned to the Legislature without the
acceptance of the cities of New York and Brooklyn. The
Legislature repassed the bill over the vetoes of the Mayors of
New York and Brooklyn, and it became a law May 11, 1896, with
the approval of the Governor. This act (L. 1896, ch. 488) is
entitled, 'An Act consolidating the local governments of the
territory within the city and county of New York, the counties
of Kings and Richmond and Long Island City and the towns of
Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica and part of the town of
Hempstead, in the county of Queens, and providing for the
preparation of bills for enactment into laws for the
government thereof.' … Pursuant to the act of consolidation,
the Governor (Levi P. Morton) appointed on June 9, 1896, the
following members of the commission to draft the proposed
charter, viz.: Seth Low, Benjamin F. Tracy, John F. Dillon,
Ashbel P. Fitch, Stewart L. Woodford, Silas B. Dutcher,
William. C. De Witt, George M. Pinney, Jr., Harrison S. Moore.
Mr. Fitch having resigned from the commission, the Governor
appointed Thomas F. Gilroy in his place. By virtue of the act,
the following gentlemen were members of the commission: Andrew
H. Green, president of the commission appointed by L. 1890,
ch. 311; Campbell W. Adams, State Engineer; Theodore E.
Hancock, Attorney-General; William L. Strong, Mayor of New
York; Frederick W. Wurster, Mayor of Brooklyn; and Patrick
Jerome Gleason, Mayor of Long Island City. The commission
organized on June 25, 1896, appointed Benjamin F. Tracy as
president and George M. Pinney, Jr., as secretary, and named
William C. De Witt, John F. Dillon, Thomas F. Gilroy, Seth
Low, Andrew H. Green, Benjamin F. Tracy, and George M. Pinney,
Jr., as a committee on draft of proposed charter."
M. Ash,
The Greater New York Charter,
introduction.
The committee submitted a draft charter to the commission on
the 24th of December, with a report in which a fundamental
feature of its plan is thus set forth: "It is clear that the
work of administering all of the Departments over so large a
space of territory, situated on three islands and partly on
the main land, must be subdivided in order to be successfully
done. The draft, therefore, proposes to divide the city into
the five Boroughs which nature and history have already
formed; that is to say:
(1.) Manhattan, which consists of the island of Manhattan and
the outlying islands naturally related to it.
(2.) The Bronx; that is to say, all that part of the present
City of New York lying north of the Harlem, a territory which
comprises two-thirds of the area of the present City of New
York.
(3.) Brooklyn.
(4.) Queens, consisting of that portion of Queens County to
be incorporated into the Greater New York.
(5.) Richmond, that is, Staten Island.
Power is given to the Municipal Assembly to subdivide these
Boroughs still further, in case of need. The Greater New York
will start with these five Boroughs for administrative
purposes. Your Committee have reconstructed the Borough
system, as submitted in the tentative draft, upon lines which
we are of one accord in believing to be a better and more
appropriate development of the plan for the Greater New York.
These lines give to each Borough various boards through which
the prosecution of local improvements may be facilitated
within the limits of small districts, but reserve to the
Municipal Assembly the right to incur indebtedness and to
authorize the making of contracts."
The draft thus prepared was subjected to criticism in the
commission and in public hearings, and, after amendment and
revision, was reported to the Legislature in February, 1897,
as the charter recommended by the Commission for the
consolidated city called "The Greater New York." It received
some amendment and was passed. On submission, as required by
the State constitution, to the mayors of New York and Brooklyn
and the mayor and Common Council of Long Island City, it was
approved in Brooklyn and Long Island City, but returned
without approval by the mayor of New York. The Legislature
then re-enacted the bill, and it was made law, by the
governor's signature, on the 4th of May, 1897.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1897 (September-November).
Election of the first Mayor of Greater New York.
The first municipal election in Greater New York excited a
passion of interest that was natural in the city itself, but
extraordinary in the degree and the extent to which it spread,
not only throughout the United States, but widely in the
foreign world. The election was looked upon as the test of a
vastly important experiment in the democratic government of an
enormous city. The charter of the great consolidated
municipality had lodged tremendous, unprecedented power and
responsibility in the office of its mayor. The people were
given an opportunity to determine by a single act of suffrage—
by their choice of a single man—the character of their
government. Would they choose that man, at the beginning of
the new system, in the interest of the corrupting organization
in party politics which had misruled the old city of New York
for years, or would they rise to the grand opportunity
afforded them, and set a strong, free, independently honest
man at the head of their local government. Democracy in
municipal affairs, at least, had never been put on trial so
sharply before. To a great number of the citizens of New York
the duty of the hour was plain, and they promptly set their
hands to it. Many months before the election they began the
organization of a Citizens' Union, in which men of all
political parties, sinking every other difference, should join
for the defeat of Tammany and "Boss" Croker, and for the
election to the mayor's office of the best mayor to be found.
With remarkable unanimity, their thought of the man turned to
Seth Low, President of Columbia University, but one time mayor
of Brooklyn, where his vigor, his firmness and his
independence had been conspicuously proved. An extensive
canvass of the city showed so widely spread a feeling in favor
of Mr. Low that he was named at the beginning of September as
the candidate of the non-partisan Citizens' Union. It was
hoped that the whole opposition to Tammany Hall could be
united in support of Mr. Low, representing as he did no
partisan hostility to any organization in national or state
politics. It was especially hoped and believed that the
Republican party organization would endorse the choice of the
Citizens' Union and make Mr. Low (himself a strong Republican)
its own candidate. By nothing less than a general combination
could the compact forces of Tammany Hall be overcome, and that
fact was well understood.
{324}
It was a fact so plain, indeed, that when the head of the
Republican organization in New York persisted in setting a
party candidate in the field, to divide the opposing voters of
the city, there seemed to be small doubt of the intention with
which it was done. The master politicians of the party were
evidently more willing that the vast powers of the mayoralty,
in the organization of the government of Greater New York,
should be wielded by their prototypes of Tammany than that
they should be given to independent hands. The party was
obedient to them, and General Benjamin F. Tracy was put
forward, by a Republican convention held September 28, in
opposition to Mr. Low. The night previous, another candidate
had appeared, in the person of Mr. Henry George, author of the
economic doctrine of the "single tax," supported ardently by a
large following, especially in the Democratic party. A section
of that party, organized under the name of the United Democracy,
had nominated Mr. George, and his nomination was endorsed a
week later by a great assembly which claimed to represent the
Jeffersonian Democracy of New York. On the 30th of September
the nomination of the Tammany Democracy was given to Judge
Robert A. Van Wyck. Between these four principal candidates,
the result of the election was only put in doubt by some
question as to the strength of the Democratic vote which Mr.
George would draw away from Judge Van Wyck. It was a question
extinguished sadly, three days before the election, by the
sudden death of Mr. George. He had not been in good health,
and the strain of the exciting canvass broke him down. His
followers made a hasty nomination of his son, Henry George,
Jr., in his place; but the personal prestige which might have
carried a large vote with them was lost. Of the triumph of
Tammany there was no longer any doubt, and no surprise was
felt (though abundant grief and anger found expression) when
the returns of the voting on November 2d were announced. Judge
Van Wyck was elected by the ballots of 233,997 citizens, against
151,540 cast for Mr. Low, 102,873 for General Tracy, 21,693
for the younger Mr. George. Tammany would have been beaten if
the Republican vote had gone to Mr. Low. Besides the four
principal candidates here named, there were four other
nominees who received small numbers of votes. Lucien Sanial,
put forward by the Social Democrats, received 14,467; William
T. Wardwell, named by the Prohibitionists, received 1,359;
Patrick J. Gleason and Alfred B. Cruikshank, running with
little more than some personal support, received a few
hundreds of votes each.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1899 (April-December).
The Mazet Investigation.
An investigation of charges against the city government, by a
committee of the Legislature, Mr. Robert Mazet, chairman, was
opened in April, 1899, the examination of witnesses being
conducted by Mr. Frank Moss. The investigation followed lines
much the Same as those pursued by the Lexow committee, in
1894, and revealed much the same foul state of things,
especially in the department of police. But there was
evidently less earnestness in the committee; the probing of
iniquities was fill less thorough, and the whole proceeding
was stopped with suspicious suddenness as soon as it drew near
to prominent members of the party by which it was controlled.
It called fresh attention to the rottenness in municipal
politics, and it led to the creation of a new commission for
the revision of the Greater New York charter; but otherwise it
was most unsatisfactory.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1899-1900.
The Ramapo Water Contract.
In August, 1899, Bird S. Coler, Controller of the City,
exposed a gigantic scheme of plunder involved in a contract
with the Ramapo Water Company, which Tammany officials,
assisted, it was said, by some interested Republicans, were
attempting to crowd through the Board of Public Improvements.
The contract would have bound the city for forty years to pay
to the Ramapo Company $70 per million gallons for 200,000,000
gallons of water daily. In his Message to the State
Legislature, January 2, 1901, Governor Odell thus referred to
the matter: "Under chapter 985 of the laws of 1895, as
amended, the Ramapo Water Company was given the power of
condemnation for the purpose of securing to it the water and
lands necessary for its purposes. During the year 1899 an
attempt was made to enter into a contract with this company by
the municipal board empowered to make such contracts. This
proposition, when presented to the citizens of New York, was
severely criticised by them, and the question of continued
municipal ownership of their water supply was thus brought to
their attention. The Legislature of 1900 enacted a law which
made the consummation of such a contract impossible without
the unanimous consent of those empowered to make such
contract. The ownership of water rights sufficient to provide
the city of New York with an ample supply of pure and
wholesome water should be entirely under the control and
direction of the municipality." Action on the subject was
taken by the Legislature, which, in March, repealed the Act of
1895, thus stripping the Ramapo Company of its extraordinary
powers.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1900 (January-September).
The Rapid Transit Tunnel Contract.
Projected Tunnel to Brooklyn.
"The great project of underground rapid transit is now an
assured thing. A few months ago the prospect seemed very dark.
It is true that the rapid transit commissioners, a very able
and upright body of men, with the invaluable aid of a
distinguished engineer, Mr. Parsons, had a good while ago
decided on the route and the plans; but the way seemed blocked
by a series of semi-political and semi-legal difficulties. …
Suddenly these difficulties began to disappear. … The
financial plan adopted was that the city should provide the
money which a contractor would expend in building the road,
the contractor following the plans furnished by the city,
submitting to municipal inspection, and agreeing upon his part
to pay the interest on the bonds sold by the city to obtain
the money, and also to pay enough into a sinking fund to
provide for the ultimate redemption of the bonds. Bids were
called for on November 15, to be opened on January 15. … It
turned out that two well-known contractors were the only
bidders, and the award was given to Mr. John B. McDonald. His
bid was $35,000,000. The theory of this contract is that the
road is to be the property of the city, leased for fifty years
to the contractor, who is to pay a rental that will be large
enough so that the taxpayers will not have expended a penny. …
{325}
The main trunk line will start at the post-office (City Hall
Square) on the south and proceed northward along the spine of
Manhattan Island, following the general direction of Broadway
to Kingsbridge, a distance from the point of beginning of
twelve or thirteen miles. Near the upper end of Central Park,
at a distance of six or seven miles from the point of
beginning, a branch of the tunnel road will take a
northeasterly direction, terminating at Bronx Park, which is
about the same distance north as Kingsbridge, but several
miles further east. The road will have four tracks for six
miles of main line, two of which will be used for local trains
and two for express trains."
American Review of Reviews,
February, 1900.
Work on the great undertaking was begun promptly, and had made
great progress within the first twelve months.
In September, 1900, preliminary steps were taken toward the
construction of a connecting tunnel, under the East River, to
Brooklyn, and through the congested districts of the latter
borough. "At least three years will be necessary for the
preliminary work and actual construction before trains are
running. … Tentative estimates have been made, and these are
said to be from $8,000,000 to $10,000,000. … The route as
contemplated … starts in connection with the Manhattan
proposed tunnel at a point at or near the intersection of
Broadway and Park Row; thence under Broadway and Bowling Green
to Whitehall Street; under Whitehall Street to South Street;
thence under South Street to the East River, and under the
river, striking the Brooklyn shore at a point in Joralemon
Street between the East River and Furman Street, under
Joralemon Street to Fulton Street, to the Borough Hall, out
Fulton Street to Flatbush Avenue, and under this thoroughfare
to the railroad station. On the New York side the route
includes a loop to be built whose debouching point shall lie
between Bowling Green and Exchange Place in Broadway, running
under Broadway to Bowling Green, and thence under Bowling
Green to State Street, to and under Battery Park to Whitehall
Street, thence returning under Whitehall Street and Battery
Park to State Street and to Broadway. The construction calls
for two tracks, and avoids all grade crossings, each track to
have a separate tubular tunnel."
New York Times,
September 28, 1900.
On the 25th of January, 1901, announcement was published that
the Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners had adopted a
resolution definitely providing for the extension of the Rapid
Transit Railroad to Brooklyn. The original plan of route in
Brooklyn had been chosen. The only change made was in
Manhattan. The trains would be run through State St. instead
of Whitehall, as formerly planned, with a loop at the Battery
for Manhattan trains.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1900 (April-May).
Ecumenical Conference on Missions.
See (in this volume)
MISSIONS.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1900 (June).
Great fire at the Hoboken piers.
See (in this volume)
HOBOKEN.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1900-1901.
Revision of the charter.
Carefully as the Greater New York charter had been drawn, it
proved unsatisfactory in the working, in various respects, and
a commission to revise it was appointed in 1900. The report of
the commission was submitted to the Governor on the 1st of
December, and transmitted, with his approval, to the
Legislature in the following month. In the hands of the
Legislature, the bill embodying the revised charter underwent
considerable amendment, very much, it would seem, to its
detriment. It was passed by the Senate on the 3d of April and
by the Assembly on the 4th, and went to the Mayor of New York
for the submission to his judgment which the State
Constitution of New York requires. Some of the more important
changes in the charter made by the revision, as passed, are
the shortening of the mayor's term of office from four years
(which the revision commission had advised retaining) to two
years, with eligibility for re-election (which the commission
had advised against); an increase of the administrative powers
of the presidents of boroughs; abolition of the municipal
Council and creation of a Board of Aldermen of 73 members;
reorganization of various departments of the municipal
administration.
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1901 (March).
Offered gift of $5,200,000 to the Public Library
by Andrew Carnegie.
See (in this volume)
LIBRARY, NEW YORK PUBLIC.
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1894.
The revised Constitution.
See (in this volume)
CONSTITUTION OF NEW YORK.
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1896-1897.
Passage of the Raines Liquor Law.
An Act for the regulation of the liquor traffic, which was and
is the subject of much controversy, was passed in March, 1896,
by the Legislature of the State of New York. From its author,
Senator John Raines, it has borne the name of the Raines Law.
It heavily increased the tax on the selling of liquor, raising
it to $800 on common "saloons" in the city of New York; to $650
in Brooklyn; to $500 in other cities having more than 50,000
and not more than 500,000 inhabitants; and to rates in lesser
cities and towns which ranged from 8100 to $350. It forbade
the licensing of any liquor shop within 200 feet of a
schoolhouse or a church, and also forbade the opening of any
new shop of that character in a residence district without
consent of two-thirds of the property owners. It prohibited
the sale of liquor on Sundays, except in hotels and clubs; but
this provision furnished a means of evasion which was speedily
brought into use. "Raines hotels" and "Raines Clubs," as they
were called, sprang into existence everywhere, sufficiently
answering the requirements of the law to escape its penalties.
These and other defects were considerably remedied by
amendments of the Act in April, 1897. It survived a powerful
attack in the Legislature at that time, the whole strength of
the leading cities in the State being brought against the law.
The country districts were generally united in supporting it,
partly on principle, and partly because of the extent to which
it lightened the burdens of taxation. By apportioning
two-thirds of the enormous revenue raised under the Act to the
towns, counties and cities in which it is collected, and
one-third to the state treasury, the Raines Law fortified
itself strongly in more than the moral sentiment of the
people. Under the Raines Law all local excise boards are
abolished, and the whole licensing and regulating of the
liquor traffic is placed under the supervision of a State
commissioner.
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1897.
The Black Civil Service Law.
See (in this volume)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1897-1899.
{326}
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1898.
Primary Election Law.
An Act which aims to make the political party caucus for
nominating candidates, and for choosing delegates to
nominating conventions, a "primary election," conducted under
strict regulations of law and guarded by registration, was
passed by the New York State Legislature and signed by the
Governor March 23, 1898.
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1899.
New Civil Service Enactment.
See (in this volume)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1897-1899.
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1899 (May).
Taxation of public franchises.
A measure of great importance, introducing a new and eminently
just principle in taxation, was carried through the
Legislature of New York in May, by the energetic influence of
Governor Roosevelt. Recommended by the Governor in a special
message on the 27th of March and passed in an unsatisfactory
form, a bill to provide for the taxing of public franchises
which did not promise successful working was being left on his
hands when the Legislature adjourned. He promptly called a
special session and renewed to it his urgent recommendations.
"I recommend," he said, "the enactment of a law which shall
tax all these franchises as realty, which shall provide for
the assessment of the tax by the Board of State Tax
Commissioners, and which shall further provide that from the
tax thus levied for the benefit of each locality, there shall
be deducted the tax as now paid by the corporation in
question. Furthermore, as the time for assessing the largest
and wealthiest corporations, those of New York and Buffalo,
has passed for this year, and as it will be preferable not to
have the small country corporations taxed before the larger
corporations of the city are taxed, I suggest that the
operations of the law be deferred until October 1, of this
year."
Within a few days, the desired bill was passed by both Houses
of the Legislature, signed by the Governor and became a law.
The public franchises to which it relates are defined in its
first section, as follows:
"The terms 'land,' 'real estate,' and 'real property,' as used
in this chapter, include the land itself above and under
water, all buildings and other articles and structures,
substructures, and superstructures, erected upon, under or
above, or affixed to the same; all wharves and piers,
including the value of the right to collect wharfage, cranage,
or dockage thereon; all bridges, all telegraph lines, wires,
poles, and appurtenances; all supports and inclosures for
electrical conductors and other appurtenances upon, above, and
underground; all surface, underground, or elevated railroads,
including the value of all franchises, rights, or permission
to construct, maintain, or operate the same in, under, above,
on, or through streets, highways, or public places; all
railroad structures, substructures, and superstructures,
tracks, and the iron thereon, branches, switches, and other
fixtures permitted or authorized to be made, laid, or placed
on, upon, above, or under any public or private road, street,
or grounds; all mains, pipes, and tanks laid or placed in,
upon, above, or under any public or private street or place
for conducting steam, heat, water, oil, electricity, or any
property, substance or product capable of transportation or
conveyance therein, or that is protected thereby, including
the value of all franchises, rights, authority, or permission
to construct, maintain, or operate in, under, above, upon, or
through any streets, highways, or public places, any mains,
pipes, tanks, conduits, or wires, with their appurtenances,
for conducting water, steam, heat, light, power, gas, oil, or
other substance, or electricity for telegraphic, telephonic,
or other purposes; all trees and underwood growing upon land,
and all mines, minerals, quarries, and fossils in and under
the same, except mines belonging to the state. A franchise,
right, authority, or permission, specified in this
subdivision, shall, for the purpose of taxation, be known as a
special franchise. A special franchise shall be deemed to
include the value of the tangible property of a person,
co-partnership, association, or corporation, situated in,
upon, under, or above any street, highway, public place, or
public waters in connection with the special franchise. The
tangible property so included shall be taxed as a part of the
special franchise."
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY:
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans.
See (in this volume)
HALL OF FAME.
----------NEW ZEALAND: Start--------
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1891-1900.
Democratic experiments.
Labor laws and the land system.
Compulsory industrial arbitration and its working.
"I have been a studious observer of every phase of social life
and legislative change that has taken place in this colony
during the past seven years," wrote U. S. Consul Connolly, at
Auckland, in July, 1896. "I arrived at the very beginning of
the experimental era—and it is no misnomer to call much of the
legislation of the past few years experimental in the truest
sense [see, also (in this volume), AUSTRALIA: RECENT
EXTENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY]. But while it is so, there is a most
gratifying feature which compensates for the violence done to
the feelings of those whose motto has been 'let us permit
matters to remain as they are, they suit us well enough.' That
the legislative innovations of the immediate past have shocked
the sensibilities of a large number of prominent and
well-to-do colonists is unquestionably true, but, at the same
time, as against any inconvenience they may have experienced
on this account, there is the fact of increased prosperity in
nearly every branch of trade and industrial life throughout
the country, farm products are fetching satisfactory prices,
manufacturing industries are running full time and paying good
wages and fair interest on the capital invested, labor is
remuneratively employed, interest on money has fallen from 6
and 7 per cent to 4 and 5 per cent (this of itself, is
sufficient to prove that money is abundant). Millions of
English capital are flowing in for the development of the gold
fields of the colony, and the credit of the country at no
period of its history stood so high on the English market as
it does to-day.
{327}
I may also mention that, through the genuine encouragement
given by the Government to the small-farmer class, the waste
lands of the country are being rapidly taken up wherever land
is found suitable for farming or grazing purposes.
Notwithstanding the admitted prosperity of the colony and the
fact that the Government have had a substantial surplus over
expenditure now for a number of years, the national debt
continues to increase. But the increased indebtedness is not
of the usual character, for the reason that the country has
security for nearly all the money borrowed in recent years.
Money had to be borrowed under Government guaranty to save the
Bank of New Zealand from closing its doors. This was done to
avert financial disaster. …
"Money has been borrowed to purchase large estates for the
purposes of settlement. Those who take up land under this
system, as already stated, pay an annual rental sufficient to
cover the interest on the purchase money and the cost of
administration. The land is always vested in the Government
and this must be regarded as a good asset. One million and a
Half sterling was borrowed last year in England at 3 per cent
per annum. This £1,500,000 loan is called the ' advances to
settlers loan.' This money is lent out to farmers at 4 per
cent per annum. … I need scarcely add that the large
landholders, the mortgage companies, and the money lenders
generally did not favor this kind of legislation, particularly
the cheap advances to settlers, but their opposition was utterly
futile. With the advent of the one-man-one-vote and the
extension of the franchise to women, the power of corporate
wealth in this country appears to have been irrevocably
destroyed. Whether this be for good or evil, I am not, of
course, in a position to say. I can say, however, that no ill
effects of the change are apparent up to the present; on the
contrary, the country is more prosperous and at least as
honestly and as economically administered as it was under the
old régime.
"To say that this country is, in my opinion, more truly
democratic than any country in the world would be merely
stating a simple truth; and to say that the present Government
is a workingman's Government is equally true. A great deal of
the legislation of recent years, however, is in advance of the
requirements and ideas of the people, with the result that
some of it has proved to be annoying and irksome to many. This
is especially true of some of the labor laws. The Government
are honestly endeavoring to place the masses in possession of
their legitimate rights with as little friction as possible,
and at the same time with due regard to vested interests and
the propriety of things generally. But while struggling thus
with the duties and responsibilities of their official
positions, the members of the Ministry are torn asunder by the
clamorous and impracticable demands of the unreasonable and
irresponsible. The sympathies of the Government are
unmistakably with the people, but the honor, the dignity, and
the welfare of the country will not permit them to depart from
a course too inconsistent with the sense of obligation, fair
dealing, integrity, and responsibility which are the admitted
characteristics and duty of all civilized governments. The
great danger at the present moment is too much legislation in
one direction. This is the one thing wherein the Government
find it really hard to resist the demands of organized labor.
There is, however, a very gratifying disposition manifesting
itself among the more reasonable members of the labor
societies to let well enough alone for the present—a
disposition it is much to be hoped may extend throughout the
whole body of the workers. If not, I have no hesitation in
predicting a serious revulsion of public sentiment and
sympathy within the next few years."
United States Consular Reports,
January, 1897, page 35.
"Australian experience seems in many ways to prove the value
of our system of written constitutions, to be construed and
enforced by the courts. The effect on the minds of
ill-informed legislators of the knowledge that they can do
anything for which they can get a majority, is naturally to
beget extravagance and an overweening sense of power, and lead
to excessive experimentation. … It is in devices for the
protection of labor that most of this experimentation occurs.
New Zealand affords the best example of it. It provides
elaborate legal protection for the eight-hour day. A workman
cannot consent to work overtime without extra pay. The state
sees that he gets the extra pay. It looks closely after the
condition of women and children in the factories. It sees that
servant girls are not overcharged by the registry offices for
getting them places. It prescribes one half-holiday a week for
all persons employed in stores and offices, and sees that they
take it. It will not allow even a shopkeeper who has no
employees to dispense with his half-holiday; because if he
does not take it, his competition will injure those who do.
The 'labor department' of the government has an army of
inspectors, who keep a close watch on stores and factories,
and prosecute violations of the law which they themselves
discover. They do not wait for complaints; they ferret out
infractions, so that the laborer may not have to prejudice
himself by making charges. The department publishes a
'journal' once a month, which gives detailed reports of the
condition of the labor market in all parts of the colony, and
of the prosecutions which have taken place anywhere of
employers who have violated the law. It provides insurance for
old age and early death, and guarantees every policy. It gives
larger policies for lower premiums than any of the private
offices, and depreciates the private offices in its documents.
It distributes the profits of its business as bonuses among the
policy-holders, and keeps a separate account for teetotalers,
so that they may get special advantages from their abstinence.
The 'journal' is, in fact, in a certain sense a labor manual,
in which everything pertaining to the comfort of labor is
freely discussed. The poor accommodation provided for servants
in hotels and restaurants is deplored, and so is the
difficulty which middle-aged men have in finding employment.
More attention to the morals and manners of nursemaids is
recommended. All the little dodges of employers are exposed
and punished. If they keep the factory door fastened, they are
fined. If housekeepers pretend that their servants are
lodgers, and therefore not liable to a compulsory
half-holiday, they are fined. If manufacturers are caught
allowing girls to take their meals in a workshop, they are
fined.
{328}
"As far as I can make out, too, without visiting the country,
there is as yet no sign of reaction against this minute
paternal care of the laborer. The tendency to use the powers
of the government chiefly for the promotion of the comfort of
the working classes, whether in the matter of land settlement,
education, or employment, seems to undergo no diminution. The
only thing which has ceased, or slackened, is the borrowing of
money for improvements. The results of this borrowing have
been so disastrous that the present generation, at least, will
hardly try that experiment again."
E. L. Godkin,
The Australian Democracy
(Atlantic Monthly, March, 1898).
NEW ZEALAND:
Labor Laws.
Compulsory industrial arbitration.
"There is not in any other country in the world a more
valuable or more enlightened body of Labour laws than those
now upon the statute book of this progressive colony. They
cover almost every risk to life, limb, health, and interest of
the industrial classes. They send the law, as it were,
everywhere a worker is employed for daily wages to fling the
shield of the state over him or her in the labour of
livelihood. The bare enumeration of these laws will indicate
the far-reaching ground they cover:—The Coal Mines Act, the
Master and Apprentices Act, the Conspiracy Law Amendment Act,
the Trade Union Act, the Servant's Registry Offices Act (for
the protection of servant girls against the risks of dishonest
offices of that kind), Contractors and Workmen's Lien Act,
three amended Employer's Liability Acts, three amended
Shipping and Seamen's Acts, two Shops and Shop-assistants
Acts, the Factories Act, and the Industrial Conciliation and
Arbitration Act of 1894. … The Industrial Conciliation and
Arbitration Act, passed in 1894 … has attracted much attention
outside New Zealand. An Act with a similar purpose, but
permissive in its operations, was passed … in the New South
Wales Legislature in 1892. It was limited in duration to four
years, and was not a success. The New Zealand bill was more
skilfully drawn, and, possessing the element of a gentle
compulsion, has so far achieved its aim. The Act begins by
inviting all parties to join 'in lawful association for the
purpose of protecting or furthering the interests of employers
or workmen in, or in connection with, any industry in the
colony.' Such parties as accept the legal invitation are
allowed to register themselves as 'an industrial union,' and
this step once taken they are enticed on through a network of
solicitations, provisions, and safeguards, until they find
themselves, almost without knowing it, agreeing to everything
that follows. Trades Unions, or any other labour organization,
or any combination of employers, can register as individual
bodies without a mixed association of workers and employers.
