Chapter V: Preface: To the Sixth Volume (4)

Commenting in another place on the discoveries in Crete, Mr.
Hogarth has pointed out their effect in modifying the ideas
heretofore entertained of the importance of Phoenician
influence in the rise of European civilization. "For many
years now," he writes, "we have had before our eyes two
standing protests against the traditional claim of Phoenicia
to originate European civilization, and those protests come
from two regions which Phoenician influence, travelling west,
ought first to have affected, namely, Cyprus and Asia Minor.
In both these regions exist remains of early systems of
writing which are clearly not of Phoenician descent. Both the
Cypriote syllabic script and the 'Hittite' symbols must have
been firmly rooted in their homes before ever the convenient
alphabet of Sidon and Tyre was known there. And now, since Mr.
Evans has demonstrated the existence of two non-Phoenician
systems of writing in Crete also, the use of one of which has
been proved to extend to the Cyclades and the mainland of
Greece, it has become evident that we have to deal in
south-eastern Europe, as well as in Cyprus or Asia Minor, with
a non-Phoenician influence of civilization which, since it
could originate that greatest of achievements, a local script,
was quite powerful enough to account by itself also for the
local art.

{25}

"Those who continue to advocate the Phoenician claim do not
seem sufficiently to realize that nowadays they have to take
account neither only of the Homeric age nor only of even half
a millennium before Homer, but of an almost geologic
antiquity. Far into the third millennium B. C. at the very
least, and more probably much earlier still, there was a
civilization in the Aegean and on the Greek mainland which,
while it contracted many debts to the East and to Egypt, was
able to assimilate all that it borrowed, and to reissue it in
an individual form, expressed in products which are not of the
same character with those of any Eastern civilization that we
know."

_D. G. Hogarth,
Authority and Archaeology Sacred and Profane,
part 2, pages 237-238
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons)._

"During the past season, Evans, discoverer of the now famous
early Cretan systems of writing, Halbherr and other Italians,
as well as the French, have been proving what was already
foreshadowed, that in Crete we find in its purest form and in
all its historic and racial phases that Mediterranean
civilization,—Pelasgic and Achæan,—that culminated in Tiryns
and Mykenae. We now see that Homer sings of the closing years
of a culture that dates back of the 'Trojan 'War' at least for
fifteen hundred years. Crete is found to be covered with
ruined Pelasgic cities, surrounded by gigantic polygonal
walls, crowned by acropoli, adorned with royal palaces,
defended by forts, connected by artificial highways, and with
necropoli of vaulted tombs like those discovered by Schliemann
at Mykenae. Already the royal palaces and libraries are being
unearthed at Cnossos and 'Goulâs' with sculptures and
decoration of the most novel description and early date. A
literature in an unknown tongue and in undeciphered scripts is
being found, to puzzle scholars as much perhaps as the Hittite
and Etruscan languages. Some day these 'Pelasgic' documents
will disclose the secrets of a neglected civilization and fill
up the gap between early Eastern and Hellenic cultures."

_A. L. Frothingham, Jr.,
Archæological Progress
(International Monthly, December, 1900)._

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: India:
Discovery of the birthplace, tomb and relics of Gautama Buddha,

See (in this volume)
BUDDHA.

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: Troy:
Later researches on the site.

"Dr. Doerpfeld finished in 1894 the exploration which he had
begun in 1893 on the site of the excavations of Schliemann at
Hissarlik (Troia). It appears to be established that
Schliemann, carried away by his zeal, had overlooked the very
end which he wished to attain, and that the burnt city, which
he thought to be the real Troia, is a more ancient foundation
going back beyond the year 2000 B. C. M. Doerpfeld discerned,
in one of the layers of ruins (discovered but disregarded by
Schliemann), a city which must be the Ilios of Priam
contemporaneous with the Mykenai of Agamemnon; he removed the
surrounding walls, the towers, and some of the houses that
filled it. It is to be understood that this little acropolis,
analogous to that of Tiryns, is not the whole of the city but
simply its citadel, which Homer called 'Pergamos.' It was
surrounded, lower down, by a city reserved for the habitation
of the common people, some traces of which also have been
found."

_American Journal of Archœology, 1896._

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: Italy:
Excavations at Antemnæ disclose what early Rome
was probably like.

"We can show what the earliest Rome was, the Rome of Romulus
on the Palatine, and how it grew to be the City of the Seven
Hills. The City itself, crowded with the wrecks of twenty-five
centuries, preserves to-day few memorials of its earliest age;
but excavations made on two sites, one close to Rome, one a
little further north in Etruria, explain the process very
clearly. The traveller who approaches Rome by the Via Salaria
sees, just where Tiber and Anio join, a modern fort on an
isolated rock. Here was Antemnae, destroyed (according to
legend) by Roman jealousy very soon after Rome itself was
founded. The legend seems to be true, at least in substance.
On this hilltop excavations have shown a little village within
a wall of stone: it had its temple and senate-house, its
water-cistern, and square huts, thatched or timbered, for
dwelling-houses. The relics found there shew that the site was
abandoned, never to be again inhabited, about the time at
which the legend fixes the fall of Antemnae. Here we have
Rome's earliest rival. From the rival we may guess what the
earliest Rome was like on the Palatine rock, and what all the
little Italian towns were in their infancy."

_F. Haverfield,
Authority and Archaeology Sacred and Profane,
part 2, pages 302-303
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons)._

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: Italy:
The Etruscans.

