annual Immigration Report states that the total arrivals in
Canada during the last fiscal year were 146,908. For the first
time in Canadian history immigrants from the United States
exceeded those from the United Kingdom; the figures are
respectively 59,832 and 52,901. The total immigration during
the 13 years which the present Government has been in office
was 1,366,658. American immigrants in that period have brought
to Canada £12,000,000 in cash and effects. Immigration from
France and Belgium declined last year and Japanese immigration
fell off by 7,106. Only six Hindus entered Canada, compared
with 2,623 in the previous year; 3,803 immigrants were
rejected at ocean ports, of whom 1,748 were deported. The
total deportations since 1902, when the system was first
inaugurated, were 3,149, of whom 2,607 were English."
Two months later it was reported from Ottawa that during the
first six months of 1909 "homestead entries were made by
27,296 bona fide settlers, representing free grants of
Dominion lands of 4,367,360 acres. This is an increase of 939
entries and of 150,200 acres as compared with the
corresponding period of 1908. In September the total number of
homestead entries was 2,902; of these 926 were American, 325
English, 109 Scotch, 54 Irish, 336 Canadians from Ontario, and
83 Canadians from Quebec."
Previously, in August, it had been stated that "German
capitalists have interested Toronto men in a big plan to
colonize the lands of Alberta and Saskatchewan on a
time-payment system. The scheme includes advances to settlers
for the purchase of implements and for help in house building.
The expectation is that 20,000 Germans will avail themselves
of the scheme."
CANADA: A. D. 1898-1903.
German retaliation for the tariff discrimination
in favor of British goods.
See (in this Volume)
TARIFFS.
CANADA: A. D. 1901-1902.
The Census of the Dominion.
New apportionment of parliamentary representation.
The census of the Dominion, taken in 1901, showed
a total population of 5,370,000,
of which
Ontario contained 2,182,947;
Quebec, 1,648,898;
Nova Scotia, 459,574;
New Brunswick, 331,120;
Manitoba, 254,947;
British Columbia, 177,272;
Prince Edward Island, 103,259;
The Northwest Territories,
Yukon included, 211,649.
The new distribution of parliamentary representation,
determined this year, gave the House of Commons a total
membership of 214, apportioned as follows; Quebec 65 (as
guaranteed by the Confederation Act); Ontario 86; Nova Scotia
18; New Brunswick 13; Manitoba 10; British Columbia 7;
Northwest Territories 10; Prince Edward Island 4; the Yukon 1.
The basis was one representative for each 2500 people. Ontario
lost 6 seats, Nova Scotia 2, New Brunswick and Prince Edward
Island 1 each; all the other provinces gained, British
Columbia to the extent of 7 seats, the Northwest Territories
4, and Manitoba 3.
CANADA: A. D. 1902.
Colonial Conference at London.
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE.
{66}
CANADA: A. D. 1903.
Discovery of the cobalt silver mines in Ontario.
Ore bodies carrying values in silver, cobalt, nickel, and
arsenic were discovered in 1903, during the building of the
Temiskaming and North Ontario Railway near the town of
Haileybury, at a distance of about 103 miles from North Bay.
The railway line ran over the most important vein that has
been found, and signs of the latter were noticed in the spring
of the year named. Prospecting was begun in the fall with
quick results of important discovery, and the rapid attraction
of a large mining population to what has become famous as the
Cobalt District. The production of silver in the district
increased from $111,887 in 1904 to $9,500,000 in 1908. The
ores are said to be unique among those of North America.
_16th Annual Report of Ontario Bureau of Mines._
CANADA: A. D. 1903 (May).
Adoption of "Empire Day" in Great Britain.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (May).
CANADA: A. D. 1903 (October).
Settlement of the Alaskan boundary question.
See (in this Volume)
ALASKA: A. D. 1903.
CANADA: A. D. 1903-1904.
Measures to establish sovereignty over land and sea
of Hudson Bay region.
"The agreement by Britain and America to arbitrate at The
Hague the Newfoundland Fishery Question will probably pave the
way for a similar solution of another entanglement, as
threatening and complicated as that respecting the Alaskan
Boundary, apparently now imminent between Canada and the
United States over the sovereignty of Hudson Bay. This has a
special relation to the Newfoundland problem, being also based
on the treaty of 1818. The Canadian Government in August,
1903, despatched the Newfoundland sealing steamer ‘Neptune’
(one of the type of wood-built ships suited for the work) to
the region, with an official expedition whose three-fold
object was:
(1) to reassert British sovereignty over all the land and seas
there;
(2) to expel or subject to Canadian authority the United
States whalers who fish there, illegally, it is held; and
(3) to secure further data tending to determine the
navigability of the waters for an ocean grain route and
justify subsidising or discouraging the construction of
railways from the north-west to the shores of Hudson Bay.
"In the summer of 1904, in anticipation of the ‘Neptune’s’
return, the Canadian Government purchased from Germany the
Antarctic exploring steamer ‘Gauss,’ re-named her the
‘Arctic,’ and sent her to Hudson Bay as an official cruiser,
she conveying also Major Moodie, of the North-West Mounted
Police, who was commissioned as ‘Governor of Hudson Bay ’ and
was accompanied by a body of that famous force, to assist him
in the administration of this extensive province, they to
build posts there and establish themselves at the most
important points. … The undisguised purpose of the Dominion is
to take all possible steps to prevent the United States from
securing any advantage, territorial or diplomatic, which would
enable her to put forward pretensions such as have been
advanced by her with respect to the Alaskan Boundary.
"The similarity of this question to that of the Alaskan
Boundary is quite striking. Geographically, the Hudson Bay
region is to the Northeastern portion of the continent what
Alaska is to the North-western. In the variety and value of
natural resources both have much in common. The development of
the Hudson Bay region, while not as advanced as that of
Alaska, seems destined to be much accelerated in the near
future in every department of industrial endeavour. The United
States whalers, voyaging from New Bedford into Hudson Bay, and
from San Francisco into Alaskan seas, penetrate to the very
confines of the Arctic zone itself. To proceed against them
now, after their having enjoyed for over seventy years an
unrestricted access to Hudson Bay, whether entitled thereto or
not, is a step which may provoke a repetition of the
difficulties which were recently experienced over the Alaskan
Boundary. …
"[Canada] contends that from the entrance to Hudson Strait,
which she says is in a line drawn from Cape Chidley, the
northern projection of Labrador, to Resolution Island, the
southern extremity of Baffin Land, all the waters and lands to
the west, including the numerous islands of Arctic America,
are her exclusive possession. She bases this contention on the
following grounds:—
"1. Discovery (the waters, coastline and hinterland having
been discovered and charted by British explorers).
"2. Occupation (the region having been occupied only by the
Hudson Bay Company).
"3. Treaty cession (the British rights to the region having
been admitted by the French in 1713).
"4. Acquiescence (the United States having acknowledged the
Hudson Bay Company’s rights in 1818).
"5. Purchase (Canada having bought out the Company in 1870).
"But Americans are indisposed to acquiesce in any such
conclusion as regards the waters of the Bay. They contend that
the British had originally no rights beyond the three-mile
limit, that the French in 1713 could cede them no more, and
that the American concurrence in 1818 could apply only to the
same territorial waters. In other words, they question the
right of the British Monarch to grant such a Charter as he
did, and it may be observed here that the same point has
frequently been made in England also in the past by opponents
of the Company and by legal critics."
_P. T. McGrath,
The Hudson Bay Dispute
(Fortnightly Review, January, 1908)._
CANADA: A. D. 1903-1905.
Attitude of the Canadian Manufacturers’ Association toward
Great Britain and the United States on the Tariff question.
"The attitude of the Canadian Manufacturers’ Association
toward both the United States and Britain has been very
frequently misrepresented by opponents of tariff reform in
Canada and England. … The views of the Association were
clearly set forth in the recommendations made by the Tariff
Committee at the annual meeting in September, 1903, and
adopted by the Association after full discussion. The
attendance was very large, and the meeting was practically
unanimous, only one member dissenting. The resolutions were as
follows:
{67}
"'(1) That we reaffirm the tariff resolution passed at the
last annual meeting in Halifax, as follows: Resolved, That in
the opinion of this Association, the changed conditions which
now obtain in Canada demand the immediate and thorough
revision of the tariff, upon lines which will more effectually
transfer to the workshops of our Dominion the manufacture of
many of the goods which we now import from other countries;
that, in any such revision, the interests of all sections of
the community, whether of agriculture, mining, fishing, or
manufacturing, should be fully considered, with a view, not
only to the preservation, but to the further development, of
all these great natural industries; that, while such a tariff
should primarily be framed for Canadian interests, it should
nevertheless give a substantial preference to the Mother
Country, and also to any other part of the British Empire with
which reciprocal preferential trade can be arranged,
recognizing always that under any conditions the minimum
tariff must afford adequate protection to all Canadian
producers.
(2) That, except in very special cases, we are opposed to the
granting of bounties in Canada as a substitute for a policy of
reasonable and permanent protection.
(3) That we are strongly opposed to any reciprocity treaty
with the United States affecting the manufacturing industries
of Canada.
(4) We recommend that the Dominion Government establish in
Canada a permanent tariff commission of experts, who shall
have constant supervision of tariff policy and changes, and
shall follow closely the workings of the Canadian tariff with
a view to making such recommendations to the Government as
will best conserve and advance the interests of the Dominion.’
"These resolutions were reaffirmed at the annual conventions
in 1904 and 1905, meeting with no opposition."
_Watson Griffin,
Canadian Manufacturers' Tariff Campaign
(North American Review, August, 1906)._
CANADA: A. D. 1903-1909.
New transcontinental railway project.
The Grand Trunk Pacific.
"The project for a new transcontinental railway made the year
1903 industrially significant. The scheme when finally
presented to Parliament by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, on July 31st,
provided for the building of a new line from Moncton, New
Brunswick, through Quebec to Winnipeg and the Pacific Coast at
a terminus then not fixed, but now known to be Prince Rupert.
The road is to be divided into two parts; the Eastern from
Moncton to Winnipeg, which is to be built by the Government,
and the Western from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert, to be built by
the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company. Provision was made
for a lease of the Eastern section by the company and its
purchase after fifty years. This company is practically the
same as the Grand Trunk Railway Company. Sir Wilfrid estimated
the cost at $13,000,000. There were provisions for Government
assistance in the guaranteeing of the bonds of the new
company."