Once registered, they are in the network of arbitration:—'The
effect of registration shall be to render the industrial
union, and all persons who may be members of any society or
trade union, so registered as an industrial union at the time
of registration, or who after such registration may become
members of any society or trade union so registered, subject
to the jurisdiction by this Act given to a Board and the Court
respectively, and liable to all the provisions of this Act,
and all such persons shall be bound by the rules of the
industrial union during the continuance of the membership.' …
'Every industrial agreement duly made and executed shall be
binding on the parties thereto, and on every person who at any
time during the term of such agreement is a member of any
industrial union, trade union, or association party thereto,
and on every employer who shall in the prescribed manner
signify to the Registrar of the Supreme Court where such
agreement is filed concurrence therein, and every such
employer shall be entitled to the benefit thereof, and be
deemed to be a party thereto.' … 'In and for every district
there shall be established a Board of Conciliation, to have
jurisdiction for the settlement of industrial disputes
occurring in such district, which may be referred to it by one
or more of the parties to an industrial dispute, or by
industrial agreement.' … 'Every Board shall consist of such
equal number of persons as the Governor may determine, being
not more than six nor less than four persons, who shall be
chosen by the industrial unions of employers and of workmen in
the industrial district respectively, such unions voting
separately, and electing an equal number of such members.' …
Should this body itself be unable to come to a satisfactory
decision it may refer the matter in question to a small
committee of its members fairly representing each side. If a
settlement or reconciliation be unattainable in this way,
either party to the dispute can appeal to the Court of
Arbitration, which is constituted as follows:—'There shall be
one Court of Arbitration for the whole colony for the
settlement of industrial disputes pursuant to this Act. … The
Court shall consist of three members to be appointed by the
Governor, one to be so appointed on the recommendation of the
councils or a majority of the councils of the industrial
associations of workmen in the colony, and one to be so
appointed on the recommendation of the councils or a majority
of the councils of the industrial associations of employers of
the colony.' … 'No recommendation shall be made as to the
third member, who shall be a Judge of the Supreme Court, and
shall be appointed from time to time by the Governor, and
shall be President of the Court.'"
M. Davitt,
Life and Progress in Australasia,
chapter 68.
Honorable W. P. Reeves, lately Agent-General of New Zealand in
England, but who was Minister of Education and Labor in New
Zealand from 1891 to 1896, and who is looked upon as the
principal author of the industrial arbitration laws in that
colony, wrote, during the summer of 1900, on the working of
those laws, in an article contributed to the "London Express,"
as follows:
"The arbitration law has been in constant use in New Zealand
for about four years and a half. During those years there has
never been a time when there has not been a dispute pending
before one or other of the Conciliation Boards or the Central
Arbitration Court. Writing, as I do, at some distance from
London, I cannot say from memory what the exact number of
disputes finally adjusted has been; but, so far, they cannot
be less than sixty or seventy. Most of these have been
carried, on appeal from some Conciliation Board, to the
Arbitration Court and settled there. In about two cases out of
seven the Conciliation Boards have been able successfully to
arrange the disputes. Even where they have not done so, it by
no means follows that their labors have been useless. Very
often the appeal to the Arbitration Court is merely on one or
two points out of many involved, and the advice of the
Conciliation Board is accepted on the others. Often, too, most
of the parties to a dispute have been ready to accept a board's
suggestions, but it has needed the firm hand of the
Arbitration Court to bring one or two stubborn men to
acquiescence.
{329}
"The process may be tedious, but it is not costly. Lawyers are
not employed as counsel before either the boards or the court
unless all parties to the action agree thereto, and they very
seldom do agree. A firm of employers may appear by a manager
or accredited representative, a trade union is usually
represented by its Secretary or other official. During the
hearing, of course, the factories concerned remain open, and
work goes on as usual. Employers are secured not only against
a dead stop of business, but against the meaner kinds of
competition of undercutting rivals. In the organized trades
all the shops of a district have to keep the same hours and
pay the same wages. No man may filch trade from a neighbor by
sweating his own people. The fair-minded employer now knows
where he is, and is freed from many anxieties.
"For six years there has virtually been neither strike nor
lockout in New Zealand. All these, except the first, have been
years of remarkable and increasing prosperity. During the time
of depression which came before them, wages had fallen. With
improving times employers would have been faced by resolute
demands from trade unions for a return to former high rates of
pay, and had there been no arbitration system in working order
a series of very bitter conflicts must have ensued. This has
been avoided. Workmen and workwomen have gained notable
advances of pay, and also improved conditions as to hours of
labor and otherwise. But this has come about gradually, and
only after careful and painstaking inquiry. Many of the
demands of labor have been refused; many more have been
modified. In no case has an industry been throttled or
crippled. Not only can we claim that no factory has been
closed for a single day in New Zealand by labor war, but we
can claim that the peace thus obtained has not been bought at
the dear price of hampered industry and discouraged
enterprise.
"When the Arbitration act came into operation the number of
hands returned as employed in the registered factories was
about 26,000. It is now not far short of 50,000. A percentage
of this striking increase may be due to more thorough
registration. Far the larger part of it represents an actual
increase of industry. During these years the imports and
exports of the colony have grown apace. The revenue received
from the customs, from the income tax, from the stamps, and
the railways has risen in each case rapidly. Employment from
being scarce has grown plentiful. Building has been brisk in
all centres of population. The marriage rate has gone up. In a
word, New Zealand shows all the signs which we connect with a
highly prosperous country. It would be too much to claim that
this is chiefly due to the working of the Arbitration act. It
is perfectly fair, however, to claim that the Arbitration act
and the improved condition of labor, and of confidence which
it has brought about, have had some share in leading up to
this happy state of things.
"It is frequently asked, How could you possibly enforce an
award of the Arbitration Court upon an employer or a union
stubbornly determined to go to all lengths rather than obey
it? In the first place, for nearly five years the law has been
in constant use without a single exhibition of this desperate
resistance. That alone should be evidence of some weight that
such a duel is not likely in a British community. It is quite
true that an employer could go out of business rather than
obey an award, and that the court could not prevent him from
doing so. But employers are not given to ruining themselves
merely because they may not like the decision of an impartial
tribunal. It is suggested that the decision itself might be
ruinous. There need be no fear of that. Experience has shown
that if arbitrators err at all it is almost invariably in the
direction of overcaution. They may show too great a desire to
'split the difference'; they are not in the least likely to
impose intolerable conditions either upon masters or men. An
employer who has the choice between accepting a legal decision
arrived at after painstaking inquiry, and being taken into
court and fined, will almost always accept the decision. In a
very few cases he may run the risk of being fined once, but he
will not lay himself open to a second penalty. That is the New
Zealand experience.
"On the other hand, it has been flatly declared that the court
cannot coerce trade unions. Vivid pictures have been painted
of the tragic absurdity of endeavoring to collect fines from
trade unionists by distraining on the goods of poor workmen
whose union is without funds, and who are themselves
penniless. The answer to that is that poverty-stricken unions,
composed of penniless workers, are only too thankful to accept
the decision of a State tribunal. They cannot strike against a
powerful employer; much less can they hope to starve out a
court of arbitration. Its decision may not altogether please
them, but it is all they are likely to get. The Arbitration
Court, therefore, is as potent to deal with trade unions as
with employers. Wealthy unions it can fine. Penniless unions
are helpless to fight it. Finally, at its back is the mighty
force of public opinion, which is sick of labor wars and
determined that the experiment of judicial adjustment shall
have a full and fair trial."
The full text of the New Zealand "Industrial Conciliation and
Arbitration Act" is published in pamphlet form by the United
States Department of Labor, and appeared also in one of the
Bulletins of the Department, in 1900.
NEW ZEALAND:
Land system.
"The Crown lands of New Zealand are administered under 'the
land act, 1892,' and the regulations made thereunder. The
distinguishing features of the present land system are the
outcome of ideas which have been gradually coming to maturity
for some years past in this colony. These features involve the
principle of State ownership of the soil, with a perpetual
tenancy in the occupier. This, whatever may be the difference
in detail, is the prevailing characteristic of the several
systems under which land may now be selected. In New Zealand,
this tendency to State ownership has taken a more pronounced
form than in any other of the Australasian colonies, and the
duration of the leases has become so extended as to warrant
the name, frequently given to them, of 'everlasting leases.'
In point of fact, most of the Crown lands are now disposed of
for terms of 999 years. The rentals are based on the assessed
value of the land at the time of disposal, without increase or
recurring valuations.
{330}
Under this system there is a fixity of tenure practically
equal to freehold, and which, like freehold, necessarily
carries with it the power of sale, sub-lease, mortgage, or
disposition by will. Since all lands held under the Crown 'by
lease in perpetuity' are subject to the land tax, the
necessity for the periodical revaluations under the
perpetual-lease system is done away with, the State reaping
the advantage of the unearned increment through the
before-mentioned tax. At the same time, the improvements made
in the soil by cultivation, etc., are secured to the tenant.
"The advantages of this system to the selector are manifest.
When it is taken into consideration that, with few exceptions,
the Crown lands are, in their prairie condition, incapable of
producing anything until brought into cultivation, the
advantage to the settler of setting free his capital to
develop the capabilities of the soil, rather than having to
expend it in the purchase of a freehold, is very apparent. One
of the most striking benefits of this system is the advantage
it gives to the poor man, who, with little more capital than
his strong right arm, is enabled to make a home for himself,
which, under the freehold system, he is frequently unable to
accomplish. The values placed on the Crown lands are, as a
rule, low, for the State does not so much seek to raise a
revenue directly therefrom as to encourage the occupation of
the lands by the people; this secures indirectly an increased
revenue, besides other advantages, resulting from a numerous
rural population.
"Again, underlying the whole of the New Zealand land system is
a further application of the principle of 'the land for the
people,' viz, the restriction in area which any man may hold.
This subject has been forced upon the attention of the
legislature by defects in former systems, under which one
individual with means at his command could appropriate large
areas, to the exclusion of his poorer fellow-settler. Under
conditions where the price at which the land is offered is
fixed and where choice of selection is by ballot, the poor
settler has the same chance as the rich one and may, should he
wish it, hold as much land. The limit that a selector may hold
is so fixed as to encourage the class of small farmers, and up to
that limit the amount he may select is left entirely to
himself. The act defines the amount of land anyone may select
at 640 acres of first-class or 2,000 acres of second-class
land, inclusive of any land he may already hold. These limits
apply to lands which are thrown open for 'free selection,' as
it is termed, but in some cases, where found desirable, the
limit is by regulation made much smaller.
"In addition to the many advantages offered by the
'lease-in-perpetuity' system, the land act provides others to
meet the wants of different classes. The rule is almost
invariable that land thrown open for so-called 'free
selection' is offered to the public under three different
tenures, and the choice left entirely to the would-be settler.
The three tenures are:
(1) For cash, in which one-fourth of the purchase-money is
paid down at once, and the remainder within thirty days. The
title does not issue until certain improvements have been made
on the land.
(2) Lease with a purchasing clause, at a 5-per-cent rental on
the value of the land; the lease being for twenty-five years,
with the right to purchase at the original upset price at any
time after the first ten years.
(3) Lease in perpetuity, at a rental of 4 per cent on the
capital value, as already described above.
"The present [1895] land laws have been in force since the 1st
of November, 1892, and, therefore, the returns of the
Department of Lands and Survey for the year ending the 31st of
March, 1895, will give a fair idea of the proportions in which
lands are selected under the three tenures above described
during the past two and a half years. The figures given below
include the 'special settlements,' all of which must by law be
held on lease in perpetuity:
(1) Selected for cash, 1,542; area, 110,570 acres.
(2) Occupation with right of purchase, 1,060; area, 236,270
acres.
(3) Lease in perpetuity, 3,224; area, 634,086 acres.
"'The land act, 1892,' provides for a special class of
settlement, which has found favor with the public to a very
considerable extent during the last two years. This is known
as the 'small-farm association' system. It provides that,
where not less than twelve individuals have associated
themselves together for mutual help, such an association can,
with the approval of the Minister of Lands, select a block of
land of not more than 11,000 acres, but there must be a
selector to each 200 acres in the block. The extreme limit
that one person may hold is fixed at 320 acres. Settlements of
this class are held on 'lease in perpetuity' for 999 years, in
the same way as lands under the same tenure when thrown open
for free selection. The conditions of residence and
improvements are the same."
S. Percy Smith,
in New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1895
(reprinted in United States Consular Reports,
January, 1897, page 4).
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1899.
Old-Age Pension Act.
In the winter of 1899 an old-age pension act was added to the
radical legislation of New Zealand. The Agent-General for New
Zealand in England has described the measure in a review
article, as follows: "As finally licked into shape, the act is
one for giving a small pension to the poorest section of aged
colonists without any contribution on their part whatever.
Briefly summarized, its effect will be that any New
Zealander—man or woman—who has come to the age of sixty-five,
after living not less than twenty-five years in New Zealand,
shall be entitled to 6s. 11d. a week, or £18 a year. The full
pension is to be paid to those whose income from any source is
less than £34. When the private income is above £34 a year £1
is deducted from the pension for every £1 of such excess
income. When, therefore, the private income is large enough to
be £18 a year in excess of £34 no state pension is paid. In
other words, no one who has an income of £52 a year is
entitled to even a fraction of the pension. A rather more
elaborate portion of the act deals with deductions to be made
from the pension where the applicant for it is possessed of
accumulated property. Under this the applicant's real and
personal property are assessed, and his debts, if any, are
subtracted from the total value thereof. Then he is allowed to
own £325 without suffering any deduction therefor. After that
he loses £1 of pension for every £15 worth of accumulated
property. The result is that any one possessed of £600 worth
of accumulated property ceases to be entitled to any allowance
whatever. Men and women are equally entitled to the pension, and
where a husband and wife are living together their property or
income is divided by two for the purpose of the calculations
above mentioned. That is to say, their united income must
amount to £104 or their united property to £1,200 before they
are altogether disentitled to any part of the pension. They
may have, between them, an income of £68, or as much as £650
of property, and yet be entitled to draw their respective
pensions in full."
{331}
The government is only authorized to pay the required amounts
during three years from the passage of the Act, after which
Parliament will have to decide on its continuance or
amendment. Mr. Reeves expects that "the opposition will, more
or less in unison, submit a rival old-age pension scheme to
the constituencies. One of their prominent members, Mr. George
Hutchison, indicated in the debate on the third reading of the
measure scheme which some think will be generally adopted by
his party. This is to draw a distinction between the older
poor of the colony now living and the younger generation of
colonists. All now over fifty years of age are to be permitted
as they attain sixty-five to take advantage of Mr. Seddon's
act without let or hindrance. But for the younger people a
contributory scheme is to be drawn up, under which they would
have to pay some such sum as sixpence a week, to go in aid of
a substantial pension in their old age. Whatever may be
thought of the economic merits of such a scheme, it might
conceivably be expected at election-time to disarm the
hostility of the aged poor to any such interference with their
prospects under the present system as would be entailed by a
complete repeal of the Seddon act."
National Review, February, 1899.
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1900 (March).
Looking towards federation with Australia.
New Zealand did not take part in the movements which led to
the federation of the Australian colonies in the Commonwealth
of Australia, but watched them with evident interest and a
final wakening of inclination to be joined in union with them.
When the Act of the Imperial Parliament "to constitute the
Commonwealth of Australia" was under discussion in England
(see, in this volume, AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1900), the
Agent-General for New Zealand in London addressed to the
Colonial Office (March 30, 1900) the following Memorandum,
which explains the attitude of that colony towards the
federation movement in Australia: "The Government of New
Zealand desires to secure the insertion of certain amendments
in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Bill shortly to
be laid before the Imperial Parliament. These amendments are
three in number. The first of them is, in effect, that New
Zealand should preserve the right of joining the proposed
Commonwealth of Australia on the same terms as the original
States now about to be united in such Commonwealth. The second
is, that while New Zealand remains outside the Commonwealth,
litigants in her higher Courts, though reserving the right
they now possess to appeal to the Queen in Council, should, as
an alternative, have the right to appeal to the High Court of
Australia on paying the fees and complying with the rules of
that tribunal. The third amendment is, that the Australian
Commonwealth and the Colony of New Zealand should be empowered
to make the necessary arrangements to employ their naval and
military forces for mutual aid and defence, including
operations outside their own boundaries, and for that purpose
to co-operate in forming a homogeneous Australasian force.
"The importance of the first amendment to New Zealand is
great. The Colony is divided from Australia by 1,200 miles of
unbroken sea. It still takes from four to five days for
persons quitting New Zealand to reach any port in Australia.
Though a large and valuable trade is carried on between the
two countries, and though New Zealand is linked to Australia,
not merely by financial ties, but by bonds of intercourse,
cordial friendship, and sympathy, she has also vital and
separate interests. Many, also, of the leading matters on
which the discussions on Federation in Australia during the
last 12 years have turned are topics with which the New
Zealand people is almost unacquainted. It is therefore only to
be expected that the Colony should watch the Federal movement
with caution and reserve. It is also true that, until June of
last year, New Zealand was unable to judge as to the
intentions of the great Colony of New South Wales with regard
to the Commonwealth Bill. It was not until the month of
September that Queensland decided to enter the Commonwealth;
Western Australia has not even yet done so. And it was
directly after the decision of Queensland had become known
that, in response to a request from Sir John Forrest, the
leading statesmen of Australia intimated that, in their
opinion, it was impossible to consider any further amendments
of the Commonwealth Bill. From that moment the only course
left open to New Zealand has been that now taken. About that
time there appeared in New Zealand evidences of the growth of
a feeling in the Colony in favour of a closer union with
Australia. This was on the eve of the general elections, and
Mr. Seddon, the Prime Minister, then defined his position,
stating that the future relations of New Zealand with
Australia were a matter for education and careful examination:
that for himself he kept an open mind, but that prudent
deliberation was advisable. At the general elections which
took place in December last, Mr. Seddon was returned to power
with an unusually large majority. It may therefore very safely
be assumed that this cautious but not hostile attitude fairly
represents the present view of the people of the Colony. Some
stress may be laid on the foregoing facts in view of the
possible objection that New Zealand's action now comes too
late. The Colony virtually asks that, in view of its position
of distance and difficulty, it should have more time given it
to make up its mind than has been found necessary by colonies
which are contiguous or almost so. If it should be proposed to
fix a limit of time to this, that would clearly be a matter
for reasonable consideration.
"In so far as the second amendment would give certain New
Zealand litigants a right of resort to the High Court of
Australia, it is scarcely likely to meet with objection in
Australia unless on the general ground that no amendment
whatever of the Commonwealth Bill is now desirable. In the
event of the amendment being admitted, it is obvious that
certain precautions might have to be taken to conserve the
existing rights of New Zealand litigants, and also to prevent
clashing of appeals, but doubtless these could be provided
for. The third amendment, that providing for a species of
partial federation for purposes of defence and mutual
assistance, seems not only desirable but unobjectionable in
every way.
{332}
It does not propose that any kind of compulsion should be
applied to either the Commonwealth or New Zealand: it merely
empowers them to make such arrangements as may be deemed
mutually advantageous. At present it seems more than doubtful
whether either the Commonwealth or the Colony has the power to
make simple, binding and effective arrangements which would
involve operations and expenditure outside their own
boundaries, and under which each would have to act so as to
affect colonists not subject to their respective
jurisdictions. Recent events have clearly shown that the time
has passed by for regarding the military forces of a colony as
something never to be employed outside of its own boundaries. I
need not point out that such a co-operation would be of value
not only to Australia and New Zealand, but to the Empire which
both are so anxious to serve."
The reply of the Colonial Office to this Memorandum set forth
that its suggestions had been submitted to the delegates of
the federating colonies and did not meet their approval. "They
pointed out that during the period of grace proposed to be
allowed circumstances might arise which would cause grave
embarrassment to the Commonwealth if it were open to New
Zealand to claim admission on the same terms as the original
States, and that Article 121 of the draft Bill provided
sufficiently for the admission of New Zealand at any time upon
such conditions as might be found mutually acceptable to the
Colony and the Commonwealth." It was added that "the suggested
amendments as to the appeal from New Zealand Courts to the
High Court of Australia, and the arrangements for mutual
defence, would, if undertaken now, lead to great delay, and
involve a fresh referendum to the people of the Federating
Colonies, while there does not appear to be any probability
that the Federation would not favourably entertain any
proposals of the kind, if put forward after Federation."
In the Constitution Act as passed, however, New Zealand is
mentioned specifically among the "States" to which its
provisions may apply, though not included in what relates to
the "Original States."
See (in this volume)
CONSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA.
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command:
Cd. 158, 1900, pages 30-31, and 51).
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1900 (October).
Annexation of the Cook Islands.
A correspondent of the "London Times," writing from Rarotonga,
the largest of the Cook (or Hervey) Islands, on the 10th of
October, 1900, reported the arrival there of the Earl of
Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand, for the purpose of
effecting the annexation of the islands to that colony, in
accordance with the expressed wish of the natives. "Lord
Ranfurly," he writes, "landed this morning, and, as the
representative of her Majesty, addressed the Arikis, or high
chiefs, on the question of annexation, for which they had
asked. This is his second visit to the island, and he
congratulated the people on now finding such a satisfactory
condition of affairs in Rarotonga. He expressed pleasure at
their liberality in subscribing so large a sum of money for
the relief of those families who, in the fortunes of the war
in South Africa, might lose their main support, and in sending
one of their representative residents to represent them on the
field of battle. All this and much more about the interest
they took in the British Empire the Queen was aware of, and
their petition for annexation had been laid at the foot of the
Throne and duly considered. He urged them, however, to
consider carefully their decision in this matter, and,
further, that it should be arrived at of their own free and
untrammelled will. He had heard from the British Resident that
the high chiefs and all the people wanted annexation, but he
wished to hear it from their own lips. It would then remain
but for them to perform the act of cession to her Majesty, and
for him formally to annex the group, hoisting the British
flag, and proclaiming that from henceforth they were part of
the British Empire whose prestige and honour they would from
that moment share. The high chiefs unanimously agreed to
annexation. … There are 2,300 Maoris on this island and 70
Europeans. All are intensely loyal to Queen Victoria. The
island was discovered in 1823 by Messrs. Williams and Bourne,
two officers of the London Mission Society, which for many
years has had its headquarters for the Eastern Pacific located
here. The volcanic soil of the island is marvellously fertile,
coffee, cocoa, cotton, oranges, limes, cocoanuts and many
other tropic fruits and trees growing without almost any
cultivation. A British protectorate was declared over the
group by Captain Bourke, of H. M. S. Hyacinth, in 1888. Since
1892 the interests of the protectorate have been guarded and
directed by a British Resident, paid by the New Zealand
Government, so that the islands will now probably be included
within the boundaries of that colony. Nearly the whole of the
trade is with New Zealand. There are six islands in the group
annexed [700 miles southeast of Samoa] the total population of
which is about 4,500." The "Times," commenting on the
annexation, remarked: "The New Zealand Legislature has passed
resolutions expressing its desire that the Suwaroff Island, to
the north of the Cook group and about half-way to the Penrhyn
group, should also be annexed to the colony. This island,
although thinly inhabited, is said to possess one of the best
ports in that part of the Pacific. The only quarter from which
any protest against the acquisition of the Cook Islands has
come so far seems to be New South Wales, which fears the
influence of the introduction of the New Zealand tariff on its
trade with that place."
----------NEW ZEALAND: End--------
NIAGARA, Electric power at.
See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: ELECTRICAL.
NICARAGUA.
Nicaragua Canal.
See (in this volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA; also,
CANAL, INTEROCEANIC; and
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1899-1901.
NICHOLAS II. OF RUSSIA:
Coronation.
See (in this volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1896 (MAY-JUNE).
NICHOLSON'S NEK, Battle of.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).
NIFFER,
NUFFAR, Explorations at.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA: AMERICAN EXPLORATION.
{333}
NIGERIA: A. D. 1882-1899.
History of the formation of the Niger Coast Protectorate.
Conventions of Great Britain with Germany and France.
Settlement of the boundary of the French Sudan and
Sahara Sphere.
The following "Notes on the Niger Districts and Niger Coast
Protectorates, 1882-1893," tracing the several steps by which
the existing Protectorate was formed, appear in a paper
"presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her
Majesty, 1899 (C.—9372)":
"In 1882 a Company, entitled the 'National African Company,
Limited,' was formed to take over the business of the 'United
Africa Company, Limited,' in Central Africa and in the Niger
Regions. In October, 1884, the Company purchased the business
and objects of the 'Compagnie Française de l'Afrique
Equatoriale.' In the same year various treaties were concluded
between Consul Hewett and native chiefs of the Niger Districts,
by which these territories were placed under British
protection. On the 26th February, 1885, the General Act of the
Berlin Conference was signed, Chapter V. of which contained an
'Act of Navigation for the Niger,' which applied, generally,
to the Niger and its affluents the free navigation articles of
the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna of 1815. In
April-June, 1885, the British and German Governments entered
into an Agreement, by an exchange of Notes, defining their
respective spheres of action in the Gulf of Guinea. By this
Agreement Germany engaged not to make acquisition, accept
Protectorates, or interfere with the extension of British
influence in that part of the Gulf of Guinea lying between the
right river bank of the mouth of the Rio del Rey entering the
sea between 8° 42' and 8° 46' longitude east of Greenwich and
the British colony of Lagos, nor in the interior, to west of a
line following the right river bank of the Rio del Rey from
the said mouth to its source, thence striking direct to the
left river bank of the Old Calabar or Cross River, and
terminating, after crossing that river, at the point about 9°
8' of longitude east of Greenwich, marked 'Rapids' on the
English Admiralty chart.
"On the 5th June, 1885, a Notification was inserted in the
'London Gazette' to the effect that a British Protectorate had
been established over the Niger Districts; the territories
comprised within the Protectorate were defined to be—the line
of coast between the British Protectorate of Lagos, and the
right or western bank of the mouth of the Rio del Rey; and
also the territories on both banks of the Niger, from its
confluence with the River Benué at Lukoja to the sea, as well
as the territories on both banks of the River Benué, from the
confluence up to and including Ibi. On the 10th July, 1886, a
Royal Charter was granted to the 'National African Company,
Limited.' In July-August, 1886, a Supplementary Agreement was
entered into between the British and German Governments
defining their respective spheres of action in the Gulf of
Guinea from the Rio del Rey to a point to the east and near to
Yola. On the 18th October, 1887, another Notification was
inserted in the 'London Gazette,' in which it was stated that
the British Protectorate of the Niger Districts then comprised
the following territories:—On the line of coast between the
British Protectorate of Lagos and the right or western river
bank of the mouth of the Rio del Rey, and all territories in
the basin of the Niger and its affluents, which were or might
be for the time being subject to the government of the
'National African Company, Limited' (then called the 'Royal
Niger Company'), in accordance with the provisions of the
Charter of the said Company, dated 10th July, 1886.
"On the 5th August, 1890, a Declaration was signed by the
British and French Governments, which contained the following
clause:—'The Government of Her Britannic Majesty recognises
the sphere of influence of France to the south of her
Mediterranean Possessions up to a line from Say on the Niger
to Barrawa on Lake Tchad, drawn in such manner as to comprise
in the sphere of action of the Niger Company all that fairly
belongs to the kingdom of Sokoto; the line to be determined by
Commissioners to be appointed.' On the 1st July, 1890, another
Agreement was entered into between the British and German
Governments defining their spheres of influence in the Gulf of
Guinea and in other parts of Africa. On the 18th June, 1892,
that portion of the Niger Protectorate which lies on, or to
the north of, the 7 degree of north latitude was, by
notification to the Signatory Powers of the Brussels Act,
placed under the terms of Article 91 of that Act, within the
zone of prohibition of alcoholic liquors. On the 14th April,
1893, an agreement was signed between the British and German
Governments, in which it was declared that the right bank of
the Rio del Rey waterway should be the boundary between the
Oil Rivers Protectorate and the Colony of the Cameroons.
"On the 13th May, 1893, a Notification was inserted in the
'London Gazette,' announcing that the portion of the British
Protectorate of the Niger Districts which was under the
administration of Her Majesty's Commissioner and Consul would,
from the date of that Notification, be administered under the
name of the 'Niger Coast Protectorate,' and would cease to be
known as the 'Oil Rivers Protectorate.' And on the 15th
November, 1893, a further Agreement was signed between the
British and German Governments defining the boundary between
their respective spheres of influence in the region extending
from the Rio del Rey to 'a point to the east of, and close to
Yola,' and on Lake Chad.
"Between 1884 and 1893 numerous Treaties were concluded by the
National Africa Company and by the Royal Niger Company with
native Chiefs and others possessing territories in the basin
of the Niger districts, by which they engaged to make no
cession of territory or to enter into any Treaty negotiations
with Foreign States without the previous consent of the
British Government, and in return for which they were placed
under British protection."
Great Britain,
Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command, C.—9372).
{334}
In October, 1897, after a number of threatening collisions
between English and French claims and undertakings had
occurred in the Niger region, representatives of the two
nations met in Paris to negotiate an agreement concerning
boundaries. The result of their work was embodied in a
convention signed June 14, 1898, but not ratified by both
governments until June 13, 1899. By this agreement, the
frontiers separating the British colony of the Gold Coast from
the French colonies of the Ivory Coast and Sudan, and the British
colony of Lagos from the French colony of Dahomey, were
defined with precision, and the British and French possessions
east of the Niger were then in the IVth article of the
Convention, delimited as follows: Starting from a point on the
left bank of the Niger which is fixed by the median line of
the Dallul Mauri at its mouth, "the frontier shall follow this
median line until it meets the circumference of a circle drawn
from the centre of the town of Sokoto with a radius of 100
miles (160,932 metres). From this point it shall follow the
northern are of this circle as far as its second intersection
with the 14th parallel of north latitude. From this second
point of intersection it shall follow this parallel eastward
for a distance of 70 miles (112,652 metres); then proceed due
south until it reaches the parallel of 13° 20' north latitude,
then eastward along this parallel for a distance of 250 miles
(402,230 metres); then due north until it regains the 14th
parallel of north latitude; then eastwards along this parallel
as far as its intersection with the meridian passing 35° east
of the centre of the town of Kuka, and thence this meridian
southward until its intersection with the southern shore of
Lake Chad. The Government of the French Republic recognizes,
as falling within the British sphere, the territory to the
east of the Niger, comprised within the above-mentioned line,
the Anglo-German frontier, and the sea. The Government of Her
Britannic Majesty recognizes, as falling within the French
sphere, the northern, eastern, and southern shores of Lake
Chad, which are comprised between the point of intersection of
the 14th degree of north latitude, with the western shore of
the lake and the point of incidence on the shore of the lake
of the frontier determined by the Franco-German Convention of
the 15th March, 1894."