"During the decade which is now ending, archaeology has thrown
some light on this strange people. Researches in North Italy
prove that it never entered the Peninsula from the north.
Researches in Etruria itself prove that the earliest Etruscan
civilization resembled that which prevailed in the Eastern
Mediterranean in the last days of the Aegean period. After
all, the old legends were right. The ancients told how the
Etruscans came from the east: archaeological evidence is now
accumulating to confirm the legends. Precisely when they came
or why is still obscure, nor can we identify them yet with any
special tribe in pre-historic Greece, Pelasgian or other.
Probably they were driven from their old homes, like the
Phoenicians who built Carthage and the Phocaeans who built
Marseilles."

_F. Haverfield,
Authority and Archaeology Sacred and Profane,
part 2, page 305
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons)._

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: Italy:
Sunken Roman vessels in Lake Nemi.

"A discovery during 1895 which made a great sensation
throughout Italy, was that of the famous Roman vessels which
had been sunk for so many centuries at the bottom of Lake
Nemi, the existence of which has been known or suspected ever
since the fifteenth century, notwithstanding many sceptics."

_American Journal of Archœology
July-September, 1896._

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: Syria:
Ruined cities of the Roman Province.

An important exploration of ruined cities in the old Roman
provinces of Syria and Arabia was conducted by an American
archæological expedition organized in 1899. Mr. Howard Crosby
Butler, of Princeton, was in charge of the studies made in
architecture, sculpture and archæological matters generally;
Professor William K. Prentice devoted attention to classical
inscriptions, of which a great number were found, while
Semitic inscriptions were the subjects of the study of Dr.
Enno Littmann, of the University of Halle. The ruins of
thirty-three cities, nearly all of them evident places of
large population in their day, were visited in regions now too
bare of productive soil to support even the small nomadic
population of the present day. "The desert conditions have
preserved the cities intact as they stood at the time when
they appear to have been abandoned, in the beginning of the
seventh century." Some account of the expedition and its work
is given in the "New York Tribune" of February 3, 1901.

----------ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: End--------

{26}

ARCTIC EXPLORATION, Recent.

See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION.

----------ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: Start--------

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1895.
Census.

"According to the census, the number of persons in the
Argentine Republic on May 10, 1895, was 4,042,990; the
estimated number of Argentines outside the boundaries of the
Republic on that day is placed at 50,000, thus making the
total population 4,092,990." Of this population 663,854 is in
the city of Buenos Ayres. "The increase in the population
between September 15, 1869 (the last census), and May 10, 1895
(the date on which the present census was taken), has been
2,218,776, equivalent to an increase of 120 per cent, or an
annual increase of 4.6 per cent. The urban population of the
Republic has increased 1,045,944. … It is estimated that there
are 345,393 foreigners in the city of Buenos Ayres, and that
the total number of foreigners in the Republic is about
1,000,000. … Among the Argentine portion of the population,
the females exceed the males in number, while it is estimated
that two-thirds of the foreign population are males."

_United States Consular Reports,
November, 1896, page 438._

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1895.
Resignation of President Peña.

President Saenz Peña having refused to issue, at the request
of Congress, a decree of amnesty, extended to all persons
implicated in the last revolution, his Cabinet resigned
(January 16), and he found it impossible to form another.
Thereupon the President himself resigned his office, on the
22d of January, and his resignation was accepted by the
Congress. Señor Uriburu was elected President on the following
day, and promptly issued the desired decree.

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1898.
Settlement of boundary dispute with Chile.
Election of President.

"A long unsettled dispute as to the extended boundary between
the Argentine Republic and Chile, stretching along the Andean
crests from the southern border of the Atacama Desert to
Magellan Straits, nearly a third of the length of the South
American continent, assumed an acute stage in the early part
of the year, and afforded to this Government occasion to
express the hope that the resort to arbitration, already
contemplated by existing conventions between the parties,
might prevail despite the grave difficulties arising in its
application. I am happy to say that arrangements to this end
have been perfected, the questions of fact upon which the
respective commissioners were unable to agree being in course
of reference to Her Britannic Majesty for determination. A
residual difference touching the northern boundary line across
the Atacama Desert, for which existing treaties provided no
adequate adjustment, bids fair to be settled in like manner by
a joint commission, upon which the United States Minister at
Buenos Aires has been invited to serve as umpire in the last
resort."

_Message of the President of the United States of America,
December, 1898._

The arbitration of the United States Minister, Honorable
William I. Buchanan, proved successful in the matter last
referred to, and the Atacama boundary was quickly determined.

In June, 1898, General Julio Roca was elected President and
assumed the office in October. In July a treaty of arbitration
was concluded with the government of Italy, which provides
that there shall be no appeal from the decision of the
arbitrators.

----------ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: End--------

ARGON, The Discovery of.

See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS.

ARICA, The question concerning.

See (in this volume)
CHILE: A. D. 1894-1900.

ARMENIA: A. D. 1895-1899.
Revolt against Turkish oppression.
Massacres and atrocities of the conflict.
Final concessions.

See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1895; 1896 (JANUARY-MARCH);
1896 (AUGUST); 1899 (OCTOBER).

ARMENIA: A. D. 1896.
Attack of Armenian revolutionists on the Ottoman Bank
and subsequent massacre of Armenians in Constantinople.

See (in this volume)
TURKEY; A. D. 1896 (AUGUST).

ARMIES, European and American:
Their numbers and cost compared.

See (in this volume)
WAR BUDGETS.

ARMY ADMINISTRATION, American:
Investigation of.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898-1899.

