Chapter LVI: Section 88 (5)

"In the conferences referred to by Mr. Carnegie the
suggestions which I have made have related mainly to a free
public library system for the boroughs of Manhattan and The
Bronx. I have stated that such a system should include the
great central reference library in Forty-second street and
Fifth avenue, about forty branch libraries for circulation,
small distributing centres in those public school buildings
which are adapted to such purpose, and a large travelling
library system operated from the central building. Each of the
branch libraries should contain reading rooms for from 50 to 100
adults and for from 75 to 125 children, and in these reading
rooms should be about 500 volumes of encyclopædias,
dictionaries, atlases and large and important reference books.
There should be ample telephone and delivery arrangements between
the branches and the central library.

"To establish this system would require at least five years.
The average cost of the branch libraries I estimated at from
$75,000 to $125,000, including sites and equipment. The cost
of maintaining the system when completed I estimated at
$500,000 a year. The circulation of books for home use alone
in these boroughs should amount to more than 5,000,000 of
volumes a year, and there should be at least 500,000 volumes
in the circulation department, with additions of new books and
to replace worn out books of at least 40,000 a year.

"With regard to the other boroughs of greater New York I have
made no special plans or estimates, but have said that about
twenty-five libraries would be required for them."

LIBRARY, The Temple, of ancient Nippur.

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

LIBRARY, The U. S. House of Representatives:
Its management under the spoils system.

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

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, at Washington.
The new building.

"By the act of April 15, 1886, the present site, one-quarter
of a mile south of east from the Capitol, was selected, its
acquisition by the United States provided for, and the
construction of a building authorized. During this long period
of discussion many schemes for attaining the desired end,
including a variety of plans for enlarging and occupying the
Capitol and many different sites in the city of Washington,
were considered. Several times did the legislation reach an
advanced state and fail through the pressure of more absorbing
interests. Finally the law referred to adopted sketch plans that
had been prepared by Messrs. Smithmeyer and Pelz, a firm of
Washington architects, but it fixed no limit of cost, nor did
it specify the materials of construction or character of
execution of the design other than to stipulate that the
building should be fireproof. A commission, composed of the
Secretary of the Interior, the Librarian of Congress, and the
Architect of the Capitol, was designated to conduct the
construction of the building. The site, comprising two city
squares—nearly nine acres, within the city building lines and
with the included streets—was purchased of the private owners,
the ground cleared of some seventy buildings occupying it, and
by the summer of 1888 about one-half of the foundation
footings for the building were laid. During that year,
however, Congress became dissatisfied with the progress that
had been made and the uncertainties involved in the operation
of the inadequate original law, and accordingly, on October 2,
modified it and lodged the entire control of the work, including
the preparation of new plans at a limited cost, in the hands
of Brigadier General Thomas Lincoln Casey, Chief of Engineers
of the United States Army. He immediately placed the writer in
local charge.
{293}
On March 2, 1889, Congress enacted that the building should be
erected at a total cost of $6,500,000, including previous
expenditures, according to a plan that had been prepared and
submitted by General Casey, pursuant to the previous act of
October 2, 1888. This plan was based on that adopted by the
original act, and provided a building of similar form,
dimensions, and architecture. The project embodied the
principal materials of construction and a detailed estimate of
the cost. Under these auspices operations were begun in the
spring of 1889 where the operations had left off the year
before, and the construction thence proceeded without
interruption until the building was finally completed, in the
spring of 1897. It was 470 feet in length by 340 feet in
width, having three stories and a subbasement, and fronts
west—toward the Capitol. … The foundations of the building are
of hydraulic cement concrete, 6 feet deep in ground which is a
mixture of clay and sand of very uniform character. The cellar
walls are of hard red brick; the exterior face of the
superstructure of a fine grained light blue granite from
Concord, New Hampshire; the stone of the rotunda and the
trimmings of the court walls a light blue granite from near
Woodstock, Maryland; the facing of the court walls enameled
brick from Leeds, England; and the backing and interior walls
as well as all of the vaulting of the basement and first
stories are of hard red brick. Most of the floors that are
flat ceiled are of terra cotta, and this material also forms
the covering and filling of the roofs and main dome, of which
the supporting members are of rolled steel in beams, girders,
and trusses. All of the floors are leveled up with concrete
and surfaced with tiles, terrazzo, or mosaic in the public
spaces, while in the office and working rooms they are covered
with a carpet of southern pine boards. The most important of
the strictly useful features of the building are the book
stacks, of which the design is largely original. The problem
was new, not only through the capacity to be provided but the
numerous other conditions to be met, such as light,
ventilation, adjustability to several uses, communication,
immunity from fire, cleanliness, durability, and simplicity.
It was also necessary that rapid mechanical transmission of
books between the shelving and the reading room should be
provided, coupled with a quick and reliable means of
communication, both written and oral. … The book carrier is a
pair of parallel, endless chains, running in a vertical shaft
in the middle of the stack; thence in a horizontal duct in the
cellar to a point below the central desk of the reading room,
where it turns upward and ascends vertically to the delivery
outlet at the desk. A series of equidistant book trays,
eighteen in number, are suspended between the chains. The
machine runs continuously and automatically takes on and
delivers books of the size of a quarto or less at its reading
room terminal and at each of the stack stories. The speed of
the carrier is about 100 feet per minute. The pneumatic
message tube is also convenient as a speaking tube. The great
rotunda or public reading room of the building, the main
staircase hall or foyer, the private reading rooms for the
members of Congress, the Librarian's office, the corridors
communicating with these, and the exhibition halls as well as
many portions of the exterior walls, especially the west main
pavilion, have received a good degree of artistic treatment
and embellishment, but all within strict architectural
requirements. Some forty sculptors and mural painters, about
equally divided in numbers, furnished the principal works of
art under the architects' supervision and direction. Many
appropriate quotations and names are inscribed on the walls in
the architectural tablets, friezes and panels, adding to the
general impressiveness and interest of the building. In all
ways and from all points of view the library building is
eminently instructive as an example of good design, good
appointment for its great purpose, good building and good
administration in the execution, and therefore the more
appropriate to house the nation's library. The unusual success
of the undertaking under Government auspices is almost wholly due
to the selection of a known competent, sturdy, and faithful
individual such as General Casey was, and giving him the sole
charge directly under Congress without an executive superior
liable to interfere and cause delays. The work went on
quietly, but with energy; and was completed within the
originally estimated time and well within the legal limit of
cost. The total cost of the building was $6,344,585.34—that of
the site, $585,000."