On the 21st of March, 1899, the following Declaration was
added to the Convention, and ratified with it in the following
June: "The IVth Article of the Convention of the 14th June,
1898, shall be completed by the following provisions, which
shall be considered as forming an integral part of it:
"1. Her Britannic Majesty's Government engages not to acquire
either territory or political influence to the west of the
line of frontier defined in the following paragraph, and the
Government of the French Republic engages not to acquire
either territory or political influence to the east of the
same line.
"2. The line of frontier shall start from the point where the
boundary between the Congo Free State and French territory
meets the water-parting between the watershed of the Nile and
that of the Congo and its affluents. It shall follow in
principle that water-parting up to its intersection with the
11th parallel of north latitude. From this point it shall be
drawn as far as the 15th parallel in such manner as to
separate, in principle, the Kingdom of Wadai from what
constituted in 1882 the Province of Darfur; but it shall in no
case be so drawn as to pass to the west beyond the 21st degree
of longitude east of Greenwich (18° 40' east of Paris), or to
the east beyond the 23rd degree of longitude east of Greenwich
(20° 40' east of Paris).
"3. It is understood, in principle, that to the north of the
15th parallel the French zone shall be limited to the
northeast and east by a line which shall start from the point
of intersection of the Tropic of Cancer with the 16th degree
of longitude east of Greenwich (13° 40' east of Paris), shall
run thence to the southeast until it meets the 24th degree of
longitude east of Greenwich (21° 40' east of Paris), and shall
then follow the 24th degree until it meets, to the north of
the 15th parallel of latitude, the frontier of Darfur as it
shall eventually be fixed.
"4. The two Governments engage to appoint Commissioners who
shall be charged to delimit on the spot a frontier-line in
accordance with the indications given in paragraph 2 of this
Declaration. The result of their work shall be submitted for
the approbation of their respective Governments.
"It is agreed that the provisions of Article IX of the
Convention of the 14th June, 1898, shall apply equally to the
territories situated to the south of the 14° 20' parallel of
north latitude, and to the north of the 5th parallel of north
latitude, between the 14° 20' meridian of longitude east of
Greenwich (12th degree east of Paris) and the course of the
Upper Nile."
Great Britain,
Papers by Command: Treaty Series, Number 15, 1899.
Of the territorial partition in West Africa which this
important treaty as first signed in 1898 determined, and of
the magnitude of the empire which it conceded to France, a
striking English view was given at the time in the following
article:
"Though we are perfectly satisfied with the agreement, and
though we believe that the country as a whole will be
perfectly satisfied, we do not disguise from ourselves the
fact that under the Convention France receives the full
title-deeds for the most magnificent piece of empire obtained
this century by any European Power,—a dominion which, though
'in partibus infidelium,' is yet within easy reach of both the
western and the southern shores of France. We do not grudge
France the great possession that was finally rounded off and
consolidated on Tuesday; nay, rather we are glad to see it in
her hands, for we want monopoly neither in trade nor in
empire. We see, however, no good in pretending that she has
not obtained the most magnificent opportunity for over-sea
development which has fallen to any Power within recent times.
The best way of understanding the Convention is to realise
what it is that France now possesses in West Africa. Let our
readers look at a map of Africa, and first fix their eyes on
Algiers and Tunis, with their rich soil and splendid harbours
and their remains of an ancient and splendid
civilisation,—Phœnician, Greek, Roman, Christian, and Arab.
Then let them allow their eyes to travel downwards to the
right bank of the greatest river of Africa, the Congo. From
Constantine, with its great memories and its scenery almost
European in charm and splendour, to Brazzaville and Stanley
Pool, with their tropical vegetation and savage life, there is
a continuous and uninterrupted stretch of French territory. As
they say in our country districts, the French President might now
ride on his own land from Tunis to Loango. The French dominion
of West Africa (as says an official 'communique' to the Paris
Press with very natural exultation) now extends over a space
as great as that from Paris to Moscow. From Algeria to the
Congo, from Senegal to Lake Chad—i. e., almost to the centre
of Africa—stretches this vast tract of French territory. 'At
the present moment,' to quote the words of the 'communique,'
'all our West African colonies—Algeria, Tunis, Senegal,
Futa-Jallon, the Ivory Coast, the Soudan, and the Congo—are in
communication by their respective Hinterlands.'
{335}
"But probably this will not convey much to the ordinary
English reader. Perhaps we can best make him realise the
immensity of the French West African Empire by pointing out
that, with the exception of certain great German and English
and other 'enclaves' the whole of the huge piece of Africa
which bulges out on the map towards the west now belongs to
France. She has all the connecting links, all that does not
specifically belong to some one else, and she cuts off short
the Hinterlands of all the Powers with possessions on the West
African coast. Let us begin at the most western point of the
coast-line of Tripoli in the Mediterranean, and travel round
the coast, marking off all that is not French.
"First, we come to Tunis,—that is in the possession of France
just as Egypt is in our possession. Algiers comes next,—that
is French. Then Morocco. Morocco is at present independent,
but at the back of Morocco all the land, be it desert or
cultivable, is French. Next comes a strip of Spanish coast,
but it goes only a very little way inland, and all the back
country is French. Next come the great French colonies of
Senegambia and Futa-Jallon, with two little colonies embedded
in them, one belonging to us—the Gambia—and the other
belonging to Portugal. Next come our Sierra Leone and
independent Liberia, but here again the Hinterlands are all
French. Next comes the French Ivory Coast colony, then the
British Gold Coast, then German Togoland, and then French
Dahomey. Here again all the Hinterlands beyond, say, four
hundred miles inland, belong, since the signing of the
Convention, to France. After that comes our Colony of Lagos,
then the German Cameroons, and finally the French Congo—the
last French possession in West Africa. Here, too, the
Hinterlands have been cut off by the French, and our Colonies
have been made into 'enclaves' in the mighty French dominion.
It is true that the Niger or Lagos 'enclave' is a very vast
one, and stretches now up to Lake Chad, which becomes
henceforth as international a sheet of water as the Lake of
Constance. Still, it is an 'enclave,' for, as we read the
Convention, he who embarks upon Lake Chad from the British
shore and steers eastward will land on French territory. In
other words, Nigeria cannot now cross Lake Chad and expand
beyond it. We should be glad to hear that this is not the true
reading of the Convention, but we fear it is. We have
travelled, then, round the map of Africa, from Tunis to the
Congo, and found that France is everywhere the chief owner,
—that hers is the great estate, and that the other Powers only
have odd bits of land here and there. We do not say this in
any grumbling spirit, for our odd bit—Nigeria—is very possibly
worth as much as the great estate if Algiers and Tunis are not
counted. We merely wish to make the public understand clearly
that West Africa as a political and geographical expression
has finally passed to France, though we no doubt have carved
one very valuable piece out of it."
The Spectator (London)
June 18, 1898.
Nine months later, when the agreement embodied in the
Declaration of March 21, 1899, had been added to the Original
convention, the "Spectator" explained its effect as follows:
"It will be remembered that last year we and the French agreed
upon a delimitation of 'spheres' in West Africa which extended
as far as Lake Chad. As to the country east of Lake Chad
nothing was said. It was left as a kind of No-man's Land. What
has now been done is to extend the area of the French 'sphere'
eastward beyond Lake Chad till it reaches Darfur and the
Bahr-el-Ghazel. Darfur and the region of the Bahr-el-Ghazel
are declared to be in the English 'sphere.' All the rest of
Northern Central Africa is to become French. France, that is,
is to have the great Mahommedan State of Wadai as well as
Baghirmi and Kanem. In the territory between Lake Chad and the
Nile each Power, however, is to allow the other equality of
treatment in matters of commerce. This will no doubt allow
France to have commercial establishments on the Nile and its
affluents, but it will also allow us to have similar
privileges for trade on the eastern shore of Lake Chad. But as
our system of giving equal trading rights to all foreigners
would in any case have secured commercial rights to France, we
are not in the least hampered by this provision, while the
concession to us of equal rights on the eastern shore of Lake
Chad will improve our position in the face of French Colonial
Protection. …
"The first thing that strikes one in considering the French
possessions in Africa, after this latest addition, is their
vastness. Practically, France will now have all North-Western,
and all Northern, and all North Central Africa, except
Morocco, our West African Colonies, Tripoli, Darfur, and the
Valley of the Nile,—giving that phrase its widest
interpretation, and regarding it as the whole of the country
whence water flows into the Nile. … That, if she plays her
cards properly, she ought to make a success of her African
Empire we cannot doubt, for she starts with immense
advantages. To begin with, she is nearer her African
possessions than any other Power. You can go in a couple of
days from Marseilles to Algiers and Tunis. Next, in Algiers
and Tunis she has rich colonies with a temperate climate which
may be made the basis for great developments in the way of
railway extension. Lastly, her African possessions are
conterminous, or, at any rate, connected with each other by
land. She owns, that is, Northern Africa, and the rest of the
Powers have only, as it were, enclaves—very large enclaves, no
doubt, in many cases—in her territory. At present this
advantage may not seem very great owing to the vast distances
and the desert character of many of the French Hinterlands,
but if and when France completes her Soudan railways, the
strength of this continuity of territory will become apparent.
But though France has many advantages, it would be foolish to
deny that she has also many serious problems to solve. We
shall perhaps be stating the most dangerous of them when we
say that France now becomes the undisputed master of the great
sect of El Senoussi. There are reported to be over twenty
million followers of El Senoussi in North Africa, and, except
in Tripoli, an these may now be said to be within the French
'sphere of influence.' The Sultanate of Wadai—which, be it
remembered, is a very formidable State, and one which has
never yet come into contact with any European Power—is a
Senoussi State. But the followers of the Senoussi, besides
being numerous, are extremely fanatical. Though practising a
much purer form of Mahommedanism than the Dervishes, they hate
Europeans quite as ardently, and if once their religious zeal
were to be thoroughly roused they would prove most formidable
foes. We do not envy the French their task if they attempt to
conquer Wadai."
The Spectator, March 25, 1899.
{336}
NIGERIA: A. D. 1897:
Massacre of British officials near Benin.
Capture of Benin.
An unarmed expedition from the Niger Coast Protectorate,
going, in January, on a peaceful mission to the King of Benin,
led by Acting Consul-General Phillips, was attacked on the way
and the whole party massacred excepting two, who were wounded,
but who hid themselves in the bush and contrived to make their
way back. The Consul-General had been warned that the king
would not allow the mission to enter Benin, but persisted in
going on. A "punitive expedition" was sent against Benin the
following month, and the town was reached and taken on the
18th, but the king had escaped.
"The city presented the most appalling sight, particularly
around the King's quarters, from which four large main roads
lead to the compounds of the bigger Chiefs, the city being
very scattered. Sacrificial trees in the open spaces still
held the corpses of the latest victims[of 'Ju Ju'
sacrifice]—seven in all were counted—and on every path a
freshly-sacrificed corpse was found lying, apparently placed
there to prevent pursuit. One large open space, 200 to 300
yards in length, was strewn with human bones and bodies in all
stages of decomposition. Within the walls, the sight was, if
possible, more terrible. Seven large sacrifice compounds were
found inclosed by walls 14 to 16 feet high, each 2 to 3 acres
in extent; against the end wall in each, under a roof, was
raised a daïs with an earthen (clay) sacrificial altar about
50 feet long close against the wall on which were placed the
gods to whom sacrifice is made—mostly being carved ivory
tusks, standing upright, mounted at base, in hideously
constructed brass heads. In front of each ivory god was a
small earthen mound on which the victim's forehead would
apparently be placed. The altars were covered with streams of
dried human blood and the stench was too frightful. It would
seem that the populace sat around in these huge compounds
while the Ju Ju priests performed the sacrifices for their
edification. In the various sacrifice compounds were found
open pits filled with human bodies giving forth most trying
odours. The first night several cases of fainting and sickness
occurred owing to the stench, which was equally bad
everywhere. In one of the pits, partially under other bodies,
was found a victim, still living, who, being rescued, turned
out to be a servant of Mr. Gordon's, one of the members of Mr.
Phillips' ill-fated expedition. At the doors and gates of
houses and compounds were stinking goats and fowls, sacrificed
apparently to prevent the white man entering therein. The
foregoing is but a feeble attempt to describe the horrors of
this most terrible city, which after five days' continuous
fatigue, working with about 1,000 natives, still presents most
appalling and frightful sights. In the outlying parts of the
city the same sights are met and the annual expenditure of
human life in sacrifice must have been enormous. Most of the
wells were also found filled with human bodies."
Great Britain,
Papers by Command: Africa, Number 6, 1897, page 28.
NIGERIA: A. D. 1897:
Subjugation of Fulah slave-raiders.
See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (NIGERIA).
NIGERIA: A. D. 1899:
Transfer to the British Crown.
The Royal Niger Company transferred its territories to the
crown in July, 1899, receiving the sum of £865,000. It was
announced to Parliament that three governments would be
formed, named North Nigeria, South Nigeria, and Lagos.
NILE, Barrage and reservoir works on the.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898-1901.
NILE VALLEY: The question of possession.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER).
NINETEEN HUNDRED, The Universal Jubilee of.
See (in this volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1900.
----------THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: Start--------
NINETEENTH CENTURY:
The date of the ending of the Century.
Controversy as to whether the Nineteenth Century came to its
end at the ending of the year 1899 or the year 1900 seems
nearly incomprehensible to one who takes the trouble to begin
a counting of years from the beginning of the Christian Era,
and so reaches in his reckoning the fact that the first
century did not end until the 100th year was ended. That seems
to clear all confusion from the question, since the 200th,
300th, 400th, and so on up to the 1900th, must be the closing
years of the successive centuries, just as certainly as the
100th is the last year of the first century. Arithmetically,
there is no question left; but some minds refuse to recognize
the century as a merely arithmetical fact. They see in it an
entity of time with which the counting of years has little to
do. Their somewhat mystical view is set forth in the
following, which we quote from a communication that appeared
in the "New York Times":
"The centurial figures are the symbol, and the only symbol, of
the centuries. Once every hundred years there is a change in
the symbol, and this great secular event is of startling
prominence. What more natural than to bring the century into
harmony with its only visible mark? What more consonant with
order than to make each group of a hundred years correspond
with a single centennial emblem? Be it noticed that, apart
from the centennial emblems, there is absolutely nothing to
give the centuries any form. The initial figures 18 are time's
standard which the earth carries while it makes 100 trips around
the sun. Then a new standard, 19, is put up. Shall we wait now
a whole year for 1901, at the behest of the abacists? No, we
will not pass over the significant year 1900, which is stamped
with the great secular change, but with cheers we will welcome
it and the new century. The 1900 men, who compose the vast
majority of the people, say to their opponents: 'We freely
admit that the century you have in your mind, the artificial
century, begins in 1901, but the natural century (which we
prefer) begins in 1900.'"
{337}
A consistent application of this view to the defining and
naming of the centuries would seem to require that the years
which carry the initial figures 18 should make up the
Eighteenth, not the Nineteenth Century, and that we should
turn back our centurial nomenclature a whole round.
NINETEENTH CENTURY:
The epoch of a transformation of the world.
In the last years of the Eighteenth Century a new epoch in
history was entered,—an epoch marked by many distinctions, but
most strikingly by what may be called the transformation of
the world. The earlier great ages had been ages of simple
expansion,—of a widening theatre for the leading races,—of a
widening knowledge of the earth and the heavens,—of a widening
range for human thought; but those expansive movements in
civilization led up, at last, to more wonderful processes of
transformation, which were just in their beginning when the
Nineteenth Century dawned. For all the generations of mankind
that had lived before this century, the earth, as a dwelling
place, remained nearly unchanged. They had cleared some
forests from its face, and smoothed some paths; but, in every
substantial feature, the France, for example, of Napoleon was
the unaltered Gaul that Julius Cæsar knew. Everywhere the
material conditions of life were essentially the same for the
man of the Eighteenth Century that they had been for the man
of the First. Then began the amazing work of the brain and
hand of man, by which he has been refashioning and refitting
the planet he inhabits, and making a new world for his
dwelling. As a habitable earth, to-day, it bears no likeness
to the earth on which the first day of this century dawned.
Its distances mean nothing that they formerly did; its
dividing seas and mountains have nothing of their old effect;
its pestilences have lost half their terror; its very storms
are sentinelled and rarely surprise us in our travels or our
work. Netted with steam and electric railways, seamed with
canals, wire-strung with telegraphic and telephonic lines, its
ocean-voyages made holiday excursions, its every-day labors,
of the forge, the plough, the sickle, the spindle, the loom,
the needle, and even of the pen, done with magical deftness by
machines, which its coal mines and its waterfalls lend forces
to move, it is nothing less than a new world that men are
making for themselves, out of that in which they lived at the
beginning of the era of mechanism and electricity and steam.
"Yet these are but outward features of the transformation that
is being wrought in the world. Socially, politically, and
morally, it has been undergoing a deeper change. A growth of
fellow-feeling which began in the last century has been an
increasing growth. It has not ended war, nor the passions that
cause war, but it is rousing an opposition which gathers
strength every year. It has made democratic institutions of
government so common that the few arbitrary governments now
remaining in civilized countries seem disgraceful to the
people who endure them so long. It has broken old yokes of
conquest, and revived the independence of long subjugated
states. It has swept away unnatural boundary lines, which
separated peoples of kindred language and race. It is pressing
long-neglected questions of right and justice on the attention
of an classes of men, everywhere, and requiring that answers
shall be found.
"And, still, even these are but minor effects of the
prodigious change which the Nineteenth Century has brought
into the experience of mankind." Beyond them all in importance
are the new conceptions of the universe, and of the method of
God's working in it, which can, with no exaggeration, be said
to have imparted a wholly new spirit and quality to the human
mind. By what it learned from Copernicus, it was given a new
standpoint in thinking. By what it learned from Newton, it was
given a new and larger grasp. By what it has learned from
Darwin and Spencer it has been equipped with a new insight,
and looks at even the mystery of life as a problem to be
solved. "If we live in a world that is different from that
which our ancestors knew, it is still more the fact that we
think of a different universe, and feel differently in all our
relations to it."
J. N. Larned,
History of England for the Use of Schools,
page 561.
NINETEENTH CENTURY:
Comparison of the Century with all preceding ages,
as regards man's power over Nature.
"No one, so far as I am aware, has yet pointed out the
altogether exceptional character of our advance in science and
the arts, during the century which is now so near its close.
In order to estimate its full importance and grandeur—more
especially as regards man's increased power over nature, and
the application of that power to the needs of his life to-day,
with unlimited possibilities in the future—we must compare it,
not with any preceding century, or even with the last
millennium, but with the whole historical period,—perhaps even
with the whole period that has elapsed since the stone age."
Such a comparison is made in the following lists of "the great
inventions and discoveries of the two eras":
"Of the Nineteenth Century."
1. Rail ways.
2. Steam-ships.
3. Electric Telegraphs.
4. The Telephone.
5. Lucifer Matches.
6. Gas illumination.
7. Electric lighting.
8. Photography.
9. The Phonograph.
10. Röntgen Rays.
11. Spectrum-analysis.
12. Anæsthetics.
13. Antiseptic Surgery.
14. Conservation of energy.
15. Molecular theory of Gases.
16. Velocity of Light directly measured
and Earth's Rotation experimentally shown.
17. The uses of Dust.
18. Chemistry, definite proportions.
19. Meteors and the Meteoritic Theory.
20. The Glacial Epoch.
21. The Antiquity of Man.
22. Organic Evolution established.
23. Cell theory and Embryology.
24. Germ theory of disease and
the function of the Leucocytes.
"Of all Preceding Ages."
1. The Mariner's Compass.
2. The Steam Engine.
3. The Telescope.
4. The Barometer and Thermometer.
5. Printing.
6. Arabic numerals.
7. Alphabetical writing.
8. Modern Chemistry founded.
9. Electric science founded.
10. Gravitation established.
11. Kepler's Laws.
12. The Differential Calculus.
13. The circulation of the blood.
14. Light proved to have finite velocity.
15. The development of Geometry.
{338}
"Of course these numbers are not absolute. Either series may
be increased or diminished by taking account of other
discoveries as of equal importance, or by striking out some
which may be considered as below the grade of an important or
epoch-making step in science or civilization. But the
difference between the two lists is so large, that probably no
competent judge would bring them to an equality. Again, it is
noteworthy that nothing like a regular gradation is
perceptible during the last three or four centuries. The
eighteenth century, instead of showing some approximation to
the wealth of discovery in our own age, is less remarkable
than the seventeenth, having only about half the number of
really great advances."
A. R. Wallace,
The Wonderful Century,
chapter 15
(copyright, Dodd, Mead & Company, New York,
quoted with permission).
NINETEENTH CENTURY:
Difference of the Century from preceding ages.
"In the last 100 years the world has seen great wars, great
national and social upheavals, great religious movements,
great economic changes. Literature and art have had their
triumphs and have permanently enriched the intellectual
inheritance of our race. Yet, large as is the space which
subjects like these legitimately fill in our thoughts, much as
they will occupy the future historian, it is not among these
that I seek for the most important and the most fundamental
differences which separate the present from preceding ages.
Rather is this to be found in the cumulative products of
scientific research, to which no other period offers a
precedent or a parallel. No single discovery, it may be, can
be compared in its results to that of Copernicus; no single
discoverer can be compared in genius to Newton; but, in their
total effects, the advances made by the 19th century are not
to be matched. Not only is the surprising increase of
knowledge new, but the use to which it has been put is new
also. The growth of industrial invention is not a fact we are
permitted to forget. We do, however, sometimes forget how much
of it is due to a close connection between theoretic knowledge
and its utilitarian application which, in its degree, is
altogether unexampled in the history of mankind. I suppose
that, at this moment, if we were allowed a vision of the
embryonic forces which are predestined most potently to affect
the future of mankind, we should have to look for them not in
the Legislature, nor in the Press, nor on the platform, nor in
the schemes of practical statesmen, nor the dreams of
political theorists, but in the laboratories of scientific
students whose names are but little in the mouths of men, who
cannot themselves forecast the results of their own labors,
and whose theories could scarcely be understood by those whom
they will chiefly benefit. …
"Marvellous as is the variety and ingenuity of modern
industrial methods, they almost all depend in the last resort
upon our supply of useful power; and our supply of useful
power is principally provided for us by methods which, so far
as I can see, have altered not at all in principle, and
strangely little in detail, since the days of Watt. Coal, as
we all know, is the chief reservoir of energy from which the
world at present draws, and from which we in this country must
always draw; but our main contrivance for utilizing it is the
steam engine, and, by its essential nature, the steam engine
is extravagantly wasteful. So that, when we are told, as if it
was something to be proud of, that this is the age of steam,
we may admit the fact, but can hardly share the satisfaction.
… We have, in truth, been little better than brilliant
spendthrifts. Every new invention seems to throw a new strain
upon the vast but not illimitable, resources of nature. Lord
Kelvin is disquieted about our supply of oxygen; Sir William
Crookes about our supply of nitrates. The problem of our coal
supply is always with us. Sooner or later the stored-up
resources of the world will be exhausted. Humanity, having
used or squandered its capital, will thenceforth have to
depend upon such current income as can be derived from that
diurnal heat of the sun and the rotation of the earth till, in
the sequence of the ages, these also begin to fail. …
"After all, however, it is not necessarily the material and
obvious results of scientific discoveries which are of the
deepest interest. They have affected changes more subtle and
perhaps less obvious which are at least as worthy of our
consideration and are at least as unique in the history of the
civilized world. No century has seen so great a change in our
intellectual apprehension of the world in which we live. Our
whole point of view has changed. The mental framework in which
we arrange the separate facts in the world of men and things
is quite a new framework. The spectacle of the universe
presents itself now in a wholly changed perspective. We not
only see more, but we see differently. The discoveries in
physics and in chemistry, which have borne their share in thus
re-creating for us the evolution of the past, are in process of
giving us quite new ideas as to the inner nature of that
material whole of which the world's traversing space is but an
insignificant part. Differences of quality once thought ultimate
are constantly being resolved into differences of motion or
configuration. What were once regarded as things are now known
to be movement. … Plausible attempts have been made to reduce
the physical universe, with its infinite variety, its glory of
color and of form, its significance and its sublimity, to one
homogeneous medium in which there are no distinctions to be
discovered but distinction of movement or of stress. And
although no such hypothesis can, I suppose, be yet accepted,
the gropings of physicists after this, or some other not less
audacious unification, must finally, I think, be crowned with
success. The change of view which I have endeavored to
indicate is purely scientific, but its consequences cannot be
confined to science. How will they manifest themselves in
other regions of human activity, in literature, in art, in
religion?"
A. J. Balfour,
The Nineteenth Century
(Address before the University Extension Students
at Cambridge, August 2, 1900).
NINETEENTH CENTURY:
The intellectual and social trend of the Century.
"The two influences which have made the nineteenth century
what it is seem to me to be the scientific spirit and the
democratic spirit. Thus, the nineteenth century, singularly
enough, is the great interpretative century both of nature and
of the past, and at the same time the century of incessant and
uprooting change in all that relates to the current life of
men. It is also the century of national systems of popular
education, and at the same time of nation-great armies; the
century that has done more than any other to scatter men over
the face of the earth, and to concentrate them in cities; the
century of a universal suffrage that is based upon a belief in
the inherent value of the individual; and the century of the
corporation and the labor union, which in the domain of
capital and of labor threaten to obliterate the individual. …
{339}
"The mind has been active in all fields during this fruitful
century; but, outside of politics, it is to science that we
must look for the thoughts that have shaped all other
thinking. When von Helmholtz was in this country, a few years
ago, he said that modern science was born when men ceased to
summon nature to the support of theories already formed, and
instead began to question nature for her facts, in order that
they might thus discover the laws which these facts reveal. I
do not know that it would be easy to sum up the scientific
method, as the phrase runs, in simpler words. It would not be
correct to say that this process was unknown before the
present century; for there have been individual observers and
students of nature in all ages. … But it is true that only in
this century has this attitude toward nature become the
uniform attitude of men of science. …
"One of the chief results of the scientific method as applied
to nature and the study of the past is the change that it has
wrought in the philosophic conception of nature and of human
society. By the middle of the century, Darwin had given what
has been held to be substantial proof of the theory of the
development of higher forms out of lower in all living things;
and since then, the doctrine of evolution, not as a body of
exact teaching, but as a working theory, has obtained a
mastery over the minds of men which has dominated all their
studies and all their thinking. …
"Every public educational system of our day, broadly speaking,
is the child of the nineteenth century. The educational system
of Germany, which in its results has been of hardly less value
to mankind than to Germany itself, dates from the reconstitution
of the German universities after the battle of Jena. Whatever
system France may have had before the Revolution went down in
the cataclysm that destroyed the ancient regime, so that the
educational system of France also dates from the Napoleonic
period. In the United States, while the seeds of the public
school system may have been planted in the eighteenth, or
perhaps even in the seventeenth century, it has only been in
the nineteenth century, with the development of the country,
that our public school system has grown into what we now see;
while in England, the system of national education, in a
democratic sense, must be dated from 1870. … Out of the growth
of the democratic principle has come the belief that it is
worth while to educate all the children of the state: and out
of the scientific method, which has led to the general
acceptance of the evolutionary theory, has been developed the
advance in educational method which is so marked a feature of
the last decades of the century. …
"Not only has the scientific method furnished a philosophy of
nature and of human life, but, by the great increase in man's
knowledge of natural law to which it has led, it has resulted
in endless inventions, and these, in turn, have changed the
face of the world. … The rapid progress of invention during
the century has been coincident with one far-reaching change
in the habits of society, the importance of which is seldom
recognized. I refer to deposit banking. Of all the agencies
that have effected the world in the nineteenth century, I am
sometimes inclined to think that this is one of the most
influential. If deposit banking may not be said to be the
result of democracy, it certainly may be said that it is in
those countries in which democracy is most dominant that
deposit banking thrives best. … Some one has said that it
would have been of no use to invent the railroad, the
submarine cable, or the telephone at an earlier period of the
world's history, for there would have been no money at command
to make anyone of them available before this modern banking
system had made its appearance. If this be so, then indeed the
part that has been played by deposit banking in the
developments of the century cannot be overestimated.
"During the century the conditions of the world's commerce
have been radically altered. It is not simply that the
steamboat and the locomotive have taken the place of the
sailing-ship and the horse; that the submarine cable has
supplanted the mails; nor even that these agencies have led to
such improvements in banking facilities that foreign commerce
is done, for the most part, for hardly more than a brokerage
upon the transaction. These are merely accidents of the
situation. The fundamental factors have been the opening up of
virgin soil in vast areas to the cultivation of man, and the
discovery of how to create artificial cold, which makes it
possible to transport for long distances produce that only a
few years ago was distinctly classed as perishable. The net
result of these influences has been to produce a world
competition at every point of the globe. …
"Democracy, as a political theory, emphasizes the equality of
men and the equal rights and privileges of all men before the
law. The tendency of it has been, in this country, to develop
in multitudes of men great individuality and self-reliance.
