Chapter LII: Section 88 (1)

That the Territory of Hawaii shall comprise a customs district
of the United States, with ports of entry and delivery at
Honolulu, Hilo, Mahukona, and Kahului.

HAWAII: A. D. 1900.
Census of the Islands.
Progress of educational work.

"The last Hawaiian census, taken in the year 1896, gives a
total population of 109,020, of which 31,019 were native
Hawaiians. The number of Americans reported was 8,485. The
results of the Federal census taken this year [1900] show the
islands to have a total population of 154,001, an increase
over that reported in 1896 of 44,981, or 41.2 per cent. The
total land surface of the Hawaiian Islands is approximately
6,449 square miles: the average number of persons to the
square mile at the last three censuses being as follows: For
1890, 13.9; 1896, 16.9; 1900,23.8.

"Education in Hawaii is making favorable progress. In Honolulu
two large schoolhouses have recently been erected at a cost of
$24,778 and $20,349, respectively. The department of education
is under the management of a superintendent of public
instruction, assisted by six commissioners of public
instruction, two of whom are ladies. The tenure of office of
the commissioners is six years, the term of two of them
expiring each year. They serve without pay. The system is the
same as that existing under the Republic of Hawaii. In the
biennial period ending December 31 there were 141 public and
48 private schools in the Hawaiian Islands; 344 teachers in
the public schools, of whom 113 were men and 231 were women,
and 200 teachers in the private schools, of whom 79 were men
and 121 were women. In the same period there were 11,436
pupils in the public schools, of whom 6,395 were boys and
5,041 were girls, and 4,054 pupils in the private schools, of
whom 2,256 were boys and 1,798 were girls. This gives a total
of 15,490 pupils, of whom 8,651 were boys and 6,839 were
girls. … Of the 15,490 pupils, 5,045 were Hawaiian, 2,721 part
Hawaiian, 601 American, 213 British, 337 German, 3,882
Portuguese, 84 Scandinavian, 1,141 Japanese, 1,314 Chinese, 30
South Sea Islanders, and 124 other foreigners. Each
nationality had its own teacher. The expenditures for the two
years ending December 31, 1899, were $575,353. Since the year
1888 nearly all the common schools, in which the Hawaiian
language was the medium of instruction, have been converted
into schools in which English alone is so employed, 98 per
cent. of the children being at present instructed by teachers
who use English."

_United States, Secretary of the Interior,
Annual Report, November 30, 1900._

----------HAWAII: End--------

HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY, The.

See (in this volume)
CANAL, INTEROCEANIC:
A. D. 1900 (DECEMBER); and 1901 (MARCH).

HAYTI: A. D. 1896.
Election of President Sam.

Hayti elected a new President, General Theresias Simon Sam, to
succeed General Hippolyte, who died suddenly on the 24th of
March.

HAYTI: A. D. 1897.
Quarrel with Germany.

The government of Hayti came into conflict with that of
Germany, in September, 1897, over what was claimed to be the
illegal arrest of a Haytien-born German, named Lueders, who
had secured German citizenship. Germany demanded his release,
with an indemnity at the rate of $1,000 per day for his
imprisonment. The demand not being acceded to promptly, the
German consul at Port-au-Prince hauled down his flag. Then the
United States Minister persuaded the Haytien President,
General Simon Sam, to set Lueders free. But the demand for
indemnity, still pending, brought two German war-ships to
Port-au-Prince on the 6th of December, with their guns ready
to open fire on the town if payment were not made within eight
hours. For Hayti there was nothing possible but submission,
and $30,000 was paid, with apologies and expressions of
regret.

HEBREWS, The ancient:
Their position in history as affected by recent archæological
research.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH; IN BIBLE LANDS.

HECKER, Father Isaac Thomas,
and the opinions called "Americanism."

See (in this volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1899 (JANUARY).

HELIUM, The discovery of.

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

HENRY, General Guy V.: Military Governor of Porto Rico.

See (in this volume)
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898-1899 (OCTOBER-OCTOBER).

HERVEY, or COOK, ISLANDS:
Annexation to New Zealand.

See (in this volume)
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1900 (OCTOBER).

HEUREAUX, President: Assassination.

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

{259}

HICKS-BEACH, Sir Michael,
Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the British Cabinet.

See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1894-1895.

HILPRECHT, Professor H. V.:
Researches on the site of ancient Nippur.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA: AMERICAN EXPLORATION.

HINTCHAK, The.

See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1895.

HINTERLAND.

A German word which has come into general use to describe
unnamed and poorly defined regions lying behind, or on the
inland side, of coast districts, in Africa more especially,
which have been occupied or claimed by European powers.

HISTORICAL DISCOVERIES, Recent.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH.

HOAR, Senator George F.:
Action to recover the manuscript of Bradford's History.

See (in this volume)
MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1897.

HOAR, Senator George F.:
Speech in opposition to the retention of the
Philippine Islands as a subject State.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1900 (APRIL).

HOBART, Garret A.: Vice President of the United States.
Death.

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

HOBOKEN, Great fire at.

On the 30th of June, 1900, between 200 and 300 people lost
their lives in a fire which destroyed the pier system of the
North German Lloyd steamship line, at Hoboken, N. J. The fire
wrecked three of the large ships of the company, and is said
to have been the most destructive blaze that ever visited the
piers and shipping of the port of New York. An estimate placed
the loss of life at nearly 300, and the damage to property at
about $10,000,000, but the company's estimate of the loss of
life and the value of the property wiped out was considerably
less. The fire started in some cotton on one of the four large
piers at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. In a few minutes the pier
on which it broke out was enveloped in flames, and in six
minutes the whole pier system was burning. The flames spread
so quickly that many men on the piers and on the vessels,
lighters and barges were hemmed in before they realized that
their lives were in danger.