ARMY CANTEEN, Abolition of the American.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).

ARMY, United States:
Act to increase to 100,000 men.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).

ASHANTI:
British occupation of the country.
Rising of the tribes.
Siege and relief of Kumassi.

In 1895, King Prempeh, of Ashanti, provoked a second
expedition of British troops against his capital, Kumassi, or
Coomassie, by persistence in slave-catching raids and in human
sacrifices, and by other violations of his treaty engagements.

For some account of the former expedition

See, in volume 2,
ENGLAND: A. D. 1873-1880)

Late in the year a strong force was organized in Gold Coast
Colony, mostly made up of native troops. It marched without
resistance to Kumassi, which it entered on the 17th of
January, 1896. Prempeh made complete submission, placing his
crown at the feet of the Governor of the Gold Coast; but he
was taken prisoner to Sierra Leone. A fort was built, and
garrisoned in the center of the town, and the country was then
definitely placed under British protection, politically
attached to the Gold Coast Colony. It submitted quietly to the
practical conquest until the spring of 1900, when a fierce and
general rising of the tribes occurred. It was said at the time
that the outbreak was caused by efforts of the British to
secure possession of a "golden stool" which King Prempeh had
used for his throne, and which had been effectually concealed
when Kumassi was taken in 1896; but this has been denied by
Sir Frederic Hodgson, the Governor of the Gold Coast. "The
'golden stool,'" he declared, "was only an incident in the
affair and had nothing to do with the cause of the rising,
which had been brewing for a long time.
{27}
In his opinion the Ashantis had been preparing ever since the
British occupation in 1896 to reassert their independence."
The Governor was, himself, in Kumassi when the Ashantis first
attacked it, on the 25th of March, and he has given an account
of the desperate position in which the few British officials,
with their small native garrison and the refugees whom they
tried to protect, were placed. "Our force," said Sir Frederic
Hodgson, "consisted of only some 200 Hausas, while there is
reason to believe that we had not less than 15,000 Ashantis
surrounding us. In addition to our own force we had to protect
some 3,500 refugees, chiefly Mahomedan traders, Fantis, and loyal
Kumassis, none of whom we were able to take into the fort,
where every available bit of space was required for military
purposes. It was heartrending to see the efforts of these poor
people to scale the walls or break through the gate of the
fort, and we had to withdraw the Hausas from the cantonments
and draw a cordon round the refugees. It is impossible to
describe the horror of the situation with these 3,500 wretched
people huddled together without shelter under the walls of the
fort. That same night a tornado broke over Kumassi, and the scene
next morning with over 200 children was too terrible for
words. Afterwards they were able to arrange shelters for
themselves." Near the end of April, two small reinforcements
from other posts reached Kumassi; but while this strengthened
the numbers for defence, it weakened the food supply. Taking
stock of their food, the besieged decided that they could hold
out until June 23, and that if the main body then marched out,
to cut, if possible, their way through the enemy, leaving a
hundred men behind, the latter might keep the fort until July
15. This, accordingly, was done. On the 23d of June Governor
Hodgson, with all but 100 men, stole away from Kumassi, by a
road which the Ashantis had not guarded, and succeeded in
reaching the coast, undergoing great hardships and dangers in
the march. Meantime, an expedition from Cape Coast Castle was
being energetically prepared by Colonel Sir J. Willcocks, who
overcame immense difficulties and fought his way into Kumassi
on Ju]y 15, the very day on which the food-supply of the
little garrison was expected to give out. The following
account of his entry into Kumassi is from Colonel Willcocks'
official report: "Forming up in the main road, we marched
towards Kumassi, a mile distant, the troops cheering wildly
for the Queen and then followed silence. No sound came from
the direction of the fort, which you cannot see till quite
close. For a moment the hideous desolation and silence, the
headless bodies lying everywhere, the sickening smell, &c.,
almost made one shudder to think what no one dared to
utter—'Has Kumassi fallen? Are we too late?' Then a bugle
sound caught the ear—'the general salute'—the tops of the
towers appeared, and again every man in the column, white and
black, broke into cheers long sustained. The brave defenders
had at last seen us; they knew for hours' past from the firing
growing ever nearer that we were coming, yet they dared not
open their only gate; they perforce must wait, for even as we
appeared the enemy were making their last efforts to destroy
the outlying buildings, and were actually setting them on fire
until after dark, when a party of 100 men went out and treated
them to volleys and cleared them out. If I have gone too fully
into details of the final scene, the occasion was one that
every white man felt for him comes perhaps but once, and no
one would have missed it for a kingdom."

ASPHYXIATING SHELLS: Declaration against.

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

ASSASSINATIONS:
Of President Barrios.

See (in this volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA (GUATEMALA): A. D. 1897-1898.

Of President Borda.

See (in this volume)
URUGUAY: A. D. 1896-1899.

Of Canovas del Castillo.

See (in this volume)
SPAIN: A. D. 1897 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).

Of Empress Elizabeth of Austria.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1898 (SEPTEMBER).

Of Governor Goebel.

See (in this volume)
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1895-1900.

Of President Heureaux.

See (in this volume)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: A. D. 1899.

Of King Humbert.

See (in this volume)
ITALY: A. D. 1899-1900;
and 1900 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).

Of Professor Mihaileano.

See (in this volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES.

Of Nâsr-ed-din, Shah of Persia.

See (in this volume)
PERSIA: A. D. 1896.

Of M. Stambouloff.

See (in this volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES (BULGARIA).

