History for ready reference, Volume 7

by J. N. Larned

"No corporation doing business in the state may be permitted
to influence elections or official duty by contributions of
money or anything of value.
"Every license issued or charter granted to a mining or public
service corporation, foreign or domestic, must contain a
stipulation that such corporation will submit any difference
it may have with employés in reference to labor to
arbitration.
"The selling by firms or corporations of commodities at a
lower rate in one locality than in another for the purpose of
creating a monopoly or for destroying competition is
prohibited.
"Municipal corporations may not be created by special but by
general laws, and every corporation now existing shall
continue with its present rights and powers until otherwise
provided by law. The powers of the initiative and referendum
are reserved to the people of every municipal corporation. No
municipal corporation may ever grant, extend or renew a
franchise without the approval of a majority of the qualified
electors residing within its limits, and no franchise may be
granted, extended or renewed for more than twenty-five years.
Women are qualified to vote at school-district elections only.
{154}
----------CONSTITUTION OF PERSIA: Start--------
A Constitution for Persia was signed by the Shah,
Muzaffer-ed-Deen, December 30, 1906, of which the following
is, in part, the text:
In the name of God the all Merciful! Whereas by our Firman of
the 5th August, 1906, we commanded the constitution of a
National Assembly [Medjliss] for the progress and welfare of
the State and nation, the strengthening of the foundations of
the kingdom, and the carrying out of the laws of Islam; and
whereas, in accordance with the clause by which it is provided
that, as each individual member of the State has a right to
take part in the superintendence and decision of public
affairs, we therefore have permitted the election and
appointment of Deputies on behalf of the nation; and whereas
the National Assembly has been opened through our gracious
benevolence, we have decreed the following Articles of
constitutional Regulations for the National Assembly,
including the duties and business of the Assembly and its
limitations and relations toward Government Departments:
THE INSTITUTION OF THE ASSEMBLY.
[Articles 1-14 declare the National Assembly to be "composed
of members elected at Tehran and in the provinces"; their
place of meeting to be at Tehran; their number 160, but may if
necessary be increased to 200; their term of service two
years: they are "representative of the whole Persian nation";
the Tehran deputies to have "the option of instituting the
Assembly and starting discussion and debates," and "their
decisions by majority during the absence of the provincial
deputies will be valid and are to be carried out." The
Assembly itself is given the right to fix the time of its
recess and its sitting; its members cannot be proceeded
against by any person; its proceedings must be public and open
to newspaper reporting, but false reporting shall be
punished.]
THE DUTIES OF THE ASSEMBLY, ITS LIMITATIONS AND RIGHTS.
Article 15.
The National Assembly has the right to discuss truthfully and
sincerely all matters it considers to be desirable in the
interests of the State and nation to investigate; and, subject
to the approval of a majority, to submit them, in the
enjoyment of the utmost safety and confidence, with the
approval of the Senate, to His Imperial Majesty the Shah,
through the first person of the Government, for His Majesty’s
signature, and to be then put into execution.
Article 16.
In general, all laws necessary for the strengthening of the
Government and kingdom, and the regulation of State affairs,
and for the Constitution of Ministries, must receive the
sanction of the National Assembly.
Article 17.
The necessary Bills for making new laws, or for the
alteration, amplification, or cancellation of existing laws,
will, when desirable, be prepared by the National Assembly to
be submitted to His Imperial Majesty the Shah for signature
with the approval of the Senate, and to be then put into
execution.
Article 18.
The regulation of financial matters, the modification of the
Budget, the alteration of the arrangement of taxation, the
refusal or acceptance of impositions, as well as the
inspections which will be undertaken by the Government, will
be done with the approval of the Assembly.
Article 19.
The Assembly will have the right, for the purpose of reforming
financial matters and facilitating the relations of the
Governors and the apportioning of the provinces of Persia, and
the reappointment of Governors, after the Senate has given its
approval, to demand from the Government authorities that the
decision arrived at should be carried out.
Article 20.
The Budget of each Ministry must be finished for the
succeeding year in the last half of each year, and must be
ready fifteen days before the 20th March.
Article 21.
Should it be necessary with regard to the constitutional laws
of the Ministries to make a new law, or to alter or cancel
existing laws, it will be done with the consent of the
National Assembly, whether its necessity be first pointed out
by the Assembly or by the responsible Minister.
Article 22.
Whenever a part of the revenue or property of the Government
or State is to be sold, or a change of frontier or border
becomes necessary, it will be done with the approval of the
National Assembly.
Article 23.
Without the approval of the National Assembly no concession
whatever for the formation of Companies or Associations shall
be granted by the Government.
Article 24.
Treaties, Conventions, the granting of concessions,
monopolies, either commercial, industrial, or agricultural,
whether the other party be a native or a foreigner, can only
be done with the approval of the National Assembly. Treaties
which it may be in the interests of the Government or nation
to keep secret are excepted.
Article 25.
All Government loans of any nature whatsoever, whether
internal or foreign, will be made with the knowledge and
approval of the National Assembly.
Article 26.
The construction of railways or roads, whether the cost be
defrayed by the Government, by Associations or Companies,
whether native or foreign, can only be undertaken with the
approval of the National Assembly.
Article 27.
Should the Assembly find in any place a fault, in the laws or
an irregularity in their fulfilment, it will draw the
attention of the responsible Minister to the same, and he will
have to give the necessary explanations.
Article 28.
Should a Minister, in contravention of one of the laws which
have received the Imperial sanction, by misrepresentations
obtain the issue of a written or verbal order from His
Imperial Majesty the Shah, and excuse himself thereby for his
delay and negligence, he will by law be responsible to His
Imperial Majesty the Shah.
{155}
Article 29.
Whichever Minister who in a matter or matters should not be
able to answer for his actions in accordance with the laws
approved by His Imperial Majesty, and if it should be apparent
that he has broken the law and transgressed the stipulated
limitations, the Assembly will petition His Imperial Majesty
for his dismissal, and when his fault has been determined by
the Courts of Justice he will not again be allowed to serve
the Government.
Article 30.
The National Assembly has the right whenever it considers it
desirable to make petitions direct to His Imperial Majesty by
the means of a body composed of the President and six Members
elected by the six classes. The time for the audience must be
arranged for through the Minister of Court.
Article 81.
The Ministers have the right to be present at the sittings of
the National Assembly, and to sit in the place set apart for
them, and to hear the debates of the Assembly; and should they
think it necessary, they may ask the President for permission
to speak and give the necessary explanations for the
discussion and investigation of affairs.
Article 32.
Any individual member of the public may make a statement of
his case, or complaints or criticisms, to the office of the
Assembly, and, if the matter concerns the Assembly itself, a
satisfying answer will be given to him; but should the matter
concern one of the Ministries, it will be sent to that
Ministry for investigation, and in order that a satisfying
answer be given.
Article 33.
New laws which are necessary will be prepared at the
responsible Ministries, and will be given to the National
Assembly by the responsible Minister or by the Sadr Azam, and
after receiving the approval of the Assembly will receive His
Imperial Majesty’s sign-manual and be put into execution.
Article 34.
The President of the Assembly can, if necessary, of his own
initiative or by the desire of ten Members of the Assembly or
of a Minister, form a Secret Committee, without the presence
of newspaper reporters or spectators, composed of a number of
persons chosen from among the Members of the Assembly, at
which the other Members of the Assembly will not have the
right to attend. The result of the deliberations of the Secret
Committee can, however, only be put into execution when the
Secret Committee in the presence of three quarters of the
persons elected accept the point at issue by a majority of
votes, and if the matter be not passed by the Secret
Committee, it will not be stated in the Assembly and will
remain secret.
Article 35.
Should the Secret Committee be instituted by the President of
the Assembly, he has the right to inform the public of any
part of it he thinks fit; but if the Secret Committee is
instituted by a Minister, the publication of the debate can
only be subject to that Minister’s permission.
[Articles 36-42 are regulative of the transaction of business
between the Assembly and the Ministries of the Government in
matters of debate, inquiry, action on bills, etc.]
THE INSTITUTION OF THE SENATE.
Article 43.
Another Assembly, called the Senate, will be constituted,
composed of sixty Members, whose sittings will coincide, after
its constitution, with those of the National Assembly.
Article 44.
The Regulations of the Senate must receive the approval of the
National Assembly.
Article 45.
The Members of the Assembly will be chosen from among the
enlightened, intelligent, orthodox, and respectable persons of
the State, thirty persons on behalf of His Imperial Majesty,
of whom fifteen from among the inhabitants of Tehran and
fifteen from the inhabitants of the provinces, and thirty
persons on behalf of the nation, of whom fifteen persons
elected by the people of Tehran and fifteen persons elected by
the people of the provinces.
Article 46.
After the constitution of the Senate all affairs must receive
the approval of both Assemblies. If those affairs are
initiated by the Senate or by the body of Ministers, they must
first be determined in the Senate and passed by a majority,
and then be sent to the National Assembly for approval; but
affairs initiated in the National Assembly will, on the
contrary, pass from that Assembly to the Senate, with the
exception of financial matters, which will be the prerogative
of the National Assembly, and the Senate will be informed of
the arrangements made by the Assembly regarding these affairs
in order that the Senate should make its observations on the
same to the National Assembly, which is, however, at liberty,
after the necessary investigations, either to accept or to
refuse the proposals of the Senate.
Article 47.
So long as the Senate is not constituted affairs will require
only the approval of the National Assembly and the sign-manual
of His Imperial Majesty to be put into execution.
[Article 48 provides for the constituting of a "third
assembly," composed of an equal number of members from the
National Assembly and the Senate, to deal with cases in which
those two bodies are in disagreement, and for the ultimate
dissolution of the National Assembly, preparatory to the
election of a new one, in case no settlement of the
disagreement is reached.
Article 49 allows the new Tehran deputies then elected to
begin their labors, outside of the points at issue, as soon as
they are ready.]
The conclusion of the Constitution is as follows:
Article 50.
During each term of election—that is to say, during two
years—a general election will not be called more than once.
Article 51.
It is decreed that the Sovereign who succeeds us should
protect these limitations and Articles, which aim at the
strengthening of the State and of the foundations of the
kingdom, and the protection of justice and contentment of the
nation, which we have decreed and put into execution, and
which they must look upon as their duty to fulfil.
In the month of Zilkade the Unclean, 1324.
O God the Almighty!
The Constitutional Laws of the National Assembly and the
Senate, containing fifty one Articles, are correct.
14th of the month of Zilkade, 1324
(30th December, 1906).
In the handwriting of Muzaffer-ed-Deen Shah;
It is correct.
(Sealed) Valiahd (Mohammed Ali Shah).
(Sealed) Mushir-ed-Dowleh (the Grand Vizier).
{156}
CONSTITUTION OF PERSIA:
The Constitutional Law, as passed by the National Assembly
and signed by the Shah on October 8, 1907.
One hundred and seven articles "to complete the fundamental
laws of the Constitution of Persia" were "added to the
Constitutional law "by the signature of the Shah on the 30th
of December, 1906. The first two are as follows:
Article 1.
The official religion of Persia is the branch of the Twelve
Imams of the Shia Sect of Islam. The Sovereign of Persia must
be of, and contribute to the spread of, this religion.
Article 2.
The National Assembly has been founded by the help of the
Twelfth Imam, the bounty of His Islamic Majesty, the
watchfulness of the Mujteheds and the common people. The laws
passed by it must never to all ages be contrary to the sacred
precepts of Islam, and the laws laid down by the Prophet. It
is obvious that the decision as to whether the laws passed by
the Assembly are in opposition to the precepts of Islam rests
with the Ulema. It is therefore officially decreed that for
all ages a Committee composed of five persons, who shall be
Mujteheds and religious doctors, and who also must be
acquainted with the requirements of the times, shall be
elected in the following manner: The Ulema and doctors of
Islam who are recognized by the Shias as the centre of
imitation shall make known to the National Assembly the names
of twenty of the Ulema possessing the above-mentioned
qualities. The National Assembly shall, by agreement on
casting of lots, elect five of them or more, according to the
requirements of the age, and admit them as members. This
Committee shall discuss and thoroughly investigate the Bills
brought in by the National Assembly, and reject every one of
these Bills which is contrary to the sacred precepts of Islam,
in order that it may not become law. The decision of this
Committee is final. This Article will not be liable to change
until the advent of the Twelfth Imam.
[Articles 3-7 relate to boundaries of the Kingdom, its
capital, its flag, protection of the lives and property of
foreigners, and the integrity of the Constitution.
Articles 8-25 are in the nature of a "bill of rights,"
affirming equality of rights to all; immunity from arbitrary
arrest, punishment, exile or sequestration of property;
freedom of "the study of teaching of arts, letters and
sciences" "except in so far as they are forbidden by the
Sheri"; freedom of publication for all "except heretical
works"; freedom of "societies and associations which do not
provoke religious or civil strife"; inviolability of postal
and telegraphic communications, except under authority of law.
All primary and secondary schools are placed under the
direction and surveillance of the Ministry of Education.
Articles 26-29 define, as follows:
THE POWERS OF THE REALM.
Article 26.
The powers of the realm spring from the people. The
Constitutional Law defines the method of using those powers.
Article 27.
The powers of the realm are divided into three parts:—
Firstly, legislative power, whose province it is to make and
amend laws. This power emanates from His Imperial Majesty the
Shah, the National Assembly, and the Senate. Each one of these
three sources possesses the right of originating laws; but
their passing is conditional to their not being contrary to
the laws of the Sheri, and to the approval of the two
Assemblies, and to their receiving the Imperial signature. But
the making and approval of laws relating to the revenue and
expenditure of the realm belong to the National Assembly
alone. The interpretation and commentary of laws is the
peculiar duty of the National Assembly.
Secondly, the judicial power, which consists in the
distinguishing of rights. This power belongs to the Sheri
Tribunals in matters appertaining to the Sheri, and to the
Courts of Justice in matters appertaining to the civil law
("urf").
Thirdly, the executive power, which rests with the Sovereign.
That is to say, the Laws and Decrees will be executed by the
Ministers and Government officials in the name of His Imperial
Majesty in the manner defined by law.
Article 28.
The three above-mentioned powers shall always be
differentiated and separated from one another.
Article 29.
The particular revenues of each province, department, and
commune shall be regulated by the Provincial and Departmental
Assemblies in accordance with their own particular laws.
[Articles 30-34 define the status of the members of the
National Assembly.]
RIGHTS AND POWERS OF THE CROWN.
[Articles 35-57 set forth the rights and powers of the Crown.
The sovereignty of Persia is declared to be "a trust which, by
the grace of God, has been conferred on the person of the
Sovereign by the people." The succession is vested in Muhammed
Ali Shah Kajar and his descendants; the Crown Prince to be
"the eldest son of the Sovereign whose mother is a Persian and
a princess." Provision is made for the election by a joint
committee of the Senate and the National Assembly on the
succession of a minor, who cannot govern personally till his
age is eighteen. The powers of the sovereign are thus
defined:]
Article 43.
The Sovereign cannot, without the approval and sanction of the
National Assembly and the Senate, interfere in the affairs of
another country.
Article 44.
The Sovereign is absolved from all responsibility. The
Ministers of State are responsible in all matters.
Article 45.
All the Decrees and Rescripts of the Sovereign shall only be
put into execution when they have been signed by the
responsible Minister, who is responsible for the accuracy of
the contents of that Firman or Rescript.
Article 46.
The dismissal and appointment of Ministers are by order of the
Sovereign.
Article 47.
The conferring of commissions in the army and orders and
honorary distinctions, with due observance of law, is vested
in the person of the Sovereign.
Article 48.
The Sovereign has the right, with the approval of the
responsible Minister, to choose the important officials of the
Government Departments, either at home or abroad, except in
cases excepted by law. But the appointment of the other
officials does not concern the Sovereign, except in cases
defined by law.
Article 49.
The issuing of Firmans for the execution of laws is one of the
rights of the Sovereign, but he may not delay or suspend the
execution of those laws.
Article 50.
The supreme command of the military and naval forces is vested
in the person of the Sovereign.
Article 51.
The declaration of war and the conclusion of peace rest with
the Sovereign.
{157}
Article 52.
Treaties which, in accordance with Article 24 of the
Constitutional Law of the 14th Zilaadeh, 1325 (30th December,
1906), must be kept secret, must, on the removal of this
necessity, and provided that the interests and security of the
country demand it, be communicated by the Sovereign to the
National Assembly and the Senate, with the necessary
explanations.
Article 58.
The secret clauses of any Treaty cannot annul the public
clauses of that Treaty.
Article 54.
The Sovereign can summon the National Assembly and the Senate
to an extraordinary Session.
Article 55.
Coins shall be struck, according to law, in the name of the
Sovereign.
Article 56.
The expenses of the Imperial household must be defined by law.
Article 57.
The powers and prerogatives of the Sovereign are only such as
have been defined by the existing constitutional laws.
[Articles 58-70 relate to the Ministers, who must be
Mussulmans and native Persian subjects, princes of the first
rank not eligible. They are severally and jointly responsible
to both Assemblies. Commands of the sovereign cannot divest
them of responsibility, which is to be defined by law. The
Assembly or the Senate can accuse and prosecute them for
offenses before the High Court of Appeal.]
JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS.
[The Judicial Tribunals of the Kingdom are the subject of
Articles 71-89. "The Supreme Court of Justice and the
subsidiary Courts" are declared to be "the official centres to
which all suits must be referred, and judgment in matters
appertaining to the Sheri rests with the fully qualified
Mujteheds." Suits relating to political rights concern the
Courts of Justice, excepting those which are excepted by law.
No Court of Law can be instituted except by law. One Court of
Appeal for the whole Kingdom is to be instituted at the
Capital. The sittings of all tribunals shall be public, except
in cases when the tribunal judges that this would be
prejudicial to order or decency. "The Presidents and the
members of the Courts of Justice will be chosen in the manner
decreed by the law of the Ministry of Justice, and will be
appointed by virtue of a royal Firman." No judge may be
suspended, temporarily, or permanently, without a trial or
proof of offence. Military tribunals will be instituted
according to a special law.]
MISCELLANEOUS.
[Provincial Assemblies of elected representatives are
provided for in Articles 90-93.
Articles 94-103 have relation to finances. They declare that
no taxes may be levied or exemptions from them allowed except
by law; that no favor to individuals shall be shown in
taxation; that nothing shall, on any pretext, be demanded from
the people, otherwise than by law; and provision is made for
the creation of a State Accounts Department, to be chosen by
the National Assembly.
The last four articles relate to the Army, which is required
to be in all particulars under regulation of law. "The army
vote must pass the National Assembly every year.">[
----------CONSTITUTION OF PERSIA: End--------
CONSTITUTION OF RUSSIA, The so-called.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA, A. D. 1904-1905.
----------CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH AFRICA: Start--------
Omitting the preamble, which sets forth the desirability and
expediency, "for the welfare and future progress of South
Africa, that the several British Colonies therein shall be
united under one Government in a legislative union under the
Crown of Great Britain and Ireland," the provisions of the
enactment for that purpose by the Parliament of the United
Kingdom, approved September 20, 1909, are as follows:
I.—PRELIMINARY.
1. This Act may be cited as the South Africa Act, 1909.
2. In this Act, unless it is otherwise expressed or implied,
the words "the Union" shall be taken to mean the Union of
South Africa as constituted under this Act, and the words
"Houses of Parliament," "House of Parliament," or
"Parliament," shall be taken to mean the Parliament of the
Union.
3. The provisions of this Act referring to the King shall
extend to His Majesty’s heirs and successors in the
sovereignty of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland.
II.—THE UNION.
4. It shall be lawful for the King, with the advice of the
Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that, on and after a
day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the
passing of this Act, the Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope,
Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony, hereinafter
called the Colonies shall be united in a Legislative Union
under one Government under the name of the Union of South
Africa. On and after the day appointed by such proclamation
the Government and Parliament of the Union shall have full
power and authority within the limits of the Colonies, but the
King may at any time after the proclamation appoint a
governor-general for the Union.
5. The provisions of this Act shall, unless it is otherwise
expressed or implied, take effect on and after the day so
appointed.
6. The colonies mentioned in section four shall become
original provinces of the Union under the names of Cape of
Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State, as the
case maybe. The original provinces shall have the same limits
as the respective colonies at the establishment of the Union.
7. Upon any colony entering the Union, the Colonial Boundaries
Act, 1895, and every other Act applying to any of the Colonies
as being self-governing colonies or colonies with responsible
government, shall cease to apply to that colony, but as from
the date when this Act takes effect every such Act of
Parliament shall apply to the Union.
III.—EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT.
8. The Executive Government of the Union is vested in the
King, and shall be administered by His Majesty in person or by
a governor-general as His representative.
{158}
9. The Governor-General shall be appointed by the King, and
shall have and may exercise in the Union during the King’s
pleasure, but subject to this Act, such powers and functions
of the King as His Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.
10. There shall be payable to the King out of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund of the Union for the salary of the
Governor-General an annual sum of ten thousand pounds. The
salary of the Governor-General shall not be altered during his
continuance in office.
11. The provisions of this Act relating to the
Governor-General extend and apply to the Governor-General for
the time being or such person as the King may appoint to
administer the government of the Union. The King may authorise
the Governor-General to appoint any person to be his deputy
within the Union during his temporary absence, and in that
capacity to exercise for and on behalf of the Governor-General
during such absence all such powers and authorities vested in
the Governor-General as the Governor-General may assign to
him, subject to any limitations expressed or directions given
by the King; but the appointment of such deputy shall not
affect the exercise by the Governor-General himself of any
power or function.
12. There shall be an Executive Council to advise the
Governor-General in the government of the Union, and the
members of the council shall be chosen and summoned by the
Governor-General and sworn as executive councillors, and shall
hold office during his pleasure.
13. The provisions of this Act referring to the
Governor-General in Council shall be construed as referring to
the Governor-General acting with the advice of the Executive
Council.
14. The Governor-General may appoint officers not exceeding
ten in number to administer such departments of State of the
Union as the Governor-General in Council may establish; such
officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the
Governor-General. They shall be members of the Executive
Council and shall be the King’s ministers of State for the
Union. After the first general election of members of the
House of Assembly, as hereinafter provided, no minister shall
hold office for a longer period than three months unless he is
or becomes a member of either House of Parliament.
15. The appointment and removal of all officers of the public
service of the Union shall be vested in the Governor-General
in Council, unless the appointment is delegated by the
Governor-General in Council or by this Act or by a law of
Parliament to some other authority.
16. All powers, authorities, and functions which at the
establishment of the Union are in any of the Colonies vested
in the Governor or in the Governor in Council, or in any
authority of the Colony, shall, as far as the same continue in
existence and are capable of being exercised after the
establishment of the Union, be vested in the Governor-General
or in the Governor-General in Council, or in the authority
exercising similar powers under the Union, as the case may be,
except such powers and functions as are by this Act or may by
a law of Parliament be vested in some other authority.
17. The command in chief of the naval and military forces
within the Union is vested in the King or in the
Governor-General as His representative.
18. Save as in section twenty-three excepted, Pretoria shall
be the seat of Government of the Union.
IV.—PARLIAMENT.
19. The legislative power of the Union shall be vested in the
Parliament of the Union, herein called Parliament, which shall
consist of the King, a Senate, and a House of Assembly.
20. The Governor-General may appoint such times for holding
the sessions of Parliament as he thinks fit, and may also from
time to time, by proclamation or otherwise, prorogue
Parliament, and may in like manner dissolve the Senate and the
House of Assembly simultaneously, or the House of Assembly
alone: provided that the Senate shall not be dissolved within
a period of ten years after the establishment of the Union,
and provided further that the dissolution of the Senate shall
not affect any senators nominated by the Governor-General in
Council.
21. Parliament shall be summoned to meet not later than six
months after the establishment of the Union.
22. There shall be a session of Parliament once at least in
every year, so that a period of twelve months shall not
intervene between the last sitting of Parliament in one
session and its first sitting in the next session.
23. Cape Town shall be the seat of the Legislature of the
Union.
SENATE.
24. For ten years after the establishment of the Union the
constitution of the Senate shall, in respect of the original
provinces, be as follows:
(i) Eight senators shall be nominated by the Governor-General
in Council, and for each original province eight senators
shall be elected in the manner hereinafter provided:
(ii) The senators to be nominated by the Governor-General in
Council shall hold their seats for ten years. One-half of
their number shall be selected on the ground mainly of their
thorough acquaintance, by reason of their official experience
or otherwise, with the reasonable wants and wishes of the
coloured races in South Africa. If the seat of a senator so
nominated shall become vacant, the Governor-General in Council
shall nominate another person to be a senator, who shall hold
his seat for ten years:
(iii) After the passing of this Act, and before the day
appointed for the establishment of the Union, the Governor of
each of the Colonies shall summon a special sitting of both
Houses of the Legislature, and the two Houses sitting together
as one body and presided over by the Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly shall elect eight persons to be senators
for the province. Such senators shall hold their seats for ten
years. If the seat of a senator so elected shall become
vacant, the provincial council of the province for which such
senator has been elected shall choose a person to hold the
seat until the completion of the period for which the person
in whose stead he is elected would have held his seat.
{159}
25. Parliament may provide for the manner in which the Senate
shall be constituted after the expiration of ten years, and
unless and until such provision shall have been made—
(i) the provisions of the last preceding section with regard
to nominated senators shall continue to have effect;
(ii) eight senators for each province shall be elected by the
members of the provincial council of such province together
with the members of the House of Assembly elected for such
province. Such senators shall hold their seats for ten years
unless the Senate be sooner dissolved. If the seat of an
elected senator shall become vacant, the members of the
provincial council of the province, together with the members
of the House of Assembly elected for such province, shall
choose a person to hold the seat until the completion of the
period for which the person in whose stead he is elected would
have held his seat. The Governor-General in Council shall make
regulations for the joint election of senators prescribed in
this section.
26. The qualifications of a senator shall be as follows:
—He must—
(a) be not less than thirty years of age;
(b) be qualified to be registered as a voter for the election
of members of the House of Assembly in one of the provinces;
(c) have resided for five years within the limits of the Union
as existing at the time when he is elected or nominated, as
the case may be;
(d) be a British subject of European descent;
(e) in the case of an elected senator, be the registered owner
of immovable property within the Union of the value of not
less than five hundred pounds over and above any special
mortgages thereon. For the purposes of this section, residence
in, and property situated within, a colony before its
incorporation in the Union shall be treated as residence in
and property situated within the Union.
27. The Senate shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any
other business, choose a senator to be the President of the
Senate, and as often as the office of President becomes vacant
the Senate shall again choose a senator to be the President.
The President shall cease to hold office if he ceases to be a
senator. He may be removed from office by a vote of the
Senate, or he may resign his office by writing under his hand
addressed to the Governor-General.
28. Prior to or during any absence of the President the Senate
may choose a senator to perform his duties in his absence.
29. A senator may, by writing under his hand addressed to the
Governor-General, resign his seat, which thereupon shall
become vacant. The Governor-General shall as soon as
practicable cause steps to be taken to have the vacancy
filled.
30. The presence of at least twelve senators shall be
necessary to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the
exercise of its powers.
31. All questions in the Senate shall be determined by a
majority of votes of senators present other than the President
or the presiding senator, who shall, however, have and
exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
32. The House of Assembly shall be composed of members
directly chosen by the voters of the Union in electoral
divisions delimited as hereinafter provided.
33. The number of members to be elected in the original
provinces at the first election and until the number is
altered in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be
as follows: Cape of Good Hope, fifty-one; Natal, seventeen;
Transvaal, thirty-six; Orange Free State, seventeen. These
numbers may be increased as provided in the next succeeding
section, but shall not, in the case of any original province,
be diminished until the total number of members of the House
of Assembly in respect of the provinces herein provided for
reaches one hundred and fifty, or until a period of ten years
has elapsed after the establishment of the Union, whichever is
the longer period.
34. The number of members to be elected in each province, as
provided in section thirty-three, shall be increased from time
to time as may be necessary in accordance with the following
provisions:
(i) The quota of the Union shall be obtained by dividing the
total number of European male adults in the Union, as
ascertained at the census of nineteen hundred and four, by the
total number of members of the House of Assembly as
constituted at the establishment of the Union:
(ii) In nineteen hundred and eleven, and every five years
thereafter, a census of the European population of the Union
shall be taken for the purposes of this Act:
(iii) After any such census the number of European male adults
in each province shall be compared with the number of European
male adults as ascertained at the census of nineteen hundred
and four, and, in the case of any province where an increase
is shown, as compared with the census of nineteen hundred and
four, equal to the quota of the Union or any multiple thereof,
the number of members allotted to such province in the last
preceding section shall be increased by an additional member
or an additional number of members equal to such multiple, as
the case may be:
(iv) Notwithstanding anything herein contained, no additional
member shall be allotted to any province until the total
number of European male adults in such province exceeds the
quota of the Union multiplied by the number of members
allotted to such province for the time being, and thereupon
additional members shall be allotted to such province in
respect only of such excess:
(v) As soon as the number of members of the House of Assembly
to be elected in the original provinces in accordance with the
preceding subsections reaches the total of one hundred and
fifty, such total shall not be further increased unless and
until Parliament otherwise provides; and subject to the
provisions of the last preceding section the distribution of
members among the provinces shall be such that the proportion
between the number of members to be elected at any time in
each province and the number of European male adults in such
province, as ascertained at the last preceding census, shall
as far as possible be identical throughout the Union:
(vi) "Male adults" in this Act shall be taken to mean males of
twenty-one years of age or upwards not being members of His
Majesty’s regular forces on full pay:
(vii) For the purposes of this Act the number of European male
adults, as ascertained at the census of nineteen hundred and
four, shall be taken to be—
For the Cape of Good Hope, 167,546;
for Natal, 34,784;
for the Transvaal, 106,493;
For the Orange Free State, 41,014.
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35.
(1) Parliament may by law prescribe the qualifications which
shall be necessary to entitle persons to vote at the election
of members of the House of Assembly, but no such law shall
disqualify any person in the province of the Cape of Good Hope
who, under the laws existing in the Colony of the Cape of Good
Hope at the establishment of the Union, is or may become
capable of being registered as a voter from being so
registered in the province of the Cape of Good Hope by reason
of his race or colour only, unless the Bill be passed by both
Houses of Parliament sitting together, and at the third
reading be agreed to by not less than two-thirds of the total
number of members of both Houses. A Bill so passed at such
joint sitting shall be taken to have been duly passed by both
Houses of Parliament.
(2) No person who at the passing of any such law is registered
as a voter in any province shall be removed from the register
by reason only of any disqualification based on race or
colour.
36. Subject to the provisions of the last preceding section,
the qualifications of parliamentary voters, as existing in the
several Colonies at the establishment of the Union, shall be
the qualifications necessary to entitle persons in the
corresponding provinces to vote for the election of members of
the House of Assembly: Provided that no member of His
Majesty’s regular forces on full pay shall be entitled to be
registered as a voter.
[Section 37 of the Act applies to the elections of members of
the House of Assembly all existing election laws in the
respective provinces relating to the elections for their more
numerous Houses of Parliament, excepting that it requires all
polls to be taken on one and the same day throughout the
Union.
Sections 38 to 43 inclusive provide for the creation of a
joint commission to determine the first division of the
provinces into equalized electoral divisions, and for
subsequent commissions of three judges of the Supreme Court of
South Africa for re-divisions, as they may become necessary.]
44. The qualifications of a member of the House of Assembly
shall be as follows:—He must—
(a) be qualified to be registered as a voter for the election
of members of the House of Assembly in one of the provinces;
(b) have resided for five years within the limits of the
Union as existing at the time when he is elected;
(c) be a British subject of European descent.
For the purposes of this section, residence in a colony before
its incorporation in the Union shall be treated as residence
in the Union.
45. Every House of Assembly shall continue for five years from
the first meeting thereof, and no longer, but may be sooner
dissolved by the Governor-General.
46. The House of Assembly shall, before proceeding to the
despatch of any other business, choose a member to be the
Speaker of the House, and, as often as the office of Speaker
becomes vacant, the House shall again choose a member to be
the Speaker. The Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he
ceases to be a member. He may be removed from office by a vote
of the House, or he may resign his office or his seat by
writing under his hand addressed to the Governor-General.
47. Prior to or during the absence of the Speaker, the House
of Assembly may choose a member to perform his duties in his
absence.
48. A member may, by writing under his hand addressed to the
Speaker, or, if there is no Speaker, or if the Speaker is
absent from the Union, to the Governor-General, resign his
seat, which shall thereupon become vacant.
49. The presence of at least thirty members of the House of
Assembly shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the
House for the exercise of its powers.
50. All questions in the House of Assembly shall be determined
by a majority of votes of members present other than the
Speaker or the presiding member, who shall, however, have and
exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
[Section 51 prescribes the oath or affirmation of allegiance
to the British Sovereign which each senator and member of the
House of Assembly must subscribe to before taking his seat.]
52. A member of either House of Parliament shall be incapable
of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House:
Provided that every minister of State who is a member of
either House of Parliament shall have the right to sit and
speak in the Senate and the House of Assembly, but shall vote
only in the House of which he is a member.
53. No person shall be capable of being chosen or of sitting
as a senator or as a member of the House of Assembly who—
(a) has been at any time convicted of any crime or offence for
which he shall have been sentenced to imprisonment without the
option of a fine for a term of not less than twelve months,
unless he shall have received a grant of amnesty or a free
pardon, or unless such imprisonment shall have expired at
least five years before the date of his election; or
(b) is an unrehabilitated insolvent; or
(c) is of unsound mind, and has been so declared by a
competent court; or
(d) holds any office of profit under the Crown within the
Union:
Provided that the following persons shall not be deemed to
hold an office of profit under the Crown for the purposes of
this subsection:
(1) a minister of State for the Union;
(2) a person in receipt of a pension from the Crown;
(3) an officer or member of His Majesty’s naval or military
forces on retired or half pay, or an officer or member of the
naval or military forces of the Union whose services are not
wholly employed by the Union.
54. If a senator or member of the House of Assembly—
(a) becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in
the last preceding section; or
(b) ceases to be qualified as required by law; or
(c) fails for a whole ordinary session to attend without the
special leave of the Senate or the House of Assembly, as the
case may be; his seat shall thereupon become vacant.
[Section 55 imposes a penalty of £100 for each day on which
any disqualified person may knowingly sit in Parliament.]
56. Each senator and each member of the House of Assembly
shall, under such rules as shall be framed by Parliament,
receive an allowance of four hundred pounds a year, to be
reckoned from the date on which he takes his seat: Provided
that for every day of the session on which he is absent there
shall be deducted from such allowance the sum of three pounds:
Provided further that no such allowance shall be paid to a
Minister receiving a salary under the Crown or to the
President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of
Assembly. A day of the session shall mean in respect of a
member any day during a session on which the House of which he
is a member or any committee of which he is a member meets.
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[Sections 57-58 relate to the privileges of each House of
Parliament and its right to make rules and orders of procedure
for the conduct of its business.]
POWERS OF PARLIAMENT.
59. Parliament shall have full power to make laws for the
peace, order, and good government of the Union.
60.—
(1) Bills appropriating revenue or moneys or imposing taxation
shall originate only in the House of Assembly. But a Bill
shall not be taken to appropriate revenue or moneys or to
impose taxation by reason only of its containing provisions
for the imposition or appropriation of fines or other
pecuniary penalties.
(2) The Senate may not amend any Bills so far as they impose
taxation or appropriate revenue or moneys for the services of
the Government.
(3) The Senate may not amend any Bill so as to increase any
proposed charges or burden on the people.
61. Any Bill which appropriates revenue or moneys for the
ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only
with such appropriation.
62. The House of Assembly shall not originate or pass any
vote, resolution, address, or Bill for the appropriation of
any part of the public revenue or of any tax or impost to any
purpose unless such appropriation has been recommended by
message from the Governor-General during the Session in which
such vote, resolution, address, or Bill is proposed.
63. If the House of Assembly passes any Bill and the Senate
rejects or fails to pass it or passes it with amendments to
which the House of Assembly will not agree, and if the House
of Assembly in the next session again passes the Bill with or
without any amendments which have been made or agreed to by
the Senate and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it or
passes it with amendments to which the House of Assembly will
not agree, the Governor-General may during that session
convene a joint sitting of the members of the Senate and House
of Assembly. The members present at any such joint sitting may
deliberate and shall vote together upon the Bill as last
proposed by the House of Assembly and upon amendments, if any,
which have been made therein by one House of Parliament and
not agreed to by the other; and any such amendments which are
affirmed by a majority of the total number of members of the
Senate and House of Assembly present at such sitting shall be
taken to have been carried, and if the Bill with the
amendments, if any, is affirmed by a majority of the members
of the Senate and House of Assembly present at such sitting,
it shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses of
Parliament: Provided that, if the Senate shall reject or fail
to pass any Bill dealing with the appropriation of revenue or
moneys for the public service, such joint sitting may be
convened during the same session in which the Senate so
rejects or fails to pass such Bill.
64. When a Bill is presented to the Governor-General for the
King’s Assent, he shall declare according to his discretion,
but subject to the provisions of this Act, and to such
instructions as may from time to time be given in that behalf
by the King, that he assents in the King’s name, or that he
withholds assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the
signification of the King’s pleasure. All Bills repealing or
amending this section or any of the provisions of Chapter IV.
under the heading "House of Assembly," and all Bills
abolishing provincial councils or abridging the powers
conferred on provincial councils under section eighty-five,
otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of that
section, shall be so reserved. The Governor-General may return
to the House in which it originated any Bill so presented to
him, and may transmit therewith any amendments which he may
recommend, and the House may deal with the recommendation.
65. The King may disallow any law within one year after it has
been assented to by the Governor General, and such
disallowance, on being made known by the Governor-General by
speech or message to each of the Houses of Parliament or by
proclamation, shall annul the law from the day when the
disallowance is so made known.
66. A Bill reserved for the King’s pleasure shall not have any
force unless and until, within one year from the day on which

it was presented to the Governor-General for the King’s
Assent, the Governor-General makes known by speech or message
to each of the Houses of Parliament or by proclamation that it
has received the King’s Assent.
67. As soon as may be after any law shall have been assented
to in the King’s name by the Governor-General, or having been
reserved for the King’s pleasure shall have received his
assent, the Clerk of the House of Assembly shall cause two
fair copies of such law, one being in the English and the
other in the Dutch language (one of which copies shall be
signed by the Governor-General), to be enrolled of record in
the office of the Registrar of the Appellate Division of the
Supreme Court of South Africa; and such copies shall be
conclusive evidence as to the provisions of every such law,
and in case of conflict between the two copies thus deposited
that signed by the Governor-General shall prevail.
V.—THE PROVINCES.
ADMINISTRATORS.
68.—
(1) In each province there shall be a chief executive officer
appointed by the Governor-General in Council, who shall be
styled the administrator of the province, and in whose name
all executive acts relating to provincial affairs therein
shall be done.
(2) In the appointment of the administrator of any province,
the Governor-General in Council shall, as far as practicable,
give preference to persons resident in such province.
(3) Such administrator shall hold office for a term of five
years and shall not be removed before the expiration thereof
except by the Governor-General in Council for cause assigned,
which shall be communicated by message to both Houses of
Parliament within one week after the removal, if Parliament be
then sitting, or, if Parliament be not sitting, then within
one week after the commencement of the next ensuing session.
(4) The Governor-General in Council may from time to time
appoint a deputy administrator to execute the office and
functions of the administrator during his absence, illness, or
other inability.
69. The salaries of the administrators shall be fixed and
provided by Parliament, and shall not be reduced during their
respective terms of office.
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PROVINCIAL COUNCILS.
70.—
(1) There shall be a provincial council in each province
consisting of the same number of members as are elected in the
province for the House of Assembly: Provided that, in any
province whose representatives in the House of Assembly shall
be less than twenty-five in number, the provincial council
shall consist of twenty-five members.
(2) Any person qualified to vote for the election of members
of the provincial council shall be qualified to be a member of
such council.
[Sections 71-77 are regulative of the elections, the terms
(three years), and the sittings of the Provincial Councils.
Sections 78-84 are creative of Executive Committees, for which
each Provincial Council shall elect "from among its members,
or otherwise," four persons, to be joined with the
administrator of the Province, the latter being chairman of
the Executive Committee thus constituted. This Committee, "on
behalf of the Provincial Council," being appointed to "carry
on the administration of provincial affairs," and, "subject to
the provisions of this Act," to be invested with "all powers,
authorities, and functions which at the establishment of the
Union are vested in or exercised by the Governor in Council,
or any minister of the Colony.">[
POWERS OF PROVINCIAL COUNCILS.
85. Subject to the provisions of this Act and the assent of
the Governor-General in Council as hereinafter provided, the
provincial council may make ordinances in relation to matters
coming within the following classes of subjects (that is to
say):—
(i) Direct taxation within the province in order to raise a
revenue for provincial purposes:
(ii) The borrowing of money on the sole credit of the province
with the consent of the Governor-General in Council and in
accordance with regulations to be framed by Parliament:
(iii) Education, other than higher education, for a period of
five years and thereafter until Parliament otherwise provides:
(iv) Agriculture to the extent and subject to the conditions
to be defined by Parliament:
(v) The establishment, maintenance, and management of
hospitals and charitable institutions:
(vi) Municipal institutions, divisional councils, and other
local institutions of a similar nature:
(vii) Local works and undertakings within the province, other
than railways and harbours and other than such works as extend
beyond the borders of the province, and subject to the power
of Parliament to declare any work a national work and to
provide for its construction by arrangement with the
provincial council or otherwise:
(viii) Roads, outspans, ponts, and bridges, other than bridges
connecting two provinces:
(ix) Markets and pounds:
(x) Fish and game preservation:
(xi) The imposition of punishment by fine, penalty, or
imprisonment for enforcing any law or any ordinance of the
province made in relation to any matter coming within any of
the classes of subjects enumerated in this section:
(xii) Generally all matters which, in the opinion of the
Governor-General in Council, are of a merely local or private
nature in the province:
(xiii) All other subjects in respect of which Parliament shall
by any law delegate the power of making ordinances to the
provincial council.
[Sections 86-93 are regulative of the exercise of the powers
thus conferred.]
94. The seats of provincial government shall be—
For the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town;
for Natal, Pietermaritzburg;
for the Transvaal, Pretoria;
for the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein.
VI.—THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA.
95. There shall be a Supreme Court of South Africa consisting
of a Chief Justice of South Africa, the ordinary judges of
appeal, and the other judges of the several divisions of the
Supreme Court of South Africa in the provinces.
96. There shall be an Appellate Division of the Supreme Court
of South Africa, consisting of the Chief Justice of South
Africa, two ordinary judges of appeal, and two additional
judges of appeal. Such additional judges of appeal shall be
assigned by the Governor-General in Council to the Appellate
Division from any of the provincial or local divisions of the
Supreme Court of South Africa, but shall continue to perform
their duties as judges of their respective divisions when
their attendance is not required in the Appellate Division.
97. The Governor-General in Council may, during the absence,
illness, or other incapacity of the Chief Justice of South
Africa, or of any ordinary or additional judge of appeal,
appoint another judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa to
act temporarily as such chief justice, ordinary judge of
appeal, or additional judge of appeal, as the case may be.
98.—
(1) The several supreme courts of the Cape of Good Hope,
Natal, and the Transvaal, and the High Court of the Orange
River Colony shall, on the establishment of the Union, become
provincial divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa
within their respective provinces, and shall each be presided
over by a judge-president.
[Further prescriptions on the same subject are contained in
this and the next section of the Act.]
100. The Chief Justice of South Africa, the ordinary judges of
appeal, and all other judges of the Supreme Court of South
Africa to be appointed after the establishment of the Union
shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council, and
shall receive such remuneration as Parliament shall prescribe,
and their remuneration shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.
101. The Chief Justice of South Africa and other judges of the
Supreme Court of South Africa shall not be removed from office
except by the Governor-General in Council on an address from
both Houses of Parliament in the same session praying for such
removal on the ground of misbehaviour or incapacity.
102. Upon any vacancy occurring in any division of the Supreme
Court of South Africa, other than the Appellate Division, the
Governor-General in Council may, in case he shall consider
that the number of judges of such court may with advantage to
the public interest be reduced, postpone filling the vacancy
until Parliament shall have determined whether such reduction
shall take place.
[Rules concerning the cases, civil and criminal, which may be
appealed from inferior courts to the Appellate Division, and
not to the Supreme Court, are laid down in sections 103-105.]
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106. There shall be no appeal from the Supreme Court of South
Africa or from any division thereof to the King in Council,
but nothing herein contained shall be construed to impair any
right which the King in Council may be pleased to exercise to
grant special leave to appeal from the Appellate Division to
the King in Council. Parliament may make laws limiting the
matters in respect of which such special leave may be asked,
but Bills containing any such limitation shall be reserved by
the Governor-General for the signification of His Majesty’s
pleasure: Provided that nothing in this section shall affect
any right of appeal to His Majesty in Council from any
judgment given by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court
under or in virtue of the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act,
1890.
107. The Chief Justice of South Africa and the ordinary judges
of appeal may, subject to the approval of the Governor-General
in Council, make rules for the conduct of the proceedings of
the Appellate Division and prescribing the time and manner of
making appeals thereto. Until such rules shall have been
promulgated, the rules in force in the Supreme Court of the
Cape of Good Hope at the establishment of the Union shall
mutatis mutandis apply.
[Other details concerning the rules and the sessions of the
several provincial and local divisions of the Supreme Court,
the execution of their writs and other processes, etc., are
set forth in sections 108-116.]
VII.—FINANCE AND RAILWAYS.
117. All revenues, from whatever source arising, over which
the several Colonies have at the establishment of the Union
power of appropriation, shall vest in the Governor-General in
Council. There shall be formed a Railway and Harbour Fund,
into which shall be paid all revenues raised or received by
the Governor-General in Council from the administration of the
railways, ports, and harbours, and such fund shall be
appropriated by Parliament to the purposes of the railways,
ports, and harbours in the manner prescribed by this Act.
There shall also be formed a Consolidated Revenue Fund, into
which shall be paid all other revenues raised or received by
the Governor-General in Council, and such fund shall be
appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of the Union in
the manner prescribed by this Act, and subject to the charges
imposed thereby.
[Sections 118-123 provide for a commission "to institute an
inquiry into the financial relations which should exist
between the Union and the provinces"; prescribe the division
to be made meantime of the Consolidated Revenue Fund; make the
interest of the public debts a first charge on that fund;
transfer to the Union all stocks, moneys, and securities, all
crown lands, public works, etc., and all rights in mines and
minerals that belonged to each of the colonies at the
establishment of the Union.]
124. The Union shall assume all debts and liabilities of the
Colonies existing at its establishment, subject,
notwithstanding any other provision contained in this Act, to
the conditions imposed by any law under which such debts or
liabilities were raised or incurred, and without prejudice to
any rights of security or priority in respect of the payment
of principal, interest, sinking fund, and other charges
conferred on the creditors of any of the Colonies, and may,
subject to such conditions and rights, convert, renew, or
consolidate such debts.
125. All ports, harbours, and railways belonging to the
several Colonies at the establishment of the Union shall from
the date thereof vest in the Governor-General in Council. No
railway for the conveyance of public traffic, and no port,
harbour, or similar work, shall be constructed without the
sanction of Parliament.
126. Subject to the authority of the Governor-General in
Council, the control and management of the railways, ports,
and harbours of the Union shall be exercised through a board
consisting of not more than three commissioners, who shall be
appointed by the Governor-General in Council, and a minister
of State, who shall be chairman. …
[Of the remaining sections of the Act (127-152) the following
are the more important or the more significant.]
133. In order to compensate Pietermaritzburg and Bloemfontein
for any loss sustained by them in the form of diminution of
prosperity or decreased rateable value by reason of their
ceasing to be the seats of government of their respective
colonies, there shall be paid from the Consolidated Revenue
Fund for a period not exceeding twenty-five years to the
municipal councils of such towns a grant of two per centum per
annum on their municipal debts, as existing on the
thirty-first day of January nineteen hundred and nine, and as
ascertained by the Controller and Auditor-General. The
Commission appointed under section one hundred and eighteen
shall, after due inquiry, report to the Governor-General in
Council what compensation should be paid to the municipal
councils of Cape Town and Pretoria for the losses, if any,
similarly sustained by them. Such compensation shall be paid
out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for a period not
exceeding twenty-five years, and shall not exceed one per
centum per annum on the respective municipal debts of such
towns as existing on the thirty-first January nineteen hundred
and nine, and as ascertained by the Controller and
Auditor-General.