_F. B. Tracy,
Tercentenary History of Canada,
Volume 3, page 1034 (Macmillan Company, New York, 1908)._
At the half yearly meeting of the Grand Trunk Company in
London, October 21, 1909, the President, Sir C. Rivers Wilson,
who had recently returned from Canada, spoke of the present
state and prospects of the transcontinental line, partly as
follows:
"They were, he remarked, under an obligation to complete their
road through to Prince Rupert by December 1, 1911, but, owing
to the want of labour, he feared there was very little chance
of their succeeding in doing so. … They had built through to
Winnipeg on the one hand and to Lake Superior on the other,
but there remained an unfortunate link of 245 miles to
complete their junction with Lake Superior. … After what had
happened he was very chary of making any prediction, but he
should think that, after all that had taken place, and after
the great pressure which was now being put on the contractors,
the road would be finished by next summer. Their great object,
of course, was to link up the west with their eastern system.
That would be done during the summer by the road coming down
to Lake Superior, which would enable them to communicate by
water with their Georgian Bay port, and during the winter,
when navigation was closed, by way of land north of Lake
Superior by the line the Government was to build to a place
called Cochrane, about 540 miles distant, where they would
obtain communication with North Bay and put themselves in
contact with their own Ontario road."
CANADA: A. D. 1904.
General Election.
Continuance of the Laurier Ministry.
The Earl of Minto succeeded as Governor-General by Earl Grey.
The general election in 1904 resulted in a parliamentary
majority of 64 for the Liberals, thus firmly reseating the
Laurier Ministry. The Conservatives carried Ontario, but were
beaten heavily in the Maritime Provinces, in Quebec, and in
the West. The general prosperity of the country gave a backing
to the Liberals which no political criticism could overcome.
The Earl of Minto was succeeded as Governor-General, in 1904,
by Earl Grey, grandson of the Earl Grey who, as Prime Minister
of England in 1832, carried through the first Reform of
Parliament, extinguishing the "rotten boroughs," transferring
political power from the land-owning aristocracy to the middle
class of English people, and beginning the democratizing of
government, which two later reforms have made nearly complete.
"There can be no doubt," said a Canadian correspondent of one
of the London journals lately, "that the present
Governor-General is more widely popular in Canada than any of
his predecessors in that high office were, or could have been.
Happy in his personality, happier still in his opportunities,
he is known and liked by all sorts and conditions of Canadians
in every part of the country; whereas more than one of those
who have represented the Sovereign there since the creation of
the Canadian Confederacy were regarded as august functionaries
forming the ‘dignified part’ of the constitutional mechanism
(to use Bagehot’s phrase), and as sedulously avoiding close
contact with the people at large."
Within the past year it has been announced officially from
Ottawa that Lord Grey will fill out his full period of six
years in the office of Governor-General, expiring in December,
1910.
CANADA: A. D. 1904.
Creation of the Board of Railway Commissioners.
Its large regulative powers.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: CANADA.
CANADA: A. D. 1904-1909.
Race problems.
Restriction of Chinese Immigration.
Labor hostility.
Riotous attacks on Japanese, Chinese, and Hindu laborers.
See (in this Volume)
RACE PROBLEMS: CANADA.
{68}
CANADA: A. D. 1905.
New Provinces created.
Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Revival of the Separate School controversy.
The compromise settlement.
By Bills brought into the Dominion Parliament by the Premier,
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, on the 21st of February, 1905, and
subsequently passed, the four Northwest Territories ceded to
the Dominion by Great Britain in 1870 were reorganized as two
provinces, and admitted to membership in the Canadian Federal
Union, bearing the names of Alberta and Saskatchewan, with
Edmonton for the capital of the former and Regina for the
latter.
See, in Volume IV. of this work,
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES OF CANADA.
Saskatchewan includes the territories of Saskatchewan,
Assiniboia, and one-half of Athabasca, and Alberta the
territory of Alberta and the remainder of Athabasca. The
entire area of the two provinces is 550,345 square miles, and
it extends from Manitoba west to the 110th meridian, and from
the United States boundary to 60 north latitude. The
population of each province was reckoned at 250,000, and was
rapidly increasing. The Dominion Government retains control of
the public lands. Each of the new provinces received at the
beginning five representatives in the Dominion House of
Commons and four in the Senate. A single Legislative Chamber
of twenty-five members was provided for each; each has a
Lieutenant-Governor, with a Cabinet of responsible Ministers.
The Dominion Treasury contributes $250,000 yearly to the
revenue of each.
A provision in these bills for conceding separate schools to
religious minorities revived the controversy which raged in
Canada for many years, after the Province of Manitoba, in
1890, had abolished denominational schools and established a
free, compulsory, unsectarian school system.
See, in Volume VI. of this work,
CANADA: A. D. 1890-1896, and A. D, 1898 (JANUARY).
The Government was forced to amend the provision, devising a
compromise which cannot be said to have satisfied either party
to the dispute, but which saved the Government from a probable
defeat. This affords a half hour of religious teaching, by
denominational teachers, at the end of school hours, the
denominational character of the instruction determined by the
majority in attendance, and its reception to be optional. As
explained at the time by a writer in The Outlook, the working
of the system is as follows. "The half-hour is the only
noteworthy feature of the separate schools. They are liable
for no other school taxation than that which is necessary to
support those schools. In all other respects, in every detail
of government control and oversight, they are exactly like the
schools of the majority. From nine o’clock in the morning
until three o’clock in the afternoon the order of lessons is
the same for all; so are the textbooks, the standards of
efficiency, and the qualifications of the teachers. There
cannot be any control of the school by any clerical or
sectarian body. There cannot be any sectarian teaching between
nine o’clock in the morning and three o’clock in the
afternoon. The Normal schools of the new provinces will give a
uniform normal training for all teachers, and there will be
uniform curricula and courses of study for all schools of the
same grade. There will be complete and absolute control of all
schools as to their government and conduct by the central
school authority created by the new provincial Legislature.
The distribution of the legislative grant to all schools will
be according to educational efficiency, a wise provision which
did not apply to separate schools of the old type. To
recapitulate, all the schools are alike, except that where the
trustees are Protestant there is Protestant religious teaching
from half-past three to four, and where the trustees are Roman
Catholic there is Roman Catholic teaching during the
half-hour. That is the only distinction, and neither
Protestant nor Roman Catholic children, when they are in the
minority, need remain to hear any religious teaching against
their parents’ wishes."
CANADA: A. D. 1906.
Dominion Forest Reserves Act.
See (in this Volume)
Conservation of Natural Resources.
CANADA: A. D. 1906.
Passage of the "Lord’s Day Act."
See (in this Volume)
SUNDAY OBSERVANCE.
CANADA: A. D. 1906.
Prisons and Reformatory Act.
See (in this Volume)
CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS OFFENDERS.
CANADA: A. D. 1906 (May).
Departure of the last British garrison.
On the 1st of May, 1906, the last British garrison in the
Dominion was withdrawn from Esquimault, in British Columbia,
under an arrangement which leaves the Canadian Government in
undivided control of all military posts.
CANADA: A. D. 1906-1907.
Political experiments in Ontario.
Broadening the functions of government.
The Canadians of their Middle West, who used to be the most
conservative of Britons, have manifested lately a new spirit,
wafted, perhaps, from adventuresome New Zealand, and are
trying governmental experiments that would stagger
Oklahoma,—trying them, too, with what looks like success.
For the development of the rich cobalt and silver mining
region on its eastern border, and for the encouragement of
colonization farther northward on the same border, the Ontario
Government has not hesitated to construct and own and operate
officially an important line of railway, the Temiskaming and
Northern Ontario, which is reported to have been profitable
from the start. The road may possibly be extended to James
Bay, the southward projection of Hudson Bay.
The progressive government of Ontario has also undertaken to
work for its own benefit the mines in a large lately opened
block of the Cobalt mining territory, covering about 100
square miles. In somewhat the same line of economic policy, it
determined in 1906 to control the development and transmission
of electric power at and from Niagara Falls, and accomplished
its purpose by a contract with the Ontario Power Company,
which secures power to municipalities in Ontario at an
extremely reasonable rate.
This adventurous policy in economic directions is less
surprising, however, than an absolutely novel experiment in
the officializing of political parties, as agencies in
representative government, which has been put on trial in
Ontario during two parliamentary sessions. For the first time
in constitutional history, the opposition leader in a
legislature has been made a recognized functionary and
salaried by the Government to the extent of $7,000 a year.
Theoretically, the importance of an effectively critical
opposition to the majority party in a legislature is always
acknowledged. Is there not good sense, then, theoretically at
least, in a policy of government which aims to increase the
efficiency of that criticism and give it a responsible
character, in the mode which the Ontarians are trying?
{69}
After between two and three years trial of this last named
experiment, with a salaried leader of the Opposition, the
Toronto correspondent of the London _Times_ wrote, in
June, 1909, to that paper as follows:
"This is an experiment in Parliamentary government which has
not been attempted elsewhere. It has both advantages and
disadvantages. There are few men of wealth or leisure in
Canadian public life, and generally a private party fund has
been provided for the support of the leader of the Opposition.
The charge was commonly made that as this fund was likely to
be provided by the few wealthy men of the party they would
exact compensation in the form of official appointment or
legislative favour when the Opposition leader became the head
of the Government. It was decided, therefore, to give a
salary, equal to the emoluments of a Minister of the Crown, to
the leader of the Opposition. Mr. Borden [leader of the
Opposition in Ontario for some time past] sanctioned this
legislation and accepted the remuneration provided. It was
argued that he thus became a pensioner on the Government, and
that a servile consideration for his salary would affect his
independence and restrain his criticism of the paymasters on
the Treasury benches. Mr. Borden, while disposed more than
once to relinquish the salary, felt that this criticism was
unjust, and, knowing the grave financial distresses which some
of his predecessors had experienced, waited patiently for the
attack to exhaust itself and for opportunity to prove that he
was not a dependent of the Treasury. At length his course
seems to be justified, and the appropriation of a salary for
the leader of the Opposition seems likely to become a settled
feature of the Canadian Parliamentary system. The real test
will come, however, if the system of Parliamentary groups
should ever replace the established two-party system in
Canada. But for the time the experiment has been justified,
and under the conditions which so often obtain in Canada it
may even be said that the official salary enhances the
independence and dignity of the Opposition leader in
Parliament."
CANADA: A. D. 1906-1908.
The Canada Temperance Act.
See (in this Volume)
ALCOHOL PROBLEM: CANADA.
CANADA: A. D. 1907.
The founding of Macdonald College.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: CANADA: A. D. 1907.
CANADA: A. D. 1907 (March).
The "Industrial Disputes Investigation Act," to aid in the
prevention and settlement of Strikes and Lockouts.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: CANADA: A. D. 1907-1908.
CANADA: A. D. 1907 (April-May).
Imperial Conference at London.
