Chapter LV: Section 88 (4)

"Nothing was more instructive at the Basle Congress than the
vigour—I might almost say violence—with which the
representatives of the great Jewish strata of population
resisted any attempt to limit the guarantees for a State based
on public rights. The executive appointed to draw up a
programme had proposed 'a legally secured home.' The
delegates, however, were not satisfied, and clamoured for an
alteration to 'secured on the basis of international rights.'
It was only by adopting the intermediary expression 'public
rights' that an agreement was arrived at. The significance of
this logomachy is, that what the Jews desire is not to acquire
more tracts of land, but a country for the Jewish people, and
to emphasise that desire in terms as plain as possible without
wounding certain legitimate and sovereign susceptibilities. We
can acquire land any day in our private right everywhere. But
that is not the point with Zionists. In our case we have
nothing to do with private rights. That will come later—as
well as the land speculators—once our movement has achieved
success. What the Zionists are alone directing their attention
to is the 'public rights' idea. In that they hope to find a
remedy for the old evil. Were I to express myself
paradoxically, I should say that a country belonging to the
Jews on the basis of public rights, even though down to the
very last parcel it was the legally secured property of
non-Jews, would mean the final solution of the Jewish
question. … We have held a gathering at Basle before the whole
world, and there we saw the national consciousness and the
popular will break forth, at times like a convulsive upheaval.
To Basle came Jews of all countries, of all tongues, of all
parties, and of all forms of religious confession. There were
more than 200 representatives of the Jewish people—most of
them delegates for hundreds and thousands. Men from Roumania
alone brought over 50,000 signatures of those who had sent
them there. There surely was never such a motley assembly of
opinions in such a narrow space before. On the other hand,
there would certainly have been more conflict of opinion in
any other deliberative assembly than there was in this. …

"It would … appear to be to the interest of Turkey to come to
an arrangement with the Jews. But, what are the interests
which other Governments would have in assisting the
realisation of a legally guaranteed Jewish home? The interest
would vary with each country, but it is present in some form
or other everywhere. It would mean the drawing off of an
unhappy and detested element of population which is reduced
more and more to a condition of despair, and which, scattered
over the face of the earth, and in a state of unrest, must
perforce identify itself with the most extreme parties
everywhere. Governments and all friends of the existing order
of things cannot bring themselves to believe that, by helping
us in the solution we propose, they could give peace to an
element which has been driven to revolution and rendered
dangerous through its dispersion. That a highly conservative
people, like the Jews, have always been driven into the ranks
of revolutionists is the most lamentable feature in the
tragedy of our race. Zionism would mean an end to all that. We
should see results accrue for the general condition of
mankind, the full benefits of which we cannot even guess.
There are, of course, a great number of existing political
difficulties to be overcome, but these, given the necessary
good will, might be surmounted."

_Theodor Herzl,
The Zionist Congress
(Contemporary Review, October, 1897)._

{284}

"The programme of the Philo-Zionists as defined in their
printed constitution is as follows:

(a) To foster the national idea in Israel.

(b) To promote the colonization of Palestine and neighbouring
territories by Jews, by establishing new colonies and
assisting those already established.

(c) To diffuse the knowledge of Hebrew as a living language.

(d) To further the moral, intellectual, and material status of
Israel.

The English Association, known as the Chovevi Zion, is
presided over by Colonel Albert Edward Goldsmid, Assistant
Adjutant-General of Her Majesty's Forces; it has 35
established 'Tents' spread through the length and breadth of
the United Kingdom. … Similar associations have been
established in America, Germany, France, Russia, Austria,
Denmark, Switzerland, and other countries; and there is a
central committee meeting at Paris, where the organisation of
new colonies and development of existing ones in the Holy Land
is systematically carried out. Even before these associations
had been called into existence Baron Edmond de Rothschild of
Paris, encouraged by the success of the agricultural schools
at Jaffa, founded by the late Charles Netter, had devoted his
vast influence and his open purse to the work; and there is a
separate administration in Palestine charged with the control
and management of what are known as 'the Baron's colonies.'

"To-day we have in Palestine between twenty and thirty
distinct colonies or communities spreading along the coast
from Askalon in the south to Carmel in the north, and along
the Jordan from the Waters of Meron to the Sea of Galilee in
the east. The population of these colonies varies from 100 to
700 souls, and they may safely be estimated to number 10,000
souls in all, independently of the large number of Jewish day
labourers from neighbouring towns and villages, to whom they
give occasional employment. There are 50,000 more Jews—mostly
refugees—in the various Holy Cities, and the immediate problem
is to get these—or the better part of them—also on the land.
The current language of the colonists is the Hebrew of the
Bible, although many of them have acquired the native Arabic,
and also French, which is taught in their schools. They have
their places of worship, their houses of study, their modest
institutes, their public baths, and in fact the counterpart in
small of all the features of the model European village: and
they have, thanks to the Baron and the Philo-Zionists'
Associations, the most modern appliances and complete
installations for the prosecution of their agricultural
works."

_Herbert Bentwich,
Philo-Zionists and Anti-Semites
(Nineteenth Century, October, 1897)._

"At the beginning of March, 1898, an important Conference was
held in London, attended by delegates from nearly 50
societies, representing 10,000 English Zionists, and
resolutions were passed adopting the International programme,
and making provisions for a federation of all the English
Zionist bodies. Similar conferences were held in New York, in
Berlin, in Galatz (Roumania), and other great centres; and
local federations were everywhere formed to give greater
strength and solidity to the general organization. At the
second International Congress, which was held at Basle in
August, 1898, and was attended by an imposing body of more
than 500 delegates, the Executive Committee were able to
report that the 'Basle programme' had received the support of
913 Zionist organizations (out of which over 700 had sprung up
since the first Congress), it being calculated that these
represented at least a quarter of a million of active members.
The Congress had become the authorised representative and
exponent of the people's wishes, and the Zionists had become a
power to be reckoned with in any settlement of the Jewish
question. Prominent among the attendants at this world
gathering were the Rabbis—crown officials from orthodox Russia
and Poland, as well as the elect of reform congregations from
America—who took an active interest in the settlement of the
programme of work for the ensuing year, which was the main
business of the meeting."