ASSIOUT, Nile barrage at.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898-1901.

ASSOCIATIONS BILL, The French.

See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1901.

ASSOUAN. Nile barrage at.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898-1901.

ASSUMPTIONIST FATHERS, Dissolution of the Society of the.

See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1899-1900 (AUGUST-JANUARY).

ATACAMA, The question concerning.

See (in this volume)
CHILE: A. D. 1894-1900.

ATBARA, Battle of the.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1897-1898.

ATHENS: A. D. 1896.
The revival of Olympic games.

As the result of a movement instituted in France by the Baron
de Coubertin, an interesting attempt to give athletic sports
the spirit and semblance of the ancient Olympic games was made
at Athens in the spring of 1896. A number of wealthy Greeks in
different parts of the world joined generously in the
undertaking, one gentleman especially, M. Averoff, of
Alexandria, bearing the cost of a restoration in marble of the
stadium at Athens, for the occasion. The games were held in
April, from the 6th to the 15th, and were witnessed by a great
number of people. Besides Greek competitors, there were 42 from
Germany, 23 from England, 21 from America, 15 from France. The
great event of the occasion was the long foot-race from
Marathon to Athens, which was won by a young Greek.

The U. S. Consul at Athens, writing of the reconstruction of
the ancient stadium for the games, described the work as
follows:

{28}

"The stadium may be described as an immense open air
amphitheater constructed in a natural ravine, artificially
filled in at the end. It is in the shape of an elongated
horseshoe. The spectators, seated upon the sloping sides of
the ravine, look down into the arena below, which is a little
over 600 feet in length and about 100 feet wide at the widest
part. … The stadium, as rebuilt for the games, will consist of
(1) the arena, bounded by a marble curbing, surmounted by an
iron railing adorned with Athenian owls;
(2) a walk between this curbing and the first row of seats;
(3) a low retaining wall of marble on which rests the first
row of seats, the entire row being of marble;
(4) the seats;
(5) the underground tunnel.

In addition to these features there will be an imposing
entrance, a surrounding wall at the top of the hill, and two
supporting walls at the entrance. As far as possible, in the
reconstruction of the stadium, the old portions will be used,
where these are in a sufficient state of preservation, and an
effort will be made to reproduce, as nearly as practicable,
the ancient structure. The seats at present will not all be
made of pentelic marble, as there is neither time nor money
for such an undertaking. At the closed end of the arena,
seventeen rows will be made of pentelic marble, as well as the
first row all the way around. The remaining rows up to the
first aisle are being constructed of Pincus stone. These will
accommodate 25,000 seated spectators. From this aisle to the
top will be placed wooden benches for 30,000 seated
spectators. Add to these standing room for 5,000, and we have
the holding capacity of the stadium 60,000 without crowding."

_United States Consular Reports,
March, 1896, pages 353-354._

ATLANTA: A. D. 1895.
The Cotton States and International Exposition.

An important exposition, named as above, was held with great
success at Atlanta, Georgia, from the 18th of September until
the end of the year 1895. The exhibits from Mexico and many of
the Central and South American States were extensive and
interesting; but the main interest and value of the exposition
were in its showing of the industrial resources of the
Southern States of the American Union, and of the recent
progress made in developing them.

AUSGLEICH, The.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: FINANCIAL RELATIONS;
and A. D. 1897 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).

AUSTRAL ISLANDS:
Annexation to France.

The Austral or Tubuai Islands were formally annexed to France
by the Governor of Tahiti, on the 21st of August, 1900.

----------AUSTRALIA. Start--------

AUSTRALIA:
Recent extensions of Democracy in the Australian Colonies
and New Zealand.
Social experiments.

"The five colonies of the Australian continent, Tasmania, and
New Zealand constitute seven practically independent
commonwealths under the British crown. Australians and New
Zealanders have therefore been able to develop their countries
along their own lines, and have surpassed all other
Anglo-Saxon nations in the number and variety of functions
which the state is called upon to perform. … The railways
almost without exception, and all the telegraph and telephone
lines, are in the hands of the community. In the few cases in
which there is private ownership of railways, a particular
line was demanded at a certain time, and the government were
not then in a position to borrow the funds required for its
construction. Western Australia has recently purchased the
entire property of one of the two private undertakings in the
colony. A mass of sanitary and industrial legislation also has
been placed upon the statute book.

"Again, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, and New
Zealand lend money to settlers at low rates of interest; South
Australia sells its wines in London; Queensland facilitates
the erection of sugar mills; Victoria and South Australia have
given a bonus upon the exportation of dairy produce; South
Australia, New Zealand, and Victoria receive the produce,
grade and freeze it free of charge, or at a rate which barely
covers the expenses; Victoria contributes toward the erection
of butter factories; Victoria and New Zealand have subsidized
the mining industry; and Western Australia has adopted a
comprehensive scheme for the supply of water to the Coolgardie
gold fields. In all the colonies the national system of
primary education is compulsory and undenominational. In South
Australia, Victoria, Queensland, and New Zealand it is also free.
In the other colonies fees are charged, which may be remitted
wholly or partly if parents are unable to pay them. Assistance
is given in most cases for the promotion of secondary,
technical, and university education. New Zealand and South
Australia have appointed public trustees. New Zealand has long
possessed a department of life insurance.