HOBSON, Lieutenant Richmond Pearson:
The sinking of the collier Merrimac at Santiago.

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

HOLLAND.

See (in this volume)
NETHERLANDS, THE KINGDOM OF THE.

HOLLS, Frederick W.:
American Commissioner to the Peace Conference at The Hague.

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

HOLY YEAR 1900, Proclamation of the Universal Jubilee of the,
Its extension.

See (in this volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1900-1901.

HONDURAS.

See (in this volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA.

HONG KONG: A. D. 1894.
The Bubonic Plague.

See (in this volume)
PLAGUE.

HONG KONG: A. D. 1898.
British lease of territory on the mainland.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-AUGUST).

HORMIGUEROS, Engagement at.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST: PORTO RICO).

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The United States:
The "Spoils System" in its service.

See (in this volume)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1901.

HOVA, The.

See (in this volume)
MADAGASCAR.

HUA SANG, Massacre of missionaries at.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1895 (AUGUST).

HUDSON BAY, Investigation of.

See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1897.

HUMBERT I., King of Italy: Assassination.

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

HUNGARY.

See ((in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

HUSBANDISTS, The.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).

I.

ICELAND, Recent exploration of.

See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1898-1899.

IDAHO: A. D. 1896.
Adoption of Woman Suffrage.

On the 11th of December, 1896, an amendment of the
constitution of Idaho, extending the suffrage to women, was
submitted to the then voters of the State, and carried by
12,126, against 6,282. Though carried by a large majority of
the votes given on the suffrage issue, it did not receive a
majority of the whole vote cast on other questions at the same
election; but the supreme court of the State decided that the
amendment had been adopted.

I-HO-CH'UAN, The.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (JANUARY-MARCH).

ILLINOIS: A. D. 1898.
Strike of coal miners.
Bloody conflict at Virden.

See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES: A. D. 1898.

ILOCANOS, The.

See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THE NATIVE INHABITANTS.

ILOILO: The American occupation of the city.

See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899 (JANUARY-NOVEMBER).

ILORIN, British subjugation of.

See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (NIGERIA).

IMPERIAL BRITISH EAST AFRICA COMPANY:
Transfer of territory to the British Government.

See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (BRITISH EAST AFRICA).

IMPERIAL CONFERENCE:
Meeting of British Colonial Prime Ministers at the Colonial
Office, London.

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

IMPERIALISM:
The question in American politics.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1900 (APRIL); and (MAY-NOVEMBER).

{260}

INCOME TAX: Decision against by United States Supreme Court.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1895 (APRIL-MAY).

INDIA: A. D. 1894.
The Waziri War.

A fierce attempt to interrupt the demarcation of the Afghan
boundary was made by the Waziris. The escort of 5,000 troops,
consisting mainly of Sikhs and Goorkhas, was desperately
attacked in camp at Wano, November 3. The attack was repulsed,
but with heavy loss on the British side. It became afterwards
necessary to send three strong columns into the country, under
Sir William Lockhart, in order to carry out the work.

INDIA: A. D. 1895 (March-September).
The defense and relief of Chitral.
The British frontier advanced.

At the extreme northwestern limit of British-Indian dominion
and semi-dominion, under the shadow of the lofty Hindu-Kush
mountains, lie a group of quasi-independent tribal states over
which the Amir of Afghanistan claimed at least a "sphere of
influence" until 1893. In that year the Amir and the
Government of India agreed upon a line which defined the
eastern and southern frontier of Afghanistan, "from Wakhan to
the Persian border," and agreed further as follows: "The
Government of India will at no time exercise interference in
the territories lying beyond this line on the side of
Afghanistan, and his Highness the Amir will at no time
exercise interference in the territories lying beyond this
line on the side of India. The British Government thus agrees
to his Highness the Amir retaining Asmar and the valley above
it, as far as Chanak. His Highness agrees, on the other hand,
that he will at no time exercise interference in Swat, Bajaur,
or Chitral, including Arnawai or Bashgal valley." Under this
agreement, the Indian Government prepared itself to be
watchful of Chitral affairs. The little state was notoriously
a nest of turbulence and intrigue. Its rulers, who bore the
Persian title of Mehtar, signifying "Greater," can never have
expected to live out their days. Changes of government were
brought about commonly by assassination. The reigning prince,
Nizam-ul-Mulk, owed his seat to the murder of his father,
Aman-ul-Mulk, though not by himself. In turn, he fell, on New
Year's day, 1895, slain at the instigation of his
half-brother, Amir-ul-Mulk, who mounted the vacant chair of
state. The usurper was then promptly assailed by two rivals,
one of them his brother-in-law, Umra Khan, a mountain
chieftain of Bajaur, the other an uncle, Sher Afzul, who had
been a refugee at Kabul. On the news of these occurrences at
Chitral, the Government of India sent thither, from Gilgit,
its political agent, Surgeon-Major Robertson, with a small
escort, to learn the state of affairs.