Side by side with this tendency, however, we see the
corporation supplanting the individual capitalist, and the
trade union obliterating the individual laborer, as direct
agents in the work of the world. Strange as this contrast is,
both tendencies must be consistent with democracy, for the
corporation and the trade union flourish most where democracy
is most developed. Indeed, they seem to be successful and
powerful just because democracy pours into them both its vital
strength. …
"The tendency to democracy in politics is unquestionably the
dominant political fact of the century. … Outside of Russia,
and possibly even there, monarchical government in Europe is
obliged to depend for its support upon the great body of the
nation, instead of upon the power of the great and the noble.
… In the United States, the century, though it began with a
limited suffrage, ends with universal manhood suffrage, and
even with woman suffrage in some of the Western States. …
Undoubtedly, universal suffrage and the large immigration of
people without any experience in self-government have given
form to many of our problems; but I often think there is far
too great a disposition among us to magnify the difficulties
which these conditions present. …
{340}
The fact is, in my judgment, that our problems arise not so
much from universal suffrage as from the effect of the
multiplication table applied to all the problems of life. …
Anyone building a house in the country, when he has dug a well
has solved the problem of his water supply; but to supply
water for a great city calls for the outlay of millions of
dollars, and for the employment of the best engineering talent
in the land. Yet nothing has happened except that the problem
has been magnified. Thus the difficulties created by the
multiplication table are real; so that the very enlargement of
opportunity that democracy has brought with it has faced
democracy with problems far harder than were formerly
presented to any government. …
"To sum up, therefore, I should say that the trend of the
century has been to a great increase in knowledge, which has
been found to be, as of old, the knowledge of good and evil;
that this knowledge has become more and more the property of
all men rather than of a few; that, as a result, the very
increase of opportunity has led to the magnifying of the
problems with which humanity is obliged to deal; and that we
find ourselves, at the end of the century, face to face with
problems of world-wide importance and utmost difficulty, and
with no new means of coping with them other than the patient
education of the masses of men."
Seth Low,
The Trend of the Century
(Atlantic Monthly, August, 1898).
NINETEENTH CENTURY:
Dominant lines in the intellectual development of the Century.
"The future historian of thought will no doubt regard the
promulgation and the rapid triumph of evolutionist doctrines
as the most remarkable phenomenon in the intellectual
development of the nineteenth century."
Leslie Stephen,
Evolution and Religious Conceptions
(Review of the Nineteenth Century,
in New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).
"In the briefest sketch of what the nineteenth century has
done in literature, it is absolutely imperative to mention the
publication of 'The Origin of Species' [Darwin, 1859] and
'Principles of Psychology' [Spencer, 1855], because, although
neither work is written with an attractive elegance, each is
the starting point of an intellectual and moral revolution so
vast that every branch of life is affected by it, and
literature itself—in its lightest forms—can no longer ignore
the germinal forces with which evolution has quickened all our
emotions."
Edmund Gosse,
A Century of English Literature
(Review of the Nineteenth Century,
in New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).
"To an earlier age knowledge was power, merely that and
nothing more; to us it is life and the 'summum bonum.'
Emancipation from the bonds of self, of one's own
prepossessions, importunately sought at the hands of that
rational power before which all must ultimately bow—this is
the characteristic that distinguishes all the great figures of
nineteenth century science from those of former periods."
Professor Charles S. Peirce,
The Century's Great Men in Science
(Review of the Nineteenth Century,
in New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).
"The mark of the century has been a continuous attempt at a
comprehensive understanding of nature, after the manner of
Newton, but not limited or governed solely by his dynamical
ideas. … The Newtonian laws of dynamics as applied to matter
still hold, and will always hold, but they may no longer be
fundamental or ultimate, they may be derivatives from a still
deeper scheme; and it is towards this deeper scheme that
physicists at present are groping. The realization of a need
for some such scheme constitutes the chief philosophic feature
of the latter part of the century."
Oliver J. Lodge.
The Scope and Tendencies of Physics
(Review of the Nineteenth Century,
in New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
The failures of the Century.
Its sinful mismanagement of the powers which Science has
given it.
"The Nineteenth Century … has been characterised by a
marvellous and altogether unprecedented progress in knowledge
of the universe and of its complex forces; and also in the
application of that knowledge to an infinite variety of
purposes, calculated, if properly utilized, to supply all the
wants of every human being, and to add greatly to the
comforts, the enjoyments, and the refinements of life. The
bounds of human knowledge have been so far extended that new
vistas have opened to us in directions where it had been
thought that we could never penetrate, and the more we learn
the more we seem capable of learning in the ever-widening
expanse of the universe. …
"But the more we realize the vast possibilities of human
welfare which science has given us, the more we must recognise
our total failure to make any adequate rational use of them.
With ample power to supply to the fullest extent necessaries,
comforts, and even luxuries for all, and at the same time
allow ample leisure for intellectual pleasures and æsthetic
enjoyments, we have yet so sinfully mismanaged our social
economy as to give unprecedented and injurious luxury to the
few, while millions are compelled to suffer a lifelong
deficiency of the barest necessaries for a healthy existence.
Instead of devoting the highest powers of our greatest men to
remedy these evils, we see the governments of the most
advanced nations arming their people to the teeth, and
expending much of their wealth and all the resources of their
science, in preparation for the destruction of life, of
property, and of happiness.
"With ample knowledge of the sources of health, we allow, and
even compel, the bulk of our population to live and work under
conditions which greatly shorten life; while every year we see
from 50,000 to 100,000 infants done to death by our criminal
neglect. In our mad race for wealth, we have made gold more
sacred than human life; we have made life so hard for the
many, that suicide and insanity and crime are alike
increasing. With all our labour-saving machinery and all our
command over the forces of nature, the struggle for existence
has become more fierce than ever before; and year by year an
ever-increasing proportion of our people sink into paupers'
graves.
"Even more degrading, and more terrible in its consequences,
is the unblushing selfishness of the greatest civilized
nations. While boasting of their military power, and loudly
proclaiming their Christianity, not one of them has raised a
finger to save a Christian people, the remnant of an ancient
civilization, from the most barbarous persecution, torture,
and wholesale massacre. A hundred thousand Armenians murdered
or starved to death while the representatives of the great
powers coldly looked on—and prided themselves on their
unanimity in all making the same useless protests—will surely
be referred to by the historian of the future, as the most
detestable combination of hypocrisy and inhumanity that the
world has yet produced, and as the crowning proof of the utter
rottenness of the boasted civilization of the Nineteenth
Century.
{341}
When the brightness of future ages shall have dimmed the
glamour of our material progress, the judgment of history will
surely be, that the ethical standard of our rulers was a
deplorably low one, and that we were unworthy to possess the
great and beneficent powers that science had placed in our
hands.
"But although this century has given us so many examples of
failure, it has also given us hope for the future. True
humanity, the determination that the crying social evils of
our time shall not continue; the certainty that they can be
abolished; an unwavering faith in human nature, have never
been so strong, so vigorous, so rapidly growing as they are
to-day."
A. R. Wallace,
The Wonderful Century,
chapter 21
(copyright, Dodd, Mead &; Company, New York,
quoted with permission).
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
Expansion of the European races during the Century.
Changes in the distribution of political power.
Dominance of the Anglo-American peoples.
Rise of the United States of America to the highest rank.
At a dinner given by the Manchester Statistical Society,
October 17, 1900, Sir Robert Giffen, the eminent statistician,
made a notable speech on the political ideas which the
statistics of the Nineteenth Century suggest. "The first of
these was the prodigious rate at which the civilized world—
the community of European nations and nations of European
origin—was growing. The population of Europe and of nations of
European origin like the United States might now be put at
something over 500,000,000. The United States themselves might
be put at nearly 80 millions; Russia in its recent census
showed a population which must already have grown to about 135
millions; Germany about 55 millions; the United Kingdom, with the
self-governing colonies of Canada and Australasia and the
white population of South Africa, 55 millions;
Austria-Hungary, 45 millions; France, 40 millions; Italy, 32
millions; Spain and Portugal, 25 millions; Scandinavian
countries, ten millions; Holland and Belgium, ten millions;
and other European countries, 20 millions. A century ago the
corresponding figure to this 500,000,000 would not have been
more than about 170,000,000. The economic development of the
people had been even more marvellous. The wealth of the people
all told, which would probably not have been reckoned at more
than £5,000,000,000 at the beginning of the century, must be
reckoned now by tens of thousands of millions.
"Again the development was for the most part not uniform among
the European populations. It was most marked in the
Anglo-American section. The increase here was from a
population of not more than about 20 millions, which was the
population of the United States and the United Kingdom
together 100 years ago, to a population of not less than 130
millions at the present time. Russia and Germany also showed
remarkable increases, but nothing like this. This astonishing
growth of population meant a great change in the relative
position of the European nations in the world—their relative
weight in international politics. Practically the non-European
races of the world had all the time been stationary, except in
India, where the 'pax Britannica' had permitted the native
population to expand. The result was that the forces of
civilization, as against those of the black and yellow races,
had become practically irresistible. The numbers were
relatively far greater than ever they were before, and the
economic force was indefinitely greater. A great change in the
distribution of political power among European nations
themselves was also indicated. The existence alone of the
United States implied an immense change. If we considered that
an empire like that of Britain had its strength rather
diminished than increased by the possession of territories
like India, then the United States having a larger European
population than that of the British Empire might be considered
the most powerful State in the world as far as population and
resources were concerned. No doubt Russia had a much larger
population, but the inferiority of the units was so great that
the preeminence of the United States was not in question.
Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom had all grown, while
France and Austria had by comparison remained stationary, so
that now the great world Powers were four only—the United
States, Britain, Russia, and Germany, with France a doubtful
fifth. The extent of the revolution that had taken place in a
century was evident, and obviously accounted for much that was
going on in international politics.
"If the forces now in existence continue to operate as they
had done in the past century for only a few more generations,
the close of the coming century must witness a further
transformation, whose beginnings would be apparent in the
lifetime of some amongst us. It was a reasonable probability
that unless some great internal change should take place in
the ideas and conduct of the European races themselves, the
population of 500 millions would in another century become one
of 1,500 to 2,000 millions. The black and yellow races still
remaining, as far as one could see, comparatively stationary,
this would make a greatly changed world. The yellow peril, for
instance, of which we heard so much, would have vanished,
because the yellow races themselves would be so much
outnumbered. What would be the 400 millions of China compared
with 1,500 to 2,000 millions of European race? Further
progress must also be made in the redistribution of power
among European nations. International politics would be more
and more limited to the affairs of what were already the four
great Powers—the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany,
and Russia. The most serious problem would of course be
whether the dilemma stated by Malthus and hitherto put aside
by the occupation of new lands, would at length become an
urgently practical question. It was impossible not to wonder
which of the two forces—the growth of population and the
increase of the needs of the growing population on the one
side, and the growth of invention and mechanical power in
supplying human wants on the other side—would gain as time
went on. Referring to the desire to secure new markets abroad,
Sir Robert Giffen said that the figures with which he had been
dealing pointed to quite another source of new markets. Surely
there could be no lack of new customers if the 500 millions of
the advanced races themselves were to be doubled in from 30 to
50 years and trebled or quadrupled in a century."
London Times, October 18, 1900.
{342}
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
The lengthened average of human life.
"What has been the chief characteristic of the nineteenth
century? No two critics agree, nor can they, because each
prefers a different quality. One singles out science, another,
invention, as the dominant trait. A third, who looks mainly at
the political aspect of life, says democracy. Others, again,
say pessimism, philanthropy, doubt, or toleration. So many
features, so much diversity, argue at least for
many-sidedness.
"There is one characteristic, however, which distinguishes the
nineteenth century from all previous centuries—a
characteristic which has become too common to attract the
attention it deserves, although it really measures all the
rest: this is longevity. During the past one hundred years the
length of life of the average man in the United States and in
the more civilized parts of Europe has increased from a little
over 30 to about 40 years. A multitude of causes, mostly
physical, have contributed to this result. Foremost among
these should be placed
(1) whatever may be included under the general term sanitation;
(2) improved methods in medicine; and
(3) the more regular habits of living which are the direct
outcome of industrial life on a large scale.
"These are some of the evident means by which life has been
lengthened. Inventions, which have made production cheap and
the transportation of all products both cheap and easy, have
had an influence too great to be computed. And no doubt much
has been due to a general improvement in methods of
government; although, in the main, there has been much less
progress in practical government than is commonly supposed. No
great railroad company or banking house or manufacturing
corporation could prosper if its officers and employees were
chosen and kept in office according to the system by which
political offices, almost everywhere, are filled. 'None hut
experts wanted,' is the sign written over the entrance to
every profession, trade, and occupation—except government.
"But, whatever governments have done or left undone, the fact
to be insisted on here is, that the average man to-day lives
almost ten years longer than his grandfather lived."
W. R. Thayer,
Longevity and Degeneration
(Forum, February, 1900).
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
The Musical Century.
"Music is the only one of the fine arts of which it can be
said that it reached its highest development in the nineteenth
century. It is the modern art par excellence; and while
everybody has been told that it is the youngest of the arts,
few realize how much is implied in that assertion."
Henry T. Finck,
The Musical Century
(New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
The Woman's Century.
"Victor Hugo predicted that the nineteenth century would be
known as Woman's Century. The comparison of the woman of 1800
and the woman of 1900 offers abundant proof of the correctness
of the prophecy."
Mrs. Carrie C. Catt,
Women in the Industries and Professions
(New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).
"In 1900 a third of all the college students in the United
States are women. Sixty per cent. of the pupils in the
secondary schools, both public and private, are girls—i. e.,
more girls are preparing for college than boys. Women having
in general more leisure than men, there is reason to expect
that there will soon be more women than men in our colleges
and graduate schools. The time, too, has passed when girls
went to college to prepare themselves solely for teaching or
for other bread-winning occupations. In considerable numbers
they now seek intellectual resources and the enrichment of
their private lives. Thus far between 50 and 60 per cent. of
women college graduates have at some time taught. In the
country at large more than 70 per cent. of the teaching is
done by women, in the North Atlantic portion over 80 per cent.
Even in the secondary schools, public and private, more women
than men are teaching, though in all other countries the
advanced instruction of boys is exclusively in the hands of
men. Never before has a nation intrusted all the school
training of the vast majority of its future population, men as
well as women, to women alone."
Mrs. Alice F. Palmer,
The Higher Education of Women
(New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
The Age of Steel succeeding the Age of Iron.
"The age of iron, which passed away during the last century,
was succeeded by the age of Bessemer steel, which enjoyed a
reign of only thirty-six years, beginning, as it did, in 1864,
and is in turn now passing away to be succeeded by the age of
Siemens open-hearth steel. Already the product of open-hearth
is far beyond that of Bessemer in Britain, and such the writer
ventures to predict will soon be the case in the United
States."
Andrew Carnegie,
The Development of Steel Manufacture
(New York Evening Post, January 12, 1901).
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
As the "Age of Steam."
See (in volume 4)
STEAM ENGINE, STEAM LOCOMOTION, etc.; and
(in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: MECHANICAL.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
As the "Electric Age."
See (in volume 2)
ELECTRICAL, DISCOVERY; and
(in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: ELECTRICAL.
----------THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: End--------
NIPPUR, Explorations of the ruins of.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA: AMERICAN EXPLORATION.
NIUCHWANG:
"Niuchwang, while a comparatively small city of but 60,000
population, is of especial importance to the United States as
a treaty port. It is located at the extreme north of the Gulf
of Pechili, considerably farther north than Tientsin, and is
of especial importance to the United States because of the
demand for goods from this country in that section. … The
proposed Russian railway line, which is projected through
Manchuria and the province of Shingking to the port of Port
Arthur, passes near Niuchwang and is to be connected by a
short line. Another line, to be built by British capital, will
connect Niuchwang with Shanhaikwan, which is already in railway
connection with Peking, the capital of the Empire."
United States, Bureau of Statistics, Monthly Summary,
March, 1899, page 2196.
NIUCHWANG:
Russian occupation.
See (in this volume)
MANCHURIA: A. D. 1900.
NORFOLK ISLAND:
Change of government.
(in this volume)
AUSTRALIA (NEW SOUTH WALES): A. D. 1896.
{343}
NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1897-1899.
Local Dispensary Laws.
An Act applying the South Carolina "dispensary" system of
regulation for the liquor traffic (see, in this volume, SOUTH
CAROLINA: A. D. 1892-1899) to Fayetteville was passed by the
Legislature in 1897, and several smaller towns secured local
legislation to the same effect in 1899; but attempts to carry
a general dispensary law for the State were defeated.
NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1898.
Race war in Wilmington.
Wilmington, North Carolina, was the scene, in November, of
what can only be called a fierce revolution, whereby the city
government, dominated by the colored population, which
outnumbered the white, was violently overturned by the latter.
The race conflict was precipitated by an article in a Republican
newspaper, edited by a negro, which reflected on the honor of
some of the white women, and caused wild excitement among the
white men. The offending newspaper office was destroyed and
its editor fled. Resistance being offered, furious fighting
occurred, in which a considerable number of negroes was
killed, many were wounded, and hundreds were driven by terror
from the town. White Republican officials were also expelled
or took to flight, and their opponents secured control of city
affairs.
NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1900.
Constitutional amendment for the qualification of the suffrage.
By a constitutional amendment, adopted in August, 1900, the
following qualification of the suffrage was established:
"SECTION 4.
Every person presenting himself for registration shall be able
to read and write any section of the constitution in the
English language: and, before he shall be entitled to vote, he
shall have paid, on or before the 1st day of May of the year
in which he proposes to vote, his poll tax for the previous
year as prescribed by Article V, section 1, of the
constitution. But no male person who was, on January 1, 1867,
or at any time prior thereto, entitled to vote under the laws
of any State in the United States wherein he then resided, and
no lineal descendant of any such person, shall be denied the
right to register and vote at any election in this State by
reason of his failure to possess the educational qualification
herein prescribed, provided he shall have registered in
accordance with the terms of this section prior to December,
1908. The general assembly shall provide for the registration
of all persons entitled to vote without the educational
qualifications herein prescribed, and shall, on or before
November 1, 1908, provide for the making of a permanent record
of such registration, and all persons so registered shall
forever thereafter have the right to vote in all elections by
the people in this State, unless disqualified under section 2
of this article: Provided, Such person shall have paid his
poll tax as above required."
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, Canadian:
Self-government granted.
See (in this volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1897 (OCTOBER).
NORWAY.
See (in this volume)
SWEDEN AND NORWAY.
NOVA SCOTIA.
See (in this volume)
CANADA.
NOVA ZEMBLA, Recent exploration of.
See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1900.
NUFFAR,
NIFFER, Explorations at.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA: AMERICAN EXPLORATION.
NUPÉ, British subjugation of.
See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (NIGERIA).
NUREMBERG: A. D. 1900.
Remarkable growth in five years.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (DECEMBER).
NYASSALAND.
See (in this volume)
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA PROTECTORATE.
O.
OIL RIVERS PROTECTORATE, The.
See (in this volume)
NIGERIA: A. D. 1882-1899.
OLD-AGE INSURANCE: In Germany.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1897-1900.
OLD-AGE PENSIONS:
In New South Wales.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRALIA (NEW SOUTH WALES): A. D. 1900.
OLD-AGE PENSIONS:
In New Zealand.
See (in this volume)
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1899;
and AUSTRALIA: RECENT EXTENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY.
OLD-AGE PENSIONS:
The question in England.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1896; and 1899-1900.
OLNEY, Richard:
Correspondence with Lord Salisbury on the Venezuela boundary
question.
See (in this volume)
VENEZUELA: A. D. 1895 (JULY), and (NOVEMBER).
OLYMPIC GAMES, Revival of.
See (in this volume)
ATHENS: A. D. 1896.
OMAHA: A. D. 1898.
The Trans-Mississippi Exposition.
A highly successful Trans-Mississippi Exposition was opened on
the 1st of June and closed on the last day of October, having
been attended by 2,600,000 people. Buildings and grounds were
prepared with beautiful effect, at a cost of $2,500,000.
OMDURMAN:
Capital of the Khalifa.
Capture by the Anglo-Egyptian Army.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896; and 1897-1898.
ONTARIO.
See (in this volume)
CANADA.
"OPEN DOOR,"
The commercial policy of the.
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1899-1900 (SEPTEMBER-FEBRUARY).
OPIUM COMMISSION, Report of the.
See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1895 (APRIL).
ORANGE FREE STATE: A. D. 1895.
Proposed federal union with the Transvaal.
See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (ORANGE FREE STATE).
ORANGE FREE STATE: A. D. 1897.
Treaty with the South African Republic.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (ORANGE FREE STATE AND TRANSVAAL):
A. D. 1897 (APRIL).
ORANGE FREE STATE: A. D. 1899-1900.
Making common cause with the South African Republic.
War with Great Britain.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (ORANGE FREE STATE):
A. D. 1899 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER), and after.
ORANGE FREE STATE: A. D. 1900 (May.)
Proclamation of annexation to the British dominions.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (ORANGE FREE STATE): A. D. 1900 (MAY).
{344}
OSMAN DIGNA.
See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896; 1897-1898; and 1899-1900.
OTIS, General:
Reports as Military Governor of the Philippines.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1898 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).
OTTAWA: A. D. 1900.
Great fire.
The city of Ottawa, capital of the Dominion of Canada, and the
lumber manufacturing town of Hull, on the opposite side of the
Ottawa River, were both devastated, on the 26th of April, by
one of the most destructive fires of the century. It
originated in the upsetting of a lamp in a dwelling in Hull.
This was at half-past ten o'clock in the morning. A big gale
blowing from the northeast made quick work of the inflammable
houses in Hull, and by twelve o'clock the flames had
reached the river-bank and leaped across to the Ottawa side.
The fire then retraced its steps in Hull, and destroyed a
group of factories. It "blazed a crescent-shaped path five
miles long and a mile wide, destroying in its journey the
public buildings and the residential part of Hull, the
industrial area of the Chaudiere, and the suburbs of the
Ottawa laboring classes at Mechanicsburg, Rochesterville, and
Hintonburg. Fully 15,000 people were rendered homeless, and
$15,000,000 worth of property was annihilated."
Canadian Magazine, July, 1900.
OTTOMAN BANK:
Attack of Armenian revolutionists at Constantinople.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1896 (AUGUST).
P.
PAARDEBERG, Battle of.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).
PACT OF HALEPA, The.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1896.
PAGO PAGO: Acquisition by the United States.
See (in this volume)
SAMOAN ISLANDS.
PALESTINE: A. D. 1897-1901.
The Zionist movement for Jewish colonization.
See (in this volume)
JEWS: A. D. 1897-1901.
PALESTINE: A. D. 1898.
Visit of the German Emperor.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1898 (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER).
PALESTINE: A. D. 1901.
Turkish restriction on Jewish visits.
See (in this volume)
JEWS: A. D. 1901.
PALMER, General John M.:
Candidacy for the American Presidency in 1896.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
PAMIR REGION, The:
Anglo-Russian agreement concerning.
See (in this volume)
AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1895.
PAMPANGAS, The.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THE NATIVE INHABITANTS.
PANA, Riotous coal-mining strike at.
See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES: A. D. 1898.
PANAMA CANAL, The: A. D. 1900.
See (in this volume)
PANAMA CANAL;
and (in this volume)
CANAL, INTEROCEANIC: A. D. 1900 (NOVEMBER).
PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION, The.
See (in this volume)
BUFFALO: A. D. 1901.
PANGASINANS, The.
See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THE NATIVE INHABITANTS.
PAN-GERMANIC UNION.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1901.
----------PAPACY: Start--------
PAPACY: A. D. 1894.
Conference with Eastern Patriarchs.
A conference of Eastern Patriarchs to consider the reunion of
the Eastern Churches (Armenian, Maronite, Melchite, etc.) with
the Church of Rome was opened at the Vatican, in October,
under the presidency of the Pope. The meeting had no result.
PAPACY: A. D. 1894-1895.
The Hungarian Ecclesiastical Laws.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1894-1895.
PAPACY: A. D. 1896 (March).
Resumption of authority over the Coptic Church.
The authority of the Pope over the Coptic Church was resumed
on the 30th of March, 1896, after a suspension of four
centuries, by the re-establishment of the Catholic
Patriarchate of Alexandria. Bishop Macarius was appointed
Patriarch and two bishops were appointed for Upper and Lower
Egypt.
PAPACY: A. D. 1896 (September).
Decision on the invalidity of Anglican orders.
In September, 1896, the final decision of the Vatican, on a
reopened question as to the validity of ordinations under the
ritual of the Church of England, was announced by Pope Leo
XIII. in a bull which declares: "After long study, I must
confirm the decree of my predecessors, that all ordinations
made under the Anglican rite are absolutely invalid." Soon
after the decision was announced, a writer in the
"Contemporary Review" gave the following account of
circumstances connected with it:
"The question of Anglican Orders was taken up in connection
with the appeal for union made by Leo XIII. in the Encyclical'
Præclara' of 1894, and more particularly in his letter to the
English people. The group of Anglicans of whom Lord Halifax is
the spokesman took this appeal seriously, and ever since that
time negotiations have been going on more or less continuously
between them and the Vatican. … The idea of an incorporate
union, so dear to Lord Halifax, and so much favoured in the
first instance by the Pope, could only be carried out on the
basis of a prior admission that the Anglican Church had an
existence as a Church, and was therefore in a position to
discuss a union with the Roman Church.
{345}
Once recognise the validity of her Orders, and it would be
possible to go into conference as to the points of difference
between the two Churches, and the means of coming to an
agreement. It is quite certain that the Pope entered heartily
into these views. The Abbé Duchesne was accordingly deputed to
inquire into the validity of the Anglican Orders, and was well
aware that a favourable conclusion would be very well
received. This was before the Abbé was put at the head of the
French College at Rome. He made his investigation, arrived at
the conclusion that the Orders were valid, sent his report to
the Vatican, and received from Cardinal Rampolla a letter of
thanks and congratulations, together with a grand silver
medal, which the Holy Father sent him as a sign of his
satisfaction and particular goodwill. All this happened in the
winter of 1894-95.
"In the autumn of 1895 the idea of union was in higher favour
at the Vatican than ever. Cardinal Rampolla encouraged the
foundation of the 'Revue Anglo-Romaine,' a journal devoted to
the treatment of problems concerning the union of Churches,
and particularly the re-union of the Anglican Church, and
edited by the Abbé Portal, a French priest, and a personal
friend of Lord Halifax. This movement in favour of union was,
however, regarded by the Catholics in England with no little
apprehension and mistrust, and their opposition alone would
have been sufficient to wreck it for the time being. Cardinal
Vaughan viewed the idea of incorporate union as a chimera, but
treated the efforts to realise it as a real danger. … Leo, who
would fain have maintained an attitude of judicial
impartiality, soon found out that he must take a side: he must
either definitely encourage the hopes of the Anglicans, or he
must do something to calm the excited fears of the Catholics.
Even at Rome, if we except the Pope and Cardinal Rampolla, who
for a long time fondly hoped that they could make this policy
of union a means of accomplishing very large results,
theological opinion was adverse to the validity. Were there
not, indeed, decisions of the Sacred Congregations which
settled the dispute? There were, but in spite of them all the
Pope was not disabused of his fancy. Compelled at last to take
some action, he named a Commission of theologians, which sat
at Rome in the spring of the present year [1896], under the
presidency of Cardinal Mazzella. … The theologians set forth
the arguments which favoured their respective views; papers
were written, and, after a series of deliberations, a report
was placed in the hands of the Pope. No conclusion was arrived
at: none could be come to in this preliminary assembly. Only the
materials for a judgment were worked out, in case his Holiness
should think fit to pronounce a decision. … The Pope himself
tells us, in the Bull Apostolicæ Curæ, that he left the final
examination of the question to the congregation of cardinals
called ' Suprema.' … The 'Suprema' met on July 16, under the
presidency of the Pope. All the cardinals were of opinion that
the matter had been long since decided, and that the debates
in the preliminary commission had served to show how wise the
decision had been. … The Bull declaring Anglican Orders null
and void was published about the middle of September."
Catholicus,
The Pope and the Anglicans: The Policy of the Bull
(Contemporary Review, December, 1896).
PAPACY: A. D. 1897.
Influence in Austria.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PAPACY: A. D. 1898 (January).
Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XIII. on the
Manitoba School Question.
See (in this volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1898 (JANUARY).
PAPACY: A. D. 1899.
Secession of German Catholics in Austria from the Church.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1899-1000.
PAPACY: A. D. 1899 (January).
Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XIII. condemning certain
opinions "called by some 'Americanism.'"