134. The election of senators and of members of the executive
committees of the provincial councils as provided in this Act
shall, whenever such election is contested, be according to
the principle of proportional representation, each voter
having one transferable vote. The Governor-General in Council,
or, in the case of the first election of the Senate, the
Governor in Council of each of the Colonies, shall frame
regulations prescribing the method of voting and of
transferring and counting votes and the duties of returning
officers in connection therewith, and such regulations or any
amendments thereof after being duly promulgated shall have
full force and effect unless and until Parliament shall
otherwise provide.
136. There shall be free trade throughout the Union, but until
Parliament otherwise provides the duties of custom and of
excise leviable under the laws existing in any of the Colonies
at the establishment of the Union shall remain in force.
137. Both the English and Dutch languages shall be official
languages of the Union, and shall be treated on a footing of
equality, and possess and enjoy equal freedom, rights, and
privileges; all records, journals, and proceedings of
Parliament shall be kept in both languages, and all Bills,
Acts, and notices of general public importance or interest
issued by the Government of the Union shall be in both
languages.
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138. All persons who have been naturalised in any of the
Colonies shall be deemed to be naturalised throughout the
Union.
140. Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section,
all officers of the public service of the Colonies shall at
the establishment of the Union become officers of the Union.
141.
(1) As soon as possible after the establishment of the Union,
the Governor-General in Council shall appoint a public service
commission to make recommendations for such reorganisation and
readjustment of the departments of the public service as may
be necessary. The commission shall also make recommendations
in regard to the assignment of officers to the several
provinces. …
142. After the establishment of the Union the Governor-General
in Council shall appoint a permanent public service commission
with such powers and duties relating to the appointment,
discipline, retirement, and superannuation of public officers
as Parliament shall determine.
143. Any officer of the public service of any of the Colonies
at the establishment of the Union who is not retained in the
service of the Union or assigned to that of a province shall
be entitled to receive such pension, gratuity, or other
compensation as he would have received in like circumstances
if the Union had not been established.
147. The control and administration of native affairs and of
matters specially or differentially affecting Asiastics
throughout the Union shall vest in the Governor-General in
Council, who shall exercise all special powers in regard to
native administration hitherto vested in the Governors of the
Colonies or exercised by them as supreme chiefs, and any lands
vested in the Governor or Governor and Executive Council of
any colony for the purpose of reserves for native locations
shall vest in the Governor-General in Council, who shall
exercise all special powers in relation to such reserves as
may hitherto have been exercisable by any such Governor or
Governor and Executive Council, and no lands set aside for the
occupation of natives which cannot at the establishment of the
Union be alienated except by an Act of the Colonial
Legislature shall be alienated or in any way diverted from the
purposes for which they are set apart except under the
authority of an Act of Parliament.
148.—
(1) All rights and obligations under any conventions or
agreements which are binding on any of the Colonies shall
devolve upon the Union at its establishment.
(2) The provisions of the railway agreement between the
Governments of the Transvaal, the Cape of Good Hope, and
Natal, dated the second of February, nineteen hundred and
nine, shall, as far as practicable, be given effect to by the
Government of the Union.
IX.—NEW PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES.
149. Parliament may alter the boundaries of any province,
divide a province into two or more provinces, or form a new
province out of provinces within the Union, on the petition of
the provincial council of every province whose boundaries are
affected thereby.
150. The King, with the advice of the Privy Council, may on
addresses from the Houses of Parliament of the Union admit
into the Union the territories administered by the British
South Africa Company on such terms and conditions as to
representation and otherwise in each case as are expressed in
the addresses and approved by the King, and the provisions of
any Order in Council in that behalf shall have effect as if
they had been enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland.
151. The King, with the advice of the Privy Council, may, on
addresses from the Houses of Parliament of the Union, transfer
to the Union the government of any territories, other than the
territories administered by the British South Africa Company,
belonging to or under the protection of His Majesty, and
inhabited wholly or in part by natives, and upon such transfer
the Governor-General in Council may undertake the government
of such territory upon the terms and conditions embodied in
the Schedule to this Act.
X.—AMENDMENT OF ACT.
152. Parliament may by law repeal or alter any of the
provisions of this Act: Provided that no provision thereof,
for the operation of which a definite period of time is
prescribed, shall during such period be repealed or altered:
And provided further that no repeal or alteration of the
provisions contained in this section, or in sections
thirty-three and thirty-four (until the number of members of
the House of Assembly has reached the limit therein
prescribed, or until a period of ten years has elapsed after
the establishment of the Union, whichever is the longer
period), or in sections thirty-five and one hundred and
thirty-seven, shall be valid unless the Bill embodying such
repeal or alteration shall be passed by both Houses of
Parliament sitting together, and at the third reading be
agreed to by not less than two-thirds of the total number of
members of both Houses. A Bill so passed at such joint sitting
shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses of
Parliament.
SCHEDULE.
1. After the transfer of the government of any territory
belonging to or under the protection of His Majesty, the
Governor-General in Council shall be the legislative
authority, and may by proclamation make laws for the peace,
order, and good government of such territory: Provided that
all such laws shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament
within seven days after the issue of the proclamation or, if
Parliament be not then sitting, within seven days after the
beginning of the next session, and shall be effectual unless
and until both Houses of Parliament shall by resolutions
passed in the same session request the Governor-General in
Council to repeal the same, in which case they shall be
repealed by proclamation.
2. The Prime Minister shall be charged with the administration
of any territory thus transferred, and he shall be advised in
the general conduct of such administration by a commission
consisting of not fewer than three members with a secretary,
to be appointed by the Governor-General in Council, who shall
take the instructions of the Prime Minister in conducting all
correspondence relating to the territories, and shall also
under the like control have custody of all official papers
relating to the territories.
{165}
3. The members of the commission shall be appointed by the
Governor-General in Council, and shall be entitled to hold
office for a period of ten years, but such period may be
extended to successive further terms of five years. …
14. It shall not be lawful to alienate any land in Basutoland
or any land forming part of the native reserves in the
Bechuanaland protectorate and Swaziland from the native tribes
inhabiting those territories.
15. The sale of intoxicating liquor to natives shall be
prohibited in the territories, and no provision giving
facilities for introducing, obtaining, or possessing such
liquor in any part of the territories less stringent than
those existing at the time of transfer shall be allowed.
16. The custom, where it exists, of holding pitsos or other
recognised forms of native assembly shall be maintained in the
territories.
17. No differential duties or imposts on the produce of the
territories shall be levied. The laws of the Union relating to
customs and excise shall be made to apply to the territories.
18. There shall be free intercourse for the inhabitants of the
territories with the rest of South Africa subject to the laws,
including the pass laws, of the Union.
19. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, all revenues
derived from any territory shall be expended for and on behalf
of such territory. …
----------CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH AFRICA: End--------
----------CONSTITUTION OF TURKEY: Start--------
CONSTITUTION OF TURKEY.
The following is a synopsis of the Constitution promulgated
December 23, 1876, the first year of the reign of Abd-ul
Hamid, then soon withdrawn, and practically forgotten for
thirty-two years, but brought to light by the revolution of
1908 and promulgated anew, on the 24th of July in that
memorable year;
See, in this Volume,
TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER):
THE INDIVISIBILITY OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
The Sultan, the supreme Caliph of the Mussulmans and sovereign
of all Ottoman subjects, is irresponsible and inviolable. His
prerogatives are those of the constitutional sovereigns of the
West. The subjects of the empire are called, without
distinction, Ottomans. Individual liberty is inviolable, and
is guaranteed by the laws.
Islamism is the religion of the state, but the free exercise
of all recognized creeds is guaranteed, and the religious
privileges of the communities are maintained. No provision
investing the institutions of the state with a theocratic
character exists in the constitution.
The constitution establishes liberty of the press, the right
of petition to both chambers for all Ottomans, liberty of
education, and the equality of all Ottomans before the law.
They all enjoy the same rights, and have the same duties
toward the country. Ottoman subjects, without distinction of
religion, are admitted to the service of the state. Taxation
will be equally distributed; property is guaranteed, and the
domicile is declared inviolable. No person can be taken from
the jurisdiction of his natural judges.
The Council of Ministers will deliberate under the presidency
of the Grand-Vizier. Each minister is responsible for the
conduct of the affairs of his department. The Chamber of
Deputies may demand the impeachment of the ministers, and a
high court is instituted to try them. In the event of the
Chamber adopting a vote hostile to the ministry on any
important question, the Sultan will change the ministers or
dissolve the Chamber. The ministers are entitled to be present
at the sittings of both Chambers, and to take part in the
debates. Interpellations may be addressed to the ministers.
Public functionaries will be appointed in conformity with the
conditions fixed by law, and cannot be dismissed without legal
and sufficient cause. They are not discharged from
responsibility by any orders contrary to law which they may
receive from a superior.
The General Assembly of the Ottomans is composed of two
Chambers, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, who will
meet on the 1st of November in each year, the session lasting
four months. A message from the Sultan will be sent to both
Chambers at the opening of each session. The members of both
Chambers are free with regard to their vote and in the
expression of their opinions. Electors are prohibited from
imposing binding engagements upon their representatives. The
initiative in proposing laws belongs in the first place to the
ministry, and next to the Chambers, in the form of
propositions. Laws must be first submitted to the Chamber of
Deputies, then to the Senate, and finally to the imperial
sanction. The Senate is composed of members nominated by the
Sultan and chosen from among the most eminent personages in
the country. The Senate votes the laws already passed by the
Chamber of Deputies, and returns to the latter, or rejects,
any provisions contrary to the constitution or to the
integrity or safety of the state. In the event of a
dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, the general election
shall be held and the new Chamber meet within six months from
the date of dissolution. The sittings of the Chamber of
Deputies are public. The deputies may not be arrested or
prosecuted during the session without authority from the
Chamber. The Chamber votes the laws article by article, and
the budget by chapters. There is to be one deputy for every
fifty thousand inhabitants, and the elections will be made by
secret ballot. A special law will determine the mode of
election. The mandate of a deputy will render him ineligible
for any public office, except for a ministry. Each legislature
will continue for a period of four years. The deputies will
receive 4,600 francs for every session, which will last from
November to March. The senators are appointed for life by the
Sultan, and will receive 2,300 francs monthly. Judges are
irremovable.
The sittings of the tribunals are public. The advocates
appearing for defendants are free. Sentences may be published.
No interference can be permitted in the administration of
justice. The jurisdiction of the tribunals will be exactly
defined. Any exceptional tribunals or commissions are
prohibited. The office of Public Prosecutor is created. The
High Court, which will try ministers, members of the Court of
Cassation, and other persons charged with the crime of lese
Majeste, or of conspiracy against the state, will be
composed of the most eminent judicial and administrative
functionaries.
No tax can be established or levied except by virtue of a law.
The budget will be voted at the commencement of each session,
and for a period of one year only. The final settlement of the
budget for the preceding year will be submitted to the Chamber
of Deputies in the form of a bill. The Court of Accounts will
send every year to the Chamber of Deputies a report upon the
state of public accounts, and will present to the Sultan,
quarterly, a statement showing the financial condition of the
country. The members of the Court of Accounts are irremovable.
No dismissal can take place except in consequence of a
resolution adopted by the Chamber of Deputies.
{166}
The provincial administration is based upon the broadest
system of decentralization. The Councils-General, which are
elective, will deliberate upon and control the affairs of the
province. Every canton will have a council, elected by each of
the different communities, for the management of its own
affairs. The communes will be administered by elective
municipal councils. Primary education is obligatory.
The interpretation of the laws belongs, according to their
nature, to the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, and
the Senate.
The constitution can only be modified on the initiative of the
ministry, or of either of the two Chambers, and by a vote of
both Chambers, passed by a majority of two-thirds. Such
modification must also be sanctioned by the Sultan.
Appletons' Annual Cyclopaedia, 1876,
pages 773-774.
See amendments, in this Volume, under
TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (APRIL-DECEMBER).
----------CONSTITUTION OF TURKEY: End--------
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES:
Proposed Income Tax Amendment.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (JULY).
CONSTITUTION OF VENEZUELA, New.
See (in this Volume)
VENEZUELA: A. D. 1904.
CONSTITUTION, A World:
The Making of it in Process.
See (in this Volume)
WORLD MOVEMENTS.
CONSTITUTION ISLAND.
"In the Hudson River opposite West Point lies Constitution
Island. It is a wood-covered tract of nearly three hundred
acres, and for many years it has been coveted by the
authorities of the Military Academy and the War Department.
Its owner, Miss Anna Bartlett Warner, was always willing to
sell to the Government, but Congress could never be induced to
make the necessary appropriation for its purchase. Now Mrs.
Russell Sage has joined with Miss Warner in making a gift of
the island to the Nation, to be used as a part of the military
reservation at West Point."
The Outlook,
September 19, 1908.
CONSTITUTION-MAKING, and Unmaking, in Servia.
See (in this Volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: SERVIA.
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATS.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1905-1907, and 1906 and 1907.
CONSULAR SERVICE, The Reform of the American.
See (in this Volume)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906-1909.
CONSUMPTION.
See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH: TUBERCULOSIS.
CONVICT LEASE SYSTEM:
Its abolition in Georgia.
See (in this Volume)
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY.
COOK, Frederick A.:
Claimant of North Pole discovery.
See (in this Volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION.
COOLEY, Dr. Harris R.:
Director of Charities and Corrections, Cleveland, Ohio.
See (in this Volume)
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY.
COÖPERATION, Industrial and Commercial.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR REMUNERATION.
COPENHAGEN: A. D. 1906.
Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance.
See (in this Volume)
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
COPYRIGHT:
The new Law in the United States.
"To the general surprise, the new copyright bill slipped
through both houses of Congress yesterday [March 3, 1909]. It
consists of one complete and consistent copyright statute, in
sixty four sections. The term of copyright is lengthened. The
bill leaves the present first term of twenty-eight years
unchanged, but provides for a renewal term of twenty-eight
years instead of fourteen, thus making possible a period of
protection of fifty-six years from the publication of the
work. The bill also provides for the extension of subsisting
copyrights upon the same basis.
"Copyright may now be secured for all the ‘writings’ of an
author, using the constitutional expression. In enumerating
and classifying works protected by copyright, the bill is more
explicit than the present statutes, and adds the following new
designations: ‘Lectures, sermons, and addresses, prepared for
oral delivery’; ‘dramatico-musical compositions’; ‘plastic
works of a scientific or technical character’; ‘reproductions
of a work of art,’ and ‘ prints and pictorial illustrations,’
in lieu of ‘engravings,’ ‘cuts,’ and ‘chromos,’ and ‘works of
art’ instead of the present specific designations, ‘painting,’
‘drawings,’ ‘statue,’ and ‘statuary.’ Express provision is
made that compilations, abridgments, adaptations,
arrangements, dramatizations, or translations and works
republished with new matter shall be considered new works
subject to copyright.
"As regards a musical work, the bill provides, as does the
present law, that the author shall have the sole right to
perform the work publicly for profit, but adds the sole right
‘to make any arrangement or setting of it or of the melody of
it in any system of notation or any form of record from which
it may be read or reproduced.’ The composer’s control of the
reproduction of his music by mechanical instruments is
qualified as follows:
(a) to cover only music published and copyrighted after the
act goes into effect;
(b) not to include music by a foreign author or composer
unless the foreign state or nation of which he is a subject
grants to citizens of the United States similar rights;
(c) whenever the owner of a musical copyright has used or
permitted or acquiesced in the use of his work upon parts of
instruments serving to reproduce mechanically the musical
work, any other person may make similar use of the work upon
the payment of a royalty of two cents on each part
manufactured, notice to be filed in the copyright office of
such use or license to use by the copyright proprietor.
"American manufacture is required in the case of a book, not
only as regards type-setting in the United States, but ‘if the
text be produced by lithographic or photo-engraving process,
then by a process wholly performed within the limits of the
United States.’ The provision is also extended to
illustrations within a book, and to separate lithographs and
photo engravings, ‘except where in either case the subjects
represented are located in a foreign country.’ The printing
and binding of the book must also be performed within the
United States.
{167}
Photographs are released from the present requirement that
they ‘shall be printed from negatives made within the United
States or from transfers made therefrom.’ The ‘original text
of a book of foreign origin in a language or languages other
than English ’ is also excepted from the requirements of
type-setting in the United States. A new ad interim protection is given books printed abroad in the English
language. If one complete copy of such book is deposited in the
copyright office not later than thirty days after publication
abroad, copyright is granted for a period of thirty days from
the date of receipt of the copy. If an authorized edition of
the book is produced from type set in the United States during
this second thirty days, the full term of copyright is
secured.
"The much discussed provisions prohibiting the importation of
copyrighted books are considerably modified. The importation
of piratical copies of any work copyrighted is prohibited, and
the importation of any books, 'although authorized by the
author or proprietor,’ which have not been produced in
accordance with the manufacturing provisions, is prohibited.
The Act of 1891 permits importation of books in 'the case of
persons purchasing for use and not for sale, who import,
subject to the duty thereon, not more than two copies
of such book at any one time.’ The new law permits
importation, ‘not more than one copy at one time, for
individual use, and not for sale,’ and adds the proviso that
‘such privilege of importation shall not extend to a foreign
reprint of a book by an American author copyrighted in the
United States.’ The Act of 1891 allows importation in good
faith for the use of societies incorporated or
established for educational, philosophical, literary, or
religious purposes, or for the encouragement of the fine arts,
or for any college, academy, school, or seminary of learning.
The new law confines the privilege to incorporated societies
or institutions, but adds scientific societies and ‘any State,
school, college, university, or free public library’; but
while the Act of 1891 permits ‘two copies in any one
invoice’ to be so imported, the new law provides for ‘not more
than one copy of any such book in one invoice’ when
‘for use and not for sale.’
"In the case of infringement, an injunction may issue, as now,
and damages be recovered as well as all the profits due to the
infringement."
New York Evening Post,
March 4, 1909.
COPYRIGHT:
Pan-American Convention.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
CORINTO, Treaty of.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1902: CENTRAL AMERICA.
CORPORATE WRONGDOING:
Summary of recent Governmental Action against it in the
United States.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1906.
CORPORATION TAX, United States.
See (in this Volume)
TARIFFS: UNITED STATES.
CORPORATIONS:
Forbidden to contribute to Political Elections.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907 (JANUARY).
CORPORATIONS AND THE PUBLIC.
See (in this Volume)
Combinations, Industrial, &c., and Railways.
CORPORATIONS, The Bureau of.
Its establishment in the Federal Administration
of the United States.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903 (FEBRUARY).
CORRAL, Ramon:
Vice-President of Mexico.
See (in this Volume)
MEXICO A. D. 1904-1905.
CORREGAN, Charles Hunter:
Nominated for President of the United States.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904 (MARCH-NOVEMBER).
CORTELYOU, George B.:
Secretary of Commerce and Labor and Secretary of the Treasury.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A D. 1901-1905, and 1905-1909.
COST OF LIVING.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR REMUNERATION: WAGES, &c.
COSTA RICA.
See (in this Volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA.
COUNTRY LIFE COMMISSION, Report of the.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908-1909 (AUGUST-FEBRUARY).
COURTS, Industrial, German.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: GERMANY: A. D. 1905-1906.
COURTS OF LAW.
See (in this Volume)
LAW AND ITS COURTS.
COWPER-TEMPLEISM.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: ENGLAND: A. D. 1906.
CREEK NATION, Alleged frauds on the.
See (in this Volume)
INDIANS, AMERICAN.
CREMER, William Randal:
Originator of the Inter-parliamentary Union.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1904-1909;
also NOBEL PRIZES.
CRETE: A. D. 1905-1906.
Insurgent demand of Union with Greece.
Investigation of discontent by the Protecting Powers.
Resignation of the High Commissionership by Prince George.
Appointment of Zaimis.
A determined revolutionary movement to secure union with
Greece was set on foot in March, 1905. Remonstrance against it
by Prince George was unavailing, and the National Assembly,
newly elected on the 2d of April, gave support to the
insurgents, proclaiming the desired union of Crete with "her
mother Greece," and ordering the Greek flag to be raised over
the public buildings of the island. The government of Greece,
while declaring its sympathy with the feeling which the
movement expressed, could not give countenance to it, and
urged the insurgents to lav down their arms. The latter,
however, continued to hold the interior of the island and to
make attacks on the Mohammedan population, until the approach
of winter, when, on the 19th of November, they gave up their
arms. The four protecting Powers then appointed a commission
to investigate the grounds of discontent in the island, and
its report made in the following spring justified a good deal
of the Cretan complaint of arbitrary rule. In May a new
Assembly was elected, in which the Government won 78 seats,
the Opposition 36, and the Moslems were represented by 16. In
July a resolution in favor of annexation to Greece was voted
by acclamation in the Assembly, and its sittings were
suspended to await the decision of the Powers. The latter
announced a little later the intention to organize a
gendarmerie to take the place of foreign troops in the island;
and also to extend the operations of the Greek Finance
Commission to Crete. Prince George now expressed his
unwillingness to continue in the office of High Commissioner,
and, on the request of the Powers, the King of Greece
nominated M. Zaimis to succeed him. The nomination was
accepted, and Prince George withdrew from the island, after
issuing a farewell proclamation, September 25th. M. Zaimis
arrived and assumed office on the 14th of October, being
warmly received. He was understood to have the powers of a
Greek Viceroy, with a mission to prepare the island for
annexation to Greece.
{168}
"I should not like," said a writer in the summer of 1905, "to
speak too positively of Prince George’s mistakes; but I have
met no European who has lived in the island who had a good
word to say for his administration. On the one hand, he played
the despot. The local independent newspapers were destroyed,
and the right of public meeting withdrawn. Worst of all, the
mayors and prefects, who had originally been elected by the
inhabitants of their districts, were degraded to the position
of mere officials nominated by the Prince. At the same time,
he aspired to be a sort of party leader. Quite early in his
term of office he contrived to alienate the best men among the
leaders who had conducted the insurrection with so much
patience and wisdom. The President of the Provisional
Government, Dr. Sphakianakis, an extremely able and, what is
rarer, a wise and disinterested man, went into retirement when
the Prince arrived. …
"By the summer of last year, [1904] when the Prince cast
Professor Jannaris, a philologist of European reputation, into
Canea gaol, the rift between himself and his people had become
desperate. … It was now quite clear that no solution remained
save union with Greece. To Prince George it provided an
honorable and graceful path of retreat. He could retire and
bring with him in his withdrawal a great gift to the Greek
nation, and confer, at the same time, contentment on Crete. …
Prince George, accordingly, devoted the closing months of 1904
to a tour among the European courts. The Powers had never
intended to make him the permanent sovereign of Crete. His
mandate was only for three years, and it had already been
prolonged for a second term. He urged that the time had at
length arrived for a definite solution, which could only be a
union with Greece. But either his pleading was half-hearted or
the Powers were deaf. His term was once more extended, and he
was weak enough, or vain enough, to accept the dangerous
mission. He returned to Crete and reported his failure.
"What followed is recent history. For a month or two the
Cretans were passive, and then suddenly they rose in arms. A
sort of provisional government was established at Therisso, a
stronghold in the mountains, near enough to Canea to threaten
the Prince’s administration, far enough from the sea to be out
of range of the European war-ships. Dr. Sphakianakis and MM.
Venizelos and Foumis are at its head, and it soon received the
allegiance of the whole interior. Simultaneously, under very
strained conditions, a general election was held; and, though
the members were probably drawn for the most part from the
Prince’s party, the Chamber adopted the programme of the
insurgents and solemnly proclaimed the annexation of the
island to Greece. The Prince threatened, but he had no force
behind him; and he too could only reiterate his prayer that
Europe should assent to union. It is a whimsical display of
unanimity. In other lands, subjects rebel to emphasize some
difference of opinion with their rulers. The Cretans have
taken up arms to prove how violently they all agree."
H. N. Brailsford,
The Future of Crete
(North American Review, August, 1905).
CRETE: A. D. 1907-1909.
How and why the Cretans have been restrained by the
Four Protecting Powers.
In February, 1907, the Cretans framed and adopted a new
Constitution, providing for an Assembly of sixty-four
Deputies, elected every two years, and continuing the
executive office of High Commissioner, with a Council of
three. They were fully exercising all the rights of
independent self-government, under the protection of the four
Powers which still maintained the old "Concert," namely, Great
Britain, France, Russia, and Italy. The Turkish Government
touched them in no other way than through the theoretical,
intangible suzerainty which the Sultan claimed. But that
claim, acknowledged by their potent protectors, barred them
from annexation to the kingdom of their fellow Greeks, which
was their heart’s desire. If Turkey had continued in the
condition to which it had sunk when the Powers set them free
from all but a fiction of feudal law (see in Volume VI. of
this work, TURKEY: A. D. 1897-1899) there seems little doubt
that they would have won their wish in no long time, with the
help of those Powers; but the great change in Turkish
conditions which came about in 1908 was not favorable to
Cretan hopes.
To the Cretans, in October, 1908, the Turkish Revolution
appeared to have brought them the best of opportunities for
breaking the irksome thread of an unexercised Ottoman
sovereignty. Bulgaria snapped the thread; why should not they?
But Bulgaria had no responsible guardians to look after her
conduct; while Crete was, unfortunately at this juncture, the
ward of an international trust company, whose responsibilities
for her were made immeasurably more serious by the very
circumstances which invited her to an escapade. The
revolutionary undertaking of the Young Turks, to reform their
own nation, claimed the sympathy and good will of every
right-feeling government in the world. Great Britain, France,
and Italy, at least, could not afford to lay, or consent to
the laying, of a straw of difficulty in its way. A declaration
of Cretan independence and annexation to Greece, countenanced
by the Powers, would have raised excitements in Turkey more
than likely to wreck the reform movement in a catastrophe of
war, which might involve much larger fields than those that
lie between Turkey and Greece. The action of Bulgaria and that
of Austria in annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina had put a
dangerous strain on the situation; but neither of these had
tried Turkish feeling as it would have been tried if Crete and
Greece had been suffered to follow their example by the four
protecting Powers.
The attempt was made in Crete on the 12th of October, 1908,
when the Assembly voted union with Greece, and elected a
committee of six members to conduct the Government in the name
of the King of Greece, under Greek laws. The four Powers
intervened in a soothing way, agreeing to treat with the
Turkish Government on the subject, provided that order in the
island should be maintained and protection afforded to the
Mohammedan population. In the previous May they had decided to
withdraw the forces they were jointly keeping in Crete, and
had announced that their evacuation of the island should be
completed by the end of July, 1909.
{169}
When the time thus appointed drew near there was some anxiety
as to what might follow the withdrawal of troops; but the
Powers adhered to their agreement. Meantime the Turkish
Government was giving plain expression to its determination to
"maintain Ottoman rights in Crete." Early in July, 1909, the
intentions of the four Powers were made known by an
announcement to the French Chamber of Deputies from the
Foreign Minister of that Government. The international
contingents of troops, he stated, would be recalled by the
contemplated date of July 27; but four war ships
(stationnaires) would be sent, one by each Power, "to guard
the Ottoman flag and the flags of the four Powers, as well as
to ensure, in case of trouble, the protection of the
population. A declaration would be addressed to the people of
Crete promising, in particular, that the Powers will continue
to occupy themselves with the Cretan question in a benevolent
spirit, but adding that it is their duty to see that order is
maintained and the safety of the Mussulmans in Crete assured;
that with this object they reserve the right of adopting such
measures as may be expedient for the restoration of
tranquillity, in case disturbances should break out which the
local authorities were unable to quell. The declaration
addressed to the Cretans to be communicated to the Porte and a
declaration to be made at Constantinople, in order to give an
exact account of the spirit in which the foregoing measures
have been adopted."

This decision was communicated formally to the Greek and
Turkish governments a little later. The latter, in reply,
thanked the four Powers for their promise to safeguard Ottoman
interests in the island, but declared that it could not
tolerate "any extension of the privileges of the Cretans
beyond those guaranteed by their autonomy, least of all any
such extension as might give rise to the supposition that
Crete was in any way politically connected or dependent on the
Hellenic kingdom."
The attitude of the four Powers in their action was stated
very distinctly to the British House of Commons on the 22d of
July, by Sir Edward Grey, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, as
follows:
"The status quo maintained in Crete is that Crete
remains in trust to the four Powers who hold the island in
trust, and continue to maintain the obligations of preserving
the supreme rights of Turkey. That is the status quo,
and to put any other interpretation upon it and say that it
means this or that, or that it amounts to virtual annexation,
is misleading and is not true. That is not intended. The
question of Crete has been exceedingly difficult, partly for
the very reasons which I have already named, that it was
raised at a time when the Turkish Government itself was
passing through a stage exceedingly difficult, but exceedingly
hopeful. What we have desired to do with regard to Crete is to
secure that nothing shall happen which will be damaging to the
prestige of the new régime in Turkey, and by being
damaging to that prestige make the prospects of reform and of
the increasing welfare of Turkey less hopeful."
The last of the international contingents left Crete on the
26th of July; whereupon the Cretans ran up the Greek flag on
the fortress evacuated. Some days passed before the naval
stationnaires of the four Powers arrived on the scene,
and Turkey opened a somewhat sharp correspondence with Greece.
The Powers intervened, assuming responsibility for conditions
in Crete, and asking that communications on the subject be
addressed to them. At the same time, the Cretans were
admonished to take down the Greek flag. As they did not do so,
sailors from the war ships were landed on the 18th of August,
who lowered the flag and cut the flag-staff down. Sixty were
left on guard to prevent further demonstrations of a
provocative kind. To the time of this writing (February 1,
1910) nothing has occurred since to disturb the quiet in
Crete. In November, however, the Turkish Government addressed
to the four Powers a request for a definite settlement of the
status of Crete. The reply, given on the 9th of December, was
as follows:
"The protecting Powers do not deem the moment opportune for
diplomatic negotiations tending to establish a definite
régime in the island. The circumstances have not
changed since the date of evacuation of the island by the
international troops. Though infractions of the status
quo had been committed, they were at once suppressed, and
if more serious infractions occurred the Powers would meet
them in accordance with the standpoint expressed in their
Notes of July last with regard to the supreme rights of the
Sultan. In present conditions negotiations on the Cretan
question might excite public opinion in Turkey and elsewhere,
and lead to dangerous complications."
----------CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY: Start--------
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY: THEIR PROBLEMS.
"Black Hand," The:
Sicilian Blackmail Terrorism brought to the United States.
"Toward the end of the last century the Sicilian gangs which
made their living by blackmail became aware that not a few
Italians who had left their home country as peasants had
acquired wealth across the Atlantic. Even the ordinary
workman, they learnt, who could gain only 40 cents a day in
Sicily, could make about four times that wage in New York.
Accordingly they hastened to exploit by their familiar methods
the rich field of the Italian colony in that city. It was not
long before the American police found themselves faced by an
elaborate machinery of crime far more ingenious and
complicated than anything with which they had previously had
to deal. The Black Hand, as the society called itself,
proceeded normally to extort what it wanted by frank demands
and threats, and it did not hesitate at kidnapping, outrage,
and murder when these means seemed necessary to its ends."
New York Correspondent London Times,
March 16, 1909.
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
Cleveland’s Farm Colony.
"A City in the Life Saving Business" is the title given by Mr.
Frederick C. Howe to an article in The Outlook of
January 18, 1908, descriptive of the Farm Colony which the
City of Cleveland, Ohio, has substituted for the old time
"work-house" or "penitentiary" for the detention and treatment
of its vagabonds and petty offenders.
{170}
The change has been wrought within the past seven years by the
City Director of Charities and Corrections, Dr. Harris R.
Cooley. The following facts of it are summarized from Mr.
Howe’s article:
The colony occupies the larger part of a 1900 acre farm, on
which some other institutions, such as a city infirmary, are
to be placed; but the ex-workhouse-prisoners are, so far, the
interesting occupants of the farm. They are prisoners with no
prison. They wear no convict garb, drag no ball and chain, are
surrounded by no wall or stockade, are watched by no armed
guards. They are working a quarry, making roads and sewers,
gathering stone, doing all descriptions of farm work, as free
in their movements as farm laborers who work for hire. And out
of hundreds on whom this treatment has been tried for nearly
seven years "only a handful," it is said, "have ever taken
advantage of their liberty. And it was the other prisoners who
were most incensed at their escape."
These unimprisoned prisoners are put on honor; they are
treated as men to whom society would like to do good. It gives
them a few weeks or months of healthful, honestly laborious
life, in the midst of wholesome and beautiful surroundings
(for the farm is nobly situated); and when they are dismissed
from it they do not go dispirited and weakened and marked with
a prison brand, as they would go from a workhouse, but
strengthened in body, helped to self-respect, and encouraged
to a change of life by the experience they have had. It is not
punishment they have received, but a revelation, in most
cases, of a better side of life than they had known. And this
treatment is proving its success.
There are classes for instruction, on various lines, at the
farm, and some come back, for evening study, after their
release. Two years ago one of the released colonists began the
formation of a Brotherhood among those who came out, to assist
their fellows and take care of them till they got a new
footing in the world; and no less than 427 had received that
helping hand of fellowship when Mr. Howe wrote his account.
The Brotherhood was then occupying a rented house, on the
furnishing of which it had expended over $2000, made up within
its own ranks.
Besides its Farm Colony, Cleveland has established another,
somewhat similar, farm for boys. This, called Boyville, is 285
acres in extent, and the young delinquents sent to it live in
cottages, named Washington Cottage, Lincoln Cottage, etc.,
each with a motherly woman in charge. They are kept in
attendance at a school pursuing the same studies as in the
city schools; their big playground affords them all kinds of
healthful sports. They have horses, cattle, goats and dogs to
take care of, and they are drilled in a fire company which is
expected to protect the property of Boyville.
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
The Convict Lease System:
Its abolition in Georgia.
During the Civil War the Penitentiary buildings of the State
of Georgia, at Milledgeville, were destroyed, and for many
years subsequently the prevailing conditions were not
favorable to their replacement. There grew up, in consequence,
an evil practice of working convicts in chain-gangs, leading
finally to the leasing of such gangs to contractors. A
frightful brutalizing of all concerned in the operation of the
vicious system—convicts, overseers, and lessees alike—is said
to have been the result, as it could hardly fail to be. Within
late years public attention, in Georgia and outside of the
State, was increasingly drawn to the treatment and condition
of the chain-gangs, by shocking stories of barbarity and
depravity; yet the evil was hard to reform, because of the
profit which the State derived from the hire of its criminals.
Years of agitation and exertion by right-minded people in
Georgia were required to overcome the sordid influence of this
fact, and it was not until September, 1908, that the
Legislature, called in special session by Governor Hoke Smith
to deal with the question, passed an Act which brought the
lease system to an end on the 31st of March, 1909. Provision
was made at this important session for an establishment of
State farms on which convicts can be employed; for introducing
a parole system into the penological policy of the State, and
for the institution of juvenile courts. The legislative
session was a memorable one.
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
English Court of Criminal Appeal.
See (in this Volume)
LAW AND ITS COURTS: ENGLAND.
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
The English Prevention of Corruption Act.
The object of the English Prevention of Corruption Act, passed
in 1906, is to check the practice of giving and taking secret
commissions, which, as the late Lord Russell of Killowen
caused the country to realize, was widely prevalent in
commercial and professional circles, as well as in the humbler
sphere of the "servants’ hall." Before the passing of the Act,
of course, it was illegal to give and receive secret
commissions. After the Act came into force, it became
criminal. The provisions of the measure make it a
misdemeanour, punishable, on summary conviction or on
indictment, with fine or imprisonment—
(1) For any agent corruptly to receive any gift or
consideration for doing or not doing any act, or showing or
not showing favour or disfavour, in relation to his
principal’s affairs;
(2) For any person corruptly to offer such gift or
consideration to any agent;
(3) For any person to give to an agent, or for any agent to
use, any false or defective receipt or other business document
with intent to deceive the principal.
Two years after the Act came into force its effects were
discussed by a writer in the London Times, who said:
‘The circumstances that the fiat of the Attorney-General must
be obtained before any prosecution can be instituted under the
Act, and that, until recently, there was no organization
qualified to take active steps to prevent the Act from
becoming a dead letter, account for the comparatively small
number of cases in which proceedings have been taken under the
Act during the past two years. Fifteen prosecutions have been
authorized by the Attorney-General. In 12 cases there have
been convictions, one case has been abandoned, and two are
still pending. These figures show, at any rate, that
prosecutions are not lightly instituted, and that the charges
which have been preferred against offenders have been, as a
rule, well founded.
{171}
"It is undoubtedly true, in this matter as in others, that
‘everybody’s business is nobody’s.’ Soon after the passing of
the Act it was realized that, if it was to prove effective
‘for the better prevention of corruption,’ some organization
must be formed to give effect to the measure—to furnish
information in respect to its provisions, to investigate
complaints, and, if necessary, to institute prosecutions. A
society was formed, therefore, with the title of ‘The Secret
Commissions and Bribery Prevention League,’ to work on lines
similar to those of the societies which strengthen the arm of
the law so effectively in respect of cruelty to children and
cruelty to animals. … The committee has investigated a large
number of cases which have been brought to their knowledge,
they have given advice freely to members and others interested
in the working of the Act, they have issued thousands of
circulars and letters, as well as occasional ‘news sheets,’
they have made representations to the War Office and other
public bodies as opportunities occurred, and have summoned
various trade conferences for the consideration of points of
importance arising out of the Act. The value of the League’s
work is emphasized by the fact that the members include many
important limited liability companies and trade associations,
and that the League is becoming in a special sense
representative of the commercial community as a whole."
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
Indeterminate Sentence and
the Parole System of New York State.
The first provision in New York for indeterminate sentences
was by Section 74, Chapter 382 of the Laws of 1889, as
follows: "Whenever any male person over sixteen years of age,
shall be convicted of a felony which is punishable by
imprisonment in a State prison, for a term to be fixed within
certain limits by the court pronouncing sentence, the court
authorized to pronounce judgment upon such offender, instead
of pronouncing upon such offender a definite sentence of
imprisonment in a State prison for a fixed term, may pronounce
upon such offender an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment
in a State prison for a term with minimum and maximum limits
only specified, without fixing a definite term of sentence
within such limits named in the sentence, but the maximum
limit so specified in the sentence shall not exceed the
longest period for which such offender might have been
sentenced, and the minimum limit in said sentence specified
shall not be less than the shortest term for which such
offender might have been sentenced. The maximum term specified
in such indeterminate sentence shall be limited in the same
manner as a definite sentence in compliance with the
provisions of section six hundred and ninety-seven of the
Penal Code."
A Parole Board was constituted under this Act, composed of the
Superintendent of Prisons and the chief officers of the four
State Prisons.
"It will be noted that this law permitted the indeterminate
but did not abolish the definite sentence. Its provisions
applied to all classes of male felons over sixteen years of
age. No distinction was made between the first offenders and
the professional and persistent criminals. The court in its
discretion could impose either form of sentence on any
convicted male felon provided he was more than sixteen years
old. How general the preference of the judges was for the
definite sentence is shown by the fact that during the twelve
years that this law was in force approximately 13,000
prisoners were received at the prisons, only 115 of whom had
indeterminate terms. …
"As there were but 60 men paroled during the life of this
statute (1889 to 1901), there was naturally but slight
progress made during that period toward organizing,
systematizing and perfecting the parole system; but some
experience was gained and data secured that has since been
useful. …
"The Legislature of 1901 passed two important and effective
laws relative to the parole of prisoners which became
operative September 1, 1901. The first amended Section 74 of
Chapter 382, Laws of 1889, to read as follows:—
‘Every person now confined in a state prison, or in the
Eastern New York Reformatory, under sentence for a definite
term for a felony, the maximum penalty for which is
imprisonment for five years or less, exclusive of fines, who
has never before been convicted of a crime punishable by
imprisonment in a state prison shall be subject to the
jurisdiction of the board of commissioners of paroled
prisoners and may be paroled in the same manner and subject to
the same conditions and penalties as prisoners confined under
indeterminate sentences. The minimum and maximum terms of the
sentences of said prisoners are hereby fixed and determined to
be as follows: The definite term for which each person is
sentenced shall be the maximum limit of his term, and
one-third of the definite term of his sentence shall be the
minimum limit of his term."
(As amended by chapter 260, L. 1901,
and by chapter 508, L. 1902.)
"By this Act the members of the State Commission of Prisons
were constituted a Board of Commissioners for Paroled
Prisoners and they were to meet at each of the prisons four
times a year. The Superintendent of State Prisons was
authorized to appoint a parole officer for each prison.
"The other law amended the Penal Code by adding a new section.
§ 687 a.—A person never before convicted of a crime punishable
by imprisonment in a state prison, who is convicted in any
court in this state of a felony, the maximum penalty for
which, exclusive of fines, is imprisonment for five years or
less, and sentenced to a state prison, shall be sentenced
thereto under an indeterminate sentence, the minimum of which
shall not be less than one year; or in case a minimum is fixed
by law, not less than such minimum, and the maximum of which
shall not be more than the longest period fixed by law for
which the crime is punishable of which the offender is
convicted. The maximum limit of such sentence shall be so
fixed as to comply with the provisions of section 697 of the
Penal Code."
"This Act was amended in 1902 to provide also that any first
offender convicted of a felony other than murder first and
second degrees, the maximum penalty for which exceeded five
years, might be sentenced to an indeterminate term. Few
prisoners, however, were so sentenced for crimes that carried
a penalty of more than five years.
"The passage of these Acts put the parole system in active
operation in 1901. Many prisoners then in the prisons whose
terms thus became indeterminate were immediately eligible for
parole. Others became eligible from month to month. … In the
first year under this law the Board considered the
applications of 583 prisoners and granted parole to 272.
{172}
"The scope of the parole system was materially enlarged and
the work of the Board vastly increased by the legislation of
1907. Chapter 737, Laws of 1907, provides, that all first
offenders convicted of felonies other than murder first and
second degrees and sentenced to a state prison must be
sentenced to indeterminate terms. As a result of this law the
class of prisoners subject to the jurisdiction of the Board
will gradually increase to more than double the present
number. …
"Chapter 738, Laws of 1907, changed the penalty for murder
second degree from life imprisonment to an indeterminate term
having a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life. Also, by
this Act the sentences of all prisoners then in the prisons
serving life sentences for murder second degree were made
indeterminate terms with limits as above given [and 12, out of
17, were soon released on parole],
"Chapter 645, Laws of 1907, provides, that a person convicted
for the fourth time for felony shall be sentenced to an
indeterminate term, the maximum of which shall be life.
"It is the intent of this law that the man who has
demonstrated the fact that he is a persistent criminal shall
be kept under supervision during life. That the counties shall
be saved the expense of repeatedly trying him and, more
important still, that the baneful effects of his association
with, and influence over, prisoners in the jails, shall be
avoided. If at any time after he has served his minimum term
there is a reasonable probability that he will remain at
liberty without violating the law, the Board may parole him."
The Act of 1907, which became effective June 10, in that year,
provides that "the board of parole for state prisons shall be
composed of the superintendent of state prisons and two
citizens appointed by the governor and confirmed by the
senate; and that said board shall meet at each of the prisons
every month. It shall also make examination and report to the
governor with its recommendations on all applications for
pardon referred to them by the governor."
Report of the Board of Parole for State Prisons, 1907.
To serve with the Superintendent of Prisons as the Board of
Parole the Governor of New York appointed the Honorable George
A. Lewis and the Honorable Albion V. Wadhams, for five years.
In the annual report of the Superintendent of Prisons for 1908
he discusses the working of the law, in part as follows:
"The results attained with State prison convicts under the
indeterminate sentence law have been satisfactory so far as
the term limits fixed by the courts have permitted the proper
application of the parole features of the law. In many cases,
however, the terms of the sentences have been so inconsistent
with the evident purpose and intent of the law as to render
its parole provisions wholly, or to a good degree,
inoperative.
"In several sentences imposed by the courts, the maximum and
minimum terms have been identical as ‘Not less than three
years or more than three years.’ As will be seen, this is
really a definite sentence and no parole period is provided
for. In a very great number of cases, the margin between the
minimum and maximum terms is but one, two or three months.
While prisoners so sentenced may be paroled, the period of
their probation is so limited that there is little opportunity
to influence and train the man. …
"The Superintendent is satisfied that the indeterminate has
many advantages over the definite sentence, but its full
benefit cannot be had under the law as it now stands and is
applied. It should be amended so as to provide for longer
parole periods and for minimum sentences never exceeding the
maximum penalty for the crime of which the prisoner is
convicted less the commutation allowed on definite sentences."
In May, 1909, Governor Hughes signed a retro-active law which
extends to all convicts now in prison, who, being first
offenders, have been sentenced for crimes committed prior to
September 1st, 1907.
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
Pan-American Extradition Convention.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
Preventive Detention in Great Britain.
The Borstal System of Discipline and Training for
Young Offenders.
An Act entitled The Prevention of Crime Act, passed by the
British Parliament in December, 1908, came into force on the
1st of August, 1909. It is described in the preamble as an
"Act to make better provision for the prevention of crime, and
for that purpose to provide for the reformation of young
offenders, and the prolonged detention of habitual criminals,
and for other purposes incidental thereto." "The principle of
‘preventive detention’ is accepted and embodied in the Act,
such detention to continue until the offender gives sufficient
assurance that he will take to an honest life, or until by age
or infirmity he becomes physically incapable of resuming a
life of crime. In no case is life imprisonment contemplated,
but when a man is convicted on indictment of a crime and is
sentenced to penal servitude, if the jury find that he is an
habitual criminal the Court may pass a further sentence. They
must first be satisfied, however, that by reason of his
criminal antecedents and his mode of life it is expedient for
the protection of the public that he should be kept in
detention for an extended period. The jury will have to be
satisfied, first that the man just convicted of an offence has
been convicted of at least three serious crimes, and,
secondly, that when convicted he was leading an habitually
dishonest life. The charge of being an habitual criminal
cannot be made except by the consent of the Director of Public
Prosecutions. The accused man will have an unqualified right
of appeal. After serving his term of penal servitude he will
be committed to a place of detention which will be a prison
specially adapted for the purposes of the Act. The prison
discipline will be less rigorous than that now prevailing,
alike as regards hours, talking, recreation, occupations, and
food.
"The Act provides that the Secretary of State [the Home
Secretary] shall once at least in every three years during
which the person is detained in custody under a sentence of
preventive detention, take into consideration the condition,
history, and circumstances of that person with a view to
determining whether he shall be placed out on license, and if
so, on what conditions. Directors of convict prisons are to
report periodically to the Secretary of State upon the conduct
and industry of persons undergoing preventive detention, and
their prospects and probable behaviour on release.
{173}
For this purpose they are to be assisted by a committee at
each prison, consisting of such members of the board of
visitors and such other persons of either sex as the Secretary
of State may from time to time appoint. Every such committee
is to hold meetings at intervals of not more than six months,
as may be prescribed, for the purpose of personally
interviewing persons undergoing preventive detention in the
prison and preparing reports for the assistance of the
directors."
The part of the Act which relates to the reformation of young
offenders provides for the establishment and regulation of
what are named "Borstal institutions." "These are places in
which young offenders may be given during their detention such
industrial training and other instruction and be subjected to
such disciplinary and moral influences as will conduce to
their reformation and the prevention of crime. The Act will
apply to persons of not less than 16 or more than 21 years of
age who may be convicted on indictment of an offence for which
they are liable to be sentenced to penal servitude or
imprisonment. In such cases … it will be lawful for the Court,
instead of passing a sentence of penal servitude or
imprisonment, to pass one of detention under penal discipline
in a Borstal institution. Such detention will not be less than
for one year or more than three years. Power is given to
detain in Borstal institutions youthful offenders sentenced to
detention in reformatory schools.
… Powers are also given to the Secretary of State to transfer
persons in certain cases from prison to Borstal institutions.
"Subject to regulations by the Secretary of State, the Prison
Commissioners may, after six months, or in the case of a
female three months, from the commencement of the term of
detention, if satisfied that there is reasonable probability
that the offender will abstain from crime and lead a useful
and industrious life, by license permit him to be discharged
from the Borstal institution, on condition that he be placed
under the supervision or authority of any society or person
named in the license who may be willing to take charge of the
case. Every person sentenced to detention in a Borstal
institution shall, on the expiration of the term of his
sentence, remain for a further period of six months under the
supervision of the Prison Commissioners."
The introduction of this system has been brought about by the
efforts of an organization which bears the name of the Borstal
Association, concerning whose experimental undertakings the
London Times said, lately, in an editorial article:
"Those who have hitherto been sceptical as to effective
treatment of the criminal classes would do well to consult the
report for 1909 of the Borstal Association. They can scarcely
fail to admit that new and powerful agencies for good are at
work. The experiment, which has been more successful than its
authors anticipated, began in a small way at Bedford Prison,
and has been gradually extended. At first it was applied to
selected offenders in the metropolitan prisons between the
ages of sixteen and twenty-one who had been committed for six
months. It was soon discovered that little good could be done
with criminals under successive short sentences. This has been
rectified. … Speaking lately of the Borstal methods, the
Bishop of Wakefield said truly that the problem is how to
combine in the treatment of young criminals ‘tenderness and
strength,’ to ‘draw the line between sternness and sympathy.’