The result of Dr. Robertson's attempt to settle matters was an
alliance of Umra Khan and Sher Afzul in a desperate attempt to
destroy him and his small force of native troops, which had
five English officers at its head. The latter took possession
(March 1) of the fort at Chitral, a structure about 80 yards
square, walled partly with wood, and so placed in a valley
that it was commanded from neighboring hills. In this weak
fortification the little garrison held off a savage swarm of
the surrounding tribes during 46 days of a siege that is as
thrilling in the story of it as any found in recent history.
The first reinforcements sent to Dr. Robertson, from near
Gilgit, were disastrously beaten back, with the loss of the
captain in command and 50 of his men. As speedily as possible,
when the situation was known in India, an army of about 14,000
men was made ready at Peshawur, under the command of
Major-General Sir Robert Low, and relieving columns were
pushed with great difficulty through the Malakand Pass, then
filled deep with snow. A smaller force, of 600 men, under
Colonel Kelly, fought its way from Gilgit, struggling through
the snows of a pass 12,000 feet above the level of the sea.
Colonel Kelly was the first to reach Chitral, which he did on
the 20th of April. The besiegers had fled at his approach. The
beleaguered garrison was found to have lost 40 killed and 70
wounded, out of its fighting force of about 370 men. Sher
Afzul was caught by the Khan of Dir, who led 2,000 of his
followers to the help of the British. Umra Khan escaped to
Kabul, where he was imprisoned by the Amir. Shuja-ul-Mulk, a
younger brother of Amir-ul-Mulk was declared Mehtar. The
question whether British authority should be maintained in
Chitral or withdrawn was now sharply debated in England; but
Lord Salisbury and his party, coming into power at that
moment, decided that the advanced frontier of Indian Empire
must be held. The young Mehtar was installed in the name of
the Maharaja of Kashmir as his suzerain, and the terms under
which his government should be carried on were announced at
his installation (September 2, 1895) by the British Agent, as
follows:

"The general internal administration of the country will be
left in the hands of the Mehtar and of his advisers. The
Government of India do not intend to undertake themselves the
management of the internal affairs of Chitral, their concern
being with the foreign relations of the State, and with its
general welfare. It, however, has to be remembered that
Shuja-ul-Mulk is only a boy, and that, at an age when other
boys are engaged in education and amusement, he has been
called upon to hold the reins of State. Bearing this fact in
mind, the Government of India recognise the necessity of his
receiving some help during the time of his minority, and it
has consequently been decided to leave at Chitral an
experienced Political Officer upon whom the Mehtar may always
call for advice and assistance, while it is proposed to
appoint three persons, Raja Bahadur Khan, the Governor of
Mastuj, Wazir Inayat Khan and Aksakal Fateh Ali Shah, to give
him help, instruction and advice in the management of his
State and in the laws and customs of the people. Ordinarily
the entire country will be governed in accordance with their
experience and judgment; but nevertheless the Assistant
British Agent, if he thinks it necessary to do so, may, at any
time, ask the Mehtar to delay action recommended by his three
advisers, until the opinion of the British Agent at Gilgit has
been obtained, whose decision shall be final and
authoritative.

{261}

"The desirability of abolishing traffic in slaves is a matter
to which the Government of India attach much importance, and
that they have lately interested themselves with some success
in procuring the release of Natives of Kashmir and her
dependencies, including Chitralis, who are held in bondage in
Chinese Turkistan. It is in accordance therefore with the
general policy of the Government of India that in Chitral also
all buying and selling of slaves, whether for disposal in the
country or with the intention of sending them abroad, should
be altogether prohibited. Any such selling of slaves is
therefore from this time forward absolutely illegal."

_Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications:
Papers by Command, 1896 (C.-8037)._

Also in:
_C. Lowe,
The Story of Chitral
(Century magazine, volume 55, page 89)._

INDIA: A. D. 1895 (April).
Report of the Opium Commission.

"The long-deferred publication of the report of this
commission was made in April, and the report was signed by
eight out of nine members of the commission. The commissioners
declared that it had not been shown to be necessary, or to be
demanded by the people, that the growth of the poppy and the
manufacture of opium in British India should be prohibited.
Such a prohibition, if extended to the protected States, would
be an unprecedented act of interference on the part of the
paramount Power, and would be sure to be resisted by the
chiefs and their people. The existing treaties with China in
regard to the importation of Indian opium into that country
had been admitted by the Chinese Government to contain all
they desired. The evidence led the commissioners to the
conclusion that the common use of opium in India is moderate,
and its prohibition is strongly opposed by the great mass of
native opinion."

_Annual Register, 1895,
pages 337-338._

INDIA: A. D. 1896-1897.
Famine in northwestern and central provinces.

A failure of rains, especially in northwestern and central
India, produced the inevitable consequence of famine, lasting
with awful severity from the spring of 1896 until the autumn
of 1897. In December of the former year there were 561,800
persons employed on relief works which the Indian government
organized. In the following March the number had risen to more
than three millions, and in June it exceeded four millions.
Rain fell in July, and August, and the distress began soon
afterwards to grow less. In addition to the heavy expenditures
of the government, the charitable contributions for the relief
of sufferers from this famine were officially reported to have
amounted to 1,750,000 pounds sterling ($8,750,000).

INDIA: A. D. 1896-1900.
The Bubonic Plague.

See (in this volume)
PLAGUE.

INDIA: A. D. 1897.
Change in the government of Burmah.

See (in this volume)
BURMAH: A. D. 1897.

INDIA: A. D. 1897.
Rejection of American proposals for a
reopening of mints to silver.

See (in this volume)
MONETARY QUESTIONS: A. D. 1897 (APRIL-OCTOBER).

INDIA: A. D. 1897-1898.
Frontier wars.