_H. Bentwich,
The Progress of Zionism
(Fortnightly Review, December, 1898)._

At the International Zionist Congress which assembled in
London on the 13th of August, 1900, the report of the
executive committee on the progress which the movement has
made showed as follows: "In Russia there are at least 100,000
members of Zionist societies; in England the movement is
supported by 38 societies, as against 16 last year, and all
these societies have increased membership. Thanks to the work
of the English Zionist Federation Zionism has made great
headway in England. In the United States there are 135
societies, as against 102 last year. Notwithstanding the war
in South Africa, the contributions towards the expenses of the
movement have been well maintained. Having regard to the
returns received by the executive committee the reporter felt
no hesitation in saying that to-day the vast majority of the
Jewish nation were in favour of Zionism."

_London Times,
August 15, 1900._

Late in December, 1900, it was announced at Vienna that the
Sultan had issued or renewed a decree, according to which the
Jews are forbidden to remain in Palestine for longer than
three months. This measure, which applies both to traders and
pilgrims, further prohibits the acquisition by Jews of landed
property. It was suggested that the wholesale exodus of Jews
from Russia and their recent emigration from Rumania gave rise
to the apprehension that they might overcrowd Palestine. This
apprehension is said to have been strengthened by the
increasing activity of the Zionists, who are suspected in
certain circles in Constantinople of pursuing distinct
political ends. According to another suggestion, Russia had
grown jealous of the Jewish colonization of Palestine, fearing
it to be in the interest of German policy, and had used
influence to check it.

"Viewed merely on its prosaic side, Zionism is by no means a
visionary scheme. The aggregation of Jews in Palestine is only
a matter of time, and it is better that they should be
aggregated there under their own laws and religion, and the
mild suzerainty of the Sultan, than under the semi-barbarous
restrictions of Russia or Roumania, and exposed to recurrent
popular outbreaks. True, Palestine is a ruined country, and
the Jews are a broken people, but neither is beyond
recuperation. Palestine needs a people, Israel needs a
country. If, in regenerating the Holy Land, Israel could
regenerate itself, how should the world be other than the
gainer? In the solution of the problem of Asia, which has just
succeeded the problem of Africa, Israel might play no
insignificant part. Already the colony of Rishon le Zion has
obtained a gold medal for its wines from the Paris Exposition,
which is not prejudiced in the Jew's favor.
{285}
We may be sure the spiritual wine of Judæa would again pour
forth likewise that precious vintage which the world has drunk
for so many centuries. And as the unscientific activities of
the colonization societies would have paved the way for the
pastoral and commercial future of Israel in its own country,
so would the rabbinical sing-song in musty rooms prove to have
been but the unconscious preparation of the ages for the
Jerusalem University.

"But Palestine belongs to the Sultan, and the Sultan refuses
to grant the coveted Judæan Charter, even for dangled
millions. Is not this fatal? No, it matters as little as that
the Zionists could not pay the millions, if suddenly called
upon. They have barely collected a quarter of a million (in
English pounds). But there are millionaires enough to come to
the rescue, once the charter was dangled before the Zionists.
It is not likely that the Rothschilds would see themselves
ousted from their familiar headship in authority and
well-doing, nor would the millions left by Baron Hirsch be
altogether withheld. And the Sultan's present refusal is
equally unimportant, because a national policy is independent
of transient moods and transient rulers. The only aspect that
really matters is whether Israel's face be, or be not, set
steadily Zionwards,—for decades and even for centuries. Much
less turns on the Sultan's mind than on Dr. Herzl's. Will he
lose patience? for leaders like Herzl are not born in every
century."

_I. Zangwill,
The Wandering Jew and the New Century
(Sunday School Times, January 12, 1901)._

JEWS: A. D. 1899.
In Palestine.

"In view of the impetus given the Zionist movement by the
second Zionist congress, held at Basel in September, and also
by the Palestine journey of Emperor Wilhelm II, the present
status of Jews in Palestine becomes a matter of general
interest. Out of a total population in Palestine of some
200,000 souls, about 40,000 are Jews, as against 14,000 twenty
years ago. In Jerusalem, there are 22,000 Jews, half of whom
have immigrated from Europe and America and are called
Asehkenazim to distinguish them from the oriental Israelites,
the Sephardists. Nine hundred and sixty families, numbering
about 5,000 souls, inhabit the twenty-two Jewish colonies in
Palestine which have been founded and subsidized by Europeans
—ten by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, representing the Alliance
Israélite Universelle; the rest by the Jewish Colonization
Association and by the Odessa Company.

"The idea of gathering in Palestine homeless Jews scattered
all over the globe was championed in the forties by Moses
Montefiore, but with indifferent success. In the eighties,
however, the immigration of Jews to Palestine assumed
significant proportions. Of the twenty-two present colonies,
the 'Jacob Memorial' is the largest, supporting more than
1,000 souls. It boasts a graded school (five teachers), a
synagogue, etc., and 4,000 acres of land under cultivation, on
which are raised fruit (chiefly grapes), honey, and mulberry
leaves, the rearing of silkworms being a leading industry. The
'First to Zion' is another quite important colony, owning
2,000 acres of land. Some forty two-storied stone dwelling
houses greet the eye of the approaching stranger; also a
school house with a Hebrew library, a synagogue, and a
hospital. One million five hundred thousand vines and 25,000
olive, almond, orange, and mulberry trees belong to this
colony, which also possesses famous wine cellars. The 'Hope of
Israel,' a mile beyond Yafa, in the plains of Sharon, is
perhaps best known for its agricultural school, in which one
hundred or more pupils are taught gardening. Recently, a high
school for Jewish girls was established in Yafa. The 'Head
Corner Stone,' amid the hills beyond Tiberias, with
snow-capped Hermon in the background, is another quite
prosperous Jewish colony in Palestine. Being near the source
of the Jordan, water is plentiful; and its situation, high up
above the level of Lake Gennesareth, insures fair climatic
conditions. In the 'Door of Hope,' dairy farming is profitably
followed and experiments made in tea planting. This colony is
said to have 1,000,000 vines.