In the past the tendency was to be punctiliously severe. …
To-day the tendency, the danger, is to forget that the prison
is not a place of recreation; to dwell too much on the
hardships of its inmates; to plead a little too much for their
comforts; to ask and expect too much; to be unduly critical of
prison authorities. The advocates of the Borstal system claim
to have avoided these mistakes. ‘It is not,’ they say, ‘a
namby-pamby system; only those who accept its strong incentive
and reformative methods find it tolerable; those who do not,
entreat for removal to other prisons where less development
and improvement of their latent capacities are demanded.’ It
seeks to inure to hard work the lads subject to its
discipline; it would make them strong and fit to handle tools
intelligently; it would turn them into healthy and well set-up
men. The fact that they may quit Borstal with some proficiency
in a trade counts for much."
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
Probation System, as established by recent legislation
in New York.
"Probation, as authorized by the laws of New York State, is a
system of discipline and correction, or, in some cases, of
moral guardianship, applied by courts to suitable offenders,
after conviction, for the purpose of improving their conduct
and circumstances without committing them to institutions. The
defendants are released conditionally on their good behavior,
under suspended sentence, and under the friendly but
authoritative supervision of a representative of the court,
known as a probation officer. The probation law contemplates
that in placing a defendant on probation certain terms and
conditions shall be imposed, and it provides that if the
probationer violate these conditions, his probation officer
may return him to court for the execution of sentence. Besides
usually requiring each probationer to report to him from time
to time, the probation officer is expected to visit the
probationer at frequent intervals and to do whatever seems
essential to improve his surroundings and habits. The
probation officer should report regularly to the court
concerning the progress of each probationer. When so directed
by the court, the probation officer also investigates cases,
particularly with reference to the history, circumstances and
character of the defendants, in order to lay before the court
facts which may be important in determining whether they
should be placed on probation.
"It is desirable to keep the distinction between probation and
parole clearly in mind. Under the New York laws the word
probation refers to the supervision of defendants who, after
conviction, are released under suspended sentence. The
suspension of sentence alone does not constitute probation;
there must also be oversight by a probation officer. The word
parole, on the other hand, is applied to two entirely
different systems. In some courts before convictions are
found, cases are adjourned from time to time and the
defendants conditionally released; and this is called parole.
There is no authority to apply the term probation to this
practice, because under the New York State laws a person
cannot be placed on probation until after conviction. Parole
is the appropriate word to use also in connection with the
conditional release of inmates from penal or reformatory
institutions before the expiration of their term of
commitment. …
{174}
"Twenty-seven hundred and fifty-four boys and girls, and 7,680
adults, making a total of 10,434 persons, were reported by
probation officers as on probation during 1908. Of these 8,762
were placed on probation during the year. On December 31,
1908, there were 2,378 persons remaining on probation. The
corresponding number for December 31, 1907, was 1,672. Three
hundred and twenty probation officers supervised probationers
during the year, which is more than double the number of
active probation officers reported in the last report of this
Commission. During 1908 the probation system was used in the
courts of 26 cities as against 16 cities reported in 1907, in
8 town and village courts in 1908 as against 1 village court
in 1907, in 23 county courts as against 11 in 1907, and, as
far as the reports of probation officers indicate, in the
Supreme Court in 6 counties as against none in 1907."
Second Report of New York State Probation Commission,
March 15, 1909.
As amended in May, 1909, "the law creates the position of
county probation officer, and makes the services of such an
officer available not only in the county court, but also in
the Supreme Court and the courts of all towns, villages and
third-class cities within the county."
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY:
The English "Probation of Offenders Act."
This Act, which became law in August, 1907, provides that,
"where any person is charged before a court of summary
jurisdiction with an offence punishable by such court, and the
court thinks that the charge is proved, but is of opinion
that, having regard to the character, antecedents, age,
health, or mental condition of the person charged, or to the
trivial nature of the offence, or to the extenuating
circumstances under which the offence was committed, it is
inexpedient to inflict any punishment or any other than a
nominal punishment, or that it is expedient to release the
offender on probation, the court may, without proceeding to
conviction, make an order either—
(i) dismissing the information or charge; or
(ii) discharging the offender conditionally on his entering
into a recognizance, with or without sureties, to be of good
behaviour and to appear for conviction and sentence when
called on at any time during such period, not exceeding three
years, as may be specified in the order."
Similarly after conviction of the offender, when a court deems
punishment inexpedient, it may, "in lieu of imposing a
sentence of imprisonment, make an order discharging the
offender conditionally on his entering into a recognizance,
with or without sureties, to be of good behaviour and to
appear for sentence when called on at any time during such
period, not exceeding three years, as may be specified in the
order;" and it may, in addition, order the offender to pay
damages for injury or compensation for loss that is consequent
on his offence.
The Act provides further that a recognizance ordered in such a
case may contain a condition that the offender shall be under
the supervision of such person as shall be named, during the
specified period of probation; that certain persons of either
sex may be appointed as probation officers,—some such, when
circumstances permit, to be specially "children’s probation
officers,"—and that salaries in the discretion of the courts
may be paid to these officers.
See (in this Volume), also,
Children, under the Law: As Offenders,
and Law and its Courts.
----------CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY: End--------
CRISES, Financial, of 1903 and 1907.
See (in this Volume)
FINANCE AND TRADE: A. D. 1901-1909.
CROCKER, George:
Bequest for Cancer Research.
See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH: CANCER RESEARCH.
CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:
Crowned King by the Sudanese.
See (in this Volume)
SUDAN, THE.
CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:
What he saw on the Nile border of the Congo State.
See (in this Volume)
CONGO STATE: A. D. 1903-1905.
CROMER, Sir Evelyn Baring, Viscount:
Statement of conditions in Egypt.
See (in this Volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1907 (JANUARY).
----------CUBA: Start--------
CUBA:
Gains to Spain from its loss.
See (in this Volume)
SPAIN: A. D. 1898-1906.
CUBA: A. D. 1901-1902.
Organization of Free Government under a Republican Constitution.
Transfer of Executive Authority from the
provisional Military Governor to the President-elect.
Official correspondence of the occasion.
Events in and relating to Cuba, after the surrender of the
island by Spain and the organization of a provisional military
government by the United States are narrated in Volume VI. of
this work, down to the adoption by the Congress of the United
States of the stipulations known as "The Platt Amendment" (see
pages 189-190 in Volume VI), which the constitutional
government for Cuba then in process of formation was asked to
agree to, in order to define the future relation of the
proposed new republic with the United States. This enactment
was approved by the President on the 2d of March, 1901, and
communicated, through the provisional Military Governor of the
island, General Leonard Wood, to the Cuban Constitutional
Convention. Doubt as to possible interpretations of the third
clause of the Platt Amendment having then arisen in the
Convention, the following despatch went from Washington to the
Military Governor April 3d:
"You are authorized to state officially that in view of the
President the intervention described in the third clause of
the Platt amendment is not synonymous with intermeddling or
interference with the affairs of the Cuban Government, but the
formal action of the United States, based upon just and
substantial grounds, for the preservation of Cuban
independence and the maintenance of a government adequate for
the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and
adequate for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba
imposed by the treaty of Paris on the United States."
Elihu Root, Secretary of War.
On the 12th of June, 1901, the convention adopted an ordinance
making provisions identical with those of the Platt Amendment,
a part of the constitution of Cuba.
{175}
"On October 1, 1901, the convention performed its remaining
duty by adopting an electoral law providing for a general
election throughout the island, to be held on the 31st day of
December, 1901, to choose governors of provinces, provincial
councilors, members of the house of representatives, and
presidential and senatorial electors. The law also provided
that on the 24th day of February, 1902, the several bodies of
electors thus chosen should meet and elect a president,
vice-president and senators. The elections were to be held
under the direct supervision of a central board of scrutiny,
composed of the president of the convention and four other
members selected for that purpose. The law was promulgated by
a general order of the military governor on the 14th of
October, 1901.
"The constitution thus adopted and perfected was treated by
the United States as an acceptable basis for the formation of
the new government to which, when organized and installed, the
control of the island was to be transferred.
"In conformity to the Cuban constitution and electoral law,
elections were held by the Cuban people on the 31st of
December, 1901, and by the electoral college on the 24th of
February, 1902, when a president [T. Estrada Palma],
vice-president, senate, and house of representatives were
chosen.
"The situation at this important juncture in the affairs of
Cuba is described by Secretary Root in his annual report for
1902 as follows:
"‘The whole governmental situation in Cuba was quite
unprecedented, with its curious device of a suspended
sovereignty given up by Spain, but not in terms vested in
anybody else, and if vested remaining dormant, while a
practical working government of military occupation in time of
peace, deriving its authority from the sovereignty of another
country, claimed temporary allegiance, made and enforced laws,
and developed a political organization of the Cuban people to
take and exercise the suspended or dormant sovereignty. It was
important that in inaugurating the new government there should
be no break in the continuity of legal obligation, of rights
of property and contract, of jurisdiction, or of
administrative action. It would not do to wait for the new
government to pass laws or to create offices and appoint
administrative officers and vest them with powers, for the
instant that the new government was created the intervening
government ceased, and the period of waiting would be a period
of anarchy.
"‘It was necessary, therefore, to take such steps that the new
Government should be created as a going concern, every officer
of which should be able to go on with his part of the business
of governing under the new sovereignty without waiting for any
new authority. That everything necessary to this end should be
done, and that it should be done according to a consistent and
maintainable legal theory, caused the Department a good deal
of solicitude. It is gratifying to report that it was done,
and that the Government which, until noon of May 20, was
proceeding under the authority of the President of the United
States, went on in the afternoon of that day and has ever
since continued under the sovereignty which had been abandoned
by Spain in April, 1899, without any more break or confusion
than accompanies the inauguration of a new President in the
United States. This could not have been done without the most
perfect good understanding, mutual confidence, and sympathetic
cooperation on the part of our officers who were about to
retire, and the newly elected officers of Cuba, who were about
to take the reins of Government.’"
One of the most interesting pages in history is that which
records the peaceful withdrawal of the flag and forces of the
United States from Cuba, and the inauguration of the
Government of the Republic of Cuba. The story cannot be told
in more interesting form or manner than as it is presented in
the orders of Secretary Root and the exchange of letters
between the President of the United States, the Secretary of
War, and the President of the Republic of Cuba. These
documents in part are as follows:
"Washington, D. C., March 24, 1902.
"Brig. Gen. Leonard Wood,
Military Governor of Cuba.
"Sir: You are authorized to provide for the inauguration, on
the 20th of May next, of the government elected by the people
of Cuba; and, upon the establishment of said government, to
leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its
people pursuant to the provisions of the act of Congress
entitled ‘An act making appropriation for the Army for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1902,’ approved March 2, 1901.
"Upon the transfer of government and control to the President
and Congress so elected, you will advise them that such
transfer is upon the express understanding and condition that
the new government does thereupon, and by the acceptance
thereof, pursuant to the provisions of the appendix to the
constitution of Cuba, adopted by the constitutional convention
on the 12th of June, 1901, assume and undertake all and
several the obligations assumed by the United States with
respect to Cuba by the treaty between the United States of
America and Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, signed at
Paris on the 10th day of December, 1898.
"It is the purpose of the United States Government, forthwith
upon the inauguration of the new government of Cuba, to
terminate the occupancy of the island by the United States,
and to withdraw from that island the military forces now in
occupancy thereof: but for the preservation and care of the
coast defenses of the island, and to avoid leaving the island
entirely defenseless against external attack, you may leave in
the coast fortifications such small number of artillerymen as
may be necessary, for such reasonable time as may be required
to enable the new Government to organize and substitute
therefor an adequate military force of its own: by which time
it is anticipated that the naval stations referred to in the
statute and in the appendix to the constitution above cited,
will have been agreed upon, and the said artillerymen may be
transferred thereto.
"You will convene the Congress elected by the people of Cuba
in joint session at such reasonable time before the 20th of
May as shall be necessary therefor, for the purpose of
performing the duties of counting and rectifying the electoral
vote for President and Vice-President under the fifty-eighth
article of the Cuban constitution.
{176}
At the same time you will publish and certify to the people of
Cuba the instrument adopted as the constitution of Cuba by the
constitutional convention on the 21st day of February, 1901,
together with the appendix added thereto and forming a part
thereof adopted by the said convention on the 12th day of
June, 1901. It is the understanding of the Government of the
United States that the government of the island will pass to
the new President and Congress of Cuba as a going concern; all
the laws promulgated by the government of occupation
continuing in force and effect, and all the judicial and
subordinate executive and administrative officers continuing
in the lawful discharge of their present functions until
changed by the constitutional officers of the new government.
At the same moment the responsibility of the United States for
the collection and expenditure of revenues and for the proper
performance of duty by the officers and employees of the
insular government will end, and the responsibility of the new
government of Cuba therefor will commence.
"In order to avoid any embarrassment to the new President,
which might arise from his assuming executive responsibility
with subordinates whom he does not know, or in whom he has not
confidence, and to avoid any occasion for sweeping changes in
the civil-service personnel immediately after the inauguration
of the new Government, approval is given to the course which
you have already proposed of consulting the President-elect,
and substituting, before the 20th of May, wherever he shall so
desire, for the persons now holding official positions, such
persons as he may designate. This method will make it
necessary that the new President and yourself should appoint
representatives to count and certify the cash and cash
balances and the securities for deposits transferred to the
new government. The consent of the owner of the securities for
deposits to the transfer thereof you will of course obtain.
"The vouchers and accounts in the office of the Auditor and
elsewhere, relating to the receipt and disbursement of moneys
during the government of occupation, must necessarily remain
within the control, and available for the use, of this
Department. Access to these papers will, however, undoubtedly
be important to the officers of the new government in the
conduct of their business subsequent to the 20th of May. You
will accordingly appoint an agent to take possession of these
papers and retain them at such place in the island of Cuba as
may be agreed upon with the new government until they can be
removed to the United States without detriment to the current
business of the new government.
"I desire that you communicate the contents of this letter to
Mr. Palma, the President-elect, and ascertain whether the
course above described accords with his views and wishes. Very
respectfully,
ELIHU ROOT, Secretary of War."
On the 20th of May, 1902, the transfer of executive authority
from the American Military Governor, General Wood, to
President elect Palma was made in due form, and the following
correspondence passed between President Palma, General Wood,
President Roosevelt, and Secretary Root:
"HABANA, May 20, 1902.
"Honorable General Leonard Wood.
"Sir: As President of the Republic of Cuba, I hereby receive
the Government of the Island of Cuba which you transfer to me
in compliance with orders communicated to you by the President
of the United States, and take note that by this act the
military occupation of Cuba ceases.
"Upon accepting this transfer I declare that the Government of
the Republic assumes, as provided for in the constitution,
each and every one of the obligations concerning Cuba imposed
upon the United States by virtue of the treaty entered into on
the 10th of December, 1898, between the United States and Her
Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain.
"I understand that, as far as possible, all pecuniary
responsibilities contracted by the military government up to
this date have been paid; that $100,000, or such portion
thereof as maybe necessary, have been set aside to cover the
expenses that may be occasioned by the liquidation and
finishing up of the obligations contracted by said government,
and that there has been transferred to the Government of the
Republic the sum of $689,191.02, which constitutes the cash
balance existing to-day in favor of the State. …
"I take this solemn occasion, which marks the fulfillment of
the honored promise of the Government and people of the United
States in regard to the island of Cuba, and in which our
country is made a ruling nation, to express to you, the worthy
representative of that grand people, the immense gratitude
which the people of Cuba feel toward the American nation,
toward its illustrious President, Theodore Roosevelt, and
toward you for the efforts you have put forth for the
successful accomplishment of such a precious ideal.
T. ESTRADA PALMA."
"Habana, May 20, 1902.
"Theodore Roosevelt, President, Washington.
"The government of the island having been just transferred, I,
as Chief Magistrate of the Republic, faithfully interpreting
the sentiments of the whole people of Cuba, have the honor to
send you and the American people testimony of our profound
gratitude and the assurance of an enduring friendship, with
wishes and prayers to the Almighty for the welfare and
prosperity of the United States.
T. ESTRADA PALMA."
"Washington, May 20, 1902.
"President of the Republic of Cuba:
"Believe in my heartfelt congratulations upon the inauguration
of the Republic which the people of Cuba and the people of the
United States have fought and labored together to establish.
With confidence in your unselfish patriotism and courage and
in the substantial civic virtues of your people, I bid you
godspeed, and on this happy day wish for Cuba for all time
liberty and order, peace and prosperity.
ELIHU ROOT, Secretary of War."
"Habana, May 21, 1902.
"ELIHU ROOT, Secretary of War, Washington.
"I am deeply moved by your heartfelt message of congratulation
on the inauguration of the Republic of Cuba, to the birth of
which the people and the Government of the United States have
contributed with their blood and treasure. Rest assured that
the Cuban people can never forget the debt of gratitude they
owe to the great Republic, with which we will always cultivate
the closest relations of friendship and for the prosperity of
which we pray to the Almighty.
T. ESTRADA PALMA."
{177}
On the 10th of June, General Wood, at Washington, made the
following report to the Adjutant-General of the United States
Army:
"Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the Republic of Cuba
was established at 12 o’clock noon, May 20, 1902. The transfer
was made upon the lines indicated in the instructions of the
honorable the Secretary of War, and the autograph letter of
the President read to President Palma and presented to him.
President Palma responded, expressing his sincere appreciation
of the work done by the United States in Cuba, and the lasting
gratitude of himself and the people of Cuba.
"The transfer was made in the main reception hall of the
palace of the military governor. There were present the
President-elect and his cabinet, the military governor and the
officers of his staff, civil and military, the Cuban Congress,
the judiciary, officers of the British and Italian navies, the
captain and staff of the U. S. S. Brooklyn, and the consular
representatives of foreign countries. …

"I left the palace at twenty-five minutes past 12 o’clock,
accompanied by the officers of my personal and departmental
staff. We were accompanied to the capitania del puerto by
President Palma with his cabinet, the Cuban Congress, and all
others who had been present at the ceremonies. President Palma
bade us farewell at the wharf after again expressing his most
sincere and lasting good will and appreciation.
"Accompanied by my personal staff, I immediately embarked upon
the U. S. S. Brooklyn. The officers of the department
staff embarked on the S . S. Moro Castle, which sailed
at a quarter past 3. The U. S. S. Brooklyn sailed at
about 3.45.
LEONARD WOOD, Brigadier General United States Army."
The above account of the "Establishment of Free Government in
Cuba "is taken wholly from a narrative thus entitled, compiled
by the Bureau of Insular Affairs, United States War
Department, and published as Document Number 312, in Volume 7
of Senate Documents, 58th Congress, 2d Session.
CUBA: A. D. 1902.
Tomas Estrada Palma, the First President of the Cuban Republic.
"There was such manifest propriety in the selection of General
Estrada Palma to be the first president of the Cuban Republic
that the attempt to bring forward another candidate was
unavailing. There was no excitement at the popular election,
and the voting was light, because the result was a foregone
conclusion. The two most important men in the last struggle
for Cuban freedom were General Maximo Gomez and General
Estrada Palma. Gomez commanded the armies in the field, and
employed methods which, as we have repeatedly said, entitle
him to rank as one of the greatest of all modern commanders.
Palma was the agent of the Cuban patriots in the United
States, and he, more than any other man, is to be credited
with having kept alive the military movement in Cuba by means
of material aid and assistance sent from the outside. Most
important of all, he addressed himself with success to
bringing about that awakening of public opinion in the United
States which finally took the form of an irresistible moral
crusade on behalf of Cuban freedom. If these two men had died,
or were otherwise ineligible, Cuba would not, indeed, have
been left without trained and patriotic sons who could have
filled the presidential office with ability and success. But
since Gomez and Palma were both alive, and available in every
sense, they were the two men to whom Cuba might naturally
turn, rather than to any others, as candidates for the
presidency. The military hero is always the man to be first
considered, and Gomez for a time was the candidate whose name
was upon all lips. But he declared that he had no ambition for
political office, and in due time it appeared that Gomez was
shaping things in Cuba for the nomination of Palma. …
"Tomas Estrada Palma is sixty-six years of age. His father was
a wealthy planter in the easternmost province of Cuba, and the
son was well educated in Cuba and in Spain, and became a
lawyer, with a view not so much to the practice of his
profession as to the better management of the affairs of a
large estate. His patriotic sympathies led him to active
service in the ten years’ struggle for independence which
began in 1868 and ended in 1878, and early in that period he
became a general in the insurgent army. Toward the end of the
war, he became the president of the provisional government, a
position which at least indicated the confidence in which he
was held by the Cuban people. He was made a prisoner, taken to
Spain, at the risk of his life refused to swear allegiance,
witnessed, in consequence, the confiscation of his estates,
and some time after the final termination of the struggle
regained his personal liberty, at the loss, however, of his
Cuban property and home. When he goes to Cuba, two or three
months hence, to assume the duties and high honors of the
presidency, it will be after an absence of twenty four years.
After his release, at the end of the Ten Years War, Palma
traveled in Spanish-American countries, and settled in
Honduras, where he married the daughter of the president of
that republic and became postmaster-general. Subsequently he
came with his wife and one little child to New York, and saw
an opportunity to establish a school for young people from the
Spanish-American countries. His institute was located in the
little town of Central Valley, in Orange County, New York,
some forty miles from the metropolis. He has now lived in
Central Valley for eighteen years, and his six children, five
of whom were born there, have known no other home."
American Review of Reviews,
February, 1902.
CUBA: A. D. 1903.
Lease of Coaling and Naval Stations to the United States.
Reciprocity with the United States.
Cession of the Isle of Pines.
In consonance with Article VII. of the so-called "Platt
Amendment," which became an Appendix to the Constitution of
the Republic of Cuba, an Agreement between the United States
and Cuba for the lease to the former, in Guantanamo and Bahia
Honda, of lands for coaling and naval stations, was signed in
February, 1903. The consequent lease was signed and
ratifications exchanged in the following July and October.
{178}
According to the terms of the Agreement "while, on the one
hand, the United States recognizes the continuance of the
ultimate sovereignty of the Republic of Cuba over the above
described areas of land and water, on the other hand the
Republic of Cuba consents that during the period of the
occupation by the United States of said areas under the terms
of this agreement the United States shall exercise complete
jurisdiction and control over and within said areas with the
right to acquire (under conditions to be hereafter agreed upon
by the two Governments) for the public purposes of the United
States any land or other property therein by purchase or by
exercise of eminent domain with full compensation to the
owners thereof." The yearly rental to be paid for the use of
the lands defined in the Agreement is $2000.
An arrangement of reciprocity between Cuba and the United
States, conceding to Cuban sugar a rebate of 20 per cent. from
the Dingley tariff rate, and giving 20 to 40 per cent. of
reduction in Cuba on American goods, was ratified by the
United States Senate in December.
A treaty ceding all claims of the United States to the Isle of
Pines was signed in December, and awaited ratification by the
Senate when the year closed.
CUBA: A. D. 1906.
Participation in Third International Conference of
American Republics.
See (in this Volume)
American Republics.
CUBA: A. D. 1906 (August-October).
Outbreak of insurrection.
Appeal of President Palma for American intervention.
The Republic practically without a Government.
Secretary Taft, sent to the Island, establishes a
Provisional Government.
Governor Magoon.
The first report to the Government of the United States of an
outbreak of insurrection in Cuba was sent from the American
Legation at Havana on the 21st of August, 1906. Between 1000
and 1500 men were then said to be in arms in Pinar del Rio,
under Colonel Pino Guerra, "a Liberal member of the present
Congress and a veteran of the War of Independence." The
insurgents represented the political party called Liberal,
hostile to the party called Moderate which controlled the
Government and enjoyed the favor of President Palma. They
complained of unfairness in late elections and demanded a new
electoral law with a new election to be held under it. The
Government had no effective armed forces to use against them,
and some effort by business men of Havana and by "veterans" to
mediate between the parties and pacify the revolutionists were
without avail. Events, therefore, moved rapidly to the
producing of a situation in which President Palma, on the 12th
of September, asked for American intervention, and begged
"that President Roosevelt send to Havana with rapidity 2000 or
3000 men, to avoid any catastrophe in the capital." Two days
later the request was repeated with more urgency, the
Consul-General at Havana stating in a telegram to the State
Department at Washington:
"President Palma has resolved not to continue at the head of
the Government, and is ready to present his resignation, even
though the present disturbances should cease at once. The
vice-president has resolved not to accept the office. Cabinet
ministers have declared that they will previously resign.
Under these conditions it is impossible that Congress will
meet, for the lack of a proper person to convoke same to
designate a new president. The consequences will be absence of
legal power, and therefore the prevailing state of anarchy
will continue unless the United States Government will adopt
the measures necessary to avoid this danger."
The action then taken by President Roosevelt was recounted by
him in his next annual Message to Congress, as follows:
"It was evident that chaos was impending, and there was every
probability that if steps were not immediately taken by this
Government to try to restore order, the representatives of
various European nations in the island would apply to their
respective governments for armed intervention in order to
protect the lives and property of their citizens. Thanks to
the preparedness of our Navy, I was able immediately to send
enough ships to Cuba to prevent the situation from becoming
hopeless; and I furthermore dispatched to Cuba the Secretary
of War and the Assistant Secretary of State, in order that
they might grapple with the situation on the ground. All
efforts to secure an agreement between the contending
factions, by which they should themselves come to an amicable
understanding and settle upon some modus vivendi—some
provisional government of their own—failed. Finally the
President of the Republic resigned. The quorum of Congress
assembled failed by deliberate purpose of its members, so that
there was no power to act on his resignation, and the
Government came to a halt. In accordance with the so-called
Platt amendment, which was embodied in the constitution of
Cuba, I thereupon proclaimed a provisional government for the
island, the Secretary of War acting as provisional governor
until he could be replaced by Mr. Magoon, the late minister to
Panama and governor of the Canal Zone on the Isthmus; troops
were sent to support them and to relieve the Navy, the
expedition being handled with most satisfactory speed and
efficiency. The insurgent chiefs immediately agreed that their
troops should lay down their arms and disband; and the
agreement was carried out."
From an "Epitome of events attendant upon the establishment of
the Provisional Government of Cuba," published in Part 1 of
"Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United
States," for 1906, the following is taken:
"On Saturday, September 29, 1906, a provisional government
exercising Cuban sovereignty under the authority of the
President of the United States was established, and a
proclamation was issued to the Cuban people setting forth the
causes for this action and defining the position of the United
States toward Cuba.
"Since the American commissioners understand that the Republic
of Cuba is continuous and that they are only the ad interim
executives, the various departments continue to function as
before with the assistant secretaries as acting heads, the
only officials discharged being those taken on to meet the
exigencies of the revolution.
"At the time the commissioners assumed control there were many
political prisoners in the jails throughout the island. These,
of whom several were prominent liberals who had several times
been consulted by the commissioners while on parole, were
immediately set at liberty.
"The disbanding and disarming of the rebel forces and,
incidentally, the government militia, enlisted specially for
the revolution, has been the chief concern of the provisional
government from its establishment until now. It was carried
out by a commission of American and Cuban military officers,
of which General Frederick Funston was head, and has been
practically completed.
{179}
"On the 10th instant [October] Provisional Governor Taft
issued a general amnesty proclamation to the people of Cuba,
thus indicating that quiet and peace have been restored. Save
for sporadic local disturbances, the entire country is
tranquil.
"On Tuesday, the 9th instant, Governor Magoon, who has
succeeded Mr. Taft as provisional governor, and General Bell,
who is to take command of the military forces of the United
States in the island, reached Habana, and on Saturday, the
13th, Governor Taft issued a proclamation transferring the
provisional governorship to Governor Magoon."
In his proclamation of September 29th, on taking possession of
the Government, Secretary Taft used these clear and distinct
words:
"The provisional government hereby established will be
maintained only long enough to restore order, peace, and
public confidence, by direction of and in the name of the
President of the United States, and then to hold such
elections as may be necessary to determine on those persons
upon whom the permanent government of the republic should be
devolved.
"In so far as is consistent with the nature of a provisional
government established under the authority of the United
States this will be a Cuban Government, conforming with the
constitution of Cuba. The Cuban flag will be hoisted as usual
over the government buildings of the island, all the executive
departments and provincial and municipal governments,
including that of the City of Havana, will continue to be
administered as under the Cuban Republic; the courts will
continue to administer justice, and all the laws not in their
nature inapplicable by reason of the temporary and emergent
character of the government will be in force."
CUBA: A. D. 1906-1909.
Under the Provisional American Government.
Election of a new Congress and a new President.
Restoration of the Republic.
In his Message to Congress, December, 1907, President
Roosevelt described the conditions that had prevailed in the
island for two years under the provisional government,
instituted by Secretary Taft and over which Governor Magoon
had presided, in a few words, as follows:
"Absolute quiet and prosperity have returned to the island
because of this action. We are now taking steps to provide for
elections in the island and our expectation is within the
coming year to be able to turn the island over again to a
government chosen by the people thereof. Cuba is at our doors.
It is not possible that this Nation should permit Cuba again
to sink into the condition from which we rescued it. All that
we ask of the Cuban people is that they be prosperous, that
they govern themselves so as to bring content, order and
progress to their island, the Queen of the Antilles; and our
only interference has been and will be to help them achieve
these results."
Provincial elections held in the following August went
generally in favor of the Conservative party, and that party
was accordingly expected to win the presidential election,
appointed to occur in November, 1908; but such was not the
result. Three parties were in the field, Conservatives,
Miguelistas, and Zayistas. The Miguelistas were political
followers of General José Miguel Gomez, whose middle name they
took for their party designation; the Zayistas were partisans
of Dr. Alfredo Zayas; the Conservatives were reputed to be
substantially identical with the party known as Moderates in
the politics of the First Republic. Their leader was General
Menocal. The Liberals of former contests were now divided
between Miguelistas and Zayistas. They were reunited in the
national election of November, and swept the Moderates into
the background, electing both their leaders, Gomez and Zayas,
the one to be President, the other to be Vice-President, of
the reconstituted Republic: electing, at the same time, an
effective majority in the Congress for their support.
January 28, 1909, was the day fixed for dissolving the
provisional government and reinvesting the Cubans with
political independence; but the Congress was organized and
held its initial session on the 13th. The President and
Vice-President elect were inaugurated with simple ceremonies
on the 28th. President Roosevelt, on that day, sent a message
to the President and the Congress in these words:CUBA:
"Governor Magoon will, by my direction, turn over to you on
the 28th of this month the control and government of the
island of Cuba, and he will thereupon declare the provisional
administration of the affairs of the island by the United
States to be at an end. Upon the occasion of this final act, I
desire to reiterate to you the sincere friendship and good
wishes of the United States and our most earnest hopes for the
stability and success of your government. Our fondest hope is
that you may enjoy the blessing of peace, prosperity, justice,
and orderly liberty, and that the friendship which has existed
between the republic of the United States and the republic of
Cuba, may continue for all time to come."
Governor Magoon, in his brief address, surrendering the reins
of government to President Gomez, said, in part:
"It is the understanding of the United States, and it now
declares that all the executive and legislative decrees and
rulings of the provisional government now in force shall
continue in force and effect until such time as the same shall
be legally revoked by Cuba.
"All money obligations of the provisional government down to
this date have been paid as far as practicable. Such claims
and obligations, however, as may remain unpaid are to be
regarded as claims and obligations of Cuba, and the United
States understands that these claims and obligations will be
so treated."
President Gomez replied:
"We receive from you the government of Cuba which you turn
over to us in compliance with the instructions of the
President of the United States. All acquired rights shall be
respected in harmony with the principles of international law,
the principles of our constitution and the provisions of the
appendix of the constitution. The constitution shall be upheld
in all its integrity because our chief concern will be to
preserve it inviolate.
{180}
"We are indebted to your nation for its generous aid in the
maintenance of our institutions and the cordial relations
existing will never grow less through any act of ours. Once
again we are masters of our fate and there is not a Cuban
heart but swears to maintain for all time the newly-acquired
integrity of the nation, and who does not at the same time
feel the profoundest gratitude towards those who, after
governing them, have faithfully performed their agreement and
now leave us in the full enjoyment of our sovereignty."
According to newspaper reports, however, the popular feeling
was somewhat different from the sentiment expressed by
President Gomez, if the coldness with which the Cuban crowd of
that day watched the departure of Governor Magoon and his
associates could be taken for a sign. They sailed for home
immediately, on the new battleship Maine. About 3000 American
troops remained on the island, under command of Major-General
Thomas L. Barry, until the 1st of April following. On the
departure of these, President Gomez said to General Barry:
"It is pleasing to me to acknowledge the great aptitudes and
qualities of the Army of Pacification under your command,
which has brought to a happy conclusion its honorable mission
of watching over our country in the difficult days, now
happily past, and in maintaining and reaffirming the most
friendly relations with our people, in whose name I assure you
your efforts have been crowned with the most flattering
success. I pray you, general, to express to your valiant
soldiers the extreme gratitude and admiration which the
government and the people of Cuba have for them."
Of President Gomez the following account was given at the time
of his inauguration by the New York Evening Post:
"Major-General Jose Miguel Gomez, the first President of the
new Cuban Republic, is fifty-three years of age, and a native
of Santa Clara province, where he has always enjoyed
extraordinary popularity and influence. He participated in two
Cuban revolutions against Spain, in the first of which he
reached the rank of major and in the second that of
major-general. He was selected as Governor of Santa Clara
province by the government of intervention, and when his term
expired he was elected Governor.
"In May, 1905, the general was nominated for the Presidency by
the National Liberal Convention, but resigned his candidacy
four months later, giving as the reason for this action that
it was impossible to continue the campaign within the bounds
of the law, and laying part of the blame on the United States,
owing to the Platt amendment. An uprising in Cuba followed,
which ended with the deposition of President Palma and the
intervention of the United States.
"In August, 1906, General Gomez was arrested, charged with
conspiring against the Administration of the late President
Palma, but he denied the allegation, and was released from
custody after a month’s imprisonment. In December of the same
year Governor Magoon appointed him secretary of a commission
to revise the laws of Cuba. These included the drafting of an
electoral law, new provincial and municipal laws, a law
defining the organization and functions of the judiciary, a
civil service law, and also laws on such other subjects as may
be referred to it by the provisional Governor."
CUBA: A. D. 1907.
Population.
Remarkable increase in eight years.
"The population of Cuba on September 30, 1907, was 2,048,980;
at the census next preceding, taken under the American
administration in 1899, at the close of the Spanish-American
War, the population was 1,572,797. The rate of increase in
these eight years is not less than 30 per cent. or at the rate
of 39 per cent per decade. This is a very rapid rate of
increase—greater than that of any other country with which I
am acquainted. This increase has not been brought about by
immigration, for in the eight years the net immigration (that
is, the excess of arrivals over departures) numbered only
75,000, and the element of foreign birth increased from 11 per
cent to 11.2 per cent only, but it has been brought about
almost entirely by the excess of births over deaths. … One
peculiar phenomenon of this increase is that the rural
population has gained much more rapidly than has the urban—a
condition which rarely exists, as in nearly every country in
the world the drift of population is toward the cities. The
urban population, including all places of 1,000 inhabitants
and over, was 43.9 per cent of the total population. In 1899
it was 47.1 per cent. If the urban population be limited to
towns of 8,000 inhabitants, the proportion was 30.3 per cent.
The chief cities are Habana, with 297,159 inhabitants, or
about one-seventh of the population of Cuba; Santiago de Cuba,
45,470; Matanzas, 36,009; Cienfuegos, 30,100; and Camaguey,
29,616. The number of inhabitants per square mile in the
island as a whole was 46.5, or about the same as in Missouri,
Virginia, or South Carolina. The foreign-born population
formed 11.2 per cent of the total. Of this element four-fifths
were born in Spain and less than three per cent in the United
States; Chinese and Africans were more numerous than United
States people. …
"As to color, about seven-tenths of the population were white,
the remaining three-tenths being colored, including negroes,
mixed, and a few thousand Chinese. As in the United States,
the colored element is increasing less rapidly than is the
white population."
Henry Gannett,
National Geographic Magazine,
February, 1909.
As reported from Washington, nearly 57 per cent, of the
population of Cuba, at least ten years of age, can read, the
percentage in the large cities being 82.6 and in the rest of
the island 47.9 according to figures obtained in the census
recently taken. This census shows that in 1907 almost
one-third of the children were attending school, as compared
with less than one-sixth in 1899.
See also (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: CUBA.
CUBA: A. D. 1907 (April).
Decision of Supreme Court of the United States respecting
the Isle of Pines.
A decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, rendered
on the 8th of April, 1907, determined that the Isle of Pines
is foreign territory, in the view of the United States customs
laws, and, inferentially, that the United States has
practically no title to the island.
CUBA: A. D. 1909 (June).
Ill conditions along with material prosperity.
"What may prove to be the largest sugar crop in Cuba’s
history—certainly it is the most profitable she has harvested
in many along year—is almost in. It is estimated at a million
and a half tons. It has obtained the very satisfactory average
price of 4 5/8 reales, reckoning from January 1 to date. …
Ordinarily, this condition of affairs as regards her biggest
crop would be equivalent to the best of times for Cuba,
especially since last year also was a good year for sugar men,
and this year the tobacco crop, too, is fair in quantity and
quality and going at satisfactory prices. But, so
extraordinary is the present situation, times were never
harder in all the history of this island than they are to-day,
material evidences of prosperity to the contrary
notwithstanding.
{181}
"Yet values have not dropped. This is no panic. It is merely a
standing still—a waiting for something to happen. Just what it
is that is due to occur nobody will say. Asked what he is
afraid of, the Spaniard, who is the business man of Cuba,
shrugs his shoulders and shifts his eyes; pressed for a reply,
he answers enigmatically: ‘There is no confidence.’ The
feeling grows that the present government will be forced into
the hands of a receiver, like any other bankrupt concern,
before even its liveliest opponents can organize to end it
more heroically. …
"In 1906, when Cuba’s customs receipts, which are almost her
sole source of revenue, were at their maximum, her budget
stood at $17,915,013.25. In 1909, weakened as she is, she is
burdened with a budget of $33,825,448.53—President Gomez’s
estimate of expenditure necessary in the first fiscal year of
his Administration! In other words, while collections have
fallen off, the governmental expenditures they must cover have
increased 100 per cent."
Havana Correspondent,
New York Evening Post,
June 19, 1909.
"The Senate and House abruptly adjourned this evening. This
was the final day of the regular session of Congress, but no
definite action was taken on the question of the approval of
the budget. … The House yesterday approved the budget in its
entirety, and it was expected that the Senate would approve it
to-day. The latter body, however, after devoting much time to
a bill legalizing cockfighting, which was passed, made sundry
minor modifications in the budget, sending it again to the
House, in the apparent expectation that the modifications
would be accepted by the House, which, in the meantime, had
adjourned. The adjournment of the House was not known until
after the Senate had also adjourned."
Havana Telegram to Associated Press,
June 30, 1909.
"Owing to the failure of the Cuban Senate to pass the budget,
President Gomez, early this morning, issued a decree making
effective Governor Magoon’s budget of 1908-1909 amounting to
$24,285,000. The deficiency to cover the cost of the army and
other increased expenses of the republic, amounting to nearly
$10,000,000, will be supplied by Presidential decree. This
will practically repeat the conditions of the last year of the
Palma regime, when, in default of a budget, the decrees to
this same end issued by President Palma were declared to
violate the Constitution, and precipitated the revolution of
August, 1906."
Havana Telegram,
July, 1.
----------CUBA: End--------
CUNARD COMPANY:
Agreements with the British Government.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: INTERNATIONAL.
"CURB MARKET," The, of New York:
Report on its operations.
See (in this Volume)
FINANCE AND TRADE: UNITED STATES. A. D. 1909.
CURIA, New Apostolic Constitution of the Roman.
See (in this Volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1908.
CURIE, Marie Sklodovska.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES.
CURIE, Pierre.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES.
CURIE, Professor and Madame:
Their discovery of Radium.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: RADIUM; also, PHYSICAL.
CURRENCY.
See (in this Volume)
FINANCE AND TRADE.
CURRY, J. L. M.:
Originator of the Annual Conferences for Education in the South.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1898-1909.
CURTIS, Glenn H.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: AERONAUTICS.
CURZON, George N., Lord:
Partition of Bengal.
See (in this Volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1905-1909.
CURZON, George N., Lord:
Resignation of Viceroyalty of India.
See INDIA: A. D. 1905 (AUGUST).
CURZON-WYLLIE, Sir, Assassination of.
See (in this Volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1909 (JULY).
CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION:
Proposals of the Conference of American Republics.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
CUSTOMS COURT OF APPEALS, UNITED STATES:
See (in this Volume)
TARIFFS: UNITED STATES.
CUSTOMS SERVICE, United States:
Corruptions disclosed.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER).
CUSTOMS UNION, Serbo-Bulgarian.
See (in this Volume)
BALKAN STATES: BULGARIA AND SERVIA: A. D. 1905.
CZECHS:
Struggle with Austrian Germans over the language question.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1902-1903, and 1904.
CZOLGOSZ, Leon:
Assassin of President McKinley.
See (in this Volume)
BUFFALO: A. D. 1901.
D.
DAIDO CLUB.
See (in this Volume)
Japan: A. D. 1909.
DALGETY:
Rejected Site for Australian Capital.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1905-1906.
DALNY:
Russian Evacuation.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY), and
1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY).
When Dalny, by the Treaty of Portsmouth, became the property
of Japan its name was changed to Tairen.
DAMASCUS:
Railway to Mecca.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: TURKEY, ASIATIC: A. D. 1908.
DARWIN, Charles:
Centenary Commemoration of.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION: ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS.
DARWINISM, Bearing of Mendel’s Law on.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: BIOLOGICAL.
DAVENPORT, Dr. Charles B.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: CARNEGIE INSTITUTION.
{182}
DAVIS, General George B.:
Commissioner Plenipotentiary to the Second Peace Conference.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.
DAVIS, Henry G.:
Delegate to Second International Conference of
American Republics.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
DAVIS, Jefferson:
Unveiling of Monument to.
See (in this Volume)
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.
DAYANAND SARASWATI.
See (in this Volume)
ARYA SAMAJ.
DAYLIGHT SAVING MOVEMENT.
What is known as the Daylight Saving Movement, which has
acquired much strength in England and has gained some favor in
the United States and elsewhere, is said to have been first
mooted by a builder in London, Mr. Willet, who suggested the
possibility of securing a most important general advantage to
the whole community by establishing a legal difference between
summer and winter in the numbering of the hours. The
proposition is to retain the standard clock time for all the
year except between a given date in April and a given date in
September, within which period the clocks shall be set forward
one hour, making six o’clock in the morning, for example,
become seven.
At first the proposition excited little but laughter; but the
more it has been considered the more advocacy it has won. A
bill to realize it has been twice before Parliament, failing
to be passed, but gaining votes. The main difficulty is to
make people see why there should be legislation on the
subject; why those who wish to begin the labors of the day an
hour earlier in the summer than in the winter may not do so
without any meddling of law with the clocks. The reasons why
were set forth very clearly in one of the debates of
Parliament on the subject. Said one speaker: "The Bill was
intended to benefit town dwellers. Two-thirds, if not
three-fourths, of the population dwelt in towns, and it was
these who suffered from failure to take advantage of the
summer daylight. It had been asked why it was necessary, in
order to induce town populations to follow the example of
agriculturists, to proceed by way of legislation. The answer
was simple. There were 140 statutes in which various phases of
town life were regulated by the clock, and if they desired
those who lived in towns to take advantage of the summer
daylight by beginning work earlier in the morning, it was
surely easier to accomplish that end by passing a general Act
of this kind than by bringing in Bills to amend each of the
statutes in which particular hours were specified."
As another (Mr. Winston Churchill) explained: "It was quite
impossible for an individual to make alterations in the hours
at which he discharged particular duties, while every one else
remained unchanged, without subjecting himself to a great deal
of inconvenience, and the fact that particular firms had
already adopted this early rising system, in spite of the
enormous inconvenience which attended all alterations from the
regular habits of the community as a whole, was not, as the
honourable member for Rye suggested, an argument against the
necessity of the Bill. It was, in his judgment, very good
evidence of the real, natural pressure that there was behind a
measure of this character. If all the world were to change
clock time together, no one would be conscious that that
change had occurred, except at the moment of change. But where
a change of clock time came into contact with unchanged times,
as in the case of the American markets or of the Continental
mails and trains, there, undoubtedly, they would get friction
and discordance. He was, however, not at all sure that that
friction and discordance bore any sensible proportion to the
interests which might be beneficially affected or that that
friction and discordance could not be adjusted without any
very serious inconvenience. But whether that was so or not, he
was quite clear that any such change as this must be made by
legislation, or it could not be made at all."
DEAKIN, Alfred:
Premier of Australia.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1903-1904, and after.
DEAKIN, Alfred:
At the Imperial Conference of 1907.
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907.
DEAKIN, Alfred:
Defeat and resignation in 1908.
Recovery of the Premiership in 1909.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1908, and 1909 (MAY-JUNE).
DEATH DUTY, or Inheritance Tax.
Defeated proposal in Germany.
See (in this Volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1908-1909.
DEATH DUTIES:
Treaty between Great Britain and France, to prevent frauds in
connection with Succession or Death Duties.
The following Treaty between the Governments of Great Britain
and France was signed November 15, 1907, and ratified
December 9:
"The Government of His Britannic Majesty and the Government of
the French Republic, being desirous of preventing as far as
possible frauds in connection with succession duties, have
authorized the Undersigned to conclude the following
Agreement:—
"ARTICLE 1.
The Government of His Britannic Majesty undertake, in the case
of the decease of all persons domiciled in France, to furnish
an extract from the affidavit, containing the full name,
domicile, date and place of death of the deceased; all
information relating to his successors, and the details
respecting that portion of the estate which is moveable. This
extract shall be furnished, however, only in cases where the
value of the moveable estate shall amount to a sum of not less
than £100.
"ARTICLE 2.
The Government of the French Republic undertake, in the case
of the decease of all persons domiciled in the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, to furnish an extract from the
déclaration de mutation through death, containing the
particulars enumerated in Article 1. This extract shall be
furnished, however, only in cases where the value of the
moveable estate declared shall amount to a sum of not less
than 2,520 fr.
"ARTICLE 3.
The extracts from affidavits or déclarations de
mutation shall be certified by the officers intrusted with
the duty of receiving or registering these affidavits or
declarations.
"In the event, however, of either of the two Governments
deeming it necessary, the certifying and authentication of the
signatures, as required according to the procedure customary
in that country, shall, upon request and without fee, be
affixed to these extracts.
"ARTICLE 4.
The extracts from affidavits or declarations received or
registered during each quarter shall be forwarded directly,
within a period of six weeks from the last day of the quarter,
by the Board of Inland Revenue to the Direction Générate de
l’Enregistrement, and reciprocally.
"All correspondence respecting the said extracts shall also be
conducted directly between those two Central Administrations."
{183}
DEATH STATISTICS:
Fatal Accidents to Workmen in the United States.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR PROTECTION.
DEBTS, Public:
Compulsory collection.
See (in this Volume)
DRAGO DOCTRINE.
DEBS, Eugene V.:
Nomination for President of the United States.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904 (MARCH-NOVEMBER),
and 1908 (APRIL-NOVEMBER).
DEEP WATERWAYS, Movement for.
See (in this Volume)
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES.
DE LAVAL, Gustave Patrick.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: TURBINE ENGINE.
DELAGRANGE, M.
See (in this Volume)
Science and Invention, Recent: Aeronautics.
DELBRUCK, Herr.
See (in this Volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1908-1909.
DELCASSÉ, THÉOPHILE:
French Minister of Foreign Affairs.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1902 (APRIL-OCTOBER).
DELCASSÉ, THÉOPHILE:
Resignation forced by the German Government.
See (in this Volume)
EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906.
DELCASSÉ, THÉOPHILE:
Controversy with M. Clemenceau in the Chamber of Deputies
which threw the latter out of office.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1909 (JULY).
DELHI: A. D. 1903.
Great Durbar.
See (in this Volume).
INDIA: A. D. 1903 (JANUARY).
DELYANNIS, Theodoros:
Assassination.
See (in this Volume)
GREECE: A. D. 1905.
DEMOCRACY, Political:
Involved in the South African Labor Question.
See (in this Volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1903-1904.
DEMOCRACY, Political:
Triumphant in Denmark.
See (in this Volume)
DENMARK: A. D. 1901.