See (in this Volume)
British Empire: A. D. 1907.
CANADA: A. D. 1907-1909.
Convention respecting commercial relations with France
and its amendment.
A Convention which greatly liberalized the tariff regulations
affecting trade between Canada and France was concluded
between the British and French Governments and signed at Paris
on the 19th of September, 1907. It gave "the benefit of the
minimum tariff and of the lowest rates of customs duty
applicable to like products of other foreign origin,"
reciprocally, in each country to certain enumerated products
of the other; with mutual pledges that every reduction granted
by either to any foreign country should apply to similar
products of the other.
In January, 1909, an amended Convention was negotiated which
liberalized still further this commercial agreement, enlarging
the schedules of favored products, especially the agricultural
schedules, giving important advantages to Canada in the French
market. The amended Convention was ratified in France on the
13th of July, and in Canada early in December.
CANADA: A. D. 1908.
Child Labor legislation.
See (in this Volume)
CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS WORKERS.
CANADA: A. D. 1908.
Governmental undertaking of a railway to Hudson Bay.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: CANADA: A. D. 1908-1909.
CANADA: A. D. 1908 (April).
Convention for the preservation and propagation of Food
Fishes in waters contiguous to the United States and Canada.
See (in this Volume)
FOOD FISHES.
CANADA: A. D. 1908 (April).
Treaty respecting the demarcation of the International
Boundary between the United States and Canada.
A Treaty "providing for the more complete definition and
demarcation of the international boundary between the United
States and the Dominion of Canada," negotiated by Ambassador
Bryce and Secretary Root, appointed Plenipotentiaries of the
Governments of Great Britain and the United States,
respectively, was signed at Washington on the 4th of June,
1908. The Treaty provides for parcelling the boundary line in
eight sections, for the determination in each of which each
Government "shall appoint, without delay, an expert geographer
or surveyor to serve as Commissioner." Its first article
prescribes with minuteness the procedure to be followed and
the consideration to be given to former surveys and
determinations of the boundary line "in the waters of
Passamaquoddy Bay from the mouth of the St. Croix River to the
Bay of Fundy." The second article defines similarly the task
appointed to the Commissioners who shall determine the "line
drawn along the middle of the River St. Croix from its mouth
in the Bay of Fundy to its source." The third article
instructs the Commissioners who shall fix the line from the
source of the St. Croix to the St. Lawrence. The fourth deals
in like manner with the next section of the line, from "the
point of its intersection with the St. Lawrence River near the
forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, as determined under
articles I. and VI. of the Treaty of August 9, 1842, between
Great Britain and the United States, and thence through the
Great Lakes and communicating waterways to the mouth of Pigeon
River, at the western shore of Lake Superior." The fifth
pursues the line from "the mouth of Pigeon River to the
northwestern-most point of the Lake of the Woods." The sixth
traces the work to be done on the line from that point of the
Lake of the Woods to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. The
seventh relates to the section of boundary "along the
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, from the summit of the
Rocky Mountains westward to the eastern shore of the Gulf of
Georgia, as defined in article I. of the Treaty of June 15,
1846, between Great Britain and the United States and as
marked by monuments along its course,"—for the renewing and
completing of which monuments commissioners were appointed by
concurrent action of the two Governments in 1902 and 1903. The
eighth article has to do with the western terminal section of
the task, carrying the boundary line "from the forty-ninth
parallel of north latitude along the middle of the channel
which separates Vancouver’s Island from the mainland and the
Haro Channel and of Fuca’s Straits to the Pacific Ocean, as
defined in article I. of the Treaty of June 15, 1846, between
Great Britain and the United States, and as determined by the
award made on October 21, 1872, by the Emperor of Germany as
arbitrator.
{70}
In articles one and two there are provisions for the
arbitration of disagreements; and the concluding article
contains the following:
"If a dispute or difference should arise about the location or
demarcation of any portion of the boundary covered by the
provisions of this Treaty and an agreement with respect
thereto is not reached by the Commissioners charged herein
with locating and marking such portion of the line, they shall
make a report in writing jointly to both Governments, or
severally each to his own Government, setting out fully the
questions in dispute and the differences between them, but
such Commissioners shall, nevertheless, proceed to carry on
and complete as far as possible the work herein assigned to
them with respect to the remaining portions of the line.
"In case of such a disagreement between the Commissioners, the
two Governments shall endeavor to agree upon an adjustment of
the questions in dispute, and if an agreement is reached
between the two Governments it shall be reduced to writing in
the form of a protocol, and shall be communicated to the said
Commissioners, who shall proceed to lay down and mark the
boundary in accordance therewith, and as herein provided, but
without prejudice to the special provisions contained in
Articles I and II regarding arbitration.
"It is understood that under the foregoing articles the same
persons will be appointed to carry out the delimitation of
boundaries in the several sections aforesaid, other than the
section covered by Article IV, unless either of the
Contracting Powers finds it expedient for some reason which it
may think sufficient to appoint some other person to be
Commissioner for any one of the above-mentioned sections."
CANADA: A. D. 1908 (July).
Tercentenary Celebration of the Founding of Quebec.
The three hundredth anniversary of the founding of Quebec by
Champlain was celebrated at that city in July, 1908, with
remarkable spirit and success. The Government of the Dominion
took an active and important part in the preparations,
nationalizing the battle-field of Wolfe’s victory over
Montcalm, on the Plains of Abraham, and converting it into a
park, where the principal pageants and ceremonies of the
occasion were performed. The Imperial Government interested
itself warmly in the undertaking, the Prince of Wales, Lord
Roberts, the Duke of Norfolk, and other distinguished
personages from Great Britain coming as guests of the
festivity and to bear a part. Living descendants of Wolfe and
Montcalm were also invited guests, and the Governments of
France and the United States were officially represented.
Battleships from the fleets of these nations and from Germany,
Italy, Spain, Japan and the Argentine Republic were brought to
a friendly concourse in the harbor of Quebec, for
participation in the brilliant spectacles of the féte. These
included a military representation of the armies of Wolfe and
Montcalm, on the field where they fought; a representation of
the landing of Champlain, from a ship which duplicated the
structure and equipment of his own, and a number of other
historical pageants, all admirably planned and executed, and
offering a rare entertainment to the many thousands of
visitors who were attracted to Quebec from all parts of the
Dominion and the United States.
The celebration began on the 19th of July and continued
through two weeks.
CANADA: A. D. 1908 (September).
Act to amend Civil Service Act.
See (in this Volume)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: CANADA.
CANADA: A. D. 1909.
The projected Georgian Bay Canal.
Present state of the project.
"The scheme for a canal to give through transport for
ocean-going steamers from Montreal to the Great Lakes may now
be said to have emerged from the field of idealism into that
of practical politics, the need for such a waterway having
been generally recognized by Canadian politicians. In
commercial circles there is the strongest feeling that the
canal works should be put in hand at once, and at the end of
April last a powerful deputation representing 20 Canadian
Boards of Trade and 54 municipalities pressed this point of
view upon the Government. At the present time questions of
finance alone prohibit the practical adoption of the
enterprise. … When the work is started, it will probably be
found that the contract will be entrusted to private
enterprise under Government supervision.
… The present position of the negotiations between the
Government and the canal company is that the latter
corporation having matured its scheme, the Government
engineers have made a report, and a compromise has now to be
effected on those points where the recommendations of the
Government engineers differ from the scheme of construction
drawn up by the Georgian Bay Canal Company.
"The total distance of the route planned by the canal company
engineers between Georgian Bay on Lake Huron to Montreal, the
head of ocean navigation on the St. Lawrence River, is 440
miles. The project is essentially a river and lake
canalization scheme, and for the greater part of its course
the projected route follows the course of the French River and
the Ottawa. River and its lakes. From Georgian Bay to the
summit level it is proposed to utilize the middle channel of
French River to Lake Nipissing. From the northern side of this
lake to the summit level, a distance of over 80 miles from
Georgian Bay, it would be mainly an artificial waterway. From
the summit level, 677 ft. above sea level, there is a long
fall to Montreal, and the route proposed by the canal company
engineers is _via_ Trout and Turtle Lakes, the little
Mattawa River into Talon Lake to Sand Bay, a distance of 21
miles. A canal three miles long would carry the waterway to
the Mattawa River, 13 miles of which would be utilized, and a
short canal cut would give access to the Ottawa River, which
would then be followed for a distance of 293 miles. Thence the
St. Lawrence River or a branch of the Ottawa River, known as
the Back River, would form the new waterway for the last 25
miles. The difference in elevation of 659 ft. between Montreal
and the summit level, and 99 ft. between the summit and
Georgian Bay would be bridged by 27 locks, ranging in lift
from 5 ft. to 50 ft. These locks would be designed for a
length of 940 ft., with a width of 70 ft. and with 22 ft. of
water upon the lock sills, the proposed depth of the canal
being 24 ft.
{71}
The total length of canal cutting for the route is estimated
at from 28 to 34 miles, and in all about 108 miles out of the
total length of 440 miles would require excavation work for
lock approaches, canals, and submerged channels.
"The plans of the Government engineers, as embodied in a
report to the Department Of Public Works, do not differ
materially from those of the canal company. The latter
proposes a 24 ft. waterway, with 22 ft. upon the lock sills;
the Government plans provide for a 22 ft. waterway, which, it
is pointed out, would more than equal the conditions as they
exist to-day in the channels connecting the waters of the
Great Lakes, which govern the draught of boats on the Lakes. …
The opening up of the Great Lakes for the first time to
ocean-going traffic would be an event of the first commercial
magnitude. It is not generally recognized that the trade of
the Lakes is greater than the coasting trade of England, of
France, and of Germany put together. The statistical reports
of Lake commerce passing through the canals at Sault Ste.
Marie, Michigan and Ontario, show that the tonnage passing
through these canals increased during 1897 to 1907 from
18,982,755 to 58,217,214.
"Reference should also be made to the water powers which would
be created by the present plans for the construction of the
canal. The report of the Government engineers states that
nearly 1,000,000 h. p. could be secured along the Ottawa and
French rivers and it is estimated that 100,000 h. p. would be
available within almost a mile of the city of Montreal.
"The question yet to be decided is when can the country afford
to start the work. Sir Robert Perks, M. P., who has been
intimately associated with the scheme, recently submitted an
offer to the Government on behalf of the canal company, who
own the charter, to provide £5,000,000 at a 3 per cent.
guarantee, with ½ per cent. sinking fund, for the construction
of the French River section of the canal, a distance of about
86 miles, and to build docks and warehouses at North Bay on
Lake Nipissing. … It is estimated that it would take ten years
from the inception of the work before the canal would be open
for navigation, and that the total cost would be about
£20,000,000."