_Bernard R. Green,
The Building for the Library of Congress
(Annual Report Smithsonian Institution, 1897, page 625)._

LI HUNG-CHANG:
Negotiation of peace with Japan.

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

LI HUNG-CHANG:
Tour in Europe and America.

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

LI HUNG-CHANG:
Charged with being in Russian pay.

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

LI HUNG-CHANG:
Acting Viceroy at Canton.

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

LI HUNG-CHANG:
Attempt to open negotiations with allied Powers.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (JULY).

LI HUNG-CHANG:
Chinese Plenipotentiary to negotiate with the allied Powers.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).

LIKIN, The Chinese taxes called.

"Chinese tariff rates, where they exist, average about 5 per
cent ad valorem. Many articles are admitted free of duty, and
on some the rates are higher than 5 per cent, but in general
terms this is about the average rate. To this, however, there
is a material addition where the goods are intended for
interior points. The Chinese Government, while it collects a
part of its revenue from customs, relies largely upon the
provinces to supply revenue, and arbitrarily names each year
the sum which each province must supply, leaving to the
officers of that province the methods by which this is
obtained. The consequence is that each province is permitted
to collect a tax on goods entering it from the adjacent
provinces, and this custom has been extended to the
subdivision of the provinces, so that goods in transit are
frequently compelled to pay taxes every few miles. As a
consequence, the interior taxes, known as 'likin,' became not
only the terror of importers, but sometimes almost
prohibitory. So serious was this system in its effects upon
attempts to introduce foreign goods that, upon the insistence
of foreign ministers, the Chinese Government announced that an
addition of 50 per cent to the rates paid at the custom-houses
would insure passage of the goods to any point in the interior
without the exaction of likin taxes.
{294}
This was gladly accepted by foreigners desiring to do business
in the interior of China. The additional 50 per cent on duties
was paid and 'transit passes' issued for the goods in question,
purporting to authorize their free transit to any point in the
Empire. Actual experience, however, shows that these transit
passes do not always accomplish what was expected. … Every 8
or 10 miles along the principal waterways or caravan routes a
likin station is found, where a tax is levied upon some
article or articles carried through by boat, pack animal, or
wheelbarrow. At some points every article is taxed. This is
the usual rule at the gates of cities. In some cases the tax
is as little as 2 per cent ad valorem; in others, such as
silk, satin, and native opium, much more, amounting at times
to 6, 8, or even 10 per cent. Between Shanghai and Soochow, a
distance of 84 miles, there are 8 likin stations. At the first
and last stations all goods are dutiable; at the rest all
goods must be examined, and there is scarcely a single article
that does not in that distance pay at least three taxes. It is
easily seen that under such a system foreign goods cannot be
carried very far from the coast before their prices become
prohibitive for ordinary people."

_United States, Bureau of Statistics, Monthly Summary,
March, 1899, pages 2188, 2231._

LINCOLN PARTY, The.

See (in this volume).
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER),
SILVER REPUBLICAN.

LIQUID AIR, The production of.

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

LIQUOR SELLING, The regulation of.
Abolition of the Army Canteen.

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

LIQUOR SELLING:
Dispensary Laws.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1892-1899;
NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1897-1899;
SOUTH DAKOTA: A. D. 1899; and
ALABAMA: A. D. 1899.

LIQUOR SELLING:
International convention respecting the
liquor traffic in Africa.

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

LIQUOR SELLING:
The question in American politics.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).

LIQUOR SELLING:
The Raines Liquor Law.

See (in this volume)
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1896-1897.

LISCUM, Colonel Emerson H.:
Death.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (JULY).

LITTLE ENGLAND PARTY.

A name given by its opponents to the section of the Liberal
party in Great Britain which condemns the boundless
enlargement of British annexations, protectorates and spheres
of influence in all parts of the world, and which is critical
of expansive and imperialistic wars.

LIU KUN-YI, Viceroy at Nanking:
Admirable conduct during the Chinese outbreak.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (JUNE-DECEMBER).

LOCH, Sir H. B.:
British High Commissioner in South Africa.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1894.

LOCKOUTS.

See (in this volume)
INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES.

LOG OF THE MAYFLOWER, The so-called.