The following passages are from the translation of an
encyclical letter addressed, on the 22d of January, 1899, by
Pope Leo XIII. to Cardinal Gibbons, for communication to the
bishops and clergy of the Catholic Church in America:
"To Our Beloved Son, James, Cardinal Gibbons, Cardinal Priest
of the Title Sancta Maria, Beyond the Tiber, Archbishop of
Baltimore: … We have often considered and admired the noble
gifts of your nation which enable the American people to be
alive to every good work which promotes the good of humanity
and the splendor of civilization. Although this letter is not
intended, as preceding ones, to repeat the words of praise so
often spoken, but rather to call attention to some things to
be avoided and corrected; still because it is conceived in
that same spirit of apostolic charity which has inspired all
our letters, we shall expect that you will take it as another
proof of our love; the more so because it is intended to
suppress certain contentions which have arisen lately among
you to the detriment of the peace of many souls.
"It is known to you, beloved son, that the biography of Isaac
Thomas Hecker, especially through the action of those who
undertook to translate or interpret it in a foreign language,
has excited not a little controversy, on account of certain
opinions brought forward concerning the way of leading
Christian life. We, therefore, on account of our apostolic
office, having to guard the integrity of the faith and the
security of the faithful, are desirous of writing to you more
at length concerning this whole matter.
"The underlying principle of these new opinions is that, in
order to more easily attract those who differ from her, the
Church should shape her teachings more in accord with the
spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient severity and
make some concessions to new opinions. Many think that these
concessions should be made not only in regard to ways of
living, but even in regard to doctrines which belong to the
deposit of the faith. They contend that it would be opportune,
in order to gain those who differ from us, to omit certain
points of her teaching which are of lesser importance, and to
tone down the meaning which the Church has always attached to
them. It does not need many words, beloved son, to prove the
falsity of these ideas if the nature and origin of the
doctrine which the Church proposes are recalled to mind. The
Vatican Council says concerning this point: 'For the doctrine
of faith which God has revealed has not been proposed, like a
philosophical invention to be perfected by human ingenuity,
but has been delivered as a divine deposit to the Spouse of
Christ to be faithfully kept and infallibly declared. Hence
that meaning of the sacred dogmas is perpetually to be
retained which our Holy Mother, the Church, has once declared,
nor is that meaning ever to be departed from under the pretense
or pretext of a deeper comprehension of them.'
Constitutis de Fide Catholica, Chapter iv. …
{346}
"Let it be far from anyone's mind to suppress for any reason
any doctrine that has been handed down. Such a policy would
tend rather to separate Catholics from the Church than to
bring in those who differ. There is nothing closer to our
heart than to have those who are separated from the fold of
Christ return to it, but in no other way than the way pointed
out by Christ.
"The rule of life laid down for Catholics is not of such a
nature that it cannot accommodate itself to the exigencies of
various times and places. The Church has, guided by her Divine
Master, a kind and merciful spirit, for which reason from the
very beginning she has been what St. Paul said of himself: 'I
became all things to all men that I might save all.'
"History proves clearly that the Apostolic See, to which has
been intrusted the mission not only of teaching but of
governing the whole Church, has continued 'in one and the same
doctrine, one and the same sense, and one and the same
judgment.'
Constitutis de fide, Chapter iv.
"But in regard to ways of living she has been accustomed to so
yield that, the divine principle of morals being kept intact,
she has never neglected to accommodate herself to the
character and genius of the nations which she embraces. Who
can doubt that she will act in this same spirit again if the
salvation of souls requires it? In this matter the Church must
be the judge, not private men who are often deceived by the
appearance of right. In this, all who wish to escape the blame
of our predecessor, Pius the Sixth, must concur. He condemned
as injurious to the Church and the spirit of God who guides
her the doctrine contained in proposition lxxviii of the Synod
of Pistoia, 'that the discipline made and approved by the
Church should be submitted to examination, as if the Church
could frame a code of laws useless or heavier than human
liberty can bear.'
"But, beloved son, in this present matter of which we are
speaking, there is even a greater danger and a more manifest
opposition to Catholic doctrine and discipline in that opinion
of the lovers of novelty, according to which they hold such
liberty should be allowed in the Church, that her supervision
and watchfulness being in some sense lessened, allowance be
granted the faithful, each one to follow out more freely the
leading of his own mind and the trend of his own proper
activity. They are of opinion that such liberty has its
counterpart in the newly given civil freedom which is now the
right and the foundation of almost every secular state.
"In the apostolic letters concerning the constitution of
states, addressed by us to the bishops of the whole Church, we
discussed this point at length; and there set forth the
difference existing between the Church, which is a divine
society, and all other social human organizations which depend
simply on free will and choice of men. It is well, then, to
particularly direct attention to the opinion which serves as
the argument in behalf of this greater liberty sought for and
recommended to Catholics.
"It is alleged that now the Vatican decree concerning the
infallible teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff having been
proclaimed that nothing further on that score can give any
solicitude, and accordingly, since that has been safe-guarded
and put beyond question a wider and freer field both for
thought and action lies open to each one. But such reasoning
is evidently faulty, since, if we are to come to any
conclusion from the infallible teaching authority of the
Church, it should rather be that no one should wish to depart
from it and moreover that the minds of all being leavened and
directed thereby, greater security from private error would be
enjoyed by all. And further, those who avail themselves of
such a way of reasoning seem to depart seriously from the
over-ruling wisdom of the Most High—which wisdom, since it was
pleased to set forth by most solemn decision the authority and
supreme teaching rights of this Apostolic See—willed that
decision precisely in order to safeguard the minds of the
Church's children from the dangers of these present times.
"These dangers, viz., the confounding of license with liberty,
the passion for discussing and pouring contempt upon any
possible subject, the assumed right to hold whatever opinions
one pleases upon any subject and to set them forth in print to
the world, have so wrapped minds in darkness that there is now
a greater need of the Church's teaching office than ever
before, lest people become unmindful both of conscience and of
duty.
"We, indeed, have no thought of rejecting everything that
modern industry and study has produced; so far from it that we
welcome to the patrimony of truth and to an ever-widening
scope of public well-being whatsoever helps toward the
progress of learning and virtue. Yet all this, to be of any
solid benefit, nay, to have a real existence and growth, can
only be on the condition of recognizing the wisdom and
authority of the Church. …
"From the foregoing it is manifest, beloved son, that we are
not able to give approval to those views which, in their
collective sense, are called by some 'Americanism.' But if by
this name are to be understood certain endowments of mind
which belong to the American people, just as other
characteristics belong to various other nations, and if,
moreover, by it is designated your political condition and the
laws and customs by which you are governed, there is no reason
to take exception to the name. But if this is to be so
understood that the doctrines which have been adverted to
above are not only indicated, but exalted, there can be no
manner of doubt that our venerable brethren, the bishops of
America, would be the first to repudiate and condemn it as
being most injurious to themselves and to their country. For
it would give rise to the suspicion that there are among you
some who conceive and would have the Church in America to be
different from what it is in the rest of the world.
"But the true church is one, as by unity of doctrine, so by
unity of government, and she is catholic also. Since God has
placed the centre and foundation of unity in the chair of
Blessed Peter, she is rightly called the Roman Church, for
'where Peter is, there is the church.' Wherefore, if anybody
wishes to be considered a real Catholic, he ought to be able
to say from his heart the self-same words which Jerome
addressed to Pope Damasus; 'I, acknowledging no other leader
than Christ, am bound in fellowship with Your Holiness: that
is, with the chair of Peter. I know that the church was built
upon him as its rock, and that whosoever gathereth not with
you, scattereth.' …"
American Catholic Quarterly Review,
April, 1899.
{347}
PAPACY: A. D. 1900 (September-October).
Church and State in Austria.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1900 (SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER).
PAPACY: A. D. 1900 (December).
Pope Leo XIII. on the French Associations Bill.
See (in this volume))
FRANCE; A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).
PAPACY: A. D. 1900-1901.
Proclamation of the Universal Jubilee of the
Holy Year Nineteen Hundred.
Its extension for six months.
The following is the text of the Papal proclamation of the
Universal Jubilee, in its English translation, as published in
the "American Catholic Quarterly Review":
"To all the Faithful of Christ who shall read these Letters,
Health and Apostolic Benediction. The century, which, by the
grace of God, we have ourselves seen almost from its
commencement, draws rapidly to its close. Willingly have we
followed the institutions of our predecessors in so ordering
things that they may redound in the good of all Christian
peoples, and which may be perhaps for them the last proof of
our care to the government of the Sovereign Pontificate. We
speak of the Great Jubilee introduced in ancient times among
Christian customs and observed by our predecessors, who
bestowed upon the years of general jubilee the title of the
Holy Year, because it was usual for such a year to be blessed
by a greater number of holy ceremonies, as these furnish the
most copious means of help for the correction of morals and
the leading of souls to sanctity.
"We have ourselves seen with our own eyes the fruitful result
of the last solemn celebration of the Holy Year. It was in the
Pontificate of Leo XII, and we were as yet in the years of our
youth. It was truly a grand sight to see then the manifestations
of religious fervor in Rome. We can remember as if the scene
were still before our eyes, the immense concourse of pilgrims,
the multitudes which flocked processionally to one or other of
the great basilicas, the sacred orators who preached in the
public streets, and the most frequented quarters of the city
resounding with the Divine praises. The Sovereign Pontiff
himself, with a numerous suite of Cardinals and in the sight
of all the people, gave a noble example of piety and charity.
"From such thoughts as these we turn with renewed sorrow to
the times in which we now live; for such practices of piety,
when without hindrance they were fulfilled under the eyes of
all the citizens, augmented admirably the fervor and piety of
the whole people; but now, on account of the changed condition
of Rome, it is impossible to renew them, for in order to do so
in any measure we must depend upon the arbitration of others.
But however that may be, God, who ever blesses salutary
counsels, will concede—such is our hope—success to this our
design, undertaken solely for Him and for His glory. At what
do we aim or what do we wish? Nothing else truly than to
render more easy the way of eternal salvation to the souls
confided to us, and for this end to administer to the infirm
of spirit those remedies which it has pleased our Lord Jesus
Christ to place in our hands. This administration seems to us
not alone a duty of our apostolic office, but a duty which is
peculiarly necessary to our times. The present age, however,
cannot be said to be sterile, either in regard to good works
or to Christian virtues. Thanks be to God, we have examples of
both in abundance, nor is there any virtue, however lofty and
arduous its attainment and practice, in which many are not
found to signalize themselves, because it is a power proper to
the Christian religion, Divinely founded, inexhaustible and
perpetual, to generate and nourish virtue. Yet, casting our
eyes around, we see, on the other hand, with what blindness,
with what persistent error, whole peoples are hurrying to
eternal ruin. And this thought strikes bitterly to our
heart—how many Christians, led away by the license of hearing
and of thought, absorbing with avidity the intoxicating errors
of false doctrine, go on day by day dissipating and destroying
the grand gift of the faith. Hence arise repugnance to
Christian living, that insatiable appetite for the things of
this world, and hence cares and thoughts alienated from God
and rooted in the world. It is almost impossible to express in
words the damage which has already accrued from this
iniquitous source to the very foundations of society. The
minds of men ordinarily rebellious, the blind tendency of
popular cupidity, hidden perils, tragical crimes, are nothing
more to those who seek their source and cause than the
unrestrained strife to possess and enjoy the goods of this
world.
"It is of supreme importance, therefore, to public no less
than private life, to admonish men as to the duties of their
state, to arouse souls steeped in forgetfulness of duty, to
recall to the thought of their own salvation those who run
imminent risk of perishing and of losing through their
negligence and pride those celestial and unchangeable rewards
for the possession of which we are born. This is the aim of
the Holy Year. The Church, mindful only of her intrinsic
benignity and mercy as a most tender Mother, studies at this
time, with love and by every means within her ample power, to
re-conduct souls to better counsels and to promote in each
works of expiation by means of penance and emendation of life.
To this end, multiplying prayers and augmenting the fervor of
the faithful, she seeks to appease the outraged majesty of God
and to draw down His copious and celestial gifts. She opens
wide the rich treasury of indulgences, of which she is the
appointed dispenser, and exhorts the whole of Christianity to
the firm hope of pardon. She is purely intent upon vanquishing
with unconquerable love and sweetness the most rebellious
wills. How, then, may we not hope to obtain, with God's help,
rich fruits and profuse, and such as are most adapted to the
present needs?
"Several extraordinary solemnities, the notices of which we
believe to be already sufficiently diffused, and which will
serve in some manner to consecrate the end of the nineteenth
century and the beginning of the twentieth, greatly increase
the advantage of the opportunity now given. We speak of the
honors to be rendered at this time in every part of the world
to Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. On this account we were
profuse in our approbation and praise of a project which had
its source in the piety of private individuals, and, in fact,
what could be more holy and salutary? All that which man
should hope for and desire is contained in the only-begotten
Son of God, our Salvation, Life, and Resurrection.
{348}
To desire to abandon Him is to desire eternal perdition. We
could never silence adoration, praise, thanksgiving due to our
Lord Jesus Christ, and without intermission they should be
repeated everywhere, for in every place no thanksgiving, no
honor, can be so great but that it may be increased. Our age
produces perhaps many men who are forgetful and ungrateful,
who ordinarily respond to the mercy of their Divine Saviour
with disdain and to His gifts with offenses and injuries.
Certainly the lives of many are so far removed from His laws
and His precepts as to argue in themselves ungrateful and
malicious souls. And what shall we say to see renewed again in
these times and not once alone, the blasphemy of the Arian
heresy regarding the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Courage, then,
and to work, all you who with this new and most beautiful
proposition seek to excite the piety of the people to new
fervor. Do what you can in such manner that you impede not the
course of the Jubilee and the appointed solemnities. Let it be
added that in the forthcoming manifestations of faith and
religion this special intention shall be kept in view—hatred
of all that which within our memory has been impiously said or
done, especially against the Divine Majesty of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to satisfy publicly for the injuries publicly
inflicted upon Him. Now if we are really in earnest, we must
know that to repent of evil done, and, having implored peace
and pardon of God, to exercise ourselves with great diligence,
in the duties necessary to virtue, and to assume those we have
cast aside, is the means of satisfaction most desirable and
assured, and which bears upon it the impress of truth. Since
the Holy Year offers to all the opportunities which we have
touched on in the beginning, it is a necessary provision that
the Christian people enter upon it full of courage and of
hope.
"For which reason, raising our eyes to heaven and praying from
our heart that God, so rich in mercy, would vouchsafe to
concede benignly His blessing and favor to our desires and
works, and would illuminate with His Divine light the minds of
all men, and move their souls to conform with His holy will
and inestimable goodness, We, following in this the example of
the Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, with the assent of the
Cardinals of the Holy Roman College, our Venerable Brethren,
in virtue of these letters, with the authority of Christ, of
the blessed Peter and Paul, and with our own authority, order
and promulgate from this hour the great and universal jubilee,
which will commence in this holy city of Rome at the first
Vespers of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ of the year
1899, and which will close at first Vespers of the Nativity of
our Lord of the year 1900. May all redound to the glory of
God, the salvation of souls, and the good of the Church.
During this year of jubilee we concede and impart mercifully
in our Lord full indulgence, remission and pardon of sin to
all faithful Christians of either sex, who, being truly
penitent shall confess and communicate, visiting devoutly the
Roman basilicas of SS. Peter and Paul, St. John Lateran, and
St. Mary Major, at least once a day for twenty days
continuously or at intervals; that is, the obligation is to be
fulfilled between the first Vespers of each day and the last
Vespers of the day following, whether the Faithful be citizens
of Rome or not, if they are residing permanently in Rome. If
they come to Rome as pilgrims, then they must visit the said
basilicas in the same manner for ten days, praying devoutly to
God for the exaltation of Holy Church, for the extirpation of
heresies, for peace and concord amongst Christian princes, and
for the salvation of the whole Christian people.
"And since it may happen to many that with all their good-will
they cannot or can only in part carry out the above, being
either, while in Rome or on their journey, impeded by illness
or other legitimate causes, we, taking into account their
good-will, can, when they are truly repentant and have duly
confessed and communicated, concede to them the participation
in the same indulgences and remission of sins as if they had
actually visited the basilicas on the days appointed. Rome,
therefore, invites you lovingly to her bosom, beloved
children, from all parts of the world, who have means of
visiting her. Know also that to a good Catholic in this sacred
time it is fitting that he come to Rome guided purely by
Christian faith, and that he should renounce especially the
satisfaction of sight-seeing merely idle or profane, turning
his soul rather to those things which predispose him to
religion and piety. And that which tends greatly so to
predispose him, if he look within, is the natural character of
the city, a certain character divinely impressed upon her, and
not to be changed by human means, nor by any act of violence.
For Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, chose only,
amongst all its cities, that of Rome to be the centre of an
action more than earthly, consecrating it to Himself. Here He
placed, and not without long and careful preparation, the
throne of His own empire; here He commanded that the see of
His Vicar should be raised to the perpetuity of time; here He
willed that the light of revealed truth should be jealously
and inviolably guarded, and that from here light should be
diffused throughout the whole earth in such a manner that
those who are alienated from the faith of Rome are alienated
from Christ. The religious monuments raised by our fathers,
the singular majesty of her temples, the tomb of the Apostles,
the Catacombs of the martyrs, all serve to increase the aspect of
holiness and to impress those who visit her in the spirit of
faith. Whosoever knows the voice of such monuments feels that
he is no pilgrim in a foreign city, but a citizen in his own,
and by God's grace he will realize this fact at his going,
more forcibly than at his coming.
"We wish, in order that these present letters may be brought
more easily under the notice of all, that printed copies,
signed by a public notary and furnished with the seal of some
ecclesiastical dignitary, shall be received with the same
faith as would be given to the original by those who have
heard or read it.
"To no one will it be lawful to alter any word of this our
disposition, promulgation, concession, and will, or to rashly
oppose it. If any should presume to make any such attempt, let
them know that they incur thereby the indignation of God
Almighty and of His Apostles Peter and Paul.
"Given at St. Peter's, Rome, on the 11th of May, in the year
of the Incarnation of our Lord 1899, and the 22d of our
Pontificate. C. Card. ALOISI-MASELLA, Pro-Datory. L. Card.
MACCHI.
{349}
"Witnessed on behalf of the Curia: G. DELL' AQUILA VISCONTI.
Registered in the Secretariate of Briefs, J. CUGNONI. In the
year of the Nativity of our Lord 1899, on the 11th day of May,
feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the 22d year
of the Pontificate of our Holy Father and Lord in Christ, Leo
XIII, by Divine Providence Pope, I have read and solemnly
promulgated the present apostolical letters in the presence
of the people, in the porch of the Holy Patriarchal Vatican
Basilica. GIUSEPPE DELL' AQUILA VISCONTI, Official of the
Curia."
On the termination of the "holy year," by a letter "given at
Rome in the year of Our Lord 1901," the Pope announced: "We
do, therefore, by the authority of Almighty God, of the
Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own, extend and
prorogue, for a period of six months, the Great Jubilee which
has just been celebrated in the Holy City. Wherefore, to all
the faithful of both sexes, in all parts of the earth,
including even those that have come to Rome during the past
year and there or elsewhere gained the Jubilee under any
conditions, we grant and accord mercifully in the Lord, for
once, the fullest indulgence, remission and pardon of their
sins, the annual Paschal confession and communion being,
however, not valid as conditions for gaining the Jubilee,
provided that within six months from the date of the
publication in each diocese of this letter they visit the
cathedral in the episcopal city or the principal church in
other parts of the different dioceses, together with three
other churches in the same place, as appointed by the Ordinary
either directly or through his officials, the parish priests
or Vicar Foran, at least once a day for fifteen continuous or
uninterrupted days, natural or ecclesiastical (the
ecclesiastical day being that which commences with the first
vespers of one day and ends with the dusk of the day
following), and pray devoutly to God for the exaltation of the
Church, the extirpation of heresy, the concord of Catholic
princes and the salvation of the Christian people. In places
where there are not four churches, power is granted in the
same way to the Ordinaries to fix a smaller number or
churches, or even one church where there is only one, in which
the faithful may make the full number of visits, separate and
distinct, on the same natural or ecclesiastical day, in such a
way that the sixty visits be distributed through fifteen
continuous or interrupted days."
Provisions relating to the circumstances of persons at sea or
traveling, or in religious community, or in prison, are
prescribed in the papal letter, and special privileges and
powers are granted to "Jubilee confessors,"
PAPACY: A. D. 1901.
Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XIII. concerning Social and
Christian Democracy.
In a letter dated January 18, 1901, addressed "to the
Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local
Ordinaries in communion with the Apostolic See," the Pope has
discussed the subjects of Democracy and Socialism, with
reference to controverted views and opinions "defining what
Catholics ought to think," and giving them "some injunctions
so as to make their own action larger in scope and more
beneficial to the commonwealth." The letter opens with these
words: "Venerable Brethren—Grave economical disputes in more
than one country have long been raging; peace and concord are
affected; the violence of the disputants grows every day,
insomuch that the thoughts of the wiser part are laden with
doubt, and apprehension. These disputes arise in the first
instance from widespread philosophical and moral error. The
scientific resources belonging to the age, increased
facilities of communication and appliances of all kinds for
economizing labor and making it more productive have resulted
in a keener struggle for existence. Through the malefic
influence of agitators the gulf between rich and poor has been
widened, so that frequent disturbances arise and even great
calamities seem impending such as would bring ruin on a
country."
The Pope then refers to his early encyclicals ("Quod
Apostolici Muneris," issued in 1878, on the error in
socialistic opinions, and "Rerum Novarum," issued in 1891, on
"the rights and duties binding together the two classes of
capitalists and laborers"), and to the good influence which he
finds reason to believe they have had, and says further:
"Thus, therefore, under the guidance of the Church, some sort
of concerted action and institutional provision has been set
up among Catholics for the protection of the lower classes,
who are very often as much the victims of dangerous
machinations and snares as they are suffering from hardship
and poverty. The creed of the benefactor of the people had
originally no name of its own; that of Christian Socialism and
its derivatives, which some brought in, has not undeservedly
grown obsolete. Afterward many wanted, very rightly, to name
it Popular Christianity. In some places those who devote
themselves to such work are called Christian Socialists;
elsewhere it is called Christian Democracy, and its supporters
Christian Democrats, as opposed to the Social Democracy, which
Socialists uphold. Of these two appellations, certainly that
of Christian Socialists, if not also of Christian Democracy,
is offensive to many right-minded people, inasmuch as they
think there is a perilous ambiguity attaching to it. They are
afraid of the name for several reasons—popular government may
be covertly promoted or preferred to other forms of political
constitution; the influence of Christianity may seem to be
confined to the benefit of the common people, all other ranks
being as it were left out in the cold; beneath the specious
designation may lurk some design or other of subverting all
legitimate authority, being civil and religious.
"There is now commonly much dispute, and sometimes over-bitter
dispute, on this topic, and we deem it our duty to put an end
to the controversy by defining what Catholics ought to think;
moreover we intend to give them some injunctions so as to make
their own action larger in scope and more beneficial to the
commonwealth.
"What Social Democracy means, and what Christian ought to
mean, does not surely admit of doubt. The former, more or less
extreme, as the case may be, is by many carried to such
extravagance of wickedness as to reckon human satisfaction
supreme and acknowledge nothing higher, to pursue bodily goods
and those of the natural world, and to make the happiness of man
consist in attaining and enjoying them. Hence they would have
the supreme power in a state to be in the hands of the common
people, in such sort that all distinction or rank being
abolished and every citizen made equal to every other, all
might have equal access also to the good things of life; the
law of lordship is to be abolished, private fortunes
confiscated and even socialization of the appliances of labor
carried out.
{350}
But Christian Democracy, as Christian, ought to have as its
foundation the principles laid down by divine faith, having
regard, indeed, to the temporal advantage of the lower orders,
but designing therewith to fit their minds for the enjoyment
of things eternal. Accordingly, to Christian Democracy, let
there be nothing more sacred than law and right; let it bid
the right of having and holding be kept inviolate; let it
maintain the diversity of ranks which properly belong to a
well-ordered state; in fine, let it prefer for human
association that form and character which its divine author
has imposed upon it. Clearly, therefore, Social and Christian
Democracy can have nothing in common; the difference between
them is no less than that between the sectarianism of
socialism and the profession of the Christian law.
"Far be it from any one to pervert the name of Christian
Democracy to political ends. For although democracy by its
very name and by philosophical usage denotes popular rule, yet
in this application it must be employed altogether without
political significance, so as to denote nothing whatever
besides this beneficent Christian action upon the people. For
natural morality and the precepts of the Gospel, for the very
reason that they transcend the chances of human existence,
must necessarily be independent of any particular form of
civil government and adapt themselves to all, so long as there
is nothing to conflict with virtue and right. They are,
therefore, and remain in themselves, absolutely external to
all conflict of parties and vicissitudes of occurrence, so
that, under whatever kind of government, people may and ought
to abide by these precepts, which bid them love God above all
and their neighbors as themselves. This has ever been the
morality of the Church: by it Roman Pontiffs have constantly
dealt with states whatever might be their executive
government. And this being so, the mind and action of
Catholics, when devoted to promoting the good of the lower
orders, cannot by any possibility aim at embracing and
introducing any one form of government in preference to
another.
"Just in the same way must Christian Democracy repudiate the
other ground of offense, which arises from paying so much
regard to the interests of the lower classes as to seem to
pass over the higher, who are nevertheless of equal importance
to the preservation and development of the State. The
Christian law of charity, which we have just mentioned,
forbids this. It is large enough to embrace all ranks as the
aim and the task of those who would have the common people in
a Christian spirit on the one hand suitably relieved, and, on
the other, preserved against the contagion of socialism. …
"We have recalled these various topics on which we have before
this found occasion to dilate according to our ability, and we
trust that all dispute over the name of Christian Democracy
may now be laid aside, as well as any suspicion of dangerous
signification attaching to it. This trust we rightly cherish.
For making exception of the ideas of certain persons regarding
the force and virtue of this kind of Christian Democracy,
ideas which are not free from extravagance or error, surely
there will be no single person to find fault with an endeavor,
conformably to the law of nature and of God, to do merely
this, to make the lives of laborers and artisans more
tolerable, and gradually to give them the opportunity of
self-culture, so that at home and in the world they may freely
fulfil the obligations of virtue and religion, may feel
themselves to be men, and not mere animals, Christian men, not
pagans, and so strive with more felicity and earnestness to
attain that 'one thing needful,' that final good, for which we
came into the world. This is belonging to one and the same
family, the offspring of the same all-beneficent Father,
redeemed by one Saviour and called to the same eternal
inheritance. …
"God forbid that under the name of Christian democracy should
lie the surreptitious aim of throwing off all obedience and
turning away from those in lawful authority. The law of
nature, no less than that of Christ, enjoins respect for all
such as in their several degree hold office in the State, and
further enjoins obedience to their lawful commands. This is
the only attitude worthy of a man and a Christian, and ought
to be taken up heartily and as a matter of duty, 'for
conscience's sake,' as the Apostle himself has admonished,
when he ordained: 'Let every soul be subject to the highest
powers.' …
"We spoke just now advisedly of virtue and religion. For it is
the opinion of some, which is caught up by the masses, that
the social question, as they call it, is 'economical' merely.
The precise opposite is the truth—that it is first of all
moral and religious, and for that reason its solution is to be
expected mainly from the moral law and the pronouncements of
religion. … Without the instincts which Christian wisdom
implants and keeps alive, without providence, self-control,
thrift, endurance and other natural qualities, you may try
your hardest, but prosperity you cannot provide. That is the
reason why we have never encouraged Catholics to form
associations for the assistance of the poor, or introduce
other schemes of the kind, without at the same time warning
them that such things must not be attempted without the
sanction of religion, without its inclusion and aid. … It is a
laudable charity not merely to relieve the temporary needs of
the poor, but to have an organized system of relief; this will
be a more real and reliable assistance. It must be considered
still more laudable to desire to instill into the minds of the
mechanic and of the laborer notions of thrift and prudence, so
that they may at least in part make provision for their
declining years. It is an aim which not only relieves the cost
of the wealthy, but it is a moral step for the poor
themselves; it encourages them to approve their position,
while it keeps them away from temptations, checks
self-indulgence and leads them on to virtuous behavior. …
"Finally, we again enjoin with greater insistence that
whatever schemes people take up in the popular cause, whether
individually or in association, they should remember that they
must be entirely submissive to episcopal authority. Do not let
them be beguiled by an excessive ardor for charitable
enterprise, which, if it induces any relaxation of due
obedience, is itself false, unproductive of solid benefit and
displeasing to God. Those who please God are those who are
ready to give up their own ideas and listen to the bidding of
the rulers of the Church, absolutely as to His own."
Catholic Union and Times,
February 21, 1901.
{351}
PARIS: A. D. 1897.
Burning of the Charity Bazaar.
An awful destruction of life was caused on the 4th of May by
fire breaking out in a charity bazaar, held in the Rue Jean
Goujon, at Paris. Temporary structures had been erected, of
wood and other combustible materials, to represent a street of
Old Paris shops, and the flames ran through them like
wildfire. The place was thronged with people, mostly of the
aristocratic class and more than 200 are said to have
perished.
PARIS: A. D. 1900 (April-November).
Exposition.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1900 (APRIL-NOVEMBER).
PARIS: A. D. 1900 (September).
Gigantic banquet to the Mayors of France.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1900 (SEPTEMBER).