DEMOCRATAS, The. See (in this Volume)
DEMOCRISTIANA.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: ITALY.
----------DENMARK: Start--------
DENMARK: A. D. 1909.
Democracy in Power after a thirty-years’ struggle with
Landlordism.
Landlordism in Denmark, entrenched in the upper house of the
Parliament, was dislodged from the control of Government by
the Democratic party, in the elections of April, 1901, after a
struggle of thirty years. A Danish correspondent of The
American Review of Reviews gave a spirited account of the
victory to that magazine in the following October, from which
the following is taken:
"At the elections of April, 1901, out of 114 members in the
lower house only 5 were won by the Conservatives, with small
majorities, and even the strong Conservative majority in the
upper house was reduced to one vote through the rebellion of
the Conservatives. The Danes are now a thoroughly radical and
democratic people, with a more perfect system of
self-government in politics and business than perhaps any
other nation. The population has increased so much that it is
now as large as the whole population of the kingdom and
duchies before 1864. After England, it is also the richest
country in the world per head of the population, and the
excellence of its educational system is matter of common
knowledge. Denmark, therefore, enters the new century steaming
full speed ahead, and with the best hopes for the future.
"The victory of April 3 last was as complete over the
Moderates as over the Government. Before the poll the
Moderates were twenty-two strong, but Mr. Bojesen, the evil
genius of the democracy, withdrew his candidature and retired
into private life, while several of his supposed adherents
declared during the campaign that, if reelected, they would
join the Radicals. Mr. Bojesen’s constituency, which he had
represented since 1869, was taken by the Radicals, and the
Moderates, now reduced to twelve or thirteen—of whom about
half will join the Radicals if allowed—have lost all their
former importance. The premier and minister of justice is M.
Deuntzer, professor of law at the university, an old Radical
who in 1885 publicly opposed the government. The minister of
agriculture is Mons. Ole Hansen. He is a common farmer from a
village in Seeland, owner of a farm of about one hundred
acres; M. P. since 1890. … The law officer of the crown is
Mons. Alberti, who is a leader of many cooperative
undertakings of the peasantry; M. P. since 1892.
"Mr. Jens Christian Christensen is the most important member
of the new cabinet. He was born in West Jutland, in 1856, the
son of a farmer, and earned his living when a boy as a
shepherd. He passed the examination for village schoolmaster
in Jutland, and taught till recently in the little village of
Stadil, in West Jutland. In 1890 he was returned for
Parliament, and in 1895 became leader of the opposition. Of
late years, the Conservative Government being so utterly weak,
he practically ruled the country in his capacity of president
of the finance committee of the Folkething. A few months ago
he resigned his post as schoolmaster, succeeded in being
elected a ‘revisor of the state,’ and is now minister of
religion and education. After Mr. Christensen, Mr. Harup is
considered the greatest triumph for the Democrats. Born in
1841, the son of a schoolmaster in an Iceland village, he
became a law student, taking his degree in 1867 at the
university. … He is one of the most brilliant and best known
of Danish journalists—the most brilliant, according to George
Brandes."
DENMARK: A. D. 1902.
Proposed sale of Danish West Indies to the United States.
Negotiations for the sale of the Danish islands in the West
Indies to the United States were brought to a point of
agreement between the two governments which the Danish
Ministry submitted to the two chambers of the Rigsdag. The
Folkething—the popular branch of the parliament—assented to
the sale, while the other chamber, the Landsthing, rejected
the proposed terms. The Rigsdag was then, in May, 1902,
prorogued, and assembled again in the following October.
Meantime an election of one half of the membership of the
Landsthing had taken place, and the Conservatives had lost
ground in it; notwithstanding which fact the proposition was
defeated in that body again, and the projected sale came to
naught.
{184}
DENMARK: A. D. 1905-1909.
The Fortification and Naval-Defense Question
in Danish Politics.
"That Germany within recent times has paid considerably more
than passing attention to the defense plans of Denmark has not
escaped the Danes, whose military astuteness is proverbial. At
the instigation of the Kaiser himself, Lieutenant Colonel R.
von Bieberstein inspected the quite openly exposed
fortifications of Copenhagen, and what he has written
regarding the vulnerability, or otherwise, of the Danish
capital has been taken to heart in Denmark’s military circles.
Beyond a doubt, Denmark to-day is much more favorably situated
than when Prussia despoiled the country of Schleswig-Holstein,
and while little apprehension exists on the score of Germany
again attacking her northern neighbor, should a war break out
between England and the German Empire it might prove
impossible for either belligerent to keep Danish territory
inviolate. Denmark’s neutrality would be thrown to the winds
where the fate of empires would be at stake. Still, in her
defense of such neutrality, Denmark would gain time sufficient
to make any trespasser pause before advancing. Meanwhile, the
Scandinavian allies of the Danes would be enabled to assert
themselves effectively.
"Following the recent Danish cabinet crisis, when the
portfolios of war and navy were given into the hands of a
civilian, J. C. Christensen, the former minister for
instruction of the Deuntzer Régime, a special defense
commission has had under consideration ways and means best
suited for the protection of the country. … The Danish Defense
Commission is far from being unanimous as to what is the best
plan making for a complete protection of the capital. The
majority of the members are for the abandoning of the land
defenses and the strengthening of Seeland’s coast line by
adding more forts and introducing a mining system covering all
the adjacent waters. The minority of the commission, however,
and the leading military experts of the country are for the
retention of the present land fortifications, in order that
the capital may be securely protected against an enemy
invading Seeland from the north or the west. The very
circumstance that Seeland’s coast line in its entirety does
not lend itself to a complete protection through either forts,
mines, or torpedo equipment speaks favorably for the claim of
the Danish military experts in their assertion that, apart
from what is done toward protecting Copenhagen from the sea,
the land fortifications must be retained. Nearly one hundred
million kroner have been expended on the land defenses, which
sum it would be extremely difficult to raise a second time
were it a question of abandoning the forts for the present and
removing the guns, and in after years restoring them to
serviceable condition."
Julius Moritzen,
Denmark, the Buffer State of the North
(American Review of Reviews, September, 1905).
Since the above was written the question of defense, between
land fortification and naval development, has not only been
the burning one in Danish politics, but has excited much
interest in Europe at large. Politically, the controversy was
curiously altered in February, 1909, by a sudden change of
front on the part of the Premier, M. Neergaard, of which the
Copenhagen correspondent of the London Times gave the
following account:
"The Premier, who represents the majority in the House,
declared that he had changed his opinion and now shared the
views of the small group of the Right on a question which is
the most urgent of the day—namely, that of national defence,
or, to speak precisely, how Denmark can be placed in a
position effectively to maintain her neutrality if threatened
by any Power. He adopted the opinion that Copenhagen must be
fortified on the land side as well as on that of the sea, and
that Denmark, in view of her difficult strategical situation,
should avoid showing any favour to Russia, Germany, or Great
Britain. The surprise which the Premier’s speech caused in all
political circles was unbounded. M. Neergaard had kept the
secret of his scheme so well that only a few persons knew that
the Premier might enter into negotiations with the Right,
which has its main support in the Upper House. That he would
go so far as to adopt the Conservative view was wholly
unexpected.
"The Defence Committee, which had been sitting for seven
years, issued a report which contained no very clear
recommendations. But M. Neergaard, who is, by the way, himself
no soldier, working in conjunction with the Danish general
staff upon the material which the committee had collected,
drew up a scheme of Danish defence, based upon practical views
and considerations of international law, but almost the direct
contrary of the proposals which his own party, the Left, had

adopted only one year ago. And this position was taken up so
definitely that at the general election in May the people will
have to decide definitely for or against the Premier. It is
evident that M. Neergaard himself must be aware that his
action will split up his party, the allied Centre groups in
the Folkething, that some members will go over to the Right,
and that others will approach the Radicals and Socialists. The
comments of the Government Press already clearly show this.
"For land and sea fortifications, the construction of 20
torpedo-boats and six submarines, improvements in the system
of mines, &c., the sum of 42,200,000 kr. (£2,344,444) is
demanded immediately, while an annual increase in the military
budgets of about 3,327,000 kr. (£184,833) is also proposed.
This is a large amount of money for a small country with but
2,600,000 inhabitants; but, as is well known, the country is
in a strong financial position—exceptionally strong, in the
opinion of some observers."
In May, as the elections approached, the same correspondent
wrote: "All parties unite in the view that Denmark must adhere
to a policy of the strictest neutrality. But while the
Conservatives urge that this policy must be observed by a
system of fortifications, strong enough to show that Denmark
is ready to defend her neutrality if she is threatened, the
Socialists preach the gospel of disarmament as a step towards
eternal peace, and urge furthermore that Denmark is too weak
and small to organize any real defence, and must therefore
rely upon the generosity of her stronger neighbours.
"In addition to the two main parties there are a number of
political groups which are destined to play an important part
in the elections and may in fact decide their issue. These
groups consist of the Moderate Left, the Reform Left, and the
Radical Left. The Moderate Left, the party of the present
Premier, Mr. N. Neergaard, has, however, already adopted the
policy of the Conservatives and needs little more than
mention. The Reform Left, the party of the former Premier, Mr.
F. C. Christensen, numbered until a few months ago 56, or nearly
one half of the Folkething, which has 114 members. Now it has
been split up on the defence question. Of its members 14 agree
with Mr. Neergaard and the Conservatives, and 33 are
reorganized under the leadership of Mr. Christensen, who wants
Copenhagen fortified, but not on the lines of the Neergaard
scheme with its new land fortifications."
{185}
The elections were held on the 25th of May and the following
was reported next morning to the press:
"The election campaign has been heated. The returns up to the
present show that the ministerials have elected 38 adherents,
M. Christensen’s party 34, the parties of the Socialists and
the Radicals, which opposed fortifications, 39, and that
eleven are doubtful. The ministers of finance, justice and
commerce have been unseated. Premier Neergaard and the other
ministers have been re-elected."
An extraordinary session of the new Parliament was summoned by
the King on the 9th of September. Premier Neergaard lacked a
majority in the Folkething, and failed to arrange an agreement
with ex-Premier Christensen on the defence question. He and
his Ministry resigned office, accordingly, in a few weeks, and
a new Cabinet was formed under Count Holstein-Ledreborg, in
which M. Christensen was included as Minister of Defence. The
appointment of the latter was offensive to a large part of the
public, which held him responsible for gross frauds in the
public service, committed by a former Minister of Justice, M.
Alberti. An immense popular demonstration against the
obnoxious Minister of Defence was carried out at Copenhagen on
August 29th; but he stayed in office some weeks longer, until
a scheme of defence had been agreed upon between ex-Premier
Neergaard and himself, and carried through Parliament,
September 24th. The scheme provides for strong sea
fortifications for Copenhagen, while the land defences of the
eighties will be maintained and somewhat strengthened by two
new forts, which are, however, officially characterized as sea
forts.
Three weeks after the passage of the Defence Act M.
Christensen resigned, and was followed out of office by the
whole Holstein-Ledreborg Ministry before the end of October.
For the first time in Denmark a Radical Ministry was then
formed, under M. Zahle.
DENMARK: A. D. 1906.
Death of King Christian IX.
Succession of Frederick VIII.
Gains by Social Democrats in the elections of the spring.
Visit from the Icelandic Parliament.
On the 29th of January, 1906, King Christian IX. died, at the
age of eighty-eight. He was succeeded by his son, Frederick
VIII., who is said to have inherited his father’s character
and ability in a marked degree. He had already reached the age
of sixty-three when he came to the throne. When his accession
was proclaimed he spoke from the balcony of the palace at
Copenhagen to the multitude of people assembled in these
words:
"Our old King, my dearly beloved father, has closed his eyes.
He fell asleep peacefully and calmly, having faithfully
discharged his royal duties to the last. In taking over the
heavy heritage placed on my shoulders, I cherish the confident
hope, and offer a sincere prayer, that the Almighty may grant
me strength and happiness to carry on the government in the
spirit of my dearly beloved father, and that I may have the
good fortune to reach an understanding with the people and
their chosen representatives on all that tends to the good of
the people and the happiness of our beloved fatherland. Let us
join in the cry, ‘Long live the fatherland!'"
At a general election for the Folkething, the lower house of
the Danish Rigsdag, in May, the Social Democrats made heavy
gains, raising their representation in the chamber from
sixteen to twenty-four. The Government party, known as the
Left Reform party, lost three seats, the Moderate Left lost
three, and the Radical Left lost four. The Conservatives
gained two seats. Later, when half of the elective part of the
upper house was chosen, the Social Democrats made gains there,
too, of three seats, and the Government lost five.
In September, on the invitation of King Frederick, the members
of the Icelandic Parliament visited Denmark, and their
entertainment was an interesting event.
See (in this Volume)
ICELAND.
DENMARK: A. D. 1908.
Municipal Suffrage extended to Women.
See (in this Volume)
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
DENMARK: A. D. 1908.
North Sea and Baltic agreements.
See (in this Volume)
EUROPE: A. D. 1908.
DENMARK: A. D. 1908 (April).
Treaty with England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and
Sweden, for maintenance of the Status Quo on the North Sea.
See (in this Volume)
EUROPE: A. D. 1907-1908
DENMARK: A. D. 1909 (June).
Murder of General Beckman.
In June, 1909, during a visit of the Tsar of Russia to the
Danish Court, at Copenhagen, a Swedish anarchist, Adolf Vang,
who had planned an attempt at the murder of the Russian
sovereign, and was enraged on being baffled by the police,
fired at two officers whom he met, provoked by nothing but
their uniforms, and slew one, General Beckman.
----------DENMARK: End--------
DENVER, Colorado:
The Juvenile Court of Judge Lindsey.
See (in this Volume)
CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS OFFENDERS.
DEPEW, Chauncey M.:
United States Senator from New York.
Annual retainers from the Equitable Life Assurance Society.
See (in this Volume)
INSURANCE, LIFE.
DES MOINES CHARTER, The.
See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: GALVESTON.
DEUNTZER, M.:
Premier of Denmark.
See (in this Volume)
DENMARK: A. D. 1901.
DE VRIES, Dr. Hugo:
His biological discoveries.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: CARNEGIE INSTITUTION.
DEVELOPMENT AND ROAD IMPROVEMENT FUNDS ACT.
See (in this Volume)
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: GREAT BRITAIN.
DIAMOND FIELDS:
In German Southwest Africa.
See (in this Volume)
AFRICA: GERMAN COLONIES.
DIAZ, Porfirio:
The President of Mexico enters his seventh term.
See (in this Volume)
MEXICO: A. D. 1904-1905.
DIAZ, Porfirio:
Meeting with President Taft.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER).
DICKINSON, James M.:
Secretary of War.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (MARCH).
DIRECT PRIMARY.
See (in this Volume)
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: UNITED STATES.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A. D. 1908.
Enactment against Race-track Gambling.
See (in this Volume)
GAMBLING.
{186}
DOGGER BANK INCIDENT, of the voyage of the Russian Baltic Fleet.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (OCTOBER-MAY).
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.
See (in this Volume)
San Domingo.
DOMINICANS:
Forbidden to teach in France.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1903.
DORE, Père Le.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1905-1906.
DOUGLAS, A. Akers:
Home Secretary in the British Government.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (JULY).
DOUGLAS, Dr.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: OPSONINS.
DOWAGER-EMPRESS, of China:
Her death.
See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1908 (NOVEMBER).
DRAGA, Queen:
Assassination.
See (in this Volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: SERVIA.
DRAGO DOCTRINE, The.
So named from Dr. Luis Drago, Argentine Minister of Foreign
Relations, who rallied the South American Republics to the
support of it at the Rio de Janeiro Pan-American Conference
and at the Second Peace Conference at The Hague.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS: THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE; and
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907 (SECOND CONVENTION).
DREADNOUGHTS.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR.
DREIBUND.
See TRIPLE ALLIANCE.
DREYFUS, Alfred:
Justice and reparation of the great wrong done him.
His reinstatement in the Army.
His decoration as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1906.
DRUDE, General:
Operations in Morocco.
See (in this Volume)
MOROCCO: A. D. 1907-1909.
DRY FARMING.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION: AGRICULTURE.
DRYGALSKI, Dr.:
Commanding Antarctic Expedition.
See (in this Volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION.
DU BOIS, PROFESSOR W. E. BURGHARDT.
See (in this Volume)
RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES.
DUCOMMUM, ELIE.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES.
DUFF, Grant:
British Minister to Persia:
See (in this Volume)
Persia: A. D. 1905-1907.
DUMA, Russia:
The First and Second.
Their dissolution.
Election of the Third.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1906 and 1907.
DUNANT, Henri.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES
DURBAR AT DELHI.
See (in this Volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1903 (JANUARY).
DURHAM, Israel W.:
Political "Boss" of Philadelphia.
See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
DWIGHT, James H. and William B.:
Founders of Robert College.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: TURKEY.
E.
EAGLE’S NEST FORT, CAPTURE OF.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY).
----------EARTHQUAKES: Start--------
EARTHQUAKES: CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1906.
Consequent destructive fire at San Francisco and great distress.
See (in this Volume)
SAN FRANCISCO: A. D. 1906.
EARTHQUAKES: CHILE: A. D. 1906.
Destructiveness of life and property at Valparaiso.
One of the most destructive of the many appalling earthquake
shocks of the past decade was experienced in Chile on the 16th
of August, 1906. It was widely felt, even to the distant
Hawaiian Islands; but its most deadly effects were
concentrated on the unfortunate city of Valparaiso. The wreck
of buildings in the city was followed, as in San Francisco, by
fires, which the disabled inhabitants were almost powerless to
combat. The total loss of life, there and elsewhere, was
estimated finally, when all was known that could be known, at
2000. The homeless for a time were substantially the whole
population of the city. Relief was sent to the afflicted city
and country from all parts of the world.
The prediction of another earthquake on the Pacific coast of
America within some short time had been made by Dr. Becker, of
the United States Geological Survey, in a letter to the New
York Tribune written the day after the shock at San
Francisco. Such a severe upheaval at one point on the
earthquake belt which follows the rim of the Pacific from
Singapore, through Japan, the Aleutian Islands, the coast of
Alaska, California, and South America to Valparaiso, was sure,
he said, to be followed by sympathetic movements at other
points on the circuit.
EARTHQUAKES: Formosa: A. D. 1906.
Over 6000 persons are reported to have been killed or injured
by an earthquake that occurred in the island of Formosa in
March, 1906.
EARTHQUAKES: France: A. D. 1909 (June).
Serious convulsion along the Mediterranean coast.
A shock which ran through Southern France on the night of June
11 was most severe in the Bouches-du Rhone, but extended over
a very wide area, including the whole Mediterranean coast of
France, and was also felt in Spain and Portugal. Official
reports stated that 55 lives were known to have been lost. A
great amount of damage had been done, especially in the
villages; in the towns the buildings for the most part
withstood the shock, though it was sufficiently violent to
cause panic among the population in Marseilles, Toulon, and
other places.
{187}
EARTHQUAKES: Greece: A. D. 1909 (July).
Destruction in Ellis.
An earthquake which occurred, on the 15th of July, in the
province of Ellis, the seat of the most famous of the ancient
Olympic games, was reported to have killed or injured over 300
persons. Despatches from Athens to Loudon made the following
statements:
"At the village of Havari 400 houses have been completely
destroyed. Some 30 persons are known to have perished there,
while many others have been injured. The neighbouring villages
have also suffered severely. All the houses of Amaliada have
been rendered uninhabitable. Volcanic eruptions have occurred
in the village of Ponhioti. Shocks of earthquake have also
been felt at Patras, Pyrgos, Kalamas, Tripoli, and
Missolonghi. People have been killed and injured in about ten
villages. Assistance has been sent to the affected districts."
EARTHQUAKES: India: A. D. 1905.
In the Punjab and the United Provinces.
One of the most terrific of earthquakes occurred in Northern
India on the 4th of April, 1905. Its most violent and
destructive effects were in the Kangra District of the Punjab,
and its neighborhood; but the area of shock extended over
several thousand square miles. The finally ascertained and
estimated loss of human life was no less in number than
373,000. The villages destroyed numbered 409. As for the
destruction of property, including houses, bridges, irrigation
works, cattle, and crops, it was beyond computation. In the
central region of the earthquake every habitation and human
structure of any description went instantly down. The shocks,
as described, were first from north to south, then immediately
reversed, and followed by a horrible sinking of the earth.
The Empress, a monthly periodical published at
Calcutta, gave the following, among other personal experiences
of the disaster. The narrator was a manager of large tea
estates near Palampour:
"On the morning of the 4th April, at about 6 A. M., we were
disturbed in our sleep by a slight earthquake, quickly
followed by a severe one, and lastly by the worst shock of
all, which appeared to come from the northeast and having a
sudden circular action traveling toward the west. The first
one I took no notice of, thinking it was one of the many
slight shocks off and on experienced up here. When the second
shock came, I sat up in bed and called out to my wife to come
to the window. I had hardly done so when I saw the highest
wall of our bedroom fall in like a torrent on my poor sleeping
child; then all became dark with fearful dust from the falling
walls. I felt suffocated, and pushed my hand through the panes
of glass in the window into which I had crept; had I not done
so I should have been killed by the wall that fell in on the
head of my bed. I shall never forget those few moments that
appeared like years,—the noise of the falling masonry,
smashing of beams, planks, and slates. I had fully made up my
mind that we should all perish. When the shock was over I
opened the window and dropped into the lower veranda, rushed
out, and cried out for help. No one could be seen,—all had
fled to the villages to help their friends and relations. A
fearful sight presented itself to my eyes. All our houses
(with the exception of the mali's hut) were leveled to the
ground, including a magnificent factory built of cut stone
which my poor old father had lately built. All was still as
death save for the wailing of a man who afterward turned out
to be my head clerk. After a few minutes had elapsed I
succeeded in getting a few of my household servants together
and dug with bare fingers among limestone and plaster for my
only child. We had to make a coffin out of planks taken from
the débris, bury her without ceremony in a quiet sequestered
spot on the tea estate. To look around the valley, nothing but
desolation meets the eye. The once pretty little villages,
with their bluish-white walls and slated roofs, mixed here and
there with thatched buildings, all leveled to the ground. We
have been ruined; lost tens of thousands of rupees. As for our
loss in machinery, it is unknown, being all buried beneath the
ruins. And this is not all. We are afraid we shall lose
thousands yet, owing to our terror-stricken workmen and
coolies, who believe that this picturesque valley is to be
totally destroyed. They have made little thatch sheds for
their families and cattle, and pass the day in sorrow and
fear, refusing to return to work or even work at their own
fields. A great many families have been wiped out."
The same magazine tells of the destruction of the very ancient
temple of Bhowan—one of the oldest in the world—burying 2000
worshippers in its ruins:
"On the night of the 3d April, about two thousand pilgrims
arrived in the small town of Bhowan, which is about three
miles from Kangra town, to worship at the temple. On the
morning of the 4th, at 6 o’clock, a rumbling noise was heard,
and before the people could realize what it was, they felt the
terrible shock, and within four seconds the whole town was
destroyed. The shock lasted three minutes, but all the damage
was done in the first few seconds. About two thousand people
were buried beneath the ruins of the temple, and under the
adjacent buildings. The Guru, or High Priest of the Temple,
was dug out of the ruins and buried near the site of the
Toshakhana, adjoining the temple."
EARTHQUAKES: Italy: A. D. 1905.
In Calabria.
A terrible earthquake, accompanied by storms and volcanic
disturbances, occurred in Calabria on September 8th. "Hundreds
of dead were swallowed up, and ruin was spread far and wide in
a country already sorely tried by an unfortunate system of
land ownership. The public authorities, the provinces and
towns of Italy, strained every nerve to soften the misery of
the Calabrian population, and the King eagerly hastened to the
scene of the disaster. The public mind, however, was
embittered by reports that the rich Calabrian landowners had
shown great want of consideration for their unhappy tenants,
and that the work of restoration was greatly hindered by
absurd disputes between civil and military authorities."
Annual Register, 1905, page 278.
EARTHQUAKES: A. D. 1908 (December).
In Calabria and Sicily.
Destruction of Messina and Reggio.
The most appalling in history.
Of all catastrophes of earthquake recorded in history, the one
which has seemed most appalling to the European and American
world was that which destroyed the cities of Messina and
Reggio and many smaller towns in northeastern Sicily and
southern Italy, on both sides of the Straits of Messina, on
the early morning of Monday, December 28, 1908. The time
favored an exceptionally great harvest of death. From
Christmas until Twelfth Night is a period of feasting among
the Southern Italians, when the members of scattered families
come together as fully as they are able to do.
{188}
The doomed cities, accordingly, contained on the fatal day a
large number of guests, and were emptied, at the same time, of
large numbers of their residents; but the merry-making of the
previous days had induced later slumbers, generally, on that
dread Monday morning, and few had risen from their beds when
the shock came which buried them in the ruins of their
dwellings. It shook Messina at twenty minutes past five
o’clock, long before day had begun to dawn. The late F. Marion
Crawford, who wrote, three months after the occurrence, for
The Outlook, a carefully prepared account of it,
derived from personal inquiries and investigations on the
spot, describes the overwhelming moment thus:
"A southwest wind was blowing and the sky was black when the
fatal moment came, but it was not yet raining. Those who were
awake and survived remember hearing the horrible subterranean
thunder that preceded the shock and might have been a warning
to many in waking hours; it seemed to begin far away and to
approach very quickly, swelling to a terrific roar just before
the crash. Another instant and the solid earth rose and fell
in long waves, twice, three times, four times perhaps, and the
houses and churches swayed from side to side, in the darkness;
for the young moon had set before midnight, and it lacked more
than an hour of dawn. The whole city and the towns on the
opposite side of the Straits fell at once with a crash that no
language can describe; then followed the long-resounding
rumble of avalanches of masonry; and when those awful moments
were over, nearly two hundred thousand human beings were dead,
on both sides of the Straits.
"Almost at the same moment another sound was heard, almost
more terrible than the first—the sound of a moving mountain
of water; for the sea had risen bodily in a monstrous wave and
was sweeping over the harbor, carrying away hundreds of tons
of masonry from the outer pier, tearing ships and iron
steamers from their moorings like mere skiffs and hurling them
against the ruins of the great Palazzata that was built along
the semicircular quay, only to sweep them back, keel upwards
and full of dead and dying men, as the hill of water sank down
and ebbed away. When it had quite subsided, the inner portion
of the harbor was half full of sand and mud and stranded
wrecks.
"Those who say that they ‘saw’ these things are either
untruthful, or else, in vivid recollection of sensation, but
without the true memory of events, they confuse what they
heard and felt with what they might have felt and seen; for
though some of the gaslights in the streets continued to burn
for a few minutes, the darkness was almost total."
The American Vice-consul at Messina, Mr. Stuart K. Lupton, who
escaped unhurt from the ruins of the hotel in which he lodged,
carrying his clothing in his hands, and hastened in the
darkness to give aid, if possible, to his chief, Dr. Cheney,
made a report of his experiences to the Department at
Washington, from which the following is taken:
"I had not proceeded more than fifty yards when I found myself
walking in water up to my knees in a place which should have
been eight feet above the water level. Next I came to a pile
of rubbish some fifteen or twenty feet high over which I
clambered on my hands and knees. By this time I began to see
that the affair was much more serious than I had at first
believed, but I was still in inky darkness, so I could not
form any ideas as to the extent of the disaster. After
three-quarters of an hour I arrived where I supposed the
consulate to be and waited for daylight, which came in a few
minutes. I looked for the consulate, but could see nothing
that reminded me of it. Half the water front appeared to be
down. Here and there the walls were standing, while the
interior had collapsed. A few fires were breaking out, but
owing to the solid construction of the town they made little
progress.
"At the place I supposed the consulate to be there was nothing
but a heap of ruins, iron beams, splintered wood, bricks, and
stones in hapless confusion. I was not sure of the spot and
climbed over the ruins to see if I could find anything
familiar. Finally I came across a battered teapot, which I
recognized as the property of Mrs. Cheney, and remembering the
spot where it had stood, was able to get my bearings. I
climbed directly over the spot where their room had been, and
called, in the hope that if they were still alive, they would
answer. I heard nothing, however, and further search revealed
a piano covered to a depth of about ten feet in rubbish. I
knew that the Cheneys had no piano, so it must have come down
from one of the upper stories. As the shock was so strong that
no one could stand, and the consulate went down almost
immediately, it was absolutely an impossibility for Dr. Cheney
to have opened four doors and gone down a long flight of steps
which had three sections. Nothing belonging to the office
could be seen except the teapot. …
"People were beginning to appear by this time, some
half-clothed, others entirely naked. I gave part of my clothes
away, but found I could do nothing, there were so many. People
were calling from upper windows, asking that some one should
aid them, but ladders and ropes were necessary, and they had
to be left. Some men were trying to lower an old lady from the
fourth floor, but as soon as the weight came upon the cord, it
broke, precipitating the poor soul to the pavement below.
Another upper window was choked with rubbish, out of which
stuck a man’s arm. He was unable to call out, but rattled
against the railing with a stick, trying to attract attention.
Without men and tools it was impossible to do anything, so I
kept on, trying to shut my ears.
"Almost all the natives were hysterical, shrieking and
moaning. Some were held by their friends, as they seemed to be
absolute maniacs. … Light shocks were felt every few minutes,
adding to the alarm of the people. About eleven o’clock I went
on board the steamer Chesapeake, belonging to the
Anglo-American Oil Company, and managed to get a cup of tea
and a sandwich. Captain Mort was very kind, and told me to
send people in need on board, and he would do anything he
could for them. I went again to the shore to see what could be
done, and by that night over seventy, principally women and
children, were on board. About three o’clock rain began to
fall, adding to the misery of the people. Scores and hundreds
of them were to be seen sitting in all the squares or wider
streets, and looking as if they had abandoned all hope."
{189}
From all directions, by all communities and governments,
relief to the stricken cities, for the rescue, feeding and
shelter or removal of the survivors, was hastened with the
greatest possible speed. War ships from many navies, Italian,
French, Russian, British and German, were quickly at the
scene, their sailors and marines performing heroic work in
discovering and saving many still living people, who had been
entombed under mountains of ruin for many days. Even after
such burial for thirteen and fourteen days some victims were
found alive. The rescuing forces were soon in excess of the
need, and a want of systematic organization and direction
among them became a subject of complaint. But the outflow of
sympathy and eager generosity of helpful desire in all the
world was the noblest, without doubt, that has ever been
called forth.
By good fortune, when news of the disaster came, a supply ship
of the United States Navy was being laden at New York with a
million and a half of rations, destined for the fleet of
American battle-ships then voyaging round the world. The
supply-ship was to meet the fleet at Gibraltar; but orders
were given immediately for dispatching it to Messina, with an
added shipment of tents, clothing, blankets and medical
supplies. Furthermore, from the fleet itself, which was about
to enter the Suez Canal, a store ship was hastened forward to
Messina for such offerings as it could make. The American
Congress, reassembled on the 4th of January after the
Christmas recess, by action of both Houses that day,
appropriated $800,000 for further relief of the Italian need,
and a large part of this sum was expended according to the
following statement made public by the Secretary of the Navy,
January 16:
"The Navy Department has arranged for the expenditure of
approximately $500,000 in the purchase of building materials,
including all articles necessary for the construction of
substantial frame houses for the Italian sufferers, and the
shipments will begin by the sailing of two steamers probably
on Monday. This lumber is being delivered to-day in New York,
and the sailing of the vessels will proceed as fast as they
can be loaded. Each ship will carry all the materials for the
construction of about 500 houses, and it will require not less
than six steamers for the entire amount purchased. If
possible, the department intends to send with each vessel
several civilian house carpenters, with plans, to assist in
the erection of these houses."
With this material a suburb of 1500 detached frame houses, of
two or four rooms, were built at Messina; 500 were constructed
at Reggio, and the remainder at other towns and villages.
The Italian Parliament appropriated 30,000,000 lire
($5,000,000) for immediate relief and for the reconstruction
of the ruined cities. The plans formed by the Italian
Government included measures to provide for the temporary
protection of the orphaned young, the deserted, and the
insane; to prosecute the recovery of personal property: to
draw up official lists of the dead; to rewrite the civil
registers and the records of property transfers; to
reestablish, provisionally, administrative and judicial
districts within the provinces of Messina and Reggio. New
building regulations were to be enacted by a royal commission
in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Works. To encourage
the reconstruction of the ruined places, all new buildings
were exempted from taxation for a period of fifteen years.
Loans from state and private financial institutions to be made
at a rate of interest not exceeding 4 per cent., to be repaid
within thirty years in semi-annual instalments, the Government
to contribute half of these periodical payments.
To the effective help and relief rendered by her Mediterranean
squadron, Great Britain added large contributions of money,
mainly collected as a "Mansion House Fund" by the Lord Mayor
of London. There, and everywhere, the Red Cross Societies were
instant in the field and untiring, receiving and expending
immense funds and sending large corps of trained workers to
the scene of distress. No summary has yet been made of the
whole outpour of gifts and service to the suffering people,
and it is impossible even to indicate what a world-feeling it
expressed; but its like was never known before.
Estimates of the total destruction of life by the earthquake
are still uncertain. Mr. Crawford, when he wrote, thought it
doubtful whether as many as fifteen per cent. of the
population of Messina were then alive, scattered in groups
throughout Italy. That would mean that only about 20,000 out
of 150,000 in the one city escaped. Of the loss of life on the
other side of the Straits he said: "The proportion of those
saved on the Calabrian side is certainly larger—principally,
I think, because the houses in Reggio, Villa San Giovanni,
Palmi, and the other towns destroyed were much lower than
those in the city. Moreover, as will be seen before long, many
persons died of hunger and thirst in Messina, where the whole
water supply was cut off by the ruin of the first shock, and
bread was not obtainable at any price for many days; but on
the Calabrian side the survivors camped out in the orange
groves, and the fruit, which is almost ripe at Christmas in
that latitude, stayed their hunger and assuaged their thirst."
Generally, the total of deaths from the earthquake, in Sicily
and Calabria, seems now to be estimated at 200,000.
A report from Rome, issued on the 3d of August, 1909, by the
Central Relief Committee, of which the Duke of Aosta is
president, announced that the receipts of the Committee to
that time had been 25,100,000 lire (£1,004,000, or
$5,020,000). The fund for the orphans had all been handed over
to the Queen Helena Home.
For the building of shelters the sum of 4,000,000 lire had
been paid over to the Minister of Public Works for the
construction of 3,000 shelters. The number of persons assisted
had been 14,000, but it would eventually reach 20,000.
EARTHQUAKES: A. D. 1909 (July 1).
A second shock at Messina and Reggio.
During six months following the great catastrophe, Messina had
been so far rebuilt and reoccupied as to have acquired a
population of somewhat more than 25,000. To them, on the
evening of June 30 and the morning of July 1, came once more
the dread quaking of their unstable portion of the earth. The
shocks as described in despatches to the Press "were similar
to the fatal disturbances of December, and were accompanied by
the same roaring noises. The people fled with cries of terror.
They hurried to the open places of the city and the
surrounding country, praying to the saints that their lives be
spared. …
{190}
So far as is known, however. only a few people were hurt, and
this undoubtedly is due to the fact that the city was only
partially rebuilt. Had the walls of all the houses been
standing the loss of life would have been heavy. One woman was
killed by a falling wall, and a child was seriously injured."
Reggio, as before, shared the experience, but there is said to
have been no loss of life.
Late in the year it was reported to a London newspaper that
"at Reggio a very fair advance, has been made, and the city is
already acquiring some air of its former busy prosperity; but
in Messina and its neighborhood, little or nothing has been
done in the way of permanent work, while the temporary
accommodations for the survivors still leave much to be
desired."
EARTHQUAKES: Jamaica: A. D. 1907.
The destruction of Kingston by earthquake and fire.
‘On Monday afternoon, the 14th January, 1907, at about 3.30 P.
M., the city of Kingston and its suburbs was almost entirely
destroyed by heavy earthquake shocks. There was little or no
wind at the time; what little there was was from the east, and
the atmospherical conditions were quite normal. The shocks
apparently approached from the south at first and then from
the west. They are variously estimated to have lasted from ten
to thirty seconds, the latter estimate being the general
opinion. On the other hand, several Englishmen who were in the
open at the time and in no immediate danger from falling
houses, &c., consider 20 seconds the outside limit of time
taken by the shocks. During this period an enormous amount of
damage was done to life and property. Large numbers of
buildings at once collapsed. As is, unfortunately, usual in
such cases, fires broke out in several places in the
commercial portion of the town. …
"Unfortunately, the Central Fire Station was destroyed by
earthquake, so the fire engine was not available. The means at
hand were thus very inadequate for fighting the flames,
although they were supplemented greatly by fire-extinguishing
appliances from the various ships alongside the wharves, and
those belonging to the wharves themselves. The fire, however,
spread with terrible rapidity, and all efforts were directed
towards isolating the burning area. During this time the light
wind blowing was about north-east, but it later in the
afternoon went round to the north and north-west, thus lending
tremendous assistance to the people in their efforts to
extinguish the fire. Many injured persons, buried in the
falling debris, were burnt to death. Meanwhile, vast numbers
of the inhabitants were flying northwards to the racecourse
and open spaces outside the town, where they spent the
night—small earthquake shocks being felt at frequent intervals
during that time. It may be said that the whole of Kingston
and its suburbs are either destroyed or in ruins. A few of the
substantially built houses are still standing, but so shaken
and injured by the shocks that it will be impossible to repair
them. …
"It is extremely difficult to estimate the total loss of life
in the earthquake and fire. The Government have called on the
inhabitants to register the names of their killed and missing,
but up to this date [January 29] there has been little
response. On the 25th January, some eleven days after the
catastrophe, the numbers recorded at the Registrar’s Office
were only 121, although at least four times that number are
known to have been buried or cremated. The careful opinion of
prominent officials in Kingston is that the loss of life will
be about 1000. Of the injured the daily number of in-patients
at the hospital is about 300, mostly cases of concussions and
legs amputated. …
"The large numbers of women, children, and old or disabled men
encamped in the Public Gardens and racecourse, &c., were
supplied with food rations daily, under the supervision of the
Relief Committee. Over 3,000 people daily have been receiving
this relief. At no time does there appear to have been a
scarcity of food or water. A tremendous strain at once came on
the staff of the hospital, the place being besieged with the
injured and their relatives. Large numbers of medical men from
the out districts at once proceeded to Kingston and assisted
in attending to the wounded. With the aid of their ready
assistance, and that of many volunteer nurses from the civil
population, the hospital staff were enabled to cope with the
situation, and at the present time work is proceeding there
with great smoothness and regularity. The American ships
‘Indiana,’ ‘Missouri,’ and ‘Whipple,’ also, on arrival, landed
their surgeons, who at once established a hospital on shore
and rendered great assistance. …
"Directly after the earthquake, and while the fire was in
progress, the greater portion of the black and coloured
population were stupefied with terror and amazement, and lent
little or no aid to the white members of the community and the
troops and firemen in their rescue work. Vast numbers of them
fled from the city. Some became frenzied and ran here and
there declaring the end of the world had arrived, impeding the
work and terrifying the workers. Others formed groups and
commenced praying. At the Penitentiary, the prisoners, who
remained seated in their ranks on the parade ground all night,
spent the time in singing hymns without ceasing. As soon as
the first panic had subsided, the black population became
quite apathetic, and it was with great difficulty that the
Government were able to get able-bodied men to take part in
the work of demolition and clearing the streets. This, in
spite of the fact that the wages offered were 25 per cent.
more than the usual rate. …
"Considering the magnitude and widespread nature of the
disaster, the loss of life might easily have been on a much
larger scale. The earthquake came at a time of day when the
labouring part of the population were at work away from their
houses, and the streets in the busy commercial quarter
presented the comparatively deserted appearance so usual in
the afternoons in tropical places. As the streets in this
quarter were very narrow and the buildings on each side of
them lofty and of solid construction the loss of life must
have been largely increased had the earthquake happened during
the busy portion of the day. …
"Owing to the dry weather now prevailing here, the homeless
population, roughly encamped on the open spaces, are suffering
little or no hardship. It is to be hoped they may be
permanently sheltered before the wet season commences."
Report by Major Chown, R. M. L. I., of
H. M. S. "Indefatigable"
dated Kingston, January 29, 1907.
{191}
Relief to the stricken island came so swiftly and profusely
from all parts of America, Europe, and almost every part of
the world, that Governor Swettenham was able to telegraph on
the 23d of January: "Money and provisions more than ample for
relief. Except for rebuilding no funds needed." Three ships of
the United States Navy, despatched by Admiral Evans from a
Cuban port on the instant of receiving news of the disaster,
reached Jamaica on the 17th and gave assistance in clearing
the ruins, besides rendering hospital service and furnishing
food and medical supplies. For the general lifting of the
community from its prostration, the British Government, in
May, by vote of Parliament, made a free grant to it of
£150,000, and a loan to the Colonial Government of £800,000
more.
Correspondence relating to the Earthquake at Kingston,
Jamaica (Parliamentary Papers, Cd. 3560).
EARTHQUAKES: Persia: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY).
Destructive shock in Luristan.
Seismographs in many parts of the world gave token of a
violent earthquake on the 23d of January, 1909; but three
weeks passed before the locality of the shock was learned. It
proved to have been centered in Western Persia, in the
mountainous province of Luristan, and to have been heavily
destructive of life. Its greatest severity was reported to
have been in a region at two days journey from Burujurd. Many
villages were wholly or partly destroyed, several having been
completely engulfed, and the loss of life is estimated to have
been between 5000 and 6000 people.
EARTHQUAKES: Portugal: A. D. 1909 (April).
Lisbon and its neighborhood upheaved.
Lisbon and the country surrounding it were shaken violently on
the evening of Friday, April 23d, 1909. There were no
fatalities in the city, but the outlying districts suffered
severely, especially the towns of Benavente, Samora, and Santo
Estevan. Reports three days after the disaster announced 46
killed and 38 injured at Benavente and Samora. Both villages
were completely destroyed, and their 6000 inhabitants,
starving and homeless, were encamped in the fields
EARTHQUAKES: Sumatra: A. D. 1909 (June).
Shocks and sea-wave in Upper Padang district.
News was received at The Hague in June, 1909, of severe shocks
of earthquake, on the 3d of that month, at Korinchi, Upper
Padang, Sumatra. The shocks were accompanied by an enormous
sea-wave. Two hundred and thirty people were killed and many
injured. Much damage was done.
----------EARTHQUAKES: End--------
ECHEGARAY, Jose.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES.
ECONOMIC FORESTRY.
See (in this Volume)
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES.
ECUADOR: A. D. 1901-1906.
From revolution to revolution.
General Eloy Alfaro, who was made President by the revolution
of 1895 (see in Volume VI.), was succeeded peacefully in 1901
by General Leonidas Plaza, and the latter, in turn, by Lugardo
Garcia; but in 1906 the revolutionary method was revived in
favor of General Alfaro, and he ousted Senor Garcia from the
presidential chair.
ECUADOR: A. D. 1901-1906.
Participation in Second and Third International Conferences
of American Republics, at Rio de Janeiro.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
ECUADOR: A. D. 1905.
Arbitration of boundary question with Peru.
See (in this Volume)
PERU: A. D. 1905.
EDMONTON:
Capital of the Province of Alberta.
See (in this Volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1905.
----------EDUCATION: Start--------
EDUCATION: AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1907.
Latest Statistics of State Schools.
Statistics published in July, 1909, by the Commonwealth
Government show that over £2,500,000 was spent on education by
the Australian States in 1907 in 7500 State schools. The total
daily average attendance at the schools for the year was
444,000. The disbursements of the States on University
education amounted to £113,000.
EDUCATION: CANADA: A. D. 1905.
The question of State Support to Sectarian Schools revived on
the creation of two new Provinces.
See (in this Volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1905.
EDUCATION: CANADA: A. D. 1907.
The founding and endowment of Macdonald College.
On the 16th of October, 1907, there was opened a new college
of fine character and great importance, on a noble site,
overlooking the Ottawa river, at Sainte de Bellevue, twenty
miles west of Montreal. It bears the name of its founder. Sir
William Macdonald, from whom it received an endowment of
$4,000,000. This Macdonald College is divided into three
schools: The School for Teachers, the School of Agriculture,
the School of Household Science. Its main purposes are
announced to be:
(1) "The carrying on of research work and investigation and
the dissemination of knowledge, with particular regard to the
interests and needs of the population in rural districts"; and
(2) the providing of "suitable and effective training for
teachers, especially for those whose work will directly affect
the education in schools in rural districts." It thus
appropriates to itself a field of education for the betterment
of farm life and work, the important need of which, looking to
everything in national character and prosperity, is only
beginning to be understood.
EDUCATION: CHINA: A. D. 1887-1907.
Christian Mission Schools.
"In the historical Volume presented in 1907 at the Shanghai
Conference Dr. Arthur H. Smith makes the following interesting
comparison of the statistics presented at the three Protestant
Missionary Conferences held in China in 1887, 1890, and 1907:
See, in this Volume,
MISSIONS, CHRISTIAN.
1876. 1889. 1907.
Number of societies. 29 41 82
Foreign teachers. 473 1,296 3,833
Stations and substations. 602 5,734
Pupils in schools. 4,909 16,836 57,683
"The above statistics, although incomplete, do serve as an
indication of the vigorous growth of Protestant missionary
educational activity in China. In this work the various
missionary foundations made their most notable advance in
interdenominational cooperation. In many instances several
denominations have combined in union schools or colleges. …
One of the chief agencies in reaching this unity and effective
cooperation has been the Educational Association of China,
founded as early as 1887. …
{192}
"No survey of missionary education in China would be complete
without mention of the widespread, well-organized Roman
Catholic activities. Of the eleven different Catholic orders
having representatives in China, the Jesuits are carrying on
the largest educational work. In 1907, in their five colleges
and seventy-two schools, a total of 25,335 students were
enrolled. All the Catholic orders together supervise the
instruction of over 75,000 Chinese students; this total, it
will be seen, being somewhat higher than that of Protestant
missions."
George Marvin,
The American Spirit in Chinese Education
(The Outlook, November, 1908).
EDUCATION: A. D. 1901-1902.
Edicts of Reform.
Modernizing of Examinations for Literary Degrees
and for Military Degrees.
New Universities, Colleges, and Schools.
Students sent abroad.
"An Edict on Reform in Education, published by the Chinese
Government on the 29th of August, 1901, commanded the
abolition of essays or homilies on the Chinese classics in
examinations for literary degrees, and substituted for them
essays and articles on modern matters, Western laws, and
political economy. The same procedure was also to be observed
in the future in the examination of candidates for office. By
the same Edict it was ordered that as the methods in use for
gaining military degrees—namely, trials of strength with stone
weights, agility with the great sword, and marksmanship with
the bow and arrow on foot and on horseback—were not of the
slightest value in turning out men for the army, where
knowledge of strategy and military science were the sine quâ
non for military officers, these trials of strength, etc.,
should be thenceforth abolished forever.
"Another Edict for the establishment of new universities,
colleges, and schools in China was published on the 12th of
September, 1901. It commanded all existing colleges in the
empire to be turned into schools and colleges of Western
learning. Each provincial capital was to have a University
like the Peking University, whilst the colleges in the
prefectures and districts of the various provinces were to be
schools and colleges of the second and third classes.

"Another Edict, for sending students to be educated abroad,
was published on the 17th of September, 1901. It commanded the
Viceroys and Governors of other provinces of the Empire to
follow the example of the Viceroy Liu Kun-yi of Liangkiang,
Chang Chihtung of Hukuang, and Kuei Chun (Manchu) of Szechuen,
in sending young men of scholastic promise and ability abroad
to study any branch of Western science or art best suited to
their abilities and tastes, so that they might in time return
to China and place the fruits of their knowledge at the
service of the empire.
"Those who are acquainted with China know very well that many
of the Edicts of the Government do not amount to much more
than waste paper. In this case, however, it has not been so.
The Imperial College in Shansi has been opened, with some 300
students, in the hope that it will develop into one of the
provincial universities. It is divided into a Chinese and a
Foreign Department. … The Edicts have not been a dead letter
in the other provinces either, though there has been enormous
difficulty in getting a sufficient number of professors to
teach or of text-books to use. Some Chinamen who under the old
system of education would not have got more than £30 per annum
now get £240, and there are not enough of them. At the lowest
estimate text-books and books of general knowledge of the West
to the value of £25,000 must have been sold during this year
alone. Books to the value of £6,000 were sold by the Society
for the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge.
"I subjoin a list of the new colleges opened in ten different
provinces in 1901-1902:
Provinces. Funds provided.
Chekiang 50,000 strings of cash per annum
(about Taels 50,000, or over £6,000).
Honan. 30,000 Taels per annum.