_Engineering Correspondence London Times,
August 18, 1909._
CANADA: A. D. 1909.
The Great Mackenzie Basin.
The Newest Canadian West.
A report on the agricultural possibilities of the great
Mackenzie Basin, prepared by a select committee of the
Dominion Senate, was made public in the summer of 1909.
"Basing their calculations upon the testimony of witnesses,
the Committee calculate that some two million square miles
between the northern limits of Saskatchewan and Alberta and
the Arctic Circle can be used for pasturage and for the
cultivation of wheat, barley, potatoes, and other vegetables.
Until a few years ago not only the Mackenzie basin but the
valley of Peace rivers were on account of their high latitudes
considered to be unfit for cultivation. The comparatively mild
climate, which, as the report shows, they in reality enjoy, is
said to be due to the proximity of large bodies of water such
as the Great Slave and Great Bear lakes and to the
_chinook_ wind, the warm current of air that blows across
the Rocky Mountains from the Pacific. The shortness of the
sub-Arctic summer appears to be offset by the proportionate
length of the days and by the clearness of the air. In regard
to the future of the district with which it deals the report
points out that in 1870 the representatives of the people of
Eastern Canada were anxious to obtain in regard to what is now
the prosperous province of Manitoba exactly the same
information as the Committee has been engaged in collecting
about Canada’s ‘newest west.’"
CANADA: A. D. 1909.
The opposition in Newfoundland to union with the Dominion.
See (in this Volume)
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1909.
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (January).
The Waterways Treaty between the United States and Great
Britain, concerning the waters between the former and Canada.
Resulting from the labors of an International Waterways
Commission, appointed four years before, a Waterways Treaty,
having reference to the lakes and rivers that lie along the
boundary between Canada and the United States, was concluded
by Ambassador Bryce, on the part of the British Government,
and Secretary of State Root, on the part of the United States,
in January, 1909. The Treaty was ratified by the Senate of the
United States in the closing hours of the Congressional
session which ended March 4, but with a proviso, in the form
of a resolution attached. The following is a summary of the
provisions of the Treaty as it went to the Senate:
"A preliminary article defines the Canadian and American
boundary waters.
"Article I. enacts that the navigation of these waters,
including Lake Michigan and the canals connecting them, shall
for ever continue free and open for the purposes of commerce
to the inhabitants of both countries. Regulations affecting
canals in the territory of either country shall apply equally
to inhabitants of the other who may wish to make use thereof.
"Article II. reserves to the signatories and to the State and
provincial Governments exclusive control over the use,
diversion, &c., of such waters in their territory as flow into
the boundary waters or across the frontier. Any inhabitant of
either country injured by the use of this privilege will be
entitled to the legal remedies he would have if he were a
native of the defendant country. The contracting parties,
however, reserve the right of objection whenever navigation on
their own side of the boundary is imperilled by any diversion
of water across it.
"Articles III. and IV. provide that no works shall be
undertaken on either side of the line, if such works would be
likely to affect the level of the waters on the other side,
without agreement between the contracting parties and the
sanction of the Joint Commission. Pollution of the waters is
also forbidden.
"Article V., which relates to the diversion of the waters of
Niagara, the control of the level of Lake Erie, and the flow
of the Niagara River, has a clause which states that it is the
desire of both parties to accomplish these objects with the
least possible injury to the investments which have already
been made in the construction of power plants on the United
States side of the Niagara River under grants of authority
from the State of New York, and on the Canadian side of the
river under licenses authorized by the Dominion of Canada and
the Province of Ontario.
{72}
"Article VI. apportions the uses of the St. Mary’s and Milk
rivers and their tributaries in the west.
"Article VII. provides for the creation of an International
Joint Commission, consisting of three representatives of
Canada and three of the United States.
"Article VIII. provides that the Commission shall have
jurisdiction over, and shall decide all cases involving, the
waterways where, under articles III. and IV., their approval
is required, and gives principles for their guidance. The
contracting parties are to have equal and similar rights. The
uses of the water are to be considered in the following
order:—First, domestic and sanitary purposes; secondly,
purposes of navigation; third, purposes of power and
irrigation. The Commission is invested with some discretion
with regard to departure from the principle of equal division,
&c. In case of a tie vote each Commissioner is to make a
separate report to his Government; whereupon the two
Governments shall attempt to reach an agreement.
"The two following articles, IX. and X., requiring that all
disputes shall be referred to the Commission, stand out as the
most important provisions of the treaty. Article IX., after
stating that matters of difference shall be referred to the
Commission whenever either Government desires, goes on to
authorize the Commission in each case so referred to examine
into and report upon the facts and circumstances of the
particular questions referred, together with such conclusions
and recommendations as may be appropriate, subject, however,
to any restrictions or exceptions which may be imposed with
respect thereto by the terms of reference. Such reports of the
Commission are in no way to have the character of an arbitral
award. The Commission shall make joint report to both
Governments in all cases wherein all or a majority of the
Commissioners agree, and in case of disagreement the minority
may make joint report to both Governments, or separate reports
to their respective Governments. In case the Commission is
evenly divided upon any question referred to it, separate
reports shall be made by the Commissioners, one on each side
to their own Government.
"Article X. extends the powers of the Commission by providing
that other matters of difference affecting the rights of
either country may be referred to the Commission. In each case
so referred the Commission is authorized to examine into and
report upon the facts and circumstances of the particular
questions and matters referred, together with such conclusions
and recommendations as may be appropriate, subject, however,
to any restrictions or exceptions which may be imposed with
respect thereto by the terms of reference. A majority of the
Commission shall have power to render a decision or finding
upon any of the questions or matters so referred.
"In the event of a failure of the Commission to agree upon the
issues submitted to them for decision or report, the article
requires the Commissioners to make a joint report to both
Governments, or separate reports to their respective
Governments, showing the different conclusions arrived at with
regard to matters or questions so referred, which shall
thereupon be submitted for decision by the high contracting
parties to an umpire chosen in accordance with procedure
prescribed in the fourth, fifth, and sixth paragraphs of
Article XLV. of The Hague Convention for the pacific
settlement of international disputes, dated October 18, 1907.
Such umpire, the article concludes, shall have power to render
a final decision on matters whereon the Commission have failed
to agree."
The resolution attached to the Treaty by the Senate of the
United States related to the use of waters flowing at the
rapids of St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie, and was
introduced by Senator Smith of Michigan. It is as follows:
"Resolved—As part of this ratification, the United States
approves this treaty, with the understanding that nothing in
the treaty shall be construed as affecting or changing any
existing territorial or riparian right in the water, or the
rights of owners of lands under water, on either side of the
international boundary, at the rapids of St. Mary’s River at
Sault Ste. Marie, in the use of waters flowing over such
lands, subject to the requirements of navigation in the
boundary waters and of the navigation of canals, and without
prejudice to the existing right of the United States and
Canada, each to use the waters of St. Mary’s River within its
own territory; and that this interpretation will be mentioned
in the ratification of this treaty as conveying the true
meaning of the treaty, and will in effect form part of the
treaty."
This stipulation was objectionable to Canada, and the consent
of the Dominion Government to a ratification of the Treaty on
the part of Great Britain was withheld. It has been
understood, however, that the objection will be substantially
removed if the Government of the United States acquires
possession of the lands and riparian property concerned, which
was provided for by an Act of Congress passed in March. The
necessary proceedings will consume some time.
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (February).
The institution of a Department of External Affairs.
An Associated Press despatch from Ottawa, on the 18th of
February, 1909, made known that "the Canadian Government has
announced its intention of creating a portfolio of external
affairs. Heretofore all of the foreign business of Canada has
been carried on through the channel of the British colonial
and foreign office. Even after the external affairs branch is
created by Canada this will be the principal avenue for such
business. That method is cumbersome. In the case of
negotiations with the United States, papers have to cross the
Atlantic twice in passing from Washington to Ottawa, being
sent first to the colonial office and then back to Canada. The
process has been much criticised and both the prime minister
and the opposition leader have declared themselves in favor of
a modification. The creation of the external department is
regarded as the first step. The most radical proposal is the
intimation that in negotiations with the United States there
will hereafter be direct communication between Washington and
Canada, through the medium of the British Ambassador."
{73}
In the British Parliament, on the 4th of March, the Prime
Minister, Mr. Asquith, replied to a question on the subject,
as follows:
"It is understood that the Canadian Government propose to
establish a Department of External Affairs. This department is
merely intended—like the corresponding department of the Com
[Commonwealth?] wealth Government—to conduct correspondence
with the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and his
Majesty’s Ambassador at Washington, and with the several
departments of the Canadian Government. At present delay
occurs in dealing with the correspondence, as there is no
department to conduct the work. No suggestion has been made by
the Canadian Government for the increase of their powers in
dealing with external affairs."
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (February).
Participation in a North American Conference on the
Conservation of Natural Resources.
See (in this Volume)
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: NORTH AMERICA.
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (April).
Statistics of the Budget speech.
Revenue.
Trade.
No increase of taxation.
The following was reported in a despatch from Ottawa, April
20, 1909:
"Notwithstanding the financial stringency of the past year,
which reduced the revenue of Canada by $11,500,000, Mr.
Fielding, Minister of Finance, in his Budget speech today made
the gratifying announcement that there was a surplus of
$1,500,000 for the year ended March 31. The increase in the
net debt was $46,029,000, of which $32,000,000 was for the
National Transcontinental Railway and the Quebec Bridge. The
total trade of the country during the past year was
$553,737,000, a decrease of $97,000,000, principally in
imports. The estimated expenditures for the current year were
$80,078,624. In the judgment of the Government there was no
necessity for increased taxation, but the situation should be
met by a substantial reduction in expenditures."
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (June).
Important ruling by the Railway Commission affecting
American Railways.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: CANADA: A. D. 1909.
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (July-August).
Imperial Defence Conference.
Its agreements.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: MILITARY AND NAVAL.
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (August).
Meeting of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: PHYSICAL.
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (August).
Proposed union of the Maritime Provinces.
A Press despatch of August 19, from Ottawa, reported:
"At a conference of the Boards of Trade of the Maritime
Provinces at Charlottetown a resolution was adopted in favour
of the union of the Maritime Provinces. The Governments of
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island were
asked to appoint a committee to draft terms of union. The
general opinion is that only union can avert the overwhelming
influence of the West in future."
CANADA: A. D. 1909 (December).
Convention relating to obstructions in the St. John River.
"Commissioners have been appointed on the part of the United
States to act jointly with commissioners on the part of Canada
in examining into the question of obstructions in the St. John
River, between Maine and New Brunswick, and to make
recommendations for the regulation of the uses thereof, and
are now engaged in this work."