From the early summer of 1897 until beyond the close of the
year, the British were once more seriously in conflict with
the warlike tribes of the Afghan frontier. The risings of the
latter were begun in the Tochi Valley, on the 10th of June,
when a sudden, treacherous attack was made by Waziri tribesmen
on the escort of Mr. Gee, the political agent, at the village
of Maizar. A number of officers and men were killed and
wounded, and the whole party would have been destroyed if
timely reinforcements had not reached them. Over 7,000 troops
were subsequently employed in the suppression and punishment
of this revolt. The next outbreak, in the Swat Valley, was
more extensive. It was ascribed to the preaching of a
fanatical Mohammedan priest, known as "the mud mullah," who
labored to excite a religious war, and was opened, July 26, by
a night attack on the British positions at Malakand and
Chakdarra. The latter outpost, guarding the bridge over the
Swat river, on the road to Chitral, was held by a small
garrison of less than 300 men, who were beleaguered for a
considerable time before relief came. According to an official
return of "wars and military operations on or beyond the
borders of British India in which the Government of India has
been engaged," made to Parliament on the 30th of January,
1900, there were 11,826 troops employed in the operations
immediately consequent on this rising, with the result that
"the insurgents were defeated and the fanatical gatherings
were dispersed; large fines were taken in money and arms." But
other neighboring tribes either gave help to the Swats or were
moved to follow their example, and required to be subdued,
their countries traversed by punitive expeditions and "fines
of money and arms" collected. Before the year closed, these
tasks employed 6,800 men in the Mohmand country, 3,200 in the
Utman Khel country, 7,300 in the Buner country, 14,231 in the
Kurram Valley; and then came the most serious business of all.
The Afridis, who had been subsidized by the government of
India for some years, as guardians of the important Khyber
Pass, were suddenly in arms against their paymasters, in
August, destroying the Khyber posts. This serious hostility
called nearly 44,000 British-Indian troops into the field,
under General Sir William Lockhart, whose successful campaign
was not finished until the following spring. The most serious
engagement of the war with the Afridis was fought at the
village of Dargai, October 18. The final results of the
campaign are thus summarized in the return mentioned above:
"British troops traversed the country of the tribes,
inflicting severe loss on the tribesmen, who were ultimately
reduced to submission: they paid large fines in money and
arms, and friendly relations have since been restored."

_Great Britain,
House of Commons Reports and Papers, 1900, 13._

INDIA: A. D. 1898.
Discovery of the birthplace and the tomb of Gautama Buddha.

See (in this volume)
BUDDHA.

INDIA: A. D. 1898 (September).
Appointment of Lord Curzon to the Viceroyalty.

In September, 1898, the Right Hon. George N. Curzon, lately
Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was appointed
Viceroy and Governor-General of India, to succeed the Earl of
Elgin. In the following month, Mr. Curzon was raised to the
peerage, as Baron Curzon of Kedleston.

INDIA: A. D. 1899-1900.
Famine again.

There was a recurrence of drought and famine in 1899, far more
extensive than that of 1896-1897; producing more death and
suffering, and calling out more strenuous exertions for its
relief. The regions afflicted were largely the same as two
years before, embracing much of northwestern and central
India. The relief measures which it demanded were carried far
into the summer of 1900. In October of the latter year Lord
Curzon, the Viceroy, addressing the Legislative Council at
Simla, and reviewing the experience through which the
government and the country had passed, made some important
statements of fact:

{262}

"In a greater or less degree," he said, "nearly one-fourth of
the entire population of the Indian continent came within the
range of the relief operations. The loss occasioned may be
roughly put in this way. The annual agricultural production of
India and Burma averages in value between 300 and 400 crores
of rupees [the crore being ten millions, and the rupee
equivalent to about one-third of a dollar]. On a very cautious
estimate the production of 1899-1900 must have been at least
one-quarter, if not one-third, below the average, or at normal
prices 75 crores, or £50,000,000 sterling. If to this be added
the value of some millions of cattle, some conception may be
formed of the destruction of property which great drought
occasions. There have been many great droughts in India, but
no other of which such figures could be predicated as these. …

"If a special characteristic can be attributed to our campaign
of famine relief in the past year, it has been its
unprecedented liberality. There is no parallel in the history
of India or any country of the world to the total of over
6,000,000 persons who, in British India and the native States
for weeks on end, have been dependent upon the charity of the
Government. The famine cost ten crores in direct expenditure,
while 238 lakhs were given to landholders and cultivators on
loans and advances, besides loans to native States. … There
has never been a famine when the general mortality has been
less, when the distress has been more amply or swiftly
relieved, or when the Government and its officers have given
themselves with more whole-hearted devotion to the saving of
life and the service of the people. It is impossible to tell
the actual mortality, but there has apparently been an excess
of mortality over the normal of 750,000. Cholera and smallpox
have accounted for 230,000, which is probably below the mark,
so that the excess in British India has equalled 500,000
during the year. To say that the greater part of these died of
starvation or even of destitution would be an unjustifiable
exaggeration, since many other contributory causes have been
at work."

Referring to the charitable help received from various parts
of the world, Lord Curzon said: "In 1896-1897 the total
collections amounted to 170 lakhs [the lakh being 100,000
rupees] of which 10 lakhs remained over at the beginning of
the recent famine. In the present year the Central Relief
Committee has received a sum of close upon 140 lakhs, not far
short of £1,000,000 sterling. To analyze the subscriptions:
India has contributed about the same amount to the fund as in
1896-1897—namely, 32 lakhs. If the contributions from the
European community are deducted, India may be considered to
have contributed less than one-fifth of the total collections
of 140 lakhs. More might have been expected from the native
community as a whole, notwithstanding individual examples of
remarkable generosity. The little colony of the Straits
Settlements, which has no connexion with India beyond that of
sentiment, has given more than the whole Punjab. A careful
observation of the figures and proceedings in each province
compels me to say that native India has not yet reached as
high a standard of practical philanthropy and charity as might
reasonably be expected. … The collections from abroad amounted
to 108 lakhs, as against 137 in 1896-1897. The United
Kingdom's contribution of 88½ lakhs compared indifferently
with its contribution of 123 lakhs in 1896-1897, but in the
circumstances of the year it is a noble gift. Glasgow has been
especially generous with a donation of 8¼ lakhs and Liverpool
with 4½, in addition to nearly 16 lakhs from the rest of
Lancashire. Australasia has given nearly 8 lakhs in place of 2
lakhs. The Straits Settlements, Ceylon, and Hong-Kong have
also been extremely generous. Even the Chinese native
officials have collected handsome sums. The liberal donation
of Germany at the instigation of the Emperor has already been
publicly acknowledged. The United States, both through direct
contributions to the fund and by means of
privately-distributed gifts of money and grain, have once more
shown their vivid sympathy with England's mission and India's
need."