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

LOGIA, Discovery of a fragment of the.

See (in this volume)
ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: EGYPT; DISCOVERY OF A FRAGMENT.

LOMBOK.

See (in this volume)
DUTCH EAST INDIES.

LONDON: A. D. 1894.
The Tower Bridge.

The Tower Bridge was formally opened on the 30th of June,
eight years after the beginning of the work. Its cost was
£1,250,000.

LONDON: A. D. 1897.
Great fire.

On November 19, 1897, occurred one of the largest fires in
London since 1606. Beginning in Aldersgate, it spread over six
acres of a densely populated quarter, destroying over 100
warehouses and buildings. The loss was estimated at
£2,000,000.

LONDON: A. D. 1899.
The London Government Act.

"The London Government Act is the most important measure
passed by Lord Salisbury's Government during the year 1899;
indeed, in some respects it is the most valuable reform
carried by the Parliament which [expired in 1000]. There was
urgent need for such a measure. The machinery of London
Government was hopelessly out of gear. It was both cumbrous
and intricate; it was controlled by a network of small local
authorities whose duties were ill-defined and often clashed
with each other. There was no uniformity or harmony in the
system." The old Roman wall, "built somewhere between A. D.
350 and A. D. 370 … played a most important part in the
history of London; and, indeed, it had a large share in
creating the problems with which Mr. Balfour had to deal in
1899. Little did its unknown builder dream that his wall, so
admirable in itself, would cause us trouble fifteen centuries
after his death. But such is the fact. He was a wise man, this
nameless benefactor of the infant municipality; he took care
that the wall should be thoroughly well built; and he allowed,
as he thought, ample room for later growth. The exact position of
this wall is well known to antiquaries. Many portions of it
still remain; it included in its ambit about a square mile of
territory, with wells and trees, gardens and pastures,
bordering on the great Roman roads. For a thousand years or
more this area was sufficient for all purposes. … So far as we
now can guess, it was not till the 16th century that any
Londoner felt cramped within the wall and craved more
elbow-room. Gradually the City expanded, and at first it
incorporated its extra-mural parishes, such as Bishopsgate and
Farringdon Without. The borough of Southwark was supposed for
some purposes to be annexed to the City; it was till last year
by a fiction regarded as a ward of the City—the ward of Bridge
Without. To this extent, then, the City spread outside its
wall. But here its natural expansion stopped. … The City
proper remained a compact town, well organized and well
governed, but the suburbs were treated as mere country
villages; their only local authority was the parish vestry,
and its only officers the churchwardens and the overseers.

{295}

"This state of things obviously could not last. It soon became
impossible for the parishioners to assemble in the vestry; no
room, indeed, would hold them. First one parish and then
another applied to Parliament for an Act creating what was
called a 'select vestry,' and many representative bodies were
thus formed with diverse and very miscellaneous powers. …
Where the parishes were small, instead of a select vestry a
district board was formed, under which several small parishes
were grouped. And so when the London Government Act was passed
there were 78 parishes and extra-parochial places within the
county, but outside the City of London. … These vestries and
boards were the sanitary authorities for their respective
areas: they superintended the removal of nuisances, and the
lighting, paving, watering, and cleansing of the streets; they
also attended to some minor works of drainage, ancillary to
the main system. … In 1855, the Metropolitan Board of Works
was created to control the main drainage, to carry out
improvements, to regulate the streets and bridges, and to
maintain and manage the Fire Brigade. But its members were
elected on a vicious system—by the various vestries and
boards, and not directly by the ratepayers. … Its place was
taken [in 1888] by the London County Council. But besides
these vestries, local boards, district boards, and the
Metropolitan Board, it was deemed necessary from time to time
to create many minor authorities to meet various pressing
needs; such were the Metropolitan Asylums Board, the Thames
Conservators, the Lee Conservators, the commissioners of baths
and washhouses, the commissioners of free libraries, the
burial boards, &c., in addition to 30 boards of guardians and
the London School Board. As the population of London outgrew
its existing institutions, the defects and shortcomings were
remedied by patchwork. …

"From this position of affairs we have been rescued by two
important measures, … the Local Government Act, 1888, and the
London Government Act, 1899. … The Local Government Act of
1888 abolished the Metropolitan Board of Works: it created the
administrative county of London; it called into existence the
London County Council. The London Government Act of 1899 has
done still more for London. It has abolished some 127 local
authorities, whose place will be taken by the 28 borough
councils which must be elected on November 1. The London
County Council, the City Corporation, the Metropolitan Asylums
Board, the boards of guardians, and the London School Board
remain practically untouched. But 73 vestries, 12 district
boards, the Woolwich Local Board of Health (the last of its
race), 12 burial boards, 19 boards of library commissioners,
and 10 boards of baths and washhouses commissioners, for all
purposes of civic government, cease to exist."

_London Times, October 16, 1900._

LONDON CONVENTION (British-Boer), of 1884.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1884-1894.

LONGEVITY, Human:
The Nineteenth Century increase of.

See (in this vol.)
NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE LENGTHENED AVERAGE.

LOOTING, in China.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST 5-16, and 15-28).

"LOS VON ROM" MOVEMENT, The.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1899-1900.

LOUBET, Émile: Election to the Presidency of the French Republic.

See (in this volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1899 (FEBRUARY-JUNE).