_Message of the President of the United States to Congress,
December 6, 1909._
CANADA: A. D. 1909-1910.
As affected by the new tariff of the United States.
See (in this Volume)
TARIFFS: UNITED STATES.
CANADA: A. D. 1910.
Anti-Trust Bill in the Dominion Parliament.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: CANADA.
CANADA: A. D. 1910 (January).
Announcement of naval programme.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE PREPARATIONS FOR: NAVAL.
----------CANADA: End--------
CANADA STEEL CORPORATION.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.: CANADA: A. D. 1909.
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY STRIKE, 1908.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: CANADA: A. D. 1907-1908.
CANAL ZONE.
See (in this Volume)
PANAMA CANAL.
CANALS.
See (in this Volume)
PANAMA, GEORGIAN BAY,
and (for Barge Canal) NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1898-1909.
CAMPANILE OF ST. MARK’S, at Venice.
Its fall.
See (in this Volume)
VENICE: A. D. 1902.
CANBERRA,
YASS-CANBERRA.
Chosen site of the Capital of Australia.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1905-1906.
CANCER RESEARCH.
See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH.
CANDAMO, PRESIDENT MANUEL.
See (in this Volume)
PERU.
CAPE COLONY.
See (in this Volume)
SOUTH AFRICA.
CAPITALISTIC COMBINATIONS.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.;
also RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES.
CAPUCHINS:
Forbidden to teach in France.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1903.
CARDUCCI, Giosue.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES.
CARLOS I., King of Portugal.
His assassination.
See (in this Volume)
Portugal: A. D. 1906-1909.
CARMEN SYLVA: Queen of Roumania.
See (in this Volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: ROUMANIA: A. D. 1866-1906.
CARNEGIE, ANDREW:
Gift to Scottish universities and students.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: SCOTLAND: A. D. 1901.
CARNEGIE, ANDREW:
Gift of a building at Washington for the
Bureau of the American Republics.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS, INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF.
CARNEGIE, ANDREW:
Gift of a court house and library for the Permanent Court of
Arbitration at The Hague.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1903.
CARNEGIE, ANDREW:
At Peace Congress in New York.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.
CARNEGIE FOUNDATION, FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF TEACHING.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1908.
CARNEGIE HERO FUNDS.
April 15, 1904, a letter from Andrew Carnegie was made public
announcing that he had set apart a fund of $5,000,000 to be
known as "The Hero Fund." In this letter Mr. Carnegie said:
"We live in an heroic age. Not seldom are we thrilled by deeds
of heroism where men or women are injured or lose their lives
in attempting to preserve or rescue their fellows; such are
the heroes of civilization.
{74}
The heroes of barbarism maimed or killed. I have long felt
that the heroes and those dependent upon them should be freed
from pecuniary cares resulting from their heroism and as a
fund for this purpose I have transferred to a commission
$5,000,000 of collateral 5 per cent bonds of the United States
Steel Corporation." Only such as follow peaceful vocations on
sea or land in the United States or Canada are eligible to
receive money or medals for heroic deeds. The commission which
has charge of the fund has its headquarters in Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania. A similar fund in Great Britain was created soon
afterward by Mr. Carnegie, and in May, 1909, he placed, for
the same purpose, $1,000,000 of the bonds of the United States
Steel Corporation in the hands of trustees in France, under
the sanction of the French Government.
CARNEGIE INSTITUTE, The, at Pittsburg:
Its enlargement and re-dedication.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907.
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION: CARNEGIE INSTITUTION.
CARTAGO, COSTA RICA:
Institution of the Central American Court of Justice.
Gift of a building by Mr. Carnegie.
See (in this Volume)
Central America: A. D. 1908.
CARTELS.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL (IN GERMANY).
CASABLANCA:
Bombardment by French and Spanish fleets.
The Casablanca incident.
See (in this Volume)
MOROCCO: A. D. 1907-1909.
CASEMENT, ROGER: British consul in the Congo State.
His reports.
See (in this Volume)
CONGO STATE: A. D. 1903-1905.
CASTRO, CIPRIANO:
President of Venezuela.
See in this Volume)
VENEZUELA,
also COLOMBIA: 1898-1902.
CASTRO, Luciano de.
See (in this Volume)
PORTUGAL: A. D. 1906-1909.
CATALONIA: A. D. 1902.
Disorders.
See (in this Volume)
SPAIN: A. D. 1905-1906, and 1907-1909.
CATHOLIC DISABILITIES, IN ENGLAND:
Majority vote in Commons for removing.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1909 (May).
CATHOLIC PEOPLE’S PARTY.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1904.
CATSKILL AQUEDUCT.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1905-1909.
CATTLE DRIVING.
See (in this Volume)
IRELAND: A. D. 1902-1908.
CAUCASUS, The:
Conflict of Tartars and Armenians.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1905 (February-November).
CENSORSHIP.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1909.
CENSUS BILL, PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT’S VETO OF THE.
See (in this Volume)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: UNITED STATES.
CENSUS BUREAU, CREATION OF A PERMANENT.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902 (March).
CENTER, or CENTRUM PARTY.
See (in this Volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1906-1907.
----------CENTRAL AMERICA: Start--------
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1901-1906.
Participation of all the states in the Second and Third
International Conferences of American republics.
Their signature of an obligatory arbitration convention.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1902.
Treaty of compulsory arbitration and obligatory peace
between the five republics.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1902.
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1903.
Honduras: Revolution, establishing General Bonilla
in the Presidency.
In the spring of 1903 a rising in Honduras against the
Government was reported to be in progress, under General
Bonilla. Early in March the situation was stated by the
American consular agent at Amapala as follows:
"A great part of the members of the Congress that was in
session in Tegucigalpa, amongst them the President of the
Congress, fled from the capital to the frontier of Salvador
the 30th of January, so that Congress was de facto dissolved
on that date. It seems that the council of ministers formed a
new Congress out of the remaining deputies and the substitutes
of the fugitives. The new Congress proclaimed Dr. Juan Angel
Arias president, and General Maximo B. Rosales vice-president
of the Republic. The new Government was recognized by
Nicaragua, but I do not know if it was recognized by the other
Central American Republics. In the meantime General Bonilla
has gone ahead with his military operations against the new
government. His forces have taken the fortified towns of
Ocotepeque, Santa Rosa, and Gracias, near the frontier of
Nicaragua. On the 22d of February General Bonilla was as
attacked in El Aceituno by General Sierra, the ex-president,
who was completely defeated and escaped with several hundred
men, the remainder of his troops, to the fortified town of
Nacaome, where he still is. General Bonilla has now an army of
about 4,500 men."
In despatches of the 15th and 24th of April, Minister Combs,
who represented the United States in transactions with both
Guatemala and Honduras, advised the State Department that
General Bonilla was in possession of Tegucigalpa; that
ex-President Arias was a prisoner; that peace was restored,
and that Bonilla should be recognized as President.
Accordingly the recognition was given.
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1904.
Nicaragua, Honduras, Salvador, and Guatemala: Peace Conference.
A despatch, August 31, 1904, from the American Minister at San
José, Costa Rica, to the State Department at Washington, was
as follows:
"I have the honor to advise that on the 21st instant, at
Corinto, Nicaragua, the Presidents of Nicaragua, Honduras, and
El Salvador, and a special delegate representing the President
of Guatemala, held a conference ostensibly for the purpose of
securing the peace of Central America. … The parties holding
the conference have issued a lengthy manifesto, which
indicates nothing of interest to our Government except that
the four governments represented are controlled by parties who
will aid each other by military force, if necessary, in
maintaining the status quo, and that the peace of Central
America is thus reasonably assured by making revolutionary
efforts more difficult and less liable to achieve success."
{75}
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1904. Nicaragua and Honduras:
Agreement to arbitrate boundary dispute.
In October, 1904, the United States Government was informed
that Nicaragua and Honduras had agreed to submit a boundary
dispute to the King of Spain.
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1905. Nicaragua:
Treaty with Great Britain concerning the Mosquito Territory.
The following treaty between Great Britain and the Republic of
Nicaragua was signed at Managua, Nicaragua, April 19, 1905:
Article I.
The High Contracting Parties agree that the Treaty of Managua
of January 28, 1860, is and shall remain abrogated.
Article II.
His Britannic Majesty agrees to recognize the absolute
sovereignty of Nicaragua over the territory that constituted
the former Mosquito Reserve, as defined in the aforesaid
Treaty of Managua.
Article III.
In consideration of the fact that the Mosquito Indians were at
one time under the protection of Great Britain, and in view of
the interest that His Majesty’s Government and the Nicaraguan
Government take in their welfare, the Nicaraguan Government
agree to grant them the following concessions:
(a) The Government will submit to the National Assembly a law
exempting, for fifty years from the date of the ratification
of this Treaty, all the Mosquito Indians and the Creoles born
before the year 1894, from military service, and from all
direct taxation on their persons, property, possessions,
animals, and means of subsistence.
(b) The Government will allow the Indians to live in their
villages enjoying the concessions granted by this Convention,
and following their own customs, in so far as they are not
opposed to the laws of the country and to public morality.
(c) The Nicaraguan Government will concede a further period of
two years for them to legalize their rights to the property
acquired in conformity with the Regulations in force before
1894 in the Reserve. The Government will make no charge to the
said inhabitants either for the lands or the measurement
thereof, or for the grant of title-deeds. For this purpose the
title-deeds in the possession of the said Indians and Creoles
before 1894 will be renewed in conformity with the laws, and,
in cases where no such title-deeds exist, the Government will
give to each family, at their place of residence, eight
manzanas of land, if the members of the family do not exceed
four in number, and two manzanas for each person if the family
exceeds that number.
(d) Public pasture lands will be reserved for the use of the
inhabitants in the neighbourhood of each Indian village.
(e) In the event of any Mosquito Indians or Creoles proving
that the lands which they held in conformity with the
Regulations in force before 1894 have been claimed by and
allotted to other persons, the Government will indemnify them
by the grant of suitable public lands of approximate value as
near as possible to their present residences.
Article IV.
The ex-Chief of the Mosquito Indians, Robert Henry Clarence,
will be permitted by the Nicaraguan Government to reside in
the Republic of Nicaragua and to enjoy full protection so long
as he does not transgress the laws, and provided his acts do
not tend to incite the Indians against Nicaragua.
Article V.
The Mosquito Indians, and other inhabitants of the former
Reserve, will enjoy the same rights as are secured by the laws
of Nicaragua to other Nicaraguan citizens.
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1906. Honduras, Guatemala, and Salvador:
War, ended by mediation of the United States and Mexico.