INDIA: A. D. 1901.
Census of the Empire.
Decrease of population in several of the Native States.

The Indian census, begun on the 1st of March, 1901, was
completed for the entire empire in fourteen days, the result
being announced on the 15th. It showed a total population in
British territory of 231,085,000, against 221,266,000 in 1891;
in Native States 63,181,000, against 66,050,000 in 1891; total
for all India, 294,266,000, against 287,317,000 in 1891. The
Native States, it will be seen, have declined in population to
the extent of nearly 3,000,000, showing greater severity in
those states of the effects of famine and disease. In several
provinces, however, of the British territory, a decrease of
population appears: Berar declining from 2,897,000 in 1891 to
1,491,000 in 1901; Bombay (British Presidency) from 15,957,000
to 15,330,000; Central Provinces from 10,784,000 to 9,845,000;
Aden from 44,000 to 41,000; Coorg from 173,000 to 170,000. Of
the Native States the greatest loss of population was suffered
in Rajputana, which sank from 12,016,000 to 9,841,000; in
Central India, where the numbers fell from 10,318,000 to
8,501,000; and in the Bombay States, which were reduced in
population from 8,059,000 to 6,891,000. The provinces in
British India which show the greatest percentage of gain are
Upper and Lower Burma, Assam and Sind. The present population
of the greater British provinces is as follows: Bengal,
74,713,000; Madras, 38,208,000; Northwest provinces,
34,812,000; Punjab, 22,449,000.

INDIA: A. D. 1901 (February).
Continued famine.

On the 24th of January, 1901, the Viceroy of India reported to
the British Government, by telegram, that the winter rainfall
had been unusually good in Upper India, Rajputana, Central
Provinces, and Central India, and agricultural prospects were
very favorable: but that in Gujarat, Deccan, and the Karnatik
districts of Bombay, through the early cessation of the
monsoon in September and the absence of rain, the crop
prospects were bad and serious distress was expected between
then and August. Relief measures would be required. The
affected district included Baroda and part of Haidarabad. On
the 14th of February the Viceroy reported further that the
number on the relief works and gratuitous relief showed little
increase, but greater pressure was expected in the affected
area after the reaping of the scanty harvests there.
{263}
In Upper
and Central India some damage by storm and damp had been done
to crops which promised to be very good. The number of persons
then in receipt of relief was:

Bombay, 176,000;
Bombay Native States, 17,000;
Baroda, 15,000;
Haidarabad, 2,000;
Madras, 3,000;
Central India States, 1,000.
Total, 214,000.

INDIA: A. D. 1901 (February).
Creation of a new administrative province on the
northwestern frontier.

A despatch from Calcutta, February 13, announced the
determination of the government of India to create "a new
frontier agency or province, formed out of the four
trans-Indus districts of the Punjab, under an Agent to the
Governor-General of similar status to the Agent in
Baluchistan, with revenue and judicial commissioners, all the
officers being under the Supreme Government and enrolled in
the Political Department. The districts which form the new
province will be Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan,
with the tribal country beyond their limits, and also the
existing political agencies of Dir, Swat, Chitral, the
Khaibar, the Kuram, Tochi, and Wana. The scheme takes as
little as possible away from the Punjab, while making a
compact charge, easily controllable by one officer."

INDIA: A. D. 1901 (February).
Message of King Edward VII. to the princes and people.

See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

INDIANAPOLIS CONVENTION, and Monetary Commission, The.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896-1898.

INDIANS, The American: A. D. 1893-1899.
Negotiations and agreements with the Five Civilized Tribes.
Work of the Dawes Commission.

In his annual Message to the Congress of the United States,
December 7, 1896, President Cleveland made the following
reference to the work of a commission created in 1893, for
negotiating with what are known as the Five Civilized Tribes
of Indians: "The condition of affairs among the Five Civilized
Tribes, who occupy large tracts of land in the Indian
Territory and who have governments of their own, has assumed
such an aspect as to render it almost indispensable that there
should be an entire change in the relations of these Indians
to the General Government. This seems to be necessary in
furtherance of their own interests, as well as for the
protection of non-Indian residents in their territory. A
commission organized and empowered under several recent laws
is now negotiating with these Indians for the relinquishment
of their courts and the division of their common lands in
severalty, and are aiding in the settlement of the troublesome
question of tribal membership. The reception of their first
proffers of negotiation was not encouraging, but through
patience and such conduct on their part as demonstrated that
their intentions were friendly and in the interest of the
tribes the prospect of success has become more promising. The
effort should be to save these Indians from the consequences
of their own mistakes and improvidence and to secure to the
real Indian his rights as against intruders and professed
friends who profit by his retrogression. A change is also
needed to protect life and property through the operation of
courts conducted according to strict justice and strong enough
to enforce their mandates. As a sincere friend of the Indian,
I am exceedingly anxious that these reforms should be
accomplished with the consent and aid of the tribes and that
no necessity may be presented for radical or drastic
legislation."