LOUISIANA: A. D. 1898.
New State Constitution.
An educational qualification of the suffrage which applies
to all negroes and few whites.

The framing of a new constitution for the State was completed
in May. Its distinctive feature is an educational
qualification of the suffrage which does not apply to men who
were qualified in any State to vote at the beginning of the
year 1867, nor to the sons and grandsons of such men, nor to
foreigners naturalized before the 1st of January, 1898. The
amendment is as follows:

"SECTION 3.
He (the voter) shall be able to read and write, and shall
demonstrate his ability to do so when he applies for
registration, by making, under oath administered by the
registration officer or his deputy, written application
therefor, in the English language, or his mother tongue, which
application shall contain the essential facts necessary to
show that he is entitled to register and vote, and shall be
entirely written, dated, and signed by him, in the presence of
the registration officer or his deputy, without assistance or
suggestion from any person or memorandum whatever, except the
form of application hereinafter set forth: Provided, however,
That if the applicant be unable to write his application in
the English language, he shall have the right, if he so
demands, to write the same in his mother tongue from the
dictation of an interpreter; and if the applicant is unable to
write his application by reason of physical disability, the
same shall be written at his dictation by the registration
officer or his deputy, upon his oath of such disability. The
application for registration, above provided for, shall be a
copy of the following form, with the proper names, dates, and
numbers substituted for the blanks appearing therein, to wit:

"I am a citizen of the State of Louisiana. My name is --. I
was born in the State (or country) of --, parish (or county)
of --, on the -- day of --, in the year --. I am now -- years
-- months and -- days of age. I have resided in this State
since --, and am not disfranchised by any provision of the
constitution of this State.

"SECTION 4.
If he be not able to read and write, as provided by section 3
of this article, then he shall be entitled to register and
vote if he shall, at the time he offers to register, be the
bona fide owner of property assessed to him in this State at a
valuation of not less than $300 on the assessment roll of the
current year, if the roll of the current year shall then have
been completed and filed, and on which, if such property be
personal only, all taxes due shall have been paid.

"SECTION 5.
No male person who was on January 1, 1867, or at any date
prior thereto, entitled to vote under the constitution or
statute of any State of the United States, wherein he then
resided, and no son or grandson of any such person not less
than 21 years of age at the date of the adoption of this
constitution, and no male person of foreign birth, who was
naturalized prior to the first day of January, 1898, shall be
denied the right to register and vote in this State by reason
of his failure to possess the educational or property
qualifications prescribed by this constitution: Provided, He
shall have resided in this State for five years next preceding
the date at which he shall apply for registration, and shall
have registered in accordance with the terms of this article
prior to September 1, 1898; and no person shall be entitled to
register under this section after said date."

{296}

LOW, Seth:
Citizens' Union candidate for Mayor of Greater New York.

See (in this volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1897 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER.)

LOW, Seth:
American commissioner to the Peace Conference at The Hague.

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

LÜBECK: A. D. 1900.
The Elbe and Trave Canal.

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

LUDLOW, General William:
Military Governor of Havana.

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

LUEGER, Dr.:
Anti-Semitic agitation in Vienna.

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

LUXEMBOURG: A. D. 1899 (May-July).
Representation in the Peace Conference at The Hague.

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

LUZON.

See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

LYNCH LAW, in the United States.

Statistics, compiled by the "Chicago Tribune," of the cases of
mob-murder, called "lynchings," which were reported in the
newspapers as having occurred in the United States during the
year 1899, showed a total of 107, being 20 less than a similar
record for 1898 had shown. Of the reported cases, 3 were in
Kansas, 1 in Pennsylvania, and 103 in Southern States. Georgia
led in the latter list, being credited with 20 executions
under lynch law. Mississippi followed with 14, Louisiana with
13, Arkansas with 11, and other States of the South with
lesser numbers. Of the victims (mostly colored) 44 were
accused of murder; 11 of complicity in murder; 11 with rape or
attempted rape; 1 with rape and murder.

The "Political Science Quarterly," in its Record of Political
Events between November 11, 1897, and May 10, 1898, cites 31
incidents of lynching, exclusive of a mob-murder committed at
Lake City, South Carolina, where a negro postmaster and one of
his children were killed, his wife and three other children
wounded, and their house burned down. Of these incidents, 23
were reported from the South, the victims in every case being
black; 8 were from northwestern States, the victims being
white.

For 1897, the "Buffalo Express" compiled statistics of
reported lynchings from its news columns, which showed 38
between January 1 and June 8, and 77 during the remainder of
the year, making a total of 115.

M.

MACARTHUR, General:
Military operations in the Philippine Islands.

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

MACDONALD, Sir Claude:
British Minister at Peking.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY), and after.

MACEDONIA, Impending revolt in.

See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1899-1901; and
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES.

MACEO, Antonio:
Death of the Cuban leader.

See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1896-1897.

MACHADADORP:
Temporary seat of Transvaal government.

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

MACKENZIE, The district of.

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

MCKINLEY, William:
Election and reelection to the Presidency of the United States.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).

MCKINLEY, William:
Administration.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1897 (MARCH), and after.

MCKINLEY, William:
Message on the condition of Cuba in 1897.

See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1896-1897.

MCKINLEY, William:
Message on the destruction of the battleship Maine.

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

MCKINLEY, William:
Message asking for power to intervene in Cuba.

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

MCKINLEY, William:
Message announcing state of war with Spain.