Kweichow. 20,000 Taels per annum.
Fookien. 50,000 Mex. Dollars per annum.
(about £5,000).
Kiangsi. over 60,000 Mex. Dollars per annum.
Kwangtung. 100,000 Taels per annum.
Soochow several tens of thousands of Taels.
Nanking —
Shantung 50,000 Taels per annum.
Shansi 50,000 Taels per annum.
Chihli —
Prefectural Colleges
in Soochow. Taels 10,000.
Prefectural Colleges
in Shantung under
R. C. Bishop Anzer. Taels 2,000
"This comes to about half a million of Taels annually for the
whole Empire for modern education. Such is the new departure,
which dates from 1901-1902."
Timothy Richard,
The New Education in China
(Contemporary Review, January, 1903).
EDUCATION: A. D. 1906.
Chinese Students in Japan.
The following is from a communication to the State Department
at Washington from the American Legation at Tokyo, under date
of January 3, 1906:
"During the past year Chinese students have come to this
country in continually increasing numbers. Last summer the
number was estimated at 5000, of whom 2000 had been sent at
the expense of the Chinese Government. In November the number
is said to have reached 8000. In addition to the supervision
of the Chinese legation the students are looked after by eight
superintendents sent to reside here by their Government.
"Until recently the Japanese authorities seem to have done
nothing in this matter, but the magnitude of the number of
Chinese students finally made a certain degree of supervision
on their part seem wise. Accordingly, regulations for
controlling schools open to the Chinese were promulgated by
the minister for education on November 2, to go into effect
from the 1st instant. … The publication of these regulations
was greeted by a storm of protest. Bodies of Chinese students
passed indignant resolutions, saying that their liberty was
being assailed and seemed to find in the new rules an
indignity to their nationality. The restriction in choosing
schools and lodgings and the need of a letter of
recommendation annoyed them most. The agitation was so great
that over a thousand students returned to China; and no more
have been coming since the trouble."
{193}
EDUCATION: A. D. 1908.
The administration of the Department of Education in the
Chinese Government.
Under the date of November 9, 1908, the Peking correspondent
of the London Times wrote of the administration of the
governmental Department of Education as follows:
"The Ministry of Education is under the presidency of a
learned scholar of the old type, Chang Chih-tung. The old
system of examination has entirely been abolished. Education
is improving, but there is little attempt at uniformity. There
is no lack of desire to learn, but the teaching outside of the
mission schools or of colleges under foreign control is quite
unsatisfactory. No attempt is made to obtain the services of
the best man. Japan engaged the best foreign teachers that
money could find, with the result that the standard of
education is there very high. But China seems to think any
teacher good enough so long as he is a shade better educated
than the pupil he has to teach."
On the other hand, Professor Thomas C. Chamberlin, of the
University of Chicago, who spent four months of the past year
in China, investigating educational conditions, has reported
that "the old education has practically passed away, and the
government is making strenuous, and on the whole remarkably
successful, efforts to build up a system of education modelled
on that of Europe and America. In all the larger cities of
China buildings have been erected, teachers and pupils
gathered, and schools of the modern type organized. In not a
few cases, as, for example, at Foochow and in the far west at
Chentu, the old examination halls have been torn down to make
place for schools modelled on those of the west."
EDUCATION: A. D. 1908.
Chinese Students in America.
"The disposition on the part of the Chinese Government to send
picked students to America for their education, although
interrupted formally years after the first set of twenty came
in 1872, has since 1890 shown a comparatively steady growth.
During the past year 155 Chinese students were maintained at
various educational institutions in this country on
foundations provided either by the Imperial or the Provincial
Governments. Out of this number seventy-one are under the
charge of the Imperial Chinese Legation at Washington;
twenty-seven are under the direction of Chang-Chuan,
Commissioner of Education for the Viceroyalties of Hupuh and
Kiang-man; fifty-seven others have been during the past year
under the direction of Dr. Tenny, at present Chinese Secretary
of our Legation at Peking. These last, although coming from
various parts of the Empire, all received their elementary
education at the Peyang College in Tientsin, of which Dr.
Tenny was formerly principal. At the request of Yuan-Shih-Kai,
then Viceroy of Chihli, of which province Tientsin is the
chief city, Dr. Tenny in 1906 assumed charge at Cambridge of
the Peiyang candidates sent to America, including those now at
Harvard and the various other colleges where, at his
suggestion, they were quartered. Since Dr. Tenny’s return in
July last to Peking, his position has been filled by the
appointment of Mr. H. F. Merrill, for many years Commissioner
of Customs at Tientsin. …
"Quite apart from this official recognition of the advantages
of an American education, many Chinese families send their
sons at their own expense to schools and colleges in this
country. It has been impossible to procure exact statistics of
the number of these privately supported students, but,
according to the best advices obtainable at the Chinese
Legation, there are about two hundred. …
"More important than anything that has yet taken place in this
movement of Chinese education in America is the recent
determination on the part of the Imperial Government to devote
a sum equal to that placed at their disposal by the remission
of the Boxer indemnity to the founding of an Educational
Mission in this country. … According to the terms of the
agreement contained in the note of Prince Ch’ing to Mr.
Rockhill last July, by the end of the fourth year from the
inauguration of the scheme four hundred students, sent by the
Imperial Government, will be added to the large and growing
number of their young fellow-countrymen already coming to
America."
George Marvin,
The American Spirit in Chinese Education
(The Outlook, November, 1908).
An English correspondent, writing from Peking, September 24,
1909, reported: "This week 47 students selected by examination
for proficiency in English and Chinese are leaving Peking for
the United States to enter upon studies paid for by funds from
the unexpended balance of the Boxer indemnity. They have been
selected from nearly 500 candidates who competed for this
great reward from many provinces of the Empire. An excellent
body of young men, they ought to do credit to their country."
See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1901-1908.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1909.
Progress in Technical Education.
The following statements were in a Press despatch from
Tien-tsin, July, 1909:
"Technical education in China shows unmistakable signs of
extension. A very few years ago nothing existed which was
worthy of the name, while now it is not too much to say that
in the course of a few years the engineering schools of China
will be second only to the best in Europe and America.
Engineering courses are now being given at the following
institutions:
Imperial Polytechnic Institute, Shanghai;
Imperial University of Shansi, Tai-yuan-fu;
Tangshan Engineering and Mining College, Tangshan; and
Imperial Pei Yang University, Tien-tsin."
EDUCATION: A. D. 1909.
Formation in Great Britain and America of the China
Emergency Appeal Committee.
"Speaking at the Mansion House meeting [London] of the China
Emergency Committee held under the presidency of the Lord
Mayor on March 16, 1909, Sir Robert Hart, whose long work as
Inspector-General of the Imperial Chinese Customs has given
him the profoundest knowledge of China and its people, said:
‘We are alarmed lest Western knowledge and Western science may
give the Chinese people strength without principle, and may
even bring in a crude materialism without that higher teaching
and higher guidance which are necessary for the best welfare
of any people.’
"It is the realization of that danger, but even more a
realization of the needs of China, which have led to the
formation of the China Emergency Appeal Committee. … It is the
object of this Committee to utilize to the full the unexampled
present opportunity of establishing in China institutions
through which the Chinese people may be trained to educate
themselves in the Western knowledge and civilization which
they have set themselves to acquire.
{194}
"There is, first, China’s crying need of medical education—of
schools and hospitals in which Chinese students will be taught
and practise medicine and surgery. … Not less needed is the
establishment of colleges and centres for the training of
Chinese teachers for the primary and secondary schools which
are being established everywhere throughout this Empire of
400,000,000 inhabitants. The China Emergency Committee appeals
for £40,000 to build and equip these training colleges.
Thirdly, there is a demand throughout China for translations
of European books. The demand far exceeds the supply, though
it is only through literature that the Chinese gentleman will
acquaint himself with Western thought and learning. The books
sell in vast numbers, but the work of translation involves
heavy preliminary expenses. … These are the three objects for
the attainment of which the China Emergency Committee has been
established."
London Times,
July 17, 1909.
On the initiative of the English Committee, of which Sir
Robert Hart is chairman, a proposal to move similarly in
America came before a recent conference of foreign mission
boards of the United States and Canada. A committee, Rev. Dr.
Arthur J. Brown, chairman, to whom the proposition was
referred, reported favorably. The conference approved the
report, and provided that a permanent committee be appointed,
to consist of those serving with Dr. Brown, together with
twelve laymen, to be chosen by the committee. This new
committee is "to promote a larger interest in Christian
education in China." It will assist the boards and other
Christian agencies and cooperate with the general education
committee appointed by the Shanghai conference and with the
China Educational Association.
EDUCATION: Cuba: A. D. 1899-1907.
Organization of Schools during the American Occupation.
Census-showing of results in 1907.
"During the American occupation of Cuba especial attention was
given to the establishment of common schools and other
educational institutions. The enrollment of the public schools
of Cuba immediately before the last war shows 36,306 scholars,
but an examination of the reports containing these figures
indicates that probably less than half the names enrolled
represented actual attendance. There were practically no
separate school buildings, but the scholars were collected in
the residences of the teachers. There were few books and
practically no maps, blackboards, desks, or other school
apparatus.
"The instruction consisted solely in learning by rote, the
catechism being the principal textbook, and the girls
occupying their time chiefly in embroidery. The teachers were
allowed to eke out their unpaid salaries by accepting fees
from the pupils. … At the end of the first six months of
American occupation the public school enrollment of the island
numbered 143,120. The schools were subjected to a constant and
effective inspection and the attendance was practically
identical with the enrollment. …
"All over the island the old Spanish barracks and the barracks
occupied by the American troops which had been withdrawn were
turned into schoolrooms after thorough renovation. The
pressure for education was earnest and universal. The
appropriations from the insular treasury for that purpose
during the first year of American occupation amounted to four
and a half millions.
"At the close of American occupation there were 121 boards of
education elected by the people (the system was kept out of
politics); the work of changing the old barracks throughout
the island into schoolhouses had been completed; a thoroughly
modern school building costing $50,000 had been erected at
Santiago; one school building in Habana had 33 rooms, with a
modern kindergarten, manual-training branch, two gymnasiums,
and baths; large schools had been established by changes in
government buildings at Guineas, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas,
Cieguo de Avila, and Colon; over 3600 teachers were subjected
to examination, and approximately 6000 persons applied for and
received examination as teachers. For six weeks during the
summer vacation of 1901, 4000 teachers were collected in
teachers’ institutes."
Establishment of Free Government in Cuba
(58th Congress, 2d Session, Senate Document number 312).
"The public-school system organized under the first
intervention in Cuba, is producing excellent results. Of the
population 10 years of age and over, 56.6 per cent could read,
showing a decided gain in that respect since 1899. Of the
native whites, 58.6 per cent could read, and of the colored 45
per cent were similarly educated."
National Geographic Magazine,
February, 1909, p. 202.
EDUCATION: Egypt: A. D. 1901-1905.
Recent Development of Public Primary Schools.
Schools for Girls.
"Before the English occupation great masses of Egyptians
remained ignorant. Over 91 per cent. of the males and almost
99½ per cent. of the females could neither read nor write.
Until within the last five years public primary education for
the poorer classes, aside from the mere learning of the Koran,
was almost unknown. At the present time public schools are
being established everywhere, and grants in aid of these
schools are paid in proportion to the attendance and the
records made by the pupils. Likewise, certain positions in the
civil service can be filled only by those who hold
certificates from schools of certain grades. As a consequence
there has been a great awakening of interest. Most of the
teachers of these public schools are Mohammedan, and the
schools are non-Christian in their instruction. The Koran is
still used as a text-book for many purposes, but the education
is practical in its general nature. The children are taught,
besides reading and writing, the elements of the sciences, and
they choose either French or English as the foreign language
which they will learn, and that in which they will receive
instruction in the more advanced studies where Arabic
text-books cannot readily be provided. It is a noteworthy fact
that while, in the earlier days, French was the language more
frequently chosen, nearly all the pupils are now selecting
English. There are also provisions for training in law,
medicine, agriculture, engineering, etc. The law school is the
most popular, while the agricultural college—although the
basis of Egyptian wealth and prosperity is and must always be
agriculture—suffers from lack of pupils. Female education has
not been neglected, and we may expect in the near future that
instead of 99½ per cent. of the women being unable to write, a
very large per cent. of the mothers of the country will be
able to give their children the rudiments of education at
home."
Professor J. W. Jenks,
The Egypt of To-day
(International Quarterly Review, October, 1902).
{195}
"A revolution is a growth, not a cataclysm: the seeds of the
Egyptian Revolution were sown in the autumn of 1901 when Miss
Amina Hafiz Maghrabi was admitted to the Stockwell Road
Training College for Teachers. Miss Amina is the daughter of
one of the Officials in the Ministry of Public Instruction at
Cairo, and after passing a preliminary examination was sent to
England to be educated at the expense of the Egyptian
Government. … Miss Amina spent nearly three years at
Stockwell; then she returned to her own people; now she is a
teacher at the Abbas Public Girls’ School at Cairo, and the
right hand of Miss Spears, the Principal; this seed is bearing
fruit. No Revolution can be a success unless the women take it
up, and it is the women who are going to turn Egypt upside
down; it is the Mussulman women who have already begun to do
so. …
"The really astonishing work that has been going on for nearly
two years is the education for the teaching profession of
girls of the better class aged from about fourteen to twenty.
There are two or three schools where these girls are received
as boarders, and carefully tended by European mistresses; the
amazing thing is that they throw aside their veils and consent
to be taught by men. … In all the State schools of Egypt the
Koran is taught. In one corner of the garden is a small room
built to serve as a mosque; attendance is voluntary, but three
times a day each girl retires there for private prayer.
"These schools have been recently founded to provide female
teachers; they have not been in existence long enough for any
girls to have completed the two-years’ course; it may be they
will fail in their primary object; it is possible that the
girls who have been educated will none of them persevere in
the teaching profession; nevertheless, as Egyptian wives and
mothers, they must become the leaders of the revolution."
Edmund Verney,
A Revolution in Egypt
(Contemporary Review, July, 1905).
EDUCATION: A. D. 1908.
Gordon Memorial College at Khartoum.
From the eighth annual report of the Director of Education in
the Sudan it appears that the Gordon Memorial College, founded
at Khartoum in 1899 (see, in Volume VI. of this work, EGYPT:
A. D. 1898-1899), is now composed of the following educational
units:
"The primary school, which has been attended by 190 pupils,
the training college—vernacular and English—by 178, of which
150 belong to the vernacular side, and the upper school for
the training of engineers and surveyors by 28 students. One
hundred and seventy-two are on the roll of the instructional
workshops. There is, he remarks, no doubt whatever about the
popularity of the military school among the inhabitants of the
country, both Arab and Sudanese. Some 20 young men have now
received commission in the famous black battalions, or in the
new Arab levies now being raised. They have almost all been
well reported on. He understood that the responsible Army
authorities propose to increase this school substantially, and
to render it capable of holding twice the present number of
cadets." The College is reported to have "felt the strain of
existing financial difficulties very keenly, and the rate of
progress has hardly been maintained this year."—1908.
EDUCATION: England: A. D. 1902.
The Education Act, in the interest of the Voluntary or
Church Schools.
Text of its provisions most obnoxious to the Nonconformists.
"Passive resistance" among them to the law.
The Education Act of 1870 created in England for the first
time a system of officially regulated and publicly supported
elementary schools.
See in Volume I. of this work,
EDUCATION: MODERN: ENGLAND: A. D. 1699-1870.
Those schools divided the work of elementary education with
schools of another, older system, founded, maintained, and
managed by the churches of the country,—mainly by the
predominant Established Church of England. The public
elementary schools, supported out of local rates and governed
by locally-elected school boards were called Board Schools;
the others were called Voluntary Schools. The latter received
some public money from an annual Parliamentary grant, but
nothing from the local taxation which supported the former. In
the Voluntary Schools under church control religious teaching
was prescribed and given systematically; in the Board Schools
it was not. Those who held religious teaching, of their own
denominational orthodoxy, to be a vital part of education,
were ardent partisans of the Voluntary Schools. Those who
approved the exclusion of theological differences from the
teaching of the Board Schools were equally ardent champions of
those. As a rule, the adherents of the Established Church and
of the Roman Catholic Church were opponents of the public
system, while the Dissenters or Nonconformists of all sects
gave it strenuous support. Thus the two systems were
mischievously antagonized, and almost from the beginning of
the operation of the Act of 1870 it had been manifest that one
or the other must ultimately give way to its rival.
In 1902 the Conservative party, in which the Established
Church of England is most largely represented, found itself
strong enough in Parliament to undertake the nationalizing of
the Voluntary Schools in England and Wales, incorporating them
with their rivals in one reconstructed national system, but
securing their domination in it, along with equal sharing from
the public purse. A Bill for the purpose was proposed to the
House of Commons on the 24th of March by Mr. Balfour, then the
Administration leader in the House. In his speech on a motion
for leave to bring it in he spoke of the need of a single
authority for education, primary, secondary, and technical; of
the disadvantages of the two organizations of elementary
schools, and of the absurdity of supposing that the great
number of Voluntary Schools and Endowed Schools could be swept
away and replaced at enormous public cost. The proposed Bill,
based on these views, would extinguish the local School Boards
and make the County Council in counties and the Borough
Council in county boroughs the one local education authority.
As introduced subsequently and enacted, after heated and long
debate, the Bill accomplished its leading objects, so far as
concerned elementary education, by provisions of which the
following is the text:
{196}
"Part III. Elementary Education.
5.
The local education authority shall throughout their area
have the powers and duties of a school board and school
attendance committee under the Elementary Education Acts, 1870
to 1900, and any other Acts, including local Acts, and shall
also be responsible for and have the control of all secular
instruction in public elementary schools not provided by them,
and school boards and school attendance committees shall be
abolished.
"6.
(1) All public elementary schools provided by the local
education authority shall, where the local education authority
are the council of a county, have a body of managers
consisting of a number of managers not exceeding four
appointed by that council, together with a number not
exceeding two appointed by the minor local authority. Where
the local education authority are the council of a borough or
urban district they may, if they think fit, appoint for any
school provided by them a body of managers consisting of such
number of managers as they may determine.
"(2) All public elementary schools not provided by the local
education authority shall, in place of the existing managers,
have a body of managers consisting of a number of foundation
managers not exceeding four appointed as provided by this Act,
together with a number of managers not exceeding two
appointed—
(a) where the local education authority are the council
of a county, one by that council and one by the minor local
authority; and
(b) where the local education authority are the council
of a borough or urban district, both by that authority.
"(3)
Notwithstanding anything in this section—
(a) Schools may be grouped under one body of managers
in manner provided by this Act; and
(b) Where the local education authority consider that
the circumstances of any school require a larger body of
managers than that provided under this section, that authority
may increase the total number of managers, so, however, that
the number of each class of managers is proportionately
increased.
"7.—
(1) The local education authority shall maintain and keep
efficient all public elementary schools within their area
which are necessary, and have the control of all expenditure
required for that purpose, other than expenditure for which,
under this Act, provision is to be made by the managers; but,
in the case of a school not provided by them, only so long as
the following conditions and provisions are complied with:—
"(a) The managers of the school shall carry out any
directions of the local education authority as to the secular
instruction to be given in the school, including any
directions with respect to the number and educational
qualifications of the teachers to be employed for such
instruction, and for the dismissal of any teacher on
educational grounds, and if the managers fail to carry out any
such direction the local education authority shall, in
addition to their other powers, have the power themselves to
carry out the direction in question as if they were the
managers; but no direction given under this provision shall be
such as to interfere with reasonable facilities for religious
instruction during school hours:
"(b) The local education authority shall have power to
inspect the school;
"(c) The consent of the local education authority shall
be required to the appointment of teachers, but that consent
shall not be withheld except on educational grounds; and the
consent of the authority shall also be required to the
dismissal of a teacher unless the dismissal be on grounds
connected with the giving of religious instruction in the
school. … [Here follow provisions relative to schoolhouses and
teachers’ dwellings.]
"(3) If any question arises under this section between
the local education authority and the managers of a school not
provided by the authority, that question shall be determined
by the Board of Education.
"(4) One of the conditions required to be fulfilled by
an elementary school in order to obtain a parliamentary grant
shall be that it is maintained under and complies with the
provisions of this section.
"(5) In public elementary schools maintained but not
provided by the local educational authority, assistant
teachers and pupil teachers may be appointed, if it is thought
fit, without reference to religious creed and denomination,
and, in any case in which there are more candidates for the
post of pupil teacher than there are places to be filled, the
appointment shall be made by the local education authority,
and they shall determine the respective qualifications of the
candidates by examination or otherwise.
"(6) Religious instruction given in a public elementary
school not provided by the local education authority shall, as
regards its character, be in accordance with the provisions
(if any) of the trust deed relating thereto, and shall be
under the control of the managers: Provided that nothing in
this subjection shall affect any provision in a trust deed for
reference to the bishop or superior ecclesiastical or other
denominational authority so far as such provision gives to the
bishop or authority the power of deciding whether the
character of the religious instruction is or is not in
accordance with the provisions of the trust deed.
"(7) The managers of a school maintained but not
provided by the local education authority shall have all
powers of management required for the purpose of carrying out
this Act, and shall (subject to the powers of the local
education authority under this section) have the exclusive
power of appointing and dismissing teachers.
"8.—
(1) Where the local education authority or any other persons
propose to provide a new public elementary school, they shall
give public notice of their intention to do so, and the
managers of any existing school, or the local education
authority (where they are not themselves the persons proposing
to provide the school), or any ten rate payers in the area for
which it is proposed to provide the school, may, within three
months after the notice is given, appeal to the Board of
Education on the ground that the proposed school is not
required, or that a school provided by the local education
authority, or not so provided, as the case may be, is better
suited to meet the wants of the district than the school
proposed to be provided, and any school built in contravention
of the decision of the Board of Education on such appeal shall
be treated as unnecessary.
{197}
"(2) If, in the opinion of the Board of Education, any
enlargement of a public elementary school is such as to amount
to the provision of a new school, that enlargement shall be so
treated for the purposes of this section.
"(3) Any transfer of a public elementary school to or from a
local education authority shall for the purposes of this
section be treated as the provision of a new school.
"9. The Board of Education shall, without unnecessary delay,
determine, in case of dispute, whether a school is necessary
or not, and, in so determining, and also in deciding on any
appeal as to the provision of a new school, shall have regard
to the interest of secular instruction, to the wishes of
parents as to the education of their children, and to the
economy of the rates; but a school for the time being
recognized as a public elementary school shall not be
considered unnecessary in which the number of scholars in
average attendance, as computed by the Board of Education, is
not less than thirty."
The main contentions were raised by these sections of the
Bill, and as soon as their bearing and effect were discerned
the Nonconformist opposition was rallied in strong force. "The
main ground of objection taken," says the Annual Register,
"was that, while throwing the whole charge of the maintenance
of denominational schools (apart from that of the fabrics) on
public funds, it failed to secure to the local public any real
control over the management of the schools so maintained, and
amounted in effect to a new endowment of the Church of
England; also that it perpetuated and enhanced the injustice
of the pressure of the system of religious tests in the
profession of elementary teaching, which would now, it was
said, if the Bill should pass, be the permanent monopoly of
Anglicans in the schools educating more than half of the
children of the working classes. Denunciatory resolutions
based generally on grounds of this character, were passed by
the National Free Church Council, the London Congregational
Union (April 8), the General Committee of the Protestant
Dissenting Deputies, and other bodies; and at an early date a
disposition, to which both encouragement and expression were
vigorously administered by the British Weekly, was somewhat
extensively shown to urge that it would be the duty of
Nonconformists to refuse to pay the education rate if the Bill
should become law. Dr. Parker, of the City Temple, in a letter
to the Times (April 5), avowed himself earnestly in
favour of this policy, which was also defended by the Rev. H.
Price Hughs. It was opposed by the Rev. John Watson, of
Liverpool (known in the literary world as ‘Ian Maclaren’), but
the voices of restraint among the Nonconformist opposition
were less audible than those of indignant reproach and
menace."
Annual Register,
1902, p. 107.
The following from an article by Rev. J. Guinness Rogers shows
the attitude and feeling of the Nonconformist opposition:
"Hitherto a certain proportion of the cost of these schools
has been borne by Churchmen themselves, and Nonconformists
have been content to regard that as fairly providing for the
sectarian teaching that was given. They did not regard the
arrangement as wise or salutary. But they acquiesced
considering that they had no responsibility whatever for the
denominational teaching that was given. The new Act altered
all the conditions. The State now assumes all the
responsibility for the support of these schools. The last
vestige of voluntary support is swept away, and they become in
every sense part of the National School system. The burden of
their support is thrown upon the public funds. Only in the
matter of control and of their religious teaching do they
retain anything of their private character. … They are to be
supported out of the public funds. But they constitute a
privileged class of schools under private managers, and their
chief teachers have to belong to a particular Church and to
give instruction in its principles and doctrines. It is this
which has stirred the indignation of Nonconformists. They
conscientiously object to pay for the support of schools
staffed by Anglican teachers and employed in the dissemination
of Anglican doctrines. …
"For thirty years the Free Churches of England have quietly
submitted to an arrangement which practically left thousands
of the schools under the absolute sway of the clergy. There
were thus vast districts of the country, and those the
districts least open to the free play of public opinion, in
which Nonconformist children were forced into the ranks of the
pupils, while Non-conformist teachers were just as resolutely
kept out of these favoured preserves of sectarianism. But even
this did not satisfy the clergy and their friends. During
almost the whole of the period in question there have been
continual attempts to secure better terms for those already so
highly privileged. At length came the period for decided
action. … The whole character of our educational apparatus has
been changed, and changed in a manner as unfavourable to
constitutional liberty as to religious equality. School boards
were institutions in which Nonconformists had taken a deep
interest and in which in many of the large towns they had
achieved conspicuous success. They have been ruthlessly swept
away, and henceforth the work of education in our large towns
and cities is entrusted to committees chosen by County
Councils; Mr. Balfour showing here the same dislike of popular
control as characterises his administration in the House of
Commons. Can it be thought wonderful that Nonconformists have
been goaded into resistance by a policy so high-handed and so
determined? We have heard enough of the intolerable strain put
upon the supporters of the voluntary schools. The strain of
clerical intolerance and Tory partiality has become still more
intolerable."
J. Guinness Rogers,
The Nonconformist Uprising
(Nineteenth Century, October, 1903).
A weightier and more statesman like objection to the Act was
set forth by the Right Honourable James Bryce in the
following:
"Of all the causes which have kept education in England,
secondary as well as elementary, below the level it has
reached in such countries as Switzerland and Scotland and New
England, the most deep seated is the want of popular interest
and popular sympathy. The people have not felt the schools to
be their own, have not been associated with the management,
have not realised how largely the welfare and prosperity of
the nation depend on the instruction which each generation
receives. Since 1870 something has been done to stimulate
popular interest by the creation of School Boards (whose
admirable work in the large towns is admitted even by the
Ministry which proposes to destroy them), by the introduction
of a large representative element upon the governing bodies of
endowed secondary schools, and by entrusting County and
Borough Councils with power to spend money upon technical
instruction.
{198}
What can be plainer than that a wise statesmanship ought to
follow in the same path endeavouring to create everywhere
local educational authorities chosen by the people and
responsible to the people, keeping these local authorities up
to the mark by making a share in the imperial grant
conditional upon full efficiency, but teaching them to look
upon the schools as their own, and to feel that it is their
own interest as parents and citizens to make their schools
worthy of an advancing nation? No such idea has been present
to those who framed this Bill. It reduces, instead of in
creasing, the element of popular interest and popular control.
"School Boards are to be swept away, and with them those
elected women members who have been so valuable and
influential an element. The substituted County and Borough
Councils are, no doubt, elective bodies. But they have so many
functions already besides those educational functions which
are now to be thrown on them that the latter will play a small
part, and their discharge of those functions cannot be
effectively reviewed by the people at an election. Moreover,
every Council is directed to act through an Education
Committee largely, or possibly entirely, consisting of persons
outside their own bodies. It is certainly desirable to secure
an element of special knowledge. But the policy of these
committees—and policy (except as regards finance) is to rest
with them—will never be subject to any review by the electors,
to whom the committees are nowise responsible. The fault is
still worse when we come to the local managers. Where there
exist only denominational schools, there will be no popular
control at all, for the permissive appointment by the
Education Committee of not more than one-third of the local
managers is a merely nominal concession, quite illusory for
the purpose of securing any local power, any local interest,
any local sympathy. In most cases this permissive right of
appointment will probably be used to add to the denominational
managers some person or persons recommended by them, or one of
them, to the Education Committee, which sits in the distant
county town and may know nothing about the locality.
"It is not from any superstitious faith in popular election or
in what are called ‘democratic principles’ that I deplore
these provisions of the Bill. It is because they tend to
withdraw from education one of its most valuable propulsive
forces. Let us hear the Schools Inquiry Commissioners of 1868,
among whom were the present Archbishop of Canterbury, the late
Bishop of Winchester, and another eminent ecclesiastic.
"‘No skill in organisation, no careful adaptation of the means
in hand to the best ends, can do as much for education as the
earnest co-operation of the people. The American schools
appear to have no great excellence of method. But the schools
are in the hands of the people, and from this fact they derive
a force which seems to make up for all their deficiencies. …
In Zurich the schools are absolutely in the hands of the
people, and the complete success of the system must be largely
ascribed to this cause. … It is impossible to doubt that in
England also inferior management, if it were backed up by very
hearty sympathy from the mass of the people, would often
succeed better than much greater skill without such support.’
"These words were spoken of secondary education. They apply
with even greater force to elementary. The experience of
thirty-four years confirms them. But there is nothing in this
Bill to give effect to their principle."
James Bryce,
A Few Words on the Few Education Bill
(Nineteenth Century, May, 1902).
The Education Bill passed its third reading in the House of
Commons on the 3d of December, by a vote of 246 against 123,
being a majority of exactly two-thirds. In the House of Lords
it received brief discussion and a few amendments, which the
Commons accepted, and it was sent quickly to the King,
receiving the royal assent December 18. And now there came
into action the stubborn revolt which took the name of
"passive resistance,"—the refusal, that is, of a considerable
body of people to pay the rates levied for school purposes
under a law which they held to be unjust. Their attitude, and
the consequences they suffered, in imprisonment and the
seizure and sale of their property, are described in the
following passages from an article by one of the leaders of
the movement:
"It is difficult to believe that, at the beginning of the
twentieth century, Englishmen of high character and
indisputable loyalty are being sent to prison for exactly the
same reasons as those which were urged for committing John
Bunyan to Bedford Gaol; for exposing Richard Baxter to the
browbeating of Judge Jeffreys and a sentence of eighteen
months incarceration; and for sending George Fox to the
noisome dungeons of Carlisle and Derby, Lancaster and London.
Americans cannot credit it. The colonists of Canada and
Australia say, ‘Can these things be?'?; and even Englishmen
would never accept the humiliating conclusion, if they were
not confronted by the undeniable fact. The fact is that nearly
one hundred freemen of England, respectable and God-fearing
citizens, have been sentenced to different periods of
imprisonment since November, 1903. …
"Imprisonment is only one phase of this advancing cause;
another is that of the public sale of the furniture, pictures
and books of those who refuse to submit. The first sale was at
Wirksworth, in Derbyshire, on June 26th, 1903; and it has been
followed by about 1,600 more in different towns and villages,
all over England. … In one extremely flagrant instance, one
hundred pounds’ worth of goods were taken for the sum of
fifteen shillings, and in many cases fidelity to conscience
has meant loss of trade and of position, … No less than 40,000
summonses have been sent forth by the overseers to compel
recalcitrant rate-payers to appear before the magistrates and
‘show cause’ why they will not pay. …
"Now, it is for that process we cannot and will not pay any
rate whatever. We object to many of the provisions of the
Education Acts. They are anti-democratic, unfair, unjust; they
are destructive of educational efficiency and social peace;
but the one thing that has created the Passive Resistance
movement is not the destruction of the School Board, not the
loss of popular control, but this intrusion into the realm of
conscience by the State.
{199}
That is the prime factor in this situation. To that ‘we will
not submit,’ declared Mr. Fairbairn to Mr. Balfour when the
Bill was before the House. In short, we say with Bunyan to our
persecutors, ‘Where I cannot obey actively, there I am willing
to lie down, and to suffer what they shall do unto me.’"
John Clifford,
Passive Resistance in England and Wales
(North American Review, March, 1905).
In Wales, where the Nonconformists are very strong, the
resistance became more than passive. The County Councils
refused generally to put the Act into operation, and
Parliament, in August, 1904, passed what was described as the
"Welsh Coercion Act," to compel their obedience to it. This
Act authorized the central Board of Education, in the case of
a county proclaimed in default to provide for Church schools
and to deduct such appropriation from the Government rant for
educational uses to the county. As the deficit thus caused in
the sum available for the National schools would have to be
made up by the county, the recalcitrant county would thus
indirectly be saddled with the maintenance of the Church
schools. But Welsh resistance was not so easily overcome; for
a new plan was devised, according to which every proceeding
under the Coercion Act would be met by the resignation of
county education committees and managers of the National
schools. This would paralyze the central Board, which has no
power to fill the places thus vacated.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1904.
Church Attendance in School Hours.
A circular issued by the Board of Education, in July, relative
to the taking of children from Church schools, during school
hours, to attend Church services on Saints' days, caused great
dissatisfaction and complaint in Church circles. The practice
had been permitted hitherto; but the Board ruled that school
time-tables making provision for this must have the sanction
of the local school authorities, which in many cases were
opposed to the practice. A "Church Schools Emergency League"
was now organized to contest the action of the Board.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1905.
Underfed School Children.
An order issued by the Local Government Board, in April,
directed that, in the case of school children under sixteen,
found to be underfed, who were not blind, deaf or dumb, and
who were living with a father not in receipt of relief, there
must be application for relief made to the guardians of the
poor by a teacher empowered by the managers, or by an officer
authorized by the education authorities. The guardians must
then investigate the case and decide whether relief should be
given as a loan or in the ordinary mode, and notify the father
accordingly; thus giving the parent the opportunity to make
the needed provision himself. If he did not do so, the
guardians were empowered to recover from him the cost of the
necessary relief by county court process.
The report of the Board of Education for the year 1907-1908,
published in March, 1909, states with reference to the feeding
of necessitous school children that: "From December 21, 1906,
when the Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 1906, came into
operation, to July 31, 1908, 51 local education authorities
have been authorized to spend money from the rates in
providing food for school children. Of the 20 authorities
referred to in last year’s report as having taken power to
spend money for this purpose 14 have obtained sanction to
spend money in a second year."
EDUCATION: A. D. 1906.
Education Bill passed by the House of Commons and killed
by amendments in the House of Lords.
The defeat of the Conservatives and Unionists in the
Parliamentary elections of January, 1906, was ascribed very
largely to popular dissatisfaction with the Education Act of
1902. Hence, on the resignation of the Balfour Ministry and
the call of the Liberals, under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman,
to the administration of the Government, the new masters of
legislative authority were held to have received a mandate
from the people to amend the objectionable law. On the 9th of
April a Bill to that end was brought forward by Augustine
Birrell, President of the Board of Education and again the old
disputes over denominational religious teaching in schools
supported by the public at large were re-enlivened and
re-heated, in Parliament and out. In December it passed the
House of Commons by a majority of 192, and went to the Lords.
A succinct and clear statement of the intent of the Bill, as
framed by the Government, was given in an article contributed
to The Outlook of August 4, 1906, by Dr. Clifford
Webster Barnes, Special Commissioner of the Religious
Education Association to investigate moral and religious
instruction in European schools. In the framing of the Bill it
had been assumed that the overwhelming majority which swept
the new Government into power had determined that the
following principles should be enacted into law:
1. Unification of the public school system.
2. Complete local control where public funds are received.
3. Abolition of religious tests for teachers.
"The new bill by its first clause," wrote Dr. Barnes, "has
virtually met these three requirements. It makes it impossible
for the State, hereafter, to recognize or provide for any
school unless it comes under the absolute control of the local
authority; and as church boards are thus supplanted, religious
tests for teachers need no longer be feared. In later clauses,
also, special safeguards are arranged to protect the teachers
from this sort of test. If the bill, after providing the
necessary machinery with which to carry out its first clause,
went no further, the extreme Nonconformist would undoubtedly
have given it most hearty support, and the wrath of the Church
party might possibly have been no greater. But love for fair
play has prevailed in the Cabinet, and the Liberal Government
has proved its right to the title by introducing, in clauses
2, 3, and 4, special provisions for leasing the denominational
schools and for permitting their owners to give the religious
instruction distinctive of the church to which they belong. …
"The bill, therefore, makes the following concessions:
"1. For the purpose of continuing any existing voluntary
school it permits the local authority, on some arrangement
being made with the owners, to take over such school, provided
it is structurally fit. The State will then pay the entire
cost of maintenance, keep the property in good repair, and use
it only between the hours of 9 a. m. and 4 p. m., from Monday
to Friday inclusive. At all other times the owners are
privileged to do with it as they see fit. On two mornings of
the week, between 9 and 9.45, the religious teaching peculiar
to the denomination owning the property may be given, but
children whose parents do not wish such teaching are to be
excused during that time.
{200}
"2. In urban areas where there is a population of five
thousand or over, a Church school may remain as denominational
as at present, the distinctive dogmas of the Church being
taught as much as may be desired, provided the parents of
four-fifths of the children vote in favor of this arrangement,
and provided, also, that there are accommodations in some
neighboring school for those whose parents prefer
undenominational instruction. In every case that portion of
the religious teaching which is distinctively denominational
must be paid for by the church giving it. Statistics show that
by this concession one hundred per cent. of the Jewish schools
will be able to preserve their denominational character,
seventy-five per cent. of the Catholic schools, fifty per
cent. of the Wesleyan, and twenty-five per cent. of the Church
of England. By the previous concession, of course, all the
remaining schools of the various denominations will be able to
give their distinctive theological teaching on two mornings of
each week.
"But this denominational instruction is not the only religious
education which the schools will provide. By the bill of 1870
local authorities were permitted to introduce a kind of simple
Bible teaching which has been nicknamed, from the author of
the act, ‘Cowper-Templeism.’ It consists of Bible lessons
covering the Old and New Testaments arranged according to some
well-planned syllabus, the majority of these being modeled
after that of the London County Council. The exercise opens
with prayer and a hymn, after which the children tell the
Bible story of the day and are assisted by the teacher to draw
from it some suitable moral lesson, but no creed or religious
formulary distinctive of any denomination can be used. This
teaching must be given in the first hour of the morning,
between 9 and 9.45, and any child may be excused from

attendance upon the request of its parent. It is a significant
fact that the Nonconformists of 1870 were unanimously opposed
to the Cowper-Temple clause, and that it was put through only
by the strong and united effort of the bishops. Now it is the
Nonconformists who, to a man, favor this kind of instruction,
while some at least of the bishops, in their eagerness to
preserve denominationalism, go so far as to say ‘this teaching
undermines the foundations of Christianity.’"
In the House of Lords the Bill came under the Church
influences which had dictated the Act of 1902, and it was
slashed with amendments which would totally reverse its
operation on all the controverted points. That procedure
killed the measure, of course; and so the burning school
question remains unsettled, while England gives much thought
to another question,—What to do with the House of Lords?
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1906 (APRIL-DECEMBER).
EDUCATION: A. D. 1907 (November).
Failure to compromise the Religious Sectarian Differences
concerning Public Education.
Attempts to negotiate a compromise with the religious bodies
whose antagonism wrecked the Education Bill of 1906 went so
far as to induce the Government, in November, 1907, to
introduce a Bill embodying the points on which agreement had
been reached. The outcome was stated in the report of the
Board of Education for 1907-1908, as follows:
"It became apparent after some progress had been made in
Committee that denominational assent could only be obtained by
still further concessions, including a substantial increase in
the grant to contracting-out schools. Your Majesty’s
Government have always maintained that the number of schools
availing themselves of the privilege of contracting-out, must
be strictly limited, that the grant provided by the Bill was
sufficient to afford a limited number of schools a reasonable
chance of existence, and that to increase the grant beyond
this sum would enable the great majority of schools to take
advantage of the privilege, and would involve the
establishment of a system of contracting-out as the rule
instead of the exception. In view of the impossibility of
obtaining agreement without such amendments as were, in the
opinion of your Majesty’s Government, inadmissible, it was
found necessary to withdraw the Bill."
EDUCATION: A. D. 1908.
Provisions of the Children Act relating to Industrial and
Reformatory Schools.
See (in this Volume)
CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1908-1909.
Oxford Teaching for Working People.
In 1908 the Convocation of the University of Oxford passed a
statute which gave the University Extension Delegacy power to
form a committee consisting of working-class representatives
in equal numbers with members of the Delegacy, with the object
of enabling Oxford to take its proper share in the work of
providing higher education for the manual working classes. In
January, 1909, the committee organized eight tutorial classes,
at Chesterfield, Glossop, Littleborough, Longton, Oldham,
Rochdale, Swindon and Wrexham. At the end of the first twelve
weeks of the work results were reported, as follows: "The
number of students enrolled was about 234, among whom were 20
women; and all of these pledged themselves to study
continuously under the supervision of the tutors provided by
Oxford for a period of three years. The subjects studied were
industrial history and economics. … The members with few
exceptions are men and women engaged in manual labour during
the day. Out of 169 students 48 were engineers, 35 were
engaged in the textile industries, 17 belonged to the building
trades, 12 were labourers, ten were potters, seven were in the
clothing trades, five were miners, and four were printers.
Sixty per cent. of the 234 students were under the age of 34.
Many of them were members' of working-class organizations. …
Few students abandoned the classes after beginning to attend
them, except for reasons such as illness, overtime or
unemployment. The average attendances are about 90 per cent.
of the maximum, possible. The paper work in some cases would
probably compare with the work done by first-class students in
the final honours schools at Oxford. … The committee consider
that any movement to shorten the hours of labour would
enormously increase the opportunities for higher education
among work people."
{201}
EDUCATION: A. D. 1909.
Official Reports and Statements of the extent and operation
of the English agencies of Public Education.
On the 2d of March, the President of the Board of Education,
Mr. Runciman, received a deputation of the Parliamentary
Committee of the Trade Union Congress, who presented a
resolution passed at the Congress stating that no solution of
the educational problem would be satisfactory that did not
give free education from the elementary school to the
University, and demanding the immediate abolition of fees in
secondary schools and technical colleges. One of the speakers
of the deputation complained that secondary school fees were
mounting so high that working people could not afford to pay
them, and that in some cases the rule as to the reservation of
25 per cent. of free places in secondary schools had not been
observed. Mr. Runciman, in reply, said that the difficulties
which had been raised centered around local finance. The Board
of Education had not been idle during the last three years in
assisting local authorities, especially for secondary
education. In the year 1906-1907 the grant for this purpose
amounted to £480,000; £691,000 was granted in 1907-1908; and in
the estimate for 1908-1909 £802,000 was put aside for secondary
education; and as far as he could see at present the amount to
be granted for secondary education purposes next year would be
even larger. … Of the total number of secondary schools which
were now required to comply with the free places regulation,
368, or more than half, provided in 1907-1908 more than the
stipulated 25 per cent., and the great majority of the whole
of them provided the 25 per cent. There were, it was true, a
number of cases where a smaller number of free places had been
granted, but that fact was due purely to local considerations.
… He should do all he could to prevent secondary schools from
becoming class schools, but it was not every child who was
suitable to enter a secondary school, and they must have a
fairly good standard examination for the child who wished to
enter. He would very much deplore indeed if the cost of
secondary education were to make it prohibitive, or so to
restrict to allow it to be open only to the children of
well-to-do-parents. He hoped, before the new regulations were
published, to clear away some of the obstacles in the
direction of throwing open a larger number of free places to
scholars and towards making the secondary schools as much
schools for the clever poor children as for the clever rich
children.
[Transcriber's note: The text between "must have a …"
and "… were published" is covered with an opaque ink stain.
Some words are guesses.]
A few days later in March the report of the general Board of
Education for the school year 1907-1908 was issued, bringing
statistical information of the English schools down to the
31st of July in the latter year. During the year then ended,
the number of new public elementary schools sanctioned under
the Education Act, 1902, was, in England, 215, giving
accommodation for 80,351 children, and in Wales 64,
accommodating 13,942 students. Enlargements, numbering 94 and
21 respectively, provided accommodation for 17,697 children in
England and 3,407 in Wales. During the year ending July 31,
1907, the number of ordinary public elementary schools in
England and Wales increased by 44, the council schools
increasing by 223, while the number of voluntary schools
decreased by 179. One hundred voluntary schools were
transferred to local education authorities. During the next 12
months the number of schools grew by 47, the number of council
schools having increased by 205, and the number of voluntary
schools having decreased by 158.
As regards higher elementary schools, 35 schools of the new
type existed on August 1, 1907, by which date there were left
26 such schools of the old type. The changes during the
succeeding year brought the total number of higher elementary
schools of the new type to 38, and the number of such schools
of the old type to 21 by August 1, 1908. The number of
scholars on the registers of elementary schools decreased
during 1906-1907 by 22,584, due mainly to a continued diminution
in the number of scholars under five years of age. During
1907-1908 the number of scholars on the registers increased by
12,166, a further decrease in the number of scholars under
five being more than balanced by a large increase in the
number of scholars between the ages of five and twelve.
The report records a growth of secondary schools receiving
grants from the Board, both in the numbers of such schools and
of the pupils attending them, and also in their effectiveness.
The Board adds:
"There are still areas where the amount of public secondary
school provision is wholly inadequate, or where its quality
falls much short of any standard that can be regarded as even
provisionally satisfactory. But there is no area in which the
Board have to note actual retrogression."
As regards evening schools, the report says:
"The total number of students enrolled in these schools during
1906-1907 diminished from 749,491 to 736,512; but there was a
considerable increase in the number of efficient students."
Statistics of the elementary schools of London for the year
1907-1908, published in March, 1909, in the annual report of the
education officer of the London County Council, showed that
the average number of children on the rolls of schools
maintained by the Council during the year was 731,706. Of this
number, 566,086 were on the rolls of London County Council
schools and 165,620 on the rolls of non-provided schools. The
average number of children in attendance during the year was
650,861, of whom 505,698 were at London County Council schools
and 145,163 at non-provided schools. The total number of
teachers engaged on March 31, 1908, was 17,562, of whom 13,030
were in London County Council schools and 4,532 in
non-provided schools. The salaries of these teachers amounted
to £1,820,816 and £443,468 respectively. On March 31, 1908,
the average salaries of head teachers and certificated
assistants (excluding teachers "on supply") were—for masters
in London County Council schools, £174 13s. 4d., and for
mistresses, £125 11s.; for masters in non-provided schools,
£144 1s. 7d., and for mistresses, £104 6s. 3d.
With reference to the size of classes the report states that
the number of pupils per class teacher was, in the case of
London County Council schools, 44.8, and in the case of
non-provided schools 37.5. Ten years ago the number was 55.2.
The gross expenditure on elementary schools was,
approximately, £4,000,000. The cost of London County Council
schools was about £3,400,000, and of non-provided schools
£600,000. About £1,257,000 of Government grant was earned and
of this £971,000 was in respect of London County Council
schools and £286,000 in respect of non-provided schools.
{202}
Under the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act, 1907, the
London County Council is empowered to provide vacation schools
or classes during the holidays, or assist voluntary agencies
formed for this purpose. Hitherto the council has given
assistance to voluntary agencies, but in 1909 it was proposed
by the Children’s Care (Central) Sub-Committee of the
Education Committee of the council that the council should
itself organize vacation schools.
Debate in the House of Commons on the Education Estimates was
opened by the President of the Board of Education, Mr.
Runciman, on the 14th of July. In the course of his speech he
made the following statements:
"The Board of Education is now one of the greatest of the
spending departments, and a rough estimate of the amount of
public money spent on public education in this country shows
that we have cognizance of an expenditure of something like
£28,000,000 on elementary, secondary, and higher education,
and over and above that of a sum of probably £8,000,000 to
£10,000,000 spent by other authorities and other persons.
These estimates affect no fewer than 3,000,000 parents and
about 6,000,000 children. The improvement which has been made
in the elementary education system during the last five years
has been mainly machinery improvement rather than improvement
in the curriculum.
"The secondary and technical branches of the work which were
formerly under the control of South Kensington are now treated
as two different departments. In the old days technical
education was too technicalized and too little in touch with
the practical affairs, necessities, and actual circumstances
of life. It has been the object of the Board of Education
therefore to generalize secondary education, and so far as it
comes under the control of the Board to make technical
education more practical with a closer bearing on the duties
likely to be required from the young men and women who pass
through these classes. The improvement has been led, as might
have been expected, in the North of England, where classes
have been definitely graded. …
"The secondary schools of England and Wales have shown a most
marked improvement, both in numbers and character, during the
last few years. Progress has been noted in several directions.