"Entirely irrespective of whether or not the Zionists will
succeed in awakening in the Jewish people a national spirit
and forming a Judean monarchy or republic, with its parliament
in Jerusalem and its representation in foreign capitals, the
present agitation makes for the development of a country which
is but a shadow of its former self, and which will generously
respond to modern influences. The Sultan seems quite disposed
to grant railway, harbor, and other franchises, and it is
possible that the new Jewish Colonial Bank, the organization
of which was decided upon in Basel, will be permitted, under
certain guaranties, to play an important part in the
industrial advancement and growth of Palestine. The movement
is furthermore bringing out new qualities in the Jews residing
in Palestine. They are no longer content with studying the
Talmud and living on charity, but are waking to the fact, as
the Hebrew would put it, that to till the ground is worship of
God.

"It should not be inferred from statements here made that
peace and prosperity have suddenly become the lot of the Jews
in Palestine. Only a few days ago, Rev. William King Eddy, of
Sidon, returned from beyond the Jordan, and he informs me that
a Jewish colony situated not far from El Mzerib (on the
caravan route from Damascus to Mekka) was recently attacked by
predatory Bedouin tribes. The settlers were all driven away,
their gardens and crops destroyed. Even a road built by the
Jews to connect their frontier colony with older ones in
Galilee, west of the river, was at least partially
obliterated. Taxes are more oppressive than ever, officials
are corrupt, and prohibitive measures regarding immigration
are still in force, although inadequate. I think, however, I
am justified in saying that the prospects are brighter than
ever for the Jews in Palestine and for Palestine itself.
European influence has obtained a foothold in the country, and
the tide of modern ideas can not be long debarred. Only four
or five weeks ago, an English company announced its
determination to build a broad-gauge railway from the sea at
Haifa through the very heart of Samaria and Galilee to
Damascus and on to Bagdad, and active operations have already
commenced."

_G. B. Ravndal,
United States Consul at Beirut
(United States Consular Reports, April, 1899, page 691)._

{286}

JEWS: A. D. 1901.
Turkish order regulating visits to Palestine.

A Press telegram from Washington, February 16, 1901, states
that "Consul Merrill, at Jerusalem, has reported to the State
Department that the Turkish Minister of the Interior at
Constantinople has issued an order relative to Jews who visit
Palestine, which went into effect on January 29. The order
applies to an Jews who come to Palestine from other countries
as pilgrims or visitors. The conditions of the order are as
follows: On arriving at Joppa the visitor must deliver his
passport to the Turkish authorities and receive therefor a
Turkish document. The visitor is allowed to stay in the
country three months, when he must leave, surrendering the
Turkish permit and receiving his own. Foreign consuls are to
compel the Jews who overstay the three months' period to leave
Turkey."

----------JEWS: End--------

JOAN OF ARC, The Beatification of.

The beatification of Joan of Are, recommended by the
Congregation of Rites, at Rome, was pronounced by the Pope,
January 28, 1894.

JOHANNESBURG: Origin.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1885-1890.

JOHANNESBURG: A. D. 1895-1896.
Revolutionary conspiracy of Uitlanders.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1895-1896.

JOHANNESBURG: A. D. 1900.
Taken by the British forces.

See (in this volume))
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR): A. D. 1900 MAY-JUNE).

JOINT HIGH COMMISSION, Anglo-American.

See (in this volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1898-1899.

JOLO, The Sultan of.

See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899 (MAY-AUGUST).

JONES, Samuel M., Mayor of Toledo.

See (in this volume)
TOLEDO, OHIO: A. D. 1899-1901.

JOUBERT, General Pietrus Jacobus:
In the South African War.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).

JOUBERT, General Pietrus Jacobus:
Death.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR): A. D. 1900 (MARCH).

JUBILEE, The Diamond, of Queen Victoria.

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

JUBILEE OF THE HOLY YEAR 1900, Proclamation of the Universal.

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

JU JU SACRIFICE.

See (in this volume)
NIGERIA: A. D. 1807.

K.

KAFIRISTAN: Its conquest by the Afghans.

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

KAGAYAN, or CAGAYAN, The American acquisition of.

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

KAIRWAN: Opened to tourists.

See (in this volume)
TUNIS: A. D. 1881-1898.

KAISER WILHELM II.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY.

KAISER WILHELM SHIP CANAL, The.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1895 (JUNE).

KAMERUNS, The: Cost of maintenance.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1809 (JUNE).

KANG YEU-WEI, Chinese reformer.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1898 (JUNE-SEPTEMBER), and after.

KAPILAVASTU, Discovery of the ruins of.

See (in this volume)
BUDDHA.

KARNAK, Fall of eleven columns of the temple of.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: EGYPT: FALL OF KARNAK COLUMNS.

KASSALA, Italian evacuation of.

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

KATIPUNAN, The.

See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1896-1898.

KEARSARGE, Loss of the.

The United States cruiser Kearsarge, destroyer of the
Alabama, was totally wrecked, February 2. 1894, on
Roncadore Reef, off the Mosquito coast, her crew being
saved.

KENGI.