Neither the Convention of Peace and Compulsory Arbitration
signed at Corinto in 1902 by the presidents of all five of the
Central American republics, nor the peace agreement between
four of them two years later, sufficed to prevent an outbreak
of war in 1906 which involved the three states of Honduras,
Guatemala, and Salvador. President Roosevelt, in his annual
Message to Congress that year, referred to the war as having
arisen from "trouble which had existed for some time"; but
does not indicate the nature of the "trouble"; nor is any
light thrown on it in a long diplomatic correspondence between
the parties to it and the governments of the United States and
Mexico, which appears in the American report of Foreign
Relations for 1906. Probably nobody outside of the
belligerents ever learned definitely why they felt called upon
to fight, or what they had to settle when peace was made.
Seemingly Honduras was the aggressor; but the affair seems
hardly worth the trouble of any deep investigation. Its chief
importance is in the successful mediation that was undertaken
jointly by the governments of the United States and Mexico, of
which President Roosevelt made report in the Message referred
to above:
"The thoroughly good understanding which exists between the
United States and Mexico," said the President, "enabled this
Government and that of Mexico to unite in effective mediation
between the warring Republics; which mediation resulted, not
without long-continued and patient effort, in bringing about a
meeting of the representatives of the hostile powers on board
a United States warship as neutral territory, and peace was
there concluded; a peace which resulted in the saving of
thousands of lives and in the prevention of an incalculable
amount of misery and the destruction of property and of the
means of livelihood. The Rio Conference passed the following
resolution in reference to this action:
"‘That the Third International American Conference shall
address to the Presidents of the United States of America and
of the United States of Mexico a note in which the conference
which is being held at Rio expresses its satisfaction at the
happy results of their mediation for the celebration of peace
between the Republics of Guatemala, Honduras, and Salvador.’
"This affords an excellent example of one way in which the
influence of the United States can properly be exercised for
the benefit of the peoples of the Western Hemisphere; that is,
by action taken in concert with other American republics and
therefore free from those suspicions and prejudices which
might attach if the action were taken by one alone."
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The resulting "General Treaty of Peace and Amity, Commerce,
etc., between the Republics of Costa Rica, Salvador,
Guatemala, and Honduras," signed September 25, 1906, involved
solemn engagements in its first four articles, as follows:
"ARTICLE 1.
There shall be perpetual peace and a frank, loyal, and sincere
friendship among the Republics of Costa Rica, Salvador,
Guatemala, and Honduras, each and every one of the aforesaid
Governments being in duty bound to consider as one of their
principal obligations the maintenance of such peace and the
preservation of such friendship, by endeavoring to contribute
every means to procure the desired end, and to remove, as far
as lies in their power, any obstacles, whatever their nature,
which might prevent it. In order to secure such ends they
shall always unite when the importance of the case demands it,
to foster their moral, intellectual, and industrial progress,
thus making their interests one and the same, as it becomes
sister countries.
"ARTICLE 2.
In the event, which is not to be expected, that any of the
high contracting parties should fail to comply with or cause
any deviation from any of the subjects agreed to in the
present treaty, such event, as well as any particular
difficulty which may arise between them, shall necessarily be
settled by the civilized means of arbitration.
"ARTICLE 3.
The Governments of Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, in
conformity with the stipulations of the treaty executed on
board the _Marblehead_, hereby appoint as umpires, Their
Excellencies the Presidents of the United States of America
and of the United Mexican States, to whom all particular
difficulties arising among said Governments shall be submitted
for arbitration.
"For the purpose of agreeing on the manner to effect such
arbitration, the above-mentioned Republics shall accredit, at
the latest within three months from this date, their
respective legations near the Governments of the United States
of America and Mexico, and in the meanwhile arbitration shall
be ruled according to the stipulations of the treaty of
compulsory arbitration concluded in Mexico on the 29th of
January, 1902.
"ARTICLE 4.
Guatemala not having subscribed to the Corinto convention of
January 20, 1902, Costa Rica, Salvador, and Honduras do hereby
respectively declare, that said Corinto convention is to
continue in force, and that any particular difference which
may arise among them shall be settled in conformity with the
aforesaid convention and with the regulations established by
the Central American court of arbitration on the 9th of
October of that year."
Notwithstanding these grave pledges to each other, three of
the parties to this treaty were at war the next year.
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1907.
Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador: War.
Mexican and American Mediation.
The Washington Peace Conference.
General Treaty of Peace and Amity.
Central American Court of Justice.
In February, 1907, a fresh outbreak of Central American war
occurred, originally between Nicaragua and Honduras, but
involving Salvador, presently, in alliance with Honduras. The
arbitration convention of 1904 had not accomplished a specific
settlement of the boundary disputes between Honduras and
Nicaragua, and President Zelaya, of the latter republic,
accused the former of encroachments. Mexico and the United
States had endeavored to pacify the disputants before
hostilities began, but without success. The quarrel was fought
out, and a complete victory won by Nicaragua, whose forces
captured the Honduran capital and drove President Bonilla from
the country. A provisional government was established in
Honduras and terms of peace arranged, April 24th. Then the
good offices of President Roosevelt and President Diaz were
employed again, with the result which the former communicated
to Congress in his Message of December 3, 1907, as follows:
"The effort to compose this new difficulty has resulted in the
acceptance of the joint suggestion of the Presidents of Mexico
and of the United States for a general peace conference
between all the countries of Central America. On the 17th day
of September last a protocol was signed between the
representatives of the five Central American countries
accredited to this Government agreeing upon a conference to be
held in the City of Washington 'in order to devise the means
of preserving the good relations among said Republics and
bringing about permanent peace in those countries.’ The
protocol includes the expression of a wish that the Presidents
of the United States and Mexico should appoint
‘representatives to lend their good and impartial offices in a
purely friendly way toward the realization of the objects of
the conference.’ The conference is now in session and will
have our best wishes and, where it is practicable, our
friendly assistance."
The first regular session of the Conference was held on the
14th of November, the place of meeting being the building of
the International Bureau of the American Republics. In
addition to the delegates present from the States of Costa
Rica, Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, the
Republic of Mexico designated Señor Don Enrique C. Creel,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United
States, and the United States designated Honorable William I.
Buchanan, as representatives from Mexico and the United States
at the conference. The Honorable Elihu Root, Secretary of
State of the United States, was present, also, at the first
session, over which he presided until the organization of the
Conference had been effected. His opening address to the
Conference included these wise and impressive remarks:
"We cannot fail, gentlemen, to be admonished by the many
failures which have been made by the people of Central America
to establish agreement among themselves which would be
lasting, that the task you have before you is no easy one. The
trial has often been made and the agreements which have been
elaborated, signed, ratified, seem to have been written in
water. Yet I cannot resist the impression that we have at last
come to the threshold of a happier day for Central America.
"It would ill become me to attempt to propose or suggest the
steps which you should take, but I will venture to observe
that the all-important thing for you to accomplish is that
while you enter into agreements which will, I am sure, be
framed in consonance with the most peaceful aspirations and
the most rigid sense of justice, you shall devise also some
practical methods under which it will be possible to secure
the performance of those agreements.
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The mere declaration of general principles, the mere agreement
upon lines of policy and of conduct are of little value unless
there be practical and definite methods provided by which the
responsibility for failing to keep the agreement may be fixed
upon some definite person, and the public sentiment of Central
America brought to bear to prevent the violation. The
declaration that a man is entitled to his liberty would be of
little value with us in this country were it not for the writ
of _habeas corpus_ that makes it the duty of a specific
judge, when applied to, to inquire into the cause of his
detention, and set him at liberty if he is unjustly detained.
The provision which declares that a man should not be deprived
of his property without due process of law would be of little
value were it not for the practical provision which imposes on
specific officers the duty of nullifying every attempt to take
away a man’s property without due process of law.
"To find practical definite methods by which you shall make it
somebody’s duty to see that the great principles you declare
are not violated, by which if an attempt be made to violate
them the responsibility may be fixed upon the guilty
individual—those, in my judgment, are the problems to which
you should specifically and most earnestly address
yourselves."
The address of Secretary Root was followed by one of excellent
counsel from the Mexican Ambassador, and a reply to both was
made, on behalf of the Conference, by Señor Don Luis Anderson,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica. The Conference then
elected its officers, choosing Minister Anderson for its
President, and proceeded to the transaction of business.
Fourteen sessions were held between November 14 and December
20, resulting from which eight conventions were agreed to and
signed on the latter date. These conventions are:
General Treaty of Peace and Amity;
Additional Convention to the General Treaty;
Establishing a Central American Court of Justice;
Extradition;
On Future Conferences (Monetary);
On Communications;
Establishing an International Central American Bureau;
and Establishing a Pedagogical Institute.
The essential provisions of the General Treaty of Peace and
Amity are in the following articles:
"ARTICLE I.
The Republics of Central America consider as one of their
first duties in their mutual relations, the maintenance of
peace; and they bind themselves to always preserve the most
complete harmony, and decide every difference or difficulty
that may arise amongst them, of whatsoever nature it may be,
by means of the Central American Court of Justice, created by
the Convention which they have concluded for that purpose on
this date."
"Article III.
Bearing in mind the central geographical position of Honduras
and the facilities which this circumstance has afforded in
order that its territory should have been most often the
theatre of Central American conflicts, Honduras declares from
now on its absolute neutrality in any event of conflict
amongst the other Republics; and the latter, in their turn,
provided such neutrality be observed, bind themselves to
respect it and in no case to violate the Honduranean
territory.
"ARTICLE IV.
Bearing in mind the advantages which must be gained from the
creation of Central American institutions for the development
of their most vital interests, besides the Pedagogical
Institute and the International Central American Bureau which
have been established according to the Conventions celebrated
to that end by this Conference, the creation of a practical
Agricultural School in the Republic of Salvador, one of Mines
and Mechanics in that of Honduras, and another of Arts and
Trades in that of Nicaragua, is especially recommended to the
Governments.
"ARTICLE V.
In order to cultivate the relations between the States, the
contracting parties obligate themselves each to accredit to
the others a permanent Legation.
"ARTICLE VI.
The citizens of one of the contracting parties, residing in
the territory of any of the others, shall enjoy the same civil
rights as nationals, and shall be considered as citizens in
the country of their residence if they fulfill the conditions
which the respective constituent laws provide. Those that are
not naturalized shall be exempt from obligatory military
service, either by sea or land, and from every forced loan or
military requirement, and they shall not be obliged on any
account to make more contributions or ordinary or
extraordinary imposts than those which nationals pay."
"ARTICLE X.