First of all, the number of schools aided by grants and the
number of pupils attending those schools have gone up year by
year since 1902. The 272 secondary schools of that year have
increased to 800, and even since 1905-1906 the increase has been
at the same rate. I think in 1905-1906 there were only about 600
secondary schools in this country; now there are over 800.
About 60 new secondary schools are being added every school
year, and the number of pupils is increasing to an even
greater extent. The increase during the years 1902-1905 was
about 6,000 per annum, and the increase now has risen to over
10,000 per annum, so that the total number of pupils in
secondary schools is now 134,000, or very nearly 135,000. The
grants which have been made to secondary schools have, of
course, increased very considerably. It is impossible to
expect local authorities to spend much of their money on the
expenses of secondary schools unless they receive a large
measure of State aid. The grants have gone up during the seven
years from 1902 to the present time from £129,000 per annum to
over half a million; and this great increase in pupils, in the
amount of money spent on the schools, and in the number of
schools in the country, has been marked at the same time by a
raising of the standard of the teachers employed in those
schools, by an increase in the length of the school life of
the pupils who attend those schools, and by an incalculable
improvement in the curriculum and the efficiency of those
schools. I think we may look back with satisfaction on the
increase of the secondary schools over which we have control."
At the annual conference of the National Union of Teachers,
held at Morecambe, in April, 1909, with about 2000 in
attendance, the address of the incoming President contained
some interesting statements relative to the national teaching
staff.
"The character of the teaching staff in the elementary schools
of England and Wales," he remarked, "as shown by the latest
available return of the Board of Education, was: Of
certificated teachers, 89,078, or 49 percent.; of
uncertificated teachers, 40,569, or 22 per cent.; of
supplementary teachers, 21,984, or 12 per cent.; and of pupil
teachers, 27,227, or 15 per cent. The 22,000 so-called
supplementary teachers, possessing scarcely any educational
equipment, were utterly unfitted in most cases for the
important duties they were called upon to perform. Their sole
passports to the teaching profession were that they must be at
least one year over 17 and had been successfully vaccinated;
yet they were answerable for the education of nearly 600,000
children. The Board of Education proposed that in future each
member of this class of teacher should count on the staff for
20 instead of 30 children, while other regulations provided
for the limitation of the numbers to be employed in the
schools, and for the withdrawal by the board of the
recognition of a supplementary teacher at any time if not
efficient. This was indeed a step in the right direction, and
showed that Mr. Runciman was really solicitous that there
should be an improvement in the quality of the teachers at
work in the schools. There were also many young persons termed
student teachers whose academic training was unexceptionable.
They were really apprentices, but the Board of Education had
regarded each of these young people, who might never have been
in an elementary school before, or done a day’s teaching
anywhere, and who were away one day out of every five, as an
efficient teacher equal to educating 45 children on every
occasion on which the school was opened. … There were some 500
well-equipped college-trained certificated teachers waiting to
fill the gap which would be caused by the new regulations of
the Board of Education, and an additional 4,000 would be
seeking employment in August."
{203}
EDUCATION: A. D. 1909 (MAY).
Revival of Passive Resistance to the Act of 1902.
The defeat of the Education Bill of 1906 wakened the spirit of
"passive resistance" afresh; but it was not until May, 1909, that
a reorganization of the movement was undertaken. As the result
of a conference then held in London, under the presidency of
Dr. Clifford, resolutions were adopted for the "organizing of
the whole passive resistance forces of the country into a new
league," to act on the following lines:
"(1) Suffering imprisonment where the resister has no
distrainable goods;
(2) suffering the distraint of goods without repurchase;
(3) suffering distraint of goods and afterwards buying them
back;
(4) protesting before the magistrates and then paying, on
order, the rate."
It was also resolved to urge upon the Government "the absolute
necessity of encouraging from national funds the building at
the earliest practicable moment of council schools in those
areas in which there are no undenominational schools, and also
the provision of unsectarian colleges in all parts of the
country where these are needed."
To a delegation from the League which waited, subsequently, on
the Head of the Board of Education, Mr. Runciman, the latter
said, with reference to the Act of 1902, that it "could not be
got rid of by administration. It would be a mischievous
precedent for any Minister to attempt to undo what Parliament
had done. He was, however, prepared to administer the Act
fairly and justly, and he was not going to show any favour to
any particular class of school. Dealing with the question of
the improvements in the conditions governing the existence of
training colleges, he said that during the past 12 months the
accommodation in training colleges for Nonconformist teachers,
or those who were not prepared to be bound by any
denominational creed, had greatly increased. Since 1905 there
had been a gradual increase, until there now existed 3,800
more places for that class of teacher than existed when the
Government came into power."
EDUCATION: A. D. 1909.
Educational demands of the Trade Unions.
The British Trade Union Congress, at Ipswich, in September,
1909, adopted a resolution urging workers to continue their
efforts to secure Parliamentary and municipal recognition of
the trade union education policy, which demanded:
"(1) The State maintenance of school children;
(2) scientific physical education, with individual medical
inspection and records of the physical development of all
children attending State schools, and skilled medical
attendance and treatment for any requiring it; and in order to
secure this:
(a) the development of the Medical Department at the
Board of Education, the head of which should be directly
responsible to the Board of Education, to whom he shall
report annually;
(b) the payment of an adequate grant from the
Imperial Exchequer for purposes of medical inspection and
for the establishment under every education authority of
properly equipped centres for medical treatment;
(c) the establishment under every education
authority of scientifically organized open air recovery
schools, the cost to be borne by the community as a whole
and not in any part by charitable contributions;
(3) the complete dissociation of these reforms from Poor Law
administration;
(4) that secondary and technical education be an integral part
of every child’s education and be secured by such a reform and
extension of the scholarship system as would place a
maintenance scholarship within the reach of every child, and
thus make it possible for all children to be full time day
pupils up to the age of 16;
(5) that the best intellectual and technical training be
provided for the teachers of the children, that each
educational district be required to train the number of pupil
teachers demanded by local needs and to establish training
colleges, preferably in connexion with Universities or
University colleges;
(6) that the provision of educational buildings and facilities
be obligatory upon the local authority, who should always
maintain administrative control of the buildings and the
facilities so provided;
(7) that the cost of education be met by grants from the
Imperial Exchequer and by the restoration of misappropriated
educational endowments; and further, having regard to the
increasing cost of popular education, and also to the
increasing value and notoriously undemocratic administration
of the University and public school endowments, the Congress
called upon the Parliamentary Committee to press the
Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into and
report upon the educational endowments of the country."
EDUCATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1903.
Execution of the Associations Law.
Closing of the schools of the Religious Orders.
State Monopoly of Education established.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1901 (APRIL-OCTOBER), and 1903.
EDUCATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1907.
Enlistment of teachers in the Syndicalist
(Labor Union) Movement.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1907.
EDUCATION: France: A. D. 1909.
A late awakening to the need of better technical and
industrial training.
France has been slow in understanding the modern necessity of
systematic industrial training and technical education, in
order to keep her workmen abreast of the more alert and
enterprising peoples in efficiency and skill. She has trusted
too long, it seems, to the old customs of apprenticeship, and
apprenticeship has decayed in her workshop practice, as it has
decayed everywhere else. The situation, as brought recently to
notice, was described as follows in a Paris letter to the
London Times, in May, 1909:
"Legislative enactments of recent date, limiting the hours of
labour for young people and placing under strict regulations
those workshops where children and adults are employed
together, have led to so much discontent among employers who
take apprentices that the majority of the masters, especially
those who obtain no immediate profit from the work of the
apprentices, have abandoned the practice of endeavouring to
train young people likely to be of use to them in the future.
The consequences are that the level of professional skill and
competence is becoming lowered among the rising generation of
workmen, and all are now agreed that the discovery of some
remedy is a matter of extreme urgency. It seems to be admitted
that in a very few years this evil may become one of fatal
importance in the case more especially of the art industries
and of those involving mechanical skill.
"The report of the Parliamentary Commission appointed to make
inquiry into this question has just been published, together
with the draft of the proposed legislation on this subject,
while the resolutions adopted at a Congress of Commerce and
National Industries, which has just taken place at Paris, are
entirely in accord with the views and suggestions of the above
Commission.
"The remedies unanimously demanded are as follows:
1. That it be made compulsory for all young persons of both
sexes, under 18 years of age, who may be employed either in
commerce or industry, to attend courses of technical
instruction (cours de perfectionnement).
2. These courses are to take place in the daytime, upon days
and at hours determined for each locality by committees
composed of representatives of the municipal authorities, the
associations of manufacturers, and of the workpeople. The
selection of the dates and hours in question is to be made in
such a way as to accord best with the respective interests of
the manufacturers and the educational requirements. Employers
will be bound to enable their workpeople to set apart
sufficient time to attend the classes.
3. The course of instruction is to be adapted in each district
to the requirements of the local trades."
{204}
EDUCATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1909.
Clerical attack on the Secular or Neutral Schools.
Antagonism between the Roman Catholic Church and the
Government was newly accentuated in October, 1909, by a
clerical attack on the so-called "neutral" schools,—that is,
the secular or lay schools, publicly maintained and
administered. This was opened by a pastoral letter, signed by
French cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, in which those
faithful to the Church were warned against sending their
children to these schools, whose religious neutrality was said
to be in reality a bitter opposition to religion and church.
The Catholic schools, it was urged, must be kept up if the
Church is to be kept up. "In proportion as the schools from
which religious instruction is banished keep on filling up,
our churches will grow empty." The pastoral letter put the ban
on more than a dozen text-books on French history and civics
whose views it found pernicious. "If, therefore," the letter
concluded, "parents perceive that the souls of their children
are imperilled in the so-called neutral schools, they must not
hesitate, under pain of forfeiting the sacraments of the
church."
This roused anti-clerical extremists to demand the
establishing of a State monopoly of education, making the lay
school compulsory and suppressing all private schools in which
religion is taught. But the sounder republicans, in public
life and in journalism, gave no countenance to this. The
Petite République reminded its advocates that there are
at present 1,122,375 children who attend private schools, and
that to establish Government schools for them would cost some
$75,000,000; or, if secondary schools be included,
$88,000,000. In addition an annual expenditure of $15,000,000
would be necessitated for upkeep and salaries. The Temps,
taking higher grounds of principle, condemned the scheme as
one that would essentially parallel the Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes. France, it declared, is a free country; every
creed has the perfect right to provide for its adherents the
kind of religious education which it thinks proper. At the
same time the Temps pointed out that the opponents of
the lay schools are not merely attacking abuses that may have
crept into them, but mean to strike at the principle of
religious neutrality. It admitted the existence of wrongs that
need righting, saying it cannot be denied that some of the
school books are disfigured by partiality on various points
affecting history, patriotism, and religion, and that this is
contrary both to the letter and to the spirit of the law. This
evil must, the Temps urges, be eradicated. But the
école laïque, says the Temps, cannot be
destroyed without destroying the Republic.
This, too, was the fundamental proposition of Premier Briand,
in a speech of admirable tone which he made, October 30th, at
a great banquet in Paris which inaugurated the new buildings
of La Ligue de l'Enseignement. The neutral school, he
declared, was the corner stone of the Republic. As reported in
The Times of London, he went on to say:
"It was natural that the adversaries of the Republic should
attack the school—the mould in which the Republican spirit and
the character of Frenchmen and Frenchwomen was formed. Certain
people were pleading the dictates of conscience as the
explanation of the campaign which they had just started. Why
had they not attacked the school before? He would remind them
that the école laïque existed before the recent
separation of Church and State; it had existed under the
Concordat. Why did not the conscience of its opponents seek
any expression till now? … The Government was determined to
give the country the means of defending the 'neutral’ school,
and measures to that end had been prepared by the Ministry.
But the most effective defence was that which would be
conducted by private initiative like that of the Ligue de
l’Enseignement and by the male and female teachers themselves.
The teaching in the schools, M. Briand continued, ‘ought not
to be directed against any one; in order to secure the
confidence of the parents it ought not to be of a polemical
character; in order to be effective it must not let the
passions of the street invade the schoolroom.’ Let them leave
violent language to their opponents and not play the game of
their opponents by indulging in violent methods."
This seems to have been the spirit in which the matter was
brought officially before the Chamber of Deputies, by M.
Steeg, the reporter on the Budget of Public Instruction. The
following is from a summary of his remarks on this subject:
"He says that it would be difficult to come to terms with the
Bishops of the disestablished Roman Catholic Church, who will
never, he thinks, agree to recognize with good will the
neutral school. He remarks, however, that no pretext must be
furnished to the Bishops for their attacks upon the school,
and that they must not be enabled to appeal against the
Republican Government to the idea of ‘neutrality’ itself. As
to the associations of parents, which are now being formed in
accordance with the Episcopal views, M. Steeg recognizes that
they are quite lawful. He only fears that they may sometimes
transgress by reason of excessive zeal; but he declares that
the best way of avoiding their interference is to make the
management of the schools irreproachable. The objections
raised against some of the school-books are, he thinks,
obviously exaggerated. But he considers that scrupulous care
ought to be exercised in resisting all temptation to borrow
for the purposes of the neutral school the weapons of
sectarian propagandism. … He continues; ‘We should not desire
that the book placed in the hands of a school child should in
any sense whatever contain a single proposition that is
perilous or open to suspicion. Let there be no veiled
proselytism supported by ingenious distortions of fact or
interpretations with an object.’"
{205}
The Temps remarks; "M. Steeg’s language does him
credit, and it is a pleasure to see a politician of the
Extreme Left recognizing, with a strong sense of philosophic
truth, that respect for the past is perfectly compatible with
justice to the present and preparation for the future."
EDUCATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1909.
Appointment of the Abbé Loisy, Professor of Religions
in the College de France.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1909 (MARCH).
EDUCATION: Germany: Technical Education.
Causes of its great development and
wonderful industrial results.
Its influence on International Trade.
"How much Germany owes to her system it would be almost
impossible to estimate. Certainly no other country has turned
the education of children and young people to such enormous
advantage. A good and efficient education has been made not
only accessible but also compulsory in every corner of the
country, and one of the most priceless features of this
education has been and is the inculcation of real, personal
interest in the national welfare. Further, the fullest
possible use has been made of scientific investigations, and
all sciences have been drawn into the service of the nation.
The result of this has been truly amazing; in fact, wholly
undreamt of. There can no longer be any doubt that Germany’s
industrial advance is mainly due to the extent and
thoroughness with which technical education is being
conducted. Briefly stated, the secret of the pronounced
success of the technical colleges in the Fatherland lies in
the fact that they have kept pace with the ever-increasing
scope of all branches of science in general, and, to the same
extent, with the ever-increasing demands of the present day
industrial enterprises upon scientific investigation and
research."
Louis Elkind,
Germany's Commercial Relations
(Fortnightly Review, July, 1906).
What seems to be the most satisfying explanation that has been
given of causes or reasons lying behind the extraordinary
development of scientific training on practical lines in
Germany, resulting in so wonderful a speed of industrial
progress within the passing generation, was cited from a
German scientist by President Pritchett, of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, in an article contributed to the
Review of Reviews, February, 1906.
"About a year ago, I heard a famous chemist in Germany explain
the present industrial supremacy of his country in words
something like these: ‘Forty years ago,’ said he, ‘the
scientific men of the various German states devoted their
study almost wholly to theoretical subjects. They were
humorously described as given up to investigations of the
dative case and similar impractical problems. In a measure
this was true. The investigators of that day had a wholesome
contempt for anything which promised direct utilitarian
results. But the development of the spirit of research
throughout the German universities trained a great army of men
to be expert investigators, and when a united Germany arose to
crown the labors of William I. and of Bismarck, with it came a
great national spirit in which the men of science shared. They
realized that to them were committed the great industrial
problems which must be solved in order to make the nation
strong, and scientific research, which up till then had been
mainly theoretical, was turned to the immediate solution of
the industrial problems of the nation. No longer the dative
case alone, but the development of the chemical, electrical,
and mineral resources of the country formed the avenues of
scientific activity, and scientific research, which had till
then been looked upon as theoretical accomplishment, became
the greatest financial asset of the Fatherland.’
"There is truth in this statement. The research habit, long
cultivated in German universities, had nourished a body of men
trained to research, men who had acquired the research habit
and the spirit of investigation. When, therefore, the problems
of industrial development began to appeal strongly to the
national spirit, the country had a trained body of men to call
upon who threw themselves heartily and enthusiastically into
these practical industrial problems."
A correspondent of the London Times, writing in May,
1909, draws attention to an influence on international trade
exerted by the German technical schools which is generally
overlooked: "In the German technical high schools," he writes,
"an appreciable proportion of the students are foreigners from
various countries in Europe. Among these foreign students the
Russians and Poles hold the first place in Germany as regards
numbers, there being about 2,000. There are also an
appreciable number of Scandinavians and Dutchmen, with a few
Belgians, Spaniards, Italians, South Americans, and Slavs from
Austria and the Balkan States. There are very few Englishmen,
Frenchmen, or Americans. … At present quite a large proportion
of the engineers and manufacturers in the neutral countries on
the Continent have been educated in Germany or Switzerland,
and as a result there is a great bias in favour of German
machinery and productions. … As the outcome of this feeling it
is a difficult matter for British manufacturers of machinery
to obtain a hearing when tenders are being considered on the
Continent, as the prejudice in favour of German or Swiss
machinery is strong."
EDUCATION: Germany: A. D. 1898-1904.
Rise of Commercial Universities.
A report on Commercial Instruction in Germany by Dr. Frederic
Rose, British Consul at Stuttgart, presented to Parliament in
September, 1904 (Cd. 2237), gives the following account of the
rise of the Commercial Universities which have been developed
in Germany since 1898, carrying the process of training young
men for business life to a higher point than had been aimed at
in the older commercial schools:
"The commercial universities for higher commercial instruction
(Handelshochschulen) have been founded within the last six
years [1898-1904] and mark a further step in the development
of commercial instruction in Germany. Their aim is to afford
persons engaged in business and industry on a large scale
(Grosskaufleute and Grossindustrielle), masters at commercial
schools, administration officials, bank officials, Consular
officials, secretaries to Chambers of Commerce, and so forth,
a deeper and broader measure of instruction in commercial and
national economical matters than that provided by the various
commercial schools. The special province of the commercial
universities lies less in the mere acquisition of
commercial-technical knowledge and attainments for immediate
practical detailed application, than in the attempt to provide
a general mental schooling for the higher branches of the
commercial profession.
{206}
They are intended to awaken and develop the mental faculties
of a merchant, to enable him to grasp the inner working and
meaning of national and international economy, and to
understand and judge its causes and results, its temporary and
permanent phenomena; as far as commercial officials are
concerned they are intended to impart general knowledge and
understanding of the economic conditions of commerce and
industry with their manifold aims and requirements.
"This measure of university education (Akademische Bildung) is
also intended to raise the social position of the mercantile
profession, and to increase its political importance and
influence in public life. Generally speaking the instruction
is arranged to include the following subjects:—Political
economy, commercial history and geography, commercial law in
all its aspects, the organisation and management of commercial
undertakings and their technical details, industrial law,
financial science, bank, exchange, monetary, and credit
operations, State and administrative law, and so forth."
At the writing of Dr. Rose’s report there were four of these
commercial universities. The oldest, at Leipsic and Aix, were
founded in 1898, the former in connection with the Leipsic
University, the latter connected with the Aix Technical
University. The other two, at Frankfort-on-the-Main and at
Cologne, were opened in 1901. The Frankfort University, which
bears also the name of "Academy of Social and Commercial
Science," and the Cologne University, are both independently
organized. "The initiative for the foundation of the
commercial universities," says Dr. Rose, "has been taken by
Chambers of Commerce and municipalities, and not by the
governments of the German States. The latter, however, are now
becoming aware of the importance of the movement. For the
present their action is limited to the supervision exercised
by the Ministers of Education and Industry and Commerce. …
"The foundation of the commercial universities has brought
forward many opponents, who not only deny their utility but
consider them actually harmful, because the persons they
instruct become too old before they engage in practical
business work. … The extreme opponents go further and deny
that a commercial university is able to train practical
business men, and assert that this can only be done by close
and continual contact with actual business life, and that the
acquisition of too much theoretical knowledge injures the
practical faculties. …
"The whole opposition to the commercial universities seems to
be based upon a narrow-minded and vague idea of the part they
are destined to play in the future. … Unless industrial and
commercial life in the future is to degenerate wholly into one
fierce and relentless struggle for one-sided aggrandisement,
to the detriment of other members of the social body, ample
opportunities for the thorough comprehension of the social and
economic conditions of the present day must be provided."
EDUCATION: Germany: A. D. 1906.
The Language Question In the Polish Provinces.
"Strike" of school children.
See (in this Volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1906-1907.
EDUCATION: INDIA:
A recent report of its schools and colleges.
See (in this Volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1907-1909.
EDUCATION: INDIA: A. D. 1908.
American Mission Schools.
"Increasing interest is now being concentrated on Burma and
India, where an illiterate population seems to need far more
education than has yet been provided by Great Britain. In
Burma the Baptists play the leading role, educating no less
than twenty-four thousand pupils. In India, however, the
Methodists lead, with a record of over thirty-seven thousand
pupils. They have two colleges at Lucknow. The Baptists have a
college at Ongole, and have about fifteen thousand pupils in
their schools. The Congregationalists have a college at
Madura, and have also about fifteen thousand pupils in India,
added to their total of ten thousand in Ceylon. The
Presbyterians have a college at Lahore and one at Allahabad,
and are educating about ten thousand pupils in the Empire."
American Schools Abroad
(The Outlook, May 2, 1908).
EDUCATION: International Interchanges:
Of Professors.
Of Students.
Of Teachers’ visits.
A fund provided by Mr. James Hazen Hyde, of New York, enabled
Harvard University, in 1904, to accept an invitation from the
Sorbonne, at Paris, to send one of its professors to give a
course of lectures at that ancient institution of learning, on
subjects relating to the United States. Professor Barrett
Wendell was chosen for the pleasant mission, and has been
followed by others in succeeding years, who have given courses
in various French universities, while the compliment has been
returned, in lecturing visits from a number of the most
distinguished men of letters and learning in France.
This opened what seems to have become an established and
widening system of lecturing interchanges between American and
European Universities, tending greatly to promote better
acquaintance between nations and better understanding of each
other. At about the time, or soon after, the mission of
Professor Wendell to Paris, arrangements were made for a
similar interchange between Harvard and the University of
Berlin. In a communication to The Outlook of February
18, 1905, Professor Kuno Francke, Curator of the Germanic
Museum at Harvard University, gave an account of the
circumstances which led to this latter. In March, 1901, as he
relates, there were conferences in Berlin with Dr. Althoff,
Commissioner-General of the Prussian Universities, and with
other Prussian officials of eminence, having for their object
the promotion of the Germanic Museum. "The upshot of these
conferences," said the Professor, "was the draft of a
provisional agreement between the Prussian Government and
Harvard University, according to which for a period of five
successive years an exchange of professors between Harvard and
Berlin University was to be instituted, in such a manner that
every year one member of each of the two institutions would
enter for at least three months the regular teaching staff of
the other institution, it being understood that in each case
the visiting member represent subjects or methods distinctly
peculiar to his country.
{207}
This scheme, which met with the hearty support of President
Eliot, was discussed and approved a year later by the Harvard
Faculty, and reached its consummation a few months ago, [1904]
when, through the intercession of Professor Harnack, an
official proposition embodying it was made by the Prussian
Government to the Harvard Corporation, and adopted by the
same. It is most fortunate that the German Emperor, with his
quick grasp of international relations and his deep sympathy
for the American people, has now given to this whole subject a
much wider scope by proposing to extend the exchange of
professors to other universities in America and Germany; for
it seems as though such a measure could not fail to open the
way toward a veritable fraternization of the moral,
intellectual, and industrial leaders of both nations."
In the latter part of 1905, a Theodore Roosevelt Professorship
of American History and Institutions, in the University of
Berlin, was endowed with the sum of $50,000 by Mr. James
Speyer, of New York, the endowment being placed in the hands
of the trustees of Columbia University. The plan of this
professorship had been arranged with the German Emperor by
President Butler, of Columbia, at an interview in the previous
summer. Nominations to it would be made by the trustees of
Columbia University, subject to confirmation by the Prussian
Ministry of Education and to the Emperor’s sanction; each
incumbent to hold the office for one year, and the incumbents
to be so chosen that in successive years the field of American
history, constitutional and administrative law, economic and
sociological problems and movements, education, contributions
to science, technology, the arts and literature, be presented
with some fullness; the professorship to be filled by members
of any American institution of learning, or by scholars not
connected with academic institutions. The scheme involved also
the establishment at Columbia University of a similar
professorship of German history and institutions, the lectures
in New York to be delivered in English. The first incumbent of
the new professorship in Berlin was Dr. Burgess, Professor of
Political Science in Columbia University, who began his work
in Berlin in the winter of 1906-1907, and took as his subject
American constitutional history.
A movement looking to the establishment of similar
interchanges between American and Scandinavian Universities
was inaugurated in 1908 by the "Scandinavian American
Solidarity," a society organized in the United States that
year, with Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, of Columbia University,
for its President, and Professor Carl Lorentzen, of New York
University, for its Secretary. The Danes resident in New York
City and Chicago arranged that President Butler of Columbia
and President MacCracken of New York University should each
give lectures at the University of Copenhagen that year, and
raised the necessary funds. The lectures were given at
Christiania, as well as at Copenhagen, and appear to have
aroused a widespread interest. Norwegian and Swedish
Universities and the University of Helsingfors, in Finland,
have signified a wish to participate in the interchange, and
it is more than likely to become permanently arranged.
An educational interchange of a different character, but
equally important, was instituted in 1906 by Mr. Alfred
Mosely, an English gentleman of great wealth, who invited five
hundred English, Scotch, and Irish teachers to visit and
inspect American schools at his expense. Between November,
1906 and March, 1907, they came in parties of twenty-five,
some remaining one month in the country, some two, and some
even more, visiting many parts of it and all descriptions of
its schools. They were selected by an advisory committee in
London, which aimed to have them fully representative of the
men and women who are engaged in the work of the British and
Irish schools.
A return visit of some hundreds of American teachers to Great
Britain and Ireland, in similar parties, under the auspices of
the National Civic Federation, was made in the fall of 1908.
The schools of both countries gained, beyond question, from
what each had to offer of suggestion to the other.
The organization of a "new educational movement to provide for
the interchange of University students among the
English-speaking peoples" was announced in England in June,
1909. "The object," it was stated, "is to provide
opportunities for as many as possible of the educated youth of
the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States (who, it is
reasonable to suppose, will become leaders in thought, action,
civic and national government in the future), to obtain some
real insight into the life, customs, and progress of other
nations at a time when their own opinions are forming, with a
minimum of inconvenience to their academic work and the
least possible expense."
A great number of the most distinguished men of the time in
British public and professional life were listed among the
officers and committee-members of the organization, with Lord
Strathcona as President for the United Kingdom. As set forth
in the prospectus of the society, "the additional objects of
the movement are to increase the value and efficiency of, as
well as to extend, present University training by the
provision of certain Travelling Scholarships for practical
observation in other countries under suitable guidance. These
scholarships will enable those students to benefit who might
otherwise be unable to do so through financial restrictions.
It also enables the administration to exercise greater power
of direction in the form the travel is to take. In addition to
academic qualifications, the selected candidate should be what
is popularly known as an ‘all round’ man; the selection to be
along the lines of the Rhodes Scholarships. …
"To afford technical and industrial students facilities to
examine into questions of particular interest to them in
manufactures, &c., by observation in other countries and by
providing them with introductions to leaders in industrial
activity.
"To promote interest in travel as an educational factor among
the authorities of Universities, with a view to the
possibility of some kind of such training being included in
the regular curricula.
"To promote interest in other Universities, their aims and
student life, the compulsory physical training, and methods of
working their ways through college, for example, being
valuable points for investigation.
"To promote international interchange for academic work among
English-speaking Universities. …
{208}
"It is proposed to establish two students’ travelling bureaux,
one in New York and one in London; an American secretary
(resident in New York) and a British secretary (resident in
London), both of whom shall be college men appointed to afford
every facility to any graduate or undergraduate of any
University who wishes to visit the United States, Canada, or
the United Kingdom for the purpose of obtaining an insight
into the student, national, and industrial life of those
countries."
Further announcements of the plans of the organization were
made in November, including the following:
"It should be pointed out that, although the scholarships
proper will be reserved for undergraduates of the Universities
who are already midway through their course, the provision of
scholarships by no means defines the scope of the movement.
The bureau will afford facilities to all bona fide students—whether dons, scholars, or commoners—who wish to gain
a practical insight into the work and life of other portions
of the world.
"The travelling students will have the advantage of reduced
rates of travel; of the special information which the bureau
will be able to afford; and of the privilege of being brought
as far as possible into contact with the actualities of those
countries to which they go, whether persons, places, or

institutions. …
"The method of election to the scholarships, which it is
purposed shall number not less than 28 for each year of the
experimental triennium—14 in the United Kingdom, ten in the
United States, and four in Canada—will be along the lines of
the Rhodes scholarships. The candidate, it is stated, shall,
as far as possible, be what is popularly known as an all-round
man, who plays a part in his college life and whose character
makes him popular."
EDUCATION: Ireland: A. D. 1909.
Organization of the two new Irish Universities.
On the 1st day of October, 1909, the two Universities created
by the Irish Universities Act of 1908 came into existence.
"That day also was fixed for the dissolution of the Royal
University of Ireland, the duties of which are now to be
distributed between the new National University in Dublin and
Queen’s University, Belfast. Circumstances, however, have
given the Royal University a short reprieve. It cannot be
dissolved until the autumn degrees of the present year have
been conferred. These degrees will be given as the result of
examinations which are now in progress, and it is probable
that the University’s last public function will be a conferring
of degrees on the last Friday in October. It will cease to
exist in the first or second week of November. …
"The National University itself consists of a Senate and
officers with large powers but with no local habitation. The
University has its concrete embodiment in the new University
Colleges, formerly Queen’s Colleges, at Cork and Galway.
University College, Dublin, is so far only concrete in the
sense that its governing body has been called into existence.
At the present time it has no teaching and no college
buildings. The former of these wants will be supplied almost
immediately. The University Commissioners will meet early next
month to appoint a teaching staff, and the college will be
available for students at the beginning of November. As
regards staffs, the Dublin College is differently situated
from those at Cork and Galway. For the latter colleges
teaching staffs exist ready made in the staffs of the old
Queen’s Colleges, which are to be taken over in accordance
with the provisions of the Act. …
"Nothing has yet been done in connexion with the buildings of
the new college in Dublin, though various sites have been
suggested, including that of the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham.
… The cases of Queen’s University, Belfast, and of the
University Colleges at Cork and Galway present no
difficulties. These institutions will have teaching staffs
within a couple of weeks, and all their buildings and
classrooms are in going order.
"The agitation of the Gaelic League in favour of the
compulsory teaching of Irish in the National University is
vigorously maintained. It is most improbable that the Senate
will yield to this agitation; and the result of their firmness
will be, if the league fulfils its threats, a rather serious
boycott of the University."
Dublin Correspondent London Times,
September 30, 1909.
An Associated Press despatch from Dublin, October 24,
announced that "among the appointments to the new National
University of Ireland are Dr. Douglas Hyde, president of the
Gaelic League, as professor of modern Gaelic. Dr. Henebry,
formerly of Washington, D. C., has been appointed to the
professorship of the Irish language in the University College,
Cork."
EDUCATION: KOREA:
American Mission Schools.
"In Korea the Presbyterians have the strongest representation
of any religious denomination, with over three hundred
schools; and, what is still more striking, practically every
one of these schools is self-supporting. The Methodists follow
with over a hundred schools and over forty-two hundred
pupils."
The Outlook,
May 2, 1908.
EDUCATION: NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1905.
New Education Law, an issue in the elections.
See (in this Volume)
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1905-1909.
EDUCATION: PORTO RICO: A. D. 1906.
Schools as seen by President Roosevelt.
See (in this Volume)
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1906.
EDUCATION: PRUSSIA: A. D. 1904.
Denominational Education restored.
A resolution adopted by the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, in
May, 1904, restored the denominational school system which the
"May Laws" of the Kulturkampf, in 1873 and after had
abolished.
See (in Volume II. of this work)
GERMANY: A. D. 1873-1887.
Under those laws the schools were common to children of all
religious beliefs; under the new system they became either
Protestant or Roman Catholic according to the faith of the
majority of their pupils.
EDUCATION: RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS:
The Will of Cecil John Rhodes, providing Scholarships at
Oxford for students from the British Colonies and the
United States.
The late Cecil John Rhodes, who played an eminent part in the
development of South Africa and in the extension of the
British dominion in that portion of the world, died on the
26th of March, 1902, leaving a will which contained the
following directions for the use to be made of one large part
of the great fortune he had acquired:
See (in this Volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1902-1904)
"Whereas I consider that the education of young colonists at
one of the universities in the United Kingdom is of great
advantage to them for giving breadth to their views, for their
instruction in life and manners, and for instilling into their
minds the advantage to the colonies as well as to the United
Kingdom of the retention of the unity of the Empire; and
{209}
"Whereas in the ease of young colonists studying at a
university in the United Kingdom I attach very great
importance to the university having a residential system, such
as is in force at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge;
for without it those students are at the most critical period
of their lives left without any supervision; and
"Whereas there are at the present time fifty or more students
from South Africa studying at the University of Edinburgh,
many of whom are attracted there by its excellent medical
school, and I should like to establish some of the
scholarships hereinafter mentioned in that university but
owing to its not having such a residential system as aforesaid
I feel obliged to refrain from doing so; and
"Whereas my own university, the University of Oxford, has such
a system, and I suggest that it should try and extend its
scope so as if possible to make its medical school at least as
good as that at the University of Edinburgh; and
"Whereas I also desire to encourage and foster an appreciation
of the advantages which I implicitly believe will result from
the union of the English-speaking people throughout the world
and to encourage in the students from the United States of
North America who will benefit from the American scholarships
to be established for the reason above given at the University
of Oxford under this my will an attachment to the country from
which they have sprung, but without, I hope, withdrawing them
or their sympathies from the land of their adoption or birth.
"Now, therefore, I direct my trustees as soon as may be after
my death and either simultaneously or gradually as they shall
find convenient, and if gradually, then in such order as they
shall think fit, to establish for male students the
scholarships hereinafter directed to be established, each of
which shall be of the yearly value of £300 and be tenable at
any college in the University of Oxford for three consecutive
academical years.
"I direct my trustees to establish certain scholarships and
these scholarships I sometimes hereinafter refer to as ‘the
colonial scholarships.’
"The appropriation of the colonial scholarships and the
numbers to be annually filled up shall be in accordance with
the following table;
[Transcribers note: "Do." probably means "ditto".
https://www.acronymfinder.com/DO.html]
Total To be tenable by students of or from Number of
number scholarships to
appropriated. be filled up in
each year.
9 Rhodesia 3 and no more
3 The South African College School in
the colony of the Cape of Good Hope 1 and no more
3 The Stellenbosch College School, Do.
in the same colony
3 The Diocesan College School of Do.
Rondebosch, in the same colony
3 St. Andrews College School, Do.
Grahamstown
3 The colony of Natal, Do.
in the same colony
3 The colony of New South Wales Do.
3 The colony of Victoria Do.
3 The colony of South Australia Do.
3 The colony of Queensland Do.
3 The colony of Western Australia Do.
3 The colony of Tasmania Do.
3 The colony of New Zealand Do.
3 The Province of Ontario, Do.
in the Dominion of Canada
3 The Province of Quebec, Do.
in the Dominion of Canada
3 The colony or island of Do.
Newfoundland and its dependencies
3 The colony or islands of the Bermudas Do.
3 The colony or island of Jamaica Do.
"I further direct my trustees to establish additional
scholarships sufficient in number for the appropriation in the
next following clause hereof directed, and those scholarships
I sometimes hereinafter refer to as ‘the American
scholarships.’
"I appropriate two of the American scholarships to each of the
present States and Territories of the United States of North
America, provided that if any of the said Territories shall in
my lifetime be admitted as a State the scholarships
appropriated to such Territory shall be appropriated to such
State, and that my trustees may in their uncontrolled
discretion withhold for such time as they shall think fit the
appropriation of scholarships to any Territory.
"I direct that of the two scholarships appropriated to a State
or Territory not more than one shall be filled up in any year,
so that at no time shall more than two scholarships be held
for the same State or Territory.
"The scholarships shall be paid only out of income, and in
event at any time of income being insufficient for payment in
full of all the scholarships for the time being payable I
direct that (without prejudice to the vested interests of
holders for the time being of scholarships) the following
order of priority shall regulate the payment of the
scholarships:
"(I) First, the scholarships of students of or from Rhodesia
shall be paid;
"(II) Secondly, the scholarships of students from the said
South African Stellenbosch Rondebosch and St. Andrews schools
shall be paid;
"(III) Thirdly, the remainder of the colonial scholarships
shall be paid, and if there shall not be sufficient income for
the purpose such scholarships shall abate proportionately; and
"(IV) Fourthly, the American scholarships shall be paid, and
if there shall not be sufficient income for the purpose such
scholarships shall abate proportionately.
{210}
"My desire being that the students who shall be elected to the
scholarships shall not be merely bookworms, I direct that in
the election of a student to a scholarship regard shall be had
to
(I) his literary and scholastic attainments;
(II) his fondness of and success in manly outdoor sports, such
as cricket, football, and the like;
(III) his qualities of manhood, truth, courage, devotion to
duty, sympathy for the protection of the weak, kindliness,
unselfishness, and fellowship, and
(IV) his exhibition during school days of moral force of
character and of instincts to lead and to take an interest in
his schoolmates, for those latter attributes will be likely in
after life to guide him to esteem the performance of public
duties as his highest aim. As mere suggestions for the
guidance of those who will have the choice of students for the
scholarships, I record that
(I) my ideal qualified student would combine these four
qualifications in the proportions of three-tenths for the
first, two-tenths for the second, three-tenths for the third,
and two-tenths for the fourth qualification, so that ac-
cording to my ideas if the maximum number of marks for any
scholarship were 200 they would be apportioned as follows:
Sixty to each of the first and third qualifications, and 40 to
each of the second and fourth qualifications.
(II) The marks for the several qualifications would be awarded
independently, as follows (that is to say): The marks for the
first qualification by examination, for the second and third
qualifications, respectively, by ballot by the fellow-students
of the candidates, and for the fourth qualification by the
head master of the candidate’s school, and
(III) the results of the awards (that is to say the marks
obtained by each candidate for each qualification) would be
sent as soon as possible for consideration to the trustees or
to some person or persons appointed to receive the same, and
the person or persons so appointed would ascertain by
averaging the marks in blocks of 20 marks each of all
candidates the best ideal qualified students.
"No student shall be qualified or disqualified for election to
a scholarship on account of his race or religious opinions.
"Except in the cases of the four schools hereinbefore
mentioned, the election to scholarships shall be by the
trustees after such (if any) consultation as they shall think
fit with the minister having the control of education in such
colony, province, State, or Territory.
" A qualified student who has been elected as aforesaid shall
within six calendar months after his election, or as soon
thereafter as he can be admitted into residence or within such
extended time as my trustees shall allow, commence residence
as an undergraduate at some college in the University of
Oxford.
"The scholarships shall be payable to him from the time when
he shall commence such residence.
"28. I desire that the scholars holding the scholarships shall
be distributed among the colleges of the University of Oxford
and not resort in undue numbers to one or more colleges only.
"29. Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained, my
trustees may in their uncontrolled discretion suspend for such
time as they shall think fit or remove any scholar from his
scholarship.
"30. My trustees may from time to time make, vary, and repeal
regulations either general or affecting specified scholarship
only with regard to all or any of the following matters, that
is to say:
"(I) The election, whether after examination or otherwise, of
qualified students to the scholarships, or any of them, and
the method, whether by examination or otherwise, in which
their qualifications are to be ascertained;
"(II) The tenure of the scholarships by scholars;
"(III) The suspension and removal of scholars from their
scholarships;
"(IV) The method and times of payment of the scholarships;
"(V) The method of giving effect to my wish expressed in
clause 28 hereof; and
"(VI) Any and every other matter with regard to the
scholarships, or any of them, with regard to which they shall
consider regulations necessary or desirable.
"31. My trustees may from time to time authorize regulations
with regard to the election, whether after examination or
otherwise, of qualified students for scholarships and to the
method, whether by examination or otherwise, in which their
qualifications are to be ascertained to be made:
"(I) By a school in respect of the scholarships tenable by its
students; and
"(II) By the minister aforesaid of a colony, province, State,
or Territory in respect of the scholarships tenable by
students from such colony, province, State or Territory.
"32. Regulations made under the last preceding clause hereof,
if and when approved of, and not before, by my trustees, shall
be equivalent in all respects to regulations made by my
trustees.
"No regulations made under clause 30 or made and approved of
under clauses 31 and 32 hereof shall be inconsistent with any
of the provisions herein contained.
"In order that the scholars past and present may have
opportunities of meeting and discussing their experiences and
prospects, I desire that my trustees shall annually give a
dinner to the past and present scholars able and willing to
attend, at which I hope my trustees, or some of them, will be
able to be present, and to which they will, I hope, from time
to time invite as guests persons who have shown sympathy with
the views expressed by me in this, my will."
The trustees are the
Earl of Rosebery,
Earl Grey,
Lord Milner,
Mr. Alfred Beit,
Dr. Leander Starr Jameson,
Mr. Lewis Loyd Mitchell, and
Mr. Bourchier Francis Hawksley.
EDUCATION: RUSSIA: A. D. 1909.
Great Educational Projects before the Duma.
Primary school-houses by the hundred thousand,
and Compulsory Education.
Increased opening to Jews.
A telegram from St. Petersburg, February 16, 1909, announced
that the Ministry of Education had introduced that day a bill
before the Duma providing for a building fund for the erection
of 148,179 new primary schools throughout the empire within
ten years. These schools are to be built and maintained by the
provincial authorities on government subsidy. The same
despatch reported that a statute providing for general
compulsory education would soon be discussed in the Duma.
{211}
On the 5th of October it was announced that the Tsar had
sanctioned a resolution of the Council of Ministers permitting
the admission of an increased percentage of Jews into the
secondary schools of the Crown. In the capitals 5 per cent. of
the total number of scholars may be Jews, in other parts of
the Empire 10 per cent., and in the special Jewish settlements
15 percent.
EDUCATION: SCOTLAND: A. D. 1901.
Mr. Carnegie’s great gift to the Universities and
their students.
The first of Mr. Andrew Carnegie’s great gifts to other
institutions of education than the public libraries, which he
has assisted in such numbers, was conferred on the
universities of Scotland, his native country, in 1901. It was
a gift of $10,000,000 (£2,000,000), placed in the hands of
trustees for two purposes, namely, to improve and expand the
teaching power of the universities, on one hand, and to put
their teaching, on the other hand, more within the reach of
all the young in Scotland who craved it. It was said to have
been the original wish of Mr. Carnegie to make the tuition of
the universities free; but he found that it would be wiser to
strengthen them for their work, leave it subject to proper
fees, and provide for an allowance of pecuniary assistance to
students, in the discretion of the trustees. The application
of the gift was so arranged, one-half of the net annual income
from the great fund being appropriated to buildings,
equipments, endowments of professorships and lectureships, and
the like uses for the betterment of the university work.
There were fears at first that the effect of so much easing of
the attainment of a university education might be injurious to
the spirit and character of the students who accepted the
helping hand; but seven years of experience, under the working
of the gift, do not seem to have justified the fear. In those
seven years over 8000 of the Scottish young people had the
benefit of Mr. Carnegie’s help to a college training, and the
trustees of the Fund, in their annual report of 1909,
pronounced the result good. "In the opinion of such men as
Lord Rosebery, Lord Elgin, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Mr.
Balfour, and Mr. Haldane, who are all helping to administer
Mr. Carnegie’s charity," says a London correspondent of the
New York Evening Post, "Scotland has much to thank him
for."
EDUCATION: TURKEY AND THE NEAR EAST:
American Mission Schools.
"At present [1909] there are about twenty-five thousand native
students in American schools in this country. America can
boast to-day that she has, in Turkey, nine colleges, five
theological seminaries, fifty-seven boarding and high schools,
and 348 public schools. And, if we accumulate the work of
seventy-five years, it is a simple matter to understand how
many thousands have been educated in American ways and with
the American spirit.
"Missionaries came to this country to spread Protestant
Christianity among the Moslems. They failed in that. The
Mohammedan government was against them. They tried to make
Christian Greeks, Christian Armenians, Protestants. This did
not result in a marked success, but their schools, which they
opened as a medium of spreading religion, were eagerly sought
by young men and young girls of every race. Armenians form the
majority in this country of those who have received an
American education. Bulgarians and Greeks come next.
"Many I have met who have been thoroughly educated in
missionary institutions. Generally they are not Protestants,
neither much religiously inclined. But they are moral,
independent, and broad-minded.
"The Turkish mission, as it is written about in America, is
not, in fact, areal Turkish mission; not a Moslem has been
Christianized; not a single Turk is a member of mission
communities; yet native Christians have been widely helped by
the opportunity offered for education and the growth of a
spirit of civilization and humanity.
"Year after year young men graduated from American
institutions in Turkey to go forward among their compatriots
as teachers, journalists, and public officers. The building up
of brave little Bulgaria is the work of graduates of Robert
College of Constantinople. Stambouloff, who made Bulgaria what
it is to-day, was an alumnus of the same institution. Among
the Armenian revolutionary leaders, who worked hand-in-hand
with the Young Turks to bring about a political change in
Turkey, boys of Robert College and young men educated in
American universities are prominent. I know young girls,
graduates of the American College at Scutari, who took active
part in revolutionary work during the despotic days of the old
regime; and even joined in the conspiracy which led to the
throwing of a bomb at the Sultan during the Selamlik ceremony
a few years ago. … There are a number of Turkish girls to-day
at the college in Scutari, and it is a pleasure to any one to
see Turkish women discussing in fluent English politics,
economics, and history."
Special Correspondence of the New York Evening Post,
Constantinople, March 20, 1909.
At Beirut is the Syrian Protestant College, under Presbyterian
control, one of the most enlightened institutions abroad.
Euphrates College at Harput in Asia Minor, with a thousand
students, is a Congregational institution. At Tarsus, the
Apostle Paul’s home, is, appropriately enough, St. Paul’s
Institute. Throughout Turkey the Congregationalists have over
four hundred schools, with over twenty-one thousand pupils. In
Syria the Presbyterians maintain about a hundred schools. The
Presbyterians (North) have no work in Egypt, but the United
Presbyterians are educating there no less than fifteen
thousand pupils, a total the more surprising when we recall
that the Government schools in Egypt have only eighteen
thousand pupils. More than four thousand have received
instruction at Assiut College, the center of the United
Presbyterian work. … As in Persia, the Presbyterians are the
strongest denominational force. Besides Urumia College, they
have about a hundred and twenty-five schools throughout the
country."
American Schools Abroad
(The Outlook, May 2, 1908).
EDUCATION: THE INFLUENCE OF ROBERT COLLEGE.
"Two years ago one of the subjects given out for a thesis in
the Russian Theological Seminary at Kiev was, ‘The Influence
of Robert College in the Development of Bulgaria.’ Russia has
found the influence of that College there a factor which she
has had to take into serious account; indeed, it has been said
by Russian as well as by high Turkish officials that Robert
College really created Bulgaria. Its influence has also been
abundantly recognized throughout Europe and America. In
Bulgaria itself the first National Assembly, which met to
adopt a constitution and to choose a Prince, passed a
resolution expressing the gratitude of the new-born nation to
the College. Prince Alexander conferred a high decoration on
the President of the College to express his personal
appreciation, and last summer Prince Ferdinand did the same.
{212}
Robert College has not only been the backbone of Bulgaria; it
has been the greatest civilizing power in the Turkish Empire.
Sir William White, who knew that Empire better than has any
recent British ambassador, once remarked that the College had
accomplished more for the good of the Turks than had all the
representatives of the British Government; and Professor
Ramsey, of St. Andrews, who has spent many years in exploring
Asia Minor, says:
"‘I have come in contact with men educated in Robert College
in widely separate parts of the country, men of diverse
nationalities and different forms of religion—Greek, Armenian,
and Protestant—and have everywhere been struck with the
marvelous way in which a certain uniform type, direct, simple,
honest, and lofty in tone, has been impressed upon them. Some
had more of it, some less. But all had it to a certain degree,
and it is diametrically opposite to the type produced by
growth under the ordinary conditions of Turkish life.’