"Finally, … New Zealand has adopted a system of old-age
pensions. A pension of seven shillings a week is to be given
to every person above the age of sixty-five years, provided he
or she has lived in the colony for twenty-five years, and is
able to pass a certain test in regard to sobriety and general
good conduct. … In South Australia direct taxation takes two
forms. There is an income tax at the rate of four and a half
pence in the pound up to £800, and of six-pence in the pound
above £800 of taxable amount resulting from personal
exertions, and at the rate of ninepence and one shilling in
the pound respectively on incomes from property. Incomes
between £125 and £425 enjoy exemption on £125 of the amount.
Again, there is a tax on the unimproved value of land of one
half-penny in the pound up to, and one penny above, the
capital value of £5000. …

"Similar taxation is to be found in New Zealand, and includes
both a progressive income tax and a tax on land values which
is more highly graduated than that of South Australia. … All
improvements are excluded from the assessment of the taxable
amount. … If the owner of the property is dissatisfied with
the assessment of the government, he can call upon them to buy
it of him at their own valuation. In only one case has such an
extreme step been taken; and it is pleasant to find that it
has resulted in an annual profit of nearly five per cent upon
the outlay, and that the land which formerly gave employment
to a few shepherds is now occupied by a large number of
thriving settlers.
{29}
I may add that when the government deem that an estate is not
being developed as it should be by its owners, they are
authorized by statute to purchase it—by negotiation if
possible, otherwise at a price paid by an impartial
tribunal—with a view to its subdivision into small holdings
suitable to the requirements of the community. This system of
taxation, it will be said with some truth, is based upon the
teachings of Henry George. He travelled in Australia and New
Zealand, and was listened to with attention; but, while he
looked to the ultimate absorption of the whole unearned
increment, his hearers in the antipodes dissociated themselves
from his conclusions, though they appreciated the value of his
premises. Consequently, while accepting his principles, they
did not hesitate to exempt small properties from the tax, and
to increase its rate progressively in relation to the amount
of the unimproved value. …

"One of the most hopeful signs of the day is that, with the
help of the representatives of labor in Parliament, Australian
governments have done much within recent years to mitigate the
excess of population in the large towns, and to replace the
unemployed upon the land. Of course mistakes have been made.
In some cases settlers have failed through lack of
agricultural knowledge; in others, on account of the
barrenness of the soil. In South Australia, the village
settlements, which were avowedly started as an alternative to
relief works, have been only a modified success. In New
Zealand, village settlements have produced very satisfactory
results. … In Victoria, a labor colony has been established,
with the entire support of the trades-unionists, to which the
unemployed may be sent, and at which they receive, at a very
low rate of wages, a course of instruction in agricultural
pursuits which enables them subsequently to obtain private
employment with farmers or others. In New Zealand, I found a
very strong feeling among trades-unionists that it would be to
the interest of the workingmen themselves if a penal colony
were established, on the lines of those which exist in
Germany, to which loafers might be sent, and at which they
would be compelled to work, with the alternative of
starvation."

_H. De R. Walker,
Australasian Extensions of Democracy
(Atlantic Monthly, May, 1899)._

See also (in this volume),
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1891-1900.

AUSTRALIA: Western Australia:
The Outlander problem in Australia.

"Here we have a problem in many respects similar to that which
has distracted South Africa. In several particulars the
resemblance is startlingly close. … Many of the elements of
disorder in the two continents are the same. In Western
Australia, as in the Transvaal, there is a large population of
mining residents, who complain that they are treated like
'helots'—to use Sir Alfred Milner's term—by the privileged
agricultural burghers. They urge that they are denied fair
representation, so that the burghers monopolise political
power; that the administration is in the hands of a knot of
politicians and place-hunters at Perth—I had almost written
Pretoria; that they have made the colony wealthy by their
enterprise and capital, only to see a large part of the fruits
of their industry drawn from them by excessive taxation, which
is expended mainly outside their own district; that they are
burdened by oppressive railway rates and denied access to the
port which is the natural outlet to the Goldfields, and so on.
The Kalgoorlie 'Uitlanders,' like the Johannesburgers, have
sent a petition to the Queen, signed by a larger number of
persons than those who forwarded the famous memorial which set
the ball rolling in South Africa and led to the Bloemfontein
Conference. The case is fully and temperately set forth in
this petition, and in the Manifesto of the Eastern Goldfields
Reform League of Western Australia, both of which documents
are in the last Bluebook relating to Australian Federation.
The same official compilation contains a statement to Mr.
Chamberlain from Dr. Paget Thurston, in which the parallel
between West Australia and the Transvaal is asserted with the
most uncompromising directness. 'We have here,' says the
writer, 'a Boer and Outlander question almost parallel to that
in the Transvaal. As an Outlander I appeal to you.' Dr.
Thurston adds: 'The old West Australians openly speak as if
the colony was theirs, and we were interlopers who have no
course open to us but to leave the colony if we are
dissatisfied.' This has a very familiar sound, and so has the
following: 'The great bulk of the taxation is levied through
duties on food and drink. As the Boer party includes all the
agricultural producers, and the Outlanders include the great
bulk of the consumers, this acts injuriously on us in two
ways. It puts a frightful load on the Outlander taxpayer, and
enables the Boer producer to command a very high price for his
food-stuffs. Owing to the limitation of the market by
excessive protection, many articles of common use reach famine
prices at times. In the three years I have been here, for
instance, potatoes have been £22 10s. a ton; apples, 2s. 6d. a
pound; oranges, 5s. a dozen; new-laid eggs, 4s. a dozen (at
the time of writing, 3s. 6d.). Fresh butter is practically
unobtainable for ten months in the year, and common country
wine (such as I used to buy for 3d. and 4d. a bottle in the
Canary Islands) is here 2s. a bottle. I ask you, Sir, whether
any other place in Her Majesty's Empire (not physically
inaccessible) can show prices one half as high during the past
three years?'