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

KENTUCKY: A. D. 1895-1900.
Political conflicts.
Assassination of Governor Goebel.

In 1895 a Republican Governor, William O. Bradley, was elected
in Kentucky by a majority of nearly 9,000 votes. In 1896 the
conflict of political parties became fierce and dangerous, on
the occasion of the election of au United States Senator to
succeed the Democratic incumbent, J. C. S. Blackburn, whose
term would expire March 3d, 1897. On joint ballot in the
Legislature the Republicans and Democrats had 68 votes each,
and the Populists had 2,—the latter thus bolding a balance of
power: But the two Populist members were divided, and the
Democrats could not act together, owing to the division in
their party on the money question. The "sound-money" Democrats
refused support to Senator Blackburn, who obtained the caucus
nomination of his party for re-election, and their votes were
scattered. The Republicans were united on a candidate, and
secured one of the Populist votes, but needed one more to give
them a majority. They attempted to win the needed vote by
unseating a Democrat in the Lower House whose seat was
contested; but the Democrats promptly neutralized their move
by unseating two Republicans in the Upper House. The passions
excited by the factious contest had by this time become so
violent and threatening that in March, 1897, the Governor of
the State deemed it necessary to call out several companies of
militia to preserve peace at Frankfort. In the end, the
Legislature adjourned without electing an United States
Senator; but a special session was called and the election
accomplished, on the 28th of April, William J. Deboe,
Republican, winning the senatorial seat.

{287}

In the following year (1898) the Democrats secured strong
majorities in both branches of the Legislature, and, under the
lead of Senator William Goebel, passed an election bill which was
bitterly denounced as a contrivance for fraud. It created a
State election board, appointed by the existing Legislature
for four years, which board should name three commissioners in
each county, by whom all election and registration officers
should be chosen. Notwithstanding this provision of partisan
returning officers, the Democrats were so divided on the
silver question in the gubernatorial election of 1899, and
further weakened by personal hostilities which Goebel, who
became their candidate for governor, had stirred up, that the
official returns of the election gave William S. Taylor, the
Republican candidate, a plurality of more than 2,000 votes
over Goebel. There had been fear of riot in Louisville on
election day, and the Governor had called out State troops to
preserve order. The defeated party claimed that military
interference in that city had made the election illegal, and
demanded that the returns from Louisville should be thrown
out. On both sides there were accusations of fraud, and a
dangerous state of political excitement ensued again. But two
of the three members (all Democrats) of the State Board of
Election Commissioners decided that Taylor, the Republican
candidate, had been lawfully elected, and he was inaugurated
Governor on the 12th of December. Goebel and his partisans,
refusing to accept the decision, determined to unseat Governor
Taylor, by authority of the Legislature, in which they
controlled a considerable majority of votes.

The Legislature met and organized on the 1st of January, 1900.
The Governor prepared to defend his possession of the office
by summoning troops of the State Guard from the strong
Republican districts of the mountain region, and 1,000 or more
armed men arrived in Frankfort on the 25th. There had been
fighting between the two parties already, and the situation
now became desperately strained. Some kind of a bloody outcome
seemed inevitable, but no one could anticipate the barbarous
tragedy which ensued. As Senator Goebel was walking to the
state house, on the 30th of January, he was shot from one of
its windows, by a hidden assassin, receiving a wound from
which he died February 3d. The Legislature at once closed its
investigation of the election, and voted to recognize the
dying William E. Goebel as Governor, with J. C. W. Beckham as
his Lieutenant and the successor to the office in the event of
his death. Governor Taylor issued an address to the people of
the State, denouncing the murder and enjoining the
preservation of order. At the same time he proclaimed an
adjournment of the Legislature, closed the State House against
it, and summoned its members to reassemble on the 6th of
February, not at Frankfort, but at the distant small mountain
town of London. Goebel, on his death-bed, took the oath of
office, and issued orders dismissing Governor Taylor's
Adjutant-General, appointing another in his place, and
commanding the force at Frankfort to return to their homes.

The President of the United States was applied to by Governor
Taylor for recognition and support, but decided that he had no
authority to interfere. The supporters of Goebel applied with
more effect to the Circuit Court of Kentucky, which issued a
writ enjoining Governor Taylor from the use of armed force to
prevent the Legislature from meeting. A clerk who succeeded in
serving the writ by tacking it on the door of the Governor's
office was seized and held prisoner by the military, and a
writ of habeas corpus requiring his deliverance was disobeyed
for several days. All authority was breaking down, and a state
of political chaos being produced. To save the State from
actual anarchy and civil war, a conference of leaders in both
parties was held at Louisville, February 5, and an agreement
reached to withdraw troops from the capital, allow the
Legislature to meet there, and abide by its action, with
promise to repeal the obnoxious election law. Governor Taylor
refused acceptance of the agreement. He dismissed the troops,
however, on the 12th, and called the Legislature to meet at
the capital. The Democratic members of that body were holding
meetings at Louisville, the Republican members at London. The
latter obeyed the call to Frankfort, while the former
continued at Louisville, both fragments claiming to be the
Legislature of the State. A petition to the United States
Circuit Court, for injunctions against the Democratic
claimants for certain of the minor State offices, was denied
by Judge Taft on the 14th.

On the 21st, Republican and Democratic leaders came to another
agreement, that the gubernatorial question should be settled
in the courts,—first in those of the State, and then carried
by appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. This
agreement prevailed, and the case, as between Governor Taylor
and Governor Beckham (declared to be Governor by a majority of
the members of the Legislature after Governor Goebel's death)
was peacefully adjudicated in favor of the latter. The Circuit
Court of the State recognized the Legislature's decision of
the election as final; the Court of Appeals, with only one of
three Republican judges dissenting, did the same, April 6. On
April 30 the case was argued, on appeal, before the Supreme
Court of the United States, and on the 21st of May that
tribunal decided that it had no jurisdiction. This ended
attempts to dispute the authority of Governor Beckham.