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

MCKINLEY, William:
Civil Service order in 1899.

See (in this volume)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1899.

MCKINLEY, William:
Negotiation of peace with Spain.
Instructions to and correspondence with Commissioners at Paris.

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

MCKINLEY, William:
Instructions to the military commander and
to the two commissions in the Philippines.

See (in this volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS:
A. D. 1898-1899 (DECEMBER-JANUARY);
1899 (JANUARY); and 1900 (APRIL).

MADAGASCAR.

The island of Madagascar, which stretches through more than
thirteen degrees of latitude, in close neighborhood to the
eastern African coast, opposite Mozambique, though often
called "the great African island," is more Malayan than
African in its population. The dominant tribe is the Hova. For
more than a century the French have been covetous of the
island, and since 1883, when they opened a war with its Hova
rulers, they have pursued a steady policy toward the end of
making it their own. The result of the war of 1886 was a
treaty under which the French claimed a certain protectorate
or control of Malagasy foreign relations,—a claim concerning
which there remained much dispute. In 1890 the British
government recognized the French protectorate, but the native
government continued steadily to refuse acknowledgment that
the treaty had given any such rights.

{297}

MADAGASCAR:
Subjugation of the island by the French.
Anti-foreign and anti-Christian risings.
Revival of idolatry.
Final possession of the island by France proclaimed.
Submissive Declaration of the Queen.

In 1894 the French government took decisive measures looking
toward the subjugation of the island, and, early in 1895, a
strong expedition under General Duchesne was landed on the
coast. The Malagasy were much divided among themselves, and
they were poorly prepared for war. They made feeble resistance
to the invaders; but the latter had a difficult and costly
campaign, notwithstanding, on account of the nature of the
country and the absence of roads, which they were obliged to
construct as they advanced. They are said to have lost only 20
men killed in action, but 6,000 by disease. They reached
Antananarivo, the Hova capital, at the end of September.
"Immediately on the arrival of General Duchesne a treaty was
signed by the Malagasy authorities, by which the whole power
of the country was ceded to the French. The queen remained in
her place, and the Hova Prime Minister was also allowed to be
nominally at the head of affairs. Part of this arrangement was
found impracticable after a short time; the Prime Minister had
enjoyed unlimited power for too long a period to accept a
subordinate position, and General Duchesne was forced to
remove him. According]y, he was taken to a house of his own at
a short distance from the capital, where he was kept under
surveillance for two or three months, but as he was still
supposed to be plotting he was deported to Algiers, in which
country he died after a very short exile.

"It seemed at first as if the change of masters in the island
was to be accomplished without any serious disturbance. … In
the early part of November (1895), however, this satisfactory
state of affairs was rudely interrupted. A paltry quarrel
between two clans about a piece of ground, which each claimed,
gradually developed into a serious rising. The two parties
came to an understanding by agreeing to make an attack upon
the Europeans. As soon as General Duchesne was informed of
what had been happening to the south-west of the capital, he
sent a column … with orders to punish the insurgents and to
pacify the district. … The resistance on the part of the
natives was vigorous, and for a time well sustained. …
Discipline and Lebel rifles, however, were more than a match
for all their efforts, and after a loss of about 150 men they
desisted. … One distressing feature in the insurrection was
the revival of idolatry, which was thought to be extinct in
Imerina, but which evidently has been scotched and not killed.
Almost the first move on the part of the rebels had been to
reinstate a local idol called Ravololona, and the performance
of certain acts of worship in the presence of the idol was
considered the mark of a good patriot. Naturally under these
circumstances the teachers and the more prominent Christians
in the various churches and chapels were objects of dislike
and hatred, and in the disaffected district these men with
their wives and families had to fly for their lives. It is
useless to shut one's eyes to facts; a considerable number of
those who were held in esteem by the missionaries failed to
stand the test of persecution, and if not guilty of actually
worshipping idols were actively in league with those who did
so. … After the suppression of this first outbreak matters
remained quiet in Imerina for some months. …

"The next serious event in the island was an outbreak of a
different character. With the exception of the Hova, few if
any of the tribes were thought to be opposed to French rule. …
The Hova were as much hated as they were feared, and, from
whatever quarter it might come, release from their rule would
be welcome. The arrival of the French was the long-wished-for
moment; but news spreads slow]y in Madagascar, and though the
Hova power came to an end at the beginning of October, it was
not realised on the coast until the new year [1896]. When,
however, it was known that the French were masters of the
country the explosion came. The two large tribes of the
Betsimisaraka and the Taimoro on the east rose against the
Hova, and ruthlessly killed them wherever they could catch
them. … The buildings used as churches and schools were also
burnt, for, as the greater part of the teachers came from
Imerina, religion and education were associated with the Hova.
In one or two instances Europeans were murdered, but only when
they were mixed up with the Hova."

_F. A. Gregory,
The French in Madagascar
(Nineteenth Century, January, 1897)._

Formal possession of the island was now proclaimed, and, on
the 18th of January, 1896, the submissive queen signed the
following "Declaration": "Her Majesty the Queen of Madagascar,
having been made acquainted with the Proclamation taking
possession of the Island of Madagascar by the French
Government, declares her acceptance of the following
conditions:

"ARTICLE I.
The Government of the French Republic shall be represented at
the Court of Her Majesty the Queen of Madagascar by a
Resident-General.