PARIS, Treaty of (1898), between the United States and Spain.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-DECEMBER).
PARKHURST, Reverend Dr. Charles:
His attack on the Tammany administration of New York City.
See (in this volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1894-1895.
PARLIAMENT, The British:
Ceremonious opening by King Edward VII.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, Austrian.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1895-1896.
----------PARTIES AND FACTIONS, POLITICAL
AND POLITICO-RELIGIOUS: Start--------
PARTIES:
Afrikander Bund, or Bondsmen.
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (CAPE COLONY):
A. D. 1881-1888; 1898; 1898(MARCH-OCTOBER);
and 1900 (DECEMBER).
PARTIES:
Agrarian Protectionists, German.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1895-1898.
PARTIES:
Anti-Imperialists.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
Anti-Semites.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1895-1896, and after;
FRANCE: A. D. 1897-1899, and after;
GERMANY: A. D. 1898 (JUNE).
PARTIES:
Blancos, or Whites.
See (in this volume)
URUGUAY: A. D. 1896-1899.
PARTIES:
The Bond.
See above,
AFRIKANDER BUND.
PARTIES:
Centre (Catholic, of Germany).
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D.1898 (JUNE).
PARTIES:
Christian Social party.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Clerical party, Austria.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Colorados, or Reds.
See (in this volume)
URUGUAY: A. D. 1896-1899.
PARTIES:
Deutsch Fortschrittliche.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
"Fanatics."
See (in this volume)
BRAZIL: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
"Free Silver" Democracy.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER)
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
Fuyu-to (Liberals).
See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1890-1898.
PARTIES:
German Democrats.
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1898 (JUNE).
PARTIES:
German Liberal party, Austria.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
German People's party.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Gold Democrats.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
Hintchak, The.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1895.
PARTIES:
Historic Christian party.
See (in this volume)
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Kai-shin-to (Progressives).
See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1890-1898.
PARTIES:
Kensei-to (Constitutional party).
See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1898-1899.
PARTIES:
Labor party, French (Parti Ouvrier).
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1896 (APRIL-MAY).
PARTIES:
Liberal Democrats (German).
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1898 (JUNE).
PARTIES:
Liberal Unionists (German).
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1898 (JUNE).
PARTIES:
Lincoln party.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER), SILVER REPUBLICAN.
PARTIES:
Little England party.
See (in this volume)
LITTLE ENGLAND PARTY.
PARTIES:
Middle-of-the-Road Populists.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
National Democratic party.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
National Liberals (German).
See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1898 (JUNE).
PARTIES:
National party, 1896 and 1900.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
National Silver party.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
New Radical party.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1896 (MAY).
PARTIES:
Old Czechs.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Pan-Germanic Union.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1901.
PARTIES:
Patriotic League.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1898 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
Polish Club.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Progressives (Kaishin-to).
See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1890-1898.
PARTIES:
Progressives (Cape).
See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (CAPE COLONY):
A. D. 1898; and 1898 (MARCH-OCTOBER).
PARTIES:
Protestant Anti-Revolutionists.
See (in this volume)
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Rikken Seiyu-kai
Association of Friends of the Constitution.
See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).
PARTIES:
Siah Chai, The.
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1895 (AUGUST).
PARTIES:
Silver Republicans.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
Socialist parties.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897;
FRANCE: A. D. 1896 (APRIL-MAY);
GERMANY: A. D. 1894-1895, and 1898 (JUNE);
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER),
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
"Sound Money" Democrats.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
United Christian party.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
PARTIES:
United Irish League.
See (in this volume)
IRELAND: A. D. 1900-1901.
PARTIES:
"Vegetarians."
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1895 (AUGUST).
PARTIES:
Verfassungstreue Grossgrundbesitz.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Volkspartei.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PARTIES:
Young Czechs.
See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897.
PATRIARCHATE: Re-established at Alexandria.
See (in this volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1896 (MARCH).
PATRIOTIC LEAGUE.
See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1898 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
{352}
PAUNCEFOTE, Sir Julian:
British commissioner to the Peace Conference at The Hague.
See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
----------PARTIES: End--------
----------PEACE CONFERENCE.: Start--------
PEACE CONFERENCE:
On the 24th of August, 1898, without previous heralding or
intimation, Count Mouravieff, the Russian Minister for Foreign
Affairs, placed copies of the following momentous proposal
from the Tsar in the hands of all the foreign representatives
attending his weekly reception at St. Petersburg:
"The maintenance of universal peace and a possible reduction
of the excessive armaments which weigh upon all nations
represent, in the present condition of affairs all over the
world, the ideal towards which the efforts of all Governments
should be directed. This view fully corresponds with the
humane and magnanimous intentions of His Majesty the Emperor,
my august Master. Being convinced that this high aim agrees
with the most essential interests and legitimate aspirations
of all the Powers, the Imperial Government considers the
present moment a very favourable one for seeking, through
international discussion, the most effective means of assuring
to all peoples the blessings of real and lasting peace, and
above all of limiting the progressive development of existing
armaments. During the last twenty years aspirations towards
general pacification have particularly asserted themselves in
the consciences of civilized nations. The preservation of
peace has been made the aim of international policy; for the
sake of peace the Great Powers have formed powerful alliances,
and for the purpose of establishing a better guarantee of peace
they have developed their military forces in an unprecedented
degree, and continue to develop them without hesitating at any
sacrifice. All these efforts, however, have not yet led to the
beneficent results of the desired pacification. The ever
increasing financial burdens strike at the root of public
prosperity. The physical and intellectual forces of the
people, labour and capital, are diverted for the greater part
from their natural application and wasted unproductively.
Hundreds of millions are spent in acquiring terrible engines
of destruction which are regarded to-day as the latest
inventions of science, but are destined to-morrow to be
rendered obsolete by some new discovery. National culture,
economical progress, and the production of wealth are either
paralysed or developed in a wrong direction. Therefore, the
more the armaments of each Power increase, the less they
answer to the objects aimed at by the Governments. Economic
disturbances are caused in great measure by this system of
excessive armaments, and the constant danger involved in this
accumulation of war material renders the armed peace of to-day
a crushing burden more and more difficult for the nations to
bear. It consequently seems evident that if this situation be
prolonged, it will inevitably lead to that very disaster which
it is desired to avoid, and the horrors of which make every
humane mind shudder by anticipation. It is the supreme duty,
therefore, at the present moment of all States to put some
limit to these unceasing armaments, and to find means of
averting the calamities which threaten the whole world. Deeply
impressed by this feeling, His Majesty the Emperor has been
pleased to command me to propose to all Governments who have
Representatives at the Imperial Court the meeting of a
Conference to discuss this grave problem. Such a Conference,
with God's help, would be a happy augury for the opening
century. It would concentrate in one powerful effort the
strivings of all States which sincerely wish to bring about
the triumph of the grand idea of universal peace over the
elements of trouble and discord. It would, at the same time,
cement their agreement by a united affirmation of the
principles of law and equity on which rest the security of
States and the welfare of peoples."
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: Russia, Number 1, 1899).
Having allowed his supremely noble proposition to stand before
the world for consideration during a period of four months,
and having received from almost every governing authority a
formal expression of willingness to join in the Conference
recommended, the sovereign of Russia pursued his grand design,
on the 11th of January, 1899, by the following communication
to the foreign representatives at his court:
"When, in the month of August last, my August master
instructed me to propose to the Governments which have
Representatives in St. Petersburg the meeting of a Conference
with the object of seeking the most efficacious means for
assuring to all peoples the blessings of real and lasting
peace, and, above all, in order to put a stop to the
progressive development of the present armaments, there
appeared to be no obstacle in the way of the realization, at
no distant date, of this humanitarian scheme. The cordial
reception accorded by nearly all the Powers to the step taken
by the Imperial Government could not fail to strengthen this
expectation. While highly appreciating the sympathetic terms
in which the adhesions of most of the Powers were expressed,
the Imperial Cabinet has been also able to collect, with
lively satisfaction, evidence of the warmest approval which
has reached it, and continues to be received, from all classes
of society in various parts of the globe. Notwithstanding the
strong current of opinion which set in favour of the ideas of
general pacification, the political horizon bas recently
undergone a sensible change. Several Powers have undertaken
fresh armaments, striving to increase further their military
forces, and in the presence of this uncertain situation, it
might be asked whether the Powers considered the present
moment opportune for the international discussion of the ideas
set forth in the Circular of the 12th (24th) August. In the
hope, however, that the elements of trouble agitating
political centres will soon give place to a calmer disposition
of a nature to favour the success of the proposed Conference,
the Imperial Government is of opinion that it would be
possible to proceed forthwith to a preliminary exchange of
ideas between the Powers, with the object:
(a.) Of seeking without delay means for putting a limit to the
progressive increase of military and naval armaments, a question
the solution of which becomes evidently more and more urgent
in view of the fresh extension given to these armaments; and
(b.) Of preparing the way for a discussion of the questions
relating to the possibility of preventing armed conflicts by
the pacific means at the disposal of international diplomacy.
{353}
In the event of the Powers considering the present moment
favourable for the meeting of a Conference on these bases, it
would certainly be useful for the Cabinets to come to an
understanding on the subject of the programme of their
labours. The subjects to be submitted for international
discussion at the Conference could, in general terms, be
summarized as follows:
"1. An understanding not to increase for a fixed period the
present effective of the armed military and naval forces, and
at the same time not to increase the Budgets pertaining
thereto; and a preliminary examination of the means by which a
reduction might even be effected in future in the forces and
Budgets above-mentioned.
"2. To prohibit the use in the armies and fleets of any new
kind of fire-arms whatever and of new explosives, or any
powders more powerful than those now in use either for rifles
or cannon.
"3. To restrict the use in military warfare of the formidable
explosives already existing, and to prohibit the throwing of
projectiles or explosives of any kind from balloons or by any
similar means.
"4. To prohibit the use in naval warfare of submarine
torpedo-boats or plungers, or other similar engines of
destruction; to give an undertaking not to construct vessels
with rams in the future.
"5. To apply to naval warfare the stipulations of the Geneva
Convention of 1864, on the basis of the Additional Articles of
1868.
"6. To neutralize ships and boats employed in saving those
overboard during or after an engagement.
"7. To revise the Declaration concerning the laws and customs
of war elaborated in 1874 by the Conference of Brussels, which
has remained unratified to the present day.
"8. To accept in principle the employment of good offices, of
mediation and facultative arbitration in cases lending
themselves thereto, with the object of preventing armed
conflicts between nations; to come to an understanding with
respect to the mode of applying these good offices, and to
establish a uniform practice in using them.
"It is well understood that all questions concerning the
political relations of States and the order of things
established by Treaties, as generally all questions which do
not directly fall within the programme adopted by the
Cabinets, must be absolutely excluded from the deliberations
of the Conference. In requesting you, Sir, to be good enough
to apply to your Government for instructions on the subject of
my present communication, I beg you at the same time to inform
it that, in the interest of the great cause which my august
master has so much at heart, His Imperial Majesty considers it
advisable that the Conference should not sit in the capital of
one of the Great Powers, where so many political interests are
centred which might, perhaps, impede the progress of a work in
which all the countries of the universe are equally
interested."
General assent being given to the suggestions here offered,
the next step toward realization of the grand project was
taken, by an arrangement with the government of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands, in accordance with which an invitation was
addressed from The Hague, in April, to many governments, both
the greater and the less of the political world, in the
following terms:
"For political reasons the Imperial Russian Government
considered that it would not be desirable that the meeting of
the Conference should take place in the capital of one of the
Great Powers, and after securing the assent of the Governments
interested, it addressed the Cabinet of The Hague with a view of
obtaining its consent to the choice of that capital as the
seat of the Conference in question. The Minister for Foreign
Affairs at once took the orders of Her Majesty the Queen in
regard to this request, and I am happy to be able to inform
you that Her Majesty, my august Sovereign, has been pleased to
authorize him to reply that it will be particularly agreeable
to her to see the proposed Conference meet at The Hague.
Consequently, my Government, in accord with the Imperial
Russian Government, charges me to invite [the Government
named] to be good enough to be represented at the
above-mentioned Conference, in order to discuss the questions
indicated in the second Russian Circular of the 30th December,
1898 (11th January, 1899), as well as all other questions
connected with the ideas set forth in the Circular of the 12th
(24th) August, 1898, excluding, however, from the
deliberations everything which refers to the political
relations of States or the order of things established by
Treaties. My Government trusts, that [the Government named]
will associate itself with the great humanitarian work to be
entered upon under the auspices of His Majesty the Emperor of
All the Russias, and that it will be disposed to accept this
invitation, and to take the necessary steps for the presence
of its Representatives at The Hague on the 18th May next for
the opening of the Conference, at which each Power, whatever
may be the number of its Delegates, will only have one vote."
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: Miscellaneous,
Number 1, 1899, pages 3-4 and 8).
In response to this definite invitation, the governments of
Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Denmark, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg,
Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal,
Roumania, Russia, Servia, Siam, Spain, Sweden and Norway,
Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States of America,
appointed representatives who met at The Hague, on the 18th of
May, 1899, and organized the Conference by electing M. de
Staal, Russian Ambassador, to preside. The United States was
represented by the Honorable Andrew D. White, Ambassador to
Berlin, the Honorable Seth Low, President of Columbia
University, the Honorable Stanford Newel, Envoy Extraordinary,
&c., to The Hague, Captain Alfred T. Mahan, U. S. N., Captain.
William Crozier, U. S. A., and the Honorable Frederick W.
Holls, of New York. The representatives of Great Britain were
Sir Julian Pauncefote, Ambassador to the United States, Sir
Henry Howard, Envoy Extraordinary, &c., to The Hague,
Vice-Admiral Sir John A. Fisher, Major-General Sir J. C.
Ardagh, and Lieutenant-Colonel C. à Court.
{354}
"The Conference at The Hague was a Parliament of Man
representing, however imperfectly, the whole human race. The
only independent ones not represented at the Huis ten Bosch
were the South American republics, the Emperor of Morocco, the
King of Abyssinia, and the Grand Lama of Tibet. That the South
American republics were not represented is not the fault of
the Russian Emperor. Mexico received and accepted an
invitation. Brazil received, but rejected, the invitation to
be present, and so did one other South American republic. The
original Russian idea was to assemble representatives from
every independent government in the world; nor did they even
confine themselves to the secular governments. They were very
anxious that the Pope should also be directly represented in
this supreme assembly. Even with the Pope and South America
left out, the Congress represented more of the world and its
inhabitants than any similar assembly that has ever been
gathered together for the work of international legislation.
That circumstance in itself is sufficient to give distinction
to the Conference at The Hague, which, it is expected, will be
the forerunner of a series of conferences, each of which will
aim at being more and more universally representative. On the
eve of the twentieth century the human race has begun to
federate itself. That is the supreme significance of the
assembly which has just spent two months in the capital of
Holland."
W. T. Stead,
The Conference at The Hague
(Forum, September, 1899).
To systematize and facilitate the discussions of the
Conference, three Commissions or Committees were appointed,
between which the several subjects suggested in the Russian
circular of January 11 (as given above), and agreed to by the
several governments, were distributed. The 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th
propositions of the programme were referred to the First
Commission, the 5th, 6th and 7th to the Second, the 8th
(concerning mediation and arbitration) to the Third. This was
done on the 23d of May, after which the general Conference was
held only at intervals, to receive and consider reports from
the several Commissions, of agreements reached or
disagreements ascertained. This went on until the 29th of
July, when the several Conventions, Declarations, and
Recommendations agreed upon for submission to the governments
represented were summarized in the following "Final Act,"
signed by all:
"In a series of meetings, between the 18th May and the 29th
July, 1899, in which the constant desire of the Delegates
above mentioned has been to realize, in the fullest manner
possible, the generous views of the august Initiator of the
Conference and the intentions of their Governments, the
Conference has agreed, for submission for signature by the
Plenipotentiaries, on the text of the Conventions and
Declarations enumerated below and annexed to the present Act:
"I. Convention for the pacific settlement of international
conflicts.
"II. Convention regarding the laws and customs of war by land.
"III. Convention for the adaptation to maritime warfare of the
principles of the Geneva Convention of the 22nd August, 1864.
"IV. Three Declarations:
1. To prohibit the launching of projectiles and explosives
from balloons or by other similar new methods,
2. To prohibit the use of projectiles, the only object of
which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious
gases.
3. To prohibit the use of bullets which expand or flatten
easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard
envelope, of which the envelope does not entirely cover the
core, or is pierced with incisions.
"These Conventions and Declarations shall form so many
separate Acts. These Acts shall be dated this day, and may be
signed up to the 31st December, 1899, by the Plenipotentiaries
of the Powers represented at the International Peace
Conference at The Hague.
"Guided by the same sentiments, the Conference has adopted
unanimously the following Resolution:—'The Conference is of
opinion that the restriction of military budgets, which are at
present a heavy burden on the world, is extremely desirable
for the increase of the material and moral welfare of
mankind.'
"It has, besides, formulated the following wishes:
"1. The Conference, taking into consideration the preliminary
steps taken by the Swiss Federal Government for the revision
of the Geneva Convention, expresses the wish that steps may be
shortly taken for the assembly of a Special Conference having
for its object the revision of that Convention. This wish was
voted unanimously.
"2. The Conference expresses the wish that the questions of
the rights and duties of neutrals may be inserted in the
programme of a Conference in the near future.
"3. The Conference expresses the wish that the questions with
regard to rifles and naval guns, as considered by it, may be
studied by the Governments with the object of coming to an
agreement respecting the employment of new types and calibres.
"4. The Conference expresses the wish that the Governments,
taking into consideration the proposals made at the
Conference, may examine the possibility of an agreement as to
the limitation of armed forces by land and sea, and of war
budgets.
"5. The Conference expresses the wish that the proposal, which
contemplates the declaration of the inviolability of private
property in naval warfare, may be referred to a subsequent
Conference for consideration.
"6. The Conference expresses the wish that the proposal to
settle the question of the bombardment of ports, towns, and
villages by a naval force may be referred to a subsequent
Conference for consideration.
"The last five wishes were voted unanimously, saving some
abstentions.
"In faith of which, the Plenipotentiaries have signed the
present Act, and have affixed their seals thereto. Done at The
Hague, 29th July, 1899, in one copy only, which shall be
deposited in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and of which
copies, duly certified, shall be delivered to all the Powers
represented at the Conference."
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: Miscellaneous,
Number 1, 1899, pages 3-4, 8 and 288-9).
{355}
The accompanying Conventions and Declarations were in no case
unanimously signed, several delegations, in each case,
claiming time for the governments they represented to consider
certain questions involved. The most important of the proposed
Conventions, namely, that "For the Pacific Settlement of
International Disputes," was signed at The Hague by the
delegates from Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the United States of
America, Mexico, France, Greece, Montenegro, the Netherlands,
Persia, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Siam, Sweden and Norway,
and Bulgaria; but not by Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Servia, Turkey,
or China. Ultimately, however, the great Treaty of Arbitration
was signed by everyone of the Powers represented. The
signature of the delegates of the United States was given
under reserve of a declaration which will be found in the
following excerpt from the general report of the American
Commission. The full text of each of the Conventions is given
below.
"The entire plan for the tribunal and its use is voluntary, so
far as sovereign States are concerned. The only seeming
exceptions to this rule are contained in Article 1, which
provides that the Signatory Powers agree to employ their
efforts for securing the pacific regulation of international
differences; and Article 27, which says that the Signatory
Powers consider it to be a duty, in the case where an acute
conflict threatens to break out between two or more of them,
to remind those latter that the permanent court is open to
them. The obligation thus imposed is not legal or diplomatic
in its nature. These articles merely express a general moral
duty for the performance of which each State is accountable
only to itself. In order, however, to make assurance doubly
sure and to leave no doubt whatever of the meaning of the
Convention, as affecting the United States of America, the
Commission made the following declaration in the full session
of the Conference, held July 25:—
The Delegation of the United States of America, in signing the
Convention regulating the peaceful adjustment of international
differences, as proposed by the International Peace
Conference, make the following declaration:—Nothing contained
in this Convention shall be so construed as to require the
United States of America to depart from its traditional policy
of not intruding upon, interfering with, or entangling itself
in the political questions or policy or internal
administration of any foreign State; nor shall anything
contained in the said Convention be construed to imply a
relinquishment by the United States of America of its
traditional attitude toward purely American questions.' Under
the reserve of this declaration the United States delegates
signed the Arbitration Convention itself. Article 8 of the
Convention, providing for a special form of Mediation, was
proposed individually by Mr. Holls of the United States
Commission. … It is hoped that in particular crises, when the
other means provided by the Convention for keeping or
restoring peace have failed, it may prove to have real and
practical value. It is certain that, by the Continental States
of Europe, it has been exceedingly well received."
General Report of the American Commission.
"Objection has been made to [the International Court of
Arbitration] on the ground that submission to it is purely
voluntary and that no executive authority has been provided to
carry out its decrees. The answer to all such objections is
simply that the power of enlightened public opinion is relied
upon to be amply sufficient for the purpose of insuring
obedience to every just mandate of this Court. In the case of
the United States of America the judgments of the Court,
according to the decisions now in force, will have a
peculiarly binding force. An agreement to submit a case to the
Court cannot be made by the United States, except by way of a
treaty, which, when ratified by the Senate, becomes the
supreme law of the land. In the case of La Ninfa, Whitelaw v.
The United States (75 Fed. Rep., 513), it was decided by the
United States Circuit Court of Appeals in California that by
virtue of the treaty the judgment of the Court of Arbitration
provided for by the terms of the treaty has all the force of a
federal statute, and it is itself the supreme law of the land,
binding upon every individual citizen of the United States,
including all federal and State authorities. For us, at least,
the International Court of Arbitration at The Hague will, if
this view prevails, in reality be the highest possible
tribunal, with an authority binding even on our own United
States Supreme Court.
"Article 27 aims, in a measure, to supply the deficiency of
the provision for obligatory arbitration, in that it declares
it to be the duty of all Signatory Powers to remind anyone or
more of themselves, in case of a threatened dispute, that the
permanent Court of Arbitration is open to them. What
particular effect this particular article will have must be
left to the future. Without modification or reservation the
article, when ratified by the United States, would have
constituted a complete abandonment of the time-honored Monroe
Doctrine. Accordingly the representatives of the United States
declined to sign the treaty, except under a reservation or
declaration, which was solemnly accepted by the Peace
Conference, thus materially modifying the jurisdiction of the
Court [see above]. … By this declaration the Monroe Doctrine
was not only self-guarded, but it was stated and vindicated
more emphatically than ever before in our history, and the
people of this country are, therefore, in a position to
cordially support the International Court of Arbitration,
without the fear that the Court itself, or the fact of its
establishment, may ever be used against this country, or to
the embarrassment of its diplomacy and traditional policy. …
"The effect of the establishment of the Court upon European
diplomacy is necessarily surrounded by great uncertainty. In
a recent review of the work of the Peace Conference I ventured
to use this language: 'It is most encouraging and of the
highest importance that upon the whole Continent the
governments are apparently in advance of public opinion upon
the entire subject of the Peace Conference. The reason is not
far to seek. No man who is fit for the position can to-day
hold a place involving the direction of his country's
international policy without feeling an almost intolerable
pressure of responsibility. To him every remote chance of a
lightening of his burden comes as a promise of blessed relief.
It is a historical fact that none of the obstacles to success
which the Peace Conference had to overcome originated in the
mind of any sovereign or of any high minister of State. In
every case they were raised by underlings without
responsibility and anxious to show superior wisdom by finding
fault. So long as this favorable governmental attitude
continues there is every reason for encouragement.'
{356}
'Continental public opinion, especially in questions of
foreign policy, seems more pliable than ever before, and is as
clay in the hands of a potter, so far as alliances and
sympathies are concerned, when following a popular monarch or
foreign minister.' I have since been assured by the highest
officials of at least two great European Powers, that this
statement meets with their unqualified approval. The sneers of
irresponsible journals and politicians cannot and will not
affect the deliberate purposes of a high-minded and serious
minister of State."
F. W. Holls,
The International Court of Arbitration at The Hague;
a paper read before the New York State Bar Association,
January 15, 1901.
PEACE CONFERENCE:
Convention for the Pacific Settlement of
International Disputes.
TITLE I.
On the Maintenance of the General Peace.
ARTICLE I.
With a view to obviating as far as possible, recourse to
force in the relations between States, the Signatory Powers
agree to use their best efforts to insure the pacific
settlement of international differences.
TITLE II.
On Good Offices and Mediation.
ARTICLE II.
In case of serious disagreement or conflict, before an
appeal to arms, the Signatory Powers agree to have
recourse, as far as circumstances allow, to the good
offices or mediation of one or more friendly Powers.
ARTICLE III.
Independently of this recourse, the Signatory Powers
recommend that one or more Powers, strangers to the
dispute, should, on their own initiative, and as far as
circumstances may allow, offer their good offices or
mediation to the States at variance. Powers, strangers to
the dispute, have the right to offer good offices or
mediation, even during the course of hostilities. The
exercise of this right can never be regarded by one or the
other of the parties in conflict as an unfriendly act.
ARTICLE IV.
The part of the mediator consists in reconciling the
opposing claims and appeasing the feelings of resentment
which may have arisen between the States at variance.
ARTICLE V.
The functions of the mediator are at an end when once it is
declared, either by one of the parties to the dispute, or
by the mediator himself, that the means of reconciliation
proposed by him are not accepted.
ARTICLE VI.
Good offices and mediation, either at the request of the
parties at variance, or on the initiative of Powers
strangers to the dispute, have exclusively the character of
advice and never have binding force.
ARTICLE VII.
The acceptance of mediation can not, unless there be an
agreement to the contrary, have the effect of interrupting,
delaying, or hindering mobilization or other measures of
preparation for war. If mediation occurs after the
commencement of hostilities it causes no interruption to
the military operations in progress, unless there be an
agreement to the contrary.
ARTICLE VIII.
The Signatory Powers are agreed in recommending the
application, when circumstances allow, for special
mediation in the following form:—In case of a serious
difference endangering the peace, the States at variance
choose respectively a Power, to whom they intrust the
mission of entering into direct communication with the
Power chosen on the other side, with the object of
preventing the rupture of pacific relations. For the period
of this mandate, the term of which, unless otherwise
stipulated, cannot exceed thirty days, the States in
conflict cease from all direct communication on the subject
of the dispute, which is regarded as referred exclusively
to the mediating Powers, who must use their best efforts to
settle it. In case of a definite rupture of pacific
relations, these Powers are charged with the joint task of
taking advantage of any opportunity to restore peace.
TITLE III.
On International Commissions of Inquiry.
ARTICLE IX.
In differences of an international nature involving neither
honour nor vital interests, and arising from a difference
of opinion on points of fact, the Signatory Powers
recommend that the parties, who have not been able to come
to an agreement by means of diplomacy, should as far as
circumstances allow, institute an International Commission
of Inquiry, to facilitate a solution of these differences
by elucidating the facts by means of an impartial and
conscientious investigation.
ARTICLE X.
The International Commissions of Inquiry are constituted by
special agreement between the parties in conflict. The
Convention for an inquiry defines the facts to be examined and
the extent of the Commissioners' powers. It settles the
procedure. On the inquiry both sides must be heard. The form
and the periods to be observed, if not stated in the inquiry
Convention, are decided by the Commission itself.
ARTICLE XI.
The International Commissions of Inquiry are formed, unless
otherwise stipulated, in the manner fixed by Article XXXII
of the present Convention.
ARTICLE XII.
The powers in dispute engage to supply the International
Commission of Inquiry, as fully as they may think possible,
with all means and facilities necessary to enable it to be
completely acquainted with and to accurately understand the
facts in question.
ARTICLE XIII.
The International Commission of Inquiry communicates its
Report to the conflicting Powers, signed by all the members
of the Commission.
ARTICLE XIV.
The Report of the International Commission of Inquiry is
limited to a statement of facts, and has in no way the
character of an Arbitral Award. It leaves the conflicting
Powers entire freedom as to the effect to be given to this
statement.
TITLE IV.
On International Arbitration.
CHAPTER I.
On the System of Arbitration.
ARTICLE XV.
International arbitration has for its object the settlement
of differences between States by judges of their own
choice, and on the basis of respect for law.
ARTICLE XVI.
In questions of a legal nature, and especially in the
interpretation or application of International Conventions,
arbitration is recognized by the Signatory Powers as the
most effective, and at the same time the most equitable,
means of settling disputes which diplomacy has failed to
settle.
ARTICLE XVII.
The Arbitration Convention is concluded for questions
already existing or for questions which may arise
eventually. It may embrace any dispute or only disputes of
a certain category.
{357}
ARTICLE XVIII.
The Arbitration Convention implies the engagement to submit
loyally to the Award.
ARTICLE XIX.
Independently of general or private Treaties expressly
stipulating recourse to arbitration as obligatory on the
Signatory Powers, these Powers reserve to themselves the
right of concluding, either before the ratification of the
present Act or later, new Agreements, general or private,
with a view to extending obligatory arbitration to all
cases which they may consider it possible to submit to it.
CHAPTER II.
On the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
ARTICLE XX.