Strenuous efforts were being made to implicate his competitor,
Mr. Taylor, as accessory to the murder of Goebel. Several
persons had been arrested and put on trial for that crime,
including Caleb Powers, the Secretary of State in Governor
Taylor's fallen government, from the window of whose office it
was claimed that the cowardly shot had been fired. The trials
were scandalized by confessions of perjury and charges and
counter-charges of subornation on the part of witnesses. In
August, Powers was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment
for life. Subsequently, Henry E. Youtsey received the same
sentence, while James Howard was condemned to death. Appeals
were taken in each case. Mr. Taylor, under indictment as an
accomplice, had left the State, and a requisition for his
rendition was refused by the Governor of Indiana, where he
sojourned. He indignantly denied all knowledge of the alleged
conspiracy to kill his competitor, but claimed that a fair
trial could not be secured to him if he was placed in the
power of his political enemies.

{288}

In October, a new election law was passed by the Legislature
and signed by the Governor. It provides that, of the three
State Election Commissioners, one is to be taken from each of
the dominant parties, upon the recommendation of the State
Central Committee, and the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, an
elective officer, is to act as umpire. The Commissioners are
to be appointed by the Governor. They are to appoint the
county boards, one from each party, with the Sheriff as
umpire. All the boards are to have only ministerial powers,
and the law gives the right of appeal in all cases of contests
to the courts except in the case of Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor, which must be tried by the Legislature,
as the constitution prescribes. The Goebel law made the boards
supreme. The new law also provides for an equitable division
of election officers.

KHAIBAR:
Inclusion in a new British Indian province.

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

KHALIFA, The.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896; 1897-1898; and 1899-1900.

KHARTUM, Destruction of.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896.

KHARTUM, Gordon Memorial College.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1898-1899.

KIANG-HUNG: Cession to France.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1894-1895 (MARCH-JULY).

KIAO-CHAU: A. D. 1897.
Seizure by Germany.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1897 (NOVEMBER).

KIAO-CHAU: A. D. 1899.
Cost of maintenance.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1899 (JUNE).

KIEL:
Opening of the Baltic Canal.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1895 (JUNE).

KIENNING, Anti-missionary riot at.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1899.

KIMBERLEY, Siege of.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER); (OCTOBER-DECEMBER);
and 1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

KINGSHIP BY DIVINE RIGHT:
German revival of the doctrine.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1894-1899.

KIS, The city of.

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

KITCHENER, Major-General Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord):
Sirdar of the Egyptian army.
Expedition to Dongola.

See (in this volume)
EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896.

KITCHENER, Major-General Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord):
Final campaigns against the Dervishes.

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

KITCHENER, Major-General Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord):
Dealing with the French expedition at Fashoda.

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

KITCHENER, Major-General Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord):
In the South African War.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY), and after.

KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS, The.

"Many years ago gold was known to exist on the Yukon. The
Hudson Bay Company's men tested the bars of the main river,
and found 'the color,' but not in sufficient quantity to
warrant working. The reason is, that, in the disintegration of
the rocks by the smaller streams and the action of frost and
melting snow, the metallic burden of the waters is dropped in
the causeway of the smaller tributaries; only the finest float
gold and the lighter sand and gravel being carried as far as the
Yukon itself. In 1880, after years of fruitless search on the
main stream, a body of prospectors under the protection of
Captain (now Admiral) Beardsley, United States Navy, landed at
the head of Lynn Canal, crossed the divide, and proceeded to
explore the head-waters. Not much being found at first in
Canadian territory, the prospectors descended the river to the
region near the lower end of the Upper Ramparts. In this
region lies the boundary, formed by the one hundred and
forty-first degree of west longitude from Greenwich. Here the
Yukon receives from the southwest a tributary called
Forty-Mile Creek. A few miles of the lower part of this creek,
including its mouth, are on the Canadian side of the line: the
head-waters—on which the gold is chiefly found—are, for the
most part, on the American side. In this vicinity the first
substantial deposits were discovered, many of which are still
worked. …

"The site of the new diggings—which have produced an
excitement recalling the 'Fraser River rush' of 1857—is on a
stream tributary to the Yukon from the northeast, wholly in
Canadian territory, and entering the main river about fifty
miles eastward from the boundary. Here a mining camp, called
Dawson City,—after the head of the Dominion Geological
Survey,—has been established. … The stream above referred to
has been named the Klondyke,—signifying 'reindeer': on some of
the older maps it is designated Reindeer River. It is said
however that the name should really be Throndak,—a Tinneh term
meaning 'plenty of fish.' The existence of gold on this stream
and its branches appears to have been first made known by
Indians. One of the first prospectors to locate upon it with
success was J. A. Carmich, who staked out his claim in August,
1896, and with two helpers, in a few weeks, washed out over
$14,000."

_W. H. Dall,
Alaska and the New Gold-Field
(Forum, September, 1897)._

KNIGHTHOOD: Victorian Order.

See (in this volume)
VICTORIAN ORDER.

KNOSSOS, Archæological excavations at.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: CRETE.

KOKANG: Cession to Great Britain.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1897 (MAY-JUNE).

KOREA: A. D. 1895-1898.
Nominal independence of Korea.
Japanese influence supplanted by Russian.