_United States,
Message and Documents
(Abridgment, 1896-1897)._

The Act of March 3, 1893, by which the commission was created,
set forth its character, its duties and its powers, as
follows: "The President shall nominate and, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint three
commissioners to enter into negotiations with the Cherokee
Nation, the Choctaw Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, the Muscogee
(or Creek) Nation, the Seminole Nation, for the purpose of
extinguishment of the national or tribal title to any lands
within that territory now held by any and all of such nations
or tribes, either by cession of the same or some part thereof
to the United States, or by the allotment and division of the
same in severalty among the Indians of such nations or tribes,
respectively, as may be entitled to the same, or by such other
method as may be agreed upon between the several nations and
tribes aforesaid, or each of them, with the United States,
with a view to such an adjustment, upon the basis of justice
and equity, as may, with the consent of such nations or tribes
of Indians, so far as may be necessary, be requisite and
suitable to enable the ultimate creation of a State or States
of the Union which shall embrace the lands within said Indian
Territory. …

"Such commissioners shall, under such regulations and
directions as shall be prescribed by the President, through
the Secretary of the Interior, enter upon negotiation with the
several nations of Indians as aforesaid in the Indian
Territory, and shall endeavor to procure, first, such
allotment of lands in severalty to the Indians belonging to
each such nation, tribe, or band, respectively, as may be
agreed upon as just and proper to provide for each such Indian
a sufficient quantity of land for his or her needs, in such
equal distribution and apportionment as may be found just and
suited to the circumstances; for which purpose, after the
terms of such an agreement shall have been arrived at, the
said commissioners shall cause the land of any such nation, or
tribe, or band to be surveyed and the proper allotment to be
designated; and, secondly, to procure the cession, for such
price and upon such terms as shall be agreed upon, of any
lands not found necessary to be so allotted or divided, to the
United States; and to make proper agreements for the
investment or holding by the United States of such moneys as
may be paid or agreed to be paid to such nation, or tribes, or
bands, or to any of the Indians thereof, for the extinguishment
of their [title?] therein. But said commissioners shall,
however, have power to negotiate any and all such agreements
as, in view of all the circumstances affecting the subject,
shall be found requisite and suitable to such an arrangement
of the rights and interests and affairs of such nations,
tribes, bands, or Indians, or any of them, to enable the
ultimate creation of a Territory of the United States with a
view to the admission of the same as a State in the Union."

{264}

A subsequent Act, of March 2, 1895, authorized the appointment
of two additional members of the commission; and an Act of
June 10, 1896, provided that "said commission is further
authorized and directed to proceed at once to hear and
determine the application of all persons who may apply to them
for citizenship in any of said nations, and after said hearing
they shall determine the right of said applicant to be so
admitted and enrolled. … That the said commission … shall
cause a complete roll of citizenship of each of said nations
to be made up from their records, and add thereto the names of
citizens whose right may be conferred under this act, and said
rolls shall be, and are hereby, made rolls of citizenship of
said nations or tribes, subject, however, to the determination
of the United States courts, as provided herein."

A further Act of Congress, known as the Curtis Act, June 28,
1898, ratified, with some amendments, an agreement made by the
commission with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, in April. 1897,
and with the Creeks in September of that year, to become
effective if ratified by a majority of the voters of those
tribes at an election held prior to December 1, 1898. In the
annual report, for 1899, made by the commission (of which the
Honorable Henry L. Dawes, of Massachusetts, is chairman, and
which is often referred to as "the Dawes Commission,") the
following account of results is given: "A special election was
called by the executives of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations
to be held August 24, and the votes cast were counted in the
presence of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes at
Atoka, August 30, resulting in the ratification of the
agreement by a majority of seven hundred ninety-eight votes.
Proclamation thereof was duly made, and the 'Atoka agreement,'
so called, is therefore now in full force and effect in the
Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. Chief Isparhecher of the Creeks
was slow to call an election, and it was not until November 1,
1898, that the agreement with that tribe was submitted in its
amended form for ratification. While no active interest was
manifested, the full-bloods and many of the freedmen were
opposed to the agreement and it failed of ratification by
about one hundred and fifty votes. …

"The Cherokees now began to realize the sensations of 'a man
without a country,' and again created a commission at a
general session of the national council in November, 1898,
clothed with authority to negotiate an agreement with the
United States. The earlier efforts of this commission to
conclude an agreement with that tribe were futile, owing to
the disinclination of the Cherokee commissioners to accede to
such propositions as the Government had to offer. The
commission now created was limited in its power to negotiate
to a period of thirty days. The United States Commission had
advertised appointments in Mississippi extending from December
19, 1898, to January 7, 1899, for the purpose of identifying
the Mississippi Choctaws, a duty imposed upon the commission
by the act of June 28, 1898, but on receiving a communication
from the chairman of the Cherokee Commission requesting a
conference it was deemed desirable to postpone the
appointments in Mississippi and meet the Cherokee Commission,
which it did on December 19, 1898, continuing negotiations
until January 14, 1899, producing the agreement which is
appended hereto. In the meantime the Creeks had, by act of
council, created another commission with authority to
negotiate an agreement with the United States, and a
conference was accorded it immediately upon conclusion of the
negotiations with the Cherokees, continuing to February 1,
1899, when an agreement was concluded. The agreement with the
Cherokees was ratified by the tribe at a special election held
January 31, 1899, by a majority of two thousand one hundred six
votes, and that with the Creeks on February 18, 1899, by a
majority of four hundred eighty-five.