With the object of facilitating an immediate recourse to
arbitration for international differences, which it has not
been possible to settle by diplomacy, the Signatory Powers
undertake to organize a permanent Court of Arbitration,
accessible at all times and operating, unless otherwise
stipulated by the parties, in accordance with the Rules of
Procedure inserted in the present Convention.
ARTICLE XXI.
The Permanent Court shall be competent for all arbitration
cases, unless the parties agree to institute a special
Tribunal.
ARTICLE XXII.
An International Bureau, established at The Hague, serves
as record office for the Court. This Bureau is the channel
for communications relative to the meetings of the Court.
It has the custody of the archives and conducts all the
administrative business. The Signatory Powers undertake to
communicate to the International Bureau at The Hague a duly
certified copy of any conditions of arbitration arrived at
between them, and of any award concerning them delivered by
special Tribunals. They undertake also to communicate to
the Bureau the Laws, Regulations, and documents eventually
showing the execution of the awards given by the Court.
ARTICLE XXIII.
Within the three months following its ratification of the
present Act, each Signatory Power shall select four persons
at the most, of known competency in questions of
international law, of the highest moral reputation, and
disposed to accept the duties of Arbitrators. The persons
thus selected shall be inscribed, as members of the Court,
in a list which shall be notified by the Bureau to all the
Signatory Powers. Any alteration in the list of Arbitrators
is brought by the Bureau to the knowledge of the Signatory
Powers. Two or more Powers may agree on the selection in
common of one or more Members. The same person can be
selected by different Powers. The Members of the Court are
appointed for a term of six years. Their appointments can
be renewed. In case of the death or retirement of a member
of the Court, his place shall be filled in accordance with
the method of his appointment.
ARTICLE XXIV.
When the Signatory Powers desire to have recourse to the
Permanent Court for the settlement of a difference that has
arisen between them, the Arbitrators called upon to form the
competent Tribunal to decide this difference, must be
chosen from the general list of members of the Court.
Failing the direct agreement of the parties on the
composition of the Arbitration Tribunal, the following
course shall be pursued:—Each party appoints two
Arbitrators, and these together choose an Umpire. If the
votes are equal, the choice of the Umpire is intrusted to a
third Power, selected by the parties by common accord. If
an agreement is not arrived at on this subject, each party
selects a different Power, and the choice of the Umpire is
made in concert by the Powers thus selected. The Tribunal
being thus composed, the parties notify to the Bureau their
determination to have recourse to the Court and the names
of the Arbitrators. The Tribunal of Arbitration assembles
on the date fixed by the parties. The Members of the Court,
in the discharge of their duties and out of their own
country, enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.
ARTICLE XXV.
The Tribunal of Arbitration has its ordinary seat at The
Hague. Except in cases of necessity, the place of session
can only be altered by the Tribunal with the assent of the
parties.
ARTICLE XXVI.
The International Bureau at The Hague is authorized to
place its premises and its staff at the disposal of the
Signatory Powers for the operations of any special Board of
Arbitration. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Court, may,
within the conditions laid down in the Regulations, be
extended to disputes between non-Signatory Powers, or
between Signatory Powers and non-Signatory Powers, if the
parties are agreed on recourse to this Tribunal.
ARTICLE XXVII.
The Signatory Powers consider it their duty, if a serious
dispute threatens to break out between two or more of them,
to remind these latter that the Permanent Court is open to
them. Consequently, they declare that the fact of reminding
the conflicting parties of the provisions of the present
Convention, and the advice given to them, in the highest
interests of peace, to have recourse to the Permanent
Court, can only be regarded as friendly actions.
ARTICLE XXVIII.
A Permanent Administrative Council, composed of the
Diplomatic Representatives of the Signatory Powers
accredited to The Hague and of the Netherland Minister for
Foreign Affairs, who will act as President, shall be
instituted in this town as soon as possible after the
ratification of the present Act by at least nine Powers.
This Council will be charged with the establishment and
organization of the International Bureau, which will be
under its direction and control. It will notify to the
Powers the constitution of the Court and will provide for
its installation. It will settle its Rules of Procedure and
all other necessary Regulations. It will decide all
questions of administration which may arise with regard to
the operations of the Court. It will have entire control
over the appointment, suspension or dismissal of the
officials and employés of the Bureau. It will fix the
payments and salaries, and control the general expenditure.
At meetings duly summoned the presence of five members is
sufficient to render valid the discussions of the Council.
The decisions are taken by a majority of votes. The Council
communicates to the Signatory Powers without delay the
Regulations adopted by it. It furnishes them with an annual
Report on the labours of the Court, the working of the
administration, and the expenses.
ARTICLE XXIX.
The expenses of the Bureau shall be borne by the Signatory
Powers in the proportion fixed for the International Bureau
of the Universal Postal Union.
{358}
CHAPTER III.
On Arbitral Procedure.
ARTICLE XXX.
With a view to encourage the development of arbitration,
the Signatory Powers have agreed on the following Rules
which shall be applicable to arbitral procedure, unless
other Rules have been agreed on by the parties.
ARTICLE XXXI.
The Powers who have recourse to arbitration sign a special
Act ("Compromis"), in which the subject of the difference
is clearly defined, as well as the extent of the
Arbitrators' powers. This Act implies the undertaking of
the parties to submit loyally to the award.
ARTICLE XXXII.
The duties of Arbitrator may be conferred on one Arbitrator
alone or on several Arbitrators selected by the parties as
they please, or chosen by them from the members of the
Permanent Court of Arbitration established by the present
Act. Failing the constitution of the Tribunal by direct
agreement between the parties, the following course shall
be pursued: Each party appoints two Arbitrators, and these
latter together choose an Umpire. In case of equal voting,
the choice of the Umpire is intrusted to a third Power,
selected by the parties by common accord. If no agreement
is arrived at on this subject, each party selects a
different Power, and the choice of the Umpire is made in
concert by the Powers thus selected.
ARTICLE XXXIII.
When a Sovereign or the Chief of a State is chosen as
Arbitrator, the arbitral procedure is settled by him.
ARTICLE XXXIV.
The Umpire is by right President of the Tribunal. When the
Tribunal does not include an Umpire, it appoints its own
President.
ARTICLE XXXV.
In case of the death, retirement, or disability from any
cause of one of the Arbitrators, his place shall be filled
in accordance with the method of his appointment.
ARTICLE XXXVI.
The Tribunal's place of session is selected by the parties.
Failing this selection the Tribunal sits at The Hague. The
place thus fixed cannot, except in case of necessity, be
changed by the Tribunal without the assent of the parties.
ARTICLE XXXVII.
The parties have the right to appoint delegates or special
agents to attend the Tribunal, for the purpose of serving
as intermediaries between them and the Tribunal. They are
further authorized to retain, for the defense of their
rights and interests before the Tribunal, counselor
advocates appointed by them for this purpose.
ARTICLE XXXVIII.
The Tribunal decides on the choice of languages to be used
by itself, and to be authorized for use before it.
ARTICLE XXXIX.
As a general rule the arbitral procedure comprises two
distinct phases; preliminary examination and discussion.
Preliminary examination consists in the communication by
the respective agents to the members of the Tribunal and to
the opposite party of all printed or written Acts and of
all documents containing the arguments invoked in the case.
This communication shall be made in the form and within the
periods fixed by the Tribunal in accordance with Article
XLIX. Discussion consists in the oral development before
the Tribunal of the arguments of the parties.
ARTICLE XL.
Every document produced by one party must be communicated
to the other party.
ARTICLE XLI.
The discussions are under the direction of the President.
They are only public if it be so decided by the Tribunal,
with the assent of the parties. They are recorded in the
"procès-verbaux" drawn up by the Secretaries appointed by
the President. These "procès-verbaux" lone have an
authentic character.
ARTICLE XLII.
When the preliminary examination is concluded, the Tribunal
has the light to refuse discussion of all fresh Acts or
documents which one party may desire to submit to it
without the consent of the other party.
ARTICLE XLIII.
The Tribunal is free to take into consideration fresh Acts
or documents to which its attention may be drawn by the
agents or counsel of the parties. In this case, the
Tribunal has the right to require the production of these
Acts or documents, but is obliged to make them known to the
opposite party.
ARTICLE XLIV.
The Tribunal can, besides, require from the agents of the
parties the production of all Acts, and can demand all
necessary explanations. In case of refusal, the Tribunal
takes note of it.
ARTICLE XLV.
The agents and counsel of the parties are authorized to
present orally to the Tribunal all the arguments they may
think expedient in defence of their case.
ARTICLE XLVI.
They have the right to raise objections and points. The
decisions of the Tribunal on those points are final, and
cannot form the subject of any subsequent discussion.
ARTICLE XLVII.
The members of the Tribunal have the right to put questions
to the agents and counsel of the parties, and to demand
explanations from them on doubtful points. Neither the
questions put nor the remarks made by members of the
Tribunal during the discussions can be regarded as an
expression of opinion by the Tribunal in general, or by its
members in particular.
ARTICLE XLVIII.
The Tribunal is authorized to declare its competence in
interpreting the "Compromis" as well as the other Treaties
which may be invoked in the case, and in applying the
principles of international law.
ARTICLE XLIX.
The Tribunal has the right to issue Rules of Procedure for
the conduct of the case, to decide the forms and periods
within which each party must conclude its arguments, and to
arrange all the formalities required for dealing with the
evidence.
ARTICLE L.
When the agents and counsel of the parties have submitted
all explanations and evidence in support of their case, the
President pronounces the discussion closed.
ARTICLE LI.
The deliberations of the Tribunal take place in private.
Every decision is taken by a majority of members of the
Tribunal. The refusal of a member to vote must be recorded
in the "procès-verbal."
ARTICLE LII.
The award, given by a majority of votes, is accompanied by
a statement of reasons. It is drawn up in writing and
signed by each member of the Tribunal. Those members who
are in the minority may record their dissent when signing.
ARTICLE LIII.
The award is read out at a public meeting of the Tribunal,
the agents and counsel of the parties being present, or
duly summoned to attend.
{359}
ARTICLE LIV.
The award, duly pronounced and notified to the agents of
the parties at variance, puts an end to the dispute
definitely and without appeal.
ARTICLE LV.
The parties can reserve in the "Compromis" the right to
demand the revision of the award. In this case, and unless
there be an agreement to the contrary, the demand must be
addressed to the Tribunal which pronounced the award. It
can only be made on the ground of the discovery of some new
fact calculated to exercise a decisive influence on the
award, and which, at the time the discussion was closed,
was unknown to the Tribunal and to the party demanding the
revision. Proceedings for revision can only be instituted
by a decision of the Tribunal expressly recording the
existence of the new fact, recognizing in it the character
described in the foregoing paragraph, and declaring the
demand admissible on this ground. The "Compromis" fixes the
period within which the demand for revision must be made.
ARTICLE LVI.
The award is only binding on the parties who concluded the
"Compromis." When there is a question of interpreting a
Convention to which Powers other than those concerned in
the dispute are parties, the latter notify to the former
the "Compromis" they have concluded. Each of these Powers
has the right to intervene in the case. If one or more of
them avail themselves of this right, the interpretation
contained in the award is equally binding on them.
ARTICLE LVII.
Each party pays its own expenses and an equal share of
those of the Tribunal.
General Provisions.
ARTICLE LVIII.
The present Convention shall be ratified as speedily as
possible. The ratification shall be deposited at The Hague.
A "procès-verbal" shall be drawn up recording the receipt
of each ratification, and a copy duly certified shall be
sent, through the diplomatic channel, to all the Powers who
were represented at the International Peace Conference at
The Hague.
ARTICLE LIX.
The non-Signatory Powers who were represented at the
International Peace Conference can adhere to the present
Convention. For this purpose they must make known their
adhesion to the Contracting Powers by a written
notification addressed to the Netherland Government, and
communicated by it to all the other Contracting Powers.
ARTICLE LX.
The conditions on which the Powers who were not represented
at the International Peace Conference can adhere to the
present Convention shall form the subject of a subsequent
Agreement among the Contracting Powers.
ARTICLE LXI.
In the event of one of the High Contracting Parties
denouncing the present Convention, this denunciation would
not take effect until a year after its notification made in
writing to the Netherland Government, and by it
communicated at once to all the other Contracting Powers.
This denunciation shall on]y affect the notifying Power. In
faith of which the Plenipotentiaries have signed the
present Convention and affixed their seals to it. Done at
The Hague, the 29th July, 1899, in a single copy, which
shall remain in the archives of the Netherland Government,
and copies of it, duly certified, be sent through the
diplomatic channel to the Contracting Powers.
United States, 56th Congress,
1st Session., Senate Document 159.
PEACE CONFERENCE:
The Permanent Court of Arbitration.
The following is the membership of the Permanent Court of
Arbitration, as finally organized, in January, 1901, and
announced to be prepared for the consideration of any
international dispute that may be submitted to it. Fifteen of
the greater nations of the world are represented in this most
august tribunal that has ever sat for judgment of the disputes
of men:
Austria-Hungary.
His Excellency Count Frederic Schonborn, LL. D., president
of the Imperial Royal Court of Administrative Justice,
former Austrian Minister of Justice, member of the House of
Lords of the Austrian Parliament, etc.
His Excellency Mr. D. de Szilagyi, ex-Minister of Justice,
member of the House of Deputies of the Hungarian
Parliament.
Count Albert Apponyi, member of the Chamber of Magnates and
of the Chamber of Deputies of the Hungarian Parliament,
etc.
Mr. Henri Lammasch, LL. D., member of the House of Lords of
the Austrian Parliament, etc.
Belgium.
His Excellency Mr. Beernaert, Minister of State, member of
the Chamber of Representatives, etc.
His Excellency Baron Lambermont, Minister of State, Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Chevalier Descamps, Senator.
Mr. Rolin Jacquemyns, ex-Minister of the Interior.
Denmark.
Professor H. Matzen, LL. D., Professor of the Copenhagen
University, Counsellor Extraordinary of the Supreme Court,
President of the Landsthing.
France.
M. Leon Bourgeois, Deputy, ex-President of the Cabinet
Council, ex-Minister for Foreign Affairs.
M. de Laboulaye, ex-Ambassador.
Baron Destournelles de Constant, Minister Plenipotentiary,
Deputy.
M. Louis Renault, Minister Plenipotentiary, Professor in
the Faculty of Law at Paris, Law Office of the Department
of Foreign Affairs.
Germany.
His Excellency Mr. Bingner, LL. D., Privy Councillor,
Senate President of the Imperial High Court at Leipsic.
Mr. von Frantzius, Privy Councillor, Solicitor of the
Department of Foreign Affairs at Berlin.
Mr. von Martitz, LL. D., Associate Justice of the Superior
Court of Administrative Justice in Prussia, Professor of
Law at the Berlin University.
Mr. von Bar, LL. D., Judicial Privy Councillor, Professor
of Law at the Göttingen University.
Great Britain.
His Excellency the Right Honorable Lord Pauncefote of
Preston, G. C. B., G. C. M. G., Privy Councillor,
Ambassador at Washington.
The Right Honorable Sir Edward Baldwin Malet,
ex-Ambassador.
The Right Honorable Sir Edward Fry, member of the Privy
Council, Q. C.
Professor John Westlake, LL. D., Q. C.
Italy.
His Excellency Count Constantin Nigra, Senator of the
Kingdom, Ambassador at Vienna.
His Excellency Commander Jean Baptiste Pagano
Guarnaschelli, Senator of the Kingdom, First President of
the Court of Cassation at Rome.
His Excellency Count Tornielli Brusati di Vergano, Senator
of the Kingdom, Ambassador at Paris.
Commander Joseph Zanardelli, Attorney at Law, Deputy to the
National Parliament.
{360}
Japan.
Mr. Motono, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary at Brussels.
Mr. H. Willard Denison, Law Officer of the Minister for
Foreign Affairs at Tokio.
Netherlands.
Mr. T. M. C. Asser, LL. D., member of the Council of
State, ex-Professor of the University of Amsterdam.
Mr. F. B. Coninck Liefsting, LL. D.,
President of the Court of Cassation.
Jonkheer A. F. de Savornin Lohman, LL. D.,
ex-Minister of the Interior, ex-Professor of the Free
University of Amsterdam, member of the Lower House of the
States-General.
Jonkheer G. L. M. H. Ruis de Beerenbrouck,
ex-Minister of Justice, Commissioner of the Queen in the
Province of Limbourg.
Portugal.
Count de Macedo, Peer of the Realm,
ex-Minister of Marine and Colonies, Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary at Madrid.
Rumania.
Mr. Theodore Rosetti, Senator,
ex-President of the High Court of Cassation and Justice.
Mr. Jean Kalindero, Administrator of the Crown Domain,
ex-Judge of the High Court of Cassation and Justice.
Mr. Eugene Statsco,
ex-President of the Senate, ex-Minister of Justice and
Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Jean N. Lahovari, Deputy, ex-Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Russia.
Mr. N. V. Mouravieff, Minister of Justice, Active Privy
Councillor, Secretary of State of His Majesty the Emperor.
Mr. C. P. Pobedonostzeff, Attorney-General of the Most
Holy Synod, Active Privy Councillor, Secretary of State of
His Majesty the Emperor.
Mr. E. V. Frisch,
President of the Department of Legislation of the Imperial
Council, Active Privy Councillor, Secretary of State of His
Majesty the Emperor.
Mr. de Martens, Privy Councillor,
permanent member of the Council of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
Spain.
His Excellency the Duke of Tetuan,
ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator of the Kingdom,
Grandee of Spain.
Mr. Bienvenido Oliver,
Director-General of the Ministry of Justice, ex-Delegate of
Spain to the Conference on Private International Law at The
Hague.
Dr. Manuel Torres Campos,
Professor of international law at the University of
Grenada, associate member of the Institute of International
Law.
Sweden and Norway.
Mr. S. R D. K. D'Olivecrona,
member of the International Law Institute, ex-Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Sweden,
Doctor of Laws and Letters at Stockholm.
Mr. G. Gram,
ex-Minister of State of Norway, Governor of the Province of
Hamar, Norway.
United States.
Mr. Benjamin Harrison,
ex-President of the United States.
Mr. Melville W. Fuller,
Chief Justice of the United States.
Mr. John W. Griggs,
Attorney-General of the United States.
Mr. George Gray,
United States Circuit Judge.
First Secretary of the Court
J. J. Rochussen.
Second Secretary of the Court
Jonkheer W. Roell.
The Administrative Council consists of the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Netherlands and the diplomatic representatives
at The Hague of the ratifying Powers.
Secretary-General
Mr. R Melvil, Baron Van Leyden,
Judge of the District Court of Utrecht and a member of the
First Chamber of the States-General.
PEACE CONFERENCE:
Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of
War on Land.
ARTICLE I.
The High Contracting Parties shall issue instructions to their
armed land forces, which shall be in conformity with the
"Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land"
annexed to the present Convention.
ARTICLE II.
The provisions contained in the Regulations mentioned in
Article I. are only binding on the Contracting Powers, in case
of war between two or more of them. These provisions shall
cease to be binding from the time when, in a war between
Contracting Powers, a non-Contracting Power joins one of the
belligerents.
ARTICLE III.
The present Convention shall be ratified as speedily as
possible. The ratifications shall be deposited at The Hague. A
"procès-verbal" shall be drawn up recording the receipt of
each ratification, and a copy, duly certified, shall be sent
through the diplomatic channel, to all the Contracting Powers.
ARTICLE IV.
Non-Signatory Powers are allowed to adhere to the present
Convention. For this purpose they must make their adhesion
known to the Contracting Powers by means of a written
notification addressed to the Netherland Government, and by it
communicated to all the other Contracting Powers.
ARTICLE V.
In the event of one of the High Contracting Parties denouncing
the present Convention, such denunciation would not take
effect until a year after the written notification made to the
Nethterland Government, and by it at once communicated to all
the other Contracting Powers. This denunciation shall affect
only the notifying Power.
In faith of which the Plenipotentiaries have signed the
present Convention and affixed their seals thereto.
[Signed by representatives of Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Mexico,
France, Greece, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal,
Roumania, Russia, Siam, Sweden and Norway, and Bulgaria.]
REGULATIONS.
SECTION I.
On Belligerents.
CHAPTER I.
On the qualifications of Belligerents.
ARTICLE I.
The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies,
but also to militia and volunteer corps, fulfilling the
following conditions:
1. To be commanded by a person responsible for his
subordinates;
2. To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a
distance;
3. To carry arms openly; and,
4. To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws
and customs of war. In countries where militia or volunteer
corps constitute the army, or form part of it, they are
included under the denomination "army."
ARTICLE II.
The population of a territory which has not been occupied who,
on the enemy's approach, spontaneously take up arms to resist
the invading troops without having time to organize themselves
in accordance with Article I, shall be regarded a belligerent,
if they respect the laws and customs of war.
ARTICLE III.
The armed forces of the belligerent parties may consist of
combatants and non-combatants. In case of capture by the enemy
both have a right to be treated as prisoners of war.
{361}
CHAPTER II.
On Prisoners of War.
ARTICLE IV.
Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile Government,
but not in that of the individuals or corps who captured them.
They must be humanely treated. All their personal belongings,
except arms, horses, and military papers remain their
property.
ARTICLE V.
Prisoners of war may be interned in a town, fortress, camp, or
any other locality, and bound not to go beyond certain fixed
limits; but they can only be confined as an indispensable
measure of safety.
ARTICLE VI.
The State may utilize the labour of prisoners of war according
to their rank and aptitude. Their tasks shall not be
excessive, and shall have nothing to do with the military
operations. Prisoners may be authorized to work for the Public
Service, for private persons, or on their own account. Work
done for the State shall be paid for according to the tariffs
in force for soldiers of the national army employed on similar
tasks. When the work is for other branches of the Public
Service or for private persons, the conditions shall be
settled in agreement with the military authorities. The wages
of the prisoners shall go towards improving their position,
and the balance shall be paid them at the time of their
release, after deducting the cost of their maintenance.
ARTICLE VII.
The Government into whose hands prisoners of war have fallen
is bound to maintain them. Failing a special agreement between
the belligerents, prisoners of war shall be treated as regards
food, quarters, and clothing, on the same footing as the
troops of the Government which has captured them.
ARTICLE VIII.
Prisoners of war shall be subject to the laws, regulations,
and orders in force in the army of the State into whose hands
they have fallen. Any act of insubordination warrants the
adoption, as regards them, of such measures of severity as may
be necessary. Escaped prisoners, recaptured before they have
succeeded in rejoining their army, or before quitting the
territory occupied by the army that captured them, are liable
to disciplinary punishment. Prisoners who, after succeeding in
escaping, are again taken prisoners, are not liable to any
punishment for the previous flight.
ARTICLE IX.
Every prisoner of war, if questioned, is bound to declare his
true name and rank, and if he disregards this rule, he is
liable to a curtailment of the advantages accorded to the
prisoners of war of his class.
ARTICLE X.
Prisoners of war may be set at liberty on parole if the laws
of their country authorize it, and, in such a case, they are
bound, on their personal honour, scrupulously to fulfil, both
as regards their own Government and the Government by whom
they were made prisoners, the engagements they have
contracted. In such cases, their own Government shall not
require of nor accept from them any service incompatible with
the parole given.
ARTICLE XI.
A prisoner of war cannot be forced to accept his liberty on
parole; similarly the hostile Government is not obliged to
assent to the prisoner's request to be set at liberty on
parole.
ARTICLE XII.
Any prisoner of war, who is liberated on parole and
recaptured, bearing arms against the Government to whom he had
pledged his honour, or against the allies of that Government,
forfeits his right to be treated as a prisoner of war, and can
be brought before the Courts.
ARTICLE XIII.
Individuals who follow an army without directly belonging to
it, such as newspaper correspondents and reporters, sutlers,
contractors, who fall into the enemy's hands, and whom the
latter think fit to detain, have a right to be treated as
prisoners of war, provided they can produce a certificate from
the military authorities of the army they were accompanying.
ARTICLE XIV.
A Bureau for information relative to prisoners of war is
instituted, on the commencement of hostilities, in each of the
belligerent States and, when necessary, in the neutral
countries on whose territory belligerents have been received.
This Bureau is intended to answer all inquiries about
prisoners of war, and is furnished by the various services
concerned with all the necessary information to enable it to
keep an individual return for each prisoner of war. It is kept
informed of internments and changes, as well as of admissions
into hospital and deaths. It is also the duty of the
Information Bureau to receive and collect all objects of
personal use, valuables, letters, &c., found on the
battlefields or left by prisoners who have died in hospital or
ambulance, and to transmit them to those interested.
ARTICLE XV.
Relief Societies for prisoners of war, which are regularly
constituted in accordance with the law of the country with the
object of serving as the intermediary for charity, shall
receive from the belligerents for themselves and their duly
accredited agents every facility, within the bounds of
military requirements and Administrative Regulations, for the
effective accomplishment of their humane task. Delegates of
these Societies may be admitted to the places of internment
for the distribution of relief, as also to the halting places
of repatriated prisoners, if furnished with a personal permit
by the military authorities, and on giving an engagement in
writing to comply with all their Regulations for order and
police.
ARTICLE XVI.
The Information Bureau shall have the privilege of free
postage. Letters, money orders, and valuables, as well as
postal parcels destined for the prisoners of war or despatched
by them, shall be free of all postal duties, both in the
countries of origin and destination, as well as in those they
pass through. Gifts and relief in kind for prisoners of war
shall be admitted free of all duties of entry and others, as
well as of payments for carriage by the Government rail ways.
ARTICLE XVII.
Officers taken prisoners may receive, if necessary, the full
pay allowed them in this position by their country's
regulations, the amount to be repaid by their Government.
ARTICLE XVIII.
Prisoners of war shall enjoy every latitude in the exercise of
their religion, including attendance at their own church
services, provided only they comply with the regulations for
order and police issued by the military authorities.
ARTICLE XIX.
The wills of prisoners of war are received or drawn up on the
same conditions as for soldiers of the national army. The same
rules shall be observed regarding death certificates, as well as
for the burial of prisoners of war, due regard being paid to
their grade and rank.
{362}
ARTICLE XX.
After the conclusion of peace, the repatriation of prisoners
of war shall take place as speedily as possible.
CHAPTER III.
On the Sick and Wounded.
ARTICLE XXI.
The obligations of belligerents with regard to the sick and
wounded are governed by the Geneva Convention of the 22d
August, 1864, subject to any modifications which may be
introduced into it.
SECTION II.
On Hostilities.
CHAPTER I.
On means of injuring the Enemy, Sieges: and Bombardments.
ARTICLE XXII.
The right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy
is not unlimited.
ARTICLE XXIII.
Besides the prohibitions provided
by special Conventions, it is especially prohibited:
(a.) To employ poison or poisoned arms;
(b.) To kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging
to the hostile nation or army;
(c.) To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down arms,
or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at
discretion;
(d.) To declare that no quarter will be given;
(e.) To employ arms, projectiles, or material of a nature
to cause superfluous injury;
(f.) To make improper use of a flag of truce, the national
flag, or military ensigns and the enemy's uniform, as well
as the distinctive badges of the Geneva Convention;
(g.) To destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such
destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the
necessities of war.
ARTICLE XXIV.
Ruses of war and the employment of methods necessary to obtain
information about the enemy and the country, are considered
allowable.
ARTICLE XXV.
The attack or bombardment of towns, villages, habitations or
buildings which are not defended, is prohibited.
ARTICLE XXVI.
The Commander of an attacking force, before commencing a
bombardment, except in the case of an assault, should do all
he can to warn the authorities.
ARTICLE XXVII.
In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps should be taken
to spare as far as possible edifices devoted to religion, art,
science, and charity, hospitals, and places where the sick and
wounded are collected, provided they are not used at the same
time for military purposes. The besieged should indicate these
buildings or places by some particular and visible signs,
which should previously be notified to the assailants.
ARTICLE XXVIII.
The pillage of a town or place, even when taken by assault, is
prohibited.
CHAPTER II.
On Spies.
ARTICLE XXIX.
An individual can only be considered a spy if, acting
clandestinely, or on false pretences, he obtains, or seeks to
obtain information in the zone of operations of a belligerent,
with the intention of communicating it to the hostile party.
Thus, soldiers not in disguise who have penetrated into the
zone of operations of a hostile army to obtain information are
not considered spies. Similarly, the following are not
considered spies: soldiers or civilians, carrying out their
mission openly, charged with the delivery of despatches
destined either for their own army or for that of the enemy.
To this class belong likewise individuals sent in balloons to
deliver despatches, and generally to maintain communication
between the various parts of an army or a territory.
ARTICLE XXX.
A spy taken in the act cannot be punished without previous
trial.
ARTICLE XXXI.
A spy who, after rejoining the army to which he belongs, is
subsequently captured by the enemy, is treated as a prisoner
of war, and incurs no responsibility for his previous acts of
espionage.
CHAPTER III.
On Flags of Truce.
ARTICLE XXXII.
An individual is considered as bearing a flag of truce who is
authorized by one of the belligerents to enter into
communication with the other, and who carries a white flag. He
has a right to inviolability, as well as the trumpeter,
bugler, or drummer, the flag-bearer, and the interpreter who
may accompany him.
ARTICLE XXXIII.