On the 7th of January, 1893, the independence of Korea (see,
in this volume, CHINA: A. D. 1894-1895) was formally
proclaimed at Seoul. For a time, Japanese influence
prevailed, and the party favorable to it controlled affairs.
But Russian jealousy gave encouragement to the opposing
faction, headed by the queen, and the latter succeeded at
length in thwarting most of the aims of the Japanese. The
result was a revolutionary conspiracy in October, carried out
by a murderous band which broke into the palace and killed
three women, one of whom was supposed to be the queen. The
assassins were dressed in Japanese costume, and were said to
belong to the "soshi," or hireling cutthroats, of that
country; but the Japanese government indignantly repudiated
the crime, recalled and arrested its Minister, who was
suspected of complicity, and forbade its subjects to enter
Korea without special permission. Russian influence,
nevertheless, became dominant soon after; the king yielded to
it completely, and obtained riddance of opposing ministers
with Russian support. In the end, Russia and Japan came to an
agreement, nominally establishing a joint protectorate over
Korea; but practically the Japanese seemed to be fairly
shouldered out.

{289}

In the later part of 1897, the Russian Minister to Korea
brought about the dismissal of an English official, Mr. Brown,
who had been the financial adviser of the Korean government
and its commissioner of customs, putting a Russian in his
place, and secured a written agreement that none but Russians
or Koreans should fill that important post in future. The
vigorous remonstrance of the British government, however,
caused this action to be reversed.

Russia and Japan came to a new understanding in 1898, more
favorable to the interests of the latter in Korea. This was
embodied in a protocol, signed at Tokyo on the 25th of April,
1898, in terms as follows:

"I. That the Governments of Japan and Russia, recognizing the
sovereignty and complete independence of Korea, shall in no
way directly interfere with the domestic government of that
country.

II. That in order to avoid misunderstandings in the future,
whenever either Japan or Russia is applied to by Korea for
advice or assistance, neither contracting party shall take any
steps toward the appointment of military instructors or
financial advisers without previous consultation with the
other.

III. That Russia, recognizing the great progress made in
commercial and industrial enterprises by Japan in Korea, and
the great number of Japanese subjects residing in the
settlements, will do nothing to injure the development of the
commercial and industrial relations between Japan and Korea."

_United States Consular Reports,
August, 1898, page 591._

A reform party had begun to manifest influence at this time,
even aspiring to representative institutions in the
government. Various progressive measures were undertaken in
1898; the gold monetary standard was adopted; American
engineers were engaged to plan roads, bridges, etc., and new
ports were opened.

KOREA: A. D. 1900.
Strategic importance of Korea to Russia and Japan.
Japanese jealousy of Russian encroachments in
Manchuria and its grounds.

"Considerable as are the material interests which Japan is
building up in Korea, it is still from the strategical point
of view that she is most deeply concerned with the future of
the Korean peninsula, which, in the hands of a great military
Power like Russia, would be a permanent threat to her safety.
And the Japanese appear to be firmly convinced that, when
once Russia is firmly seated in Northern China, she must
inevitably seek to absorb Korea. In any other hands but her
own the Korean peninsula would always be a wedge
inconveniently driven in between her older acquisitions on
the Pacific seaboard and her more recent acquisitions in the
Gulf of Chi-li, nor could she regard her strategical position
in the Far East as thoroughly secured so long as she did not
command one shore of the straits through which lies the
natural waterway between her two naval bases at Vladivostok
and at Port Arthur. … Port Arthur is situated practically on
an inland sea to which the approaches can be dominated not
only by positions already in the hands of other European
Powers, such as Wei-hai-wei and Kiaochau, but by the Korean
peninsula and islands as well as by the Japanese archipelago,
from Tsushima down to Formosa. With Port Arthur as her main
base Russia's position as a naval Power in the Far East would
be subject to natural limitations not altogether unlike those
which hamper her in the Black Sea and the Baltic.

"Considered in this light the question of Russian
aggrandisement in Northern China is so closely interwoven with
that of the future of Korea that it must necessarily wear a
much more serious aspect for Japan than for any other Power
—so serious, indeed, that not a few Japanese deem the time to
be close at hand when Japan should retort upon Russia in
precisely the same terms which the latter used in 1895 and
demand the evacuation of territories where her presence must
be a permanent threat to the independence of the Chinese
Empire and the peace of the Far East."

_London Times,
Tokio Correspondence, December 27, 1900._

KOTZE, Chief-Justice:
Conflict with President Kruger of the Transvaal.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1897 (JANUARY-MARCH);
and 1898 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

KROONSTAD:
Temporary seat of Orange Free State government.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR): A. D. 1900 (MARCH-MAY).

KRUGER: President Stephanus Johannes Paulus.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1885-1890, and after.

KUANG HSU, Emperor of China.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1898 (JUNE-SEPTEMBER), and after.

KUMASSI, or COOMASSIE:
Occupation by the British.
Siege and relief.

See (in this volume)
ASHANTI.

KURAM, The:
Inclusion in a new British Indian province.

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

KURRAM VALLEY, British-Indian war with tribes in the.

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

KWANGCHOW WAN, Lease of, to France.

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

KWANG-SI, Rebellion in.

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

{290}

L.

LABOR COLONIES: In Australia.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRALIA; RECENT EXTENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY.

LABOR CONFLICTS.

See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES.

LABOR LEGISLATION:
Compulsory insurance in Germany.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1897-1900.

LABOR LEGISLATION:
Eight-hours day in Utah.

See (in this volume)
UTAH: A. D. 1895-1896.

LABOR LEGISLATION:
New Zealand Labor Laws.

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

LABOR LEGISLATION:
Workmen's Compensation Act in Great Britain.

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

LABOR LEGISLATION:
The United States Industrial Commission.

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

LABRADOR, Recent exploration of.

See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1893-1900, 1896.

LABYRINTH, The Cretan:
Its supposed discovery.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: CRETE.

LADRONE ISLANDS:
Sale by Spain to Germany.

See (in this volume)
CAROLINE AND MARIANNE ISLANDS.

LADYSMITH, Siege of.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER);
and 1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

LAGAS, The ancient city of.

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

LAGOS.

See (in this volume)
NIGERIA: A. D. 1899.

LA GUASIMA, Battle at.