"The College is not organized for the purpose of missionary
propaganda. It is not denominational. It is Christian in the
broad sense in which Princeton, Yale and Harvard are Christian
Colleges. In its faculty it has a Mohammedan Professor of
Turkish language and literature, and an orthodox Greek
Professor of Greek language and literature. … It draws
students not only from Turkey, but also from Greece, Bulgaria,
Rumania and Russia, and has already educated nearly twenty-six
hundred. If the demands upon the College continue to increase
in the future as in the past, its endowment will have to be
doubled. Occupying one of the most beautiful sites on the
Bosphorus, the College has at present five buildings, besides
six houses for professors, a teaching staff of twelve
professors and twenty-five other instructors."
The Outlook, January 21, 1905.
Robert College was founded at Constantinople in 1863 by James
H. and William B. Dwight, sons of an American missionary to
Turkey, the Reverend Harrison G. O. Dwight. It was named after
Christopher R. Robert, of New York, its main supporter, whose
gifts to it first and last amounted to $450,000. Its first
President was the Reverend Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, who presided over
it until 1877, when he resigned, and was succeeded by the
Reverend Dr. George Washburn.
In November, 1909, it received a bequest of $1,500,000, from
the late John Stewart Kennedy, of New York, and its work will
be greatly expanded.
EDUCATION: TURKEY: A. D. 1909.
Constitutional Amendment.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (MAY-DECEMBER).
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES:
The Trade Unions as a factor in the Assimilation and
Education of the foreign-born.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1898-1909.
The Annual Conferences for Education in the South.
Since 1898 a series of annual Conferences for Education in the
South, inspired, organized, and sustained especially by the
joint efforts of J. L. M. Curry and Robert C. Ogden, have been
held in various Southern cities, with notable effect. At the
twelfth of these conferences, in April, 1909, at Atlanta, Mr.
Ogden, presiding, said in his address:
"This conference holds its place as a part of an educational
renaissance. Its work can perhaps be definitely defined only
at a single point. It exists primarily to impress upon the
mind of the citizen, the people, the responsibility of the
individual for educational conditions, to support the claim
that every child in America, native or foreign born, is
entitled to a good English education, that it is the duty of
the State as representing the people to provide such
education, that in the words of the man that recruited me and
pledged my service, such as it is, to this work, J. L. M.
Curry, president of this conference in its second year,
‘Ignorance Cures Nothing.’ …
"Aside from the first mentioned special influence this
conference makes no direct claim save that it has by various
agencies assisted in the promotion and development of many
progressive educational ideas, and through the Southern
Educational Board, to which it is both mother and child, has
supplied methods and incidental support that have caused many
latent forces to germinate, flourish, and bring forth abundant
fruit that otherwise never could have existed. We simply have
planted seed that eventually produced large harvests.
"I am told, and I think the statement is accurate, that during
the last seven years the public appropriations for education
in the States under the influence of the Southern Education
Board have increased $16,000,000 per annum. These figures are
difficult of verification, but probably are greater than I
have stated. We have had something to do with this result, how
much may not be a subject for definite calculation. …
"The twelve years that measure the life of the conference for
education in the South have been years of great originality in
the development of American education."
EDUCATION: A. D. 1901.
The Washington Memorial Institution.
"In almost every Government department and bureau at
Washington, prolonged scientific investigations are
continually carried on, in order that governmental action
itself may be more intelligent and more efficient, and the
general welfare of the people promoted. … While the Congress
carries on this work for governmental purposes only, it
indicated as long ago as 1892, in a joint resolution approved
April 12 of that year, that the Government’s large collections
illustrative of the various arts and sciences, and its
facilities for scientific and literary research, were to be
held accessible to the investigators and students of any
institution of higher education then existing or thereafter
established in the District of Columbia. By an almost
unnoticed but most important provision incorporated in the
general deficiency bill passed at the second session of the
Fifty-sixth Congress, and approved March 3, 1901, the
privileges given by the joint resolution of April 12, 1892, to
investigators and students of institutions in the District of
Columbia were extended to ‘scientific investigators and to
duly qualified individuals, students, and graduates of
institutions of learning in the several States and
Territories, as well as in the District of Columbia, under
such rules and restrictions as the heads of the departments
and bureaus mentioned may prescribe.
… The new opportunities created a new need, and that need is
to be met by the Washington Memorial Institution, incorporated
on May 17, 1901, and formally organized on June 3.
{213}
"The Washington Memorial Institution is the direct outcome of
the activities of the Washington Academy of Sciences and of
the George Washington Memorial Association, the latter body
being an organization of women ‘to aid in securing in the city
of Washington, D. C., the increase of opportunities for higher
education, as recommended by George Washington, the first
President of the United States, in his various messages to
Congress.’ … The plan has been worked out in consultation with
representatives of the universities and other scientific
bodies, and with their hearty cooperation and approval. It has
the merits of simplicity and of not duplicating any existing
form of educational effort." The Institution "will ascertain,
year by year, just what the opportunities for students are at
Washington, and will publish them to the world; it will
receive and enroll students who offer themselves, and direct
them to the places which await them; it will record their work
and its results, and, when requested, will certify these to
any institution of learning. It will keep in touch with the
universities, scientific schools, and colleges on the one
hand, and with the departments and bureaus of the Government
on the other. In this way it will, it may be hoped, promote
the interests and the ideals of both."
Nicholas Murray Butler,
The Washington Memorial Institution
(American Review of Reviews, July, 1901).
EDUCATION: A. D. 1901-1909.
Changes at the Universities.
In October, 1901, on accepting a nomination to the mayoralty
of New York City, President Seth Low, of Columbia University,
resigned from that post, and Professor Nicholas Murray Butler
became acting President until the following January, when he
was elected to the Presidency by the unanimous vote of the
trustees.
For the first time in its history, the University of
Virginia—Jefferson’s creation—received a President in April,
1905, when Dr. Edwin Anderson Alderman was inducted in office
as its administrative head. The significance of the occurrence
was expressed at the time by Professor William P. Trent, when
he said: "The University of Virginia, so long, under its
chairmen of the faculty, faithful to its founder’s prejudices
against the concentration of executive power in the hands of
an individual, has been forced by pressure from within and
from without to align itself with its sister universities in
this essential feature of educational government, and in this
fact many will see another step in the slow but certain
nationalizing of the South, as well as an indication that in
the future the University of Virginia will be widely known as
a national institution of high standing."
In the summer of 1902, President Francis L. Patton, who had
been the successor of President McCosh at Princeton
University, retired and was succeeded by Professor Woodrow
Wilson, previously occupant of the chair of Jurisprudence and
Politics since 1890.
The President who had organized the University of Chicago at
its foundation, in 1891, and directed its successful
development through fifteen years of a remarkable success,
William Rainey Harper, died on the 10th of January, 1906, and
was succeeded by Professor Harry Pratt Judson, previously at
the head of the department of Political Science and Dean of
the faculties of Arts, Literature, and Science.
President Henry Hopkins of Williams College retired in 1907
and was succeeded by Harry A. Garfield, eldest son of the
former President of the United States, and lately Professor of
Politics at Princeton University.
In October, 1908, President Charles W. Eliot of Harvard
University made known his wish to retire in the following May
from the office which he had filled with so much distinction
for forty years. His resignation was accepted with profound
regret, and he vacated the Presidency of the great University
on the 19th of May, 1909. His successor, Professor Abbott
Lawrence Lowell, taken from the chair of the Science of
Government, in the Harvard faculty, had been elected in the
preceding January. President Lowell was inaugurated with much
ceremony on the 6th of October.
Dr. Richard C. Maclaurin was called from the department of
physics in Columbia University, New York, to the presidency of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in November, 1908.
President Cyrus Northrup, of the University of Minnesota,
announced in 1908 his resignation to take effect the following
year.
A change in the Presidency of Dartmouth College took place in
June, 1909, Dr. W. J. Tucker resigning because of ill health,
and Professor Ernest Fox Nichols, formerly head of the
department of physics at Dartmouth, and latterly occupying a
chair at Columbia University, being elected to his place.
Having passed his eightieth year of life and the thirty-eighth
of his administration of the University of Michigan, President
James Burrill Angell was reluctantly permitted to retire from
active service to the University at the close of the academic
year in 1909. The acceptance of his resignation by the Regents
of the University was accompanied, however, by the tender to
him of the office of Chancellor, the duties to be such as "he
may be willing and able to perform; the salary for such office
to be $4000 per year, with house rent, light and fuel, so long
as he sees fit to occupy his present residence." Dean H. B.
Hutchins, of the law department was made acting President.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1902.
Founding of the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
for Original Research.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION: CARNEGIE INSTITUTION.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1902-1909.
The General Education Board.
Its stupendous endowment by Mr. Rockefeller.
Its plans and operations.
The General Education Board, destined to become so great an
educational power in the United States, had its birth on the
27th of February, 1902, at a meeting in New York to which Mr.
John D. Rockefeller had invited the following named gentlemen:
William H. Baldwin, Jr.,
Wallace Buttrick,
Hon. J. L. M. Curry,
Frederick T. Gates,
Daniel C. Gilman,
Morris K. Jessup,
Robert C. Ogden,
Walter H. Page,
George Foster Peabody,
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and
Albert Shaw;
with Edward M. Shepard as counsel.
A conception of the general plan and purpose of the Board had
been, it is said, in Mr. Rockefeller’s thought for some time
past, and his guests gave hearty approval to the project in
which he asked them to join him. Then and there they became
organized temporarily under the name still borne, Mr.
Rockefeller pledging $1,000,000 to the support of their work,
which should specially be directed at the outset to the study
and improvement of educational conditions in the Southern
States.
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Offices of the Board were opened in New York April 1, 1902. It
was incorporated by Act of Congress on the 12th of January,
1903, at which time a considerable number of new members was
added to the Board, chosen from the heads of important
universities and colleges, North and South. The Board was now
in active cooperation with the United States Department of
Agriculture, whose work of scientific and systematic
instruction in agriculture, by demonstration farms and
otherwise, it found to be dealing with the most pressing of
Southern needs. It found another field of useful cooperation,
with Southern universities and colleges, in promotion of the
founding and maintaining of high schools. Its main operations
were on these lines until the summer of 1905, when, on the
30th of June, Mr. Rockefeller expanded its forces immensely by
adding $10,000,000 to his original gift of $1,000,000.
In The Independent of August 6, 1908, Mr. Wallace
Buttrick, secretary of the Board, described the enlargement of
undertakings which followed this increase of endowment,
saying:
"The income of this large foundation for higher education
enabled the board to extend its work throughout the whole
country, as contemplated in its charter. Studies had already
been made of the colleges in the Southern States, and such
studies were at once made of the colleges in other parts of
the United States. After such comprehensive study and the
careful consideration of how best to aid in the development of
an adequate system of colleges in all of the States of the
Union, the board adopted the following principles as defining
its general policy: To co-operate sympathetically and
helpfully with the religious denominations; to choose the
centers of wealth and population as the permanent pivots of an
educational system; to mass its funds on endowments, securing
in this work the largest possible local co-operation."
Less than two years later, on the 7th of February, 1907, Mr.
Rockefeller nearly trebled his previous endowment by an
enormous addition to the fund in the possession of the Board,
announced in the following letter from his son, Mr. John D.
Rockefeller, Jr.:
"My father authorizes me to say that on or before April 1st,
1907, he will give to the General Education Board
income-bearing securities the present market value of which is
about thirty-two million dollars ($32,000,000), one-third to
be added to the permanent endowment of the board; two-thirds
to be applied to such specific objects within the corporate
purposes of the board as either he or I may from time to time
direct, any remainder not so designated at the death of the
survivor to be added also to the permanent endowment of the
board."
Of what was being done by the Board with this stupendous fund
Mr. Buttrick gave details in The Independent as follows:
"Conditional appropriations have been made to forty colleges,
in the States of Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado.
"Twenty-five of these colleges have secured subscriptions for
the supplemental sums required and but one has failed. The
remaining fifteen colleges report satisfactory progress. The
total amount thus appropriated by the board is $2,437,500; the
supplemental sums, when completed, will aggregate $10,397,000.
"From the original $1,000,000 gift to the board by Mr.
Rockefeller appropriations have been made to schools in the
South amounting to about $700,000, one-half of which has gone
to schools for the colored people. The high school propaganda
and the agricultural demonstration work have also been
supported from this fund.
"From the foregoing it will be seen that, in the Northern
States, the board devotes itself exclusively to the promotion
of higher education, having always in view the desirability of
aiding such institutions as, taken together, will constitute
an adequate system of higher education for each of the several
States, thus seeking to correct and prevent duplication and
waste and securing the highest efficiency.
"In the Southern States its work for colleges is similar to
that done in the North, and, in addition, it seeks to promote
public high schools through the State universities and the
State Department of Education, to promote elementary education
(or common schools) by increasing the productive efficiency of
rural life, and to aid in developing schools for the training
of leaders among the colored people."
But Mr. Rockefeller was not yet at the end of his gifts to
this great Foundation. On the 9th of July, 1909, the following
announcement was published:
"John D. Rockefeller has raised the total of his
contributions to the Rockefeller foundation of the general
education board to $53,000,000 by a gift of $10,000,000 which
will be passed to the credit of the board between now and
August 1. He has gone farther than that and has intrusted to
the membership of the board—as it may be constituted at some
future day—the responsibility of distributing the principal
of the fund among the educational institutions of the land if
it shall be deemed advisable.
"Under the regulations at present obtaining, this power of
final disposition would extend only to $33,000,000, inasmuch
as the board holds the other $20,000,000 in trust with the
power to dispose of the income, while Mr. Rockefeller and his
son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., retain the right to dispose of
the principal during their lives. It was said to-day that it
always has been Mr. Rockefeller’s intention to make such a
provision for the final disposition.
"In making the announcement to-day, Chairman Gates said that
this large addition to the permanent funds of the board was
contributed because the income of the present funds
immediately available for appropriation had been exhausted and
it was found necessary to have an additional income in order
to meet the needs of ‘present great importance.’
"He said the board made it a rule never to exceed the
immediately available income—which might amount to $80,000 or
$90,000 a month—in its awards to the colleges and
universities, that something like 300 applications had been
received by the board beyond the number which it already had
acted upon, which was large.
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"Mr. Gates said that at the same meeting last Wednesday
another communication had been received from Mr. Rockefeller,
authorizing and empowering the board and its successors
‘whenever, in their discretion, it should seem wise to
distribute the principal of funds contributed by him to the
board upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all those who
shall at the time be members of the board.’"
EDUCATION: A. D. 1905-1908.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
After the founding of the Carnegie Institution, of Washington,
Mr. Carnegie’s next great gift to Education, made in 1905, was
in the sum of $10,000, 000, placed in the hands of trustees as
a fund the income of which may be applied "to provide retiring
pensions, without respect to race, sex, creed, or color, for
the teachers of universities, colleges, and technical schools
in the United States, the Dominion of Canada, and
Newfoundland," and "to provide for the care and maintenance of
the widows and families of the said teachers." The board of
trustees chosen by Mr. Carnegie for the administration of the
fund is made up of eminent educators from different parts of
America, with Dr. Henry S. Pritchett called from the
Presidency of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to
become its executive head. The board was organized in
November, 1905, and in the following April it adopted a plan
of administration which had been formulated meantime by a
committee from its membership. It had then, by an Act of
Congress, approved by the President, March 10, 1906, been
incorporated under the title of "The Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching." Besides using the words quoted
above, in description of the authorized purpose of the
Foundation, the Act of Incorporation adds furthermore that it
is "in general, to do and perform all things necessary to
encourage, uphold, and dignify the profession of the teacher
and the cause of higher education." It is a further provision
of the Act that "retiring pensions shall be paid to such
teachers only as are or have been connected with institutions
not under control of a sect, or which do not require their
trustees, their officers, faculties, or students (or a
majority thereof), to belong to any specified sect, and which
do not impose any theological test as a condition of entrance
therein or of connection therewith."
As explained by President Pritchett in an article published
soon after the organization of their board, the Trustees had
three fundamental questions to determine: "First, What is a
college? second, What constitutes denominational control? and,
third, Should a private agency step in between the State and
one of its institutions and establish a system of retiring
allowances for university professors who are officers of the
State?" "The term college is used to designate, in the United
States, Canada, and Newfoundland, institutions varying so
widely in entrance requirements, standards of instruction, and
facilities for work that the term is no description of the
character of the institution. Of the seven hundred and more
institutions calling themselves colleges or universities, many
are such in name only." To rule their present action the
Trustees adopted the definition that is "now in use under the
revised ordinances of the State of New York, and which reads
as follows: ‘An institution to be ranked as a college must
have at least six professors giving their entire time to
college and university work, a course of four full years in
liberal arts and sciences, and should require for admission
not less than the usual four years of academic or high school
preparation, or its equivalent, in addition to the
pre-academic or grammar school studies.’ The trustees will
also require that an institution, to be ranked as a college
and to be dealt with as a college officially, must have a
productive endowment of not less than $200,000."
As for the institutions to be excluded from the benefits of
the retiring pension fund because of a sectarian connection
the Trustees were confronted with a still more difficult
question, since "a large majority of all the colleges of the
country have a connection more or less strong with
denominations." In the circumstances, no hard and fast rule of
exclusion could be formulated; but, said President Pritchett,
"it is evident that in many cases colleges must choose between
the advantages of this gift and the benefits of a
denominational connection."
So far as concerned State institutions, it was the original
conclusion of the Board that "the States may fairly be
expected to provide a retiring pension system for their own
professors, and it is certainly questionable whether such
wholesale action on the part of a private agency in the
endowment of State institutions might not do them an injury
rather than a kindness." Trustees and officers of the State
Universities appealed from this view, and submitted to the
Trustees cogent reasons why these institutions should
participate in the distribution of the Fund. The Trustees
replied that the Fund was not large enough for such an
extension of its use. That objection, however, was soon
removed by Mr. Carnegie, who made it known, in April, 1908,
that he would have pleasure in adding $5,000,000 to his
original gift in order to furnish retiring allowances for all
State Universities that may apply for them. The Carnegie
Foundation is now being administered accordingly.
Retiring allowances are determined by the following rules of
the Board:
"I. In reckoning the amount of the retiring allowance, the
average salary for the last five years of active service shall
be considered the active pay.
" II. Any person sixty-five years of age, and who has had not
less than fifteen years of service as a professor, and who is
at the same time a professor in an accepted institution, shall
be entitled to an annual retiring allowance computed as
follows:
(a) For an active pay of sixteen hundred dollars or
less, an allowance of one thousand dollars, provided no
retiring allowance shall exceed ninety per cent. of the
active pay.
(b) For an active pay greater than sixteen hundred
dollars the retiring allowance shall equal one thousand
dollars, increased by fifty dollars for each one hundred
dollars of active pay in excess of sixteen hundred dollars,
(c) No retiring allowance shall exceed three
thousand dollars.
"III. Any person who has had a service of twenty-five years as
a professor, and who is at the time a professor in an accepted
institution, shall be entitled to a retiring allowance,
computed as follows:
(a) For an active pay of sixteen hundred dollars or
less, a retiring allowance of eight hundred dollars,
provided that no retiring allowance shall exceed eighty per
cent. of the active pay.

{216}
(b) For an active pay greater than sixteen hundred
dollars the retiring allowance shall equal eight hundred
dollars, increased by forty dollars for each one hundred
dollars of active pay in excess of sixteen hundred dollars,
(c) For each additional year of service above
twenty-five, the retiring allowance shall be increased by
one per cent. of the active pay.
(d) No retiring allowance shall exceed three
thousand dollars.
"IV. Any person who has been for ten years the wife of a
professor in actual service may receive during her widowhood
one-half of the allowance to which her husband would have been
entitled."
EDUCATION: A. D. 1906.
Change in the Headship of the Bureau of Education.
Dr. William Torrey Harris, after seventeen years of
distinguished service as United States Commissioner of
Education, accepted the first designation of a retirement
pension that was made by the trustees of the Carnegie
Foundation. Professor Elmer Ellsworth Brown, professor of the
Theory and Practice of Teaching in the University of
California, was appointed by the President to succeed him.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1906.
Celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding
of Tuskegee Institute.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Tuskegee
Normal and Industrial Institute, at Tuskegee, Alabama, by
Booker T. Washington, was celebrated in April, 1906, and made
the occasion of a notable gathering at Tuskegee of strong
friends of the institution and its founder from all parts of
the country. In The North American Review of that month
Mr. Washington gave an interesting account of the rise of the
Institute from insignificant beginnings, of the aims pursued
in it and of the extent of their realization. It had sought to
promote among the negroes of the South an education which, as
he expressed it, "not only did not educate them out of
sympathy with the masses of their people, but made them
actively and practically interested in constructive methods
and work among their people." Its students "are expected to be
able to show the farmers how to buy land, to assist them by
advice in getting out of debt, and to encourage them to cease
mortgaging their crops and to take active interest in the
economic development of their community."
This wise leader and true statesman of his race has devoted
his life to the solving of the race-problem in the South on
the principle stated by him in these words: "There is nothing
for the negro to do but to remain where he is and struggle on
and up. The whole philosophy of the negro question can be
written in three words,—patience, persistence, virtue. The
really helpful thing about the situation is that on the whole
the negro has done, under the circumstances, the best he
could."
Of the planting and growth of Tuskegee Institute he wrote:
‘Starting in a shanty and a hen-house, with almost no property
beyond a hoe and a blind mule, the school has grown up
gradually, much as a town grows. We needed food for our
tables; farming, therefore, was our first industry, started to
meet this need. With the need for shelter for our students,
courses in house-building and carpentry were added. Out of
these, brick-making and brick masonry naturally grew. The
increasing demand for buildings made further specialization in
the industries necessary. Soon we found ourselves teaching
tinsmithing, plastering, and painting. Classes in cooking were
added, because we needed competent persons to prepare the
food. Courses in laundering, sewing, dining-room work, and
nurse-training have been added to meet the actual needs of the
school community. This process of specialization has continued
as the school increased in numbers, and as the more varied
wants of a larger community created a demand, and instruction
is now given in thirty-seven industries."
At the end of its first twenty-five years of existence, the
Institute has 1500 students; 156 officers, teachers, and
employees; 86 buildings; and various ramifications for
extensive work.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1906.
Segregation of Oriental children in the San Francisco schools.
See (in this Volume)
RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904-1909.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1907.
Large gift for Rudimentary Schools for Southern Negroes.
A fund of $1,000,000 was created in the spring of 1907, by
gift from Miss Anna T. Jeanes, to be devoted to rudimentary
schools for Southern negroes. The fund is to be administered
by Principals Frissell, of Hampton, and Booker T. Washington,
of Tuskegee.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1907.
Re-dedication of the enlarged Carnegie Institute, at Pittsburg.
An account of the founding of the richly housed and equipped
Carnegie Library at Pittsburg, opened in 1895, is given in
Volume VI. of this work (see Libraries). To that fundamental
institution Mr. Carnegie began soon to add auxiliaries, in
technical schools, lecture hall, music hall, art galleries,
and museum of science, until a great Institute, on which no
less than $18,000,000 had been expended and bestowed by the
founder was complete. A rededication of this splendid Carnegie
Institute, in 1907, was made an impressive event by the
presence of a remarkable number of distinguished guests,
invited from Great Britain, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium,
and the United States. The interesting exercises of the
occasion were opened on the 10th of April and continued
through three days.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1909.
Wanted, in Massachusetts:
The right leader for an Educational Revolution.
The State Board of Education in Massachusetts is said to have
arrived, as a body, at the conviction, which has been taking
possession of many minds in late years, that in the whole
educational work of the present day, from primary school to
university, "there is much time wasted in learning things of
little help in after life, and failure to get the essential
character-building"; that conditions are changed so greatly
from what they were when the last great educational revolution
was led in Massachusetts by Horace Mann, and others, that a
new revolution is the imperative need of the day. Hence the
State Board of Education is reported to be searching anxiously
for a man to fill the lately created office of State
Commissioner of Education, who is equal to a revolutionary
undertaking. "He must be," says a recent Boston letter, "a
broad man, of the right sort to realize the unusual
opportunity open to-day." "There is no limit to the salary
which the board may offer." "There has been no politics in the
board, and there shall be none.
{217}
All that the Commissioner wants in the way of coöperation to
carry out his views he will have." "The board feels that this
is a crisis. If the right man can be found, the State’s system
will take a step forward toward a better practice, which shall
remove the present dissatisfaction and the feeling that the
public schools are not fitting children to be good producers
or citizens." This opening seems a great one for the right
man, if he can be found.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1909.
Election of a woman to the Superintendency of
the Chicago schools.
Mrs. Ella Flagg Young, elected Superintendent of the public
schools of Chicago by the City’s Board of Education, in July,
1909, is the first of her sex to occupy so important an
administrative position. Her election is said to have been due
entirely to her manifest superiority in qualification over
other suggested candidates. The school system she will
administer is second only in magnitude to that of the City of
New York.
EDUCATION: A. D. 1910.
Gift to Yale University by Mrs. Sage.
The following is announced from New Haven on the 10th of
January, 1910:
"The recent gift of $650,000 by Mrs. Russell Sage of New York
city for the purchase of the Hillhouse property and its
transfer free of encumbrance to Yale University releases a
corresponding amount without restriction for the use of the
university corporation. Important meetings will be held this
week, one by the board of Sheffield Scientific School trustees
and the other a special meeting of the Yale Corporation to act
upon the disposition of the funds released by the Sage gift.
It is generally understood that the plan proposed is the
erection upon the Hillhouse property of a large biological
laboratory, and perhaps the appointment in connection with it
of a university professor in biology upon a new foundation."
----------EDUCATION: End--------
EDWARD VII., King of Great Britain, &c.:
Proclamation of additional titles.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901 (NOVEMBER).
EDWARD VII., King of Great Britain, &c.:
His illness and deferred Coronation.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (JUNE-AUGUST).
EDWARD VII., King of Great Britain, &c.:
His agency in bringing about the Entente Cordiale between
Great Britain and France.
See (in this Volume)
EUROPE: A. D. 1904 (APRIL).
EDWARD VII., King of Great Britain, &c.:
His influence as a diplomatist.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1908.
EDWARD VII., King of Great Britain, &c.:
His Death after a brief illness.
Succession of his son, George V.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1910 (MAY).
EGYPT: A. D. 1901-1905.
The founding of schools for girls.
Training of native teachers.
See (in this Volume )
EDUCATION: EGYPT.
EGYPT: A. D. 1902 (DECEMBER).
Completion of the Assuan Dam.
The great Assuan Dam, to control the waters of the Nile, was
opened with formal ceremony on the 10th of December, 1902, in
the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, the
Khedive, Lord and Lady Cromer, and other distinguished
personages. Earlier in the year the value of this important
work of engineering had been enhanced by a treaty with the
Emperor of Abyssinia or Ethiopia, which forbids constructions
on the upper waters of the Nile, within the Abyssinian
territory, which would arrest the flow of their waters.
See (in this Volume)
ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1902.
EGYPT: A. D. 1904.
Declarations of England and France concerning Egypt
in the Agreements of the Entente of 1904.
Explanatory despatch.
See (in this Volume)
EUROPE: A. D. 1904 (APRIL).
EGYPT: A. D. 1905-1906.
Pan-Islamic preaching.
Pro-Turkish movement.
Turkish encroachments on the Sinai frontier.
The Tabah incident.
British fleet at Phalerum.
British garrisons reinforced.
"Whether ordered by the Sultan or the result of an instinctive
religious wave, anew and definite crusade began to affect
Egypt in the summer of 1905. Preachers appeared mysteriously
in Cairo and spread rapidly through the country, giving a new
and stricter interpretation to texts from the Koran, and
preaching in strong terms the wickedness of obeying the
infidel. These preachers mixed with the people in their houses
and cafes, and in the infinite leisure of a prosperous
Oriental country doubtless found no lack of occasion for
instilling their new doctrines. Then the Arabic native Press
began to preach the same lesson, applying it specially to the
Macedonian crisis and the piteous plight of the harassed
Sultan. A new spirit came suddenly into political controversy.
Any native defender of British rule was marked as a ‘bad
Moslem,’ or ‘a traitor to Egypt.’ Argument was impossible; for
any doubt of the Sultan was simply impiety. So the work went
on bravely through the summer and autumn of 1905, while the
British authorities looked on in surprise and perplexity.
Lonely residents up country began to notice a change in the
tone of the people. They felt the under-swell of a new and
mysterious movement of religious feeling. Europeans who
understood Arabic heard insolent remarks in the cafes as they
passed by, and doctors in charge of invalids in lonely hotels
noticed with alarm the sullen looks of their Arab servants,
and their keen excitement over the Sultan’s struggle. A spirit
of nervous apprehension began to spread abroad among
Europeans.
"Then in January, 1906, the Sultan suddenly showed his hand;
and the smouldering fire burst out into the flame of the
famous Tabah incident. The events that followed became
conspicuous to the whole world—the seizure by Turkish troops
of villages on the Egyptian side of the Sinai frontier, the
threat to fire on an Egyptian cruiser, the defiant resistance
to the English successor, the peremptory order to Egypt to
evacuate Faroun Island, and, finally, the claim of Mouktar
Pasha to a frontier-line west of Suez. The behaviour of Turkey
seemed to bear out Rudyard Kipling's description of the
ethical atmosphere that lies east of that port. Even where
‘there ain’t no ten commandments,’ indeed, the little villages
that sparkle like a grain of salt in the empty desert of the
wanderings of Israel might be thought tempting to no man. But
the line of the frontier had been drawn east of Tabah by the
treaty which established Mehemet Ali in the Khedivate in 1840
[see in Volume I. of this work, Egypt: A. D. 1840-1869], and
the claim to this limit had been prudently re-asserted by Lord
Cromer in 1892, when the present Khedive ascended the throne.
Any tampering with these written arrangements, even to the
extent of a single village, would have been the end of our
authority in Egypt. There was, therefore, no room for
compromise. If Sir Edward Grey had hesitated to force a
surrender from Turkey in May by the only possible method of
moving the fleet to Phalerum [and demanding the immediate
evacuation of Tabah], we might just as well have left the
Nile.
{218}
"For the real significance of these events lay in what was
going on in the mosques and newspapers of Egypt itself. As the
crisis grew, these voices grew more and more daring. The
preachers were as tempestuous as those who fulminated at St.
Paul’s Cross in our own Reformation times. Every move of the
Sultan in those tortuous negotiations was accompanied by an
obligato of sympathy from the Pan-Islamic Press. The native
journals in Egypt are small sheets, cheaply produced. During
the last eighteen months they multiplied exceedingly, fed by
mysterious channels. The new journals preached the new
doctrine—the doctrine of Pan-Islamism. …
"A Turkish raid on the Suez Canal or Nekl might have caused an
outburst of fanaticism in Egypt and seriously divided and
embarrassed the Army of Occupation. It was impossible to be
sure that the Egyptian army of 16,000 men, though officered by
Englishmen, could be trusted to fight against the Turks. Hence
the reinforcement of the British garrison, reduced to some
2000 men, by an addition of some 3000. These began to arrive
in May, and the agitation calmed quickly after their arrival.
They are now to stay on at the expense of Egypt. Thus the
first effect of the Sultan’s interference has been a
deplorable setback from Lord Cromer’s ideal of governing Egypt
by means of British-officered native policemen."
Harold Spender,
England, Egypt and Turkey
(Contemporary Review, October, 1906).
EGYPT: A. D. 1907 (January).
State of the country.
General satisfaction of the people.
The disaffected a minority.
Transformation effected by English rule.
Testimony of a French writer.
Those who know the real situation in Egypt can easily
understand how almost the whole population, with the exception
of an insignificant minority, are satisfied and desire no
change. It is enough to compare the present state of the
country—even rapidly and superficially—with that existing in
1882, to perceive the perfect satisfaction of all classes and
the greatness of the work achieved by England; and the more
profoundly this question is studied, the greater the
admiration that must be accorded to Lord Cromer and to all
those who during the past twenty-five years have worked under
his orders at the regeneration of Egypt. The situation of that
country in 1882 may be briefly summed up in the following
manner:
"The Government was then in the hands of a band of rebels at
the head of whom was the cowardly and worthless colonel,
Arabi. The exchequer was empty; Egypt owed (almost entirely to
Europe) nearly five millions sterling. The revenue was
insufficient to pay the interest on her debts, or even to meet
the expenses of government. The public works were all in such
a state of neglect and disuse as to be no longer of any
service. Commerce was paralysed and industry at the last gasp.
The fellaheen, to whose labour Egypt owes her agricultural
wealth, had stopped working, for, left at the mercy of the
Pashas, who extorted from them everything possible down to the
last farthing, they died of hunger, whether they worked or
not. If we add that their leaders told the unfortunate people
that their suffering all these privations was solely the fault
of the Christian devils who were exacting mountains of gold
from Egypt, it is easy to see that fanaticism and poverty
combined were helping to make the situation a critical one for
Europeans. It was into this fiery furnace that England entered
and France refused to follow her. …
"This is now a tale of the past, and on the curtain being
raised we behold a transformation so marvellous, so grand,
that it is almost incredible. We find Egypt rich and
prosperous; a great portion of her debt paid, an admirably
adjusted budget; her revenues increasing enormously, regularly
every year—and that in the face of large and important public
works, works which daily augment the wealth of the country.
Agriculture is advancing by leaps and bounds, while commerce
and industry develop and increase with a rapidity unparalleled
in the history of the world. A well-organised network of
railroads, steam navigation, telegraphs, telephones, and
excellently maintained canals, spreads over the country.
Schools of every kind have been opened—primary, secondary, and
higher schools, technical, commercial, and medical schools.
The fellah works quietly and happily on his land, and the
townsman is growing rich, while business prospers increasingly
from one end of the country to the other. From the mouths of
the Nile, from Alexandria to the great lakes of Central
Africa, all across Egypt, Nubia, and the Soudan, peace and
quiet reign everywhere. And—strange as it may seem—all these
results have been obtained, not by increasing the taxes, but,
on the contrary, by reducing and even in some cases abolishing
them altogether.
"In less than twenty-five years England has accomplished all
this and much more still. She has effected the marvellous
achievement of remaining in Egypt with the unanimous consent
of the Powers of Europe, to the great satisfaction of the
Egyptians themselves and the foreigners dwelling in Egypt, and
finally of living there as a friend, almost as an ally of
France! …
"The honesty of the Government in all its branches, the
impartiality with which all abuses have been punished, and
finally the honourable example which during five-and-twenty
years the English have set before the Egyptians, have
certainly borne good fruit. To be ‘honest’ is no longer an
empty expression on the banks of the Nile, and the entire
population understands to-day what that word signifies. I
think of how absolutely unknown it was in 1882! To sum up,
Egypt and the Egyptians have now become clean, both
physically and morally. We may say that England has cleansed
and disinfected them, externally and internally."
A. B. de Guerville,
The Situation in Egypt
(Fortnightly Review, February, 1907).
In his work on "Modern Egypt," published since his retirement
from the British administration in Egypt, Lord Cromer speaks
as follows of the change which has come over Egypt since the
British occupation took place. Though an interested witness,
Lord Cromer is one well trusted by the general opinion of the
world: "A new spirit," he wrote, "has been instilled into the
population of Egypt. Even the peasant has learnt to scan his
rights. Even the Pasha has learnt that others besides himself
have rights which must be respected. The courbash may hang on
the walls of the Moudirieh, but the Moudir no longer dares to
employ it on the backs of the fellaheen.
{219}
For all practical purposes, it may be said that the hateful
corvee system has disappeared. Slavery has virtually ceased to
exist. The halcyon days of the adventurer and the usurer are
past. Fiscal burthens have been greatly relieved. Everywhere
law reigns supreme. Justice is no longer bought and sold.
Nature, instead of being spurned and neglected, has been wooed
to bestow her gifts on mankind. She has responded to the
appeal. The waters of the Nile are now utilized in an
intelligent manner. Means of locomotion have been improved and
extended. The soldier has acquired some pride in the uniform
which he wears. He has fought as he never fought before. The
sick man can be nursed in a well-managed hospital. The lunatic
is no longer treated like a wild beast. The punishment awarded
to the worst criminal is no longer barbarous. Lastly, the
schoolmaster is abroad, with results which are as yet
uncertain, but which cannot fail to be important."
EGYPT: A. D. 1908.
Gordon Memorial College at Khartoum.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: EGYPT.
EGYPT: A. D. 1909.
Completion of the Esneh Barrage.
See (in this Volume)
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: EGYPT.
EGYPT: A. D. 1909 (May).
The Nationalist agitation, excited by the Turkish Revolution.
A correspondent of the New York Evening Post, writing
from London of the agitation for national independence in
Egypt, under date of May 8, 1909, remarks that it has been
affected in two ways by the recent revolutionary movements in
the East. They have "weakened as well as strengthened the
cause. For a number of half-educated native thinkers to see
Turkey with a Parliament is to make them feel they should have
one, too. The British agent points out that the youth of
Egypt, upon whom must rest all hopes of eventual autonomy, are
becoming demoralized by such propaganda. They have been
clamoring on every occasion for a Constitution." They have
been incited by a virulent press. "When, a few months ago, Mr.
Haldane announced that the British army of occupation was to
be increased to the same strength as the force in South
Africa, disgusting diatribes were indulged in against the
British army. Officers were described as monsters of low
breeding, ill manners, cowardice, and multifarious vice. As a
result of this kind of thing, and also through the pressure of
the moderate native press, the old Press law of 1881 was
revived—a law providing that after three warnings a paper may
be suspended by the Council of Ministers by an administrative
order, and not through the courts of law.
"Since then the Nationalists have arranged frequent
demonstrations, some of them resulting in encounters with the
police, which have been magnified by part of the English press
into serious riots. Serious riots are not got up by
schoolboys, who, according to the best information, seem to
have been entirely responsible for the physical part of these
demonstrations in Cairo and elsewhere. They have now been
strictly forbidden to take part in any public political
discussion."
EGYPT: A. D. 1909 (September).
Young Egypt Congress.
The party of Young Egyptians, so called, held a Congress at
Geneva in September—the second of such assemblies—which was
attended by several sympathetic members of the British
Parliament, Mr. Keir Hardie and others, representing the Labor
and Irish parties. A telegram was sent from the Congress to
the House of Commons in England, stating that the
representatives of the intellectual elements of organized
Egyptian political parties gathered in congress at Geneva on
the occasion of the anniversary of the entry of the English
troops into Cairo saluted very respectfully the
representatives of Great Britain, recalled the reiterated
promise of the British Government to evacuate Egyptian
territory, and inasmuch as the reasons given by Mr. Gladstone
for the occupation no longer existed, asked the House for the
honour of the English nation to secure the withdrawal of the
troops from Egyptian territory. A similar telegram was
despatched to the Grand Vizier, Hilmi Pasha, asking him to use
his influence with England to secure the withdrawal of the
troops.
This was sent on the 14th of September, the 27th anniversary
of the British occupation of Egypt, and on the same day the
Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr. Asquith, received the
following telegram from Cairo:
"A meeting of 6,000 Egyptians assembled here to-day desires to
convey to your high personage the unanimous and energetic
protest of the Egyptian people against the occupation, and
from to-day demands the evacuation, relying upon the
engagements and solemn oaths of the Queen’s Governments.
Moreover, to gain our friendship is more preferable for
English honour than to lose our hearts and support."
The protest was also sent to the Grand Vizier in
Constantinople and to the Young Egypt Congress in Geneva.
EHRLICH, Paul.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES.
EHR-LUNG-SHAN FORT, Capture of.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY).
EIGHT HOUR LABOR DAY.
See(in this Volume)
LABOR PROTECTION: HOURS OF LABOR.
ELECTIONS, Political:
Contributions from Corporations prohibited.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907 (JANUARY).
----------ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Start--------
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1906.
Universal Suffrage adopted in Austria.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905-1906, and 1907.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Belgium: A. D. 1902.
Opposition to the Plural Suffrage defeated.
See (in this Volume)
BELGIUM: A. D. 1902, and 1904.
See in Volume I. of this work,
CONSTITUTION OF BELGIUM.
See in Volume VI. of this work,
BELGIUM: A. D. 1894-1895.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: China: A. D. 1908.
The Constitutional Promise.
See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1905-1908.
{220}
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: England: A. D. 1909.
Second reading of the Representation of the People Bill,
extending the Suffrage to Women and others.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1909 (MARCH).
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Germany: A. D. 1906.
Extensions of popular rights in some parts of the Empire.
A comedy of election reform in Prussia.
"The agitation for the extension of popular rights is vigorous
in many parts of the Empire. The Kingdom of Würtemberg has
just reformed its antique constitution by eliminating from the
Lower House the privileged members, ‘knights’ and clergymen,
and substituting members elected by popular vote. Baden has
introduced universal suffrage, and Bavaria has changed from
indirect to direct voting. In the Kingdom of Saxony, which a
decade ago remodeled its election law in a plutocratic
direction, the government is now trying to retrace its steps.
The Oldenburg government has committed itself to universal
suffrage; and in Saxe-Weimar the Liberal parties and the
Socialists have formed a compact to establish it. In the midst
of this democratic movement Prussia has just carried through a
slight revision of its election laws. …
"The government [Prussian] came forward last spring with a
scheme of election reform which is nothing short of comical in
its bureaucratic narrowness. Several huge city districts were
divided, and ten new seats in the Chamber created,—not,
however as a recognition of the rights of the urban
population, but in order to facilitate the mere formalities of
balloting. The number of electors in such districts had
outgrown the capacity of any hall to hold them."
W. C. Dreher,
The Year in Germany
(Atlantic Monthly, November, 1906).
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: India:
Slight exercise of local self-government.
See (in this Volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1907-1909.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: India:
Introduction of popular representation in
the Legislative Councils.
See INDIA: A. D. 1908-1909.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Persia:
Under the recent Constitution.
See (in this Volume)
CONSTITUTION OF PERSIA.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Philippine Islands.
Provisions of election law.
See (in this Volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1907.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Porto Rico:
Change of qualifications for the suffrage.
See (in this Volume)
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1901-1905.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Proportional Representation: England:
The subject under discussion.
The practicability and desirability of proportional
representation has been under investigation in the United
Kingdom, during 1909, by a Royal Commission, which has had
frequent sessions for hearings at Whitehall. At a hearing in
October Lord Hugh Cecil, who represents Oxford in the House of
Commons, argued with great force in favor of proportional
representation, as a means of moderating the constraint
exercised over independent opinion by party ties. He said that
the present system was not satisfactory. It greatly hindered
free discussion in the House of Commons, and tended to
exaggerate there the intensity of feeling and the rigidity of
the party system. Majorities were generally large, and often
it was merely a trial of endurance. The empty condition of the
House on many occasions proved that discussion never
influenced divisions, and there was an elimination of
independent opinion. Decisions were on party issues, except
when new subjects such as the fiscal question, were brought
forward. With smaller majorities independent opinion—specific
rather than general—would have more opportunity, and that
would be a gain. There was a growing tendency to lift foreign
politics and, to a lesser degree, Colonial politics beyond
party, and to a large extent the Government could count on the
support of moderate opponents when foreign and Colonial
matters were considered. He did not think the effect of
proportional representation would be to form any more groups
than they had at present, but his desire was that there should
be members who were not absolute party men, and independent
members would have more chance of getting returned. He
considered that desirable, and did not apprehend the return of
faddists. Even now faddists were easily elected to Parliament,
where for the most part they were disregarded. He did not
agree that practically all sections of the community were
represented under the existing system. A very large and
important section between the two parties was never
represented, having always to choose between one or the other
extreme.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: South Africa:
The Principle in Practice.
The principle of proportional representation was brought into
practice in the municipal elections of the Transvaal in
October, 1909. The Constitution of the South Africa Union,
which goes into effect in the spring of 1910, applies it,
also, to the election of senators in the Union Parliament.
"The proportional method chosen is, in each case, that of the
single transferable vote, and the Johannesburg elections will
furnish an example of the use of this system on a larger scale
than any hitherto attempted, whilst the senatorial elections
will furnish examples of its application to very small
electorates. The duty of the voter, both in the senatorial and
in the municipal elections, will be the same. He must place
the figure 1 against the candidate for whom he desires to
vote, and, in addition, he may and should place the figures 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and so on against the names of the other
candidates in the order of his preference. The numbering of
additional preferences, if not so vital as that of marking the
first choice, is of extreme importance, and the elector should
continue to indicate preferences until he has exhausted his
powers of choice. The object, in marking preferences, is to
prevent the waste of voting power. For, if the elector’s first
choice has obtained more votes than are necessary to secure
his election, or if his first choice has obtained so few votes
as to be hopelessly out of the running, the returning officer
will carry forward these votes in accordance with the wishes
expressed by the electors, as indicated by the preferences
marked. … The vote is always credited to the first choice and
is not transferred save in the contingencies named. If,
however, no effective use can be made of the vote in the
return of the elector’s first choice the returning officer, in
the absence of any instructions from the voter, will be unable
to carry the vote forward, and the vote will therefore have no
influence in determining the result of the election. Electors
should therefore exercise to the full their privilege of
marking preferences."
The State
(South African National Magazine),
October, 1909.
{221}
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Prussia: A. D. 1909.
Rejection of proposed Reforms.
The result of new proposals for reforming the intolerable
class-system of voting in Prussia (see CONSTITUTION OF PRUSSIA
in Volume VI. of this work), proposals of more sincerity than
those of 1906, described above,—was thus reported in a Press
despatch from Berlin, January 26, 1909:
"The debate upon the motions regarding reform of the Prussian
franchise was concluded in the Lower House of the Diet to-day.
After two more speeches had been delivered the Conservatives
moved and carried the closure, and the various reform
proposals were put to the vote. All the motions were rejected.
Against most of the proposals so large a hostile majority was
shown when the Deputies were invited to rise from their seats
that no counting of votes was necessary. A motion in favour of
the substitution of direct for indirect election was rejected,
upon a division, by 168 votes against 165—a majority of three.
Upon this question, and also upon the main question—the
introduction of a universal and equal franchise with secrecy
of the ballot—most of the Centre Party Deputies voted with the
Left, and the majority consisted almost entirely of
Conservatives and Free Conservatives, who under the existing
system, possess an absolute majority in the Diet."
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Prussia: A. D. 1910.
A bill brought forward by the Government in February, 1910,
professing to reform the elective franchise, gave less than no
satisfaction to the mass of the people, who resented it as an
insult to their rights. The measure was reported to make no
change in the three-class system of voting, which ensures to
wealth its political domination, and it refused the secret
ballot. It conceded nothing of reform except a direct instead
of an indirect election of representatives, and provoked
formidable demonstrations of popular indignation in Berlin and
other cities.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Russia: A. D. 1906.
The Franchise as exercised in the election of the Dumas.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1906 and 1907.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Sweden: A. D. 1909.
Franchise Reform Law.
See (in this Volume)
SWEDEN: A. D. 1909.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Turkey: A. D. 1908.
Under the Constitution regained by Revolution.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER).
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: United States:
Direct primary nomination of candidates.
After a long and unsatisfactory experience in the United
States of the nomination of candidates for public office by
conventions of delegates, the people have been rapidly
discarding that system within the last few years, replacing it
by the institution of primary elections, at which candidates
for the subsequent election are selected by
direct vote. The old delegate system tended irresistibly to
give the picking of candidates (between whom the people had
finally a narrow choice) to little handfuls of men who make
manipulative party management their main business in life,
with objects of self profit, either in money or political
power. Effective revolt against this evil-working system began
in the Western States and is now strong in the East. The
following summary statement of what it had accomplished, up to
the spring of 1909, is from a pamphlet then published by the
Citizens Union of New York City, in support of a "Direct
Primary Bill" which was pending at the time in the Legislature
of the State of New York:
"The direct primary is now the most usual system of making
nominations in the United States, and in no case has a state,
a county, or a town turned back from direct nominations to the
convention system. It is no longer an experiment, having been
tried out under varying conditions in so many states that it
is possible to be guided by experience in avoiding the dangers
of an imperfect direct primary law.
"Fourteen states [Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin], with
a total population of 25,323,039, have mandatory laws
requiring the use of this plan in selecting candidates
of the principal parties for practically all offices. Three
other states [Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania] have mandatory
laws covering practically all except the state offices. Five
other states [Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey,
Tennessee] have mandatory laws covering certain
localities or offices. Five states [Alabama, Florida,
Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee], including two of the above,
have optional laws covering practically all officers, the
provisions of which laws have been largely taken advantage of.
There are direct nominations laws of a weaker sort, some of
them of little or no value, in many other states. Party rules
have established direct nominations for at least the majority
party in nearly all of the Southern states not mentioned
above.
"About one-half of the states, including those in which the
system has been established by party rules, use direct
nominations for practically all elective offices. The states
in which the system is established by mandatory law for
practically all elective offices have about thirty per cent.
of the population of the United States.