"Nor does the ominous kind of hint that preceded the Jameson
Raid fail to be uttered. Only three terminations, according to
Dr. Thurston, are possible if Sir John Forrest does not modify
his Krugerite policy towards the mining settlers:
'(1) Separation of the goldfields.—This would be only fair to
the goldfields; but thousands of Outlanders have settled in
the other parts of the colony, and this step would not redress
their wrongs. The practical result of this step would be
prosperity for the goldfields, but almost ruin for the rest of
the colony.
(2) Revolution.—I fear this is much more probable than is
generally thought. Unless a material change takes place
quickly there will be bloodshed in this colony.
(3) General depression, practically equivalent to bankruptcy.'
Separation, however, and the creation of a new colony, which
would include the Goldfields district and come down to the
sea, and would immediately join the Australian Federation, is
the remedy officially proposed by the representatives of the
Outlanders. …

{30}

"The Colonial Secretary has deferred his final answer to the
Goldfields Petition until the comments of the Perth Ministry
upon that document have been received and considered. But he
has sent a provisional reply to the representatives of the
petitioners in London. He sees the solution of the matter in
getting Western Australia somehow into the new Commonwealth.
In a communication to Mr. Walter Griffiths, one of the
Goldfields delegates, the Colonial Secretary says: 'The
decision of the Government of Western Australia to summon
Parliament immediately with the view to the passing of a
measure for the submission of the Commonwealth Bill to the
electors of the colony has removed the chief of the grievances
put forward in the petition and has opened up an early
prospect of obtaining the object which the petitioners had in
view. An answer will be returned to the petition after a
careful consideration of its terms and of the comments of the
Government of the colony thereon, but Mr. Chamberlain trusts
that before an answer can be returned the people of the colony
will have decided to join the Commonwealth, for the government of
which, in that event, it will be to deal with the grievances
alleged in the petition in so far as they are not exclusively
within the province of the Parliament and Government of
Western Australia.' In other words, let the Federation dispose
of the matter. But the delegates point out that this might not
remove their grievances. The Federal Parliament would have no
power to compel the dominant party in the Perth Assembly
either to redistribute seats fairly, or divide the colony, so
as to create 'Home Rule for the Rand.' True, we should have
washed our hands of the affair, and could tell the malcontent
Uitlanders that it was none of our business. But if Perth
still remained obstinate, and Coolgardie in consequence began
to carry out some of those ugly projects hinted at by Dr.
Thurston, it might become our business in an embarrassing
fashion. At any rate, it does not seem quite fair to the new
Commonwealth to start it in life with this grave question,
still unsettled, upon its hands."

_S. Low,
Enigmas of Empire
(Nineteenth Century, June, 1900)._

AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: A. D. 1894-1895.
Defeat of the Protectionist policy.
Adoption of a liberal tariff.

At the general elections of July, 1894, in New South Wales,
the tariff issue was sharply defined. "'Protection' was
inscribed on the banners of the ministerial party, led by the
then Premier, Sir George Dibbs, while the aggressive
opposition, led by Mr. Reid, … fought under the banner of
'free trade.' The Free Traders won the battle in that
election, as there were 63 Free Traders, 40 Protectionists,
and 22 labor members, mostly with free-trade leanings,
returned. On the reassembling of Parliament, Sir George Dibbs
was confronted with a large majority, and Mr. George H. Reid
was called to form a government on the lines suggested by the
issues of the campaign. The Council or 'upper house,'
consisting of Crown nominees for life, rejected the measures
suggested by Mr. Reid and passed by the Assembly by an
overwhelming majority, and Mr. Reid dissolved Parliament on
July 6, 1895, and appealed to the country. The election was
held on July 24, and again the issues, as set forth in the
measures, were fought out vigorously. The great leader of
protection, Sir George Dibbs, with several of his ablest
followers, was defeated, and the so-called Free Trade party
came back, much stronger than before. Thus, it was claimed
that the mandate of the people, declaring for free trade and
direct taxation, had been reaffirmed, and on the reassembling
of Parliament, on August 13, the same measure, as passed by
the Assembly and rejected by the Council, was again presented
and passed by the Assembly by a majority of 50 to 26, and
again went to the upper house. Again it was met with great
hostility, but the Government party in that chamber, having
been augmented by ten new appointments, the temper of the
house was softened and the bill was passed with some two
hundred and fifty amendments. As, the Assembly could only
accept some eighty of these without, yielding material points
… a conference was suggested, which, after several days of
discussion, agreed to a modified measure, embracing the
principle of free trade, as interpreted in this colony, and
direct taxation, and the new law goes into effect as above
stated, on January 1, 1896.

"It may be well here to remark that there are a few articles,
notably raw sugar, glucose, molasses, and treacle, upon which
the duty will be removed gradually, so as not to wantonly
disturb vested interests, but, with these exceptions, the
change is a very sweeping one."

_United States Consular Reports,
June, 1896, page 299._

AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: A. D. 1896.
Change in the government of Norfolk Island.
Its re-annexation to New South Wales.