"ARTICLE II.
The Government of the French Republic shall represent
Madagascar in all relations with foreign Powers. The
Resident-General shall be intrusted with the conduct of
relations with the Agents of foreign Powers; and all questions
affecting foreigners in Madagascar shall be dealt with through
him. The French Diplomatic and Consular Agents abroad shall be
charged with the protection of Malagasy subjects and
interests.

"ARTICLE III.
The Government of the French Republic reserve to themselves
the right of maintaining in Madagascar the armed forces
necessary for the exercise of their authority.

"ARTICLE. IV.
The Resident-General shall control the internal administration
of the island. Her Majesty the Queen of Madagascar undertakes
to introduce such reforms as the French Government shall deem
expedient for the economic development of the island, and for
the advancement of civilization.

"ARTICLE. V.
The Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Madagascar
undertake to contract no loan without the authorization of the
Government of the French Republic.

(Signed) RANAVALOMANJAKA, Mpanjakany Madagascar."

On the 11th of February the following "Notification" was
officially communicated to all the Powers: "In consequence of
difficulties which have arisen in Madagascar, the Government
of the Republic, in the exercise of their Protectorate, have
been obliged to intervene by force of arms in order to make
their rights respected, and to obtain guarantees for the
future. They have thus been obliged to occupy the island with
their troops, and to take final possession thereof."

_Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: Africa, No.8, 1897)._

{298}

About this time, "M. Laroche, the first Resident-General,
arrived at the capital and began to organise the government of
the country. A new Prime Minister was appointed, in whose name
laws might be issued, for it had been settled that the
administration should be indirect, that is to say conducted
through the medium of the natives. A considerable number of
regulations were promulgated, affecting the development of the
industries of the country, the granting of concessions, and
the education of the natives. Most of these were much too
elaborate to be useful, and up to the present time nearly all
of them have remained a dead letter. Some may be useful when
the insurrection has been quelled, when the country is such as
to invite capitalists, and when schools have been
re-established. In March there were again signs of trouble,
though at first these were faint and perhaps too far off to
attract the serious attention of the authorities. …

"A petty disturbance in the beginning, fomented for private
purposes and fostered by an appeal to patriotic feeling, has
developed into a formidable insurrection. I say formidable,
but I do not mean to give the idea that the insurrection is
formidable from a military point of view. … But from
industrial, educational, and religious points of view, the
rebellion has been a complete success, and however soon it may
be suppressed, the progress of the country in some parts has
been thrown back for years, a large tract reduced to
desolation, and the inhabitants to little better than savages.
This destruction has been effected in five months, for,
beginning in May, it has spread over the whole of Avaradrano,
Vonizongo, part of Imarovatana, and Vakin Ankaratoa, four out
of the six divisions of Imerina. … To mark the, anti-European
character of the rising, the churches were burnt without
distinction, and in some places leper hospitals were
destroyed, and their unhappy inmates rendered houseless. The
English and Norwegian missions have suffered the most
severely. It is impossible to estimate correctly the number of
churches and chapels that have been burnt, but at the lowest
computation it must amount to 600. … As in the West,
idol-worship was practised, the idol in this case being
Ramahavaly, the war-god or goddess; the pillaging of houses
and property became almost universal, and soon it came to pass
that no one was safe unless he either joined the insurgents or
paid them to leave him unmolested. …

"The greatest move in the organisation of the country is the
abolition of slavery throughout the island. This was
proclaimed in the official gazette issued on the 27th of
September [1896] by decree of the Resident-General. It was
wholly unexpected at the time, though there had been rumours
two or three months previously to the effect that the step was
contemplated, but would be effected gradually. Naturally, it
fell upon the Hova like a clap of thunder, and, as the law was
published on a Sunday, some worthy folk found themselves, on
their return from service, without a slave to cook the dinner.
… It would have been better to have proceeded more slowly to
the desired end; to have made an children born after a fixed
day free; and to have made the redemption of the rest, either
by themselves or by others, cheap and easy. However, it has
been decided otherwise, and certainly the state of the country
is such as to justify any measure, for, when everything is in
a state of upheaval the exact amount of pressure is of small
importance. In addition to this it must be remembered that in
consequence of the outbreak Madagascar has been declared a
French colony, and that this carries with it the abolition of
the status of slavery. While, then, the greater number of
Europeans who know Madagascar would have preferred that
slavery should have been abolished by degrees, few would be
prepared to say that it was altogether a mistake."

_F. A. Gregory,
The French in Madagascar
(Nineteenth Century, January, 1897)._

An Act for the annexation of Madagascar was passed by the
French Chamber and Senate in the early summer of 1896, with a
declaration for the immediate abolition of slavery. In the
following year Queen Ranavalomanjaka was banished to the
French Island of Reunion, and in 1899 she was removed to a
more distant and more cruel exile in Algiers.

MAFEKING, Siege of.

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

MAFIA, Exposure in Italy of the.

See (in this volume)
ITALY: A. D. 1900 (JANUARY).

MAHAN, Captain Alfred T.:
American Commissioner to the Peace Conference at The Hague.

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

MAHDI, The death of the.

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

MAINE, The battle-ship:
Destruction in Havana harbor.

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

MAJESFONTEIN, Battle of.

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

MALAGASY, The.

See (in this volume)
MADAGASCAR.

MALAKAND, Attack by Swat tribes on.