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

LAKE SUPERIOR CONSOLIDATED IRON MINES:
In the United States Steel Corporation.

See (in this volume)
TRUSTS: UNITED STATES: THE CLIMAX.

LAND BILL, Irish (1896).

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

LAND SYSTEM, The New Zealand.

See (in this volume)
NEW ZEALAND; A. D. 1891-1900.

LAND TAXATION:
In Australia and New Zealand.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRALIA: RECENT EXTENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY.

LANDLORDS, Irish, New League against.

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

LATTIMER,
Conflict of striking coal miners with sheriffs' deputies at.

See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES: A. D. 1897.

LAURIER, Sir Wilfrid:
Prime Minister of Canada.

See (in this volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1890-1896, and after.

LAWS OF WAR.

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

LAWTON, General Henry W.:
Command at Santiago de Cuba.

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

LAWTON, General Henry W.:
Military operations in the Philippine Islands.

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

LAWTON, General Henry W.:
Death.

See (in this volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899-1900.

LECHER, Dr.:
Twelve-hours speech.

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

LEE, General Fitzhugh:
U. S. Consul-General at Havana.

See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1897-1898 (NOVEMBER-FEBRUARY);
and (DECEMBER-MARCH).

LEE, General Fitzhugh:
Command at Havana.
Report.

See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1898-1899 (DECEMBER-OCTOBER).

LEICHAU PENINSULA, Leases in, to France.

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

LEO XIII., Pope,

See PAPACY.

LÈSE MAJESTÉ.

A hurt to Majesty.
Any offense or crime against the sovereign.
For lèse majesté in Germany,

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1898; and 1900 (OCTOBER).

LEX FALKENHAYN, The.

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

LEX HEINZE, The.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (MAY).

LEXOW INVESTIGATION, The.

See (in this volume)
NEW YORK CITY; A. D. 1894-1895.

LIAOTUNG PORTS: A. D. 1895.
Russo-Chinese Treaty relating to.

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

See, also, references from PORT ARTHUR;
TALIENWAN; and FÊNG-TIEN PENINSULA.

LIBRARIES, The gifts of Mr. Andrew Carnegie to.

Of neither the manifold items nor the stupendous total of the
gifts made by Mr. Andrew Carnegie for the founding or for the
assistance of public libraries in America and Great Britain is
there any authentic account; but a tentative record of them,
compiled mainly from the news columns of the "Library
Journal," and published, on the 17th of March, 1901, in the
"Buffalo Illustrated Express," is probably not far from
correct. It begins in 1881, with the founding of a public
library at Dunfermline, Scotland, the birthplace of Mr.
Carnegie, who then gave for it $40,000. Two years later, he is
said to have given $50,000 to a library at Inverness. In 1885
the New York Free Circulating Libraries were helped by him to
the extent of $5,000. In the following year his benefactions
were raised to their larger scale by his gift of $250,000 to
the Free Public Library of Edinburgh; besides which he gave
$28,000 to the Workmen's Library of the Keystone Bridge Works,
and smaller donations elsewhere. In 1889 he founded the
Carnegie Library at Braddock, Pennsylvania, at a cost of
$300,000.
{291}
In 1890 he contributed $325,000 to the founding of the
Carnegie Free Public Library at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which
the city undertook to support; he replaced the Cambria
Library, which the great flood at Johnstown had destroyed,
expending $65,000 in that kindly work; gave $40,000 to a
library at Fairfield, Iowa, and $9,000 to another at Augusta,
Maine. Five thousand dollars to a library in Airdrie, $50,000
to one in Ayr, and $2,500 to a third at Jedburgh, all three in
Scotland, are the gifts recorded in 1893 and 1894.

In 1895 Mr. Carnegie seemed to be crowning his munificence by
the creation, at Pittsburg, of the great institution,
combining library, art gallery, and museum, on which, between
that year and 1899 he is said to have expended no less than
$3,860,000. In the same year he founded a small library at
Wick, in Scotland. In 1897 the donations appear to have been
small. In 1898 Dumfries, in Scotland, received for a public
library $50,000 from his open purse, and $250,000 went from it
to the creation of the Carnegie Library at Homestead,
Pennsylvania, the seat of the Carnegie works.

Hitherto the stream of Mr. Carnegie's bounty to public
libraries had been a rivulet: it now, in 1899, began to pour
like the fertilizing flood of the Nile, and that first
twelvemonth of the amazing tide was celebrated by American
librarians, at the annual meeting of their Association, as
"the Carnegie year." In reality, it but opened a series of
"Carnegie years," which have filled the period since, and may
still go on. As compiled by the "Express," supplemented by a
later record in the "Library Journal" for April, 1901, the
list of the library gifts and offers of Mr. Carnegie, from the
beginning of 1899 until March, 1901, includes $5,200,000,
tendered to the city of New York for branches to its Public
Library (see below); $1,000,000 tendered to St. Louis;
$350,000 to the city of Washington; $260,000 to Syracuse;
$125,000 each to Atlanta and Louisville; $100,000, or $150,000
(there seems to be uncertainty as to the sum) to Seattle;
$100,000 each to Richmond, Conneaut, Grand Rapids, Ottawa,
Ont., and the State College in Pennsylvania; $75,000 each to
Lincoln, Nebraska, Springfield, Illinois, Davenport, Iowa,
Tacoma, Washington, and the Bellevue Medical College, New
York; $50,000 each to San Diego, Oakland, Duluth Sedalia, East
Liverpool, Ohio, Steubenville, Sandusky, Connellsville,
McKeesport, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Tyrone, Pennsylvania,
Clarion, Oil City, Fort Worth, Dallas, Cheyenne, Dubuque,
Ottumwa, Emporia College, East Orange, York, Coal Center and
Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, Chattanooga, Houston, San Antonio,
Vancouver, British Columbia., Aurora, Illinois, Lewiston,
Maine, Niagara Falls, Yonkers, Canton, Ohio, Montgomery,
Alabama, Marion, Indiana, Galesburg, Illinois, Schenectady,
New York, and Hawick, Scotland; besides a great number of
lesser sums, ranging from a few hundred dollars to $40,000.
The total of the library gifts and proffers of Mr. Carnegie,
from the beginning to March, 1900, is thought to exceed
$23,000,000.