The Governments of the contracting Republics bind themselves
to respect the inviolability of the right of asylum aboard the
merchant vessels of whatsoever nationality anchored in their
ports. Therefore, only persons accused of common crimes and by
order of the competent judge, after due legal procedure, can
be taken from them. Those prosecuted on account of political
crimes or common crimes in connection with political ones, can
only be taken therefrom in case they have embarked in a port
of the State which claims them, whilst they may remain in its
jurisdictional waters, and after the requirements hereinbefore
exacted in the case of common crime have been fulfilled."
"ARTICLE XIV.
Public instruments executed in one of the contracting
Republics shall be valid in the others, provided they shall
have been properly authenticated and in their execution the
laws of the Republic whence they proceed shall have been
observed."
"ARTICLE XVI.
Desiring to prevent one of the most frequent causes of
disturbances in the Republics, the contracting Governments
shall not permit the head men or principal chiefs of political
emigrations, nor agents thereof, to reside in the departments
fronting on the countries whose peace they might disturb.
"Those who may have been actually established in a permanent
manner in a frontier department shall be able to remain in the
place of their residence under the immediate surveillance of
the Governments affording them an asylum, but from the moment
when they become a menace to public order they shall be
included in the rule of the preceding paragraph.
"ARTICLE XVII.
Every person, no matter what his nationality, who, within the
territory of one of the contracting parties, shall initiate or
foster revolutionary movements against any of the others,
shall be immediately brought to the capital of the Republic,
where he shall be submitted to trial according to law."
"ARTICLE XIX.
The present Treaty shall remain in force for the term of ten
years counted from the day of the exchange of ratifications.
Nevertheless, if one year before the expiration of said term,
none of the contracting parties shall have given special
notice to the others concerning its intention to terminate it,
it shall remain in force until one year after such
notification may have been made."
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The "Additional Convention to the General Treaty "is in three
articles, as follows:
"ARTICLE I.
The Governments of the High Contracting Parties shall not
recognize any other Government which may come into power in
any of the five Republics as a consequence of a coup d’Etat,
or of a revolution against the recognized Government, so long
as the representatives of the people, freely elected, have not
constitutionally reorganized the country.
"ARTICLE II.
No Government of Central America shall in case of civil war
intervene in favor of or against the Government of the country
where the struggle may take place.
"Article III.
The Governments of Central America, in the first place, are
recommended to endeavor to procure by the means at their
command a constitutional reform in the sense of prohibiting
the reëlection of the President of a Republic, where such
prohibition does not exist, in the second place to adopt all
measures necessary to effect a complete guarantee of the
principle of alternation in power."
The "Convention for the Establishment of a Central American
Court of Justice" contains thirty-eight articles, with a
"Provisional Article" and an "Annexed Article" appended. The
more important provisions are in the following:
"ARTICLE I.
The High Contracting Parties agree by the present Convention
to constitute and maintain a permanent tribunal which shall be
called the ‘Central American Court of Justice,’ to which they
bind themselves to submit all controversies or questions which
may arise among them, of whatsoever nature and no matter what
their origin may be, in case the respective Departments of
Foreign Affairs should not have been able to reach an
understanding.
"ARTICLE II.
This Court shall also take cognizance of the questions which
individuals of one Central American country may raise against
any of the other contracting Governments, because of the
violation of Treaties or Conventions, and other cases of an
international character; no matter whether his own Government
supports said claim or not; and provided that the remedies
which the laws of the respective country provide against such
violation shall have been exhausted and that a denial of
justice shall be shown.
"ARTICLE III.
It shall also take cognizance of the cases which by common
accord contracting Governments may submit to it, no matter
whether they arise between two or more of them or between one
of said Governments and individuals.
[Footnote: After signing the treaties an omission was
discovered in this Article. An additional protocol was
thereupon signed by all the delegates adding to this Article,
and to be considered as an integral part of the Convention,
the following words:
"It shall also have jurisdiction over cases arising between
any of the contracting Governments and individuals, when by
common accord they may have been submitted to it.]
"Article IV.
The Court may likewise take cognizance of the international
questions which by special agreement any one of the Central
American Governments and a foreign Government may have
determined to submit to it.
"ARTICLE V.
The Central American Court of Justice shall sit at the City of
Cartago in the Republic of Costa Rica, but it shall be
authorized to transfer its residence to another point in
Central America when it may deem it proper to do so for
reasons of health, of guaranteeing the exercise of its
functions, or of the personal security of its members.
"ARTICLE VI.
The Central American Court of Justice shall consist of five
Justices named, one from each Republic and selected from among
the jurists who possess the qualifications which the laws of
each country may exact for the exercise of high judicial
functions, and enjoy the highest consideration, not only
because of their moral character but also on account of their
professional ability. The vacancies shall be filled by
substitute Justices, named at the same time and in the same
manner as the regular ones and who shall unite the same
qualifications as the former. The attendance of the five
Justices who constitute the Tribunal is indispensable in order
to have a legal quorum in the judgments of the Court.
"ARTICLE VII.
The legislative power of each one of the five contracting
Republics shall name one regular and two substitutes as their
respective Justices. The salary of each Justice shall be eight
thousand dollars, gold, per annum, which shall be paid by the
Treasury of the Court. The salary of the Justice of the place
where the Court resides shall be designated by the respective
Government. Besides, each State shall contribute two thousand
dollars, gold, annually for the ordinary and extraordinary
expenses of the Tribunal. The Governments of the contracting
Republics bind themselves to include their respective
contributions in their budgets of expenses and to remit
quarterly in advance to the Treasury of the Court the
proportion which corresponds to them on account of such
expenditures."
"ARTICLE XIII.
The Central American Court of Justice represents the national
conscience of Central America, wherefore the Justices who
compose the Tribunal shall not consider themselves prohibited
from the exercise of their functions because of the interest
which the Republics, whence they derive their appointment, may
have in any case or question. With regard to implications and
challenges, the rules of procedure which the Court may fix
shall make proper provision."
"ARTICLE XXII.
The Court is authorized to determine its jurisdiction,
interpreting the Treaties and Conventions germane to the
matter in dispute, applying the principles of international
law.
"ARTICLE XXIII.
Every final or interlocutory decision shall be rendered in
accordance with the agreement of at least three of the
Justices of the Court. In case of disagreement, one of the
substitute Justices shall be chosen by lot, and if still a
majority of three be not obtained other Justices shall
continue to be chosen by lot until three votes in the same
sense shall have been obtained.
"ARTICLE XXIV.
The decisions must be in writing and shall contain a statement
of the reasons upon which they are based. They must be signed
by all the Justices of the Court and countersigned by the
Secretary. Once they have been published they cannot be
altered on any account; but, at the request of any of the
parties, the Tribunal may decide the interpretation which must
be given to its judgment.
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"Article XXV.
The judgments of the Court shall be communicated to the five
Governments of the Contracting Republics. The interested
parties solemnly bind themselves to submit to said judgment;
and they all agree to lend every moral support that may be
necessary in order that they may be properly fulfilled, in
this manner constituting a real and positive guarantee of
respect for this Convention and for the Central American Court
of Justice."
"Article XXVII.
The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare that for no
motive nor in any case will they consider the present
Convention as lapsed; and that, therefore, they will consider
it as being always in force during the term of ten years
counted from last ratification. In the event that the
political entity of one or more of the Contracting Republics
is changed or altered, the attributes of the Central American
Court of Justice created by this Convention shall be suspended
_ipso facto_; and a conference to adjust the constitution
of said Court and the new order of things shall be forthwith
convoked by the respective Governments; in case they do not
unanimously agree the present Convention shall be considered
as rescinded."
"PROVISIONARY ARTICLE.
As a recommendation of the five Delegations an Article is
annexed which contains an amplification of the Central
American Court of Justice, in order that the Legislatures that
may deem it proper may see fit to include it upon ratifying
this Convention."
"ANNEXED ARTICLE.
The Central American Court of Justice shall also have
jurisdiction over the conflicts which may arise between the
Legislative, Executive and Judicial Powers, and when as a
matter of fact the judicial decisions and congressional
resolutions are not respected."
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1908.
Inauguration of the Central American Court of Justice.
Gift of a building for its use by Mr. Carnegie.
The Central American Court of Justice, contemplated in the
treaty of 1907, quoted above, was formally instituted, at
Cartago, Costa Rica, with appropriate ceremony, in the last
week of May, 1908. The Honorable William I. Buchanan, in
attendance as Commissioner from the United States, added
interest to the occasion by announcing the proffer of a gift
of $100,000 by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, for the erection of a
building to be dedicated to the exclusive use of the Court.
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1909.
Financial undertakings in New York.
Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
In the summer of 1909 various financial undertakings by great
banking houses in New York were announced, involving some
handling of the debts of Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
It was thought that these operations were in line with efforts
of the State Department at Washington and the Bureau of
American Republics to bring about the establishment of a chain
of American banking houses in the Latin-American countries,
for the advancement of American trade and the promotion of
more intimate Pan-American relations.
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1909.
Nicaragua.
Establishment of a colony of Sioux Indians from
the United States.
A dispatch to the Press from Boston, November 17, 1909, made
the following statement:
"To save the remnant of the Sioux tribe of Indians from
extinction by consumption and other diseases, a colony of the
Indians will be established in Nicaragua early in the new
year. Chief Little Bison, a full-blooded Sioux, sailed from
Boston on the steamship Esparta to-day for Nicaragua, where he
will receive the deeds to 16,000 acres of land granted by the
Nicaraguan government for the establishment of the colony. The
project is supported financially by F. S. Dellenbaugh, head of
the American Geographical Society, and several wealthy New
York people. The emigration of the Indians is expected to
begin in January."
CENTRAL AMERICA: A. D. 1909.
President Zelaya a menace to peace.
His conduct trying the patience of the United States.
In the early spring of 1909 the disturbing attitude and
conduct of the Nicaraguan President, Zelaya, not only towards
his near neighbors of Salvador and Honduras, but also in the
relations of his Government with that of the United States,
had caused the latter to enter again into consultation with
the Mexican Government, as to joint action to preserve peace.