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

MALARIA, Discovery of the secret of.

See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: MEDICAL AND SURGICAL.

MALAYAN RACE.

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

MALOLOS:
The seat of Aguinaldo's government in the Philippines.

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

MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL.

See (in this volume)
CANAL, MANCHESTER SHIP.

MANCHURIA: A. D. 1895-1900.
Trans-Siberian Railway.
Russo-Chinese Treaty.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1895; and
RUSSIA IN ASIA: A. D. 1891-1900.

{299}

MANCHURIA: A. D. 1900-1901.
Chinese Boxer attack on the Russians and
savage Russian retaliation.
Russian occupation of Niu-chwang.
Russo-Chinese negotiations concerning the province.
Distrust of Russian designs.

The Boxer outbreak in and around Peking, in the early summer
(see, in this volume, CHINA: A. D. 1900-MAY-JUNE, and after),
was followed, in July, by an attack on the Russians in
Manchuria, along the line of the Manchurian branch of their
Trans-Siberian Railway (see, in this volume, RUSSIA IN ASIA),
and on the Amur. The retaliation of the Russians appears to
have been simply ferocious. Professor G. Frederick Wright, who
was travelling in Manchuria at the time, gives a sickening
account of what he saw on the Amur, above Blagovestchensk, in
a letter written, August 6, from Stretensk, Siberia, to "The
Nation," of New York. The Chinese fort at Aygun, on the
Manchurian side of the Amur, began, without warning, on the
14th of July, he writes, "to fire upon passing steamboats,
and, on the 15th, fire was opened upon Blagovestchensk, and
some Russian villages were burned opposite the fort. The
actual injury inflicted by the Chinese was slight; but the
terror caused by it was indescribable, and it drove the
Cossacks into a frenzy of rage. The peaceable Chinese, to the
number of 3,000 or 4,000, in the city were expelled in great
haste, and, being forced upon rafts entirely inadequate, were
most of them drowned in attempting to cross the river. The
stream was fairly black with their bodies. Three days after,
we counted hundreds of them in the water. In our ride through
the country to reach the city on Thursday, the 19th, we saw as
many as thirty villages and hamlets of the Chinese in flames.
One of them was a city of 8,000 or 10,000 inhabitants. We
estimated that we saw the dwellings of 20,000 peaceable
Chinese in flames that awful day, while parties of Cossacks
were scouring the fields to find Chinese, and shooting them
down at sight. What became of the women and children no one
knew; but there was apparently no way for them to escape to a
place of safety. On our way up the river for 500 miles above
the city, every Chinese hamlet was a charred mass of ruins.
The large village of Motcha was still smoking, and we were
told that 4,000 Chinese had been killed. We do not mention
these facts to excite prejudice against the Russian
authorities or against the Cossacks. This work of devastation
has not been ordered by those high in authority. It is rather
the result of mob violence such as instigates the promoters of
lynch law in the Southern States, or, more nearly, such as has
from time immemorial animated the pioneers in America against the
Indians. The wholesale destruction, both of property and of
life, was thought to be a military necessity. The wives and
children of the Cossacks were in terror."

Russian troops were poured into Manchuria in vast numbers, and
however much or little there may have been of the Boxer
movement, it was crushed with merciless rigor. A letter from
the Manchurian treaty port of Niu-chwang, on the Liao-tung
Gulf, written August 13, to the "London Times," describes the
Russian occupation of that town and region, in the previous
week. After some 1,500 or 2,000 Chinese soldiers and
civilians, in flight from the town, had been intercepted and
killed, "the Russian general," says the writer, "was about to
order a general assault on the town when the foreign residents
interceded, as there were no longer any soldiers or 'Boxers'
left. He declared his intention was to kill all, as it was
impossible to distinguish between soldiers, 'Boxers' and
civilians. Some foreigners then went down into the city and
brought up the principal merchants, who were given until 10 a.
m. to deliver up all the guns in the town. This, of course,
they could not and did not do, so some foreign residents
offered to enter the city with the Russian soldiers, and
guaranteed peaceful occupation. This offer was accepted, and
the town was spared enormous loss of life, though there was a
certain amount of looting, and a few people were bayoneted in
the outlying houses. Outside the walls men, women, and
children were killed, and from all sides came reliable reports
of violation of women. There is no possible doubt about the
truth of these reports. The Russians are carrying out a policy
of destruction of property and extermination of the people.
Kai-chau, the district city, 24 miles south of this port, and
nearly all the villages have been burnt and the inhabitants
killed. The soldiers, both infantry and Cossacks, have been
allowed to do what they like for some days."

The same correspondent goes on to say: "The Russians hoisted
their naval flag over the Custom-house at 7.30 p. m. on August
4. Neither in the attack and bombardment of the town nor in
hoisting their flag did they consult any of the foreign
Consuls or the commanders of the two Japanese gunboats in
port. Admiral Alexeieff arrived on the 5th and issued a
circular announcing the occupation of the treaty port by
Russian military forces. … What the other Powers will say to
the seizure of a treaty port and hoisting of only one flag
remains to be seen." The "one flag" seems to have been still
waving over Niu-chwang as late as the 15th of February, 1901,
since a member in the British House of Commons, on that day,
arraigning his government for want of vigor in China, said
that "though British people traded with Niu-chwang to the
extent of three millions sterling a year, the port was now
under the civil and military administration of Russia alone.
He should like to know what undertaking his Majesty's
Government had obtained that Russia would speedily evacuate
Niu-chwang, and that the administration of the port would
revert to the hands of the Chinese Government.