"While these agreements do not in all respects embody those
features which the commission desired, they were the best
obtainable, and the result of most serious, patient, and
earnest consideration, covering many days of arduous labor.
The commissions were many times on the point of suspending
negotiations, there having arisen propositions upon the part
of one of the commissions which the other was unwilling to
accept. Particularly were the tribal commissioners determined
to fix a maximum and minimum value for the appraisement of
lands, while this commission was equally vigorous in its views
that the lands should be appraised at their actual value,
excluding improvements, without limitations in order that an
equal division might be made. The propositions finally agreed
upon were the result of a compromise, without which no
agreement could have been reached. The desirability, if not
the absolute necessity, of securing a uniform land tenure
among the Five Tribes leads the commission to recommend that
these agreements, with such modifications and amendments as
may be deemed wise and proper, be ratified by Congress. …

"The Choctaw and Chickasaw governments, in a limited way, are
continued, by agreement, to March 4, 1906, and certain of
their laws are therefore effective within the territory of
those tribes. A similar condition exists as to the Seminoles,
with which an agreement was concluded at the close of the year
1897. To supply needed laws to replace various tribal statutes
which had by Congress been made inoperative, the laws of
Arkansas pertaining to certain matters have been extended over
Indian Territory. The Federal laws have been made to apply to
still other subjects, and officials under the Interior
Department are charged with the enforcement of rules and
regulations governing still further matters, and so on. So
complicated and complex a state of affairs does this system of
jurisprudence present that the people are dazed and often
unable to determine what is law and who is authorized to
enforce it. Indeed, none other than an able lawyer can
reasonably hope to understand the situation, and even he must
be content to look upon certain phases of it as not being
susceptible of solution.

"Conditions are not yet ripe for the immediate installation of
a Territorial or State government. 'Tis a consummation
devoutly to be wished,' but wholly impracticable at this time
for various reasons, not the least of which is found in the
fact that there are four non-citizens in Indian Territory to
every citizen. The non-citizen does not own a foot of soil,
save as provisions have recently been made for the segregation
and sale of town sites, and with a voice in legislation, the
non-citizen would soon legislate the Indian into a state of
innocuous desuetude. On the other hand, it would be manifestly
unjust and at ill-accord with the spirit of our institutions
to deny the right of franchise to so great a number of people,
in all respects otherwise entitled to enjoy that prerogative.
{265}
Another very serious obstacle to the establishment of a
territorial form of government is the lack of uniform land
tenures. The commission indulges in the hope and belief that
at no great distant date some method may be devised whereby
the lands of all the Five Tribes may be subjected to a uniform
tenure. It will be seen that the legislative feature of the
popular form of government is not possible at this time, and
while legislation by Congress for all the petty needs of the
Territory is impracticable in the highest degree, the more
urgent requirements of the people must be met by this means
for the present. The judicial branch is well represented by
the United States courts. …

"The commission, in conclusion, most earnestly urges the
importance of adequate appropriations for pushing to an early
completion the work contemplated by the various laws and
agreements under which a transformation is to be wrought in
Indian Territory. The all-important and most urgent duty now
devolving upon the Government of the United States incident to
the translation of conditions among the Five Tribes is the
allotment of lands in severalty, and the most pressing and
essential preliminary steps toward that end are the completion
of citizenship rolls, the appraisement of lands, and the
subdivision of sections into forty-acre tracts, all of which
have been already discussed in detail in this report. The
commission believes that the enrollment of citizens is
progressing as rapidly as the nature of the work will permit,
and unless some unforeseen obstacle arises to prevent, the
rolls in four of the nations will be completed and delivered
to the Secretary during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900,
and very material progress made in the fifth."

_Sixth Annual Report of the Commission
to the Five Civilized Tribes, 1899,
page 66-67, and 9-29._

INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1898.
Outbreak in northern Minnesota.

An alarming outbreak of hostility on the part of some of the
Indians of the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota
occurred in October, 1898, provoked, as was afterwards shown,
by gross frauds and abuses on the part of certain of the
officials with whom they had to deal. They had been shamefully
defrauded in the sale of their timber lands, which the
government assumed to undertake for their benefit; but the
immediate Cause of trouble appeared to be a scandalous
practice on the part of deputy marshals, who made arrests
among them for trivial reasons, conveyed prisoners and
witnesses to the federal court at St. Paul, in order to obtain
fees and mileage, and left them to make their way home again
as they could. The outbreak began on the arrest of a chief of
the Pillager band of Chippewas, on Bear Island. He was to be
taken to St. Paul as a witness in a case of alleged
whiskey-selling; but his followers rescued him. The marshal,
thereupon, called for military aid, and a company of United
States infantry was sent to the Reservation. They were
ambuscaded by the Indians and suffered a loss of 5 killed and
16 wounded. The Pillager band was joined by Indians from
neighboring tribes, and all in the region were dangerously
excited by the event, while the whites were in great dread of
a general Indian war. But reinforcements of troops were
promptly sent to the scene, and peace was soon
restored,—measures being taken to remedy the wrongs of which
the Indians complained.

INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1899-1900.
The recent Indian policy of the government, and its results.
Indian schools and education.
Present Indian population.