A change in the government of Norfolk Island was proclaimed in
November, 1896, by the Governor of New South Wales, who came
to the island, acting under directions from the British
Colonial Office, and announced that "Her Majesty's Government
has decided to appoint a resident magistrate. The object
sought is to secure the impartial administration of justice,
while leaving the local and municipal affairs of the island to
be conducted by a council representing the inhabitants. In
consideration of the fact that the Norfolk Island settlement
originally formed part of the administrative colony of New
South Wales, and that the legal business of the island and the
registration of all land titles and transfers have uniformly
been conducted by the Government departments at Sydney, Her
Majesty's Government has decided to transfer the
administration of the island to the Government of New South
Wales. The Government of New South Wales has accepted the
charge and as soon as the necessary arrangements have been
completed Norfolk Island will be administered by the governor
of New South Wales in council." "It will thus be seen that the
Pitcairn community, which, for more than one hundred years,
has governed itself by its own laws, is now abolished and that
a new era has begun. The governor's legal right to annul the
constitution given by the Queen when the community emigrated
from Pitcairn was questioned. A deputation was appointed to
wait on the governor, but he refused
to discuss the subject further."

_United States Consular Reports,
May, 1897, page 37._

AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1897.
Conference of colonial premiers with
the British Colonial Secretary.

See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1897 (JUNE-JULY).

[Image: Map of Australia and Islands of the Pacific.]

{31}

AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1900.
Federation of the Australian Colonies.
The steps by which the Union was accomplished.
Passage of the "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act" by
the Imperial Parliament.

"The first indication of a plan for united action among the
colonies is to be found in a proposal of Earl Grey in 1850.
The main object of the proposal was to bring about uniformity
in colonial tariffs; but, though partially adopted, it came to
nothing. From 1850 to 1860 the project of federation was
discussed from time to time in several of the colonial
legislatures, and committees on the subject were appointed.
But there seems to have been little general interest in the
question, and up to 1860 all efforts in the direction of
federation met with complete failure. Shortly after, however,
a new form of united action, less ambitious but more likely of
success, was suggested and adopted. From 1863 to 1883
conferences of colonial ministers were held at various times
to discuss certain specified topics, with a view to
introducing identical proposals in the separate colonial
legislatures. Six of these conferences were held at Melbourne
and three at Sydney; and one also was held at Hobart in 1895,
though the period of the real activity of the conference
scheme practically closed in 1883. The scheme proved a
failure, because it was found impossible to carry out the
measures concerted in the conferences. But material events
were doing more than could any public agitation to draw
attention to the advantages of closer union. The colonies were
growing in population and wealth, railroads were building and
commerce was extending. The inconveniences of border customs
duties suggested attempts at something like commercial
reciprocity between two or more colonies. New political
problems also helped to arouse public interest. Heretofore
there had been little fear of foreign aggression and, hence,
no feeling of the need of united action for common defense;
nor had there been any thought of the extension of Australian
power and interests beyond the immediate boundaries of the
different colonies. But the period from 1880 to 1890 witnessed
a change in this respect. It was during this period that much
feeling was aroused against the influx of French criminals,
escaped from the penal settlements in New Caledonia. The
difficulties in regard to New Guinea belong also to this
decade. Suspicion of the designs of Germany upon that part of
the island of New Guinea nearest the Dutch boundary led to the
annexation of its eastern portion by the Queensland
government. This action was disavowed by the British
government under Gladstone, and the fears of the colonists
were ridiculed; but almost immediately after the northern half
of New Guinea was forcibly taken possession of by Germany. The
indignation of Australians was extreme, and the opinion was
freely expressed that the colonies would have to unite to
protect their own interests. Finally, this was the time of the
French designs on the New Hebrides Islands and of German
movements with reference to Samoa. These conditions, economic
and political, affected all the colonies more or less
intimately and resulted in the first real, though loose, form
of federal union. At the instigation of the Honorable James
Service, premier of Victoria, a convention met at Sydney,
November, 1883, composed of delegates from all the colonial
governments. This convention adopted a bill providing for the
establishment of a Federal Council, with power to deal with
certain specified subjects and with such other matters as
might be referred to it by two or more colonies. … New South
Wales and New Zealand refused to agree to the bill, but it was
adopted by the other colonies; and the Imperial Parliament, in
1885, passed an act permitting such a Council to be called
into existence at the request of any three colonies, to be
joined by other colonies as they saw fit. Meetings of the
Council took place in 1886, 1888, 1889 and 1891, but very
little was accomplished. That the Federal Council was a very
weak affair is obvious. … Meanwhile, interest in a more
adequate form of federation was growing. In 1890 Sir Henry
Parkes proposed a plan for federal union of a real and
vigorous sort. At his suggestion, a conference met at
Melbourne, February 6, 1890, to decide on the best method of
getting the question into definite shape for consideration. …
Provision was made … for the calling of a convention to draw
up a constitution. … In accordance with the decision of the
conference, delegates from the several colonies convened at
Sydney, March 2, 1891; and with the work of this convention
began the third and final stage in the federation movement.
The Sydney convention formulated a bill, embodying a draft of
a federal constitution, and then resolved that provision
should be made by the several parliaments to submit it to the
people in such manner as each colony should see fit. … But
there was no sufficient external pressure to bring about an
immediate discussion and an early settlement. … The result was
that nothing was done. … Meanwhile, federation leagues had
been organized in different colonies, and in 1893 delegates
from a number of these leagues met at Bendigo, Victoria. …
After adopting the bill of 1891 as a basis of discussion, the
Bendigo conference resolved to urge the colonial governments
to pass uniform enabling acts for a new convention—its members
to be elected by popular vote—to frame a constitution which
should be submitted to the people for approval. This proposal
met with general favor and resulted in the calling of a
meeting of the premiers of all the colonies at Hobart in
January, 1895. There an enabling bill was drafted which five
premiers agreed to lay before their respective parliaments. …
It took two years to get this machinery into working order. At
length, however, the requisite authority was granted by five
colonies: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western
Australia and Tasmania, Queensland and New Zealand declining
to participate. On March 22, 1897, the second constitutional
convention assembled at Adelaide. This convention drew up a
new federal constitution, based upon the draft of 1891.
Between May 5 and September 2 the constitution was discussed
in each of the parliaments. When the convention reassembled at
Sydney on March 2, as many as 75 amendments were reported as
suggested by the different colonies. Many were of an
insignificant character and many were practically identical.
The constitution and proposed amendments were discussed in two
sessions of the convention, which finally adjourned March 16,
1898, its work then being ready to submit to the people.
{32}
In June a popular vote resulted in the acceptance of the
constitution by Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia; but
the failure of the parent colony, New South Wales, to adopt it
blocked all hope of federal union for the moment. Recently,
however, at a conference of colonial premiers certain
amendments demanded by New South Wales were agreed to in part,
and upon a second vote the constitution, as amended, was
accepted by that colony."