A few days later, the Under Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, Viscount Cranborne, said in reply to this statement:
"We made proper inquiry from our representative, and he
assured us that any agreement which exists between Russia and
China in respect to Manchuria is in the nature of a 'modus
vivendi,' consisting merely in the simultaneous presence of
the Russian and Chinese forces in Manchuria, and in order to
prevent disturbances on their frontier. He assured us that the
occupation of the railway is of a purely temporary character,
and that, although a guarantee is expected by the Russian
Government that upon their withdrawal the disturbances shall
not breakout again, yet that guarantee will not take the form
of an acquisition of territory or of a virtual or actual
protectorate in Manchuria. … In respect to Niu-chwang we have
received assurances at least equal to those which have been
given us in respect to the province of South Manchuria. We
understand the Russians are prepared to restore Niu-chwang at
the end of their occupation precisely to its former
condition."

{300}

For the time being, however, the Russians seem to have
established in practice a very real protectorate over the
province of Fêng-tien, in Southern Manchuria, by an agreement
between the Russian governor of the territory leased from
China in the Liao-tung peninsula and the Chinese Tartar
general of Fêng-tien, signed on the 11th of November, 1900.
The general terms of this agreement were reported late in
December, and excited much uneasiness as to Russian designs.
The full text was communicated to the "London Times," in the
February following, by its Peking correspondent, with the
information that the Tartar general who signed it, in
transmitting a copy to Li Hung-chang, "states that grief
pierces his very soul, but what alternative has he?" The
agreement required the Tartar general to disband his troops
and disarm them, on account of the rebellions which had
occurred among them; to deliver up all munitions of war and
dismantle all forts and defences, and to give full information
of all important measures taken by him to a Russian resident
who should be stationed at Mukden, with "general powers of
control."

Late in February, 1901, it was ascertained that the Russian
Minister at Peking, M. de Giers, was negotiating a more
definite and binding convention relative to Manchuria with the
Chinese imperial government, as represented by Li Hung-chang;
and, on the 7th of March, the Peking correspondent of the
"London Times" telegraphed to that journal what claimed to be
a translation of the full text of the treaty, as follows:

"I. The Emperor of Russia, being desirous to manifest his
friendly feelings, agrees to restore Manchuria completely to
China without keeping in mind the fact of the recent warfare
in that province. The Chinese administration shall be restored
in all respects to the 'status quo ante.'

"II. China granted to the railway company, as stipulated in
Article VI. of the Eastern China Railway Concession, the right
of guarding the line with troops, but the country being still
in disorder and the number of troops being insufficient, it
has been found necessary to station a body of troops in the
province, which will be withdrawn as soon as peace and order
are restored and the provisions of the last four articles of
the present convention are carried out.

"III. In case of emergency, the Russian troops stationed in
the province shall render all possible assistance to China to
suppress any disturbances.

"IV. The recent attacks against Russia having been conducted
principally by regular troops, China agrees not to organize
any army before the completion of the railway and the opening
thereof for traffic. When China subsequently organizes her
military forces, the number of troops shall be fixed in
consultation with Russia. The importation of arms and
ammunition into Manchuria is prohibited.

"V. In order to safeguard the province, China shall
immediately dismiss such Governors-General and high local
officials as have committed improper acts in connexion with
foreign relations against which Russia would protest. China
can organize infantry and cavalry in Manchuria for police
purposes, but the number shall be fixed in consultation with
Russia. Artillery should be excluded, and arms given to no
subjects of any other Power employed in connexion with the
exercise of functions.

"VI. China, as previously agreed, shall not employ the
subjects of any other Power for training her naval and
military forces in the northern provinces.

"VII. In order to maintain peace and order, the local
authorities, residing in the vicinity of the neutral zone
provided for by the fifth article of the convention relating
to the lease of the territory of Leao-tong, shall establish
special regulations suitable to the circumstances, and shall
relinquish the administrative autonomy of Kin-chau, which is
reserved to China by Article IV. of the special convention.

"VIII. China shall not grant, without the consent of Russia,
to any other Power or their subjects advantages relative to
mines, railways, or other matters in the Russo-Chinese
Frontier provinces—namely, Manchuria, Mongolia, Kashgar,
Yarkand, Khotan, and Turkestan; neither shall she construct
her own railways in those provinces without the consent of
Russia. Leases of land outside Niu-chwang shall not be granted
to the subjects of any other Power.

"IX. China being under obligations to pay the war expenses of
Russia and the claims of the various other Powers, the amount
of Russia's indemnity, and the terms of payment and the
security for it, shall be adjusted conjointly with the other
Powers.

"X. Indemnities shall be paid and compensation granted for the
destruction of railway property and to the employés of the
company. Losses accruing from delay in the work shall be
adjusted between China and the railway company.

"XI. When the indemnities for the various damages shall have
been agreed upon between China and the company the whole or
part of the amount of such indemnities should be met by
advantages other than pecuniary compensation—that is, either
by revision of the existing agreement relating to the railway
or by the grant of new advantages.

"XII. China shall, as previously agreed, grant to Russia a
concession for the construction of a railway from the main or
branch line of the Manchuria Railway towards Peking and to the
Great Wall."