The Chief to whom a flag of truce is sent is not obliged to
receive it in all circumstances. He can take all steps
necessary to prevent the envoy taking advantage of his mission
to obtain information. In case of abuse, he has the right to
detain the envoy temporarily.
ARTICLE XXXIV.
The envoy loses his rights of inviolability if it is proved
beyond doubt that he has taken advantage of his privileged
position to provoke or commit an act of treachery.
CHAPTER IV.
On Capitulations.
ARTICLE XXXV.
Capitulations agreed on between the Contracting Parties must
be in accordance with the rules of military honour. When once
settled, they must be scrupulously observed by both the
parties.
CHAPTER V.
On Armistices.
ARTICLE XXXVI.
An armistice suspends military operations by mutual agreement
between the belligerent parties. If its duration is not fixed,
the belligerent parties can resume operations at any time,
provided always the enemy is warned within the time agreed
upon, in accordance with the terms of the armistice.
ARTICLE XXXVII.
An armistice may be general or local. The first suspends all
military operations of the belligerent States; the second,
only those between certain fractions of the belligerent armies
and in a fixed radius.
ARTICLE XXXVIII.
An armistice must be notified officially, and in good time, to
the competent authorities and the troops. Hostilities are
suspended immediately lifter the notification, or at a fixed
date.
ARTICLE XXXIX.
It is for the Contracting Parties to settle, in the terms of
the armistice, what communications may be held, on the theatre
of war, with the population and with each other.
ARTICLE XL.
Any serious violation of the armistice by one of the parties
gives the other party the right to denounce it, and even, in
case of urgency, to recommence hostilities at once.
ARTICLE XLI.
A violation of the terms of the armistice by private
individuals acting on their own initiative, only confers the
right of demanding the punishment of the offenders, and, if
necessary, indemnity for the losses sustained.
{363}
SECTION III.
On Military Authority over Hostile Territory.
ARTICLE XLII.
Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed
under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation
applies only to the territory where such authority is
established, and in a position to assert itself.
ARTICLE XLIII.
The authority of the legitimate power having actually passed
into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all
steps in his power to re-establish and insure, as far as
possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless
absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.
ARTICLE XLIV.
Any compulsion of the population of occupied territory to take
part in military operations against its own country is
prohibited.
ARTICLE XLV.
Any pressure on the population of occupied territory to take
the oath to the hostile Power is prohibited.
ARTICLE XLVI.
Family honours and rights, individual lives and private
property, as well as religious convictions and liberty, must
be respected. Private property cannot be confiscated.
ARTICLE XLVII.
Pillage is formally prohibited.
ARTICLE XLVIII.
If, in the territory occupied, the occupant collects the
taxes, dues, and tolls imposed for the benefit of the State,
he shall do it, as far as possible, in accordance with the
rules in existence and the assessment in force, and will in
consequence be bound to defray the expenses of the
administration of the occupied territory on the same scale as
that by which the legitimate Government was bound.
ARTICLE XLIX.
If, besides the taxes mentioned in the preceding Article, the
occupant levies other money taxes in the occupied territory,
this can only be for military necessities or the
administration of such territory.
ARTICLE L.
No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, can be inflicted
on the population on account of the acts of individuals for
which it cannot be regarded as collectively responsible.
ARTICLE LI.
No tax shall be collected except under a written order and on
the responsibility of a Commander-in-chief. This collection
shall only take place, as far as possible, in accordance with
the rules in existence and the assessment of taxes in force.
For every payment a receipt shall be given to the taxpayer.
ARTICLE LII.
Neither requisitions in kind nor services can be demanded from
communes or inhabitants except for the necessities of the army
of occupation. They must be in proportion to the resources of the
country, and of such a nature as not to involve the population
in the obligation of taking part in military operations
against their country. These requisitions and services shall
only be demanded on the authority of the Commander in the
locality occupied. The contributions in kind shall, as far as
possible, be paid for in ready money; if not, their receipt
shall be acknowledged.
ARTICLE LIII.
An army of occupation can only take possession of the cash,
funds, and property liable to requisition belonging strictly
to the State, depots of arms, means of transport, stores and
supplies, and, generally, all movable property of the State
which may be used for military operations. Railway plant, land
telegraphs, telephones, steamers, and other ships, apart from
cases governed by maritime law, as well as depots of arms and,
generally, all kinds of war material, even though belonging to
Companies or to private persons, are likewise material which
may serve for military operations, but they must be restored
at the conclusion of peace, and indemnities paid for them.
ARTICLE LIV.
The plant of railways coming from neutral States, whether the
property of those States, or of Companies, or of private
persons, shall be sent back to them as soon as possible.
ARTICLE LV.
The occupying State shall only be regarded as administrator
and usufructuary of the public buildings, real property,
forests, and agricultural works belonging to the hostile
State, and situated in the occupied country. It must protect
the capital of these properties, and administer it according
to the rules of usufruct.
ARTICLE LVI.
The property of the communes, that of religious, charitable,
and educational institutions, and those of arts and science,
even when State property, shall be treated as private
property. All seizure of, and destruction, or intentional
damage done to such institutions, to historical monuments,
works of art or science, is prohibited, and should be made the
subject of proceedings.
SECTION IV.
On the Internment of Belligerents and the Care of the Wounded
in Neutral Countries.
ARTICLE LVII.
A neutral State which receives in its territory troops
belonging to the belligerent armies shall intern them, as far
as possible, at a distance from the theatre of war. It can
keep them in camps, and even confine them in fortresses or
localities assigned for this purpose. It shall decide whether
officers may be left at liberty on giving their parole that
they will not leave the neutral territory without
authorization.
ARTICLE LVIII.
Failing a special Convention, the neutral State shall supply
the interned with the food, clothing, and relief required by
humanity. At the conclusion of peace, the expenses caused by
the internment shall be made good.
ARTICLE LIX.
A neutral State may authorize the passage through its
territory of wounded or sick belonging to the belligerent
armies, on condition that the trains bringing them shall carry
neither combatants nor war material. In such a case, the neutral
State is bound to adopt such measures of safety and control as
may be necessary for the purpose. Wounded and sick brought
under these conditions into neutral territory by one of the
belligerents, and belonging to the hostile party, must be
guarded by the neutral State, so as to insure their not taking
part again in the military operations. The same duty shall
devolve on the neutral State with regard to wounded or sick of
the other army who may be committed to its care.
{364}
ARTICLE LX.
The Geneva Convention applies to sick and wounded interned in
neutral territory. The Convention establishing these
regulations was not signed by the delegates from the United
States, nor by those of Great Britain. The reasons for
abstention on the part of the latter were stated in a
communication from the British War Office, as follows: "Lord
Lansdowne … considers it essential that the revised Articles,
together with the Preamble and final dispositions, should be
submitted to the most careful examination by the high military
authorities and by the legal advisers of Her Majesty's
Government, before he can pronounce a definitive opinion on
the three points raised. Subject to such reserves as may
result from this examination, Lord Lansdowne is of opinion
that the Project of Convention is in general of such a nature
that it may, in principle, be accepted as a basis of
instructions for the guidance of the British army, but he is
unable, until that examination has been completed, to offer an
opinion as to whether it is desirable to enter into an
international engagement. Lord Lansdowne would therefore
suggest, for Lord Salisbury's consideration, that instructions
should be given to Sir Julian Pauncefote to reserve full
liberty for Her Majesty's Government, to accept only such
Articles as, after mature examination by their military and
legal advisers, they may approve of." Probably the delegates
from the United States were similarly instructed by their
government.
Added to the Convention relative to Laws and Customs of War
were three Declarations, separately signed, as follows:
1. "The contracting powers agree to prohibit, for a term of
five years, the launching of projectiles and explosives from
balloons, or by other new methods of a similar nature."
2. "The contracting parties agree to abstain from the use of
bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such
as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover
the core, or is pierced with incisions."
3. "The contracting parties agree to abstain from the use of
projectiles the object of which is the diffusion of
asphyxiating or deleterious gases."
The first of these Declarations was signed by the delegates
from the United States, but not by those from Great Britain.
The second and third were signed by neither British nor
American representatives. In the discussion that preceded the
adoption of the second Declaration by a majority of the
Conference, Captain Crozier, of the American delegation,
presented the objections to it, on which he and his colleagues
were in agreement with the British representatives. He said
"there was a great difference of opinion as to whether the
bullets of small calibre rifles sufficed to put men 'hors de
combat,' which was admitted on all sides to be the object
which rifle fire was expected to achieve. He considered the
proposition before the Conference to be unsatisfactory, since
it limited the prohibition to details of construction which
only included a single case, and left all others out of
consideration. He would not enter into a recapitulation of all
the advantages of small calibre rifles, since they were
perfectly well known; but he felt sure that certain Powers
might adopt calibres even smaller than those at present in
use, and, in this case, he maintained that they would be
compelled to secure increased shock by some new method of
construction of the projectile. He considered that it would be
perfectly easy to devise such projectiles while keeping within
the terms of the proposed interdiction, and he thought that
the result might be the ultimate adoption of a bullet of an
even less humane character than those aimed at by the
Resolution. He declared that he had nothing to say for or
against the Dum-Dum bullet [see, in this volume, DUM-DUM
BULLET], of which he knew nothing except what had been stated
during the meetings of the First Commission, but that he was
not disposed to make any condemnation without proofs, and
these proofs had not been forthcoming."
As for the third Declaration, it was opposed by Captain Mahan,
who spoke for the Americans, because "he considered the use of
asphyxiating shell far less inhuman and cruel than the
employment of submarine boats, and as the employment of
submarine boats had not been interdicted by the Conference
(though specially mentioned with that object in the Mouravieff
Circular), he felt constrained to maintain his vote in favour of
the use of asphyxiating shell on the original ground that the
United States' Government was averse to placing any
restriction on the inventive genius of its citizens in
inventing and providing new weapons of war."
PEACE CONFERENCE:
Convention for the adaptation to maritime warfare of the
principles of the Geneva Convention of August 22, 1864.
ARTICLE I.
Military hospital-ships, that is to say, ships constructed or
assigned by States specially and solely for the purpose of
assisting the wounded, sick, or shipwrecked, and the names of
which shall have been communicated to the belligerent Powers
at the commencement or during the course of hostilities, and
in any case before they are employed, shall be respected and
cannot be captured while hostilities last. These ships,
moreover, are not on the same footing as men-of-war as regards
their stay in a neutral port.
ARTICLE II.
Hospital-ships, equipped wholly or in part at the cost of
private individuals or officially recognized relief Societies,
shall likewise be respected and exempt from capture, provided
the belligerent Power to whom they belong has given them an
official commission and has notified their names to the
Hostile Power at the commencement of or during hostilities,
and in any case before they are employed. These ships should
be furnished with a certificate from the competent
authorities, declaring that they had been under their control
while fitting out and on final departure.
ARTICLE III.
Hospital-ships, equipped wholly or in part at the cost of
private individuals or officially recognized Societies of
neutral countries, shall be respected and exempt from capture,
if the neutral Power to whom they belong has given them an
official commission and notified their names to the
belligerent Powers at the commencement of or during
hostilities, and in any case before they are employed.
ARTICLE IV.
The ships mentioned in Articles I, II, and III shall afford
relief and assistance to the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked of
the belligerents independently of their nationality. The
Governments engage not to use these ships for any military
purpose. These ships must not in any way hamper the movements
of the combatants. During and after an engagement they will
act at their own risk and peril. The belligerents will have
the right to control and visit them; they can refuse to help
them, order them off, make them take a certain course, and put
a Commissioner on board; they can even detain them, if important
circumstances require it. As far as possible the belligerents
shall inscribe in the sailing papers of the hospital-ships the
orders they give them.
{365}
ARTICLE V.
The military hospital-ships shall be distinguished by being
painted white outside with a horizontal band of green about a
metre and a half in breadth. The ships mentioned in Articles
II and III shall be distinguished by being painted white
outside with a horizontal band of red about a metre and a half
in breadth. The boats of the ships above mentioned, as also
small craft which may be used for hospital work, shall be
distinguished by similar painting. All hospital-ships shall
make themselves known by hoisting, together with their
national flag, the white flag with a red cross provided by the
Geneva Convention.
ARTICLE VI.
Neutral merchantmen, yachts, or vessels, having, or taking on
board, sick, wounded, or shipwrecked of the belligerents,
cannot be captured for so doing, but they are liable to
capture for any violation of neutrality they may have
committed.
ARTICLE VII.
The religious, medical, or hospital staff of any captured ship
is inviolable, and its members cannot be made prisoners of
war. On leaving the ship they take with them the objects and
surgical instruments which are their own private property.
This staff shall continue to discharge its duties while
necessary, and can afterwards leave when the
Commander-in-chief considers it possible. The belligerents
must guarantee to the staff that has fallen into their hands
the enjoyment of their salaries intact.
ARTICLE VIII.
Sailors and soldiers who are taken on board when sick or
wounded, to whatever nation they belong, shall be protected
and looked after by the captors.
ARTICLE IX.
The shipwrecked, wounded, or sick of one of the belligerents
who fall into the hands of the other, are prisoners of war.
The captor must decide, according to circumstances, if it is
best to keep them or send them to a port of his own country,
to a neutral port, or even to a hostile port. In the last
case, prisoners thus repatriated cannot serve as long as the
war lasts.
ARTICLE X.
The shipwrecked, wounded, or sick, who are landed at a neutral
port with the consent of the local authorities, must, failing
a contrary arrangement between the neutral State and the
belligerents, be guarded by the neutral State, so that they
cannot again take part in the military operations. The
expenses of entertainment and internment shall be borne by the
State to which the shipwrecked, wounded, or sick belong.
ARTICLE XI.
The rules contained in the above Articles are binding only on
the Contracting Powers, in case of war between two or more of
them. The said rules shall cease to be binding from the time
when, in a war between the Contracting Powers, one of the
belligerents is joined by a non-Contracting Power.
ARTICLE XII.
The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible.
The ratifications shall be deposited at The Hague. On the
receipt of each ratification a "procès-verbal" shall be drawn
up, a copy of which, duly certified, shall be sent through the
diplomatic channel to all the Contracting Powers.
ARTICLE XIII.
The non-Signatory Powers who accepted the Geneva Convention of
the 22d August, 1864, are allowed to adhere to the present
Convention. For this purpose they must make their adhesion
known to the Contracting Powers by means of a written
notification addressed to the Netherland Government, and by it
communicated to all the other Contracting Powers.
ARTICLE XIV.
In the event of one of the High Contracting Parties denouncing
the present Convention, such denunciation shall not take
effect until a year after the notification made in writing to
the Netherland Government, and forthwith communicated by it to
all the other Contracting Powers. This denunciation shall only
affect the notifying Power.
In faith of which the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed
the present Convention and affixed their seals thereto.
[Signed by the representatives of Belgium, Denmark, Spain,
Mexico, France, Greece, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Persia,
Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Siam, Sweden and Norway, and
Bulgaria]
----------PEACE CONFERENCE: End--------
PEARY'S EXPLORATIONS.
See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898—.
PEKING: A. D. 1900.
The siege of the Foreign Legations and their rescue.
Occupation of the city by the allied forces.
Looting and outrage.
March through the "Forbidden City."
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (JUNE-AUGUST);
and (AUGUST 4-16, and 15-28).
PEKING: A. D. 1900-1901.
Seizure of grounds for a fortified Legation Quarter.
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900-1901 (NOVEMBER-FEBRUARY).
PEKING SYNDICATE, Chinese concessions to the.
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY-DECEMBER).
PELAGIC SEAL KILLING, The question of.
See (in this volume)
BERING SEA QUESTIONS.
PELEW ISLANDS:
Sale by Spain to Germany.
See (in this volume)
CAROLINE AND MARIANNE ISLANDS.
PENNSYLVANIA: A. D. 1897.
Great strike of coal miners.
Conflict at Lattimer.
See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES: A. D. 1897.
PENNSYLVANIA: A. D. 1900.
Strike of anthracite coal miners.
See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES: A. D. 1900.
PENNSYLVANIA, University of:
Expeditions to explore the ruins of Nippur.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA:
AMERICAN EXPLORATION.
PENNY POSTAGE, British Imperial.
See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1898 (DECEMBER).
PENSIONS, Old-Age.
See references (in this volume) under
OLD-AGE PENSIONS.
PEONES.
See (in this volume)
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898-1899 (AUGUST-JULY).
PEOPLE'S PARTY, The.
See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
{366}
PERRY'S EXPEDITION TO JAPAN,
Proposed monument to commemorate.
See (in this volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1901.
PERSIA: A.D. 1896.
Assassination of the Shah.
The Shah of Persia, Nâsr-ed-din, was shot, on the 1st day of
May, when entering the mosque of Shah Abdul Azim, by one Mirza
Mahomed Reza, said to be of the Babi sect. Nâsr-ed-din had
reigned since 1848. He was succeeded by his son,
Muzaffar-ed-din, who was forty-three years old at his
accession.
PERSIA: A. D. 1897-1899.
Recent exploration of the ruins of Susa.
See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: PERSIA.
PERSIA: A. D. 1899 (May-July).
Representation in the Peace Conference at The Hague.
See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.
PERSIA: A. D. 1900.
Russian railway projects.
See (in this volume)
RUSSIA IN ASIA: A. D. 1900.
PERSIAN GULF, Railways to the.
See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1899 (NOVEMBER);
and RUSSIA IN ASIA: A. D. 1900.
PERU: A. D. 1894-1899.
Overthrow of an unconstitutional government.
Legitimate authority restored.
The death of President Bermudez, in March, 1894, brought about
a revolutionary movement in the interest of ex-President
Caceres. Constitutionally, the First Vice-President, Dr. del
Solar, would have succeeded the deceased President, until a
new election was held; but the Second Vice-President, who was
a partisan of Caceres, and who had the army with him, seized
control of the government. In May, Caceres was proclaimed
Provisional President, and in August it was claimed for him
that he had been elected by Congress; but the election was not
recognized by his opponents. A formidable rebellion was
organized, under the lead of ex-President Pierola, who had
been in exile and now returned. Civil war raged for nearly a
year, Pierola gaining steadily. In February, 1895, his forces
reached the capital and laid siege to it. On the 17th of March
they entered the city, and there was desperate fighting in the
streets of Lima for three days, nearly 2,000 of the
combatants being killed and more than 1,500 wounded. Chiefly
through the efforts of the Papal delegate, the bloody conflict
was finally stopped and terms of peace arranged. A provisional
government, made up from both parties, was formed, under which
a peaceable election was held in the following July. Pierola
was then elected President. Caceres and his partisans
attempted a rising the next year (1896), but it had no
success. In the northern department of Loreto, on the border
of Ecuador, an abortive movement for independence was set on
foot by an ambitious official, who gave the government
considerable trouble, but accomplished nothing more. In 1899,
President Pierola was succeeded by Eduardo L. de Romana,
elected in May. A rebellion attempted that year by one General
Durand was promptly suppressed.
PERU: A. D. 1894.-1900.
The dispute with Chile concerning Tacna and Arica.
See (in this volume)
CHILE: A. D. 1884-1900.
PESCADORES ISLANDS:
Cession by China to Japan.
See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1894-1895.
PHILADELPHIA: A. D. 1897.
Opening of the Commercial Museum.
A Commercial Museum which has acquired great importance was
opened in Philadelphia on the 2d of June, 1897. "In both aim
and results the institution is unique. Other countries, also,
have their commercial museums, which are doing excellent work.
Their scope, however, is much more limited; the Museum of
Philadelphia differing from them in that it is an active, not
merely a passive, aid to the prospective exporter. The foreign
museums, situated in London, Bremen, Hamburg, Stuttgart,
Vienna, Havre, Brussels, and various other commercial centres,
do not extend active aid, but content themselves with more or
less complete displays of samples of domestic and foreign
competitive goods sold in export markets. The theory of their
organization is, that the manufacturer, contemplating a
foreign business campaign, will be enabled to pursue it
intelligently through the study of these samples. The
initiative is left to the exporter himself, who must discover
what opportunities exist for him abroad; and it is also left
to him to take advantage of his opportunities in the way that
may seem best to him. The display of manufactured samples is
only a small part of the work of the Philadelphia Museum. This
institution shows not only what goods are sold in foreign
markets, but also where those markets are, what commercial
conditions obtain in connection with them, what particular
kinds of goods they demand, how these markets may be best
competed for, and where the raw material may be most
profitably purchased. It furnishes information, furthermore,
as to business connections as well as the credit ratings of
the agents or firms recommended. To secure specific
information it is not necessary to visit the institution
itself; for reports of trade opportunities abroad are
distributed by the Museum to its members; and these reports
are provided with photographs of many of the articles which,
at that particular time, are in demand, in certain parts of
the world. Under these circumstances, the exporter is
practically provided with a staff of expert, foreign
representatives, without any expense to himself beyond the
merely nominal fee for membership. While its activities are
dependent to a certain extent upon the income derived from
subscribers, the Museum is not a money-making institution.
Indeed, its income from this source does not cover half the
expenditures. It is enabled to carry on its work only by
reason of the generous, annual appropriation provided for it
by the City Councils of Philadelphia. But a very large income
is required to maintain a staff of 150 employees in
Philadelphia, as well as 500 regular and several thousand
occasional correspondents scattered throughout the world. The
only advantage which the city itself derives from the Museum
is that resulting indirectly from the presence of foreign
buyers attracted to Philadelphia by the Museum's work."
W. P. Wilson,
The Philadelphia Commercial Museum
(Forum, September, 1899).
PHILADELPHIA: A. D. 1899.
National Export Exposition and International
Commercial Congress.
See (in this volume)
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONGRESS.
{367}
----------PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Start--------
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS:
Number, area, shore line, and population.
"In regard to the number and areas of the islands in the
archipelago there must necessarily be a certain inaccuracy,
because the group has never been properly surveyed, and the
only method of determining the number and areas is by counting
and measuring on the charts. The following figures are
probably the best ever compiled. They are drawn from
enumeration and mensuration on maps recently obtained by the
United States commissioners to the Philippines and which are
without doubt the most complete and the most thorough ever
made. The following is quoted from the introduction to these
maps, which are being published by the United States Coast and
Geodetic Survey. All the islands or groups having an area of over
20 square miles have been measured, and the areas are here
given in square miles and square kilometers. Many different
statements have been made in regard to the number of the
islands composing the archipelago. The cause for this must be
attributed to the scale of the charts on which the count was
made and the difficulty of distinguishing between rocks and
formations of sufficient area to dignify them by the name of
islands. Thus on a small-scale Spanish chart of the entire
group 948 islands were counted; on various large-scale charts
of the same area there were found 1,725. The principal
islands, with the extent of shore line of some of them and
their area, are given on the following lists. The areas were
carefully measured, but are subject to the inaccuracy of the
length of general shore line.
Name. Square Miles. Square kilometers.{368}
Babuyan 36 93
Bagata, or Quinalasag 27 70
Balabae 38 98
Basilan 350 907
Batan 21 54
Bantayan 26 67
Bohol 1,430 3,727
Bucas 41 106
Burias 153 422
Busuanga 328 850
Calayan 37 96
Calamian 117 303
Camiguin (Babnyanes group) 54 140
Camiguin 71 184
Catandunanes 680 1,761
Cebu 1,742 4,512
Dalupiri 20 53
Dinagat 259 671
Dumaran 95 246
Fuga 21 54
Guimaras 176 456
Leite (Leyte) 2,713 7,027
Linapacan 40 104
Luzon 47,238 122,346
Mactan 20 52
Malhou (Homonkon) 35 91
Marindugna 287 743
Masbate 1.200 3,341
Mindanao 36,237 93,854
Mindoro 3,972 10,987
Negros 4,854 12,571
Olutanga 71 184
Panaon 57 148
Panay 4,708 12,194
Panglao 24 62
Pangutaran 32 85
Polillo 231 598
Samal 105 272
Samar 5,040 13,054
Saranguani 36 93
Semerara 23 60
Siargao 134 347
Sibuyan 131 339
Siquijor 83 215
Sulu, or Jolo 241 624
Tablas 250 648
Ticao 94 243
Ybayat, or Ibayat 22 57
Ylin 24 62
GROUPS.
Alabat 76 197
Jomalig
Banton 44 114
Simara
Romblon
Daram 41 106
Buad
Camotes group: 74 192
Ponson
Poro
Pasijan
Calaguas group:
Tinagua 19 49
Guintinua
Cuyos group: 28 73
Cuyos
Cugo
Agutaya
Hamipo
Bisukei
Laguan 23 60
Batag
Limbancauyan 184 477
Mesa, or Talajit
Maripipi
Balupiri
Biliran
Lubang 53 163
Ambil
Golo
San Miguel 82 212
Batan
Cacraray
Rapurrapu
Tawi Tawi group: 183 414
Tawi Tawi
Tabulinga
Tandubato
Others of the
Tawi Tawi group. 54 140
Total measured 118,542 307,025
Estimated area of
unmeasured islands 1,000 2,500
Total area 119,542 309,615 Length of general shore line. "The following [as to population] is a quotation from an
Name. Miles Kilometers
Bohol 161 259
Cebu 310 499
Jolo Archipelago 858 1,381
Kalamines 126 203
Leite 363 584
Luzon 2,144 3,450
Masbate 244 393
Mindanao 1,592 2,562
Mindoro 322 518
Negros 386 621
Palawan 644 1,036
Panay 377 607
Samar 412 663
Minor islands 3,505 5,641
Total 11,444 18,417
article by W. F. Wilcox, of the United States Census Bureau.
It is well to notice that the last official census was in 1887
and that the figures of that census, though probably
underestimating the population of the islands, are the ones
which, in default of better, we are obliged to take as final.
It is probable that these are an understatement of the true
population of the Philippines for several reasons, among which
is one not observed by Mr. Wilcox, and which is therefore
mentioned. It is, of course, only supposition, but is at least
suggestive. For every adult counted in the census the
officials were obliged to return a poll tax. Thus, for
instance, if 100,000 persons were counted 100,000 pesetas
would have to be returned to the treasury. It has therefore
been supposed that the officials counted, say, 150,000 and
returned only 100,000 pesetas and 100,000 names. Mr. Wilcox
says (American Statistical Association Publ., September,
1899): 'The population of the islands in 1872 was stated in a
letter to Nature (6:162), from Manila, by Dr. A. B. Meyer, who
gives the latest not yet published statistics as his
authority. The letter gives the population of nine islands, as
follows: Luzon 4,467,111 "It also gives the population of each of the 43 provinces of
Panay 1,052,586
Cebu 427,356
Leite 285,495
Bohol 283,515
Negros 255,873
Samar 250,062
Mindanao 191,802
Mindoro 70,926
the islands. The population was not counted, but estimated.
The number who paid tribute was stated as 1,232,544. How this
was ascertained we are not informed. The total population,
7,451,352, was approximated 'on the supposition that about the
sixth part of the whole has to pay tribute.' In reality this
population is 6.046 times the assigned tribute-paying
population. But Dr. Meyer adds: 'As there exist in all the
islands, even in Luzon, independent tribes and a large number
in Mindanao, the number of 7,451,352 gives no correct idea of
the real population of the Philippines. This is not known at
all and will not be known for a long time to come.'
"Since 1872 there have been actual enumerations of the
Philippines, but authorities differ as to the time when they
occurred and the detailed results. These enumerations were
usually confined to the subject and Catholic population, and
omitted the heathen, Mohammedan, and independent tribes. Four
reports of the entire population have been printed:
1. A report made by the religious orders in 1876 or 1877, in
which the nationalities and creeds of the population were
distinguished.
2. A manuscript report to Professor Blumentritt of the
enumeration made by the religious orders in December, 1879.
3. The official report of the civil census of December 31,
1877, contained in Reseña geog. y estad. de España, 1888, p.
1079.
4. The official report upon the census taken by the civil
officers December 31, 1887, and printed in the first volume of
Censo de la Poblacion de España, at Madrid, in 1891.
The first two may be compared, and tend somewhat to
corroborate each other, as follows: 1. Tribute-paying natives. 5,501,356
2. Army 14,545
3. Navy 2,924
4. Religious officers (Geistlichkeit) 1,962
5. Civil officers 5,552
6. Other Spaniards 13,265
Total Spaniards 38,248
1876-77. 1879.
Total Catholics 5,539,604 5,777,522
Heathen and Mohammedan natives 602,853 632,640
Foreigners (In 1876 there were:
British, 176; German, 109;
Americans, 42; French, 30) 378 592
Chinese 30,797 39,054
Total 6,173,632 6,449,813
"The third enumeration reported 5,567,685 as the
tribute-paying population. To this number should be added the
estimated number of the independent tribes, 'Indios no
sometidos'; this according to the missionaries' count was
about 600,000, making a total of 6,167,685. Most experts agree
that this official report is untrustworthy and involves
serious omissions, but believe that the facts are so
imperfectly known that they are unable to correct it. One
author, del Pac, writing in 1882, started from the
missionaries' census of 1876-77, viz, 6,173,632, assumed that
this omitted as many as 600,000 members of independent tribes
and that the increase of 1876-1882 would be 740,000. In this
way he got 7,513,632. A second writer, Sanciano, estimated the
population in 1881 as 10,260,249. The missionaries made an
estimate of their own in 1885 which showed 9,529,841.