"This, then, is the present Indian policy of the nation,—to
fit the Indian for civilization and to absorb him into it. It
is a national work. It is less than twenty-five years since
the government turned from the policy of keeping him on
reservations, as quiet as possible, out of the way of
civilization, waiting, with no excess of patience, for the
race to fade out of existence and to cease from troubling. It
was in 1877 that the nation made the first appropriation from
its own treasury to fit for its own citizenship this portion
of the human race living under its own flag and constitution,
but without legal status or constitutional immunities. … The
first appropriation was a mere pittance of $20,000; it was
given only after a hard struggle. But the first step met with
encouragement, and the next year the sum was increased to
$30,000, and then to $60,000, and in two years more it became
$125,000. The policy has at last so grown in public confidence
that, while there is still much discussion of the best methods
of expenditure, not a word is heard among the lawgivers for
its abandonment. It has in the meantime so broadened in its
scope that the appropriations for this work have increased
from year to year, till this year (1899) it has risen to
$2,638,390. … There are now 148 well-equipped boarding schools
and 295 day schools, engaged in the education of 24,004
children, with an average attendance of 19,671. How near this
comes to including the whole number of children of school age,
in a total population of a quarter of a million of Indians,
every inquirer can form a pretty close estimate for himself.
No one will deny that, at this rate of progress, the
facilities for the education of Indian children will soon
reach, if they have not already reached, those enjoyed by
their white neighbors in the remote regions of the West. The
results thus far are of a most encouraging character.

"But the work does not stop with the rising generation of the
race; it embraces also the adult Indian. … Soon after the
beginning of appropriations for Indian schools, Congress, in
what is called the Severalty Act, provided for every Indian
capable of appreciating its value, and who chose to take it, a
homestead of one hundred and sixty acres to heads of families,
and a smaller number to other members, inalienable and
untaxable for twenty-five years, to be selected by him on the
reservation of his tribe. If he prefer to abandon his tribe
and go elsewhere, he may take his allotment anywhere on the
public domain, free of charge. No English baron has a safer
title to his manor than has each Indian to his homestead. He
cannot part with it for twenty-five years without the consent
of Congress, nor can the United States, without his consent,
be released from a covenant to defend his possession for the
same period. This allotment carries with it also all the
rights, privileges, and immunities of an American citizen;
opens to these Indians, as to all other citizens, the doors of
all the courts; and extends to them the protection of all the
laws, national and state, which affect any other citizen. Any
Indian, if he prefers not to be a farmer, incumbered with one
of these homesteads, may become a citizen of the United
States, and reside and prosecute any calling in any part of
the United States, as securely under this law as anyone else,
by taking up his residence separate and apart from his tribe,
and adopting the habits of civilized life. Thus every door of
opportunity is thrown wide open to every adult Indian, as well
as to those of the next generation.

{266}

"This recognition of the home and family as a force in Indian
civilization became a part of the present policy of dealing
with the race only twelve years ago. These are some of its
results: 55,467 individual Indians, including a few under
former treaty stipulations, have taken their allotments,
making an aggregate of 6,708,628 acres. Of these, 30,000 now
hold complete patents to their homes, and the rest are
awaiting the perfection and delivery of their title deeds. …
Not alone in these statistics are manifest the evidences of
permanent advance of the race toward the goal of orderly,
self-supporting citizenship. Bloody Indian wars have ceased.
The slaughter of warring clans and the scalping of women and
children fleeing from burning wigwams are no longer recorded.
Geronimo himself has become a teacher of peace. The recent
unfortunate difficulty with the Chippewas in Minnesota, caused
more by lack of white than of red civilization, is no
exception. We are at peace with the Indian all along the
border, and the line between the Indian and the white
settlements is fast fading out."

_H. L. Dawes, Have we failed with the Indian?
(Atlantic Monthly, August, 1899)._

"Indian education is accomplished through the means of
nonreservation boarding schools, reservation boarding schools,
and reservation and independent day schools, all under
complete Government control, State and Territorial public
schools, contract day and boarding schools, and mission day
and boarding schools. The Indian school system aims to provide
a training which will prepare the Indian boy or girl for the
every day life of the average American citizen. It does not
contemplate, as some have supposed on a superficial
examination, an elaborate preparation for a collegiate course
through an extended high-school curriculum. The course of
instruction in these schools is limited to that usually taught
in the common schools of the country. Shoe and harness making,
tailoring, blacksmithing, masonry work, plastering, brick
making and laying, etc., are taught at the larger
nonreservation schools, not, it is true, with the
elaborateness of special training as at the great polytechnic
institutions of the country, but on a scale suited to the
ability and future environment of the Indian. There are
special cases, however, where Indian boys are, and have been,
trained so thoroughly that their work compares favorably with
that of the white mechanic. … Phoenix, Haskell, Albuquerque,
and other institutions, have well-organized schools of
domestic science, where the girls are practically taught the
art of preparing a wholesome meal, such as appears on the
tables of persons of moderate means. …

"Nonreservation schools … are as a rule the largest
institutions devoted to Indian education. As indicated by
their designation, they are situated off the reservations and
usually near cities or populous districts, where the object
lessons of white civilization are constantly presented to the
pupils. They are recruited principally from the day and
boarding schools on the reservations. The majority are
supported by special appropriations made by Congress, and are
adapted to the teaching of trades, etc., in a more extended
degree than are schools on the reservations. The largest of
these schools is situated at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where
there are accommodations for 1,000 pupils; the next largest is
at Phoenix, Arizona, with a capacity for 700; the third, at
Lawrence, Kansas, and known as Haskell Institute,
accommodating 600 pupils. These three large schools are types
of their class, and are not restricted in territory as to
collection of pupils. Chemawa school, near Salem, Oregon, and
Chilocco school, near Arkansas City, Oklahoma, are types of
the medium-sized schools, and each has a capacity of 400
pupils. The remainder of the schools are of less capacity and
have not been developed so highly. There are altogether 25 of
these schools. …