For some years the United States had been trying to bring
about the settlement of a claim against the Nicaraguan
Government preferred by an American company. This Emery claim,
as it was known, arose in connection with a concession granted
in 1898 for cutting and exporting mahogany. The concession
provided that any differences which should arise between the
Government and the company should be arbitrated by a tribunal
of three members, one to be selected by the Government, one by
the company, and the third by these two arbitrators. In 1903
an accusation of smuggling was brought against the company,
and the questions raised were submitted to the stipulated
tribunal. This decided that, inasmuch as the company had paid
taxes to the Government three years in advance, amounting to
$30,000, the concession could not be annulled, as President
Zelaya wished to have done. Nevertheless Zelaya declared it
annulled, and caused proceedings to be instituted for stopping
the company’s exportations. This led the American Government
to interpose. Under instructions from Washington, its Minister
at Managua, Mr. Merry, addressed the following note to the
Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Affairs, December 15, 1906:
"I have the honor to inform you that I have received
instructions from my Government to make an urgent and firm
request that your Excellency’s Government will settle the
Emery company controversy by an international arbitration, and
that until a decision has been given thereby, your
Excellency’s Government will restore to the Emery company all
its property, dismissing all legal prosecutions in the case,
and permitting the company to resume its work under its
concession, as if no controversy had arisen."
This communication secured a promise of the desired
international arbitration, and the stopping meantime of
proceedings of interference with the company’s business. But
when the protocol of arbitration was to be drawn the
Nicaraguan Government refused to have any question of damages
to the company included. On this contention the settlement was
blocked for more than two years, and the patience of the
Washington Government was about worn out. In just what
wrappings of diplomatic language it made that fact apparent
has not yet been disclosed to the public; but evidently the
understanding of Señor Zelaya was duly penetrated.
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On the 26th of May last (1909) his representative at
Washington signed a protocol which provided that the questions
at issue between the Government of Nicaragua and the Emery
Company should be submitted to arbitration, unless the parties
could make their own settlement within four months.
This, however, did not end troubles with Nicaragua,—or,
rather, with its presidential dictator. Revolutionary attempts
in the republic to unseat him gave rise to new offenses on his
part against the United States, which President Taft, in his
Message to Congress, December 6, 1909, recounted as follows:
"Since the Washington conventions of 1907 were communicated to
the government of the United States as a consulting and
advising party, this government has been almost continuously
called upon by one or another, and in turn by all of the five
Central American republics, to exert itself for the
maintenance of the conventions. Nearly every complaint has
been against the Zelaya government of Nicaragua, which has
kept Central America in constant tension or turmoil. The
responses made to the representations of Central American
republics, as due from the United States on account of its
relation to the Washington conventions, have been at all times
conservative and have avoided, so far as possible, any
semblance of interference, although it is very apparent that
the considerations of geographic proximity to the Canal Zone
and of the very substantial American interests in Central
America give to the United States a special position in the
zone of these republics and the Caribbean Sea.
"I need not rehearse here the patient efforts of this
government to promote peace and welfare among these republics,
efforts which are fully appreciated by the majority of them
who are loyal to their true interests. It would be no less
unnecessary to rehearse here the sad tale of unspeakable
barbarities and oppression alleged to have been committed by
the Zelaya government. Recently two Americans were put to
death by order of President Zelaya himself. They were officers
in the organized forces of a revolution which had continued
many weeks and was in control of about half of the republic,
and as such, according to the modern enlightened practice of
civilized nations, they were entitled to be dealt with as
prisoners of war.
"At the date when this message is printed this government has
terminated diplomatic relations with the Zelaya government,
for reasons made public in a communication to the former
Nicaraguan chargé d’affaires, and is intending to take such
future steps as may be found most consistent with its dignity,
its duty to American interests, and its moral obligations to
Central America and to civilization. It may be necessary for
me to bring this subject to the attention of the Congress in a
special message."
Some days previous to the date of the President’s Message, the
Secretary of State, Mr. Knox, had addressed a letter of
extreme severity to the Nicaraguan Chargé d’Affaires at
Washington, Mr. Rodriguez, reviewing the conduct of the
Nicaraguan Government, and saying: "In these circumstances the
President no longer feels for the government of President
Zelaya that respect and confidence which would make it
appropriate hereafter to maintain with it regular diplomatic
relations, implying the will and the ability to respect and
assure what is due from one State to another." The conclusion
of the letter was as follows: "To insure the future protection
of legitimate American interests, in consideration of the
interests of the majority of the Central American republics,
and in the hope of making more effective the friendly offices
exerted under the Washington conventions, the government of
the United States reserves for further consideration at the
proper time the question of stipulating also that the
constitutional government of Nicaragua obligate itself by
convention for the benefit of all the governments concerned as
a guarantee for its future loyal support of the Washington
conventions and their peaceful and progressive aims.
"From the foregoing it will be apparent to you that your
office of charge d’affaires is at an end. I have the honor to
enclose your passports for use in case you desire to leave
tins country. I would add at the same time that, although your
diplomatic quality is terminated, I shall be happy to receive
you as I shall be happy to receive the representative of the
revolution, each as the unofficial channel of communication
between the government of the United States and the de facto
authorities to whom I look for the protection of American
interests pending the establishment in Nicaragua of a
government with which the United States can maintain
diplomatic relations."
President Zelaya at once protested against this arraignment,
telegraphing to Secretary Knox that his sources of information
had been prejudiced, and asking that the United States send a
commission of investigation, proposing to resign if his
administration was shown to be detrimental to Nicaragua.
Receiving no reply, he resigned the presidency of Nicaragua on
the 16th of December, announcing the fact by cable to
President Taft in these words:
"To avoid harm to my country, and desiring that it shall renew
friendly relations with the United States, I have to-day sent
my resignation to Congress. As my opponents consider my
presence a disturbing factor, I propose to show my good faith
by leaving Nicaragua. I stand ready to account for my acts."
The vacant presidential office was filled by the Congress of
Nicaragua, which elected Dr. Madriz, the choice having been
dictated, it was believed, by Zelaya. The revolutionists with
whom Zelaya had been contending since October, and who had, on
their part, elected and proclaimed their leader, General Juan
Estrada, Provisional President of Nicaragua, refused to
recognize this Congressional election, and continued, against
the government of Madriz, the revolt they had organized
against Zelaya, determined to secure for Estrada the power to
order a presidential election by the people.
On Christmas Eve Zelaya left Nicaragua for Mexico, being
conveyed by a Mexican gunboat from Corinto to Salina Cruz. A
few weeks later he migrated to Europe and is understood to
have taken up his residence in Belgium.
The revolt led by General Estrada is still in progress at the
time this writing goes into print (early in March, 1910), but
the latest reports do not warrant expectations of its success.
----------CENTRAL AMERICA: End--------
{81}
CENTRAL AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
See, (in this Volume) also,
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
CENTRAL BANK QUESTION.
See (in this Volume)
FINANCE AND TRADE: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909-1910.
CENTRO CATOLICO.
See (in this Volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1907.
CHAFFEE, Major-General Adna R.:
Military Governor of the Philippines.
See (in this Volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901.
CHAFIN, Eugene W.:
Nominated for President of the United States.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (APRIL-NOVEMBER).
CHAMBERLAIN, Austen:
Postmaster-General in the English Ministry.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (JULY).
CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph:
Address at opening of Colonial Conference of 1902.
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE.
CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph:
On a State-rights question in Australia.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1902.
CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph:
Declaration for Preferential Trade with the Colonies.
His resignation from the Cabinet.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903 (MAY-SEPTEMBER).
CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph:
Visit to South Africa.
Views on the Labor question.
See (in this Volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1903-1904.
CHAMPLAIN TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1909.
CHANG CHIH-TUNG:
Measures as viceroy to check the use of opium.
See (in this Volume)
OPIUM PROBLEM.
CHANTABUN:
Restored to Siam.
See (in this Volume)
SIAM: A. D. 1902.
CHANUTE, OCTAVE.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: AERONAUTICS.
CHARITIES.
See (in this Volume)
POVERTY, PROBLEMS OF; SOCIAL BETTERMENT; and
CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW.
CHARLES I., King of Roumania.
What he has done for his kingdom.
See (in this Volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: ROUMANIA.
CHARLES, Prince, of Denmark:
Election to the Norwegian Throne.
Assumes the name of Haakon VII.
See (in this Volume)
NORWAY: A. D. 1902-1905.
CHARLESTON: A. D. 1901.
The "South Carolina and Interstate and West Indian
Exposition."
Under this name, a very beautiful and successful exhibit of
the progress of Southern industry and art, and of the
possibilities of West Indian and Spanish-American trade, was
opened at Charleston on the 1st of December, 1901. The site of
the exposition was a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of
ground, only two and a half miles from the business section of
the city, embracing the famous old Lowndes estate, with its
historic mansion, which the present owner permitted to be used
as the Women’s Building of the occasion. Fine taste and a high
public spirit entered into the making of this very interesting
Fair.
CHARTREUX MONKS.
See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1904 (June-July).
CHEMULPHO.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-JULY) and (FEBRUARY-AUGUST).
CHICAGO: A. D. 1896-1909.
Institution and work of the Municipal Voters’ League.
See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: CHICAGO.
CHICAGO: A. D. 1899.
Institution of the first Juvenile Court.
See (in this Volume)
CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS OFFENDERS.
CHICAGO: A. D. 1903.
The burning of the Iroquois Theater.
Chicago has now two of the most painful memories of fire that
are in the past of any city. The second was added on the
afternoon of December 30, 1903, when 588 people perished in
the burning of the Iroquois Theater. The audience was made up
principally of women and children, many of whom belonged to
prominent families. The whole city was plunged in grief, and
the whole world shared in the sorrow and manifested its
sympathy. The theater was a new one, and was regarded as the
best of any in the city in its method of construction. But
inquiry soon proved that it was defective in its provisions
for safety. Further examination, moreover, showed a similar
condition in other places of assembly, with the result that
all the theaters, with many churches and halls in Chicago,
were closed by order of the mayor, pending their compliance
with certain provisions of the law.
CHICAGO: A. D. 1905.
Strike of the Teamsters’ Union.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905 (APRIL-JULY).
CHICAGO: A. D. 1905-1908.
Struggle for a better charter.
See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
CHICAGO: A. D. 1906.
Packing-House Investigation.
See (in this Volume)
Public Health: PURE FOOD LAWS: UNITED STATES.
CHICAGO: A. D. 1907.
National Conference on Trusts.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907.
CHICAGO: A. D. 1909.
Population, and race mixture.
The City Statistician of Chicago, in his manual for 1909,
gives the number of the inhabitants of the city as 2,572,835,
of whom 699,554 are Americans or persons whose parents are not
foreign born. The Germans rank second, with a population of
563,708; the Irish third, with a population of 240,560. Next
come the Poles, with 173,409; the Swedes, with 143,307; the
Russians, with 123,238; the Bohemians, with 116,549. Thirty
other foreign countries given are all below the 100,000 mark.
The Chinese population is given as 1,801, the Japanese as 257.
The Albanians are the lowest, with a population of 39.
CHICAGO: A. D. 1909.
"The Chicago Plan."
Systematizing the future development.