_W. G. Beach,
The Australian Federal Constitution
(Political Science Quarterly, December, 1899)._

In August, 1899, the draft of a Constitution thus agreed upon
was transmitted to England, with addresses from the provincial
legislatures, praying that it be passed into law by the
Imperial Parliament. Early in the following year delegates
from the several colonies were sent to England to discuss with
the Colonial Office certain questions that had arisen, and to
assist in procuring the passage by Parliament of the necessary
Act. Looked at from the Imperial standpoint, a number of
objections to the draft Constitution were found, but all of
them were finally waived excepting one. That one related to a
provision touching appeals from the High Court of the
Australian Commonwealth to the Queen in Council. As framed and
adopted in Australia, the provision in question was as
follows:

"74. No appeal shall be permitted to the Queen in Council in
any matter involving the interpretation of this Constitution
or of the Constitution of a State, unless the public interests
of some part of Her Majesty's Dominions, other than the
Commonwealth or a State, are involved. Except as provided in
this section, this Constitution shall not impair any right
which the Queen may be pleased to exercise, by virtue of Her
Royal Prerogative, to grant special leave of appeal from the
High Court to Her Majesty in Council. But The Parliament may
make laws limiting the matters in which such leave may be
asked."

This was objected to on several grounds, but mainly for the
reasons thus stated by Mr. Chamberlain: "Proposals are under
consideration for securing a permanent and effective
representation of the great Colonies on the Judicial
Committee, and for amalgamating the Judicial Committee with
the House of Lords, so as to constitute a Court of Appeal from
the whole British Empire. It would be very unfortunate if
Australia should choose this moment to take from the Imperial
Tribunal the cognizance of the class of cases of greatest
importance, and often of greatest difficulty. Article 74
proposes to withdraw from the Queen in Council matters
involving the interpretation of the Constitution. It is
precisely on questions of this kind that the Queen in Council
has been able to render most valuable service to the
administration of law in the Colonies, and questions of this
kind, which may sometimes involve a good deal of local
feeling, are the last that should be withdrawn from a Tribunal
of appeal with regard to which there could not be even a
suspicion of prepossession. Questions as to the constitution
of the Commonwealth or of a State may be such as to raise a
great deal of public excitement as to the definition of the
boundaries between the powers of the Commonwealth Parliament
and the powers of the State Parliaments. It can hardly be
satisfactory to the people of Australia that in such cases,
however important and far-reaching in their consequences, the
decision of the High Court should be absolutely final. Before
long the necessity for altering the Constitution in this
respect would be felt, and it is better that the Constitution
should be enacted in such a form as to render unnecessary the
somewhat elaborate proceedings which would be required to
amend it."

_Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command, April and May, 1900,
Australia—Cd. 124 and 158)._

In reply, the Australian delegates maintained that they had no
authority to amend, in any particular, the instrument which
the people of the several colonies had ratified by their
votes; but the Imperial authorities were inflexible, and the
article 74 was modified in the Act which passed Parliament, on
the 7th of July, 1900, "to constitute the Commonwealth of
Australia," as may be seen by reference to the text, published
elsewhere.

See (in this volume)
CONSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA.

AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1900.
The question of the Federal Capital.

By the Constitution of the Commonwealth, it is required that
the seat of government "shall be determined by the Parliament,
and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to
or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and
belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New
South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles
from Sydney;" and "such territory shall contain an area of not
less than one hundred square miles." "New South Wales," says a
correspondent, writing from Sydney, "is naturally anxious to
get the question decided as quickly as possible; but Victoria
will equally be inclined to procrastinate, and the new
Parliament—which cannot be more comfortable than it will be
at Melbourne—will not be in a hurry to shift. The necessity
for a new and artificial capital arises entirely out of our
provincial jealousies, and it would have been a great saving
of initial expense and a great diminution of inconvenience if
we could have used one of the old capitals for a quarter of a
century." To remove preliminary difficulties and avoid delay,
the government of New South Wales appointed a commissioner to
visit and report on the most likely places. The report of this
commissioner, made early in October, "reduces the possible
positions to three—one near Bombala in the south-east corner
of the colony at the foot of the Australian Alps, one near
Yass on the line of the railway between Sydney and Melbourne,
and one near Orange on our western line. On the whole he gives
the preference to the first named."

AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: A. D. 1900.
Old-Age Pension Act.