"Of the thirty-one United States senators elected last fall,
seventeen were nominated by direct primaries. Fifteen out of
thirty-two governors of states were so nominated. There is a
strong movement for direct primaries in states which do not at
present use this system to any considerable extent, namely:
Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, California,
Colorado, Idaho and Utah. In New Hampshire, both Republican
and Democratic parties declared for it in their party
platforms last fall, and the Republican Governor has
recommended it to the Republican Legislature. In California,
two direct nominations laws have been passed, but declared
unconstitutional. Last fall, an amendment to the constitution
of that state permitting the legislature to enact a direct
nominations law was passed by a vote of the people.
"A brief outline of how direct nominations originated and how
the system has been extended until it has been substituted for
the convention system by a majority of the American people
furnishes a strong argument in its favor. It is an American
system, and a product of the struggle of the American people
for the control of their government.
"Direct primaries originated in Crawford County, Pennsylvania,
where the so-called Crawford County System was established by
action of a Republican County Committee in 1860 and has been
in force ever since. On two occasions, the question of whether
it should be retained was put before the Republican voters and
overwhelmingly decided in the affirmative, the last of these
votes being taken after the system had been in force for
nineteen years. Its popularity led to its adoption throughout
the entire Congressional district for all nominations.
{222}
"The Minnesota direct primary law for the city of Minneapolis,
Hennepin County, was enacted in 1899. After it had been tried
in the city for two years, public sentiment, because of the
excellent results achieved under the new law in Minneapolis,
insisted upon its being extended, and other localities were
brought within its provisions. Minnesota at present has a
mandatory state-wide law applying to practically all except
state offices. The newspapers of Minneapolis all declared for
it, and no man of prominence in the state took a stand against
it after it had been tried in the city.
"Michigan adopted direct primaries in 1903 for use in Grand
Rapids, Kent County. The result was the defeat for
re-nomination of the Mayor under whose administration the
so-called water scandal had developed. Two years later,
candidates in Kent County were requested to go on record as to
whether they favored a general direct primary law for the
state. All who recorded their positions declared for such a
law, and it was commonly reported in the newspapers that
opposition to direct primaries would mean defeat for any
candidate who took so unpopular a stand.
"Thereafter direct nominations spread rapidly through the
middle western states. Mandatory laws were substituted for
optional laws, and state-wide laws for laws applying to
certain localities or offices."
The movement for direct primary voting, to supersede delegated
conventions in the nomination of candidates for office, was
inspired and invigorated powerfully in New York by Governor
Hughes (see, in this Volume, NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1906-1910),
soon after his second term in the executive administration
began. He saw that nothing else could emancipate the political
parties of the State from their "boss"-ridden servitude, and
make them real organs of expression for the mind and will of
the people. The whole force of his great influence then went
to the help of the advocates of this reform, and it produced a
public wakening on the subject which years of ordinary
agitation might have failed to bring about. He brought,
moreover, to the movement an inborn statesmanship of judgment
and an intellectual training which gave it the wisest
direction it had yet received. The Bill which he assisted to
frame, embodying his official recommendations, was designed
more carefully than the legislation in other States had been,
not only to avoid any weakening of the organization of
political parties, but to give them the strength of a
leadership conferred truly and freely by its followers. The
measure was opposed desperately by the existing "organization"
of the party in power, and that combination was represented in
the Legislature so much more effectively than the people were
that it compassed the defeat of the Bill, in the session of
1909.
Four times the people of Illinois have extorted acts from
their Legislature providing for direct nominations, and thrice
the enactments, badly framed, have been pronounced
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the State. The fourth
of these pieces of legislation, produced in February, 1910, is
not yet tested.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE:
Disfranchising Amendment to the Maryland Constitution defeated.
A disfranchising amendment to the Constitution of Maryland,
designed not only to exclude many colored people from the
suffrage, but to give the now dominant political party a
complete mastery of the ballot box, was rejected by the people
when submitted to them at the election of November, 1909.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE:
Short Ballot Reform.
A movement that will gain force if the grave reasons for it
can be duly impressed on the popular mind has been assuming
organized form of late. The prime mover in it is Mr. Richard
S. Childs, of New York, who began missionary work for it in a
convincing magazine article on "The Doctrine of the Short
Ballot," published in 1908. Printed afterwards in a small
pamphlet, this impressive argument has had wide circulation
and has drawn many men of influence into league with the
author for urging the subject on public attention. The aim is
to reduce elective offices in State, county and town to such a
limited number that the average voter can acquaint himself
with the comparative merits of candidates and make a fairly
intelligent choice, which he cannot do when the number is
large. "We must shorten the ballot," wrote Mr. Childs, "to a
point where the average man will vote intelligently without
giving to politics more attention than he does at present."
"Voting a straight ticket is not a matter of party loyalty so
much as of not knowing what else to do, and split tickets will
become common as soon as the list is reduced to a point where
each candidate becomes in the mind of the voter a definite
personality instead of a mere name on a long list. To make
public office conspicuous can only be accomplished by making
it stand out in solitude before the gaze of the voter. Let all
the encumbrances in the shape of minor offices disappear from
the ballot and be made appointive. Or at the very least
prevent the few offices from overshadowing the many. Make all
the candidates conspicuous by letting no one be more
conspicuous than another."
A digest of the "short ballot" doctrine is offered in the
following propositions:
"To the average American voter most of the long ballot is a
mere list of names. He registers a genuine personal opinion
only on certain conspicuous offices—the rest he necessarily
delegates by default to organizations of ‘political
specialists.’
"These political organizations, if victorious, sink into the
control of their worst members, since these members having
most to gain and being least scrupulous can generally win
within the organization. Then these men run public
administrations as badly as they dare.
"But we get good men for any conspicuous office where there is
adequate public scrutiny of the candidate, and even Tammany
offers us satisfactory public servants in such places.
"Therefore, if we make most offices appointive so as to
shorten the ballot, till the voter can master his whole
task, and every elected officer becomes conspicuous before his
constituents, political machines will become impotent and
merit will become the most important asset for a candidate.
"The result will be uniform clean government as in England,
Canada, etc., where they have 'The Short Ballot’ already."
{223}
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE:
Suffrage Amendment to the Georgia Constitution adopted
by popular vote.
A suffrage amendment to the Constitution of the State of
Georgia, adopted by an overwhelming popular vote in October,
1908, provides that, in order to register and vote according
to the provisions of this amendment, a man must, besides
meeting certain requirements as to residence and the payment
of his taxes, have one of the following qualifications: Either
(1) he must have served in the land or naval forces of the
United States or the Confederate States or the State of
Georgia in time of war, or be lawfully descended from one who
has done so; or
(2) he must be a person of good character, satisfying the
registrars of election that he understands the duties and
obligations of citizenship; or
(3) he must correctly read in the English language any
paragraph of the United States Constitution or the State
Constitution, and, unless physically incapacitated from doing
so, correctly write the same when read to him; or
(4) he must be the owner of at least forty acres of land in
the State in which he resides, or the owner of five hundred
dollars’ worth of property in the State assessed for taxation.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Woman Suffrage:
At Large: Present extent of the movement.
"We rejoice in the immense progress made by women in the last
60 years. In 1848 women had votes nowhere in the world except
the school vote in Kentucky by widows with children of school
age, and a very limited franchise in some parts of Europe.
Today women vote for all elected officers in Finland, Norway,
Federated Australia, New Zealand, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and
Idaho: they have municipal suffrage in England, Scotland,
Ireland and Wales, in Canada, Kansas, Sweden, Denmark and
Iceland; tax suffrage in Louisiana, Montana, Iowa and New
York, and school suffrage in one-half the States of the Union.
When that first convention met, only one College in the United
States admitted women; now hundreds of colleges do so. Then
there was not a single woman physician, or ordained minister,
or lawyer; now there are 7000 women physicians and surgeons,
3000 ordained ministers, and one thousand lawyers. Then only a
few poorly paid employments were open to women; now women are
in more than 300 occupations, and comprise 80 per cent. of our
teachers. Then there were scarcely any organizations of women;
now such organizations are numbered by thousands. Then the few
women who dared to speak in public, even on philanthropic
questions, were overwhelmingly condemned by public opinion;
now the women most opposed to equal suffrage travel about the
country making public speeches to prove that a woman’s only
place is at home. Then a married woman in most of our States
could not control her own person, property or earnings; now in
most of the States these laws have been largely amended, and
it is only in regard to the ballot that the fiction of women’s
perpetual minority is still kept up. Most of the demands made
by the convention of 1848, which then seemed so revolutionary,
have been already granted, and are now looked upon as matters
of course. … We rejoice in the increasingly rapid progress of
the woman suffrage cause. Every year shows some gain. Since
our last annual meeting Parliamentary suffrage has been
extended to the women of Norway; municipal suffrage to the
women of Denmark; Sweden has made women eligible to municipal
office; Russia has given women of property a proxy vote for
members of the Douma; and Great Britain, with only 15
dissenting votes, has made women eligible as Mayors, Aldermen
and County and Town Councillors. We congratulate the women of
Great Britain upon their gallant fight for the franchise."
Resolutions of the 40th Annual Convention of the
National American Woman Suffrage Association,
at Buffalo, New York, October, 1908.
In Europe "there is the curious anomaly that in its two
so-called republics the cause of woman suffrage is more
backward than in almost any of the other countries. In
Switzerland every man over twenty may vote. A National Woman
Suffrage Association has lately been organized which is
supported by many public men. …
"In France, all men twenty-one years old have the franchise.
The National Council of Women, composed of 55 associations

with about 70,000 members, has recently joined forces with the
National Suffrage Union, thus assuring strong and systematic
effort for the enfranchisement of women. In 1906, a Committee
for the Defence of the Rights of Women was formed in the
Chamber of Deputies, to secure the social, civil and political
rights of women."
Ida H. Harper
North American Review,
September. 1907.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Australia.
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, in its 41st
clause provides as follows:
See (in Volume VI. of this work)
CONSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA.
"No adult person who has or acquires the right to vote at
elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a
State, shall, while the right continues, be prevented by any
law of the Commonwealth from voting at elections for either
House of the Commonwealth."
Inasmuch as two of the Australian States, South Australia and
Western Australia, had already extended the suffrage to women
when this federal constitution was adopted, they gained at
once, by its terms, the right of voting at federal elections
in those States. An account of their first appearance in
Australian Federal politics was given subsequently by one of
the women who participated,—in part as follows:
"The political incentive is now the possession of the women of
Australia, and its influence was a potent factor in the recent
Federal elections. The women of South Australia and West
Australia have had the suffrage for some years, so that they
are accustomed to voting, but to the women of the other States
the whole business was new; nevertheless, they voted in as
large numbers proportionally as the men in a majority of the
constituencies, while in some they cast a heavier vote than
the men. The total vote was only 52 per cent. of the voting
strength, the low percentage being due to the fact that the
people as a body have not yet grasped the Federal idea.
Federation has not completely scotched provincialism in
politics, though it is fast doing so, if for no other reason
than the enormous cost of government in this country. The
people are beginning to realize that we are paying the
political piper heavily—fourteen Houses of Parliament and
seven viceroyalties for four millions of people! It is too big
an order, and common sense, as well as the state of our
finances, demands that we should simplify our legislative
machinery. It is right here, as the Americans say, that the
women’s influence will tell.
{224}
During the election campaign, it was most evident that a very
large section of the women favoured those candidates who urged
economy in public expenditure. Individual women, with no idea
of the value of money, may be extravagant, but most women are
compelled by circumstances to be economical, and have a horror
of wasteful expenditure. Therefore the growing demand for less
expensive legislative machinery will find devoted adherents
amongst the women voters. …
"The elections had an added interest in the appearance of four
women candidates in the field—Mrs. Martell, Mrs. Moore (New
South Wales), myself (Victoria), standing for the Senate; and
Miss Selina Anderson (New South Wales) for the House of
Representatives. All were defeated, but the defeat was not
unexpected, as we were well aware that it would be altogether
phenomenal if women were to succeed in their first attempt to
enter a National Parliament. …
"There were eighteen candidates in the field, and, while
unsuccessful, my record of 51,497 votes, when 85,387 were
sufficient to secure election, is most gratifying. I polled
more heavily than one candidate who has been Premier of
Victoria, and than another who had been for twenty-six years a
member of the State legislature, defeating the one by 24,327,
the other by 32,436 votes—51,000 odd votes, in spite of the
opposition of the powerful daily papers, and the prejudice
that a pioneer always has to encounter, is nothing less than a
triumph for the cause that I represent, the cause of women and
children."
Vida Goldstein,
The Political Woman in Australia
(Nineteenth Century, July, 1904).
"The argument that women will not vote is completely disproved
by Australian experience. They not only vote, but they vote in
continually increasing numbers as time goes on, and they
become educated up to a sense of their political
responsibilities and all that these imply. Not all the states
discriminate in their returns between men and women voters,
but those that do show something like the following: In South
Australia, at the last general election, 59 per cent. of the
men on the rolls voted, and 42 per cent. of the women; in
Western Australia, 49 per cent. of the men and 47 per cent. of
the women voted; at the last Federal election, 56 per cent. of
the men voted, and 40 per cent. of the women. None of the
Australian states has yet reached the extraordinary record of
New Zealand, where, in 1902, nearly 75 per cent. of the women
electors recorded their votes, as against 76 per cent. of
their brothers.
"It is unnecessary to add that the conservative woman votes.
Her husband or father and their newspaper take good care that
the duty of doing so is well impressed upon her, even though
abstractly they may all three disapprove of woman in politics,
and have striven to avert her appearing in that arena as long
as they possibly could. …
"Among the measures that can be traced to woman suffrage
within the last ten years are prematernity acts, acts raising
the age of consent, family maintenance acts, and many acts
improving children’s conditions by extending juvenile courts,
limiting hours of work, providing better inspection,
forbidding sale to children of drink, drugs and doubtful
literature."
Alice Henry,
The Australian Woman and the Ballot
(North American Review, December 21, 1906).
Writing in the New York Evening Post of February 10,
1909, Mrs. Ida Husted Harper makes the following statements:
"The recent announcement that the upper house of Parliament in
Victoria, Australia, had passed a woman suffrage bill by a
vote of 23 to 5, marked the gaining of complete suffrage for
women in all of Australasia. Since 1902 women have had a vote
in Australia for members of the national Parliament, and for a
number of years the vote for State officials in all the States
except Victoria. There the lower house, or Assembly, has
fifteen times passed a bill giving this vote to women only to
have it rejected by the upper house, or Council. The Assembly
is elected by popular vote; the Council is not. … With their
municipal and national franchise the women were able to make
things decidedly uncomfortable for the opponents, in which
they were encouraged and aided by the labor unions. At last
the council surrendered unconditionally, and the vote of
twenty-three to five showed that most of them tried to get
into the band wagon. The five who voted ‘no’ were probably ‘in
for life,’ and not afraid of the consequences. … Australia has
thoroughly tested woman suffrage, first in municipal affairs,
and then in those of State and nation. There is not one
objection made against it which is not refuted by the actual
experience of that country. All the talk about who will take
care of the baby and what will become of the home, its men
would brush aside as so much chaff."
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Denmark:
Its first exercise in Municipal Elections.
Danish municipal elections in March, 1909, were conducted
under a new law which gives every woman who either pays direct
taxes or whose husband does so the right to vote. The law also
provides for a system of proportional representation. "There
was naturally much discussion beforehand," wrote a newspaper
correspondent from Copenhagen, "as to what would be the result
of this first experiment in woman suffrage in Denmark. The
Conservatives, indeed, protested for a long time before they
yielded to its claims. As far as can now be ascertained the
relative strength of the parties in the councils will be
practically unchanged, that is to say, the Conservatives will
still have a slight majority. This is at all events the case
in and around Copenhagen, where the women took a very active
part in the voting, nearly 75 per cent. of those who were
entitled to vote having done so."
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: England:
Qualification for County and Borough Councils.
The following are the provisions of an Act of Parliament
approved in August, 1907:
"A woman shall not be disqualified by sex or marriage for
being elected or being a councillor or alderman of the council
of any county or borough (including a metropolitan borough):
Provided that a woman if elected as chairman of a county
council or mayor of a borough shall not by virtue of holding
or having held that office be a justice of the peace."
{225}
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE:
The Campaign of the Militant Suffragists or "Suffragettes."
The cause of the women who desire and demand equal political
rights with men seemed to be advancing fast toward complete
victory in Great Britain, in 1906-1907, when the impatient among
them began resorting to militant methods of agitation. It is
probably safe to say that no other movement by any part of any
people in any country, for obtaining an extension of political
rights, had ever been carried by rational discussion and
appeal to a point of more encouragement than the woman
suffrage movement in the United Kingdom had then attained. For
everything elective in local government the vote had been won
for women, and the opening of county and borough offices to
them was on the eve of being written into law. Representation
in Parliament, only, had not been secured, but the disposition
to concede it was growing from day to day. It was at this
stage of promising progress in the movement that an impatient
section of its promoters became persuaded that some
disturbance of the public peace and some troubling of the
Government would hasten the final triumph of their cause. Why
they were led to that conclusion was explained to an American
audience in New York by their leader, Mrs. Pankhurst, in
October, 1909, as follows:
"The Liberals failed to put woman suffrage in their Newcastle
programme. We waited on Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, leader
of that party, and who would be prime minister, but he said he
was too busy seeing voters to attend to women. The other
parties acted in the same way, so we were forced to other
action. A. J. Balfour, the Tory leader, upon whom we called,
declared that he was in favor of equal suffrage, but was
honest enough to add that no statesman would propose a bill to
give it unless it were made a practical question of politics.
"You have heard much of our methods. You have condemned them,
but whether they were right or wrong, objectionable or not,
they have certainly accomplished our object of bringing the
question before the British public as a practical political
question. … My grandmother was a Chartist, and so I determined
to follow in her footsteps.
"It was at Manchester, almost on the site of the Peterloo
franchise riots, when the yeomen, with their bayonets, cut
down the men seeking votes, that our agitation began. Sir
Edward Grey was closing the great Liberal revival in
Lancashire by a great meeting. Women were admitted to meetings
in England in those days; it is not so now. We decided to be
there with a banner on which we would inscribe the motto ‘Will
the Liberal government give working women the vote?’ Annie
Kenny, an officer of the Cotton Workers’ Trade Union, was
chosen to put the question to Sir Edward Grey. She accepted on
condition that my daughter, Christobel Pankhurst, would
accompany her and hold her hand. We tried to get them seats in
the front of the balcony, where they could unfurl the banner.
We failed in this, so we got seats in the area, and had to
change the banner. The new one was made on my dining-room
table with a piece of calico and some black paint and
contained the now world-wide motto: ‘Votes for Women.’
"Sir Edward Grey delivered a great speech, but there was
nothing in it about giving women votes. Several questions were
put to him, and he answered as all public speakers should, and
as they always do in England. When he was done, more questions
were in order. Annie Kenny rose and unfurled her banner,
holding it up in a hand from which she had lost a finger while
at work in the mills at an age when girls should not be
allowed to work—especially when they are intended for
motherhood. Holding her companion’s hand, she put her
question: ‘Will the Liberal government give working women
votes?’ Instantly the stewards pounced upon her; hands were
pressed over her mouth, and she was forced to sit down. She
was told to write her question, and it would be answered. A
vote of thanks was proposed, and Sir Edward Grey answered.
"When he failed to answer her question, Annie Kenny rose and
insisted on an answer. She was pounced upon; six men dragged
her hat off and pulled her to the door, but her last words as
she was thrown out were: ‘Sir Edward Grey, answer my
question.’ My daughter took up the task, and repeated the
question. She, too, was set upon and dragged past the stage,
upon which sat men who had known her from childhood, who had
voted for her father; but so strong is party spirit that they
allowed her to be thrown out without protest.
"They held a meeting outside and were arrested for obstructing
the police. They were fined, and went to jail. But we had
gained what we wanted. The press, which had ignored us,
heralded our cause. We were giving them good copy."
In the early period of the campaign of public disturbance
which the militant suffragists had thus planned, their
operations were directed mainly to the interruption of
speakers at political meetings, not only by questions, but by
bell-ringing and the like, provoking forcible ejection, arrest
and fine, or commitment to jail. Presently some resorted to
the device of chaining themselves to seats, prolonging the
disturbance and heightening its sensational character. The
crowning sensation of this description was achieved on the 8th
of November, 1908, when two daring suffragettes who had gained
admission to the women’s gallery in the House of Commons
chained themselves to the metal lattice work in front of it
and opened a fire of questions and demands on the dismayed law
makers below. In the previous month the House had been
besieged by a great mob of women who attempted to force their
way into its well-guarded chambers, under Mrs. Pankhurst’s
lead. She and others of the leaders, arrested on this
occasion, refused to give bonds to keep the peace, and were
sentenced to imprisonment for three months.
From this time on, the devices of public disturbance and of
annoyance to Parliament and Ministers became more and more
ingeniously sensational. One performance, on the 27th of
April, 1909, was thus described by a London newspaper of the
morning after:
"St. Stephen’s Hall is built upon the site of the old
Parliament, its dimensions in length and width are the same,
its memories embalm the great Parliamentary tradition, it is
the place where the liberties of the people have been won.
This is the place which was chosen yesterday by woman
suffragists for a degrading exhibition of disorder. On either
side of the hall are two rows of wonderful statues, like white
ghosts of the old Parliament. To the legs of four of these
statues as many women yesterday afternoon fastened themselves,
after their practice, with chains, and remained there, a
centre of disturbance, until an end was put to their mimic
slavery by the police. The statues were those of Selden,
Walpole, Somers, and Falkland; and it is matter for great
regret that Falkland’s statue, in its pathetic grace the most
charming of them all, has been wantonly injured by this rough
usage."
{226}
On the 24th of June the lobby of the House of Commons became
the scene of another performance in the same spirit by a
single dauntless actor,—thus related: "Miss Wallace Dunlop,
who was intercepted the other day in an attempt to deface with
indelible ink the walls of the lobby of the House of Commons
with an appeal on behalf of ‘Votes for Women,’ succeeded
yesterday in accomplishing her object. Disguised as an elderly
lady and carrying a brown handbag, she eluded the vigilance of
the police till well within the lobby of the House. Drawing
from her handbag a small wooden stencil, or board, with felt
attached and saturated with indelible purple ink, she
succeeded in placing it against the wall of the lobby at a
conspicuous spot. The ink was at once absorbed into the
surface of the wall. The words written were:--‘Women’s
Deputation, June 29th. Bill of Rights. It is the right of the
subjects to petition the King, and all commitments and
prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.’ Miss Wallace
Dunlop was taken to Cannon-row Police-station, and after being
detained two hours was charged with doing wilful damage. She
will be brought before the magistrates at Bow Street this
morning."
Miss Dunlop received a sentence of imprisonment, and
inaugurated in prison a more heroic protest against and
defiance of the tyranny of which she believed herself to be a
victim. It is described in the following manifesto, published
by the National Women’s Social and Political Union (the
principal organization of the militant suffragists) on the
14th of July:
"The women who have been sent to prison in connexion with
woman suffrage disturbances have, from the beginning, demanded
treatment as political prisoners, and have appealed to the
Home Secretary to accord them the rights and privileges to
which political prisoners are entitled in every part of the
world. As this appeal has been disregarded, women have now
decided to take the law into their own hands, and, by carrying
on a revolt in prison, to force the hands of the authorities
to concede them what they have refused to give as a matter of
justice.
"The first action taken in the matter was that of Miss Wallace
Dunlop, sent to prison on Friday, July 2, for imprinting an
extract from the Bill of Rights upon one of the walls in the
House of Commons. Political treatment being refused to her,
and being ordered to wear prison clothes and eat prison food,
Miss Wallace Dunlop determined to strike a blow for her rights
by refusing absolutely to eat the food offered to her. After
91 hours of starvation—during which time communications were
constantly passing between the Governor of the prison and the
Home Office—the authorities decided to give in, and Miss
Wallace Dunlop was released.
"The 14 members of the Women’s Social and Political Union who
were sent to prison on Monday, July 12, in connexion with the
stone throwing at the Government buildings on June 29, have
determined to carry out a further revolt. Before leaving for
prison they informed the officers of the union that it was
their intention, if denied the rights of political prisoners,
to carry out an effective protest in prison. When ordered to
take off their own clothes and to put on prison clothes they
intended to refuse to do so, and standing all together they
would refuse to be put into cells of the second division. If
put into their cells by force and undressed, they would refuse
in the morning to get up and dress excepting into their own
clothes. They also informed members of the union that they
would refuse to obey the rule of silence, but would talk to
one another whenever they liked and would sing aloud during
retention.
"In making this protest the women claim that they are fighting
for the preservation of the rights of political prisoners,
which were not denied even in the Bastille."
Miss Dunlop’s heroic protest, by refusing prison food, was
taken up at once and repeated by numbers of her imprisoned
sisters; until the prison authorities met it by forcibly
administering food, in the manner of treatment applied
sometimes to desperate convicts or to the insane; and this, of
course, is more than repugnant and distressing to the feeling
of everybody. The whole unexampled situation is repugnant and
distressing, however it may be viewed. The cause involved is
so pitifully stripped of its dignity, simply for the reason
that the sex whose cause it is has nothing in body or mind to
qualify it for effectual rioting. A mob of men can invest its
mischievous doings with the impressiveness of terror, which
crushes laughter and contempt. A mob of such women as the
champion suffragists are cannot do so, and the riot they
attempt is but a travesty, which challenges jeers, and sadly
smirches the after heroism of the self-starved rioters in
their prison cells. The difference between a political
insurrection of men and the insurgency of Mrs. Pankhurst and
her followers is the difference between a menace that alarms
and a nuisance that annoys and provokes. With what effect the
cause of woman suffrage has been made a public nuisance in
England remains to be seen. The advantage to it is dubious, to
say the least. On this point Mr. Winston Churchill, President
of the Board of Trade, spoke his mind plainly to a deputation
of suffragettes who called on him at Dundee on the 18th of
last October. He said:
"I saw the beginning of what you call the militant tactics.
They broke out in my late constituency, North-West Manchester,
and during the four years that have passed I have fought three
by-elections, and have made a great many speeches about the
country. So, I suppose, I have come very nearly as much in
contact with them as any other Cabinet Minister. … You have
come to me in a deputation, and I am bound to give you my
candid and truthful opinion that your cause is in a worse
position now than it was four years ago. I do not mean by that
that anything has been done which will prevent the ultimate
success of the movement. I do not think that is so, but I am
quite sure that, while these tactics of silly disorder and
petty violence continue, there is not the slightest chance of
any Government that will be called into power, or of any House
of Commons which is likely to be elected, giving you the
reform which you seek. That is my honest, unprejudiced view."
{227}
The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies, of which Mrs.
Henry Fawcett is President, represents a large body of women
claimants of the suffrage who distinctly disapprove of and
disclaim responsibility for the proceedings of their militant
allies. In a statement which this National Union communicated
to the Prime Minister on the 2d of October, 1909, they set
forth the following facts in evidence of the strength of the
popular support given to their claims: Since the beginning of
1908 the National Union had taken part in 31 by-elections in
Great Britain. "These have been contested by 69 candidates, of
whom 26 were Liberals, 32 Unionists, and 11 Labour, Socialist,
or Independent. Of these 69 candidates, only nine declared
themselves opponents of woman suffrage. The rest in varying
degrees accepted the principle of the enfranchisement of
women. A few merely stated that they were not hostile, but the
overwhelming majority frankly accepted it, some even pledging
themselves to oppose any further extension of the franchise to
men so long as it was withheld from women."
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: Finland:
The great victory of 1906.
"The great victory for woman suffrage in 1906 was won in
Finland, where women were enfranchised on exactly the same
terms as men, and made eligible to all offices, including
seats in Parliament. This gives the vote at once to about
300,000 women. Preceding and during the revolution, in the
attempt to throw off the Russian yoke, the women shared with
the men the work, the hardships and the dangers; and, when the
triumph came, there was not a thought on the part of men of
excluding women from any portion of the rewards, the most
important of which was the suffrage. But they themselves had
long been preparing the ground. The Finnish Women’s
Association to work for equal rights was founded in 1884 by
Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg and never ceased its efforts. In
1892 the Woman’s Alliance Union was organized, more democratic
and aggressive in its character. … After the vast national
strike in the autumn of 1905, while a body of leading men were
drawing up a Declaration of Rights to be presented to the
Tsar, Dr. (Miss) Tekla Hulsin, a member of the National Bureau
of Statistics, made an eloquent plea in behalf of the women,
and they were included in its demand for universal suffrage. …
The Tsar signed it in November, giving his consent to the
proposed reforms. Immediately the women set to work,
lecturing, organizing, getting up petitions, and finally held
another huge mass-meeting in Helsingfors, demanding that the
Diet carry out this measure. All of the political parties put
it in their platforms. On May 28th, 1906, the Diet with only
one dissenting vote passed the bill giving the suffrage to all
men and women twenty-four years old. This was signed by the
Tsar on July 20th."
Ida H. Harper,
Woman Suffrage Throughout The World
(North American Review, September, 1907).
Dr. Tekla Hulsin, referred to above, now a woman member of the
Finnish Diet, speaking at a suffragist meeting in London, in
September, 1909, gave the following account of the action of
the women members of that body:
"The granting of woman suffrage had caused no change in the
strength of the respective political parties. Every citizen in
Finland who was entitled to vote was also eligible for
membership of the Diet. There had been no rivalry between the
men and women candidates; they recognized that they were there
for common ends. The women members of the Diet had followed
their parties on party questions, but had joined on women’s
questions for humanitarian ends. They had presented petitions
for the raising of the marriageable age from 15 to 17, the
exemption of women from their husband’s guardianship, the
reception of Government employment on the same grounds as men,
and on the subject of the prevention of cruelty to children
and animals. These had all been accepted by the Diet."
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE:
International Council of Women.
See (in this Volume)
WOMEN, INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE:
International Woman Suffrage Alliance.
"Since the Conference held at Copenhagen in August of 1906,
which closed with thirteen countries in membership, the
Alliance has been growing till its influence is felt as far as
South Africa. On the first day of the Conference, held in
Amsterdam June 15, 1907, there was presented an application
from the Woman Suffrage Associations of Natal and Cape Colony
for auxiliaryship in the Alliance. … The second request for
auxiliaryship was presented by Switzerland, which had formed a
National committee of seven Cantonal Associations. … The third
new member, and the last one to enter the Alliance, was the
National Bulgarian Alliance for Women’s Rights. This body is
composed of thirty local societies working in different lines,
and is somewhat like our Federation of Women’s Clubs here, or
a National Council of Women. … The full membership roll of the
Alliance now includes Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United States, South
Africa and Switzerland. Perhaps the most important new
departure at Amsterdam was the fact that official
representatives were sent to that meeting by the Australian
Federation, Norway and the State of Utah. Those coming from
Australia and Norway were not only delegated by the Government
but their expenses were borne by the National Treasury, and
they were sent as students of the whole question as
represented internationally by the Alliance, and expected to
report upon it to their respective governments. … Fraternal
delegates came to the Alliance from the International Council
of Women, and from the National Councils of Belgium, Denmark,
France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway and Sweden; and in addition to these fraternal
delegates were sent by seventeen associations from the
countries already mentioned and Scotland in addition; making
in all twenty-one countries represented either by regular
delegates or by fraternal delegates at the Amsterdam
conference."
Proceedings of the 40th Annual Convention of the
National American Woman Suffrage Association, at Buffalo,
New York, October, 1908.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: New Zealand:
Its working in that country.
Sir Joseph George Ward, Prime Minister of New Zealand,
returning home from England in August, 1908, passed through
the United States, and was questioned in New York about the
working of woman suffrage in his country, where women have
been voters for the last sixteen years. He declared his
conviction that New Zealand had found it to be one of the most
far-sighted policies ever put into effect, for the ballot in
the hands of women had exercised a great influence for the
general good. "A stranger coming to New Zealand," he said,
"would not recognize any difference between our institutions
and those here, so far as the right of women to vote is
concerned. He would see no women politicians, no campaign
orators of the other sex, no disturbances such as are so often
pictured as one of the attendant ills of woman’s suffrage.
{228}
"Under our laws women cannot stand for Parliament, nor hold
any other office. They do not mix it up in a campaign. You
never hear of them in this way during an election. They attend
public meetings, they are present at all of the public
ceremonies, and are unusually well-informed upon all public
questions. When they vote they vote intelligently, and any
woman over twenty-one years of age and a citizen of the
country can vote. Her right to vote does not, as many imagine,
cause family dissensions, nor family wrangles such as
cartoonists picture. There are no more differences over
politics in New Zealand families than there are over domestic
problems in the United States. The ballot in the hands of the
women, so far as I have observed, means only the healthy
influence of the home injected into politics. Our law
prohibits the solicitation of votes on election day; the
placarding of streets and houses, the use of vehicles to carry
voters, the exerting of any influence to obtain a vote. A wife
may accompany her husband to the polls, to the door of the
booth, but no further. The laws absolutely protect the privacy
of the ballot.
"In New Zealand the granting of the privilege of voting to
women did not result in the levelling of the wage scale, or
the competition between men and women in labor. In comparison
with other countries the proportion of wage-earning women in
New Zealand is small. She has her place to fill in the home,
and there are no truer and more devoted mothers of families in
the world. I believe that her influence upon man is all the
greater and better by reason of her suffrage. She recognizes
the position of man as the head of the household, and he is,
generally speaking, always the wage-earner, and I firmly
believe that if women could under our laws be elected to
office and have a part in the making of laws, they would not
seek legislation that would tend to further advance themselves
and limit the activity of the men.
"Women’s suffrage has surely resulted in the raising of the
standard of education in our country. The class of ignorant
people is very small, and growing smaller and smaller with
each succeeding generation. … The country has not been without
its political and labor demagogues, but the conservative
judgment of the voters has always prevailed in the end. Graft
is something unknown in New Zealand."
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE:
The Increasing Vote of Women at local option polls and
in general elections.
See (in this Volume)
ALCOHOL PROBLEM: NEW ZEALAND.
----------ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: End--------
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.
See, (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
ELECTRICITY.
See (in this Volume and in Volume VI.)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT.
ELECTRO-CHEMISTRY.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION: ELECTRO-CHEMISTRY.
ELECTRONS.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: PHYSICAL.
ELEVATOR COMBINATION, Dissolution of the.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1906.
ELGIN, The Earl of:
Secretary of State for the Colonies (British).
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906.
ELGIN, The Earl of:
Presiding at Imperial Conference.
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907.
ELIOT, Charles W.:
Retirement from Presidency of Harvard University.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1909.
ELKINS, Anti-Rebate Law.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903 (February).
ELKINS CLAUSE, The.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1906-1909.
EMERGENCY CURRENCY ACT.
See (in this Volume)
FINANCE AND TRADE: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908.
EMERY CLAIM, The.
See (in this Volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1909: NICARAGUA.
EMIGRATION.
See (in this Volume)
IMMIGRATION; also
RACE PROBLEMS.
EMPIRE DAY.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (MAY).
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR PROTECTION.
ENCYCLICALS.
See Papacy.
ENDJUMEN FUTUVAT, The:
An anti-parliamentary party.
See (in this Volume)
PERSIA: A. D. 1906-1907.
----------ENGLAND: Start--------
[Footnote: For convenience of use in the many references to
this heading throughout the Volume, the name of England is
made to stand for The United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland,—a stretch of meaning which seems often permissible.]
ENGLAND: A. D. 1870-1905.
Increase of Population compared with other European Countries.
See (in this Volume)
EUROPE: A. D. 1870-1905.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1900.
Comparative Statement of the Consumption of Alcoholic Drink.
See (in this Volume)
ALCOHOL PROBLEM.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901.
Census of the British Empire compiled.
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE.
{229}
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901.
Census of England and Wales, and of the United Kingdom.
Population.
Relative numbers of males and females.
Agricultural industry.
Extent of various uses of the soil.
The different kinds of areas.
The eleventh Census of the population of England and Wales was
taken April 1st, 1901, "ascertaining the required information
relating to the persons returned as living at midnight on
Sunday, March 31st." The number enumerated in England and
Wales, as finally revised at the Census Office, was
35,527,843; showing an increase of 3,525,318, or a decennial
rate of increase of 12.17 percent, upon the number returned at
the preceding enumeration in April, 1891. Of the persons
enumerated in England and Wales in 1901, 15,728,613 were males
and 16,799,230 were females, the latter exceeding the former
by 1,070,617. This, however, does not represent the relative
numbers of the two sexes that belong to the population
of the country; "for there are always men temporarily absent
abroad as soldiers or seamen or for business purposes"; while,
on the other hand, "the enumerated population temporarily
includes some soldiers and sailors who were born in Scotland
and Ireland, as well as foreign sailors and business
representatives." Making reckonings for these, "the population
belonging to England and Wales at the date of the
Census may be estimated at 32,805,040 persons, of whom
16,005,810 were males, and 16,799,230 were females." During
the ten years prior to 1901 the recorded male births in
England exceeded the female births by 160,987, while the
recorded deaths of males exceeded the deaths of females by
155,363. This would have about evened their numbers in the
population of 1901; hence the existing excess of females is
due, in the main, to the more extensive emigration or
temporary absence of males.
Of the population of England and Wales less than 4 per cent.
was born outside of those two divisions of the United Kingdom;
not quite 1 per cent. was born in Scotland; a little more than
1.3 per cent. was born in Ireland; a trifle more than 1 per
cent. in foreign countries, and an insignificant fraction in
British colonies and dependencies. England, it will be seen,
is troubled very slightly with problems arising from a mixed
population.
The Census of Scotland and Ireland, taken simultaneously with
that of England and Wales, gave the former a population of
4,472,103, and the latter 4,458,775. Scotland had gained
46,456 since 1891; Ireland had lost in the same period
245,975. In the sixty years since 1841 Ireland had lost more
than 3,700,000. The total of population in the United Kingdom,
at midnight, March 31, 1901, was found to be 41,458,721; and
the females exceeded the males in number by 1,253,905. The
excess was least in Ireland.
Judged by the numbers engaged therein, the Agricultural
Industry is still the most important in the United Kingdom;
but, since 1881, it had been reduced from 2,362,331 males to
2,109,812 in 1901. The decline was far less in Ireland than in
England, Scotland, or Wales. In England and Wales, the whole
area of land, amounting to 37,129,162 acres, or 58,014 square
miles, is divided by the census report into areas as follows:
Acres.
Corn Crops 5,886,052
Green Crops 2,511,744
Clover and grasses under rotation 3,262,926
Flax, Hops, Small Fruit 120,683
Bare Fallow 336,884
Permanent Pasture or Grass 15,399,025
Mountain and Heath Land used for Grazing 3,556,636
Woods, Plantations, Nursery Grounds,
Houses, Streets, Roads, Railways,
Waste Grounds, &c. 6,055,212
Total Land Area of England and Wales. 37,129,162
The enumeration of "different kinds of areas," in England and
Wales, as set forth in the Census report, is interesting in
some particulars—such as these:
54 Ancient Counties;
62 Administrative Counties;
468 Parliamentary Areas;
2 Ecclesiastical Provinces;
35 Ecclesiastical Dioceses;
14,080 Ecclesiastical Parishes;
14,900 Civil Parishes;
67 County Boroughs;
28 Metropolitan Boroughs with their Wards;
54 County Court Circuits;
500 County Court Districts;
1122 Urban Districts
(including 316 County or Municipal Boroughs) with the
Wards of those which are so subdivided;
664 Rural Districts.
Census of England and Wales, 1901.
General Report.
(Parliamentary Papers, 1904, Cd. 2174.)ENGLAND: A. D. 1901 (NOVEMBER).
An addition to the Titles of the King.
The following is part of the proclamation of an addition to
the titles of the King which was made on the 4th of November,
1901:
"Whereas an act was passed in the last session of Parliament,
entitled ‘An act to enable His Most Gracious Majesty to make
an addition to the royal style and titles in recognition of
His Majesty’s dominions beyond the seas,’ which act enacts
that it shall be lawful for us, with a view to such
recognition as aforesaid of our dominions beyond the seas, by
our royal proclamation under the great seal of the United
Kingdom issued within six months after the passing of the said
act, to make such addition to the style and titles at present
appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom and
its dependencies as to us may seem fit; and
"Whereas our present style and titles are, in the Latin
tongue, ‘Edwardus VII Dei Gratia Britanniarum Rex, Fidei
Defensor, Indiæ Imperator,’ and in the English tongue, ‘Edward
VII, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of
India,’ we have thought fit, by and with the advice of our
privy council, to appoint and declare, and we do hereby, by
and with the said advice, appoint and declare that henceforth,
so far as conveniently may be, on all occasions and in all
instruments wherein our style and titles are used, the
following addition shall be made to the style and titles at
present appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United
Kingdom and its dependencies—that is to say, in the Latin
tongue, after the word ‘Britanniarum,’ these words, ‘et
terrarum transmarinarum quœ inditione sunt Britannicâ’; and in
the English tongue, after the words ‘of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland,’ these words, 'and of the British
Dominions beyond the Seas.’"
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901-1902.
The last year of the Boer-British War.
Peace preliminaries.
Text of the Treaty concluded.
See (in this Volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1901-1902.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901-1902 (NOVEMBER-FEBRUARY).
Treaty with the United States to facilitate the construction
of a Ship Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
See PANAMA CANAL: A. D. 1901-1902.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902.
Arbitration and mediation between the Argentine Republic and
Chile.
See (in this Volume)
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (JANUARY).
Agreement in the nature of a Defensive Alliance with Japan.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1902.
{230}
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (FEBRUARY).
Wei-hai-wei found valueless.
Fortification abandoned.
The British public was unpleasantly surprised on the 11th of
February, 1902, by an official announcement in Parliament that
the fortifying of the port of Wei-hai-wei, on the Chinese
coast (extorted from China in 1898 as an offset to the cession
of Port Arthur to Russia, had been abandoned, for the reason
that military and naval opinion agreed in concluding that the
place had no strategic value.
See, in Volume VI. of this work,
CHINA: A. D. 1898, MARCH-JULY).
It would not be returned to China, however, having usefulness
for experiments in naval gunnery, and as a sanitarium. The
announcement drew much sarcasm on the Government.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (February).
Opposed deliverances of Lord Rosebery and
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman on Irish Home Rule.
See (in this Volume)
IRELAND: A. D. 1902 (FEBRUARY).
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (MARCH-NOVEMBER).
Passage of the Education Act, in the interest of voluntary or
church schools.
"Passive Resistance" of Nonconformists.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: ENGLAND: A. D. 1902.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (MAY).
Treaty with Abyssinia.
See ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1902.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (JUNE-AUGUST).
Illness and deferred Coronation of King Edward VII.
While England was preparing, in the last half of June, 1902,
for the great ceremony of the Coronation of King Edward VII.,
appointed to take place on the 26th, disquieting accounts of
his Majesty’s health began to appear. Some exposure at
Aldershot, during military reviews, had brought on a chill, it
was said; and though it was made light of in the reports,
there was anxiety abroad. The King and Queen came to London
from Windsor on the 23d, and all seemed to promise well. That
evening he attended a State banquet; but a little before noon
the next morning the nation received a dreadful shock from the
announcement: "The King is suffering from perityphlitis [more
familiarly known as appendicitis]. The condition on Saturday
was so satisfactory that it was hoped that, with care, his
Majesty would be able to go through the Coronation ceremonies.
On Monday evening a recrudescence became manifest, rendering a
surgical operation necessary to-day." A serious disappointment
as well as a grave anxiety was produced. Preparations for the
pageant and the solemnities of the Coronation had been made on
a splendid scale. London was crowded with visitors from all
parts of the world, and specially decorated as never before.
The sudden descent of grief and fear and gloom on the gayeties
of the scene was a transformation which London and England can
never forget.
Within three hours from the first startling report the success
of the operation was made known. The King had borne it well
and was in a satisfactory state. From that time on there were
none but good reports. On the 5th of July he was declared to
be out of danger. On the 15th he was removed to the royal
yacht Victoria and Albert and taken to Cowes. At the
end of seven weeks he had recovered so fully as to be able to
bear the fatigues and the strain of a trying ceremony, and the
King and Queen were crowned in Westminster Abbey on the 9th of
August, with somewhat less of magnificent public show than had
been prepared for the 26th of June, but nevertheless with
regal pomp.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (June-August).
Conference with the Prime Ministers of the Self-Governing
Colonies.
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (July).
Resignation of Lord Salisbury.
Mr. Balfour’s succession to the Premiership.
The new Ministry.
Failing health compelled the Marquis of Salisbury to ask, on
the 11th of July, for relief from the cares of the office of
Prime Minister. His resignation was accepted, and Mr. Arthur
J. Balfour, First Lord of the Treasury in Lord Salisbury’s
Ministry, was invited by the King to the vacant place. Some
changes in the Cabinet followed, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach
retiring from the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, and being
succeeded by Mr. C. T. Ritchie; Mr. A. Akers-Douglas entering
the Cabinet as Home Secretary; Mr. G. Wyndham continuing in
the office of Chief Secretary for Ireland, but coming into the
Cabinet; Mr. Austen Chamberlain, son of the Right Honorable
Joseph Chamberlain, also receiving a Cabinet seat as
Postmaster-General.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (August).
Passage of Licensing Bill.
See (in this Volume)
ALCOHOL PROBLEM: ENGLAND: A. D. 1902.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (September).
Arrangements of the Government with the Cunard Company and
the International Mercantile Marine Company.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: INTERNATIONAL.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902-1904.
Coercive proceedings against Venezuela concerted with Germany
and Italy.
Settlement of Claims secured.
Reference to The Hague.
See (in this Volume)
VENEZUELA: A. D. 1902-1904.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902-1904.
The Mission of Colonel Younghusband to Tibet.
Its advance in force to Lhasa.
The Treaty secured.
See (in this Volume)
TIBET: A. D. 1902-1904.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903.
Passage of the Land Purchase Act for Ireland.
See (in this Volume)
IRELAND: A. D. 1870-1903.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903.
Declines to be a party to the building of the Bagdad Railway.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS; TURKEY: A. D. 1899-1909.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (March).
Debate in Parliament on the South African Labor Question.
See (in this Volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1903-1904.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (March).
Passage of the Employment of Children Bill.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR PROTECTION.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (June).
The Celebration of Empire Day.
A Canadian custom of celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday,
June 24, as Empire Day, was taken up in Great Britain in 1903,
and "the movement," says the London Times, "has spread
with striking rapidity." The day is made especially
interesting in the schools, where the morning of the day is
given to addresses on citizenship and the Empire and to the
singing of patriotic songs, while the afternoon is a
half-holiday.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (May-September).
Mr. Chamberlain’s declaration for Preferential Trade with
the British Colonies.
The political commotion excited.
Mr. Balfour’s puzzling attitude on the questions raised.
It is made clear by the correspondence when Mr. Chamberlain
resigns.
The latter’s propagandism.
In June, 1902, when, as Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Mr. Joseph Chamberlain addressed the Conference of Prime
Ministers from the self-governing British Colonies, his mind
was manifestly not prepared to accept as a practicable
proposition their request that the United Kingdom would grant
"preferential treatment to the products and manufactures of
the Colonies."
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1902)
{231}
"Preferential treatment" meant an Imperial protective-tariff
policy, with discrimination of duties in favor of imports from
British colonies. As the products of the colonies were mostly
food stuffs and raw materials for manufacture, it meant a
taxing of the supplies of these to British tables and British
industries from every source outside the colonies. It meant an
artificial higher pricing in the market of the British Isles
for everything in which cost bears hardest on the livelihood
and the living of their people. Mr. Chamberlain, in 1902, was
waxing ardent in the high mission he had undertaken, of
unifying and consolidating the great British Empire,
strengthening the ties of family between Mother England and
her scattered brood; but he had not yet been persuaded that
the mother could afford to expend quite so much as this of her
own well-being on premiums for the allegiance of her
offspring.
In the course of the next year, however, the Colonial
Secretary spent some weeks in South Africa, and seems to have
been remarkably intensified in his imperializing aims by what
he saw and learned. He came home filled with the conviction
that England must, for the sake of a really unified and
incorporated Empire, abandon the free opening of her markets,
which gave her people the cheapest food and the cheapest
materials for labor that the world at large could furnish, and
must wall them and gate them, with differing keys to the
locks, so that her own colonists might be given the
"preferential" admission they claim. If he had arrived at that
conviction before going to South Africa he had made no sign of
it; but it was proclaimed soon after his return, in a speech
to his constituents at Birmingham, on the 15th of May, which
shook England as no sudden development in politics had done
for many years. The time had come, he declared, when the
country must decide for or against a deliberate policy of
Imperial unification, which required it to reciprocate the
preferential tariffs which the colonies had adopted or were