To many other educational institutions Mr. Carnegie has been
munificently generous, giving, for example, $500,000 for the
Manual Training School of Cooper Institute, New York; $250,000
to Birmingham University; $50,000 to the engineering
laboratory of Stevens Institute, Hoboken; $50,000 to the
Edinburgh Technical School, and making other gifts of like
kind.

LIBRARY,
New York Public, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
Andrew Carnegie's offered gift.

"The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden
Foundations, was formed by the consolidation, on the 23d of
May, 1895, of the three corporations, 'The Trustees of the
Astor Library,' originally incorporated January 18, 1849, 'The
Trustees of the Lenox Library,' originally incorporated
January 20, 1870, and 'The Tilden Trust,' originally
incorporated March 26, 1887. … In the agreement for
consolidation it was provided that the name of the new
corporation should be 'The New York Public Library, Astor,
Lenox and Tilden Foundations'; that the number of its trustees
should be twenty-one, to be selected from the thirty-three
members of the separate boards; and that 'the said new
corporation shall establish and maintain a free public library
and reading room in the city of New York, with such branches
as may be deemed advisable, and shall continue and promote the
several objects and purposes set forth in the respective acts
of incorporation of 'The Trustees of the Astor Library,' 'The
Trustees of the Lenox Library,' and the 'Tilden Trust.' … In
December, Dr. John Shaw Billings, United States Army
(retired), was chosen Director, but he did not enter fully
upon his duties until June, 1896. …

"At the time of the consolidation the Astor library owned its
site and buildings, had an endowment fund of about $941,000,
producing an annual income of about $47,000, and contained
267,147 volumes. The Lenox library owned its site and
building, had an endowment fund of $505,500, producing an
annual income of $20,500, and contained about 86,000 volumes.
The Tilden Trust possessed Mr. Tilden's private library,
containing about 20,000 volumes, and an endowment fund
estimated at $2,000,000, making the total number of volumes in
the New York Public Library 373,147, and the total endowment
fund about $3,446,500. … The joint libraries now contain about
500,000 volumes and 175,000 pamphlets."

Immediately upon the completion of the consolidation of the
three libraries, the city of New York was asked to provide a
suitable building for the great institution contemplated, and
the ground covered by the old reservoir, on Fifth Avenue,
between Fortieth and Forty-second Streets, was suggested as an
advantageous site. "The result of this appeal, which met with
cordial public support, was that an act was passed by the
legislature and approved May 19, 1897, giving the necessary
authority to the city to issue bonds for the construction of a
library building, the result of which was that on November 10,
1897, the plans prepared by Messrs. Carrère & Hastings, of New
York City, were selected and approved, and were laid before
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the City of New
York on December 1, 1897. These plans were approved by the
Board of Estimate and on December 8 a contract was entered
into between the City of New York and the New York Public
Library, by which the library building to be erected upon
Bryant Park was leased to the New York Public Library. … The
sketch plans provide for a building about 350 feet in length
and about 250 feet in width from east to west, giving shelving
for about 1,500,000 volumes and seating capacity for about 800
readers in the main reading room. …

{292}

"Plans and specifications for the removal of the Forty-second
Street reservoir and laying the foundations for the new
building having been approved the contract for this work was
awarded to Mr. Eugene Lentilhon, and the work of removing was
begun on June 6th, 1899."

_Handbook to the New York Public Library, 1900._

In October, 1900, it was stated in the newspapers of the city
that Mayor Van Wyck, Controller Coler, and the other members
of the Board of Estimate had come to an understanding
regarding the consolidation of all the libraries of the
Greater New York under the New York Public Library. "It was
announced officially that all the smaller libraries would be
allowed about the same amount of money for maintenance this
year as was allowed last year. A practical plan of
consolidation will be perfected, and when the matter comes up
before the Board of Estimate next year it was agreed that the
libraries would be put under one head. … It is proposed to
spend $5,000,000 on the New York Public Library now in course
of erection in Bryant Park on the site of the old reservoir.
It will be four years before the building can be completed.
Controller Coler's idea is to gradually merge the smaller
libraries so that when the new building is completed New York
will have the largest and best equipped library for sending
out books of any city in the world."

On the 12th of March, 1901, Mr. Andrew Carnegie addressed the
following letter to Dr. Billings, the Director of the New York
Public Library, making a proposal of unparalleled munificence:
"Dear Dr. Billings: Our conferences upon the needs of greater New
York for branch libraries to reach the masses of the people in
every district have convinced me of the wisdom of your plans.
Sixty-five branches strike one at first as a very large order,
but as other cities have found one necessary for every sixty
thousand or seventy thousand of population, the number is not
excessive. You estimate the average cost of these libraries
at, say, $80,000 each, being $5,200,000 for all. If New York
will furnish sites for these branches for the special benefit
of the masses of the people, as it has done for the central
library, and also agree in satisfactory form to provide for
their maintenance as built, I should esteem it a rare
privilege to be permitted to furnish the money as needed for
the buildings, say, $5,200,000. Sixty-five libraries at one
stroke probably breaks the record, but this is the day of big
operations, and New York is soon to be the biggest of cities.
Very truly yours, ANDREW CARNEGIE."

In communicating this extraordinary proposal to the New York
Public Library Board, Dr. Billings made the following
statement of the plan contemplated in the suggestions he had
made: